She stopped in her tracks.
Su Yuzu looked across the commercial street.
Her consciousness seemed to freeze in an instant.
Her gaze landed firmly on that girl and could not be moved away, as if she were nailed in place.
It wasn't danger, but... she was striking.
The young girl, dressed in a black yukata-like kimono, left an impression so intense it could make one lose their voice.
The girl possessed a rather slender figure and silhouette.
A head of black hair reaching her waist was well-groomed, the strands straight and neat. Her delicate, pretty little face, hidden behind neat bangs, was staring straight at Su Yuzu, not just in Su Yuzu's direction.
The girl trod barefoot on round-toed wooden clogs.
Her fair, slender ankles and bare feet were made conspicuous by the bright red straps and dark red lacquer of the clogs.
With her expressionless, exquisite little face and slender limbs, the girl looked to Su Yuzu like a meticulously crafted doll.
But... it wasn't eerie; on the contrary, it was very cute.
It made Su Yuzu want to pull the girl into her arms and watch her look up with wide eyes, gazing straight at her.
She stood quietly at the street corner, looking at Su Yuzu peacefully.
A pair of pitch-black eyes, like swirling dark ink, held a gaze as quiet as a newborn deer.
Seeing that tranquil gaze directed at her, Su Yuzu raised her arm and flashed a friendly smile at the girl.
The pitch-black eyes blinked.
Su Yuzu watched as the cute girl, who could be described as exquisitely petite, respectfully placed both hands on her knees and bowed to her.
Before Su Yuzu transmigrated, the world-building of the eroge had only just begun to unfold.
Even the plot had only advanced to the World Boss—The Abyss of Eternal Smiles · Kujou Iruka.
In the storyline, she was slowly ground to death by time and numbers. Half of the Tokyo metropolitan area's defense line had fallen completely.
Large organizations like the "Eye of Insight" and the "Holy Royal Court" had basically just made cameo appearances.
The next expansion pack, [Sunken Throne], had only just released a trailer.
In the deep, dark ocean floor, a figure stood lonely amidst a throne of steel, dark golden vertical pupils looking up coldly.
So... Su Yuzu did not recognize the girl at the street corner.
It was definitely not that she hadn't pulled her—
A girl with an impression intense enough for Su Yuzu to describe as 'striking'... if she hadn't pulled her, Su Yuzu would have probably turned into a pay-to-win whale to forcibly marry the girl and bring her home.
Then, she would watch the exquisite, doll-like girl reveal a completely different expression in the CGs after being fed Favorability Gifts bought directly with cash.
But there was one thing Su Yuzu was very clear about.
The better-looking the girl, the higher the probability she was an Operator, and a high-rarity Operator at that.
Su Yuzu watched the girl bowing respectfully to her, and she waved goodbye to the girl.
Only after Su Yuzu left did the girl slowly shuffle away with small steps.
Su Yuzu went to the commercial street and packed up seven or eight servings of strawberry cream crepes.
You can never have too many crepes.
They would come in handy when Ms. Unohana Chiyo, Mihou Sakai, and the others came to visit the Little Rabbit.
As an orange-tier Favorability Gift for the Little Rabbit, it was also practically the easiest orange-tier Favorability Gift to obtain in reality, and the effect of feeding it to other girls wouldn't be too bad either.
If worst came to worst~
She could just let the Little Rabbit eat two or three servings.
As for... whether the already soft and squishy Little Rabbit would gain weight or something...
Saotome Yukina seemed to possess the 'superpower' of accumulating 'useless fat' in all the right places—a trait that would make Soga Yura burn with envy and jealousy.
So Su Yuzu wasn't worried at all.
At the other end of the commercial street, that girl, exquisite as a doll, was moving through the campus of Keigunen Private Academy.
「My, my, my, that really scared me to death,」 a lazy female voice, sounding as if she had truly been holding her breath until now, rang in the girl's ear.
「To think we would run directly into the target in a place like this.」
「Fortunately, she didn't suspect anything.」
「However...」
「We must leave here quickly.」
「Zero—」
「The security level of Keigunen Private Academy is getting higher and higher.」
「The anomaly of the information card showing skipping classes from the start of the semester until now will soon be detected.」
「If discovered, trying to evacuate then will be troublesome.」
「Zero?」
「Hey, hey, hey, even if I am indeed a bit long-winded, you can't always ignore me~」
The girl remained silent.
She gently raised her right hand; the sleeve of her kimono yukata draped down, revealing a segment of a fair arm.
The girl referred to as 'Zero' by that female voice seemed to be operating an invisible panel.
At the bottom of her eyes, numbers jumped.
[Target: Su Yuzu (Soga Yuzu).]
[Level 11 - Psychokinesis User.]
[Danger Level: Dangerous, Extremely Dangerous.]
She scrolled down the file. In her pitch-black eyes, which looked like swirling dark ink, the reflection of a somewhat timid little face and pretty, light green eyes appeared.
「Oh my...」
「Indeed, she looks like a relatively easy target to strike at,」 the chattering female voice appraised the timid-looking girl.
「Tsk... yesterday was truly bad luck.」
「To think there was a monster from the Inquisition beside that target.」
「It's just... Zero—」
The woman flipped through that girl's file.
「Do you think the target will really care about her?」
「She's just a girl from a commoner family. A failed product... who has been in contact with the target for less than a month.」
「Even though I know Zero is very lonely all by herself, you can't be so desperate and undiscriminating.」
「It will arouse the target's vigilance.」
「Zero only needs Big Sister, ohohohoho~~~」
Directly closing the file reflected in her eyes, the girl turned around and headed toward the central training hall.
「Hey, hey, hey!!!」
「Children who aren't well-behaved have to be returned to the factory for inspection, you know!」
「Hey!」
「Can you listen to me?」
Carrying bags big and small full of comfort gifts, Su Yuzu headed straight for Keigunen Private Academy's school hospital.
She familiarly arrived at the ward where she had been hospitalized last time and knocked gently on the door.
"Who is it~~~" A considerably cute voice called out.
The crack of the ward door was pulled open just a tiny bit. Aqua-blue eyes peered out cutely from behind the gap. The door was instantly pulled open, and the Little Rabbit's pleasantly surprised voice rang out.
"Yuzu-senpai~!"
"Eh... doesn't the second-year Assault Department have class today?"
"Ms. Unohana said I could come and visit you guys." She handed all the crepes in her right hand to the Little Rabbit. Seeing the Little Rabbit smile until her eyes curved into lovely crescents...
Su Yuzu couldn't help but stroke the Little Rabbit's head. Amidst the Little Rabbit's doted-upon expression as she slightly tilted her small head up, Su Yuzu gently smoothed the roots of the Little Rabbit's ahoge.
Being able to see the 'ahoge' attribute in reality was truly interesting.
"How is it... is everything okay?" Su Yuzu ruffled the Little Rabbit's snowy-blue hair until it was messy, then looked toward the hospital bed she had slept in before.
The girl lying in the fragmented sunlight looked at her with nervous golden eyes, as if she were fearing something.
Lyudmila looked at Su Yuzu.
The muscles all over her body seemed about to tense up, guarding against the "Blessing" that could descend at any moment.
She had never imagined she would see such a day.
That she would actually be guarding against the arrival of a "Blessing".
"Please forgive me..." With a sobbing tone bordering on grief, the girl cried out to the deity before Su Yuzu... with whom she might lose connection at any moment.
"Lord Deity."
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