Kagashi pushed the iron chest in front of them.
“Open this one first.”
The four girls gathered around, their gazes falling upon the rust-covered chest.
The chest wasn’t large, and its surface rust glinted with a dark red luster under the light.
“Who’s going to open it?” Furina reached out eagerly, then pulled her hand back.
“Better if one of you does it.
I’m afraid I’ll have bad luck.”
“I’ll do it then.” Misaka Mikoto stepped forward, grabbed the lid, and flipped it open with force.
*Click.*
The lid popped open.
A soft light surged from inside the chest—not a dazzling golden light,
but a warm, silvery-white glow, like moonlight.
The light dissipated.
Four items lay inside the chest.
A doll.
A crown-styled top hat.
A badge.
A staff.
The carriage was so quiet that one could hear breathing.
Yoshino was the first to react.
She stared at the doll in the chest, her eyes widening bit by bit, the silvery-white glimmer reflected in her pupils.
Her lips began to quiver, her fingers trembled, and her whole body seemed frozen in place.
“Yo…
Yoshinon~”
Her voice was as faint as if spoken in a dream.
The doll lay quietly in the chest.
It was a rabbit-shaped doll with light blue fur, long ears, an eyepatch over one eye, and a hint of a mischievous smile on its face.
It wasn’t an ordinary doll.
It was Yoshinon.
It was the Yoshinon who had always been by her side, who could talk, who made her laugh, and who gave her courage when she was afraid.
The moment the doll was picked up.
“Ya~ Long time no see, little Yoshino~”
The doll’s eyes lit up, and a familiar voice rang out in the carriage, carrying that lazy, annoying, yet reassuring tone.
Yoshino’s tears gushed out instantly.
“Yoshinon, Yoshinon!” She held the doll tightly in her arms and crouched down, her shoulders shaking violently as she sobbed breathlessly.
“I thought…
I thought you were gone.
I thought I’d never see you again…”
“My, my, why are you crying?” The doll’s voice held a hint of a smile as a furry paw gently patted Yoshino’s head.
“Aren’t I back now?
And look, you’re not alone anymore; you have so many friends with you.”
Yoshino nodded frantically, her tears flowing uncontrollably, but the corners of her mouth had already curved upward.
Furina’s gaze fell upon the crown-styled top hat in the chest.
The hat fit her forehead perfectly, and a light blue glow spread from the gemstone.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“It’s alright.” Kagashi turned his face away.
“What do you mean ‘alright’?” Furina pouted, but she couldn’t hide her smile.
Misaka Mikoto’s gaze landed on the badge.
It was a circular badge, about the size of a palm, with a deep green base color.
Printed on it was a green frog—no, it wasn’t a frog, it was a Gekota.
Misaka Mikoto’s eyes lit up instantly.
But a second later, the expression on her face froze.
Because she realized that everyone was looking at her.
*Ahem.* Misaka Mikoto cleared her throat, forcibly suppressing the excitement that was about to overflow from her face.
She put on a “calm and collected” expression.
“What is this?” She reached out with feigned indifference, picking up the badge with two fingers.
As if holding an unremarkable stone, she said, “Oh, a Gekota.”
Watching her act so composed, Furina’s lips twitched.
“Do you like Gekota?” Kagashi asked.
“I don’t.” Misaka Mikoto answered too quickly—so quickly that everyone could tell something was off.
“If you don’t like it, why are you holding it so tight?” Furina leaned in, staring at the badge being squeezed firmly between her fingers.
“I…
I’m not holding it tight.” Misaka Mikoto’s fingers tightened even more, her knuckles turning white.
“The badge is about to be deformed by your grip,” Kagashi said.
Misaka Mikoto looked down and saw that, indeed, the edge of the badge was slightly bent under the pressure of her fingers.
She quickly loosened her grip, but then, fearing the badge might fall, she immediately squeezed it tight again.
This loosening and tightening action completely betrayed her.
