Why play in a band if not for life?

"Okay..." Lisa smeared the ketchup flatly, looking wronged.

"Growth achieved through effort is indeed more respectable," Shiko said. "But can improvements gained through shortcuts also provide guidance for future practice?"

"True." Nijika swallowed the food in her mouth. "After that song, my drumming feel is completely different than before."

During the subsequent discussion, Shiko did all the talking, seemingly still reveling in the joy of her successful showboating. Looking at her, Kita felt a heaviness in her heart.

Shiko's demeanor, tone, actions, and attitude were all normal. Yet, Kita couldn't shake a sense of dissonance. It was as if beneath the calm surface of the sea, a chaotic undercurrent lurked.

Moreover, she still remembered the emotions she felt the first time she refined [Unobtainable]. At that moment, she felt like she was just one step away from completely losing control. Shiko had just refined her own [Love and Separation]; would she feel nothing?

She nudged Shiko subtly with her elbow under the table. Shiko turned her head, and Kita whispered into her ear, "Are you really okay?"

Shiko's eyes flickered slightly. She whispered back into Kita's ear, "I'm much better already, thanks to everyone."

Kita sighed and continued to whisper, "It's okay to show your true self."

"Well, regrettably, I haven't figured out my true self yet," Shiko said proudly. Initially, acting was just a way to get along with Ichiri, but it gradually became her hobby. Now, she was rather confused about the concept of a "true self." Which was her true self? Was it the one who was just as socially anxious as Ichiri when they first met? Or the one who tried every means to get Kita to join Kessoku Band afterward? Or the one who gradually became more active after her second transmigration?

Shiko's thoughts slowly drifted to this question. Suddenly, her gaze passed over Kita and landed on Ichiri, who was smiling foolishly at the two of them huddled together.

"You guys have such a good relationship..." Ichiri said.

"We do." "No, we don't!" The two responded with completely opposite reactions.

Sayo looked at her empty plate. The fries were gone. She glanced toward Shiko's table. Fries were a simple food; she had intended to have Shiko just hand her a pile. But the atmosphere over there seemed just right, and she didn't want to disturb them.

"Here, Sayo, there are more over here." A new plate of fries was placed in front of Sayo. Sayo looked up to see Lisa. She had just gotten up to get a drink and, seeing Sayo's predicament, had grabbed a plate. The food that everyone seemed to like was already prepared on the food cart.

"Thank you." Sayo's cheeks flushed slightly.

After dinner, Sayo, carrying the oil lamp she used for the live performance, returned to the lodging area with the others. She bid them farewell and, turning away from the noise, went back to her room. She pushed open the door; the simple room was empty. That was expected. Yet, a hint of loneliness crept into Sayo's heart. She glanced at the neatly folded futon. It was still early for bedtime. She placed the oil lamp back on the table. At the two corners of the table were two stacks of letters. The left stack was smaller; it was planned to be written to the other Shiko and would be regularly handed over to Shiko for safekeeping. As for the stack on the right—

Sayo randomly pulled a letter from the right stack. This stack was for Hina. She didn't know if these letters could be taken with her when she returned to reality, but even with the slightest possibility, she felt it necessary to record everything from her travels in this way.

"This way, it'll be like my sister and I were never separated!"

(If it were Hina, she would definitely say something like this.) Sayo thought bitterly. She could only imagine Hina's words and actions like this to comfort her ever-growing longing. If she didn't count that dreamlike night, how long had it been since she parted from Hina? Sayo no longer wanted to count.

(Forget it, I don't want to think about this. I should finish today's part quickly.) Sayo thought, but instead of taking out new stationery from the drawer, she opened the letter in her hand. She wanted to reread the previous letters before writing a new one.

However, upon seeing the first line, her expression changed to one of rare shock.

Chapter 15: If We Don't Intensify Soon, the Art Style Will Turn Pico

Sayo reread the first line of the letter:

To Wu-san

(This letter... is for Wu-san? Then where's the one for Hina?) Sayo flipped through the stack of letters. Two minutes later, with a grim expression, she stared at the letter in front of her for a long time.

