It's a strange feeling. Walking around the school ground on weekday without seeing any students is peculiar for me—or I guess for everyone? Oh, well. I was informed that classes were suspended because of that incident that took place, but really—this place feels solitary now. The bustling atmosphere, the laughers of the students, murmurs and loud voices were now absent. I must say that as a person who hardly got friends, this atmosphere feels more befitting to me—but truly, I love seeing things in a positive light as much as possible.
I passed by the entrance to the first floor and headed to the second—then third.
I just got out from the sickbed. Why am I at school? Well, I've got nothing to do—or so I would love to say. But okay, I'll consider answering seriously. Just like Jin said, he will be sending a strike group—and since this is a problem concerning one of the students of Saint Stella Academy, the strike group that would be sent to take her back was;
"We've been waiting for you,"
The schools Elites; The student council members. I've reached their office.
"Gleren."
It was Reina to extend her greeting. Well, not really greeting I suppose. Being here felt really out of place as this room we were at is currently filled nothing but women. Is it really okay for a person like me, a man, to be in this secret garden? Well, it's not like I have any choice. I entered shortly after bobbing my head slightly.
"Well, now that he's here, let's start the preparation."
I was told before coming here that this operation is something that HARMONIA cannot handle. Not in the sense of power or disadvantages—but politics. Cannot handle seemed like not the right term for it—cannot interfere is most likely appropriate. Exclusively political reasons. I still remember the face that Jin made upon hearing the order from the higher ups—he was really angry. But what else can he do? The Administrative Council had now made their moves, apparently. And not even the president can do anything about it. Officially, the Administrative Council only meddle with the affairs of HARMONIA if they violate the treaty of the world peace. After all, HARMONIA agreed that aside from defending Saint Ilse from being invaded and protecting its residence—outside the island, HARMONIA will and not allowed to use any of their abilities if not for the prior reasons—the façade of being goody-two-shoes, really.
Solely because of such troublesome promises that the organization cannot extend their helping hands. Really, politics sucks. Unable to receive support from HARMONIA is chipping away our success rate. Even though the Administrative Council exploit us from doing trivial tasks from time to time—they refuse to let the organization act when it really matters. Hard to think that there was no conspiracy going on. They said that since Maria was not an ability user, it was not right for HARMONIA to act to her rescue. What a load of bullshit. But since there were no official statement that Maria was under the custody of HARMONIA, they cannot argue. Jin and President cannot do anything about it—if they do, then it would mean that the HARMONIA do not give the treaty any importance. What comes next was war—and it would be Saint Isle against the world. See? That's how politics work.
But, well—they made a big loophole if they think we were completely crippled. After all, Maria being a student in Saint Ilse's Saint Stella is now under the strict rule of the Academy. Absence without any permission is not allowed and so requires punishment—or so our petty reason for taking her back. Student's welfare is under the responsibility of Student's council—thus, this strike group was conveniently made. That's miss Kyouka for you. She thought out this whole operation.
"It's been long since we last had a meeting like this, isn't it?"
A girl with a long black hair left untied approached me. She smiled sweetly and her eyes were shining with enthusiasm. Is she happy that we had a meeting like this again?
"Yes. It has, miss Loraine."
I responded. She really is a beauty, isn't she? Her welcoming aura and her kind round eyes are what makes her comfortable to be with. Her voice is quite soothing as well.
"Are you okay now? I heard you were badly injured…"
She asked, her expression worried. Well, not just badly, my dear Loraine… my heart was completely pierced. If not for some naughty contractor that's inside my body, I would have been long gone. I smiled wryly as I cogitated over such thought.
"I'm alright now. See?"
I hopped in place. Note; for demonstration purpose only.
"See? When I'm like this, I think I could even become one of the best high jumpers in the world."
"Pfft. Ahahaha. Loko ka talaga. Puro ka kabaliwan.'
Even the way she laughs was pretty… though… I did not understand a thing she said, so I just gave her a strategic smile. Smile makes the world understandable. That's Filipino, right? Saint Isle isn't made to translate the words intentionally said to be obscure.
"But you better be really okay… Sofia was really worried about you."
I know… after all when I got back home, she hurriedly jumped to me. She was crying all along and her eyes were red and there were bags underneath. After seeing me alright, she collapsed. That's just how tired she was. I left her under miss Elle's care for now. I hope she gets better with a little rest.
