Uninvited Guests……
Guided to the mansion that Sagakure Yuri usually resided, Kurumi and the others were taken aback by the sight.
“……Box?” (Ariadne Foxlot)
“……A box?” (Yukishiro Maya)
“……Yokan?” (Tokisaki Kurumi) (TL Note: Yokan can mean a sweet jelly dessert or a western house)
“……Haah. Did someone just make a pun with Yokan just now?” (After five seconds, it was Higoromo Hibiki who pinched her cheeks to confirm this was the pre-arranged place) Anyway, Sagakure Yuri’s mansion was box-shaped, so the appearance of a box did feel suitable.
It had a dull, dark, and blue color that wasn’t very noticeable.
“It’s spacious and large inside. Rest assured. Come in ? ”
As Yuri pushed their backs, the girls accepted her hospitality with helpless smiles.
The door opened.
The interior appearance gave a different impression of a faded inorganic material. Fading, but there were also other strange things noticed in various other ways. For example, a chandelier was on the ceiling, but it was surrounded by unpainted concrete walls. The red carpet was luxurious, but it was underneath a transparent glass-like material brightly illuminated by the lights.
Was this modern architecture, pretending to be classical, or simply the whims of the Dominion Yuri? Regardless, the meaning behind this design choice was quite unknown.
But compared to these strange decorations, Kurumi’s eyes were focused on a particular girl.
“……W-Wel……come.”
Accompanied by an awkward voice, the girl??Sagakure Yui, lowered her head.
“Ah.” “Oh dear.” “……” “Fumu.” “Mu.”
The reactions of all five people seeing her outfit were all completely different. Sagakure Yui was not wearing her usual simple and elegant sailor fuku dress <Izuna>, but rather a maid costume.
Moreover, it was in a maid café style rather than a classical style. A miniskirt with a looming garterbelt.
An attractive (eye-catching) type of maid outfit.
Not only was it fairly straightforward, but it had a comprehensive inclination towards a certain type of sex appeal. An outfit that was both cute and erotic accompanying a beauty that could pull it off. It was impossible for Yui to not be embarrassed wearing this.
“Well, well. Do you usually wear this?”
“No. But today is special, so. ……Even though I think my normal clothes are better for me.”
“What are you saying; Yui is the cutest little sister in the world!”
Yuri proudly raised her chest. Hearing those words, Yui sunk her head down even lower.
“The cutest girl in the world is seven year old Kurumi-san! No sorry, Kurumi-san is always cute!”
“……Tokisaki Kurumi. Doesn’t it feel a bit excessive to always threaten your partner with a gun?”
“This is my arbitrary decision.”
“Anyway, I hope everyone can get a good rest here today. This extremely adorable maid Yui will satisfy whatever requirements you need.”
“I’m in your care.”
Quickly, Yui bowed her head again.
“Hey. Yuri-chan, Yuri-chan……I want you to lift up her skirt with a smile. Is that service possible?” 
Hearing Ariadne’s request, Yui let out a small scream. After deeply thinking it over for a while, Yuri answered slowly.
“Well……it’s possible……but I wonder if there’s no……”
“So it is possible……”
As Hibiki said while somewhat surprised, Yuri proudly straighten her chest once again.
“Because my Yui is so cute!”
Then, at this moment, Hibiki felt a strange feeling passing through her head again.
(Huh?)
Just like a subtle contradiction, the feeling of something distorted. However, even Kurumi, who was twice as sharp as a normal person, didn’t notice this.
Only Hibiki was able to feel this deviation.
But??. Hibiki eventually decided to ignore this sense of contradiction. It had nothing to do with her or Kurumi, and she personally had no right to call it out.
If she was a good friend, Hibiki would have pointed out without hesitation, but they were as close as strangers.
Well, this shouldn’t matter, as Hibiki whispered that to herself while grabbing Kurumi’s wrist.
“Come, let’s go and see our room. Kurumi-san!”
“That’s right. Can you please show us the way, Yui-san?”
“As you command, please come here dear guests.”
Yui began leading everyone. While starting to climb the central staircase, Hibiki unconsciously felt her body shrink back.
“There needs to be a degree of not being shameful.”
Kurumi sighed in surprise as she looked away from Hibiki.
“……?”
