Apparently, the two girls had come together to eat something tasty.

They seemed to be students from a recently talked-about school, Fectom Academy.

The blonde girl was named Toa, and the black-haired girl was Kei.

“Still, I’m surprised students from other schools knew about this crepe place.”

“Of course! When it comes to delicious things!”

Toa replied with wide eyes.

Beside her, Kei smiled wryly as if she’d given up.

Maybe because they were all high school girls, Ryuuko had already hit it off with the two.

Naturally, the three of them headed to the crepe shop together as friends.

Their way of speaking had become casual—like old friends.

A circle of friendship born from sweets.

In Ryuuko’s case, it was also a form of escaping from her mission—but that was a small matter.

(Man, they’re both so pretty…)

Ryuuko snuck a peek at them, trying not to be noticed.

The more she looked, the more she understood just how beautiful they were.

Toa had big round eyes and a face reminiscent of a small animal.

Her voice and gestures stirred a desire to protect her.

Even someone like Ryuuko, a girl herself, found her innocence irresistibly charming.

Kei, on the other hand, was calm and composed.

Her black hair was silky, her skin flawless.

And her blue eyes looked like gemstones.

She seemed cold at first glance, but the way she smiled and nodded at Toa’s words showed she wasn’t stiff.

She probably acted like Toa’s guardian.

She always kept Toa in her line of sight, quickly moving to help if she looked like she’d trip.

On top of that, she seemed to subtly guide her down easier paths without Toa noticing.

(A skilled maid and her incognito noble lady?)

That image seemed to fit them best.

Then their eyes met—Kei’s and Ryuuko’s.

Just that made Ryuuko unconsciously tense up.

“…Um, I don’t know if I should ask this…”

Kei prefaced her words and then continued.

“Are you by any chance… the S-Rank Watarai Ryuuko?”

“Eh… EHH!?”

Toa was shocked by Kei’s words.

As for Ryuuko herself—

“Well… yeah? I guess that’s me?”

Her ego was being thoroughly pampered.

(It’s been a while since someone recognized me…! Last time was a month ago? Feels good!)

She hated hassle, but she still wanted people to look up to her as an S-Rank.

So Kei’s words hit her right in the pride.

“You figured it out? That’s right, I’m the S-Rank Watarai Ryuuko!”

“A-Amazing… Kei-chan, let’s get her autograph! Wow, I’ve become friends with someone incredible!”

(T-This feels incredible! She’s the first one to be this happy about me being S-Rank… Usually it’s just, ‘Oh, Ryuuko, lol’ and that’s it…)

Ryuuko had completely forgotten about her mission, basking in the joy.

Moments like this were rare—maybe once every few years.

Grinning creepily, she pulled out a signed autograph board from her expansion space.

“You want my autograph? Ehehe, here you go.”

“Wow! Thank you!”

“You carry those around…”

Leaving only Kei as the sane one, the other two kept accelerating.

“Yeah, I always keep a few on hand since I’m constantly asked for autographs. Even today, I already gave out a hundred or so before I got here!”

“T-That’s amazing! S-Ranks really are popular. Mizuhi-chan said she’s constantly being approached by fans too—it’s getting hard to keep up.”

“…Wait, really?”

“Yup, just like you, Ryuuko-chan.”

“…Hahaha… yeah…”

Poor S-Rank Watarai Ryuuko—completely defeated by the newcomer.

She had hoped this year she’d finally break free from last place in the S-Rank popularity poll.

But that dream seemed impossible now.

(Where did it all go wrong…? Is it the hair color? Should I dye it flashy like the other S-Ranks?)

She stared at Toa’s hair, deep in thought.

For her, being adored and making big money mattered more than fulfilling her S-Rank duty.

“Ah! Maybe…”

Toa glanced around, as if noticing something, then whispered in Ryuuko’s ear.

“Are you currently on a secret S-Rank mission? So you were hiding your presence… or something?”

“…………Yeah! That second part’s kinda true!”

Ryuuko chose her pride.

“It’s not a mission per se, but I patrol busy areas like this on my days off. Lots of students from various academies come here, and conflicts aren’t uncommon.”

That was a lie.

Those were the words said to her by the Chroma Music Academy student council president when asking her to patrol.

Which Ryuuko had declined, claiming S-Rank work kept her too busy.

