Minamoto, Sakaki, and Degas all looked around, confused looks on their faces. Where had Sisley gone?
"Hello Degas, Sisley has been dealt with by an esper from Pandra." Sophie said, seeing the confused looks on their faces.
"Ah, princess! I'm so sorry that I let this happen!" Degas exclaimed, bowing his head so deeply he almost smashed it into the floor.
The princess could only wryly smile looking at the muscular Degas groveling like that.
"Don't worry about it; I had a good time with Pandra, you know. I got to reunite with an old acquaintance."
Minamoto and Sakaki were looking at her with a frown. Why did Hyoubu let them find out in the first place then? If someone from Pandra would deal with it.
Minamoto could only sigh and rub his temples, hoping Hyoubu would appear so they could get some answers out of him.
And speaking of the devil, a moment later they saw him appear next to Yugiri, gently patting her head.
"Did you enjoy your day?" he asked the little girl.
"Nnn! B-But the scary man ruined it," she said, hiding behind Hyoubu.
Then Hyoubu turned around to find the so-called scary man. "Who was it?!"
"Major, Senzo already took care of him." Yugiri whispered, burying her face in his pants.
Hyoubu's serious expression changed immediately after hearing that into a relaxed smile.
"I knew it was correct to let him come with you; let's wait for him to return, and then we can return to the Catastrophe. After all, we have no need to stay longer in this country."
"Nnn!" Yugiri bobbed her head up and down; she couldn't wait to see Senzo again. Even though it had been a scary experience, she was with Senzo, so she knew nothing bad would happen.
"Hyoubu." Minamoto approached the two, not sparing Yugiri a single look.
"Yo, if it isn't Minamoto-kun."
"Don't "yo" me after you forced me to search for the culprit. Someone from your team just took care of him?" Minamoto started readjusting his glasses while staring straight at Hyoubu.
"And why did you go that far to save the princess' life?"
Minamoto couldn't understand it; he was certain Hyoubu despised normals with a passion, but he had decided to save the princess. It just didn't make any sense.
"Hmph, the life of a normal has nothing to do with me."
"What?" Minamoto blurted out.
"I was merely granting the wish of a certain lady. And I technically did nothing in protecting her; I left it all to Senzo-kun, you know."
Hyoubu casually mentioned this as the princess, who had joined them at some point, looked at the young man with a strange look in her eyes.
"You two are completely different, but he respects you a great deal. It's rather interesting, don't you think?" She stated, thinking back to the time she had spent with Yugiri and Senzo.
Hearing Hyoubu talk like this and remembering how Senzo had acted, it was quite strange how they came to trust one another so much. But maybe those differences are what make them a great pair?
She didn't know, but she would very much like to find out.
"Well then, I'm giving the princess back to you, investigator." Hyoubu casually said, creating some distance between himself and the princess and Minamoto.
"Now then, when that guy returns, there's no reason for us to stay here anymore."
Then Senzo reappeared through the window, landing right next to Princess Sophie.
Cracking his neck a couple times, he looked at the scene in front of him with a raised eyebrow.
"Did I miss anything?"
"Nope, and you're right on time. Get over here, Senzo; we're leaving."
Senzo casually strolled over to Hyoubu and Yugiri and gave her a couple pats on the head with a smile on his face.
"Are you feeling better now, Yugiri? If anything is wrong, make sure to tell me, okay?"
Yugiri, who had been hiding behind Hyoubu the whole time, peeked out from behind him, and seeing Senzo, she jumped straight into his arms.
"Welcome back!" she exclaimed while embracing him, with a huge smile on her face.
Hyoubu looked at the two with a peaceful smile on his face, and after Senzo stood up while holding Yugiri, he was ready to leave.
"Wa-Wait, Hyoubu! I still have things I want to ask you!" Minamoto shouted, rushing toward the trio.
But Hyoubu, Senzo, and Yugiri didn't wait; with a snap of his fingers, they all vanished from sight.
"..."
"That bastard! He's so fucking annoying and obnoxious at times!" Minamoto growled, glaring at the place where the three had just been standing.
But there was nothing he could do to stop them; he was just a normal after all.
"Well, shall we head back, princess? Are you hurt anywhere?"
He then asked the princess if at least they had saved her. That was at least something they had to show for it.
But there never came a reply, and after waiting for what felt like an eternity, Minamoto had a bad feeling about this. He slowly turned his head toward where the princess should have been standing, but instead of the beautiful princess, what he saw left him stunned.
There was no princess in the room anymore; it was like she had vanished into thin air as well, just like Hyoubu and the others.
Then Minamoto turned to Degas and his aides, and they stood there with mouths wide open, staring at the spot where Hyoubu and the others had been standing.
"What did I miss?" Minamoto asked, heaving a sigh.
"Then the princess snuck over to Hyoubu and got teleported with them..." Degas managed to squeeze out; he felt like he could pass out at any moment now. Right after they had just found her, she just vanished once more.
"What the fuck?!" Minamoto couldn't keep his composure anymore and started stomping his feet.
"Why would she do that? Does she not know she's royalty?"
"It seemed like she was planning this for quite some time because while she was sneaking over there, when we saw her about to teleport away, she stuck out her tongue with a sneaky smile..."
Degas muttered while he just stood there staring at the wall.
Minamoto and Sakaki were both done; they couldn't help with this anymore because they had to return to Babel urgently to inform them of everything that had transpired here.
"Well, we wish you luck, Chief Degas; we will see you later." The two simultaneously said.
***
Back on the Catastrophe, Hyoubu, Senzo, and Yugiri had just arrived when they suddenly heard someone that shouldn't have been here.
"Wow, so this is the headquarters of the world's most dangerous criminal esper organization." Sophie said, looking around the deck of the catastrophe.
"..."
Senzo just stared at the beautiful princess, his mouth agape.
"Why? Why? Why?" His brain wasn't braining; he couldn't form a coherent sentence at the sight of her standing on the catastrophe with them.
Hyoubu just started laughing uncontrollably.
"Puahahaha!"
"I never expected you to be so daring, princess. Color me impressed."
Yugiri, on the other hand, just had a big smile on her face; she was the only one that had seen the princess sneak over after all. And she totally didn't mind it.