"G—Gepard, it's you! I didn't think you'd have the time to visit with things so tense on the front line, hehe..."
Sunny, March, Seele, and Dan Heng were hiding within the main workplace of the workshop as they listened to Serval awkwardly greet Gepard. There was no door to hide them, so they had to press their bodies against the doorway. Sunny had sent his shadow out to watch their interaction.
Gepard rubbed the back of his head.
"Things are manageable, the latest wave of monster attacks has slowed. I'm back in the city to take care of a few matters, but I'll be back on the front line later... I thought I told you?"
Serval blanked out for a moment.
"Ah? Oh, yes, that's right..."
Gepard stared at his obviously nervous sister.
"...Sis, you look a bit pale. Did something happen?"
She rapidly shook her head.
"N—No, why would anything have happened?"
He deadpanned.
"You don't normally use my full name."
Serval stared at him in disbelief before sighing.
"You said you hate it when I call you 'bro' in public! Well I agree. It'd sound better if I started using your full name. Right, broseph?"
Gepard placed an armor-covered hand over his face, exasperated by his sibli!ng.
"...You can call me whatever you like. Look Serval, I'm here on official business today. There's something wrong with the Barrier Generator Device and the engineers in our unit don't know how to fix it. I need you to take a look."
Seeing that the conversation was taking a less dangerous direction, Serval eased up.
"Those guys can't think outside the box. Of course they can't wrap their heads around my design."
She sighed in disappointment.
"I thought it was something big. Leave it here. I'll take a look."
He nodded.
"Sorry to trouble you."
Serval raised a brow, her voice taking on a teasing tone.
"Why are you being so polite? Oh, and why's the city under curfew all of a sudden? Has something happened?"
Gepard averted his gaze, hesitant on answering.
"I... I've been instructed to keep it quiet."
Serval sent him a fabricated look of hurt.
"Lil' Geppie... So grown up now... Looking down on his civilian sister..."
Despite knowing that she was simply messing with him, he easily folded.
"Don't say that... Forget it. If I don't tell you, Pela will... Last night, Lady Bronya suddenly appeared. She entered Qlipoth Fort without saying anything to anyone. The Supreme Guardian is worried that the three intruders may have followed Bronya out of the Fragmentum and back into the Administrative District. She issued a curfew for the entire city, and ordered us to pursue and capture any suspicious individuals."
Her gaze flickered over to where the four Awakened were hiding.
"Ah! So that's how it is, no wonder I haven't heard from Bronya... Is she alright?"
An uncertain look took over Gepard's expression.
"I'm not sure. She hasn't left Qlipoth Fort. The Supreme Guardian just said she'd returned. Nothing more."
Meanwhile, Seele visibly stiffened when Bronya's unknown condition was mentioned. Sunny narrowed his eyes for a moment before relaxing. As he and Seele were standing on one side of the doorway while Dan Heng and March were on the other, he was able to reach out to her shoulder.
Seele turned to him with distraught evidenced on her face. Silently, Sunny slowly brought her down alongside him so that they were able to sit side-by-side as they leaned against the wall.
He did this so that she didn't attempt anything rash. He doubted that she would suddenly act out, but in a scenario in which she did, it would be almost impossible for a commotion to not be created.
Seele stared into his golden eyes for a second before slowly nodding. Although she was still somewhat fraught with worry, Sunny's was now completely sure that nothing unwanted would occur. She pushed her knees up to her chest, hugging her legs for comfort.
…Sunny's hand twitched, but he held still.
Despite the obvious possibility of Bronya being harmed, Serval was completely unfazed.
"Well, I was sure worried about her... After she disappeared, Pela's workload doubled — she said she barely had time to go out."
The corners of Gepard's mouth twitched at the mention of this Pela person.
"She really does tell you everything... Oh, by the way, I left my Goethe Hotel limited-edition flask behind last time I was here. Let me have a look for it. I think I left it over..."
Sunny tensed as he saw that Gepard was moving towards the workspace they were hiding in. He positioned his shadow right behind him, preparing to Shadow Step in order to knock him out.
