Just as 'Sparkle' let out a laugh.
Sparkle suddenly pressed a button.
Instantly, a tallic chain shot out from the device, binding 'Sparkle's' hands.
But 'Sparkle' just gave a slight flick of her wrists, and the taut chains imdiately loosened and retracted.
"Tch, figured it wouldn't work on you~"
"Of course not. I made this thing. How could it possibly work on ?"
"So boring. No fun at all." Sparkle pouted.
This kind of flawlessness, leaving no openings—it just wasn't amusing.
"So, why did you lure here anyway?"
Setting aside her mischievous impulses, Sparkle clasped her hands behind her back and stared straight at the other her.
If the other party was the type who liked to be ticulous and leave no loose ends…
Then the clues left in the video and account could only an she was deliberately ant to find her way here.
"Hmm… what if I said I just did it for fun? Watching you get lured in by , then caught by —I'm having a pretty good ti right now."
'Sparkle' blinked playfully at the original.
But Sparkle herself wasn't exactly thrilled.
Spending every day looking for amusent, only to end up as soone else's amusent, huh.
It wasn't like she wasn't prepared for that possibility.
But it was still so annoying.
Seeing the look on Sparkle's face…
The 'Sparkle' who originally just wanted to harvest so emotional reactions now genuinely found it interesting.
After all… Director Sparkle had always had a bit of a bratty streak.
Bullying the brat and watching her make that face was actually quite satisfying.
Oh no.
Could it be that she'd really been infected by Aha's influence and was turning into a Masked Fool herself?
'Sparkle' felt a sudden lurch in her heart.
Then she reached out, smiling, and patted Sparkle on the head.
"Just kidding. I just wanted to hang out with you."
"…"
Sparkle shot her a weird look.
Did she really think she'd believe such an obvious lie?
But…
"Interested in causing so trouble with ?"
Sparkle's mood shifted lightning-fast, and soon her usual mischievous grin was back in place.
Truly, Director Sparkle—her ntal resilience was sothing else.
'Sparkle' mused inwardly for a mont, then pulled over a chair and sat down: "That depends on what kind of trouble you're planning."
But to her surprise, Sparkle shook her head with a giggle, wearing a mysterious expression: "I don't know yet. We'll have to see what the Aeon of Elation wants us to do."
"What do you an?"
"It ans I like surprise boxes—randomly picking a lucky world and going there to have so fun."
When she had no commissions or particularly interesting targets…
This was Sparkle's favorite pasti.
"Now then, let's see who our lucky perforr will be this ti~"
Giggling, Sparkle manipulated her device, inputting so program.
The selection of the lucky—or unlucky—lot began.
As she operated the program, Sparkle curiously pointed at a nearby screen.
"Looks like you've got more videos. Why not post them?"
The image on the screen was unmistakably that of a Lord Ravager.
Of course, compared to the awe-inspiring presence of an Aeon, a Lord Ravager was much more approachable.
While you could still sense that destructive aura…
It was nowhere near as intimidating as an Aeon.
"Made them for fun. Not planning to release them yet. Or are you really keen on having a heart-to-heart with a Lord Ravager?"
"Sparkle" smiled while staring right at her.
Aeons were lofty and distant.
Who'd really care about that sort of thing?
But Lord Ravagers were different.
If they got upset, they'd probably co for you personally.
I can finish the act, then just skip town. But when you, Sparkle, end up with a bounty on your head, you'll learn what regret feels like.
"Yeah, let's not."
Sparkle shook her head vigorously.
Having fun was one thing, but actually getting a Lord Ravager on your tail? That wouldn't be fun at all.
"Ooh~ We've got a result. Let see what kind of place this is~"
Hearing a ding from the prompt, Sparkle looked down at the screen that had popped up.
"Aeragan-Epharshel? What kind of place is that? Never heard of it. Let ask around…"
This was the best part of true randomness.
The places you landed on were always so unexpected.
When 'Sparkle' heard the na, her eyelid twitched slightly:
"That's a pretty ordinary world, but it has a mineral deposit there that's considered a strategic resource for the Interastral Peace Corporation."
"Oh? Really? Seems the Aeon of Elation picked a good spot for ~"
Hearing this, Sparkle imdiately broke into a grin that just scread "I'm up to no good."
"…What are you planning?"
"Hmm~ Not sure yet. Let gather so intel first." Sparkle shook her head, still smiling.
Then she started ssaging soone on her phone.
It seed Sparkle had her own reliable information network.
But that made sense.
Soone who loved stirring up trouble all over the universe would naturally have her own ways of gathering intel.
For all she knew, there was an intelligence specialist right within the Tavern.
She didn't have to wait long.
Just about the ti it took to watch that Lord Ravager video.
A reply ca through.
"Got it~ Heehee, the guy in charge of the mining operations at Aeragan-Epharshel is soone nad Oswaldo. An ambitious man of action."
Sparkle sent the file to her other self.
Then she said with a playful laugh:
"Hey, little tanuki, wanna play a cooperative ga?"
"What kind of ga?"
"You know what roles are the most fun on stage? The protagonist? The villain? In my opinion, guys like this are the most interesting."
Sparkle tapped her finger on Oswaldo's profile picture.
"An ambitious climber in a hurry, a young man rising fast within the Corporation. Soone like that is perfect for providing entertainnt on stage."
Those ordinary cowboys or whatever? They looked boring at a glance.
The sa old story of oppression and rebellion. And they were pathetically weak to boot.
Compared to that, this Oswaldo guy piqued Sparkle's interest more.
You could tell his ambitions were swelling right along with his promotions.
And, while it was unclear what he was in such a rush about, he was clearly in a hurry.
People like that were the easiest to fool.
"Let's go put him on stage together and see what kind of performance he puts on, shall we?"
Sparkle giggled as she extended the invitation to her other self.
'Sparkle' listened to this sowhat incoherent spiel and tilted her head slightly:
"So you still haven't said what you actually plan to do?"
"Isn't that enough? Don't forget the nickna you gave —Director Sparkle~ Gotta say, I like that title. This director wants to see his improv act now."
"…"
'Sparkle' felt that sotis, interacting with Masked Fools was truly a helpless experience.
As a relatively normal person, it was sotis really hard to understand what was going on in these chaos-seekers' heads.
While she roughly grasped that Sparkle wanted to go cause trouble…
After all that circling, she still hadn't said what exactly they were going to do.
So you just have a vague idea, and you're dragging along for the ride?
-- --
User Comments
0 comments from readers