Chapter 32: Down in the Warzone – Part 2

He shut his eyes, bracing himself, hoping that getting vaporized would be quick and painless. But a couple of seconds later, he realized he could still hear and feel everything around him.

He squinted at the feminine silhouette shielding him. Her long hair flew above her nape, hitting his face, and the fragrance emanating from it contrasted with the smell of charred pavement and smoke nearby.

“Astrid?” he called aloud, making the young girl in front of him sneer loudly.

“Seriously? Do I look of blowjob-height to you?”

After the dragon’s breath dissipated and his sight readjusted to the gloomy ambiance, he glanced at the enormous piece of black metal that had served as a shield and at its owner, a known, smug redhead girl.

“Amelia Laflamme? What are you doing here?”

“Don’t misinterpret it, Ghost. I’m just passing by,” she replied, looking at him from head to toe with a disdainful expression on her face. Sighing, she pulled out something from her inventory and tossed it in his direction. “Here. It kinda bothers me to see your HP in the red. Look at you. Even my Battle Aura could kill you if I suddenly power up.”

Alan examined the glass bottle filled with red liquid.

“Thanks… but…”

“Not now, Ghost, for that person is still around,” Amelia said, looking at the sidewalk 20 feet away from them, where the black-clothed girl jumped down.

“What the actual hell, you bitch?” she cried. “Why are you interrupting our date?!”

“Date?” Amelia snickered. “Weren’t you casting Slumbermare on him just a moment ago? Is that your way of showing interest, darling?”

Slumbermare? Alan turned to Amelia, frowning. Isn’t that what that Marco jerk did to me the other day? So was this girl trying to get inside my head too?

Alan then noticed Amelia smirking at him. “W-What?”

“I didn’t know you were into yanderes, Ghost.” Amelia snickered. “That explains your relationship with Astrid perfectly.”

“Please don’t follow her game,” he whispered, before narrowing his eyes at the unknown girl. “And weren’t you calling me Little Mouse before, as if you were some sort of horny cat? What’s with the ‘date’ crap now?!”

“H-Horny?” the girl stuttered. “I’m not—!”

“Why did you call Astrid a yandere, Amelia?” Alan asked the redhead beside him, completely ignoring their enemy. “She’s not some sort of psycho; she’s a sweetie!”

“You have to be kidding me. She literally killed thirty of her former teammates because of you.”

“That proves nothing. And what were you saying about a blowjob again? I didn’t get that.”

“Is that what worries you right now?!” Amelia cried, blushing. “I said she’s of ‘blowjob-height,’ got it? Or do I have to spell it out for you?”

“Oh, come on, she’s not that short! She’s 5 feet, 2 inches tall,” he said with a straight face.

“Okay, that was not totally creepy… And use metric, you Imperial jerk.”

“That’s 157 cm,” the girl in front of them said, nonchalantly.

“Thank you!” Alan nodded at her. “Did you hear that, Amelia? Astrid is not short.”

“She’s below the standard, Ghost…”

“H-H-How tall are you, anyway?!”

“With or without high heels?”

“Wha—? Uh—Okay… Without?”

“Why do you ask? I don’t think you’ll ever see me without them.”

“Fine! How tall are you WHILE wearing heels?”

“What? Is this a fetish of yours?”

Alan sighed. “…Why are you so annoying?”

“Why do you care?”

“Because I want us to be friends!”

“Reaaally? After all the things I did to you? Are you a creep AND a masochist?”

“I thought we were getting along after you helped me yesterday.”

“Hold on! What are you talking about?”

“At the Drinking Banshee, remember? When you locked me in the ladies’ bathroom.”

Amelia’s face flushed immediately, turning to the girl observing them. “I-It’s not what it sounds! Dammit, Ghost! I didn’t help you, okay?! It just—!” Amelia pursed her lips, turning her tone of voice softer. “…benefitted me to let you go…”

Seeing Amelia getting flustered so easily made Alan grin. “So was saving me from that dragon’s laser beam also beneficial to you? Hmm?”

“I’m warning you, Ghost! I don’t like that smirk of yo—” Amelia got interrupted mid-sentence by something attempting to pierce her face. She dodged at the last second but got a slight cut on her left cheek.

“Yo! What the hell!” Alan cried.

The Girl in Black seemed to glare at them through her hood. “Sorry! Did I interrupt your little chat?”

“It was more like bantering…”

“WHATEVER! We have prolonged this mouse chase for too long, Alan Warden. So tell your meddling friend to GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE, or she’ll suffer the same fate as the previous rat.”

“What rat?” Amelia asked Alan quietly. “And who’s this bitch, anyway?”

“I think she’s referring to that big guy from the guild—Oscar! Yes, that’s his name. And… Um… She’s that dragon’s summoner.”

“Okay, got it,” Amelia nodded. “But why is she targeting you? There’s nothing interesting about your whole existence—” She narrowed her eyes at him, lost in thought. “Oh…” she expressed with pouty lips.

“What? What did you realize?”

Amelia pulled him by the hand. “No time. Run!”

“NOT AGAIN!” the Girl in Black cried, ready to use the same technique she used to execute Oscar, but a sudden source of heat above her distracted her. “What the—Is that a maw?”

A huge feline engulfed in flames bit her head off before crashing against the concrete. Then, it roared victoriously, making itself be heard across the adjacent streets.

“I don’t think that’ll be enough,” Amelia muttered while running.

“Amelia, wait! Why are we escaping?! I thought you’d kick her ass!”

“Is that why you were bantering with me in front of her?! So she could get angry and target me?!”

“Maybe?”

She shut her eyes, gathering her patience. “Let’s not talk about that for now, okay? Just answer me this so both of us can be on the same page. How do you know she summoned that dragon?”

“Because she did it in front of my eyes.”

“Did you accidentally watch her do it? Is that the reason she’s targeting you? Because you’re the only witness?”

“No! She did it on purpose to prove some sort of philosophical bullshit!”

“HUH?! What are you talking about?!”

“She was saying nonsense! That our generation has turned lazy and complacent, and that she’s the embodiment of progress or some shit!”

Amelia halted to look Alan in the eye. “You were talking with her?”

“Yes. In a park near—”

“What I’m trying to ask is—” Amelia paused, shaking her head. “Was she looking for you from the start?”

Alan quickly grimaced. “What? No, NO! Of course not! I met her at this park near this… um… I don’t know the name of that bridge! Anyway, she approached me in a friendly way and…” He narrowed his eyes. “Why would you think she was looking for me? I… I’m unimportant.”

“But you were doing something of value outside The Novus… weren’t you?” she asked, looking apologetic. “Something that could risk ‘the integrity of this ship and its population’?”

That sounded as if she was quoting me…

“How do you…?”

“I may… have heard your conversation with Marco yesterday,” she admitted, half-smiling. “Tee-hee.”

Alan’s face turned bright red. “YOU WHAT?!”

A wail echoed through the street. Looking back, Alan saw a giant feline getting lifted by a pair of black tentacles impaling its body.

“There goes my Kirin,” Amelia exhaled, before exerting an explosive fire aura. “Listen to me, Ghost, I’m not entirely sure what you’re up to, but everything points to this girl knowing about it too.”

“But that’s impossible…” he whispered, looking at a huge black mass consuming Amelia’s cat summon. “Because the menace…”

Through his mind flashed the many different things the girl was saying. A sentence stood out among them.

‘Your ancestors’…

She sounded weird when she said that. But no… It can’t be. The menace I was talking about with Marco is not human…

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