The next day, at Sobu High School in Chiba Prefecture.
On a bright, sunny afternoon, inside the News Department advisor's office.
Dressed in a clean white shirt, Jun Himeya sat at his desk with a soft cloth in hand, carefully wiping down the old single-lens reflex camera that had accompanied him for years.
On the sofa beside him, a young man in casual clothes held a cup of hot tea, watching him with a perfectly contented expression.
Jun Himeya paused in his cleaning and turned toward Komon Kazuki, who had been mooching tea in his office for three days straight. At last, he could no longer hold back the question burning deep in his soul:
"Komon."
Jun Himeya set down his camera and frowned slightly, bewilderment written all over his rugged, world-weary face. "Didn't you say you joined some special defense unit dedicated to fighting monsters?"
"Do you normally have nothing to do? How do you have time to visit my high school club every day?"
At Jun's question, Komon Kazuki froze mid-sip, an embarrassed look crossing his face.
"Well..."
Komon put down his teacup, his gaze wandering as he sheepishly scratched his head. "It's because... we're on vacation right now."
"..."
"Vacation?!"
A giant question mark slowly formed in Jun Himeya's deep-set eyes.
A frontline combat unit dedicated to fighting monsters actually offered perks like "vacations"?!
Faced with Jun's expression, which plainly said, "Are you kidding me?"
Komon Kazuki swallowed and struggled to explain:
"Um... Jun, here's what happened."
"Over the past few days, our TLT underground Dam Headquarters... seems to have developed a rather serious geological problem. Strange localized earthquakes keep happening."
"The higher-ups are worried the base might collapse, so they're urgently bringing in geology experts to survey it. They're even considering arranging a new backup headquarters."