After getting permission from Sergei to go check the situation at the hospital, the SSS went to the bus stop on Ursula Road. When they got there, the queue of people waiting for the bus caught everyone's attention.

"Huh... That's a lot of people lined up for the bus."

"That's unusual for this time of day," Elie remarked.

"It is, indeed, peculiar. The most recent bus should have departed five minutes ago," Tio informed them.

Randy had the initiative to approach one of them, "Hey, buddy. The bus runnin' late or somethin'?"

The man nodded, "Yeah, it looks that way. I've been waiting here for almost 20 minutes now, and not one bus has shown up."

He then sighed before muttering something. "Why'd this have to happen today? Visiting hours will be over by the time I get there."

"Yeah... thanks, buddy."

Randy returned to the SSS.

"There we have it, guys," Randy shrugged. "Seems like they're late."

"Do you think the bus is having problems with the engine again?" Elie tried to speculate. A few months ago, the bus to St. Ursula Hospital also had problems. In fact, that was the time the SSS met Estelle and Joshua.

"A likely scenario," Tio nodded in agreement.

Suddenly, Lloyd's Enigma rang.

"This is Lloyd Bannings, Special Support Section," Lloyd said, answering the phone.

"This is Dudley. Give me a status report."

"Oh... Roger. We were able to successfully secure the assistance of the Bracer Guild with the case."

Lloyd then explained that the Guild agreed to aid in the search for the missing persons and mafia.

"Hmph. So you've gone and made yourselves indebted to MacLaine. Fine. I'm sure that, with their abilities, they'll be able to produce results. I'm trying to deal with the top brass on my end. Now that they've realized the whole damn mafia has vanished, they're throwing a tantrum. It may be a while until I can act freely."

"Understood," Lloyd confirmed. "I just remembered. Your division was in charge of investigating the airport, right? What happened with the bomb threat?"

His question was instantly replied to by the senior detective.

"There's a strong possibility the whole thing was a hoax. We scanned the entire airport with orbal detectors, but nothing was found."

"I can't help but shake the feeling that this is related to Revache's disappearance..." Lloyd trailed off. There were too many loose threads and only one connecting it to everything.

"We're looking into it. Wait. If you know the situation is clear there, that must mean you're nearby. I hope you don't plan to pull your usual stunt by getting involved with cases that clearly aren't yours."

Lloyd let out a laugh, "You can rest easy, sir. We're not doing that. We're actually on the way to St. Ursula right now. We're visiting the doctor we know for the drug's composition."

That was the excuse Lloyd gave to anyone who wasn't in the know about their suspicions.

"What? You still haven't heard back from him? Hah. Rookies will be rookies. You need to be far more direct if you want any semblance of punctuality from others."

"Understood," Lloyd nodded even though Dudley wouldn't be able to see him.

"It'll be much easier to convince the top brass to take action once we've found out what those pills actually are. But I'm afraid we have no choice but to place our faith in that doctor of yours. By the way, what's the man's name?"

Lloyd steeled his mind. He must not tip Dudley. Keep calm and replied.

"His name is Joachim Guenter, the associate professor of neurology and pharmacology at St. Ursula Hospital."

"I see. Hopefully, he'll come through with proper results," Dudley replied before pausing. "Hmm?"

"What's wrong, Dudley?" Lloyd asked when he sensed the confusion coming from the other side of the phone.

"Back up a second. You said Guenter, right? Wears glasses? Far too relaxed?"

"Yes," Lloyd answered. Dudley sounded serious. But unexpectedly, Dudley went silent. "Dudley?"

"I met him for the first time two months ago. I was investigating the man who plotted the mayor's assassination during Arc en Ciel's private performance... The mayor's former secretary, Ernest Reis," Dudley started.

Lloyd's heart stopped for a second. "Wait..."

"Sergei may have informed you already, but Reis was completely deranged. So as a last resort, Sergei called Reis' physician, a man working at St. Ursula. And thanks to Guenter's help, I was finally able to question Reis."

Lloyd's grip on his Enigma tightened.

"Are you saying that Dr. Guenter was Ernest's physician?!"

"Yes. The very same. I'd gained an immense amount of-"

"I'm sorry, Dudley. But we're in a hurry. Thank you for the information."

