The expensive BB-0027 core was carried by Clara like a fish bought from the market, swinging as she walked out of the lunar bus.
Nyx’s suspicions were confirmed; no one paid any attention to the battered plastic bag in her hand.
Except for Okazaki Daruma, who was watching her enter the vehicle.
“Clara, did you forget something on the bus?”
Asked in this way, Clara only nodded.
“Uh, BB-0027 just got me some food from the bus…”
Since she happened to be holding a bag of snacks, she didn’t need to explain further. The more you say at times like this, the more likely you are to slip up—Okazaki Daruma would fill in the blanks herself.
The footage BB-0027 recorded would at most be shown to Lucia and Fran.
Anya’s current situation was highly suspicious, and she was, after all, Sigma Heroes’ staff.
Clara always felt the mole didn’t necessarily come from the resort itself. After all, the resort was Nightmare’s property—it wouldn’t make sense to cooperate with the Fourth Calamity to sabotage things. It was much more likely that the leak was inside Sigma Heroes.
Therefore, she had to be wary of Okazaki Daruma as well, and look for a chance to test her.
Yet, the latter said, “Perfect, I have something I’d like you to take care of~”
“Huh?”
This sounded like she was being sent on an errand.
The Sigma series had already hunted rabbits and played volleyball with barely any rest in between. Even Akagi Shousei couldn’t get up, let alone the others, whose health was already weakened from taking the brunt of the solar storm’s ionizing radiation—they were all running on empty.
So now she had to pull Clara to do the work?
But Clara herself was dead tired, and not at all in the mood.
“What is it? If I had the time, I’d rather just go back to my room and sleep.”
“Don’t sleep yet. Go to the kitchen and grab a few big watermelons to take to the beach, then dig four big pits. I think you know what that’s for, right?”
Beach and sand pits—Clara instantly knew this was for the next activity: “Watermelon Splitting.” But to think she had to handle all the prep work herself…
She was a rookie hero, not famous or anything, but even the least known stars wouldn’t be sent on errands at a variety show.
It would be more reasonable to let the resort staff help out.
Clara complained in dissatisfaction, “So I’m just your errand girl now!”
“Hm? Is there a problem with that?”
Okazaki Daruma actually looked surprised.
Did this woman never consider that she might refuse?
“Miss Daruma, how about I go with her?”
Clara was reluctant, but Sista beside her patted her own backside and stood up.
“My exoskeleton isn’t damaged, it’s just recharging, so I don’t need any adjustments for now. I’ll go with Miss Clara.”
Clara didn’t know how to refuse in the first place, and now with Sista volunteering as well, she had no choice but to accept this errand.
…【Errand Mission: Buy Watermelons.】
【Mission Reward: Participation rights in the Watermelon Splitting Game.】
Wait, I’m not buying watermelons, am I?
Clara looked toward Pure White Storm and asked, hands on her hips:
“How are we getting there? Are you going to fly me?”
There was some distance between the hangar and the resort—walking would take too much time.
But Sista shook her head.
“No, my exoskeleton is still charging…”
Clara put on her gas mask and took out her squid broom.
“…Then I’ll take you flying.”
The squid broom slowly lifted off.
“Hold on tight, okay?”
Clara reminded the white-haired “pretty boy” sitting behind her.
Sista, much taller than her, wrapped her arms around Clara’s waist from behind. From the outside, it looked more like an adult taking a child for a ride on a motorbike—only the motorbike was a squid-shaped flying broom.
It’s said that long ago, flying brooms were common civilian transportation, not much different from flying motorbikes. There were even shared rental brooms on the roadside, but nowadays, flying motorbikes had replaced them.
However, the [Ink-dyed Staff: Propulsion Mode] could achieve true flight, while flying motorbikes had altitude restrictions. Even President Cesia’s hover car was the same—once it reached a certain height, it couldn’t go any higher.
Of course, there were also wild gangs who tampered with their flying motorbikes’ programs to remove the height restrictions, and some evil organizations’ goons did the same.
“Let’s go!”
Still, Clara was a cautious person.
After takeoff, the squid broom accelerated gently, always keeping about 1.5 meters above the ground to avoid injury in case of a fall.
As the saying goes, “Drive unsafely, and your loved ones weep twice.”
Although, Sista had no loved ones.
Enjoying the view of the bay, Clara started a conversation.
“Come to think of it, getting a stalker with a screw loose is pretty unlucky, huh~”
They began to talk about Ps·ycho.
Sista didn’t know how to respond and just sighed:
“If she wasn’t such a weirdo, maybe I could accept her and talk with her…”
“You can’t talk to someone just because they’re a weirdo?”
Clara wasn’t defending Ps·ycho; she just couldn’t help speaking from the weirdo’s point of view.
“I’m a hero. If I associate with weirdos, it’ll affect my reputation and the company’s.”
A practical reason—this was what Sista had been taught.
“To this world, both weirdos and heroes are necessary. It’s just that weirdos are born carrying a stigma. But when you’re off the clock, everyone is just an ordinary person—you’re not a hero anymore, and weirdos aren’t weirdos anymore… In that situation, there’s nothing illegal about interacting, right?”
Sista seemed to ponder this. She hugged Clara’s waist even tighter, resting her chin on Clara’s shoulder. Her breath warmed Clara’s cheeks as she answered softly:
“I don’t understand so much. I’m still learning.”
“I’ll share my thoughts with you. They might not be right, but maybe they’ll help you think about it…”
Clara steered the broom from the coastal road onto the beach, then from the sand to the shimmering surface of the sea. Artificial waves crashed against the coral reefs as a fish leapt from the water as if to greet them, gliding along with them for a bit before falling back.
“So beautiful…”
Sista murmured in awe, then said:
“I feel like I can learn a lot from you, Miss Clara.”
“Of course! I mean, when it comes to life, I really have been around a while!”
She might be ordinary and unremarkable, but at least she’d breathed thirty-four years of air.
After thinking for a bit, Clara added, “But if we’re talking about being a hero, even though you’re called a rookie, you could still be my senior! Say, have you ever thought of becoming a real girl?”
“Huh?”
Clara’s question confused Sista—she’d never considered her own gender.
“I haven’t been a hero as long as you, but when it comes to being a girl, I have a bit more experience than you…”
Though Sista was a gynoid, what she’d been taught at the factory was obviously different.
She was designed as a handsome boy hero, so she naturally had some internal contradictions regarding gender.
“After all, no one has ever treated you as a girl, right? Even those three so-called big brothers of yours just see you as their little brother…”
If we’re talking about lack of common sense, the other three Sigma series weren’t much better—just a bit more experienced for having lived a few extra years, but not by much.
All those “big brothers” reminded Clara of Lucia from the past.
“Let’s make a promise~”
“A promise?”
“When we’re back in Central City, let’s pick a day to go out and have some fun…”
“Sure, I’d like that.”
Sista had no reason to refuse.
“Hold on, I’m not done yet!”
Clara turned back toward the shore, flying into the rainforest, and continued:
“But that day, you have to drop the Pure White Storm persona and wear girls’ clothes~”
Her Mom is leaking out.