types qw

Secret Organization

Chapter Text

"Greetings, Madam Petrison."

Airina curtsied with a light bow.

Before her, by a grand mansion, stood an older but astonishingly elegant woman.

Airina felt the sharp glare piercing through her.

She did her best not to shudder as she gave a polite smile.

Marquise Petrison was a mature woman with soft curly hair just below her shoulders.

Her eyes were of a curious color.

It was a mix of deep blue and wine-red, blending in the middle to create dark indigo color.

She wore dark, tightly-fitted gowns with obvious cut down the middle for easy movement.

The dress was mostly cold black with feathered motif and many layers of light fabric.

The Marquise looked quite young for her age, she shone like a 20 year old at 30.

Looking down, madam Petrison nodded at the polite greeting.

"Good day, Miss Mailey. It is an honor that you've accepted my invitation to grace me with your presence."

Airina stopped bowing, standing up straight with a smile.

"Not at all, Madam Petrison. I am truly grateful to have the privilege to visit your manor."

Madam Petrison nodded, looking less cold and quite pleased at Airina's attitude.

"Very well, please enter."

With that, madam Petrison turned around and walked into the mansion.

Without missing a beat, Airina moved in to follow her.

Her two 'bodyguards' walked only a step behind, as they should.

Dager felt his nerves tightening.

The amount of scolding he received inside of the carriage left a strong impression.

And so, he decided to rather bite off his own tongue than to speak up.

Like a pro, he hid his exasperation at the magnificent interior.

He's someone who's seen things much more surreal than a shiny ceiling, although Juny sure would enjoy looking at it...

He stealthily shook his head.

After a minute of walking, the Marquise entered a wide room with soft looking couches and seats.

Since he got a tour from Airina before, he could tell that this was just a very much exaggerated room for meeting guests.

There were many snacks and types of tea on the table.

With great resolve, Dager pushed all his saliva down his throat.

He decided that simply not looking at it might help.

Soon the servants left and the three shared looks.

After Dager skimmed his eyes around to scan the room, he nodded.

Seeing the signal that noone was watching them, Airina spoke up.

"Madam Petrison. In the letter, you mentioned very unusual supernatural phenomena, is that correct?"

The Marquise nodded, her gaze as cold as ice.

"That's indeed the case. Isn't that why you and your 'bodyguards' were allowed entry?"

Dager swiftly held back his frown.

'She's being a bit too rude... no, never mind.'

He soon realized that this level of caution was to be expected.

Airina was silent for only a moment.

"Then, is it possible to give us closer information about these incidents? Per the Baronesses wish, we used some contacts to receive help from people specializing in this field."

She then politely pointed towards the two men standing behind her.

In reality, only Dager was here to investigate. Gen was here to learn and for aesthetic value.

And although Airina, as an Astrologer, had good Spirit Vision and Divination abilities, she was quite harshly warned.

Not even an hour after her report with the letter, Juny warned her not to recklessly use Divination on the matters concerning the Marquise.

Although Juny herself didn't know why, she had a bad premonition whenever she herself wanted to try light Divination.

Airina knew that after becoming a Demigod, Juny's Spiritual Intuition was sharper than ever before, so she didn't question it.

Because of this, they were going in pretty much blind.

And, although Airina Divined that there would be almost no danger here, she was skeptical.

And rightfully so, after all, Divination wasn't almighty.

Marquise Petrison scanned the two well dressed men before nonchalantly turning back.

"I shall give you some credit simply because you have the Maileys's blood in you. Very, well..."

She spoke closely about the recent happenings she only briskly mentioned in the letter.

Madam Petrison claimed that objects often displace themselves or even fell off without external influences.

There was also the distortion of reflective surfaces of any kind.

But not the natural phenomenon of distortion.

The mirrors clouded, blurred or just didn't show reflections at all.

There was also an instant when unknown people were momentarily reflected.

