Last Embryo Volume 2 Chapter 2

Chapter 2

───Aquatic City "Underwood" of the Great Tree and Waterfall.

The thunderously blowing wind hit the trunk of the Great Tree.

The clear stream of Aquatic City had been completely changed to a muddy one by the raging storm, and it had started to engulf the residential area around it. In this Great Tree city of "Underwood" where the surrounding lands were continuous plains, the buildings structures weren't made for withstanding the Typhoon.

In short, most of the buildings were made of typical brickwork.

The breakwaters for the rising water were established, but that was not the only thing to be defended from.

If the source of the raging storm───the "Bull of Heaven" remained like this, then the Aquatic City that had just been revived would undoubtedly receive huge damage.

Kudou Ayato who was watching over the city’s state from the room that was in the Great Tree’s trunk, sighed anxiously.

Ayato turned towards the girl one year older than her, Ayazato Suzuka, and muttered.

".........It's a terrible storm isn't it, Suzuka?"

"Quite so. If I remember correctly, with the final record in our world, the wind speed reached up to 109 meters. Something about it being the greatest and the worst raging storm in history."

While responding with agreement, Suzuka was absorbed in reading on top of straw-thatched bad. Three days had already pa.s.sed since they came to "Underwood", but the situation was like this.

It was good that she wasn't panicking in this situation.........but honestly speaking, it would've been easier to reconcile if she was a bit more confused and anxious. Rather than her nature, this was just the difference of their courage.

As far as Ayato knew, Suzuka fundamentally never trembled with fear no matter what the situation was. In particular, if people younger than her were watching her, then she would probably act brave even in the face of adversity.

Ayato prayed she wouldn't do anything reckless───but rather than her, the problem was with Saigou Homura.

As Ayato released a small sigh, this time she looked towards Saigou Homura who was also in the same room.

".........Um, Senpai."

"Yea?"

"That.........isn't it about time to focus on mobilization? Both you and Suzuka have been doing nothing but reading for the past three days........."

"Well, even if we move now, it wouldn't do any good, after all. Until preparations are done, we have no choice but to stay within "Underwood"."

Saigou Homura looked at the ceiling as he turned around.

After his contact was cut with Izayoi───Homura was fueled by "Queen Halloween" for genuine partic.i.p.ation in the Game, but he didn't reply immediately, as expected. He announced that he wouldn't reply until he confirmed her words in his own way, and here he was now after postponing it.

(Though I said that, I can't bring trouble to "Underwood" forever. It would be bad if I don't make up my mind soon, huh?)

This Gift Game was not unrelated to Saigou Homura. However, whether that was related to his motivation or not, was difficult to say. The only reason Saigou Homura started to research the 'Star Particle Bodies' was nothing more than what he needed to in order to survive in real life, so inevitably, in the order of priority, things like his parents' will or revenge was low.

However, as a matter of fact, there was one enemy in his mind, that fulfilled Queen's conditions.

(The first guardian……… it’s before I came to "Canaria Family Home", so was it about eleven years ago I guess? When I met that man.)

Aside from Saigou Homura, those who had a chance to take part in "Star Particle Bodies" were only the researchers from "Everything Company" and that man who was their successor.

It would difficult to say unless he investigated it once, as to what had become of that man and what he was doing.

Putting an open book on top of his face, Homura's consciousness sank into the sea of thoughts.

　　　　＊

Eleven years ago───It was before he was adopted by "Canaria Family Home".

Saigou Homura used to live with a certain man.

As Homura's parents funeral was quietly performed, the two of them had no relatives, so he was adopted by one of the researchers who took part in his father's research. Homura couldn't even remember how he looked after all this time, but he remembered that he was a youth with  burning ambition. The reason why he adopted Homura was probably because he desired the data of Star Particle Bodies researched by his father.

At this point, it wasn't certain whether that man took the thesis or particle bodies or not. But for the young Homura, there was no better environment for "learning things".

Homura who was mostly free to do as he wanted, freely touched, operated, and disa.s.sembled the equipment in that man's residence, and had thorough knowledge about their structure. Thinking back now, part of the Gift that Saigou Homura possessed───"Proto Idea" had started to steadily get stronger at around those days.

And it was also exactly then when that man started to dislike Homura.

