She knew she absolutely couldn’t stop Ritsuka from insisting on seeing her off.
But on a night like this, could she really let Ritsuka escort her to her destination and then make the journey back all alone?
She couldn’t feel at ease with that.
Just one night.
She would leave first thing in the morning.
Surely that wouldn’t cause too much trouble.
Shiho convinced herself of this inwardly.
On the other side, hearing Shiho’s request, Ritsuka paused for a moment, then smiled and replied, “Of course you can!”
….
“Fuuu—”
Shiho sank half her face into the bathwater, then surfaced, slowly letting out a long breath.
She wholeheartedly savored the warmth and comfort of the hot water enveloping her skin.
It was only in this moment that she truly felt the reality of having escaped from the organization.
But even though she had escaped, for her current self…
Mid-thought, Shiho stopped herself from thinking further—whether out of a sixth sense, or an instinct for survival.
And so, her thoughts turned back to the present.
Though she had fled the organization, this was only another beginning.
Once the organization discovered her disappearance, they would certainly send people to investigate.
From now on, she had to be even more cautious.
Also, regarding the girl who had saved her today—Ritsuka.
In truth, they still hadn’t exchanged names.
She only knew the girl was called Ritsuka from overhearing her conversation with the police.
As for her surname, she still had no idea.
Her feelings toward Ritsuka were somewhat complicated.
After ingesting APTX4869, she now looked like a child.
Wandering the streets alone in ill-fitting clothes, refusing to reveal her name—everything about her practically screamed that something was wrong.
Most people who came across her would probably steer clear, or choose to call the police.
But Ritsuka had given her unconditional trust and care, was willing to believe her words, and even concealed her existence from the police.
Was she just hopelessly carefree?
But most importantly—
Shiho’s eyes flickered faintly.
That same gentleness and kindness, that same courage and strength, that same thoughtfulness, and that same warm smile…
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“Onee-chan…”
A barely audible murmur escaped the girl’s lips—like longing, like mourning—before dissipating into the air along with the rising steam.
“Mmm~”
Ritsuka flopped onto her bed with a soft thump, savoring the comfort of the soft bedding slowly enveloping her.
She couldn’t help but let out a contented sigh.
“The long day is finally over.”
She rolled over and stared blankly at the still-unfamiliar ceiling, letting her thoughts wander freely.
She had spent the entire day at a comic convention, then after coming home picked up Shiho, and then immediately ran into yet another case.
Even with her well-trained body, she was inevitably a bit tired now.
Drowsiness gradually crept in.
Just then, she suddenly remembered something and turned her head toward the three plushies placed beside her bed—Mini Cú, Viy, and Apollo.
She admonished them, “There’s a guest in the house tonight, and she’s just an ordinary person.
So, don’t make too much of a ruckus.
Understood?”
The three plushies nodded slightly in acknowledgment.
Mini Cú, Viy (Autonomous Type), and Apollo Plushie were Valentine’s Day return gifts from Cú Chulainn Alter, Anastasia, and Paris respectively.
They all possessed autonomous consciousness and abilities.
They were not only precious gifts from the Servants and her beloved plushies, but also her bedroom guard squad.
The Mini Cú plushie handled offense, the Viy plushie handled defense, and the Apollo plushie provided buffs and support.
Every night, they were responsible for intercepting any enemies that tried to intrude into her room, dutifully protecting her sleep and her chastity.
Though occasionally, they couldn’t hold the line.
And when there were no external enemies invading, Mini Cú and Viy would engage in fierce battles with each other.
Since Shiho was now in the house, Ritsuka made a point of telling them not to disturb her guest.
After all, this world was, generally speaking, scientific.
Well, Conan-scientific.
After giving her three plushies their instructions, she closed her eyes and peacefully drifted off, soon entering sweet dreams.
However—
“…Haaa.
This situation again.”
Staring at the bustling street before her, Ritsuka, who had been somewhat bleary-eyed just moments ago, snapped wide awake in an instant.
So, what’s it like to wake up and find yourself not lying in your comfortable bed, but standing barefoot in your pajamas in the middle of a crowded street?
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No.
She’s numb by now.
Ever since the Rayshift ability awakened, she had grown more and more accustomed to opening her eyes and finding herself in a completely unfamiliar place.
As for this adaptability, she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Before the crowd could notice her presence, Ritsuka deftly cast a magecraft on herself that reduced her presence, making those around her overlook her existence.
This was one of the few magecrafts she had mastered with any real proficiency.
In battles between Servants and higher-level conflicts, as an ordinary human and a Master, she was easily the weak point the enemy would target.
This magecraft made it harder for enemies to notice her during Servant clashes, increasing her safety to some degree.
Next, she employed the technique of Presence Concealment, further lowering her presence.
This was one of the fruits of her training with the Hassans in Chaldea.
However, her talent was limited, and her level of Presence Concealment had only ever earned a “barely entry-level” assessment from Hassan of the Cursed Arm.
But it was enough to handle the current situation.
With her emergency measures in place, she hurriedly found a public restroom to change.
Since this was an unknown world, she put on her Chaldea uniform—that is, the Mystic Code: Chaldea—making full preparations.
Then she checked and found that she could use Rayshift to return to the Conan world, but still couldn’t return to Chaldea.
She had no idea why.
“So, where exactly am I now?”
Ritsuka refocused her attention on the present.
As much as she wanted to go back and keep sleeping, Da Vinci had asked her to, whenever she arrived in a brand new world, try her best to gather data and intelligence.
And she had agreed.
This world was clearly also a modern world with a technological level roughly comparable to the one she had come from.
She looked around, wanting to first get a sense of her immediate surroundings.
Halfway through her survey, an otherworldly presence suddenly appeared in her field of vision.
A monster resembling a giant caterpillar, tightly coiled around the upper body of a middle-aged man.
The man’s complexion was terrible, with deep dark circles under his eyes, as if he might drop dead from exhaustion at any moment.
Faced with this bizarre sight, the people around the middle-aged man—and the man himself—showed no reaction whatsoever, allowing the monster to coil and writhe upon him freely.
No, not that they had no reaction.
They simply couldn’t see it?
Ritsuka made this deduction.
But just then, as if sensing her gaze, the monster slowly turned its head to look at her.
The very next second after her eyes met the monster’s, it let out a piercing shriek, released its hold on the middle-aged man, and charged straight at her!