8 "On imuim"
There was a banquet going on inside the house on Imuim, but seina was staying a safe distance away with Fuku.
"Fuku you're a girl, if you want to go, you can go anytime."
"Mya! Mia!" Fuku cried she didn't want to leave
"I understand I won't force you to go, I just wanted to say that if you wanted to you could go."
He hugged fuku
"Miaaa ......"
Seina was lonely, if felt similar to how he felt before he met Kiriko. In order to gain peace of mind, he concentrated on Fuku, and trying to feel Fuku 's body temperature and heartbeat. It was the same for Fuku.
─── I'm not alone.
So soon as his mind acknowledged it, his anxiety was gone.
"I'm tired from today, let's go to bed now, we can play some more in the morning."
For seina the night brought no pleasure. Darkness limited his behavior and doubled the danger.
"Miaa ..."Fuku yawned.
-----------
"Seina seems to have gone to bed."
Kiriko, who was watching Seina's house from the tree house window, said
"Woo now its time for the adults to party ... ..."
"Seto-sama! How many times do I have to remind you I have the body of a child?"
"Eh ~~~? but your almost as old as Mikami and me."
"I've just been released from being age fixed, I'm not trying to over exert myself!"
It's important to be careful for several years after an age fix is released. Neiju had just resumed growth for the first time in hundreds of years, so she was in a sort of rehabilitation period. At that time, if she over exerted herself or wasn't careful her growth would hindered, and if you she did something wrong she could stunt her growth.
"You just don't want to drink so you can go run off to seina's bedroom and give him the old "It's too noisy I can't sleep." shtick."
"ahh!!" Everyone glared at Neiju.
"Unlike you all I have no such desires, since being freed from the shrine maiden life,I have been given the ability to grow up again, I want to live as an ordinary girl."
"An ordinary girl?"
"Yes which is why I accepted Airi's invitation to attend elementary school at the academy, I start school next month."
"But ... .... But didn't you already finish basic education long ago?"
" I told you I want to live as an ordinary girl, so my purpose is not that of study, it's to finally get to live my life."
That said Seto, Mikami and Kiriko had no objections. Especially Kiriko who noticed Neiju on the Earth envying Yoshiko. For Neiju who was age fixed as a shrine maiden,she lacked all the experiences of an ordinary girl.
"I see Yoshiko must have had quite the influence on you when you went to Earth ..."
"I will admit that Neiju-sama doesn't seem to be a threat, but this is Imuim, I can't approve of you sleeping with Seina."
"I can't do anything with this body anyway, and I don't care for seina like that he is my older brother."Neiju said with a bitter smile to Kiriko who had on an intimidating face.
"Oh, so you haven't noticed it then? Your heart pulsing?"
"……Eh?"As Gyokuren pointed out, Neiju hurriedly checked her wrist and confirmed her pulse. The shrine maiden was trained to be cool at any time. Neiju's pulse was faster than usual.
"...... I see, it looks like I'm not unaffected by this place."
Neiju admitted that she was affected by the aroma effect of Imuim.
"However, I don't want to stick around this evening."
"Why don't you want to party with us?"
"I don't like it when you are drunk!Neither does seina that's why he's off on his own in bed."
"It's a shame really, I don't know about you but I didn't come to Imuim to party with a bunch of women."
"Seto-sama! Seina is still a minor."
"I know stop repeating yourself like an idiot! He isn't any different from an adult, both in skill and experience and work. No, there are few adults who have the abilities and skill that Seina has. Hell a little while ago in Japan for his rank alone he would have been treated as an adult, even in the Galactic Federation, if you graduate from the GP Academy you're recognized as an adult. "
"That doesn't mean that you can advance his graduation ahead of schedule!"
"What I want to say is that it's his mental attitude that matters!"
"What is that supposed to mean."
" Kiriko you treat Seina as a child, How long do you want to keep him as a child? That's what I mean."
"Well, that's uhm ... ...."
"You don't suddenly become an adult because of your age, Seina already already has the skills to live by himself and protect himself by himself . We only have to wait for the age-related problem to be cleared, other then that, he is the Captain of the Kamidake ... ... do you know what that means? "
"............"
In other words, it was provisionally, but he was officially/legally treated as an adult.
"Originally, someone of his age would not be allowed to do so, but they made an exception and let him become a captain ahead of time. Of course that doesn't mean we should rush him into sexual relations ahead of time, but you're not even preparing him for being an adult, don't you want to be his first, does he even know? "
"Well, that's uhm ............ It's still... uhhh." Kiriko blushed and deflected her eyes.