"Wait, hey, Bannings!"

Lloyd immediately closed the call.

"What was that about? I heard Ernest's name mentioned," Elie asked Lloyd.

"Is there a connection between Dr. Guenter and Ernest?"

Lloyd nodded and replied with a grim expression. "Yes. Dr. Guenter was Ernest's physician."

"T-That's..." Elie was at a loss for words.

"Hold up. Let's think back a bit... Remember how Ernest's strength was totally off the charts? Dude was cocky as hell, too," Randy remembered when they had to protect Speaker MacDowell.

"It is eerily similar to Gantz's case, right?" Tio connected the dots. "To further that point, his attending physician was Dr. Guenter..."

The four of them had one thing on their mind.

Had Ernest consumed Gnosis when they confronted him? After all, if their suspicion about the doctor was correct, it would be easy for him to prescribe the wrong medicine for Ernest and snuck Gnosis in there.

"I'll try calling the hospital's reception desk. We have to confirm that Dr. Guenter hasn't left the hospital."

Elie pressed some button on the Enigma and put it on her ears.

"... It's no use. Nobody is answering," Elie said after a minute of silence from her Enigma.

"That doesn't paint a good picture of the situation," Tio remarked with a grimace.

"The bus can't be relied on. We're going there on foot." Lloyd finally decided. "Let's go!"

"Yes!"

"Okay."

"Roger."

The four of them ran towards the Ursula Road in a hurry.

Juna briefly considered checking on Cecile and Shizuku, but in the end, she refrained from doing so for their own protection. Ignoring the door to Room 304 on the third floor of the hospital, Juna continued running towards the door leading to the roof.

Opening the door with a bang, Juna caught the attention of one Revache member. Only this time, he had three dogs with him. Juna widened her eyes when one of the dogs ran towards her.

Juna quickly unsheathed her sword and slashed at the incoming dogs. However, by doing that, she missed the other two coming for her. One of them leaped at her and bit her in the lower left arm.

"Gah!" Juna quickly swung her tachi so the dog would release his bite, but Doven Kaisers were equipped with protective armor that decreased damage, so by the time she managed to release the one biting her arm, the last Doven Kaiser bit her legs.

Thankfully, even if it was painful, Juna now had two free arms to use all her power to slash the last dog off her.

She quickly turned her attention to the standing mafia. Lloyd had told her that Revache used a special whistle to control the attack dogs. Then that would mean defeating the mafia would stop the dogs, wouldn't it?

Juna went into a stance. Even if her legs were hurting that it most likely would diminish the speed of her Gale, she had to do it. Even if she winced from pain in her left arm, she had to do it.

She had to ease Lloyd's burden.

Oh, she definitely knew she wouldn't be able to handle everything here. She still didn't know why the cult member chose the hospital. She also had no clue who the cult member was. But she knew one thing. The SSS would come and solve the case, and as someone connected to them, she had to help make their jobs easier, even if she avoided joining the main party.

And so, Juna Crawford opened her eyes. Determination coursed through her entire body. Focusing all her power to combat the pain in her leg and left arm, Juna took a deep breath.

(She didn't realize that her body emitted a golden glow.)

"Second form: Gale!"

Juna shouted with all her power, kicking the floor to leap at the goon. In an instant, she was in front of him and quickly slashed him, but it wasn't over. Juna turned back to attack the Doven Kaisers, two of them falling from the roof because of her Gale. Momentarily surprised by her success at producing the gale, Juna focused and quickly slashed at the one left.

In the end, Juna sheathed her sword and exhaled.

"Yes! I did it!" Juna threw her arms into the air and jumped. Adrenaline still ran in her system, so she forgot that she was wounded. Seconds later, Juna felt the pain. "Ouch! It hurts."

Gritting her teeth, Juna forced herself to look at the bridge connecting the rooftop of the hospital with the Le Lectier dormitory/inn. It was closed off by debris, which wouldn't make sense if it happened coincidentally. The culprit, the cult member, must have commanded the mafia to close the way.

Juna frowned. But that would mean there are people potentially trapped in the dorm. Should she leave them to Lloyd? Juna then went to the edge, trying to see the situation in the front yard.

