Second test chapter,
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It was dark and damp,
Eli, Umi, and Maki sat on the stone floor, their armor stripped and they're all left with their suit, belts, and shoes. Their wrist tied tightly against each other and their ankles shackled with the stone floor. Umi and Maki are conscious a while ago before Eli opens her eyes,
"Eli…." Maki called her.
"Eli…" Umi called her too.
Eli turned her sight,
Umi and Maki looking at her intensely,
"Are you alright?" Umi asked.
Eli remained quiet for a moment to think about it. She tried her best to remember what happen— though the only thing she could remember is that something very big hitting her and taking them all down in short time. She couldn't remember the rest.
"Where are we?" Eli asked— her head is somewhat still a little spinning.
"Dungeon… there are three pirates captured along with us, then we're found by….three women… they're pretty furious with the pirates and…. I think they mistake us as part of them…" Umi said.
"Pirates….?" Eli wondered.
"Yeah, looks like they've been a trouble around here…" Maki sighed.
"…and what about our armors?" Eli asked.
"They strip them all off along with our weapon and vehicles…. I don't know where they keep it but… I just don't want to mess with them…" Maki said.
"They looks somewhat strong— and to know they're the locals of this planet… they might be able to beat us up at ease…" Umi said.
"It's pretty heavy here too… like when we're on a gym…" Maki said.
"That's because we've been living in artificial gravity force, it's a lot lighter in mother spaceship, and the only place with same force as this planet is our gym…" Umi said.
"So that means, those girls might be a lot stronger than us as well…" Maki said.
"Yes, and we probably be greatly slowed down too in this planet…." Umi said.
Eli sighed weakly.
"Then I suppose you're all already made the best decision to surrender… now we just need to escape this place quietly and look for our ships…" Eli said.
"Yes, I know you'll say that…. and I think you're the only one who can break these irons…" Umi said as she offered her wrist.
"Yeah, sorry I'm not strong enough for it…." Maki said.
Eli remained quiet for a moment, then she look to her wrist. She began to attempt to break it—and she managed to do it after a few seconds.
"Harasho…" Eli said.
"Great…" Umi and Maki said.
Eli began to break the shackles on her ankle then continued with releasing her companions.
"Now, where's the exit?" Eli asked as she tried to look around.
"There's a hidden door somewhere before, I think they pressed a panel on wall or something… hang on…" Umi said before she tried to look around the wall. Eli and Maki waited.
"There it is.." Umi said as she pressed a panel and a door opened.
"Harasho, next step…" Eli said
"Let's go through it…" Maki said.
And the three began to explore.
Meanwhile,
Niko , Rin, and Honoka, tied on a chair with ropes inside an empty room, floor and walls made of strong concrete. Nozomi, Kotori and Hanayo standing right in front of them…
"So…. What are you all going to do to make up for your troubles…?" Nozomi asked coldly and clearly.
Hanayo and Kotori frowned at them.
"Uhn…hmm… be your crew member-nya?" Rin asked.
"W-what the hell you're saying! That's like asking to be worked out!" Niko yelled.
"Eh? No-nya? But I think it will be fun…" Rin said.
"Ahh! What about… uh… you all help us get our ship rebuilt and we will go and never bother you again?" Honoka asked.
"T-that's right! Wh-what about that?!" Niko asked.
"Y-You already did that a while back and you're still stealing from us…" Hanayo said.
"That was a mistake! I swear! It was Honoka who screws up with the mapping! We didn't know that farm is yours…" Niko said.
"Ahh..but the loots are so many and it's so tempting!" Honoka said.
"Then we should just throw these pirates to dungeon like them…" Nozomi said.
"W-whoa-whoa! Wait! Ok! Ok! Let's just do the other one… we will work for you…." Niko said.
Nozomi, Kotori, and Hanayo squints their eyes.
"I swear! We'll work hard to make up everything! I mean… look, I'm a very good cook… then Rin is a master of navigating… Honoka is a good…uh…supporter…and…. Worker! Yes! Let's not waste our skills…." Niko said.