Or when the Marquise's reflection warped and she, in the mirror, appeared to have the traits of an undead.

There were sometimes shadowy figures visible in the darkest corners, by the windows, or in the halls.

These dark statues were almost always seen through the reflected surfaces and they disappeared upon closer look.

And then there was the most recent incident.

The Marquise spoke of it as an ailment of sorts.

Or an illness with unknown cause, but in reality, it was much stranger.

It happened to her Lady in Waiting, her closest servant.

Madam Petrison herself described it as signs of actual possession, rather than a terrible illness.

Airina couldn't help her frown.

Dager, strangely enough, listened intently without a change in expression.

If he really set his mind to it, Dager could actually be quite productive and a good worker.

It's just that his nature was too mischievous to show it under usual circumstances.

As such, he soon came to a conclusion.

'It's disorganized and, quite frankly, skeptical. But if anything, a Wraith fits most of the criteria. But it's unusual. Wraiths are not only strong, but also quite aggressive. Why would they do so many tricks while not actually causing any harm? A Beyonder, perhaps? But that still doesn't explain it.'

Dager was immersed in his thoughts as he listened to Airina and madam Petrison in the background.

"Madam Petrison, may I ask, is there a reason why you have yet to contact the official authorities?"

The Marquise's eyes turned even colder before answering calmly.

"I have my reasons. I do not necessarily trust the Church, not to mention they stick their noses where they don't belong."

Gen subconsciously flinched at the strange straightforwardness.

'Is it okay for an influential noble to say that...?'

He pondered, but kept quiet.

Gen, truthfully, also had a guess, but he was not confident.

He was going to ask what the other two thought first.

The Marquise then scanned Gen and Dager before intently asking.

"Where do your companions come from?"

This ripped Dager straight out of his roaming thoughts.

'Excuse me? ...Is this woman seriously asking that?'

Dager shot a glance at Gen, who immediately spoke.

"We were employed from the Abyssal Troop."

His voice was calm, but filled with authority.

Strangely enough, this was also part of one of the warnings Juny gave them.

'Try not to lie. Especially when it comes to our organization I- hmm... I think there is much more to this Marquise than we think, just try to keep it in a reasonable level of politeness.'

Juny was quite serious at the time.

'But Gen, when I say that, I don't mean to be humble. We, as an organization, have a reputation to uphold. With that in mind, act accordingly.'

Dager felt shiver down his spine.

Gen's chilly tone was commanding but still had the natural level of formality.

'If Juny was here, she probably wouldn't be able to hold back from shouting 'Perfect Score!' at the top of her lungs...'

While Dager was having, frankly, rude thoughts, Airina spoke up.

"The Abyssal Troop is trustworthy, which is why my mother asked for their assistance."

The Marquise nodded at this, her expression slightly eased.

'She seems, pleased?'

Dager quickly noticed the miniature change in her facial features.

It was so small that the difference was almost nonexistent, but he caught it.

Although, as to why madam Petrison was pleased, that remained unknown.

The Marquise gently leaned forward and took a sip of tea.

"Very well, allow me to take you around my humble manor, I hope it'll be of assistance in your investigation."

'Humble...'

Gen's eyebrow twitched.

He just barely managed to hold back from sarcastically checking out the room.

After all, even this room alone was over-exaggerated.

As if reading his mind, Airina hurriedly spoke.

"That'd be appreciated, Madam Petrison."

Seeing the Marquise stand up, Airina followed.

During this tour, Dager kept feeling that something wasn't quite right.

They visited the main kitchen, a large dining hall, the servant's quarters, the lord's room, the study and even the quite large greenhouse.

But during this, Dager felt strange spiritual waves being released from the Marquise.

At first, he contributed it to the supernatural happenings, but after a while, he couldn't ignore it.

The Marquise would randomly motion her hand and send out her spirituality.

Right then, a flame would collapse or start.

And when looking through the study room, he noticed unusual amounts of spirituality gathering around the desk.

