Chapter 32

The five of us left our little dorm room with various tasks in mind. Hagane left for the motor pool, but not before I gave him a simple list of things I might need. Could I have made them myself? Yes. But why bother when they would have it laying about in their scrap pile someplace? Simple stuff like a handful of nuts, that I would use to size things accurately later. There were a few other things, but they were all of simple manufacture.

Part way on the way out of the Base, Itami's entire party (Itami included, as well as Rory, but minus Lelei and Cato) joined us. Since they were all in the Humvee, Ryuu joined them since the Forward Base was where most of them were going. They did however give Maki, Aisha and I umbrellas, and while we three declined a ride, we did trade the umbrellas for our barrel of Wyvern scales and the skull. That would be dropped off ahead of us at the local smith.

The weather was pretty miserable, but it had the added effect of keeping 'the people' mostly indoors, and thus their accusing looks away from me. Sure, I was tough, I was strong, I was smart. But I really didn't like being treated as 'the bad guy'. At least without justification. I was perfectly fine with BEING the bad guy when I needed to. I was even good at it when I put my mind to it.

When we got there, we found Arpeggio there waiting for us just inside with all of our stuff. The big Volralden smith was already hammering away at something, though I could tell the mage made him a little nervous, just by the swish of his tail. When he saw me though, he put what he was working back into the forge and bowed. Then he said something that started with, "Please."

"Don't cause trouble." Aisha said after a quick flip through the borrowed translation book.

I felt a little hurt, but I shook my head and replied with my own freshly learned words. "I am here to teach."

He looked conflicted for a moment, but then I nodded to Maki, who popped the top off our barrel of monster bits. He looked hesitant, but leaned over to look inside. He then went over to the opening of his workshop moved a signpost from around the corner. He'd just closed up shop for the day (even though it was just after breakfast).

To make things simpler for us later, since no, we didn't have a Wire-o-matic like I did back in Kuoh, I had to build one. I had to build a few things actually, but thankfully they were so basic even this world would have no problem in supplying what we needed.

Clay bricks? Aisha went with a little cart to get us a stack of them.

Sewing supplies? Arpeggio happily went to get those (along with some snacks, since we were probably going to miss lunch). Also of note, she wasn't spending her own money. This probably added a little motivation as well.

Scrap metal? Once I told the big Volralden that he could keep the tools I needed to make once I was done with them, he basically turned his workshop upside down to shake every scrap of metal he didn't need out of it, and put it in a pile by my feet.

And lastly, Maki went to the Forward Base to see if she could knock loose some good stationary supplies. Paper, binders, pens, that kind of thing. Teaching by word of mouth was good and all, but not reliable.

While they were doing that, I was doing a little reorganizing of our host's workspace. It was a HUGE breach of etiquette to do so, but he gave me permission without hesitation.

And so it was, an hour later, we had everything in place to get to work.

Various lessons followed. And I wasn't the only one teaching either. Our local Wolf-man showed me how they usually worked with wyvern and dragon scale, and this gave me a far better starting point for working on the scales Maki and I had dug up.

But we covered a lot of things. Like why hammering metal makes it stronger. Or twisting/folding metal works so well. Why heating up metal ruins the magnetic properties. Why tempering and normalizing metal is important. Yes, our host knew to do some of those things, but not why.

By lunch, we'd gotten a few new things built in his shop. One of them was made specifically for the scales, and it was something Welf and I had back at home. Many 'monster bits' needed to be baked to start the extraction process that allowed us to bring out the real value of the item. For example, the dragon scales were as hard as tungsten, but as light as aluminum, and while they would turn a blade, a sudden impact (like from a bullet) would shatter them.

But, heating them up in a low oxygen environment (baking them in an oven, and not heating them in a forge), changed that. The metallic properties would come out, while the organic ones would evaporate.

Arpeggio, the local equivalent of a geologist, was basically lighting up the room with her sparkling enthusiasm about learning this kind of stuff. But more importantly, she was taking notes. LOTS of notes, so she could spread that sparkling enthusiasm around when she got back to Rondel.

