Unlimited Fafnir:Volume 5 Prologue

Prologue

Hazy moonlight was filtering through the scattered clouds. A quiet night.
Two girls were walking under the moonlight as though they were enjoying the gentle night breeze.
One girl's long black hair fluttered while the other's platinum blonde hair reflected moonlight in the wind.
The black-haired girl was wearing a formal dress the same color as her hair, while the platinum blonde was in military uniform.
An unlikely combination of two girls giving off completely different impressions, they walked while looking at the rows of windowless buildings in the surroundings.
"Jeanne-chan, is this the right place?"
The black-haired girl asked in a calm voice.
"...Don't sound so familiar, Kili Surtr Muspelheim."
The platinum blonde named Jeanne responded with displeasure to the black-haired girl—Kili.
"What's the matter? This manner of address suits how cute you are, Jeanne-chan."
"Shut up."
Jeanne glared at Kili with her golden eyes, but Kili laughed in delight.
"Oh dear, how scary. We're companions currently cooperating for the same objective, so I hope you'll treat me nicer."
"You're the same as Hreidmar, someone who's a threat to Captain. I'm not going to be friends with you."
"My, how mistaken you are. What I do is all in his interest."
Kili deliberately sighed.
"Like hell anyone's going to believe a terrorist."
"What are you talking about? The moment you infiltrated this place with me, you've already become the same type of person."
Kili remarked sardonically and pointed to the surroundings.
Their current location was not a place of leisure suitable for an evening stroll.
The vast premises were encircled by tall walls and electrified barbed wire fencing. The entrances to the windowless rectangular buildings and the corners of passages were all equipped with security cameras with no blindspots.
This was NIFL's Base Number 3 in Western Europe, a military installation where unauthorized entry was forbidden.
"......"
Jeanne made a conflicted look and shifted her gaze away.
"Now that we're here already, you'd better prepare yourself. Also, you need to answer my earlier question. This base has clues to Hreidmar, is this intel correct?"
Stepping lightly, Kili made her way in front of Jeanne's gaze and asked with her head cocked.
"...At least his tracks can be traced, because the helicopter that transported Hreidmar to meet up with Sleipnir was marked with this base's identifying code."
Jeanne answered reluctantly.
"Yes, then no matter how short, he must have stopped here at some point. No mistake about that. Anyway, we will look for information in that direction."
Saying that, Kili walked openly along the center of the path while Jeanne followed, looking around her.
But at that moment, patrolling troops turned around the corner ahead.
"!?"
Jeanne reflexively prepared to fight but Kili shook her head calmly and confidently.
"Don't worry, just stay quiet and we won't be discovered."
Just as Kili claimed, the soldiers went past without noticing them.
"It's almost like magic..."
After the soldiers were gone from sight, Jeanne murmured with a sigh.
"I simply heated the air to adjust the refraction of light. Since the range is short, you'd better not get too far from me."
Kili made it sound effortless then approached a nearby building. Like the other buildings, it had no windows. The entrance was locked electronically and required a keycard and a code to open.
"Can't I open it by burning the circuits?"
Kili placed her palm on the electronic lock.
"Stop, that will only break the lock and make the door impossible to open. You leave me no choice—"
Jeanne took out a palm-sized device, installed it over the electronic lock, and started to operate deftly. In less than ten seconds, an unlocking sound was heard.
Hene, they infiltrated the building.
Although there were security cameras and sensors inside, the two of them easily got past those obstructions and came to what seemed like an office. There were rows of desks with computers on them.
"Let's start searching here."
Hearing Kili say that, Jeanne nodded silently.
Hence, the two of them switched on computers separately to find the information they needed.
Inside the dim room, only the tapping on keyboards could be heard.
"Oh..."
Before long, Kili exclaimed quietly.
"What is it? You found Hreidmar's entry and exit records?"
Jeanne stopped what she was doing and asked.
"No, not that, I simply saw a piece of amusing information."
"Amusing information?"
Hearing Kili say that, Jeanne frowned.
"This report says that Hekatonkheir, which was defeated at Midgard earlier, has reappeared in Japan. It is now crossing the Eurasian continent, moving westward."
"...I don't see what's so amusing about that kind of news. It's said that Hekatonkheir is immortal, so its reappearance is expected to a certain extent."
"Fufu, Jeanne-chan, you may not understand but this is extremely valuable information. Also, Hekatonkheir's apparent destination is also quite something to relish."
Kili brought her hand to her mouth and examined the screen closely.
"Where is Hekatonkheir headed?"
"Supposing it continues in a straight line, it will eventually pass through an area near the border between Germany and Denmark."
"I remember that's—"
Jeanne seemed to think of something with a gasp.
Seeing her reaction, Kili nodded and said with slight excitement:
"Indeed, there is currently another dragon there. Namely, the green dragon—'Green' Yggdrasil."