Knowing Orisa's nature all too well, Dippo sat by her side and prepared himself for a torrent questions. Orisa didn't disappoint:
"Where are we going?"
"To AOG's main base in the south eastern region."
"What's AOG?"
"The name of your new organization. Neither I nor anyone besides Nowa knows what it means."
"Was I expected to join?"
"Of course, honey. That was the sole reason I let you find Nowa’s letter back at The Hounds headquarters," Dippo chuckled.
"You what?! It wasn't an accident?" Orisa wanted to protest but then recalled that some of the arguments in favor of joining Nowa were one way or another related to the fact that she had learned about Dippo's allegiance.
"All went according to his fucking plans, as usual."
"Is it just me or every member of my squad needed here?"
"You are who you are because of the squad, idiot."
"That's surprisingly deep coming from you."
"Don't forget your place, sweety," grumbled Dippo, smacking Orisa's head. "While you are a fugitive, technically speaking, I'm still your boss."
"Wow, resorting to violence and abuse of power? How low, sir," laughed Orisa.
The scenery behind a glass window was unchanging - the same plains, bushes, and trees. Occasional Beasts tried to attack the vehicles only to be blasted away by someone's spell. The steady hum of the Mana engine worked as a lullaby. It began to get dark outside.
"So mister Reezpauso was spying from the very beginning?" she asked with a yawn.
"Apparently, yes. Until a few weeks ago, we hadn't known about the other members. That old fart is paranoid about security and secrecy."
"What about the rest of my team? Onuki, Marina, and the rest?"
"Since we are still The Hounds, they are performing their duties. What were you even expecting? It's too important to uphold the front and keep access to the Military data."
"Do they know about this AOG thing?"
"I highly doubt it, my dear. It all depends on Nowa, and I don't think our father owl has any interest in them. But you can try and convince him if you are so adamant about bringing your pals into a suicidal one-way trip."
"What do you mean?" asked Orisa with a tense voice.
"Think for yourself, kid. The further it goes, the more Beasts will be gathered around the tower. We'll need to get through tens of thousands of them before storming the very lair where they are made. I don't expect to live past this fucking crusade."
It wasn't like Orisa hadn't thought about such a possibility, but hearing it from a person that held some credit and respect from her made her think for real. Was she ready to sacrifice herself for the sake of a foreign world? And, more importantly, was she ready to sacrifice her friends for the same purpose? Thinking about losing Kanai or Tiana made her heart sink.
It was completely dark outside; barely visible shadows of trees or bushes blinked past the window, leaving no chance to be seen. The vehicle they were riding wasn't as comfortable as cars in her old world, but its springs or whatever was used to stabilize the transport were highly commendable since Orisa had barely felt any shaking. The interior was plain metal and dark-brown leather, hinting that the transport was combat-oriented from the very beginning.
"By the way, by the way," suddenly a person occupying a seat in front of her turned and spoke to Orisa excitedly, "Nowazzi said something about you smacking a twicy by yourself. What did you do, what did you do? Spill it, c'mon, c'mon!"
The voice belonged to a girl with dark blonde long hair gathered into two chaotic hair buns on the sides. Her eyes crowned by thick blonde eyebrows were of cat-yellow color with rather small pupils and a dangerous glint. Her big mouth was open in a wide, predatory smile, revealing crystal-white fangs. Judging by what was visible through her simple green shirt with specks of blood all over it, she had a medium physique with a chance of getting chubby if not careful. The girl's appearance left a strangely concerning impression on Orisa.
"Um, hi there..." she muttered uneasily, shivering under the girl's gaze.
"This is Tomika, pay her no mind. She has a few screws tight," Dippo said while rolling his eyes.
"You mean a few screws loose?"
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"No-no, dummy. Just a few of them tight and the rest, an overwhelming majority, completely loose."
"Druzzi, want me to open you up? I can't wait. I can't wait!" Tomika whispered excitedly.
"See? This sweet little apple is packed with worms and rotten to the core."
"Druzzi? Nowazzi?" Orisa scratched her head, mildly confused and uneasy. "Are you one of these people who call others by weirding their names?"
"Isn't it more fun that way? It's so nice, so nice!"
"I see, well..."
A lazy conversation between Orisa, Dippo, and Tomika kept going until they finally arrived at the base. Orisa missed that moment and only bothered to look out the window when the transport stopped. Everyone silently got out and began to descend a seemingly endless spiral staircase. After at least two minutes of walking, they arrived at a dead-end where Nowa activated a matter displacement gate. Unlike most such doors that Orisa had had experience with, this one was at least two meters thick, meaning that the walls of this facility were that wide as well.
