Ishikawa Aoi
Starlight Academy - The Sleeping Bishop
Monday - Morning
The two former colleagues kept drinking their liquor in quantities wholly unfitting for the early hours of the day. True Magi usually never got drunk, or at the very least it would take excessive amounts of alcohol for them to even show the slightest amount of inebriation. Aoi had never, not even once, won a drinking contest against a True Magi, a fact she was wholly grateful for.
She would be, without a doubt, completely broke if that was the case. Well, even more penniless then she was now.
Downing her glass in a large gulp, Aoi’s voice echoed out away from the table and towards the distant bar counter.
“Kaaaat~! Can you make me another one of these? Just put it on my bill, okaaay!”
"Have you heard about the term 'Messiah'?"
Only to have her mood somewhat soured by the next words out of the B.A.L.D.R officer in front of her. For Aoi, the word messiah only brought an overwhelming feeling of resignation. Everything involving Yoshino Sousei had been a hassle, whether that be before or after the man’s death. No exceptions. The less Aoi had to think about that particular segment of her past, the better. In Aoi’s limited experience, everything associated with “messiahs” ended up being nothing more than a “mess”.
“They should just dump the kid onto a desk job and forget about training him. It would be for the best.”
“Didn’t they learn anything from the last time? Even if they manage to awaken him, that much strength wielded by a single person will lead to no good outcomes for anyone. Especially wielded by some witless teenager with raging hormones.”
Her last mutterings were almost an imperceivable grumble, said mainly to herself and no-one else.
“...times may change, but those idiots never will. ”
The file contains a list of known benefactors for an unauthorized, secret 'outer space' expedition carried out a couple of years ago.
“You are shitting me.”
An “unauthorized secret space mission”? What the hell? How does one even conduct a “secret” space mission? It's not like going to space is a goddamn subtle endeavor. There was absolutely no way that something like that would remain hidden. This entire thing was a massive signal of the governments (and B.A.L.D.R’s) incompetence or it was indicating that someone relatively high up in the brass was involved with this.
“There is no way that this would slip under the radar under normal circumstances, especially for years. Someone had to have enough clout or skill to keep this entire thing under wraps. And this “list” of benefactors...”
Aoi’s index finger pointed at the USB Drive in Cain’s hand.
“...is too damn long. Something would have leaked, even as a rumor. And never mind unregistered Miracles, they could even find new OOPArts out there. We could have a crop of new True Magi on our hands if we are unlucky enough. There would be no way that B.A.L.D.R wouldn’t investigate something like that, even if it was in the shape of an unverifiable rumor.”
Her eyes crossed with Tsukabe’s.
“...right?”
“... And it has come at a price."
Silence filled the table for a brief moment. Taking out a cigarette package from the inner pocket of her white lab coat, Aoi pulled out one of the smokes from the package and placed it on her lips. An azure spark lit the cigarette almost instantly, causing its tip to glow with a deep blue hue.
The Starlight teacher inhaled deeply, filling her lungs with misty smoke.
Aoi leaned back on her chair, her eyes never breaking away from the man in front of her. A thin line of white escaped from her lips as she broke the momentary silence between the two. Her tone seemed to sound identical to earlier, albeit less emotive, but it now held a certain tension. A sharpness that hadn’t existed there before.
“Hey, I was wondering about this earlier, but…”
"I can think of only a scant few reasons why any Starlight student would have this list. I can think of even fewer reasons why they would hide it and why B.A.L.D.R would be immediately there to pick it up."
"So tell me, Motoshige."
“Are you the one getting my brats involved in this?”