POV: NOAH WILLIAMS.
"Girl, stay out of it..."
These words stuck in my head for a few moments; they were words I said but didn't think were right. Saying something like that to a person who had just lost someone important was cruelty.
As soon as I closed the door behind me, I found myself staring at the wall for a moment, thinking of nothing, as if waiting for something or someone to pull me out of that thought cycle.
Which indeed happened… Someone pulled me from those thoughts.
Leaning against the wall next to the entrance, arms crossed and with a serious look, stood Miguel Castro, or as he is officially known, Agent Sunflower.
His hair was an unusual mix of black and well-distributed gray strands, revealing the signs of age and accumulated experience.
His thick beard, equally mixed with white and black, completed the look of a veteran already accustomed to the difficulties of agent work. His posture remained firm, even in the most relaxed moments.
He was not only my superior at SFR, he was a constant reminder that this job demanded more than we could give.
"You knew you'd have to say that at some point, didn't you, Noah?" he said with that neutral yet accusatory tone only he mastered.
"Let's go. I need to report what occurred at the library," I replied, trying to maintain firmness as I headed for the exit.
"Noah, always taking things so seriously..." he murmured behind me.
As soon as we left the hospital, we found the car already waiting for us at the entrance. Miguel sat in the back passenger seat, while I got in behind the driver's seat.
The car, discreet as always, took us towards the hotel where we were staying, a simple but functional building located at the northern entrance of the city.
The location was strategic: from there, we had direct access to the main highway, facilitating any emergency movement.
This time, I allowed myself to observe the city around me with more attention.
It was a quiet place, almost too peaceful. People went about their routines, oblivious to what might be unfolding right before their eyes.
A familiar feeling of frustration grew in my chest.
How many times had I seen this scenario repeat itself?
How many times had collective innocence been crushed by a conflict they didn't even know existed?
Since I joined the SFR to help hunt Guarda-Sol, the so-called "civilian casualties" had become a constant shadow in our path. It wasn't just once or twice. It happened several times.
And each time left a more bitter taste than the last. I entered this expecting to save lives.
I believed it would be possible to stop the insane plans of those fanatics before they reached the innocent. But, in recent encounters... We failed.
H, responsible for much of the chaos, always escaped. And now... that girl. I was sure she would never look at a book the same way because of me.
How could I blame her?
As the car drove on, I noticed the distracted looks of people walking on the street. Workers, students, mothers with grocery bags.
Ordinary people. And yet, all of them are vulnerable.
Books, already so rare, were becoming even more inaccessible due to incidents like today's. One small mistake of ours, and another window closed for these people.
After all, books could greatly change a person's life. Especially these ones. This thought reminded me of the mission the other SFR agent group had been sent on.
With the question in mind, I turned to Miguel and expressed my thoughts.
"How's the investigation into Congressman Matheus coming along?" I asked, trying to push away the weight of guilt for a moment.
Miguel activated his smartwatch and began to slide his fingers across the screen, with the same meticulous precision as always.
"For now, they've found little direct evidence linking him to Guarda-Sol. But there are strong indications that he's using this alliance as a façade to cover up corruption in his office. We're trying to use that as a pretext to intensify the investigation," he replied.
"Great. Do you think we'll be able to reverse the law in time?" I asked, thinking about the absurd legislation that had been approved.
If nothing was done, that absurd legislation could become a very problematic snowball in the future.
"We need to focus on finding H again. Some readings indicate that something deeply affected him when he left the library, which left energy traces across the city. We are trying to track him," Miguel continued.
"I believe it was the girl's enchantment," I commented, remembering what she had reported about the strange phenomenon she experienced.
"What a powerful enchantment, then..." Miguel murmured, raising an eyebrow.
"It even managed to destabilize his energy control. She must have a very powerful enchantment to have done that. Can you tell me what enchantment it was?"
"That's the problem. She said that upon contact with the file, she acquired a temporary enchantment. It disappeared right after its activation, coincidentally," I commented, looking distractedly out the window.
"Temporary?" Miguel repeated, then looked at me seriously.
"Did you, by any chance, feel an increase in your QPs during the combat?"
I hesitated for a second before answering, recalling the events and the sense of relief I felt during that moment.
"Yes... Wait. Do you know what happened?" I asked, turning completely to him.
I saw his posture shift from relaxed to tense. He cursed under his breath and straightened up in the seat.
"The girl is in trouble," he stated.
Miguel grabbed his jacket and started to move even before giving me more details.
"Change of plans. You go back to the hotel," he announced, pulling out his phone and signaling for the driver to stop the car.
"Where are you going?" I asked, confused by the sudden turn of events.
He dialed a few digits and activated the number I recognized by the sound as the SFR's emergency communication line.
"Hello, Agent Sunflower here. Code S found. I repeat: code S has been found. I need reinforcements when possible," he quickly finished the announcement and looked back at me.
"I need to contact the chief immediately. You go to the hotel and write a full report of what happened at the library. I'm going to investigate what I can about the girl. She has become a target. If H finds out the file's enchantment was with her, he won't let it slide," he explained.
"But she said she lost it!" I retorted, trying to understand the gravity of the situation.
"Noah, that enchantment... It's one of the first known records in humanity. It existed even before the invention of books themselves. Today's rules don't fully apply to it," he stated.
I fell silent at that moment, dazed by those words. The information hit me like a punch. That explained what happened with H, the energy collapse, the erratic behavior. Everything was starting to make sense.
And all of it revolved around her, the girl I tried to distance myself from, as if she wasn't part of it.
It was precisely the opposite; she had just become a very important part of all of this.
A pang of guilt ran through me. I had accused her of lying.
Now I understood that what she experienced was real.
And very, very dangerous.
I nodded, suppressing the avalanche of thoughts, and said goodbye to Miguel before getting out of the car.
It was time to write my mission report.
POV: MIGUEL CASTRO.
As soon as I left the car, my phone vibrated in my pocket. I answered without hesitation.
"Agent Sunflower speaking," I stated.
As I moved away from the main avenue, HQ questioned me about the situation.
And the call I had just made. I reported everything I knew so far. I mentioned the incident at the library, the temporary enchantment, H's abnormal reaction that the readings indicated about his signatures.
They asked about Agent Clover, meaning Noah. I informed them that he was heading to the hotel to write the report and send a copy to the system as soon as possible.
HQ then informed me that they would send reinforcements as soon as available. For now, Noah would remain responsible for tracking H.
My role would be different: to maintain surveillance on the girl. Observe her, study her... protect her, if necessary.
"Did she come into contact with you?" they asked.
"No, she only met Agent Clover," I replied.
"Understood. We'll do a quick search and send you the next step soon," they concluded.
I hung up the phone and continued walking through the city streets, now heading to the police department.
I needed local information. Any detail that would help trace Guarda-Sol's next move or understand what H wanted in this city.
And as a bonus, any information about the girl would be useful.
After a few blocks, I reached the entrance of the civil police headquarters. It was a modest building, with only two floors, located near one of the city's squares, with several cars parked around.
As I approached the entrance, I heard a vibration in my pocket. It was my phone. I picked it up and noticed a new communication message.
It was my next mission step.
Confidential File: M-1402-XXI
Classification: High Secrecy – Access restricted to ranks: Senior Agent - Major.
Responsible Institution: SFR– Society of Free Readers.
New Designation: Infiltration and study.
Objective: Act as a teacher at the local public school in the special and neurodivergent student discipline. Closely monitor student Helena and the nature of the G enchantment.
Secondary mission: Investigate the impacts of the new drug circulating among young people.
I read the message twice.
"Wait... I'm going to have to become what?" I muttered