“Clara, is Miss Sista still in the bath?”
“Mhm, that girl’s been in there for a while. She should be coming out soon.”
Fran was very interested in androids, so she tugged on Clara and said:
“If I’m not mistaken, the Sigma series androids are also part of World Tree Technology’s product line. They’re heroes entirely crafted from technology and capital.”
“From drivers to superpowered androids, World Tree Technology’s business really covers a lot, huh?”
“Their goal is to monopolize the hero market.”
Fran reached out and kneaded the Moon Rabbit Combat Unit’s belly, and Clara, lying on the bed, squirmed along.
“Just imagine, if all the heroes on the market use their drivers, and even the heroes themselves come from their product line, then ‘heroes’ could truly be mass-produced.”
Then, they’d use mass-produced heroes to compete against other hero companies. Small companies and freelance heroes would be crushed…
Once the hero market is monopolized, World Tree Technology could do whatever it wants.
“That sounds totally like an evil organization!”
Clara was indignant at this, puffing out her cheeks and protesting:
“As a mouse, I hate commercialized heroes the most!”
Fran replied in a mockingly sarcastic tone, “Oh~ but all their means are perfectly compliant and legal business practices. How can you call them an evil organization?”
Compliant and legal, but Clara still felt disgusted.
Nyx also had absolutely no desire to go back to the lab—there were surely unspeakable secrets in that company! When the time comes and the monopoly is in place, World Tree Technology will tear off its ‘technology company’ mask and reveal its true face as an ‘evil organization!’
That’s usually how the story goes.
Just as Clara was harboring her malicious speculations about World Tree Technology, Sista came out of the bathroom, blow-drying her hair.
But she was only wearing a towel wrapped up to her chest.
“Oh my? A beauty emerging from her bath, huh?”
Fran teased, circling closer and occasionally squeezing Sista’s muscles.
“Oh, your body’s quite firm~”
Although Sista liked to hug Clara, she’d never had the experience of being touched all over by other girls. She wasn’t used to it, so she squirmed a bit, feeling shy.
To Sista, Clara was already someone special.
Sista, her hair now dry, sat down on the bed and then lay down right next to Clara, reaching out to grope for the little tentacle in Clara’s hair.
Clara couldn’t help but shout:
“Wait, aren’t you going to put your clothes on? You’re not planning to sleep wrapped in just a towel, are you?”
If she rolled over twice in the night, it’d all come off.
“My change of clothes isn’t here…”
Sista’s luggage was still in the Azure Cavalry’s room.
“…Tch, you should’ve brought it over ahead of time!”
But they couldn’t just let her run out wrapped in a towel.
“No choice, I’ll go get it for you.”
With no other option, Clara hopped off the bed.
In order to sleep on the floor in Clara’s room, Lucia ran back to her own guest room to fetch a futon.
But as soon as she stepped outside, she ran into a familiar woman.
“Good evening, Miss Rabi.”
The resort staff with long, silvery-white hair was dressed smartly in a fitted uniform, carrying a tablet as she walked along the guest wing’s path.
Seeing Lucia, Rabi paused to think, then said:
“Hehe, you’re the sweet-talking hero company intern…”
“My name’s Lucia, Miss Rabi.”
“Where are you hurrying off to so late?”
They’d had a brief interaction in the hangar before, and Lucia’s sincere nature had left a good impression on Rabi.
To be precise, Lucia had straightforwardly complimented Rabi’s looks.
“We’re staying over in Senior Clara’s room, but there’s only one bed in the guest room, so I wanted to go get a futon to sleep on the floor~”
Lucia answered honestly, but Rabi shook her head with a wry smile.
“Heh, that probably won’t work. Our mattresses and bed frames are all integrated, you know? Even if you could get the mattress off, it’d be so heavy you definitely couldn’t move it by yourself…”
“Eh? Really? I’ve never looked that closely before.”
Rabi then made a suggestion:
“How about this, I’ll take you to the supply storeroom and you can grab a bedding set to use as a futon.”
“A summer-themed resort has bedding?”
The selling point of this resort was precisely its summery landscape.
Rabi replied, “No, the climate here is actually the opposite of Central City’s. When Central City enters summer, it’s pleasantly cool and wintry here.”
“Oh, then I’ll trouble you!”
“Please, follow me.”
The supply storeroom was in a building connected behind the service center. It was a bit of a detour, but Lucia could manage—
“Whoops!”
Just as she was thinking that, she missed a step on the stairs and stumbled, falling forward into Rabi, who was walking ahead.
“Careful.”
Rabi happened to turn around just then, and Lucia’s head bounced right into the safety airbags of Rabi’s chest, sending her popping back up to stand on the stone steps.
What incredible springiness.
It all happened in a split second. Coming back to her senses, Lucia could only mumble shyly, “Mi-Miss Rabi, your figure is really something…”
“Oh dear? Saying that again?”
“I mean it!”
Rabi walked ahead, and Lucia had to quicken her steps to catch up.
“Miss Rabi, you definitely have the best figure of any woman I’ve ever seen! No wonder you’re the luxury resort’s guide—ordinary people couldn’t do it! The requirements must be super high, right?”
She wasn’t flattering, just sincerely complimenting her.
Since coming to Central City, Lucia had found most women’s figures to be a bit lacking—many were even not as good as her own.
And precisely because she was a clumsy girl who couldn’t even use cosmetics well, she admired those confident, elegant urban women, hoping one day to transform herself.
“Hehe, your mouth really is sweet.”
Rabi could tell the words were genuine, so she found them pleasant to hear.
“So, do you want to become like me?”
“I do! Are you maybe going to teach me some secret beauty and fitness tips? Ah, wait, I need to grab a notepad…”
“…Sigh, never mind.”
Rabi glanced back at Lucia several times, as if she’d given up, shaking her head with a sigh.
“We’ll talk later—let’s go inside first.”
With just a few exchanges, they’d arrived at the storeroom’s side door.
Rabi swiped the magnetic key to unlock the door. The entire resort was newly built, so the storeroom was quite clean, with no musty smell at all.
She led Lucia to the shelf where the bedding was kept.
All the bedding was packed in soft bags with handles—it was clear they were all brand new.
“Can you carry it?” Rabi asked.
“Mhm, I’m pretty strong.”
Just as Lucia said that, she suddenly turned her head to look at the back of the storeroom.
Because they’d only come for bedding, Rabi hadn’t turned on all the lights, so it was pretty dim deeper inside, and Lucia couldn’t see clearly, but it seemed like something darted past.
“What is it?” Rabi asked.
#
“..There was some kind of sound over there?”
“Probably nothing.”
Following Lucia’s gaze, Rabi denied it.
“This is just a storeroom. No one’s been in here for ages.”
#
“…But there’s definitely something moving over there.”
Should they go check it out?
That’s what Lucia thought, but she didn’t have the courage to explore the darkness.
Rabi stood behind her, as if waiting for her reaction.
As Lucia’s eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness, she saw it.
A pair of red eyes, staring at her intently from the shadows.
“There’s—there’s a Moon Rabbit here too!”
But when Lucia spun around in panic,
the person behind her had already vanished without a trace.
Oh dear.