"Hmm…what do you think… Hanayo-chan? Kotori-chan?" Nozomi asked.
"I think a cook would be nice, I think I need more workers on that division… then navigating, I'm not sure, but perhaps if she is an expert in geographic map, then I might can use her to help deliveries…" Hanayo said.
"I'd like to get the supporter one…" Kotori said.
"Then you go on take them— not like they're any danger anyway…" Nozomi said.
"Don't underestimate us!" Niko said.
"Yeah! Niko-chan is the best on escaping-nya!" Rin said.
"Then I guess you will need to be shackled…" Nozomi said.
"W-whoa! No! No! I won't escape, I swear!" Niko said.
Kotori and Hanayo giggled.
"Then, you two can go take them, I'll go on first. I need to do a few things at home then going to take some nice bath…." Nozomi said.
"Ok!" Kotori said cheerfully.
"But…wait… what about those three?" Hanayo asked.
"Leave them rot in the dungeon…" Nozomi said coldly before she left the room.
Niko, Rin, and Honoka cringed as they heard it.
Back into the dungeon,
Umi, Eli and Maki just returned from their own direction, they sighed weakly as they met each other,
"…let me guess… dead end?" Eli asked.
"Yes…. Another dead end…" Umi said,
"And those are the last path… I wonder how they put us here if there is no exit?" Maki said.
Eli remained quiet as she keeps looking at a strange looking panel on the wall while Umi glued her eyes to three set of ascended floors.
"What are you two looking at?" Maki asked.
Eli and Umi still quiet and the two walks to what attracts them. Maki remained in her place, wondering what they're actually doing.
Eli tried to press on the panel while Umi stood on top of the ascended floor. Suddenly, all the ascended floor rising up very slowly and as Eli released the panel, the floor returned to its first place.
"Ah…so that's the system— it looks kind of similar with one of our lift…" Maki said.
"Except this one need an operator…." Umi said.
"But we don't have one and we can't leave any of us here…" Eli said.
"I wonder if you can find anything up there though, like…maybe the exit?" Maki asked.
"Let's see…." Umi tried to look up— there are three holes and each of them is right above the ascended floor.
"I see three holes….and…ladder on each of them…I think we can hang into them… if you know what I'm planning…" Umi said.
"Clever, I'll take the last operator job, I can use my shoes to get up there before the floor descended completely…" Maki said.
"Then I'll go there first…" Eli said before she went to one of the ascended floor that's a little further to the left, Umi is on the right and they left the middle one for Maki.
Maki began to press the panel, it really lifted very slowly.
Umi and Eli staring at each other awkwardly as they're lifted,
"I think this going to take a while…" Umi said.
"No kidding…" Eli sighed.
"Stupid machine… who built this damned thing?" Maki complained.
"Like we know…" Eli and Umi replied.
They keep waiting for a while until they finally reached the top. Eli and Umi grab the ladder strongly,
"We're good, your turn…." Umi said.
"Alright…" Maki released the panel—the floor began to descend and Maki quickly press a button on her shoes before she dashed very quickly and running vertically through the wall of the escalated floor, then jumps to the ladder swiftly and accurately.
"Harasho…" Eli appreciated.
"Now, next step, let's climb these ladders and see what they have up there…" Maki said.
"Yup, let's go…" Umi said.
Meanwhile at Kotori's workshop,
"Now-now, Honoka-chan…" Kotori said,
"Yes?" Honoka looks somewhat excited,
"Hmmm…. I wonder if you can help me on these…." Kotori offered a box of macaroon.
"Macaroon! Ah, are these for me…?" Honoka asked.
"Hmm…yeah actually, I just wonder if there's a way to use these…" Kotori said.
"Eh? We can always just eat it…" Honoka said.
"True…but… I tried it before and—…."
"Let's eat…." Honoka said before Kotori finished.
