Part 8: SKY and the Others






Wow, you've all done an amazing job on the place!

We try.

I mean, even with all the manual labor, Miya's a genius. I feel like I barely got anything done next to her. The look she gets in her eyes when she starts building things...

If you ask me, it's a lot like the look in your eye when you start writing.

Hawawawawa?! No way?! I mean, I—whaaaat? Noooo.

I think the two of you have very similar passions for your respective fields, is all.

Uh, but...

Hu hu hu... you really think a normie like her could measure up to the pitch-black madness within the notorious, bloodthirsty Carmilla-sensei? In her dreams, perhaps.

you're the normie, normie

I am not!



If the two of you are quite finished flirting, I would like to actually experience what is on this floor.



Mr. Oikawa, Mr. Suzuki, good to see you.

...er, Oikawa is the blonde, and Suzuki is the bluehead.

Oikawa: Unit 13! Thanks for your help. I may not be the equal of your Navigators, but if you ever need any help with intel—

Suzuki: Their Navigators are skilled enough, Oikawa.

Oikawa: A second opinion is always good.



The Navigators had rather flat facial expressions, but I saw a little gleam in 3.7's eye when I spoke to her.

I'm so glad you like it!

It's not that exciting.

But it's so shiny!

It's just a new room and new leadership.

Oh, come on, Miroku, let her be a little excited. A bit of childlike wonder is important at your ages.

I've never had 'childlike wonder'.

Right, because Miroku is a big, tough boy! He's strong, he eats rocks and stuff!

I don't eat rocks! That's unsanitary!

Hehehe.

So, you two are twins, right?

Great observation.

Miroku! Be nice! Um, yes, Captain.

Oh, I see.

Um, but how did children get into Murakumo's employ in the first place? Were you signed up by your parents?

When I said this, there was a long, awkward pause. I had the keenest feeling like I'd just said something deeply wrong.

Wow. This is your captain.

To be fair—

Have I missed something? I'm sorry. Did I just commit a social faux pas? Am I stupid?

Yeah.

No, no! Miroku, she went into combat the instant she woke up, she didn't get any official briefings.

Uh-huh. AND she's stupid.

P-plenty of the best people we know are, Captain!

So I am stupid?!

Oh no!

Honestly, the worst part of this was hearing Koron's hyena-like cackling from behind me. She has a very wheezing laugh in times like this, and it kind of reminds me of Mom's in a way that makes me feel like I'm very small.

Well! I had some other questions! But I guess they can wait!

It's okay, honey. We can tell you about it later.

Why does nobody explain anything to me?! It's always like this, you know! People don't explain things to me and expect me to just get whatever they're thinking and act accordingly! It's really unpleasant!!

can't relate, i just do whatever i want

It's okay, Chisa. Everyone gets embarrassed by a child making fun of them at least once in their lives.

Even you, Youka?

Oh, yeah.

Wow. I didn't think you ever got embarrassed!

Of course she gets embarrassed. Did you think she was some kind of superwoman? Hero worshipper.

You're the one who kept drawing scribbles of Youka beating up dragons!

SHUT UP.

Ahaaaahahaha, ahaha, ahaha, ah—



At this point, Koron started having an asthma attack from laughter, so it seemed like a decent place to cut this discussion short.

Oikawa: Oh, Masaki wanted to see you, he's next door.

Thank you, Oikawa.



Aha... aaah... ahahahaha... oh, goodness me.



Oh, don't... hah, ugh, don't look so... don't look so downcast, Chisa, ahahaha.

Do you need help, Koron?

I could use... my rescue inhaler...

The beautiful Satsuki to the rescue.

We gave Koron a moment.

Ahhh... alright. There we are.

We've done a lot of running until now. I'm surprised your asthma hasn't kicked in before.

Partially the condition is less inflamed by exercise, but the primary fact is that the latent energies of when I manifest my abilities in combat keep my body running easier.

Oh, I see! That sounds convenient.

That's a word you could use.



This was Masaki. He was one of Murakumo's primary recruitment officers, as well as, as it turned out, the licenser and vendor for tech relating to new abilities. He happened to be the man who'd scouted Richter in the first place, too.

