"Yukina! Sorry, I lost track of time!"
Chiba hurried back from the underground laboratory's exit to the Japanese-style wooden house. He pushed open the back door and blurted out the words the moment he entered.
The dim sunlight poured through the wide-open doorway, instantly dyeing the areas of the first floor touched by its rays a golden hue.
"It's fine. We could leave early tomorrow morning instead."
In the living room on the first floor of the Japanese-style wooden house, a girl in white sat by a low table likewise bathed in golden sunlight streaming through the windows. Hearing Chiba's somewhat hurried words, she turned to him with a faint smile and said so.
Beside her lay a pile of packed luggage, as though she would be moving out for some time.
"No, leaving early tomorrow morning would be too rushed."
As he walked over to Yukina and studied the pile of luggage, wondering how to carry it all while minimizing the number of trips, Chiba spoke.
Now that the Peace Alliance had ended and the village was thriving, the Ninja Engineering Corps had resumed operations. As one of its key people in charge, Yukina had to go there tomorrow to oversee matters.
Hirohiko had already gone over first thing this morning.
Yukina had originally planned to leave this morning as well, but the Defense Force needed a handover, so it had been delayed until now.
Incidentally, Chiba had finally learned why the Defense Force had been both efficient and error-free throughout the Peace Alliance.
It had all been Yukina's doing. Because she had commanded everything personally, everything had been so orderly.
To be honest, when Chiba learned of this, all he could do was smile wryly. He should have guessed long ago. For the Defense Force to perform so