Sky Striker Princess, but the swan song of Valkyrie.

"Hmm, I just wanted to have a little emotional exchange with you..."

Ignoring Zero's warning, Finney said this while trying to dodge the flashing blade that was still hitting his purple barrier.

Chengzi-

Then, in an instant, the sound of metal vibrating became even more intense. The black and red blade sliced ​​through the purple barrier in just a few seconds, pressing its edge against Finnie's throat and preventing her from making any further moves.

"Okay, okay, I understand. I won't touch her today, alright... Lingyi, you should put her away now."

Feeling the burning sensation on his skin, and remembering that this body was still somewhat useful and he couldn't die, Finney stopped what he was doing.

"Phew... I don't even know how many times this has happened."

Looking at the flashing blade pressed against Finny's throat, Zero sighed and said helplessly.

"I still suggest that Finnie, you either control your bad habit of wanting to touch me from time to time, or you should wear normal clothes when you're not doing this. It's no wonder you irritate her."

Then, while making this suggestion, Lingyi raised and opened her arms to her side.

The moment Zero did this, the Flash Blade, which had just been holding its blade to Finny's neck, eagerly disappeared from Finny's neck and came to Zero's side, obediently placing its hilt against Zero's palm.

"Okay, okay, I was actually thinking of collecting some of your rare skins, since who knows when I'll see you wearing anything other than your work clothes again."

Seeing that the flash blade had left his body, Finney relaxed, spread his hands, and said something that Zero thought was nonsensical, indicating that he would not do what he had done before.

"Ah, yes, yes... So, besides this, you don't have anything else to say, right? Then I'll be leaving. Oh, right, there's something, although you may already know: I kidnapped Tachibana Hibiki and brought her back, and put her in that Hazama. Well, that's all, goodbye."

Lingyi, ignoring Finney's occasional remarks that she had almost gotten used to, nervously tried to change her clothes to prepare for work.

"Oh, is that so? Then please wait a moment, Rei. Now that you've brought Tachibana Hibiki back, I have a task for you to do."

Then, Lingyi's steps to leave were interrupted again by Fini with words that Lingyi wanted to ignore.

"Work…"

Lingyi wanted to pretend she couldn't hear, and she really couldn't, but she couldn't completely ignore the words displayed in front of her.

"call…"

So, Lingyi had no choice but to give up her plan to change her clothes, accept reality, turn around, and resignedly prepare to see the new job that Finni was about to assign her.

"What do you want me to do? Finney, just tell me quickly."

Lingyi asked calmly.

"It's nothing serious. First of all, Rei, you should know that I kidnapped Tachibana Hibiki to explore the mysteries of the fusion of human relics, right?"

Finney spoke slowly to Zero.

"Ah, I know you want to use Tachibana Hibiki as a test subject, so could you explain what you want me to do in the simplest terms?"

?旗t、II零肆〔九I伞〩零衣 He tried his best to maintain a calm expression and responded to Finney's words.

"Okay, so I want to entrust the research on how relics and the human body are fused to you, Zero. The research goal is mainly to explore how to safely reproduce that miracle on my body through the Bronze Serpent Armor."

Seeing that Lingyi's expression became uneasy, Finni obediently and quickly explained the work she wanted Lingyi to do.

"Can't you do this yourself? Your research capabilities should be sufficient."

Lingyi said, her expression not looking too good.

"Well, it's not impossible, but I have more faith in your abilities than in myself. Besides, I can't possibly perform surgery on myself, can I?"

Finney said quite naturally.

"Okay, I understand. I'll make the arrangements. Goodbye, this is really goodbye."

Having no more time to argue, Lingyi finally said these words and turned to leave in front of Finni.

P.S. Good afternoon.

Chapter 109 Learning

The day after the incident, during lunch break, at the Second Division headquarters within Lydian Conservatory of Music.

At this moment, Kohinata Mirai was sitting on the sofa in one of the rooms, inspecting two women's handbags that she had just received from the members of Section 2.

