Chapter 6

"Every production of an artist should be the expression of an adventure of his soul"

William Somerset Maugham

Credit goes to Gigih Perwira again for helping me out…from the last chapter to at least chapter 18 (LOL). Thanks a lot, dude.

Anyway, enjoy.

Around one day after the last event…

So, with the ghost buster business over the team cools down and heads to their mutual direction, Gunner's Heaven. And thanks to the 'thing' Sophia stupidly made her friends see, the three are ignoring her inside the jeep.

"Alvin, when do you think we will arrive at the next town?" Poor Sophia; she tries to speak with the driver but Alvin says nothing to her.

So, she turns to Marilyn, "Marilyn, why are everybody silent?"

Of course, no answer. Growling, she desperately speaks to Cliff, "Cliff, everyone is ignoring me!"

Now as we knew him, Cliff is good at heart (at least compared to Alvin and Marilyn) so he doesn't really agree with the plan of ignoring Sophia. His lips begin to move, forming a certain word to respond the dark haired girl. But two deadly glares from both the street fighter and the swordswoman scare the hell out of him….so he chickens out and stays silent, but not without a fight. In a soundless conversation between soulmates, Cliff Speaks to Marilyn,

C: Marilyn, don't you think it's a bit harsh to Sophia?! She didn't mean showing us the ghost!

M: What's the difference? She still scared the hell out of us!! I don't care whether she's extremely forgetful or what, but she needs to be taught a lesson!

C: Well, not a lesson like this! We can always try a different approach!

M: Like what?!

C: Like…like manner lessons!

M: Meh, she will just forget about it! Being ignored would teach her to behave!

C: Come on, don't you pity her at all?! Look at her, she's like a lost dog!

M: She deserves it!

C: You know what?! This whole thing is insane! I'm talking to her!

M: No, you won't!

C: Why?

M: Cause if you do, I'll shove my sword down your throat!! I know it won't kill you, but at least it will stop you from talking!

A: And if it is needed, I'll gladly lend Marilyn a hand.

C: Alvin?! What are you doing here?! How could you enter the soulmate conversation?!

A: Soulmate conversation? What are you talking about? You two have been speaking to each other louder than ever! The entire jeep could hear you!

"Wait, that means…" Cliff, followed by the other two, looks at Sophia who displays a betrayed face plus tears running on her face. And then….she explodes.

"Uwaaaaaaaaaaaah!!! Everyone is ignoring me on purpose!!!" And that's it, Sophia wails like a baby losing her candy. Marilyn and Cliff, knowing this would take a long ass time, cover both their ears while Alvin is forced to endure the wail thanks to his job as the driver. The group arrives at a quite mining town after fifteen minutes, and more or less Sophia has stopped bawling right now. She sniffs a bit though.

But just like a child, she sleeps soundly five minutes after her bawling.

C: Is she asleep?

M: Let's not wake her up. We're better off without her lameness. When she wakes up by herself, she should have forgotten our plan.

A: OK, let's do that.

Either way, the town looks more like a ghost town. No one walks around the town, and the buildings are scarred. "Don't tell me we just bumped into a ghost town" Cliff is the first to speak his mind upon arriving, "After all the ghost and stuff I would really appreciate it even if just one living man shows up here"

"I wouldn't write that off, but I wouldn't want to be fooled twice" Marilyn quickly prepares her sword in case another ghost comes out, "I'm ready"

"No need, Marilyn" Alvin points to behind their jeep, "Look, a living man"

Indeed, there's a middle aged man standing behind their jeep looking at them with such goggled eyes, "You kids…are you drifters?"

"Yes, we are" Alvin replies, "Actually, we're heading to Gunner's Heaven but we decided to stop in this town and found all these. Mind telling us what happened to the town? We're hoping to have some rest but it is seemingly unlikely by now"

"Actually, this town used to be a new mining town inhabited by the miners for a mine around a mile from here" The old man speaks up, "But around two weeks ago, a group of bandits driving an armored vehicle attacked our place and took our fortune. We were left with no money at all so almost all the villagers went back to the old mining town"

"So, why are you still here?"

