"So—are there any good barbecue places around here?"
"Leave it to me! Activating the Little Gold Ship Radar!"
And just like that, everyone followed Gold Ship as she led them weaving through the streets in a series of baffling turns.
"…You sure it's here?"
Eternal Meteor swallowed hard, pointed at the building in front of them, and slowly turned to Gold Ship with a look of disbelief.
"This is the fanciest place nearby," Gold Ship declared proudly, hands on her hips.
Yeah, I can tell! Meteor screamed internally. The problem is—it's way too fancy!
She glanced over at Koji Okino, whose face had already gone completely gray, and sighed. She genuinely feared that even if they ate his entire net worth, it still wouldn't be enough to cover the bill.
"Let's go," Meteor said, waving everyone along. "Places that are this 'luxury decor' usually just mean 'more expensive.' Half the time the food isn't even better than a mid-range spot."
In Okino's eyes, she looked like an actual angel.
Because Meteor had noticed a decent-looking place while they were walking over.
"Excuse me—two more plates of beef tongue, please."
"Certainly."
With every cheerful order Eternal Meteor added, Koji Okino lifted grilled meat with tears in his eyes and bit down like he was chewing on a sworn enemy rather than food, grinding it mercilessly between his teeth.
He'd been grateful too soon.
She really was a demon!!!
"Okino, I'm already looking forward to the next barbecue," Meteor said brightly.
"There's a next time?!"
"Wuuuh…"
Meteor patted him on the back, then—right in front of all the other horse girls—repeated that "next time" promise just to make sure it was publicly on record.
All around them, the horse girls cheered, and Okino swallowed the meat he'd already chewed to mush, firing a look full of blood-and-tears hatred at Gold Ship, who was still eating like she'd been born for this exact moment.
Surely that expression would awaken some trace of conscience in her. Surely she'd show at least a hint of unease.
Unfortunately, after meeting his eyes, Gold Ship simply swallowed her mouthful, smiled at him… and called over a server to add another plate.
Okino understood at last.
She didn't have a conscience.
She only wanted his wallet to die.
Then… what about the others?
Okino looked around with desperate hope.
Special Week's empty plates were stacked into a small mountain. Vodka and Daiwa Scarlet were competing to see who could eat more. Tokai Teio was even grilling meat for Eternal Meteor.
A bunch of traitors.
Okino sobbed silently and returned to his own grill.
If he was paying anyway, he might as well get full.
"Haah… perfect. Nothing beats cola."
Eternal Meteor cracked open yet another can.
Staring at the growing pile of empty cans in front of her, Gold Ship realized she still hadn't seen Meteor drink anything else all night.
To confirm what she suspected, Gold Ship pointed at the cola and teased:
"Meteor, you don't like other drinks? Like juice or something?"
"Hm? I only drink cola, okay? I'm a true believer—straight up Cola Cult."
She said it like it was a matter of faith.
Gold Ship got her confirmation. Her face stayed its usual grinning self, but her mind started turning.
"I drank too much this morning. It made me nauseous."
Meteor's earlier words resurfaced, along with the image of her covering her mouth—clearly forcing down discomfort.
At first, Gold Ship had assumed Meteor meant she'd chugged a bunch of drinks at breakfast.
But around noon, when she'd passed Teio near the cafeteria, Teio had been muttering gloomily to herself. Gold Ship had almost gone over to comfort her—until she caught Teio mentioning that Meteor had eaten breakfast with President Rudolf that morning.
That single detail shattered the "too many drinks at breakfast" theory.
The moment she heard it, Gold Ship had started gnawing on her thumb, thinking hard. Symboli Rudolf wasn't the type to let Meteor guzzle a mountain of beverages in the morning.
And the idea that Meteor drank that much after breakfast didn't make sense either. After breakfast, she went straight to class—then immediately got "abducted" by Gold Ship after class.
No time window.
No chance to drink that much.
And now the "maybe she drank strawberry juice" angle was dead too.
So what, exactly, had that red liquid at the corner of Meteor's mouth been?
Gold Ship hadn't seen anything that color served at breakfast.
If it was what she feared…
Narrowing her eyes, she watched Eternal Meteor, who was currently being happily fed grilled meat by Teio. Under the table, Gold Ship quietly pulled out her phone and started typing.
Her message hovered on the edge of being sent.
Then she hesitated.
If her suspicion was right, this wasn't something you could hide for even a second. Treatment had to happen immediately.
But Meteor had just been discharged from the hospital—and Rudolf was obsessive about checkups. If anyone cared about a horse girl's health, it was her.
So why was Meteor trying this hard to conceal it?
So hard she could even fool Rudolf?
And most importantly—Gold Ship still didn't know the full picture. If she broke Meteor's secrecy now, would that be the right call… or the wrong one?
But if Meteor suffered because Gold Ship stayed silent…
Her thumb wavered between Send and Delete, her heart twisting tighter and tighter.
Finally, she clenched her fist, turned off the screen, and shoved the phone back into her pocket.
…She'd watch a little longer.
At least until she had more information.
Burying the worry deep, Gold Ship kept smiling on the surface—and, in the background of Okino's mournful noises, ordered yet another plate of meat while continuing to observe Eternal Meteor.
"Ahhh… I'm stuffed."
After saying goodbye to Okino and the others—who were clutching their wallets like life preservers—Eternal Meteor walked along picking her teeth with dental floss, patting her round belly. It had been ages since she'd eaten this well—nothing but meat, and plenty of it.
They'd barely gone a few steps when hurried footsteps came pounding from behind.
Meteor turned, confused—
And saw Gold Ship, face unusually serious.
Gold Ship looked Meteor up and down once, then said something that made Meteor jolt:
"Don't hide it when something's wrong. If you can't tell Rudolf… you can tell me."
After that, Gold Ship shoved a small slip of paper into Meteor's hand—and didn't give her a second to respond before turning and running off.
Meteor stood there, staring at Gold Ship's back until it vanished into the distance.
Then she looked down at the paper.
Just a string of numbers.
She didn't need to think hard to know what it was: Gold Ship's phone number.
"…She didn't notice something, did she?"
"Maybe," X replied.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 175)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 126)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter134)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 87
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 79
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 64
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 73
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 45
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 49
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 45
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 45
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