"Well, since the organization's name is settled now, shouldn't we do something to celebrate?"
Elysia spoke up.
"Doesn't hotpot count?"
Durandal pointed at the steaming, beloved hotpot pot in front of everyone.
Elysia didn't even bother to acknowledge Durandal, instead turning her beautiful gaze toward the others.
"Don't tell me you mean something like Fire Moth's 'Traditional Night' ball?"
"A bunch of soldiers and researchers with blood on their hands, dressed in formal wear, forgetting all their troubles, indulging in extravagant revelry with glasses clinking and spirits flowing?"
Mobius said with clear disdain, "If that's the kind of celebration you're talking about, then count me out. I'd rather pull an all-nighter in the lab!"
"Huh? An organization like Fire Moth actually held events like that?"
Elysia lightly tapped her chin.
"Though I'd love to see our dear leader dancing in a ballroom in formal wear, that sort of thing doesn't really suit our Schicksal organization, does it? Mobius, you guessed wrong—that's not what I meant."
Without dragging out the suspense any further, Elysia revealed her idea:
"It's winter now, and New Year's break is coming up. Plus, we're here in the Far East. Just think—winter, holiday, and the Far East all together?~"
Seeing that everyone still hadn't caught on, Elysia sighed.
"Hot springs! A hot spring trip! How about it? Not a bad idea, right?"
When no one immediately responded, Elysia's eyes darted around before landing on Kevyn, who was busy devouring her food. "Kevyn, wouldn't you like to take Mei on a hot spring trip?"
Hearing her name, Kevyn quickly looked up, a stray noodle still hanging from her mouth.
"Slurp—"
She hastily sucked the noodle in, swallowed it down, and said, "But Mei hasn't agreed to join the organization yet."
"So what? Not only is Mei basically a reserve member of Schicksal already, but this trip isn't restricted to members only—family and friends are welcome too!"
"Oh, and you can invite Su as well. Since it's a holiday, she should come relax too. It's on the boss, by the way~!"
Hearing Elysia say that, Durandal's face darkened slightly.
Still, she didn't argue.
As for Kevyn, she'd been tempted the moment Elysia mentioned bringing Mei along.
Now that Su could come too, Kevyn nodded firmly. "I support the vice leader's proposal!"
"Vice leader?"
Elysia paused, then looked at Durandal. "I don't recall you appointing me as vice leader?"
Durandal hesitated briefly before replying, "Well, you were the second to join, and your abilities are certainly up to par. I'll treat Kevyn's address as a suggestion and bring it up for discussion and a vote at tomorrow's brief meeting."
Hearing this, Elysia wrapped her arms around Durandal's arm. "Well then, Leader, I'll be in your care from now on!"
Being hugged so intimately in front of everyone, even Durandal couldn't help but blush.
Luckily, she'd already eaten from the spicy side of the hotpot earlier, so her face was already flushed—making her current embarrassment less obvious.
"I agree as well."
Next to speak after Kevyn was Sakura.
She looked at Durandal and Elysia, who were practically glued together, and said, "Rin's been saying for a while now that she wants to go to a hot spring with me."
"If Schicksal is organizing a trip and family members are allowed, that works out perfectly."
Sakura wasn't doing this because she fully trusted Schicksal or wanted her younger sister Rin to join.
Her reasoning was simple—whether Rin joined Schicksal in the future or not, it wouldn't hurt for her to get familiar with the people in the organization now.
That way, if Rin ever found herself in danger later on, the members of Schicksal might at least help, given their acquaintance.
Besides, Sakura was confident in her sister's charm—Rin was sure to win over most of Schicksal's members.
After Sakura, Ato and Blanca exchanged a glance and shared their thoughts.
Ato, a mountain of a man nearly two meters tall, actually blushed.
"Back in Fire Moth, we were always so busy. Even after marrying Blanca, I never found time for a proper honeymoon trip. This could be a small way to make it up to her."
With that, both Ato and Blanca smiled sheepishly, unintentionally feeding everyone a mouthful of metaphorical dog food.
"Um, we think the hot spring trip sounds great too!"
This time it was Fuxi and Nuwa who spoke up.
The twin sisters were naturally playful and adventurous—they certainly weren't going to miss a chance to join a group hot spring getaway.
Just like that, over half the members had already agreed to Elysia's proposal.
Even Mobius, after a moment of thought, nodded. "It has been rather hectic lately. Soaking in a hot spring to unwind does sound nice. What do you think, Klein?"
Klein hadn't expected Mobius to ask her opinion.
Part of her wanted to say she'd rather immerse herself in work, to forget her fear of the Honkai.
But when she met Mobius's subtly expectant gaze, Klein instinctively nodded, swallowing any objections.
That left only Connie, Eden, Vill-V, Emile, and Durandal herself yet to voice their stance.
"No objections here."
Connie had originally planned to finalize hiring a lab assistant over New Year's, but changing plans to a relaxing hot spring trip sounded appealing too.
Besides, New Year's probably wasn't the best time to recruit help anyway.
Eden and Vill-V felt similarly, so they both nodded as well.
Emile naturally didn't oppose either.
Then, Durandal found everyone's eyes fixed on her.
With that kind of unanimous pressure, how could she refuse?
So, after Durandal gave her nod, the first official decision following Schicksal's establishment was made—a group hot spring trip over the New Year's holiday.
Once Durandal agreed, Elysia somehow produced a thick stack of flyers and handed them out to everyone. They were advertisements for hot spring resorts in the surrounding area.
"Come on, everyone, put your heads together and pick which hot spring inn suits us best~!"
Compared to the sparse response when Durandal had opened the floor to discuss Schicksal's organizational structure—which had only drawn a reaction from Mobius—the enthusiasm for the hot spring resort flyers Elysia handed out was noticeably much higher.
--+--