Chapter 29: Relaxing Days

"I'm sorry they left all the cleanup to you, Elliot." Lady Nepgear says as she helps out in the kitchen, where I'm cleaning up from IF's cooking lessons.

Even though it was only for IF, Lady Nepgear, Lady Neptune, and Compa had apparently followed IF, because they had gotten curious about what she was doing Sundays due to IF's apparently very weak deflection of the question. She said she was just "busy" but didn't elect to say anything further, which made them all super curious.

I thought IF was supposed to be a super spy, so I'll have to tease her about it later. Either way, the reason why I'm alone here with Lady Nepgear is the trio of Lady Neptune, IF, and Compa asked if they could talk to themselves in my room. I didn't have an issue with it and it seemed somewhat important, so I had no reason to say no.

"It's fine, besides, I usually handle the cleanup for IF anyways, since I have to clean up for my bakery preparation." I say, waving it off as I scrub down a bowl with a sponge.

"Those three have been talking a lot, actually…" Lady Nepgear says as she passes me a bowl which she's finished rinsing.

"Are you concerned?"

"Mmm, no. I'm actually happy, since it's fairly rare that they get the time to all be together. IF and Compa usually have work keeping them busy, so it makes me happy there's a place that they can come together like this to relax."

"Oh, I'm happy to be able to provide that place, then." I say with a smile.

"Though, um…" Lady Nepgear taps her fingers together. "You don't have anything hidden in there, do you? Neptune might start snooping around…"

"Um… I don't have anything I'd like to hide?"

"Oh, I see. That's good."

"I'm a pretty bad liar, so you know, I try not to keep anything that I'd have to hide. Explaining it would be pretty bad for me, you know?"

Lady Nepgear giggles as that. "Is that why you ran away so fast, when we first met at the Saulmart?"

"Mhm. I knew anyone would see right through me if the conversation prolonged, so I had to high tail it out of there and get out. What do you think they're talking about, though? It can't be anything super sensitive, right?"

Lady Nepgear shakes her head. "No, if it was anything actually important, they'd definitely talk at the Basilicom. Maybe it's girl talk?"

"If it's girl talk, I wonder why you weren't invited." I say as I put the last of the dishes away, with the two of us going back into the main room of the cafe.

"Hehehe, well, it is those three. They've been friends for a long time, so I can understand."

"Still, it feels a bit wrong to leave you out."

"Thanks for the concern, but I'll be alright. Besides, it'd be kind of weird if my sister were to start tagging along when I go out with Noire, Ram and Rom." Lady Nepgear says with a matching smile, making me feel a bit more at ease. "Speaking of those last two, I heard they worked here last week."

"Ah, yeah." I say, feeling a grin on my face from the memory. "When I was in Leanbox, they kept asking if they could come back when the shop had reopened. Lady Blanc told me I should say no sometime, but it's hard to say no to them when they're so earnest about it."

"They do look very cute in the uniform, though." Lady Nepgear says, pointing to one of the newest photos to be mounted along the wall. "Though, you do have a lot more photos now."

"Haha, that's true."

Back then, the only photos I had up were Gregory and I, then the photo of all four goddesses and myself as the crowning achievement my store had. Since then, it's become more of a…

...well, I don't want to say it's a bragging wall, but it's definitely captured a lot more times the goddesses have come over to visit, along with a few more elements of my time in high school. A few things like newspaper clippings of when our team went to the Planeptune baseball finals, big events during when I was in high school, the like. Along with that are pictures from the gala now that I'm not hiding it, along with a few pictures of my time on the interview.

Then there's the picture Lady Nepgear pointed out, where Lady Ram and Lady Rom are on my left and right, all of us holding hands that make me look like a very young father, with smiles on our face. Of course, there's a picture where Lady Vert pulled me in while I was in uniform, attempting to feed me a forkful of cake while the woman who's always with her, Chika, took a picture. Lady Blanc also has a picture with her in uniform, considering how her sisters managed to convince her to work here one day as well. Lastly, Lady Neptune has a picture of her with a massive bowl of pudding after she ordered ten portions from me.

"Hmm…"

"Um… would you like to have a picture up there, Lady Nepgear?" I ask, somewhat reading the mood.