Then there was the strange jewelry...

'If only I had Juny's eyes... Wait.'

As if a hammer had hit him, Dager stealthily moved right behind Airina.

"Airina."

His voice was an exceptionally quiet whisper.

Airina gently nodded, showing that she's listening.

Unlike Dager, she wasn't confident in her ability to be quiet enough when talking.

"Do you have that Spell Scroll on hand? The one with Juny's vision?"

Airina looked slightly up, eyeing Dager.

After a second, she slowly rummaged through her hidden pocket in her dress and took out a neatly rolled up scroll.

"Thanks."

Dager quickly took it and moved back.

Juny was quite stingy when it came to making Material Vision Spell Scrolls.

Unlike what one might think, they were the hardest and most tiresome to make.

They could also be dangerous for the user.

Which is why she only made one, and it would last an hour at most.

Silently, the Spell Scroll burned to crisp in an instant.

Dager's vision flashed as all colors intensified before turning dim.

At the same time, he saw through Airina's body, looking at strange colorful auras.

He saw cyan green radiating outwards from her heart.

The waves were calm, natural.

He could tell that it meant the amount of spirituality gathering inside her and that she's not using any of her abilities.

He then looked to the side.

Gen's core was a mix reddish and gray aura.

It spread before mixing back together inside.

On first glance, Dager instinctively knew that Gen's gathered spirituality was a level lower than Airina's.

Having familiarized himself with it, Dager glanced at the beautiful Marquise.

And... he did his best not to flinch.

There was Indigo purple aura seeping out of her.

After a quick comparison, Dager came to a conclusion.

'She's a Sequence 7! Which pathway? She can manipulate fire... is it the Red Priest? But-'

Just as he was thinking, madam Petrison stopped before a door.

"This is the last place. Here, the reflections were the most disturbing."

Dager gently tilted his head.

Looking at the door, he froze.

'Huh?'

With the vision, Dager couldn't see the inside of the open room at all.

Not to mention.

'Dark green... it is a wraith! But- Why can't I see it?'

Dager's sensitive Spiritual Intuition was sending him sharp exclamation marks.

Just as Airina took a step into the room, the aura around her leg dimmed before disappearing.

Dager might've not known what it meant, but it was not good.

With no more than two wide steps, Dager appeared next to Airina.

He grabbed her shoulder, pushing her back and out of the room.

Not only Airina, but also madam Petrison and Gen were puzzled.

Airina showed alarm, her head whipping to the side.

She was about to angrily question him, but seeing the too serious face, she forgot what she was about to do.

"Is something the matter?"

Dager frowned even deeper, not taking his eyes off the door.

"Don't go in."

"Excuse me?"

Airina felt baffled.

'Why, why shouldn't I go inside? And what's with tha-'

She didn't even manage to finish her thoughts as Dager shot a glare at the Marquise.

'Hey, hey, hey! You can't glare at the Marquise!'

Seeing the strange way Dager was acting, Gen decided to also take action.

"What do you see?"

Dager looked at him, his eyes still opened.

It's been over thirty seconds since he last blinked, but he didn't seem bothered.

He let go of Airina's shoulder and rubbed his eyelids before speaking.

"It's a wraith, a strange wraith."

Just as Gen was about to ask further, Dager looked back into the open room.

"But it's not just the wraith."

Airina looked up at him.

"What does that mean?"

She didn't even question how he knew it's not just the wraith.

She was the one who gave him Juny's special vision.

Dager's brows furrowed even further as he once again looked at the Marquise.

She was standing with folded arms and cold expression.

She wasn't doing anything to reveal her inner thoughts.

Dager looked back into the room and spoke with a calm voice.

"Let's call the Scoutmaster."

"Huh?"

"What?"

As sounds of confusion sounded, madam Petrison was the only one staying indifferent.

"What makes you think your Scoutmaster can resolve it?"

Dager looked at her.

'So she knows what's causing it... and she still made us go inside? Why?'