Just after lunch, a pair of JSDF officers came by with one of the engineers. I gave them a raised eyebrow, but I was told quite seriously that we (my party and I) were technically breaking one of the rules they were under here in the Special Region. That being the 'release of certain tools and technology'. But even with them guarding what amounted to a bunch of nuts and bolts that were 'machined', they were really just making sure it wasn't getting lost.

Since they were there though, I offered to buy them a beer (well, Aisha offered, since I didn't actually think of a good way to get them to stay and help for a bit), and they helped us put together another part of what we needed.

Our own 'wire-o-matic'.

This needed better steel than was readily available locally, and I didn't want to wait until next week for the potter to make the special crucible pot for the smith, so he could make ONE batch of metal. However, the next time he did make that batch of steel, he would know how to make what amounted to 'tool steel', the kind of stuff you make chisels from.

By the end of the day, we'd made all the things we needed, so the instant we got the gold, we could melt it down, make it into wire, and put it on a spool so we could, hopefully, make the magic circle Lelei needed.

We also made Aisha's new bow. Yes, the already deadly Amazon was now the proud owner of a bow that only an Apostle could draw. We even used the new wire making device to braid together a bow string made of 'land dragon steel'. Sadly, the bow was so strong that the first arrow she tried to fire from it disintegrated as soon as she let the string go. It was going to need solid metal shafts for the arrows.

Sadly, the wyvern skull helmet didn't work out. My skill could do nothing about what was probably a childhood injury that left a healed over fracture in the beast's skull. However, we added to Aisha's wyvern skin armour with a nice hardened bone pauldron that would protect her left shoulder while she used her bow. It was made from the upper 'beak' of the skull, and had just the right curve to it.

The other thing that our host had taught me? More of the local language. We'd been throwing around so many half translated sentences between manual demonstrations that I was pretty sure I could find my way around without issue. I mean, unless I had to read something.

"It all seems simple, once you showed me how." The Wolf-man said, driving some nails into a new board of wood so he could hang his new tools. "This... I am not sure what to use it for really..." He tapped his foot against the new wire maker.

"Make something other than weapons and pots?" Maki suggested, "Decorative things? Ring armour?"

He nodded, but then shook his head a little, "My hands aren't good for that." He held out a big paw, the fingers weren't so much a 'hand' but a 'hand shaped paw' with thin fur and paw pads instead of just skin. "But that doesn't stop me from getting someone else to do it..."

"I wonder if... no... no that's a little much right now." Arpeggio mumbled, "And dangerous too..."

A mage talking about danger? Uh oh... "Using wire for lightning?" I asked.

"Yes." She nodded, "But I feel it would be putting things out of order. Uwu?"

I gave her a headpat, finding it almost as satisfying as giving one to Lelei, "That's exactly it. Sometimes, you must take a step back to progress."

"Is that all we're doing today? Wow... almost dinner time already?" Maki looked outside, the sky still gloomy but at least it wasn't pouring still.

"Yeah, all we have to do is get the materials." I nodded, "Aisha? Hows the quiver? Arrows?"

"I want to try this thing out." Aisha grinned, the fletching of a dozen arrows over her shoulder, "But I'd probably upset someone if I just picked a target." She laughed, the bowstring making a deep bass noise when she plucked it. "But I'll settle for dinner this time. Lemme just unstring this first..."

Through the drizzle of early evening, we made our way through town towards the Tavern. The rain letting up a little had brought people out of their homes again, likely hopeful to get at least something done without getting soaked, and once again, 'the people' were looking at us.

But that wasn't all. No... The 'glare' had returned. That almost hostile look I'd been getting every so often while here in town had come back.

"Fox?" Aisha clued in to my sudden alertness, "Problem?"

"I'm feeling it too." Maki said, "Like someone is trying to stare a hole through the back of my head."

Arpeggio wasn't nearly as 'combat sensitive', but she replied with a, "I could check?"

The three of us looked at her, "How?" I asked.

"The earth is my domain." She said proudly. And with a little mumbled phrase and a small magic circle that started at the top of her staff and slid down into the ground, she cast... something.

