Sky Striker Ace, but Symphogear Chapter 29

At the same time, Raye began devising another way to make Hibiki Tachibana leave of her own accord.

"Hahaha, that's true, Ruse. After all, we came to the hot springs to relax... relax... Ah, right, I came here to relax."

Hearing Raye's concern, Hibiki Tachibana was about to drop her troubled expression, but for some reason, her face became complicated, as though she had remembered something.

"What's wrong?"

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

"Mm, haha... It's nothing. I just thought of something unpleasant."

Faced with Raye's question, Hibiki Tachibana merely laughed twice before saying that.

"Ah, as expected, I still can't accept something like that..."

After saying that, Hibiki Tachibana was no longer as lively as before. She sat on the bench with her legs pressed together and her arms wrapped around herself, brows tightly furrowed, seemingly contemplating something especially difficult.

What the hell is wrong with her? She was fine just now, so why did she suddenly turn out like this?

Watching Hibiki Tachibana go from a bright, cheerful young woman to a self-pitying little shut-in, Raye was genuinely bewildered.

Come to think of it, if I say I have something to do and leave now, Hibiki Tachibana probably won't follow me, right?

The next moment, Raye thought that, since reaching a safe area was currently her highest priority.

Mm, I can give it a try. With Hibiki Tachibana like this, it should work.

Raye pondered.

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

Those words had reminded Hibiki Tachibana of the feelings she had put aside when the Commander invited her on this hot spring trip.

"Why do people have to fight each other when everyone is human?"

Hibiki Tachibana muttered about something she could not understand.

She truly could not forget the malice from humans that had been directed at her. She truly could not understand why people of the same kind had to hurt one another.

The emotions that had been eased by the hot spring trip now filled her heart completely.

No, at its core, that had only been a brief escape. It had never truly resolved the issue. Her doubts about why people fought each other had always existed in Hibiki Tachibana's heart.

"I don't understand. I really don't understand at all."

The flaxen-haired girl sat on the bench with her head lowered and a gloomy expression, as though some emotion was brewing within her.

I have no idea what she's thinking.

Hibiki Tachibana did not understand, and neither did Raye understand what strange things this adolescent girl was thinking about.

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

Seeing the warning on her tablet that indicated the Relic fluctuation response was rising, Raye gave up on her previous plan with a headache and began considering how to resolve the current predicament.

P.S. Good night, underworld.

Suppression (4k)

I can't let her keep thinking like this.

As a unique piece of black technology in this world, a Relic emitted a strange waveform whenever it was used.

By detecting these strange waveforms, one could usually get a good grasp of a Relic's activation status, type, and other basic conditions.

Therefore, naturally, Raye constantly carried a device that detected the status of nearby Relics, preventing others from attacking her with Relics.

When something abnormal appeared in Hibiki Tachibana's body, the sensitive detector on Raye immediately noticed and quickly sent the corresponding alert to the computer in her hands.

Raye then realized that she could not allow Hibiki Tachibana's condition to keep developing like this.

Although I still don't know what traits result from a Relic fusing with a human body or what will happen next, it definitely won't be anything good.

Raye thought painfully.

She thought so because, aside from possessing all kinds of strange functions, Relics contained an extremely high density of energy that could be used as a power source.

In Raye's view, if a high-energy object fused with a human body in such an extremely crude manner, the result would either be the Relic going berserk or exploding. At the very least, the body might develop some kind of problem. Nothing happening at all was the unlikely outcome.

Aaah, why couldn't you have had a problem earlier or later? Why did it have to happen while I was beside you? Do you have some kind of grudge against me?

Raye complained helplessly to herself.

Whether Hibiki Tachibana went berserk or exploded, the result would be Second Division imposing an extremely high-level lockdown on this place and, naturally, conducting a thorough investigation of Raye, who happened to be here.

If things truly developed to that point, her subsequent work would become extremely troublesome. The difference between working while the other party knew nothing and working while they were on guard was as vast as having the initiative versus moving second.

All right, enough complaining. First, I need to quickly solve this adolescent girl's psychological problems.

After ending her useless thoughts, Raye turned her gaze toward the flaxen-haired girl, whose spirits were currently low.

"Phew—"

Taking a deep breath, Raye forced herself to calm down again.

Then Raye stood up and picked up the guitar case she had placed beside her. Her Sky Striker was inside it, so if something went wrong, she could equip her armor as quickly as possible to protect herself.

"Mm, Tachibana, what's wrong? You seem to be in a bad mood. Is something bothering you?"

After making her preparations, Raye casually reached out as she asked her question, leaning against Hibiki Tachibana in the process.

On the one hand, she needed to learn the cause of Hibiki Tachibana's worries before she could address them properly. On the other, this contact would allow her to assess the other girl's physical condition more accurately.

"Eek—"

Perhaps because of Raye's sudden movement, Hibiki Tachibana flinched.

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

Once she realized it was Miss "Ruse," whom she had only just met, she relaxed and said so with an awkward laugh.

"There's no need to apologize. I'm just curious what you thought of just now that made you suddenly look so down. If you can tell me, maybe I can give you some advice, Tachibana."

Raye's expression remained unchanged as she continued in an ordinary, curious tone.

"Mm... all right."

Hibiki Tachibana thought for a moment, but in the end, she could not suppress her desire to talk.

"Um... Actually, it's like this. I don't understand why people have to fight each other. Why can't everyone understand one another when we're all human?"

