The Infinite World of Weapon Girls

"……Um."

The Holy Emperor walked in quietly.

Tina finally woke up after being in a coma for four days. Now that she's awake, there shouldn't be any problems. J, who had been watching over her day and night and worried about her for four days and nights, needs to get some rest.

After letting out a big yawn, J closed the door and left, leaving the Holy Emperor and Tina alone in the ward.

"Tina, did you just wake up?"

After the Holy Emperor went in, he pulled up a chair and sat down in front of the sickbed, then asked.

Tina remained calm, seemingly unaware of what had just happened. She nodded slightly and replied:

"Um……"

"How are you feeling? Are you experiencing any discomfort... anywhere?"

The Holy Emperor's natural smile was very kind and had a magical power to win people's hearts. No wonder he was able to become the head of Tokyo. If it were anyone else, they would definitely be flattered...?

"Fortunately."

"Mr. Rentaro strongly recommended her, saying that Tina played an indispensable role in the elimination of Scorpio. I, the Holy Emperor, on behalf of all humanity in Tokyo, would like to express my sincerest gratitude to you."

"...You flatter me, this is what I should do." How can it be considered "indispensable"? He almost did his best, but he's just coasting along.

“Although the ‘Seven Stars’ relic’ was ultimately lost, the Scorpio Calamity was safely overcome, so it’s not that important.” The Holy Emperor’s eyes suddenly dimmed. “…However, more than thirty police officers who participated in this case have gone missing or are known to have died. They were all elite police officers in Tokyo, so the loss is considerable.”

"Ah...that's terrible." Great, the IP has risen another dozen places.

The Holy Emperor would never know what this two-faced girl was thinking.

After a long sleep, Tina's memories from a few days ago gradually returned as she talked with the Holy Emperor. The girl stared into the Holy Emperor's eyes and suddenly asked:

"Asako... Sakakida Asako, has she returned? I want to see her."

“She’s back safely.” The Holy Emperor hesitated for a moment, lowered his eyes slightly, and said, “However, she left a day ago, and we may not see her for a long time to come. Um… Tina, don’t misunderstand, she just left Tokyo.”

Is that so?

The loli girl's gaze persisted: "Your Majesty, I'm sorry that the person you commissioned failed, but since it was you who commissioned it... you must know something, right?"

"Hmm...?!" The Holy Emperor was slightly taken aback by Tina's sudden seriousness.

What is District 44?

The girl clearly caught the fleeting surprise and astonishment in the Emperor's eyes, and her doubts grew even deeper.

"What District 44... I... I don't know anything about it." The Holy Emperor began to play dumb.

Tina pulled out the burnt map fragment from the imaginary space, held out her hand, and the map fragment fell from mid-air in front of the Holy Emperor. The girl pressed her for an answer: "...This District 44."

The dark, blurry marks were almost unrecognizable, except for the white area in the corner and the annotation "Area 44," which were clearly visible.

The Holy Emperor remained silent.

The silence lasted for half a minute. If someone really wanted to tell someone something like this, they wouldn't have considered it for so long.

Tina knew that given their current relationship, she probably wouldn't be able to get any more information out of the Holy Emperor, so she broke the silence and said, "I'm sorry to have put you in such a difficult position."

"No, I'm very sorry... but it's just that it's something I can't tell you about right now because of the importance of this place."

The Holy Emperor blinked and then said, "In addition, there is something I think I should tell you. Ikuma has been missing for four days... or rather, it is basically believed that he is dead. Therefore, Senju Natsuyo is currently in a state of having no facilitator."

After sorting through her memories, skipping over Asako, the girl finally remembered her relationship with Natsume.

Just as she was about to ask about Xia Shi's situation, the Holy Emperor unexpectedly brought it up to her first...? This surprised the girl slightly, unless she knew about the relationship between Xia Shi and herself.

"Xia Shi... how is she? Is she alright?" The voice was calm, but with a barely perceptible tremor.

Recalling that day, the most critical and thrilling moment was when Xia Shi descended from the sky to shield him from the deadly sword. The sword of death severed the giant sword and struck Xia Shi. Although the remaining force was reduced by eight or nine tenths, a large cloud of blood mist still rose before his eyes.

The only saving grace was that it wasn't a painted sword, and the remaining force of that strike was pitifully small—after all, the life force of the cursed child was undeniable.

"Senju Natsuyo, she..."

Unexpectedly, the head of state had time to keep her in suspense. After a short while, the Holy Emperor slowly continued, "Xia Shi has recovered very well. However, due to the loss of her facilitator, and in accordance with IISO regulations, the International Initiator Supervision Organization has sent people to take Xia Shi back."

"...!!!"

"Eh—?!" The Holy Emperor drew out a long sound, his gaze suddenly falling to the window.

This spot offers an extremely expansive view, overlooking the diverse layout of the Dongcheng District in the distance, and providing a close-up view of the bustling national highway below.

—Among them, a red-skinned, white-lettered enclosed truck drove by.

"That must have been IISO's special vehicle... I wonder if Natsume is inside..."