"The name's Jerome. Originally, I'm the mayor of this town. I have the obligation to look out for this place" The man introduces himself, "I'm not going out of here just because some bandits screwed our place"

"Hey, this calls for a job" Marilyn, just like always, "Say, how much do we get for taking back your belongings from the bandits?"

"…you can do that?" A bit uncertainty, but that's normal.

"Bet you" A short statement, "So?"

"Well…" Jerome sighs, "Make me an offer"

Tilting her head a bit while thinking, the answer is kinda shocking, "One fifth of this town's fortune"

"What?!" Both Jerome and Cliff shout at the same time, "One fifth of this town's fortune?! Are you insane?!"

"Nuh-uh, hear me out" Man, this is a real hot seat, "If you don't hire us, you can live here alone till the day u die cause of poverty. If you hire us, you'll live a bit proper till the day you…die. It's kinda the same in the end, but in a good way"

"Het, Marilyn!" Cliff cusses his soulmate again for this before Jerome could even reply, "One fifth?! Are you out of your mind?! Why that much?! We're not low on money!"

"Here we go again" Marilyn says to herself before explaining, "Yes, it's true we're not low on money, but we gotta capitalize a chance when we could. Who knows what we might have to face in the future? The more cash we got means the easier way for our journey"

"But not that much! At least lower the offer!"

"…fine" Marilyn stares at the bewildered Jerome and says, "One eighth, deal or no deal?"

"Ok, that much we can afford" Jerome answers.

But Marilyn wants to make it sure this time around, "Cliff? Have any other thing to say?"

"No…" Cliff rolls his eye, "That much is fine"

"OK, where are those bandits hiding?" Alvin takes over after the deal is sealed.

"Around half an hour from here to the west" Jerome says, "Good luck"

Simply put, the group drives off from the village to the west where they could visibly see an abandoned warehouse with so many ugly looking men surrounding it.

Alvin picks up a small telescope to spy the bandits from the car, "That's gotta be the bandit's hideout. Let's see…we got six men up front, twelve on the left, ten on right, around five more backsides and perhaps some more inside the warehouse. And it's true, they got an armored vehicle with them"

"Oh, it's LAV III" Cliff recognizes the metal car in one look after Alvin borrows him the scope, "No big deal"

"So, how do we plan on attacking?" Marilyn takes the lead to cover the plan, but she sees Cliff waving his hand, "What is it?"

"Look, there are only about 40 men up there. This ain't a big deal; I'll take care of them all" Cliff voices his plan, "You two can wait here with Sophia, OK? I'll handle them in…say, fifteen minutes?"

And the offer takes Marilyn by surprise, "What? The sleepy Cliff from the sleepy hollow offers himself to do a deed?! Is doomsday coming out early?! This isn't 2012!! Are you serious?!"

"1000%"

"Oh…wow…" Marilyn (in a way) looks impressed, "I'm…I'm speechless…"

Meanwhile, Alvin is calculating the reason behind Cliff's offering by his own way inside his own head, "This isn't something you would see everyday! Cliff wants to do a job?! What the hell is going on in here?! Wait, wait…now, think calmly and look at it prospectively…why would Cliff Margester do something he usually wouldn't do if he doesn't gain anything from it? Or maybe…oh, I know!! Cliff wants to impress Marilyn!! That's it!! That's gotta be it!! He wants to win her heart!! And he wishes to do it by showing her how cool he is!! Man, I never thought Cliff would be this bold!"

Actually, Cliff wants to get this over with because he wants to sleep ASAP. But, of course no one notices that. "I say, let him do this!" Alvin gives his support to the red eyed man, "I'm behind you, bro! I know you can do this!!"

"OK, thanks" Cliff kindly replies without knowing Alvin's truest thought, "Just wish me a good luck"

"No worries" Alvin whispers to Cliff's ear, "I know you will win her heart. I'm sure you will impress her?"

"Impress her?" Cliff whispers back, "Impress who?"

