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After they ran away from the arcade, Kou and Subaru were able to regroup with the rest without much issue, and they all headed back. Their first stop would be the hospital, so Kou could return to his room there.

“She’s sleeping so nicely now…” Hijiri covered her lips as she said that while giggling. Her gaze was focused on the front passenger seat, where Kou was sound asleep.

“Well, this was her first time outside with her new body, and she was running around happily so I guess she got tired.”
“Is she a child or what…”

Subaru was a bit taken aback by the way Sora described it, though Kou’s current appearance did look rather childish. And even Hijiri began exclaiming, “Aww, she’s so squishyyy~” while poking at Kou’s cheeks.

That made Kou frown a little, but her sleeping face was so blissful she looked almost like an angel, bringing smiles to anyone who looked at her.

Somehow Subaru began to feel like he might end up becoming too fascinated by her if he was not careful, even though he knew that was his good friend who used to be a boy. And that was something he would never allow himself to do.

“Also…I still need to thank you, Subaru. You helped Kou in a dangerous situation.”
“Not really, all I could really do was to try being a meat shield for her. There was someone else who actually helped her.”

There was that young man who stepped in just when Kou was about to be hit. Subaru felt like he had seen him before, almost like his name was on the tip of his tongue, but he could not figure out who it was, and it kept bugging him.

“You said he was really strong too?”
“In the game, yes, and it seemed like he was pretty strong in real life too.”
“I’ll probably sound like an obsessed parent, but I’m actually surprised that there’s someone who can match Kou…”

Sora had often bought games for Kou as a child, as a way to contain her vampiristic impulses, but that had the secondary effect of developing an extreme talent for all types of games. So it was surprising to hear of someone else who could match her skill. But there was something else bothering Subaru.

“Mr. Sora, I think the registrations for Destiny Unchain Online’s second server are opening today?”
“Yes, maintenance should be done today by 6 pm, and then we’ll accept new registrations.”

There were many people unhappy about not being able to play Destiny Unchain Online. So they decided to add a second server to increase the capacity for players.

“Will there be any changes to the existing players too?”
“Well, there’s a lot of current players who have decided they want to be on the second server, so there will be room in both now.”
“What, Subaru. Do you think that guy might start playing on our server then?”
“Maybe… It’s just a possibility.”

It was just as likely he would end up on the other server, or maybe he was not even interested in playing Destiny Unchain Online. But if he made his way into the same server as them, then his superior skills would certainly stand out. Ideally, they would be able to recruit him into their guild, as otherwise he would be a formidable enemy.

Thinking of all that was also part of the guild strategist’s job.

“When we get to the hospital I’ll ask if Kou can be discharged in a few days. I think it’s safe to say that her body has recovered enough.”

Kou was only staying in the hospital for rehabilitation now, and that was something she could do at home now, so there was no reason to keep her trapped there.

“Then, she’ll also come to school…”
“Yes. This week she’ll keep attending remotely from home, she’ll be there in person next week.”
“Really?!”
“Ohh, it was about time.”

Hijiri and Subaru were excited to hear that. Subaru remained a bit more composed, though internally he was just as happy as his sister.

“I feel like I’m always asking you two for help, but please take care of my daughter there too.”
“Yes, you can count on us.”
“It’s not like we’ll stop caring for her after a lifetime together.”

The twins gave reassuring replies to Sora’s request.

◇◇◇

Beneath the NTEC head office, in the main computer room, in a heavily restricted room, the main console of Theia II was located, which was the computer running the main program of DUO.

There were many secret experiments across the nation, trying to develop a new generation of supercomputers that could process multiple AI entities in parallel, something like a super AI.

One of them was Theia II, developed by Mitsuki Amari. Its potential was currently being evaluated to see if it could fit those needs, and somehow that had turned into DUO.

“Ugh… I really wanted to go shopping with my daughter too…”
“Hahah…I’m sorry, but we can’t really do anything here without your help.”
“I’m duly aware of that. I merely complained to let off some steam.”

Amari quickly skimmed through the reports brought to her one after another, resting her chin on her interlocked hands. She was a representative of the company, and she worked harder than anyone else there, so no one really cared if she complained openly like that.

This was something that happened once a month, with Amari and some other engineers secluding themselves in that room until they completed maintenance on Theia II. That work was about to conclude now.

“Rep, look, this is one of the events Theia II generated…”
“Hm? Is something wrong with it?”

One of the engineers spoke to Amari, sounding nervous. She was one of the engineers in charge of overseeing the events and quests created by Theia II, and she was pointing at a specific point in a long list of events.

“Hmm, the entrance of a hero to oppose the Demon Lords… I mean, there’s three Demon Lords, but no heroes, so it’s currently a bit out of balance.”

Theia II had also arranged for future events after that. Impressed by that decision, Amari went to check what sort of storyline had been generated. The result was something almost unthinkable for a lifeless machine, being more of a boy-meets-girl type of story.

“Oh my… I see you’re an AI with a bit of a feminine side too. And this story has some unexpected twists and turns too.” Amari muttered that in surprise, seeing everything that Theia II had prepared for the future.

In response, the outside lights built onto Theia II began flickering all of a sudden, almost like the machine was not pleased with Amari’s evaluation.

“Ahahah, don’t start complaining now. This is just a sign that more human emotions have started blooming in you. That’s something to be celebrated.”
“””It’s not!”””
“Huh, huhh?”

Amari was startled by the instant rebuttal by the entire team of engineers. Their faces made it obvious that they were dreading having to deal with an emotionally unstable machine down the line.

Well…she’s started complaining a lot more lately, now that I think about it.

It was also important to make sure that the generated events were not unnecessarily mean and cruel to the players.

“Well, if anything bad happens we’ll fix it from here. As far as you go, just keep doing things as you think is best, you’re this world’s Game Master after all.” Amari glanced at Theia II while saying that with a kind voice, and in response the lights blinked once and then remained still.

Their conversation had ended on a good note, and the engineers were able to sigh in relief after that.

“Still…there’s been a lot of people being pulled onto the Demon Lords’ sides, so throwing a hero into the mix…”

Only the Game Master’s skill would determine how well that would work out.

Are things really going to go as planned? She’s quite strong too, you know?

The image of Amari’s daughter flashed in her mind, knowing that she would also end up somewhere in that story. After that, she moved on to review the files and movements of two NPCs that the machine seemed especially infatuated with, codenamed «Sephir-11 Da’at» and «Sephir-11i Belial».