"How is it, Hinata? You didn't forget anything, did you?"

Sitting opposite her on the sofa, Kazanari Genjuro asked her this question.

Last night, due to the chaos in various ways, Section 2 simply didn't have the energy or time to help Kohinata Mirai find her and Hibiki's bags, so they just took Kohinata Mirai, who was covered in flares and had some mud on her body, back to Lydian's dormitory.

Now, after tidying up the mess, the members of Section 2, having had some time, quickly found their belongings, which were slightly stuck in the mud. After bringing them back to Section 2, they informed and led Kohinata Mirai to Section 2 headquarters to retrieve their things.

"Hmm...no, although there is some dirt on the outside, none of my or Hibiki's belongings are missing."

After zipping up the two handbags and checking their contents, Kohinata Mirai gently shook her head and said this.

"Is that so? That's good... And, I'm sorry, it's our responsibility regarding Tachibana's situation. Please believe us, we will definitely bring Tachibana back."

Looking at Kohinata Mirai, whose expression seemed calm, Commander Kazaki's guilt deepened.

Ultimately, it was because they didn't do a good enough job that Tachibana Hibiki was taken away in such a short time.

"Well, I see."

Kohinata Mirai's face appropriately showed worry and sadness.

"However, could you tell me what exactly happened to Hibiki, and... why is Hibiki fighting Zero?"

Then, after a moment's thought, Kohinata Mirai asked the question to the members of Section 2 in front of her with a bit of concern.

"You know Lingyi... Oh, you were also involved in that incident back then, so it's not surprising that you knew her."

Upon hearing Kohinata Mirai's question, Commander Kazanari was initially surprised, but after realizing something, he was no longer astonished.

Of course they knew about Lingyi's appearance and actions many years ago, after all, so many people involved were right in front of them, and she carried out various activities.

However, because the difference between Zero and the past is too great, and the information can only slightly improve their understanding of Zero, it cannot help them defeat Zero in the current battle.

Therefore, even now, that intelligence has not received their attention.

"Yes, that's right. So, can I find out more about it? I really want to know. Please, I don't want to be completely ignorant about Hibiki and Rei like this anymore."

Kohinata Mirai echoed Commander Kazanari's conjecture, her eyes filled with deep sadness and confusion as she asked the members of Section 2.

Not knowing anything means being unable to do anything. Only by understanding what happened can I find a direction to strive for.

Kohinata Mirai thought this through without changing her expression.

"Ah, of course, I'm ready too, since you're now considered a related party as well, Kohinata."

Seeing Kohinata Mirai's sad expression, Commander Kazunari spoke with a hint of guilt on his face.

"I remember the relevant documents and confidentiality agreements were kept here... um, right here?"

He then turned around, rummaged through the documents placed to the side, and took out a stack of document bags and a printed sheet of paper.

"Kohinata, after you sign the confidentiality agreement, you will be able to view the relevant information stored here."

After bringing the document bag and papers, Commander Kazami handed them, along with the black pen on the table, to Kohinata Mirai.

Thank you very much.

Upon seeing this, Kohinata politely accepted the documents handed to her, signed the confidentiality agreement, and began to browse through them.

[This way, we can probably learn more about things...]

With this thought in mind, Kohinata Mirai began to slowly and carefully review the information recorded in Section Two.

[Hmm, so that's how it is. Something happened to Hibiki that I didn't know about. Rei, she did so much after she left.]

Soon, as she reviewed the information, a world that Kohinata Mirai had never known before was revealed to her.

[Hibiki's body actually has something like this... I had no idea. Hmm, I'll observe more. This time, I can't remain ignorant.]

The more Kohinata learned about Mirai, the more she felt she had more and more gaps in her knowledge, so she examined the materials even more carefully and diligently.

Wait, what?

Then, as Kohinata Mirai was carefully looking through the information, a seemingly insignificant piece of information caught her attention.

[During the battle at Durandal, because… we can basically confirm that Zero seems to have a serious hearing problem, and only one eye can see normally.]

