The winter in Crossbell is not very cold, compared with the girl's birthplace, the Principality of Remifilia, and her second hometown, the black and silver steel capital of Lure in the Erebonian Empire. It won't snow here, and there will be no
Cold wind. Even in January, you can still see many girls wearing skirts on the street.
This is the second winter she has spent here.
The feeling of a warm winter day is not unpleasant.
A girl named Tio recently started to remember things from long ago.
Nine years ago, the young Tio was kidnapped by a fanatical religious group. For an unknown purpose, the group used her as a ritual object and conducted various experiments on her. They used drugs.
, electric shock, hint, extreme pressure. The cult used various methods to enhance her five senses.
Besides her, many boys and girls were kidnapped, but she was the only one who survived until the end.
After enduring various experiments, she obtained... no, it should be said that she was forced to obtain extraordinary sensory abilities, able to hear distant sounds and interpret other people's emotions.
One day three years later. Including Guy, investigators from the Sergaban of the Crossbell Police Department raided the religious order's facilities near the city of Altair in the westernmost part of the Republic, and rescued a man who was still alive.
Theo.
Tio was sent to the Affiliated Hospital of St. Ursula Medical University in the Crossbell Autonomous Prefecture, and received treatment in the hospital for more than half a year. The first time he met Ling happened during that period.
When Tio's physical condition returned to stable, Officer Bannings, who rescued her, decided to return her to her parents in the Principality of Remifilia. Although the Sergei Police Department and Mr. Arios also visited her frequently,
It was Guy Bannings who cared about her the most.
She recalled the chat she had with Officer Bannings on the train together. Although it was five years ago, it was still vivid in her mind when she thought about it.
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"Let's continue the topic we just talked about."
After saying that, Guy suddenly frowned and made a serious expression.
"The prisoner was finally cornered by me! I shouted, 'Just surrender!' and what appeared in front of me was... guess what?"
The young Tio looked at Guy and said she couldn't guess. Guy's pretended serious expression suddenly turned into a smile.
"It's actually a cat! I can't believe it."
"……cat……?"
"Yes, it's just a black cat! The stolen gems and the mysterious mask left at the scene turned out to be the fault of the cat. After being exposed in this way, our task force is completely helpless."
After saying that, he laughed heartily. But Tio just kept staring at Guy.
"Oh... isn't it funny? It's strange. When I tell others about this, they get very good reactions every time."
"...Where's the cat?"
Guy couldn't help but say "Huh", and Tio asked again.
"What happened to that cat...?"
"I see, you care more about the cat than our busy schedule. It's so shameless."
After speaking, Guy showed a wry smile.
"Don't worry, the lady who was working as a waitress at the police station took her back to raise her."
"Oh." Tio replied briefly and adjusted her sitting posture.
"Do you like cats?"
Tio nodded silently in reply to Guy. Guy raised the corners of his mouth and showed a bright smile.
"I see, you like cats...good."
Guy seemed to understand something and nodded to himself. Tio didn't know what was going on and tilted her head. Guy didn't explain to Tio and continued:
"Well, I already know that you like cats. You even smiled a little just now."
Tio made no sound, but she was surprised. Guy continued to say to her:
"You did smile. Although it wasn't obvious."
Perhaps he didn't even notice that he was smiling. Tio put her small palm on her cheek.
"My partner is also a poker face guy. But I can see that even if it is a small change, I will not miss it, right?"
Guy pointed at Tio as he spoke. When Tio looked at Guy, he smiled.
"My partner... the senior investigator Mark Klein whom you have also met is a complete workaholic. He always arrives earlier than anyone else in the morning to prepare for the case and stays later than anyone else in the evening, busy organizing documents.
.”
Guy waved his arms widely and opened his eyes wide.
"He always handles so many piles of documents silently by himself. Even the things that should be handled by the monitor are handled by him. The monitor is Mr. Sergey, and he occasionally comes to the hospital with his wife, Miss Sonia.
I want to check on your condition, right? That person is an old fox! Because the person who asked me to team up with my partner is Mr. Sergey."
The topic changed rapidly, making Tio a little confused. Guy didn't seem to notice Tio's reaction and continued to talk about his.
"My relationship with Mark Klein is not particularly good. At first, I even thought, 'Why is this guy so cold?'. As for him, he seemed to think that I was 'talking too much, but I'm not telling the truth.'
,baffling."
Halfway through his speech, his tone became calmer, probably imitating his "partner". Guy added:
"However, Mr. Sergey said this, 'You will either become the best partner or the worst duo'. I thought it was very interesting, so I followed this bet. Look at the current situation
Although we have constant conflicts, we still get along very well."
As Tio listened to Guy's words, she was thinking about another thing.
Both Mr. Arios and Mr. Sergei are very special to Guy. He seems to have warm feelings for them.
