kscans

Chapter 421 - Always and Forever

I have to support her—that was the resolution I had made on my own.

"Operating as usual…"

"? I'm not sure what you mean… but personally, I think it's stranger that you're already getting used to this appearance, Haru."

"Well, I mean, it's just an avatar in the end."

Logging into the virtual world for the first time in a day, the partner I met was, more than I expected… not even on that level. As if to say she couldn't care less about the public eye, she greeted me with the same Sora-smile as always.

Hmm… was I worried for nothing? She may be an unknown entity to the public, but she's still the daughter of the Yotsuya family. She might have a certain degree of tolerance for this sort of thing.

Well, as long as she seems okay for now, that's all that matters—

"Speaking of appearances, what were you doing with a tail?"

I posed the question to Sora, who was looking at me with a gaze that was half admiration and half exasperation as I continued my magical training in my Trance form.

In response, she, who seemed far from used to it compared to me who was starting to accept it, shyly hid the four tails swaying behind her back—whether by her own will or not.

By the way, even if you hide those, the magnificent fluffy ears on top of your head are still twitching. I wonder if those twitch in response to her emotions, too.

"P-Practice. The feeling of my body changes quite a bit, so…"

This whole 'getup' that couldn't be anything but cute, complete with a rebuking glare for my teasing tone—this was none other than Sora's Trance form, her appearance using [Trance].

Not a nine-tailed, but a four-tailed fox. Both her ears and tails were a brilliant, pure white. Her golden hair, too, was mixed with white starting from the base of her fox ears, creating a beautiful gradation in this form.

I'm not an expert myself, but I heard from Lux, who showed a surprising breadth of knowledge, that her form might be modeled after a divine fox spirit called a 'Tenko.'

"I see. And you were flying around inside the house?"

"I-I wasn't flying! Besides, it's precisely because we're inside the house!"

It seems she's still too shy to show off this form outside. On a side note, it's hilarious how the cuteness index is worlds apart when Sora and I say 'our house.'

Thanks to my Trance form, my voice is also a cute girl's voice (lol), but that's what you get when the person inside is a guy.

"Besides, I can't fly around in this form…"

"Well, yeah, not when your AGI gets wiped out."

And so, the stat that gets nullified by Sora's [Trance] is Agility (AGI). Whether that's something to celebrate is debatable, but it's not a bad draw.

Just like my Trance form, her MID, including equipment bonuses, has broken the 1,000 mark. If you consider that this has enhanced her flavor as a stationary cannon on the level of a generic Mi-naRi-na, it's a definite plus.

Moreover, even with AGI at zero, she's not immobile like the 'Eastern Wings.' And if she cancels her Trance, she instantly transforms back into a frontline fighter—or rather, an all-rounder—who can keep up with me.

My partner's versatility knows absolutely no bounds.

Of course, both versions of [Trance] have a shared one-hour cooldown for activation and deactivation, so it’s not like you can frequently switch between them depending on the situation.

—Now then,

"Since we happened to meet up, want to go somewhere? Oh, but… maybe it's better to wait until you can undo that Trance?"

"Oh, no, it's fine!"

Going somewhere—that would mean walking around outside. So, more than her shyness, the fact that she would stand out like crazy is… a bit of a problem, given the current attention on 'the Acrobat's partner.'

Realizing this, I started to retract my suggestion, but Sora shook her head and a magic circle immediately enveloped her avatar. After a flash of light, her familiar form reappeared, her hair color back to normal.

Ah, farewell, fluffiness.

"Okay. You got this from Nia the day before yesterday, right?"

"Yes, I did."

I showed her by pulling down the hood of my [Hidden Rat Cloak], and Sora nodded, taking a single gray garment out of her inventory. It was a matching set of stealth gear.

It wasn't completely identical; hers seemed to have some details adjusted to match her [Dress of El-Clelia]. The fine craftsmanship was nothing short of impressive.

"Alright, let's go. Somewhere!"

"Um, and where would 'somewhere' be?"

"The plan is no plan!"

"Ah, haha…"

Spontaneity is fine, just fine.

As always, as long as it's the two of us, even just taking a walk is fun.