"If possible, I would like to wait until things solidify naturally, but the circumstances surrounding Seina are changing at an ever accelerating rate. Why do you think we decided to give you a vacation at this time?"
"That is ... ... oh!"
"Yes, because you destroyed the fortune fleet, the fortune fleet was a top-secret plan of the Daruma Guild, directly planned by president daruma. being hostile to Daruma up to now was only instigating a skirmish with the members of Guild, but daruma has finally set Seina as enemy number one this time. "
"............" Kiriko who noticed the seriousness of the situation shut down.
"Security around Seina is going to be tightened even further, which is going to effect even his private life."
"In fact, there are rumors that others are already are already planning to try to make matches with him."
"Mi Mikami-sama ... are you serious?"
"You would be lucky if you are ever even qualified to become a candidate for his hand in marriage.Of course at the present time, if you wish so, you will be made top priority, so if you don't want him to be taken by a woman he does not know, Please take this vacation to look inside your heart, and of course each others. "
"Seto-sama ... ...." Mikami brought her face close to Seto 's ear and whispered something. Kiriko's eyes widened
"It's a good idea, let's talk to Seina about it immediately tomorrow."
"What are you planning on doing !?" The expression on Seto's face worried kiriko.
"... Well, you I may as well explain it to you now that you are all here." Seto said.
----------------------------------------------------
"... Good morning Seina." Kirche gently said
"... .... Good morning ... .... Ah!"
Seina who woke up noticed he was in Kirche's world and jumped up.
"I'm sorry Kirche, I couldn't bring NB ... ...."
"It's okay, as I always tell you, I'm used to that kind of thing, it would be selfish of me to be upset over it."
"That's true.. ...."
"Is that all you could think of to say?" Kirche slapped him. As e rubbed his face, he heard a noise and wondered what it was.
"... ... Waves !?"
From the outside he faintly heard the sound of the waves, Seina approached the window and looked at the view outside.
"Is this.... Imuim !?"
The scenery spreading from the window was that of Imuim.
"Kirche, is this ... ... the real one?"
When Seina turned around, the internal structure of the house had changed to the tree house of Imium's main island.
Kirche gently whispered to Seina who was confused. "Airi-sama recreated it ... ... so I wouldn't be mad that I couldn't come ..."
"eh!?"
Seina hurriedly and looked around but Airi was no where to be seen.
"Please don't worry, Airi-sama is not here ... ... she's up to something more important on your planet."
Kirche gently smiled at Seina, and Seina who saw that face finally let go of his vigilance and sat down on the bed.
"Well, that's... good."
------------
"Oh, did seina just get here?" said Miki's father, Hiroshi, he went outside to change into his bathing suit. He was wearing sunglasses, and Aloha shirt in swim shirts, there was a beach umbrella on the sandy beach, next to him Raireza was lying on a beach towel.
"I have never actually been to Imium, but it really is a paradise."
Raireza was in a bikini swimsuit. When when he saw Raireza, she was in a white lab coat so he had never really seen the lines of her body, but now he was able to see them in the bathing suit. And it was pretty glamorous looking but a bit scary for him to look at.
"It feels strange to me that something like this is virtual reality."
"I heard that Seto gave permission to have this virtual version made, that's why it's so accurate."
After all, the reality of the virtual space boiled down to how much they could recreate the environmental data. Everything from astronomical conditions to topography and details of microorganisms that live there, all kinds of data couldn't be acquired for replication without permission.
Of course, it was possible to build it to more than 90% accuracy with a certain degree of guessing, but the remaining percent was quite important.
"It's a gift born of Airi's obsession"
"... Yes, I suppose that is so.
----------------
"... .... Seina" kirche called
"Huh yes ... ... ...?" Seina turned around
"……How about this?"
"... .... Ah, ... ... well.... uhm ... ...."
Kirche 's looked shyly at him as he looked at her swimsuit. It was no where as intimidating for seina as the fashion show of bikini's the other girls had given him earlier on the beach, but the problem was that he recognized the swimsuit. It was a swimsuit worn in a famous commercial that Seina had seen many times since coming into space.
And now a famous idol was wearing the swimsuit he had seen in photo collections and commercials, actually wearing it right in front of his eyes, it wasn't a picture or a video. It gave him an odd feeling of nostalgia.
"Oh ho ... ... that's not too bad looking on you."
Both Hiroshi and Raireza were staring at it with expressions of admiration.