"O-oh, ahaha, well… if I did, then it'd have to be with Uni, so no one gets left out."

"Ah, I see."

"You and Uni still don't get along that well, huh?" Lady Nepgear asks, tilting her head. "Does she still think you're dating Noire?"

"No matter how many times I insist that we are just friends, I think she's still suspicious of me." I say with a sigh. "Oh, but can I get you anything, Lady Ne—"

"Just Nepgear, please."

"Oh, right, sorry. I still fall back on it, so thank you for correcting me."

"Mhm, no problem. And um… actually, is it okay for me to ask for an iced coffee? It's getting very hot these days."

"Yes, I'll have that right out for you, then." I say, immediately getting to work. "Is there anything else? I don't have any pastries available since I didn't bake today, but I'd be happy to give some of the prepackaged snacks to you."

"No, no, I'm fine, but thank you very much for the offer." She says, waving it off. "Oh, and um, if it wouldn't bother you too much, could I learn how to make pudding from you?"

"Oh, that's a surprise. I'd have thought you already knew."

Lady Nepgear gives a bashful smile as she taps her pointer fingers together. "Well, um, I should, but I don't spend as much time with cooking as I maybe should."

"You do get to sleep on time, though, right?" I ask, wondering if perhaps due to the fact that all of the goddesses do have a thing for gaming and IF told me that Lady Nepgear and Lady Vert did have a bit of a stronger friendship, this is related.

"Mou, that's a joke about Vert, isn't it?" Lady Nepgear says with a slight pout.

"S-sorry, it's just that I was told you two are friendlier than usual, so I couldn't help but ask."

"Mmmm. But no, I just spend more time with machines."

"Like cars?" I ask, taken a bit by surprise. I didn't expect the young CPU Candidate in front of me to be into automobiles or anything like that.

"Actually, it's more like anything machine-like. Improving and fixing things is really fun, but it's a bit embarrassing to talk about sometimes." She says, playing with her hair. "It's not exactly a very girly thing, right?"

"I don't particularly mind. But I would think you'd have cut your hair shorter so it doesn't get caught in any gears."

"Oh, I make sure to tie it back and everything when I do work on anything." Lady Nepgear says with a nod. "Hehehe, I think I can see why IF and the others are so relaxed around you, Elliot."

"O-oh, um… thank you. I guess I just don't try to judge anyone, is all. My mentor taught me a lot about that, saying things like, 'The guy who walked in with torn jeans and hoodie could be a millionaire and would-be regular customer for all you know'. As long as they were polite and didn't make a scene, I'd give them all the same customer service smile and old fashioned try."

Lady Nepgear nods at that.

"Though, um, you know, if you do like tinkering with machines, could I ask you to look at some of the ones I have here? I don't know if you charge for it, but maybe we can trade. You know, I'll teach you how to make pudding next week, if you help fix them."

Her eyes sparkle at this, with Lady Nepgear sitting up as I slide her iced coffee over.

"Sunday mornings, like when IF came in, I'm busy as I'm teaching her how to cook, but I don't mind teaching you how to cook any of your sister's or your own favorite dishes in the afternoon. I can't promise anything gourmet, bu—"

"I'll do it."

Lady Nepgear, despite her usual float-y self that doesn't push for her own self as much, is strangely passionate and straightforward about this.

"Which machine would you like to look at first? I'll do the research and come up with a plan for next week." She says, almost like a journalist hungry for a story to write about on their first day.

Before I can answer, I hear a knock on the door to my shop. While it says 'Closed', I suppose we might be a bit loud. After opening the door to see who it is, I find a familiar face.

"Good afternoon, Elliot."

"Oh, Miss Histoire, please, come on in." I say, opening the door completely for her. She floats on in, still hovering above the ground on her open book. "Do you need me to get Lady Neptune for you?"

She shakes her head as I close the door. "No, there is no need for that. I was simply enjoying the city in the summer and when I passed by, I thought to check if you were in and see how you were doing."

"That's very kind of you."

"You are currently a common link between the four goddesses of Gameindustri. I imagine that had you been residing in Lowee, for example, that their Oracle would do the same."

"Am… I in danger?"

