Since she'd decided to crash at Himeko's place for the next couple of days, the first thing Lynelle needed to do was let her know.
"Lynelle? So you're back after all."
Himeko's surprised voice came through the phone.
"I'm catching up with Captain Ragna right now. When I didn't see you with the Oceania team earlier, I thought you weren't coming and was about to ask the Captain where you were."
"Now that you're back, it's perfect—just stay at my place. Kiana and the others have missed you a lot. There are still four or five rooms free in the villa; we could easily fit a few more people."
"Hey now, what do you mean, 'a few more people'…?"
Lynelle's tone turned slightly guilty. "Himeko-nee, what are you thinking!"
"Hmph, I know you too well. Captain Ragna told me you managed to charm her little Wendy away within a week of arriving in Oceania… I should've known it'd be you."
"Ahem, ahem…"
Lynelle coughed awkwardly a few times. "That… that was just a coincidence! Anyway, since you're fine with it, I'll go pack my things, alright?"
"Go ahead, go ahead. It works out—Theresa won't be around these next few days, so you'll have some peace and quiet."
Himeko sounded completely unconcerned.
"Theresa's not here?"
"Mhm, that's right."
Himeko nodded. "Didn't you know? The delegation from headquarters is being led by the S-rank Valkyrie, Rita. And as everyone at Schicksal knows, Rita has… a particular fondness for younger girls."
"So… to avoid getting captured at the villa, Theresa decided to just sleep in her office these past few days."
"Oh… Well, that's a practical reason, I guess."
Lynelle scratched her head, then suddenly realized something was off.
"Wait, wasn't Rita supposed to arrive the day after tomorrow? Why did Theresa run off today?"
"Oh, headquarters sent word earlier—the delegation's arriving ahead of schedule."
Himeko explained, "And because of that, the Valkyrie exam is being moved up by two days as well. Didn't you see the culture exam results were posted this afternoon?"
"Moved up… Alright, I got it."
After hanging up, Lynelle's expression turned a little strange.
At first glance, the situation seemed normal enough. After all, now that everyone had arrived, it wouldn't make sense to stick to the original schedule and make both delegations wait three days.
The Oceania team might not mind, but Rita was the deputy captain of the Immortal Blades—she could be called away for an emergency mission at any time.
But… something about this felt off to Lynelle's instincts.
Still, instincts were just instincts. Unless you were as paranoid as a certain March 7th, there was no need to set up elaborate plans based on a mere hunch.
Besides, St. Freya was practically Lynelle's turf in some ways. If anything did happen, she could handle it as it came.
For now, the trickiest problem Lynelle faced was probably figuring out how to soothe Sirin.
And by tricky, she didn't mean that calming Sirin's emotions would be difficult—but rather that her own evening might become very, very challenging.
"Sigh…"
Lynelle's face fell into a pouty, kitten-like expression.
"Why is life so hard…"
--+--
"Mei… I'm so hungry…"
It was already afternoon by the time Kiana, Mei, and Bronya finished their business at the academy.
By the time they returned, the white-haired bundle of energy—who hadn't even had lunch—was slumped halfway over Mei's shoulder.
It was hard to tell if she was genuinely exhausted or just seizing an opportunity to get cozy, though judging by the resigned look on a certain duck-faced girl's face, the white-haired goofball was probably just angling for some affection.
"Alright, alright. Since you actually scored above average on the culture exam this time, you can have anything you want for dinner tonight, okay?"
Kiana blinked her big, sapphire-blue eyes. "Then can Mei go catch a wild Lynelle for me to eat?"
"I'd like a taste of that too, but I'm not sure I can catch her…"
Mei smiled helplessly and pushed open the villa door.
"Lynelle-nee is so elusive. You'd have better luck wishing for it from the heavens than waiting for me to catch her."
"Wishing for what?"
Lynelle poked her head out from the living room upon hearing the door.
"…?"
A second of stunned silence followed, then Kiana's head shot up and she let out an explosive cheer.
In a flash, she zipped over to Lynelle and headbutted straight into her chest, nuzzling and chanting joyfully: "LynelleLynelleLynelleLynelle…"
"Hey now, it's only been a few months… No need to turn into such a lovestruck fool."
Lynelle patted Kiana's head resignedly and smiled at Mei and Bronya.
"Mei, Bronya, how have you been?"
"We've been fine. The one who's changed the most is the amoeba you're holding."
Mei wore a mysterious smile. "She's evolved into a human."
"Evolved? What does that mean…?"
"It means that this idiot Kiana scored above average on the exam—without any extra tutoring."
Bronya stated flatly.
"Lynelle-nee, close your mouth. Bronya was just as shocked when she first heard, but then she remembered this dummy didn't sleep in class all semester, so maybe it's not so surprising after all."
Hearing this, the white-haired ball of fluff who'd been nuzzling Lynelle's soft chest suddenly froze.
After a long pause, she mumbled miserably, "How could I dare sleep…? If I did, I'd have to make up the lessons for twice as long…"
"Well… anyway, it's great that Lynelle's back. This calls for a feast to celebrate!"
Mei clapped her hands together and, as if by magic, produced an array of cooking utensils from the kitchen, marching in with gusto—seemingly ready to unleash the authority of the Herrscher of Food.
"Then… before dinner, would Lynelle-nee like to play some games with Bronya?"
Bronya snapped her fingers, and Project Bunny promptly appeared, plucking Kiana off of Lynelle. "Want to join us, idiot Kiana?"
"Uh…"
The mention of games instantly brought back Lynelle's blush-inducing memories, and she whispered, "Are they… decent games?"
Bronya gave a thumbs-up. "They're multiplayer."
"Phew…"
Lynelle relaxed. "That's a relief…"
Yet, just a few minutes later…
Face flushed, Lynelle set down the controller and stared at the screen, where the pink-haired character—who looked quite similar to her—had once again been defeated by Kiana, triggering some… questionable defeat CGs.
As everyone knows, in certain adults-only games, multiplayer is practically nonexistent.
After all, if it were possible, it'd usually lead to one of two scenarios:
Either you get a defeat CG triggered by the opposing player, or you and your co-op partner get a defeat CG triggered by monsters.
Since both scenarios are… rather extreme for anyone who actually manages to find a multiplayer partner, such games generally don't include multiplayer—which was exactly why Lynelle had agreed so readily.
But… where on earth did this pervy duck dig up something like this?! And it's a fighting game with multiplayer support!
In just over ten minutes, Lynelle had already been forced into four or five defeat CGs by Kiana's lightning-fast reflexes. At this rate, her entire CG gallery would be unlocked before dinner!
Lynelle cast a pleading glance toward Bronya, only to catch the girl smirking mischievously. Clearly, this mischievous duck was deliberately playing wingman for Kiana.
That expression seemed to say…
"You fell right into the trap!"
--+--
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.