That man never did anything once he decided it was too much effort. Enju shrugged in exasperation and went back inside to search for the cookies he had mentioned.
Shuntarou looked to his left.
“So we’re out of syrup, are we? Riselle-chan, do you want anything sweet?”
“Hmm?”
Riselle, who was wearing a very skimpy micro bikini, must have dozed off because she mumbled a bit before answering.
“No, I’m good.”
She rested her weight in the chair like she was mimicking Shuntarou to her right.
It was hard to tell in her usual loose-fitting clothing covered in lace and frills, but the lines of her stomach were left exposed in the micro bikini.
She was not as round as Shuntarou, but she was showing a bit of a belly there.
“Then would you prefer something sour?”
“Maybe so.”
Shuntarou lovingly rubbed that belly.
He rubbed it as gently as could be with his expression hidden by his large sunglasses.
“I wonder what that Adam boy – Fujita Mutsuki-kun – will do from now on.”
“Who knows.”
“Ha ha. It wasn’t that long ago that I honestly didn’t care at all if the world was destroyed, but as soon as I found out about this, I found I care an awful lot about the future. Humans sure are selfish.”
He removed his hand from her belly.
“Pretty sure you’re way more selfish than most people,” said Riselle.
“You have a point.”
Riselle then reached gently down to her stomach like he had done.
“I really don’t think his decisions are going to make that much of a difference,” she said.
“Really?”
“Yes. Whatever happens to the world, you can always find happiness just about anywhere.”
She looked toward the sky in the direction of the mainland.
“Isn’t that right, sister?”
In the sanctuary at the deepest depths of FeTUS, the grassy field hologram was off today, leaving the room in darkness. Ren, aka Lavriel Baran, sat alone at the white wooden table.
The 12 monoliths modeled after playing cards seemed unhappy.
“Is Miss A out today?”
“My teach-…Miss A has decided to retire,” replied Ren. “I have been chosen to replace her. From now on, you will be dealing with FeTUS Witch Miss B, Lavriel Baran.”
“What?”
An uproar ran through the monoliths.
The volume of their voices was kept low, but she could tell they were shouting complaints into their microphones.
“You’re just a child!” “We already had one traitor from the Baran family!” “Why didn’t Miss A inform us of this decision!” She could imagine what they were saying without even having to listen.
“Try to calm down. This will have no effect on our business. Miss D and I are enough to keep FeTUS running,” Ren said calmly.
“But you can’t spring such an important change on us like this,” said one.
“Can we even trust you? I want to hear this from Miss A herself,” said another.
“First she demands all our countries suppress that information and then she leaves without even a ‘thank you’?” said a third.
Once dissatisfaction erupted like this, only time could calm them back down. That was as true of elementary school students as it was for a collection of well-known corporate executives.
Miss D was standing behind Ren to support her and the woman gestured to ask if she should cut off the connection for now. Miss A had always cut the connection to forcibly calm them.
“…”
As their new leader, Miss B tried to figure out what she should do.
A few seconds passed.
And then she slammed her fist against the table.
Young Miss A never would have made such a violent act, but it silenced the monoliths well enough.
“Silence, the lot of you. If you don’t like it, then leave.” She had always made sure to speak in the dignified fashion of a knight, but now she let her tone drop to a low growl. “I didn’t call you here because I wanted your advice. I’m letting you know what the deal is. I’ve done that now and I don’t recall asking for any questions.”
“What? How dare-”
She already knew they were going to take offense at being spoken to that way.
“I’ve said what I wanted to say. Leave.”
So she gave a command before they could.
The 12 monoliths were shocked into silence, but before long they started again with the complaints: “Is that any way to talk to us!?”, “No child talks to me like that!”, “The Baran family has no right to…”, and so on.
“Leave!”
She silenced them again.
They continued muttering complaints, but one after another, all of the monoliths vanished.
Once the room was dark once more, the grassy field reappeared.
Miss A and Schwarze sat across the table from her. Machina had not been called back here since her move, but the other 4 Witches were gathered here.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so angry,” said Miss A.
“Are you sure you didn’t snap too quickly there?” said Schwarze with a piece of hard candy in one hand.
Schwarze’s comment was enough for Ren’s shoulders to droop.
“Waiting a beat longer would have been better, but that was still well done for a first try,” said Miss A. “Most of them were weighing us against Kurosaki, so now that Kurosaki has fallen, we can prove our strength by coming on a bit strong.”
“I see.”
She had Miss A’s approval, but…
“That wasn’t some calculated move on my part. They really did just piss me off.”
Ren felt like she had a lot of room for growth.
Those monoliths were actually some of the most powerful people around the world. Just like the Kurosaki family, most of them would be indulging in illegal forms of entertainment on their days off.
After the trauma Ren experienced at the hands of the Kurosaki family, she felt nothing but disgust for those people. Her outburst had been an emotional act.
“There is nothing wrong with that. You experienced something horrific, but you are using that to fuel your own strength instead just moping around. You will overcome it more quickly that way.”
“…Okay.”
“Although your sister Riselle is using that same sort of strength to escape us, so that is an amusing little irony.”
“…I suppose so.”
That made her feel a little better, so she managed a bitter smile.
“How long are you going to obsess over those five days?” asked Schwarze. “If you use birth control, sex is no more than a form of exercise. No one likes someone who’s stuck in the past.”
“Shut up! It’s not that simple!”
She even had enough energy to snap back at Schwarze like that.
“If you’re feeling traumatized about sex, why not just go ask Fujita to fuck you silly? He’s thorough, he takes his time, and he really knows what he’s doing, so ask for two or three days with him and he’s all you’ll be able to remember when someone mentions sex.”
“I-I can’t do that. He’s like a little brother to me.”
“Oh?” cut in Miss B. “But you sure seemed to enjoy it when he had sex with you before, Miss B.”
“Shuuuut uuuup!”
From there, it devolved into a three-way argument.
Miss A had left those three in charge of FeTUS, but this childish side of them worried her.
The stuffed rabbit sitting on her lap turned its red eyes toward the sky like it did not care.
The grassy field at the bottom of FeTUS was a recording of an especially pleasant day as seen on the surface, but not even that could compare to the blue sky as seen from above the clouds.
Between the blue sky and the vanilla-white clouds was a space wrapped in a never-ending light brighter than the sun yet also gentle.
After leaving the night sky, that light dazzled Micha, making her blink.
“I’m back, Dominion.”
“Don’t just leave like that. You were ordered into house arrest.”
“Yes, yes, I know.”
She brushed off that complaint while approaching her manager.