Yuji's heart sped up as he watched Zen appear from one of the nearby alleys, but he took it as another good sign when he saw that Zen was alone and only visible from the front thanks to the hooded jacket he was wearing.

  "I really wasn't expecting you to show up in street clothes." He said when Zen reached him.

  Zen sighed, "I don't have a choice. Now what is it that you found?"

  "Hang on. First of all, I want to hear more about why you're looking into Dai, and why the Protectorate would stop you if they knew."

  Zen leaned against the base of the statue, "I'm not looking at Dai specifically. It's the Gallios Shipping Company." He held a hand up before Yuji could say anything, "Dai is, of course, the number one person we're investigating, but it would be stupid of us to focus only on him. Do you know how big the company you work for is? It spans over half of Eryndral."

  Even though Yuji had worked for the company for most of his life, he'd never really thought too deeply about the company itself. But now that he was in a position where he needed to know as much as possible about Dai, one part was really sticking out to him.

  "If the company is truly that big, then why does the owner, who also manages the entire company from the top, choose to live here?" Yuji held his arms out and spun around, "Here??"

  "I get what you're trying to say, but I'll have you know that it's not all that rare for those in positions of power to choose to remain in their hometowns where they grew up." He continued, "But what is strange is when an unknown entity appears out of nowhere with a massive amount of wealth amassed from who-knows-where, and then chooses this outpost to live in."

  Yuji ran through everyone of importance in the outposts that he knew of, but he could only think of one group of people who fit the criteria Zen had just laid out.

  "The Hargravens?"

  Zen nodded, "But at the end of the day, they're mostly just a curiosity I discovered after I was first sent out here a few years ago on an unrelated investigation." He motioned past Yuji, "Now show me what you found. Honestly, I'm half expecting whatever this is to be a waste of time, but I'm also half hopeful."

  "... I think you're going to be feeling an entirely different emotion when we get there."

  Yuji led Zen across the empty street and through several alleyways between warehouses before reaching Warehouse-C. It was nestled in a corner, and clearly the only one not receiving the upkeep the others were getting. Snow was piled up all around it, which made it easy to see his and Akira's bootprints.

  As soon as he opened the side door, a weird smell hit his nose. He hadn't smelled it when they entered earlier, and after a quick glance at Zen, he could see that it was bothering the Elf as well.

  "As a heads up, that smell wasn't here earlier," Yuji said as he guided Zen over to the two crates, and the closer they got, the stronger the smell became.

  Zen's eyes went wide when he saw what was inside the crates, and while the man's mind caught up to the reality before him, Yuji bent down near the entrance of each crate and sniffed the air.

  "Yeah, it's coming from them, but I don't know what the smell itself is. It's like a lilac mixed with pumpkin?"

  "How did you come about these boxes? Tell me everything you know, please." Zen said, having already recovered. Yuji wouldn't have known, but Zen had seen far worse than bodies inside boxes, and quite regularly too.

  "My job is pretty simple. Akira and I sit at an intersection with seven different belts. We then scan incoming boxes and place them on the belt that leads them to their destination. Normally we're sending boxes further into the factory floor, but every now and then we have to send items to this warehouse because of errors or the destination itself no longer existing. And this time it was because these boxes had weird destinations, which led to Dai Murakami telling us to send them here for the time being."

  "And then you just, what? Came here and opened them for the fun of it?"

  Ahh, this is it. Here we go...

  Yuji sighed, "No. Almost everything that is sent here never sees the light of day again, and after delivering so many of these heavy boxes, I really wanted to see what was inside of them." He smiled, "And if they were valuable in any way, I'd be stealing them."

  Zen raised an eyebrow, "So you're a thief?"

  "Yep. I've been saving up to heal Lisa's legs, and then get her and my uncle out of this shithole. Or at the very least, we'd move into the upper-level and live more comfortably there."

  At the mention of Lisa's legs, the look on Zen's face shifted. He then looked at the crates for a brief moment and shook his head, "I have far more important issues than basic thievery anyway."

