Chapter 217: Slight Disturbance
———Karra———
<5: 09 pm>
“...This looks hella excessive.” I can’t help but comment as I look at the desserts she made for me. A giant pile of ice cream scoops, light blue in color. “What flavor is this?”
“Seasalt.” She answered. That’s not a flavor you see everyday. I know those exist but I never tried it before. I know sweet and salty things aren't exactly unpalatable, so I shouldn’t hate it.
“That’s quite exotic.” I said before taking the spoon and starting digging in. Yeah, it’s not bad. I thought it’d be a bit saltier than this, and also there’s vanilla in here I think?
“So how is it?” Wiina asked.
“It’s good.” I said as I keep eating, there are a lot of toppings on this as well. “So what’s the occasion?”
“Nothing important. I just heard what you said happened in the group chat and got inspired.” She explained. The whole Lrem being at sea? I guess that would make you think of seasalt.
I felt like I missed something important even if from the looks of it she isn’t really willing to indulge me on the details.
“You know anything about that whole mess?” I asked, just in case she somehow knows about it.
“Not really. I don’t see others talking about it, so it probably isn’t a big deal.” She explained. If she means those two and the others who are so beyond normal people at this point, then that really doesn’t tell much. For all I know there’s a secret war going on or someone making a very important discovery that all of them already know of and don’t find it interesting. “Have you researched it yourself yet? Maybe there’s some sightings of what happened. We all know by now that she is simply too valuable of a fighter to be sent out doing menial chores.”
“All I got was the ocean waves being chaotic and that’s about it. If something happened it’s probably near the edge of the area into the open ocean. Doesn’t look like it happened close enough to the shore for any passerbys.” Is that how you even describe it? Whatever, I do at least know that whatever they were doing is probably very action-heavy. What else could you expect from hiring a powerhouse like her? I wonder if that description is considered more… What am I saying, of course it’d be more flattering than calling someone a gorilla.
“Let’s just assume there’s a skirmish and leave it at that.” Wiina said. I guess we really could just do that, assuming whatever she was doing doesn’t lead to more consequences later on that Wiina needs to look after.
“Yeah. I guess we should.” If something does come up she might try to contact me about it again. As it is, it seems to be a job well done, so there is no need for concerns right now.
It does seem like Seemi was arguing with others about something? But that seems like a completely different topic that just came up at the same time. Seems kinda trivial, so there’s no need for me to dwell on it.
Anyway, this is delicious and all but it’s still a lot. I’m not particularly hungry right now and I have other things to focus on at the moment.
“Can you like… put it in a freezer or something?” I asked as I put the spoon down. I wanna go do something on the computer right now. Got something to schedule for tomorrow and also I want to make sure I keep up with the current news. Gotta find something to yap about during the stream for engagement.
“Sure. This should work.” She said before pulling the tiny table away and covering up the fancy treat with an ice box on top. “It’s not gonna melt, but it’s very cold so be careful.”
“Thanks. I’ll go work on stuff now.” I said before walking over to my dedicated computer set-up. First off all. Let’s look this up and then…
———Kenni———
<7: 51 pm>
Oh? I wasn’t expecting visitors from out of town at this time of day. Here I thought those people would’ve been more than enough deterrent to stop people from waltzing in.
No matter, as long as it’s someone fun then that’s good enough for me. Looks kinda old, with what seems more like a wizard’s robe than a coat, but the darkness of the night makes it hard to tell for sure.
Of course I don’t really know if this is friend or foe, or just someone boring, but to appear during this time implies less than savory reasoning, especially during these times where traveling during the night isn’t considered safe. Not that things were sketchy even in the past before magic and monsters showed up, but now you look rather foolish for wandering out even this early into the night.
Anyway, I guess I’ll just stay up here and observe for a while. No need to be super subtle. If he’s not here for me he would’ve ignored me and gone on with his usual business.
His rather stern expression makes it hard to believe that he’s just visiting a friend or a family member, and the grab tells me he means business.
“What are you doing up here, young lady?” I took my eyes off him for a few seconds and suddenly he appeared behind me on the roof.
“Whoa! You scared me there! What’s the big idea, old man that I don’t know.” I said, feigning surprise. I want to see if he’ll try to leave my line of sight or close in on me if I show any vulnerability. Guess it’s the latter on that front.
“The better question to ask is why are you pursuing me. As far as I understand it, neither of us have ever met.” He said while keeping his expression calm, showing no clear bias or strong emotions.
“Just curious about a new face, especially coming into town during the night. I know monsters don’t really show themselves as often inside human settlements, but this is still quite reckless unless you’re in a hurry for something.” I give him my observation.
“You could say I am in a rush.” He said with a flat tone. I doubt he’s going to entertain this conversation for much longer. Should I cut to the chase?