He felt distasteful, but he answered nonetheless.

"Is the Scoutmaster cannot solve it, then there is nothing we can do and we'll take our leave."

Madam Petrison unfolded her arms as she continued to question.

"Scoutmaster, as in the leader of a Troop, right? What makes you think he'll bother to help with something like this?"

Dager turned his body to face the Marquise.

"So you're aware of what's inside? Why would you let us step into the room?"

The Marquise, for the very first time, smiled.

It was a very cold smile.

"If you couldn't even notice something like this, it would just mean you're not the real deal."

'The real deal?'

Airina and Gen were confused, but stayed silent.

Dager held back the need to click his tongue.

"Your servant got possessed after entering this room, right? I assume it wasn't the only time someone was possessed, right?"

Airina shook, pulling Dager's sleeve.

Dager looked down at her, tilting his head.

Airina whispered.

"Rhetorical questions are rude."

Dager flinched, looking at Airina in disbelief.

His lips slowly separated.

"You were almost possessed because of her tests, and you're worried about that?"

Airina frowned, pulling the sleeve even harder.

"Referring to someone without mentioning their name or title is also rude, and don't you dare point!"

"Hey..."

Dager was left speechless.

'Is that really important...?'

Gen watched this with a stone-like expression.

It was actually taking all of his willpower not to shake his head in disappointment.

"I'll go ask for the Scoutmaster's assistance."

The other three present looked at him as he turned around.

He decided to use one of the servants's bathrooms to open the Dimensional Door.

Dager watched him walk away with a complicated expression as madam Petrison gave him a look.

She then looked at Airina before speaking out, her tone cold.

"You seem close?"

Airina lightly jumped, turning to look at the Marquise.

'Damn... I should have been more cautious.'

Airina eyed Dager from the corner of her eyes.

She noticed that he was also eyeing her.

After locking eyes, Airina turned her whole body in madam Petrison's direction.

"That may be so, Madam Petrison."

The Marquise gently narrowed her eyes, but kept silent.

Her expression was ice cold and unchanging.

Before long, Dager felt a shiver creaking up his spine.

His Spiritual Intuition boiled and reacted, as if his surroundings somehow changed.Soon after that, he heard light footsteps.

After looking back, Dager saw a strange shadowy figure whose features and characteristics kept flowing and changing.

He was slightly startled, but soon realized what was going on.

He was unsure if he should salute or not, but seeing Juny lift her hand, he decided against it.

"Scoutmaster! Thank you for coming."

Juny gave Dager a look.

'Wasn't I the one who assigned the mission? Of course I'll help when-'

Juny's thoughts paused.

'That?'

Her eyes wandered to the opened entrance.

"Step away from that room.'

Dager and Airina flinched, but did as told either way.

Juny looked at the stoic Marquise.

"Are you perhaps a Magician?"

For the first time, the Marquise's expression changed to one of shock.

'Got it right! Hahah, Gen's thoughts had some truth to them after all! I should give him more credit.'

Juny inwardly shook her head to get rid of the smugness.

"Please excuse me, Madam Petrison. I didn't mean to sound rude. It was simply unexpected."

Juny's voice was very steady.

Madam Petrison got her expression back under control in less than half a second, nodding as if it was nothing.

"It is quite alright, but may I ask what you plan to do with that problem?"

Juny's eyes followed the Marquise's nod to look into the room.

"What do you wish me to do with it?"

Juny then looked at Dager.

"Do you want for me to go inside and retrieve the cursed artifact? Or to restrain the Wraith Beyonder, perhaps?"

Madam Petrison didn't flinch, but her expression did turn slightly pleased.

"I see."

Juny looked at her.

Her lips went up, but to the outside, it only seemed as if her facial features shifted.

"Yes, indeed."

The other three, Dager, Airina and Gen, watched this.

They all did their best to keep their faces straight, but their minds were surprisingly similar.

