Between the lines (Arc 4 Side Story)

“Tch.” “Furuhashi! Take care of things from here!”

Luckily that was one obstacle to Chiyo getting what she wanted out of the way. Unfortunately the others wouldn't be removed as simply.

"After all, this matter is only to be resolved with her death. Or do you still assume that either of you has the capability to keep her restrained? After all your failings and stumbling?"

“No, you’re right, Birdy. There’s no way to realistically keep her restrained at this stage. She needs to be executed here. So allow me to put it simply, miss, do you really think you can protect her? The two of us can easily execute her at this stage. You really are not in the position to demand any in-depth explanation. Do you think you will be able to stop her if she wakes up again?”

"Keeping her restrained was never my plan in the first place. If fact if I walked her down the street first I'd actually prefer if she went wild again. All I care about at this point is one of you telling me what the hell is going on here."

This wasn't good. It seems like the mages or whatever they are have banded together and agreed that just killing their adversary would be the best solution. Essentially taking away Chiyo's bargaining chip as she had no good way to stop them.

«Dare to make such a demand again and I’ll have you join her in hell.»

«I won’t let you! Go home to your parents! Nobody will die today!»

Chiyo had to laugh. Both at the blond child's attempt at threatening her as well as the blue haired girl's attempt to stop her. Mio walked over to Index, placing a firm hand on her shoulder and pulling her away from the blond child. Though not a threat to Chiyo specifically, she was certainly powerful and likely a threat to the blue haired girl.

"That's some big talk kid. You're definitely more powerful than I am but look around you." Chiyo gestured with one arm across the battlefield they stood on, littered with her own corpses, slain in a number of gruesome manners. "Do you really think you can kill me."

Before Chiyo had a chance to chastise the blue haired girl about her lack of threat assessment she heard a small voice coming from the body over her shoulder, realizing slightly too late what that meant.

«5-95»

Chiyo and the very ground she stood on were torn apart as a hole in what seemed like reality itself was torn open. That chaos in that moment was over in an instant and when it was the girl that was over Chiyo's shoulder was gone as well. A moment later, a new Chiyo appeared, standing directly behind Birdway.

"Seems like we got distracted a bit too long."

While Chiyo may have lost her original bargaining chip, she had discovered something perhaps just as valuable. The blue haired girl didn't seem to be on the same side as the other two mages. She seemed kinder as well. The other two seemed aggressively against explaining anything to her so it seemed likely that her method to learn more would be this kind blue haired girl. It was for this reason that even after Stella's escape, Mio was still holding onto Index's shoulder.