Yui turned her head around and understood the meaning quickly from Hibiki’s posture. She then hurriedly pressed her hand against her skirt.
“In a sense, it’s amazing that you are Kurumi-san’s partner.”
While letting out a sigh, Kurumi began shaking Hibiki’s head.
“I’ve been trying to toss her aside recently.”
“Sorry, but I’m about to vomit from this shaking, so please let go of me……”
So then,
The room they arrived at under Yui’s lead was just as chaotic as the lobby room decorations.
The beds were as luxurious as any first-class hotel, but the walls were transparent glass bricks.
Rather than be lit by a chandelier, the entire ceiling was glowing.
“If you say ‘Yui turn off, the AI will automatically activate to turn off the lights in response.”
Yui’s words of course caused the lights to vanish and the entire room to be submerged in total darkness.
“……Sorry. It seemed to have responded to my words just now.”
“If you don’t teach the words to turn back the lights as soon as possible, Hibiki-san will transform into a pervert lurking in the dark.”
“Yui, lights up! Yui, lights up!!”
“Kurumi-san, isn’t your prejudice against me growing worse with each passing day!? Yui-san is looking at me with incredulous eyes!”
Hibiki wanted to cry a little.
Sagakure Yuri lay on her bed and stared at the ceiling, suddenly recalling when Yui was still alive.
She and her sister lived through fighting. Although Yui had dropped out midway through, Yuri recreated her as a mechanical doll.
But the more she recreated her, the more she noticed.
She knew nothing about the girl named Sagakure Yui.
Their last conversation really was the worst.
Sister, I have my own ????? .
So, I have to ?????????? this house
I’m ?????????? !
At the end of it all, they fought and parted ways.
And to this very day, this was Yuri’s regret. It was a lurking feeling of separating and being left behind……even now.
However, regrets gradually disappear like letters drawn on the sandy beach.
Even though her sister died, she continued fighting in the Seventh Region Netzach and constantly met various people. The joy brought by these various circumstances gradually diluted the sadness.
Yuri thought there must be a degree of ruthlessness.
It’s hard to say that I love my sister.
While thinking about that, Yuri would sometimes ask this to her mechanical dolls. But they would always reply like this.
“No, that’s not true, Yuri-sama.”
The answer was exactly as she wanted.
Sure enough, the contents of her mind were strange.
The sound of knocking came from the door.
“Come in.”
Yuri responded in a somewhat lazy manner.
As soon as Yui left, Hibiki rushed for the bed.
“I’m· so ·tired????????????!”
Hibiki screamed.
“As the chief, I’m the one who should be tired.”
Maintaining a constant poker face was also quite tiring. Although they did win in the end, the possibility of defeat was always present. Even the sweat trying to ooze out had to be controlled by her willpower.
“By the way, what happened to Cistus-san and Carte-san?”
“Ah, Cistus was monitoring the casino’s cameras and Carte-san was watching for any abnormalities around me. If anything went wrong, they would have contacted me right away??that being said, nothing seemed to have happened in the end.”
Of course, even though Carte took the task with confidence, she was a little discouraged that nothing had occurred. Right now she was at a bar being comforted by her four playing cards.
“Huh? Then where is Cistus-san right now?”
“With things having been successfully completed, shouldn’t she be having fun in a casino right now?”
After hearing what Kurumi had said, the image of Cistus gracefully playing card games and slots.
Honestly, it was a bit amusing. For other people watching, it would probably be surprising seeing someone who was the splitting image of Tokisaki Kurumi going around and doing that.
“Only, I’m a little worried.”
“What do you mean?”
Very unusually, Kurumi paused before speaking.
“Ah, it’s nothing. I can’t explain it too well. It just feels a little out of sync. Probably it’s just my imagination.”
Inconsistent, although Hibiki also recognized that feeling, she didn’t think it was due to the fatigue. Anyway, since good results have been obtained, she didn’t think they should bother this too much.
“Finally, next up is the Sixth Region Tiphereth. This is the last region I can teach about. From the Fifth Region and onward, it’ll be all unknowns. What will happen now?”
“Oh, aren’t you intending to keep following?”
Hibiki laughed at Kurumi’s question.
“No way. I’ll follow closely whether if it is the Fifth Region, Fourth Region, or beyond. ……But, before that, we must find a way to go to the First Region Keter.”