  Oh right, I was planning on stealing that barrel if it was Moonblood. I should return it for now and come grab it another time. Or maybe I should just crack it open right here?

  Yuji turned to look at the barrel still sitting there at the base of the belt, but something felt off when he did. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but his brain was telling him that something was wrong.

  He was about to ask Zen if he noticed anything when a hand from inside the crate that housed the demon girl came up and grasped the side of it. That's when Yuji noticed that her other hand was already latched onto the side nearest him.

  Zen and Yuji watched as the woman inside slowly pulled herself up into a standing position, but the second she was fully up, she fell backwards and landed directly on top of the other crate.

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  With her head hanging off one side, and her torso bending down into the crate, she waved her left hand at the two men and said, "Get over here and help me already! I feel like I was run over by a train..."

  Still stunned by what they were seeing, Yuji and Zen rushed over to the lady and helped her onto the ground below, where she rested against the belt in a sitting position.

  "Whew, thank you, young fellas. Now go get me something to drink next. Preferably something alcoholic."

  "Miss..." Zen narrowed his eyes, "For someone who was locked up inside of a box, for who knows how long, you're being awfully nonchalant? And now for your first drink you want alcohol instead of water?"

  "Bah, I barely even remember what water tastes like!" She pulled a small handkerchief out of a pocket near her waist and wiped her face down the best she could, "And this was nothing. Our souls are put into stasis inside those boxes. They're trying to keep us barely alive for something, but eh, who cares. I just want something to drink and a little time to rest, then I'll be out of your hair. But thank you for saving me, I guess..."

  "Wait, does that mean those little girls can still be saved?" Yuji asked.

  "Little girls?" The woman asked, slightly turning to look at the other box, "Are there little girls in that box? Then they're probably vegetables. They tried electrocuting my head after locking all of my abilities, but it was of no use. I have a hidden one that saved me like usual, unfortunately."

  "Are you an Awakened, or a Rogue?"

  "What?" A puzzled look appeared on her face, "I don't know what either of those words means. And enough about that, get me something to drink already!"

  Yuji didn't know what 'Rogue' meant either, but he figured it must be what the self-taught people are called.

  Still though, for her to have abilities but not know what an Awakened is? I guess the world is a really big place, so it could be possible...?

  Zen sighed, "I'm gonna call my men here and investigate as much as we can alone before reporting it to the higher-ups." He pointed at the woman, "You're going to come with us. And yes, we'll get you booze or whatever it is that you want. All I ask in return is that you tell us everything you know about the people who put you in that box."

  "Nah, I'm not going with you."

  Zen stared at the woman, "I hate to break it to you, Miss, but you don't have a choice in the matter. You already admitted that your abilities were locked, so what could you possibly do to stop me? Especially when I'm a part of the Protectorate."

  At that, the woman's weak attitude vanished as if it were a facade. She stood up and faced Zen, spreading her wings out as a dreadful aura hit the two men.

  While Zen prepared to do battle with the woman, Yuji held a hand up, drawing her attention. Far from feeling fear from the woman, her aura was giving him an idea.

  "Would you prefer to stay at my place? It's a dinky little trailer, but we do have decent food and a lot of bubble drinks."

  "Yuji...?" Zen was clearly puzzled by the young man's interjection. Why would he offer that to the strange woman? The thief's interest in this whole debacle should've evaporated the second he found bodies inside the boxes.

  The woman however, had reacted heavily to the 'bubble drinks' portion of Yuji's offer.

  "Bubble drinks? S-Soda? Is it soda?! Ahhhh~, I haven't had that since I was a young girl on Earth!"

  "I've never heard the word 'Soda' before, but bubble drinks are super bubbly, kind of tingly on your throat, and full of sugar. Is that what soda was?"

  "Yes! Ooh, take me there immediately! Although, even without soda, I'd have joined you to get away from this man who works for the very same people who put me in that box."

