Kisuke came down to the underground hideout beneath his candy shop and walked toward one of the square buildings that sprawled throughout the area. Since it was no longer used as a training ground—training was now more conveniently done on the floating island of Ouroboros Academy—Kisuke had completely transformed the space into modular labs, running various experiments simultaneously and side by side.
These buildings, which looked like giant tungsten cubes, contained sets of experiments that were constantly running, designed to reduce outside interference as much as possible.
He reached one of the buildings and touched its exterior with his palm. A second later, the point of contact between Kisuke's palm and the building lit up with a soft green light. "I'm here. Can I come in?"
From the same spot, a voice reverberated, [We're done. You can come in.]
An outline of a door then appeared on the surface of the building, opening inwardly and revealing a long, well-lit hallway with air rushing out.
As soon as Kisuke stepped into the building, the door behind him immediately closed, and various devices emerged from the ceiling, floor, and walls to scan and clean him.
About twenty meters in, he reached the end of the hallway, which opened into a room where two individuals were present. He looked around and saw Benihime set on a table not far away. He walked toward her while asking, "How did it go?"
Ōetsu, the one who answered Kisuke at the door, was intensely focused on a tablet. "It went well, more or less."
"More or less?" Kisuke asked, resuming his connection with Benihime after grabbing her.
While scratching his head, Ōetsu replied, "I had to get Kurotsuchi's help for this, you know? It's a miracle you managed to transfer Benihime to her, so please don't do this a second time."
"That was a very special circumstance, so it won't happen again. Heck, it's impossible under normal conditions," Kisuke said, then turned toward the silver-haired woman inspecting the single-edged sword in her hands. "How do you feel?"
Stralit couldn't take her eyes off her new blade, answering while still examining it with great curiosity, "...I feel fine, but I guess I won't really know until I exert myself."
"Then you should go to the Ouroboros Academy to test things out. Though, have Nimaiya-san here and Kirinji-san watch you if you decide to push yourself to the limit. If a problem comes up, it'll be good to have them around."
Stralit finally sheathed her blade and looked toward Kisuke. "Thanks for that, but isn't that too risky?"
"As of today, no. You've been in here for a week, so you probably didn't know, but your mother has officially taken the post of looking after Draconic Deus as part of Etoulde territory. It won't be strange anymore if you appear around here."
Stralit was surprised and fell silent for a moment. "I did hear about that possibility a year ago, but don't you think it's too sudden? And is this alright?"
Kisuke found a seat, leaving Ōetsu to continue his work. "It may seem that way because you weren't informed about most of the progress, which happened mainly through under-the-table dealings.
"And it's fine. There was a lot of pushback initially from both sides, but this is the best scenario for the still-infant Draconic Deus. The inhabitants of this world obviously don't want to be under Etoulde's rule, but after the Shiva-Indra shenanigans, they lost much of their influence."
"I don't think you can call that major event something as simple as 'shenanigans'..." Stralit retorted, giving Kisuke a strange look.
Kisuke just shrugged it off. "The Etoulde side didn't want this to happen either, due to the questionable deaths of several high-ranking members and the existence of the Soul Gears. Thankfully, news of Regalzeva's death started spreading around the same time, so their deaths were attributed to them sacrificing themselves to take down one of the Pillar Gods."
"...I don't like that at all," Stralit grimaced.
"No one does, but it's much more convenient for us. And regarding the Soul Gears, there's already a movement pushing for open research on Spiritual Power, and it gained massive momentum, making it easier for the Etoulde side to adapt to the Soul Gear."
"Oh? That movement? I heard from my mother that it's the Holy Mother's initiative. But if they received such a boost, wouldn't that seem suspicious?"
"And who would point that out? With Restoras out of the picture, they can only swallow their suspicions." Kisuke replied, though the real reason was Mayuri's presentation, showcasing the various benefits of using Spiritual Power to numerous leaders on the Etoulde side. 'They were really impressed with his medicine and even made some pre-orders... No need to warn them, though.' Kisuke decided not to mention this to Stralit. 'But I guess I'll warn Kurotsuchi not to overdo it or mess with certain people.'
"By the way, aren't you leaving tomorrow?" Ōetsu asked, finishing his task and returning. "Are your preparations done?"
"Yep." Kisuke stood up. "We're going into a final meeting with the concerned parties."
"Including my mother?" Stralit asked.
Kisuke nodded. "We need her cooperation, and if you want to join, you're free to come too."
"It has been three years since you started preparing for it, so I'm curious about the specifics. I'll go. Can I bring Gwenn too?"
"As long as you're responsible for her, do as you like." Kisuke then began walking toward the hallway to leave. "The meeting will be tomorrow morning at 7:00 AM, local time."
As soon as the door closed behind him, Kisuke heard Benihime's voice for the first time in a long while. [I'm finally free! I never realized how constraining it is to be away from your side.]
'Really? I thought for sure you'd enjoy your time disconnected from me.'
[I thought so too, but it's just too uncomfortable. I'm never doing that again, even if I have to. Find another solution.]
'Well, I doubt we'll come across that situation where we're going.'
[A new adventure, huh? I'll be honest. I actually enjoy these trips.]
'If we're not careful, we might find ourselves stuck there without a way home, you know?'
[That's your problem, not mine. By the way, why are you so quiet?] Benihime then addressed her neighbor.
[It's going to be noisy again, huh?]
[At least pretend to be glad that I'm back.]
[I will, if you stop messing with me.]
Kisuke considered Benihime and Tiamat's banter music to his ears, so he was genuinely glad to hear it again. 'Apparently, more than three years is too long for me these days.'