Shiro was sitting down, his hands trembling slightly just from the thoughts running through his head. Still, he did everything he could to calm himself, because there was no point in getting nervous when the storm had already settled.
"Someone wants to talk to you."
Shiro raised his head and heard Yuzuki's voice. She gave him a look that felt like it pierced straight through his soul, but she simply kept walking down that empty, long, unsettling hallway filled with dull colors.
Shiro leaned his back against the wall. The bench wasn't particularly comfortable. When he lifted his gaze to the right, the door opened with a soft sound. Two people stepped out of it, but only one moved forward, stepping out of the darkness.
"I would like to apologize for my older brother's behavior. It was probably unsettling for you and your card wielder."
His tone was quite dry, yet it carried empathy and a calm, slightly comforting manner of speaking.
"My name is Akira Hinokami. It's a pleasure."
The man stood at around 1.75 meters tall, somewhat tall. His hair wasn't very long, but long enough to look good, a deep black color. His blue eyes stood out the most against his pale skin.
His outfit was striking as well.
He wore a long white jacket with red embroidery, its back panels reaching down to his knees like the wings of a bird. The sleeves were fitted, decorated with golden details that resembled flames. The collar was high and opened slightly at the sides, revealing a red shirt with white accents.
His pants were white and fitted, with a red line running down the sides. A red belt with a golden flame-shaped buckle tightened around his waist, while a red band crossed his chest, held in place by a phoenix-shaped clasp. He wore tall red boots with golden details, white gloves embroidered in red, and a necklace with a small golden phoenix pendant.
Shiro didn't respond. He only nodded slightly.
At the moment, he wasn't wearing his jacket; it rested beside him. Underneath, he had on a long-sleeved black shirt.
"Hey… at least you could respond…"
Behind Akira, a woman's voice echoed. It sounded slightly sweet, though somewhat serious.
"Relax, Mei. He seems nervous…"
Akira turned his back to Shiro to face the girl whose name apparently was Mei. They spoke between themselves, but Shiro seemed lost in his own thoughts, thinking about how he could have done better during that test.
Two hours have passed… I still can't calm down… but why didn't the Soul Card of Alma Rigel react…? I was supposed to be able to summon it just by thinking about it. It worked twice…
Standing in front of Shiro now was her. Her posture was firm, but not tense.
"…No matter how disrespectful the person in front of me might be, I will introduce myself properly… Kurai Mei, of the Hinokami family."
Kurai Mei Hinokami wore a long black jacket with dark purple details that reached down to her knees. The embroidery on the back formed abstract patterns resembling shadows and phases of the moon, with silver accents.
The sleeves were loose, with purple edges and small silver embroidery on the forearms.
Her inner shirt was dark purple with black details on the collar and cuffs. She wore a crescent moon insignia on her chest.
Her pants were black with a dark purple stripe along the sides. A black belt with a crescent moon buckle fastened her waist. She wore tall black boots with purple details and black gloves with purple embroidery at the wrists.
She crossed her arms and looked directly at Shiro.
"You can call me Mei. My name is long for some people."
"Ah, yes… no problem."
Shiro was about to stand up and leave. He didn't really want to talk to people who only came to apologize, but he would feel bad doing that. A complicated situation he had created himself.
"So… your name is Shiro, right? Sometimes my brother presents himself as someone superior, but—"
"Correction. He is someone superior."
Mei interrupted Akira's monologue. It didn't seem to bother him at all; he simply laughed softly.
Shiro widened his eyes for a moment, as if he had remembered something important. He swallowed and took a deep breath.
Hinokami… Mizuki told me to be careful with him… but… there are three Hinokamis…? Which one of the three should I be careful about…?
"A-ah, don't worry. I didn't feel like your brother disrespected me or anything… he was just… just doing his job, right?"
Shiro stuttered slightly as he spoke, but he managed to maintain his composure.
"No. Actually, if our brother had done his job as a Sage properly, he should have stopped the test before you were crushed. As your commander said, the test had already ended."
Mei spoke while leaning against the wall in front of Shiro. In front of her stood Akira, his back turned to her as he glanced sideways at Shiro.
When he heard what his sister said, he closed his eyes for a moment in thought. After only a few seconds, he opened them again and spoke to Shiro.
"Well… that's true. My brother does bear a large part of the responsibility. In that sense, he wasn't doing his job."
"You're very formal… the three of you are siblings… twins or something?"
Mei stayed silent, simply listening to Shiro speak. It seemed Akira had to take over the conversation.