She hates taking jobs but still uses busyness as an excuse.

“So cool… We should learn from her, right Kei-chan?”

“…Yeah.”

Kei’s blue eyes locked onto Ryuuko.

She instinctively looked away.

(S-She knows…? No way. I mean, I’m S-Rank. …Wait, what about the mission?)

Toa’s words reminded her of the mission.

(Eat crepes and part ways? No way—I wanna hang out more! Especially with Toa.)

Toa had already become her favorite.

(Well, I’m sure we’ll find it while eating sweets.)

With that extremely convenient logic, Ryuuko decided on her new plan.

She called it: “If it’s fun now, that’s all that matters.”

She was the type to cram the night before tests.

“I’m patrolling, but it’s still a day off. So eating crepes is totally fine. …Ah, there it is—that’s the famous crepe shop.”

Ryuuko cheerfully pointed to the crepe shop.

“That’s the one… The one where a single bite makes you unable to stop, and by the time you finish, you’ve ascended—legendary whipped cream overload, calorie-bomb crepe!”

“Toa-chan?”

Kei looked bewildered at the suddenly eloquent Toa.

But next to her was another sweets-loving girl, though a bit more reserved.

“That crepe murders girls who step on the scale the next day. Yet its flavor is irresistible. Its fate mirrors one who walks to the gallows. Piled high with fruit and cream like a hill, it earned its nickname…”

“Ryuuko-chan?”

“『Golgotha Hill Crepe!』”

“Wait, am I being left behind here? When did you two rehearse this? No, stop shaking hands… It’s not like I wanted to shake hands too.”

Kei remained calm, but there was no way she could stop the double runaway train.

One driven by sweets.

The other, by praise.

Both were at peak joy.

“Come on, let’s go. I even know this crepe shop’s secret menu. I’ll tell you.”

“Really!? Kei-chan, yay!”

“I’ll just take a small one… Didn’t we already eat a lot today, Toa-chan?”

With the cheerful chatter of the two behind her, Ryuuko smiled—then froze as she looked at the shop.

“…Ssshh…”

She inhaled sharply.

Then rubbed her brow and looked again.

It was frozen.

Ice clung everywhere, frost blanketing the area.

A terrible feeling settled in.

“Wow, Chroma Music Academy really goes all out. Even the crepe shop has a cool design.”

“This… is a design?”

Kei tilted her head, noticing the oddness.

Ryuuko had no time to hesitate.

(No way I’m dragging regular students into this…)

Toa and Kei were just customers.

They shouldn’t be involved in what was happening behind the scenes.

She was just about to speak when—

“Hurry! It’s limited quantity!”

““Eh?””

Toa suddenly dashed forward, ignoring Kei and Ryuuko’s confusion.

She moved with surprising agility, given her usual gentle demeanor.

“Wait, hold on! Stop, stop!”

Ryuuko quickly grabbed her arm.

But there was no way a regular high school girl like her could stop her.

Sometimes, a Converged Slash user runs across the battlefield with a cannon in hand.

A few dozen kilos of dead weight won’t stop her.

“So strong!”

“Toa-chan, wait. Come on—ah, strong.”

Kei also tried to grab her, but it was no use.

Toa had grown stronger through incidents at Kisou Academy and Zilnius Academy, and during the territory wars.

A slender, pretty girl wasn’t going to stop now.

“Crepes now… then parfait?”

Dragging Ryuuko, who was trying desperately to stop her, and Kei, who was stunned by her words, Toa barged into the crepe shop.

“Hello! One Golgotha Hill Crepe, please—huh?”

Toa’s rampage ended, and Ryuuko finally stood up.

Then she reluctantly peeked into the shop.

“Ughhh…”

Ryuuko didn’t realize that groan had come from her.

The frozen shop had no customers or staff.

There must not have been a struggle—it was surprisingly clean inside.

A naked girl sat on the sofa.

A young, blue-haired girl, covered in cream, eating a crepe with her hands.

“—Mm, this is good. But…”

She finished the crepe and said:

“I want something salty now.”

(It’s definitely her—!)

Ryuuko collapsed to her knees.

“Huh? Ryuuko, what’s wrong?”

“Ryuuko-chan? Also, why is that girl naked!? Where are her parents!? And what about the limited crepes!?”

S-Rank Watarai Ryuuko—mission still in progress.