  "What?!" Zen said, eyes wide. "Are you telling me it was the Protectorate who did this to you and those girls?"

  "I don't know about these little girls, but that's what happened to my friend and me. We entered a portal that had clearly been tampered with, because we didn't end up where we were supposed to go. Instead, we were ambushed inside some type of pure white facility. The walls were lined with weapons that fired at us nonstop as we tried to break out, but we were overwhelmed before we could."

  She continued, "And when they were filling me with all sorts of drugs while electrocuting me, I could hear two women laughing about how a new Protectorate squad was crushed after stumbling upon one of their shipments. They had been recalled to HQ to be commended, but were instead shoved into a new shipment to make up for the one they ruined. That was uh, apparently really funny to them."

  Zen immediately turned his datapad on and began tapping away at it.

  "Is it safe to use that here? And will what I said on that phone call to you raise any red flags?"

  "It's safe, and what you said won't be an issue. You could admit to murdering a thousand people to the androids, and they wouldn't care or record any of it. But I was in the Protectorate office when I picked up your call, and there's a good chance that anything I say in there is being recorded."

  A few minutes later he stopped scrolling through his datapad and looked at the woman, "I can't find any info on a missing squad, but I did find some articles on people claiming their kids who worked for the Protectorate went missing, while the Protectorate replied by saying they never had anyone under that name working for them. And as far as the data that I have access to is concerned, they're not lying... Not that I believe the data."

  "So you believe me then? I'm taking that as a yes no matter what you say, so let's go, other young man!" She ran past the two toward the nearby door while yelling, 'Soda! Soda!', but the second she opened the door she immediately closed it again and turned to look at both of them with a look of disgust on her face, "C-Cold!! I need something to cover my face, hands, and feet with."

  "Not your body? That looks like a thin one-piece dress?"

  "No no, I'll be fine there. This is a piece of artifact equipment, and I can control the temperature on it, so..."

  Yuji was relieved to finally hear a word he understood. Artifact equipment was something everyone in the outposts knew of because several pieces had been found in the mines, and the men who found them were subsequently made filthy rich.

  He ran over to the office and went through the lockers, pulling out several pairs of boots, gloves, and a snow coat that had a hoodie on it. It was basically the same stuff Yuji was wearing.

  So she's wearing something that expensive and the Protectorate didn't steal it? I'm surprised Zen didn't say anything. Unless there's a reason they couldn't? I need to hit the Archives again or see if Lisa knows more about it.

  "I said I didn't need anything on my body?" She said as Yuji dropped the snow clothing in front of her.

  "That's true, you did, but it's going to look goofy as hell if you walk around in a dress with only gloves and boots on. Just wear it all for now, okay? I really don't want you sticking out like that if you're going to be coming to my place."

  The two of them then watched the woman slip the hoodie on, but when it came to zipping it up, she had this strangely sad look on her face.

  "Hmm, maybe this is for the best..." Zen said, causing Yuji to look at him before he continued, "If she's with you, I'll be able to talk to her anytime, and I won't need to worry about the Protectorate figuring out who she is after they come to claim these two boxes and find one of them empty."

  "What are you going to do with the little girls?"

  "The only thing I can do. I'm going to bring them to a secluded location and contact an Awakened healer I know to come take a look at them. He's not cheap, but I'm sure I can hide the transaction by splitting it up into the hundreds of other funding requests we put in every month."

  "Wait. How good is he? Can he heal Lisa? Because I'm pretty sure I have more than enough coins for that now."

  Zen smiled, "Of course! Something on that level will be easy for him." He then walked past Yuji and sat down on the belt next to the boxes. He was tapping out a coded message to send to his team as the woman approached Yuji.

  "I'm done~." She then leaned in close to Yuji's face before whispering, "And when we get to your place, I'd appreciate it if you told me why you really wanted me to come home with you.

  ? Consumer of the Fourth Anchor ?

  by Miko Melina

  A little monster with a big heart and an even bigger appetite.