"Well, we were born in different years. There's a maximum difference of about three or four years between us."
"Well, you're the oldest then, right?"
Akira laughed softly and rubbed the back of his neck.
"You flatter me, but no. I'm the youngest. The oldest is Hikaru, the Sage of Department 1."
Shiro listened. For some reason, a faint tingling ran across his back, but he ignored it.
"As for us, Mei is the middle one… and I… I'm the youngest."
Akira's tone remained calm. There wasn't a hint of embarrassment about being the youngest, which was something Shiro had seen many people feel in his own world.
Without saying a word, Mei tilted her head slightly toward Shiro in a respectful farewell and began walking away.
Akira watched her, fell silent for a moment, then looked back at Shiro.
"You have my respect. Not everyone passes that test. And for a novice, you're in good shape."
Shiro thought he would simply leave, but not before Akira said a few final words.
"You have a phone, right? I'll tell Mizuki to give you my number. Whenever you need help, I'll see if I can make space in my schedule."
Shiro glanced at him from the corner of his eye and simply nodded.
And with that, the Hinokami siblings left.
Several minutes passed. Shiro had been told to wait there, but… an hour had already gone by. He had nothing to entertain himself with or ease his slight worry.
"…She'll be fine. She didn't look that bad when we brought her to the infirmary. It's an ingenious idea to have a clinical assistance room every five floors… that's a lot…"
Shiro started trying to count how many infirmaries the entire building might have, but he didn't know the exact number of floors.
Eventually he sighed and gave up.
[Main Department – Floor 1]
Mizuki stood in front of the crystal entrance of the central department, in the middle of a plaza with brick flooring. People passed around her in their daily routines.
She held her phone in one hand, but with a calm blink, she realized something.
"Does Shiro have a phone?" she asked Yuzuki, who was standing beside her.
Yuzuki stayed silent for a few moments, looking out toward the streets.
"I don't think so."
She answered simply without taking her eyes off the front.
"Alright… Kaede will come walking since she isn't seriously injured. I'll tell her to bring him along. When we get back, we need to check his fingerprints and facial password."
After that, a long silence followed, lasting about two minutes.
"Are you going to talk to me about it?"
"Talk about what?"
Mizuki's response was quick and simple. Both spoke in similar tones.
"Don't give me that. I saw Shiro's card, how it—"
Mizuki gestured for her to stop talking. She sighed and closed her eyes.
"It's understandable. You were watching the card while Kaede's were exploding and they were both moving at full speed. Those were two very specific opportunities. Without prior notice, I'm surprised you at least realized it was different."
"That's not what I mean. Don't avoid the top—"
Yuzuki was about to continue, but a presence interrupted them simply by being there.
Yuzuki was the first to look toward him.
"Is no one going to come…?"
Shiro was already wearing the green jacket Kaede had given him. It was quite comfortable to move around and stretch his arms.
He had walked out of the dead-end corridor. Near the exit, it split into two separate hallways.
He was leaning there.
"I saw your test, Shiro. I'm surprised you had the courage to sacrifice yourself…"
It was Touka, staring at him without blinking.
"What's up?"
Shiro looked at him and simply kept walking, though he stayed close to the wall opposite Touka.
When he reached the point right in front of him, they stopped and looked at each other. For some reason, a slight tension hung in the air.
"Do you know a woman named Alma Rigel?"
Touka's question was very direct.
Before Shiro could answer, Touka stepped closer, insisting.
Shiro's nerves were visible. He couldn't help swallowing, but he had to pretend nothing was wrong. Otherwise… who knew what would happen.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I don't know anyone like that."
The moment he spoke, all the pressure vanished when Touka smiled and placed his hand on Shiro's left shoulder.
"Good. I see you know how to keep secrets."
With that, Touka left without another word, walking down the left hallway.
Shiro couldn't help sighing in relief, though the whole situation felt very strange.
"What kind of questions are those… that guy is really weird…"
He sighed and leaned back against the wall, finally a bit calmer.
"There you are! They asked me to find you. We're finally going to go rest!"
When Shiro turned toward the hallway where the voice came from, he felt even more relieved when he saw Kaede.
"Yeah… let's go."
The two walked down the hallway.
Even though it was only four in the afternoon, the place already felt empty.
"By the way… your clothes still look dusty."
When Shiro said that, Kaede didn't even turn to check her clothes. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye.
"Really? In that case, I'll send them to be washed earlier."
Shiro kept looking forward as they walked, though his gaze always leaned slightly toward the ground.