'What even is that conversation... Am I the only one confused?'

'I have no idea what- never mind, just act like you understand.'

'That sounds reasonable, yep... A cursed artifact and a Sequence 5 Beyonder seems reasonable.'

Amidst these thoughts, they saw a darkly dressed man stepping out of the room.

He was holding a strange, heart looking, bundle of crystals.

'Bam!'

Juny looked back.

She could see flames concentrating inside Dager's palm.

As everyone showed great alamr and distanced themselves from him, Juny stepped closer.

With a simple flick on his forehead, Dager's glazed-over eyes cleared.

Dager's gaze turned towards the Wraith who just walked out of the room and then to his hand.

He quickly got rid of the fire and wiped the back of his neck.

"S... hm. I apologize."

Juny nodded.

"That's why having my vision is dangerous. Especially when you can't turn it off on time."

Dager looked at his hand, it was drenched in cold sweat.

He heaved a deep sigh.

He now understood.

It was not that the interior of the room was dark, it was just that the aura of that artifact was pitch black, and the range was really wide.

Juny looked at the cursed artifact and activated Appraisal.

'Ugh. It's filled with corruption and death! What in the hell created this thing?!'

Juny looked back at the Marquise.

"Where did you get this? It's very dangerous."

Juny didn't ask about the Wraith's identity.

Although, she did feel distasteful that this Marquise set up a trap for unknown reasons.

Madam Petrison nodded.

"It is indeed. It is something I gained through betrayal and hatred."

Juny looked at the 'heart'.

"For whom?"

The madam frowned.

She then smiled, glaring at the object.

"Those despicable creatures who dare call themselves humans. Your foes."

Juny, too, furrowed her brows.

'Foes...'

Juny looked at the Marquise, suddenly filled with realization.

"You've got unreasonably large amount of intelligence agencies at your disposal. As far as I'm aware, we hid our connection to the Baroness quite well."

Madam Petrison's expression returned back to normal.

She looked at Juny before shaking her head.

"You did, I was simply blessed with luck. But it's not like that. I do not wish any harm on my dearest friend."

Juny nodded, looking at the Wraith.

She then turned to the other three.

"Very well, since we're both present, and our goals align, I will give you my time."

She then looked back at the Marquise.

"You do wish to get your revenge, do you not?"

The madam stayed stoic, but her eyes turned colder.

"That's why I went into such lengths to meet you."

Juny hummed silently, she then looked at Airina and spoke.

"Troop Guide, inform the Baroness of what happened today, so that she won't have unreasonable worries."

She then looked at Gen and Dager.

"The two of you may also take your leave, we shall have a briefing at the usual time."

The three secretly stole glances at each other before moving in sync.

They each placed their right hand to their heart and their left hand to their back.

"Yes, Scoutmaster."

'Thank goodness that went well.'

'I was afraid we'd say differently lines.'

Having telepathically finished their conversation, the three left.

Juny watched this with a strange expression.

'Are there some secret meetings where they practice saluting? I don't think we ever discussed this...'

Juny shook off her disdain and turned to madam Petrison.

During this, the Wraith has also disappeared, leaving only the two remaining.

The Marquise spoke first.

"This way, please."

"I appreciate your hospitality, Madam Petrison."

...

'Fuu... talking in such highly formal manner is exhausting!'

Juny couldn't help but complain as she disappeared into her Pocket Dimension.

"But still, I wonder what those bastards did to her. She's so desperate for revenge, she's even willing to back up a completely random secret organization."

Juny couldn't help but mumble as she sat down behind her desk.

Looking back at the strange conversation she just had, she couldn't help but respect the Marquise and her ability to gather information.

'She was searching for the Rosary Road guys so hard, even they began to feel the pressure and had to keep quiet for a while.'

"With her being like that, there's no way she wouldn't find our connection to the Baroness. But still, we're not completely without information either. We even know where their main- no their main hideout is somewhere underground. We know the name and place of their leader."

