81 The Trio And Ava (1/2)
Year 2033, July
15:00 P.M
Khovd, Mongolia
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_._
”Caesar.”
He was playing with his phone when he s.h.i.+fted his attention to me. ”Lady Ava, what brought you to my room?”
I frowned. ”That phone works?”
”Huh?!” Caesar stood up and moved over to me from his chair. ”Lady Ava.”
”W-What?” I kept my stern face in front of him, but his sudden movement sent s.h.i.+vers down my spine. Though, I didn't know what the reason was. Perhaps it was because of Caesar's usual unpredictable behavior.
”I might have missed this before . . . But you look different,” he said.
”Great.” I covered my face. ”Now it's you.”
Caesar slung his arms together. ”Wait . . . Why are you in my room again, Lady Ava?”
I looked at him and sighed. ”I was wondering if tomorrow's the right time to go to that capital city.”
”Oh. That's not a bad choice.”
”So . . . Did you find anything about the scouts from The People's Light?” I asked.
”Hmm. You know, it's strange. They were here a few days back no doubt. But then, they just disappeared.”
”Did you use Bart's Aegis crystal I'd given you?”
The days I'd spent there in Enkhtuya's hideout allowed me to develop my control over Bart's Aegis. Beforehand, I couldn't affect more than one person upon activation. I trained to become more accustomed to that Aegis until that day.
At most, I could mind-control four people simultaneously.
I did give Caesar a clump of that green crystal since it reacted to nearby non-Aegis Users when exposed to air.
Caesar nodded. ”Ah, yes. It helps me a lot since the range of its effectiveness is one kilometer in radius.”
”Oh, so you can hear the sound wave it emitted right? At first, I was skeptical about it.”
”Hmm, in the end, I didn't find them, except for the few civilians I'd encountered.”
I closed the door behind me. ”They must have got out of the city and informed their group. Isn't that what scouts are for?”
Caesar laughed at my statement. ”Well indeed, Lady Ava. I guess our only option is to march onto the capital city.” He proceeded to rummage a backpack on his bed. ”I'll get the supplies ready on my part.”
”Yeah. Maybe I'll help Lily and Helena packing up our stuff. Is tomorrow too early for us to leave, Caesar?” I asked.
He turned around to face me. ”Of course not. We exhausted most of the supplies Master Gheele had sent us anyway. We need to move out sooner or later.”
”Yeah, I thought so too. Then, I'll head back to my room.” I paused. ”Wait, there's something else on my mind.”
”What is it?” Caesar asked.
”Are you aware of the memory-wiping that Aegis Users went through?”
He tilted his head. ”Ah, yes. Indeed. Before the Users are given their Aegis, it is compulsory to wipe their memories first. This allows an absolute loyalty to be instilled inside them. But this excludes the people from their own military. Alicia and Bart retain their memories since they are scientists working for the military.”
”Oh.” I put my hand at my chin. ”I know that I've been through that process. Did you have your memories wiped too, Caesar?”
He shook his head. ”No. I didn't go through that since I volunteered to be a part of Melker's Aegis squad.”
”You volunteered?” I repeated. ”That must mean you get that Aegis from an outside source. Like Gheele Folami?”
”You can say that. Though, my life before all this was fun. Being the Kurt Holm that's loved by everyone!”
I raised an eyebrow. ”Kurt Holm?”
Caesar jerked his head. ”W-Wait. No. That's wrong. Forget what I said.” He waved his hands nervously at me. ”You didn't hear anything!”
”Huh,” I muttered. My hand twisted the doork.n.o.b and I looked at Caesar. ”I'll get back to my room then.”
Caesar cleared his throat. ”Just don't let that Erhi girl probed too much into this. She's still a part of Enkhtuya.”
My hand twisted the door open. ”I'll let her know.”
_._
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That night, I was on my bed when someone knocked on my door.
”Come in,” I said.
The door opened and Odval stepped inside. ”Ava, sorry to disturb you.”
I leaped onto the floor. ”No, it's fine. I'm not sleeping anyway. What is it?”
She darted her eyes away for a moment. ”I heard that you'll be leaving tomorrow.”
”Yeah. I want to reach the capital city by this week, perhaps. I mean, Caesar had confirmed that the scouts from The People's Light are gone by now.”
”Ah . . . I see.” She brushed over her dark hair. ”That promise we made . . . I haven't fulfilled it yet.”
I blinked. ”Oh, about that. Maybe--”
”How about you accompany us on our night patrol? Just one round inside the hideout. What do you think, Ava?”
I stared at Odval for a few seconds before responding. ”Okay.”
Her eyes widened. ”It's that easy, huh?”
”You did promise me after all. I'm not letting you go that easily.” I flashed a smile at her.
” . . . If you say so, Ava.” She chuckled.
”Hey, what's this promise you girls kept talking about?” said Qara poking his head from behind the door.
Odval glanced at him. ”Nothing . . . Wait. I remembered. It's about my love toward--”
”Oh no, not this again. I'm outta here.” Qara walked away from the scene, and Khenbish out of nowhere followed him.
Odval sighed and s.h.i.+fted her attention back at me. ”If he can just look at me the way I want him to . . .”
”Huh?” My eyes stared at her. ”There you again with that love thing, Odval. You haven't taught me what it even means.”
She smiled. ”That's what I'm going to do during our patrol. Come on, let's go.”
_._
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I walked beside Odval on the second floor. Khenbish and Qara were up ahead of us, being extra diligent for any suspicious activities.