"Aaahh! Honoka-chan!"
And Honoka ate it. Kotori cringed,
"It's delicious…" Honoka said as she ate the macaroon—safely…
"Eh…?" Kotori flustered.
"So what was it that you wanted to say before?" Honoka asked.
"Uhm…nothing…" Kotori said.
"Are you sure I can eat these?" Honoka asked.
"Y…yeah…" Kotori said.
Still watching Honoka in awe…
"Thanks! This is a great macaroon!" Honoka said.
"Y-Yeah…." Kotori still flustered.
"Is there anything else I can help?" Honoka asked.
"Uhm…. clean the bathroom? I….I think I want to take a shower for a bit later…." Kotori said.
"Ok! Will do!" Honoka replied cheerfully.
Kotori walked away and sit on a chair, placing her hand on her forehead,
"What…what is she….? Did my macaroon just losing its power or something?" Kotori whispered to herself.
Honoka quickly heads to bathroom along with the box of macaroon.
"Ahh..Kotori-chan… you have human in your bathroom…" Honoka said.
"Just take it out if it's unnecessary Honoka-chan…" Kotori said.
"Ok!" Honoka said.
"Wait…human?" Kotori getting more flustered, she quickly ran to the bathroom.
"Come on, I'll take you out…I need to clean up the bathroom…" Honoka said to a woman with dark blue hair.
"Uhh…okay?" the woman replied, then their eyes met each other, and the room becomes very awkward.
"Hi….. I'm….Sonoda Umi…. Uh…Nice to meet you…" Umi said politely and awkwardly.
"Ah...I'm Kousaka Honoka! Nice to meet you too!" Honoka said cheerfully.
"I'm….Kotori Minami….nice to meet you too…." Kotori said awkwardly in awe.
And they all went quiet for a moment…
"Uhn…do you want to have some snack…?" Kotori asked.
"Oh yeah, this… " Honoka handed Umi one of the macaroon…
"Uhn…what's this?" Umi asked.
"It's a macaroon, haven't seen it before?" Honoka asked.
"I did but never knew it's the famous French macaroon…." Umi said.
"It's delicious…" Honoka said as she ate it—at ease… Kotori still watching them in awe…
"Ah…" Umi tried to eat it—and she did fine too…
Kotori grabs her head in confusion.
"Yeah, it's delicious…" Umi said.
"See? told you… this is really good…" Honoka said.
"I agree…." Umi said.
"Uhm… I'm…I'm going to take a nap…. Please tell me when you're finished with the bathroom cleaning, Honoka-chan…" Kotori said.
"Ok!" Honoka replied.
"Need help?" Umi asked.
"Sure…" Honoka replied.
Kotori walked away from them,
"Wh-what the hell are they?" Kotori whispered before she just head to her own sofa.
Meanwhile,
A big wheat farm, Maki just came out from a small door on the ground. She quickly jumps out, closed the door and quickly hides to watch her surrounding area.
She could see a few man working on the farm, they looks somewhat very unaware of her existence. Maki tried to look around and she saw a few ragged vest and old trouser— she quickly picks it up and wears it on top of her suit. Hoping that it could let her looks like one of the worker.
Then she tried to walk through the wheat crops and…
"Halt!" one of the man said.
Maki stopped and raised both of her hands. She is unarmed,
"Who are you? I have never seen you here!" he said.
Maki tried to look at the man— he is shivering like scared, yet his face frown at her aggressively. He doesn't look like he know how to fight.
"W-well…I'm new here…" Maki said.
The man frowned deeper,
"What if I call Koizumi-sama and she said you're not? We won't tolerate thievery, ok?" the man said aggressively.
Maki remained quiet.
Another worker noticed her and the man and they looks like they're calling someone.
"Shit…" Maki whispered. The man still looks very unfriendly toward her.
After a moment, Hanayo ran into them. She noticed Maki and Maki knew her too.
"Koizumi-sama! Is this your new worker…?" the man asked.
