Life as a Rhodes Island Operator for Miss Vulpo

"Why can they be so big and perky...?"

Another girl who looked almost exactly like Pheobe muttered under her breath.

"And when they're covered by clothes... they look completely different. So this is what they mean by looking slim in clothes but curvy without them."

Fengling's size was probably the largest that could still be considered balanced. It did not look unnatural in the slightest; instead, it possessed an ultimate kind of beauty.

"If Lava eats the nutritious meals I make properly, she'll definitely grow up to be beautiful too!"

"No way!!!"

"Honestly..." Cardigan, who had already become quite familiar with Fengling, deliberately put on an utterly lovestruck expression. "If I were some creepy old man, I'd absolutely pounce on Fengling!"

As she spoke, she made a grasping motion with her hands.

No matter how composed Fengling usually was, she had rarely been teased like this by girls her own age.

Besides, there was not the slightest malice in any of them.

A shy blush began to surface on her face. Coupled with the fact that she had been soaking in the hot spring for a while, she felt a little lightheaded.

She instinctively covered herself with her arms.

Little did she know that this gesture only added a different kind of charm to her.

"Mmph! I can't take it anymore! I've decided to bully her a little!"

The girls' playful laughter echoed through Rhodes Island's hot spring.

"Wah... Melantha, stop Cardigan!"

"...I want to... bully her too..."

"Melantha, block Fengling! She's trying to run!"

"Eek!!!"

The teasing was not particularly excessive.

But from the looks of it, it was undeniably quite a sensual scene.

Light physical contact.

Blushes on their faces.

And the faint sounds of breathlessness after all that playing around.

Everything seemed to say that being young was wonderful!

The Ribbon of the A4 Reserve Squad

"Hehehe~"

Having finished her bath, Fengling looked to be in an exceptionally good mood.

After washing up, she carefully groomed herself with a hairdryer and brush, then applied some conditioning cream.

Fengling's three large tails looked fluffier and softer than ever before, with a glossy sheen to them.

They also carried a remarkably fresh shampoo scent.

As for the other girls...

If Fengling had decided to fight back during their playful scuffle...

Then at least none of the girls present just now could have beaten Fengling!

So they probably needed to rest properly and recover their strength?

After combing her hair until it was smooth and silky, Fengling used a hair tie to gather a lock of it into a long side ponytail.

In her daily life, Fengling sometimes preferred a side ponytail.

Unlike the youthful energy of a high ponytail, a side ponytail gave her more of that cute girl-next-door look and made her seem more approachable.

It was not far from mealtime, and a lounge had thoughtfully been set up beside the hot spring. Fengling only needed to wait there for a little while until the other girls had finished getting ready, then they could go have lunch together.

In the lounge, she unexpectedly spotted Steward and Adnachiel.

This was already a public area.

Fengling had finally remembered both of their names clearly.

The two seemed to be playing a fighting game.

"Oh! You two are here!"

Since she had seen them, she casually went over to greet them.

"Yeah." Steward glanced behind Fengling. "Where are Cardigan and Melantha?"

"The two of them?" A subtle smile appeared on Fengling's face. "They'll probably take a little longer."

But just as they found Cardigan and Melantha's absence strange, Fengling did not see any sign of Ansel either.

When Fengling voiced her confusion.

Subtle smiles appeared on Steward and Adnachiel's faces as well.

"Kal'tsit has temporarily forbidden Ansel from entering the men's bathhouse."

"He has a separate small hot spring assigned to him."

"Oh-ho." Fengling nodded knowingly.

She understood.

Ansel's gender was Ansel.

"Want to play a round?" Adnachiel waved the controller in his hand.

At least in Lungmen, video games counted as a relatively cheap form of entertainment.

Quite a few street gangs even made money by running video game arcades.

So Fengling, who had grown up there, had naturally been influenced by them to some degree.

She would not claim to be particularly strong, but she was at least pretty good.