Serval's eyes widened as she quickly stepped in front of him.
"W—Wait!"
Gepard stopped, furrowing his brows.
"What is it? You seem pretty off today, Serval..."
Her eyes fluttered around as she tried to come up with an excuse.
"It's, um... right! You remember how you neglected all those flowers to death? I piled them all over there during a bit of spring cleaning, and now they smell terrible! So... don't go over there!"
He blinked, gazing at her with suspicion.
"...Seems like a strange reason not to take a look... plus, am I supposed to believe you were spring cleaning? You must be up to more forbidden research..."
A look of indignation crept up her face.
"Am not — how dare you! What do you take your sister for?"
Gepard stared at her for a long moment before conceding with a sigh.
"Never mind. This is your space, and I shouldn't intrude. I've got business to take care of. Bye for now."
As he turned to leave, Serval blankly looked at him. She suddenly called out to him.
"Hey! Wait a sec — uh... Those intruders, I wanted to ask. What crime have they committed?"
Gepard sent her a curious look, but answered her nonetheless.
"They're plotting to overthrow the Architects and bring harm to the city."
Serval dryly remarked:
"Huh... reminds me of the accusations against me. Cocolia's methods haven't changed."
Gepard sighed once more.
"Don't say that, Serval. I know that you're still nursing a grievance against the Supreme Guardian, but this isn't a joking matter."
Serval pouted — yes, this adult woman literally pouted at her younger brother for reprimanding her.
"...You're telling me off again. Fine, whatever bro. You better be going, come listen to Pela and my next rehearsal."
He curtly nodded.
"I will... if I have the time."
Gepard continued to the door, the chime ringing as he opened it. The door shut as he marched off towards the frigid streets of Belobog.
After a few excruciatingly long moments, Serval breathed a sigh of relief.
"The coast is clear. You can come out now."
***
"Phew...I nearly suffocated! What kind of plot device was that..."
March slumped onto a chair, limbs dangling as if she was a ragdoll.
Serval didn't appear much better.
"I almost lost my cool when he went for his flask..."
Seele bit her lip, completely ensnared by her concern over Bronya's safety. Sunny glanced at her, completely aware that she was going to suggest something crazy or stupid — probably both.
"...This is bad. Bronya's in danger. We have to go save her."
'Called it.'
Just as he was about to shut down her idea, Serval beat him to the punch.
"Attempting to storm Qlipoth Fort by ourselves? Forget it, Seele. I don't care how skilled you are. I'm not sending you on a suicide mission."
She paused for a moment.
"Rest assured, Cocolia may have changed over the years... but she'd never hurt Bronya. I'm certain of that."
Despite Serval's words, Seele didn't seem convinced.
"...You sound like Bronya herself. I don't get it — you guys are against Cocolia, and yet in some ways, you seem to trust her completely."
Sunny clicked his tongue.
"Your looking too deeply into it. Just think of it like this: Bronya lived with Cocolia for at least a decade. Do you think that she's stupid enough to crawl back to what she believes to be a death sentence? What good would that do for Belobog?"
As her daughter, Bronya must have understood Cocolia relatively deeply. It would be impossible for the Supreme Guardian to put on such a perfect act before a child for such a long period of time. From what he knew, Bronya wasn't even close to being estranged from her mother.
As such, it was completely logical to trust her judgement on this.
'Of course, if it was March in Bronya's place, then things would be completely different.'
Sending a stray to March, Sunny watched as Seele relaxed.
"Yeah… she might be an idiot, but Bronya's not that stupid."
Sunny's eye twitched at the backhanded compliment, but ignored it as he turned towards Serval.
"Have you thought of a way to persuade Gepard?"
She scowled as she remembered the conversation she had with her younger brother.
"I was gauging his reactions just now, did you see? Unless we have irrefutable evidence, he won't question Cocolia's orders. If you go after him now, our plan's as good as over."
She walked past them, heading to the front door.
"Come on, let's go to the restricted zone. If we can get ahead of the curve and find the Stellaron, Cocolia will be out of options."