Early that morning, Boer brought Carina to the gates of the Royal Women's Academy. Their sudden appearance startled the guards on duty, but once they recognized the arrivals, they immediately straightened their backs and stared straight ahead.
Little Fox wore her new school uniform that day. Her deep blue blazer was crisply pressed, her plaid skirt ended two inches above her knees, and white stockings hugged her slender calves. She held her textbooks in her arms, her ponytail tied with a blue ribbon that swayed gently in the morning breeze.
"Boer, will you come pick me up early today?" She tilted her face up.
"We'll see." Boer reached out to straighten her bow tie. "But I'll be here."
Carina pouted, rose onto her toes to peck his cheek, then turned and ran toward the academy gates. Halfway there, she looked back and waved, her ponytail swinging in an arc.
Boer waved back. Only after her figure disappeared behind the Ivy Archway did he turn and board the carriage.
On the Newborn Land, Sakazuki had already worked an entire morning.
He crouched at the edge of the land, his palm pressed against the rough gabbro. Magma slowly seeped from his palm and flowed along predetermined grooves. Every crack was precisely filled, every weak point reinforced.
This was not an assignment. The land creation project here was already finished, and the remaining detail work could easily be left to the Engineering Team.
But he could not stop. That brimming sense of completeness still reverberated inside him, urging him to release it. Magma pulsed in his palm, its temperature controlled to just the point where it could melt quartzite. He could sense the direction of every wisp of heat and judge how strong the rock would be after cooling.
"Mr. Akainu, keep