"Really?" Okay, maybe talking a group of teens and young girls into an idol concert wasn't going to be difficult. Maybe I should have seen that coming. Frankly, I wasn't exactly sure if idols had a big presence among younger girls or not. The idol industry in Japan, as I had learned, was, well, call it problematic for the sake of consistency. It wasn't great. Gamindustria seemed considerably better, but the fan base still was largely male-dominated to my knowledge, just like back home.

5pb didn't seem to have any issues with crazy fans, so that was already a leg up by itself. The ASIC was enough trouble as was, and this whole fiasco only served to highlight why. I didn't need more problems to worm their way out of the woodwork.

"What about afterward?" Uni asked a very good question, though I already had an answer. It was going to be what I offered anyway, even if they didn't want to come. Chika was still there, and I certainly would need to pay her overtime hours for something like that, as she'd be working overtime, and watching over children was not part of her job description anyway.

"Spend the night at the Basilicom. It's pretty late, at getting a hotel last minute could be a pain," I offered the group. Not to mention the ASIC and its international effects left the hotel industry in a tailspin that I never managed to fully stop, merely mitigate for a short while. Frankly, finding a hotel in any strip at the moment was easier said than done.

Plus, what type of host would I be if I didn't give my guests the best accommodations I could? Not a good one, that was for sure. Frankly, the big expense was going to be the tickets, and that was going to come out of my account too. Which stunk! Oh well, the price was one I was ultimately willing to pay, no matter how brutal the hit to my wallet was.

"Plus, it allows us to get heading out right after breakfast if we get any information worthwhile," I offered, hoping to further entice her in with the promise of efficiency. Uni would be the most likely holdout, so trying to make this as smooth as possible made sense, at least as a bribery tactic.

"That's, acceptable," Uni said, to the cheers of the others, as I gently nodded.

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"Excellent work as always," I grinned, shaking 5pb's hand as she smiled.

"Thank you!" She beamed back at me as if she hadn't been singing and dancing on stage. I'd gain a considerable amount of respect for people who did this sort of thing because of 5pb alone. It was exhausting work, and the fact anyone had the endurance to do what was demanded of their job simply showed just how much effort and physical fitness went into such a job. "They do seem to be a bit out of it, though."

They were Rom and Ram, and it was clear they were well past their bedtime.

It was, surprising, just how young my fellow Candidates were. Teenagers and children. Not even as an exaggeration. Sure, I looked like a teenager now, granted, an older one, probably 16 at the youngest, and that was completely pushing it. I was the oldest, physically speaking without a doubt. Mentally? Most likely. Chronologically? That's where it got tricky. I don't think I'd aged a day since I'd arrived. Which likely meant, neither did they.

And it also raised a concerning question. Rom and Ram were kids, with Nepgear and Uni falling somewhere into the teen to pre-teen range. Meanwhile, Vert? She looked like she was in her twenties. Granted, a bit in the younger twenties, but still, we were close enough in appearance that telling who was the older one was fairly trivial. But that also led to the thought of what the other Goddesses were like.

If I was a few years behind Vert, then what? Uni's sister couldn't be much older in appearance than late teens, like myself. Nepgear's, maybe a bit ahead of the two of us, but still not as old as Vert. That left with Rom and Ram's sister.

Why did I get a chill that went straight up my spine? Seriously, even entertaining the thought almost felt as if a tiger was walking over my grave.

"They aren't exactly the only ones," Uni and Nepgear didn't exactly look like they were in great shape either, but then again, I don't think any of us were, and I wasn't going to pretend otherwise. "Myself included."

"I can tell," 5pb nodded, before letting out a yawn. "I'm getting a bit tired myself."

"If you need to take a rest, we can pick up tomorrow," I offered. If she was getting tired, then we didn't exactly need to do this now. Putting it off until tomorrow wasn't going to end the world. We were on a timetable, but not on THAT tight of a timetable.

"No, it's quite fine," 5pb smiled. "Though truthfully, there isn't a whole lot to tell. Much of it is oral tradition."

"If the lead proves wrong, no harm, no foul. We might find some clues to point us in the right direction, but at the moment, we're kind of spinning our wheels here. Any information, even if it proves to be incorrect, would be useful," I said, and I didn't think I was wrong. We had to do something to get on the move, and I had no information about what was going on in the first place. Any steps that put us closer to our goal were good ones, no matter how many more we'd have to go on.

"Supposedly, as the legend goes, there was a powerful hero of Leanbox. One that worked with the Goddess Green Heart during the early days. And when their mission was done, they chose to rest, one day to return in Leanbox's most dire hour," 5pb said, nodding sagely. "It is said they chose to rest in a volcanic cavern, to make sure their skills stayed sharp throughout time."

So like a more aware and alert King Arthur, a mythical British King who was said to return to Britain during its darkest hour.