"Ah…well…" Hanayo smiled gently,
"She is my guest…" Hanayo said.
Maki is very surprised to hear the respond,
"But I forgot to mention her… my bad…" Hanayo said.
"Ah…I see…" the worker calmed down.
"Please follow me… Nishikino-san…" Hanayo said with a sweet smile.
Koisumi's office, afternoon;
Hanayo brought Maki in and served her a cup of warm green tea… Maki is a little flustered, though she keep herself calm—because for some reason, the woman in front of her doesn't looks harmful, not even a bit.
"I'm sorry for the rude welcome before, but Nozomi-chan is just really protective toward us— especially when you came down with pirates…" Hanayo said.
"Ah, I knew it would be just a misunderstanding— we're not pirates…" Maki said.
"We knew that, but, you're from Terra, right?" Hanayo asked.
"Eh….?"
"Terra, the mother ship…" Hanayo said.
"Y…yeah…we are…is there anything wrong with it." Maki replied a little nervously.
"Hmm…not quite wrong… but… this village has a history, you know…or actually… no… this planet has a history…." Hanayo said.
Maki still looks a little flustered.
Hanayo giggled,
"I knew you'll give that expression…" Hanayo said.
"But…have they ever record the day about when Terra launched from the earth? About how they doing it…?" Hanayo asked.
"From what I knew, it's sort of a rescue mission, the magic born on earth and that time wasn't a good time to live on earth— there's a lot of necromancers and wizards taking over the earth, ghouls and monsters appearing like crazy, dragons began to realm the sky…and stuff like that…." Maki said.
Hanayo smiled wryly,
"Ah, I suppose that's what they would say… but… to tell you the truth, the history wasn't that simple… Terra wasn't a rescue, it's an escape…" Hanayo said.
"What do you mean?" Maki asked.
"Back then, there was an argument between the two ruling leader of two sides, one supports magic, and the other supports Cyber Technology. First it was about who should be respected, Cyber Technologies were born longer than magic, and people should respect that. Though according to the magician sides, magic already existed long ago, close to when the earth are born, but they're just growing in secret, so if it's talking about who should be respected… it should be magic…"
"Then another argument came up… Cyber Technologies will be able to keep up humanity fed and safe, while magic will destroy them. Then Magic side said, Magic isn't simply about how you burn nature life with fire then building a building that's not even able to produce oxygen, cyber technologies are alright but they're just not supposed to be something to rely on…"
"From that argument, the cyber technologies side say, then that admitting that technologies are needed— it's a lot more important than magic. But then the magic side says, no, it's not just simply about that, magic are born as a gift and we should use it to take care of this nature…"
"Then cyber technology side says, no, it's already too late. Nature will never recover, we've been abusing it too much, it's time to be independent, it's time to be freed from them and make our own way in our life. The real gift of the God is our wit, not our power… we should take what we can and duplicate it."
"Then the magic sides say, then why don't you do that and get out from the mother earth? Make you own place to live— this earth belongs to nature, you can't simply replace what existed here with what you made…"
"…and from that argument, the two sides began to have a cold war. Then for some reason, a few of magician began to fall into necromancy and darkness magic, causing a chaos on earth, the technology sides said to them; see? This is what magic brings to earth… you're not taking care of nature, you're killing it…"
"Then the magic side said, it's a mistake, it's not magic's fault… its human's fault…"
"and then the cyber technology said, one day, you'll thank me for this, but we're not staying in this kind of place, we will take what we can and leave the earth to save humanity…"
Hanayo finished her story.
Maki looks very amazed with it.
"Ah.. was it boring? I'm not good at telling story…." Hanayo said.
"No-no…it's good…. But that really clears up something and looks less biased than what our people says about earth…" Maki said.
"Really?" Hanayo said.
"Yeah… and your voice is comforting too…" Maki said.
"Ah….?" Hanayo blushed.