If I had to guess, it was a simple 'detection' spell. I felt the ripple of her magic swish under my feet and continue outwards from her staff. Once, twice, three times, her staff pulsed with energy and she started looking around.

"Over there?" She looked down the street, "Someone ran away between my second and third casting."

"I could..." Aisha stepped forward, but stopped when I swished at her with a tail, "No?"

"No harm in looking." I winked, "But we can report it to Itami. Might be related to the other problem."

"Meh, suit yourself." Aisha shrugged, "Suppose you do like being watched."

Maki laughed, Arpeggio went wide eyed, and I felt my ears almost catch fire. I couldn't actually deny that... "Ahem." I tried to recover, "Let's go eat something."

The Tavern was just as busy as last time, even with the miserable weather keeping people indoors. Then again, the Tavern was also indoors, and much more exciting than a person's home. There was no sign of Itami, but Yao was there, as was Ryuu. But they were sitting across from two people I didn't know, but knew of the instant I set my eyes on them.

The first, was a Warrior Bunny. Orange hair, long ears, Amazon build and very pretty, I could tell she was combat trained the instant I saw how she looked at Aisha Maki and I. Instant appraisal of our walk, where our weapons were and how our hands were positioned. It was subtle, but unmistakable. This would be Delilah, the one who failed to assassinate the poor slave Zorzal took from the 'initial contact' raid on Japan by the Empire.

Of course, if that was Delilah, then the man in the wheelchair next to her would be Akira Yanagida. Reasonably handsome, with sharp eyes behind his narrow framed glasses, he was in uniform but the top button was undone on his camo patterned shirt, the 'salary man's signal for being off duty. He also gave us an 'appraising look' but it was much shorter since he was talking with Ryuu and thus being polite and keeping eye contact.

Ryuu noticed the moment's lapse in attention and glanced over her shoulder. She then looked to Yao, who scooted over on the bench to make room for someone to sit next to her. We all went over, but since Akira and his wheelchair was taking up one side of the table, Aisha and I just hijacked chairs on our way so we could sit along the table. Maki sat next to Ryuu while Aisha and I sat in the chairs. Arpeggio however looked at us, shrugged, then went to the bar.

"Kodori, Aisha, Maki." Ryuu greeted us, "This is Akira Yanagida and Delilah. They are Sugawara's contact here for our mission."

"Just Akira is fine." He said, folding up a bit of salad neatly and eating it.

"No problems I hope?" I asked.

"The impression you left on them has the nobility almost falling over themselves to be helpful." He smiled, "Koji-san has been a little evasive on exactly what you did however."

I found that doubtful, considering this man was part of the JSDF's Intelligence services here. But I played along, "Well, we did do a little showing off, I'll admit."

"We've got other things to do, and wanted to speed things up." Aisha grinned.

"Other things?" Delilah perked up.

"Sure." Maki nodded, "Though, you do know we're... just visiting right?"

The two of them nodded, "Of course. From what I've heard it's an even more wild place than this one." Akira adjusted his glasses, "Roku-san from the forth scouting detachment called the experience 'humbling'."

"I believe Roku deserves a promotion." Ryuu said, taking a moment to poke at her own salad before continuing, "He survived in a place where being normal would mean death."

Akira's reply was amused, but his eyes were serious, "I'll pass that along. Many of the trials in this world have been worth commendation, but that is by our own... limited standards." He looked at me, "You've shown that you're far more capable than we first thought."

Arpeggio came over before I could reply, and she was being followed by one of the other barmaids. The two of them were carrying over plates of food and drinks as well. "I told her about Lady Giselle." Arpeggio said, waiting while everyone rearranged themselves so there would be room for the newcomers to eat, "She was much happier after I paid her for the 'lost work'."

"It's good that she's still paying off her debt! But we still need someone to do the dishes..." The barmaid grumbled, "Mr Akira? No problems?"

"Not at all, thank you." He gave her a little bow, "It seems your luck with keeping staff on hand isn't very good."

