The comments section all think I'm a really good person.

86. Companions existing in the mind

Hibiki Tachibana and Yoriichi Tsugikuni finally returned to the Silver Garden just in time and sat down at the table before dinner.

Compared to Yoriichi Tsugikuni, who only went out to help out and became even more taciturn upon his return, Hibiki Tachibana made quite a fuss this time.

Because Jun Furuhashi had completed his advancement and finally regained his human consciousness, he bumped into the door frame and broke it as he entered, startling Karen Aijo, as he was unfamiliar with his current body.

"...Wow, so tall..." Aijo Karen stared blankly at Furuhashi Jun, who was estimated to be close to two meters tall and looked like a little giant, and exclaimed in amazement, "Wow, amazing—how did you grow so tall? Tell me!"

The latter let out a hearty laugh.

Although her physical structure is now basically the same as that of an ordinary human compared to when she first became a shadow beast, she now has black scales and a bony tail that is almost as long as her whole body. She is also nearly two meters tall, her hair has turned white, and her skin color is more than one shade darker, with crimson lines clinging to her skin...

...At first glance, compared to her previous image that left people with the impression of a monster, the current Jun Furuhashi is more accurately described as a large, beautiful woman with dark skin and white hair.

Of course, that form can be used at any time, but it's not as convenient as transforming into human form. For example, in the corridors of the Starlight Pavilion, it's difficult to even turn around if you're walking in Shadow Beast form.

It's better now. Her height actually looks about the same as Yoriichi Tsugikuni's, except that with the length of her horns, she has exceeded two meters.

Because she is now much taller than she originally was, Jun Furuhashi is not used to such a high vantage point and will bump her head if she is not careful.

Fortunately, she's thick-skinned; it was the door that was damaged, not her head.

Chiho Kobayashi, standing beside him, scoffed at his clumsy reaction: "The water that leaked into your cerebellum probably hasn't been cleaned up yet, has it?"

"Hmm, probably?" Jun Furuhashi wasn't angry; he just laughed happily.

Although I'm confused about the current situation and don't know why I woke up on Valentine's Day, suddenly joined the Silver Garden with Chiho, and even had to eat here... I guess this must be my partner's arrangement, so I'll just have to believe it.

And it's quite fun.

She was very interested in the subtle tactile sensation she had experienced when she passed through the outer layer of the barrier and arrived inside the Silver Garden, and was eager to try it again.

This is so much fun!

Now is not the time to talk. Kobayashi Chiho has been watching over this guy all day and desperately needs to rest and replenish her nutrition, so she doesn't have much to say to him right now.

After making a few sarcastic remarks, he lost interest, sat listlessly on the sofa in the living room, and yawned.

Jun Furuhashi leaned closer, and if it were in her previous big dog form, she would never have refused to get close to him, but now Chiho Kobayashi pushed her away without any mercy.

"It's so hot, don't come too close, let me sleep for a while." She was extremely tired and just wanted to close her eyes to rest, but she gradually lost consciousness almost the instant she closed her eyes.

As Jun Furuhashi watched his partner fall asleep, he felt a rare sense of embarrassment, as if he had been "taken to an unfamiliar social occasion by his parents and then abandoned."

She tried to sit down carefully on the sofa, but then realized that her tail was a problem.

Having a bony tail with sharp spikes growing from the end of the coccyx is actually quite inconvenient for daily life. Not only do the spikes scratch the sofa, but when you want to sit down, it feels like there's an extra tail sticking out from behind you, which is uncomfortable.

I can't lean back on the sofa.

"You just need to put the thorns away and wrap them around your waist."

From the side came an unfamiliar voice. Gu Qiaojun looked in the direction of the sound and saw a white-haired woman with dragon horns giving him a friendly smile.

Talulah, who was eating snacks with Karen Aijo and idly waiting for dinner, noticed her predicament and demonstrated it with her tail.

Talulah, a member of Drak, also has a thin, jet-black dragon tail.

In this world, because there are not many people with abilities, and even fewer with abilities that can mutate their bodies, she guessed that Jun Furuhashi probably wouldn't control the newly grown long tail.

Jun Furuhashi blinked, lowered his voice, and smiled as he thanked her so as not to wake his sleeping partner.

Like Talulah, it took several minutes to carefully retract the spikes on its tail and wrap them around its waist to avoid scratching the sofa.

...It seems the new employer's employees are quite friendly.

Just as Furuhashi Jun had formed a normal and friendly impression of Talulah in his mind, it became somewhat strange with Talulah's sudden change in tone.

The white-haired dragon girl's expression suddenly turned icy. Her gaze towards Gu Qiaojun was filled with contempt and scrutiny, and her tone was completely different. She slightly raised her chin and said in a low voice, "So it really is possible for just anyone..."

Before she could finish speaking, she froze again, her face changed, and she angrily scolded, "Shut up! You old geezer..."

Talulah started arguing with herself. To be precise, she was having a verbal battle with the old black snake in her mind who was always contradicting her and easily misunderstood.

As the argument continued, another voice entered the fray.

"Talulah, why are you paying attention to him?" The cold and indifferent voice belonged to a friend who had once fought alongside Talulah. Awakened by their verbal sparring, she offered this advice with a chilling yet helpless tone.

A gentle voice echoed in her mind: "Just pretend he doesn't exist, Talulah. Let's go check out the kitchen; I can help, okay?"

“Talulah.” The steady, slightly stiff, elderly male voice couldn’t help but say, “No, I won’t waste my breath here. Today is a holiday.”

Talulah's mind was filled with all sorts of voices, voices from her companions who had long since died but now continued to exist beside her in this way.

She had grown accustomed to the noise, and after some persuasion, she gradually calmed down.

