Chapter 311

Chapter 42: Caught Tail

It’s never easy to gain others’ recognition.

The girls, on their way to buy snacks, witnessed such an incident. The son of the crude confectionery shop owner painstakingly made some sweets, but his efforts could not satisfy the old store owner. Despite the fact that the girls couldn’t detect any problem, the look on the expert’s face clearly showed that he was not satisfied.

Lei remembered the same look in Sato’s eyes when Lily had made that comment before.

“Probably, in senior Lily’s eyes, we still have a long way to go. That’s why she’d say so.”

“Why like this? We’ve already fought our hardest… Mm-hmm, it’s all because that Timons who embarrassed us several times!” Emi, burdened with烦恼, didn’t take long before she simply shifted all the responsibility onto that spider monster. Almost immediately, the girl cheered up.

“Not satisfied — If so, no matter what, we must let senior Lily recognize us!”

“But how…”

“Since then, there’s only one way—” Emi tightened her fists, a fierce determination burning in her eyes. “Let’s show Lily a cool move by solving the problem with the Desert Apostle right in front of her and posing cool after!”

“Okay, decided! Where is that Desert Apostle? Come at me!”

“Sneeze!”

Who’s thinking of me? Eh… If I think about it, there are quite a few people who would do that.

Sniffling, Ash grabbed Caffrey’s sleeve to wipe his nose, and then resumed helping Kaori loosen the soil while dodging the other’s angry punches and kicks.

Kaori, grateful for the labor provided to tend to her plants, held a sprinkler to nourish them as she pointed out a blossom in the garden to Ash.

“This flower here is a rarely-seen Maid Lilium, my granddaughter and Koboroshi have always been looking forward to seeing it.”

“It sure is pretty. Though, I don’t know much about flowers.” You talking about plant monsters like those that suck blood, I know; I even controlled a few. “But if you’re so knowledgeable, then I guess…”

[Ash.]

“Hold on a moment.”

Pretending to answer a call, Ash quickly headed to the washroom, bringing the system’s virtual panel into view.

“What’s wrong again? Isn’t the collection of Dark Echoes going smoothly, or are you finally willing to release a new mission, as I am quite bored.”

[You won’t be bored anymore because trouble has started chasing you.]

“People causing trouble? Chasing… What? Are we not limited just to the worlds of Kamen Rider and Super Sentai anymore, now including that of Pretty Cure too?”

When it comes to beings capable of transiting between different worlds, the first thought would be of that purple guy. Rarely seen but known as a “friend,” our relationship is somewhat complex.

“Or could remnants from the Jikū Ōkoku be pursuing us?” Not impossible, since the collapse was indeed partly due to me…

[Analysis… Analysis completed, not related to Spatiotemporal Wall or Jikū Tōpon Reaction.]

[Possible cause: Result from your previous use of the infinite ticket.]

[Based on prior combat, the party may have detected the spatiotemporal response generated during your use of the ticket.]

“Who’s so bored as to track me down to fight?”

Then, the God’s ticket too? Did I use it last time? Sigh… Seems I did.

So it’s about being chased?

“Chased tail?”

[That party might have affected Dark Echoes. Suggestion: Eliminate them.]

“Huh?” Puzzled, Ash frowned. This task didn’t specify someone to eliminate, marking it a first.

“You should know who to eliminate. This falls under my decision.”

Other than that, I don’t just kill people on a whim. Taking a life isn’t simple — I’m not just a butcher.

Most importantly, eliminating a person means no hero interaction. That troubles me deeply.

[Suggestion: Eliminate…]

“Alright, you’ve had enough to say today.”

Ignoring the spamming text, Ash crumpled the screen into a ball and threw it into the toilet, flushing it down.

“Your worry is unwarranted.”

I have my plan.

Alright, the guy chasing after me with intention to attack, where is he?

Ash looked skyward, the sunny day clear and cloudless. Beyond the solar system’s planets were in harmonious orbit, and further out among countless stars, a meteor wrapped in darkness approached Earth relentlessly.

Could it be here?

No, somewhere further.

Beyond the world, among seventeen interconnected beautiful universes, within the space gaps between these worlds, a spacecraft composed of five differently colored machines floated in the traditionally sacred place for all forms of life.

“Regarding the newly discovered ‘anomalous dark reaction,’ observations indicate it’s gradually spreading from the series universe [Three Great Spec Fic] to adjacent metal heroes, Kamen Rider, Kyouryuu Sentai series universes.”

Standing at the podium, the commander who issued the deployment order addressed everyone in pure white uniforms.

“To those pointing to minor effects so far, I tell you this is no natural event. It’s undoubtedly the result of someone’s handiwork!”

Fuming, the commander re-engaged the distracted audience.

“The [SCSO], our Special Crossing Searching Organization, has a critical need to search for anomalies in the Pretty Cure universe, given its singular nature.”

“Due to its nature, remote observation is the only permitted action until my return. Unauthorized entity universe activities are strictly forbidden.”

“This concludes the briefing. Three minutes rest before summary.”

Closing the projection of the commander, many sighed in relief seeing the frightening figure disappear.

“Why did I even apply here? I could have been a receptionist instead.”

“Really, still standing here listening to leadership when we can go anywhere…”

“Hey Roland, wanna go on a date after today?”

Before a dark-skinned female responded to the giant’s flirt, someone rushed past them knocking into the crowd.

“Ahahah—I’m late! Gwah!”

Unsure who tripped him, the man with the cap tumbled and fell, dropping his box across the room.

“Has it started yet?”

Eddie, sprawled on the ground, massaged from forehead to chin with a puzzled look.

“Did my alarm malfunction? Hasn’t begun yet?”