“Anyway. Friend or foe? It’s rather suspicious for you to come here at this time with that getup. Enchanted clothes aren’t exactly common. In fact, for most people, they don’t even know that it exists.” No need to string him along. Just talk and if it goes south, then I go for the kill. It’s that simple.
He doesn’t say anything. That silence alone is enough to say he’s not here to be all chatty and friendly. If he’s not gonna be a fun talking partner, then might as well entertain me another way.
*Zip* *Swing* *Block*
I quickly fly from in front to back quickly and swing my right arm at him, only for it to be quickly blocked. Seems like he got a bit of strength in those old bones of his.
*Zap* *Punch* *Crash*
“Ow!” He then conjured a lightning spell that hit me right in the face and followed it up with a punch to my chest that sent me flying off the rooftop. Hadn’t been hit that hard in a while.
*Blast* *Block* *Blast* *Block* *Blast* *Block*
He then quickly threw out a bunch of smaller energy attacks that aren’t too hard for me to repel. He sure moves quickly, and it seems like he won’t take a pause for a chitchat mid-battle.
———Karra———
<7: 56 pm>
“...It seems that you also felt that.” Wiina said after noticing me taking a pause. Such a battle taking place right now? Even though it is technically night it is still quite early, not everyone is going to be holed up in their house right now. “It’s at the edge of town, so I’d imagine most of our friends didn’t quite detect it even if the two powers clashing aren’t being very reserved.”
“Shouldn’t that be quickly dealt with? I can’t imagine anyone wanting this place to get damaged.” I said, with how other skirmishes even close to town get quickly resolved.
“Who knows? Maybe they don’t think of it as something particularly pressing. They might have other things to focus on right now.” If that’s the case, then whoever is involved ain’t gonna get anyone to bail them out.
“...Can you do something about it?” I asked, even if I’m pretty sure she’s going to step in eventually.
“Hmm…” She mumbled to herself, playing coy at this time. Is she going or not? Or does she think that the others will step in first?
———Kenni———
<7: 59 pm>
*Zap* *Blast* *Zap* *Zip*
He surrounded himself with multiple layers of barrier and kept firing projectiles at me. He sure does fight like a mage. It’s rather annoying that he won’t fight me in a melee, but it never looks like he’s gonna entertain anything I say or do anyway.
I have to keep navigating through and flying around the attacks as I try to close in and chip those barriers he makes. Looks like he’s not very confident in his own durability.
It seems like he’s very confident in his ability to outlast me or even hit a clean shot on me by the end of the fight. It’s already being drawn out as is, looks like I need to speed things up a bit. How about an attack that’s more akin to an anti-tank missile?
*Blast* *Pierce*
Before I could even thinking further on any sort of strategy in the middle of dodging all of these magical projectiles, suddenly a tiny beam of energy was shot out and hit through the barriers, breaking them instantly and hitting him right in the chest and even tore off his protective set of clothes that cannot withstand the damage inflicted by that sudden attack.
“Ugh! Gruk!?” He seemed very confused as he slumped down and tried to stop the bleeding from the hole in his chest. Look, I’m just as confused as you are. I didn’t even know there was a third person here until that attack.
I look in the direction that attack came from, as I see orange hair fluttering in the wind.
She jumped down and confronted the two of us, her expression isn’t what I’d call friendly.
“I guess the multiple warnings in the past can’t fully stop those fools.” She mockingly said as she walked over to the old man clutching his chest. The wound is quite small despite how it easily pierce through everything, so he’ll probably live just long enough for whatever Rico is planning. “Alright buster. Spill everything and I’ll do you a solid and kill you swiftly. Otherwise, I happen to have multiple torture chambers cleared out not too long ago, you can go sleep in one of those if you’re being difficult.”
The old man didn’t say anything as he struggled to get up to his feet. It seems that the sudden disruption to him maintaining his spell caused a leak in his mana pool, causing him fatigue that doesn’t help with the hole in his chest.
“Not going to say anything?” Rico said with a smirk before looking at the few belongings on him that fell out when his cloak was torn up and he suddenly fell down. “Doesn’t look like you have your badge on you. A bit of foresight I didn’t expect you to have, but no matter. I’ll extract information out of you one way or another.”
*Grab* *Lift*
She grabbed him up by neck as he struggled and tried to not bleed out badly.
“Well then, let’s get you somewhere more comfortable then, if you’re not gonna talk right now.” She said before turning around to look at me. “Sorry kid, can’t have people fighting in these neighborhoods on my watch. You know how it goes.”
*Zoom*
She then disappeared in a flash before I could say anything. Heh. Maybe I really should’ve been more serious in that fight. Admittedly it doesn’t look like either side are doing their best, I still don’t know what that guy’s deal was, but it’s over now, and I’m not gonna test my luck with her of all people… Not that I can, she already left, so I don’t really have a choice anyway.
…Alright, I guess it’s time for me to go home. So much for all of that.