The next day, Juna arrived at the SSS building with a smile on her face. Although, they weren't reflected in the face of the SSS members at all.
"What's wrong, guys?"
Lloyd looked at the pink-haired girl with a frown. "Since we had some free time last night, we decided to take your case. We scoured the database about Harold Hayworth."
Elie, Randy, and he looked at the printed report while Tio scanned the digital database.
"But unfortunately, he has never reported a missing child for the past ten years. We tried to expand to fifteen years to cover our bases, but still no result," Lloyd continued, shaking his head.
He was sorry that Juna's gut feeling was wrong. But such was the case for solving mysteries. Just a gut feeling wasn't enough. It needed to be backed by evidence to prove the absolute truth.
Juna frowned. "Hmmm... I could have thought... No. I was wrong, huh?"
"Sorry that it's not what you want to hear, Juna."
"It's okay, Lloyd. Thank you for your help."
"Though..." Lloyd looked at Elie, Randy, and Tio, who nodded at him. "I believe we met the girl you're looking for. She introduced herself as Renne. We met her twice. Once in the Imelda Antique Shop and the other near the Rosenberg Studio."
"That's her name!" Juna exclaimed with a gasp. "So she's really here! Where did you say you met him? The antique shop and Rosenberg Studio? Be right back, Lloyd!"
Juna quickly left the building.
"...is it a good decision to reveal that? I don't know, but..." Lloyd exhaled. "Juna is not a bad girl. I want to help her."
"It's our decision. If it turns out to be a mistake, the SSS will bear it together as a team," Elie declared.
"Definitely."
"Of course."
Tio and Randy followed. Lloyd couldn't help but smile. He was feeling very thankful for being blessed with such good teammates.
There was nothing more important to Joerg Rosenberg than his craft, he thought to himself. Whenever he was immersed in fine-tuning the dolls, he should not be disturbed, lest he'd unleash his wrath upon that unfortunate soul who annoyed him.
This pink-haired girl standing in front of his studio's gate was no exception. He looked at the monitor showing the figure of said girl who kept knocking on his gate for the past five minutes. Should he send one of his cleaners? No, he'd ask her first.
"What do you need of me?" He spoke to the microphone, which transmitted his voice to the gate via an orbal speaker.
"My name is Juna Crawford. I heard a purple-haired girl is spotted around here. Do you know anyone looking like that?"
Renne? What is her business with the little girl? Satisfied that she wasn't someone sent to bother him about his work, Joerg sent out two maid automatons to greet her properly. No, he wasn't letting her come inside.
"What business do you have with that girl, assuming that she's here?"
Coincidentally, Renne was out somewhere. He didn't know where, as her freedom wasn't his business. What unfortunate timing.
He observed as the two maids bowed to Juna. She was absorbed in watching the automatons instead of answering his question.
"Well?" Joerg snapped Juna out of her concentration. "I'm wasting my time here."
"A-Ah, sorry. Those two maids are just fascinating. They're not humans, right? ...wait, the technology level shouldn't allow someone to make fully functional automated robots..." Juna whispered. Unfortunately, the microphone hidden near the gate picked up her words. "...Renne... and those robots... you're..."
Juna gasped before she put her hand on the wooden sword on her hips. "Are you affiliated with Ouroboros? No..."
Ho? Interesting.
She relaxed, releasing her grip. "Hmm..."
She was thinking quite hard, Joerg thought. Maybe he should delay pressing the button to bring out the hidden blades from the maids. It was interesting how she worked out him working for Ouroboros, and then denying it.
"Speak out, girl. What makes you arrive at that conclusion?"
Joerg honestly wanted to know. It wasn't every day that somebody accused him of working for Ouroboros out of nowhere just by looking at his maid automatons. If it were the usual archaism, then sure, he could accept that because of how widely used they were in many operations. But his personal maids?
"I noticed that you have the technology to craft two robots -sorry, Archaism, right? At least, that's what Estelle told me- that is not limited by aesthetics or functionality. Those kinds of technology are still unreachable worldwide. The only explanation on how you can have that is that you have access to the technology from somewhere. The nail in the coffin is Renne. You never denied seeing a purple-haired girl and instead sent out your maids to address me. That could mean Renne is really here. The only conclusion from that is that you're working for the secret society, Ouroboros."
Juna took a deep breath.
"But that's not all. From what I can gather from Estelle and Joshua, Renne is... detaching herself from the association with Ouroboros. The fact that she is sighted here means either she's taking refuge or just visiting for... hold on, didn't Joshua say that Renne has that big-ass robot? Could it be that you're having maintenance on it? Anyway, you welcomed her, a possible turncoat, then that means you're not fully in Ouroboros camp either, or they are laxer than I thought about membership."
Joerg raised his eyebrow.
What kind of deduction was that? She even stumbled upon the truth about what Renne was doing here.
"...Am I correct?" Juna asked after a few seconds of silence.
"Depends on what you will do with the knowledge," Joerg answered. One of his fingers was ready to push a button.
"Oh, no, no. It's not like anybody will believe me. I just made the connection when I saw your maids and have to confirm it."
"Hmph. Make sure that you don't. As for your earlier inquiry... Renne isn't here. Try again later."
"What? Oh, come on..." Juna whined. "It's tiring hiking here after training. And Arios ramped up my training, too, this past week... Oh well, it'll be good practice to fight the monsters around here. I'll come back later. See you, Mr. Rosenberg."
Joerg wanted to say something to deny the girl, but she had already left. Hmph. Maybe if he had free time, he could engage with her. At least she had enough sense to praise his work, with how she paid so much attention to the automaton's detail.