She shakes her head. "My apologies, I did not mean to cause any fear. It is simply that while we are very accustomed to having every step of ours watched over, it is highly variable how others react. While you have had a bit of time for things to die down via your temporary residency in Leanbox, the recent events such as Rom and Ram working here along with Vert's very viral pictures with you have caused media attention to not bottom out."

"Ah… I guess that's true. It's not really a problem."

"If it does present a problem, please do not hesitate to contact me. You are a citizen of Planeptune, after all and with our authority, it would be very simple to issue a formal request for media agencies to stay out of your way."

"Oh, that's very nice of you. However, I… think I'll just have to deal with it. I don't think I want to have to stop being friends in public with them or anything like that, no matter how much I have to deal with the paparazzi. It's why I came out in the first place."

There's a smile that crosses Histoire's face as she nods. "I see. I apologize for overstepping my boundaries, then, you seem very committed on this."

"Thank you."

"And well, thank you for being friends with Neptune. I know it can be a bit hard to keep up with her sometimes, but please hang in there."

"I'll do my best, Miss Histoire." I say, giving a salute.

"Thank you. If you'll excuse me, then."

"Oh, it is rather hot outside, so please give me a second. Would you like iced coffee or juice?"

"My, thank you for the offer. I must admit I am not a big coffee drinker, so I'll have to ask for juice if it's not too much trouble."

I head back over to the kitchen fridges and pull out an orange juice before walking back and handing it to her. After giving her thanks, Miss Histoire leaves, still floating along on that book of hers.

"I didn't know you knew Histoire." Lady Nepgear says as I close the door.

"Oh, I don't, really. I just ran into her once when I was out and about, is all, since I had gotten dragged along with your sister for a crepe run."

Lady Nepgear giggles at this. "That does sound like my sister."

"Ehhhhh?! I'm being gossiped about?!"

Both of us turn to the door that leads upstairs to my room, where Lady Neptune has burst out of it.

"You better not be making a move on my sister, buster!" Lady Neptune yells, but it's clearly in a very joking tone as she lunges forward and hugs her sister. "I won't hand my very cute Nepgear to just anyone!"

"I had no intent of pursuing your sister…" I say, my hands raised in a surrender position.

"Ehhh?! You won't even make a move on her? But she's so cute, isn't she? How could you not want to flirt with her while you're all alone?!"

"S-sis!"

"Well, he's got Noire already, doesn't he?" IF says before getting a nudge from Compa, the two of them exchanging a look. "And, well, you know. Elliot's not the flirting type, Nep."

"Hmmmm…" Lady Neptune says, narrowing her eyes at me. "Okay, but only because IF trusts you."

"Thank you for believing in my character." I say flatly, Lady Neptune giggling. "Are you all heading out?"

"Yep, yep! I have a nap with my name on it!"

"I see. Well, it's hot outside, so at least let me get you all some juice before you go."

It doesn't take long, with me waving Lady Neptune, Lady Nepgear, and Compa out as they head out into the summer heat.

"And make sure you think about what you want me to upgrade!" Lady Nepgear says, waving back.

"I will!" I call back, closing the door.

"Nepgear's giving you an upgrade?" IF asks, having stayed behind.

"Well, she wanted to learn how to make her sister's favorite dishes and offered an exchange." I say with a shrug. "...should I be worried?"

"I'd… you know what, I'll keep an eye on her. Just be very, very specific and also ask Nepgear not to stray from what you ask. If you don't, I wouldn't be surprised if your coffee maker also doubled as a laser security system."

"Oh."

"Yeah…" IF says, trailing off.

"Well, I guess a laser security system wouldn't be too bad."

"Okay, but don't come crying to me if it ends up shaving off some of your eyebrows."

"Suddenly, I don't want a laser security system." I say, IF laughing. "Anyways, I've boxed your leftovers, so please make sure to enjoy the fried rice we made today."

"Will do. By the way, uh, motorcycle lessons next week? I know we were doing those before everything kicked up, so now that we're back…"

"Sure, yeah."

"Oh wait, um, not next week. Week after that. I'll be out next week."

"Doing what?" I ask, reaching into the fridge near me and grabbing an apple juice which I slide over to IF.

