I said you are all war criminals

"A true event? A resurrection technique?"

Wen Shui couldn't help but frowned, "You must have made this up on the spur of the moment, the one everyone's been talking about today..."

"Believe it or not,"

Yanami shrugged, "Anyway, this is the future I see. By the way,"

She suddenly remembered something. "Maybe you can go to Tokyo to find some inspiration. I heard..."

Just then, Yanami's phone rang. The ringing abruptly broke the silence on the escape ladder and interrupted Yanami's words. She pulled out her phone, glanced at the caller ID, and answered.

Although it was not intentional, Wen Shui still caught a glimpse of the name marked on Yanami's phone: Shinomiya Kaguya.

Wen Shui seemed to have seen this name somewhere, but he couldn't remember it for a moment.

Yanaijian answered the phone, her expression unfazed, showing no sign of shying away from the warm water. She casually turned around, her back resting lightly against the cold metal railing, her posture relaxed. In the narrow space of the escape ladder, the distance between them grew even closer.

"Kaguya, what do you want from me?"

Yanami's back was to Wenshui. The voice on the other end of the line was a bit noisy, and Wenshui could only hear a few fragments of words, such as "Live", "Solo", "Pick", "Amazing". But Yanami's voice was full of excitement, like a bomb about to explode, threatening to blow the escape ladder skyward at any moment.

"Really? I must go to the next live... Front row? Of course the front row is great! I can finally see His Highness again... Yeah, I get it, I get it. We can't all go together... Ah, His Highness is still very shy now... That His Highness actually..."

Wen Shui listened to her excited voice and couldn't help but feel curious. Who was this "Your Highness" she was talking about? Which band's guitarist could have so obsessed her? Wen Shui tried hard to piece together some information from her intermittent words, but found nothing. She didn't mention the name of the band at all.

"Okay, okay, we'll talk about it later. I'm hanging up now."

Yanai finally ended this exciting conversation and hung up the phone. She turned around, her blue hair a little messy from the wind, a few strands playfully brushing against her cheeks. She looked at the warm water, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Wen Shui, do you want to go to Tokyo together?"

she asked suddenly.

Wen Shui was stunned for a moment. Tokyo? What were they going to do in Tokyo? Was they going to see the live performance of the band she just mentioned?

"Why go to Tokyo?"

he asked.

“Go find inspiration!”

Yanaijian said as a matter of course, "Aren't you going to write a novel? Tokyo is a great place, full of all kinds of strange stories! Maybe it can give you some inspiration!"

Wen Shui's heartbeat suddenly accelerated, as if an invisible hand was tightly strangling his chest.

No, that's not right... Judging from the phone call just now, Yanami must have gone to Tokyo to watch the live show. So, he...

"I……"

He was about to refuse, but he didn't know how to start.

Seeing Wen Shui's hesitation, Yanai frowned impatiently.

Yanami took a step forward, and the sound of his heels hitting the ground made a crisp sound, which was particularly clear on the slightly cramped escape ladder.

The space between them was compressed to the limit. Wenshui could almost feel the heat radiating from Yanami's body. Every breath he took was filled with the sweet scent of her body, a mixture of shampoo and some unknown flower. The scent was not strong, but it was unusually clear, like a fine electric current, gently brushing Wenshui's nostrils, teasing his nerves.

The warm water even allowed one to see her distinct eyelashes and the clear, bright blue eyes beneath them.

"So, warm water, that's the thing you can't do."

Yanami boldly and straightforwardly leaned close to Wenshui's ear and whispered softly.

15

Chapter 15 The Knights Part 2.

Kaguya Shinomiya closed her phone.

Her phone isn't a smartphone, but an ordinary foldable phone. She'll definitely replace this old phone in the future, but it's still quite convenient to use now, so Kaguya isn't in a rush to change her phone.

Nowadays, life can be slow and leisurely.

"Kaguya—are you done with the call?"

Someone in the room was calling Kaguya.

So, Kaguya lifted the curtain of the private room in the restaurant and walked in.

There were two guests in the private room, one was a student of Seisho Conservatory of Music, Karen Aishiro, and the other was a guest who came all the way from Chiba, Yukinoshita Yukino.

At this point in time, the three of them should have had no intersection.

What brought them together was Goto Ichiri, who had ended his band, and they were both fans of Ichiri.

...or, to put it more bluntly.

They are all Quincy who have received the "Holy Words" from the King of Quincy, Goto Ichiri.

"Who are you talking to on the phone, Kaguya? No, compared to that..."

Karen affectionately moved her chair and moved closer to Kaguya.

In the future, Aijo Karen will be Kaguya's guide on the path of becoming a Quincy... It can even be said that Karen is Kaguya's master.

And now, the master asked the question that concerned her most.

"Do you need me to help you kill your entire family? You wouldn't feel comfortable doing it yourself anyway."

Kaguya felt warm in her heart. It seemed that time had not erased the bond between them... However, even so, Kaguya still rejected her master's advice.

"No thanks, Hualian,"

Kaguya smiled politely, "I'm not as childish as I used to be. After thinking about it, I realized that I wasn't that familiar with those people."

"That's it..."

Hua Lian felt a little disappointed, but immediately cheered up, "You know, I'm always here! If you need help, I'm always here!"

Yukinoshita, who was watching this conversation from a distance, coughed lightly and said, "Kaguya, can we get to the point now?"

Kaguya smiled slightly and tucked the hair that fell behind her ear, "Of course."

She got straight to the point. "I think both of you have regained some strength."

"The word 'recovery' is not very accurate,"

Yukinoshita raised her palm and created fine blue lightning at her fingertips. "Quincy itself doesn't have much power... Our fighting style is to manipulate spirit particles."

