Some time later, on the airship's side wing.
The three disheveled girls were surrounded by eight people with unfriendly expressions. PAREO looked a little frightened, but the other two remained neither servile nor arrogant, staring back at the others indifferently.
Though it was impossible to see their expressions through the mecha anyway.
Silence.
Under their mutual scrutiny, the air grew even heavier.
Yukina had been watching the burly armor the whole time. As expected, the laser beam she had seen earlier had come from it. The person inside still refused to show herself. Did she not trust them? Or was there no one inside at all?
"Who are you?" Keeping this standoff going was pointless. Although they had snatched a huge experience pack the moment they appeared, perhaps they could also become allies.
Hearing Yukina speak, CHU? finally replied reluctantly. A mechanical girl's voice came from the armor. "Nice to meet you. I'm CHU?, a producer. They're..."
PAREO straightened and made a cute gesture. "Yes! I'm PAREO!" Though her expression was somewhat unnatural, PAREO maintained her usual manner.
"...And this is MASKING." CHU?'s arm turned slightly toward MASKING in indication. "Yo." MASKING casually greeted the others.
"Yukina Minato, and everyone from Roselia and Kessoku Band, I know you." She continued.
It was hardly strange that CHU? knew them. After all, their faces had appeared in the news many times.
"The Great Girls' Disappearance Incident," the news called it. During this period, the mass disappearance of girls throughout the Tokyo area had caused a sensation. The victims were basically all young girls, and most of them had some connection to music. Because of this, many parents had even started forbidding their children from touching musical instruments. As a result, the originally promising Great Girls' Band Era had also been affected considerably.