Juny leaned back, looking up at the spreading galaxy.

She tapped the table with her fingertip in a steady rhythm.

'We'll soon be going into the endgame...it's going to be one hell of a fight.'

Juny sighed just thinking about it. It was obvious that it'll be her job to get rid of the Sequence 4 Shaman King.

She looked away from the nonexistent ceiling and looked down at the table.

'Then there's also this.'

On the desk was a very good drawing of a man's face.

'This is the guy the Marquise wished to murder, but...'

"I think I've seen him before... I have seen many faces, but this one is special... maybe it's because everyone in that cult looks the same to me? I hope I didn't kill him."

With a deep exhale, Juny remembered the man's features before leaving the Pocket Dimension.

These past few days, Juny's been testing her new skills.

She liked the Space Mind Manipulation the most.

The fact that under certain circumstances, she can read a person's mind was crazy.

But she also found the Find Enchantment to be very overpowered.

As long as one owned the object, it could be found.

'But there's not much fighting worth. Although I guess I can make up for it with Space Solidification and Spell Scrolls.'

Juny didn't need Spell Scrolls to hide her appearance, because all she needed was Space Distortion.

Juny didn't gain many new abilities, but she did get large boost in her already existing abilities.

'I still haven't figured out how to properly use the Rules in my Space Isolation...'

As she wondered, Juny walked down the stairs.

Looking down at the couch, she saw two animals and a young boy.

The three, like usual, looked up and greeted the descending Juny.

"Good evening!"

"Hello."

"Hello, Juny."

Juny nodded, smiling.

"Hello there, are you well?"

Hearing the positive response, Juny walked over and into the kitchen.

Seeing that she had all the ingredients, she got to cooking.

"Do you think Dager and Ellone will come back tonight?"

Darmine was quiet for a moment.

"I'm not sure about Dager, but Ellone will."

"Okay."

Juny moved her hands while thinking.

'Today's Friday 22nd of May. This week's Tarot Gathering was quite boring if I do say so... Nothing much happened. The Sun didn't become a Beyonder yet, although he did mention becoming one very soon. No news about that pirate either... but something should happen this time. right... We, the Abyssal Troop, have gatherings every Sunday at night. It's instead of the usual meeting when I go into the Inizio city. After all, they can activate their own entrance.'

Juny flipped the pan before taking out two plates.

'Natia is done digesting the Doctor potion. Darmine is also veeery close to digesting her Telepathist. Dager's man Valler already Advanced to Folks of Rage and... what did he say again? 'I found my other hand.' Type of thing? Anyway, he asked for Planter Potion Formula. That's... why planter?'

Juny sighed as she placed the portions onto the plates.

'Never mind that, I was invited to another informational gathering by Kein and... Shake wanted to speak with me. I also need to look deeper into the secret hideout. Oh! And Jenica wanted more research materials. I already prepared them, I just forgot. Now I feel bad.'

Having finished setting up the table, Juny turned to the living room.

"Tarkel, the food's ready."

"Coming!"

Juny held back her sigh and sat, looking down at the food.

'I guess I'll have quite a few things to take care of during our next Troop Meeting.'

...

Juny looked down at the watch.

Right as the hand struck 9 pm, multiple strange and bright holes in the galaxy-like space appeared.

Out of each door, one to three people walked out.

Juny looked to the side.

She saw Dager walking out with a young man following behind him.

Quickly, Juny activated her Material Vision as well as Appraisal.

'Sequence 8, I can sense water in his aura... is that Valler?'

Coming to a conclusion, Juny watched everyone exchange greetings while they sat in their predetermined positions.

As Valler, a boy with short black hair and brown eyes, sat down, the chair suddenly shifted under him.

He flinched, looking down with great alarm while Dager snickered.

Juny didn't even have the time to get angry at Dager for not explaining beforehand.

Even though it looked cool, changing appearance at a second's notice wasn't easy.

