"Let me go! I said, let... me... go...!"

A little cat was hanging listlessly, caught by the back of her neck. Axel couldn't believe what he was seeing either—a talking black-and-white cat!

"Wait, is that the one...?" he asked Fenrir, who caught the beast.

"Yes, Master."

And without much ceremony, she affirmed his guess.

Right...

It was the source of the intense killing intent, and the only "living" presence that Fenrir detected!

"Ah! You!"

Only then did the cat notice Axel and raise a louder clamor.

"You bastard! Have you no heart?! Don't you know that my master worked sleeplessly for seven days and nights perfecting this labyrinth?! How could you... How dare you...!" she growled. "And you dare to clear it that way?! No respect for the creator whatsoever!"

"Huh? Well, it's the easiest way, so why not?"

"Kuh...! To think the current System User is a bastard...! I still can't believe it...!"

Just as Axel shrugged, Nina raised her voice, filled with confusion. "S-Sir Axel... Miss Fenrir... who have you two been talking to this entire time?"

"Huh...?"

At her words, a single fact clicked inside his brain... no, make that two things.

First was that the cat before him wasn't a monster—given that Nina couldn't see or hear her—but rather...

"You're a system spirit?" he asked.

It was more of a confirmation than a genuine question.

The little black cat was the same as Navi, being a System Spirit. Although he didn't realize it immediately, its body did look a little translucent, just like that little bastard Penguin does.

And secondly...

Fenrir, who was holding the said spirit in hand.

Being able to "catch" the System Spirit also meant she could see it... and that further meant she was able to see Navi, even long before!

Cold sweat dripped down Axel's back.

All this time, he had acted while assuming everyone but him could see Navi. After all, that had been the case most of the time. When talking with Navi while in others' presence, he accepted the fact that he might look like someone with a loose screw to observers.

But most of all, he felt his blood run cold.

If he continued talking with Navi while assuming Fenrir couldn't see or hear him, and he ended up saying a few "slighting" words against her... He didn't want to imagine the outcome!

'Good thing our idle talk (banter) is minimized here!' he sighed in relief.

Anyway, this wasn't the time to think about that.

"First, let's head upstairs, shall we?"

His next action was definitely to head up and finish the quest he had gotten after entering this place. No matter the method, it was true that they had "cleared" the Labyrinth, after all.

"Kuh...!"

Even the cat couldn't refute his words and just grumbled in displeasure.

With Fenrir leading the way, Axel following behind her, and Nina trailing at the end with a confused expression, the three reached their destination.

"So this is the hangar!!!"

As soon as they did, Axel raised a cry of joy—forgetting about the cat glaring at him.

After all, beyond his expectations, the place lived up to its name as a hangar.

It was wide, about three football fields put together side by side. Inside, about a dozen crafts could be seen, lined up as if in a museum for display. All were aircraft that looked well-maintained and ready for takeoff at any given moment!

Arriving here should've completed his quest. However, no change happened.

"Weird..." he muttered. "Navi, is the quest still not done?"

[...]

"Navi?"

But even after calling twice, the hateful avian didn't respond.

Curious, Axel turned to him, only to see the bird staring at the cat, eyes filled with hearts. Seeing him in such a state, even Axel couldn't help but realize what was going on.

"You..." Axel said in a low voice. "You're a bird, and that one's a cat... really?"

It was love at first sight!

A love between two system spirits, at that—albeit one-sided for now.

Seeing that he couldn't rely on his old buddy, Axel turned to the small cat and spoke. "Anyway, you. How can I finish the quest? You're the one who issued it, right?" he asked.

"Humph!"

But despite the cat's prickly attitude...

"Just touch that blue orb in the middle, so that I can bid you good riddance already! After that, your system should start its upgrade, so don't you dare let go of it until it's over!"

She still explained to Axel what he needed to do carefully.

'After an egoist penguin, now a tsundere cat?' Axel thought as he felt his temple pulse with pain.

Pushing the matter aside for a moment, he turned around and saw the orb that the cat pointed at. It was on top of a pedestal about a meter tall, making it just the right height for him to hold.

Carefully, he placed his hand over the crystal ball.

As soon as he did, multiple windows appeared.

One of them was the confirmation window of the successful quest completion and rewards confirmation for the black-window quest. And the other...

[

Detecting new Harem Settlement System User...

Initiating Diagnosis... Version detected to be the lowest (0.2a).

Finding the highest compatible system version...

Updating...

Time until completion... 6 hours 6 minutes 6 seconds.

Warning: Please don't let go of the core until the update is completed.

]

That window displayed the information about the orb he touched... and the time needed before they could move.

"Six hours..."

Axel sighed, but didn't complain. He had partially predicted this outcome.

Calmly, he took out a chair from his inventory and sat down, keeping his hand on the orb.

"It seems we'll need to stay here for six hours before I can move," he explained to the other two. "Until I'm done, you two can do as you please."

"A-Alright, Sir Axel..."

"As Master wills."

After his permission was given, Nina began to explore the hangar. She started touring the place, checking the aircraft one after another, in awe of their wonderful design.

Fenrir sat on the spot where she stood, still holding the cat by its nape.

"And so..." which worked perfectly for Axel. "You, cat... tell me what you know."

Without hesitation, he started interrogating the other spirit.

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