"Ow, come on!! Don't act like you don't know, bro!" Even with his total misunderstanding Alvin still sounds so supporting, "Don't worry, she will be yours someday"

"She who?! I don't think we're on the same page!"

"Oh, don't sweat it! Chop-chop, go out there and show them who is the boss!" Alvin pushes the still wondering Cliff outside the jeep. With a confused face, Cliff goes to the warehouse.

Anyway, Cliff quickly heads to the warehouse to deal with the bandits. Some of them are guarding the frontline lankily and lazily. "Make a little mess and they'll all come for me, piece of cake" Cliff draws his Dreadnaught and walks with a confident smile.

The bandits guarding the front quickly notice him walking towards them, "Hey, who is that man?"

"Have no idea, why don't you go check it out?" Another one answers. One of them quickly runs to Cliff who keeps walking slowly.

When he sees Cliff has a gun with him, he stops after pointing his shotgun at The Crimson, "Hey, stop there and throw your weapon"

"What if I refuse?" Cliff doesn't even seem to care.

"I'll blow your head off, that's what!"

"Up yours" Cliff takes a quick aim and blows the bandit's head off in one shot, leaving his body falling to the dirt, "Blowing heads, huh?"

And of course the air-piercing sound alerts the entire base, "Emergency!!! We're under attack!"

"What?! How many people?!"

"Unknown!! But if my eyes don't deceive me…it's one man!!"

"One man?!"

Cliff casually walks to the bandits who are busy preparing their weapons to attack him. Not feeling like wasting any more time, Cliff concentrates to use his Lock On and slowly aims to six men standing twenty feet away from him. Strengthening his grip, Cliff pulls the trigger and blast away one man after hitting his stomach, much to the other bandits fear. Cliff shoots another one on the head which result on the four other bandits run away to the base, more likely to get some more reinforcements.

It doesn't take long for them to come out again with at least a dozen men and LAV III, their armored vehicle. The LAV III is powered by a Caterpillar 3126 Diesel Engine developing 350 horsepower, and can reach speeds of 100 kilometers per hour. The vehicle is equipped with a central tire inflation system, which allows it to adjust to different terrain, including off-road. Unlike earlier versions of the LAV, the LAV III does not have any amphibious capabilities.

The LAV III faces the same concerns that most other wheeled military vehicles face. Like all wheeled armored vehicles, the LAV III's ground pressure is inherently higher than a tracked vehicle with a comparable weight. This is a result of the fact that tires will have less surface area in contact with the ground when compared to a tracked vehicle. Higher ground pressure results in an increased likelihood of sinking into soft terrain such as mud, snow and sand, leading to the vehicle becoming stuck. The lower ground pressure and improved traction offered by tracked vehicles also gives them an advantage over vehicles like the LAV III when it comes to managing slopes, trenches, and other obstacles. The LAV III can somewhat compensate for these effects by deflating its tires slightly, meaning that the surface area in contact with the ground increases, and the ground pressure is slightly lowered.

It should also be noted that wheels offer several advantages over tracked vehicles, including lower maintenance for both the vehicle and road infrastructure, quieter movement for improved stealth, greater speed over good terrain, and higher ground clearance for protection against mines and improvised explosive devices. The LAV III's turret gives the vehicle a higher centre of gravity than the vehicle was initially designed for. This has led to concerns that the vehicle is more likely to roll over on uneven terrain. While there have been several recorded rollovers (about 12), the most common cause was found to be unstable terrain, specifically road shoulders unexpectedly giving away beneath the vehicle. The weight balance of the LAV III is taken into consideration during driver training, largely mitigating the chances of a rollover.

"Oh, LAV II already? How boring" Cliff pulls out his giants shears and runs toward the group. The bandits light him up using their shotguns and rifles, but against The Crimson moving stature the bullets proved totally ineffective. They hit him but are quickly knocked down. And as usual, this causes some confusion among the bandits,

"Hey, the bullets don't work on him!"

"Is he some kind of monster?!"

