Sky Striker Ace, but Symphogear Chapter 29

At the exact same moment, Raye started conceiving another method to make Hibiki Tachibana voluntarily leave.

"Hahaha, true enough, Ruse. After all, coming to the hot springs is about relaxing... relaxing... Ah, right, I'm here to relax."

Hearing Ruse's concern, Hibiki Tachibana was about to drop her troubled expression, but for some reason, her demeanor turned somewhat complicated, as if she had thought of something.

"What's wrong?"

Seeing Hibiki Tachibana's expression change, Raye asked with some confusion.

"Um, haha... It's nothing, just thought of some bad things."

Faced with Raye's question, Hibiki Tachibana just gave a couple of laughs and said that.

"Ah, as expected, I still can't accept that kind of thing..."

Following that, after finishing her sentence, Hibiki Tachibana lost her previous liveliness. She sat on the bench with her legs drawn together and arms crossed, her brows deeply furrowed as if pondering something particularly difficult.

[Ah, what on earth is wrong with this girl? She was fine just a moment ago, why did she suddenly turn into this little self-contained gloomy ball?]

Watching this entire sequence of operations where Hibiki Tachibana went from a bright and cheerful big girl to self-pitying minor gloom, Raye was truly experiencing immense confusion.

[Speaking of which, if I say I have something to do and leave right now, Hibiki Tachibana probably won't follow me, right?]

The next instant, Raye thought that. After all, reaching a safe zone was currently her primary objective.

[Mm, I can give it a try. If it's the current Hibiki Tachibana, it should work.]

Raye pondered.

While Raye was still thinking, Hibiki Tachibana's thoughts had plunged into confusion.

Her words just now reminded Hibiki Tachibana of the postponed emotions from when the commander invited her on this hot spring trip.

"Why on earth do we have to fight each other? We're clearly all humans."

Hibiki Tachibana muttered to herself about things she couldn't understand.

She simply couldn't forget the malice directed at her back then, coming from humans. She genuinely couldn't understand why they were fellow members of the same species yet still hurt each other.

The emotions that had been soothed by the hot spring trip now occupied the entirety of her heart.

No, when it came down to it, that was just a brief escape that hadn't truly solved the problem. The doubt regarding why humans fought each other had always existed in Hibiki Tachibana's heart.

"I don't get it, I completely don't get it at all."

Sitting on the bench, the flaxen-haired girl kept her head lowered, her expression gloomy, as if some sort of emotion was brewing in her heart.

[I completely don't understand what's going on in her head.]

Hibiki Tachibana didn't understand, and neither did Raye understand what strange things were going through the mind of this teenage girl.

[But one thing I do understand: I can't let her keep thinking like this.]

Looking at the warning pop up on the tablet in her hand indicating that the Relic fluctuation reaction was rising, Raye felt a headache coming on as she abandoned her previous plan and instead began considering how to resolve the current predicament.

ps. Good night, underworld.

Chapter 51 Suppression (4k)

[I can't let her keep thinking like this.]

As a unique piece of black technology native to this world, a Relic emitted a peculiar waveform when used.

By detecting this peculiar waveform, one could usually get a good grasp of basic states like whether a Relic was activated and its Relic type.

So, naturally, Raye constantly carried a device on her to detect the status of surrounding Relics, preventing attacks from others using Relics.

And when abnormal activity appeared on Hibiki Tachibana, Raye's sensitive detector immediately caught the fact, quickly sending the corresponding alarm information to the computer in her hand.

Afterward, Raye realized she couldn't just let Hibiki Tachibana's state develop like this.

[Though I'm still unclear on the characteristics of the product formed by a Relic fusing with a human body, or what will happen next, it definitely won't be anything good.]

Raye thought with some distress.

The reason she thought this was that a Relic not only possessed various miraculous functions, but its interior also contained extremely high densities of energy that could be used as a power source.

From Raye's perspective, for a high-energy object to fuse with a human body in an utterly crude manner would result in either the Relic going berserk or exploding, and at the very least, something could go wrong with the body; for nothing to happen at all was a low-probability event.

[Ahhh, why couldn't your trouble happen either earlier or later, why did it have to happen while I'm right beside you? Do you have something against me?]

Regarding this, Raye complained helplessly in her heart.