There were several people trying to hide from the roaming Doven Kaisers and goons. However, sooner or later, with the Doven Kaiser's better sense compared to humans, they would surely be discovered.

Juna weighed the pros and cons of jumping from the rooftop to the yard. She did not want them to come to harm. She was, after all, an aspiring Bracer. However, judging from her overall condition, jumping down would be detrimental to her effort. She didn't even have Tear Balms to heal her wounds.

With a heavy heart, Juna turned away from the edges. She had to believe that they could hide until the SSS came.

Juna looked around and noticed something.

"Hmm? They locked the front door and deliberately put debris on the bridge connecting the roof. That's weird. It's as if..." They were trying to isolate the hospital.

Wait. Sera said they came from the second floor, so she assumed they came to the hospital using the bridge on the rooftop. But that didn't make sense. If the mafia came from outside and went through the dormitory first, it would be more efficient to come to the hospital from the front door. But Sera clearly said that the door was unguarded, and people ran towards the door in fright.

...wouldn't that mean they didn't come from the outside?

As Juna looked at the research ward building, it seemed to loom over her.

...yeah. Now that she thought about it again, if the goons didn't come from the outside, then the only other entry point was from inside the research ward.

But... she gulped, gripping her tachi harder than before. That implied the cult member was someone from the hospital.

Who was it?

"...Hold on. Dr. Mark has been absent since two days ago. But last night, Arios got a call from him. Dr. Mark then is subbed by that phony doctor. Sera then said that he was uncontactable since after lunch break..." Juna's mind laid out all the facts leading up to the situation in order to find the thread connecting them all.

Juna cursed when her mind reached a conclusion. Why?! Why had she been ignoring Joachim, that pretend doctor!

He was the one behind everything! He probably perfected the drugs and distributed them via Revache to take them all under his control! And when he fully controlled the mafia, he, for some reason, attacked the hospital. But one thing stuck out for Juna. Why did he drug Dr. Mark and arrange so that Shizuku would stay for the day of the attack? Was he targeting Arios? Trying to get the Divine Blade of Wind under his control?

She was tempted. Oh, she was tempted, alright. She wanted to run towards the research ward building, throwing her caution away. On top of letting patients die of his careless attitude, he was possibly the mastermind behind everything. Even if she was wounded and weak, she had to confront him!

But Juna held herself back. It wasn't out of a sense of responsibility or whatever. If she could, she wanted to wrangle that fraud and make him spill everything.

But no. Juna realized one important thing.

She was too weak to be able to get away from the main villain of the game unscathed.

With a sigh, Juna sat down on the ground. She wondered if she would've been stronger than the current her if she followed her fate as the SSS's junior. She was, after all, the kouhai type in Lloyd's harem game. She was a little surprised when she found out Tio was younger than her. But Tio was clearly the token emotionless kuudere child member, so she was the genki kouhai. Juna had once thought she was the little sister character, but with Ken and Nana's existence as her younger siblings, she knew her assessment was wrong.

"No. It's no use wondering what could've been. I am what I am." She doubted she would've been able to learn the infamous Eight Leaves One Blade swordsmanship had she followed her counterpart's path.

And so Juna waited.

Unfortunately for her, this world wasn't a game. It might have been based on a JRPG in her real world (though very niche because she had never played it,) but this world was real. And thus, there was no such thing as endlessly standing outside the final dungeon with no consequences.

After all, in real life, if the boss waited too long, they might have wandered away from the dungeon.

The door of the research ward was opened, catching Juna's attention. She let out a gasp when she saw who came outside.

"You're... Ernest Reis!"

Juna forced herself to stand up. She couldn't move without hurting her left arm and her bitten leg was numb. She gritted her teeth when she realized the situation she was in.

"Good Evening."

The cocky smirk he had on his face honestly made Juna want to slap him. He stood there confidently with a demonic-looking sword in his right hand.

Juna couldn't help but laugh. In the end, her effort was for naught, wasn't it? She didn't want to recklessly go through the obvious dungeon, so the boss came outside to face her instead. It was like nature wanted the confrontation to happen without the intervention of the SSS. However, she honestly was taken aback when she saw it was Ernest Reis who came out instead of Joachim himself.