"Wait, he's coming…gyaaaah!!" The first one, among the many to follow, gets hammered after a smash from the shears. The other bandits fires at Cliff again when the said ARMs wielder grab one of them by his neck and shove the shears to the bandit's mouth, scattering his teethes all over the ground. Swinging his shears behind, Cliff hits another one on the jaw before maiming the one on his left right on the head. Slipping his Dreadnaught from under the shears, Cliff fires one of them to another lifetime by blasting his head. He then proceeds to fire to men on his right at the same time after unleashing his merciless bullet which pierces both men consecutively; and he seems to keep gaining the upper hand as time goes. Realizing his foes are about to run again, Cliff pulls out one of his RKG-3 and throws it at them. Simply put, the explosion swipes a large number of them away; at least thirteen men have been blown away. And here comes the LAV III with seven men inside it. Ten men could be seen marching beside the LAV, preferably as a support attack.

Too bad, they don't know they would not last even a minute. As the LAV starts firing its machine gun to Cliff's direction, Cliff takes initiative to deal with the footers first and jumps to above the LAV. This earns him the attention of the ten men who quickly aim their guns at him without even knowing they're sitting ducks now. At the moment they open fire at him, Cliff simply throws an RKG-3 among them and lets it explode, sweeping the business away from him. And with his position standing on the top of LAV III, there's no way they would be able to fire him from inside. Cliff shoots randomly to make a hole to inside the LAV III before slips an RKG-3 through it, "I'm sorry, it's not that I do not want to play with you longer. But I promised my friends to return in fifteen minutes so I have to deal with you all quickly"

Another explosion that blows the LAV-III from the inside comes up, leaving Cliff walking alone to inside the warehouse. In a quick progress, the LAV III is nothing more than pieces of iron junk right now. From inside the warehouse, the remaining eight bandits cannot help but wonder, is the man attacking them outside a human?

"What is he?! He stopped our LAV and the others like they were nothing!!"

"I say, let's get out of here!!"

"And leave all the money?!"

"Hey, we cannot bring all the money with us!! And what's the use of money if that guy blows your f*cking head off?!"

Before they could continue arguing, Cliff slowly opens the warehouse door much to their fear. Looking around, the red haired man enters and observes the remaining eight, "You guys are the only losers left, huh?"

"Ukh…" None of the losers…I mean, the bandit could come up with a decent respond.

"OK, I'll make this quick. You see that backdoor?" Cliff points to a backdoor on the back of the warehouse and escapes a deliberate sigh, "If you're still here in ten seconds, I'll kill you. All of you"

Needles to say, the remaining bandits run for their lives as Cliff counts, "10"

Cliff fires once and spills the first blood as the count goes to '9'.

The other seven freaks out, but when the count goes to '8' another one of them loses their head in a horrible way, so they realized they need to keep running for their lives. Cliff aims for another target and hits another bulls-eye, counting, "7"

When it reaches six, another torso is blown to pieces, yet none of the bandits have even reached the backdoor. "5" Cliff resumes the countdown and another man loses his head. By now, three bandits are a bit closer to the backdoor. Too bad, they shouldn't have grouped in the front door.

"4" Cliff kills another one after a shot to the head and leaves two men remains. He goes to three and shoots another one, now having a bullet left inside the chamber. But, he doesn't feel like letting the last one go. However, the last bandit is only three feet away from the backdoor. And if he goes out then Cliff must keep the end of his deal. When it goes to two Cliff points his Dreadnaught at his target and takes a deep breath. Both his eyes are locked to the running man as he puts a strong concentration to unleash his Lock On. And it's finally the last count, "You're history"

KHIIIIIING!!!!

And as the last bandit falls headless to the floor, that is the last gunshot heard that day.

****

It doesn't take long for Marilyn and Alvin to arrive at the scene. They only got to see dead bodies scattering everywhere, that's all. All they need to do now is finding where the bandits kept their possession.

"Always a neat job" Amidst the search, Marilyn gives an honest praise for Cliff's handwork, "Merciless as ever"

"Thanks" Cliff shortly replies the complementary. Still with his misunderstanding thought, Alvin snorts and goes to Cliff.