"Kaede… are you okay? I mean, you took that hit head-on less than three hours ago."
"Oh, that? Don't worry! Besides being strong, I've got brains too! I just made one of my cards explode right in front of the punch. That slowed down the impact a bit."
Kaede put on a slightly proud expression, closing her eyes and raising her chin.
"Pretty smart of me, right?"
"Whatever you say…"
"By the way, you have to tell me about your card! You've been avoiding the questions since yesterday!"
Shiro couldn't help looking at the white wall on the opposite side from Kaede.
He glanced at her, wondering how he could even begin to explain something like that.
…
Down below, the streets were somewhat empty.
Yuzuki and Mizuki stood there, completely still, occasionally looking around.
"What do you think? It's an interesting proposal."
Yuzuki looked at Mizuki from the corner of her eye, waiting for a response.
"I'm not refusing, but we'll need to wait a while. He's only just adapting to this place. I'm not sending them to 'Solarin' without thinking it through."
Their conversation stopped when they sensed the two presences coming out of the building.
"By the way, what are you going to buy me?!"
"I don't have money. I don't work. Actually… are they going to pay me for being your host?"
"They do pay! Plus we live for free in Department 9!"
Kaede and Shiro approached from afar.
Shiro kept his gaze slightly downward, while Kaede maintained eye contact, tilting her head slightly to look at him.
Eventually, they reached Mizuki and Yuzuki and stopped beside them.
"Don't we use vehicles?"
Shiro looked at the street, where cars passed almost constantly, none of them dark blue.
"Nope. Stretch those legs."
Yuzuki said it while already walking toward the entrance of the other departments.
"Not to complain, but my feet hurt…"
"Want me to help you walk, Shiro?!" Kaede said with genuine intent.
Mizuki walked beside Yuzuki, leaving the two of them to talk.
"They give off good vibes as teammates."
"You don't usually give compliments, Yuzuki."
…
Time passed quickly.
From morning until almost five in the afternoon, they had spent the whole time inside that building… all for a five-minute test.
Streetlights were already turning on everywhere.
After a full day under a cloudy sky, a nighttime storm began.
Because of that, the streets were mostly empty. A few vehicles rushed by, people ran through the rain, and now and then someone walked under an umbrella, alone or accompanied.
Amid the heavy rain, a young man entered a black vehicle, sitting in the back seat and sighing calmly.
He let a pen fall beside him onto the cold gray seats.
The atmosphere inside the car was calm and comfortable.
He wore a black suit with a white shirt beneath his jacket. His hair was dark blue, falling slightly over his forehead near his eyes after getting a bit wet when the rain started.
"How did the delivery go, Mr. Calius?"
The young man—apparently named Calius—looked slightly forward.
The driver, about his age, watched him with a friendly smile.
Calius lowered his gaze again and breathed in the car's air.
"Thanks for calling me by my name. I don't like being called by my last name around here."
His tone sounded dull, apparently tired.
"But the surname 'Valtherion' doesn't sound bad on you."
Calius looked out the window toward the completely dark, cloudy sky, resting his head against the seat while removing an annoying tie.
"Let's just get to the desert entrance and have a helicopter pick us up. My blue hair makes me stand out in this strange city."
The car began moving through the rain.
After a while, the road stretched straight ahead with no turns needed. The driver glanced at the back seat.
"If I may ask… did you receive a positive response?"
Calius turned fully toward the driver, revealing his blank expression. His dark blue eyes stared at him.
"Honestly, my father's contacts surprise me. I mean, he made me come here two days ago to meet one of his associates in this boring city… and now he tells me to write a formal letter to someone named Kaede Alhena and her host, Shiro Mimosa."
"Wow. You still remember their names?"
"How could I not… I had to rewrite the letter over and over for the past three hours."
The driver laughed softly.
"What do you know about them? I assume your father told you something."
Calius lowered his gaze, looking at his pale palms.
"Kaede Alhena is a low-rank hunter, and Shiro Mimosa is a newly arrived novice. I don't know why my father would be interested in them."
The rain struck the windows heavily.
The driver crossed his arms, glancing sideways at Calius.
"Mr. Darius sometimes has his secrets… didn't he say anything else?"
"Well, he only told me that a close friend recommended them, and he thought it would be a good idea to include them in the 'Solarin' mission."
"Very well, Mr. Calius. Back to Ritharion."
Calius looked again at the dim views of the city and narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.
"…Yes. Back to Ritharion."