"Oh, it's a bit personal if you don't mind me saying that." IF says as she catches the slid drink, twisting the cap off.

"No, no, of course not." I say back, waving it off. "We're off on cooking lessons then too, right?"

"Yep."

"Just be safe, alright?"

"I should be the one saying that to you, in case Vert decides to do another surprise visit. Or any of the goddesses, really." IF's smile then turns into a teasing one. "Seriously, you couldn't just keep to Noire?"

"Blanc has a boyfriend." I say, immediately shutting down that line of teasing.

"You're no fun." IF grumbles. "Though, they do look really cute together. At least it's taking some of the heat off of you, right?"

"Yeah, that's true. He seems like a nice guy, too, since he came with Blanc to pick up the twins after the last time they worked here. Very soft spoken despite his pretty deep voice. I pegged him as a black coffee guy but he surprisingly ordered a hot chocolate."

"He's got a lot of competition to win over the twins."

I roll my eyes at that, with IF chuckling in response.

"Either way, not a whole lot to do anymore, huh?"

"Well, things have settled mostly back to normal." I say, shrugging. "Frankly, I think it's fine to have more than three days of calm in a row."

"Been a while since you had that, huh?"

"Yep. I mean, it does feel a bit strange not to be working towards anything, so I guess that feels slightly off."

IF raises an eyebrow. "You mean… you're not going?"

"Oh, that… I, er, I haven't made a choice yet." I say, scratching the back of my head. "It's… it's a really big decision, you know?"

"Mhm, I get that much." IF says, nodding. "Sorry to put any pressure on you."

"Haha, don't worry about it. You'll be the first to know if I decide to move so you can start sampling other coffee shops. You need your fix, after all."

"If you do move, start selling bags of coffee beans, at least. I can at least make a weekend trip to pick up a truckload of them." IF says back as I grab my own bottle of apple juice.

"I mean, if I'm going that far, why don't I just do an online store?"

"I'd still want to come and talk, you know." IF says, lifting her own bottle up. The two of us then clink plastic bottles together. "But if you don't want me there…"

"H-hey, no, I was just asking since a drive out to Lastation seemed kind of inconvenient." I say, with IF laughing it off.

"Just teasing, just teasing."

"I can see why you and Vert are friends, you're both prone to giving me heart attacks."

We have a laugh over that one before kicking back with our drinks. Though, my interrupted confession on the Ferris wheel still weighs a bit heavily in my mind, and moreso what I resolved to after it. Having to close things out with Noire, it's… just a bit heavy to think about it. But with everything I've learned from Lady Vert and Lady Blanc, surely, I think… I could find a way to bring myself that far.

"Oh, by the way." I say after we finish our drinks, IF getting up from her chair. "Make sure to pack an umbrella tomorrow."

"Forecast calling for rain?"

"Yeah. You know, I never asked, but do you ride your bike in the rain?"

"It sucks doing it, but yeah. Besides, I've got gear for that, so don't worry about it." IF says, stretching her arms. "Geez, first the heat, then the humidity that's going to get caused by the rain. It's a good thing that we did our beach trip already."

"Definitely. Hopefully the night of the fireworks won't be as bad."

"Here's hoping. That's in what, just over two months?"

"Something like that," I say, nodding. "We still on?"

"You know it. Anyways, I should probably head out now, I think it's a bit cloudy so the heat shouldn't be as bad getting home."

"Need a bottle for the road?"

"I'll be all right, but thanks for the offer. Ah, I should get those leftovers, too."

With that, I go and deliver the plastic containers to IF, who takes them out to her motorcycle. She waves as she mounts it, still wearing her usual clothes minus the blue jacket just like at the beach.

After that, I lock the door for the day and head back into the kitchen to do some more preparations for tomorrow. Maybe I really should look into hiring another part timer, but I'd feel bad bringing them on and then if I decide to move should… things not go as I would hope, I'd be leaving them high and dry.

As I finish my preparations, I find a series of texts from Lady Noire, mostly just asking me if I'm available to play Four Goddesses Online.

"Hi Noire, sorry for not responding earlier, I was preparing some of the mixes for tomorrow."

