The moment her fingers brushed against that smooth, rounded object, Lynelle's heart swelled with glee.
After all, getting hold of Sparkle's mask was like seizing control of her very own magical little switch.
Considering how Herta had pushed her around this morning, and how Stelle might very well do the same tonight, this little Sparkle falling right into her lap was the perfect pick-me-up for Lynelle, who'd been on the losing end all day.
But in less than half a second, her expression shifted.
Because she had just given the mask a little squeeze.
It was soft.
To be precise, soft and plump, with a slight, yielding give.
With her vast experience navigating all kinds of shocks, Lynelle realized in an instant just what she was holding.
A boob!
No doubt about it—there was no way Sparkle would first transform into a fully-grown woman and then disguise herself as Silver Wolf.
Besides, based on Lynelle's own firsthand experience, Sparkle's transformations seemed more like complete physical alterations, not mere visual illusions.
So… who was this?
Lynelle's head creaked slowly to the side, but what met her eyes was still Silver Wolf's appearance—except, this "Silver Wolf" seemed to be holding something strange in her hand.
The object wasn't too big or too small, just the right size to fit in a young girl's palm.
It glowed with a fluorescent blue-green hue and had a wing-shaped decoration…
Lynelle felt cold sweat drench her back.
The exclusive boss battle music from the SAM fight seemed to ring in her ears—no, scratch that, there was no "seemed" about it.
"U-um…"
Firefly, her disguise now dropped, was covering her chest with both hands, her face bright red. In one hand, she clutched SAM's transformation device.
"P-please let go first… or I'll summon SAM."
"S-sorry! I mistook you for someone else!"
Lynelle sprang back as if electrocuted, then immediately dropped into a deep 90-degree bow—the kind that bared her chest—in a show of sincere apology.
The moment Lynelle released her, the girl, now back to her original form, also scrambled several steps back almost instantly.
It seemed Firefly was also at a loss for what to do.
After all, in situations like this… if you wanted to play it down, well, they were both girls—a little touching among themselves wasn't exactly a problem.
But if you took it seriously… Lynelle had brought her out to the middle of nowhere and gone straight for a chest grab. That definitely didn't look innocent.
"I think I deserve an explanation, don't you?"
After a brief, conflicted moment, Firefly finally decided to put away the SAM transformer.
For one, Lynelle was a friend of Stelle's, and also a friend of Silver Wolf's. She believed Lynelle probably meant no harm.
And secondly… Elio's script hadn't mentioned this incident, which suggested it probably wasn't an important node.
"Well… it's like this. A couple days ago, I got tricked by a Masked Fool named Sparkle."
Lynelle quickly projected an image of Sparkle's face and explained, "One of her abilities includes illusion-based disguises like this. Last time, I went through a lot of trouble to catch her, gave her a good hard lesson, and then let her go."
"And then this morning, I'd just seen Silver Wolf at Herta Space Station, so when I saw you, I instinctively thought that Masked Fool had come back for revenge, and then… well, things ended up like this."
Watching Lynelle's flustered expression, Firefly felt she didn't seem to be lying.
Still, she couldn't help but ask, "A good hard lesson? That doesn't sound very efficient… ahem, I mean, why let her go?"
"Because her relationship with me is… a bit complicated."
Lynelle guiltily averted her eyes. "Anyway… she can't exactly be considered an enemy."
Firefly's gaze sharpened instantly.
Almost immediately, she was reminded of a particular trait Lynelle had shown in the game Honkai Impact 3rd.
Namely, this girl had a knack for attracting other girls, and her personality completely lacked any ability to say no!
Could it be that this Sparkle was also part of Lynelle's… harem?
Firefly quietly made a note of the name, planning to look into it more once they reached Penacony.
"Hmm… I'll check the details with Silver Wolf later, but personally, I'm inclined to believe you."
Firefly sighed helplessly and pulled out the little transformation button. "Because Silver Wolf did say a Masked Fool gave her this thing…"
"So then…?"
Lynelle ventured cautiously.
"L-let's get out of here first…"
Firefly tossed the little button to Lynelle. "You handle this yourself. My time outside the capsule is limited… I've already wasted so much just now, and I almost summoned SAM. I need to head back right away."
"Also, p-please don't stand so close to me… and what happened today—don't you dare tell Stelle!"
"Okay, okay, sure…"
--+--
"Huh—? Th-this can't be right!"
Not far away, Sparkle puffed her cheeks in frustration as she watched the two, who claimed to be keeping their distance but were in fact hardly apart at all, let out a whine of sheer defeat.
"Why didn't they fight? This Firefly is way too nice! I thought the Stellaron Hunter SAM was a ruthless killer who leaves scorched earth wherever she goes?"
"Tsk tsk tsk…"
Vita just shook his head with schadenfreude.
"Why Firefly didn't attack Lynelle, I'm not sure. It seems she isn't completely in the dark about Lynelle—in fact, she might know her quite well. The moment Lynelle explained, she believed her without hesitation."
"But… if Lynelle's fine, then a certain poor little Sparkle is about to be in deep trouble~. Getting on the bad side of both Lynelle and the Stellaron Hunters? Hmph… Just so we're clear, I can't go to Penacony."
"Next time you end up tied to something like that, don't expect me to save you."
"Who needs your saving?!"
Sparkle retorted, flustered and annoyed. "Besides, whether you save me or not—what difference would it make? That… that kind of thing doesn't affect Sparkle-sama at all!"
"Pfft—"
Seeing Sparkle's stubborn, defiant act, Vita couldn't hold back a laugh.
After all, last time he'd pulled that plug from a certain brat, the face Sparkle made—almost reaching that expression—was a far cry from the tough act she was putting on now.
"You're still laughing?!"
Sparkle was grinding her teeth in frustration, but soon, as if struck by a new idea, her expression shifted again.
"Hmph, whatever… Even if I'm the one who gets disciplined by Lynelle, at least I can appear in front of her anytime I want! So what if there's a little cost? Not like some people…"
"Hey, now…"
Hearing that, Vita's face fell immediately.
"So when you can't win an argument, you resort to this, huh? Watch out, or I might just join Lynelle's side and deal with you together."
"Hehe, that's a problem for future me."
Sparkle stuck out her tongue playfully. "For now, seeing you make that defeated face brings me more than enough elation~"
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.