Chapter 1702: NO. 317: No Need for Examination

NO．317：No Need for Examination

"Trainer."

"Please speak."

Occasionally, the black-haired horse girl who always needs to ponder before speaking will discard her usual silence.

Though they are few, for that equally special trainer, it is enough to cultivate the ability to respond instantly.

"Is this really okay?" she asked softly, walking down a quiet yet dark road.

Even if the weather is clear, the full moon hangs in the sky.

The celestial phenomena of Heaven Gate City always have a hint of artificial component; the night sky is no exception. Even that full moon itself is a perfect combination of exquisitely designed modeling and texture, a two-in-one.

Travelers from Earth often realize this immediately. After all, the brightness and size of that full moon are unreasonably large; in certain unique positions, one can even capture shocking giant moon scenes with an ordinary camera, which can be said to be adding personal aesthetic private goods in the restoration process.

Although it is private goods, it is cool, so the voices of support are always louder than opposition; although it is private goods, the pursuit of being bigger, brighter, and rounder is truly real, not merely seeking a result in visual effects. Moreover, because of the giant artificial light hanging in the sky, it actually makes the excessive artificial light on the ground seem unnecessary, leaning more toward pure appreciation and entertainment rather than practicality.

However, the shaded path beneath the green canopy maintains an abnormal darkness, solemnly rejecting all the splendor of starlight and moonlight.

But it is merely that solemn appearance.

Truly rejecting brilliance means there's no point in gazing at the sky; without light to compose a spectrum, forming an image would mean seeing nothing at all.

For most of the time in Heaven Gate City, physics still applies; once you realize this, you'll discover it is not reflection but absorption.

Darkness cautiously devours a limited range, forming this stretch of road that should be filled with unknown danger.

But these two treat darkness as nothing, walking with calm and steady steps.

One has dim golden eyes, the other has steady blood-red eyes, revealing their current state of mind.

Both are thoughtful actions; some considered it extremely early but disliked the conclusion, while others made up their minds only today, yet are very resolute.

"Rather than good or bad, I believe what's more important is whether it should or shouldn't be done."

"It is clearly a fireworks festival, clearly a yukata gathering, clearly an opportunity that lovers and friends accompanying each other should not miss, yet they insist on taking a walk in this gloomy, dark forest..."

Graceful City Chazuo is occasionally a bad kid, but more often a good kid.

Monopolizing the trainer's tranquil moments is certainly worth immersing in, but she is not so blind as to overlook the danger the other faces in interpersonal relations.

Rather, she simply does not understand.

The trainer, who always seems to have maxed out interpersonal social skills, full of the maturity and composure of a respectable adult, why would they make such a low-level mistake at such a crucial moment?

Compared to the opportunity this itself brings, leaving the girlfriends' abnormal behavior on standby seems like a carefully crafted trap—Chazuo, who firmly believes the trainer wouldn't be that stupid, can only think in this direction.

But even if heading in that direction…… who is the trap meant to ensnare, and why would it ensnare them?

She does not understand.

Even if the trainer directly answered her doubts, she still wouldn't understand.

"Should or shouldn't…?"

It sounds like they're considering some necessity, but what is the necessity of this… this kind of thing?

"Do you not feel that everyone's focus has gone awry, Chazuo?"

"... Focus?"

"Yes, focus." the trainer said heavily.

"Losing focus, in the pursuit they forget why they are pursuing. Mutual blame and scheming, even if placed in the most favorable conditions of the arena, they still cannot find their proper posture and position."

"Do you not feel that they need to calm down a bit?"

"..."

Chazuo feels like they understood something but aren't quite sure; for a moment, they're even more unsure whether they should break the paper window of this vague conversation.

Because she suddenly felt a sense of panic.

A kind of panic that feels like speaking up would overturn everything in the present.

One cannot say whether that is good or bad, but that extreme unease is exceptionally clear, clear enough to feel as if one could instantly draw a conclusion.

One does not want to face the unknown, nor accept the development where the currently familiar world suddenly collapses.