Instead of a text back, my phone starts buzzing as Lady Noire initiates a phone call.

"Hello?"

"O-oh, hi Elliot. Um… how's it going?"

"Oh, nothing really out of the ordinary. Just another relaxing Sunday." I say, hanging up my apron.

"That's good."

"Mhm. Um… can I ask why the phone call?"

"I, er, texting can just be really boring, and if you have the time to make a phone call, then why not?"

Well, I guess I can't argue with that logic. "Yeah, I guess that's true. So, what's going on?"

"Oh, um, I just wanted to let you know that I'm not going to be able to play Four Goddesses Online next week. I have a meeting with someone from the Guild."

The Guild, huh…? IF works for them too, and she's heading out of town next week as well.

"Should I be worried?"

"Oh no, no. Well, Lastation's monsters tend to be a bit on the stronger side, so they're just coming to me to request some special resources, is all. One of their representatives from the Planeptune branch is visiting just to talk out what the details are."

"I see… I hope everything turns out okay, then."

"I will, don't worry. Worst case, I'll have to get personally involved, but hopefully it won't come to that."

"Mhm."

"Though, um… I also wanted to ask if you wanted to visit again sometime."

"Yeah, I'd… I'd like to go visit. It's just a bit tough with the new schedule." I say, looking over a calendar. "I've got motorcycle lessons and cooking classes on Sundays, so trying to find time is getting rougher."

"I heard you're also getting more active, too."

"It's nothing much, but I figured I could volunteer to help out during my high school's baseball games." I say, tracing the days with my free hand. "Oh, but there's a Planeptune holiday coming up in just over a month. And it lands on a Friday as well, so I can fly in Thursday night."

"Perfect! Um, er, I mean, that's good. I'll have Kei make the arrangements, then."

"Are you sure? I can get a ticket myself."

"No, I asked you to come, so this one is on me. Besides, I'd like to do something with you this summer. A-as friends, of course, now that we're allowed to be seen together in public."

"Yeah, I, um, I understand." I say, finding a pen and marking it on my calendar. "Alright, it's on my calendar now. Are you up for Four Goddesses Online?"

"I'd like to, but I have a bit of paperwork I wanted to take care of so it doesn't become too much on Monday."

"Sounds good. I'll let you get to it, then."

"Thanks, Elliot. Looking forward to seeing you."

As the call is ended, I can't help but laugh at myself a bit. I hope this doesn't turn into the gala's sequel, but it's nice to have something to look forward to again. The holiday visit to Lastation, then the fireworks festival to cap off the summer. It's hard to believe so much time has already gone by.

Now then, I have a bit of time, so why don't I try experimenting with some recipes…

The next week.

"Hoooooooo…"

I can feel the almost reverent stare as Lady Neptune watches me stack on the last part of the banana pudding crepe cake on the platter.

To call it a monstrosity is… well, I guess not too far off. The recipe was only for twelve layers, but I decided to go all out and instead make sixteen layers.

Sixteen interwoven layers of fluffy buttery crepes, banana pudding and thin slices of bananas, with a bit of crushed vanilla wafers, with the top being decorated so that the vanilla wafers formed the letter 'N' for Lady Neptune.

"How much are you?"

"Neptune, that's incredibly rude." Miss Historie says, having tagged along this time around, stating she was curious about what I was going to make and that someone had to mind Lady Neptune while Lady Nepgear was busy tinkering away with my coffee pot.

"Okay, then, how much do I have to pay you to be my personal chef?" Lady Neptune says, though her eyes are clearly on the cake in front of her.

"Neptune, please make eye contact with whoever you are talking to." Miss Historie follows up, sighing.

"It's fine, it's fine. Would you both like a slice, then, before I pack it up?"

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely!" Lady Neptune says, completely interrupting Miss Historie, who was likely questioning if it was okay to take the rather sizable cake home with them as I hadn't asked for anything in return.

"I'm sure that whatever Nepgear does to my coffee pot, it will be worth more than this cake, so please accept it."

With that, I cut out four slices, one for everyone here and one for when Lady Nepgear returns.