"I was curious why my great comrade went all the way to set up an obvious trap. But judging by your appearance here, his judgment seems correct," Ernest walked towards her, each step echoed in her ears. "You, Juna Crawford, are a wildcard in this board game of Crossbell."

Board game? Was he being literal, or was he referring to the tug-of-war for controlling Crossbell between the two neighboring nations?

"Trap?" Juna parotted. Moments later, she understood what he meant. "Oh, I see..."

Dr. Mark's absence. The call for Shizuku's sudden checkup. The attack on the hospital... Joachim didn't want to control Arios.

"It's me that he wants," she finished her conclusion.

Ernest let out a smile. "Correct."

Juna glared at the man. Even if it was futile, she had to try. She went into a stance, even if it was painful.

"I have one question if you don't mind. Why? Why did that fraud doctor want me? What did he mean by wildcard?"

Ernest shook his head. "I'm afraid even I don't know. He just insisted, saying you're a wildcard."

Wildcard. It implied that she was special in some way. But there was nothing special about her. Well, except for the memories she had since birth, but was it possible that Joachim knew that? No, she doubted that. Wildcard could also mean she was unpredictable and not in his initial plan. If so, what tipped him off?

"If you had that kind of ability, you'd be the prime target of every criminal, Juna."

Juna swore to Aidios that if Joachim somehow knew her because Lloyd raised a flag, she would never ever involve herself with any protagonists again!

She sighed. Then again, the line she spoke next was jinxing it, too. So she couldn't put all the blame on Lloyd.

"It'd be a hassle if the enemy knows and dispose of me because I spoil their plan or something,"

"No more questions. You can resist, but I'll bring you to my great comrade in the end," Ernest brandished his demonic-looking sword. "It'd be better if you surrender."

It really came down to a confrontation.

"I see..." Juna let out a sigh. "It's true that it'd be better for me if I surrender. In this kind of situation, there is no way I can win against you."

"Indeed. You made a wise decision," Ernest let out a small smile. However, he did not stop paying attention to Juna because she hadn't dropped her guard yet. Her arms were still on her tachi, legs bent in a stance to leap forward.

"Even so...!"

Juna pointed the tip of her tachi to Ernest.

"My pride as a martial artist wouldn't let me do something like that!"

Juna declared proudly. Right now, she wasn't the 'genius prodigy,' nor was she the 'hospital intern.' Tonight, Juna Crawford was an aspiring Bracer who studied the blade under the Divine Blade of Wind himself! Even if she knew she couldn't defeat him, she could, at least, make Lloyd's boss fight easier by fighting him first!

"Prepare yourself!"

"Hmm? So, in the end, you chose to fight," Ernest frowned.

She put her sword back into its sheathe. "Arc Slash!"

She unleashed her projectile because moving was painful, Aidios!

"Useless."

Ernest slashed the energy-based projectile into two using his sword before going missing from Juna's eyes.

"What?"

"But I commend you."

Ernest's voice suddenly came from her behind. When she turned back to see, Juna felt a punch in her gut.

"I don't know what he wanted to do with you. Maybe he would bring you into the light or even experiment on you. For now, sleep."

I'm sorry, Lloyd, I failed...

That was the last thing Juna thought before she fell unconscious.

A/N: I'm sorry, Juna. Cheesing your way through the boss fight by taking all your time before entering the dungeon doesn't work if you're not in the main party. Even worse, you're in a cutscene fight! Anyway, I imagine that in the Ursula Road, whenever your reach the middle of the map or the next part of the map, you're going to get a cutscene of Juna helping in the hospital until before the SSS reached the hospital, there was a last cutscene of Juna being tired on the rooftop and looking surprised at a mysterious figure in the distance. Because at this point, the SSS, like Juna, likely thought it was Joachim at the hospital, not Ernest, and it wouldn't do for the game to spoil the boss for the player. That said, the scene is gonna be there in the anime adaptation of Zero in Xanaduverse

Anyway, I love that Juna's mindset this whole time was to ease Lloyd's burden. From leaving a note containing the detail of the people bunkered in each room, to forcing herself to fight Ernest in the miniscule chance of her weakening him. Truly a good kouhai worthy of being in the SSS.