"Those Administrative Council fools; they might have thought that we cannot succeed if not for the help of the Mother organization—HARMONIA. But that is their biggest mistake. For this exact moment is for what our Student Council was made. Those conniving bastards, they will not underestimate us again after this!"
Calling the Administrative Council "fools" and "conniving bastards", Edelweiss sure is bold, eh. She turned to me.
"Gleren, I need your input about this."
Ahem. I cleared my throat.
"I got the gist of the concept of this operation. We are to move since HARMONIA is unable to do so—however, we have major problems."
I look around to see their bewildered faces,
"We lack the major information."
"True enough."
Reina said holding her chin. I went near the stationary bulletin where the world map was laid open.
"The information we need is of course, first; the location. knowing where the enemies are before striking is the basic."
They all agreed.
"We need to secure their hideout's precise location. The structure of the building. The exits and entrances and hidden doors. All of these—we need to get these data no matter what. Diving blindly to the enemy base is practically suicide."
Though, this mission with only these participants is already at a suicide level… I could only sigh.
"True enough. But this is a bit problematic. We don't have any ability user that had such kind of prowess."
As I thought… The student council is composed of the most powerful—the elite ability users. They all had exceptional abilities; however, they lack manpower and the ability to search for locations. Well, I might just know the right person for that.
"Worry not. I know just the perfect person for the Job. The problem is—that ability might need buffing for more accurate data. After all, we don't just need to find the location but the numbers of enemies that we would be fighting."
"I see. That's right. Then there would be no problem."
Said Edelweiss. She shifted her gaze to one of the attendees.
"Can you do it, Chisaki?"
Fuji Chisaki. She's a member of Kage no Kishi. If I remember correctly, her ability was to amplify the ability of others. A rare and amazing ability. Simple yet very useful.
"Yep. With no problem! Hehehe. Just the thought of working with sir Gleren makes my heart pound!"
Hey now, stop it… don't go in that direction.
"Here, here! me too!"
Just as I was fretting over such thought. An energetic voice sounded loudly inside the room. It was from a girl wearing a Chinese clothing. Oh, come on! I've got a bad feeling about this.
"Being able to be with master Gleren in the same room is so exciting! Hehehe!"
She said. Xiang Xing—a member of Long Division. I've worked with her once when I was assigned to guard Huiying, thus she knows who I am.
"Please give me your sign."
See?! Next to join the march was a girl with a monotonous voice. Combined with her devoid expression, she looks really like a cold girl. Serene—my expressionless partner. She's a member of Saint Rouge—an ability user from Russia.
I might have forgotten to say, but everyone here knows who I really am. After all, the members of this Student Council are all affiliated with HARMONIA—though it was kept secret to other students. Loraine is a member of "Kalasag" division. They even know that the one who infiltrated the school was that new vice-president. They allowed him to join to catch him off-guard. The only problem was they were not able to consider the third party leading to a mess of things.
"I'll give you one after the meeting, okay?"
I smiled ironically at her… Serene was my partner when I guarded Anastasia Kuznetsov. The Russian actress. Hearing my words, Serene showed a small smile—something that she never really shows to anyone. That surprised me a little.
"Alright, that's enough. Save that after this meeting."
Sigh… Thank you for the save… Edelweiss. Hmm? As I was wondering who was tugging my sleeve… I saw the bashful Edelweiss, there…red and blushing—
"But… me too… please give me your sign as well."
Oi, what happened to save it after the meeting?
After these trivial peaceful frets, we continued our meeting.
We manage to decide things in a surprising speed since everyone here only listens and hardly argue with the decisions made. We decided to put the pinning of location on hold. After all, we still have to find their hideout.
"Our enemy this tine had the ability to cancel ours. We need to be extra careful when we actually do the battle. I don't want anyone here to be injured. That is all for now. We will have another meeting after we consulted with the expert of finding locations."
Said Edelweiss before finally ending the meeting.
I was also able to ask Edelweiss,
"Will it be okay to bring someone else?"
She just looked at me with stern eyes before finally saying; "Do as you like." without asking any more questions.
"Are there any questions?"
She tuned to everyone.
"None, ma'am."
Everyone answered in chorus. With that, the fist part of the preparation, which is to mainly meet with the members had come to end. Now then, let's o home… Sofy must be finally awake.
After giving everyone a signature…wait, do I really have the right to do this…? I wondered before I left straight for home.