Sumireko didn't want to admit it but she was beginning to be worried. It had been days since Mamizou went through the Gate and just as she said they hadn't been in contact since then. According to her partner in crime this was an advantage toward the success of their plan, since even if one of the two were to be busted the other would still be able to carry out her part of the plan with none the wiser. It also meant however that until the tanuki returned of her own will there was no way for Sumireko to know whether or not she had been successful; even worse, for all she knew the woman could have just as well kicked the bucket and she would still not know any better.

While she could admit that thought was an exaggeration, she still couldn't shake off some concern for the woman against her better judgement. Sure, she forced her to help her out through what basically was blackmailing but in the end she still got her out of a nasty spot back when they met months ago, in a sense it would have been weirder if she dismissed so easily the well being of her benefactor, no matter how many ulterior motives she had behind it.

Ever since the dome surrounding the Gate was completed it had become impossible to keep an eye on the daily traffics that happened around it and after what happened she didn't felt like trying her luck with a blind teleport. That meant that once Mamizou was two days late on their accorded rendezvous Sumireko had no better choice than look for her around the dome in hope that they would run into each other.

For her even greater joy, since technically she still had been detained by the military getting caught snooping around once again could spell disaster, both for her and the plan. That meant she had to try her hardest to be as inconspicuous as an high-schooler standing at a street corner looking for a woman near a military installation could be. So it was also obvious why beyond concerning she would also find her current predicament to be a tiring one.

If nothing serious had happened, Sumireko just wished the tanuki woman would stop taking her sweet time leaving her to eat her own liver. But as things were for the moment she was stuck staking out a back entrance to the dome for what was the third time that day, slowly but surely falling into what by now had become a familiar state of fading consciousness that came with spending hours on her feet with nothing better to do that staring at the slab of metal that was the door to the inside of the dome.

"You don't look too good."

"Of course I don't, you try spending the last two days doing nothing but standing around like a mannequin" the girl replied somewhat drowsily.

"I don't recall anyone asking you to do that."

"So what? You just expected me to not worry at all after..." she replied, only to stop once she realized far too late than she would admit that someone else had been talking to her. Shaking off the last of her sleepiness she realized much more quickly the identity of her interlocutor.

"You!" she half-shouted accusingly while pointing at her with a finger.

"That's right, I'm back!" Mamizou replied, obviously enjoying the girl flaring temper "Did you enjoy this short vacation? I take that you missed me?"

All that teasing did nothing to calm Sumireko down but at least she had the decency to lower her voice after catching some of the looks she gained with her previous outburst.

"What took you so long? You said that even if you did find nothing you would get back here anyway after some time and yet you're almost late by three days on our appointment!"

"Wow, not even a welcome back? I wasn't expecting much, even just asking if I enjoyed myself would have been enough" the older woman joked while feigning obliviousness toward the girl's irritation.

"Hi Mamizou, did you enjoyed yourself?" Sumireko asked in a flat tone "There! Now can you tell me why you kept me waiting?"

"Alright, alright, no need to get so grumpy" the tanuki finally conceded to the high-schooler "But perhaps we can start to walk back to your home while I tell you? It wouldn't do after all of our effort if we were to be sighted so near to the Gate now, right?"

Despite knowing she had a point there the girl still didn't want to give her the satisfaction of complying to her request and so she asked in return: "Why do we need to do it? I think my disguise is good enough to hide me."

"Your disguise?" Mamizou replied sceptically while looking at the bright blue hooded raincoat the girl was wearing.

"Yes, I thought that it wouldn't be wise getting back here in my usual clothes when the soldiers in there probably still have my profile at hand."

"While I admire your forethought I doubt a high school girl wearing a raincoat during a sunny day in the middle of Ginza would be ignored that easily" the older woman replied condescendingly.

"But how am I supposed to not stand out then?"

"To begin with you could stop wearing a cape."

Giving up on winning this argument Sumireko sighed in defeat before starting to walk away, followed at short distance by her accomplice.

"So, now that you're done teasing me, can we be serious and talk about what happened?" the girl asked in a much more controlled yet serious tone.