"Dude, we need to talk" Alvin whispers to Cliff with an annoyed tone, "You successfully impressed her!! What's with that attitude?!"

"Impressed?! Impressed who?! You've been talking nonsense all day long!!"

"Oh, come on!! Don't give me that crap! You cannot say that! All you need to do is one last shot and bang! She's all yours!"

"…who?"

"Cliff!! Alvin!!" The boys' talk is cut short when Marilyn calls for them, "It's here, I found it!"

The stolen possessions have been kept in a storage room, and there's lot of it. Choppers, gold, silvers, nearly all raw materials you can name. Not to mention the belongings of the villagers. "Wow, that town sure is rich!" Cliff doesn't hold back expressing his surprise, "I wonder how we could bring all these back"

"I have a good idea about that matter" Marilyn speaks up. Her eye is shiny seeing all the wealth, "Let's take all these and run away from here!"

"What?! No!!" Both men refuse, "We're drifters! We're not thieves!!"

"Tsk, you guys are no fun!!"

"It's already decided we would get one eighth of it!"

"Fine, fine!!" The silver haired girl steams but her eye quickly catches a certain thing on the pile, a map. And she picks it, "Hey, what is this?"

"Seems like a map" Alvin glances at it, "The map of a mine"

"Hm, mine around here?! That means only one thing" Marilyn cites, "Gella"

"That means seven eighth part for the villagers is also safe" Cliff doesn't want any weird idea to come up so he sums the work before his soulmate could think of anything weird, "Alvin, help me with all these"

While Marilyn is busy looking at the map and Sophia is still busy sleeping, Alvin and Cliff deal with the villagers and Jerome. They got quite an amount of money, around 450,000 gella. That should cover their needs for months to come. And Alvin also got the info about the map. He informs Marilyn once they got back to the jeep, "That map contains the location of one of the oldest mines in this area, around one and half an hour to the west. And Jerome also mentioned an ARMs smith used to live near the mine"

"Nice! It's decided, then!" Marilyn takes the courtesy to decide their next destination, "Tomorrow we will be treasure hunting in the old mine!!"

"I don't know…is that a good idea?" Alvin sounds concerned, "Although the ARMs smith house got my interest. Honest"

"Let's ask what Cliff and Sophia have to say about this?" The suggestion distributes both drifters attention to the other two drifters, "Guys, what do you have…hey! Cliff is already sleeping!"

"Huh? Wasn't he sitting behind me just now?!" Alvin shakes his head in shock and disbelieve, "These two are helpless…"

"I bet they'll whine if they know we're planning to go to the mine"

"So, what's your suggestion? We wake them up?"

"No, Alvin. That would be a bad idea. They're going to whine all night long. It's 5 pm and I don't want them to whine for the next twelve hours" Marilyn gives a good suggestion, "Just tell them we got a thing to find in the mine and its village tomorrow. They'll buy that at least"

"That's a good idea" Pretty thoughtful, "What do you say we find something to eat before going to sleep?"

"Let's do that" And then the two goes to do what they just agreed.

****

The next day, Alvin and Marilyn did just like they agreed. They told Cliff and Sophia the group got something to find in the old mining town. Cliff and Sophia agreed without much protest. Well, it's not like they actually got something to say from inside their head either.

The old mining town looks a lot more abandoned then the current old town. No signs of anything living inside there. More like a ghost town. "So, we're here" Alvin ensures the group's positioning, "Now, where's that ARMs smith house?"

"It could be anywhere in this town" Marilyn speaks up, "I think we should go to the mine first. See? The mining site is in the corner of the town"

"Well, that doesn't sound like a bad idea" Alvin, knowing the easiest should be the number 1 priority, doesn't mind agreeing, "What do you have to say, guys?"

"I could careless as long as we get this over with quickly" Cliff really doesn't sound concerned at all, "I need to go back to sleep"

"I don't know what to say. I don't even remember what are we going to do in this place" Well, what do you expect from Sophia? "So, I'll tag along with any of you"

"OK" The group goes to the mine in the corner of the town, but just twenty meters from the mining site they passed a certain house which door has been opened for a long time. It was more like a cabin than a house. A one storied log cabin with books scattered all over the place. "Hey, that place looks different from the other houses" Alvin quickly goes inside the cabin, "Jackpot!! This is the house of the ARMs smith!"