Masaki: Heeeey, Unit 13! How's the team working out, Richter?

Lovely, sir. You wanted to see us?

Masaki: Well, you've been working hard out there, and I saw your little captain here awakening some of that sweet, sweet latent potential. Thought it'd be rude of me not to help you out. So!

Masaki produced a box.

Masaki: For you, Richter, we've got some extra RAM for your Gauntlet. If I know you at all, I know you've probably got a lot you wanna run on there but haven't had the capacity to, right? Dr. Akaneno and her dev team worked all night for this one.

Oh! Thank you, sir, that's much appreciated.

Masaki: For miss Satsuki, we've got some new ammo for her guns—

LOOT LOOT LOOT hold it in my mouth

Masaki: Super do not do that, those are bullets! Some more effective substances for your daggers, aaand a little doohickey here Dr. Akaneno thought up—she tells me it's called the "Fullmoon Vamper", you can use it to stab people and heal yourself, apparently?

but that's actually sick tho

Masaki: Ms. Fudoji, we've got a license for you to utilize more of your holds. I know you'd probably break it on your own anyway, but hey.

That's good, thanks.

You need a license for that?

Masaki: Ms. Fudoji's body is classified as a biological weapon, ma'am. Even in times of war, we have to look for loopholes in the Geneva Conventions, since otherwise we'd be in violation of Articles 35 and 51.



Excuse me?!

Masaki: Aaaaand for the little lady...



Masaki produced a small, fabric hat and jacket that was clearly too tiny for a human head to wear properly.

Masaki: For your friend.

Koron took these, and sat down to begin working on the rabbit doll she carried around.



Oh—right, your doll!

Her name is Nagamimi.

That's an adorable name. I'd been meaning to ask you—

As I understand it, several psychics use a sentimental object as a 'focus' to direct their abilities. Koron's connection to Nagamimi is particularly strong.

She had been getting dirty.

I'm happy for her, then! How long have you had her?

Thirteen years. I received her as a birthday present on my sixth birthday. I have had her ever since.

Thank you for the repairs, Masaki. I wasn't looking forward to sewing up the patches on her clothes myself.

honestly seeing koron play with nagamimi is the cutest shit

I am not 'playing'. I'm taking care of my old friend.

She and I are much alike in many ways. Sentimentality is an ancient human condition, after all.

Don't I know it. I remember one time Otacon got ripped and I freaked out.

People go, 'oh, you could just get another guitar case', but it's not the same! Otacon is Otacon! He has his own character quirks! He's my erstwhile partner! He's not just a guitar case and he's never even carried an actually to-scale guitar!

Heh. You understand. May they both live to their hundredth birthdays and be given life, then.



Talking to Masaki when we upgrade the HQ unlocks new tiers of skills! Our characters' movesets have just, uh, MASSIVELY expanded, and there's still two more expansions left in the wings. We are now, as they say, cooking with gas.

Masaki: So, just go out there and test some things out! You'll never know what works until you try.

Thank you very much, sir.

Masaki: No proble—





OWWW OW OW OW

Masaki: Haha! That's the stealth Masaki shot technique! You can't dodge me, I trained on Gatou!

Owwwwww



Dour Aide: Sounds fantastic! I'm a data processing maniac! I'll manage this data with a swiftness!

You could be this guy, Richter.

I'm very happy with my current job, thank you.



There's still three skills under there. Tier 2 skills are when most classes really come into their own. I will not be boring you overmuch with 'and then I upgraded this skill', since SP is a currency and all and it's all very gradual and also kind of boring. I have one comment to make about our new skills at the moment, though.



I'm in.



Back out into the field, sweetie?

Yeah. We've still got people to rescue, most likely.

Well, I'll be waiting for you.

Be sure to bring me back some draconic souvenirs, ladies!

And Richter.

Thank you, Ms. Akaneno.

I'll try not to make your souvenirs too bloody.






Alright. Satsuki, lead us back, please.

You got it, boss lady! I—

OMG WATCH OUT





WHY ME?!

Richter, are you okay?!

Perhaps we should continue with the assumption of Richter as our slime bait.

Oh, that is it!



Access approved!

What the?!

