Liu South Section 4 Director: Rodion's Story

C'mon, Ishy! This way, this way~

Whew... Director, we've been running from one restaurant to another for the last four hours.

Not 'Director', 'Rodya'. RODYA. C'mon, are ya gonna keep giving me the cold shoulder?

R-Rody... Rodion.

Haah... well, that's an improvement, I guess. I'll take it!

The child sighed with a pleasant smile on her face. She produced a snack from one of her paper bags and popped it into her mouth.

It was quite obvious from the rows upon rows of shopping bags and food wrappings hanging from her arms that the child has been on this gastro-adventure for a good while.

Woo eeen -

Rodion, please chew first before speaking.

Mmh... Hah. So... then!

So how long are we going to be doing this?

Tap.

The other child stopped dead in her tracks, her hands deep in her pockets. She exhaled loudly with audible irritation...

... then glared at the child.

You stopped by this corner's HamHamPangPang for their time-limited dumplings. You picked up a big pack of twenty or so of their freshly-fried menbosha. And -

Green grapes, tangerines, or strawberries?

The child very quietly, yet casually, muttered these three words as the other child looked like she was about to go on a rant.

... I'm sorry?

Pick one, Ishy. Green grapes, tangerines, or strawberries?

The child's eyes flashed as she lightly shook the white paper bag.

That flash in her eyes were that of confidence.

Seriously, if you think you can bribe me with food -

I've known all along, Ishy.

... that you've been watching this bag of tanghulu all along.

Hup...

C'mon, I'll let you have the first dibs.

Oh, and we'll stop by a beef bowl place later... how's that?

... I'll take the tangerine.

Well, then~ Here it is! Enjoy!

... The child's wit could always be relied upon to appease her fellows.

Not just in situations like these... but in many other possibly contentious situations as well. Even in situations when a fight would've broken out under a less capable director, she always managed to calm things down between members of Section 4.

Maybe the Liu Association is known to be more family-like because they tend to assign directorial positions to children like her.

Of course, Liu's Directors may fall slightly short behind Directors of other Associations who have been picked solely for their combat prowess...

But her sociable nature wasn't her only merit that gave her the position of a Director.

Hup!

She stands alone, facing off against the enemy leader one-on-one. She intends to impale him with the tip of her open hand.

This indicates two things.

One: the enemy's lackeys won't get in her way.

Two: her subordinates were shaping the battlefield as per her orders to ensure that she gets a one-on-one against the enemy leader.

T.A.D.

Director! No need to worry about the lackeys, we're handling them as we usually do!

Haah~ Didn't I tell ya to call me by my name? Girl, seriously...

The child does not avert her eyes from the Syndicate leader, even as she banters with her teammates.

Well, if you're gonna call me director, I guess I gotta pull my own weight, huh?

The child struck the leader's solar plexus - which had long been weakened after series of strikes - with the tip of her fingers, and cleanly pierced right through his torso.

Well... your boss is dead. Now what? Wanna keep going?

Gah... Dammit!

In a large-scale battle involving multiple combatants, the death of the leader often means the death of morale.

The enemies began slowly backing away... until scattering and fleeing the battlefield.

Whew~ Another job done!

This is how Liu Association handles their larger scale tasks. The members hold down the enemy grunts and isolate their leader... while the Director or a Director equivalent takes them on one-on-one.

This, however, also means that they may not have a plan B when the Director is defeated.

If that happens, then... well, let's not get into that just yet.

I suppose we will find out when we look into a world with one such tale.