Prologue

Prologue

In a distant future far after Rekka Namidare’s time, during the age of the War of All, there existed an agency working to put an end to the fighting. It very well may have been the only organization of its kind—the only one willing to take a stand against the War of All.

And right now, that agency’s headquarters was currently in the middle of being infiltrated by someone... or something.

“Ah, damn...”

A woman from the agency let out a tense sigh as she stared down at the smoking facility still under attack. She was a scientist, but not just any scientist—she was the woman R referred to as “Doctor.” She was also an executive leader of the agency, but her scientific standing put her in an especially important position even among the other executives. It should come as no surprise, then, that she was the one put in charge of the agency’s greatest project: ensuring Rekka Namidare settled down with a heroine in order to prevent the War of All from ever happening in the first place. And while the infiltrators’ objectives were still unclear, it was more than plausible to think the doctor was really their target.

It’d be no laughing matter if I got captured.

There were plenty of groups, not to mention countries and worlds, that didn’t approve of the agency. Power, politics, money, money, and more money... The War of All, true to name, affected everyone and everything. There were literally hundreds of millions of opinions and interests at play, and not everyone was interested in peace.

In the most extreme example, there were certain parties making bank off of the war. It was like an extended payday for them, and they weren’t anxious to see it end any time soon. In fact, they would go to great lengths to make sure that never happened. The doctor would have loved nothing more than to line said parties up and ——— them all... But, well, personal feelings had to be set aside for the time being.

Instead, the agency focused on the objective politics of the situation. It was thanks to that effort that they’d never been attacked directly before... At least, not until now.

“Hahh...”

The doctor let out another sigh. She couldn’t afford to dawdle, but at the same time, she knew that panicking would only make things worse. She took a moment to focus and calm herself. She drew a deep breath and let the oxygen flow to her brain. Before anything else, she had to think.

“Who are we up against?”

For the most part, the agency was a neutral organization. Though there were the aforementioned parties who were none too pleased with the agency, they didn’t dare oppose it directly. That meant that, whoever they were, these infiltrators were different in that they’d chosen to come forward with their hostility. It was hard to think some newly-formed cause would be powerful enough to come straight for the agency’s headquarters like this. It was a possibility, certainly, but there were far more likely scenarios.

“...”

The defense system the doctor had developed for HQ was eliminating the infiltrators one after another right before her eyes. While the agency sought universal peace, it was by no means a peaceful organization. They were prepared to fight for their goals—and more than happy to defend themselves. The system the doctor’s world-class brain had invented was capable of withstanding everything from cutting-edge technological attacks to otherworldly magical ones.

Yet as far as the doctor could tell, the intruders were doing a good job of holding their own against it. She didn’t want to praise them, but they’d clearly planned this operation carefully. It seemed safe to assume at this point that they were more than just a bunch of trigger-happy terrorists. The possibility they were some new threat the agency had been oblivious to was becoming less and less likely by the minute. However...

That means that someone—and someone fairly strong—has to be behind this attack.

Their power said one thing, but so did their size. In a world where there were as many ongoing battles as there were stars in the sky, even the most powerful forces were always lacking in numbers. War had broken out everywhere, after all. So what was the meaning of an attack like this? Who would go out of their way to make new enemies now?

“Who would benefit from this attack?”

There was nothing to be gained from making an enemy of the agency... But then again, with so many parties and interests potentially at play, there had to be a bigger picture. Some part of this attack must benefit someone, whether it was in service to a military agenda, revenge, religious beliefs, or commercial profit. Maybe it was even personal. But, that being the case, the doctor had to change the way she was thinking about this.

“Okay, what’s currently going on with the agency?”

And so the doctor began deducing the enemy’s goal by working backward through the situation. The attack had started at dawn, and was presently still ongoing. Several facilities within the headquarters had been damaged or destroyed, though the vital areas of the most important facilities remained intact. Still, the agency couldn’t make a move until the attack was over.

“So... were they aiming to suspend the agency’s function?”

If the enemy was prepared to run this attack like a siege, the agency could be out of commission for some time. In other words, the enemy’s goal was—

“Doc... tor...”

Suddenly, a semi-transparent screen appeared before the doctor’s eyes. It was the doing of a long-distance communication device she used. But this screen was special—it connected her to the past. Moreover, the call was coming in on the lone emergency line—one she’d set up so that R could contact her safely and directly in the event of an emergency.

“R?! What’s wrong?!”

The doctor immediately called out to her. R was practically a daughter to the doctor, and she was worried. If R was contacting her this way, after all, then it wasn’t good news. A crisis here, a crisis there... Naturally, the doctor wasn’t optimistic enough to believe the two incidents were unrelated.

But all the doctor’s thoughts were interrupted when R’s broken voice spoke to her through the device again.

“There’s... no time... for details... Please... save... Rekka...”