However, before she can arrive, the fated moment of truth occurs and Lady Neptune tries out the cake. That is to say, as soon as I had cut the first slice and already placed the plate in front of her, her fork had been in the prime position to swoop in and cut a bit out, prompting a sigh from Miss Historie.

"It's been years and you still don't practice table manners."

"Ifhhchoozwatbwighebents." Lady Neptune says, her mouth full as she basically inhales the cake slice. I believe she was saying 'I do at big events', which I can attest to as she was the pinnacle of grace at the gala.

"How is it, Lady Neptune?"

"I'm no longer asking for a price and will instead have to kidnap you to be my personal chef." She says with an incredibly straight face as she slams her hands on the table, staring right into my eyes… for a grand total of a fourth of a second before breaking out into a fit of giggles.

"I take it you like it?"

"Mhm! Make this one a regular item!"

"Then, I'll make sure to keep an extra cake in stock just for you." I say, getting a thumbs up in reply.

"I can see why Blanc claims you spoil the twins too much." Miss Historie says, to which I can only offer a sheepish smile.

"Awwww come on, Histy, lighten up a bit~"

"I'm going to check on Nepgear, so try not to get into too much trouble." Miss Historie says, starting to float for the door upstairs after putting her fork down.

"You gotta have a little faith in me, Histy!" Lady Neptune protests, but it's for all of one second before she starts putting cake into her mouth. I decide that it would be best to carve out another rather large slice for her preemptively. She swallows, then nods. "It's kind of quiet without IF here, huh?"

"Eh? Well, I guess Sundays are kind of quiet, yes." I say, trying to read the mood, but Lady Neptune's smile is impenetrable.

"Hmmm, I see~ But like, hey, you remember when we talked before, right, right?"

"Yes, by the crepe stand at night." I say, thinking back on that day. "What is it?"

"You said that it was our job to look after IF, yep?"

I don't know if I like where this is going, but I nod affirmatively.

"Then, I have a question for you."

Now I really don't like where this is going.

"Fiiiiirst, how would you describe IF?"

"Um… I guess the first word that comes to mind is 'cool'?" I say, feeling a bit embarrassed by that answer. "She's very dependable, and it's very comforting to know she's got your back. The kind of person who, if it was a game of dodgeball and it was just you and her against the whole enemy team, you'd think you could make it out."

Lady Neptune laughs that answer, but seems to take it positively. "That does sound a lot like IF. But like, the way she dresses and stuff is pretty cool too, right?"

"Mhm. It has a very action-star feel to it, I think. The coat and the athletic wear really make it fit together. Actually, I don't think I've even seen her wear shoes that weren't some kind of running wear."

"Yep, yep! So, what I wanted to know, because she seems reeeeeeally close with you, so she might share something with you that she wouldn't share with me, is why is IF asking Compa so much about makeup and lip gloss?"

...eh?

"It's totally not an IF thing to be asking about that, but last week the topic came up and IF was actually interested in it for once!"

"Um…"

"You gotta know something, right?!" Lady Neptune says, and if she were tall enough to actually make a real difference, I'd think she'd have stood up from the chair itself, but settled for flailing her hands around.

"I… I don't know, Lad—er, Neptune. If there's a reason for it, then IF hasn't told me anything." I say, trying to sound as sincere as I can be. "Really, I don't know."

"Huh." Lady Neptune says, tilting her head. "It's not like IF to keep secrets."

"I suppose not… well, I suppose if you wanted to know, you could ask Compa, right?"

"Hmmm, naaah. Compa looks easy to push around and is kind of clumsy, but when it comes to girl secrets she's as tight-lipped as they can be."

"Ah, okay. Well, I guess the only way to know is to ask her, then."

"Speaking of IF though, I know she said she'd be out this week since she had to go do something for the Guild in Lastation, but unless Noire and Kei have somehow been slacking off, sending her is totaaaaally overkill!"

IF is going to Lastation…?

"Oh, well, you know how IF can be sometimes. I haven't been pressuring her to take time off of work, so she might have fallen back into the habit." I say, wondering what this is all about.

"But I'm surprised that Noire hasn't swept her way here, ufufu."

"W-we aren't like that, Lady Neptune…" I mumble, accidentally falling back on using polite titles. "Besides, she told me she has a meeting with the Guild today as well."

