Andy was exercising his body while Hyoubu sat next to him lazily in a lounge chair, both minding their own business.
"Hey Hyoubu. Was that true?" Andy suddenly asked.
"Hm? Was that true?"
"That Yugiri suggested we capture the princess."
"Why are you doubting my words? But yes, it's true; she predicted the princess's assassination and asked me to save her. So as the capable leader that I am, I delegated it to Senzo."
Andy raised an eyebrow at Hyoubu's statement.
"So she predicted her assassination, and you decided the best course of action was kidnapping?"
"But why, Yugiri? Those two have no connection, do they?" Andy squeezed out of his lungs while doing sit-ups.
"..." Hyoubu glanced at his new recruit, and a genius idea struck him.
"You seem to have quite the crush on Yugiri."
"N-No, I don't! I'm not into little girls! Don't you dare say that to anyone else ever!" Andy screamed, glaring at Hyoubu.
"Isn't it fine? She has been through more than enough already. I just wanted to grant her first-ever request; we're a family after all."
Then Hyoubu put a book over his face and went to take a nap, while Andy glanced at him with a conflicting expression on his face.
Meanwhile in the other room, Princess Sophie was sitting on the couch bored out of her mind. She had absolutely nothing to do except sit here and stare at the walls.
"This is so boring; I wish there was anything to do," she muttered.
While staring at the wall, she heard someone knock on the door.
"Come in."
"H-Hello, I've brought you some water." Yugiri shyly said.
"Oh, it's you. Come in. Come in."
Patting on the couch next to her with a big smile on her face, Sophie wanted to get to know this mastermind behind her kidnapping.
"What's your name? And thank you for the water."
"Um, my n-name is Yugiri, and you're welcome." She shyly said, turning slightly red, while she handed the filled glass of water to the princess.
The princess didn't stand on ceremony and gulped it down.
"Ahhh! Now that hits the spot," she exclaimed after downing the whole glass in an instant.
Yugiri just stared at the woman in front of her, wondering why she did look a little familiar, but she couldn't quite place it.
"Yugiri, that's a nice name. So Yugiri, what do you enjoy doing in your free time?" After putting the glass away on the small table in front of the couch, the princess's full attention was now aimed at the little girl that sat next to her.
"I don't really know; most of the time I'm staying on the boat with the major or Senzo, or playing with the other kids if we aren't on a mission."
Yugiri was quickly warming up to the princess. And while they were having a friendly chat, the princess couldn't help but frown more and more as she listened to the little girl.
"So you haven't played outside much? How about this: would you like me to take you around my country then?" She asked, her eyes sparkling with enthusiasm.
Being stuck all alone in a hotel room is the worst, so if she could accompany Yugiri outside instead, she would choose that in a heartbeat.
"Um, that might cause trouble for the major, so no, I'll just be a good girl and patiently wait." Yugiri resolutely said, clutching her small hand into a fist.
***
Minamoto and Sakaki were still at the building where the princess had been abducted in broad daylight, but they were anything but happy.
Staring at the chief military officer of the Kingdom of Monarch, who refused to budge.
"Why are you refusing to work with us?!" Minamoto exclaimed, his right hand formed into a fist, clearly showing his frustrations.
"We at Babel have plenty of experience dealing with Pandra. I'm sure we can help you rescue the princess!"
Stopping for a moment to let it sink in, he tried to calm himself down to act more composed in front of important officials, but just thinking about Pandra got him all fired up.
"The princess's safety comes first! Put away your useless pride and let us help!"
Sakaki placed a hand on Minamoto's shoulder, trying to calm him down, but he shared his sentiment; he couldn't understand why they were being so stubborn in accepting help.
An older man with slicked-back white hair looked at the man standing in front of the large window.
"Chief..." he muttered, with a worried look on his face.
The chief then turned around and announced something to the two representatives of Babel.
"This is the Kingdom of Monarch's problem. We do not need help from foreigners." Said the large man, staring straight at Sakaki and Minamoto.
The two of them glared at the chief but couldn't really do anything about it; if they tried to brute force it, it would become a major international incident, and with Pandra still free, they could not afford to have that happen.
"Could you keep out of this? Please escort them out." The chief finished before turning back around and staring out of the window once more.
Once the two of them were outside, they looked at the large doors that were now closed with distaste.
"What a pain. What should we do now, Minamoto?"
"Well, it's for sure that we can't just ignore this. But if they refuse help, our options are very limited."
There were just a couple of things bothering Minamoto; he couldn't understand why Pandra would so blatantly announce it. Or why he would kidnap her in the first place; this was just a small kingdom. If he wanted money, there were thousands of better ways to get it.
That's when an idea suddenly struck him: "I-It can't be!"
Then Minamoto, without warning, took off sprinting.
Sakaki surprisedly stared at his back for a moment before rushing after him, "Hey! Where are you going, Minamoto?!"
From the balcony where he had been napping, Hyoubu was now looking at the two Babel members with a smirk.
"Heh. Those two idiots have finally started moving. I hope they stir things up plenty."
Andy just stared at him, already used to his shenanigans by now, casually devouring his noodles.
"Hey, how are you going to protect the princess? You can't have her living in this hotel forever, you know."
"Well, duh." Hyoubu stated, rolling his eyes at the stupid question he just heard.
Then the two heard knocking on the door. "Excuse me." The princess said, holding Yugiri's hand as they both entered the room.