"Well, if she hadn't gone and done that she'd still be working here." The barmaid gave Delilah an acidic glare.

"Hey! I'm not doing that anymore!" Delilah leaned over and wrapped her arms around Akira, "Nope, I'm perfectly happy where I am now."

Akira had the same lifeless expression that Koneko would have when getting glomped by people. But after a moment he seemed to give in, reaching up to give one of her ears a light flick, "Business first you."

Once we were all seated, the barmaid left and 'business' resumed, "I also heard you were involved in the incident in Italica. You caused quite a stir there as well with how you helped us in the aftermath."

"I'm wondering why the JSDF is even getting resistance still." I said, "From what I've heard..."

"Looking into us?" He raised an eyebrow.

"We look into our employers." Aisha said, "It helps us decide on when and how we ask for payment after a job."

"Ah, mercenaries." Delilah nodded, "Smart."

"But yes, from what I've heard, you've done good work here. And those who don't appreciate that are quite firmly told to mind their own business." I nibbled at the roast... something. Once again, I was impressed by the spices used on otherwise boring meat.

"Thankfully, we haven't needed to use such a heavy hand again. However, as much as it might resolve some of the immediate problems, it would cause far more if we took the initiative." Akira sighed.

Maki translated that, as much for herself as anyone else who might not have understood the flowery speech, "So taking out Zorzal would stop him, but justify others into causing more trouble for you."

"Correct. But it would also raise alarm back home. We have been quite firmly told to use a gentle hand, lest we have our supporters... bah, it's all politics." Akira grumbled.

"I keep saying that no one is looking." Delilah stabbed her salad with irritation, "But the tree still falls, no matter who's around to hear it... Or something like that?" She tilted her head just enough to brush one of her long ears over Akira's head.

"Not quite, but close enough." Akira nodded, reaching up again to fend off the ear. Gently mind you.

"Back to our current mission then." Ryuu urged, "Do you know how long it might take?"

"Well, travel times being what they are, even with us helping, it may take upwards of a week." He said, "Though, I've encouraged other methods, to try and speed things along. Considering what came through before your visit, it's in our best interest to move the Gate as well, since we don't know when it might connect Home again." He looked at me, "This brings me to another issue."

"One thing at a time." I said, "But yes, I expect there to be a little exchange between us as well." I looked at him, "Lord Duran was quite interested in some of our medicine."

He couldn't quite keep the hopeful look off his face, but if I wasn't looking for it I would have missed it. "We'll make sure to keep that in mind." He nodded.

There was a moment or two of silence while we poked at our food, and it seemed to signal the end of 'business'. That was apparently Delilah's cue, and she looked at Aisha, "So you're an Amazon huh?"

I was pleased to note that while Delilah enjoyed a friendly competition with Aisha, it was just a bout of arm wrestling and not drinking. Of course Delilah lost, I mean, unless she could flip a truck with one arm, she'd have no chance. But she was a good sport about it, one warrior woman to another.

Akira, after allowing Delilah a bit of fun, then made a few meaningful 'ahem' noises and the warrior bunny wheeled him out. Of course, the first topic (after the crowd had dispersed from the little arm wrestling match) was intelligence gathering.

"You know, I'm kind of impressed." Aisha said after a sip of tea. (Yes, they served tea by the mug here. No, it wasn't very good.) "Makes me wonder how this 'Empire' took them over."

"Oh?" Ryuu raised an eyebrow, "She seemed quite capable, but I didn't test her past the first look."

"Easily half again as strong as those JSDF guys." Aisha nodded, "On a pure physical level at least."

"Ah, well..." Arpeggio, who had certainly eaten her fill but had also gone for the 'tea by the mug' option, raised a timid hand, "The tribes weren't very united, and constant infighting kept their numbers down." She blushed a little, "Much like the common rabbit, they have... quite the libido."

We from Orario nodded, already understanding. "Competition for space and resources. So the Empire came along and just... what?" Aisha asked.