"What?! How do you know that?" The other follows him quickly thereafter. Inside, not only scattered books by they also find gunsmith materials like tiny saw-teeth used to create v-grooves, some hand gravers to engrave metals, and plastic pistol grips. The tools were what made Alvin believes this place is the ARMs smith house.

"Well, let's look if we can find anything worthy here" Alvin starts searching the scattered books, but the other three doesn't do anything. Instead, they look at each other without understanding much of the Baskar native's intention.

"Guys?" Alvin sounds irritated, "Don't just stand there like a doll!! C'mon, help me find something worthy here!! The two of you are ARMs wielders for God's sake!"

"Well….we are, indeed" Cliff refers to both himself and Sophia, "But, we don't know what book to search. Why don't you give us a follow up?"

"Anything that contains the smith's material research!!"

"Then, don't search down there on the floor" Cliff points to a journal placed on a table not far from the entrance door, "Start from there. Why would an ARMs smith blew his important research material to the floor? Don't you know they usually wrote their daily works in their journal or diary?"

"Really?" Alvin reaches the book in a rapid pace and opens it, learning so many ancient languages plus diagrams inside the journal. And he finds this shocking, "What?! You're right! How do you know all this?"

"Let's say…" Cliff rolls his eyes, "I knew an ARMs smith…once. And ARMs smiths' habit is actually same. You know, like artists"

"Artist, huh?" Alvin shrugs, "Either way, thanks. Now, what are you guys going to do? I think I'll pass the mining site and try to read whatever I can here"

"Sophia and I are still going to the mining site" Marilyn answers, "What about you, Cliff?"

"Ehh….I guess I'll stay here to try finding anything useful"

"Like what? A comfy bed?"

"Yes…no, I mean like books!!" Cliff got caught, huh? "Why would I try to find a comfy bed here?!"

"Fine…suit yourself" Marilyn walks out, "Let's go, Sophia"

The two girls go outside to the mining site, hoping to find something worthy. Cliff wanders around the house while Alvin is busy reading the book…at least the part he could read. In the mining site, Marilyn and Sophia don't need a long time locating the crowbars and helmets. They agree to not going too far from the seam.

After wandering around and find the only bed (Marilyn Was right all along) on the house if filled with spider's web, Cliff returns to the living room and finds Alvin still busy reading.

C: You're still reading Alvin?

A: Yeah, trying to understand what this picture means…

C: (Closing in) where? Where? Oh, that picture that looked like an armor?

A: And another one, several pages from here, that looks like a knuckle.

C: Cool, can I see it?

A: Not now, I'm reading here.

C: What's your plan after finishing the book?

A: Don't know, I'm still reading.

C: Hey, do you think this town still got any bed that is free from spider's web?

A: Maybe…who knows? I'm still reading.

C: Can I read with you?

A: No

C: No? Why not?

A: Because you cannot read the ancient language of Filgaia! Now, can you please stop?!

C: Why?

A: You're annoying!

C: What? Just because I want to read?

A: No, because you couldn't keep your mouth shut!

C: Huh?

"You know what, Cliff?!" Irritated, Alvin drags Cliff out of the cabin before shutting the door, "Why don't you go to the mining site and impress Marilyn some more rather than keep annoying me?!"

And again, Cliff is left confused, "Impress…Marilyn? Does he mean I have to help her?"

Meanwhile, in the mining site…

So far, Marilyn and Sophia managed to collect two raw silver bars thanks to their lady-luck. But of course they wish to find something more expensive so they continue digging.

M: (With an annoyed tone) I wonder why those boys are leaving us alone to do this. Weren't women and children banned from working inside a mining site?

S: Huh? Wasn't it your idea to do this work, Marilyn?