Except this time, the legend was likely true.

Still, the story was vague enough that there was some degree of security, even if the ASIC heard it. There was more than one volcano in the nation and fewer volcanic caverns. Frankly, the only one off the top of my head that could have been around for more than centuries was the underverse, a dungeon.

Frankly, that shouldn't have been much of a surprise. A dungeon was a good hiding spot, and the things were surprisingly stable, to boot. I'd long since given up on trying to figure out how those things even functioned. Frankly, if someone told me they functioned on the same principles that Lovecraft thought Euclidian geometry did, I'd believe them. I mean, the rest of the world at least tried to play by somewhat realistic rules, but not these places.

But if there was something that would survive the test of time, this would be it. There would hardly be a much better place to hide below the radar, and frankly, that was a good thing. Outside of adventurers, there weren't many who would consider braving a dungeon in the first place. And even those that would be willing to go to such a dangerous location? Weren't willing to delve into a volcano to do so.

It would also go quite a long way in explaining why Chika was so tight-lipped on the manner.

However, by this point, I was willing to do what needed to be done. There were risks, yes, but the mascot's aid was needed. With the other three collected, that meant Leanbox's was required, without a shadow of a doubt. As much as I understood Chika's hesitation, we needed to do this. With or without her permission.

"Thank you for your information," I nodded. "Once the threat of the ASIC is over, I'd like to hear more stories like it."

"Really?" 5pb's eyes sparkled as I grinned sheepishly. What could I say, I was a bit of a nerd. Mythology was always a fun thing to learn, and it had been a shame I'd never had the time to do so.

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"What are you doing?" I turned around from my work and watched as Uni stared at me.

"Breakfast?" I offered, taking my eyes off her to return to the pancakes I was working on. Today was going to be a long day, so I was preparing accordingly. Massive meal, with lots of pancakes, eggs for protein, and the aroma of bacon to help get everyone up. I knew someone else would probably use coffee, but my goal was to get them moving, not load up two children on hype juice.

Whoever thought of giving caffeine to children needed to be sent on a one-way expressed trip to hell. I don't know who that asshole was, but one of these days, he was going to need to suffer.

"Why?" Uni's question nearly made me pause, as I flipped over a pancake on the skillet. That was a question. And I don't think it was the one she wanted to be asking. At least, I don't think she did.

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"Because one tends to wake up hungry," I responded, keeping focus on making the meal. "And we're going to need the energy for today."

Yes, it was an answer to the question of why I was making breakfast. I was, technically, answering the question. Why was too broad of a question. I think I knew what she wanted to ask me, but I couldn't be sure. I couldn't make assumptions. Uni was going to have to ask exactly what she meant to ask me.

"That's not what I meant!" she snapped at me, as I rolled my eyes, thankfully, still facing away from her.

"Then what exactly did you mean, Uni?" I asked in return, hoping to get a response out of her. "I'm not exactly a mind reader. I can make guesses, but at the end of the, I'd hope you'd know what they say about making assumptions."

Uni's mouth clacked shut as if she was trying to restrain herself and think about what she wanted to say. I let the silence hang in the air for a few seconds.

"Why are you so, so, nice?" she finally asked as I raised my eyebrow.

"Why wouldn't I be?" I returned, flipping over the last of the pancakes, and stacking them up on a large plate. I turned around, preparing to place it down at the center of the table, only for the expression on Uni's face to be one of utter shock. "Seriously. Cruelty is useless the majority of the time, and we're on the same side even if it wasn't. It's the right thing to do anyway."

"But, you're not supposed to be."

Aw. There it was. The root of this whole mess.

"Really? While in hindsight, my face-offs with Judge would be scary to an outsider, given what it takes to drive the lunatic off," I scowled. I hadn't realized myself just how big those explosions got, and how others might take them. I had nobody but myself to blame for that whole miscommunication. "We hadn't met up until recently, so you wouldn't have a whole lot to judge my character off of."

"But you aren't supposed to be like this! You're the youngest of us! You shouldn't," Uni's shoulders slumped, seemingly exhausted. "You shouldn't be doing better."

I resisted the urge to bristle. This was not a competition. This was a crisis. This was an all hands on deck, everything was on fire and said fire was spreading to the nearby dumpster levels of awful. And frankly, while my boat looked prim and proper, while it still had fewer holes in it by this point, the keyword was fewer.

"Considering the circumstances, I'd say you're doing quite well. A few more stringent anti-corruption measures before this whole ASIC mess started, and you'd likely be in a different boat altogether if what I know is anything to go by," I offered.

"And how would you know that?" Uni glared at me.

