Epilogue

Noel Vermillion sauntered down the well-paved streets of the uppermost area of Kagutsuchi. Her heels clicked earnestly against the cobbled ground as she made her way to the Librarium Headquarters in the dead of the cool night.

As can be deduced, she had once again lost track of Ragna, but this time his slippery escape was not due to her inattentiveness.

During her pursue the radio strapped to the belt around her waist crackled, and bearing in mind that the reception hadn't worked since her arrival at Kagutsuchi, Noel was drastically obliged -even anxious- to answer it. She responded as formally as she could while attempting to hold back her tired gasps as she raced onwards. Though the reception seemed to weaken again, during which the white-haired target gratefully seized the opportunity to make a prompt dive down the sewers— a place she had no intention of following, whatsoever.

For now, she was working out a way to catch up to him. Perhaps there was another opening, where she could wait for him, catch him off guard. But for that, she needed information. And who better to ask than a member of the Intelligence Department?

And as if Fortune was working hard right then, the radio-device strapped to her waist crackled to life, transmitting an incoming call. Tucking a wisp of blonde hair behind her ears, Noel recited her well-rehearsed answer: "Lieutenant Noel Vermillion, actively present."

"Ahh, Lieutenant," the familiarly unruffled voice of the caller droned in her ear. "I was beginning to think you forgot how to answer your radio."

Noel blinked in turn, fully recognizing the voice. She straightened her posture as if in duty. "C-captain!"

There was a pause and the blonde lieutenant could almost imagine the green-haired man wincing at her sudden raised tone.

"Now, now, there's no need to shriek into the receiver," he finally responded. His tone was fairly calm to the lieutenants surprise and embarrassment.

Noel blushed, lowering her head and persuading herself that she had misheard, that it was not amusement she had detected in her superior's voice.

Oblivious to her discomfort, the voice belonging to Hazama idly continued. "I have tried contacting you earlier, two days ago actually."

That had been how unexpectedly drawn-out and laborious her mission turned out to be...

"Y-yes. There have been problems with the reception. I ... I apologize."

"Hmm. If it was reception problems then there's no need for you to apologize," he bluntly informed, though it came across without malice. "Nonetheless, you are requested present at the NOL branch. Your mission priority has been changed."

An ubiquitous foreshadowing slowly dawned upon Noel, excluding the disheartened wave which crested in her with the news that her mission to detain Ragna had long since been subdued. She held the radio closer to her ear, furrowing her brows in concentration. "What...? What do you mean?" she asked.

Nevertheless, Captain Hazama succinctly continued on the other end of the line. "Major Kisaragi was reported roaming the streets of Ronin Gai. You have been ordered to shift your objective and return him to his post as soon as possible. That is your mission."

A wrench of emotions fluttered in Noel's stomach with nerves. "Captain Hazama," she started, and somehow, her voice came out distinctly forced. "What if he...?"

"Refuses to comply?" Hazama finished for her. He carried on, a foreboding tenor ringing on the edge of his tone. "You know all too well that force would consecutively follow, should further rebellion be the case."

Noel gulped, nodding submissively, even though she knew the man was not able to see that action. She knew where her duties lied. "Mission accepted, Sir," she complied without protest, obediantly.

"Well, that would be all. Have a good night, lieutenant." At the farewell, the receiver crackled one last time, leaving an unnerved feeling lingering behind.

Her fingers involuntarily flexed, tightly clasping the deviceas she brought it down from her ear. The blonde lieutenant reattached the radio, lifting her head to the velvet blackness of the night. One faint star caught her attention as the globular moon shimmered its eerie radiance down upon the streets.

She pursed her lips. Lowering her gaze, Noel wistfully uttered a name. "Jin..."

To Be Continued... (Maybe.)