They Actually Finished Building the Plank Road?!

"After all, you're the only one who's ever flown around on fire and Sulfur in this Terra. If you forget to conceal yourself, I'll naturally have to put in some effort to clean up the mess for you—but as far as I know, you're never so reckless. So it seems something unexpected has happened?"

She descended the stairs, the elevator rumbling along. Countless drones circled the building, accessible only to the two of them, and numerous, strangely effective security measures—some Miss Surtr recognized, some not—operated silently. This ensured that anything spoken here would not be known to a third party.

"Yes, I dreamt of Theresia," Miss Surtr replied—dreaming of 'dead people' wasn't anything shameful. It was fine to say it. But since the listener was Persephone, this Maiden Doctor from Rhodes Island would inevitably understand her unspoken meaning and the information she herself didn't know.

"She is..."

"What did she say?" Persephone asked before she could describe her surroundings.

"She told me to take good care of you, Kal'tsit, and also mentioned Amiya." So Miss Surtr obediently refrained from answering anything outside the scope of the Doctor's question.

"I see." The Doctor nodded. "No wonder you made a plan to spend time with Kal'tsit this morning, but then rushed out to find her this afternoon—so there was another reason behind it. This pink-haired girl really knows how to cause trouble."

At the edge of her field of vision, on a glass window that Miss Surtr couldn't see, a certain pink-haired Princess, who had been causing her trouble, made a face at her. But this time, she couldn't very well break something to warn her.

After all, strictly speaking, this was a warning from the Princess to her.

She frowned, and the swarm of drones outside the building immediately dispersed, receiving new missions and going off to complete other types of work orders—since Theresia's shadow could appear here, it meant that all existing Originium Arts -based isolation methods were useless when discussing this topic. Therefore, the consumed resources could only be considered as simple resource depletion.

"I understand the basic situation. Surtr, I will prepare the appropriate handling plan." She turned her head to look at Surtr beside her. The elevator doors opened right on the first floor—and as she stepped out, a wide street and a car with no driver in the driver's seat, remotely driven by Originium Arts, appeared before them. She walked up, and Miss Surtr sat down next to her.

She said that was enough, so that would be the end of it.

"Where do we go next?" Miss Surtr asked.

"Strictly speaking, there's nothing left to do. Of course, if you feel it's necessary, you can go see Yelena —your meeting might trigger some unusual reactions, which could potentially help with future research."

Is there any danger?

"There shouldn't be any for you."

"Then forget it." The Flame-haired maiden shook her head slightly, watching the street scene outside gradually change from peaceful and quiet to bustling with traffic.

"I won't let Yelena take any risks—why am I not in danger? Is there any basis for that?"

"Well, although the medical tests didn't yield any results, I've deduced some patterns." Persephone rested his chin on his hand and answered with a relaxed expression, "I can't tell you the specific underlying principles, but I can roughly confirm that entering a dream world poses no danger to you. Also, if you bring other people with you when you enter the dream world, the prerequisite is that they must also be asleep at that time."

"... So, besides Yelena this time, I might bring other people into the Dream Realm in the future?" Surtr frowned. "Is there no way to control it?"

"There are definitely ways, but they require repeated trials. A single case doesn't prove anything, and you should know that better than I do—aren't you a little regretful for not kissing me just now?"

"Yes. I...uh..." Miss Surtr stopped mid-sentence, abruptly turning to look at Persephone sitting beside her. Her pretty face flushed crimson.

Then I lost heart.

"Why are you changing the subject so fast—"

However, Persephone simply gazed at her with gentle eyes, his pale blue gaze shimmering with tenderness. His thin, pale lips seemed to be veiled in a misty haze. A certain... indescribable atmosphere lingered in the carriage. And the car's speed subtly slowed.

"I tried applying a new lip balm before I came over. It's minty, would you like to try it?"

The train lights weren't dim. Persephone, still dressed in her JK uniform, had one hand hanging by her side, while the other was subtly resting on Miss Surtr's skirt—the girl leaned slightly forward, making it impossible for her to actually have a lipstick tucked into the fabric, either in the train or on her person. This meant that even if someone wanted to force a misunderstanding, they couldn't find a plausible explanation!

A certain uncooperative heart started pounding. No matter how slow-witted this red-haired Sarkaz was usually, there was no way it could say something like, "Okay, give me that lipstick, I'll take a couple of bites and try it out," at this moment.

—This guy is not kidding!

Surtr took a deep breath.

—Calm down, calm down! Surtr, think about who this guy in front of you is!

—This guy is Persephone! That Persephone! If this guy is really a yuri... no, if this guy's emotions are really that abundant... then I'd rather believe Kal'tsit is having some kind of self-stimulation in her office—are you kidding me!?

—But I freaking can't hold back anymore!

Her fingers moved unconsciously; she felt she might need to hold the Maiden Doctor's hand beside her. However, just before their fingertips touched, she glanced around warily.

—Wouldn't there be something strange nearby? Is she... is she planning something weird again?

Thoughts shifted slightly, a moment of hesitation.

After that brief delay, the romantic atmosphere in the carriage vanished without a trace as the brightness suddenly increased.

"As expected, this hype can't sway this iron." — She saw Persephone return to her original sitting posture, the feminine charm that had been so overwhelming just a moment ago vanishing without a trace. "Looks like I still need to be patient and wait."

"Persephone, you..."

"It's nothing. I just teased you because you looked so distracted," the Maiden Doctor from Rhodes Island said casually. "You're not taking it seriously, are you—or are you planning to make it real?"

"Huh?... Oh."

The sound of brakes rang out, and the car door beside Surtr sprang open. Her temporary residence came into view, and as she instinctively stepped out of the car, the driverless vehicle, or rather, the car remotely driven by Persephone, quickly started moving and soon disappeared from her sight.

Persephone had left a message at the dinner table saying she had something to do that evening and not to wait for her. So it was natural and reasonable for her to leave here.

But...

"...Why do I feel like she's angry?" Surtr scratched his head. "And so, she can get angry after all..."

Puzzled.

However, this confusion could not be resolved in a short time.

She thought about it and realized that all she could do at that moment was go back upstairs and get a good night's sleep.

And--

She always felt that something terrible was waiting for her.

I feel like the recent content has been too much of a romance novel _(:з"∠)_

Chapter 86: This plank road has actually been built!?

Back in my room, I closed the door, and suddenly I was all alone again.

No, it wasn't just one person. Besides one person, there was also a sword.

Surtr washed herself—using fire, as usual. After finishing this chores, she placed Laevateinn by the bedside, then lay down on the bed herself, without covering herself with a blanket, and stared into the darkness with the lights off.

The sky wasn't actually that dark.

Even without the moon or stars, nighttime was not much different from daytime in her perception. She could sense the swarm of drones still hovering around the outside of the building, and she could sense the numerous monitoring components embedded in the building operating methodically—all of which she and Persephone had installed together when the building was constructed. And their purpose was to observe changes...or anomalies, during their own sleep.

She wasn't averse to such things—or rather, she wouldn't mind a little offense if her opinion was sought beforehand. She always had, always had, and always does.