"Because I've been trying to lay the groundwork for diplomacy for some time, now?" I offered, returning to the parts of the meal that still weren't finished. Most just the bacon and eggs by this point. "I didn't want to just, kick in the door, as that wouldn't make for a good first impression, and trying to gang press everyone along wouldn't be productive either. A meeting would have to be sold in a way that the appearance of mutual strength would be maintained."

"Mutual strength? Gang press?" I could tell Uni was looking at me with a confused look on her face.

"In short, it would have to be an alliance of equals, both in appearance that can be sold to the public, and in reality. If it were otherwise, then the ASIC could prey on cracks, both real and imagined," I continued, doing my best to explain. "The ASIC wants to divide and conquer. Individually, we can be picked off one at a time. But as a unified power block, the odds of us saving our, sisters, become considerably more likely than us running off on our lonesome."

"How do you!" Uni seemed to bristle for a moment, as I turned around, her shoulders slumping over. "Right. You're from another world."

"History has numerous examples of playing your enemies off one another, even if for simple survival, at least back home anyway, and I'll admit I'm a bit of a strategy game player, besides," I shrugged. "Up until the ASIC showed up, I imagine things were much calmer. There isn't any fault in that."

Maybe there was, but I wasn't going to mention that. How long ago was the last crisis? Years? Decades? Centuries? Constant vigilance was humanly impossible, and despite her title as a Goddess, Vert was more than susceptible to things like lack of sleep.

"Who exactly were you, back there?" Uni asked. I bit my lip. I didn't like talking about it, still. I didn't blame Nepgear, but the fact that returning home had been a possibility only for it to be stolen away by something I couldn't control still hurt.

"I was just the average Joe, working the standard eight to five, just making my way through life one step at a time," I admitted.

"Average? Average!" Uni's eyes widened. "What part of any of what you have done is average? Someone who is just average shouldn't be able to do any of this!"

"Partly because I pay some measure of attention to politics. And the nation I'm from is very much in the process of flipping its shit," I scowled, understating the absolute clown show the world was trying to devolve itself into. "Even with that, things are only just holding together as is."

And that was the truth of the present situation. Things were holding together but there were cracks. Ones that could only be covered for so long. The situation was far from hopeless, but the sooner we could turn things around, the better.

"But you're doing better than everyone else!" Uni threw up her hands.

"And doing better isn't enough to beat the ASIC long-term," I said, letting the silence hang in the air. "It doesn't matter how strong Leanbox is. It's not going to be able to stand against the entire world. Nobody can. Not forever."

"That's why?" Uni gasped as if piecing everything together. "You don't feel like your best is good enough?"

"Because it isn't. I can't fault someone for doing their best, but it's apparent that individually, our best best isn't making much of a difference. Not enough to get our sisters free," I didn't like it either. I had my criticisms, pointing out things they could have done better.

But now that I had the context? That my fellow Candidates were at least in some form or fashion, teenagers or children. How could I brush off their struggles? They were doing their best, just like I was. To dismiss that effort and the sacrifices they made?

No longer sat right next to me. Now was not the time for recriminations about what could or should have been done. The past wasn't relevant, and what-ifs were a waste of time and effort. Now was the time for action, and planning for the future.

"But if you had more Shares," Uni said, as I raised my eyebrow.

"Shares do help make one stronger, yes," I nodded. "But I can imagine that there is a point of diminishing returns."

"Diminishing returns?" Uni asked, giving me a look.

"Maybe. I haven't spent a whole lot of time trying to figure out the exact mechanics of how Shares work," I shrugged. "Plus, if more Shares are needed, the ASIC is sitting there like a well-gorged tick. No need for infighting when they're right there!"

Uni stared at me for a moment, slack-jawed at my statement. "You aren't trying to hide anything. You're just weird."

I grinned, cackling despite myself. "Guilty as charged".

Weird. Abnormal. Strange. Each word was one I would cop to. I wasn't going to lie about it. Frankly, I've always enjoyed being called such things. While I was more than aware that such terms weren't often used positively, I didn't exactly care, either. I was comfortable enough with myself to admit I had quirks.

Frankly, all of us did. Everyone had literally twists on their behavior that seemed abnormal to a whole lot of others. To not fit into an easy mold? Was part of what it meant to be human. And there was no other way I'd have it be.

Uni just shook her head, a faint sound akin to laughter coming off her lips. I was about to open my mouth, to ask her if the hatchet was buried only for another noise to reach my eardrums.

"Breakfast!" Like a stampede, Rom and Ram burst into the room, almost climbing over me as I laughed. Nepgear followed not long after, a much more restrained presence in comparison to the twins. I gave her a brief nod of thanks, returning to my work. There was no way such a thing was a coincidence, either.

"Alright. Get yourselves seated and I'll have this finished up in just a moment," I teased, the aroma of cooked bacon filling the air. Despite all the chaos that the ASIC had unleashed upon the world? This? This was bliss.