One-way traffic

"Thank you so much this time."

Haidou quickly stood up, as did the rest of his team.

"Without you, we might never have discovered the anomaly of the divine tree."

"It doesn't matter how you handle that kind of thing."

Accelerator said nonchalantly.

Instead of talking to me about these things, you should focus your energy on more important things.

"..."

"The fact that this country's most important sacred tree has been contaminated means that something absolutely outrageous has happened here that you don't know about."

This means that someone deliberately polluted this sacred tree.

But who is it?

"Go and think about it yourself."

Seeing the people in front of him deep in thought, Accelerator casually said something.

"Think about it, who could have been in the closest contact with this tree? That guy should be the prime suspect, right?"

Without considering the responses or thoughts of these people, he disappeared from the spot after he finished speaking.

"The person closest to the sacred tree... could it be..."

Within seconds, Haidou had already come to a conclusion.

"Could it be... a divine messenger?"

————————————————————————————

The night passed in a flash.

In the morning, Hatsune Miku and her best friends, Kagamine and her siblings, got up together and then enjoyed breakfast.

Good morning, Yifang…

"Accelerator is so annoying this morning!!"

"A jujube with a mollusc".

The first two sentences were spoken by Kagamine Len and Kagamine Rin, whose mouths were stuffed full of food, respectively.

It's worth mentioning that even though Rin Kagamine's mouth was stuffed with food, she still used a doll to make sounds, and even so, the doll still made sounds as if it was choking.

That's quite an anthropomorphic point.

"Hasn't that young master come home yet?"

Seeing that the seat still belonged to Kaito Aon, Accelerator casually asked a question.

"It seems that Brother Haidou went home once, but in the morning, the butler said that he had to go to the military headquarters to take care of some things."

"About the military government..."

Recalling last night's events, Accelerator could probably guess what he was planning to do.

"That one, Yifang."

"Ah? What's wrong?"

The first person casually ate a few bites of his breakfast pancake, then looked at Hatsune Miku, who was asking him a question.

"These two children... seem to want you to go somewhere with them."

"It's a coffee and milk tea parlor!"

Coffee...milk?

Upon hearing this name, Accelerator did have some recollection of it.

He seemed to have seen this sign's name yesterday while strolling the streets of the capital.

"Why would I go to a place like that?"

"Hehe! Now that we have guests at home, we can legitimately invite Accelerator to try the food at Coffee Milk Hall behind Kaito-nii's back!"

"That's right, it's definitely not because I wanted to eat the ice cream over there that I used that as an excuse."

After hearing what the two little guys said, Accelerator was speechless.

but.

Normally, he would have probably just glared at them and scared them all away.

"As long as there's coffee, it's fine."

"Wow! Of course! And they're all incredibly delicious coffees! You absolutely have to try them!!"

Seeing the two who seemed to have succeeded in their scheme, Hatsune Miku smiled helplessly.

"I'm sorry to have forced you to give in to these two children, even though you don't like crowded places..."

"No, I just wanted a little coffee."

Despite saying that, the first person couldn't help but smile inwardly.

It wasn't the cruel, merciless smile he used to give when facing enemies.

Rather, it's a genuine and heartfelt gesture.

--------------------------

That being said.

That heartfelt gesture was shattered into 780 pieces as soon as it arrived at the store.

"Welcome—Wow!!"

This happened just seconds after I entered the store.

The female shop assistant with long pink hair fell to the ground as soon as she greeted Accelerator and his group after they entered.

The tray she was carrying, along with all the drinks on it, had been spilled all over the floor.

"Hey Ryuga! Why did you break something again?! How many times has this happened today?!"

"Oh, I'm so sorry, boss lady! I, I really didn't mean to!"

The proprietress came out of the shop and immediately scolded the female employee, who still seemed awkward even when she apologized.

This scene amused the guests present.

"How interesting! Is this the legendary maid from Milk & Coffee?"

"I actually came here just to witness this scene—it's true, you can actually trip and fall while walking!"