"Of course we can, it's just that to be honest, acting always the part of the blissfully ignorant traveller in a place where the most interesting things that can happen are being accused of being a spy or listening to a bartender talking for hours about the village latest gossip made me miss our friendly banter" answered the older woman in a much more even tone.

"I wouldn't define you constantly reminding me of being a bonehead and teasing me to no end as friendly banter" replied with some heat Sumireko before looking somewhat embarassed and adding almost as an afterthought "Althought I guess it's somehow nice knowing you looked forward to talking with me."

"See, you really can act like a nice girl when you put your heart in it" said Mamizou enthusiastically, doing no effort to hide her pleased grin.

Sumireko's pleasant expression immediately dropped and instead she said while looking particularly irked: "And of course you immediately ruined the mood. Let's just talk about what happened before I can get any more disappointed."

"I will ignore how moody you are then, for now" the tanuki said in stride before cutting off whatever answer the girl was preparing "Technically it was an astounding success and as soon as you're ready we can try to move to phase two."

"Wait, what does it mean?" Sumireko asked noticing the odd phrasing "Did something happened?"

"Oh nothing much really, we won't need to go back in there afterall" Mamizou quickly dismissed.

"Well, technically we don't know if our way in works as we think it will so I'd like to know if once we get there we'll dive right in a wasps' nest" replied the high-schooler, with a grin that clearly told how much she was enjoying giving to her partner in crime a taste of her own medicine.

The older woman quickly shook of her displeasure for how her words had been turned against her and simply told her: "I swear, you act so impudent to your elders, I can't tell who gave you such a bad example. But to answer your question, I was told of a couple of place I could visit to gather what we needed. One proved to be interesting but not that useful, although the black-white would probably think otherwise, while the other was just what we were looking for but its inhabitant were much more... opinionated."

"Meaning?" insisted Sumireko which had a bad feeling as to where the story was going.

"Turns out taking a stone laying around in a underground temple is considered sacrilegious and in no time I had to beat an hasty retreat to escape a mob of furious priestesses. Never expected such religious figures to be so proficient with knife throwing..."

"Let me get this straight" asked the girl while paling considerably "You went to what I assume was a religious city, infiltrated what most likely was a major temple, somehow managed to desecrate it by stealing a rock and pissing off a bunch of killer priestesses, ran all the way back here and you say there won't be a problem once we get back there?"

"See, I knew you could get all of that right!"

For a few seconds Sumireko did nothing but stare at her with a deadpan look until finally she managed to get out a few words: "And how is that fine?"

"Simple, we just have to not show ourselves around there next time."

"And again, how are you so sure about this? My entry point into Gensokyo it's always the same and you just said the Power Stone you got is from deep inside that temple" the high-schooler pressed onward, concern growing within her by the minute.

"First off, Gensokyo it's a special case since your "entry point"as you put it just so happen to also be on the border of the Barrier, meaning it's more likely to be the only point you can get through. We won't have this kind of trouble when it comes to the Special Region especially now that we have something akin to a trail to follow. I can't be sure about the first time but I'm positive that once you got a "feel" of where to go with your power we won't have to get near that city anytime soon."

Sumireko must have looked still dubious since the tanuki woman quickly added: "Besides, we already did plan for you to mostly drop me in there and then go back home, at least until the safety of this mean of travel is proven, so you have nothing to worry about."

"What about you?"

Mamizou was caught off guard for a moment by the question, then she grinned in what looked like a mixture between mischievousness and fondness before answering: "What are you worrying about? These old bones of mine might no longer be in their prime but that don't mean I can't look after myself. Seriously, you should stop worrying so much about me or I might end up thinking you actually care about me."

"Stop teasing me! I thought you had enough of it already!" the girl replied embarassed, clearly troubled by how the older woman was still poking fun at her.

"Oh, but you should know I can't ever get enough of your flustered reactions, assistant" she said still smiling like a Cheshire.

"You're the worst!"

If Sanae had to be honest with herself things could be much worse. Sure, she still was stranded in literally another world acting as a spy within the Japanese military and she was currently stuck writing reports about her "findings" despite knowing half of it already and forcing herself to don't slip in things that she shouldn't have known given the length of her stay in the Special Region as a "researcher", but given the stakes of her mission it truly wasn't too bad.

