I'm back! Not much to do nowadays, so let's see how much we can accomplish. Stay safe, y'all.

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Volume 4 Cover Image:

drive@google@com/file/d/10wFNZAlFmKhakOL-w3rI8LmoxemqM6fI/view?usp=drivesdk

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Little Wing It

Volume 4

The Disappearance Of Emilia Percival

Prologue

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"Dude, you need to calm down."

"What are you talking about? I'm perfectly calm."

I was pacing around my room, going over my mind as to where that troublesome partner of mine may have gone.

She took the ship and completely erased whatever data we might have used to track her down. I would have been impressed if I wasn't so annoyed.

My name is Kara Draken. An 18 year old Beast Vanguard. Occupation: Mercenary.

Until some time ago, that occupation would have been Freelance Mercenary. But as one would guess, that's not the case anymore.

I started working for this mercenary outfit called Little Wing. And I wouldn't exactly it fate.

It was during an honest attempt to get some extra cash that I ran into a certain blonde and her scruffy guardian(?). Then things escalated and I found myself trapped in some unknown relic site with said blonde.

One way or another, we got to the end of the site. And then I died. End of story, right?

Well, no. Somehow, I was revived and we were found by the girl's guardian, who was named Kraz Muehler, and was apparently the boss of this civilian security firm / mercenary outfit that I now found myself working for.

It was either I signed up or I pay them the rescue fee, which was a price that I'd probably never amass over several lifetimes.

Contrary to that rather rough start, life was a Little Winger was much more easier than a freelancer. Jobs were plentiful, the lodging was rather accomodating, and the pay was good. In return, every day was much more eventful.

What do I mean by eventful, one might ask. Well, long story short, I found myself in the middle of an attempt to take over the system by a race that, by all accounts, should be long gone, led by the possessed emo son of the president of the leading company in subspace research.

And because adults are useless, it was up to me and my party to stop it. And said party was rather troublesome.

The pudding-obsessed jungle boy, Yut.

The troublemaking midget, Red.

And the girl I met in the relic site. The part time genius, part time idiot, Emilia.

Who was being targeted by the enemy.

Who ran away.

I take it back, she's finally graduated into full time idiot.

"What are you even doing in my room, anyway?"

"What? Bolthead goes missing and you didn't expect me to check up on you? I'm hurt, I truly am."

The one I was talking to was the troublemaking midget I described earlier. Red, whose real name was Akane Shiroryu.

We met her before she joined Little Wing, and through some machinations which may or may not have been by chance, she was inserted into our party.

She and Emilia weren't the best of friends. In fact, they bicker pretty much every second. But I would guess they must have warmed up to each other at least a little.

That said, I don't know what she's planning to achieve by hanging around in my room. It's possible that she was telling the truth and she really was checking up on me but...

"C'mon. You're gonna dig a path by the rate you're walking around. Do relax a little."

"I told you. I'm as calm as can be."

"Uh-huh."

Before we could continue our little discussion, someone suddenly barged through the door.

"Emilia! Where's Emilia? I can't smell her anywhere!"

"Yut, ever heard of knocking?"

"Sorry!"

You don't seem particularly sorry. Sigh, whatever.

This was the pudding loving Kasch boy, Yut Jun Yunkers. Weird name, but I'm not one to judge what tribes name their children.

We met this kid back in Moatoob, just before our first encounter with the man in black. We even had a little scuffle.

We outnumbered him four-to-one, but he still put up quite a bit of a fight. That goes to show how much tenacity this kid has. In the end, we knocked him out but we had to bring him back to Little Wing since his entire village was burned down. Thankfully, the other Kasch managed to get away.

That left him with nowhere to go, though, so for the time being, he was left in our care. And if that wasn't enough, he apparently thought I was a master fighter and insisted I train him.

Turns out, the man in black, Shizuru Shu, stole something important from the Kasch and Yut made it his life's mission to get it back. We recently had a chance to do so but we weren't strong enough yet.

The direct result was my broken arm, among others.

"The idiot's gone. Ran away. I don't suppose you have an idea where she went?"

"Ran away? But she told me I shouldn't run off on my own. Why would she run away?"

"She did? Oh, that's right, she did tell me you and Lumia raised a fuss back there."

"Yeah! She even hit me on the head! It hurt, but she gave me pudding after, so it's okay!"

That hypocrite. Once we find her, we'll pay her back, Yut.

That said, I re-asked my question on possible places Emilia might have gone.

"No idea! But shouldn't we be looking for her instead of doing nothing?"

"Be realistic, jungle boy. We don't even have the first idea where to look. Tell him, Kara."

"... You're right. Let's go."

"You too?!"

I gave Red a confused glance. What's she playing at now? I thought she'd be the type to agree to take action immediately. I know we have absolutely no leads but surely we can accomplish more than if we just stayed here.

"What's with that look? Your arm's still busted! You'll get yourself killed, moron!"

"No, he won't. I'll make sure of it!"

"I don't want another word out of you!"

Ah, so that's it. She was actually worried about me? Huh. I guess she warmed up to me too. Maybe Yut's next, and we'll all be a happy functioning team.

Not. If I knew what's best for my hopes and dreams, I wouldn't get my hopes up.

Red glared at me for a few seconds, and I glared back before she finally relented with a deep sigh.

"I guess I can't stop you, huh? Fine. But we'll take a stop at the weapons shop, first."

I was confused at first, then I remembered I was still down one arm. That immediately rules out the rifle and the twin sabers. If I wanted to get out there, I'm gonna need more than my one-handed saber.

"Alright. Lead the way."