"I…I mean…No… No that's not what I mean! Sheesh!" Maki protested,
"I mean… it's…it's just sounds ok… I have two seniors and their story is always either somewhat sounds heroic or somewhat sounds like a horror…sometimes just sounds like a joke… it's…rare for me to hear someone else telling story..." Maki blushed and turned away,
"I…I see… I'm glad you enjoyed it then…" Hanayo said.
"Then what about this village and what's wrong with the…uh…the woman with violet hair…"
"Ah, that… well... this village wasn't this small back then… there's a lot of people living here… until that day when a group of space pirate invade this village— they're taking our food stocks and slaughtering our peoples... Nozomi-chan lost her whole family in that incident… and she was a lot younger too… so…yeah, she is always feeling insecure… " Hanayo said.
"We're not space pirate though, we're not one of them and why are we locked in dungeons while they're not?"
"You dress like them… and the pirates that often steal from us aren't… they looks amateur, you all look professional… the pirates use a magic technology, you all using cyber technology… " Hanayo said.
"I see… but we're not planning to invade or anything, we were just taking a vacation… we're students, not a real soldier yet… we haven't even graduate from school…" Maki said.
"Uhm..sorry, but how old are you?" Hanayo asked.
"19… my seniors are 20 and 21…" Maki replied.
"Oh? You haven't graduate from school in that age?"
"Eh? Is that a weird age? I thought it's normal, we usually graduate at 22…" Maki said.
"Oh…then it just different education system... we usually spend only 18 years at school… and by the way, you're the same age as me…" Hanayo smiled.
"R-really…?" Maki blushed. Hanayo noticed her reddening cheek.
"Ah! I..I didn't mean that way, I'm just saying….that we're the same age…maybe…we can get a long…" Hanayo said in panic.
"Get along…?" Maki's blush getting redder.
"N-No-no-no! Not that way!"
"Y-yeah…I …I get it… let's just be friend…" Maki replied nervously.
"Y..yeah…friends…. but…anyway…I ….I think you should hide from Nozomi-chan…." Hanayo said.
"Why?" Maki asked,
"That….uh…well…." Hanayo is a little flustered.
"She is cold blooded when it's about killing people who depends on cyber technology…" Hanayo cringed slightly.
"Ah… that sounds like my senior, except she is always cold blooded when killing—and since I'm the Assassin in team, people often mistake me to be the one who kills.…" Maki sighed.
"T-Tell me more…" Hanayo looks somewhat interested.
"Well…."
Somewhere underground,
Eli still wandering around the underground, she is somewhat very interested in exploring it. There's a lot of pipes around the area and a few old machine— it looks like a maintenance room for water distribution. Eli started to look around and examining the system,
Hmm…these machines are still using basic system, lack of details too…
Eli said in her mind as she opens the dirty machine.
Why are these machines so dirty? Who is responsible for these machines…?
She said as she began to try cleaning the machine from dust. Then she turned down and noticed a gear is moving very slowly.
Ah… these gears… how nostalgic, it's an old version…I wonder if there's some oils to make this little boy running faster…
Eli tried to look around— she couldn't find anything.
Hmm….just needs it a little of it… I'll use this…
Eli took off her suit's right sleeve, showing a full mechanic right arm under a sheet of black rubber that she peeled, she opened a lid on her mechanic forearm— there's a screwdriver inside which she use to open a few part of her forearms, showing a lot of pipes, some of it colored in red, some of it colored in yellow. She took the yellow one, unplugging it from its contact and squeeze out a little oil to the gear. Then she returned everything to its first state.
She watched the machine moving— and it eventually going faster.
Harasho… now this little boy won't be working too hard…
Eli thought as she smiled faintly. She fixed her suit and started to look around again.
I wonder if there's anything else that need maintenance…?
Eli said on her mind before she starts exploring again.
The bathroom,
Nozomi just came in. She lock the door, took off her glove, then her clothes, stripping down to nothing and placed her laundry in the basket. There's a shower on the corner of the room. Nozomi steps in and turn it on.