Furina couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
“What are you laughing at!” Misaka Mikoto’s face flushed instantly, the tips of her ears turning burning red.
“I just…
I just think the craftsmanship of this badge is okay and worth studying.
It’s not because it’s a Gekota, definitely not because it’s a Gekota!”
“Right, right.” The others just smiled, not calling her out.
Misaka Mikoto’s face was so red it looked like it might drip blood.
She quickly pinned the Gekota badge to the inside of her chest, covering it with her clothes as if afraid someone would steal it.
“What are you looking at!” She glared at Kagashi.
“Go open your own treasure chest!”
Kagashi signaled his surrender, though he couldn’t suppress the smile on his face.
Roxy was the last one.
She stood quietly to the side, waiting until everyone else had finished before reaching out to gently pick up the staff.
Roxy gripped the staff and gave it a light twirl; the gemstone lit up with a warm, silvery-white light.
She closed her eyes and felt it for a moment.
“It’s very suitable.” She opened her eyes and smiled gently.
“Thank you.”
Kagashi said, “Quickly feel the power within your bodies.
Has it recovered?”
“Ah!”
“It really has recovered quite a bit!” the girls exclaimed in surprise.
Furina nodded.
“I can feel it.
I can probably exert about thirty percent of my strength now.”
She raised her hand, and a ball of water condensed in her palm, transforming into a Ball Octopus made of water and a Bubble Seahorse made of water.
Both could launch water-element attacks.
She could also transform into the Singer of Many Waters to heal everyone.
Misaka Mikoto also raised her hand, a blue-white electrical arc flashing at her fingertips.
*Crack!*
“I can probably release about three hundred volts of electricity now,” Misaka Mikoto said, her tone carrying a hint of pride.
“It’s enough to paralyze someone instantly.
If I go all out, it should reach five hundred volts.”
“Five hundred volts?” Kagashi raised an eyebrow.
“Wouldn’t that kill someone?”
“An ordinary person might suffer cardiac arrest,” Misaka Mikoto thought for a moment.
“But if they’ve had Physical Reinforcement, it would probably just numb them.”
Yoshino reached out her small hand, and an ice crystal condensed in her palm.
It was several times larger than the previous ice chunks and had a more regular shape.
“I…
I can condense Ice Shields now,” Yoshino said softly, waving her small hand.
A thin Ice Shield materialized in front of her, crystal clear and glinting coldly under the light.
“And Ice Spikes.”
With a flick of her finger, a finger-length Ice Spike shot out, embedding itself deep into the wooden board in the corner of the carriage.
Roxy raised her staff, and a ball of fire lit up at the tip.
It wasn’t the tiny flame from before that could only light up her fingertips, but a fist-sized Fireball emitting scorching heat.
“Fireball, Wind Blade, and Basic Healing—I can use them all now.”
Kagashi looked at them, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.
“Then what if the train reaches Level 3?”
“It should reach sixty percent,” Furina said.
“Level 4 would be eighty or ninety percent, and Level 5 would be one hundred percent,” Roxy took over.
“It’s probably something like that.”
“So for you to recover to your full forms, what level does the train need to be?”
Furina and Roxy glanced at each other.
“Level 5,” Furina said.
Kagashi nodded, making a mental note.
Level 5.
It was only Level 2 now, with three more levels to go.
The road was still long.
“There’s one more.” Kagashi pointed to the golden-glowing treasure chest on the long table.
“The Gold Treasure Chest, the reward for the first upgrade in the entire region.”
The four girls’ gazes simultaneously turned toward the golden chest.
“Who opens this one?” Furina asked.
“We open it together,” Kagashi said.
He stepped forward, and they all placed their hands on the lid, staring intently at the golden chest.
“Opening it.” Kagashi took a deep breath and flipped open the lid.
Golden light surged from the chest, far more dazzling than the iron one, dyeing the entire carriage in gold.
Inside the chest, there was only one thing.
A scroll.
The scroll was entirely golden, its surface inscribed with complex runes.