She even does not want to think about it in detail.

One does not want to use known information to deduce how that could unfold.

For a moment, it was as if her thoughts were confined like drawing a prison on the ground, struggling in the narrow crack after the world suddenly shrank, and in the extraordinarily difficult, sluggish struggle, she occasionally touched upon something, but before she could fully feel it, she had to drag it along.

"But…" At the instant of speaking, the sluggish thought could not even turn a bit, and only words spoken without thought burst out.

"But what about the older sister and them?"

"No need to worry~"

That tone, relaxed yet with a hint of playfulness, is a unique intonation only shown between lovers and close friends.

Unlike the usual heroic and carefree ease, this is also familiar to that girl.

Thus she stopped, looking toward the trainer who had also stopped beside her.

The darkness originally attracted by her naturally cannot obscure her radiant golden eyes; she can clearly see the empty position quickly manifest into a graceful, elegant figure, and more intimately, she directly wraps one arm around the trainer's neck—a blue-haired woman.

"……"

"I say, hey, that spot next to Little Snake is mine!"

Before she could even say anything in her astonishment, the pink-haired JK who always can be heard before seen argued her case, causing Chazuo's gaze to shift again toward the thicket ahead that should likewise have been shrouded in darkness.

There, Miss Shinjou Akane, who had parted the large leaves characteristic of tropical plants, appeared in a furious state.

The manner of quickly rushing over could be described as full of vigor, further increasing Chazuo's astonishment, almost making her unable to resist looking at the Gatanjeer she kept gripping in her hand.

Has the link been broken?

No.

Is it because too many commands were issued in controlling the darkness, making it unstable?

As she was just thinking that, when she undid a command at the edge, she saw the banana leaves not far away suddenly curl and wither, as if struck by a potent poison.

…… also made her instantly regain her command, to prevent that irreversible damage from spreading or even causing friendly fire.

Hei'an is operating normally.

Just as if seeing through her thoughts, he actually, with astonishing acuity, noticed the abnormal state of the banana leaves not far away; Aomo, on one hand, used words to dispel her hesitation, on the other hand opened his arms to welcome Qian's ball-charging rush.

Go, go, make way quickly.

A certain pink-haired JK who prided herself on being the first to arrive, the youngest, and the most willful, even after rushing into her boyfriend's arms, still stretched out a hand to drive away the people beside.

"Then I'll go to the other side~," said the older sister, easily enough.

"Not allowed!" but the pink-haired JK remained strict.

The other side is Qiena-chan's!

She also took good care of her peers, as if wanting to demonstrate the hierarchy of superiority and inferiority characteristic of Jidong people.

So, has Texas arrived?

Compared to the affectionate nickname Qiena-chan, the opposite instead more readily follows the habit of addressing colleagues from the old days on Rhodes Island.

Here.

Indeed, without Qian needing to speak, her trajectory upon arrival was carried out by that silent, steady wolf-woman. Merely because they were both wearing yukata, they made an unconscious dodge while passing through the forest leaves.

Moreover, her appearance also made Chazuo's gaze more confused, unconsciously forming a guess and looking toward the trainer to try to confirm it.

And this glance also left her stunned again.

The trainer's other side was being occupied by a silver-haired sister adorned with a whale ornament, suddenly causing her Hei'an, which should have had detection capabilities, to sense nothing.

Wait! Why is Isamara occupying that spot! Wasn't it said that was Qiena-chan's spot!

I don't mind either.

"How can you not care!" the pink-haired JK, dragging someone's sleeve, wore a face of lamenting their misfortune and anger at their lack of effort.

That's exactly why you suffer losses!! Be careful of being surpassed by newcomers like Holorsea and Mujina!

Huh? Little Qian still calls me by my full name behind my back? Really heartbreaking...

……

The already numb black-haired horse girl merely gazed at the trainer from this moment on.

This also made Aomo, whose arms were being 'confined' by a person on each side, unable to shrug, and he could only say with a helpless expression:

Just as you see, they don't need to worry.

Their center of gravity is perfectly balanced.