“Ah, as expected, it was Shiratori’s doing.”
Strange as it was, even though they had barely just escaped the critical situation, Reine Murasame had already uncovered the hacker’s identity.
Yet it didn’t seem all that difficult—anyone who had inspected the state of the data port would have arrived at the exact same conclusion.
This was because a faint trace of Reiryoku remained on the data interfaces of wireless nodes and terminals; a quick scan was all it took to yield this answer.
“…Does this mean this Spirit has already pinpointed our precise location?”
Mikimoto spoke with a look of doubt, glancing at the handheld terminal in his grasp.
This was a profoundly serious matter.
Shiratori was a Spirit with immense destructive potential; flattening an entire city would be trivial for her.
No matter how sturdy Fraxinus might be, it could never withstand a direct, full-force bombardment from a Spirit.
Then, as if recalling something, Reine pulled up a message log from the previous night.
“In truth, Shiratori already attempted to breach our system last night.”
“What!”
Hearing these words, everyone felt their hearts begin to pound violently once more.
“There is no need to worry.
No data was leaked, nor were any losses sustained.
She aborted the intrusion halfway through—it appears she met with interference from an unknown force, causing her Reiryoku to burst violently from a data cable.”
“Ngh, things seem to have grown quite complex.”
“Regardless of why the intrusion was aborted, Fraxinus can absolutely no longer rely on our previous firewall standard.
Furthermore, to be safe, we must relocate our position as quickly as possible.”
If Shiratori truly knew their position before launching her hack, they were in dire straits.
For everyone’s safety, Reine offered this advice—though the consequence of doing so meant Ratatoskr would relinquish most of its control over Tengu City.
Because the Realizer used for teleportation couldn’t operate over excessive distances, Shido usually relied on it to rush to wherever a Spirit appeared.
Once they left, the difficulty of capturing a Spirit would skyrocket exponentially.
Kotori Itsuka stared gravely at the intrusion logs displayed on the main screen.
“No.
I believe she already assumes we have relocated, so there is no need to go through the trouble of moving.”
“Is that not somewhat reckless?”
Reine asked in return.
Kotori then bit through the lollipop stick in her mouth and laid out her analysis.
“Nobody who suffers two failed intrusion attempts would foolishly remain in the exact same spot, waiting for the opponent to strike again.”
“I understand your reasoning, but does this not involve a gamble?”
As Kotori’s close friend, Reine naturally understood her line of thought.
She was banking on conventional logic to make Shiratori assume Fraxinus had already left and no longer posed any threat to her safety, thereby lowering her guard.
After all, the firewall had been reinforced; forcing a breach would no longer be easy.
Believing her target had fled the area, Shiratori wouldn’t go through the immense hassle of hacking and tracking them down again.
However, if Shiratori ever discovered they hadn’t left, what awaited them might be fatal firepower from the Spirit with the highest destructive capability.
Yet if they left, Shido wouldn’t be able to receive teleportation support from them, preventing him from reaching Spirit locations in time—eliminating any chance of sealing any Spirit.
Fraxinus was already deeply rooted in Tengu City; leaving like this would cause unimaginable losses.
So after careful consideration, Kotori decided to take the risk.
After all, they hadn’t posed any direct threat to Shiratori either, meaning even if they were discovered, there would still be room for negotiation.
“Then we shall hover above Tengu City.
“Understood.”
Reine scratched her cheek, then began operating the console.
“Commander, what should we do next?”
“We need to hurry up and draft that real-life romance training program for Shiratori, of course!”
“Execute immediately!
Pull up all city surveillance feeds right now!”
The crew members instantly busied themselves once more.
Kotori uncrossed her legs and watched with satisfaction as they scrambled to pull data, before casting a glance in Reine’s direction.
“…”
“Hm?
What is it?”
Reine replied in her usual monotone, tilting her head slightly.
“Nothing, just reminded of something, that’s all.”
