A Letter Sent to the Future / Five Unknowns...

Lastly, thank you all again for your company!

As usual, there will be three updates tomorrow.

Chapter One: A Letter Sent to the Future

Day Three After Departure, Clear, Nice Sea

"Nice Sea" was the name we gave the sea we were passing when we set out. After you fell asleep, Nijika was the first to suggest naming the regions we passed through, probably to help everyone get into a better mood. It worked pretty well. I named the river we passed earlier the New Qiantang River, while the name Nice Sea came from a monster resembling the Loch Ness Monster that happened to pass by when we were naming it. Speaking of monsters, sea monsters were generally larger than those on land, and there was also a risk of hitting reefs near the coast. That was why we hadn't taken the boat these past few days, traveling along the coastline instead. The hot-air balloon was slow, but there wasn't much we could do about that. Ako said she wanted to study advanced teleportation magic. I hope she succeeds. I'm also designing a new airship. Today, Lisa used the ingredients at hand to make sea-salt cookies. They were slightly crispier than usual. We found some wild coconuts, and Kita seemed to like them, especially decorating them with fashionable ornaments. I hope that cheered her up a little. Things have been somewhat awkward between us lately because of Ichiri. Even the wisest official can't judge family matters; I don't know how to resolve this either, so I suppose we'll just take things one step at a time.

P.S. Rinko's figure playing in the sea breeze was truly ethereal. After getting her permission, I took several pictures and attached them to the back of this paper.

P.S. The map says Poppin'Party is incredibly far from here, but fortunately, we didn't go the wrong way... Actually, we were still a little off. Still, having the map has definitely given us more confidence.

"P.S..." Sitting beside a wooden table beneath the trees, Shiko bit the end of her pen, stared blankly for a moment, then thought of something else to write and lowered her head to put it down.

She was on a cape, with the sea and a reef that appeared and disappeared among the waves below the cliff. The shade of the trees didn't reach the cliff top, so Shiko had built a small cabin at the edge of the woods to escape the blazing sun. She had also set out a bucket of ice to cool herself down. Sunlight that wasn't quite direct, fresh woodland air, and a cool breeze chilled by the bucket of ice made it the perfect place to think.

If there was one benefit to her other self falling asleep, it was that Shiko finally had a chance to be alone. Ever since they made camp that day, she had stayed here, recording the day's events.

"What are you writing?" A shadow blocked the light. It was Nijika's voice. "Can I see? Ah, I can't read it."

Shiko turned around. "It's written for her, so of course I'm using my native language."

"For her... Oh, I see." Nijika understood. "You're writing down the scenery and things we've seen along the way, so she won't miss out on our journey, right?"

"More or less," Shiko said. "Want to write something too? Our perspectives are different, so what we write should be different as well."

"But I don't know Chinese..." Nijika scratched her cheek.

Shiko burst out laughing. "Write in Japanese. She can obviously read it."

"Ah, I'm such an idiot." Nijika slapped her forehead. "Then give me a pen. I'll start right now."

Amid the rustling footsteps, Yukina and Rinko came over as well. Their faces were slightly sweaty. The weather was gradually growing hotter, and for city girls accustomed to air conditioning, even the shade wasn't necessarily cool. That was why they had come looking for Shiko. At least, there was always ice beside her.

"Then let me write a little too." Once she learned what the two were doing, Yukina spoke up. "I missed the chance to say goodbye to Wu-san earlier. At least let me write her a few letters." For some reason, she picked up a quill from the table. Shiko blinked. That pen had actually been prepared for Ako.

"Then I'll..." Rinko noticed the several photographs of Rinko on the table. She picked one up. Technically, it was flawless, but the thought of her own picture being attached to a letter was embarrassing enough to make her blush. Shiko's face reddened a little too. She pulled out another picture. "Actually... there aren't only pictures of Rinko. There are some of Ichiri too..."

Rinko's face grew even redder. "Could it be... Wu-san likes that type..."

Long hair, socially awkward, and both of them were so...

"Uh!" Shiko panicked. "N-no... Actually, I like all types. If I had to say, I prefer someone more energetic, and a little smaller in every way, someone like... someone like..." Her voice gradually faded. She had caught sight of Kita's red hair flashing past the window.

