Chapter 267: Yukino Can't Sleep Because It's Too Noisy.
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The Apartment Building.
The Nakano Residence.
The Nakano quintuplets were currently gathered with Kanade and the others, the air buzzing with talk about the latest breaking news.
"How did the United States's officials and all those family heads die so suddenly?" Ichika Nakano asked, her head tilted in genuine confusion.
The sudden loss of so many high-ranking officials... what kind of situation was this?
"I'm not entirely sure, but..." Yukino Yukinoshita trailed off, her expression thoughtful as she scrolled through the trending reports.
The news didn't just cover the deaths; it mentioned the emergence of a mysterious group calling themselves the "Church of Space"—devout believers of the God of Space.
Naturally, Yukino's suspicions immediately landed on Seito.
Furthermore, while things seemed quiet on the surface in the United States, she had just received a text from her mother. The message was clear: Under no circumstances are you to visit the United States right now.
It wasn't just Yukino; Haruno and Kaguya had received similar warnings from their respective families.
The reason was simple: the place was currently a hotbed of "freedom." It was so free, in fact, that every local family and internal faction was scrambling to seize control of the power vacuum.
The three biggest players were the top three Western guilds. Since the guild leaders were backed by elite families, the entire nation was expected to descend into total chaos within twenty-four hours. Between the political infighting and the rampant monsters, the United States was on the brink of collapse.
Meanwhile, the Eastern Country was already mobilizing resources to evacuate all its citizens from the region. Action would be taken within the day; they had no intention of letting their people get caught in the crossfire.
WHOOSH!
In the midst of their discussion, Seito suddenly materialized in the room, drawing everyone's attention.
"Seito, was that your doing? The news?"
Yukino asked, her voice calm but searching.
"Yeah," Seito nodded. "They kidnapped Iori and the others to try and blackmail me into joining them. Consider this their 'lesson'—and a warning to every other country out there."
Anyone with a brain could guess that the "God of Space" worshipped by that new church was none other than the God Domain's #1 player. Between Seito's sudden appearance in the United States and the high-profile deaths that followed, the dots weren't hard to connect.
Ring, ring, ring!
Seito's phone went off. He checked the screen: it was Elder Yang.
No surprise there. The higher-ups in the Eastern Country had clearly figured it out too. Seito picked up.
"Hello, Elder Yang."
"Seito, what happened? Why the sudden move against the United States's leadership?" Elder Yang asked, sounding more curious than accusatory.
Seito gave him the full story, omitting nothing and adding no fluff.
"I see. I understand," Elder Yang replied.
"Right. I'll let you get back to it, then."
Click.
China(Beijing).
A High-Security Office.
A sharp, dangerous glint flashed in Elder Yang's eyes.
"So the United States couldn't resist making a move after all. I suppose it's time for the Eastern Country to stretch its muscles a bit!" he huffed.
He didn't care that Seito had killed them. The real issue was that the Eastern Country hadn't shown its teeth in a long time. It seemed those foreign families had forgotten what they were capable of. Without another word, he dialed another number.
Time flew by.
After returning to the quintuplets' home, Seito broke the news that he had officially become their private tutor. The group spent the rest of the day in a relaxed atmosphere—lunching out, followed by an afternoon of sightseeing.
By the time evening rolled around, Seito and the others said their goodbyes to the Nakano sisters and headed back toward their apartment.
"What a productive day," Seito remarked, stretching his arms over his head as they walked. Hanging out with so many beautiful girls every day... he'd never get tired of this.
"Our country's response time is incredible," Kirukiru Amou noted, looking at her phone.
"Most of the Eastern Country citizens in the United States have already been evacuated."
Looking at the atmosphere described in the news, Amou couldn't help but feel how safe the Eastern Country was by comparison. Ever since the deaths of the elite patriarchs that morning, various factions had been popping up like weeds. She figured other countries were only staying out of the mess because they were too busy dealing with their own monster problems. Otherwise, they'd be all over that "free" land.
"Don't worry about it. Let's just get home and rest," Seito said with a wave of his hand. To him, this level of conflict was just a minor skirmish. Small potatoes.
The group soon reached the apartment building. Kaguya and Hayasaka headed to their own place, while Seito and the others went up to the second floor.
Just as they arrived, Haruno Yukinoshita grabbed Seito's right hand.
"Hehe~ why don't you stay with us tonight?" Haruno asked, her eyes crinkling into a playful smile.
"Hmm..." Seito thought about it for a second before nodding. "Sure."
Amou and Kanade didn't have any objections, though Yukino seemed to have a bit of a localized "internal weather event" going on in her expression.
Seito followed the Yukinoshita sisters into their home, while the other girls returned to their respective apartments. Once inside, Haruno immediately started leading Seito toward her bedroom.
"Yukino-chan, you go on ahead and sleep. Seito-chan and I have some things to... discuss."
With a wink at her sister, Haruno pulled Seito into her room and shut the door.
Yukino gritted her teeth. Discuss? What could you two possibly have to discuss?! Dammit! She turned on her heel and retreated to her own room.
Late at night... around 1:00 AM.
Yukino Yukinoshita was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling with dark circles under her eyes. She couldn't sleep a wink—mostly because it was way too noisy!
She waited another ten minutes until the apartment finally went quiet. She let out a long, weary sigh of relief.
"Finally... it's over."
NO! Not even close!
.....
Thank you for reading.