Its cellular structure is simple—this will be easy!



Engaging catastrophic apoptosis!





That's the ticket!









Um. Wow.

Hello, everyone. Meet Richter Esslinger. Let's talk about Hacking.

Up until this point, the Hacker class has been limited to its buffing skills. With our new toys, we've just unlocked Richter's primary offensive option—the Hack ailment. You may have noticed a strange blue status icon on certain enemies when a weakness was struck or a critical hit was landed—this is the Hack Weakness debuff, which increases Richter's chances to inflict Hack with his Hack skill by 1.5x.

Hacking, as an ailment by itself, is similar to Paralysis—it comes with a small chance to negate an enemy's action each time they take one. However, a Hacked enemy is also vulnerable to several other skills Richter possesses. Some are status skills that are simply guaranteed to work if the target is Hacked, but others only take effect on Hacked enemies.

This skill here is luvshock.exe, and it is absolutely fucking nuts. It will flat-out override the enemy's actions that turn with an order to attack their allies, or if they're alone, themself, with an attack with an increasingly nuts multiplier on the regular damage of their basic attack. It's a free turn of the enemy literally helping you kill it, that cannot fail if the enemy is Hacked and has turn priority! It's the bread and butter of Richter's capability for damage-dealing, and is an amazingly good skill that a Hacker who doesn't go all in on buffs and buffs only will never not use... especially in combination with another skill we've just unlocked, but I don't use in this update.

Hacking has two primary downsides. One, a regular Hack only lasts one turn after you've done it, so you only get one .exe off per Hack. Second, most Dragons have a 50% resistance to Hacking, and Imperials tend to have 35%. Still, with Hack Weakness and, once he can actually get it, Exhaust, Richter can pretty consistently Hack a lot of enemies and wreak complete chaos, not to mention there is a way we'll get later to mitigate that one-per-Hack restriction.

So basically, the Luv Shock is a little old place where we can get together, the Luv Shock babyyyy the Luv Shock baby. Luvshock! Baby, Luvshock! All of these voices inside of my head, binding my sight in a curtain of red! Frustration is getting bigger, BANG BANG BANG! Pull my Hacking trigger!



The nerve. I am sick and tired of slime.

What... did you just do?

Oh, I took control of the slime's primitive nervous system and ordered its cells to begin melting it from the inside. It wasn't very sturdy, so it didn't take long.

And they tell me I'm the scary one.

Well, I mean, I—it's not like I can, or would, do that to people. You know, it—

I'm just joshing you, Richter.

Oh. Okay.



As we proceeded to Upper Dogenzaka, we found a heavy-set dragon patrolling by the corpse of a woman it had crushed.

Mgggghhhh...

Ssshhh. There's a dragon over there.

It's much closer to a triceratops—






Alright, let's go!

Sumo Dragons are assholes. They're the most threatening dragons in the area, and can really paste you if you're not careful.



I don't know who this girl was, but I'll avenge her!

Sheath Spin is the move that switches Chisa into Iai Stance. The general rule of thumb is that Iai Stance has higher damage output, while Battou Stance has the multi-target moves.



Heads up—that's a Sumo Dragon. It uses those oversized horns to trample you.

Alright, engaging defensive measures.



Since I'd woken up, the feeling in my body had properly returned. I'd regained the ability to consistently focus my will into my blade, so to try and stop the dragon in its tracks, I made my blade as a biting snowstorm to slice through it.

(Wait, what was that Chisa did?)

(Go back to your own terminal, Mina!)

(You'd better take a recording of this!)

Wait—Youka, heads up!







Nothing I'm not used to!



There!

"Amidst the ruins / my blade flashes in vengeance / to halt the titan!"

oh my god, cap

Blizzard Assault is a source of the Freeze ailment! Freeze has two effects: it penalizes the afflictee's Speed by 10%, and each time the target takes an action, it deals damage (different from Poison, which hits at the end of the turn.) The Speed debuff isn't particularly noteworthy, but the DOT, while small, can stack up since dragons take two actions a turn and all. Considering Blizzard Assault is Ice-elemental and can thus hit Ice weaknesses, it's a nice side effect to see when it happens.