M: Yes, but at least the boys should cop up some feel. Instead, Alvin is busy reading while Cliff is busy sleeping! Kay, maybe we can tolerate Alvin because he is doing something useful, but Cliff?! What a joke!

S: Hmm….so, that's how things are going between you and Cliff lately?

"Huh?" Marilyn pauses from her work and raises her eyebrows, "What? What was that again?"

"I said, things aren't going so smoothly between you and Cliff lately, huh?" Sophia repeats like there's nothing wrong with that, "You should ease your way at him. Otherwise, it might ruin your relationship"

"What?! What relationship?!" Marilyn yells out of shock, "What made you say that?"

"You're not in a relationship with him?"

"No!!"

"So, I wrote the wrong thing in my journal?"

"What thing?!"

"I wrote yesterday, 'Cliff and Marilyn are acting like a lovey-dovey couple planning something'. Was that wrong?"

"Totally!! Change that!! We're not a couple!" Marilyn's face is as red as a tomato, "God, your forgetfulness is so annoying!"

"I apologize if it makes you uncomfortable. Nothing can be done with it. But…" Sophia continues the attack of the innocent, "If nothing is really going on between the two of you, your face doesn't need to be so red like that"

"Eh?" It's too late now Marilyn, "What?!"

"True, you've been blushing since you first yelled 'what relationship?!' to me"

"No!! That's…"

"Hm? You're hiding something?" Is it just me or Sophia looks scary at times like these?

"No! I…" When Marilyn is trying to find the right words to defend herself, Cliff pops out from the seam.

"Hey, girls!!" And he surprised a certain someone of course, "How's it hanging?! Want me to help you?"

"Eh?! Cliff?!" Marilyn loses control, "What are you doing here?! Shouldn't you be with Alvin?!"

"Yeah, but he kicked me out. So, I guess I'll help you guys"

"No, no!! We don't need your help!!" Contrary to what she just said awhile ago, the swordswoman refuses, "You can…go sleep wherever you like! We're fine just with the two of us!"

"Eh?" Cliff cannot read the mood at all, "But, I want to help. And your face looks so red. Do you have a fever?"

"I'm not having a fever!" Marilyn pushes him out of the side before her face gets even redder, "Look, I appreciate your offer for help, but we're really fine with just the two of us! Please, just this time, go!"

And Cliff is left out once again. This makes him wonder, "Why is everyone leaving me out? Do they hate me that much? What did I do to make them mad at me?"

"Wow…" Sophia, who just witnessed the event, comments, "You hate him that much?"

"No, it was just…" Before she really loses it, Marilyn changes the direction of the conversation, "Look, let's just resume our job, OK? We're running out of time here!"

"OK, suit yourself" Sophia shrugs off and resumes, Marilyn as well.

Cliff, meanwhile, wanders aimlessly still with his confusion, "Why do they don't want me around them? Do they hate me that much?! And why did Marilyn have to be so cruel?! I only wanted to help her!"

Before Cliff could continue any further, the wind blows and puts a piece of paper from an old newspaper right to Cliff's face. "What's this?!" The ARMs wielder takes it off his face and angrily looks at it, "It's an old newspaper?! Now even nature toys against m…hey….wait a minute! I know the guy on this picture!"

With that being said, evening greets the land of Filgaia one more time and the group's done with their deed. Marilyn, Alvin, and Sophia meet in front of the cabin. "How's your finding?"

"Not bad, I think with a proper material I can create something from this book. Although I still need my mother to translate the entire book" Alvin sounds quite pleased with his founding, "How about you?"

"Well, we got three bars of silver and this one bar of platinum-like metal which I couldn't recognize" Marilyn points to the bars Sophia carries with her, "By the way, where is Cliff?"

"Huh? He's not with you?"

Sophia gives a quick answer which leads to another misunderstanding, "Actually, he was. But Marilyn dumped him so Cliff left"

"What?! You dumped him?!" And Alvin buys it.

"No, no way I could dump him! We're not even a couple" Denial…(LOL)

"Then, where is he?!"

"I don't know!"