"Well, when they found that they were going to lose as they were, one of them, their strongest, rose up as queen. She united them all, but it was too late. Some historians theorize that if it had happened a year before the Empire found them, they'd be the ones in charge. But the Empire was unified, had better equipment, and numbers. Weaker individually, sure, but that didn't matter." Arpeggio shook her head.

"Okay, but they didn't wipe them out obviously." Maki said, motioning to one of the Warrior Bunny barmaids.

"No. But that was mostly because of the new Queen. Seeing that surrender or eradication were the only options, she told her people to stand down and offered herself to the Empire. For the most part, they listened too! But it didn't go as she'd hoped. Many fled, some refused, but those that stayed were enslaved along with her."

"The race survived at least." Aisha nodded, "Though, makes me curious. Amazon live here too right?"

"Lived." Arpeggio shook her head, "At least, so far as anyone knows. I'm not a historian, but I think it was because of their practices that they couldn't survive." She hastily raised her hand, nearly panicked, "I don't mean to offend! Just..."

"Nah, I get it." Aisha grinned, hooking an arm over my shoulder and leaned in close enough to brush cheeks with me, "Only so much a pair like us can do without help."

Poor Arpeggio started to go red, and I could have sworn I saw steam coming out of her ears.

"They probably didn't have a chance to centralize like they have back home." Maki said, "I mean, sure, being strong is great and all, but a population needs replenishment."

Of course, when your favourite Amazon hugs you, you gotta hug back, but I didn't want our Geomancer catching fire so I nudged Aisha away a little and didn't make another joke. "Shall we finish up here and go make sure Lelei has eaten something?"

We all nodded, and Ryuu gave the nearest serving girl a look. "Another two orders 'to go' please?"

We returned to the base without incident. I mean, unless you counted that pair of eyes returning, but vanishing again once we started to look around for them. I was starting to think it was a Rory Mercury fan or something, but if that were the case they couldn't really do much more than glare at me.

After checking in at the base's gate and getting no messages, we went over to the dorms. However, when we got to the room Lelei had been using to work with Fels, there was a little note on the door.

"What's it say?" Maki asked as I tugged it off the door.

"How would I know?" I replied, handing it to Arpeggio, "Must have been distracted."

"Oh. Um." Arpeggio glanced at it, then looked at the door, "So..." Then looked at the next door, then the door past that... "This way?"

After a few more doors we got to the end unit. Judging by the extra window out front, it was a 'double' like our own quarters were. "This one?" Aisha asked, looking over Arpeggio's shoulder.

"Yes?" She put her hand on the handle and turned it, "Oh..."

Once again, the floor, walls, ceiling, windows, and just about any flat surface had some sort of notation on it. This time however, it was all organized. It was like I was looking into some mad script writer's bedroom.

"Even here, paper is pretty cheap you know!" I called into the room.

Cato poked his head out from the mini kitchen, "We're doing that now!" He said excitedly, "Oh to think we might have the keys to interspacial translocation in my lifetime!"

Once again having to tip-toe our way around carefully drawn notes, circles and arcane scribbles, we made our way into the room, "Ah, Kodori." Lelei was sitting at the only clear spot at the since desk and writing furiously, "Fels just left. So we've been compiling all the notes we've made." She looked to where we were standing, "Oh, we've finished with the floor, you don't have to watch your step."

Free from the two legged version of Twister just to get to the living room, we all relaxed, "Finish your line, and come eat." I said, motioning to Ryuu, who had a wooden box with 'TAKE OUT!' written in big friendly Japanese on the side, along with, in very small print, 'Please return when you visit again!' under it.

"So what's left then?" Maki asked as Lelei locked up the new room.

"Testing." She said simply. "Fels has tested it there, but there are differences in the Eter flow in our worlds."

"Say... What would happen if you got it wrong?" Aisha asked as we started to walk towards the Motor Pool, "Sure, I know what happens if a spellcaster fails their own spell, but this ritual stuff is way past the norm back home."

"Ah, well, Fels mentioned a couple of his failure results." Cato interjected, "He highly suggests we don't transport living things."

Maki and I, being science fiction fans, could already guess why, so it was Ryuu who asked instead, "Why not?"