The young Tio didn't know how to describe this feeling. If you ask Tio now, she would probably answer that it is a kind of "trust". However, she didn't know this word at that time, so she changed to the word she knew.
vocabulary, say:
"How do you like it?"
The sudden two words surprised Guy again.
"Those two people...do you like them both...?"
"Hmm...what a direct question."
As he spoke, he scratched his face with his fingers.
"Hey, if I want to say whether I like them or hate them... I don't dislike them."
After saying that, he scratched his head again.
Guy suddenly thought of something and blurted out:
"...No, wait. Lloyd seems to have said the same thing to me last time. Maybe every child is like this..."
An unheard word appeared again. What is Royd? The question seemed to appear on Tio's face. Guy explained to her:
"Lloyd is my younger brother. He is about five years older than Tio... No, if Tio was born in 1189, he should be four years older? Almost."
"Is he also very talkative...?"
Is the younger brother talking as much as the elder brother? Hearing Tio’s simple question, Guy replied with a wry smile:
"Do I really love talking so much?"
Tio nodded.
"I just want to make you happy..."
Guy crossed his arms thoughtfully over his chest.
"My brother is not as noisy as me. He is the type who thinks calmly and calmly before speaking. Mr. Sergei once said with a smile that our brothers' personalities are exactly the opposite."
Tio found it amazing that such a lively and noisy person, and his younger brother with the same blood, actually didn't like to talk.
"Everyone says that my brother is serious and kind, but... I think he is a little too serious and a little worried. I don't think he needs to be so tight. Like last time, the nuns from the Sunday school invited me to go
Once, I was very happy and wanted to say, 'Oh, he finally learned to fight, and he is so naughty that he needs me as a parent to step in!'"
Tio heard that fighting is a bad thing, but that doesn't seem to be the case at Guy's house.
"In the end, this kid, Lloyd, didn't start a fight, but tried to break up the fight, and ended up being a disaster. Although the nun said with admiration, 'Having a brother who is a prosecutor, tutoring is different,' but I think he can do this
It makes me worried because he is at a disadvantage. He is just too gentle. Cecil feels the same way."
Cecil. Another unknown name appeared. And only when calling this name, Tio would feel a different kind of emotional fluctuation from Guy. It was different from when calling Lloyd's name.
Incredible enthusiasm.
"Huh? Ah, sorry. Isn't the topic of my brother a bit boring?"
Tio shook her head. Although she couldn't understand a lot of what Guy said, the emotional fluctuations she felt from him were very warm and comfortable.
More importantly, Guy's smile was too dazzling for Tio.
"Isn't it interesting? That's great!"
After saying that, he grinned. Seeing Guy's smile, Tio knew how much he enjoyed every day and how much he "liked" the people around him.
"……very nice."
After muttering to herself in a low voice, she couldn't help but cover her mouth with her hands. Because she didn't mean to say this, but just blurted it out.
Seeing Tio's appearance, Guy's expression suddenly became heavy. Perhaps he remembered the inhumane treatment Tio received at the cult's facility.
Guy stood up from the seat he was sitting on and knelt on the floor to match Tio's eye level.
"From now on, Tio will also encounter many happy things. There are so many that you can't even finish them."
"is that so……?"
Tio really couldn't believe it.
In that facility, she was the only one who survived. She felt that it was just a coincidence, not that there was anything special about herself. It was incredible that she was even alive now. It was really hard to imagine that she would encounter any happy things in the future.
But Guy looked into Tio's eyes and asserted this.
"Yes! I am so happy every day that it makes your eyes dizzy. Just imagine some happy things."
Hearing what he said, Tio tried to imagine herself running around happily.
But this is a bit too difficult for Tio, who doesn't know what "happiness" is.
"...I can't think of it..."
She lowered her head and looked away.
Guy gently put his hands on her shoulders. When Tio looked up, she saw Guy's smile.
"If you really can't find happy things, come to Crossbell. I will let you encounter a lot of happy things, so many that you will be upset."
Guy's impression of Crossbell was conveyed to Theo's heart from the hand on his shoulder.
A messy but vibrant place, a warm place with many beloved people. This impression was stronger than any emotion she had felt so far.
Tio couldn't help but become excited, her cheeks flushed slightly.
"Oh, you cheer up. That's how it should be. Children must be energetic!"
The cheerful laughter of Hahaha overlapped with the announcement in the car. The announcement told the passengers that they would arrive at the station in Tio's hometown soon.
Tio's parents, accompanied by members of the Guerrilla Association, arrived at the station.
As soon as her parents saw Tio, they rushed forward and hugged her tightly. They both burst into tears, happy that their daughter had returned home safely.
“Really, really thank you all!”
The parents kept bowing to Guy and thanked him, while Guy panicked and explained that it was not his strength alone. Tio listened to the conversation between the two parties absentmindedly.