"Why did you dump him in the first place, anyway?!" Alvin keeps up with this.

"Hey, I didn't dump him! I couldn't!! And I asked him to leave because…" Marilyn pauses there. She just realized there was no actual reason other than her own embarrassment for her to dumped…I mean, kicked Cliff out.

"Because?" Alvin gains the upper hand. Marilyn looks like a trapped mouse finding a good reason, but Lady Fortuna sides with her today.

"Uh...guys?" Cliff interrupts the Garrisons from their behind, "Are you going to stand there all night long? I already prepared dinner, namely wolf steak, so why don't we go to our jeep and eat?"

"Eh? You're still here?" Sophia cannot actually believe what she is seeing, "I thought you ran away after Marilyn kicked you out"

"Close, but not close enough" Cliff heads back to the jeep after giving the final call, "So, chop-chop guys. The steak is waiting"

Quietly, the other three follows him. During the dinner, no one actually says anything. Sophia seems out of place like always, Alvin tries to think of something else, Cliff doesn't seem to care about the previous matter, and Marilyn feels guilty but doesn't want to admit. With all the quietness, the dinner ends.

But, a man do what he has to do. So, Cliff speaks up, "Marilyn, can I talk to you for a second? Just the two of us?'

"Can't we talk here?" Marilyn replies. All eyes are on her now.

"Not likely" Cliff points to behind of the jeep and heads there. Marilyn follows there soon after, leaving Sophia and Alvin alone. But, the two agrees they shouldn't interfere with this one.

"Before you say anything, I would like to tell you that I feel bad for kicking you out" Marilyn goes straight with her soulmate, "And I'm sorry for it"

"It's all ok" Cliff pulls out the newspaper from earlier and shows it to Marilyn, "I called you here because you said it when you told me about him…Alvin and Sophia cannot know about this at the moment"

"What is it?"

"Here, read this article" The article on the newspaper reads "A MYSTERIOUS SWORDWSMAN WON THE GUNNER'S HEAVEN TOURNAMENT BY BREAKING A NEW RECORD!" and there's a picture of a certain dark-haired man seen from his behind carrying a silver Flamberge sword, "It's your man, Marilyn! I still remember your description about him so I recognized him in an instant! A tall dark-haired man with a silver Flamberge! Vold Green was there! And this article is from four months ago!"

"Goodness…Lord Green!" Marilyn widens her eye seeing the article, "Wha...Lord Green was there four months ago?!"

"So, it's all set" Cliff resolves, "We go to Gunner's Heaven, find out about WU, and find out about your man"

"Yes, let's do that! Marilyn is so enthusiastic about this, "And…can I keep this article? I mean, it only got his picture from behind but it's better than…"

"Yeah, yeah. Sure, you can have it" Cliff mirthfully replies, "it's your right, buddy"

From afar, Sophia and Alvin could hear the cheers from behind the jeep. "Hehehe, they're all good now" Alvin notes, "Good job, Cliff"

"Indeed" Sophia agrees.

And then, they set off to Gunner's Heaven.

****

The next morning….

Jerome puts a big smile on his face seeing his town is lively once again thanks to The Four Garrison, "Those kids did a fine job. Thank you, drifters"

His attention is soon caught by a man and a woman with grey formal suit greeting him from behind, "Excuse us, sir"

"Oh, yes. Can I help you, miss?"

"Yes, we're from the World Union. Currently, we're looking for these four drifters" The woman shows the picture of The Four Garrison, "Did they happen to stop in this town?'

"Yes, they stopped by here and helped us taking back our stolen belongings from a group of bandit" Jerome finely recalls, "Although they mentioned they're actually heading to Gunner's Heaven, though. Is something wrong with them?"

"No, thanks for your cooperation. We'll take our leave now" The two excuses themselves before heading to their car.

"We should contact Lord Begucci in Gunner's Heaven" The woman speaks of her advice, "And we should prepare the troops as well"

"Fine, just do as you said" The man replies, "It's only a matter of time before we meet them face to face in Gunner's Heaven"

****

That's it for this time. C u next chappy (^^)!!