Chapter 1582: The Mission
Redaime gave Ning's words a long and deep thought before asking, "This mission of yours. Can it wait a day?" she asked.
"Why? Are you going to find a new Thinker?" Ning asked. "Yeah, it can wait. I can even wait upto a week, if not more if circumstances arise."
"Great!" Redaime said. "Then you're working with Derria."
Ning was a little confused. He just told her why It was a bad idea on her part to send Derria with him. He needed someone who was willing to find his answers that they would've otherwise not been able to think about.
And yet, Redaime was going to keep her in his group?
"Didn't you just say she might be useless?" he asked. "Why does it feel like you're forcing on her to fail?"
"That's because we are," Redaime said. "I need to get rid of her quickly as she is quite useless. Once I get rid of her, I can stop worrying about having someone so useless in our team."
Ning frowned a little hearing such direct words on why she wanted to get rid of the poor girl who was trying her best.
"Fine," Ning said. "I'll do what I can for our group."
"You've actually done enough already," she said. "Although, I am curious to see just what it is you are going to do next."
Ning smiled. "You'll find out soon enough."
He left the room and waited for Derria and Parima to return with their items for the day later. They had no idea where exactly they were going, so they came packed up with clothes in a large bag.
"I will be in charge of this mission. Do either of you have any objection?" Ning asked.
"No," the two answered at once.
"Good. Let us leave," he said and took the two women out of the city, and on the way to City 3. They got onto a tram that took them to the other city.
Ning turned toward Parima and gave her a sorry smile. "I'm sorry about your dad and brother," he said. "I was forced to do what I did."
"No," Parima said. "You did what was right. My father and brother committed crimes, so they must be punished. You have nothing to be sorry about."
Ning gave an awkward smile nonetheless.
Parima had changed a lot in the past few days. The incident surrounding her brother and father had caused the young woman to grow up.
She was no doubt scared and was hiding her fears from the outside world. But she did it so well that anyone looking at her would think that she was a responsible adult who knew what they were doing.
"For what it's worth, I'm sorry," he said and looked away.
Derria noticed the tension between the two and said nothing. She too knew about the
situation with Parima, so there was nothing to say.
The three kept to themselves as they crossed past the giant hole in the wall that took them to
the other city. They dropped off at an earlier spot and Ning judged the time.
It would be just around the time Katie would be returning home.
"Follow me," he said.
The two women followed him, going through the somewhat busy streets of the city.
"Can you tell us what the mission is now, Lieutenant Ning?" Derria asked. It had been long enough and she was more than curious.
"Just a little more," Ning said. "We're coming up on the site very soon."
Derria wanted more, but she didn't push. Ning was the leader of this group, so she only followed what he told her to. She continued walking with the rest of them and was soon taken to a place on the other side of the city, right on the walls.
They climbed an elevator, and a few minutes of walk later, they arrived outside of a house. "This is it," Ning said and knocked on the door a couple of times.
He stepped back and waited for Katie to open the door.
Katie walked out in a simple dress, surprised a little to see Ning standing outside. "Ning! What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I came to visit," he said. "Am I not allowed to?"
"No, I mean. Wasn't there a court hearing or something for you today? They asked me a lot of questions regarding you," she explained.
"Oh, that's done with. I got a small punishment for beating someone up, but other than that nothing came of it," Ning said.
"Oh," she said simply. Then she finally noticed the other two and gave a small nod. "Who... are they?"
"My teammates," Ning said and introduced the two to Katie.
Katie greeted the two and smiled at them.
"I'm on a mission today, so I brought them with me," Ning said.
Katie nodded slowly. "I see," she said. "Then you must be busy. Would you like to stay for some tea, or is your mission urgent?"
Ning smile. "Our mission is here," he said, pointing beyond Katie.
Katie turned back around, surprised. "My house? Why?" she questioned.
Ning smiled. "Introduce to them what you are. They might have already heard about the rumors, but it's still better if it comes from you."
Katie looked troubled, not wanting to say. The words were hurtful to her. However, since the news of her situation had already traveled, there was no point in keeping that information to
herself.
"I... am Sparkless," Katie said.
The two women gasped, one stronger than the other. Parima's cold exterior seemed to disappear for a second when she heard what Katie was.
As for Derria, she could almost feel her body going numb from fear as she remembered what
it had been like to nearly go Sparkless as well. The feeling was not fun at all.
Ning turned back toward the two women and said, "This is why we are here."
The two looked at Ning, confused.
Ning smiled. "Today, we're going to heal Katie and make her the first Sparkless to get her
spark back."