"Ah." Her expression changed for an instant when she saw that figure. But she immediately returned to her flustered look, as if nothing had happened. No one noticed that fleeting change.

Shiko soon seemed unable to endure everyone's teasing and fled the cabin. She circled around behind it, where Kita was indeed still waiting.

The corners of her eyes relaxed slightly. "Kita..."

Kita turned her face away and interrupted Shiko. "I was just... coming to call you all for dinner."

"Ah..." After a brief moment of disappointment, Shiko put her smile back on. "So, what are we having today?"

Kita had plenty of social experience and quickly returned to normal as well.

"Seafood rice," she said somewhat awkwardly. "And..."

She pulled several sheets of paper from behind her.

"Gotou-san has also been writing letters to Wu-san these past two days, and, um..." She seemed to be merely relaying the words of a stranger. "I wrote one too. For you." She lightly shoved the papers into Shiko's hands, then turned and left.

[Erosion Level...60%]

"Tha... thank you?" Shiko hadn't finished thanking her before Kita had disappeared behind a tree. The forced smile Shiko had managed vanished in an instant. She didn't bring the letters back to the table and place them with her own. Instead, she quietly stuffed them into her pocket. When she returned to the cabin, everyone saw the same Shiko as before—the one furious that her eccentric preferences had been discovered. There seemed to be an extra blue-haired girl beside the table. That blue-haired girl was watching Shiko with a delighted expression, which irritated her greatly.

"Weren't we eating?" she said irritably to Ryo.

"I'm not hungry yet. I smelled the scent of amusement here."

Shiko was just about to explode when Ryo waved the letter in her hand. She was writing a letter to another Shiko too. Shiko's words were forcibly stuck at the tip of her tongue.

"Tha... thank you..." she squeezed out a few words. Seeing her like that, Ryo became even more amused. "This is good. I'm putting it in." She really did start writing on the paper.

"Ah—I'm going to go die somewhere nearby. Farewell, everyone." Shiko turned and ran. Cheerful laughter came from behind her.

At the dinner table, the evening breeze brushed their faces, while firelight illuminated everyone's features. Laughter mingled with the sound of the waves, and a warm atmosphere surrounded the table. Shiko naturally became everyone's target for teasing. Lisa patted her on the shoulder, stuffed several sheets of letter paper into her hands, gave her an ambiguous thumbs-up, and walked away with her mouth covered. Ako proudly displayed some mysterious writing on parchment—she had no idea whether the other Shiko could understand it—then said things like, "Rinrin says to watch out for Shiko-san," before scurrying back. Her words were painfully sharp.

At last, Shiko could take no more. She jumped directly beside Rinko and suddenly produced a bouquet of flowers. "Rinko, actually, I've always had a special feeling for you..."

"Hmmmm?!!!" Everyone gasped in unison. Half of Rinko's body stiffened. Ako was even more direct, hurriedly blocking the two of them and waving her hands, though she couldn't get any words out. Ichiri's face went deathly pale, as if her soul were about to fly out of her body. Only Kita showed no reaction, continuing to shovel half a spoonful of rice into her mouth.

At the center of everyone's attention, Shiko smugly tossed the bouquet into the air. "Phew—hahahaha! Of course, I was lying! Don't worry, Rinko. My feelings for you definitely aren't that kind of liking!" She struck an exaggerated pose. The bouquet scattered overhead, transforming into a rain of flowers that drifted down over her head.

Rinko, Ako, and Ichiri all silently breathed a sigh of relief.

Having successfully taken her revenge, Shiko left the group with a victorious stride and sat on a boulder beside the beach. A smile still lingered on her face. She pulled the letters she had just received from her pocket. She didn't really want to pry into what others had written to another version of herself, but... she was holding Kita's letter now.

The current Kita, writing to another self...

Shiko's fingers gradually stiffened without her realizing it. Her expression changed several times, but in the end, she put the letter back.

A note slipped out from between the remaining letters. Shiko picked it up and tried to put it back, only to find that it contained just one word.

"Keep going." There was also a cute little emoticon beside it.