For one thing the soldiers from the Recon Team she had been assigned to were polite and they didn't seem to mind babysitting a civilian for hours, that alone had been a pleasant surprise. Even the recon itself wasn't too bad, in any other occasion she would have gone as far as calling it an interesting experience. Not even the pile of papers she was currently producing was particularly unpleasant, if anything it reminded her of her high-school days.

If one wanted to find at all cost a silver lining then there was the fact her first report contained what she hoped high-command would explain as evidence of slavery being a common practice in the Empire that apparently ruled over the land, which with some luck it would spark enough interest to lead them to the Japanese prisoners. Simply put, Sanae didn't have that much of a reason to be angry or disappointed.

That of course didn't mean there weren't things that bothered her. For example, while the soldiers around her did act politely, ever since she set foot in the base she had become conscious of a kind of stare she was more familiar with during her days before Gensokyo, the one people directed toward anything that was either unusual or a novelty, herself being easily seen as both. Luckily those were quickly reduced as soon as news of one of the Recon Teams running late and not answering the latest attempts at communication spread, most people now wondering what could possible have happened to those soldiers.

Another thing that bothered her was that despite Yukari assuring her that at any time she could check up with her shikigami for anything said shikigami was missing and once Sanae tried asking about it using the enchanted pendant that the youkai gave her she was surprised by being answered by her own goddesses, which quickly told her that both Yukari and Reimu were currently busy with some serious matter and that Ran was momentarily unavailable but she would be back soon.

This last piece of information actually left her suspicious, especially given the expressions both Kanako and Suwako wore as they relayed to her the news. Either they were trying to hide something from her or Yukari was trying to hide something from them, neither possibility being good for her future.

As she had those thoughts she heard a short rapping coming from the door of the small room she was given as office and once she let the person on the other side in she was left facing yet another thing she found bothersome. In front of her stood one of the intelligence officers, Yanagida if she recalled correctly, and despite not knowing what he was there for she already suspected it would be something from which she would get an headache.

If most people looked at her with curiosity and some did with less chaste intentions, this man didn't spent a single moment from when he first met her without staring at her with the same intent look of a critique waiting to find the inevitable flaw in the play of a mediocre actor. Somehow he didn't buy her false identity to the same extent of everyone else and she was sure he was waiting for her slightest slip to have proof of his suspicions. Luckily his superior apparently didn't share his doubts or else she wouldn't still be there but that didn't mean that even the most casual meeting with him wasn't a stressful experience.

"Professor Kazetani, I hope I'm not disturbing you" the man in question asked with a politeness that was painfully clear was given only out of formality.

"Oh no, I was almost finished on my report anyway Lieutenant... Yanagida, was it? I'm sorry if I got it wrong but I didn't had much time to make myself familiar with all the personnel working at the base" replied nervously Sanae.

"No need to concern yourself like that, it's understandable" answered the officer in a faux-amiable tone that did nothing to hide that he was there for a precise reason "That aside I came here to discuss the reports that you already submitted to the Intelligence Division."

"You want to discuss about that so soon?" questioned the girl suspiciously "I was under the impression that first you needed to examine them extensively."

"You would be correct but some passages left me... wonderingfor a lack of better term and so I wanted to go over them with the help of who wrote them down in the first place before any further examinations. Afterall it wouldn't do if we got to the wrong conclusions because of a misunderstanding that we could have simply resolved."

Still cautious despite the officer's explanation Sanae nodded in understanding: "Alright then, what did you need to know?"

Giving her an half-smile that did nothing to ease her up, Yanagida took out some papers and began to shuffle them looking for something: "You know, I have to admit that at first I was a bit sceptic about the usefulness of your involvement but I have to agree now that you know how to do a diligent job. The sheer amount of details and observations regarding customs, superstitions and religion is worth whatever additional effort to keep you around. I'm not exaggerating when I say that you spared us weeks if not months of further intelligence work."

Despite him sounding apparently friendly and grateful toward her Sanae had assisted to enough negotiations between Kanako and the tengu to know that it was a strategy to lower her guard, so when she answered him she did so with a guarded stance: "Well, not to sound rude, but I like to think that much was to be expected, I didn't get a PhD for fun afterall."

