Project GB is an official initiative by Re:Library.

The latter half of this chapter has many elements from my previous work, Worldgate Online.

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***

The biggest ski area was pretty close to the vacation house.

After breakfast, they quickly got ready and rode the ski lift all the way to the highest spot.

“Nooo, stop, how do I get this to stoooppp?!”

The echoes of Hijiri’s screams during her first time skiing could be heard through the mountain.

“Calm down Hijiri. This is all new snow so just lean back and sit down!”
“O-Okay, let me try!”

Hearing that, she performed the safe fall maneuver Kou had taught her before they got on the lift, leaning back and sitting down.
Once she noticed she had stopped moving, she let out a long sigh while Kou went up to her.

“Phew… You’re putting too much weight behind them, that’s why you keep accelerating and can’t control your skis well.”
“Humm.. I know, but it happened so fast that I couldn’t just…”
“It’s okay, you’ll get used to it. Just try to practice what you’ve learned so far, and let’s go all the way down taking as many breaks as you need.”
“Okay, teacher!”

Hijiri regained her energy as she replied, and just then…

“Oh, you two were over here.”

It was Subaru, who stopped his snowboard right next to Kou.

“Subaru, I thought you were together with Miyuki?”
“I was…but there’s no way I can keep up with those two.”

Subaru was better at snowboarding than Kou, so she found it weird that he would feel inferior to someone else…until she looked in the direction Subaru pointed.

“…Yeah, that’s gonna be impossible.”
“I know, right? It turns out Ryunosuke has been big into alpinism all his life, and took Miyuki with him as soon as she could walk. I thought I was good, but they’re true experts.”
“Ohh…”

Kou’s cheek twitched a bit as she watched Ryunosuke and Miyuki fly down the advanced ski course, skillfully navigating through the various hidden bumps like they were not even there.
They were clearly far better than Kou… Especially Ryunosuke, who would be right at home in tournaments.

“So I came over here.”
“Then let’s do it together.”
“”Let’s teach the newbie!””

The two grinned broadly as they turned to look at…

“Please don’t be too harsh..okay?”

This time it was Hijiri’s cheek that started twitching…

“Whewww, we’re finally making it all the way down…”
“Ahahah, good job Hijiri.”
“By the end you were doing your turns and bows pretty well, try to be a bit more confident.”

Then they spent around half an hour calmly going down all the way to the foot of the mountain.

Hijiri had been using many muscles she was not accustomed to use, so she was thoroughly exhausted, while Kou and Subaru kept cheering her on.
Meanwhile Kou was still full of energy, as she had constantly kept herself at the same speed as Hijiri.

“I think I’ll take the lift up and go for another round, how about you?”
“I need some rest…”
“I’ve gotten tired too, so I’ll stay with Hijiri.”

The twins began taking off their gear, as Subaru had also gotten tired trying to keep up with the advanced course earlier.

“Alright, when you’re feeling better we can go back up together then.”
“Okayyy…”
“Have fun!”

The two saw her off as Kou took the lift to the beginners course, where Reiji and Julia were.

Then…after going a bit down the slope, she found those two.

She looked pretty nervous, as Reiji held her from behind and carefully taught her how to bow.
She was constantly staring at her legs, trying to get them to move the way she wanted, and everyone around was watching with warm smiles.

“Hello Reiji, and Julia.”
“Oh, hey Kou. I see you already know how to ski.”
“Hahah, well I didn’t grow up with snowy winters for nothing.”

They were very easy to spot, as they had taken off their hats. Kou also took off her wool hat and face mask when she got there. It was a nice overcast day, so sunlight was not an issue either.
Once released, her white hair spread and waved with the wind, which caused quite a commotion amongst the onlookers, but by now Kou was used to that and hardly noticed them.
Only the gaze of the girl in front of her stood out.

“Maybe I’m not one to talk, but it really fits her, right July?”
“Yes, Kou looks like a white shiny snow fairy.”

