"What were you doing No.4?! You kept me waiting!"
No.2 shouts while waving her hands frantically to signal No.4's. Having noticed her roars, No.4 sighed and slowly floated down to the park. Looking around, he has noticed the barrier around the park.
"It isn't to run all the way here. You all have your staves to fly with, while I have to walk myself."
"Now now, let's forget the small details and just be glad we met on time."
No.4 only sighed in response and gave up. All Executioners, like Magical Girls have their own staffs, were given on to deal with their troubles. All having the ability to fly and traverse their area of jurisdiction, however for No.4 it was a different case. He wasn't given any ability to fly, just levitation. It was as if he's simply making a platform wherever he's in the air, and walks doing so. Nobody notices him thanks to the veil of his garment, other than that his only issue would be how hard it is to travel from one side to another.
"So, where is this thief of ours?"
No.4 asks, dusting his outfit as he landed to the ground.
"She'll come around soon. The girl usually uses this route to escape."
Moments later the two felt a presence. Using their sense for magic, they are able to see through objects and feel the presence of a person even from afar.
"Remember that signature and let's follow the target."
"Roger that, No.4~"
But as soon as the two Executioners stood up. The magical presence disappeared, leaving only lingering energy. Like smoke from a newly put out candle. It was there, but no source from where it came from.
"Invisibility should've left traces atleast...meaning--"
No.4 walked towards where the girl's magic signature was last felt. It was in the middle of the park, but then it disappeared.
"Teleportation--or to be accurate, warping. It allows her to move to great distances without much effort other than to pass through a little shortcut she makes."
"You knew about this..."
"Of course I do, this is my territory after all. What happens, it happens with my knowledge."
"If she's able to warp, then she could've warped to her destination straight instead..."
No.4 turned his attention towards No.2 who has began to buy an ice cream on the stall near. Completely disregarding their weird appearances. No.4 let out a surprised expression and panic as he starts to call out to his colleague.
"Hey! You're going to get us exposed--!"
"It's finee, I know that guy. They're probably used to it now."
No.2 replied in protest before handing out a vanilla ice cream for the young man. He accepted it and took off his mask to eat it.
"Thank you No.2. But I think I can handle the case now."
No.2 began to bite onto her ice cream, instead of taking off her mask however she begins to eat the delicacy under the mask continuing to conceal her appearance.
"I can give you more clues you know. You sure you can do it on your own?"
"I'm not so incapable I'd leave my work to others. But! I'd like to thank you for your help sometime."
Executioner No.4 answered, puffing out his chest in pride. No.2 sighed and cringes.
"Meanie, that's not what I mean. But alright, I'll be accepting that offer of yours."
She pouts though No.4 could hear it through her change in tone.
"Then I would be going now. I hope I still have your permission to act on your territory."
"Forget formalities, I'm sure Wise thinks it's better that way."
"Protocols, she said."
No.4 answered what Wise usually answers when he's asking for leniency for the lines he has to deliver. Then he jumps, as if his body was weightless it ascended high to the sky and he begins to walk away from the scene. His exit was comedic enough for No.2 to giggle, seeing that he seems pathetic to just be walking after a grand leap.
"The girl has to stop to the park and then leap again into a warp. It can't be a time limit, the distance between the market and the park is long enough it would take about 30 minutes, even so it's too specific of a place to step out of."
No.4 stands above the distance between the two places the culprit has been onto.
"This would be too darn hard if she relies on memory for her warps, but it wouldn't make sense why she has to stop at the park."
He puts his two index fingers together into one line connecting the Verdant Market and the Central Park. He bites into the cone and continues to eat it.
"Distance...there must be a limit to the distance she can open a window onto. Warping also answers how she's able to steal without anyone noticing. On the opposite side of the portal, it would appear like a shadow of the past and then bam, it gets patched and the item is gone."
No.4 continues to think through his next move as he tries to understand how the Magical Girl's opponent works. And then the next day arrived and he has to continue his morning routine of going to school.
"If you've had the ability to open a window to anywhere, what would you do with it?"
Hans suddenly asked Selene. Surprised with his unusual approach, his classmate turned around to look at him.
"His eyes seem serious somehow, as if he's looking through me."
Selene thought before clearing her throat and giving him a mean look.
"Travel. I'd travel anywhere."
"It makes sense right? Having the power to go anywhere, you'd definitely go to places you dream of. But..."
Hans agreed to her answer and smiled, but he remains in deep thought. Seconds later, he seems to have been woken up from a trance and panicked to clear up the situation.
"Just a random thought, haha..."
"You're weird."
Hans could only laugh in defeat as a response and Selene began focusing on her phone again. Sighing, he waits for the day to finish and began his investigation. With no duties to hold him back he sets off early to the site where he was before and waited.
"This time, let's try to catch her presence. Being on high altitude should allow me to figure out which places she usually goes."
No.4 waited for moments. Keeping tabs on the time so that he could pinpoint the exact timing.
"3:23...a few minutes since No.2 and I met at the park."
Having noticed how near it is to when he first felt the Magical Girl's presence. He began to focus on finding her magical signature. Closing his eyes to block activity from his vision and entered a dream like state where his sense of smell, touch and hearing were reduced to almost nothing. This technique allows him to tap onto his magical sense the strongest, giving him a vision of the town's map to its simplified elements and the various signature it contains such as life forms. There appeared an enormous number of life signature, but a magical girl's is special. It fluctuates rapidly as the magic within them is wild and powerful.
"No wonder I wasn't able to feel your presence when I was searching in the market..."
Executioner No.4 thought to himself as he sees the Magical Girl move from places to places in no time. Wasting not a single second, everything was already planned from the start. The Magical Girl would be on the forest near the market, far from where No.4 conducts his searches and even if he did luckily get close, the signature would be gone in an instant.
"Wise, could you please pinpoint where my target first appear?"
"Understood. But I can only do small scale searches using my artifact."
"That's enough. I already know the location where the target may possibly appear. Forest, northwest side of the Verdant Market. I can't pinpoint where exactly yet. Wise, could you keep track of this location? Around 3 pm to 4 pm."
"That I can do. Are you thinking of catching the thief right then and there, Executioner No.4?"
"I can't do that. She specifically chose that part of the forest because she knows the way around it. I'm simply no match if I try to sneak up on the target."
"Then what do you suggest we do? If Wise could lend an assistance, Wise suggests firing an orbital starry night beam."
"We have no orbital beam, right?"
"Wise has armaments capable of mass destruction if deemed necessary by the Executioner."
No.4 gives a concerned look to his manager.
"You're just as bad as the magical girls I'm apprehending."
"I'm kidding. A simple Wise joke to ease up the tension."
The voice from the earpiece jokes with a robotic tune at the end. No.4 gives out a chuckle for her attempt, not at the joke.
"Alright, I'm counting on you Wise. During that time, I'll investigate the other side of the portal. Then, I decide what to do next."
A beating pulse rings, like how a clock ticks. Will No.4 catch his fate in time or will he be too early?