Chapter 103

School holidays turn Anya into a couch fixture until Loid comes home and puts her back to work studying. A news broadcast redirects the day: every channel is covering Belle, a Nordic seal drawing crowds to Berlint's Eber River. Anya campaigns to see her, pitching the seal as the subject of her animal research project and comparing her to Bond, and after Yor observes that wall-to-wall seal coverage proves how peaceful the world has become, Loid relents and turns the trip into a family outing.

At the river, the Forgers cross paths with Becky Blackbell, attended by Martha and her dog Wiesel. Becky swoons over Loid, then invites Anya to join her on camera with a nearby news crew. Loid declines on Eden Academy's behalf, citing the school's strictness about media appearances while privately weighing the danger a broadcast poses to two fabricated identities, and Anya, reading his mind, turns Becky down herself. Belle never surfaces for the crowd, and Becky storms home after loudly vowing to hunt the seal down with a submarine. With the children off playing, Loid and Yor rest on the grass, recall doing the same shortly after their marriage, and share a rare stretch of genuine calm while Yor teases him about his permanently furrowed brow.

The quiet ends when Anya and Bond wander to the riverbank and find the seal herself. Anya's telepathy picks up Belle's fear of the humans who keep chasing her, so the family hangs back and simply observes. Concluding that Belle was separated from her herd, Yor points the animal toward the ocean, and the seal answers by popping up before the family, crawfish in mouth as a gift, then swims off. The gesture briefly sets Loid ruminating on animal intelligence and Sylvia's mention that research teams from Project Apple remain in operation, but the sight of the crawfish clamping onto Bond's nose convinces him he is overthinking it. The family drives home discussing Anya's project.

The Forgers visit the Eber River to observe Belle the seal for Anya's holiday research project.

Loid blocks a television appearance to protect the family's cover identities.

Loid and Yor share a rare moment of open relaxation together.

Anya senses Belle's fear telepathically, and the seal thanks the family with a crawfish after Yor directs her toward the ocean.

Loid briefly connects Belle's intelligence to the still-active Project Apple research before dismissing the thought.

Belle appears to be inspired by Tama-chan, the male bearded seal that captivated the Japanese public after turning up in Tokyo's Tama River near Maruko Bridge in August 2002.

The chapter opens the Term Break Arc, and its cover features Anya, Bond, and Loid.