"You," Renne called out to the pink-haired girl as she was about to approach the Rosenberg Studio.
The pink-haired girl, Juna Crawford, from her research, turned to look at Renne and blinked. "Oh. Renne, was it? Finally found you after all these times!"
"You've been going around the studio and bothering Maester Joerg about me for the past weeks. Even going to Imelda, of all people... Well, now I'm here." Renne brandished her scythe for intimidation. She knew that she would most likely not bloody her scythe with other's blood anymore. But the sight of such a terrifying weapon still has its uses sometimes. "Anything to say?"
The fact that Juna did not immediately answer told Renne that her decision was correct. She didn't know why the pink-haired girl was looking for her. Well, she could guess what it was about, considering her association with the Bracer Guild.
"What? But... Ah, damn it, Mr. Rosenberg," Renne heard Juna mutter under her breath.
"Stop chasing me," Renne ignored her and demanded. "I would not be caught by Estelle and Joshua."
Juna sighed after hearing Renne's demand. "Do you really not want to? Estelle and Joshua... they really care for you."
"I don't need them!"
Renne unconsciously raised her voice. Ah... why? Even though she didn't mean to do it...
"I see..." Juna suddenly looked up to the sky and exhaled. "Fine. I'll stop looking for you from now on. But you understand that I will not lie to Estelle and Joshua about meeting you, right?"
"Hmph, you can say whatever you want. It's not my problem."
"On another note... do you know the SSS?"
Huh? Renne was caught off-guard by the change of topic. "Yes. I've met them. Quite a naive group of law enforcers. What of it?"
Renne saw Juna close her eyes before opening them and looking straight at her.
"Crossbell is my city. I love it. However, even I know what lies underneath the beautiful city. The SSS... they're doing their best to uncover the underbelly of this place, and I'm afraid that one day, they'll be up against something they aren't ready for. If that time comes, would you lend your hand to them? I'm not so arrogant to claim that it's the price for my silence, but I really hope that you'd do it, Enforcer No. XV."
Renne couldn't help but let out a small laugh.
"I'm the one making demands here, not you. Still, I'll take that into consideration, Little Miss Detective."
"Hey, you're younger than me!" Juna raised her voice but delivered the line with a playful tone.
It appeared that they had reached an understanding with that line. Juna let out a breath of relief. "Whew, I didn't expect to be accosted by a reaper when I hiked here."
Renne giggled. "You were bothering Meister Joerg, so as a good little girl, I did my best to dissuade you from bothering him further."
"Alright, alright. I already promised to stop, didn't I? Speaking of... Renne, can I have one last favor?"
"Hm? What is it?"
"...please escort me to the nearest bus stop." Juna put her hand together and bowed.
Renne couldn't help but laugh. "You're asking me despite being trained by the Divine Blade of Wind?"
Juna's eye twitched.
"Just so you know, Arios is a harsh taskmaster! I'm doing my best to learn under him!" She sighed. "It was hard, you know. After a few months, Arios finally taught me another form aside from Gale. I have no talent, so I had to compensate with hard work."
Renne put away her scythe before she approached the other girl. "I will not kill monsters for you. But I'll intervene if you're in danger."
Juna's expression brightened. "Thank you! Estelle is correct. You're cuter than you act."
Renne frowned. "What do you mean by that?"
There was a mischievous smile on the pink-haired girl's face. "Maybe you should ask Estelle yourself."
Renne clicked her tongue as Juna let out a chuckle. An idea struck Renne as she found a way to get even with the older girl.
"Maybe I should retract my statement. You can go back yourself."
"What? No! Please!"
Renne giggled at the response. Juna was quite fun. It was like she was playing with Estelle again.
Ah...
Renne looked away for a second before she came to a decision.
"I changed my mind," Renne growled. "You can get eaten by the monsters for all I care."
The playful aura Juna exuded was gone. "Ah, sorry."
"What for?"
"For reminding you of Estelle just now."
Renn gasped. How did she...
"Hmph. Who says anything about Estelle? Maybe I just don't like you," she deflected.
Juna looked at Renne as if she was trying to uncover the mask she wore and looked deep inside her.
Slowly, a smile formed on the pink-haired girl's face. "I see... I understand."
Renne didn't understand what the other girl was seeing.
"Let me tell you something, Renne," Juna said with a soft smile. "Your days of being alone are numbered. Soon, your time will be up, and you'll have to face reality. Especially considering that you're skirting around Crossbell of all places."
What? Renne exclaimed in her mind as she saw Juna approaching her.
"If you keep being stubborn, not only will you hurt yourself... but others who care for you, too," Juna finished with a pat on her head. Her face held a sad smile for Renne to see.
"You're wrong!" Renne shouted after she freed herself from Juna's pat.
"You're wrong! Wrong! Wrong!"
Juna was talking nonsense. Yes. That must be it! Juna couldn't be right... what did she know about her!? How dare she speak as if she was familiar with her! That was precisely like Estelle, a traitorous part of her mind supplied. No! She didn't want to think about Estelle! She didn't want to think about Juna!
Renne immediately ran towards the Rosenberg Studio's direction, leaving Juna alone.
The pink-haired girl let out a long breath. "Now, what should I tell Joshua and Estelle? Oh well..."
A/N: Admittedly, I feel that the part with Joerg couldn't really capture his characterization. He's not an asshole like Schmidt, so he wouldn't dismiss Juna that easily, but I feel like he got interested too quickly. It was a part written because I didn't want to just skip to Renne's part and skipped Juna's effort because there is a gap between that scene and the Renne confrontation, so I need a scene of Juna's effort and between Joerg and Imelda? Joerg has more characterization so I decided on him