“Yes, that’s why we’ll need to talk with the Dominions for that. At the moment, it seems we have the most information.”
“Ah, I see……”
“The other side seems to want more information about the White Queen. Although the information about around battle in the Third Region Binah has been passed onto Jugasaki-san, the communication between Dominions doesn’t seem to be perfect.”
Jugasaki Retsumi. Although she succeeded Banouin Kareha and became Dominion of the Eighth Region Hod??but it seemed she was too busy with work to exchange information to the other regions.
“……If you think about it, if Retsumi-san contacted us properly at the casino, we wouldn’t have to suffer that sort of mental torture.”
“It would be the same regardless. They wouldn’t be able to trust a new Dominion that easily. “
After all, they probably all wanted to know. The girl named Tokisaki Kurumi, how would a true Spirit compare to them who are ‘Quasi”.
And at the same time, determine if she was also hostile against the White Queen.
“In other words, you passed their test, right Kurumi-san?”
“I didn’t use violence. Although I made some threats, it was within the acceptable range. And??”
Knock, knock.
“Come in.”
Hearing Kurumi say that, Ariadne, who had narrowed her eyes as thin as thread, opened the door.
“Ah, so you’re still awake. Are you free?”
“I am.”
“In that case, why don’t we talk a little?”
“……Yes, yes. Of course, I also want to inquire about all sorts of information.”
Kurumi stood up. Hibiki also naturally wanted to get out of bed, but Ariadne stopped her.
“Sorry. Hibiki-chan is a little impossible.”
“Hey!”
“Oka-chan doesn’t like Hibiki-chan being present. I’m really sorry.”
Miyafuji Oka??the Dominion of the Sixth Region Tiphereth. It seemed she couldn’t even stand being in the same room as Hibiki.
“It can’t be helped. I’ll go alone. ……Hibiki-san, wait here for a while.”
“Guu.”
Now that Kurumi had spoken, Hibiki could only shut up and accept this.
Leading the way through the hallway, Ariadne asked Kurumi.
“What exactly is Hibiki-chan after all to Kurumi-chan?”
“Well, what about it? There isn’t enough time to explain it.”
“How long will it take?”
“Hmm……half a day?”
“That’s too pesky. Never mind then, can we trust her?”
“Of course. If she can’t be trusted, then there wouldn’t be anything real in the Neighboring World.”
“……That’s a lot of trust. ……Well, let’s end that topic for now. Today, the topic that’s been given priority over everything else is??”
“The White Queen, right?”
Ariadne nodded as she opened the door. Inside, Yukishiro Maya and Miyafuji Oka were already waiting. Sagakure Yuri’s figure wasn’t present.
“Ara. Where is the critical Dominion of the Seventh Region Netzach?”
Miyafuji Oka nodded with a difficult look.
“Yeah. She said she was feeling a little sick.”
“……Can a Dominion even feel sick?”
“They can be. Although we Dominions can be compared to other Quasi-Spirits in the Neighboring World……the intense strength of being called that wouldn’t make it simple to get sick.”
“Even those disgusting Empties wouldn’t get sick.”
“Oka bluntly spoke out. Kurumi remembered about her in the Eight Region Hod while staring sharply at Oka. Perhaps noticing Kurumi’s feelings, Ariadne pulled on her sleeves.
“She’s not saying this maliciously.”
“Doesn’t that make it even more extreme then?”
“……A while ago, her region came under attack from the White Queen. So her pride is a bit hurt.”
The reason why the White Queen could sneak into her region was through manipulating the Empties.
Although the Sixth Region Tiphereth had purged the Empties and temporarily restored stability, that loss still couldn’t be ignored.
“……I heard about Banouin-san. But she was a Dominion. That means she couldn’t have been an Empty??”
Maya raised her hand in objection to Oka’s words.
“……I think Tokisaki Kurumi-san should know something about this mystery.”
Maya stared at Kurumi with transparent pupils.
“Yes. ……Perhaps the person who knows that bet in the world is me.”
“Wait, before that, why are you a Spirit??”
“I’ll explain this in order. Of course, there are things I don’t want to talk about. Is that fine?”
For example, things such as the nature of her own existence and Hibiki’s painful wish.