“Is that so?
Speaking of which, shouldn’t you be heading home early today?”
Reine’s hands paused over the keyboard, and she spoke up.
“Weren’t you supposed to carry out the operation to deepen the bonds between Shin and Tohka today?
Did you forget?”
Kotori’s body stiffened instantly.
She tore off her commander’s jacket, grabbed a fresh Chupa Chups lollipop from a nearby box, and prepared to dash toward the teleportation room.
“Oh no!
I completely forgot about that!
I have to hurry back, see you next time!”
“Wait, your hair is messy.”
Hearing the reminder, Kotori touched her twintails—they were indeed a bit rumpled.
She quickly untied her hair ribbons, pulled them to her chest, straightened her hair, and tied them back on.
“See you next time!
Remember to care a bit more for Shin—he seems to have gotten caught in the rain on his way home.”
“I know!
See you next time, Reine-chan~!”
Strange, why did her previously cool and stern voice suddenly become as innocent as a child’s?
Could it be—
“Wait, Kotori…”
Realizing what had happened, Reine reached out her hand to call her back, but Kotori ran as fast as a rabbit, dashing into the teleportation room.
The hum of the apparatus activating echoed shortly after.
“You put on the wrong ribbons…”
Reine awkwardly held her hand out toward the direction Kotori had vanished.
It seemed that in her panic, Kotori had swapped in the wrong ribbons.
Normally it wouldn’t matter, but today was the day Kotori was supposed to help Shido foster his relationship with a Spirit—even if the planned method was somewhat improper.
Though it wasn’t anything too extreme: just as Shido arrived home in drenched clothes, Tohka would be guided into the dressing room to change first.
Then, while Shido was taking a bath, Tohka would be tricked into thinking the bathroom was empty so she would go in to bathe as well.
“I hope nothing goes wrong.”
_____________________________________
“Welcome home, Big Brother!”
At that moment, Shido Itsuka—who had spent the entire walk home planning to give Kotori a proper scolding in his capacity as her older brother—stood before Kotori, who had enthusiastically opened the front door for him.
“Ko—to—ri—”
“Eh?
What’s wrong, Big Brother?”
Not yet realizing her personality was completely off, Kotori tilted her head, trying to act cute.
“You haven’t stepped foot in this house for an entire month—you really don’t show any respect for your big brother, do you?!”
“Eh?!
No, wait, wait, wait a minute!”
Finding that she couldn’t assert her usual stern authority, Kotori finally realized something was terribly wrong.
She quickly remembered her hair ribbons; one hand reached out in panic to stop Shido from drawing closer, while the other reached up to touch her hair ribbons.
“I won’t wait!
Today, your brother is going to enforce some family discipline!”
Shido naturally wasn’t about to give Kotori that opportunity.
He grabbed her by the nape of her neck like a scruffed kitten, forcing her to look him dead in the eye.
“…Ehehe, Big Brother, I love you the most!”
After a moment of silence, Kotori tilted her head, deploying her usual cute-appeal ultimate move.
However, all it earned her was an even stern look from Shido.
“Um, shouldn’t Big Brother go take a bath first?!
You’re completely soaked right now!”
Realizing she was utterly doomed, Kotori tried to struggle a bit more, but Shido’s unwavering stare made her realize all her efforts were in vain.
“Um…
Big Brother, let’s go change your clothes first, okay?!”
Stare—
What happened next was, for Kotori, terrible—beyond terrible.
SMACK!
“Uwah!
Big Brother, no!
That hurts!!!”
SMACK!
“Big Brother, go easy!”
“Ngh?
What is Shido doing?”
Tohka Yatogami, having finished her bath and changed into fresh clothes, appeared at the bathroom door.
Drying her hair with a towel, she looked over with a confused expression.
SMACK!
“Uuuuu…
I know I was wrong…
don’t spank me anymore!
This is so embarrassing!”
SMACK!