The scene shifts back to the command tent. With the initial pleasantries out of the way, the meeting finally gets down to business.
Yanagi sorts through her materials and neatly stacks a thick bundle of documents on the table, instantly drawing everyone's attention.
Ordinarily, the meeting should have been chaired by Miyabi—or by No. 11, who wasn't present. Unfortunately, one was clearly uninterested, and the other was so busy she barely had time to touch the ground. And so, the role of moderator naturally fell to Yanagi, Deputy Chief of Section 6.
Fortunately, it was a job she was already used to.
"Ahem."
Yanagi stood, both hands braced on the table. Just standing there, she radiated an unmistakable air of authority as she spoke in a steady, serious voice:
"I trust everyone has reviewed the inventory. Among all our supplies, what we lack most are food of every kind and medical resources."
"Wait a second."
Caesar raised her hand like a schoolchild, instantly becoming the focus of the room.
She didn't seem flustered in the slightest as she spoke up loudly. "The Outer Ring doesn't have nearly enough housing for all the city civilians. So where are they supposed to live? If they have to sleep on the sand, how cold will it get at night?"
The Outer Ring was a harsh land, caught between seas of sand and barren desert plains. Contrary to what many believed, the temperature swing between day and night was extreme. Even at the height of summer, the desert nights could feel scarcely warmer than winter.
"Hollows."
Yanagi adjusted her glasses. Seeing the lingering confusion—and even a hint of surprise—in Caesar's eyes, she realized the misunderstanding and explained:
"We're not literally putting them all inside Hollows. The plan is to formally incorporate the tunnel raiders into the regular forces. Under military command, they'll conduct operations in the Hollows around the Outer Ring. We dismantle everything that can be dismantled and use those materials as subsidies. There's no need to make a run into the city for that."
Caesar's face lit up in realization. "
Oh, I get it! So this time, we're going into the city for things we can't obtain in the Outer Ring or inside the Hollows, right?"
"Exactly. You've got it."
Yanagi gave a small nod and moved on to the next point, her slender fingers tapping back and forth between two marked locations.
"Here—[Warehouse No. 1], the largest grain depot in all of New Eridu. And here—[Janus District General Hospital], the hospital with the greatest pharmaceutical reserves in the district."
"These two sites share several advantages. They're both close to the Outer Ring, which makes a quick withdrawal possible. And the quantities stored there are enormous—even if we can only take part of what they have, it would be enough to sustain us for a long time."
"…But they aren't on the same route."
Phaga shook his head, listening intently, and spoke with calm precision. "If we concentrate our forces and hit them one by one, we'll alert the enemy for sure. A vampire clan that's on guard isn't something we can deal with easily. We'll have to split our forces."
"And both teams must succeed," he continued. "Because if even one fails, we'll have to come back. And next time, they'll be waiting for us—the difficulty will skyrocket."
The tent fell into silence. No one spoke for a long while.
At last, Caesar couldn't hold back any longer. She slammed her fist on the table with a bang and shouted, "Then we split up! Do you really think we'll fail with this many people?"
"Besides, these are supplies that save lives! Even if it costs us our own, we have to bring them back!"
Her words made both Miyabi and Phaga look at her in a new light, their eyes flashing.
Yanagi nodded firmly, her voice brimming with conviction. "That's right. It may be unfair to those of you who aren't soldiers, but Ms. Caesar is absolutely correct. With this much at stake, even trading our lives for it would be worth it."
"But if we're acting separately, that means we'll need two leaders…"
Yanagi lifted her hand to her chin and, without drawing attention, stole a glance at Phaga.
In her view, the most sensible arrangement was to have their two biggest assets—Miyabi and Phaga—take separate routes. But Phaga's own wishes mattered. If he refused—
"I'll lead one team."
Fortunately, Phaga showed no hesitation at all. He volunteered outright.
"However…"
He spoke again the very next moment.
The weight that had just lifted from Yanagi's heart immediately dropped back down, thudding painfully against her chest. She could only listen as he finished.
"…I'll take charge of [Warehouse No. 1]."
Yanagi let out a breath of relief.
Good. No strange demands.
Wait—[Warehouse No. 1]?
Not good!
Alarm bells rang in Yanagi's mind. She reached out in a hurry—but it was already too late. With a soft creak, Miyabi pushed aside the hand on her shoulder, fixed her gaze on Phaga, and said each word with unmistakable resolve:
"[Warehouse No. 1] is dangerous. Let me go."
Phaga frowned and stood as well, flicking Eous—who had been sitting on his lap, fiddling with her ears—over to Ellen.
"You just collapsed from exhaustion, and you haven't even recovered properly yet! Going to the front line in that condition is already pushing it—and now you want to take on even more responsibility?"
Just as expected…
Yanagi slapped her palm to her forehead and sighed in helpless resignation.
Those two were arguing again.
While both medicine and food were essential, people might not always fall ill—but everyone would starve without food.
Anyone with common sense could see that food took priority over medicine. Which meant that, unless the vampire clans were fools, their defenses around food would be far tighter than those around medical supplies.
On the surface, Phaga and Miyabi were disputing routes. In truth, they were competing to shoulder the most dangerous burden.
That kind of resolve was admirable—but Miyabi was stubborn to a fault.
"I have a military commission. It's only right that I take on the more dangerous assignment."
"Then how about I enlist right now? Given the current situation, even if I joined today, my rank wouldn't be much lower than yours, would it?"
"But I'm your senior. It's only natural for juniors to follow a senior's orders."
"The person sitting next to me is my senior too—and didn't they end up following my command anyway?"
"Hm?"
Ellen poked her head up, half-awake, looking around in a daze. Seeing everyone staring at her with thoughtful expressions, she tugged on Phaga's sleeve.
"Phaga… what were you talking about just now? I think I was half asleep."
"It's nothing. Go back to sleep. We'll need you to step up again later."
Under everyone's gaze, Phaga lowered his head, gently smoothing Ellen's hair and giving her cheek a light pinch.
Ellen swatted his hand away in mild annoyance, then grabbed the hand he'd extended and tucked it under her head. With Eous underneath as well, she used them both as a pillow.
Before long, Ellen was asleep again, resting on Phaga's palm and Eous's body, her sharp little fangs lightly nibbling at his thumb.
Miyabi stared, completely dumbfounded. It took her a long moment to find her voice.
"Very well. It seems I've met a worthy opponent today. But that's fine. Today will be the start of my 'No Matter What, I Will Persuade Phaga' training. I promise everyone—I won't end up like those Thiren who get toyed with by their juniors—mmph! Mmph!"
Yanagi suddenly darted forward and clamped a hand over Miyabi's mouth, then turned to the others with an apologetic smile.
"My apologies. Our Chief can be… just as adorably unpredictable as Soukaku at times."
"Then it's settled," she said briskly.
"The operation to seize [Warehouse No. 1] will be led by Phaga."