kscans

Chapter 955 - A Mischievous Plan

And so, it was some time later that our little… chat… finally concluded.

"—Then, great champion! Should a battlefield arise where I may be of service, I pray you call my name at any time, in any place! I, Kendy, shall wait with shield polished in eager anticipa—"

"Yep. Right. I'm counting on you."

"What unexpected honor! I shall take my leave—!"

A light of teleportation, just like the one he'd arrived in… A flash of blue that seemed to have a slightly different shimmer than the kind players used. Wrapped in that light, the storm departed first.

"Haha, he's intense… Alright, Princess, I'm taking off too."

"Mm. I'll be in touch."

"You two, see you around."

"Take care!"

"Ah, y-yes, take care!"

He must have been overwhelmed as well.

A faintly strained but amused smile on his face, Enra-san waved to us before bumping fists with the hand Ren-san had naturally raised, and then he was gone.

"Right, me too. Call me if anything else comes up, 'kay?"

"Mm. I'll be in touch."

"You two as well… Oh, and Haru-kun. You too, Sora-chan."

""Yes?""

"Thanks for getting along so well with Sayaka-chan and the others. They were really happy about it."

"Huh? Oh, not at all. We had a great time with them, really."

"Now that you've properly met, you should join 'em on an 'expedition' sometime. A well-planned overnight trip has its own kind of fun, different from that starry survival event."

"I'd love that."

And with that, he smoothly went with the flow. As always, he exuded the generous air of the North's guardian, leaving behind a smile that was nothing but 'nice guy' before departing.

The adults had left, leaving the three of us.

And in situations like this, the first one to speak up is always—

"…Well then."

"Hold on, Ashe, I need to talk to you."

Just as planned, I stopped the incredibly busy princess.

Was it a show of composure, or just a pretense of it? In a one-on-one fight, she'd come at me with an absolutely insane ferocity, yet in moments like these, she often deferred to the other two.

And in response,

"Mm."

That was it. No pretense, no deception, no putting up a front. Just that one sound, and her faintly neutral expression broke into a happy smile. With that alone, she easily captured my heart.

"So, about this… this whole thing is on hold for a little over two months, right?"

I tapped the floor with my heel.

"You've got to have some free time, don't you? Even for the busy [Sword Queen]."

"…? Well, yes. I'll be busy with something else starting in mid-December, though."

"I know, that's the Four Pillar War. Same for me."

I said, feeling my partner's gaze from my side.

—The thing is, this request actually has a lot to do with my partner, Sora, so…

"Sorry, but could you make some time for me somewhere? It won't be an 'expedition' like the North's talking about, but… I need you to join me on a little trip."

"…?"

"…"

As for inviting Ashe right in front of her, I can only ask for her forgiveness.

She looked conflicted, as if she didn't know how to react. Or maybe she was slightly pouting at her partner for suddenly leaving her out of the loop.

I felt bad for her as she stared at me with that ambiguous expression, but…

I pressed on.

"Come on, Sora-san, you said it yourself, didn't you? 'I want to go on an adventure with Iris-san, too.'"

"…Hah? W-Wha, I… huh?"

This isn't about me—well, ultimately it does come back to being about me, but on the surface, she's the star of the show.

…B-u-t- I- p-l-a-n- o-n- r-e-v-e-a-l-i-n-g- t-h-a-t- p-a-r-t- a- l-i-t-t-l-e- l-a-t-e-r-.

For now, I'd have to ask her to be surprised and confused by my 'sudden idea,' I'm afraid.

"…Fufu, is that so?"

"N-No, that's… it's not wrong, but… W-Why so suddenly…!"

If I wasn't mistaken, there was one princess looking even happier than she had when I'd first stopped her. And there was one angel glaring cutely at me for suddenly revealing a past secret.

—Being caught in the middle is just another day for me. I can't let something like this faze me anymore.

"Alright, if you're up for it, send me your schedule. I'll plan everything out on my end."

"Mm. Got it."

"I don't got it at all…! Haru, you're scheming something again, aren't you!?"

"'Again'…?"

"Your daily conduct."

"I don't scheme on a daily basis, you know???"

It was late, I know.

So very, truly, incredibly late.

But my feet had already started moving, with no option to stop now.

---

Well, for now, let's just call it an outing.