"Okay, okay, don't say things that will hurt her feelings. Just eat your food."

"it is good--!"

Although some of the people around her laughed at her, it wasn't out of malice, but rather like a joke, and you could sense their goodwill.

This really surprised Accelerator.

But.

"...Why would there be such a guy?"

Long pink hair, delicate face, and perfect figure.

Isn't this Megurine Luca, a world-class idol just like Hatsune Miku in the modern world?!

Why would she work as a waitress at this coffee shop during the Taisho era?

The question is also impossible to answer.

"I'm so sorry, everyone! All the seats downstairs are taken. Would it be alright if we could move upstairs?"

"Of course, no problem, Sister Liu Ge!"

"Ah... Miss Future! It's you all!"

What do you mean by 'So it was you guys'? Didn't you even check who the other person was before you spoke?

Isn't that a bit too oblivious?

"And this... the fair-skinned person?"

"This is Accelerator!"

"Oh...it's your brother...I thought it was a girl? It doesn't seem like it..."

"...I regret coming to this kind of place."

The first person curled his lip, while the proprietress next to him seemed to have heard about the situation and immediately started lecturing the woman in front of him, who was called Liu Ge.

"Can you please not say things like that in front of our guests? It's incredibly rude!"

"I'm so sorry! Um, I was a little confused for a moment, and I saw unfamiliar faces, so..."

Regardless, the maid in front of her was truly an extraordinary person.

The group went up to the second floor together, where they were greeted by the same shop assistant named Liu Ge.

"Long time no see, Sister Liu Ge~"

"Future Miss, and Ren and Rin...hehe~ It's so nice to see you all~"

After a moment of silly laughter, Liu Ge looked at Accelerator and then quickly straightened her posture.

"Um, I'm really sorry about what happened just now! My name is Megurine Luka, please don't hold it against me!"

"I have no reason to hate you over such trivial matters."

"It seems so...wait, what? It's swearing...! What should I do? What should I say in response? Should I use the same rude language? How scary, how scary...!"

Seeing that Megurine Luka had become somewhat withdrawn, Accelerator made a final decision and decided not to say anything more to her.

"Sister Liuge, there's no need to be so nervous. Yifang is a very approachable person."

Clearly, Hatsune Miku's words almost brought all the villains who had been tortured to death by Accelerator in the previous chapters of the book back to life.

"The reason we came to Milk Cafe this time is to let Accelerator get to know this place better!"

"It's strange that even though she clearly wants to eat it herself, she insists on putting a hat on others."

"Shut up! I didn't have such malicious thoughts!"

Ignoring the Kagamine siblings who nearly started arguing again, Accelerator opened the menu.

"Iced coffee and fried chicken nuggets."

"Okay, and then for Miss Future, Rin, and Ren, one lemon tart, two tiramisu, two grape sodas, and one lime drink...right?"

"As expected of Ryuka-nee, she knows exactly what we want to order even without saying a word~"

It seems this guy is someone Hatsune Miku and the others are already acquainted with.

While Accelerator sat in his chair, and the people around him were having a lively and enthusiastic discussion, he began to think for himself.

The matter concerning this world has essentially come to an end.

The abnormal energy he had observed had been completely cleared away last night, and now when he tried to sense it again, there was no sign of anything unusual.

but…

There was still a slight sense of unease. The first person couldn't help but think to themselves.

Where did that long-haired woman named Phantom Princess, whom Hatsune Miku mentioned before, go?

That woman must be the one who tried to get close to Hatsune Miku several times in the past but was killed by me instead. But what was her purpose? Who is she? And why would she do these things?

If she had been willing to speak properly back then, I wouldn't have had to kill her repeatedly.

After that, everything in this world will continue as usual, without any major changes.

The wheels of history will continue to turn.

"...This is actually a very good trend."

After witnessing so much tragedy and despair, to see such wonderful hope and happiness is truly heartwarming.

For Accelerator, an existence that has grown out of darkness and death from beginning to end, all of this is truly a rare thing.