"What are you talking about, Gion-san?"
Kujaku walked over in confusion when she heard Gion's voice.
She wore a tight-fitting dress and a round hat.
Her long, slender legs peeked out from beneath the hem of her dress.
Even though there was a certain height gap between her and Gion, she was still an extremely charming girl.
If the people at Marine Headquarters weren't afraid of being targeted by Tsuru's schemes, they would probably be more than happy to launch an offensive toward Kujaku and pursue her.
Of course, Kujaku had always had an extremely low opinion of those male Marines.
That had been the case in the past, and now, her heart had long since been filled with that man, Arton.
It wasn't that Kujaku had fallen in love with Arton. Rather, she very much wanted to capture him, and she had absolutely no thoughts of romance.
Naturally, that only made it even more impossible for those male Marines to pursue Kujaku.
Whether some of that was influenced by the comics Arton had drawn was something only Kujaku herself knew.
"I was wondering whether Ain might transform into me and do the things from those comics with Arton."
Gion frowned and spoke with a grave expression.
Gion was generous by nature. Although Kujaku was her junior, since Kujaku also possessed a diary copy and had comics drawn by Arton, Gion didn't mind discussing more direct matters with her.
"Mm, is that possible?"
Kujaku froze. Thinking of the overly explicit scenes from the comics, she couldn't help asking.
"It's not impossible. Didn't you already see Ain transform into Hina earlier?"
Gion let out a sigh and spoke gloomily.
The thought that Ain might turn into her and get intimate with Arton made her feel extremely conflicted.
After all, that would be her appearance, and Ain had not obtained the rights to it from her. If Ain really did something like that, wouldn't it be terribly embarrassing for Gion herself?
"According to that logic, could Ain also transform into me?"
Kujaku's lips twitched, and for a moment, she had no idea what to say.
She imagined Ain turning into her, then rolling around with Arton, and her thoughts suddenly became a mess.
"You don't need to worry too much, Kujaku. You and Arton don't have any grudges, after all."
"I don't think Arton would let Ain transform into you."
"At the very least, Arton wouldn't let Ain transform into you and get intimate with him."
"But I… you know I had a conflict with Arton before."
"That's exactly why I feel like Arton might let Ain transform into me."
Gion patted Kujaku on the shoulder as she spoke.
Although Gion herself couldn't be completely certain Arton wouldn't let Ain turn into Kujaku, as her senior, she didn't want Kujaku to become too anxious over this.
If Kujaku really became anxious because of this, Gion would feel guilty too.
Kujaku understood Gion as well. As soon as she heard that, she roughly grasped the concern in Gion's heart.
So Kujaku put a bright smile on her face and said, "Don't worry, Gion-san. I won't have any bad thoughts."
"Arton only used my image to create those strange works. Even if Ain really turns into me and gets close to him, I won't feel uncomfortable."
Chapter 705: Ain's Transformation Magic Makes People Wary
When Kujaku said this, it was as if she had convinced herself. The discomfort that had originally existed in her heart truly disappeared.
Not only that, a tiny trace of hope even rose in Kujaku's heart.
She hoped that if Ain really did transform into her and get close to Arton, Arton would use the video recording function of the sailing diary to record it.
That way, she could see whether Arton's real combat situation would match up with those comics related to her.
Of course, Kujaku hoped the videos Arton recorded would only be visible to her.
She was still a young girl, after all. Although she had a mature personality, she could still feel embarrassed.
If the diary copy holders saw those images, even if they were all women, and even if the person in the video was Ain transformed into her appearance, Kujaku would still inevitably feel embarrassed.
Of course, right now, she wanted even more to see Ain turning into Gion and getting intimate with Arton. That was, if Ain really transformed into Gion and took action.
"If Ain really does that, I wonder what kind of expression Gion-san would have."
Kujaku thought to herself.
It was unavoidable for her to think that way. After all, Gion had never shared any comics related to herself with Kujaku.
Kujaku was extremely curious about what the version of Gion under Arton's pen looked like.
"I'm glad you can think of it that way."
Gion didn't know what Kujaku was thinking. After hearing Kujaku's words, she smiled in relief.
"Looks like I should learn from you."
"Even if Ain really transforms into me, I shouldn't have any thoughts about stopping her."
"After all, that wouldn't really be me."
Gion spoke.
"That's right. Ain's transformation magic is good, but she can't truly represent us."
"The only possible effect is that if Ain transforms into us and gets intimate with Arton…"
"It might lower Arton's interest in us."
"Mm… Thinking about it that way, it still seems a little bad for us."
Kujaku held her chin with one hand as she spoke.
Although Arton had already killed the World Nobles and the World Government's order was to arrest him, from the Marines' side, there was no real need to invite Arton.
However, considering the sailing diary system Arton possessed, Gion, Kujaku, and the others had actually been thinking all along about ways to make Arton useful to the Marines.
If Arton could truly help the Marines in the future, it wasn't impossible for them to let Arton stay hidden and quietly assist the Marines.
That way, the World Government might not notice Arton's existence and likely wouldn't say much.
And when it came to methods for making Arton contribute to the Marines, Kujaku could only think of a strategy like a honey trap.
Even if Gion's previous attempt at a honey trap had failed, there was no helping it. After all, as far as Arton was concerned, his weakness seemed to be women.
"There's definitely a bit of a downside, but there's nothing we can do about that."
"After all, we can't stop Ain."
Gion let out a quiet sigh.
Even Ain had obtained a template now, yet she was no longer a Marine.
Every time Gion thought about that, she felt rather helpless.
Unfortunately, she had no way to change that helplessness.
Even if Zephyr advised Ain, Ain probably wouldn't want to return to Marine Headquarters.
...
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