"Failure was... explosive." Lelei said with a shiver.

The fact that Lelei didn't go into detail was not missed by any of us. "He did come up with a few ideas on why though!" Cato said, "But for our purposes it's not worth the risk."

"I'll bite. Why?" I asked.

"An object, even a magic one, has a fixed internal Eter flow. Unless you are empowering it from the outside." Lelei demonstrated this with her enchanted Wyvern scale, letting it orbit around her smoothly. "A living thing however can have its Eter flow change much easier. Even between heartbeats. As it stands, this ritual needs to be done with as few variables as possible."

"Oh! Like making sure all of your equipment is clean between experiments." Arpeggio said, "Very important!"

"Ah, so I am not forgotten." We were just within sight of the sign that said, 'Motor Pool' when Hagane's voice broke the conversation. "You've had a good day then?"

We let him come to us, then just turned around. "Yeah. Nothing to do now but wait." I said, "How did your day go?"

"They wanted to take me apart to see how I moved. But I told them I would start clawing the furniture if they tried." He rumbled, tilting his head a little when Arpeggio fell to the temptation of applying a headpat.

"And what did you settle on?" Ryuu asked, knowing Hagane all too well.

"I allowed one of them to remove my third back plate, and hose out all the dirt that had gotten into my body. The Boss took many notes, but kept his hands off." He looked up to me, "I feel shiny on the inside again. It's a good feeling."

"Good. Sorry I couldn't get to it sooner." I replied.

"Stop getting into situations where you need the giant metal cat to walk in the mud then?" He sighed.

"Now that we're all together." Aisha said after we all had a chuckle, "What are we doing tomorrow? Nothing to do but wait for most of us." She gave the three mages a look.

"I'm sure we can find something to do." Maki shrugged, "But is taking a day off so bad?"

Everyone looked at me, "Hey, no fair."

The next day, almost all of it, from sun up to sun down, was pretty unremarkable. Including the weather, which was still a bit gloomy but not really threatening rain.

Having gotten to bed early, no one complained about Reveille. Even Aisha! Hagane was the closest to grumbling at it, but he could complain about anything and sound like he was justified in doing so.

Breakfast? Local version of a potato, eggs, something close to bacon, salad.

Aisha, curious about why the JSDF (or any army of my world) were considered elite among 'the people', decided to join one of the squads who would be drilling all day. The closest 'remarkable' thing here, was that a small group of 'The Locals' were with them as well. Volralden and other beast-folk wearing plated leather armour and carrying swords were joining in on the exercises.

Oh, and Aisha was told quite firmly that she either had to wear a uniform or that overall again, just so she didn't cause accidents. Not remarkable, but expected, is she also looked amazing in a JSDF uniform, once they found one in her size.

Maki, next to split off from the adventurers, spent most of the day with Tuka and Yao. Contrary to what some people on base thought, the exotic looking elves didn't cling to Itami all the time. Just whenever he left the base to do things. I had no idea what they'd be doing, just that they'd be doing it within sight of Alnus.

Ryuu was spotted by Delilah, and wrangled into joining her. Not before I noticed a few things though. Firstly, the Warrior Bunny, while friendly, stayed out of arms reach of Ryuu. My guess was she had been told, or could tell that Ryuu wasn't much for physical contact. Secondly, even if she were one of the most skilled people we'd encountered so far, she couldn't resist Hagane and his ever pattable head. The last thing I noticed was she also looked really good in a JSDF uniform. They even cut a tiny hole in the back for her little puff of a tail!

She must have noticed me noticing her, because she wiggled that tail at me and winked over her shoulder as her and Ryuu left.

Hagane left my side when we spotted the three mages on their way to the new room. Because of the capacitors I'd built into him to supply mana to his various abilities, he was a perfect assistant for the experiments they would be running for the teleport circle. So, with sad puppy eyes that you'd have needed a microscope to notice, Lelei asked Hagane to help. The fewer variables they had while testing the better.