Wait—watch out! It's about to charge!

Sumo Dragons, like many other enemies, telegraph their big spooky move. In this case, it's an AOE heavy-damage physical move. I actually originally came into this particular fight with Koron in my third slot and proceeded to get wasted like an idiot multiple times because the skills I'd gotten for her right off the bat from Tier 2 weren't particularly good for these guys. I am very good at video games, and not at all bad at them.



I'll halt its motor functions for a moment! Miss Fudoji!

Hrraaaaagh!!



I can scarcely describe the severity of the blow Youka delivered to the dragon's jaw. With a brutal one-two hook combo, she struck so hard I swear I could hear the dragon's skull crack—and as she pounded through with the hook, she reached into the dragon's mouth and tore out one of its fangs with her bare hand. It wailed as the blunt force trauma no doubt liquefied its brain, and collapsed to the ground with an unceremonious slam.

So here's Double Hook. Tier 2 unlocks Youka a few skills that require D-Depth 2. Double Hook inflicts an attack debuff on the enemy, making them do less damage.

Oh yeah, and it deals an absolute fucking truckload of damage, that part's important. This will be common from Youka, because she is a lethal weapon.






That was an impressive display of brutality, Youka.

What, you think? I was just fighting like I always do.

Yes, like I said.

(Miroku, why are you looking at the screen like that?)

(I'm not looking at the screen like anything! I'm navigating! G-get back to work!)

(I don't have work right now. Gatou's—)

(Go do something!) Oh—



Hm?



Nah nah, don't worry, I got this.

Before I could say anything else, Satsuki traipsed over to the trash can and started banging on the top. A man started screaming from inside.

OOGA BOOGA BOOGA



Privy Man: As you can see, I'm completely covered in garbage! All I have is this trash can please let me live!!



Privy Man: I'm alive. Huh? I'm alive?

Um, my crewmate spooking you aside, we're a rescue team, sir. We're here to escort you to a refugee camp.

Privy Man: So you're here to help me?!

That is what that would imply—

Privy Man: Finally! Yes! Praise Buddha! Woo-hoooooooooo!

WOO-HOOOOOOO

Privy Man: I mean, you know, if it was just the Dragons I'd had to worry about, I wouldn't have gotten chased into my can here.



—! We may have had a run-in with them. Don't worry, we can get you back. Just use this and it'll get you to where we're stationed at City Hall.

Privy Man: Aw, finally, I can't wait to take a bath!



Well, the beds aren't that great—

Wait, you're sending him here?!

...yes?



...Oh. Right.

You can stop holding your breath now, Richter.

Phooooooooo





Okay, heef heef, heef heef. Should only be one or two spots left in Dogenzaka, so we'll definitely find someone! Right?

Mmhm!

(Yeah, you got this!)

Okay! Follow me!



A moment. We shouldn't leave these dragons running around.

I don't get a preemptive on this dragon.



Wha—

Ghagh!

This Sumo Dragon was able to complete its charge, and the tremendous force of its heavy weight barrelled directly into us. And yet...



Youka kept fighting even still, dodging in front of Koron to take the blow for her and delivering a counter back.



Please don't die please don't die

Nice timing!



Chisa, now!



Seiyah!



I appreciate the defense, but you don't need to protect me so much, Youka.

That dragon would've broken you in half, sweetie.

And so you'd rather take that yourself?

You think I can't tell how tough you are versus how tough I am? It's just sound logic.

Frankly, I don't understand why you gleefully charge into so many different attacks anyhow. I—

...Hm. Actually, I've just had an idea. Next time the two of us are on the front lines, do you mind if I test it?

That's the spirit!

I'm glad we have Youka to draw the dragons' aggression. Right? Richter, Satsuki?



...and so I've always thought it likely that Bluzuk wasn't meant to evolve into Omot, but Schmettbo, and Raupy into Omot.

They do have the same eyes, don't they? That's weird.

Oh, what's that?

kongpang kongpang. kongpang kongpang. kongpang is nuzzling you.

Another Pokémon doll? Oh, it is Kongpang.

So like, you have to hear Richter's design theories? He's thought a ton about this, it rules.

I'm just glad you like to hear it, Satsuki.