Contrary to his aspirations, that young man had reached the limits of Star Particle Body research. No, expressing it like that wasn't correct to be accurate.

The Star Particle Bodies were already complete.

While alive, Saigou Homura's father had already completed the Star Particle Bodies, and had already advanced the study up to the first steps of their practical use. Therefore, just by presenting it to the scientific society as it was, he would still earn great achievements, however, probably the final pride of that young researcher didn't allow that.

Above all, only the final issue left behind by Saigou Homura's father───the way to create Particle Bodies weren't recorded anywhere. Even if there is a thesis and an actual thing, if there is no practicality, the thesis will be one-handed in the end. And above that, there wouldn't be a single originality of his own left behind.

That man hadn't abandoned so much pride that he would permit such ill-formed imitation.

However, that remaining pride of his became the ruin of Homura.

In order to enter the research of Star Particle Bodies, that researcher abandoned everything else that he was researching. Perhaps there was so much merit in this research. If this research was completed, it would raise the current civilization from the roots. It was a great invention that could advance mankind to the next step.

Fortune that exceeded the national budget, honor that exceeded the head of states, he would obtain all of that as the power of an individual. His name would be carved in history, and would be handed down as the greatest person.

It was a glory that was unlikely to be obtained, but it instead raised his motivation without limits. While engrossed in research, he was able to continue dreaming of becoming the king of the world.

However, that vanity───was broken by a single, very young boy.

Young Saigou Homura who possessed the "Proto Idea", had steadily advanced the research that the man should have disposed of. After one year pa.s.sed after adopting Homura, the other particle research that he was engaged in.........the research he referred to as B.D.A had been accomplished.

That research which should have paired up with the Star Particle Bodies, officially called Blood Particle Acceleration Device, was now used for multiplying the Star Particle Bodies.

However this research───was the reason why the guardian man was given the laboratory for the first time.

When he felt the limit in the original particle research, the man gave up on his original research and switched over to the research of Star Particle Bodies───and yet, the young Homura completed it.

That moment, the shock that a.s.saulted him couldn't probably be described by mere words.

Homura wouldn't ever forget the look that man had in his eyes when he saw him for the last time.

Before long, the man disappeared. It was probably then when the research of Star Particle Bodies and the B.D.A that Homura completed were taken.

For several months after that, Homura who ended up alone was dramatically secluded inside the residence without meeting anyone.

(.........Okay, lets return back to thinking. Main question is what happens from now on.)

While reminiscing about the past, Homura continued thinking even as he dozed off.

During these three days, He searched for suspicious people within his mind, but as expected, the first guardian seemed to be the most suspicious.

(That said, I can't believe that he was able to make progress in the Star Particle Body research. Even If I think back now, he should have been researching it in a completely wrong direction.)

As a child, Homura didn't realize that what that guardian was researching was the Star Particle Bodies. However, thinking about it now, he had a hunch that he was indeed researching such a thing based on all his actions and conduct.

However, sadly for him.........presently, the creation of Star Particle Bodies from scratch is absolutely impossible.

As to why, it's because the Star Particle Bodies weren't artificial creations, but natural instead.

Since there's no knowing what was the creature of the source that it was extracted from, Homura who understood that creating them from scratch was impossible, towards ma.s.s production of the particles, he used the way of parasitic multiplication of "Origin".

Because of that, the Star Particle Bodies can bundle together into Astral Filaments on the order of nanometers and cling to the body tissues, collecting information on the genome, and synchronize with the genetic information of the person, the filaments unravel one by one and are incorporated into the cells, dividing within the body.

This is the parasitic multiplication of the Star Particle Bodies which Saigou Homura understood as of now. While these parasitically multiplied Star Particle Bodies depended on the genome information, they end up being altered from their usual state, however recycling them to use as medical treatment and such after extracting them becomes possible.

───Confidentially speaking. It was also given to the livestock of dietary education and the progress was secretly watched over, however the project came to nothing as the livestock was attacked by the Minotaur. My stomach hurts from worrying too much on whether the information about the Particle Bodies ended up leaking from the pig corpses. Section Chief Carla would definitely get angry if it did.

Okay, this is painful so let's return to thinking.

These astral filaments were both the foundation and the true shape of the 3S. Nano Machine Unit that was commonly mentioned.