Now alone, I considered what I might do. The feeling of nostalgia that I had when having so many things I could be doing, yet not really wanting to decide, was kind of weird. So I told the JSDF guy manning the base's gate that I'd be in town. He gave me a radio, gave me a short (unneeded) tutorial on how to use it, switched it to channel eight, and told me to have fun. If I had any problems, or there was a problem, I wouldn't be left out.

I'd like to say that I did something productive, or fantastical, or even notable. But no. I just wandered about, eventually got bored of wandering about, then just jumped onto one of the oddly modern building and just lay on the roof to watch the clouds. At some point, I pulled out my Tarot of Haruhime and had a chat with her. Just a bunch of 'nothing' conversations to pass the time, say hello to the children or anyone else who may have noticed her looking into my Tarot. This included Hestia, who also commented on my recently broken nose.

And that was how I passed the daylight. Watching clouds, thinking about nothing, riffling through the 'Japanese language guide to the Special Region' and wondering if I could have been doing something more, but never actually getting up and looking for it.

Of course, as soon as I put my feet down on the ground, feeling compelled to visit the tavern again for dinner, something had to try and ruin my day off.

"Ah, Kodori-san." One part grease, once part sleaze...

I stopped and turned, doing my very best to look... well not look like I wanted to tell him to go away. "Komurazaki." I replied, facing the 'Military reporter', "Looking for things to do?"

I didn't like him, but he wasn't a fool, "I think we're the same for that today, am I wrong?"

"No. We're at the mercy of the local roads and the willingness of the nobility to find things for us right now." I was starting to get that 'be mysterious' itch again, but was wondering if that would be worth the effort. "I'm walking this way."

He took the hint, or at least, took the hint in a way that benefited him, and quickly caught up as I turned and left. "I've heard a few things about your little group and the local nobility. Very interesting. Duran-san especially."

Suddenly feeling like I didn't want to be interrogated, I wrenched the topic sideways, "What's your opinion on Magic?"

He had his hands halfway to his pockets to get his notebook and pen, but froze, relaxed, and shook his head. "If I didn't see it with my own eyes, I'd call it fake. My profession is based on what we see and hear, not what we believe."

"For the most part, that is perfectly sensible." I nodded. "But when did that opinion change I wonder?"

"Well, there's the Apostles. Rory and Giselle are far beyond human. But that could maybe be explained or replicated with things from our world." He looked at me, "And other worlds apparently." He didn't flinch when I gave him a bit of a glare, "Or watching Lelei-chan conjure up lightning and fire. But again, we have things capable of replicating that."

"So I've seen. Electricity is quite similar to something we use back home." But I shook my head, "But that isn't it, is it?"

He sighed gustily, "No. I think what did it for me, was something Tuka-chan did. I chanced upon her 'talking to spirits' one day, and even with all the science and literature from home, I just couldn't think of how she was doing it." He scratched his head, "With what looked like a prayer on top of a hill of flowers, she was suddenly surrounded by all these gently glowing forms."

"Hallucinating?"

He looked a little insulted and replied with a sharp, "No! I may not be the best at what I do, but I do not do it under the influence of anything." I nodded and motioned him to continue, "My country has very spiritual roots, and many people back home try to do what Tuka-chan did that day their entire lives without any success. But seeing her do that?"

Just because I was in that kind of mood, I summoned one of my little foxes from inside one of my pouches. With a little 'yip', it hopped at the reporter. He fumbled for a moment, half panicked, but caught the fox. "For your time." I said, the little fox dropping a copper coin onto his palm. "Unless you have business in the Forward Base?"

He'd stopped in place, looking at the ghostly fox (with happy smile and flailing tail) and the coin, "Ah, err... no."

I opened the door of the Forward Base with a, "One guest entering."

"Ah, Kodori-san." Kuwahara was at the desk, his fatherly face oddly familiar even if I'd only met him a few days ago. "You aren't expected, what's the occasion?"

I couldn't see his hands, but I had this weird feeling he was going for his sidearm, "Getting rid of the reporter." I said, feeling that weird nervousness fade as he nodded sagely, "Causes problems for you too?"