She noticed something different with her shower— it feels like the power is increasing slightly. A few moment of thinking, Nozomi decided to ignore it for now.
As she took her bath, her water heater suddenly turned on, she quickly turns herself at it, wondering how it could be turned on all so sudden. She swears the water heater wasn't able to operate for many years.
Though she just sighed weakly, turns on a music from the radio on the wall and continues her bath.
The underground,
Eli still wandering around the place,
Hmm...steams powered machines, but these are very unusual… it's like they distributed a duplicated power instead of it's true potential…. How does it even work?
Eli wondered as she keeps on examining the machines.
The most interesting part is, they also distributed it to a machine that keeping the power supplier supplied with this energy…. Creating an infinite loop… if our mother ship can have something like this… we would totally be able to explore more galaxies and stop worrying about fuels…
Eli thought as she keeps following a pipe.
Where is this thing that duplicates power? I need to see how it works…and how it even do the trick…
Eli keeps on going to follow the pipe until she found a ladder and a small door on top. She decided to climb it and when she reached the top, she could hear a faint music,
Music…. There must be someone there…
Eli said before she decided to peek from the small door very carefully. She could see, feet… a fair skinned feet— and it looks as gentle as female feet. Then water pouring down from it.
Ah…someone is taking a bath… I'll wait…
Eli said as she decided to climb down again and wait.
Meanwhile in Kotori's workshop,
Kotori still staring at the two in awe, Honoka and Umi working very nicely and they're actually very helpful around the area.
Umi is skilled in technology as well and she is fixing machines that applied in Kotori's workshop while Honoka, she really knows her way to keep things clean and neat.
"That's it for today… that should pay for the nice snack…" Umi said.
"Eh…? You're doing it for snacks?" Kotori asked.
"Hmm… and also for not minding me to be here, I suppose… I need to go out and find my ship soon, also my companions…" Umi said.
"Ah…your companions…. Hmm... that remind me, I think you should hide from Nozomi-chan… she will absolutely kill you if she found out…" Kotori said.
"Eh….?" Umi flustered.
"You came from Terra, right? Terra the mother ship…" Kotori said.
"Uh…yes…" Umi replied.
"What's a….Terra the mother ship? Does that ship giving birth to baby ships?" Honoka asked.
Kotori giggled,
"No, that's not it, Honoka-chan!" Kotori said.
"It's an artificial mother earth… a ship that was built to rescue humanity…" Umi said.
"I wouldn't say it's a rescue… hmmm… well, honestly, you should read from our books about it— I think Kayo-chan have one in her Inn's Library…" Kotori said.
"Ah… really? I'll pay a visit there…" Umi said.
"No-no, I said you should hide from Nozomi-chan! It's very risky to go out around these hours… maybe you should be out after midnight because, Nozomi-chan usually already falls asleep by then…" Kotori said.
"Then, I should warn my companions…" Umi said.
"No-no, you stay here…uh…uhm…" Kotori flustered,
"…uh…who's your name again?" Kotori asked.
"Sonoda Umi…" Umi said.
"Ok, so it's Sonoda-san!" Kotori said.
"Why do we have to hide from Nozomi and who's this person?" Umi asked.
"Nozomi-chan is the violet haired woman…." Kotori said.
"Oh…yes… that woman… she looks somewhat dangerous…" Umi said.
"That she is… she is very powerful because she used to be always alone when she is a little… and as side story, she really hates people— almost all of them… but, if you can be on her side, she is actually a very caring one…Kotori and Kayo-chan have been her friends for a while now…she is still a little cold towards us sometime, but… we can't blame her…" Kotori explained.
"Hate peoples? Somehow I feel familiar with that kind of story…" Umi said.
"Her students really fear her, but they respect her because she is a good teacher…" Kotori said.
"A teacher….? That's interesting. I thought she'll be a lot younger…" Umi said.