Regardless of whether Hibiki Tachibana went berserk or exploded, the ultimate result would be the Second Division placing this place under ultra-high-level martial law, naturally leading to an in-depth investigation of herself—someone currently situated right here.

If things truly evolved to that extent, carrying out her subsequent work would become extremely troublesome. Working when the opponent knew nothing versus working when the opponent was on guard had a difficulty difference as vast as taking the initiative versus playing passively.

[Alright, complaints over. Let's solve this teenage girl's psychological problems as quickly as possible now.]

Ending her useless thoughts, Raye cast her gaze back toward the flaxen-haired girl with the currently gloomy expression.

Huu—

Taking a deep breath, Raye forced herself to return to calmness.

Then, Raye stood up, first picking up the guitar case placed beside her. Her Sky Striker was stored inside that guitar case; in case her operation went wrong, she could don the armor at the fastest possible speed to protect her own safety.

"Mm, Tachibana, what's wrong? You seem to be in a rather bad mood. Are you troubled by something?"

Having made preparations, Raye casually directed a question toward her, letting her body lean naturally against her.

On one hand, only by asking the reason for her distress could she carry out targeted resolution; on the other hand, through this contact, she could more accurately confirm the other party's physical condition.

Yii—

Seemingly startled by Raye's sudden movement, Hibiki Tachibana gave a small jolt.

"Ahaha... Um, sorry, Ruse, I made you worry."

Feeling that it was her newly acquainted lady "Ruse", she relaxed again and said that with a sheepish smile.

"An apology isn't necessary. I was just a bit curious about what you were thinking just now to make your expression suddenly turn so gloomy. If you can tell me, perhaps I can help you brainstorm a little."

To this, Raye's expression remained unchanged as she continued with a normal, curious tone.

"Mm—alright then."

Hibiki Tachibana pondered for a moment, ultimately unable to hold back her urge to vent.

"Mm—actually, it's like this. I don't quite understand why people have to fight each other, and why everyone can't just understand one another. We're clearly all humans."

Hibiki Tachibana furrowed her brows as she voiced her distress to this girl she had known for less than ten minutes.

This was something she had always failed to understand: why everyone was clearly of the same human race yet treated each other as enemies, using swords instead of verbal communication.

"I see. Is that how you think, Tachibana?"

Watching Hibiki Tachibana earnestly ponder this question, Raye said this while internally beginning to weigh how to answer Hibiki Tachibana's question.

To be honest, Raye hadn't expected Hibiki Tachibana's worry to be about something so abstract. At first, she had assumed it was trouble over a broken friendship with someone or some family conflict.

[What a troublesome way of thinking. Still, no matter how troublesome, I have to get her out of this state.]

If she could, Raye really didn't want to deal with this kind of teenage adolescent chuunibyou angst, but lacking sufficient preparation, she could only take things one step at a time.

"So, Tachibana, is it because a conflict arose between friends and you don't know what to do, which is why you came to this conclusion?"

A gentle smile appeared on Raye's face as she made a guess as if she knew nothing of Hibiki Tachibana's identity.

She hadn't forgotten that her current persona was a complete stranger who knew nothing, so she had to limit the upcoming conversation to a relatively daily, mundane scenario.

"Mm—you could say that, I suppose."

Faced with Raye's explanation, Hibiki Tachibana, who was already struggling with how to explain, pondered for a moment and readily went along with it.

"Mm, from my perspective, there's no need for you to be troubled by this, Tachibana."

Raye said with a calm expression.

"Eh? Why do you say that?"

Hearing Raye's reply, Hibiki Tachibana tilted her head and asked in bewilderment.

"Because among humans, various conflicts are naturally bound to arise for all sorts of reasons. You could say that a complete absence of any strife among humans is practically impossible. This isn't really a problem worth stressing over."

Raye calmly explained to Hibiki Tachibana.

"Resource conflicts, faith conflicts, survival conflicts, lifestyle conflicts—countless varieties of conflicts exist. If a person insisted on fretting over all of that, they'd probably spend their entire life worrying and never finish."

Raye spoke in a relaxed tone.

"I don't understand, I just don't get it... So do humans really have to fight each other? Is there truly no other way?"