It was Lisa's handwriting.

Shiko gave a bitter smile.

Chapter Two: Five Unknown People

Shiko put the letters back in her pocket, but didn't immediately return them to the cabin for safekeeping. She lay down where she was, then sat up again and observed her surroundings. After confirming there was no danger, her eyes gradually went blank. Whenever she was alone, she would start thinking about the song her other self had commissioned. It had already become a habit.

She sat there for a long time, until Yukina came over.

"Sorry to disturb you, Wu-san." She sat down beside Shiko. "I want to confirm our exact current location."

Shiko gathered her thoughts and returned to work mode. She shifted to the side, leaving a space between them, and concentrated. The empty patch of ground began to swell with miniature mountains and rivers, gradually forming a sand table. It was broadly divided into four regions: plateau, plains, mountains, and desert. A tiny wooden rod stood in the center, marking the location of the Sky-Piercing Tower.

"We're here..." Shiko found a spot on the sand table with a pushpin and drove it in. "This is how far we've come in the three days since setting out." She marked their starting point with another pushpin not far away.

"Poppin'Party's position hasn't changed much. They're still here." Shiko's hand nearly crossed half the sand table. She pointed to the west, near the coast in the mountainous region. The map given by the giraffe was incredibly useful. It not only provided the rough outline of the entire world, but could also automatically scan nearby regions and provide more detailed terrain maps. At the same time, it continuously updated the current locations of everyone in the wilderness. There were also nine people in the northern desert. Shiko guessed they were probably Kuku-gumi from Seisho, but that was only a guess, since there was no more detailed information.

When she had nothing to do, her imagination often ran wild. She crossed the mountains and enjoyed the gentle breeze from another coast. The others might be living in caves, or perhaps they had already built a few small cabins. But with five people together, they definitely wouldn't find it too difficult. In the blink of an eye, she would be deep in the desert, living among the excellent, dazzling others in an oasis.

Yukina, however, didn't think that far ahead. "It's only after getting the map that we realize how slow we were before." There wasn't much frustration in her voice. If anything, she rarely revealed emotion in her voice.

She asked Shiko, "Any progress on the new airship I commissioned you to design?"

"Yeah." Shiko took out a blueprint and spread it beside the sand table. "The material strength is still a little troublesome, but the overall structure is nearly finished. That's thanks to my experience making hot-air balloons." She took out two jade slips, one transparent and one its original jade color. "As for the power source, I found inspiration from these a few days ago."

"I remember. The transparent one came from Yamada-san."

"That's right." Shiko said, "Before, using a jade slip required breaking it. But after further analyzing its structure recently, I found a way to activate it without damaging it. That allows us to use it like this—" She held one jade slip in each hand. Ripples began spreading from the transparent jade slip in her left hand, and the two heard the deep sound of a bass. As the ripples were released, the transparent jade slip gradually returned to its original jade color, while the jade slip in Shiko's right hand began to glow with a transparent light.

Yukina understood her meaning. "When the one in your left hand is used up, the one in your right has completely copied its effect. That way, the two jade slips can take turns, providing continuous power, right?"

"Exactly." Shiko put away the two jade slips. "Before, Ryo had to power it herself, so the output was inconsistent and the consumption was high. Most of my jade-slip energy is spent making them; copying and activating them consumes almost nothing. With Nijika's help, we can travel for twenty-four hours without interruption—provided the air is safe at night."

"But if we want to handle both propulsion and steering, we'll need to install this structure on both wings of the airship. Do we have enough jade slips?" Yukina remembered that Shiko's limit for making jade slips was determined by her Mental Strength. Because some of it was divided by the existence of her second personality, Shiko's Mental Strength was now the lowest among them all, even lower than Lisa and Nijika's, since their inability to kill enemies made their leveling slow.

"The more familiar I become with jade slips, the lower the manufacturing cost," Shiko said. "Don't worry. This amount is still fine. Maybe one day, making jade slips will be as easy for me as baking a little cake."

Yukina nodded. "Ako is handling the materials. She's studying enchantment magic, so I asked her to try strengthening the materials." Her hand pointed to a location on the sand table near them. "Also, about the five people in this area..."

