The girl's right hand rested lightly on the hilt of the tachi, her five fingers gripping it so tightly they turned slightly pale.
The next second—the faint sound of the blade scraping against the scabbard was exceptionally clear in the silent room.
The stray hairs by her ear seemed to flutter, stirred by the force of the blade about to be drawn.
But in the eyes of the others, Mila had only opened the scabbard a fraction before snapping it shut.
"Swoosh!"
In the span of a single flutter of her eyelashes, she inhaled and exhaled, all in one fluid motion. A strand of hair clung to her sweat-beaded neck, and the killing intent had not yet faded from the girl's eyes.
[What happened?]
Millie, not quite understanding the tense atmosphere, was stopped by Mila's sharp command as she began to write.
"Don't speak, it's not over yet!"
"Mmph!"
The cap-wearing girl covered her own hand and looked at Mila, noticing that her gaze remained fixed on the seemingly undamaged Easter Island statue, not wavering for an instant.
Then, in the space of a single breath—a sound like an ancient monolith cracking apart came from the statue.
"Th-That's!!!" Miluo cried out.
Before her eyes, the massive head of the Easter Island statue began to tilt, following a diagonal line that sliced across its neck.
The next moment, the statue's head fell slowly to the floor, its silhouette intertwining with the cold glint in Mila's eyes.
Millie and Miluo stared in astonishment at the clean-cut surface and at the tachi in Mila's hand, which looked as if it had never been drawn. They understood. It was the legendary—quick draw slash!
The girls could just imagine it: the blade, which had only barely left its scabbard, had in fact unleashed a flash of light as swift as the Milky Way, moving at an imperceptible speed to precisely decapitate the Easter Island statue!
"S-So cool!" Millie had a particular interest in such flashy things and immediately wrote on the wall:
[Teach me! That was super cool!]
"Heh. This technique is not to be taught to outsiders." At this moment, Mila was like a mysterious swordswoman who drew her blade to help others. With a cold laugh, she rejected Millie's proposal.
Then Miluo took over writing,
[Mila, you're so cool! I want to learn too!]
"Hm? Miluo wants to learn, this is really..." She looked quite troubled as she wiped the sweat from her forehead, then began chatting with the two Mitas.
Leaving only—Alain and Misha, staring with deadpan eyes.
"That was... that thing, right?" the long-haired girl asked, looking at Alain, having clearly guessed what was going on.
Alain nodded.
"Yeah, it's that thing. I used to like playing with it when I was a kid."
If he wasn't mistaken, that "Easter Island statue" and the tachi were probably a matching toy set. As for how Alain knew... heh, all men have their childish moments.
Just like how, no matter their age, they'll always be interested in excavators or the perfect stick.
"Ahem! I can't say no to you two. Alright, I'll use a camera to demonstrate this time! Remember, I'm only doing this once."
[Yay! Mila is the best!]
[Not fair! Millie is copying what I say.]
Seeing the three of them already messing around and having fun, Alain couldn't help but chuckle.
Misha tugged on the corner of his sleeve.
"Should... we ask for her help a little later?"
The help she was referring to was getting Mila—a native resident of this game world—to clear out the virus in the kitchen so they could safely return to the real world.
"We can." Alain didn't object, looking over at the happy trio.
His gaze focused on Mila. A joyous smile was spread across the girl's face.
It was a stark contrast to when they had first met.
Empathetic as she was, Misha naturally understood Mila's intentions behind those "strange" actions, but she didn't say anything to spoil it.
Alain thought to himself as he glanced at Misha's profile. As expected of the kind Mita.
"Darling." The girl's words pulled Alain back from his thoughts.
"What's wrong?"
Alain saw her tapping her fingertips together indecisively, as if unsure whether she should say what was on her mind.
"It's fine, you don't have to be so formal with me."
"Mmm... I feel like this is something Millie should be the one to say," Misha sighed, deciding to just lay it all out.
"Why don't we... do this..."
Her soft whispers echoed in Alain's ear. After learning Misha's plan, he couldn't help but exclaim, "You're a genius!"
"Heehee~ Not at all!"
After they finished talking, Misha left the living room and headed for the bedroom.
Alain, meanwhile, caught Millie by the shoulder.
"What? If you want to have a secret tryst, wait a bit," Millie said, turning around unhappily. "Wait until I learn a cool sword technique, then I can show off for you!"
Alain gave a wry smile and quietly explained the plan to her, then followed Misha's steps toward the bedroom.
"Oh..."
The cap-wearing girl pondered Alain's words, then turned her gaze back to Mila.
Though she had said she would "only teach it once," she was continuously instructing the two invisible girls on her sword technique.
"And, the posture for the draw must be swift. The most important thing is speed! Speed is everything."
She taught them her experience without holding anything back.
Millie then turned and whispered to Miluo.
"Really?!"
The girl was naturally a kind-hearted type and was more than happy to help.
"Not only can we help Mila, but we also get to play with her?!"
"That's right!" Millie said with a smile.
"I'll do it, I'll do it!"
The group of four, completely unbeknownst to Mila, had agreed upon a "battle strategy."
After Alain and Misha returned to the living room carrying large bags, the group exchanged glances, and then Miluo made the first move—
The girl wrote the following on the wall:
[Mila! I was hoping you could do me a favor, is that okay?]
"A favor? What is it?" Mila asked, putting away her tachi in confusion.
She noticed that packages for bedding had suddenly appeared around her.
Furthermore, invisible hands were tearing open the packages, taking out soft pillows from within.
What was going on?
[If it's not too much trouble... can you take off your glasses? It'll be inconvenient to wear them while you help!]
"Alright, if it's you asking, Miluo." Mila took off her glasses and set them aside. When she looked back, she saw a dozen pillows floating in mid-air, most of them having fallen randomly to the floor.
Only five pillows remained floating.
Hmm... What do they want to do?
[Alright, Mila, get ready to receive your weapon!]
As Mila saw the words on the wall change, a pillow landed right in her arms. At this point, only four pillows remained suspended, as if there was one for each "guest," including herself.
She was particularly curious about the word "weapon." What weapon? Could a pillow be a weapon?
The next second, a pillow came flying.
It flew straight ahead and hit her in the face.
___
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