Furrowing her brow, Hibiki Tachibana told the girl beside her, whom she had known for less than ten minutes, about her distress.

It was something she had never understood. Everyone was human, so why did they have to become enemies and communicate with swords instead of words?

"I see. So that's how you feel, Tachibana."

Looking at Hibiki Tachibana, who was seriously considering the question, Raye spoke while inwardly weighing how to answer her.

To be honest, Raye had not expected Hibiki Tachibana to be troubled by something so abstract. At first, she had thought perhaps Hibiki Tachibana had fallen out with a friend or had some conflict at home.

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

If possible, Raye truly did not want to deal with this sort of adolescent chuunibyou worry, but without any preparation, she could only take things one step at a time.

"So, Tachibana, did you start thinking this way because you had a conflict with a friend and didn't know what to do?"

A gentle smile appeared on Raye's face as she made a guess, as though she did not know Hibiki Tachibana's identity.

She had not forgotten that her current identity was that of a stranger who knew nothing, so she had to frame the following conversation within a relatively ordinary situation.

"Mm... You could say that."

Faced with Raye's explanation, Hibiki Tachibana, who had been somewhat troubled over how to explain it herself, thought about it and went along with it.

"Mm, in my opinion, Tachibana, there's no need for you to worry about this."

Raye said calmly.

"Huh? Why do you say that?"

Hearing Raye's answer, Hibiki Tachibana tilted her head and asked in confusion.

"Because people will always develop all kinds of conflicts for various reasons. You could say that a complete absence of conflict between humans is almost impossible. It isn't something worth worrying about deliberately."

Raye calmly explained to Hibiki Tachibana.

"Conflicts over resources, conflicts over beliefs, conflicts over survival, conflicts in daily life—there are too many to count. If someone insisted on worrying about all of them, she couldn't finish worrying even in a lifetime."

Raye said that in a relaxed tone.

"I don't understand. I can't accept it... So do people really have to fight each other? Is there no other way?"

Faced with Raye's words, Hibiki Tachibana found them difficult to accept, and her mood sank again.

Mm, now I've figured out the problem. Next, I just need to keep this rhythm and feed her some inspirational nonsense. That should do it.

Seeing Hibiki Tachibana's reaction, Raye thought for a moment, then placed her gloved hand on Hibiki Tachibana's head.

"Huh?"

Feeling the touch atop her head, Hibiki Tachibana was at a loss.

"All right, Tachibana, it's already wonderful that you have such thoughts. You don't need to put so much pressure on yourself."

Stroking the girl's flaxen hair, Raye spoke in a gentle voice.

"Mm, this feels... strange."

As the other girl stroked her, Hibiki Tachibana found that the agitation in her heart was somehow gradually fading away.

Appropriate head massage can effectively reduce feelings of frustration. Mm, this girl's hair feels pretty nice too.

Raye thought that as she stroked Hibiki Tachibana's head.

"Tachibana, you need to understand that a person's abilities ultimately have limits. Worrying about things beyond those limits only wastes your energy."

Then, without stroking her for long, Raye quickly withdrew her hand and offered that consolation.

"If this sort of thing truly makes you uncomfortable, I have a small suggestion. Tachibana, you can take action yourself and ask Shirabe to mediate the conflicts between people that you believe are wrong."

Then Raye made that suggestion to Hibiki Tachibana.

"Huh? Me? Can I do that? What should I do?"

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

"Don't worry, you can do it. In my view, there are actually very few conflicts between people that even Shirabe cannot reconcile. Most conflicts have solutions. They only seem unsolvable because the solution has not been found yet."

"As long as you find the right solution and establish proper, normal channels of communication, you can generally avoid the worst outcome of fighting and allow both sides to reach an understanding."

"Besides, if a cute girl like Little Hibiki helps Shirabe mediate, you'll definitely get twice the result with half the effort and succeed soon enough."

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

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

Hibiki Tachibana had mostly accepted what "Ruse" said, but a tiny trace of worry still remained in her heart.

"Honestly, Tachibana, could you be a little more optimistic? Just bring out the same energy you had when you recommended food to me."

In response to Hibiki Tachibana's worry, Raye merely gave her back a light pat and softly encouraged her.

"Besides, so what if you fail? At worst, you can learn again, improve your abilities, and find another chance to try. As long as the situation isn't especially extreme, if you keep trying again and again, one day you'll get the result you want."

Raye followed up while the iron was hot, putting the finishing touch on the freshly brewed inspirational nonsense she had just made.

As Raye moved and spoke, Hibiki Tachibana's expression visibly shed its dejected look.

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

Very soon, Hibiki Tachibana no longer looked as self-pitying as before and returned to her earlier energetic self.

"Is that so? That's good."

Raye said with an unchanged expression.

This way, Hibiki Tachibana shouldn't have any major problems until I leave this dangerous area.

Looking at Hibiki Tachibana's changed expression, Raye made that judgment inwardly.

Let's check the Relic fluctuations again. Mm, it's not issuing alerts anymore. That means it should be resolved.

Raye checked the window on her tablet related to Relic waveforms again. After confirming that the Relic fluctuation, which had been trending upward moments ago, had become a stable straight line, she secretly sighed in relief.

"Hehe, right, Ruse, do you want to go soak in the hot springs together later?"

At that moment, Hibiki Tachibana, whose mood had improved after voicing her frustrations, naturally invited "Ruse," whom she had just enjoyed talking with, to enjoy the hot springs together.