So she took the controller from Adnachiel.

After taking one look at the screen, Fengling laughed. "You're trying to run away from a losing match, huh?"

It was a fighting game that looked very familiar to Fengling, though the version was much newer than the one she had played before.

Rhodes Island really was impressive. They could even get their hands on the latest releases.

It was a three-versus-three game, and Adnachiel had already been taken down two-to-one by Steward. It could be considered an enormous disadvantage.

But the last character... was one Fengling loved to use.

According to the setting, this character was also an expert at using wind, so wind was inseparable from their combat style.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that some of Fengling's little techniques had been modeled after this character, then refined through her own Originium Arts.

Although the version differed from the one Fengling usually played, as long as someone had the fundamentals, getting back up to speed in a fighting game would not take too long.

"Then let's begin!"

Following Adnachiel's progress, Fengling took his place and continued playing against Steward.

Once the opening countdown ended, Steward immediately felt a pressure unlike what he had experienced while playing Adnachiel.

Fengling played with remarkable aggression.

Making use of her character's strengths, she launched fierce attacks one after another.

Forced under pressure, Steward could only try to defend. Occasionally, he accepted slightly unfavorable trades in an attempt to find an opening in Fengling's defense.

"Wow, she's good. Steward, you're doomed," Adnachiel said with a laugh.

Before long.

"Come to think of it," Adnachiel said from the side. As a spectator, he could naturally see things clearly. "Some of Fengling's moves are kind of similar to this game character's."

"I learned them from it! They really are useful, though. It's a pretty interesting reference for techniques." Fengling admitted it openly.

"But the rest doesn't really resemble Fengling's fighting style. Overall, this character fights way too brutally! If Fengling fought like that, we'd probably all end up in the Medic room."

Fengling's movements suddenly froze for a moment.

"An opening!" Steward, absorbed in the fight, naturally did not let the chance slip by.

After a smooth string of combos, Fengling's character was sent straight off the screen.

"...I lost!"

After spacing out briefly, Fengling smiled and readily admitted defeat.

Though she had taken over an already-lost match to begin with.

After returning the controller to Adnachiel, Fengling stood up.

"You're not playing anymore?" Adnachiel asked in confusion.

"Mm, I'm not feeling very well today!" Fengling lifted a strand of hair by her temple with one finger and gently rubbed it between her fingers, her gaze drifting slightly. "Maybe I'm a little tired."

"That makes sense. You had drills and a long run, so you must have used up a lot of stamina! And this seems like the first time you've run that far, right?"

"Haha... that's true!"

Giving her seat to Adnachiel, Fengling moved to another single-person reclining sofa to rest and wait for Cardigan and Melantha.

A fair amount of time passed, and even Ansel arrived in the lounge before them.

By the time Fengling's stomach was growling from hunger, Cardigan and Melantha finally arrived.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!"

Cardigan's loud voice carried over from far away.

The two of them seemed to have been delayed for quite a while.

But Fengling soon learned why.

"Ta-da!" Cardigan stuffed a box into Melantha's hands.

Although Melantha was usually somewhat introverted, she was indeed the leader of the A4 Reserve Team.

It was most appropriate for her to give this box to Fengling.

"For me?"

Fengling curiously accepted the box from Melantha.

The box felt very light in her hands.

Though the box itself was plain, it was clear that the wrapping had been carefully done.

She gently opened it.

Inside was a purple ribbon printed with the Victoria script for "Rhodes Island."

It was the same color as Melantha's hair.

The ribbon's style looked very familiar.

On Cardigan's hair.

On Melantha, Adnachiel, and Steward's arms.

On the medical bag Ansel carried with him.

Everyone had an identical ribbon.

This also represented Fengling's formal acceptance as a member of the A4 Reserve Squad.

Looking at Melantha's hopeful eyes, Cardigan's expectant expression.

And everyone else's smiles.

Fengling smiled too.

From the bottom of her heart.