"Huh?"
Yayoi and Symboli Rudolf blinked at the same time.
This bizarre scene, combined with what Kuroha had just said, caused the two Uma Musume's thoughts to connect rapidly.
An absurd answer abruptly surfaced in their minds.
"Trainer Kuroha… did you just say you were talking to Shizuka?"
Yayoi spoke tentatively, her voice carrying a trace of caution.
Almost at the exact same moment she spoke, Sunday Silence lifted her head from Kuroha's arms and shouted at Yayoi.
"Yeah! I'm right here!"
However, Yayoi showed no reaction whatsoever. Her gaze remained fixed on Kuroha, waiting for an answer.
"She says she's right here, but you probably can't hear her."
Kuroha sighed and lowered his head to look.
At this moment, Sunday Silence was hanging off him like an octopus.
Her arms and legs were wrapped directly around his waist.
Her delicate face was half-hidden by her long bangs.
Those crimson eyes were staring fixedly at him, filled with shock and joy.
The combination of her black trench coat and gold tie should have made her look heroic and dashing.
But that image had been completely ruined by her current utterly shameless posture.
"…Can you let go first?"
Kuroha asked wordlessly.
"No!"
Sunday Silence shook her head decisively and refused. Her arms even tightened around him a little more.
As if she were afraid that, the moment she let go, the only person who could touch her would disappear.
Helpless, Kuroha could only maintain this posture and turn back toward the two people who had completely lost track of the situation.
"So?"
A clear and foolish blankness appeared on Rudolf's face as she spread her hands, indicating that Kuroha should explain what was going on.
Kuroha did not hide anything.
After pondering for a moment, he spoke.
"To put it simply, Sunday Silence has now entered a ghost-like state."
"She's been beside the chairwoman the whole time, and she can speak, but you can neither see nor hear her…"
"At present, it seems that I'm the only one who can see and touch her."
Seeing Yayoi's eyes widen, Kuroha paused, then added, "Darley and Byerley, the Three Goddesses, should be able to as well."
"I-Is that so…"
Yayoi froze for a long while before finally digesting this information that defied common sense.
Her gaze lingered for several seconds on the patch of "air" in Kuroha's arms.
Deep worry appeared on her face.
Then she carefully spoke toward that patch of air.
"Question! Trainer Kuroha, could you help me ask Shizuka if she is all right?"
"After becoming a ghost, does anything feel uncomfortable? Has she been scared all this time?"
Kuroha lowered his head and said softly, "You heard her? Answer her."
When Sunday Silence heard that, her arms around Kuroha tightened slightly.
She fell silent for a moment, then said in a muffled voice, "…I'm fine. It's just annoying that I can't touch people."
"But since I don't need to eat or drink in this state anyway, it's not that big of a problem."
Kuroha repeated her words to Yayoi.
The next instant, the chairwoman's petite body visibly relaxed.
"Thank goodness, thank goodness… As long as she's all right…"
Nearby, Rudolf saw that she had only just brought Kuroha here, yet the matter already seemed more than halfway resolved. A relaxed expression also appeared on her face.
But as she looked at that empty patch of air, her brows still furrowed slightly, and she reminded him, "Then is there any permanent solution?"
"We can't let Sunday Silence remain in this state forever."
Hearing that, Kuroha lowered his head and glanced at the octopus in his arms, then nodded. "No, we can't let her stay like this forever."
Just as he was preparing to think of a method, the person in his arms began getting restless.
Sunday Silence seemed to have finally recovered from the shock of "someone can touch me," and her attention began to wander.
First, she reached out and pressed against Kuroha's chest, curiously feeling the solid sensation beneath her palm.
Then she moved downward, stopping at his abdomen.
"Huh."
She pressed again and let out a murmur of unclear meaning.
"…"
Helplessly looking at Sunday Silence, who seemed like she was about to lift his clothes and check his abs in the next moment, Kuroha hurriedly grabbed her hand.
"Smack!"
He lightly flicked her forehead.
"Mm!"
"Don't move around."
"Hiss—!"
After being flicked, Sunday Silence instantly bristled, baring her teeth and hissing.
She looked exactly like a tabby ankylosaurus in battle mode.
Unfortunately, she had no tail to puff up, but the white ahoge on top of her head had already gone perfectly straight.
Seeing her like this, Kuroha could not help sighing inwardly.
So this was the source of the bloodline for many future Central legends in reality?
Why was she such a problem child…
However, regarding a method to resolve her divine disappearance state, he was gradually forming an idea.
Darley and Byerley had said before that this could only be solved once he returned.
Then what was something he had, but they did not?
Or rather, something they temporarily did not have?
Why was he the only one who could touch Sunday Silence, while Rudolf and Yayoi could not even see her?
There was only one answer.
Kuroha raised his hand.
In his own vision, a dazzling rainbow glow suddenly rose from his palm and slowly flowed through the air.
The Power of Blessing.
Among the Three Goddesses, it had another name—divine power.
"Stay still. Don't move."
Kuroha spoke to the girl in his arms, his tone carrying a trace of severity.
He had thought this irritable and restless black-haired Uma Musume would continue baring her teeth in protest.
But what Kuroha had not expected was that, after being spoken to in that tone, Sunday Silence instead quieted down for some reason.
She blinked her large eyes.
Then she quietly looked at the side of the young man's face, the only person who could touch her.
So she responds better to force than softness?
After roughly judging Sunday Silence's personality, Kuroha directly gathered a basketball-sized "Spirit Bomb."
Then he casually pressed that mass of rainbow divine power—Blessing—into her.
He tentatively pressed the mass of rainbow divine power into her chest.
The instant the glow sank into her black coat—
In Rudolf and Yayoi's vision, a vague, graceful silhouette suddenly appeared in Kuroha's arms.
First came a translucent outline.
Then it gradually became clear.
From barely visible to truly tangible.
A few seconds later, the black-haired girl with long hair over her eyes, a trench coat, and a gold belt had truly appeared before everyone's eyes.
Only…
She had appeared in the posture of an octopus.
(End of Chapter)
[Get +30 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Zaelum"]
[Every 300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]