"Everything Company" has described it as man-made, however this is a complete and utter lie.

3S. Nano Machine Unit───These Particle Bodies that even possessed the perpetual motion, were unmistakably natural creations. Perhaps Saigou Homura's father discovered creatures or maybe plants that contained astral filaments within their bodies among the natural world, and after successfully extracting them, he incorporated them into Star Particle Bodies.

It was understandable that the guardian man misunderstood them as man-made. That's because this is also a proof that an information life-forms that can live on just by reorganizing environmental information exist in the world.

It would be a great discovery if that was to be the case, however if it came to be known that the Particle Bodies were connected to natural creations, then it would raise one big problem.

These extracted astral filaments───the filaments commonly called as "Origin", are limited in number that existed. The reason why Homura's father couldn't head towards ma.s.s-producing them might be because the population of the life-forms that were the source of extracting were few in number, and it might be because he disliked inventing something that would break the natural balance of the world.

With Saigou Homura's method of parasitic multiplication, only the altered specimens that were influenced by the host's genome information could be extracted. For this reason, rather than Star Particle Bodies being unable to display their full ability───if they were altered, they would be imperfect even with perpetual motion. In the first place, energy generated by reorganization of environmental information was presumed to occur most frequently when circulating in the blood vessel at the same rate and the force exerted by the Particle Body varied depending on the corresponding base sequence and was omitted below as a prohibited matter.

That was irrelevant now.

Based on the aforementioned information, there were two things Saigou Homura had to think about.

First───Who is the person that produced the typhoon #24, the "Bull of Heaven". If the "Bull of Heaven" is really a monster that sprung forth from the Star Particle Bodies, then it meant that there was someone whose research speed far exceeded Homura's.

In that case, the primary suspect would be the guardian man.

(...............)

However───is that really possible?

The reason Homura understood that the roots of Star Particle Bodies lay in natural creations, was largely due to the Gift of "Proto Idea". When using particle microscope for the first time, he understood with one glance that it wasn't man-made, so it was because of that that he chose the method of parasitic multiplication. In the first place, that person, to the very end, should have believed that they were man-made without doubting it.

While it was something beyond his memory, that belief of his was unshakable.

In that case, the answer lies elsewhere.

("Bull of Heaven" ............Could it be that you are the "Origin"?)

Homura whose heartbeat sped up from that supposition, stirred as if trying to hide that fact.

Information life-form that manipulates the intention of environmental information and lives by eating energy generated like a haze. If that were the true nature of the "Bull of Heaven"───

(There's plenty of reasons to fight it.)

There's a change of advancing the research of Star Particle Bodies. So this time, he should oppose it from the front.

There were lots of anxiety regarding the death of his parents or the movements of that guardian man, but that was not his original mission.

The reason he started the study of the Star Particle Bodies was because he believed that it was useful for the future of the "Canaria Family Home" orphanage. The reason was that if an industrial group like "Everything Company" that was famous throughout the world became their investor, then it would provide the family members that enroll in the orphanage with a good environment.

It was not that he was tempted by Queen's cajolery.

There was a home and a family that Saigou Homura had to protect.

Therefore he would return to the present era as quickly as possible. Everyone must be worrying without having contact for three days. If it wasn't a Golden Week, it would surely turn into a big problem.

(No, normally thinking, it would also be a big problem even during Golden Week. If it goes poorly, the police might get involved huh? .........Well, I believe Iza-nii will give them a skilful excuse.)

If it was that person, he would handle it well.

Or he will deceive them in dramatic and extremely flashy manner.

.........Imagining that, Homura laughed a bit.

　　　　＊

Ayato kept poking Homura who was engrossed in thinking and called out to him a little worriedly.

"Senpai? Um, did you hear that I said?"

".........Ah, my bad. I wasn't listening."

Ayato pursed even more. It seems like he was thinking too much. Homura who straightened up, stretched his back while lightly apologizing.

"Really sorry. What was it?"

"As I said, the Game strategy of the "Bull of Heaven" and the Minotaur. Neither of them have been resolved yet right? What should we do from now on?"

If you are fighting, then I'd like you to decide on the guiding from now.

From Ayato's natural complain, Homura folded his arms and wore a difficult expression.