"Never I tried to imply something like that, I was simply surprised like many other by your... precociousness would be one way to put it I guess" the man continued not sounding that much sincere if one was to pay attention "But that's not why we're here today, what I wanted to discuss was one peculiar passage from your report regarding one of the last villages you visited, a port city of sort with some mercantile installation if I recall correctly."

Sanae knew exactly which village he was talking about and that only made harder to hide her nervousness. Ever since she wrote down the redacted conversation she had with that woman she knew she was fully committing to a gambit but it wasn't until now that she fully understood the consequences of someone doubting the truth of those words.

"Sure, what about it?" she asked hoping he wouldn't notice how she had slightly began to sweat.

"You see, our language experts found themselves troubled when it came to understand some of the words you claim to have heard from that woman, mostly because some of those are completely new to them. Let's take for example the one you said, and I quote, given the context I'm positive was either a noun or adjective indicating a group of people. The closest thing the managed to get is that it's composed with the same root of the verb "to serve", so they think it could be referring to some kind of servants."

Sanae had to bit her tongue to not shout in frustration. Really? Of all the things the word "slave"could sound similar to it just had to be something with such a more mundane connotation! She didn't know whether she should shout or cry. Luckily the decision was made for her by the officer in front of her.

"Of course that wouldn't explain why that woman seemed to view such a word in such a negative connotation so they're still studying it to see if there could be some other meaning behind it."

Just as soon as it came over her the feeling of irritation was quickly replaced by one rejoicement. It could work, despite how hastily put together it was her plan might actually work afterall! She knew exactly what her next report to Gensokyo would be about and she couldn't wait to make it.

"However I personally can't help but wonder about the reliability of this piece of information given the circumstances in which it was obtained" Yanagida added, quickly bringing the girl out of her musings.

"Why would you think that?" she asked in apprehension.

"Believe me, it's not that I doubt your work" he said, something that Sanae highly doubted to be true "But from your report your conversation happened in the middle of a market that I understand to have been quite busy at the moment, using a language we're still learning to use properly, so it's not unthinkable to fear some mistakes or misunderstandings might have happened at some point and completely distort the meaning of some words."

"That's some sound reasoning" Sanae had to concede despite fearing what he was hinting at "But I'm confident that both what I said and what I heard was free of such mistakes."

"That might be but it's still just your opinion as human being and unfortunately that's not something with the degree of reliability we need in our field of work. Do understand, I'm doing this also for your sake, whatever intelligence we get from that report would be equally considered to be of your responsibility, it would only hurt your reputation if it turned out to be wrong."

The girl was beginning to feel cornered, if she did nothing there was the risk the whole gambit would be moot but what she could do that would validate any further her report ran the risk to expose her. She felt between a rock and an hard place and she was sure this was the intention of the intelligence officer in front of her from the beginning.

"Of course it would not have been such a problem if our language skills were more advanced but as it stands right now these troubles were inevitable." said man added and this time Sanae took notice of an almost imperceptible curling upward of his lips.

He was smiling. He couldn't know but maybe he suspected it nonetheless. She had no idea how he came to that conclusion but he had to at least suspect that she was holding back on her knowledge of the Special Region tongue, that must have been the whole point of the charade he made her go through. Surprisingly instead of worrying her this discovery made her feel at ease. She finally knew his motivation and what he was aiming at, now there was no way he could blindside her again.

"I think I'll insist for it to be still examined properly then."

"I'm sorry?" asked the officer in confusion.

"I would still like for my report to be thoroughly examined as it was clearly decided in the first place" Sanae replied evenly.

Yanagida seemed to be thinking over those words for a few moments before he argued: "I understand that your pride as a scientist makes you compelled to defend your work, but I still think the more rational choice..."

"Not to be rude but you seem to be missing the point" the girl cut him off with surprising determination "I was under the impression that I was to be a consultant for the JSDF over matters you still don't understand."

"That much is true but I still fail to see how..."

"Then my suggestion as both a scientist and a consultant is that further research over what information I brought you would be beneficial to the mission of the JSDF in the Special Region and as such I would strongly recommend against your suggestion" she said with a finality that didn't admitted replies.