Finally, the parents said goodbye to everyone and planned to take Tio home.
I really want to get along with Guy again. Just when Tio was thinking this.
"Ah, wait!"
Guy stopped Tio. He took out a small bag from his bag. The bag was dark green and looked like it had been used for many years.
During this trip, Tio saw Guy take out several kinds of things from the bag. There were candy balls, cute patterned socks, playing cards, and many other fun things in the bag.
"Well, where did it go...ah, I found it!"
Guy took something out of the bag. Then, he knelt down in front of Tio.
"Tio, stretch out your hand."
She didn't understand what Guy meant, so she just stretched out her hand obediently. Guy put something on her small palm.
"This is……"
"It's cute, isn't it? Her name is Missy."
It is a round cat-shaped mascot pendant with an impressive troubled expression.
"This is for Tio."
It happened not long ago. Guy wanted to buy some gifts for Tio who was bedridden, but he had no idea what to buy. "Use your own two legs to find a gift that the little girl will like and buy it for her."
This task was more difficult for Guy than tracking down a vicious criminal, and he was still unable to choose an appropriate gift. Guy even asked the girl at the counter at the police station, and finally found the Missy pendant. As a local spokesperson
"Mixi" was not well known and not many people liked it, but Guy intuitively thought that Tio would like it, so he bought it.
Guy originally planned to give it to Tio when he visited the doctor next time, but it happened that his superiors assigned him to escort her back to her hometown. Guy thought that since this was the case, he would give it to her at the end of the journey as a surprise.
"How about this? This is a bit unpleasant... er, I mean impressive expression! I think Tio will like it."
However, Tio was not listening to Guy.
Because Tio was looking too intently at the Mixi pendant in her hand.
She first stared at Mixi's face with interest, and then carefully touched her tail. The fur of the tail was so soft, and Tio seemed to like its touch and kept touching it.
"Like it?"
After saying that, Guy grinned. Tio's face turned red and she nodded.
"Really, that's great!"
Guy stretched out his hand and touched Tio's head messily for a while. Tio's light blue hair was a little messed up. But Tio didn't find it annoying at all and silently let him touch it.
Finally, Guy said gently but firmly:
"Don't worry. You will definitely be happy."
It's like magic.
"No matter who you are, you can start over at any time. No matter how many sad things happened in the past, it only lasted until yesterday. Those things are in the past."
His tone was firm, as if he wanted to cut off Tio's painful past, and then he said with a smile:
"There is still a future waiting for you. And it is a shining, dazzling future."
Seeing his smile, Tio nodded vigorously.
"Very good." Guy nodded with satisfaction and stood up.
"If any reason blocks your future, call me at any time. I will blow away all the reasons for your misfortune!"
After speaking, Guy clenched his fists to show his determination.
Guy always likes to look handsome, which makes Tio find it very interesting.
"hehe."
Tio laughed. After she laughed, she realized that she hadn't laughed like this for a long time.
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That person said that a bright and dazzling future is waiting for me. Judging from the results, it has come true. Tio thought as she finished her memories.
He tied the old pendant to the Ax Zero disguised as an Enigma shell and stuffed it into the pocket of his coat.
Mixi Paradise was built in 1202 of the Qiyao calendar the year before last, but the mascot Mixi existed in the last century, but it was not very popular at the time and its popularity was also low.
She has lived with that child for more than three years. At the end of last year, when Tio proposed to move out, she noticed a complicated expression on the child's face.
Even without the use of sensing ability, I can read her thoughts from her face. Although she is very good at invisibility, she is not very good at disguising her expression. In other words, it is precisely because she is used to it that no one can see it.
She was in a state of invisibility, so she didn't work hard to cover it up. Tio felt that Ling had become easier to understand than before, but maybe she had become more mature than before?
Considering that few people knew Ling's true age, Tio thought that this might be the child's true temperament.
Despite this, her decision will not change. Every time she sees brother Levi and Ling living in harmony like a family, and occasionally acting coquettishly in front of him, Tio can't help but think of the past.
Once upon a time, she might have had such a brother...
After many years of meeting Sergei Police Department again, Uncle Luo certainly still remembered her. When Tio learned that Sergei planned to set up a special agent support section, she asked to join without hesitation.
Tio handed over the position of director of Linefort's fourth development room to his former deputy Marshall Emmott. After obtaining the senior advisor seat of Lineforte Group with the permission of President Irina, he no longer interfered there.
thing.
Next, she used the special spell she had learned from Professor Wiseman in the past to exert an absolute hint on Crossbell Police Chief Hogges and Deputy Chief Pierre, completed all the procedures, and became a senior member of the police department.
police.
The act of killing first and telling later had already settled everything by the time Section Chief Sergei reacted. Sergei finally had to agree to help her cover up. In this way, Tio became the first member of the Secret Service Support Section when it was established.