Lady Neptune pauses, the fork hovering about two inches from her mouth as her eyes widen, lighting up. "Oooooh, I see. Setting up the rules of engagement so that the best woman may win."

"Wha…?"

"Never mind, never mind!"

As if to immediately change the subject, a loud "I'm done!" is heard. From the door leading to my room upstairs, I see Lady Nepgear emerge holding onto what is definitely not my old coffee brewer.

Lady Nepgear proudly gives a small presentation about its upgrades as she plugs it in. It now boasts the ability to hold six times as much water, supports up to four coffee pots, cleans itself, automatically replaces the coffee filters if there are any left in the slot to put them in and has a counter for how many are left along with an approximation of how long the current supply in it will last, a screen that displays how many small, medium, and large cups I can serve given the current coffee supply along with an alert system to tell me when given the current demand I might need to ramp up production, and much more, all while consuming only half as much electricity.

"Lady Nepgear, if you ever require me to cook dinner for you or your sister, please text me right away and I will do my best." I say, bowing my head.

"A-ah, I don't think you need to go that fa—"

"Yeeeees!"

"Neptune!" says Historie, sounding both incredibly exasperated, but also like this is the hundredth time this has happened.

"But, um, really." I say, picking my head back up. "This is really above and beyond what I expected. I'll keep one of these crepe cakes stocked in the back at all times in case you want one."

"Um, you don't have to. I'm sure it's a lot of work, so if you could just continue our lessons, that's fine with me." Lady Nepgear says, tapping her fingers together. "I'm just happy that you really like it."

"Nepgear's inventions can turn out pretty weird sometimes!" Lady Neptune says, patting her sister on the back as the latter of the two sits down at the counter. "Are you sure it doesn't shoot lasers?"

"S-sis!"

Lady Nepgear's face turns bright red at this as she covers it with her hands.

"I trust that it doesn't," I say, presenting her with a slice of cake I had saved for her. "But please, Nepgear, have a slice of cake at the very least."

"Thanks… but, it was nice to build something with a vision at least, ehehe."

"I can't help but wonder if that's why lasers come up so often. If you're just tinkering around, surely you'll end up slipping things in there as you go along, but if you really put your head to something with an eye on the goal, then you won't stray as much." I say, getting a nod from Lady Nepgear.

"M-mhm, I can definitely understand that."

The rest of the afternoon goes on by after that, with the trio eventually having to head back to the Basilicom, Lady Nepgear taking her sizable box of tools and gadgets with her. They also take the rest of the cake with them, despite Miss Historie's objections, but after a sigh she let Lady Neptune take it with her.

Ha… well, guess it's time to get back to work really perfecting this crepe cake. It'll help me take my mind off of what Lady Neptune mentioned earlier. It seemed like she knew more than what she was letting on and was just trying to get a feel on what I was thinking, but it seems very un-Lady Neptune like. But, I guess if it has to deal with IF, then Lady Neptune might actually get kind of serious about things.

I shake my head, trying not to let it get to me. For now, I just have to focus on the month ahead, as I definitely… need to reach some closure on things.

Wew there we go. First real chapter of the Neptune arc and it's back to the usual daily shenanigans. Felt like we should take it kind of slow and kind of build up to things. He says, of course, like we're anywhere close to the original plan of what this story was.

Anyways, yes, it felt kind of like a return to form, in a way. Back to the original sort of thing this story was where it was more glimpses into the random days, but I tried to slip in a few advancements here or there, such as IF apparently going to Lastation on the same day Noire's meeting someone from the Guild. How suspicious.

I don't have much to say other than it was fun to write this rather relaxing chapter, after the kind of higher tension one that was the Vert finale and then the shenanigans with the beach episode. I know a few people mentioned it seemed surprising that Elliot thought about suddenly confessing; I tried to add a little bit of wording there to make it seem more like Elliot was partially doing it because if he got involved with IF, it would spare him from having to directly say anything.

But yeah, that's all I got. Next chapter is kind of relaxing, too. Seems kind of fitting for the Neptune arc, huh?

Anyways, as always, I hope you're all staying safe in these crazy times of 2020, as much as that means from a random dude on the internet. See you all next time!