"Huh?" The muffled sound coming from her chest made Seele's entire body twitch.
Wait. Did I just say something incredibly inappropriate?
Oh no! I was too emotionally invested! Quick, what exactly did I just say?!
Feeling Veliona's heartbeat racing against her own, Seele broke out in a cold sweat, desperately racking her brain to recall her exact words.
Um... Everyone is wonderful? That's true. Sister Bronya, Mei, Kiana, and Shu are all good people. No problem there.
Then... the promise about the secret?
Ugh... but I only suggested that because I was afraid she'd be too embarrassed! Forgive me, I couldn't think of a better solution!
It doesn't seem to be that either...
Then could it be... Oh!
Seele suddenly realized the core of the problem.
Did I just say, 'even if the world you truly desire is exactly like this—a world where only I exist'?!
Eep—!
In an instant, Seele's face turned as red as a tomato. She snatched her hands back as if she had been electrocuted and covered her face, meeting Veliona's deeply resentful gaze.
"I... I... I didn't mean it like that."
Veliona dramatically brushed off the shoulders where Seele had just been hugging her, let out a soft hmph, and stood up, feigning complete disdain.
"Then what did you mean?" Veliona's expression was incredibly sour. "You are truly arrogant, coward. I never expected you to say something like that..."
"Ah~ Please stop talking~" Even Seele's desperate protests sounded incredibly soft and squishy, amounting to nothing more than a weak, helpless plea that would awaken the primal instincts of anyone listening.
However—Veliona was incredibly susceptible to exactly this kind of attack.
"Hmph." Veliona's face flushed. Thinking back to Seele's previous words made her face burn even hotter.
Furthermore, Veliona made absolutely no attempt to defend herself or argue back. She simply let out a feigned, uncaring hmph, and stood there waiting for Seele to process her own embarrassment.
Seele took two deep breaths, quelling the lingering embarrassment in her heart.
But when she looked up at Veliona, who was tsundere-ing so hard she was actively looking away, Seele couldn't help but let out a knowing, affectionate smile.
See? Wasn't that effective?
Everyone is still waiting for us, you know.
"So, have you made your choice?" Seele asked with a gentle smile, clasping her hands behind her back and tilting her head slightly.
"Tch." Seeing Seele's expression, Veliona's face turned even redder.
Logically speaking, she should despise this side of Seele. But in reality... wasn't this exact demeanor the very reason she was so deeply drawn to her?
"I don't care what you do... Fine! I'll move out and live on my own! Just don't ask me for back rent for all the years I lived here.
"And you better not miss me! Because if you start crying and begging me to come back, it's going to be really annoying..."
Is she already spouting complete nonsense?
Seele smiled comfortingly at Veliona, who was desperately constructing absurd excuses to preserve the last shred of her dignity. Seele then actively turned her attention back to reality.
"Then... do you want me to tell them for you? My other self?"
"Just call me 'Seele.' That name is fine... I mean, I'm used to it."
Sigh. She's really not honest with her feelings, is she? But everyone will probably love this side of her.
After all, Sirin and Sin Mal are very popular, aren't they?
"I'll tell them myself," Veliona grumbled, reclaiming control of the body.
The moment she opened her eyes, she was greeted by four girls staring at her with identical, knowing, "auntie-like" smiles.
Veliona stared at those four "auntie" smiles in silence for two seconds. A look of sheer, unadulterated despair washed over her face.
I knew it. The 'secret' was completely pointless.
Even if I had refused, and Seele had spoken for me, everyone would still know that I was the one who couldn't bear to leave Seele and didn't want to give up sharing a body with her!
My independent life hasn't even begun, and it's already completely over. What do I do?!
Seeing the expression of ultimate realization dawn on Veliona's face, Shu completely dropped the act. He adjusted his expression and casually asked Veliona exactly what kind of body she wanted.
"You can choose absolutely anything," Shu said with a smile. "I can fulfill any requirement."
After all, he still needed to sculpt a body for himself to accompany Kiana and the others on their ridiculous... performance.
He obviously couldn't use his current avatar long-term. Aside from the continuous drain on his [Wish], if he genuinely became accustomed to this body and neglected his original one, the impact on his combat effectiveness would be severe. He'd probably lose around 10% of his maximum output, which was fatal.
"Just give me a body! Anything is fine! You can make me a wooden puppet for all I care!"
Just end this already! Veliona didn't want this torture to continue. What was the difference between being casually teased and observed like this, and literal hell?!
"Very well." Shu was slightly helpless, but he still raised his hand and began to sketch out Veliona's new body right in front of everyone.
Although Veliona, having completely given up, didn't provide a detailed blueprint, Shu still had the canon designs to reference.
He would just use Veliona's canon appearance. Having a prototype not only made the process faster, but if he invested a significant amount of [Wish] and didn't cut any corners, he could even replicate some of her canon abilities.
Like those massive, demonic claws, or her signature scythe. Of course, he had no idea if this Veliona actually knew how to use a scythe.
A humanoid silhouette rapidly formed under everyone's watchful gaze. Shu added a bit of visual flair: they saw points of light appearing out of thin air, condensing into a glowing orb.
The orb then warped and shifted, molding into a human shape. Finally, the light began to fade, revealing the specific physical form within.
Because Shu was actively rendering it, the process wasn't instantaneous. As the light faded, the group initially didn't think much of it, focusing their attention on the gradually appearing collarbone.
Veliona's expression shifted slightly. The others' expressions also grew a bit strange.
If their eyes weren't deceiving them, this body was physically identical to Seele's, right?
More and more of the body began to materialize. From the face to the neck, from the neck to the collarbone, and then continuing downward. As the light faded, it was rapidly approaching the red line of absolute censorship.
"W-W-Wait..." The girls finally panicked, all turning to stare at Shu.
However, Shu simply raised his hand with an expressionless face. Several more points of light instantly attached themselves to the body's surface, completing the clothing manifestation mere milliseconds before the red line was crossed.
"Phew..." Bronya and Kiana simultaneously let out sighs that were impossible to distinguish as either relief or sheer disappointment. The very next second, Bronya aggressively locked Kiana in a rear naked choke.
Mei and Veliona merely sighed in relief, though they both looked at Shu with incredibly strange expressions.
The clothes were clearly added after the fact. Did that mean Shu had genuinely visualized the fully unclothed version of Veliona's body to...
"Don't look at me like that." Just as they were wondering, and Veliona was preparing to hiss, Shu spoke, his expression completely blank, even slightly troubled.
"You really don't want to experience what it's like to instantly perceive the exact arrangement of a person's flesh, bones, blood vessels, and nervous system with absolute, crystalline clarity."