The chair shifted into wider and rougher look with slight uneven spikes by the edges.

It was in the same galaxy style with blue sub-color and oceanic motif.

Above the headrest was a small, shining, light-blue symbol of a large anchor inside of a smaller stirring wheel.

The two main themes were surrounded with small asymmetrical lines similar to lightning and wind.

Valler was stunned, but managed to not make a sound.

Juny finally shot Dager a glare.

'You should've told me beforehand that you'd bring along your subordinate! Do you know how hard making up designs is?!'

Although Juny felt like that, she couldn't actually say it.

So she just secretly heaved a sigh before looking around the table.

Seeing that everyone arrived on time, Juny got straight to the point.

"Good evening everyone, glad you made it. I talked to most of you about the encounter with a Marquise by the name Jenefer Petrison."

Seeing some nod in recognition while others kept silent and listened, Juny continued.

"I've had a prolonged conversation and we decided to, for now, act in cooperation with each other. I wanted you to be aware, because she might play an important role in the upcoming confrontation."

"Now then, the Marquise asked for only one thing from this cooperation, and that's for us to let her get revenge on a particular man from the Rosary Road. This is the man, try to remember his face and tell me if you meet him in the future."

With that, a piece of paper with a portrait appeared in front of everyone.

It was a picture of a handsome man with quite deep features and a strange and unpleasant smile.

Beneath the picture was a row with text: 'Red eye color, Rosy-blonde hair color.'

"Now the-"

"Wait!"

Just as Juny was about to continue, a beautiful voice interrupted her.

Juny turned to the majestic Sanguine with Chocolate colored hair and layered wine-red dress.

"Yes?"

Daimira stared at the portrait, frowning.

Hearing Juny's probing question, she looked up.

"I know this man."

Juny raised her eyebrows.

'That's fast.'

"Who is it?"

Juny didn't bother asking if she was sure, this is not something she would mention if she was unsure.

Daimira placed the picture down on the table.

"Last time, it was frantic, so I couldn't properly remember the features, but looking at it now, I'm sure. This is the Scarlet Scholar I met in the underground prison!"

Juny frowned, leaning forward.

"You mean the one we thought to be Lamei Grant? The owner of the Brothel?"

Daimira nodded.

"Yes, this is him."

Juny looked at the portrait, deep in thought.

"I see, I have seen his portrait before. I think the smile ticked me off... Well, that makes the search a bit easier."

'Although I don't think it's good news for the Sequence 7 Marquise. The chances of her getting revenge are low.'

Juny held back her displeasure and turned to Dager.

"Alright then. Dager, I got you the Planter Formula. And Natia, you take this."

As she said that, a paper with Planter Potion formula appeared before Dager and a Harvest Priest Potion formula before Natia.

Natia stared at it, dumbfounded.

"How did you know I- oh."

She had to stop mid sentence, remembering that Juny had eyes for that sort of thing.

As she grabbed the formula, Natia couldn't help but look up.

"What should I do in exchange? Heh, I don't think I have enough contributions for this."

Natia couldn't help but chuckle as she spoke.

Technically speaking, Natia barely played any roles in most of the missions so far.

Juny tilted her head before leaning back.

"You know I don't do contributions. But if you're really worried about it, you can just take it as an advance gift for the upcoming big fight."

Natia shook her head with exasperation, but didn't share her thoughts.

Instead, she looked at the formula and then over at Juny.

"Alright then, I'll accept it."

Juny smiled, turning to Dager who has long scanned the formula without a second thought.

She nodded, not expecting anything different.

Soon, the two papers dissipated.

The rest of the meeting went smoothly.

After sorting out the informational gathering with Kein and the handover of research materials to Jenica, the meeting slowly came to an end.

Juny leaned to the side, resting her cheek on her hand.Just as the silence, of noone having anything to add, lingered for long enough to end the meeting, Dager spoke up.

"I have a question."