"Hey Earth to Seina, are you just going to stand there or are you going to say something?"
Raireza lightly elbowed Seina in the gut as he stared transfixed.
"Oh ... ... Oh! uhm it suits you! that's the one from the Commercial , isn't it?"
"Oh you recognized it ...? ..... I'm glad." she smiled.
Kirche pulled seina by the hand and headed for the sea with him
"Such a nice sight."
"It sounds like you're her father, Hiroshi, you know she's your daughters rival, don't you?"
"Well, that is the case, but at the same time she is just the same as Miki .... When she comes back ... I think they will be good friends ... I think she's going to be a good sister. Seina has a lot of women who help support him, it gives me a somewhat complicated feeling as Miki's father, but the size of the burden he carries and how they help him deal with it makes me a bit envious. "
"Are you sure you don't envy him as a rival? I'm sure there's various complex feelings there ... "
Raireza said because he knew Hiroshi was thinking about Tsukiko and how she cares for seina.
"Sorry, I said that, that was insensitive." ...
"Oh no!I don't mind Originally that was an unrequited love, it's already a long ways back in my memories.Well I still blush when I remember it, but for me those feelings have already settled. "
"That's good... shall we go swimming for a bit, it's a waste not to in the tremendous paradise."
Raireza stood up with a supple movement and extended her hand to Hiroshi.
"I haven't been to the sea since I was a student"
Hiroshi took Raireza's hand, he was embarrassed.
-----------
"Oh, yes, that's right! Seina I have good news."
"Good news?"
"Yeah ... .... In fact its why miki's father is here today, Miki is alive."
"Really ?? ......... For real?"
"Yes but she's not alive like you are ... ... she is like me, an AI."
"Miki-senpai is same as you."
"Yes, ... actually."
-------------
"Is that so? ... So she was modeled after Aunt Tsukiko ... ...."
Seina remembered what Hiroshi and Tsukiko said at the lake when Miki died.
"I got sort of a nostalgic feeling with her ... ... I feel like I knew on some level... So where is Miki-senpai, why are you only telling me this now, do you know for sure? What is going on? "
"To be precise, we just finished deciphering communications from Miki, and unfortunately it was not something were we could quickly find out where she was."
"Is that so"
"Just being able to decrypt the encrypted data could be done by me alone, but for the investigation from there on out we had to hire a larger number of people.As you know, Tarrant destroyed her body, and apparently Miki is at Tarrant's home base. "
"Home base!"
"Actually, there was a massive escape from Tarrant's home base, we know that there was an AI who helped those who escaped at that time get away."
"Wait... was that miki?"
"Miki was originally on a satellite surrounding the home base, but she escaped by causing a fight with the pirates and those who escaped, she escaped to tarrant's base on the planets surface, Unfortunately, leaving with the escaping people was too big of a risk for her, but in any case Tarrant is not aware that Miki has moved to his planetary base."
"How do those who escaped not know the location of Tarrant's home base? Didn't they escape from there?"
"Their ships could only fly to a fixed position by auto pilot. They had to abandon the ship as soon as possible and didn't have time to get the fight data. Another reason why their escape was difficult was that they had the seed of a "royal tree" the one that caused the pirates to chase after you. "
"Miki was behind that !?"
"Well the deserters brought it with them she had no part in that."
"I see why Miki chose not to come with them."
"There was a large possibility that all of them would fail to escape. His base is supposed to be so strictly concealed that it's location is a secret comparable to the location of the big Daruma. "
"How do we find such a place?"
"The escapists didn't spend much time there but their testimonies increased the number of things we have to identify the location of Tarrant's home base. Since we found out about this we have been searching for his base and searching for Miki one location at a time, but finding Miki's whereabouts is more is more tricky then you think and requires advanced political judgment. "
"Political judgment ...?"
"Tarrant is deeply involved with the center of Galactic Federation politics, which was originally spawned from the remnants of the Shank Guild, which boasted a major force much more advanced then the Daruma Guild, many of whom were transferred to the Galactic Federation when Guild was dismantled."
"Is their loyalty still that deep-rooted?"
"it's more like there are those who want to be safe instead of sorry, the Shank Guild in its prime was said to be a scientific power that was was comparable to the Academy, now there is only the residuals of that left, but even one Daedalus ship is a considerable threat, so there are those who would like to not get on his bad side. "
"so they've had to move slowly and quietly ...?"