"He's like that itch you can't quite reach." He sighed, his hands tapping a few things on the laptop in front of him, "Bothering everyone with questions, or worse, not bothering to question and putting it out of context."

"We have something like that back home. But it's getting better." I unhooked the little radio I'd been given, gave it a waggle, then put it back on my belt, "We've recently come up with something like these things. And it helps keep the people informed." I looked around for a moment, found a chair, then plunked my rear into it so I wouldn't have to stand.

"Oh? Heard a little from Itami about that 'occulus' you have. Something else?"

"It's a simpler device. It only does sound. It's made of enchanted glass, but can only communicate between bits of glass made in the same batch. Not like these things, but close." I didn't have one to show him, but he nodded, getting the idea.

There was a moment or two of silence, then, "You caused quite a stir you know. You've probably already heard that, but since you've been nothing but helpful I'll let you in on a little rumour." I didn't reply but looked at him with my best five degree head tilt. "The commander is wondering how to deal with your world. Had a little staff meeting and was asking for advice."

"And since we've been dealing fairly with you all along you put in a good word for us?" I asked hopefully, feeling like there was someone sneaking up on me with a knife.

"Of course. We all did actually." He chuckled, "But you're a very small group of people from a much larger place. And while you returned him intact, Roku-san had a much different experience with the people of your world."

That shadowy feeling vanished and I nodded, "I was hoping to do this after we moved the Gate..." I scrubbed a hand over my face, "I won't lie and tell you we're all peace loving, monster fighting people who get along with everyone. For the most part, sure, we're just as civil as the next person. But we're not all as professional as my party."

He held up a hand, opened a drawer and put a little device on the desk between us. "Let me record this. Just so you don't have to repeat yourself later." He clicked a button and motioned me to go ahead.

After repeating my last line, I continued. "The bombing in Italica is a good example of where our sensibilities would differ. After something like that, anyone involved directly would find out who did it, and probably give them to the victims for sentencing. I understand you are under orders, but something like that would get a lot of us together with torches and pitchforks." I shook my head, "It's even worse that you know who is behind it all, yet are letting it fester. But it's not our place to judge your rules."

"How would this apply on your side then?"

"When the Gate is moved, unless you simply close it back up once your people are back across, I fully expect there to be some exchange. That's fine. We love new things. The Gods are visiting us for entertainment, and this looks to be pretty entertaining. However. We have rules. And being a proper Guest is a big one."

"Be polite, don't mouth off to the host, that kind of thing?"

"Exactly that. Our conduct here would be a reasonable example for you to follow over there. We expect only the basics of food and shelter as your guests. We work to eat, we follow your orders, we're helpful, all while under your care. If your Commander decides to allow an exchange between our two worlds, I hope to see the same from the JSDF."

And the question I could tell he was leading up to, "And your little argument with Rory?"

"Where I am from, her attitude of superiority is dangerous and unwelcome. In the dungeon, it gets people killed. On the surface, it causes wars between Familia. I know she's going to want to visit, and was getting tired of her constantly nagging my party and I. Where I'm from, she's just a little better than the middle of the pack, and I took it upon myself to teach her that where it was safe, instead of having her, and by proxy the rest of our Guests, shown the error of their ways."

He nodded with a grunt, reached over and clicked the little recorder off. He then took out a little brown envelope, took out the little tape inside the recorder and put it inside. He then replaced the tape with a fresh one, closed it, and asked, "Would you be willing to go into detail about your world? On the record and all that?"

"Most people buy me dinner first. Then sure."

He looked at me a little slack jawed, but saw me smiling, then laughed, "How impolite of me. Wait here, I'll be back."

NOTES!

And even on a day off, she still manages to do something important. Next episode? Probably the start of the 'return' to the other side. But maybe a little twist? I dunno yet.

Also, looks like two more bits of art have found their way onto the Ko-fi! And I was considering on posting an update on my shoulder, but... it's actually pretty gross. I had no idea until I changed my bandage, but I have over TWENTY staples in my shoulder! Like... wow. Pretty gnarly, and gross, and looking really bruised. So yeah, I probably won't post that.

See you in five days. :)