Juny looked over at him, half-expecting something stupid to come out of his mouth.

Dager looked around, his voice serious.

"This is an official meeting of the Abyssal Troop, right? Then shouldn't we refer to ourselves using the titles?"

Juny narrowed her eyes, not sure if he was joking or not.

"Wh-"

Before she could utter a word, Shake spoke up.

"That's actually an excellent idea."

'Huah?'

Juny used all her willpower not to gape.

Ellone thought before nodding.

"I don't hate that idea."

Amidst this, Daimira tilted her head.

"Isn't that unnecessary? We all know each other anyway."

'Yes!'

Juny felt relieved at the reasonable thought from Daimira.

But, once again, before she could intervene, the cat Darmine spoke her mind.

"It might seem that way, but this is official, as Dager said, and to properly distinguish between official and unofficial business, we need a precise distinguishing. I think changing the way we refer to each other is a good way to do it."

'No... why does it sound so reasonable coming out of Darmine's mouth?'

Juny wanted to refute it, but it sounded too smart to do so.

After a second, Mariel chimed in.

"It sounds like a nice change of pace. And also hilarious."

Gen looked at her strangely.

"Isn't the point of it to be serious not hilarious?"

Mariel looked at him, smiling.

"So you don't find it funny being called Den Chief with a straight face?"

Gen flinched before falling into thought.

"You have a point there."

Degster hummed, caressing his forehead.

"I don't find it unreasonable, but the fact that Dager was the one initiating it is troubling."

Ellone seriously narrowed her eyes.

"You're right, what are you planning?"

Under his sister's gaze, Dager lifted his hands in self defense.

"Nothing at all, it was just a creative idea."

Darmine ignored the arguing between Daimira, Mariel, Gen and Jenica.

She looked at Dager and with one look, she evaluated.

"He's probably unhappy that nobody give's him any respect even though his title is that of Assistant Scoutmaster. He's sulking and want's to be called by the title more."

Shake looked to his left and at Dager.

Dager's face was slightly red, it was quite a fun sight to see.

"Yea, if it's just that, it seems like something he'd do."

Degster nodded, his face oddly pleased.

"Hah, seems about right. Sure, let's do it. As a charity for the young man."

Dager shot him a glare.

"You know I'm becoming an adult soon, right?"

Degster leaned back.

"Oh, how frightening!"

Dager clicked his tongue, annoyed.

Juny watched this with blank expression.

At one point, a calm discussion turned into three separate arguments between three sections around the table.

And her, the leader of the organization, wasn't asked once about her opinion.

'I don't even feel insulted anymore, I just feel exhausted...'

Juny gently rubbed the bridge of her nose, listening to the voices blending together.

After a while, she frowned.

The conversation that was supposed to be about titles was now about the reach of one's experiments, the value of one's knowledge, one's fighting abilities and strategies and... somehow fashion and dressing styles?

Juny, annoyed, touched the table.

In an instant, the entire place went completely silent.

Dager, his mouth still open, turned towards the head seat.

Everyone else followed suit.

"Alright, how about a calm vote, yea? Those in favor of using titles durning our Troop Meetings, raise your hand or paw."

In this silent place, everyone except Juny raised their hand/paw.

Juny heaved a sigh.

"Alright, from next week onwards, we'll refer to each other using our official titles."

Juny held back her true feelings of displeasure as everyone once again found their voice.

Dager was the first one to speak.

"That was so strange. My voice just cut mid-sentence."

Juny immediately shot him a glare.

"Since there's nothing more to discuss, I'm marking the end of today's meeting. Goodnight everyone."

Hearing this, everyone stood up and bade farewell.

Just as he opened the strange door, Dager looked back.

"Oh, by the way."

Everyone else stopped in their tracks, turning towards him.

Dager smiled.

"We'll be doing the salutes, right?"

Juny froze.

She felt distaste filling every part of her body.

'Sometimes, it's such a pain having to lead an entire secret organization.'