Chapter ten: Cave-ins
And of course, Coniniaue woke up, blinked, wondered what she was sleeping on, looked up, sprang up, sat down and shivered.
Edward just smiled. "It's no big deal. We're almost there anyway, and there are friends of mine I want you to meet."
"Hi everybody who bought the deed and no longer owe me money!" Edward beamed.
Everyone looked up and welcomed him warmly. Coniniaue looked around. "You used to own this town?"
"Yeah. I swindled the deed from second lieutenant Yoki and sold it to Halling here for 200 grand!" Edward replied, shaking the hand of Halling. "Well, sorta. I sold it to him so my brother and I could stay at the inn for the night. Now they don't hate me anymore!"
Coniniaue was about to say something when Kyle, Halling's son (Kyle, Kayal, or Khayal. Take your pick. It's different in the manga and anime.) muttered, "Excuse me ma'am." And pulled Edward aside.
"Hey, Ed…"
"Yeah?"
"Who's the girl?"
Edward looked up at his partner. "Oh, her? That's Coniniaue. She's a state alchemist like myself, and my partner."
Kyle just stared. "She's pretty…"
A sweat drop fell down the back of Edward's head. "Don't let that mislead you…"
"Hi, everybody who used to work for me but doesn't anymore!" Edward called into the mines. "It's me, Edward! How's everything going down there?"
"Good, Edward, sir!" Someone called back.
"Great! So I don't have to come in and check?"
"N-nope!"
Coniniaue blinked and started into the mines. Edward caught her shoulder. "Coniniaue, they said we don't need to come in!"
"Edward, don't believe all you hear."
Coniniaue strode up to a group of several men. "Hello, I'm from the military, I'm Edward's partner. Is there anything wrong?" Just in case they didn't believe her, she showed them her watch and the inscription that said "Coniniaue Tommy" on it.
"Erm, yes. Higher up…. Higher up there was a cave-in, and we can't get to about six men, or the coal up there." One of them explained, pointing.
"Oh. Well, let me fix that."
The coal miners looked at the cave-in. "I don't know… We were thinking to let Edward fix it."
"Maybe you should see what I can do first, okay?" She replied dryly. Clapping, she put her hands on the floor, closing her eyes as blue lightning zipped into the rocks. They all shivered, rose into the air, then slammed back into their normal positions, leaving nary a pebble in the gap.