Time flowed on, and at last, Day 100 arrived.
Stretching lazily, Valerius finally headed outside.
He went to Room No. 1 first.
"Time's up. You two can come out now."
Whoosh!
Before Valerius could even react, two black shadows shot past him.
Kuki Shinobu and Jean were already standing outside.
"Waaah— I haven't seen the outside scenery in so long!"
"Yeah… I almost forgot what the world outside even looks like."
Ignoring their emotional sighing, Valerius walked over and opened Room No. 2.
Soon, Kafka and Himeko stepped out as well.
"Mmm— it feels like being reborn,"
Himeko said, lifting her head and breathing in the free air.
"Alright, everyone, come over here."
Valerius waved them closer.
Kafka glanced at the other rooms and raised an eyebrow.
"So the others really gave up?"
Once the two teams gathered, Valerius asked:
"Who do you think won?"
That question was impossible to answer.
They had endured the full 100 days, but neither team had any real confidence.
"Just announce it already."
They cut him off impatiently.
They had been locked up long enough.
At this point, they only wanted the result.
Win or lose—just let it end.
"Alright."
Seeing how done they were, Valerius pulled out a small card.
"Kuki Shinobu and Jean: 10 remaining points."
The moment those words fell—
Himeko's and Kafka's eyes lit up.
They had 6 points each, meaning 12 points total.
That meant—
They won.
"I didn't expect to win together with you,"
Himeko said, smiling faintly.
"Likewise,"
Kafka replied calmly.
Jean felt a dull ache in her chest.
So… all that persistence had been meaningless after all.
"Kaf ka and Himeko: 12 remaining points."
After announcing the final result, Valerius waited.
But no one reacted.
"…Aren't you going to celebrate or something?"
he asked helplessly.
"You won, you know.
At least smile a little?"
"No mood."
"Don't feel like moving."
Both of them shook their heads in unison.
Right now, all they wanted was to draw their rewards and get out of this godforsaken place.
"…Alright then."
Valerius sighed and took out the gacha machine, handing several coins to them.
"You know the rules."
They'd already seen Furina draw before, so they understood.
Himeko stepped forward first, decisively dropping six coins in and pulling the lever.
A white box fell out.
[March 7th]: Waaah—so tense! What is it? I hope it's something useful for me!
[Trailblazer]: No need to think—this definitely suits me.
[Herta]: Keep dreaming, you two.
"…A model?"
The box was white, with an illustration of a rather cool-looking robot on the cover.
Given the size, it was hard not to suspect it was just a toy.
"No. This isn't a model,"
Valerius said.
"This is Strike Freedom Gundam, a mobile suit."
Even Valerius was a bit surprised she'd drawn this.
Was Himeko really into things like this?
"How do I use it?"
"Take it out. Put it on the ground."
Himeko opened the box. Inside lay a blue-and-white Gundam.
She placed it on the ground.
In an instant—
The Gundam expanded, growing into a giant mecha over ten meters tall.
"This is a nuclear-powered unit, so you don't need to worry about energy supply,"
Valerius explained calmly.
"In terms of armament:
– One Sirius high-speed rifle
– Two beam sabers
– A positron city-destruction cannon in the chest
– And the wings can detach into DRAGOON remote weapons."
As he spoke, he handed Himeko a notebook.
"This is the OS manual. You should understand it."
"I do have some experience with this kind of thing,"
Himeko said with a smile, accepting it.
Her gaze returned to the Strike Freedom.
She was quite satisfied.
If something happened to the Express in space—and they couldn't go outside—
this would be more than enough to solve the problem.
[March 7th]: Waaah—such a big robot!
[Trailblazer]: I love this thing. I'm definitely asking Himeko for it later.
[Welt]: This is important to the Astral Express. It should be kept safe—let me handle it.
[Trailblazer]: ...
[March 7th]: Uncle Yang, didn't you say earlier it was Himeko's?
[Welt]: Ah—well, I'm just thinking about the Express… cough.
A bit awkward.
But could you really blame him?
The moment Strike Freedom appeared, his steel soul ignited.
If he didn't get to pilot something like this at least once,
it would be a lifelong regret.
"Alright, put it away,"
Valerius said, then added casually:
"Oh, and when you get back—watch out for that radish guy, Welt."
"…What do you mean?"
Himeko was confused.
Why would she need to watch out for Welt?
Was he going to do something outrageous?
"Well,"
Valerius shrugged,
"once a radish-lover's steel soul ignites…
it's not that easy to put out."
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