The Inner Court of Babylon Temple-
In the corridor of the Inner Court's common area, Nojiko, dressed in a blue women's denim jacket, carried a basket of produce in the crook of her right arm.
She planned to put the tangerines she had grown herself into the kitchenette's refrigerator.
Though she was the Minister of Agriculture as well as a Holy Priest, she still liked doing some work with her own hands.
"Uh... Lord Sephi?"
Sephiroth approached her with a slightly unsteady gait...
The sight startled Nojiko. She stopped so abruptly that her short blue hair seemed to bounce.
"...Ah. Nojiko. Morning~"
Sephiroth perked up and walked over to her.
He took her left hand and lightly touched it to his lips.
"Lord Sephi... it's not morning anymore. It's already ten..."
Over the past few years, Nojiko had more or less gotten used to this. Still, the warmth against her fingers made her blush a little, and she gently withdrew her hand.
"Has Princess Yamato come back?"
Judging from experience, that was Nojiko's guess.
"No... it was Gerd."
Sephiroth had pretty much stopped trying to hide anything when it came to questions like these.
He had already made plans with Reiju for the day before yesterday, so Gerd's turn had been yesterday.
...Last night had truly been a battle for the ages.
"...Oh... then, Lord Sephi, are you heading to..."
Nojiko blinked.
"See Uta and the others..."
The treasure chest containing the Smooth-Smooth Fruit hovered beside Sephiroth.
He really was a little exhausted now.
If Yamato was a hundred-ton heavyweight, Gerd was a high-speed train... no, closer to an aircraft carrier...
Sephiroth could now call himself an Admiral who had "boarded a ship."
"You're actually..."
Nojiko covered her mouth in amazement.
"No... it's about something else..."
One look was enough