Turned out, the John Right guy was legit. Legit enough that the Guild was able to register him as Han Li’s operator. Before Han Li knew it, John had hooked him up with a mission in Britia just like Han Li had asked. Heck, he even got hooked up to a cozy business class ticket, which was better than anything he had flown domestic.
Han Li had to say, going to the international flights section in the airport on his own was an experience in itself. He was antsy the whole way through, terrified that someone might stop him and point out the bright demi-human marker in his passport.
But no one did.
With the appropriate license presented for his gear at security, the next thing he knew he was ushered onto the plane. Han Li felt the excitement of first-time travel all over again, with his face pressed against the window; eager to see the moment that the plane flew over the ocean.
The spotless sky revealed a dazzling expanse of waves below. The ocean sparkled from the rays of sunlight.
Shit.
This was really happening.
Han Li sucked in a breath, his stomach doing odd somersaults. He was really leaving Merriva for the first time.
Giddiness followed him the entire way, he remained restless from take-off to landing. Which would have been fine, if it wasn’t for the fact that it was a six-hour flight and by the time he stepped foot into the great unknown, Han Li was running on nothing but the adrenaline in his veins.
For the time being, it was all that he needed. Because there was something in the air that told him he was in Britia and not Merriva. Some sort of invisible force continued to propel his merriment because it was so damned unfathomable that he might find himself in a different country.
However, the fact of the matter was, the Lyrchester airport was hardly that different from New Lidway’s. It was bustling, the architecture sleek, modern and really, there wasn’t much that stood out or made it unique. It was just an airport.
There were just more people that spoke in different accents, that was all.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Still, the bland reality wasn’t enough to stifle Han Li’s cheery mood and he had almost forgotten why he was there in the first place.
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Oh right.
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It was easy to assume that she was a driver that had been assigned to pick him up. The woman was rather unassuming in appearance, with a bob of brown hair and large amber eyes. With a white blazer and a knee-length burnt orange skirt, she also donned thick-framed glasses and wore a pleasant and welcoming smile.
Han Li smiled back as he approached. “I’m Han Li.”
“Oh!” The woman’s expression brightened and Han Li decided that she seemed rather pleasant. “Wonderful. My name is Leonie Davis and I shall be your captain and sentinel in the upcoming mission. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance!”
Han Li had to do a double-take. This unassuming woman…was his captain!? Shit, he really shouldn’t be judging people by their appearances alone. Luckily, he hadn’t said anything awkward or rude, so Han Li needed only to maintain his professional smile and reached out to shake her hand.
“Likewise. I…didn’t expect that captain to come and pick me up at the airport,” Han Li admitted while trying to keep his smile merry and confident, hiding any of his anxiety or apprehension.
Leonie merely chuckled as she waved at him to follow her. She even wrestled his smaller suitcase out of his hand and began lugging it as she strode forth. “No? I like to get my team settled and comfortable with me. It makes working so much easier, don’t you think? So please don’t feel the need to be overly formal. It would make me uncomfortable,” she chuckled and shot him a wink.
“I’ll…keep that in mind.”
“You’ll be meeting our exorcist in a bit,” Leonie hummed with a casual tone as she led Han Li through the winding layout of the airport. “That man can be a little…ah, he’s a bit crass if I’m to be very honest. But I promise that he means well.”
“…” Han Li found that he wasn’t quite convinced by her words. “Alright,” he nodded. But in truth, he bracing for the worst type of discrimination that he might face as a demi-human in the hunting business.
He had good reason.
She led him to a black SUV. Han Li noted that there was already someone in the car, the rumored exorcist no doubt. He sucked in a breath and scooched into the back seat. The large, overbearing silhouette made no move to introduce himself, remaining uncomfortably silent even after Leonie shuffled herself into the passenger seat.
This person did not so much as bother to look over their shoulder. Dark eyes flicked to the rearview mirror and met with Han Li’s gaze. Han Li stiffened, instantly sensing apprehension and animosity from the gaze alone.
“Trevor,” though Leonie’s voice still maintained that characteristic gentleness, Han Li swore it was a bit sharper, like a mother scolding her child. “Don’t be difficult.”
“I haven’t even said anything,” the man clicked his tongue, his voice unusually high despite his large stature.
Leonie’s smile strained when she realized that this Trevor guy wasn’t going to bother saying hello. The captain leaned over her seat as the car began to reverse out of the parking lot. “This is Trevor Lambert. He’s an experienced exorcist and quite well-respected in the community if you overlook his…personality. Don’t mind him, alright? Let me deal with him.” She shot him her signature wink, as though that alone might soothe his unease.
Han Li felt his jaw tense, already recalling the countless missions he had to suffer in his last years at Saint August’s when he was put on teams with unwelcoming teammates. Sucking it up, he nodded and tried to at least seem cooperative. Just enough so that they wouldn’t be able to file complaints about him. “Hi. I’m Han Li. I’ll be your vanguard…” Quietly, he mouthed an ‘I guess’ to himself.
He did not miss Leonie’s apologetic look.