This is not to say that there is no spiritual power in the Quincy's body, but compared with the surrounding spiritual power that is hundreds or thousands of times greater, these tiny spiritual powers are not important.

"If I were a Shinigami, I would definitely need to train again if I returned to the present... But we are Quincies. As long as we know how to leverage spiritual energy, we can more or less recover some of our combat effectiveness."

Yukinoshita continued her comment, "Based on the rank of Shinigami... I'm probably the equivalent of a relatively weak vice-captain right now. What about you guys?"

"At the level of a senior officer,"

Kaguya casually played with her drooping hair. "Although my spiritual energy hasn't recovered much, my skills are still there. It's more than enough to deal with ordinary Hollows."

Karen crossed her arms over her chest and said sheepishly, "I'm probably just an average captain... If it were Captain Zaraki, he would definitely beat me."

She stuck out her tongue, as if imagining herself being cut in half by Kenpachi Zaraki.

Yukinoshita Yukino continued, "Kaguya, you probably left the two of us behind because, as warriors, we've recovered more than the other Starry Knights."

Kaguya smiled softly, picked up the wine jug on the table and poured a glass of sake for Yukinoshita.

"If that's the case, why don't I go find Miss Kita? She's better than anyone else."

Yukinoshita took the wine glass and drank it all in one gulp.

"Kita Ikuyo... She is indeed very strong. But you should understand that her current situation is very special."

"Why is it special?"

Kaguya asked again.

"She doesn't believe she's a Quincy."

Yukinoshita said bluntly, "Perhaps it's the effect of the Golden God's blood. She doesn't want to believe in the existence of Shinigami or Quincies. After all, for Miss Kita, even without the identity of a Quincy, she is strong enough."

Kita Ikuyo's identity as the Golden God is no secret.

Basically, all the members of the Knights know that Kita is an alien who flew from outer space in ancient times, the "Golden God". The reason why Kita supports Ichiri is not because the power of the Quincy is strong, but because Kita and Ichiri are friends.

...Kita Ikuyo and Yamada Ryo, two of Ichiri's former band members, both hold a distinguished position in the Knights.

"Don't you think this is a bit excessive?"

Kaguya twirled her hair around her ears with her fingers. "I'm not denying that Miss Kita and Miss Yamada are very important to Your Highness... but, don't you think it's a bit excessive that they knew Your Highness so long before us?"

Soft lighting bathed the private dining room at the Michelin-starred restaurant, illuminating the Impressionist paintings on the walls and adding a touch of artistic flair. Soft wool carpeting covered the entire room, making almost no sound when stepped on. In the center of the room, a round dining table covered with a white tablecloth was set with exquisite silverware and crystal wine glasses.

Kaguya leaned back elegantly in her chair, her slender fingers gently turning the wine glass in her hand, a meaningful smile on her lips.

Yukinoshita Yukino sat in a seat near the door, her back straight, her hands folded on the table, staring at Shinomiya Kaguya opposite her with a sharp gaze.

"...Are you hinting at something?"

Kaguya didn't answer directly, "Yukinoshita-senpai, are you willing to accept this? You can only stand at a distance, guarding Her Highness like a knight, but you can't really get close to her and become Goto Ichiri's... friend?"

Kaguya deliberately emphasized the word "friend".

She obviously meant something.

Yukinoshita Yukino's eyes suddenly turned cold, as if a thin layer of ice had formed.

"Shinomiya Kaguya, I hope you won't say such outrageous words again. It's not good for you or me."

"Treason?"

Kaguya chuckled, as if she had heard something funny. "I only said 'friend', senpai, your reaction is really too extreme."

Yukinoshita ignored Kaguya, stood up, and pulled out the chair.

The legs of the chair scraped against the ground, making a harsh friction sound, which seemed particularly abrupt in the quiet box.

"I have something else to do, so I'll leave first."

She didn't even wait for the chef to serve the food, and left the private room directly, her heels tapping on the ground, making a crisp and rapid sound.

Kaguya watched Yukinoshita's departing figure, the smile on her lips gradually fading. She was silent for a moment, then turned her gaze to Karen beside her, her tone returning to her usual gentle tone, "Karen, are you leaving?"

When Karen heard Kaguya's voice, she immediately smiled brightly, seemingly unaware of the subtle atmosphere between Yukinoshita and Kaguya.

"Oh, I'm still hungry. How can I leave before I finish eating?"

"...Thank you, Karen."

Kaguya said softly.

"I'm always here, Kaguya."

16

Chapter 16 The sun sets.

The crisp click of her heels against the pavement was a stark contrast to Yukinoshita's irritable mood. She felt like a bug trapped in a glass enclosure, struggling desperately but unable to break through the transparent barrier. Shinomiya Kaguya's airy "friend" struck her heart like a hammer.

Becoming friends with His Highness... What a noble honor it is, if it's true, really...

"Snapped!"

Yukinoshita slapped herself on the cheek once.

She leaned against the wall and took a deep breath. She raised her hand and rubbed her temple vigorously, trying to calm her frantic heartbeat. No, she couldn't let Shinomiya Kaguya lead her by the nose! She had to calm down and think carefully.

The first thing to be sure of is this.

Yukinoshita Yukino hates Shinomiya Kaguya.

She really, really, really, really, really hated Kaguya Shinomiya.

This wasn't because Kaguya had killed everyone in the Shinomiya family... If we were to talk about bloody things, Yukinoshita herself had done quite a bit. After all, Goto Ichiri trusted her very much, so he had handed over quite a few things to Yukinoshita.

Yukinoshita hates Shinomiya because of that guy...

She wanted to turn everyone's king into her own property.

"Friend"? What a high-sounding word.

That guy really wants to be the queen...

"Your Highness doesn't need a queen...Your Highness is perfect all on his own..."