Chapter 65: 64: An Icy Mission

Going back before a certain group of students boarded their train home. 

Cheerfulness permeated the air as the students left for break, laughter and idle chatter seemed to fill the air, leaving no gaps for other moods. 

The sun was still shining in the sky, ever-present as always, following its daily routine, yet as the winter chill blew by in gentle breezes, most of the teachers, workers, lecturers followed suit, packing up and getting ready to go home. 

However, one certain person sat on the ledge of a tall building, watching the crowd disappear with a solemn expression. Adjusting her mask to ensure it was fitted properly, Natsuki looked away from the crowd, refocusing on a small screen in front of her. Reading through the screen as her color-shifted black hair blew in the wind, Natsuki muttered to herself:

“Hm... monster extermination... right around the holidays too...”

“The forest zone in... hmm... in asia... not helpful, there are a lot of forest zones...”

Scrolling down a little further Natsuki pursed her lips finding more of the details, “Zone ... 28? Okay... and I have to do it alone, that’s not fun. Transportation will be leaving soon ish... okay. Alright just a full extermination of a growing monster infestation... seems simple enough.”

Putting everything away, Natsuki sighed, letting the wind blow by her for a second before taking a deep breath, kicking off the tall building. 

Letting herself fall for a few seconds, patting her outfit to make sure all her tools were in place and no wardrobe malfunctions were present, she turned to a hawk, flying off towards where the plane that would be transporting her would be waiting.

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Descending with a steep dive, the hawk pulled up at the last second, turning into Natsuki who landed on the platform with a light tap. 

Located at the opposite end of the man-made academy island as the shopping district and its adjacent train platforms, the small platform area located in the midst of the restricted district was one that the students had no knowledge of. Right on the edge of the island, the platform was small, just big enough to hold a few vertical take-off and landing jets. Moreover, next to the platform, just over the edge was the open ocean, with waves crashing against the foundation that held up the island. 

“It’s always a nice view before these missions, at least,” Natsuki murmured to herself, admiring the ocean that stretched to the horizon, almost blending together with the sky. Following her murmurings, Natsuki walked over to the jet in the middle of the platform, walking in through the already descended hold doors, Natsuki took a random seat, letting out a quiet sigh as she buckled herself in. 

Buckling herself in, Natsuki looked around, commenting absent-mindedly, “Huh... it’s different, they must have updated it... I wonder who asked for it.”

The hold area was... spacious, at least, it was spacious enough that it would not feel tight or cluttered. Secured to the walls were some weapons and miscellaneous magic items that could be used and then replenished. 

Sitting in moderate darkness as the hold doors closed behind her, the few lights on providing just enough light to allow for basic vision, Natsuki took out an eye mask, taking a few deep breaths while putting in some headphones. 

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Beep.

Her finger freezing just as she was selecting some music to listen to before planning on sleeping, the hold doors descended once more, letting light flood back into the area. 

Out of breath, footsteps ran up the ramp, coming to a stop at the top of the hold doors leading into the hold.  

“I MADE IT!” A voice that belonged to a certain commandment of ice shouted as she pushed the button to allow the doors to close once more, her exuberance shining through the lack of air her respiratory system was getting, “Heyyyy~ Natsuki, miss me?”

Massaging the bridge of her nose while putting away her eye mask, Natsuki sighed, not bothering turning around in her seat, “How are you out of breath... the ramp doesn’t go that far off the ground. Are you that out of shape?”

Deciding to sit down in the seat right next to Natsuki, Amelia answered, a cheerful smile, “No, no. It was because I ran all the way over here when I heard you were leaving on a mission. I came to back you up, shouldn’t you thank me?”

“... Thank you then,” Natsuki nodded, ignoring Amelia’s first question, leaning onto her as the engines fired up and the plane took off, “Do you even know the details of the mission? Or did you run here without thinking?”

“No, I do know!” Amelia denied, pulling out the info documents on her own screen projection, “See? I asked right when I found out you had a mission, you know, the communications department is really fast! At least for us I’d say...” 

Feeling the jet begin to accelerate as it climbed into the sky, Natsuki gripped the armrests and closed her eyes, pausing the conversation for a bit before nodding, “Yeah, for us they’re quite fast... I’ve heard different stories from other people in the magic association though.”

Unbuckling herself as the jet leveled out, Amelia wandered around running her fingers along the different items, taking a few off the walls as she saw fit. Taking a few throwing knives, Amelia pondered, tapping her chin with her other hand, “Huh... I didn't know that. I don’t have much contact these days with people who are in the lower levels...” 

“That’s fine,” Natsuki murmured, also unbuckling herself but remaining seated in place, “I’ve been busy too, so I also haven’t talked to many people recently. Mostly you and our fellow commandments.”

Sitting back down next to Natsuki, Amelia laughed, slinging an arm over Natuski’s shoulder, “Then do you want to have another hangout time soon? Our last one was so fun, remember? That dinner was so nice too~ you even paid for it~!”

Pulling out her phone and playing some music out loud that they both liked, Natuski freed herself from Amelia’s shoulder slinging, nodding, “I’d love to hang out again, but if we go out to do anything or eat anything you’re the one paying.”

Saying that, Natsuki put on some headphones, laying the seat down and closing her eyes to sleep, leaving Amelia stunned with her mouth open. 

‘I did not expect her to accept that quickly...’ Amelia thought to herself, leaning against the back of her seat and closing her eyes, ‘and come on, don’t lay down that quickly, at least let me argue the fact that I'm paying...’