BRO I should have you guest on a Pokémon vid sometime when Nico's back up, we can talk shop.

Oh! Do you do game playthroughs?

I mean, it's the done thing, yeah? My thing's more action games, y'know, but who can deny Pokémon except those people who complain every time about how it never does anything new?

I haven't played too many video games. Many of them seem a bit... high-octane for me.

Ohhh my dude, I have all sorts of low-octane games you could play. You and me, man. I'm gonna teach you the wild world of the vidcon.

Oh! I would love to learn more!

YOU WOULD?!



Oh. That reminds me. What game was that that you recommended?

(You got 'em! They wanna listen! Good job!)

Oh, that was Final Fantasy Tactics. Definitely seems kinda like your thing cause they talk about a bunch of hoity-toity philosophy and there's medieval politics and classism.

Hm. Show me sometime when we have a moment.

Do you have those in City Hall?

Oh I just bum off of the Shelter's old generator. Nobody's using it anymore, so my rig's still sitting there, the thing's way tough enough to handle a single desktop. If we ever find a game console for City Hall I've got plenty of games to let people entertain themselves will, though. Ooh, we should look for those some time! That'd help, right?

That's a good idea! Once we've cleared the dragons from Shibuya, we should take a look around. In a place like this, something's sure to have survived.

you wanna play any video games chisa

...Yes. I miss them already.

I've never played a video game. Do you think I could try?

Open to any takers!

...

Miroku.

Don't have time for that. We've got work to do.

It's okay to enjoy interests for kids your own age, Miroku.

If you'd like, Mio and I could show you some of our manga and whatnot when we get back.

...I guess.



Okay, and over here—

There's something going on!






On the far end of Dogenzaka, a Salamander was standing tall over two women—another nurse, and a girl around my own age, standing in front of the nurse with her dukes up.

Run to that building on the corner. I'll draw its attention!

Nami: B-but that's—



That sounded... cool, right? Yeah, deffo. But, uh, I don't like the looks of this thing...



Don't worry—you're not alone! Koron, Satsuki, make sure that they're healthy.

If I must. Come along, Satsuki.

Richter! Youka! On me!

Yes, Captain!

Don't worry, ladies, the cavalry has arrived!

Uh, wait, who are you?!






We're Murakumo Unit 13!



Whoaaa!



I didn't even know you could do that with a sword, can you do that with a sword?



Okay you DEFINITELY can't do that with a sword?!

This skill is Maple Assault, the Fire-elemental counterpart to Blizzard Assault. The ailment here is Burn. While Fire is overall a less useful element than Ice, Burn is a lot better than Freeze—along with the per-action DOT, it also penalizes the enemy's attacks by 10%, and penalizes their defense by 5%. (These numbers aren't always the same, but that's Maple Assault.) The overall stat buff is fantastic, and can do a surprising amount in keeping you alive.



Damage is mitigated! Miss Fudoji, now!

If you're enjoying it out in the stands, let me finish it good for you!



Get outta here!

This time, for a dramatic flourish, Youka punched the dragon in the face to discombobulate it, then grabbed it by the neck and flung it to the side, shattering its throat in the process. Sumo Dragons didn't have long necks, but even I knew that its head wasn't supposed to be at that kind of angle.



And stay down!

An excellent fight, Captain!

We couldn't have done it without you.



Oh, um, thank you.






By the time the three of us looked up from the dead dragon, the nurse and the girl were finished being checked, and Satsuki had performed what basic first aid she needed to.

Phew.

Wow, thanks so much! I probably woulda been dead meat on my own, huh?

With a single person against a Sumo Dragon, to be sure. They even gave our erstwhile Human Resource here some wounds.

We've just met this girl and already you're trying to give her the wrong impression.

Are you kidding?! It was so cool how you kept just taking the hits and knocking 'em back! And the sword girl's footwork, and all that crazy—how do you even type that fast?

Years of practice, ma'am.



At that moment, the comm feed burst on.

Unose? Could it be—? Navi, look up that name.

Affirmative.



Oh, you're also Murakumo, miss?

She does have pluck. Even without further training, she'd be an invaluable operative.