Talulah snapped out of her reverie, noticing that Jun Furuhashi was giving her a somewhat complicated look. She ignored it, simply smiled, and then stood up.

"...Why was she talking to herself just now?" Jun Furuhashi was extremely confused. "Dissociative identity disorder?"

Moreover, she played many roles, each with its own unique characteristics... It's truly amazing.

Aicheng Hualian was sitting next to her. Upon hearing this, she opened her mouth but did not explain.

PS:

According to Talulah herself, these voices in her mind are the souls of her deceased friends and companions who have attached themselves to her and will stay with her until her sins are redeemed.

But in reality, this character card doesn't have any other soul.

Note: Talulah suffers from severe dissociative identity disorder.

87. We need to find a way to produce grain.

"Long time no see, Kojima-san."

Here, there were not only strangers whom Jun Furuhashi had never met before—they all seemed to be members of the Silver Garden—but also her old acquaintances.

Yuki Uesugi walked over, looking incredibly healthy.

Rather...

...It seems a bit too round.

Of course, it can't be called fat.

Yuki Uesugi is the kind of person who can eat a lot without gaining weight. Although she is addicted to junk food and has a junk food day almost every week, she has not gained even a pound of weight. In fact, due to the use of her abilities, her weight is showing a trend of getting lighter and lighter.

Therefore, her personal caretaker, Yuko Kitagaki, had quite a headache.

However, perhaps because the Silver Garden's feeding methods are more sophisticated, and because Uesugi Yuki has been staying here and hasn't been exercising much, she doesn't look as thin as before.

She was still slender, but the sickly thinness caused by illness had diminished considerably.

Yuki Uesugi's health has improved considerably, and she stays quietly in the Silver Garden, not needing to work, only focusing on recuperating. Her usual routine consists of staying in her room sleeping and reading books; there are still many videotapes and DVDs from the Starlight Museum in the TV cabinet in the living room.

These are generally used to relieve fatigue.

Surprisingly, the Starlight Pavilion—or rather, the Silver Garden—even has internet access.

Yuki Uesugi's hobby is writing novels online, which has actually been quite well-received. If she hadn't become a superhero, she might have become a full-time writer.

She was so bored these days that after her health improved a bit, she simply started writing notes on her phone to record what she saw and heard in the Silver Garden.

Of course, these cannot be sent out.

Within this barrier, all important information concerning members of the Silver Court cannot be sent out.

This seems to be a rule established by the owner of the Silver Garden.

Other than that, communication is unimpeded.

As soon as she was able to touch a phone, Yuki Uesugi found a way to contact her lover and tell him that she was still alive.

However, Kitagawa Yuko did not reply to the message, and it wasn't even marked as read.

She couldn't help but feel a little worried, wondering what that idiot Yuko would do.

Thinking this, Yuki Uesugi couldn't help but feel a little melancholy. She sat on the sofa opposite Jun Furuhashi, intending to have a brief discussion with her former colleague, when she suddenly heard footsteps approaching her from behind.

Yuki Uesugi subconsciously looked up and saw a woman with chestnut-purple eyes giving her a friendly smile.

Good evening, Ms. Uesugi.

The other person was a member of the Silver Garden who was not familiar to Yuki Uesugi, and he was greeting her.

To be honest, among these members, the only ones who are willing to stay in the Starlight Hall all day are Nana Ohba, Carol, and Tomoe Shiraki. As for Yuna Yuuki, who rarely appears in public due to her physical limitations, and the most mysterious Homura Akemi, Yuki Uesugi has met them all.

But the person in front of me... Takamachi Nanoha? That should be her name.

Yuki Uesugi had only met him once.

She didn't know the other person well and didn't know why this stranger wanted to talk to her.

However, out of politeness, she managed to overcome her social anxiety and softly replied, "Good evening."

Nanoha Takamachi scratched her cheek, organized her thoughts for a moment, and then said, "I'm now colleagues with Ms. Kitagaki. Today is Valentine's Day... She originally wanted to prepare a gift for you, but for some reason, she couldn't give it to you in person. So she asked someone to deliver it to you."

She took out an exquisitely wrapped gift box and a box of chocolates from behind her back and handed them to Yuki Uesugi.

In fact, the recipient of Kitagaki Yuko's gift was not Takamachi Nanoha, but Kita Kirihara.

However, the latter is currently busy and will not appear at the Silver Garden gathering, so during a break in the camera's view, she handed it over to someone else and asked Takamachi Nanoha to pass it on.

At present, Kitagawa Yuko is unaware that the two quasi-Special Grade members of her cohort are both members of the Silver Garden.

Yuki Uesugi took it in a daze, then abandoned her composure and practically grabbed Nanoha Takamachi, eagerly inquiring about Yuko Kitagaki's recent situation: "Excuse me, how is Yuko doing now?!"

"She's... full of energy," Takamachi Nanoha said, telling Uesugi Yuki directly, "Now, Kitagaki-san has passed the Tower's internal assessment and become a quasi-Special Class Hero."

“…Huh? I had no idea she had this intention.” Yuki Uesugi looked slightly confused. “Wait, since she knows you, and you’re a member of the Silver Garden…”

She sensed something was wrong.

Surprised, her gaze met Takamachi Nanoha's composed eyes.

“That’s right, both Ms. Kitagaki and I receive three salaries,” Nanoha Takamachi said with a smile.

Yuki Uesugi understood, but also felt both amused and exasperated.

She knew her lover's background wasn't so simple; the existence of the Shadow Association was something even the Tower's top-tier members knew about. However, she truly hadn't expected that Kitagawa Yuko and Takamachi Nanoha would be able to earn three salaries through their own abilities.

and……