"Even if you say that, Minotaur aside, fighting with the "Bull of Heaven" is pointless. c.u.mulonimbus Cloud's shape would stay as is. In the first place, that's not something you can just resolve by fighting it. Besides, fighting isn't the only way to win the Gift Games, right?"

".........Then, what should we do?"

"First, run from the "Bull of Heaven". There's no need to defeat that. On top of that, wait for the Minotaur to show up. If my thinking is correct, there should appear a change in it not long from now. That should give us the right victory conditions."

Ayato blinked in surprise from Homura's words. Contrary to her belief that he was idly reading books in the room, it seemed he put enough consideration to it deep down.

Ayato sat in front of Homura and continued with a serious expression.

"Then, Senpai, you already have the makings of a plan?"

"Well, I'm about halfway there. Want to hear?"

"I do. Rather than that, please say such things faster!"

Sharing information is important! - Reproached Ayato as she raised her index finger.

However before explaining, there's a need to redefine the victory conditions of this battle once more.

Homura took out his phone from his chest pocket, and looked over the contents of the invitation letter.

『　─　The Second Sun Authority War Invitation　─

Dear Saigou Homura-sama.

You have qualifications to partic.i.p.ate in the "Second Sun Authority War" being held in the world of Little Garden. For gaining the qualifications to enter the final selection, please enslave at least one Celestial Beast belonging to the "Twelve Ecliptic Constellations" or "Twelve Chén of the Equator" first.

Celestial Beasts required to subjugate: "Taurus"

Winning Condition: ① Subjugation of Avatar of "Taurus".

Winning Condition: ② Erase the lightning, and return the star to its original form.

※ Rule Summary/Duration Period ※

Due to this being a preliminary game, the duration period would be seven years. After seven years, you would automatically be disqualified from game. No matter who subjugates the beast, it will be counted to Saigō Homura, so please, feel free to cooperate.

※ Important Points ※

This frame of partic.i.p.ation is a special frame that was prepared so that Saigou Homura could partic.i.p.ate in the Second Sun Authority War. If you abstain/abandon/ignore the partic.i.p.ation or are eliminated in the preliminary round, the special partic.i.p.ation frame as well as the inherent Gift "Proto Idea" that Saigou Homura-sama possesses would be collected, so please forgive us.

Furthermore, during the game period, you cannot leave the Little Garden so please be careful. Prolonging the game can be considered but please try to complete the requirements within the given time.

Yours Sincerely,

Second Sun Authority War Facilitators "Laplace Demons".』

".........Reading this again, the contents are making light of me quite a bit, huh? It would be my win no matter who clears it? It's as if it's definite that I would get help, isn't it?"

"Well, we are beginners after all."

However, thinking with a cool head, this was unexpectedly easy mode.

While his biggest priority was getting back to his former world, this way of writing also made him not wanting to give in. Homura turned the phone around and opened the built-in app.

Ayato looked at that situation while blinking her eyes.

She who was quizzically looking at the phone asked Homura in a prompt manner.

".........Senpai? The electromagnetic waves aren't reaching here you know?"

"I know that. I'm just starting the app called Encyclopedia of Misc Legends of the World. Because I can't rely only on my own knowledge. It's handy for supplementing information regarding the Minotaur extermination or the Epic of Gilgamesh."

"Ah.........So that app? I-I see. I completely forgot about that."

While sliding the screen, he browsed two legends.

It was an app downloaded with Ayato's recommendation for killing time, but he didn't think it would be helpful in this way. The person in question, Ayato seems to have forgotten about it, but there was a wide difference between having this app in Little Garden and not.

The reason Homura and Suzuka were quite knowledgeable about Halloween, s.h.i.+rayuki-hime, and Moon Rabbit legends was all thanks to this app.

"First let's search a matching word for the second winning condition───"Erase the lightning, and return the star to its original form". It should appear somewhere if we take out words and search them."

"Y-Yes. W-Wait just a minute!"

Ayato opened the page in fl.u.s.ter. She was never seen to be using phone apps for playing, so after all, it seemed that she wasn't accustomed to using it that way.

Homura changed the pages in order, investigating both of the legends.

"Lightning and Stars.........Searching up these words, I understood that Minotaur's real name is "Asterius(Child of Stars and Lightning)""

"Real name? It has two names?"