But we lost track of her after the exam. Can we really use her?

She's a person with S-Class ability. No matter how dopey she seems, she's worth a hundred ordinary troops.

...

What's wrong?

it's a good thing you don't have a comms feed on rn tbh

Do escort her and that nurse back home—I'll call your mission here for the day.



Since it seemed Aoi would be working with us in the future, I humored her requests to have the situation explained now. The nurse, Nami, listened as well, but I had no doubt she was at least in a little bit of shock, as she didn't much speak.

...and so we came out to find anyone we could.

Wow... I mean, I just had a written exam! You're so cool, Senpai!

Hawawa what me? No! What? I mean, I'm just doing what—

I was nearly blinded by the sparkle in her eyes.

Seriously, thanks so much for saving me. I never thought that being Murakumo also meant you got to have such a cool group!





You're overloading them with your adoration.

And those moves—especially yours, Ms. Fudoji! Where'd you learn those?

Please, call me Youka. And I'm self-taught.

Whaaaaaaaaat? No way! You gotta show me some!

I'll consider it when we're back.

Just as we were turning to leave, though, we were interrupted by two more people.






...Huh.

Well would you look at that.

Wait, I—I know you!

Even if my memory of the time was hazy, a pair this distinctive didn't easily fall of my mind.



Captain, they're most likely members of SKY. They could be dangerous to the civi—

You two—you're the ones who took me from the roof after Warcry defeated me! What are you doing here?

You gave our kids some trouble earlier.

Right on the money, Richter.

What the hell do you kids think you're doing at a time like this?

The tattooed man raised his arm.

Listen. We already heard this from the boss—we let them bully other people and that's no good.

What are you doing trying to explain it?

Her jacket.

Yeah, it's real green, who cares?

...Shut up, Neko. We were in the wrong there. So, sorry.



...Messing around?

Yeah, bein' a bunch of Good Time Charlies!

We're not here for some kind of pleasure cruise. We're saving people from being stranded in the wilderness and giving them a berth. As the head of this unit, I'm perfectly willing to respect the boundaries of your turf, but if you find innocent people, at least direct them toward Tokyo City Hall instead of stealing their res—

At this point, the girl in the kitty parka stuck her tongue out and blew a raspberry at me.

Oh, so you're that type. Why, Satsuki, look, it's your kin.

Hey!

As if! We're not just gonna listen to a bunch of Murakumo.



...

I took a deep, deep breath in.

But what does that have to do with the lives of innocent, neutral people who are stuck in the wilderness?! I'll accept a personal grudge with the organization, I mean I don't really know much about the inner workings of Murakumo and I feel like there are things people just aren't telling me, but you can't just punish people whose only crime was being in a bad location when the dragons arrived—?!

Stop. SKY will handle affairs on SKY turf.



Also, I joined this organization very recently and under disastrous circumstances! I was unconscious for an entire month and was never officially briefed! I feel like you are taking information to be common knowledge when I don't know it! Ladies, Richter, was there a pamphlet I missed about our inexplicable, apparent rivalry with a gang from Shibuya?

If it helps, Captain, I've never heard of them either.

We're all humans here! There are more important things than infighting! Please explain to me—

Ah, shut up, ya old hag. Not like you'd listen anyway.

I-I'm only twenty-four... And I—why did you two even save my life if you were just going to—

Blame Daigo, he made me help!

...Let's go, Neko.



Hey, did she call the big one 'Warcry'? I thought only Aitelle called him that.

Shut up, Neko.



YEAH, RIGHT??

I know the type. Down-on-their-luck kids who find community and form a 'tribe'. Let me take point if we run into them, alright?

Is there a particular reason for us to do so? It's not as though there's a noteworthy tactical point here.

this sorta thing never doesn't come back up.

...Mm.



Ms. Unose?

I didn't follow a word of that!

SAAAAME

I'm. Um, Miroku? We're returning to base. I mean, you know we're returning to base, but I'm—I'm just declaring it because—yeah.

The Captain needs a moment to collect herself.

Alright. I'm not stopping you.



------------------------






When we returned, the people we'd rescued were standing in the lobby after initial aid, being given the initial tour by Mio.

