Thanks in part to Tre-san, I hit it off with Cento-san and Sien-san, and the conversation flowed with surprising ease. A lot of that was down to Tre-san’s incredible communication skills.
She looked like she was having a wonderful time. Even without relying on Sympathy Magic, I could tell she was genuinely enjoying the conversation, which brought a natural smile to my face. In that respect, she really did remind me of Raz-san.
While we were chatting away, Tre-san suddenly spoke up as if she had just been struck by a brilliant idea.
"Oh, I know! Kaito... bring out 'the goods'!"
"...The goods?"
"Fufu, don't you go underestimating my information network. I'm well aware of it—the gift Kaito received from Chrome-sama for his birthday! That state-of-the-art Magic Tool that was all the rage at the festival hosted by Shaltier-sama!"
"Ah..."
She meant that VR racing game where you play while wearing Kigurumi. I played it fairly often with Aoi-chan and Hina-chan, but it seemed Tre-san wanted a turn as well.
"I didn't get a chance to play it during the Six Kings Festival due to unavoidable circumstances..."
"...You just lost track of time playing at all the other attractions until you ran out of it, didn't you?"
"Cento and I warned you so many times, but you wouldn't stop, saying you just wanted to play 'a little bit more,'" Sien added.
"Exactly! Those kinds of unavoidable circumstances!"
She was really going to stick with the "unavoidable circumstances" excuse, huh? Talk about a resilient ego.
Well, setting that aside, the formal greetings were over, so there was no harm in playing for a bit. Conveniently, there were four of us including me, which was the perfect number for the available Kigurumi.
Alice and Kuro had mentioned they could increase the number of Kigurumi if I asked, but since four people could enter the game simultaneously, we could just take turns if needed. I hadn't seen a reason to ask for more yet.
Regardless, I agreed to Tre-san's request and pulled the VR Magic Tool and the Kigurumi out of my Magic Box.
"...I'm so sorry about Tre-neesama," Cento sighed.
"No, don't worry about it. It sounds like it'll be fun to play together."
"If you say so... Tre-neesama, you should thank him properly—wait, she's already in the Kigurumi!?"
Following Cento-san's startled gaze, I realized that Tre-san had already slipped into one of the suits for the connection. She was incredibly fast—was she really that excited?
The VR space recreated the atmosphere of the Metropolitan Expressway, and because the scenery was so foreign to the three of them, they looked around with deep fascination.
Lilia-san and the others had reacted the same way when we played together. In a sense, this was a rare opportunity for them to see what a different world actually looked like.
I gave the three beginners the simplest explanation of the controls I could manage. Just as we were about to start a practice run, a supremely confident Tre-san leaned against her car and gave a cocky smirk.
"Fufu, what do you think, Kaito? Why don't we have a little wager?"
I had to admit, because of her height, the pose she struck while leaning against the car with her arms crossed looked incredibly professional. It was a little annoying how cool she looked.
But a match?
"Between you and me, Tre-san? Don't you think it's better to try a practice lap first?"
She certainly looked the part, but she was supposed to be a total amateur. I wondered where that confidence was coming from.
Then again, people like Lilia-san had managed to beat me on their very first try. Maybe Tre-san was just hiding her true ability during tennis and actually possessed incredible dynamic vision or something.
"Fufu, you'll regret it if you underestimate me. If you let your guard down, then... by the time we clear the second corner, I'll have vanished from your mirror."
"...Oh?"
That was a bold provocation. It really sounded like she had some secret plan for victory. However, given that I had the overwhelming advantage of experience, I didn't think I would lose that easily.
And because of that, I couldn't exactly back down from a challenge issued by a beginner like Tre-san.
"Very well. I accept."
"That's the spirit... Now, let's begin. Let's show them what a truly cool race looks like..."
Seriously, her aesthetics were a perfect 100 out of 100. Her ponytail looked great, and her rough, casual clothes fit the vibe perfectly.
Even the machine she chose was a high-horsepower beast that was notoriously difficult to handle—a car for experts. I realized I might actually have to take this seriously.
I climbed into my own machine, the BC-96—the one I had used since the first time I played with Alice—and headed to the starting line.
Finally, we reached the finish line of the medium-distance race. Tre-san stepped out of her car, a fearless smile still on her face.
"...That was a good match."
"Tre-san, wait! You talked a big game, but you came in dead last by a country mile!"
She looked completely satisfied with herself, but Tre-san had been left in the dust—not just by me, but by Cento-san and Sien-san as well.
In fact, it looked like she couldn't handle the machine at all. She had already slammed headfirst into the wall at the very first corner.
"I told you... by the time we went around two corners, I'd vanish from your mirror..."
"Wait, you meant you'd be the one disappearing because you were so far behind!?"
She really was a hilarious person.