[Supplement: In subsequent combat, it was discovered that they possessed what appeared to be a means of observing the environment beyond conventional audiovisual means. After discussion, this intelligence was determined to be "difficult to utilize."]

Against the backdrop of Zero's many powerful abilities, such as intelligence gathering, high-mobility flight, and land manipulation, his minor physical disability, after discussion by Section Two, was deemed to be intelligence that, while worthy of attention, had no practical value, and therefore was not taken seriously by most people.

【...】

However, Kohinata Mirai's attention was drawn to this information, and she couldn't look away for a long time.

To others, this might just be a physical defect that cannot be exploited, but to her, it represents a painful memory.

Ah, ah, is that so? I understand now, it must be because of that time.

Kohinata Mirai closed her eyes and murmured to herself.

At that moment, before her tightly closed eyes, a hallucination seemed to appear: a young girl who had always been optimistic and strong, with a dazzling red stream running down her cheeks after a huge tremor.

"What's wrong, Hinata? Is there a problem?"

Just as Kohinata Mirai was lost in her unspeakable memories, Commander Kazanari, noticing that she had stopped moving at some point, stepped forward out of concern and asked her what was wrong.

"No, no, it's just that I'm a little surprised by this news that I never knew before... Hmm, I didn't expect that Hibiki had been doing such dangerous work and that her body had developed such problems."

After being asked this question, Kohinata Mirai composed herself and gave a half-truthful, half-lie answer with a melancholy expression.

P.S. Good morning.

Chapter 110 Reflection

[I guess that's how you get through this. I'm sorry, I know most of you are probably very nice people, but I have reasons I can't tell you.]

After answering the other party's questions, Kohinata Mirai thought to herself, lowered her head, and continued to look through the materials that Section Two had brought her.

"Is that how it is? Oh, I see. Something like this happened to Hibiki in a place I didn't know about. She never told me about it."

Not long after, after a quick and casual look through the remaining materials, Kohinata Mirai organized them and neatly placed them back on the desk, thinking to herself.

"I hope you won't blame her, Hinata. In order to protect the lives of more people, including yours, Tachibana has to abide by the confidentiality agreement and cannot disclose relevant information."

Kazanari Genjuro said somewhat apologetically.

"No, I didn't mean to blame Hibiki. I understand. In order to protect people's lives and safety, and to prevent important things from being lost, there are some things that must not be revealed to others."

Kohinata Mirai shook her head, indicating that she understood Hibiki's difficulties.

"Yes, is that so? I'm glad you understand, Kohinata."

The girl's understanding nature only intensified Genjuro Kazanari's inner turmoil.

After all, the people who suffered the most after Tachibana Hibiki was arrested were undoubtedly her family and friends.

What forces them to confront this pain is that Liu Yierba 2 Shisi, as adults, failed to fulfill their duty of protection.

"Also, please rest assured, we will definitely find Tachibana's location and rescue her."

So Kazanari Genjuro stood up and made this promise to the girl in front of him.

"This... um, thank you."

They seem to care about Xiang; they don't seem like bad people.

Looking at the other party's assurance, Kohinata Mirai thought for a moment, then, with a slightly sad expression, said this.

"Also, it's getting late, I think it's time for me to go back."

After thanking her, Kohinata Mirai glanced at the time and, feeling she had nothing else to do, decided to head back.

"Oh, is that so? Do you need me to take you there? The layout here is quite complicated, and people who aren't familiar with it might get lost."

Kazanari Genjuro asked.

"This one……"

buzz

Just as Kohinata Mirai was about to say something, the vibration of a phone interrupted her. Upon closer inspection, she saw it was Kazanari Genjuro's cell phone on the table.

"...Excuse me, I need to take this call. Hello, it's me."

After glancing at the phone screen, Kazanari Genjuro answered the call while saying this.

"Yes, it's okay."

Since it was the weekend, Kohinata Mirai wasn't in a hurry, so she waited here while digesting the information she had just received.