After clearing up the mess on the rooftop, they successfully met up with Suguru Geto and Kuroi behind the school building.
Taking Riko Amanai's remaining wish into consideration, they ultimately went along with the girl's wishes and changed their itinerary at the last minute.
The clear sea breeze blew into their faces, carrying salty moisture. The azure sea stretched as far as the eye could see, sunlight like scattered gold spreading across the crests of the waves as the tide washed over the soft white sand again and again.
The vigilance that had kept them tense for days gradually eased in the salty sea breeze.
In the end, she was just an ordinary middle schooler who liked looking at the sea and fooling around.
Qingxiao looked up at Riko chasing the waves in the shallows and sighed softly to himself:
Unfortunately, she had very little of this peaceful, carefree time left.
The slightly cool sea breeze brushed his clothes, and the phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated twice.
Qingxiao brushed the sand off his hands. The screen lit up, with "Shoko" appearing at the top:
"I heard you ran into several waves of Curse Users lying in ambush along the way. Remember to look after yourself. Don't push yourself too hard."
Seeing the familiar tone on the screen, Qingxiao could almost immediately picture Shoko with an unlit cigarette between her lips, leaning against the infirmary doorframe and slowly typing with a frown.
Qingxiao first crouched and aimed the camera at a little crab struggling to turn itself over on the sand, taking a close-up of its flailing claws and legs.
Then he stood and pulled the camera back, photographing the whole expanse of azure sea glittering with scattered gold, framing the three blurry figures chasing each other and fooling around