Chapter 313 : Cuddling
"Ah, achoo!"
Lonis, collapsed on the ground, suddenly sneezed.
Because the temperature inside the ship was really too low right now.
Only about 5 degrees, and even the warmest places weren't even 10 degrees. Just like being in a refrigerator!
So not only the little fox, but even the girls were shivering from the cold.
"Is everyone alright? If you feel very cold, you can start the heater."
"N-no problem! Let's conserve energy."
......
The current cold wasn't because of the Freeze Mosquitoes anymore... The ship had long since shaken off those outrageous monsters and was now officially sailing above the Sea of Ice and Lava.
Just as the Eight-Tailed Fox had said, though this place was full of boiling magma everywhere, it didn't radiate heat but absorbed it. So much of the heat in this area was absorbed by the Sea of Ice and Lava.
Though the Time Shuttle was equipped with heaters, the ship itself was really too large. Combined with losing some energy from the earlier Freeze Mosquito encounter, for safety's sake, the ship's internal air conditioning system was only maintained at the lowest setting.
Around 5-10 degrees Celsius.
At this temperature, most stored food wouldn't spoil, water wouldn't freeze, and though the girls felt somewhat cold, they wouldn't freeze to death.
But for the little fox...
It was completely different!
Though she wore thick clothes too, no matter how you dress, tails can't wear clothes!
So Lonis's chosen method of keeping warm was...
"Really, you little dummy, why are you so clingy?"
"Wuu meow, wuu woof!"
"Hmph, if you're still this clingy after recovering your consciousness, I'll stew you into fox soup and roasted fox sooner or later."
......
Elucia looked helplessly at Lonis curled up beside her.
This dummy seemed to treat her like a heater, clinging tightly.
Whether when she was piloting the ship, eating, or even when going to the bathroom, she wanted to stick close!
So clingy.
But if she refused, Elucia couldn't bear it either. After all, Lonis was somewhat pitiful... Those big eyes were watery, looking extremely adorable.
So despite her helplessness, Elucia could only let this silver-haired girl stick close to her side. And objectively speaking, holding a fluffy fox tail in her arms did feel much more comfortable.
(But... I should also find a way to restore Lonis's consciousness. The training is about done too. And we're approaching Ruins City next.)
Thinking this, Elucia stood up.
Lonis, who had been lying beside her, raised her head, seemingly wanting to follow.
But the scheming girl just pretended to be annoyed and said:
"I'm going to do serious business. You're not allowed to follow, do you hear?"
"Wuu..."
"Stay here obediently and don't run around."
With that, Elucia covered the little fox with a blanket, got up and left.
......
......
In the living room, Princess Sethilu was seriously analyzing materials.
These included not only General Caster's notes scavenged from underground ruins, but also materials provided by the Eight-Tailed Fox.
Though they had already conducted a brief analysis before, fearing she might miss something, Sethilu was still very seriously reviewing everything.
"Hmm... It can be confirmed that Ruins City is a city built from humanity's garbage from the previous era. So there are numerous ancient ruins there."
Sethilu blinked, but then showed a confused expression.
Because...
A red-haired little loli was also crawling beside Princess Sethilu.
"Sister Sethilu, isn't Candel amazing!"
Though Candel had perfectly functioning limbs and wasn't under any hypnosis, she imitated Lonis's behavior, clinging tightly to Princess Sethilu.
Unable to wag a tail, she substituted by wagging her hair tuft.
So Sethilu could only say helplessly:
"Candel, thank you, but I'm not cold."
"Eh, you're not cold, Sister? But you're not wearing much."
"Yes, this is our Colotia family's princess battle outfit. It can maintain body temperature in environments of dozens of degrees below zero."
"Amazing!"
"And even without wearing it, I'm half-demon, so this temperature doesn't bother me."
"Then let me massage your shoulders!"
"Eh?"
"Candel loves Sister the most. Candel wants to be Sister's little wildcat~~~"
However, just as Candel tried to snuggle into Sethilu's embrace...
Elucia came out.
"Candel?"
"Wuu ah!"
Like a mouse seeing a cat, Candel's body instantly froze.
Sethilu also sighed in relief like seeing a savior and greeted: "Senior Elucia, good evening."
"Good evening, Sethilu. How's the material analysis going?"
"Senior, there are preliminary conclusions. It can be confirmed that the general stationed at Ruins City is a Demon Lord called Hofa. His strength is around 8th rank, about the same as sister Candel. But he's been stealing Ice Abyss power, possessing the ability to attach Terminal Ice to any object."
"Yes, I know this guy. The one who attached ice fire to the green-haired girl's vines should have been him."
Elucia nodded. In fact, if Hofa hadn't been present then, she would have used all her power to try capturing that green-haired girl.
But since the opponent was Demon Lord level, she had to keep some cards hidden and couldn't expose everything.
Because Hofa wasn't the final target—General Caster was the real opponent to be wary of.
"What about the others? That green-haired girl?"
"Yes, that green-haired girl seems to be called Withered Leaf. Her identity is unknown, but she apparently only joined under Hofa's command in recent centuries."
"Recent?"
"Yes, records about her don't appear in the earliest Independent Kingdom histories. Besides that, Hofa also has a subordinate called Minotaur, a bull-headed warrior. According to the materials, he's incredibly strong and is also a terrifying existence that has lived for nearly a thousand years."
"A monster bred by the Doomsday Independent Kingdom? Hmph, that Lonis finally collected some useful information."
"The last one is also very mysterious, a mysterious man called Mortak who recently came to provide support from Caster's side."
"Mortak?"
"Yes, the materials similarly don't note his abilities. But according to my analysis, he might be the brain controlling the insect swarms. Because Caster's side also has similar experimental research entries about insect gigantification."
If the villains heard Sethilu's analysis, they would be too shocked to speak.
Because they had only fought Elucia once and hadn't revealed too much information... But this silver-haired princess had basically analyzed everything.
As for the rest...
"According to my speculation, each of the above three probably has 7th-rank upper to peak Exotic Decay Lord strength. But now that Caster is already copying Rainbow Abyss powers, their strength might also be enhanced."
"Yes, I understand. But while the enemy is prepared, we're not without trump cards either."
"Senior Elucia, is there anything you need me to do?"
"For Sethilu, there's nothing particular. Take this opportunity to rest well."
Elucia stretched lazily and said very confidently.