Two full days had passed since the Earth Alliance attacked Orb and carried out the deranged act of dropping a supply station from space onto the nation.
In a room, a pink-haired girl lay in bed like Sleeping Beauty.
Creak.
The door opened, and a blond girl came in carrying liquid food.
She walked toward Sleeping Beauty. When she was still three meters away, her thoughts began to drift.
Cagalli bit down hard on her lip, using the pain to keep herself alert instead of letting her mind grow hazy, as if she no longer wanted to think about anything at all and was about to turn into an idiot.
But the closer she got to Lacus Clyne, who was lying in bed, the slower Cagalli's thoughts became. It felt as if her brain was about to shut down.
Once she reached the bedside, Cagalli started feeding her.
First, she struggled to help Lacus sit up a little. Then, with even more effort, she fed the soup to Lacus, spoonful by spoonful.
By the time the bowl was empty, Cagalli was drenched in sweat.
Feeding someone should not have been especially exhausting, yet she looked as though every last bit of strength had been wrung out of her. That was because of the mental strain.
Ever since Lacus had suddenly passed out that day, she had not woken up.
Even stranger, whenever anyone approached her, that person's mind would start to go blank, until they seemed to become almost vacant.
It was different from the headache-splitting, hangover-like effect that man caused. His was painful. Lacus's effect felt like the mind wanted to empty itself out, stop thinking, and become stupid.
Fortunately, Lacus's range was not large. At first, anyone who entered within ten meters of her would suddenly freeze in place, blank and motionless.
That range had gradually weakened, and Cagalli was gradually adapting to it, though it took an enormous amount of mental effort.
That was why, after feeding Lacus a little liquid food, she looked like she had used up all her strength.
Before this, during the first day, that man had been the main one looking after her, because Lacus's condition seemed to have no effect on him.
Cagalli looked toward the other person in the room: that very man. After Lacus lost consciousness, he had spent most of his time standing guard nearby.
He stood there with his arms folded, eyes shut, looking as if he had fallen asleep.
Cagalli moved closer to check whether he really had.
It seemed that he had.
She walked over to the cabinet nearby, took out a blanket, and prepared to drape it over him.
The temperature had dropped by more than ten degrees today, and he was dressed so lightly. If he caught a chill, that would be bad. They could not have him collapsing too.
Cagalli walked in front of him and studied him carefully.
"Just how many more secrets are you hiding? And how much does Lacus know?"
Cagalli muttered with a touch of jealousy.
She spread the blanket open, moved closer, and prepared to cover him with it, wrapping it around his back. The gesture made it look as though she was about to hug him, and she could feel her face nearly brushing against his. She could even feel his breath.
But his breathing seemed faint.
"Cagalli, could you help me with something?"
The sudden voice reached her ears, and Cagalli instantly panicked, because what she was doing right now looked rather intimate.
The panic made her lose her balance. Since she had been leaning toward him already, she fell directly onto him.
But that was not the main issue. The main issue was that her lips just happened to land against his.
For a moment, Cagalli's mind went blank.
"Ahem."
At the door, Murrue Ramius gave a deliberate cough.
She had come looking for Cagalli to help with something, only to walk in at the exact moment she witnessed this scene.
For some reason, seeing it made her chest feel tight.
"Wah! No, that's not it. Um, Miss Murrue, it isn't what you're thinking! It was an accident. It was..."
Cagalli hurriedly pulled away and began explaining herself incoherently.
"You should explain that to Mr. Ije."
After saying that, Murrue's expression turned slightly unnatural. She had noticed that her own tone had been a little sharp, almost as if she were inexplicably angry.
Fortunately, Cagalli did not notice. But the man who had opened his eyes seemed to have noticed, which left Murrue somewhat embarrassed.
"Huh?"
Cagalli turned her head back toward the person who had accidentally taken her first kiss. His closed eyes were already open, and when she looked over, his gaze met hers squarely.
"I may understand what's happening to Lacus now."
"Huh? What's happening to Lacus?"
"She may not be a Coordinator."
Ije said this.
The information had come from one of the members of the Superdimensional Channel, specifically from Asuna.
Asuna herself had not had much exposure to anime culture, because her strict upbringing had not allowed her to waste time on that sort of thing.
But now that she was in the SAO world, there were plenty of otaku there. Through contact with them, Asuna had learned that SEED did exist in her world as well.
There was also supposedly a movie version.
According to the revealed information, Lacus was not a pure Coordinator, but an Accord.
"Lacus isn't a Coordinator?"
Cagalli found that hard to believe. Lacus was PLANT's princess. How could she not be a Coordinator?
"A Natural?"
No, Murrue did not think Lacus was a Natural either.
"She isn't a Natural. She may be another branch of Coordinators, or perhaps a further evolved version: an Accord."
"An Accord?"
"What is that?"
Neither Cagalli nor Murrue had heard of it before.
"That should wait until Lacus wakes up. If that identity is confirmed, we can see whether she's willing to tell you herself."
Ije did not explain the difference between Accords and Coordinators.
At first, he had thought Lacus's current state was caused by his Blank field, but now it seemed possible that the issue lay with Lacus herself.
His Blank field had impacted Lacus's mind, causing her Accord abilities to awaken.
An Accord's ability was extrasensory mental perception.
That meant her intuition far surpassed other people's, which was why she could clearly sense certain people's presence.
It was similar to Ije's instincts, which allowed him to sense some people's emotions and judge whether they were enemies, allies, or neutral.
Aside from that, according to what Asuna had revealed, Accords also seemed capable of directly manipulating other people's minds.
And Lacus, having been born as an Accord, seemed to have been designed as a ruler for the world.
That was why Ije did not say what made an Accord different from a Coordinator.
It might make Cagalli and Murrue wonder whether their trust in Lacus had actually been the result of some invisible form of brainwashing.
Besides, it was still not certain that Lacus truly was an Accord.
Deep down, however, Ije leaned toward believing it was true.
"What is an Accord, Mr. Ije?"
Hm?
That was Lacus's voice.
She was awake.
No, that voice had not traveled through the air into his ears. It had sounded directly inside his mind.
Telepathic communication.
His gaze turned toward Sleeping Beauty on the bed. She was indeed still asleep.
And if Lacus was asking that question, it seemed she herself truly did not understand her current condition.
(End of Chapter)
[Get +30 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Zaelum"]
[Every 300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]