☀️ Arselia and Akonia

Okay. After Aiko missed that opportunity and allowed herself and the other members of the squad to eat too many of those delicious fruits, their subsequent actions became irrelevant. No, they could have tried to lure and take the girl-reporter hostage to get information from her, but that course of action seemed too immoral, and otherwise...

Her head was surprisingly clear, and her thoughts were flowing. They were alive, and none of them would go to jail for arson or murder. Not the worst failure possible.

The problem was the information... Aiko tried to remember if she had managed to check anyone's conviction, as she had intended... Maybe on one of the leaders? That could at least count for something. However, the idea that some kind of experiments were being conducted at the orphanage seemed strange. They were just kleptomaniac children... Probably?

One thing was clear: she would no longer be the Crotal Queen. She hoped that after such a failure, the squad would simply be disbanded, and she could return to her trade, for which she had incomparably better skills. But... something told her that it wouldn't be that easy, and Her Highness wouldn't let them go so easily. Perhaps they would even have to return to Yansi to try to complete the mission again, but there were many problems with that. Ye Shui worked for the orphanage staff; they couldn't show up at her hotel a second time, and in general... what options did they have to complete the job?

And why was she still thinking in this direction? Wasn't that absurd in itself?

"Boss, what do we do now?" she asked Aiko. "We're now persona non grata there. Gion might get away with it; he's not really with us, but he's alone, without money or connections. He's probably already been kicked out. And with such a grand failure, we can't show our faces to Her Highness."

-- Miss Beata... Regarding Gion, yes, that was my mistake, -- Aiko clearly lacked charisma and confidence. -- I somehow thought he had money for a return ticket. Well, he'll have to earn it; maybe Ho Yin will help him with that. Or we'll send it to him by mail.

-- Whether we show up or not is not the question; Her Highness needs to be kept informed. She won't be happy with our defeat, but hiding an unpleasant truth will only make us look worse, and how can we hide it anyway? You go to headquarters, and I'll arrange an audience.

-- To everyone else... -- the girl looked at Carneol, not knowing what to say. She wanted to fall at their feet and beg for forgiveness for letting them down, but she couldn't find the words and didn't even understand... Nothing was clear.

-- It wasn't your fault. Please wait for instructions, -- said Aiko and, dejected, went to the palace.