Kurumi especially couldn’t say anything about Hibiki here. But for her motivations of going to the other world, that could be said proudly here.
Ariadne laid on the table while twirling her finger in a round loop.
“……No problem. We also don’t want to say too much here.”
“Now then??where to start. Let’s begin with Malkuth as the starting point. ”
A lot had happened. Some parts were ridiculous and others were sad.
And most importantly, there were the fights.
It was a rare long speech coming from Kurumi. However, most of it wasn’t an emotional story, but rather information about the White Queen’s specs.
For the Dominions, the White Queen was a complete enigma.
Defeating the Former Dominion Carte À Jouer in the Third Region Binah and began invading the Spirits in other regions??no, Quasi-Spirits.
“Inverted clone. ……I see. Although this phenomenon hasn’t been seen in Quasi-Spirits, it makes sense that the White Queen is such an existence.”
Certainly, Maya was nodding her head to that idea.
“However, the cause of inversion is still unknown. Could Tokisaki Kurumi be the reason?”
“I may or may not be the reason. However, the one thing I can say is my determination to kill her.
Although I am a traveler at best for this Neighboring World??as long as she is an inverted clone, it must be settled between us.”
Maya and Oka both turned towards Ariadne at the same time.
“Hmm……probably true. There was some passion in your words just now.”
“I’m a bit reluctant to accept my emotions being read……but can this be used as proof of my veracity?”
“Can be. ……Is that all about the White Queen’s abilities?”
“There’s??”
Ariadne raised her head after sensing Kurumi’s slight hesitation.
“What’s wrong?”
“……Your ability really makes it awkward. Really, it’s just conjecture right now rather than being confirmed. Under that premise, do you still want to hear about it even though it may just be speculation?”
“Of course. Tokisaki Kurumi’s hypothesis would be useful no matter how outrageous it is.”
After Maya said that, both Oka and Ariadne nodded in agreement.
“Alright then. It’s about how the White Queen is manipulating the Empty. The answer is that she made them fall in love.”
There was a brief silence.
Finally, Maya asked a little hesitantly.
“……Fall in love?”
“Yes, that’s right. Yes, yes, of course even I admit it’s a ridiculous notion, but the events in the Eighth Region Hod have made me come to this conclusion.”
Kurumi described in detail about Banouin Kareha’s journey into becoming an Empty until she eventually disappeared.
About how she fell in love.
Real love was taken away as she was implanted with a false love. Under that pain and distress, Kareha chose to let herself disappear.
By the end of that story, all three of them had frozen expressions. Among them, Oka’s expression turned so ghastly pale that she looked like she was about to faint.
“……There’s something called a parasite over in the other world. Some parasitic insects can even change their hosts’ original goals for survival and force them to commit suicide. That’s exactly what she’s doing.”
Ariadne looked down sadly.
“……To have been taken away. That’s……really sad.”
“In other words……isn’t it meaningless to just expel the Empty?”
Maya answered rather than Kurumi.
“No, that wasn’t for vain. Assuming what she says is true, I’ll make further assumptions. There are different stages a Quasi-Spirit must go through before becoming a slave of the White Queen.
Planting the feeling of love in the Quasi-Spirit and waiting for it grow until they become an Empty and then finally her subordinate. As long as the first and second stages are noticed, it may be possible to suppress this change.”
“……Well, that is something you Dominions have to consider. Now then, please give me the information about how to get to the First Region Keter.”
“……”
The first person to speak was Oka.
“There are no clues in the Sixth Region Tiphereth. However, my region is the central hub of the Neighboring World. If there is information, it should come to me first. If there isn’t anything, that means??”
“There are no clues, right?”
“……I don’t have any information in my Second Region Chokmah. Well, in the first place my region has almost nothing but a library tower.”
Hearing what Maya had said, Kurumi slanted her head.
“Library tower?”
“It’s the only building in my region. It’s where all the books in the Neighboring World are collected.”
“……Is there any information about the First Region Keter written there?”
“No, I’ve already read everything. So when I say no, I mean no.”
Kurumi sighed after hearing what Maya had said.
“No clues.”
“……I have a clue.”
As Ariadne raised her hand, everyone immediately became nervous. Then, she spoke with a smile as if intending to destroy the current atmosphere.
