When Leon entered the chopper, he noticed a light blue glow coming from some parts. It looked that was mana, but rather than that, Leon was surprised that a helicopter could fly using mana. He was also very interested in how such a vehicle could store mana. Since Leon never traveled in a chopper before, he was fidgetting a little bit while everyone else looked quite composed and didn"t say a word. There was no mistake; every single person there did that kind of job behind the scenes many times...Aside from the pilot, who would fly them to near Italy and then back home eventually, eight soldiers inside the chopper would partic.i.p.ate in the mission alongside Leon. He still couldn"t see their faces completely, but four of them were women. It was quite surprising since women were the minority when he was a B and A rank soldier. By the look of things, the woman who leads them would also be the captain of the mission.
Eventually, the chopper took off, and just like the woman said, without making any noise. Surprisingly, after flying for over a few hundreds of meters, the helicopter became translucent, and so did Leon and everyone else.
"The technology of the Allied Forces of the North-America advanced a lot... they can create magic items and things like this..."
The trip would be very long, and even though the chopper was fast, it couldn"t cross the distance between New York and Rome in just five hours. When morning came, they landed on a certain forgotten island in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. Leon didn"t have many fond memories of islands, but he decided not to complain.
At dawn, Leon finally noticed the appearances of his new teammates; they were quite a diverse bunch. Two were Russians, and two clearly looked like j.a.panese girls, so Leon frowned when he saw them. Could he be wrong when he thought he would find Makoto"s son"s murderers among that group? Could they be deserters who helped them?
"...Yesterday I thought that your voice sounded familiar," The woman who is the captain of the team said. "But your face also looks kind of familiar... have we met before?"
The captain of the team was a beautiful redheaded woman, her hair was short, and even though her voice was like an adult, due to her short built, she looked a bit like a teenager who was yet to have her growth spurt. Her eyes were green... her appearance was quite outstanding, but Leon also felt like he had seen her before.
"... You think so? You don"t look familiar at all." Leon said.
Leon was in an important mission, so he couldn"t waste time thinking about things like that, and he also needed to avoid any suspicion. Despite Leon trying to act like usual, the captain already had her eyes on him. Since those guys didn"t like to talk, she had all the time to stare at him, trying to figure out where she had seen Leon.
Regardless, the island was quite big. So, the Allied Forces of the North-America built a small base there for the teams who would occasionally do certain things in Europe. There was a tent big enough for them to put several beds, the kitchen and toilet were simple, but they could be used. That being said, everyone brought their snacks, so they only lay down on their beds and tried to get some rest.
"Tch... it doesn"t look like I will hear anything here."
Leon hoped to hear some conversations about their previous missions, but it didn"t look like he would. To make matters worse, the captain of the team decided to bother him again.
"Hey, newbie. Come with me." The redhead woman said.
Leon nodded, it was a pain, but he had to follow her orders. Since she didn"t call the other six members, she probably wanted to see by herself what Leon could do.
"I heard that you joined our organization a few months ago and got promoted two times in a row." The captain said. "Your main job will be to cause a diversion to let us steal the relic. However, I need to see what you can do in a fight. Attack me with all your strength."
The redhead woman grabbed two silver glowing knives that were hidden on her back and took a defensive stance. It looked like she wanted to block Leon"s attack head-on. He almost let out a sigh, so many people already asked him to test his power that he was already sick of it. Still, he couldn"t disobey the orders.
Using all his power was out of the question, and he also couldn"t use the same attack that killed the grim reaper; her knives would probably break, and that would be a problem since it looked magic weapons. So, Leon created a short lance by fusing three earth arrows and prepared himself.
"Not bad, you do have a lot of control over your magic." The captain said. "I guess you are indeed our best mage."
Leon didn"t have for an idle chat; he had to think of a way to avoid causing deaths in Rome. So, Leon shot the earth spear. Using both knives, the redhead woman blocked the attack, but since that alone wouldn"t satisfy her, he made the projectile push her back several meters. When Leon stopped the projectile, he saw the sweat running down on her face.
"Not bad, not bad at all." The captain said. "My name is Betty, what is yours, newbie?"
"… Leonard." Leon said
Her name also sounded familiar, but Leon decided not to think about it. Unfortunately, after giving his name, Betty looked at him even more intensely.
"Leonard… Leonard… Leon." Betty frowned. "By chance, did you live in Phoenix and then went to study abroad after high school?"
Leon also frowned when he heard that espionage work didn"t really suit him since he had the good or perhaps the bad luck to find people of his past in the most unexpected places. Leon eventually recalled who she was… Betty was a cla.s.smate during high school and once his girlfriend.