"That's right. I thought of one possibility when I considered the consistency of the two names of the second victory condition "Erase the lightning, and return the star to its original form." I thought whether Minotaur───was originally a human."

From Homura's such conclusion, Ayato got surprised so much that she jumped up.

"It became a monster afterwards.........N-No wait a minute! Why did you arrive at such conclusion!?"

"First point is that this name Asterius is a name borrowed from the ancestor royalty. This is a proof that at the time of its birth, it was recognized as a royalty and was treated as a human being. Because at that point in time, there was no successors of royalty other than him. In other words, despite having a right for succession, he came to be treated as a monster. From these facts, I a.s.sume there exists some kind of Factor X that isn't left on the front side of this legend."

That's right───There has to be some kind of reason. The reason as to why he dropped from royalty to a monster.

"If these a.s.sumptions are correct, then the sentence "Return the star to its original form" will gain the meaning of "Turn the Minotaur back to the human Asterius". Considering that this is a trial related to the Star Particle Bodies, paradoxically, it could be interpreted as "you can turn it back human if you use Star Particle Bodies", however as there is no guarantee that it is the correct answer and interpretation, we can't afford to use the "Origin". After all, there's just one more left."

From Homura's acknowledgement, Ayato held her breath.

Lowering her voice, she looked at Suzuka who was in the same room.

".........Then, after all, what saved Suzuka was.........?"

"Yeah. I ended up using the second of the three existing "Origin". There's no other way."

Homura brought two preservation capsules accidentally, but when Ayazato Suzuka was seriously injured, he ended up using one of them. He was anxious that both Suzuka and Ayato became the origin carriers, however neither of them had any other choice at that situation. Although there was no knowing unless the progress was observed from now on, within their bodies, the Particle Bodies will transform into two separate specimens.

The biggest problem right now is the fact that there's just one "Origin" remaining.

Because of the parasitic division of the "Origin" of the Star Particle Bodies was impossible, they were preserved by immersing them in a simulated body fluid made from amino acid and salinity which was close to blood, and the only possible way to slowly increase them naturally was by externally giving them stimulation of 32.768 kHz with quartz vibration when necessary. Since creating them from zero was impossible, losing all of the "Origins" had to be avoided at all costs.

".........Understood. Let's believe that Senpai's a.s.sumption is correct. Please continue."

Ayato eagerly asked for the explanation.

Homura loosened his shoulders a bit and leaned back.

"Well, wait. The preparations aren't done yet so there's still time. Ayato, should also try thinking about the Game."

"Me?"

"Yeah. Considering that it's a Game made from G.o.ds' perspective, the more you think about it the deeper it gets."

Ayato got surprised from the sudden swing. Of course her marks were high in school, but thinking Games like these weren't her strong point. She does her best when she's in a familiar environment, so building up ideas from complicated pieces is one of the things she was bad at.

Be that as it may, when she was told to think, the earnestness that would be put in thinking was also her strong points.

Her appearance as she put her hand to her mouth while struggling with an unfamiliar phone screen was quite charming.

Homura who was unable to watch anymore, raised his finger somewhat proudly.

"Well then, here's just one hint for the diligent and obedient Kouhai. Ever since the start of the Game, "Not even a single unrelated event has occurred.""

".........? That means, the typhoon damage as well?"

"Not only that. I'm saying everything including the actions of Minotaur and the virus case. .........Really, it's well done. It seems that Gift games are things that can't be cleared unless you overlook the stage from a great view. I was reading the record of past Games to date, but it is really interesting. Hey, Suzuka."

"Mmm.........I'm challenging the Black Death Game now, so leave it for later."

Suzuka was struggling with the game records while flapping her feet.

At that point Ayato finally noticed it. The reason these two were constantly reading for the past few days, was to look through the past records in order to ama.s.s the experience.

It was such a city, so it was not strange for it to have records of various Games.

While Ayato awakened to the truth over and over, she started to digest Homura's words once more. It seemed that Homura's thinking was far more flexible than she thought. If she were to believe Homura's words, there was a need to reconsider everything from the start once more.

The thing that was the start of everything, the "Bull of Heaven"───The 24th Typhoon crossed the equator, headed north from the southern hemisphere to the northern, and headed directly towards j.a.pan by following the sh.o.r.es of Southeast Asia from Europe.

