Chelsea froze when she saw Souta decisively accept Kurumi's group video chat invite.
Then it dawned on her... Souta and Kurumi had definitely done it!
Neither of them seemed to care. Kurumi probably had a "whatever" attitude about it.
Otherwise, there's no way Souta would be this bold.
Putting herself in that situation, she definitely wouldn't be this casual.
"Good thing I didn't say anything... I would've just embarrassed myself, and Kurumi might've even mocked me for being a petty snitch."
She patted her chest in relief.
Then, she too tapped into Kurumi's group video chat invite.
Chelsea was familiar enough with the concept of video chats.
She'd spent enough time in the friend group to learn about modern technology from other worlds.
Plus, Souta had brought an iPhone with him when he arrived in the Akame world.
She often used it for selfies. With the occasional explanations from Kurumi, she had a decent idea of how video chats worked.
"But... what kind of group video is this? Kurumi didn't say. Will everyone's face show up on screen?"
Curious, Chelsea started looking around her phone. She had never seen a camera on the system device, how exactly was it recording?
As her mind filled with questions, the scene around her suddenly shifted.
Esdeath vanished. The dining room disappeared.
Her vision was overtaken by a new, unfamiliar environment.
Vast grasslands. A bright blue sky. Cottony white clouds. And the gentle rustle of wind.
The sudden panoramic view left her stunned. What was going on?
"I recognize this place. It's that steppe in Outer Mongolia. I remember seeing Shiroyasha showing off here."
Ahead of her, Souta glanced down at his hands, then surveyed the surroundings before deducing:
"Our consciousnesses must've been pulled into this place... Or rather, this scene is being directly projected into our minds. Looks like the video feature works quite differently than we imagined."
"Hey! Don't go throwing my name around like that!"
Shiroyasha's voice reached his ears.
"What do you mean 'showing off'? I was saving the world back then, thank you very much!"
"Huh?" Souta turned in surprise.
The silver-haired, pointy-eared loli in a kimono appeared in his field of view.
It was unmistakably Shiroyasha.
"Shiroyasha?" Souta was a little surprised, but quickly figured it out. "So this video chat feature links all of our consciousnesses?"
"More or less. But we can only observe, not interact."
Altair walked over, explaining as she did:
"We tested it just now. The environment around us is like a holographic projection, visible only to members of our friend group. I asked Setsuna, she couldn't see anything. Think of it like a shared VR experience."
As she spoke, she glanced toward Chelsea's head, eyes filled with curiosity.
Chelsea's eye twitched, but she didn't bother reacting anymore. She was used to it.
Ever since Souta shared the Akame ga Kill! manga with the group, many had seen it.
Everyone remembered her vividly as the headless assassin.
"This is our first time meeting, isn't it? Miss Chelsea."
"Yes, hello. You're Altair, right?" Chelsea approached curiously.
"That's right." Altair nodded.
The two began chatting.
"What about the others?" Souta asked Shiroyasha.
"How would I know? They tested this earlier. I came late, it's my first time using this too."
As Shiroyasha gazed around, she took the opportunity to sneak a kick at Souta.
Her white-stockinged leg passed right through his knee, like air.
She kept kicking repeatedly, same result.
A look of surprise flashed in her eyes.
"It really is fake... Looks completely real to our senses, but it can't be touched."
Souta gave her a look. "Shiroyasha, you're a Demon Lord, right? Your kick is no joke. If this were real, you'd be trying to kill me."
"What's there to be afraid of? The system said we can't inflict fatal damage on each other in the friend group. If you really were solid, I'd have tested that claim for real."
Her eyes sparkled mischievously.
Souta stepped away without a word.
"Strange... if even you made time to come, where's everyone else?"
Chelsea and Altair were still talking, but no one else had arrived.
A familiar voice rang out.
"Everyone tried it earlier. I pulled you in so you could experience it too. Didn't expect Shiroyasha to join us though."
Souta looked to his left.
There was no figure, just a swirling vortex of reiryoku.
At the center of the vortex, a diamond-shaped crystal floated as a massive illusion.
Inside the hazy illusion, a naked girl curled into a fetal position could be faintly seen.
"Kurumi?" Souta's expression shifted into concern. "Are you okay?"
He hurried over, but his hand passed through the crystal, he couldn't touch her.
"Don't worry, I'm fine," Kurumi reassured. "I reached a certain threshold of reiryoku, so now I'm in this form. Once I finish evolving, I'll be back to normal."
"Are you sure?" Souta frowned.
"Relax. I'm fine. If you're so worried, why not come see me right now? I'm not wearing anything~"
Her voice turned playful.
"I'll be right there." Souta nodded and prepared to exit the video chat.
Was he worried about her condition, or just eager to see her naked?
"Don't be so hasty. I was teasing you," Kurumi said, half exasperated. "You're in the middle of unifying the Empire, right? Focus on that. I'll probably be done evolving by the time you're free."
"You're really okay?"
"I promise. Now, enough about that, let's talk about the video chat feature."
"As you've seen, it's all illusion. You're just seeing my side of the world."
Then she teased again:
"Souta, if I activate this in the middle of a crowded city, you could sneak peeks under girls' skirts and no one would know~"
"Really?!" Shiroyasha zipped to Souta's side and stared at the crystal. "There's a hidden benefit like that? But there's no one on this grassland... Next time, please start the video where there are cute girls!"
"Hmm?" Altair raised an eyebrow. "So that's what kind of person you are, Shiroyasha?"
"Let her have her quirks." Souta was too tired to comment. "So whoever starts the video call, everyone appears near them?"
"Exactly," Kurumi confirmed. "Whoever initiates it becomes the host."
"Pretty handy," Souta said, turning to Chelsea. "Now you don't even need to film a video of Syura getting brutalized. Just start a video chat. The full holographic experience is way more satisfying than just watching a video."
Chelsea's eyes lit up.
"You're right! Let's go now. We'll find Syura, I've been dying to publicly execute him!"
"Oh? You found Syura?" Kurumi sounded intrigued.
Clearly, she hated that scumbag too.
Seems like every woman who read the manga did.
"Not yet. But he's returned to the Capital. I'll use divine energy to track him down," Souta said, waving at Kurumi, Shiroyasha, and Altair.
The next moment, he mentally commanded the system to exit.
His surroundings shifted instantly.
The dining room reappeared.
Souta glanced around, Chelsea stood nearby, dazed, her eyes empty like someone who had just been emotionally broken.
Was that what I looked like just now?
Then he noticed something on his left.
Esdeath stood holding a collar.
Her hands were raised, as if trying to fasten it around his neck.
Her cheeks were flushed, eyes dreamy, thighs tightly pressed together, like she had just had a good time.
Seeing Souta look at her, she clicked her tongue in disappointment.