Inside the special conceptual space formed by the fusion of the thirteen King's Orbs, Brunhilde sat at the head of a massive round table.
Her hands were crossed, supporting her chin.
On both sides and directly across from her sat the other twelve Valkyries.
"We have a mission."
She spoke slowly.
In an instant, the gazes of the twelve sisters locked onto her.
They had just stepped off the battlefield of the Gods. Even though they had only fused into King's Orbs and supported Jaden from behind the scenes, their consciousness had remained in a constant state of combat.
So the moment Brunhilde said the word "mission," tension surged through them.
Then-
"Lord Yuki wants us to come up with a date plan for him."
...Eh?
The twelve Valkyries froze.
This was not what they had expected.
At all.
However, since the words had come from Lord Yuki and their eldest sister, even though they were confused, they still began to think seriously.
If one went strictly by the myths passed down from ancient times-albeit revised countless times along the way-the Valkyries should, in theory, be familiar with such matters.
But those were myths.
Reality was different.
In truth, none of the twelve knew anything about dating.
Brunhilde didn't either.
That said, not knowing didn't mean they couldn't figure something out.
After some discussion, Brunhilde decided they needed reference material.
They would observe how others did it.
Her proposal was immediately approved.
She began browsing through the ACG works placed in Jaden's room.
After going through six or seven of them, the thirteen Valkyries gradually reached a rough understanding.
"Big sister, it seems that human dates usually involve the male protagonist intentionally or unintentionally going out with many women," one Valkyrie said cautiously, "and in the end, the male lead clears his head, acts emotionally dull, and somehow wins them all..."
"That's not always the case," another Valkyrie immediately countered. "In the ones I read, the main character goes on one-on-one dates with the female lead. But their so-called friends always appear nearby in various forms, and some even provide assistance."
The thirteen Valkyries pondered for a long time.
Before truly finalizing anything, they reached a consensus.
-Lord Yuki and his beloved absolutely should not go out alone.
At the very least, they needed support.
As for who would serve as that support-
The thirteen Valkyries unanimously set their sights on Erina's bodyguards still stationed at Totsuki Tower.
Kurara.
And Mukuro Ikusaba.
...
The plan was finalized quickly.
Brunhilde promptly relayed it to Jaden.
But after hearing it-
Jaden felt something was off.
'Wait, Brunhilde.'
'I'm going on a date with Erina.'
'Why do I need to bring Kurara and Mukuro Ikusaba?'
When Brunhilde received the message, she was momentarily stunned.
She clearly hadn't anticipated this question.
"Lord Yuki, accidents are very likely to occur during dates, aren't they?" she replied seriously. "Bringing familiar individuals to assist in handling accidents is the best way to reduce unexpected situations."
Jaden felt that their presence might actually be the accident.
But her logic wasn't completely unreasonable.
So he nodded and signaled for her to continue.
"Lord Yuki, the latter half of the plan is quite ordinary. I've already investigated what needed to be investigated, and I've dispatched my sisters to handle all necessary preparations."
"With the thirteen of us providing external support, and you inviting Kurara and Mukuro Ikusaba as internal support..."
"This date will be extremely stable."
"There will be no unexpected situations."
Jaden hesitated.
'Brunhilde... why are you all so focused on "accidents" when I asked you to plan a date?'
To be fair, Jaden had no complaints about the "ordinary" date plan itself.
Ordinary was fine.
He and Erina were already engaged, yet they hadn't gone on many truly ordinary dates.
Starting simple wasn't a bad thing.
But Brunhilde's constant emphasis on contingencies felt... excessive.
It felt like battlefield post-traumatic stress disorder.
Brunhilde didn't think so at all.
She blinked, visibly confused.
"Eh... this is mostly because that's what the books say."
"Is something wrong?"
'Wrong...'
Jaden thought about it for a moment.
'If I had to say... no, not really.'
He shook his head.
This wasn't something that could be fixed with a few words.
And he didn't even know how to explain it properly.
So he decided to set the issue aside for now.
'Let's go with this first.'
'But afterward, you should read more books from this era to better understand how things actually work.'
'That way, you can help me more effectively.'
Brunhilde froze briefly.
Then she thought of the ACG works Jaden often flipped through.
She nodded.
"I understand, Lord Yuki."
And just like that-
The date plan was settled.
...
Preparations moved quickly.
The thirteen Valkyries dispersed to handle their respective tasks.
Kurara and Mukuro Ikusaba were both a little confused when they were invited, but overall, things progressed smoothly.
Kure Fuki, who had taken leave earlier, was naturally not invited.
She prepared a few things on her own, then tapped into the surveillance feeds around Totsuki Tower, quietly waiting.
"A date for Yuki and Erina..."
"They'll probably sneak out, dump all the troublesome work on that little secretary, and then walk along the night road all the way to the city center."
Kure Fuki was confident she understood both of them.
But when she saw Jaden, Erina, Kurara, and Mukuro Ikusaba walk out of Totsuki Tower together-
And then get into the same car-
She froze.
It took her a long while to react.
"...Ah."
"This-did I take leave too early and miss a golden opportunity?"