Aside from the gathered Poppin'Party and the nine suspected members of Kuku-gumi from Revue Starlight, there were five people in the plains. They were scattered about: three were together, while the other two acted alone, far from the group of three. They were all nomadic, remaining active within one area, with no sign of meeting. Although they couldn't see any information about them, Shiko didn't think they were Poppin'Party. Poppin'Party would never deliberately split up, and even if they did, they would definitely reunite soon.

Shiko had many guesses about the five people's identities. Based on what she had experienced here, the group of three might be SICK HACK from the Bocchi the Rock! setting. But if so, the identities of the other two were difficult to determine. Could it be... Several jokes floated through Shiko's mind. She remembered a band teased as having "cumin as its band spirit"—MYGO!!!!!. Could time have passed that quickly in the real world, with MYGO!!!!! already formed? No, no. Jokes were one thing, but MYGO!!!!! wouldn't split up at the drop of a hat, let alone have anything to do with comments like "cumin as its band spirit," which had nothing to do with anime bands. Besides, considering Miss Niiki's situation, they might not be people she knew at all.

"We definitely have to bring them along, right?" Shiko asked.

"Of course," Yukina said. "In this world, every additional person means another chance at survival, even if their primary objective differs from ours."

Thinking about that gave Shiko a headache. The ten-person team's main objective was still to avenge Miss Marina first, then go to the Sky-Piercing Tower to fight the boss. The five people's objective was probably different from theirs. And if they were strangers to Shiko... Just imagining it made the discomfort unique to a socially anxious person, which she hadn't felt in a long time, start acting up.

She tapped herself on the head and forced herself to focus on the matter at hand.

"When can the material problem on Ako's side be solved?" she asked. She was already eager to turn her blueprint into reality.

"I'll go ask." Yukina stood up and walked toward Ako. Shiko followed her.

Ako was lying amid a sea of parchment, not even raising her head. "Heh heh heh... The supreme enchantment magic will be born tomorrow. The runes inherited from the primordial darkness will... will... Ah, save me, Rinrin!"

Shiko didn't wait for Rinko to come over. "Tomorrow, right? Then I'll bring the materials tomorrow for a test. Thanks for the effort~"

Shiko walked away without disturbing Ako's research. She shook out both arms. Everything that could be done for work had been finished, and she felt completely relaxed. Next...

Shiko heard the faint sound of a guitar coming from the direction of the small cabin. She approached it quietly. From inside came Kita and Ryo's voices. Kita was asking Ryo for guidance on her guitar playing.

Shiko's expression darkened, and she turned away.

Chapter Three: Isn't This Great?

"You three have worked hard~" Lisa brought some snacks over to Shiko's side. More precisely, she had come to the airship construction site.

"Ah, thank you very much." Shiko reached out to take one. Lisa quietly reminded her, "Your hands." Only then did Shiko notice that both her hands had somehow become covered in dust. She gave an awkward smile, and a basin of clean water appeared beside her. After washing her hands, she picked up a cookie.

"Delicious." Her eyes narrowed.

Once the materials passed inspection, construction of the new airship was officially put on the schedule. Unlike the wooden rafts and hot-air balloons they had previously built with a somewhat temporary purpose, the airship would serve as their floating fortress for a long time. Everything—from the ascent and descent systems, power system, and defensive systems to the livability of the interior—needed careful design. After seeing the map, everyone understood how inefficient their previous transportation had been. Now that they had found their destination, preparing properly and moving forward with all their strength was the right path.

"The airship is approximately 213 meters long, 82 meters wide, and 52 meters high, with a capacity of forty people and a maximum speed of 114,514 kilometers per hour. Its shape resembles a whale. The entire vessel is constructed from enchanted materials produced by Udagawa Magical Materials Co., Ltd. It is powered by the 'Yamada-Wu Left-Foot-Stepping-on-Right-Foot-to-Reach-the-Sky Engine Group,' has one-hundred-percent coverage from the 'Daniel Intelligent Shield,' and is additionally equipped with one 'Red Moon-01' magical cannon and two 'Falling Stars' series light machine guns. The lighting system consists of two main searchlights and..."