"She is 21… she is a very skilled person and probably be the youngest person who were able to run a magic school…"
"That's…. cool… she is just the same age as my senior…" Umi said.
"Your senior? The one with blonde hair?" Kotori asked.
"Yes, that's my senior…" Umi said.
"She is a little scary… I'm glad she was unconscious when we found you all…" Kotori said.
"Well, she would probably brush off every single person that trying to get closer to her— it's kind of hard to be acknowledged by her too, but, once you're her good friend, she will show her hilarious side…" Umi replied.
"Ah… I see…"
"We're living in one room, three of us… Maki, the red haired, just joined us two years ago, she was difficult person too at first, often getting upset and all, but after we spend our time as teammates, we eventually getting close with each other…" Umi explained.
"That sounds like Niko-chan… she also often get upset, even until now…" Honoka said.
"Ah, right, you haven't told us about yourself…" Umi said.
"They're pirates who often steal from us…" Kotori said.
"Yup, we're pirates who often steal from them…" Honoka said.
Umi remained quiet for a moment….
"So…. Why does it feel like you two are only playing games?" Umi asked.
"Eh? But she really is space pirates who often steal from us…" Kotori said.
"Yup… we are…" Honoka said.
Umi still confused,
"Alright, let's just skip the logic of that one… so how about pirates day?" Umi asked.
"We steal, then we run, then we sell… and we get money…." Honoka said.
"That sounds like a thief than a pirate…" Umi said.
"But we're pirates…" Honoka said.
"Yup, they're pirates and they're mean…" Kotori said.
Umi remained quiet for a moment…
"I….I see…." Umi said, her mind still couldn't get a hold of the conversation.
"What's wrong with it?" Honoka said.
"You ok, Sonoda-san?" Kotori asked.
"I think I just have my mind blown up a bit…" Umi said.
Meanwhile at the Inn,
Niko has started to work, Rin also started to make discussion with a few other workers. They both are actually capable of doing what they said they're capable of. Hanayo and Maki walking through them, Maki noticed the two.
"They're the pirates, right?" Maki asked.
"Yup, they're…" Hanayo said.
"They're working here now?" Maki asked.
"To pay their debt… they were stealing from us twice…" Hanayo said.
"I see…" Maki said.
"I'm planning to release them once they're worked enough to cover the loss…" Hanayo said.
"That's kind of you…" Maki said.
Hanayo giggled,
"I'm not really into working peoples who doesn't want to work with me… they're always free to choose where they want to put their passion at…" Hanayo said.
"Where to put passion…huh?" Maki smiled faintly.
"I made the Inn so that people wanted to stay in this small village, but I suppose people are just using this village as a vacation site because it's close to this one ancient ruins which told to be a place where the undead raises…"
"So they're actually used to realm the earth?" Maki asked.
"Hmm….sort of… some mages said those are to stop a pressure that caused by the Cyber Technology pros, they've been reported to be abusing the natural sources…" Hanayo said.
"But it could be just a biased history, right…?" Maki said.
"True… I might never know what actually happen… it's politics, people abuses media to make them agree with their opinions, it's unhealthy, but it just can't be helped…" Hanayo said sadly.
They walk with each other quietly until they reached a door to a room,
"Here is your room, Nishikino-san… you should leave after midnight— Nozomi-chan should be already asleep by then…" Hanayo said.
"Thanks…" Maki said.
"Just call my worker when you need…" Hanayo said before she turned around and when she already walk away,
"Koizumi-san…" Maki said.
Hanayo turned around, Maki blushed slightly.
"It's… It's kind of quiet in your inn…" Maki said,
Hanayo blushed madly as she heard it.
"No-No! I don't mean it that way! I was…just…." Maki scratches her head,
"Just….uh…. maybe… you want me to do a favor for you?" Maki asked.
"Favor…?" Hanayo getting her face redder,
"Not that way! Damn it! I mean…like… maybe you need a musician to make music…" Maki said.
