"Alas, I expected it to be complicated, but this is truly merciless... Why is there a significant conflict between Anti-Entropy and Schicksal?"
Under a starry night sky, in a hot spring, Tachibana Yuki sat in the warm water, with half of her face submerged, blowing bubbles and muttering.
'Here it comes, in the upper right corner, on top of that pavilion!'
Her playful action of blowing bubbles caused the steam to thicken, obscuring her glance at the pavilion. She pretended to be unaware, lazily leaning on the edge of the pool, and murmured:
"Lady Cocolia's commission, maybe it can wait for two more days? Ah, so annoying, I don't know what kind of personalities they have. The only one I could find, Raiden Mei, was an ice beauty who was difficult to communicate with. My small arms and legs..."
"What did Mother Cocolia ask you to do?"
"It's nothing, but..."
Tachibana Yuki pinched the soft flesh of her arm and answered casually, suddenly turning her head mid-sentence.
The petite girl with an indifferent face floated on the water expressionlessly. Black bows on both sides of her head tied up two flowing curly spirals, and she wore two huge purple gem earrings. The most conspicuous feature was the pair of slender legs wearing exoskeletons under her short skirt—cyberpunk, emotionless loli, the little duck princess we like to see.
"Um, good evening. Do you want to bathe together?"
Tachibana Yuki pinched her arm and said blankly. Although she had noticed Bronya's secret observation, she was still amazed by Bronya's exquisite cuteness up close.
Bronya looked at Tachibana Yuki's expression calmly, a bit surprised by her cute reaction, but she still said calmly:
"Excuse me, but Bronya is concerned about Mother Cocolia's plan. If you don't mind, please tell Bronya what kind of orders Mother Cocolia gave you."
"Well, there's no reason to hide it. She just asked me to hand over the communicator to you... By the way, can Valkyries fly? It's amazing!"
Tachibana Yuki said, reaching out to tentatively touch the water under Bronya, finding nothing.
Her face was even more amazed, and she stared at Bronya with sparkling eyes.
'By the way, we don't seem to have seen Project Bunny 19C!'
'Stand·Project Bunny 19C!'
'Stand Act 2·Motorcycle of Reason!'
'Requiem·Herrscher of Truth!'
'I'm so excited~~!'
Bronya shifted her sight slightly with discomfort. Though she thought Tachibana Yuki was just marveling at her ability, her inexplicable intuition told her there was more to it.
"Hey! Did Mother Cocolia just ask you to forward the communicator? Are you sure?"
"By the way, there's one more thing. She said she knows you don't want to contact her, but at least find time to contact your sisters at home. They miss you very much. That's it."
"I... understand. She really have no other plans?"
Bronya paused, her calm eyes softening a little.
She believed she had almost broken up with Cocolia and was unwilling to take the initiative to contact her. But Rosalia, Lilia, and Sin were different. Even though they had past conflicts, they were now like sisters. Breaking up with Cocolia didn't mean giving up on her other family members.
Tachibana Yuki poured warm water on her arms, moisturizing her snow-white skin, and said calmly:
"I've said that I came here mainly on my own initiative, and it has little to do with Lady Cocolia. Of course, I did ask for her opinion in advance, and she only asked me to hand over the communicator to you, that's all."
"Then what do you want to do?"
"I hope that what happened in Nagazora will not happen again."
"Hmm?"
Bronya's pupils shrank.
Tachibana Yuki leaned against the edge of the pool, playing with her hands in the water, and sighed.
"Alas! The Far East has a population of 130 million. Until a few years ago, it was still the world's second-largest economy. This narrow island nation has a huge amount of resources such as talent, finance, technology, and logistics that attract worldwide attention. So how fortunate we are to be favored by both Anti-Entropy and Schicksal... Then, Nagazora was destroyed, and tens of millions of people suffered unbearable disasters. What do you think is the problem, Miss Bronya?"
"..."
Bronya was speechless.
The direct cause of the fall of Nagazora City was Raiden Mei's awakening as the Herrscher of Thunder. But the fundamental reason lay in a series of operations by Cocolia, with Bronya's help.
Bronya didn't know how serious this sin was, but she knew it was a debt she could never repay in her lifetime. And this debt also included Angel, who now trusted and was close to her.
Bronya's eyes flickered, then dimmed, and she just clenched her fists silently.
Tachibana Yuki observed her reaction, her mood somewhat complicated, but she still focused on her task and continued:
"The main force of Anti-Entropy is out of reach, and the Schicksal branch is isolated overseas. The Far East, which seems to be doubly protected, is actually just a pig that no one cares about! The two major organizations only want our manpower, material resources, and financial resources, and none of them have seriously protected us! The disaster of Nagazora City must not happen again. This country can't bear it, and the people can't bear it. For this reason, I must take action!"
"... Do you know that the Nagazora City incident is actually related to Mother Cocolia?"
Bronya said with a heavy look in her eyes.
Hearing this, she thought that Tachibana Yuki was probably a good person. But in Bronya's eyes, Cocolia was very cruel. Tachibana Yuki had better be prepared; otherwise, it would not be surprising if she was killed one day.
Tachibana Yuki smiled when she heard this, then shook her head bitterly and said:
"How could I not know? Although I am far from qualified to know the plans of these big shots, the Tachibana family is the head of Lady Cocolia's minions in the Far East. We can still see some of her actions before and after the Nagazora incident."
"If you are dissatisfied with Mother Cocolia and came to Saint Freya, you'd better take some precautions. Mother Cocolia... to be honest, she is very dangerous."
"You might as well look over there."
For Bronya's kind advice, Tachibana Yuki pointed to the open space next to her.
Bronya looked as she was told and saw the outline of a huge mecha emerge.
"Although Lady Cocolia is not in the Far East, her eyes and gun are always with me. If you say something bad about Lady Cocolia in front of this guy, she will hear it, Miss Bronya."
"This is the truth. Bronya says the same thing to everyone. But since there is a Titan following you, it means you have really been recognized by Mother Cocolia this time... But why? Does she have any conspiracy again?"
Bronya frowned, becoming more suspicious and fearful.
The last time Cocolia plotted, she destroyed Nagazora City and turned them all into unforgivable villains. This time, there must be a conspiracy to condone Tachibana Yuki and Saint Freya. Is it to deal with Principal Theresa, or is it still evil towards Sister Mei?
Bronya couldn't guess, and she felt heavy in her heart.
Tachibana Yuki admired Bronya's tangled and suspicious reaction. Although her expression didn't change much, the various colors flickering in her gray eyes were very interesting.
'Bad taste!'
'Shut up! I won't do anything bad, can't I just admire it?'
'Oh, so teasing little girls is really addictive.'
'Little duck~ So cute~~'
Tachibana Yuki held her face with both hands, took a deep breath, and smiled with satisfaction.
Want to see advanced chapters? Chapters 1-140 available at patréon.com/PorterOfSomething