Chapter 10: Serial Number

Over the next few days, Hestia filled out dozens of forms and underwent an incredibly thorough medical examination. Afterward, Chiba personally drove her to the AHgA Reserve training base.

Once Chiba parked the car, she led Hestia toward the office building.

The registration center was on the fourth floor of Building A. Everyone there was dressed in formal attire, and Hestia caught the scent of ink mixed with perfume—a smell she did not dislike. What surprised her, however, was that almost everyone who recognized Chiba would stop to salute or greet her. After exchanging a few pleasantries with Miss Chiba, people would often cast curious glances at Hestia.

In this place, Chiba seemed to be a highly respected figure.

"…Masaki?" a voice came from behind them. Hestia turned first to see a woman with brown hair, about Chiba’s age, standing there holding a stack of books with a look of astonishment on her face.

Unlike the others, she did not address her by her surname but called Chiba by her first name, appearing quite familiar with her.

Indeed, after Chiba turned around, she called out "Valenti" with great delight, and the two embraced warmly.

"This is my old classmate, Viking," Chiba said to Hestia. "We chat every day, though we haven't seen each other in years."

Hestia bowed slightly, just as she had done in the convent. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Viking."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, too," Valenti Viking said, casting a quick glance at the document folder in Chiba’s hand. "Uh… Miss Hestia."

Chiba laughed, then introduced her: "Valenti is the head of the Mercury Needle Reserve Psychological Assistance Program. If you run into any problems at school, just come to her."

"That’s right." Valenti reached out her hand to Hestia. She was very mindful of etiquette when dealing with children, especially those around eleven or twelve like Hestia; in her professional experience, treating them like adults was sometimes the first step to opening their hearts.

Hestia felt a bit unaccustomed to it, but she still shook Valenti’s hand lightly.

"Alright," Chiba said with a smile, handing the document folder to Hestia. "Take these files to the registration center, and once they’ve finished processing them, bring the receipt back to me."

Hestia took her files and, after bowing again to Chiba and the lady named Valenti, walked alone toward the registration office.

Valenti watched Hestia’s departing back with curiosity. "Who is this little girl?"

"My ward," Chiba said, her eyes crinkling into a smile. "I must fulfill my responsibilities as a guardian until she turns twenty."

Valenti was taken aback. "…You, of all people, are taking on a ward?"

"What choice do I have? Using the 'AHgA Reserve Guardianship Order' to bring her over immediately was the fastest way. Otherwise, I’m worried the military police would snatch her away through judicial means within the next two days… Until she officially joins the AHgAs, I cannot let my guard down."

Valenti suddenly realized. "Ah, is this child… the one from the St. Anne Convent incident a while back—"

"Yes," Chiba smiled. "Though it seems I still underestimated the foot-dragging of the military police."

"Incredible…" Valenti turned to look in the direction Hestia had left. She sighed sincerely, "I heard that when you found that chelate, it was already in a critically injured state?"

"Yes."

"Was it that child who did it?"

"I don't know," Chiba said softly, "but Jane’s 'second awakening' has not yet come."

"Are you sure?"

"I am sure."

Valenti fell silent for a moment. "…How bizarre."

The two remained by the window chatting until the sound of unsettling footsteps made all the Mercury Needles on the floor look toward the stairwell with alarm. Soon, two young men in military police uniforms appeared. Led by the security guard, they navigated the layers of security to reach the floor, and upon seeing Chiba, they immediately stepped forward.

"Ma'am." The soldier in front showed his credentials to Chiba and briefly introduced himself. Then, they got straight to the point: "Where is Jane Hestia?"

"I am her guardian. If you have any business, you can speak to me directly."

"Ahem." The man pulled out another directive. "As it happens, we still need Miss Hestia to identify some on-site evidence regarding the St. Anne Convent case from a few days ago. We must take her back with us."

"Jane is only 11 years old and a minor. The tragedy a few days ago has already caused her great psychological trauma. I do not believe it is appropriate to force her to view such evidence at this time," Chiba replied calmly. "Once we have evaluated her mental state, we will choose an appropriate time to bring her to the police station to cooperate with your duties. Leave a contact number."

The two young soldiers exchanged a look.

"This is a 5A-level special summons, ma'am—"

"This is the AHgA headquarters, sir." Chiba slowly raised her hand. "I’d say you two are rookies, wouldn't you…"

The two young soldiers felt a slight tremor in their hearts—indeed, they were both rookies from the same class, and today was their first day on the job, yet they had encountered a 5A special summons issued from above.

With this credential, they could even enter certain restricted military areas for searches and questioning. Yet, for some reason, several seniors in the department had shown little interest in responding to this summons after learning the circumstances, and through passing the buck, it had fallen to them.

Before they could fully grasp the subtext of Chiba’s words, they felt something sweep past their eyes, like wind carrying dust. The next moment, Chiba changed her posture, hands on her hips, brow furrowed. "Wait, where is your special summons?"

Both were stunned, only then realizing that the document one of them had been clutching moments ago was gone.

"Without a summons, I certainly cannot hand her over to you," Chiba said coldly.

"Miss Chiba."

Chiba turned around; Hestia was already standing not far behind her. The document folder that had been bulging in the girl’s hands was now empty, and in her hand was a stiff white card, each line of newly printed ink marked with a steel seal.

Chiba looked back at the two military policemen. "While I admire the courage you showed in coming here on your own, matters must still be handled according to regulations. Go back and fix your paperwork."

"I will see the two of you out." Valenti Viking raised her hand politely, signaling them toward the elevator. The faces of the two soldiers were filled with bewilderment, quickly turning into the anger of being toyed with. However, Chiba had already taken Hestia’s hand and walked to the other side of the corridor; all disputes were now unrelated to them.

Chiba took Hestia’s information card and quickly scanned the girl’s data.

Below the photo, she saw Hestia’s ID number: Res-03230042403.

Looking at the suffix 403, Chiba smiled slightly: "…We are truly fated."

Current known intelligence:
Res is an abbreviation for Reserve, which will change to the capital letter A after full induction.
The ID number Res-4623030042403 means: This member joined the AHgAs Reserve in the 3rd District in the year 4623 and is the 42,403rd anti-homogenization medium discovered to date.
Additionally, Chiba’s number is: A-4617140040392.