Shiko patted Ryo on the shoulder from behind. "All right, stop making things up. I haven't made magical cannons or machine guns. Sorry to trouble you, but move aside. I need to work."

"Oh, okay." Ryo stepped aside and let Shiko approach the half-finished airship's frame. Shiko walked over, then took several steps back. "Also, please give the engine group a nicer name."

Shiko and Ako built and enchanted the airship at the same time. It was too large, and Ako's enchantment magic had a limited coverage area per cast, so they could only proceed bit by bit. Furthermore, maintaining the enchantments for longer periods consumed a great deal of Ako's strength each time. Shiko, Ako, and Nijika worked all day, yet only completed half of it. And that was merely the exterior. Once they officially moved in, there would still be plenty of work to do. In any case, aside from the three of them, no one else had much to do during this period, so everyone went off to do as they pleased, leaving only one or two people behind to guard the trio.

"Did you come alone?" Ryo asked Lisa while happily eating the snacks. Lisa had no combat ability at all, so normally, she wouldn't act alone.

"Ah, I came with Ichiri." Lisa looked behind her, where half of Ichiri's head was peeking out from behind a tree.

"Ichiri, if you don't come over soon, what you brought will melt!" she called to Ichiri. Only then did Ichiri timidly emerge from her hiding place, keeping both hands behind her back to conceal something. When she reached the table, she finally brought out the basket and opened it. Inside were three bowls of shaved ice made with nearby wild fruits, along with coconut juice.

"Oh, thanks..." Ryo reached out to take one. Lisa grabbed her hand. "Ichiri made these for the three of them. If you want one too, I'll make another."

Ichiri hurriedly waved her hands. "I-if Ryo-san wants some, she can have it too. I can make another one. Only this bowl..." She pointed to the bowl with noticeably more wild fruit.

"It's for Shiko, isn't it?" Lisa asked deliberately.

Ichiri lowered her head, her face bright red. "...Yes."

Seeing Ichiri's expression, Lisa knew she shouldn't tease her any further. "Do you want to deliver it yourself?" she asked.

Ichiri shook her head frantically. "I can't, I can't, I can't..." So Lisa picked up the basket and brought it over to the three of them. "Sorry to interrupt you right after you started. Ichiri made these herself."

"Little Bocchi?" Nijika was surprised. She had never seen Ichiri make any dessert, much less make one for someone else. She looked at the shaved ice in the basket. It already looked excellent. For some reason, she felt touched. "You've grown, Little Bocchi..."

"Ah... don't cry..." Lisa pointed to Shiko's bowl. "Shiko, Ichiri specifically said this bowl was for you."

Shiko compared it with the other two bowls, whose differences were obvious, and understood.

Ako blinked. "It looks just like a wife bringing lunch to her husband and his coworkers at a construction site." Nijika didn't have time to stop her. The hand she had been about to raise in warning could only retreat behind her back.

Shiko seemed not to have heard her. She merely stared at the shaved ice in front of her.

On the other side, Ryo turned around and yawned. "It's about time to change shifts anyway. Bocchi, you're up next."

"Oh... okay!"

When Ryo was almost out of earshot, she heard Ichiri speak as if to herself. "I made several bowls for Kita-san too... I said I was only asking her to look at the finished product, so it shouldn't seem too abrupt... Why doesn't she look very happy..."

Ryo paused, then continued walking. In the dense woods, Kita was already waiting for her.

"Ikuyo, where should we start today?" Once they sat down in the cabin, they each picked up a guitar.

"Um... let's start with the section we practiced last time. I can never play that part properly."

That day, Ryo's private guitar lessons for Kita continued as usual.

"Ah." The pick flew from Kita's hand and landed on the floor.

Ryo lowered her guitar. "Ikuyo, you're a little distracted."

Kita picked up the pick and clenched it in her hand. "Sorry. I'll try harder."

[Erosion Level...80%]

"But you really haven't been working as hard lately." Ryo put her guitar back in its case. "Let's stop here for today. Your condition isn't good, and forcing yourself to practice would be pointless." She slung the case over her back and walked to the door. Turning around, she saw that Kita was still sitting in her seat, clutching the pick.