kscans

Chapter 788 - Istia's Usual Chaos

...And so. While the happy news was all well and good, it certainly wasn't the main topic.

Of course not.

Do you know what day this is? It is the eve of the final battle, the largest-scale conquest in the virtual world, the fight against Green Connect. With that in mind—

"Ah...! What...! In any case, tomorrow's the day. Right...?!"

Goldow, having somehow returned from his shutdown, tried to rally the troops, but sadly, he lacked even a shred of his usual authority.

His strained cheerfulness was so transparent he seemed less like our General Commander and more like a weary old man being run ragged by the whims of the younger generation.

Goldow gets along well with Irori, but it's a well-known fact that he dotes on the two tiny ones even more.

In other words...

"Mmm-hmm, you okay, Papa? You look so shocked."

"Hey, stop that. Stop it. You, stop. Don't call me Papa, just stop...!"

Ordinarily, he would have handled Mi-na's casual teasing with ease, but not today. Still reeling from the shock, he was flustered in a way I'd never seen before.

He was probably feeling like a lonely grandfather watching his granddaughter—no, great-granddaughter—leave the nest. I hope he stays strong.

"Weeell? When you have such a cute reaction, what's a girl to do? I feel like I should just give you a shoulder rub—"

"Hey, Haru!!! How are you holding up!!!!! Huh?!?"

"Whoa, you scared me! What kind of escape tactic was that, old man..."

"I'M NOT AN OLD MAN!!!"

In any case, we couldn't just keep flirting as the Ten Seats of Istia (minus one) forever. Even though we'd already made all the preparations we could, we still had to, you know?

We should at least try to brace ourselves before the big event.

"As for us, well, we're managing somehow. Natsume-senpai was ready from the start, and Nia's been working ten times harder than I ever expected... sorry. Don't glare at me like that."

"Everyone's just teasing me... —I see. Well, no news is good news. As long as Iris hasn't said anything, I wasn't too worried."

And so, I offered a little help to get us back on track.

The scary thing about our faction's Ten Seats is that I—the one the public has apparently branded with the incredibly dishonorable nickname 'Chief Acrobat'—am considered one of the sane ones. It's a crazy place.

Lately, even Hinayo-san has started to accept the fact that she's a true member of Istia, so from now on, I'm resolved to be more considerate of our commander's stomach issues.

"It's a bit awkward for me to ask, since I was the one who requested your cooperation... but as the one sending you out as our faction's representatives, let me confirm. Are you going to be... useful?"

And so, he threw the same question at me that I had been pondering yesterday.

In the end, even though we flew around nonstop for two days, our total training time was only about twenty hours... which was, of course, far too little.

So, I just honestly stated my current feelings.

"No problem. Our three-person cell will function without a doubt."

No wishful thinking, no optimistic observations, just the truth I believed in.

"Hah, is that so? As expected of the young lady of the aquamarine. She's got guts."

He replied with a pleased smile. I had no idea what he meant by 'as expected' or what that 'as expected' referred to, and it was probably best not to ask.

And so, next.

"No problems here, either."

Tetra spoke up just as Goldow's gaze shifted to him, not even waiting for the question.

"To be honest, the two of us will ultimately depend on Kanata, but..."

As he said this, my dark-clad junior glanced over at me for some reason.

"Well, it'll be fine. While the genuine article was away, he's picked up even more of your acrobatic style."

"What are you talking about?"

"I see. Then I've got nothing to worry about."

"What are you talking about???"

Unable to hold back, I rapid-fired my retorts of "What kind of conversation is this?" and saw Ui-san, the first seat three chairs away, let out a quiet, elegant chuckle.

It was a mystery whether she was amused by some growth in my second junior that I was unaware of, or if she simply enjoyed the situation of me being teased. At this point, my unconditional thought of 'I'm glad she's having fun' was proof of my own devotion as a disciple.

And so, next.

"Alright, then... Ui."

"Yes."

The General Commander's gaze naturally turned to her. The friend who, following the recent Triangle Duo, had decided to return to the public stage after a years-long absence.

He looked at her, their eyes met... and after a few seconds.

"Hah, it's foolish of me to even worry."

"My, what a thing to say."

Vivaciously, gracefully. The two exchanged contrasting laughs, and that was that.

"Go have fun."

"Yes, I'll do my best."

"Do your best... —No, I see. 'Do my best' is, well, not exactly wrong, is it?"

No one dared to interrupt with a tactless retort... except for one person. I, being the last one the General Commander shot an amused look at, probably had the right to return it with a deadpan stare.

And finally.

"Irori."

"Yeah."

Well now... should I say something like, 'Ready, set, go'?

"........."

"............"

".................."

"...................."

""............................................................""

The last of the four rankers Istia was sending to the Green Connect raid. The invincible samurai, one of the pair who had dropped that opening salvo, and our Pa— ahem, General Commander, were now locked in a staring contest.

While it looked like a standoff where neither would back down, all the spectators were certain that Goldow was being unilaterally crushed. At the end of this silent exchange was...

Naturally, one winner and one loser.

"...—Mi-na, go give him a shoulder rub."

"Hey."

"You got it, leave it to me!"

"Hey, wai— you, Irori, you bastard!— You're on the teasing side too?!"

The staring contest ended in a one-hit KO.

The winning move was... what would you even call that? A tiny bomb? I have no idea what any of it meant, but judging by the looks of it, it was devastatingly effective against the old man. Good for him.

In any case, the 'pep rally' had devolved into chaos because the convener himself, the General Commander, had been bugged out, and things never quite got back on track... But then again, it's not like we needed a meeting at this point anyway, so in the sense that it helped us relax, I suppose you could call it a success.

So, for now, as an outside observer, my impression was.

"What is this?"

Just a single, weary word. That was probably the most fitting response.

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Hey, is the Green Connect raid arc really about to start? Where am I supposed to find the time and energy to write this???