(It seems I mixed up the letters at some point. The one for Hina was given to Wu-san, and the one for Wu-san is still here.)

(Damn it, why would I make such a low-level mistake...) Sayo pressed her forehead. (Have I been too idle lately? It seems I need to increase the intensity of my usual training. Both in music and combat.)

Sayo picked up the mixed-up letters from the table and walked toward the door, carrying the oil lamp. She had to hurry and exchange the letters. According to Sayo's memory, it was still well before Shiko's bedtime.

(If it were Minato-san who did something like this... it seems quite normal?) The thought uncontrollably popped into her mind.

Sayo stuffed the folded letters into her pants pocket and knocked on Shiko's door with her free hand. Hurried footsteps came from inside, the door opened, and Shiko's face appeared behind it.

"Sayo? What's wrong?" She stepped aside to let Sayo in. She wasn't wearing pajamas yet, so it wasn't bedtime after all.

"It's just..." Sayo's cheeks flushed. She didn't enter, standing there to explain what happened.

"It feels like something Yukina would do..." Sayo was sure she heard Shiko muttering softly to herself. She pretended not to hear.

Shiko "tap-tap-tapped" back to get the letter. Sayo waited at the door. Footsteps came from around the corner. Sayo followed the sound and saw Yukina appearing there, carrying an oil lamp just like hers. Yukina's other hand was also clutching a letter.

"Minato-san is...?"

"I accidentally mixed up the letters for my family and the other Wu-san." Yukina's expression remained unchanged.

"..."

After exchanging the letters, the two walked back toward their rooms amidst Shiko's stifled laughter.

"It seems we both need to increase our training intensity," Sayo said.

"Exactly." Yukina agreed. "Speaking of practice, I just remembered we've been slacking on combat training these past few days."

Most of the threats encountered on the airship could be completely blocked by the [Daniel Intelligent Shield], so they didn't need to engage in combat. The interior of the airship was designed with combat training in mind, but due to the durability of the enchanted materials, it was ultimately abandoned.

"Should we land to practice?" Sayo asked.

"There's no need. Landing and taking off the airship are slower than a hot air balloon. If we were to repeat this process constantly, there would be no point in building an airship."

"There is gain and loss," Sayo mused.

Hurried footsteps echoed from behind. The two turned around, and Shiko ran over, holding a torch. She had even lost her own luminous jade slip.

Shiko stopped behind them. She took a simple breath and delivered the information she had just discovered: "The map is reacting!"

Everyone urgently gathered at the bar. They circled the round table, waiting for Shiko to report.

Shiko pressed her temple, and a sandbox gradually appeared on the round table. Centered on their current position, nearby mountain peaks, forests, rivers, and lakes were marked. It was evident they were flying over a basin. The mountains surrounding the basin were not high but were steep. The basin was densely vegetated, with a lake in the center.

Shiko pointed to the lake: "Here, a bright spot suddenly appeared on the map."

"Flares? Have they appeared before?" Yukina asked.

Shiko answered without hesitation, "No."

"Isn't the map from a... giraffe?" Nijika said. "Did you ask it?"

"I wish I could just find it that easily," Shiko said, a hint of resentment in her voice. "If it doesn't want to see me, I won't be able to find it."

"Then... should we go take a look?" Lisa looked at Yukina.

"Also, among the five newcomers detected earlier, three have been wandering around this basin," Shiko added.

"Then we definitely have to go," Sayo said. "Wu-san, can you still not see their specific information?"

Shiko nodded. Everyone looked at Yukina.

Yukina didn't hesitate. "Have the airship sail near that area today," she said, standing up, her gaze resolute. "We depart tomorrow."

Shiko snapped to attention and gave a military salute. "Yes, sir!" She turned, brought her fists to her waist, leaned forward, and silently counted "One, two, three, four" as she ran off.

Ako also stood up, placing her hands on the edge of the table, black smoke rising from behind her. "Hmph~ hmph~ hmph~ Ako can already see... the lost ancient capital, the buried conspiracies and blood..."

Ryo had already stood up and was preparing to leave. Rinko caught up to her. "Should we... practice that song a few more times... we'll be more proficient then..." Seeing this, Ako quickly followed. "Wait for me, Rinrin!"

