Chapter 1415: with translation of chapter title

NO. 31: discovered discovered discovered

There's quite a bit of work to be busy with today, so you guys have lunch first—remember to nap, especially Bofang and Suzi who will come this afternoon to continue training.

Even if Suzi's potion preliminary test can affect training results, it's still only a rough test; before the next round of verification test preparations, don't act as the tester first.

Including you, Suzi.

Saying we're companions, a team, doesn't need to be repeatedly emphasized; don't conduct experiments alone.

Third floor of the upper division of Meipo Dormitory.

Under the Hongying doorplate marked ManhattanCafe/YukinoBijin, the half-open door is common at this time.

Manchester Chazuo, grinding coffee, waited silently for the roommate named Snow Beauty to return from laundry.

Although such a room should only have herself, she always felt she wasn't alone, as if some familiar someone was watching her, causing her to unconsciously scan the whole room several times.

Not a 'friend', nor a soul that occasionally appears on campus.

The vision of spiritism couldn't help her; only that inexplicable intuition of hers was reminding her of something.

In short… it must be something harmless……

Then it's fine.

The grinding process progressed to boiling, and with her hands free she rubbed the card that always brought comfort. Chazuo set the coffee machine timer, then immediately sat beside the bed, quietly thought for a moment, and lay on her side.

It didn't matter that the door wasn't shut tightly; the chance of a thief appearing in the central horse girl dormitory was negligible, and her roommate was a kind, gentle, and quiet peer, allowing her to close her eyes with complete peace of mind, breathe evenly, and immediately drift into sleep.

Without a doubt, it was due to ability.

That speed, far faster than her usual falling asleep, was the outward manifestation of her technique for entering this night-city before her eyes.

In this dreamscape background fully imprinted from the trainer, simply walking, simply being present, simply feeling the city was like feeling the trainer herself, letting her fully enjoy peace and comfort while also, through this tiny, unknown connection, quietly reflecting a corner of the dream's original self in reality.

"Since it involves the horse girl I train, I certainly can't just sit idly by, but my schedule these days also truly hasn't come to a relaxing pause."

"I can at most squeeze out one to two hours of free time each day."

Gentle and low, that familiar voice echoed outside the city, carrying a slight reverberant echo.

And when she leapt up to the top of the spire-like building, pointing her finger at the dark sky sparsely dotted with stars and tracing points of fairy-tale-like splendor, the night curtain then, with the following words, slightly unfolded its layers.

"April, once the initial phase is mostly over, I will probably be relatively free, but I can't guarantee that personal matters won't get in the way."

Gray, blue, like the outline of a suit and tie, huh… is that Xīqí the trainer? Staring at the low-brightness edge of the image, Chazuo didn't blink.

Using the secretly seized dream foundation as a link, she established a one-sided consciousness peephole.

Although because the trainer's dream is not unique, the signal is often poor, yet because the underlying consciousness world is always unchanging, she can still occasionally have a stable image and relatively stable voice.

That was enough to satisfy her.

After all, the image is ultimately secondary.

Even the voice is.

Merely curiosity after fulfilling the main goal.

And if you ask her what her main goal is, naturally it is the night curtain itself, which remains difficult to change significantly regardless of how the background and outline shift.

That is also a kind of projection.

A method distinct from the spirit-medium dream techniques of necromancy she had learned before, using the massless Hei'an to correspond to similar things as its base tone.

Around Chazuo, there is no purer base tone more similar to a spirit that holds countless monster cards and reflects countless strange forms in its heart.

That base tone is far deeper and more inclusive than what Chazuo holds, and because of its inclusiveness, there is no connection to a Hei'an ruler, nor does it simply map that synchronous depth here.

That depth pervades the sky yet is also rooted in the city; the whole city resembles a giant water mirror, reflecting distant shattered moonlight, and even the borrowed base tone still displays a true, vivid pattern.

This is fine.

Chazuo thought.

It is precisely by relying on this secretly successful attempt that she manages to stand out under the trainer, becoming an obedient, sensible child who doesn't cause trouble.

She need not cling to the trainer like Suzi does, like a willful, troublesome girl constantly worrying whether she adds to the trainer's annoyance.

She doesn't need to cling, doesn't need to be close; she watches from afar the colors of the spirit's evolution.

Like petting a cat, like stroking a snake.

She gazes upon that fascinating Hei'an, immersing herself in her longtime little hobby, gaining long-term tranquility.

No one will know.

Even the occasional 'friend' who comes to visit in the dream lacks the ability to notice the dream's wrinkles, cannot pass through the curtain filled with black mist, and cannot glimpse this small night curtain guarded by the invisible black mist of Jiantan Jiee.

"Chazuo, are you asleep?"

"……"

A sudden gentle call broke the immersion in her amber eyes; the silently sighing Chazuo lowered her head, gazing at the ground far below due to the height.

Yet she still simply slipped her hands into her pockets and stepped down.

"... What's up?"

Reality, the dormitory—she opened her eyes and looked at her brown-haired roommate, who had taken on a small-animal air from being startled by her own opening eyes.

"Eh! Are you awake," Xuezhi Meiren showed the strap hanging from her forearm, "I brought some scones back, wondering if you'd like some."

"... Let's eat together," said Chazuo as she pushed herself up, then immediately pointed to the coffee machine by the table, "I've brewed coffee, it'll be ready soon."

"Uh... okay......"

As a farm girl from the countryside, Xuezhi Meiren wasn't very accustomed to this big city's foreign drink; although she stiffened a bit upon hearing it, she also didn't reject her roommate's good intention.

After all, to be frank, although she isn't used to it, she constantly can smell her roommate's coffee and is invited to taste it; after such occasions piled up, Xuezhi Meiren could somewhat grasp the meaning of this.

If she were to make this a topic, she still had too much she didn't understand, so when she saw Chazuo jump up from the bed and run to the small table, she opened her mouth to ask about something else she cared about:

"Chazuo, have you been feeling sleepy lately?"

"... Huh?"

"Because... I often see you dozing off from time to time; is the training too tiring?"

——

"……"

Amidst the night curtain that had not yet fully faded, the black‑haired horse girl standing beneath the neon sign gazed at the blue‑haired, purple‑eyed intruder, saying nothing.

"I recall there should be a liquor store around here; do you remember?"

Like a social terror‑monger overly familiar with small talk, the uninvited guest's long staff, illuminated by the light, cast a reflection that turned the face beneath the opposite black hair pitch black.