[Part.5 - The Flowers of Evil.]
[Under Soga Yura's lead, you have arrived at the Place Where Fate Returns to Silence—the very place that, back then, changed the Fate of both you and Soga Yura.]
[The hands of the great clock of the era have come to rest upon the most crucial mark.]
[All of your choices may turn out to be utterly meaningless—or perhaps... they will be the butterfly's wings that stir up the storm of the era.]
[....]
[The Flowers of Evil have already bloomed.]
[Mission Requirement: Find Kirishika.]
[Mission Reward: Ten-Pull Headhunting Permit.]
[...]
Just as expected——
The moment the Limited Pool opened, the mission reward naturally turned into a Ten-Pull Headhunting Permit.
Su Yuzu looked at the mission, but deep down she felt no real interest in whether she was about to change the world or change this era.
The great edifice was on the verge of collapse.
Was she supposed to play superhero and prop the whole building back up?
Every single choice of hers might change the era, change Fate?
Then this world really was unfortunate enough.
To think it would rest its counterweight on the shoulders of someone like her.
But still—
If she could actually pull it off... if such a choice could let Soga Yura, could let the little rabbit and the others live a little better.
Then Su Yuzu... perhaps wouldn't mind.
She closed the mission panel.
Su Yuzu gazed at the disdainful face on the Limited Pool banner—a face like some fairy maiden—then glanced at Tsukiyomi Fuya, who sat across from her clattering away at something.
Honestly... ever since the rebirth, the system seemed to have grown stingy too.
Now that it had opened a Limited Pool, couldn't it even gift her a single "Ten-Pull Headhunting Permit"?
Even if she didn't pull anything, she'd have accepted it.
Or... maybe let her take the limited character for a trial run~
Let her get a thorough yet accessible taste of Tsukiyomi Fuya's strength and playstyle, and then, after the trial, casually hand out something like "Combat Records" or one of the Favorability Gifts that Tsukiyomi Fuya liked.
In the end, there was nothing.
How stingy.
The moon gradually rose.
Soga Yura, having downed a dose of "Combat Records" that worked wonderfully as a sleep aid, had gone off to bed first.
Among the seventeen mobile base vehicles, two near the middle were being used as temporary dormitories.
One of them had been specially allotted to the girls.
The space wasn't large.
It was like a capsule hotel.
There were communal baths and restrooms.
But the sleeping spaces were stacked one atop another.
If you were even a little bit tall, even straightening your back would be rather difficult.
Still... functions like waterproofing, ventilation, and shock resistance were quite good.
Even someone like Mihou Sakai, with her... somewhat unsavory bad habits, probably wouldn't disturb the girl next door.
Unless... she pressed up against the window, or used her mental power to peep.
But if such a situation really arose, the victim would probably be so frightened as to be left with a lifelong trauma—or... a handle for blackmail.
Tsukiyomi Fuya hadn't assigned the girls any night-watch duty.
But after the girls had all bathed and gone to rest... Su Yuzu sat alone at the little table beside the deployed observatory.
Su Yuzu propped her face up with her right hand and gazed out at the sea.
The sea without its white fog had a charm all its own.
Tonight's moonlight was lovely and pure as a white cascade, spilling over the sea's surface where the rippling glimmers were like a bolt of shimmering silk.
But... Su Yuzu could sense the abnormal Aberrant aura drifting through the sea before her.
Beneath the seemingly calm and tranquil surface lurked some monster that might be even more terrifying than the "Leviathan."
Some monster that... even under the leadership of Tsukiyomi Fuya, who stood at the very pinnacle of the Fifth Sequence, might still cost Akiyama Yo her life here.
The gaze she'd sensed earlier... had not been an illusion.
Although Tsukiyomi Fuya had already said it.
Until they had a clear grasp of the sea's conditions, there would be no investigation of these waters at night for the time being.
But... night was, after all, the best time for reconnaissance.
Information related to Aberrants or Beasts often only revealed itself fully at night.
Tsukiyomi Fuya simply didn't want the girls going out to sea to investigate at night.
But the reconnaissance that needed doing still had to be carried out.
The reconnaissance team, led by Akiyama Yo, was setting up equipment near the base and tentatively lowering underwater survey gear into the sea.
Although Su Yuzu wanted to say something... she had no way to stop them.
After all, that was their proper job.
She couldn't very well say:
"Because I have a feeling Sister Yo might be in danger, please, Sister Yo, do stay obediently in the camp."
That wasn't realistic.
Su Yuzu could only secretly resolve in her heart that, no matter what, she would not let Akiyama Yo go... into the sea.
During this time, Akiyama Yo came over to Yuzu once.
The black amphibious combat suit, of a leather-like material, perfectly outlined the woman's slender, lovely figure.
A skintight swimsuit like this would normally, to some degree, suppress the graceful curves of young girls.
Directly compressing a Sakura Mai-class straight down to a Soga Yura-class.
But... even wearing such an amphibious combat suit, the woman's lines remained quite soft, lovely, and flowing.
All of a sudden... Su Yuzu found herself somewhat looking forward to the sight of a figure like Tsukiyomi Fuya's or the little rabbit's in a skintight combat suit.
Akiyama Yo reminded the girl to throw something on against the night breeze.
The sea wind was biting; be careful not to catch a chill.
Su Yuzu obediently took a hoodie out from her Material Inventory.
Although, with Su Yuzu's physical constitution, it was hard for her to catch a cold.
But this was, after all, the big sister's kindness and concern, and there was no need to defy it.
Earlier, on her and Soga Yura's birthday.
Soga Yura had been bullied by Su Yuzu so much that she'd caught a cold.
But... Yuzu, who had carried Soga Yura off to bathe and only lightly toweled her own hair after blow-drying Soga Yura's, was completely fine.
As the night grew late, Su Yuzu rose, preparing to head back to the temporary dormitory to rest.
If she returned too late, Sister... would probably worry too.
Su Yuzu was just about to get up.
Suddenly—
Creeak——
The white metal door of the base vehicle beside her—which had already transformed into the shape of an observatory—was pushed open.
Su Yuzu looked at Tsukiyomi Fuya, who was still hugging her kitty blanket.
The woman, in a nightgown with a sheer gauze draped over her, had a charm all her own.
The black silk spaghetti-strap nightgown—already concealing next to nothing—had its bodice adorned with large swaths of lace.
Or rather... it was composed entirely of lace.
Under the moonlight, set off by the nightgown, the woman's skin seemed even smoother than the moonlight itself.
Tsukiyomi Fuya subconsciously tugged at the sheer gauze on her shoulders as she looked at the girl before her.
While Su Yuzu admired the splendid sight before her, to Tsukiyomi Fuya, was the girl not also a splendid sight in her own right?
Inside the small room, like a honeycomb cell or a capsule.
Soga Yura puffed out her cheeks.
Blankly staring at the white ceiling, she pursed her lips.
She couldn't sleep...
Without Yuzu, and without a Yuzu body pillow... she couldn't sleep.
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