A rude scoff came from the exorcist and Han Li knew that he wasn’t being acknowledged at all. “Hey, my personality is just chipper. As long as we get things done, why bother complaining?”
Leonie’s smile widened but it did not reach her eyes. “I’m only asking you to get along, Trevor.” With a sigh, she returned her attention to Han Li, “I’m terribly sorry about this guy. The rest of the team have more pleasant personalities…erm, most of them… Anyway! I take that you were sent the mission files?”
“…Y-yeah,” Han Li was still reeling. To be fair, he’d gone through a lot in the past forty-eight hours. From being anxious about Graham’s whereabouts to contemplating the prospect of going to Britia, and then that prospect becoming reality. Then leaving Merriva for the first time despite his usual travel restrictions and after…being stuck in a car with the standard piece of shit who couldn’t look past his non-human blood. Yeah, it’s been kind of a wild ride, just a bit.
It wasn’t as though he’d been irresponsible, Han Li had in fact looked through the files. It just wasn’t on the forefront of his mind like it probably should have been. “So…I know that we’re supposed to hunt down the Crimson Witch, but there doesn’t seem to be much information in the files.” Han Li scratched his head with a frown, wondering if he was remembering wrong or something. A part of him kept getting distracted by the fact that they were driving on the other side of the road than he was used to.
“That’s correct,” Leonie hummed, “and just to be clear, though we’ve dubbed the entity the ‘Crimson Witch’ I would say it’s not quite confirmed yet if it’s actually one individual or a group. After all, the only connection we’ve found so far is the crimson mistletoe.”
To that, Trevor scoffed, “Didn’t Pretty Boy say it was just one witch? If he’s saying it’s just one then I’ll bet it’s just one bloody bitch.”
“Still, we’ve no solid evidence,” Leonie reiterated.
A light headache made itself at home behind Han Li’s skull. He tried hard to recall the details in the file. Over the past week, Lyrchester had been experiencing an alarming spike in demonic activity. Confirmed recently to be due to witchcraft, the RTU had assembled a team to take care of the business as quickly as possible. It was a B-rank mission, bordering on B+ and probably one that Han Li did not have the clearance to partake in.
However, John Right must have some terrifying connections to get Han Li on the job. He’d been informed by his new operator that he was not only there as the team’s vanguard but also their consultant.
What he was supposed to consult was a fact beyond him, but in short, it had something to do with his presence at Darmine and RTU’s concerns that this spike in demonic activity and illegal witchcraft was related.
In other words, the reason for his enlistment was a load of bullshit. But Han Li sucked it up and went along with it. After all, it had been his desire to come to Britia. Beggars couldn’t be choosers.
“No solid evidence? Guess we’ll just have to find out the hard way, huh?” He shrugged.
Author: Hi hi! Just a reminder today’s the last day for submissions for the CG 10k Celebration Event! The event is submission-based so you don’t have to worry about your art being judged or anything, hehehe.
Also! Remember to check out The Daily Eggplant and follow us on our socials for updates and news about OG BL! And drop us suggestions and things as well ; w ; we’d love that!
Ermmm aside from all that…sorry for the boring chapter T_T;; I promise things will get more interesting later…!!!
thanks for the chapterrrr~~~~
thank you for reading!!
I’m first!!!!!Thanks for the update Val~
never mind, not first
EHEHE cute
u w u
thank you for reading, king! <3 <3
New adventure. Without Grams this time?
< w < i mean–
i wonder where grams is!?!!
Thank you for the chapter!! ❤️❤️
…!! THank you for readinggg little bean u w u <3
OK, a new mission, nice (or so she seems) captain, a team member with personality problems (again) and a lot of unknown details that can be possibly deadly… Good luck, Han Li, I think you will need it.Thank you for the chapter!!!
P.S. I have a small request Val. Can you give some topographic reference, like a basic map or something because with the names so similar I can’t help superimposing the locations in your novel on the current map of the European continent. Pretty please.💐🌺
AHAHHA! u_u i mean..i guess he was kind of useful!
What’s the fun without some annoying and problematic side characters LOOLL @ w @;
“I can’t help superimposing the locations in your novel on the current map of the European continent”
U-UM….actually u__u;; this is on purpose so…you can just…keep superimposing the locations over the real world LOL!!
Oh, OK, no problem, will do. 👍 Thanks!😉
This was why I thought of Graham as having Roman looks. Since the Romans took over most of Europe and especially the Celts, which sounds like that might be Aoibhinn’s origins… thinking of Graham with classical Rome and their view of handsome… he’s still a brick wall.
U__U a-a brick wall! A Roman brick— cries
I’ll tell you what’s not classically attractive about Graham and that’s the size of his [ redacted ].AHEM.
cross my fingers no one die plz.
i feel you🙏
o u o what is a die?
pei, this Trevor guy….
u_u yeah he’s a P O S
Trevor sounds like a werewolf with a chip on his oh so fluffy shoulder pretending to be human.
U__U b-but he’s a dicchead
just who is this john guy
thanks for the chapter <3
HAN LI IS SO ADORBS PROTECT HIM