The Celestial Beast of the Twelve Constellations, the "Bull of Heaven" was probably summoned when it changed its course to j.a.pan. The two bull monsters headed straight towards Tokyo where Homura lived.

This was probably because Homura, who was the Gift Game partic.i.p.ant lived there. In other words, one can think that before the "Bull of Heaven" was summoned, its target were the West European countries.

The center of the following events was, after all, the infectious disease. Human bodies were one thing, but this virus that even went as far as to infect the crops, if looked in a long term, was a great disaster that would even exceed the typhoon damage. It was said that it caused symptoms very similar to smallpox and left ugly scars on the skin. Smallpox was a disease that left cruel scars on the face even after being cured and was called as the "Beauty Determining Disease" in Edo period.

While Ayato went on reading while being in distress due to her unfamiliarity with the phone screen, she asked Homura with a sidelong glance.

".........Senpai. How far does your awareness of this disease go?"

"Not too detailed. In addition to not confirming the Particle Bodies of the bacteria, it's also out of my expertise, so I do not know the specifics, but......... Well, if this is a derivative of Particle Bodies, has some kind of abnormality occurred before the parasitic stage in the expression of its traits and caused something akin to a skin disease?"

Suzuka who noticed that Homura and Ayato were progressing their consideration about the Game, left the Game records at that and raised her face.

"That reminds me, about the skin diseases and smallpox, the famous anecdote in j.a.pan is about Date Masamune becoming one-eyed. The famous story goes following: Young Date Masamune whose heart was suffering from getting shunned by his family members and va.s.sals due to his right eye becoming ugly, had gouged out his right eye and changed his mindset! It even turned into a historical drama."

"S-Suzuka is also well informed I see. However, does Smallpox really come with such a dramatic change of appearance?"

"Oh, you've never seen it? It's pitiable enough that the name "Beauty Determining Disease" is appropriate───"

Then suddenly───Ayato and Suzuka stood up as if they realized something.

As two stood up at the same time, their exchanged glances with unpleasant expressions.

"I got it! .........I wonder if it's the same as Aya-chan? Okay, go ahead first!"

"T-Thanks."

She was still unaccustomed to Suzuka's such exaggerated conduct. However since this was a special occasion, she certainly felt like finis.h.i.+ng the explanation herself.

She coughed a little embarra.s.singly and said her thought in one go.

"I heard that smallpox was originally a worldwide disease. There was a legend related to this remaining around the world. There was also a similar depiction in the Epic of Gilgamesh. ───Then how about the legend of Minotaur?"

"I see, I see. For example?"

A smallpox that has been regarded as one of the diseases of death at that time. The royal family was eroded by this, suffered from skin diseases, and it transformed their appearance greatly. A primitive and reliable means of protecting from this disease that boasts of a high infection rate. For example, confinement in the labyrinth.........No,"

Ayato swallowed a deep breath, her voice trembled with the answer she derived herself.

"I-I see.........! Rather than being confined in the labyrinth, the Minotaur was isolated there as a patient of smallpox, isn't it!!?"

"Ack! You said everything! But with this, the whole story adds up, doesn't it!?"

Ayato and Suzuka were in high spirits while holdings both their hands together.

In short───This was the final conclusion.

"Asterius" who  was the prince of Crete and was awarded his ancestor's name. While being given a beautiful name of ancestor named stars and lightning, the future generations came to call him the man-eating Minotaur.

That is to say, the Minotaur wasn't born as a monster.

He later came to be referred to as a Monster due to the mysterious Factor X.

Could the source of that be a skin disease similar to the smallpox───like the "Beauty Determining Disease" that was circulated in j.a.pan?

However, in the case that that answer was correct, there was still one point that still made Homura worry.

(If I remember correctly.........The Minotaur devoured the breeding hut of the Houei Academy, right?)

As a result of Industry-academic cooperation, it was a breeding hut that was managed by "Everything Company", the middle school and the third study and the research center where Homura belonged.

As mentioned above, that breeding hut wasn't unrelated to the Star Particle Bodies. One of the raised pigs was secretly used as an experimental body for performing parasitic multiplication of the Particle Bodies. For Minotaur to expressly attack the Particle Bodies intended for Medical use, there must be some reason behind it.

(Depending on the situation.........The change in Minotaur might begin anytime now.)