And so here we've got the entrance. You can sit here if you want, plenty of people do. Tanaka and Haru guard the entrance, but don't run into Haru when she's practicing, because she WILL lash out. Hi, Chisa!

Yuki: Amazing... look what you've all done with City Hall!

Nami: Thank you all so much, for real! If there's anything I can do to help—

We've still got several injured from the initial attacks sitting about in the open areas of the second floor.

And thanks from me too.



I've never been a senpai before! Feels good, man.

That's your consideration here?

Yeah, well, you oughta go see a doctor with those nurses, Unose. You were fighting a dragon. That first aid Satsuki gave you isn't all you need.

I mean, I've always been a pretty healthy girl.

Nami: Ms. Unose, that's ridiculous. Please come with us.

Well, I guess I can't say no to that.



I'm just gonna leave fixing City Hall to you and Miya. Sound good?

You worked pretty hard today, Miroku. Sleep it off.

Your navigation was appreciated.

Sleep well, Miroku.



Oh! Right, yes!



Still nothing, huh?

Omori: Not yet. How about you, Ms. Nagataka?

...We weren't able to locate my father in Shibuya, but he could be elsewhere. Thank you for asking.

Omori: Of course. Sympathy is in community, after all.

So it is.



So the look on your face says you're confused.

Why do humans have to fight humans?



Wow, that is a really heavy question. Like, in general?

In specific and in general.

I don't know.

So it turns out there's a street gang in Shibuya with a grudge against Murakumo for some reason who bullied some people out of their supplies and they hate us and won't listen to us and Chisa's all screaming because nobody's explaining anything to her.

Ohhhhh now everything makes sense.

Does it? Can you explain it to me?



How about you, Miya?

I'm a construction worker, Chisa. They only tell me what to build.

Isn't that the truth.

Along with the Laboratory we were supposed to build, we also have the Dz to fix up the Residential A floor!



This update's a bit long in the tooth as it stands, so we'll explore Residential A next time. As for the Laboratory, once we select it...



I think you've done enough for now. Go and take a break while we repair the place. You look terrible.

do i look terrible

No.



And that, I believe, is when, with a loud "Konnichiwa, survivors-tachi!", the doors to City Hall opened and a young woman in an eclectic outfit casually strolled up behind us and began to address us in one of the thickest accents I'd ever heard in my life.



Excuse me?

Ma'am, we just got done with a hard day's work, can we—

Having apparently identified me as the captain somehow, this girl shoved herself into my personal space and stretched her hand out.

Nice to meet you, put 'er there! C'mon, c'mon, don't hold back!

Shake her hand, Chisa.

Um. Yes. Okay.

After shaking my hand, the girl proudly put her hands on her hips.

There you go! What's your namae, ojou-sama?

Um. I'm Chisa Inomiko, hi. I'm the Captain of Murakumo Unit 13.

That's mega sugoi, taichou-san!





Ah, a chronic do-gooder?

Exactly! You get it! Our job is helping people!

That's admirable!

Now, dragon invasion? Yeah, that sucks. But we GOTTA keep helping people! However, wherever, no matter how hard it is! Even with no help or no comrades!

I feel as though I'm doing a disservice to how animated Sharon Furusuga was, so please imagine at least two wide, sweeping hand or body gestures with every pause.

Well, that's nice! I'm glad! I am very glad to meet someone whose goal makes sense to me today!

Yeah, hai hai! So since you're set up at City Hall, it's perfect to borrow some space and lend a hand!





And just like that, she scurried back behind the desk to the other side from Miya, immediately claiming her own space as a vital facility.



So I'll bundle up everyone's troubles! All the better for you to quest and solve them! Like playing tag! Get readyyy, Marco Polo! If you've got free time, onegai to swing by!

And then, finally, she actually took a look at the deepening bags under my eyes.



...I feel this incredible sense of deja vu.

You too, huh?

SIDEQUESTS SIDEQUESTS SIDEQUESTS

Yeah! Sidequests! Sidequests! Sidequests!

...I'm going to bed.

Next time, did you see? Did you see? You saw, right? I'll explain, so kitte kudasai!

Next Update
Previous Update
Table of Contents