About ten seconds later, Princess Syalis walked out of the lab.
Besides the giant scissors, she now held a wing covered in black feathers.
Yes, the kind princess graciously spared the foolish researcher one wing.
After all, for stuffing a pillow, one wing was enough.
"I'm going back."
Putting away the scissors, she couldn't wait to start making her pillow.
"All right, goodbye."
Standing at the door, Rojin waved.
Setting aside her incomprehensible obsession with sleep, Syalis was just a mischievous kid.
As one of the few otherworld arrivals who required almost no containment effort, she was surprisingly well-liked within the agency.
Yes — she wasn't from this world.
At some point, people from other worlds began appearing.
Some, like Princess Syalis, were harmless. Others were dangerous.
Like the parasite creature they contained two days ago.
After confirming it could not be communicated with, the researchers dissected it immediately.
Some harmless arrivals were allowed to live inside the research facility after evaluation.
A small number, after training with Mobile Task Force Alpha-9, were allowed to work as team members.
They were assigned unimportant missions and paired with a trusted agent.
This was the agency's current policy toward otherworld visitors.
"So cruel… why did you let that girl in…"
Dr. Jean stumbled out of the lab with despair all over her face.
She had resisted desperately, but the little menace still cut off one of the wings.
It had been such a good specimen. Rojin had even avoided damaging its wings during capture.
And yet…
Thinking of this, she looked even more miserable.
Seeing her expression, Rojin could roughly guess her thoughts.
He just didn't have the heart to say he did it because Princess Syalis asked him to.
It had nothing to do with the messy mad scientist here.
"All right, I'm heading home."
This time Rojin really ran for it.
He was a good student — he couldn't stay out too late after school.
Ignoring the devastated Dr. Jean, he dashed away.
If he stayed, he'd be roped into giving a mission report.
That was the team leader's problem.
Good student like Rojin had to go home and do homework.
Returning home, Rojin casually put the curry he bought onto the table.
Although he lived alone, he did not possess the cooking skills of light novel protagonists who could charm girls.
He was… decent at best.
Rojin usually couldn't be bothered to cook. Mainly, he didn't want to go buy ingredients or haggle.
If ingredients were already available, he wouldn't mind cooking himself.
"Wait, did I forget something?"
While changing into his school uniform, Rojin suddenly felt like he had forgotten something.
It felt like something important.
But if he could forget it, then it probably wasn't important.
After turning on the TV, Rojin watched the news while eating curry.
He had absolutely no intention of doing his homework.
The next day, Rojin finally realized what he had forgotten.
"So, have you all chosen your clubs?"
With a loud slap on the podium, Hiratsuka asked sharply.
Her eyes swept repeatedly toward several members of the go-home club.
"Ah, I forgot."
Scratching his head, Rojin looked a bit annoyed.
He really hadn't remembered this. To him, clubs were totally unnecessary.
His extracurricular activities were far richer than any club activity.
"Hey, Sakamoto, did you join a club?"
Rojin lightly poked Sakamoto and lowered his voice.
Because of Hiratsuka's question, the class was noisy enough that Rojin's actions didn't stand out.
"Of course. You asked me this once already."
Pushing up his glasses, Sakamoto answered as if it were obvious.
Makes sense. Someone as popular as him definitely would have received club invitations.
"What club? Can you take me with you?"
Hearing Sakamoto's answer, Rojin felt relieved.
He definitely didn't want to be forced into a club he hated.
If it was a club Sakamoto belonged to, it had to be something easy.
"Officially it's the Literature Club, but in reality, there are basically no club activities."
"Bringing you along is fine, but I need to inform Dan."
After thinking a bit, Sakamoto replied.
That club was created by Dan's group of underlings just to avoid teachers like Hiratsuka who forced students into clubs.
At first there were only a few members, but the number grew.
And some members had good connections with the student council, so the club had remained very stable.
"Good, let's go with that."
After hearing the details, Rojin immediately decided.
This club was perfect.
Sakamoto smiled lightly and didn't say more.
"All right, quiet down."
"If you want to talk, do it after class."
Hiratsuka clapped her hands and spoke aloud.
The students quickly quieted down.
Seeing that, she nodded in satisfaction, picked up her lesson notes, and began teaching.
---
Unknown timeline—
"Old man, I'm going to find Jolyne."
In a cold hospital room, a 'young' man in a purple coat spoke to the old man lying in the hospital bed.
"Will you be okay, Jotaro?"
The old man struggled to sit up, but the young man gently pushed him back down.
The old man's body was failing fast. He was near his limit.
"It'll be fine."
The young man, Kujo Jotaro, answered.
A natural aura of confidence poured from him, as if nothing could trouble him.
"I'm heading out. I'll be back soon."
With that, Jotaro turned and left.
Joseph, lying in the bed, watched Jotaro's back with worry.
In all past battles, Jotaro had never lost.
Yet this time, for some reason, Joseph had a feeling Jotaro would never return.
Weakly lying back down, Joseph stared blankly at the ceiling.
When people get old, they like to reminisce.
In a daze, Joseph saw his old comrades.
Polnareff, Avdol, Kakyoin, Iggy.
And Caesar.
"Stands respond to the will of their users."
For some reason, that line flashed through Joseph's mind.
A thought quietly sprouted inside him.