Chapter 21: The Members

Page (1/3)

It took only a little over ten minutes to walk from Street Six back to Street One, where the Raindrop Agency was located.

Hill pushed open the agency door and proudly announced, “I’m back!”

“Welcome.” Farlan looked up from the stacks of documents, concern in her eyes. “How did your first assignment go?”

“It was more troublesome than I expected.” Star Elm did not follow Hill into the office area, but casually took a seat on the bench.

She lowered her head and stared at her palms, as though traces of the assignment still lingered there.

“Agent, go inside and sit down. The lobby isn’t a place for you to stay. Once you’ve rested, remember to write an assignment report.”

“...We have to do that too?”

“He’s lying to you.” A bright, cheerful male voice cut into their conversation.

Star Elm instinctively looked toward the sound.

Besides Hill and Farlan, there were now three other people in the office: a young man with a dazzling smile, an older woman with a stern expression, and a boy who appeared to be two years younger than Star Elm.

Recalling Hill’s earlier introductions, Star Elm ventured, “Hello, Brightview, Edge Tone, and... um... Hate Heaven, Nameless Above, No Door Below?”

The moment she finished speaking, the entire agency fell into an awkward, deathly silence.

Brightview was the first to react. He slapped the table and burst into laughter, tears nearly squeezing from his eyes. “Ha-ha-ha! Who—who told you that name?”

Edge Tone turned her face away and continued polishing the silver-gray mechanical crossbow in her hands, but Star Elm could see her shoulders trembling ever so slightly.

The boy’s face flushed crimson. He refused even to look at Star Elm again, instead shouting toward the partition, “Big Sister Hill! We agreed never to mention those words again!”

His voice held both irritation and a trace of wounded indignation.

“...What?” Hill’s muffled voice drifted through the partition, mingling with the sound of shower water. “What did you say?”

Only belatedly did Star Elm remember that Hill had apparently told her there was another member called “Heavenless.” She had merely read aloud the name she had seen.

Hate Heaven, Nameless Above, No Door Below... Heavenless?

That was really what they had named him?

Heavenless reacted even more violently.

The flush spread all the way down to his neck. He sprang to his feet, his voice trembling faintly with embarrassment and fury. “Stop laughing! I was only ten back then! How was I supposed to know that once I became an agent, I’d never be allowed to change my name? You—you people! Have you never regretted anything in your lives?”

The agency filled with cheerful laughter, but Star Elm keenly caught a new piece of information.

She frowned slightly, curiosity entering her voice. “Agents aren’t allowed to change their names after registering? But your badge says ‘Heavenless.’”

Edge Tone coughed lightly, struggling to suppress her amusement. In a calm, concise voice, she explained, “That is a callsign Heavenless applied for separately. Once a legal name is registered, it can never be changed.”

Brightview eagerly added, “Becoming an agent means acquiring a genuine social identity. Ordinary people aren’t entered into the records; within the social system, you could say they’re nameless. But once we’re registered, we become official citizens of the Council, with names and identities on record. So Heavenless is stuck carrying that name on his identification forever. It can’t be changed.”

Page (1/3)

Page (2/3)

“Names are extremely important. Every agency contract must be signed under the registered name of the agent in question. That is also to prevent abuse. A callsign, however, may be used as well.”

He patted Heavenless on the shoulder. By then, the boy had crouched in the corner with his head in his hands, looking utterly bereft of hope.

While they were talking, Hill emerged from the shower room.

A towel was draped over her wet brown hair, and droplets of water ran down the contours of the muscles in her arms.

Hill had changed out of her usual white shirt and was wearing only a simple black sleeveless undershirt.

Star Elm’s gaze was drawn involuntarily to the dense web of scars covering Hill’s body.

Most of them had faded, leaving only pale white traces, as though they had kept her company for a very long time.

“Whew—that’s much better!” Hill, completely unaware of Star Elm’s stare, rubbed her hair dry and hummed a light tune as she walked into the office area.