"I think... I'll go see what Shiko is doing. Maybe she'll stay up all night again..." Ichiri said to Kita. So the two of them left together.

"Then I'll go prepare some breakfast, so we can eat more tomorrow morning," Lisa said, waving goodbye as she left. "I'll help too~" Nijika followed her.

Only Yukina and Sayo remained. They looked at the sand table on the table, falling into a brief silence. On the sand table, the small lake looked no different from its surroundings, yet they didn't know what dangers it hid.

Sayo crossed her arms. "Looks like we can fight properly."

"That's right," Yukina's lips curved into a barely perceptible smile. "We need to use our full strength."

"You have to fight with all your might..." Sayo stood up.

"...That's Roselia," Yukina finished.

Outside the command center, Ichiri and Kita peeked through the crack in the door. Shiko stood in the center of the dark room, giving impassioned orders to nonexistent subordinates, "Turn on the main searchlights! The entire ship is at Level One alert! Search and destroy! Search and destroy!"

"She seems to be having fun." "Let's not disturb her..." The two quietly retreated back into the shadows.

In the distance, somewhere in the basin.

"Are we running out of water?" A blonde girl, who looked a bit fierce, glanced into a wooden water canteen. However, she was wearing a blue school uniform in the style of a noblewoman. The uniform was already torn, but it seemed possible to make out a snowflake emblem.

In front of her stood an armored suit, about a person tall, with a black metal body and a cyan LED ring. A slightly arrogant voice emanated from the armor, "PAREO~"

"Yes! CHU? Sama!" Another petite figure jumped down from a nearby tree! "There seems to be a lake in the distance!" She had black twin tails, wore a white jacket over a purple T-shirt with a keyboard pattern, and a pink short skirt, with sky-blue trim. Although there were some holes, it was still evident that her owner had taken great care of it in harsh conditions. Compared to the blonde girl, she had more accessories: beaded bracelets on her wrists, a magical girl-style pendant around her neck, and pink spherical pigtails. Even with nothing in hand, she tried her best to maintain her cuteness.

"But, CHU? Sama, you can see further at night, right?" The girl called PAREO, although she called CHU? Sama, her tone was not entirely submissive. The difference in their status didn't seem that strict; it was more like a game.

"Shut up," CHU? looked up, as if sensing something, and gazed at a corner of the sky.

"I'm sorry, CHU? Sama~"

"Wait." CHU? raised her hand, signaling PAREO to be quiet. Inside the armor, an unnatural object appeared on the display screen. "There's a big guy coming over there."

She zoomed in on the object that appeared in the sky. The AI automatically processed the image, allowing CHU? to barely recognize it.

It was an airship.

Chapter Sixteen: Even If Carrying the Heavens, Forgot the Rest

Inside the airship that CHU? saw, in the command center.

Shiko was pressed against the porthole, gazing at the distant lake by the light of several searchlights. The lake surface was smooth as a mirror, with no sign of monsters or anything unusual worth noting.

However, this was the biggest anomaly. Shiko's heart stirred, and the searchlight beams focused below the airship, illuminating the swaying black shadows scattered throughout the forest. Some of the shadows were startled and let out futile shrieks at the airship. Others, either spreading their wings or leaping directly, even flung parts of their bodies at the airship. Without needing the shield to act, a sharp glint flashed in Shiko's eyes, causing metal to grow on the monsters, blocking them all in mid-air.

Shiko extended her hand, and as her palm moved, dense flying swords appeared in the mid-air outside the airship. Her palm suddenly clenched, and with this command, the flying swords in the sky all slashed down. It seemed that wails could be heard, and the black mist rising from the forest almost buried the forest itself.

Shiko watched all this with a blank expression, feeling the increase in her stats.

"Even without the Jade Slip, I'm still the protagonist," she said, not knowing to whom. She cast one last glance out the window and turned to leave.

The airship extinguished all its searchlights and hovered in mid-air. From the outside, the airship seemed to have no interaction with the outside world, like a blurry projection from another world. Only when monsters occasionally crashed into the shield, and the rising flames illuminated the logos of "Roselia" or "Kessoku Band," did people realize its existence.