"that's how airi put it,"
"But only one by one ... .... do you think they will be able to ever rescue Miki-senpai ..."
"If we focus on crushing Tarrant it's only a matter of time.... That is the conclusion that Airi-sama has made. The real problem is that we have no way of knowing how much military strength he has stored at his base. "
"In such a situation, can we do something to help Miki? Maybe the Kamidake can...uhmm ... ...."
Seina thought that he wanted to join in the fight with the Kamidake. The Kamidake was perfect as a fighting force to rival any other, but the problem was that it's captain was Seina.
"... ... well maybe we can get someone else to be the captain ... ...."
"It's going to take quite a while honestly so you will have to wait till then to decide what to do. A small but powerful research team has been organized.When Jurai moves out, I'm sure they will have enough royal tree ships that you won't be needed, I promise. "
"Do they need royal tree ships ... ....?"
"Yes, after a detailed survey by the Academy, Jurai, and Seniwa's research team, they concluded they are going to need to use royal tree ships to rescue Miki."
"............"Seina felt dizzy he knew rescuing her wasn't going to be easy but never expected it to be so hard they needed to resort to using royal tree ships but it was necessary to use whatever power they had. Even if Shank Guild only boasted a huge power in the past, it was now under the control of The Daruma Guild. which made them more dangerous to go after then ever.
"It's all thanks to you."
"eh!?"
"In general, if you were going to rescue Miki yourself, they wouldn't need to deploy the royal ships, but for you, the royal family of jurai, the leaders of the academy and Seniwa have all agreed that this is one such circumstance where they will allow the the operations of a royal ship to do such a thing. "
"what ... ... really?"
"I don't know anything more about the time table on that, but I wanted to let you know as soon as possible."
-------------------------------
The next morning, Seina's awoke refreshed. he got up gently so as not to wake up Fuku, the sun was just peaking out over the horizon.
he took an inhale of mourning air and stretched. In the tree house Kiriko and the others were still asleep, he could not hear any sound coming from their abode. For a moment, it seemed that Seina was alone in this world. However, that relieved him, he felt comfortable now.
"Now, what should I do today I already made my own base, I already make my own meals by myself ... hmmm.... oh.... yeah!"
He remembered he could change the location of the fish traps.
"Oh!What's that over there!"
A swordfish like fish charged at seina, Fuku saw it charging and rushed at the fish, Fuku grabbed the fish in her mouth like a dog.
---------------------------
As expected The noise woke up the girls and got Kiriko's attention.
"Ringo-chan, do you know anything about this fish?"
"Yes, species 3329 of Lake B. it's quite expensive ... ..."
"~ ~ Expensive! Is the dish it makes worth the price?"
"Well, yes, it has a nice firm texture you can enjoy it with a variety of arrangements, but if the size is big enough, the meat quality will change, I think that it is better to cook with than to make into sashimi, the other two species you brought with you are scallops There are species 299 of Rank S, which can be either cooked or made as sashimi, the flat one is sepcies 59399 of Rank D, it should be minced and deep fried."
"Ringo why are you using rank and number don't they have names?"
Even when Seina examined them online, only the numbers were displayed.
"This number is their name, although there are academic classification species names, there is no proper name for this fish."
The universe was wide and the living things in it were diverse. It was impossible to name each kind in the infinite expanse of space.
Like the Earth, the planet's own creatures are named, but gradually that becomes troublesome to do elsewhere,so they had given up and were named numerically one by one. Of course there are times that special discoveries are given names but that is pretty rare.
"Rank represents the commercial value, up to rank C is for cooking, the rest are for feed processing"
"Ha, I see,"
"Alright then! Let's make breakfast this morning with Seina's harvest."Seto said she he took the huge fish on her shoulder and headed to the kitchen.
"Wow ...... look at Seto-sama ~~~" Amane said
"Wait! Seto! Let me carry it." Seina soon followed her
"Oh, sorry, I forgot this is your catch Seina."
"... ... That's not what I meant."
It made him nervous to let a woman carry heavy things - that was all. Seina had no choice but to smile bitterly as she handed him the large fish.
--------------------------------------------------
The breakfast was fish burgers. it tasted more like chicken then fish.
"...... I am impressed you I caught it, it's a big one, while I'm here I decided that I'm going to try to be as self sufficient as possible"
"Oh Seina, do you enjoy being a survivalist?"
"This place is rich in seaweed, fish, and shellfish, so it is not really like being a survivalist, but ... it's something fun."Seina's eyes were sparkling.