While she was walking through the gate, Orisa couldn't help but think about what would happen were the gates to close while someone was still inside. Cold sweat appeared on her forehead. The moment she stepped out into a simple grey corridor, she felt a surge of magic run through her, then another one, and a few more in the next three seconds. Among them, she could distinguish a dispel, a counter-magic, and a magic reversal, but the rest of these spells were unknown to her.
When Orisa stepped into a small hall a few steps farther down the corridor, her eyes stumbled over a bizarre scene. One by one, members of the AOG were coming to Nowa, who was standing in the middle of the room, handing them cups with an unknown liquid. After the person drank the cup under Nowa's intent gaze, they proceeded farther into the room to sit on sofas and chairs placed there en masse.
"What the fuck?" muttered dumbfounded Orisa with her friends clustered around her like scared ducklings around their mother.
"This bitter crap removes potion effects," chuckled Dippo and went to take his cup.
"Don't stay there and waste any more time," Nowa ordered loudly, and everyone's eyes focused on five newly brought members. "Nothing more than a cleansing potion, see?"
With that, Nowa downed one of the cups and gestured to Orisa's team. Seeing him without his usual helmet was supposed to put her and her friends at ease, but Nowa's absolutely generic face lacking any emotions only made things worse. Regardless, they had no choice, so Orisa decided to serve as an example and took the cup. She almost vomited from an extremely bitter herbal taste of the potion, and it took all her resolve to gulp it down.
"If I die, I will haunt you forever," she whispered to Nowa and went to the sofas.
"I don't mind. I have a sweet spot for apparitions, umu."
After the rest of Orisa's team went through the same torture, everyone stood up and left the hall. Another spiral staircase led farther down and ended with yet another matter displacement gate. When they finally entered the facility, Orisa felt the walls, floor, and ceiling brimming with magic. The Seal on her chest went haywire, almost knocking her out.
"What's wrong with this place? Why is there so much magic?" she groaned quietly.
"Nowazzi is mega paranoid about security, mega paranoid!" Tomika shouted into Orisa's ear.
"I am not paranoid. It is a bare minimum of precaution against intruders," Nowa calmly noted.
The corridor turned several times before opening into an enormous garage. There were five more vehicles similar to the ones they had been riding today, and several more different mechanisms, all clearly combat-oriented. One of the walls was clustered with shelves filled with various crafting materials and instruments, with an adjacent wall containing different machinery and tools for gear and weapon production. Orisa could feel all these items thanks to her Seal since they all contained traces of Mana, and the more traces, the more expensive these items were. And she was confident - reagents and tools were both beyond expensive.
They walked past the garage slash workshop hall into the next big open space that contained finished products - racks of weapons, armor, potions, and ammo. It wasn't enough to equip a small army, for sure, but could certainly satisfy the needs of an elite team of fifty or even more.
"How... is this all possible? W-w-where did you g-g-get that kind of money?" mumbled Tiana in disbelief.
"Almost a decade of being one of the strongest mercenaries paid off, umu."
"Money is one thing, but building such an underground facility must have taken years," added Iten in awe.
"The moment I learned about this world's scenario, I immediately began preparations," Nowa answered again, and Orisa sensed a barely noticeable sense of pride and accomplishment in his voice.
"Preparations for what exactly?" asked Kanai.
"It must be rather obvious. Preparations to save the world. Umu."
---
---
Everyone in Orisa's team was given their own rooms, and so began their life in AOG. They were given a day to familiarize themselves with the enormous complex, so the five of them kept wandering around, getting to know people of AOG, and inspecting the facility.
Orisa's head was spinning from how diverse and even bizarre people that Nowa had personally selected were. She had a hard time memorizing not only their names but even their looks. It was as if Nowa had been selecting people based on how unusual they were. But from a sneak peek into one of the complex's training halls, she managed to grasp how strong they were.
Apparently, sparring was quite common and almost mandatory among AOG members to raise their skills not only against Beasts but to counter the Military as well. And a match that Orisa was able to witness looked like anything but training. A tall rifle-wielding man went against a woman with a combat staff, and by the end of their match, the walls and the floor both were damaged beyond Orisa's wildest imagination. They were not as strong as Nowa or the white knight, but Orisa wasn't sure if she would be able to stand against any one of them even if she went all-out.
There were rules and traditions set for AOG members that covered every aspect of their lives, not only training and combat. Among them were even group baths in an artificial hot spring, though Nowa still had enough common sense to divide them by gender. Another team-building rule was to eat together - there were five periods when food was made available, so regardless of personal preferences, people were still sharing the same dining hall.
During such a dinner two days after the group's arrival, the door to the kitchen slammed open, and an overly enthusiastic Tomiko startled everyone present by shouting with all her lungs:
"Nowazzi is fighting Orizzi!"