Julia was staring at Kou with admiration, and Kou felt quite good about it, though her cheeks also felt like they were burning so she had to give herself light slaps…and then she asked something else.

“By the way, where is Iris now?”
“Ah, she stayed back in the vacation house. She had to meet up with someone.”
“Had to?”

It was no surprise that she stayed behind since she was pregnant, and it could be dangerous if she fell…but Kou still got curious about that meeting.

“Well, I guess you could say there’s some issues considering her position and that she’s on maternity leave.”
“Huhh…”

Kou could only tilt her head, unsure of what to make from that.

***

…Right around the same time, over in the vacation house.

“It’s been a while, Iris. I see you’ve got a pretty nice bump there now.”

Iris was on a rocking chair, reading a book in front of the fireplace, when a woman with a gentle voice called to her.
She turned away from the book, looking to her side…and saw a blonde mother and daughter standing there.

“It’s good to see you again, Aini. And Yukina too.”
“Yes, Yukina is very happy to be here after so long too!”

The young blonde girl jumped forward and hugged Iris too…and Iris hugged her back.

“I’m happy to see you too. And you’re just as pretty as I remember, Aini.”
“Heheh, sometimes I do appreciate having just a bit of your species’ blood in me, especially when it comes to this less aged body.”
“Ahahah…I can see that.”

Both just smiled awkwardly after that exchange.

“I wish I could say the same, but it’s not all positive. I always get such awful looks any time I’m standing next to Aini that it stopped being funny a long time ago.”

Soon a third voice joined their conversation. This time a male voice, which also produced a happy reaction from Iris.
Standing there, was a very young boy…or actually not at all. It was a man in his early thirties, with short hair, and large burly muscles.

“Oh… Is it me or did you get even bigger?”
“Hahah… They made me an instructor at the office, so I had to bulk up again.”
“Heh…he’s so amazing. He already has a black belt in karate, kendo, and judo I think?”

Iris was already impressed, and Yukina proudly announced her father’s accomplishments.
She seemed to be really attached and proud of her father…but it was also true that he had gotten quite far compared to how Iris knew him in the past.

“Regardless, let me do this properly… Lady Iris Atla Vim Ailein, I’ve come to announce that preparations are ready for the stay of the Supreme Governor of Acrocity from the Isolated World Cage, and her daughter!”
“Thank you, I appreciate all your efforts and kindness, Overseer of the National Police Agency’s Security Bureau, and Isolated World Special Task Force Office, Tobita Hayato.”

As he bowed respectfully to give his report…Iris answered with a kind smile.
But they could not remain composed for long, eventually bursting out laughing.

“Hahh, it still feels weird to do that. I only got this position after old man Aureo established that thing and forced it onto me…”

Hayato scratched his head while he complained.

…This Isolated World Special Task Force Office was an extremely well kept secret, established to regulate anything involving the Isolated World Cage… And in a weird turn of events, it had been established even before Worldgate Online came out.
Thanks to that there were a lot of things that had not been looked into during that past incident, but as to why the government put such means in place… It was because they saw how much there was to gain from it.
There was already a lot of technology that had made its way from there…the most commonplace one being the NLD, and its quantum technology to interface with the wearer’s brain and nervous system.
In the Cage world, that was used in the True Dragon’s mutual network, and man-machine interfaces for manned weapons. While in this world it was a technology long considered impossible.
Another of the Isolated World Special Task Force Office’s roles was to slowly spread such technologies without anyone noticing…and also making sure that any technology provided *was not misused or fell in the wrong hands*.

***

Meanwhile…

“Aghh having to recite all of that is such a pain.”
“Heheh, well it’s also important to make it clear where we stand to others, so such ceremonies are important. Either way, good job, Hayato.”
“Yup, and at least that’s finally over, Iris.”

Now they were able to talk in a more carefree manner like in the past again.