"I see,"Seto said as she smiled at Ringo
---------------------------------------
"An interview with the crew? why?" Seina responded to Mikami when they finished breakfast
"I think it will be good for you as a captain to get to know your crew better by talking to them. "
"I understand that ... ... but one on one ... ... why ...?" Mikami was dressed like a swimsuit model, she rearranged herself to emphasize her cleavage.
"This is an important story, you better pay attention to me, ho ho ho."
"... Please stop that."
"Fine... I guess it can't be helped."
Fortunately for Seina, Mikami corrected herself and, started speaking seriously. However, she was still a beautiful woman in a swimsuit in front of Seina, he had a hard time keeping his eyes off her even without a provocative pose.
"When the Kamidake's operation becomes formalized you will be in direct jurisdiction of the GP, so the crew composition of the Kamidake may change slightly ... Even so not everything will change, but some may be relieved of duty. To be on the Kamidake crew is dangerous if you are unfamiliar with the crew members it could become a burden on the crew if it ever gets too big, It can also be said to this is a good exercise for actual war training, if the Kamidake is officially deployed, there will be many cases that unfamiliar troops will be dispatched to work with you, and the management of those people is a part of captain's job as well. "
"Indeed ... ... the captains position sure is a serious one isn't it?"
"Of course. and a detailed psychological check of the crew members is important you will always have experts and NB will helping to support you on that, so it's not up to your judgment alone."
"yeah but... NB ... ... does it have to help with that it's kinda.... ..."
".................."Mikami smiled a bit
"............I'll see what i can do about that when the time comes, we might be able to get you a more... decent NB."
"Please"
"Well, it is not necessary to have a professional psychology check of the crew done right now, but it's the captain's job to grasp the situation of the crew that helps him navigate,and to consult them about their troubles. In the process of becoming the captain there is a gradual accumulation of experience, but you don't have much of that, so let's get you that experience little by little."
"Okay"
"Although you live together with the crew, you haven't had much time to talk on a one-on-one basis with any of them other than Kiriko, so use this occasion to do that."
"……Understood!" he said determined
Mikami issued a V sign toward Seto that was invisible to Seina.
"This is a vacation still though, so we will pad them out. that way you have time to think about what to say."
"Sure"
"So please don't forget to save some time for conversation, I'm thinking after dinner is best."
"OK, OK ... ... uhm where should we do the talking ..."
"Your room seem's like a good place."
"Eh! But that's my room, it's an uncomfortable place to call people to ..."
"It's the only place that can be secured as a private room, and the place where you normally do this would be the captain's room don't you think."
"True.... but uhm... ...." he was resistant to be alone with someone in such a small area.
"I don't think there will be any problems, relax."
"Well... if you say so .... then I'm good with it." Seina stood up and bowed, and in a hurry, he headed to his room.
-----------
"I have to make this place a room where people an sit down and talk to me comfortably ..."
he looked around the area, it wasn't a mess but wasn't terribly fit for such a thing. There was Seina and Fuku 's beds and a lantern only, as well as a harpoon and fishing tools to catch fish.
"Yeah! This place needs a place to sit down!"
He didn't even want to entertain having them sit side by side in the bed. Fortunately, there were stone tables and chairs, so if he put a cushion on it, he could make something work.
He dove into the sea and got some sea silk and got to work.
"Why is he gathering more sea silk?" Kiriko and Amane were looking at him while resting in the shade of trees.
"Perhaps, he's going to put it in his room for the interview, he's probably just prepping."
"Talking to Seina one on one ... ... I'm surprised I thought you would be opposing this as hard as you could."
"On the contrary, if we're alone,I think that things will be rather calm, I don't expect anyone to do anything funny ..."
"I see so you think it will be better if there isn't a runaway collective consciousness ... but ..."
"But, what?"
"Uhm... well ... ... what do you plan to talk to him about Kiriko?"
Kiriko looked embarrassed and turned to walk away Amane grabbed her.
"Hey don't just walk away answer the question!"
"Uhm...I think that it might be a good opportunity to review my relationship with Seina."
"You mean how you're placing a distance between you and Seina?"
"Some people may have a choice not to, but of course I don't feel that to be true .... Well, what about you... what are you going to talk to him about?"
Amane turned red and turned her back on Kiriko. Kiriko seemed to be upset by this but she did not pursue the question any further.
------------------------------
In the tree house bedroom Erma, Ringo, and Neiju played with Fuku.
"What are you going to talk about with Seina, Ringo?" Erma said while grooming Ringo's hair.