“The White Queen. Isn’t she also looking for the First Region Keter? If so, if you find her, there’s bound to be some clues.”
“Ara, ara. Are those words intended for me to crush the White Queen, Ariadne-san?”
“Completely correct.”
As if there was no malice, the girl smiled innocently.
“……As I said earlier, we’ll have to settle the score eventually. But to be honest, there’s not much I can do right now. In any case, the other side has countless troops. So, do you want to assist me? Of course, I don’t think you have the right to refuse.”
“Of course.”
Oka nodded.
“……It can’t be avoided. But relatively speaking, I won’t be of much use. After all, I’m not a Quasi-Spirit suitable for battle. If you want to appeal to such violent means, those two are recommended.”
“What kind of Quasi-Spirits are you two?”
Hearing her question, both of them remained silent. Despite being friendlier, she didn’t have their complete trust.
“Alright, then I’ll change the question. When I talked about the White Queen earlier, didn’t I mention the three chess pieces following her? Rook is the only one I have fought against??can you openly assert that you can defeat her based only on my description?”
“I can win” (Oka) “Probably” (Ariadne) “It’ll be 50-50” (Maya)
“That’s fine enough. For me, the last thing I want to see is being suppressed by numbers when fighting against the White Queen. If it is just Empties, I can handle alone. But having three opponents on the level of Rook would be……”
Even Rook alone was enough to make her struggle a bit. Furthermore, the White Queen was the one who stood at the apex. Even when discounting for any possible betrayal or switching sides, it would be difficult to make them succumb.
Even the ever reliable Hibiki was no match against Rook. Cistus and Carte À Jouer would be enough for one piece each, but that still wasn’t enough.
Without at least one Dominion-class Quasi-Spirit joining the battle, this unfavorable situation couldn’t be broken.
Oka raised her chest and spoke.
“Leave it to me, or rather to all of us. Every Dominion will spare no effort ensuring the White Queen’s downfall.”
“Is that so? Wouldn’t it be difficult for the Ninth Region Yesod since there is several non-combat type Quasi-Spirits there? The Eight Region Hod is still a mess. The Seventh Region Netzach is also the same. Yui-chan has already said that Yuri-chan isn’t good at fighting……”
“Tsuan and Kagarike Haraka. There’s the two of them.”
“Tsuan-chan is in the Fifth Region Gevurah fighting against the invading Empty from the Third Region Binah. Haraka-chan is participating in the killing game in the Tenth Region Malkuth to find a replacement Dominion as soon as possible.”
“Ara. The person called Kagarike Haraka is in the Tenth Region Malkuth?”
“If that region is left in chaos, it’ll also have a negative effect on our regions. All of the Quasi-Spirits in the Tenth Region Malkuth are bad guys. When those who enrich their lives through killing each other enter other regions, our security will become threatened. Furthermore, it would be problematic if the White Queen took advantage of the chaos to take control of the region.”
Maya summarized the situation calmly.
“That being said, what the three of us must do together……if……that……actually works……”
Ariadne’s words gradually became choppier. It seemed her drowsiness had reached its limit.
“So then it’s almost over. Ah, that’s right. Tokisaki Kurumi-san.”
Oka stood up and stretched out her hand.
“Thank you for the advice. Let’s fight together.”
After a little hesitation, Kurumi shook her hand.
Oka quietly left after gracefully bowing.
“??I’ll say good-bye as well. Ariadne Foxlot. Are you heading back tomorrow as well?”
“Yes. Shall we accompany each other along the way?”
“……So be it.”
Maya also left the room. Only Ariadne and Kurumi were left. Those two had just engaged in fierce battle not long ago.
“That went surprisingly smoothly.”
“That’s not true. I can feel that everyone is hiding something.”
“Ah, are you the same, Ariadne-san?”
Ariadne smiled slightly but didn’t answer Kurumi.
Nevertheless, the friendly discussion between the Dominions and Kurumi had concluded.
Starting from tomorrow, the siege against the White Queen was about to commence.
Yukishiro Maya, Ariadne Foxlot, Miyafuji Oka??
If they moved in unison with Kurumi, even the White Queen would have a difficult time.
But on the next day.
“Who……who did this!?”
An incident suddenly came that caused all of their plans to go away.
Sagakure Yuri was killed.
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