The Holy Emperor's words had just been spoken.

Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by another voice.

"What a joke! Those bastards... who allowed them... to take my Xia Shi away...!"

Then, the girl's voice disappeared.

'Ping ping ping ping—'

The large, brightly lit windowpane shattered with a crash, each shard reflecting the light in a dazzling array of colors.

She hadn't even changed out of her white hospital gown when she smashed through the glass and jumped down. Then, that voice, tinged with emotion, disappeared below the window, out of sight, along with the fleeting figure of the young girl.

The Holy Emperor smiled helplessly.

Setting aside her status as head of state, she was just an ordinary high school girl. Because Xia Shi was hesitant and dared not tease Tina, the seemingly aloof and dignified Holy Emperor, in the eyes of ordinary people, unleashed his girlish (mischievous) heart and orchestrated a prank.

Too lazy to even open the window, he just smashed it open and jumped out...

Witnessing this scene, the Holy Emperor regretted it. Oh no, Tina... what if she gets angry and blows up the car without warning?!

...

……

...

— [Question: What day is May 28th, seven days from now?]

[I'm writing this with a full schedule, I really wish I could stretch every minute into ten, so I can finally update 8k words twice on Tuesday!]

【Ta74, you want both love and nothing, you want it all Orz】

The enclosed armored vehicle has the letters "IISO" engraved on its red steel body, with a line of smaller text below that reads "International Initiator Supervision Organization".

The road was teeming with traffic, with armored personnel carriers mixed in, moving at a constant speed.

On both sides of the road stood rows of buildings, their roofs varying in height. A young girl's figure flashed by, chasing after a conspicuous vehicle.

Summer Dynasty —

We finally got together, how could we allow ourselves to separate again...

A cold glint flashed in her eyes, and with a flick of her small hand, she pulled out a sniper rifle. The metallic silver gleam reflected from the rifle's barrel was even more chilling and piercing.

Bang! Bang!

The bullets, whistling through the air, struck the weakest point where the tires met the armor at a perfect angle, easily piercing the armored vehicle's tires one after the other, causing an explosion.

Thump thump!! Thud—

The armored personnel carrier, which had come to a stop in the explosion and lost its balance, lay tilted and paralyzed in place.

The sniper's shot was instantly drowned out by the deafening sound of a tire blowout. The people around the road were briefly terrified, but once they realized it was just a tire blowout, they were relieved... However, the traffic that was subsequently blocked had to divert to the sides to bypass it.

"Holy crap, no way, a flat tire...? I might be driving a fake armored vehicle."

The middle-aged driver grumbled with a dark expression as he tried to open the door, but no matter how hard he gripped it, he couldn't open it.

"Locked?! Locked tight?!"

Beep beep beep beep—!

Dozens of red warning lights flashed frantically overhead, around the seat, and all around, issuing a high-risk alert. The driver looked back and saw a line of pixelated text rapidly popping up on the driver's electronic display screen:

"Command to be executed: Self-destruct - Countdown 60 seconds"

The middle-aged driver's eyes widened in shock—damn it, he thought to himself, "I've been driving for decades, and this is the first time I've ever heard of an armored vehicle self-destructing!"

What a joke! Even though it's the head of state's order, there's no need for the mighty Emperor to resort to such underhanded tactics to assassinate him...

……

Tina discovered that after Xia Shi triggered her memories of the 'Skynet Power' and launched a satellite bombardment, a forgotten area of ​​her ability had been freed from some kind of restriction.

As before, if she were to hijack the orbital satellite cannon again and launch a map-wide attack, she thought, she wouldn't be asleep for another four days.

At this moment, she stood behind the disabled armored vehicle, her alabaster-white hands resting on the back of the compartment. An invisible energy flow infiltrated it, easily altering the armored vehicle's control system.

This armored vehicle doesn't have a self-destruct system, so it can't just explode out of thin air. It's not easy to take action in the city streets, but it's still necessary to scare this guy.

Having gradually mastered this ability, Tina could open the carriage simply by seizing command, without resorting to violence.

click-

With a soft mechanical click, the girl flung open the door, letting in bright light that dispelled the darkness. She saw a lone figure lying in the corner of the enclosed carriage.

"summer……"

Sunlight couldn't penetrate the interior, but in the dim light, Tina could clearly see the figure, about the size of a little girl.

He uttered only one word before his voice abruptly stopped... The reason was simple: it wasn't Xia Shi inside, but an oversized plush toy dolphin.

At that moment, someone was watching her from a distance.

Tina was very sensitive to counter-tracking. She instantly shifted her gaze to an alleyway on the sidewalk. Although the person was gone, the shadow was a step slower and shrank back into the shadows.

……

------

(Oh no, oh no, oh no—! I'm not going to be found out, am I... I was being so careful...)

Xia Shi pressed her body against the wall, breathing softly, her face slightly flushed, her heart pounding. She hadn't expected Tina to be so alert.

"I should have known better than to tell her. If I'm exposed, it's all the Emperor's fault for his terrible idea..."