“Really?…Ah… Well, I don’t quite get it, but is it stuff that’ll make people happy?”
“…Aran~ Make who happy? Ufufufufu, it feels like things are more interesting now. Say, Aura. Want to chat with onee-chan?…There’s some time before the meeting.”
Neuronist brought its massive face close to Aura’s, which twitched. Aura raised her hands to Yuri and the others, and then ran like a fleeing hare. The others could not help but be impressed by her speed, which was to be expected of a Floor Guardian.
Neuronist could not possibly catch up to her, and so it rested its chin on its slender fingers as it muttered to itself.
“Ara aran~ I’ve been dumped.”
After saying so in a voice that did not seem particularly disappointed, Neuronist shrugged to Yuri and Shizu.
“…Well, I’ll be going, then. See you next time.”
“Yes, see you next time.”
They watched Neuronist wave lightly as it turned to walk off, and then Shizu asked a question.
“…Neuronist is androgynous and thus has no gender, but why does it call itself ‘onee-chan’?”
“Who knows? Perhaps the Supreme Beings decided that it should be that way.”
“…I see, I can accept that.”
Part 5
They would be looking for Entoma after this, and so Yuri led Shizu from the 4th Floor to the 2nd Floor. Then they went back down to the 3rd Floor, then ascended to the 1st Floor through the 2nd Floor. At last, they had reached the surface. They had taken several shortcuts along the way, but they had still walked a very long distance.
If they had asked Shalltear the Floor Guardian, they could have shortened their journey, but Yuri had a hard time dealing with Shalltear, excusing herself hastily after a quick greeting.
There was no way she could not feel uncomfortable after being eyed like a prey.
On the surface, Yuri saw the log cabin.
The most important task of the Pleiades members stationed here was to receive their Master who had returned from the outside while not wearing his Ring.
A secondary task was to divine the enemy’s intent in case of an invasion. In addition — when the enemy was too strong, they were to allow themselves to be slaughtered without putting up any resistance. A sacrifice like this would give Nazarick the moral high ground, and it would also allow them to see how far the enemy would give way during negotiations.
For instance, the opposition might claim to have just cause, and they might have the strength to oppose Nazarick. In that case, they could request that the opposition pay for the lost items and resurrection costs of the deceased Battle Maid, and from there they would be able to observe the opposition’s attitude. If the enemy was really powerful enough to put up resistance to Nazarick, then depending on the circumstances, they might abandon requests for compensation and try to sue for peace. If they did not account for negotiations and give and take from the beginning, it might end up spiralling into a full-scale war, and the bystanders would end up reaping the benefits of such an engagement.
Yuri recalled the iron tones of her Supreme Overlord as he had handed down those orders.
Those orders had been given by the Master who led those two Guardians — the Guardian Overseer Albedo, and Demiurge of the 7th Floor.
However, Yuri could not understand why her Master had to say “sorry”.
Dying for their Master — a Supreme Being — was the highest honor of all Nazarick. Therefore, Yuri and the others were very envious of the various Floor and Area Guardians who had died gloriously in battle against the invaders of the past, those whose power had rivalled the Supreme Beings themselves.
The maids — who were the last line of defense — did not have the chance to fight, but that implied that the filthy feet of the enemy had not had the chance to tread the ground of the 10th Floor. Yuri was glad for that, but at the same time also a little sad.
And then, when someone politely came to the log cabin to visit, the maids’ final task was to politely give them a final warning — which was considerable generosity on the part of Nazarick’s members.
There was no trace of anyone on the silent surface. While more powerful vassals than Yuri and Shizu patrolled this place regularly, they did not seem to be around at the moment.
The Guardian Overseer Albedo had designed the patrol system, deliberately leaving gaps in the surface patrol routes to create opportunities suitable for invasion.
This was because it had been considered that the enemy would immediately pounce on any weaknesses in the security system once they were found and draw up plans designed to capitalize on them. Of course, any such gaps in Nazarick’s patrols were under remote observation, which meant that there was no actual weakness. In other words, this was a strategy to make the enemy think they had exploited a vulnerability and thus lure them into a trap.
Yuri walked up to the door of the log cabin and knocked, and she sensed Entoma moving inside.
However, Entoma had not opened the door, but was hurrying about inside for some reason.
Yuri narrowed her eyes, and opened the door.
It was not locked.
Inside the cabin’s plain interior, she saw Entoma frantically stuffing something under the chin of where a human face would be.
Surprised, Yuri’s face turned stern.
First Lupusregina, now her…
Why were all the Pleiades’ members so gluttonous? Yuri, as one of the undead who did not need to eat, could not understand that sentiment.
In Shizu’s case, she likes drinks.
“Yu-Yu-Yuri-neesama. Is something the matter? It’s still too early for a shift change, and the next shift is not yours either, nee-sama.”
Perhaps she should try to deal with her little sister’s attempted diversion first.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Then why?” Entoma tilted her head.
Entoma’s face was a bug and not her real face. It displayed no emotion, and so there was no way to tell what she was thinking through the subtle changes in her expressions.
Therefore, there were times when she had to use her body language to express what she meant, for instance, by shrugging or tilting her head.
“And then—” Entoma turned to look at Shizu “—Isn’t that Shizu (our little sister) over there?”
Yuri heard a crack, like something hard had broken.
“…That’s wrong, Entoma. You’re the little sister.”
The crack from just now resounded in her head again.
The members of the Pleiades called each other sisters, but unfortunately they were not true sisters, since they were made by separate creators. They were simply designed to be that way.
However, Yuri could confidently say that they loved and cared for each other like true sisters.
Among them, the Supreme Beings had designated Yuri Alpha as the eldest sister, and Lupusregina Beta as the second-oldest. However, it was less clear when it came to the others. Solution Epsilon and Narberal Gamma were both treated as the third-oldest.
If they were designed as twins like Aura and Mare, then that would be the end of it. However, that was not the case.
Perhaps Solution and Narberal really were twins, since the two of them interpreted that to be “as close and caring as twins”. Thus, they became a pair of siblings who disregarded seniority
The question now was the remaining two.
“You’re, the little sister.”
“…No, you are.”
The two of them glared at each other.
Nobody knew their relative seniorities.
Even the sole remaining Supreme Being did not know, and so every now and then they would argue about the matter.