"I think that Seto-san and Mikami's intention is to persuade Seina, so the content of what I say will change accordingly."
"To persuade him?"
"Erma you have been with Seina longer then I have, don't you know how Seina thinks about himself and his private life."
"Oh that's what you mean by persuade him ... ... Well, I certainly know what you mean. Seina has a complex about himself. It's because of his bad luck, he has no hopes or dreams for the future, no dreams really at all, things being impossible for him just seems unavoidable. "
"It's something kiriko was never able to fix with him."Neiju said getting into the conversation
"The order which Mikami decided we talk to him in was probably arranged for that purpose, so what I say will change depending on how far we are in the process, but in my case I'd like to get to know him better, but I don't know if that will be possible. " Despite saying that, Ringo looked happy.
"Sprouts bleeding out, flowers blooming and becoming fruit ... ...."
Neiju sings while singing Fuku.
"ehehe ... ... but who will eat that fruit?"Erma smiled unexpectedly.
"Mia!"
"Oh, are you eating that fruit Fuku-chan?"
"Mia!" Fuku misunderstood the meaning of that phrase the girls couldn't resist laughing at fuku's response to it.
----------------
Hakuren's team was working on the beach. Even before the Seina came here, maintenance was done by those who manage Imium, but still various things naturally arrive on the beach. They were removing seashells, sea weed, pebbles anything that could harm seina, and they set up beach umbrellas and beach mats.
"Should we help you Seina?" Karen saw Seina hunting for sea silk.
"He seems to be having fun why interfere?"
"I know! I'm just..." Karen blushed
"I'm wondering what we're going talk to Seina about, not only us, but Kiriko's group as well, they feel the same about him don't they ... ... just like gyokuren?"
"I won't get distracted from why we're here in Jurai so don't worry." Gyokuren said while working.
"I'm not worried about that, I just think that depending on what the others say I should change what I say/"
"Oh is that why you're bringing up how I feel about Seina?"
"As long as you don't forget why were here in Jurai in the first place and don't let it interfere with the mission I don't care what you feel." Hakuren said
"... Please don't make an excuse for Gyokuren's feelings."
"Huh!?" Suiren suddenly started talking. Everyone was surprised.
After she was adjusted by Washu, she had began talking a lot more ... ... But what was she trying to say?
"Hakuren ... ... I, and surely Karen too, are also concerned about Seina."
"Hey, how can you feel that way when we have a mission...?"
"If the Kamidake is as strong as they say it is... ... If we benefit from it ... ... I see no reason not to stay with Seina"
"Huh!!"
"Then it's decided by majority vote ......"
"But what if that judgment is wrong, what if we have to get away from Seina, what will you do then Gyokuren?"
"I will do everything to find a way to make it so we don't have to." Gyokuren gave an immediate response.
"What would you do if you couldn't find such a way?"
Hakuren's expression was painful. But Gyokuren smiled without fear of it,
"Then I would search until I found such a way." That's what she said.
Hakuren grew silent and said nothing more.
"... ... In the interviews, we go right after Seto's group ... we need to decide what we should do."
"Is Seto aware of our purpose for being here?"
"Remember Karen. Washu-sama was aware that we were from the royal families just at first sight ..."
"Are you saying!?"
"Perhaps Seto also knew from the time she picked us up ... ... it is reasonable to think so."
"No... ... No way!"
"...... So... then we were chosen to be a her officers so that we could easily access Jurai's confidential information." Hakuren who kept silent till then opened her mouth.
"Hakuren !?"
"When you think about it, we were an unusual case, we moved up the ranks quickly and frequently, and our actions were always given free rein ... ... It's clear to me now that being assigned to Seina exclusively might have been because she knew our purpose for being here……"
She was more confident of it when she said it then the average person, she had thought about it over and over in her thought loop.
"But, if so, what is Seto's purpose ... .... what is the big picture?"
Suiren suddenly suddenly hit Hakuren's head lightly. just like when Karen did it, it stopped Hakuren's thought loop.
"What is important isn't something that can be thought about, the most important thing is what we feel about Seina, this isn't something we can take a majority vote on, this is our individual decision, it's a things our hearts must decide ..." Suiren sat down on the beach towel bed and laid down
"Suiren !?"
"I'm tired from talking too much ... ...." With that she fell asleep.
"... How we think of Seina, ... ... now I'm even more worried about what Kiriko's team will say."
Karen said while staring at Suiren's restful sleeping face.
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