Despite this Yanagida seemed to be fighting against his flabbergasted expression to voice a reply but Sanae left him no time to do so: "I know you're worried about the possibility of me being wrong, that's why I want to take full responsibility over this choice, if it turns out I sent you on a wild goose chase you're free to say so to whoever will question you or your division. That being said, is that all? I still have quite a load of work to finish and I don't want to leave you or your superiors waiting."

The man seemed to be going through a lot of internal struggle if his ever changing expression was anything to go by, until he finally set to a neutral face and spoke in an even more neutral tone: "Very well, I still think this is a bad idea but I will follow your suggestion regardless. I just hope you know what you're doing Professor Kazetani."

With that he turned around and left the room, leaving behind a girl with an unreadable expression over her face.

Once she was sure he was far enough she slumped in her chair and took a deep breath of air. This was by far the most stressful confrontation she ever had to go through and she had been scared of failing to impose herself or some other bad turn of events up to the very end of the exchange. She always thought Kanako lessons about politics and conversational skills were a waste, especially when in Gensokyo most arguments were won by who had the fastest draw. She felt like she was bound to apologize for ever doubting her goddess teachings.

Feeling too drained to spend anymore time on those papers she decided that a short walk around the base would ease her mind and so she got out of her "office" in short order and found herself on the road outside the living quarters.

Some soldier were walking around going to or returning from whatever tasks they were doing and some of them gave her a quick glance before moving on, only a few nodding in acknowledgement to her presence or even giving her a brief greeting. A couple of time she thought she recognized some of the faces but with how little time she had spent there and with how few people she met she couldn't be sure.

As she walked around she noticed how the weather was much warmer there than it was in Japan, if that was what it was like during the whole year or if it simply was a different season than Earth she didn't know. What she knew was that she had to almost immediately discard her heavier clothes and even now she was just wearing a simple white blouse along with her jeans, a welcome change from her usual shrine maiden attire.

Another thing she had come to realize during those few days was that there was an obvious shift in the hours of the day, probably not that different from what one would experience during a long travel back on Earth, so she still had to fight the sleepiness that told her that on the other side of the Gate was probably night already. She stretched her arms over her head, unknowingly making the fabric of her blouse cling closer to her body for the hidden joy of some men passing by, and wondered if this was what jet lag felt like.

While she was wandering aimlessly around the base she noticed in the distance a gathering of soldiers near one of the entrances and saw even more soldiers walking there to join them. Curious as to what was going on she stopped the closest one: "Excuse me, why are you all gathering there? Did something happened?"

The man turned to her and after a brief flash of recognition he answered: "You do know how Recon Team 3 had been missing and didn't answer any attempt at communication, right? Well, seems like they're back and, hear this out, they say they fought a dragon!"

"A dragon?" asked Sanae flabbergasted by the news.

"I know it sounds strange but that's what they claim. Never thought I'll see the day when an heavy weapon expert is treated like a celebrity but God knows if I wouldn't enjoy this kind of fame just like the guy" the soldier said before he added almost as an afterthought "Oh, apparently they also brought along some refuges, I don't know how command will take this but if I were you I'd take a look while I still can."

While the soldier kept walking forward Sanae was left wondering what to make of what she just learned. They already knew that magic and other "mythological" elements existed in the Special Region but to think dragons were one of them... They obviously weren't the same kind of dragon she heard of in Gensokyo if some soldier had been able to fight off one of them but that didn't mean learning more about this wouldn't be useful. Besides there were still those refuges, more people to question about what she was looking for was always a welcomed gift. She also supposed that it would only be in character for her cover identity to be curious about this and so she too began walking toward the growing crowd of people.

As she was nearing the entrance she began feeling a faint disturbance in the air, almost like a ripple spreading on a lake surface. At first she didn't pay much attention to it, the Special Region was still a land of magic so getting a few magical disturbances every now and then was a given, but as she moved forward the feeling not only seemed to be growing stronger, it also seemed to be coagulating into more than one source. She stopped short of an hundred meters from the entrance as she finally understood that what she felt wasn't a distant echo of magic.

Three people, each one with a different kind of signature, each one of different strength.

One was soft spoken, almost submitted, and yet with a wild and unrefined touch to it, almost as a gentle breeze or a light drizzle. It also felt strained, flickering in and out of control, as if oppressed by an heavy weight. She would have thought of a youkai but it felt too different to be one. It was an unknown.

