"I've never seen such a huge ship, Yuzuru!"
"Reminder. If Kaguya continues running around, she will anger Dr. Mobius."
"Yoshino~ Look, look! You can see the white clouds from here! Don't you want to pick some to keep as a collection!"
It had been a long time since the three Spirits had left Schicksal.
Although the artificial floating island had an artificial lake where they could go boating, after all these years, even the most novel things had become a bit tiresome.
Knowing they were going out to a different place this time... Yoshino was relatively calm, but the two Yamai sisters couldn't quite hide their excitement.
While she wasn't overly excited about going outside, the thought of being able to see Durandal later made Yoshino very happy. She was also somewhat interested in this aerial warship called the Hyperion.
It wasn't the ship itself that interested her, but rather that it was her first time being so high in the air.
The clouds, which she could usually only watch from afar, now seemed within reach, making her curious about what they would feel like to touch.
As a Spirit, she could technically fly very high. But firstly, flying high tended to attract attention, and secondly, she'd never really thought about flying that high before, so the idea of touching the sky had never occurred to her.
In contrast, the Yamai sisters were intimately familiar with the skies.
"What's so great about collecting that stuff?"
Dark Amber slowly approached Yoshino. "Clouds and fog are essentially the same thing. If you want some, couldn't you collect it on any foggy day?"
"Dr. Mobius completely fails to understand the heart of an innocent young girl," Yoshinon said, exasperated.
"Oh? And you understand it well?"
Dark Amber cast a dangerous look her way.
"Ahaha, only a little, you know! After all, Yoshino is such an innocent and well-behaved child! Staying by her side, you pick up a thing or two!"
Yoshinon instantly backed down. "But of course, I'm not a lovely young maiden like you, esteemed Doctor, so I might be a bit off the mark in some areas."
Yoshino had genuinely been considering trying to put some clouds in a bottle, but after Dark Amber's comment, the idea had faded considerably.
So, she asked about another matter that concerned her: "How much longer... until we see Durandal?"
"If all goes smoothly, about twenty-four hours,"
Dark Amber said. "Although at full speed it would only take half that time, I still need to make some final preparations before then."
"Preparations?"
Yoshino tilted her head.
"Children shouldn't worry about such things."
Dark Amber had no intention of explaining to Yoshino. Whether in temperament or thought, Yoshino was still just a child; discussing this with her served no purpose.
"I came here to warn certain... restless individuals. It would be best if they didn't cause any trouble at this time."
Her gaze fell squarely on Kaguya.
"W-what! Do you think I cannot even endure a single day!?"
Kaguya's body trembled slightly, but she stubbornly maintained her proud posture and what she believed was a majestic speech quirk.
"Assurance. I will keep a good watch on Kaguya and prevent her from taking any unreasonable actions," Yuzuru said.
"Better be."
Dark Amber's tone was heavy with warning. "If certain people cannot follow the rules properly, I will make sure they experience my methods firsthand."
With that, she turned and left the room without a backward glance.
"What's up with Snake Sister? Suddenly coming here just to warn us," Kaguya whispered to Yuzuru only after the sound of footsteps had completely faded into the distance.
"Answer. I do not know," Yuzuru provided a succinct reply.
"Probably that time of the month, I'd say. I've heard that as women get older, that time arrives. Women of that age are the most unpredictable!"
Yoshinon, still smarting from the earlier intimidation, offered a view heavily colored by personal grievance.
Yoshino was also a little puzzled, but she typically didn't participate in gossip like this, so she just widened her eyes and watched as the others speculated.
Unnoticed by any of them, from within the shadows, a pair of heterochromatic eyes vanished from the room.
"My, how gentle you are, going out of your way to check on the little white mice in your care."
No sooner had Dark Amber returned to her lab and sat down in her chair than she felt a weight descend on her shoulders. A faint, warm breath brushed against her right temple, and two pale, soft arms draped down from either side of her neck, encircling her in an almost embrace.
"Stop with these meaningless probes, Tokisaki Kurumi."
Dark Amber tilted her head slightly to look at the girl behind her.
It was a girl with heterochromatic eyes—one red, one gold.
The clock face turning within the golden pupil added an air of mystery to her beauty, while the slightly narrowed red eye lent that mystery a hint of danger.
"Ara, are you angry, Dr. Mobius?"
Tokisaki Kurumi showed no fear at the other's threatening tone; instead, she spoke with keen interest.
"But then, those three children really have no sense of crisis, don't they? Or perhaps, you've specifically crafted a world for them where no sense of crisis can sprout?"
She would have liked to believe the woman before her was some gruff-but-kind-hearted benefactor. But, having experienced betrayal firsthand, she knew all too well that trusting others carelessly came with a price.
However, Mobius was currently the person in the world most likely to help her achieve her long-cherished wish.
Therefore, Kurumi very much hoped to establish a solid cooperative relationship with the current Overseer of Schicksal.
Yet, after completing the artificial island, Mobius had scarcely shown herself outside, remaining there for over twenty years.
The defensive measures of the Schicksal floating island were impregnable; even Kurumi had found no opportunity to infiltrate. She could only wait patiently for a chance.
Her patience had proven worthwhile. Even Mobius couldn't stay on that island forever, and the timing of her emergence was most opportune—the 'World's Strongest' who had supposedly killed three Spirits just happened to be absent from her side.
Though, judging by the current situation, that story about killing three Spirits seemed to be nothing more than a public facade.
"If you wish to cooperate, you need to adopt an attitude befitting cooperation."
Faced with Kurumi's brazenly unrestrained behavior, Dark Amber wasn't angry.
On the contrary, it piqued her interest. It had been decades since she'd last encountered someone who faced her without a trace of fear, even taking the initiative to probe.
"So, you're agreeing to cooperate with me?"
A slightly raised eyebrow graced Kurumi's features.
"If your main body were here, I might have agreed directly."
"Main body?"
Kurumi's heart tightened, but she betrayed no unusual reaction, instead smiling as she said, "Are you suggesting I'm a clone?"
"I said, if you want to cooperate, you should at least show a proper attitude, didn't I?"
"So, I'm telling you, I don't understand what you mean."
Kurumi didn't know how the other party was aware of her ability, but that didn't stop her from playing dumb.
If the other was just bluffing, she'd tough it out. If the other was truly completely certain, then she could always claim she had come in her main body from the start.
After all, who could tell which was her real self? This clone was separated from the main body by only a single day.
Be it spiritual waves or thought patterns, aside from lacking an Angel, it was indistinguishable from the original.
There was no way she'd casually let her main body take such a risk.
--+--
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.