Faced with Raye's explanation, Hibiki Tachibana found it hard to accept in her heart, her emotions growing gloomy once more.

[Alright, the problem has been figured out. Next, I just need to find a way to feed her some chicken soup for the soul following this rhythm, and it should be fine.]

Seeing Hibiki Tachibana display such a reaction, Raye pondered for a moment, then placed her gloved hand onto Hibiki Tachibana's head.

"Eh?"

Feeling the sensation coming from the top of her head, Hibiki Tachibana felt somewhat at a loss.

"There, there. To even have this kind of mindset means you're already doing very well, Tachibana. Don't put too much pressure on yourself."

Caressing the girl's flaxen hair, Raye spoke in a gentle tone.

"Mm, this feeling... feels so strange."

As the other party stroked her hair, Hibiki Tachibana felt the restlessness within her heart gradually fade away for some reason.

[Through appropriate head massages, one can effectively diminish a person's vexed and gloomy emotions. Mm, this girl's hair texture feels pretty good to touch.]

Raye thought to herself while continuing to pet Hibiki Tachibana's head.

"Tachibana, you have to understand that a single person's capability ultimately has limits. Fretting over matters that exceed one's own capabilities only wastes energy to no avail."

Following that, without petting her for too long, Raye quickly withdrew her hand while offering this consolation.

"If you really feel uncomfortable about this sort of thing, I have a small suggestion, Tachibana. You can take some actions of your own to mediate the human conflicts that you feel are wrong."

Afterwards, Raye smoothly offered this suggestion to Hibiki Tachibana.

"Eh? Me? Can I really do it? How should I go about it?"

Hearing Raye's suggestion, Hibiki Tachibana lacked confidence because there were truly so many things she didn't know how to handle—whether it was Tsubasa's pain or the malice directed at herself.

"Don't worry, you can do it. In my view, irreconcilable conflicts in human relationships are actually very rare; solutions exist for the vast majority of conflicts. The reason they seem unsolvable is simply because a solution hasn't been found yet."

"As long as you find the correct solution and establish proper, normal communication channels, you can generally avoid the worst outcome of fighting and help both parties reach a consensus."

"Besides, if a cute kid like little Hibiki goes to help mediate, it'll definitely yield twice the results with half the effort and succeed in no time."

Seeing that Hibiki Tachibana had basically accepted her viewpoint, Raye narrowed her eyes slightly and spoke to Hibiki Tachibana with a gentle smile.

"Is that so? But Ruse, what if I fail?"

Hibiki Tachibana had largely accepted what "Ruse" had said, but a tiny, negligible bit of worry still lingered in her heart.

"Honestly, Tachibana, could you be a bit more optimistic? Just muster up the momentum you had when you recommended delicious food to me earlier."

Regarding Hibiki Tachibana's worry, Raye merely patted the other's back lightly and encouraged her in a soft voice.

"Besides, so what if you fail? At worst, you can just relearn, improve your capabilities, and look for an opportunity to try again. As long as the situation isn't too extreme, trying over and over means you'll eventually get the result you want someday."

Then, Raye struck while the iron was hot, delivering the final concluding touch to her freshly brewed chicken soup for the soul.

And with Raye's actions and words, Hibiki Tachibana's complexion visibly shook off its gloomy appearance.

"Mm, thank you, Ruse. I understand what I should do from now on."

Very quickly, Hibiki Tachibana ceased her previous self-pity and returned to her energetic self from before.

"Is that so? I'm glad."

Raye said with her usual calm expression.

[This way, until I leave this dangerous area, there shouldn't be any major problems on Hibiki Tachibana's end.]

Watching the change in Hibiki Tachibana's expression, Raye deduced this in her heart.

[Let me recheck the Relic fluctuations. Mm, no more warning alarms, so that issue must have been resolved.]

Raye checked the window related to Relic waveforms on her tablet computer once more, confirming that the previously upward-trending Relic fluctuations had flattened into a stable straight line, and she let out a secret sigh of relief inside.

"Hehe, right! Ruse, would you like to go soak in the hot springs together later?"

At this moment, having vented her distress and feeling much better in spirit, Hibiki Tachibana took the opportunity to invite "Ruse", with whom she had been chatting so pleasantly, to go enjoy the hot springs together.