One was bright, yet not blinding, straightened and schooled into perfection, as much as it could be obtained outside of divinity, a disciplined mind showing behind an orderly structure, crystalline in its order. It also felt eager and outgoing, manifestation of a young soul quickly hidden behind a facade of stillness, almost as if afraid to break the perfection it achieved. A magician, not the youkai kind, and definitely tamer than Marisa, both in power and attitude.

One was dark, ominously so, chaotic and violent, yet capable of elegance and beauty, capable of inspiring the same morbid fascination of looking at one own house being devoured by the blazing inferno of a wildfire. Despite how much she wanted to think of it as a youkai she could still feel the flicker of perfection that belonged only to gods, diluted through its essence in a way she was oddly familiar with. This last one was the closest thing to herself she had ever felt.

She doubted anyone else there knew what Recon Team 3 had brought back to base but the only thing she cared at the moment was that whoever those three people were they were bad news for her. Magic, no matter of what kind, was like a melody that only a trained ear could hear. If she managed to hear theirs she had no doubt they would hear hers in the deafening silence that surrounded them.

Things has suddenly gotten much more complicated and she didn't think the rest of her "team" would be happy about it either.

The last days had been anything but ordinary for Lelei La Lalena. First there was the awakening of the Fire Dragon, fifty years earlier than it was supposed to, and the consequent escape from its hunting ground. Then she met the Men in Green, soldiers that did not act like soldiers would and that seemed to possess a great deal of magical artifacts she couldn't even begin to understand how they could work. Somewhere along the travel the Apostle of Emroy herself had decided to join their caravan, probably out of boredom if she had to take a guess, and finally there was the attack from the Fire Dragon.

Many things from that attack weren't what she expected to see, the Dragon itself being surprisingly one of them. One thing all the fearful tales of those who survived it agreed one was its aspect, which was said to be equally majestic and terrifying. The creature that showed in front of them wouldn't have looked out of place between the columns of defeated Imperial soldiers that returned from Alnus Hill.

The scales that had been said to be indestructible were broken and shattered just like old pottery, the wings which were supposed to turn the day into night were ragged as the clothes of a beggar and instead of the imperious stance it was said to be carrying at all time it flapped awkwardly until he reached them and stumbled once it landed, all traces of predatory grace lost in those few moments.

That didn't mean that he was any less dangerous, even a grounded wyvern was still very much capable of killing a man with ease and a Fire Dragon was much more threatening than a wyvern. However it was probably because of its look that Lelei wasn't as surprised as she should have been once the Men in Green managed to not only divert its attention from the caravan but they even managed to wound it not once but three times.

First they took off its arm, although that was with some help from the Apostle and only after they brought out a menacing looking rod of iron. Then one of the iron staff fixed on the roof of their carriage struck it enough time on a patch of skin on its neck that almost lost all of its scales to actually make it bleed, which in turn caused it to stumble as it tried to take off to escape, giving the Men in Green enough time to use again the rod of iron against the Dragon. This time they hit the creature as it was already flying away, striking it in the middle of its left wing snapping it in half and leaving the Dragon to try to glide away to safety, only to crash on the cliffs surrounding the valley they were travelling through.

In the end it still managed to escape but Lelei didn't doubt that the fame of the Men in Green would only grow after such an unprecedented success. After burying a surprisingly low amount of deads they even offered to bring back to their base those who had nowhere else to go as refuges, again without asking nothing in return, and now they finally stopped in front of one of the entrances, the leader of the group, Itami from what she had learned, going inside to converse with his superiors.

Some time had already passed and aside from some children wandering around most of the other refuges seemed content to stay inside those strange horseless carriage, waiting for whatever was to come of them. She spent that time trying to converse with some of those soldiers but unfortunately despite their best efforts their knowledge of the local tongue was sorely lacking. She still manage to learn that apparently none of them or anyone else from their army was a mage and that all of their weapons were simply the result of technology. To her it was still a strange concept but after what she witnessed in those days she felt much more open to believe it.

