On Hallsta Island, in the villa's living room, Perona and Iska sat side by side on the sofa. Every time a scary supernatural scene appeared on the Image Shell screen, Iska shrieked and hid in Perona's arms.
"Is the ghost gone?" Iska asked in fear.
"Don't worry! It is," Perona replied resignedly. She then suggested, "How about we change the movie? No more horror, but romance."
"Romance...?"
"Uh?! It's like a love story..." Perona tried to explain.
Iska's eyes lit up. "Sounds good! Let's watch it!"
Perona pressed a few buttons on the Image Shell box and changed the movie.
"This movie won't have a ghost suddenly appearing again, right?" Iska asked worriedly.
"Don't worry! The movie is called Cinderella, and it tells the love story of a girl and a prince without ghosts..."
"Oh~!" Iska felt more comfortable and began to focus.
A moment later, Iska's face turned red. "T-that, Perona. This movie... seems... seems like something's not right," she stammered.
"What's wrong? Is there a ghost?" Iska shook her head. "Isn't it a love story of a girl and a prince?" Iska nodded. "Then what's wrong?" Perona asked.
"T-that... it seems... it seems like..." Iska was confused about how to explain.
Screech!
A door to space opened in the living room, and Sephiroth and Kuina came out. Sephiroth looked at the movie playing on the Image Shell and was stunned for a moment.
Sephiroth immediately took a few quick steps and turned off the projector. "Perona, why are you showing this to Iska?"
"Because Iska was scared of horror movies, so I changed it to romance... What's wrong? You clearly watched this with me before," Perona replied innocently.
"Uh?! This..." Sephiroth held his forehead. He didn't know what to explain. Finally, he ran away, "Next time, just watch a funny comedy movie with Iska!"
"Oh~!" Perona nodded. She replayed the Cinderella movie, changing it to a funny comedy.
"Cough!... Kuina, let's go to the second floor and choose your room," Sephiroth changed the subject.
"Okay!" Kuina nodded, carrying her suitcase, and followed Sephiroth. However, she glanced at the Image Shell on the table with a strange look.
On the second floor, Kuina chose a room next to Sephiroth, while Iska's room was on the other side. After arranging everything, Sephiroth went down to the kitchen to prepare dinner. Meanwhile, the three girls were engrossed in watching a comedy movie.
When Sephiroth prepared eight dishes and one soup, the three girls were still engrossed in their movie. At his urging, they finally brought the projector to the dining table and ate dinner while watching.
"Did I make the wrong decision? It seems that Kuina and Iska will soon be corrupted by Perona!" Sephiroth worried to himself.
After dinner, night fell. After showering, at Perona's suggestion, they watched a new horror movie. Sephiroth was forced to watch too. Iska and Kuina, scared, hid in his arms.
"So cowardly, yet they love to watch!" Sephiroth thought.
At the end of the movie, Sephiroth told them to go to sleep. "It's nine o'clock at night! Perona can sleep, but you two have to practice swordsmanship tomorrow."
The two girls nodded obediently and went upstairs to the second floor.
"How about we sleep together tonight?" Iska asked Kuina.
"Hmm! Okay," Kuina agreed. After watching a horror movie, she also didn't dare to sleep alone. They went into Iska's room.
After the lights were turned off, the darkness made the horror movie scenes reappear, scaring them and making them hide under the covers. They couldn't sleep.
Suddenly, they vaguely heard a crying sound, like a cat meowing, from the next room.
"What's that sound? Is there a cat?" Kuina muttered.
"No... It doesn't seem like it," Iska replied.
"Then?"
Iska leaned close to Kuina's ear and whispered softly.
"Ah! T-this..."
That night, the two teenage girls were awake until midnight.
The next day, Sephiroth intended to take Kuina and Iska for morning practice, but he saw two dark circles under their eyes. Both were clearly sleep-deprived. Sephiroth finally let them sleep in and postponed the training.
At the G-5 Headquarters' port, a warship docked. At Frank's urging, 49 soldiers stood in five rows.
"Reporting, Rear Admiral Sephiroth! Fifty soldiers have gathered, please give instructions!" Frank saluted.
"Good! Let them all get on the ship," Sephiroth gave the navigation chart to Frank.
Frank opened the chart and saw a circular red sailing route around Pollock Island. "Commodore Sephiroth... Are you looking for an island?"
"Hmm!? How did you know?" Sephiroth smiled.
"Because each route is 20 kilometers apart. This distance is the estimated limit of sight from the mast of the ship. To catch pirates, we can sail on a fixed route. Since you are spreading out like this, I dare to guess you are looking for an island," Frank replied smartly.
"Hmm! Your analysis is very good!" Sephiroth patted Frank on the shoulder. "However, there are some things you shouldn't ask... Do you understand?"
Frank nodded quickly. "Understood!"
Sephiroth went into his cabin, satisfied. He did plan to conduct a thorough search to find an island that was not yet registered. Even if it took years, he wouldn't hesitate.
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