Heavenless was still crouched in the corner with his head buried in his arms, already swallowed by a vortex of gloom.

Brightview continued grinning as he squatted beside him and poked his cheek teasingly. “Hey, don’t shut yourself away. Your name is positively poetic!”

Edge Tone was the only one who immediately reined in her amusement when Hill returned, straightening her expression and resuming her seat.

“Star Elm, I’ll take you along on assignments every morning for the next few days, mainly so you can familiarize yourself with our procedures. If anything dangerous happens, I’ll be there to protect you,” Hill said casually, as though the scene before her were perfectly ordinary.

“You’ll take me with you every day?”

“We can’t exactly send you off to deal with every kind of trouble on your own, can we?” Hill tossed her damp towel onto the long sofa and sat down.

So that was her personal seat.

“I can only spare time in the mornings. In the afternoon, you’ll work with Brightview and the others. For specific assignments, ask Farlan or check the schedule on the whiteboard.”

Brightview winked at Star Elm and cut in. “Exactly. Relax and follow the veterans!”

“You’re all peers. Look after one another. The afternoon work is fairly easy, and if you really run into trouble, you can come ask me.” As she spoke, she skillfully signed the documents Farlan handed her.

Edge Tone raised her head and, unusually, spoke up. “Newcomer, don’t let them fool you. The work here is never easy.”

“Don’t frighten Star Elm.” Farlan continued sorting through the pile of agency contracts and documents in her hands, passing them one by one to Hill. She did not forget to add, “And when you’re training a newcomer, remember to show some restraint. Don’t be too violent and set a bad example.”

Hill gave a soft laugh. “Don’t worry. I’m very responsible.”

The clock reached noon, and the atmosphere in the office quietly changed.

Star Elm looked up at the sky through the enormous glass windows.

The Gray Sun still hung at the highest point overhead.

Since arriving in this world, she had never seen that gentle gray radiance move. It had become the one unchanging presence in the sky.

Page (2/3)

Page (3/3)

The two white-red suns had now climbed to nearly their highest point of the day. Though they still did not reach the height of the Gray Sun, they were high enough to alter the color of the entire sky.

At noon, their light interwove, staining the previously dim firmament orange-red.

The air remained somewhat chilly, but the radiance gave Star Elm the illusion of warmth.

Farlan returned to the reception area and repeatedly reminded the people gathered there, “Sleeping on the benches is prohibited,” his tone carrying a hint of helplessness.

He then urged those waiting for assignments to leave, as though this were a scene performed every day.

Only after everyone had gone did he open the door that stood slightly ajar between the two rooms. “Lunch is here. Apprentice Agent Star Elm, I ordered a special meal for you.”

Star Elm paused, then replied politely, “Thank you.”

Only then did she remember something very important.

More than twenty-four hours had passed since she awoke in this world.

Yet she still had not eaten a thing.

It was not that there had been no food available.

Pray Snow had left her some canned food, but after examining it closely, Star Elm had detected a strange odor lingering around her nose—a bizarre, sweet, meaty scent reminiscent of the tablets she had encountered earlier.

With her Information Reading ability, she could tell that the canned food contained no meat from either wild or domesticated animals. It was artificially synthesized.

“QI-127 biomimetic tissue?”

For some reason, the information was extremely limited and consisted only of that name.

The smell had instinctively made Star Elm uncomfortable. After hesitating again and again, she ultimately lacked the courage to taste it.

Thus, until this moment, her stomach had been nearly empty.

Strangely enough, although her body felt weak from insufficient rest and excessive exertion, she had not experienced any intense hunger.

It was only now, when lunch was mentioned, that she began to feel faintly hungry.

Thinking of it, she found herself quietly curious—and expectant—about the “staff meal” Farlan had mentioned.

What did ordinary food look like in this world?

Would it be more appetizing than that suspicious synthetic meat?

Or was all the food here equally difficult to swallow?

Page (3/3)