INTERLUDE 1 - THE NEWBIE?

「Any sign of him?」

「S-sorry, Rin-san(1). He’s not in the city.」

Answering the cold, feminine voice which came through a receiver was the sweet soprano voice of a young girl, her orange hair swaying side to side as she walked down the street.

Enveloping her slightly chubby frame was a dark grey skirt and a familiar scarlet red blazer, the prominent symbol of a golden phoenix embroiled on its shirt pocket.

Yet, even though the fabric looked quite different on this entity of orange, it was obvious to all that the uniform belonged to the prestigious school: 【Phoenix Gakuen】.

「Continue scouting, newbie.」

「Yes, will do.」

As the voice of “Rin-san” resounded once again through the speaker, the girl referred to as newbie replied, her scruffy orange hair bobbing up and down as she strolled along the deserted street.

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Deserted?

Upon realising how destitute her surroundings were, the girl with scruffy hair grew wary as her eyes darted about restlessly.

「What's wrong?」

「…I think I found something else.」

With an anxious tone, the orange-haired girl tensed her entire body, raising her guard as her breaths grew shallow.

And, while it wasn’t exactly clear why she was so perturbed, the cold voice’s probing began to shed some light onto the newbie’s situation.

「What is it, an enemy?」

「…it might be.」

「Do not engage. I'll go to your position.」

「I'm at the traffic lights near-」

「We've traced your coordinates from your phone.」

Immediately cutting the scruffy-haired girl off, the voice known as “Rin” coldly resounded throughout the receiver, leaving the newbie with a persistent discomfort lodged into her heart.

「O-oh…ok.」

「I'm heading there now. Wait for m-」

*Crash*

Before Rin’s voice could complete its sentence, the body of the scruffy-haired girl flew into a pole, bending it into an acute angle.

And with the impact which caused shockwaves to ripple through the atmosphere, a trail of red spilled out onto the dark grey ground.

*Clack*

「-Newbie!? Are you okay!? Respond! Please respond!」

As an orange-coloured phone dramatically fell onto the concrete pavement, the anxious voice of Rin echoed through the desolate city landscape.