She brushed a lock of blue hair away from her face and noticed how the group of soldiers looking at them seemed to have grown even more. Were they really such an unusual sight to those men? She could understand the Apostle and elves were very reclusive but she couldn't imagine how anything about her could cause many of that crowd to whisper between themselves everytime they looked at her.

As she made to walk once again toward one of the other carriages she felt something tugging at the back of her mind. She froze immediately and turned around trying to locate the direction from which this feeling came but she could only make it out to be beyond the crowd of people she could see. Almost as soon as she felt it the feeling was gone but she had enough time to recognize some sort of familiarity.

Turning to the closest soldier she asked: "Excuse me? I thought your people didn't use magic."

The young man seemed to be troubled as he tried to understand what she just asked until he simply uttered a few words in response: "No, we no magic."

She tried to insist but each time she always got the same answer. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't detect any attempt of deceive coming from the soldier. Could they actually not know they had a magic user in their ranks? Or perhaps it was a spy of the Empire already infiltrated in their base?

She turned toward the elf still wrapped in blankets and she was disappointed to find she still seemed to be as spaced out as before. She should have expected it, it was clear that being the last survivor of her village shook her to her core and Lelei doubted she would have noticed a magic user if he was to walk straight into her.

"Oh, so you noticed too? Glad to know I'm not just getting paranoid."

She recognized immediately the voice coming from behind her and turning around only confirmed her fear. Standing there was a bewitchingly beautiful girl apparently in her early teens wearing a black dress full of lace and ribbons but what really stood out was the obscenely huge halberd she held in her hand. She was looking at her with blood red eyes framed by her long raven hairs and the smirk on her face did nothing to make Lelei feel any more at ease.

"I'm... I'm sorry?" she managed to ask despite the dread of being face to face with Rory the Reaper.

"Oh, don't be modest, you felt it too right? Someone else here knows magic and nobody seems to be the wiser about it." She quickly glanced at Lelei's carriage, where an old man was resting before turning again to the young mage: "Well, he probably could but old age can get even the best of us."

Feeling as if feigning ignorance would only anger the Apostle the young girl finally admitted: "O-Only for a moment, but it was unmistakable. The Men in Green have a magic user in their midst."

The Apostle nodded in satisfaction before she asked again: "Did you managed to also understand what kind of magic it was?"

This time Lelei frowned in concentration, for as long as she felt it the magical signature was a clear one but it was too brief and too undefined to precisely pinpoint anything about it. "It felt unrestrained, joyful and wishful, but also capable of great feat of strength" she finally said after a while "Spirit magic specialized in wind spirits perhaps?"

This time the raven haired girl looked somewhat condescending as she answered her: "Yes, it definitely was related to the wind however claiming it was spirit magic would be selling it short. It was much more complex than that, almost similar to what being near another Apostle or even a God would feel like."

Despite her best effort Lelei paled at the revelation: "Are you saying the Men in Green have an Apostle amongst them?" That would certainly explain why common soldiers wouldn't know about it, perhaps it was a secret weapon intended to be used only against the greatest of threats.

"Oh no, I said it was similar not the same as an Apostle" Rory corrected her "To be honest, I have no idea what it might be and that's saying a lot."

She then proceeded to smile in a way that made the young mage shiver: "Oh, we just arrived here and these men already have such a nice secret. Things definitely look to be interesting for us."

On that Lelei had to agree, whether it would be a good thing or not however, she did not know.

A.N. I'll never die! Ahem, sorry for the wait, i think you know already what's going on by now so let's skip it and say that more frequent updates are becoming increasingly difficult. So this chapter, finally getting into the thick of this crossover, aren't we? I have to admit that there was a scene that i plan to use next chapter that would have been part of this one, then i took a look at the words count and i decided that it wasn't my brightest idea. I'm a bit worried by the whole "aura-thingie" i did here, especially because it ties deeply with the characters themselves and how i see them, but i hope no one will kill me for that. What's next? Oh right, i hope you found yourselves something to do in between updates, if i may be so bold to make a suggestion try out some doujin games, Labyrinth of Touhou 2 is a fantastic game in my humble opinion... until examining a rock doesn't crash the game thanks to a bug. That being said, thank you so much for the support, this goes without saying for all of you new people, until next time have a good time. See ya!