"Roselia... Kessoku Band..." CHU? recognized the words on the logos.

"Could the people inside also belong to a band? Just like us?" PAREO strained her eyes, lacking the convenient night vision of the armor. She could only see a vague silhouette in the sky.

Two hands were placed on their shoulders.

PAREO turned around. "MAS-san?"

MASKING's eyes were still somewhat fierce, though it wasn't her intention. "I say, whatever that thing is, can we just get through tonight? The hole has already been dug."

PAREO's gaze went over MASKING's shoulder and saw a new pile of dirt, and next to it, a dark hole just big enough for one person to crawl into.

The next day, Shiko was still awakened by the dawn's glow. She groggily covered her still-closed eyes, but the light still seeped through her fingers.

"(Did I stay up too late again last night...)" The thoughts in her mind were still drifting everywhere, between reality and dreams. But she was used to this situation.

At times like this, she should do this... A cup of iced coffee appeared in her right hand and was poured directly onto her face.

She was awake.

She sat up straight. The ice on her face vanished into thin air before it could slide off, as did the water droplets dripping from her hair. She hunched over and got out of bed, stumbling to the sink, and casually washed up. Then, she wiped her face, instantly transforming her expression into that of an energetic girl, and casually opened a hidden door marked "Emergency Use" next to her, which connected to the adjacent room.

"Ichiri--! Good morning--!" She pulled back the covers, shaking the pink-haired girl wrapped within onto the sheets.

A knock sounded at the door. Then the door opened, and an equally energetic Kita stood there, "Gotou-san, time to wake up--Oh, you're here too." Kita glanced at the open secret door on the wall and the sign that read "Emergency Use": "You wrote this sign yourself, didn't you..."

Ichiri sat up, yawning. After living together for so long, even she wouldn't have a breakdown from being woken up by someone else.

"You guys are up so early... Haa..." Ichiri glanced out the window, "It's just sunrise, right... Please, let me sleep a little longer..."

"Early?" Kita's confusion was evident on her face, "I wake up at this time every day?"

"Me too," Shiko said, "Maybe it's because the summer solstice hasn't arrived yet, and the sunrise time is getting earlier each day. Speaking of which, has the summer solstice arrived?"

Leaving Ichiri, who had fallen back asleep, the two walked out of the room, not forgetting to close the door.

As usual, self-practice time came before breakfast.

At the breakfast table, the quintessential energetic girl Nijika was giving a pre-battle pep talk. Although Shiko wanted to listen to what she was saying, her instincts, honed by countless principal's speeches, had automatically tuned out Nijika's voice. She sipped her hot cocoa while recalling her battles before obtaining the jade slip. Although she had said some cool things last night due to her chuunibyou, in reality, she still relied too much on the jade slip during battles. As she recalled, she gestured in the air with her fingertips.

After a while, Yukina coughed lightly. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to her, only Shiko was still lost in thought. Yukina glanced at her and gestured to Ichiri beside her. Ichiri poked Shiko. Only then did Shiko snap back to reality, looked around, and realized everyone had finished eating and her bowl was also empty.

"Oh, are we leaving?" she looked at Yukina.

"That's right." Yukina cleared a section of the table, "Wu-san." Shiko understood and set up a new sand table in the cleared space. This time, the scale was smaller, only including the small area from their location to the lake.

It could be seen that this area was all flat ground, with no hills or rivers. This meant that as long as there were no other obstacles, they could reach the lakeshore quickly on the ground.

"Is there any open space below the airship right now?" Yukina asked.

"No. The vegetation coverage is very high." Shiko had caused quite a bit of destruction last night, but it shouldn't have affected those old trees that had grown for who knows how many years.

"Then Kita-san, you'll burn a patch clear later." Yukina glanced at Kita.

"Understood."

"After landing, everyone will follow the old formation. I'll take the lead, Kita-san and Gotou-san on the flanks, Ako behind me, and Sayo behind her." Yukina meticulously planned, "Yamada-san, are you two currently stronger in support abilities or combat abilities?"