Defense specialization and ruins.

Sally rides her horse toward the ruin. Stone paving and remnants of houses remain, but most are swallowed by nature, resembling a forest more than a ruin.

"Let's search haphazardly for now."

"Got it! I hope we find it quickly."

They split up, walking through areas where artificial structures still stand. The object they seek is found sooner than expected.

"Sally! Come here!"

Maple points to a pedestal-like structure, the only one remaining among scattered stone fragments.

Three indentations mark its surface. The meaning is clear to the two of them.

"Shall we fit it in?"

"Yeah, I think so."

Maple inserts each gem into the three indentations. The pedestal is enveloped in the light of the gems. At the same moment, Shiroppu and Hinata leap from the ring of their own accord.

"Shiroppu?"

"Hinata?"

Red, green, and white light spreads beneath their feet. The sensation of transfer comes again, as it has many times before.

The intense light fades. They open their eyes. A town teems with animals.

Not a human soul in sight. A place where every creature and monster lives together.

As they gaze upon the scene, Hinata and Shiroppu begin to walk on their own.

"…What’s going on?"

"Let’s follow them, for now."

They have arrived. But what to do remains unclear. To follow Shiroppu and Hinata—those who move differently than usual—seems the best course.

They walk on. The land gradually moves away from what could be called a Town. Shiroppu and Hinata stop before a stone basin filled with glowing water.

"Something important, perhaps?"

"Probably. Not ordinary water, it seems..."

Shiroppu and Hinata turn to face them. They appear to want to enter the water.

Neither resists. They lift the two and set them gently into the glowing surface.

"Nothing strange? Seems fine?"

"Let go. It’s shallow, I think."

They release their grip at once, intending to let the two play in the luminous water. The light wraps around them. It covers the surface. Their forms vanish.

"Wha—!? It didn’t work after all!?"

As Maple hastily lifts Shiroppu, Sally pulls Hinata from the glowing water.

Still fumbling as the light refused to fade, a sudden, intense burst flared—Shiroppu and Oblong returned to their former states.

Good…? Shiroppu?

"Maple?"

Shiroppu's shell pattern shifted slightly. Grass and flowers sprouted from the ground directly beneath.

The figure’s adornments grew slightly more elaborate, and most notably, one more tail swayed gently, swaying in motion.

““Huh?””

Still rubbing against them as they always do, the two animals press close. The two women lift each one into their arms. Their eyes meet.

After a while, the two begin to stir, their eyes fixed on Shiroppu and Hinata’s shifting forms.

Shiroppu, you’ve become quite the dandy… and… have you grown larger?

So that’s how it is… a tail growing… how many will there be, I wonder?

A system message reaches the two as they embrace, saying they have grown even more lovely.

Evolution... I see. It seems we've gained the ability to evolve.

Oh—evolution, evolution, huh... We've fought together, after all.

Since the middle of the second event, we've fought together quite a bit.

You've grown quite well... hehe, I'm happy about that.

Well, but there's still a long way to go, I suppose.

Is that so?

Yes. The evolution message said to evolve monsters that have accumulated sufficient experience, but it didn't say it could only happen once.

Sally continues. She claims she can guess how many tails the fox monster might grow.

Nine tails, one by one—probably not. But could you really grow that many, Hina?

Dreams stretch wide! Yes, let's tell everyone! If we help, the gems will come again soon!

Yes, let's do it. Then, good deeds must be done quickly.

They returned to the guild home, each holding their partner pair proudly in their arms.