"Oh… we already have one… but he is on break around this hour… besides, didn't I tell you to just hide there until midnight? Would be bad if Nozomi-chan know about your escape…" Hanayo said.
"You're right…" Maki replied disappointedly.
"We will try to convince Nozomi-chan to place your ships to a good place for you and your companions to find, but for now, your safety comes first… I don't want any more people murdered in such cruelty…" Hanayo said.
"Understood…" Maki replied.
Hanayo smiled before she actually left her.
Maki sighed weakly,
"That really made me curious about her… but I suppose it's best if we don't mess up with her…" she whispered before she enters her room.
Toujou's resident, night time;
Nozomi already in white shirt and black tight short pants walking around the kitchen, she is currently working on her own dinner. Eli sneaks through the rooms very quietly then decided to make a small peek using a small hand mirror that she found in the bathroom.
This whole houses have a lot of interesting mechanic… I really want to know further before leaving…but….this woman…. She looks somewhat dangerous….and that bronze glove… looks like a deadly weapon….
Eli said in her mind.
…and she never took it off for some reason…why would someone always equip their weapon? For Security? That must be it…. this woman is insecure…
Eli said again as she watch Nozomi attempting to cook a few meats on her pan.
Put that aside though, I also need to know if this woman also the one who took our armors and weapons…and hiding our ships… if I could get at least one of them in hand…. I should be able to get the other at ease…
Eli said again before she quickly moves from her spot. Nozomi noticed the movement, though she remained quiet to it.
Eli tried to look around the room, following all pipes and cables that attached around the walls.
Hmm…. It's kind of messy, but these are actually somewhat effective… I wonder if there's a way to make it neat and still effective…
Eli said again in her mind as she keeps on looking around and moves to a washing room. Then she noticed a pile of laundry stacked on a basket. They all look dirty…
That's gross… is this woman has no sense of neatness…? Or she is just a busy person that she couldn't take care of her own laundry?
Eli tried to approach it, then start looking inside it.
Old fashions… and they're all one size too… she is living alone?
And Eli paused when she found underwear…
Huh? Why would underwear need to be decorated with frills and all? Waste of sources…Except she is up for something kinky with her lover… if she has one…
Eli placed it back to the laundry basket. Then as Eli keep on examining her surrounding, she noticed a small chain slipped under the washing machine. She took it out gently— it's an amulet with a little amethyst in the middle. Eli noticed that the amulet can be opened, so she tried.
A portrait… how classic and old…
Eli commented. She noticed that there's only one person in it. A little girl with a soft and sweet smile… somewhat similar to the women she saw.
She's cute…. But… hah—Cuteness will never trick me anymore…
Eli said before she placed the amulet back to where it was.
I know she is just one of those girls inside… nothing special…
Eli said again before she tried to sneak out of the room after she examined more machines. There's nothing that caught her interest inside the washing room other than the amulet.
Then she keeps going through rooms until she reached a room that looks like a workshop,
The workshop…. Ah, this is good…there should be a lot of blueprints and machine that I can check out…
Eli said in her mind as she began to look around in awe. Then she walk to the workbench and started to open blueprints one by one.
Harasho… these are really a fantastic mechanic… basic, simple, yet powerful…. but… I wonder where they get these orbs. They're in every machine I encountered here…
Without her realizing, Nozomi is already standing in front of the workshop entrance, she quietly enter the room, picking up a bottle of gasoline and an empty bucket.
Ah either way, I wonder if I could copy and modify this using what we have in Terra to replace the—…
and before Eli finished with her thought, Nozomi dumped all the gasoline on Eli…
Eli quickly turned around,
Nozomi smiled mischievously at her.
"So you escaped… that's good..." Nozomi said.
Eli sniffed herself, realizing that she is covered in gasoline.
Nozomi giggled,
"Now... I want to see you burning alive…" Nozomi said with a grin and she took out a lighter from her pocket.
There, so whatca think? worth continuing?