Would that prove to be good or would it be bad? The fact that the Minotaur hadn't attacked for these past few days was worrisome. He had to think about countermeasures soon.

As Homura once again sunk to the sea of thoughts.

Suzuka clapped her hands as if realizing something.

"That's right, I completely forgot!"

".........Forgot? About what?"

"The reward, you know? the reward! If you clear the Game you get some rewards and prizes, right? If we perform in this Sun-something Game, we have to ask what the prize would be!"

I'm sure the prize would be something huge! - Suzuka raised her index finger in high spirits.

They returned an amazed sigh towards Suzuka who could think about the Game rewards under these circ.u.mstances, but it was indeed an important point. Apart from obtaining the information about the Star Particle Bodies during the Game, if the rewards were provided apart from it, their motivation would rise.

Homura who put his hand on his chin, started thinking with more seriousness than before.

"That's right. The reward is important. Super important. What's more, I'll partic.i.p.ate by cooperating with Queen, so we might also get some kind of reward from that as well, right? It would be good if it was monetary reward to be specific."

"I can't overlook this, Senpai. From the way you said it, it sounded like the financial support of our "Everything Company" was insufficient."

Ayato pointed out with an impish smile. He understood that she wasn't saying that seriously, however to his regret, this Ojousama was the owner of Saigou Homura.

In order to not incur her displeasure, but to take advantage of it, he followed up on his previous remark.

"Of course, I'm thankful to "Everything Company". However, it's still difficult to buy something luxurious like a large TV or going on a family vacation from just that support, right? The other party is a Queen, so I thought she would afford to give that much cash."

".........Uh. Although I understood the intention, if Senpai wanted to go on a trip with all the orphanage members, it would be considered at least, you know?"

As if she didn't like to be thought of as a cheapskate, Ayato avoided looking at his eyes looking a little displeased.

The two Senpais exchanged looks and showed a bitter smile while looking at their pouting Kouhai.

"Okay okay, we got her promise, sister. Let's make travel plans when we return to "Canaria Family Home"."

"Right, right. I'm looking forward to it, brother. .........Ah, that's right! If the request gets approved, let's go together with Aya-chan!"

"Me too?"

"Yes. I antic.i.p.ate quite a big amount of money judging by the research results this time. Thinking realistically, I can afford a luxury like an orphanage trip. When we exterminate the Minotaur, it wouldn't be bad to take a day off from laboratory as well and go on sightseeing at the Mediterranean Sea with everyone."

The two girls raised cheerful voices from Homura's proposal.

"Ohh, Mediterranean Sea, isn't that nice! But isn't it a bit early for swimming? Aya-chan has to get a new swimsuit as well! Look, like her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, it seems they became quite huge during one year!"

"W-Wait Suzuka.........!"

Having her cheeks dyed with a slight blush, Ayato pinned Suzuka's mouth.

Suzuka being Suzuka, "Use this chance and buy a bikini! You have such a luxurious body and all!" teased her.

While the girls were happily talking...

With a bang, the door opened vigorously, and Sharol came flying in with standing nekomimi.

"Hai hai! Dear visitors are you up!?"

".........Sharol-nee. Enter the room with more consideration."

The three turned their sight at her thinking what was going on, but they moved their focus on another person that appeared from her back.

The boy Porol Gundark who governed the "Underwood", as soon as he discovered Homura, put his hand on his chest and stood unhappily.

Homura moved the book from his face and raised his body.

"Yo. Your face is telling me the preparations are done."

"Yeah. I prepared the goods as requested. It's the latest model even among the special goods. I'll lend it to you with the pretext of test run, but absolutely don't break it!"

"Sorry for all the trouble. Please put the loaning fee on Queen."

".......... Don't say such scary things without any hesitation."

He sighed as if amazed. It seemed that Porol was overly scared of Queen, but considering his standpoint, he couldn't help but be so.

Homura who got up from the straw-thatched bed, turned his gaze towards Suzuka and Ayato.

───Now then, the preparations for the counterattack are done.

Glaring at the "Bull of Heaven" that was surrounding the "Underwood", Homura put on the coat.

In order to raise the counterattack signal, he led Suzuka and Ayato and headed towards the workshop located under the Great Tree───the garage of the Spirit Train.

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