Chapter 231: It Across
———Karra———
<12: 31 pm>
“We’re not in the States anymore?” Jeff said as he looked at our location on the hologram map that’s being displayed. “I thought we weren’t supposed to go outside the country?”
“The plan has changed.” Edea bluntly stated as the ship remained on its intended course. “Besides, who is going to stop us? I think you should know by now that we’re above nations, from the smallest to the biggest, none of them hold power over us.”
“Okay, this is starting to sound a tiny bit sinister…” Gregori remarked. That is definitely not a line a good guy would say. “Where in the world are we going then? It’s not like we’re running out of habitats to go to as far as I’m aware.”
“Somewhere a bit more exotic and interesting. I would imagine that all of you want to at least go to a different country once in a while during a time where most can’t even leave the country. Things haven’t settled well enough for most people to feel comfortable. You see how things are in the States already.” They explained. So is this something they come up with themselves or do the others have a part? It’s not exactly clear. “Also, let’s be real here. This isn’t meant to be some sort of educational trip or even for training. It’s just meant to be a fun trip, and what’s more fun and going into an entirely new territory?”
No one seems to be able to come up with a good response to that statement. I think we are already aware of how this kind of trip goes. It’s meant to be rather indulgent for those who have a taste for battle or simply taking in new sights. We don’t really have to do anything specific besides going out there and exploring. There wasn’t some sort of grand plan or lesson to be learned.
Normally this kind of trip would’ve come with some sort of caveat or purpose that only flying out students to a dangerous location could accomplish. It should be both risky and costly to do for even the most prestigious of schools.
Here, it’s just a normal road trip. Meant to be fun for the students, and there isn’t even an assignment tacked on at the end. As normal as it can be for a trip involving a flying ship that is way more advanced than anything that would’ve been conceived within the next ten or so years at least. The progression of technology has been so slow for the general public, it’s quite embarrassing. It would’ve been great if they keep innovating instead of doing whatever nonsense they’ve been doing for a few years now.
“If some of you are afraid of the consequences of breaching the border. Don’t be. Like they said, they can’t do anything about it.” Rico confidently said with a bowl of chili in her hand. “If anything. I would want some sort of chaos as they chase us around. Not that anything has happened so far, so it looks like a dogfight wouldn’t break out.”
“You’re not even the one who would be fighting in that scenario.” Edea pointed out. “I think you would’ve been hoping for another alien invasion, not that those are frequent given your reputation.”
…Are they ever gonna address that in full? That really shouldn’t be left unsaid for this long.
“Nah. If I want to fight those things, I can just leave the Milky Way and take the fight to them. Not that such a thing is even needed anymore. I’ve cleaned the surface of enough planets for the plan.” She said as if it’s just a trivial matter.
“Can it even be called a plan if it’s retroactive?” Edea said. Now this is something I have no context for at all. It’s clear the rest of our group is either blocking out the conversation or listening to it with morbid curiosity. “You were doing it for funsies and as competition against that True Ancestor. There wasn’t a rhyme or reason to it outside of finding something plentiful enough to hunt.”
“Hey. And it works out well for that plan of hers, right? Don’t have to worry about doing it at the last minute.” Rico said while shrugging her shoulders.
“We have a deadline of multiple centuries…” Edea said, looking somewhat baffled at Rico’s statement. “Nevermind, we’re getting off topic. Got anything else to say to the rest of them?”
“What else is there even to say here?” Rico asked. “I guess we’re just not gonna find anything interesting during our trip here.”
“Hah… Oh right. All of you, we’re going to a rather cold place. I hope all of you can handle it. We don’t want to carry back frostbitten corpses” Edea morbidly said. I’d imagine we’d be fine in that regard. Good mana control should allow everyone here to at least shield themselves from the worst of the effects of low temperature. Might still feel unbearably cold in the end.
“If they can’t handle it we can just lock them in here for a while before going back home.” Rico jokingly suggested. I hope it doesn’t actually come to that. I would actually want to see what the scenery is like and take a few photos before going back. Also, Emmie and Kenni probably won’t be too happy that they don’t get to at least fight something there first.
Anyway, I know full well how to handle cold places, so it won’t be a problem for me. I think I have gotten used to the cold more than before, not that winter is ever gonna be my favorite season.
Rico then walks away while Edea doesn’t seem to have anything else to say, focusing back on the control panel and putting the map away.
“…I guess just don’t die out there?” Gregori said, looking a bit baffled. It really shouldn’t be a problem at all. In the first place I’m pretty sure they can’t afford to let anyone die. There has been zero casualty, and not even one person hospitalized from the weekly trip to a dangerous area. “Hey Kenni, how… Oh. She’s on the deck again, ain’t she?”
“I doubt you’re gonna get a good answer out of her anyway.” Useph pointed out. The same could also be said for Emmie. Her dress is deceptively thin and all that’s underneath doesn’t cover too much skin either. They just figure out how to withstand the elements by now.
“Oh. By the way.” Edea suddenly spoke up one more time. “Any store you wanna visit? We’ll pay for anything you want.”
“…What’s even popular in Canada right now?” Jeyst asked, clearly taken aback by the sudden offer. I don’t even think any of us really have an idea. There’s already a lot to look back at home as is… Oh. There is one thing I remember looking at not too long ago. Might as well go there. Since they so generously offer.
———Messi———
<12: 59 pm>
“It is Thursday…” I pointed out as I stared at the news. Some sites still don’t quite understand where the flying ship comes from despite multiple sources confirming its origin. “Can’t believe they’re still surprised by it.”
“People nowadays seem to have really shoddy memories.” He remarked.
“Yeah. Weird sightings are more common nowadays, and those things have a very definitive origin, they should stop reporting on sightings of them at this point.” No point in wasting anyone’s time. Probably better off reporting on anything else.
“...What are you looking at me for?” He said, noticing my staring.
“Don’t get self-conscious already, come on dude.” He’s just one of the many wolfkin that exists in the world now, full furry and all. “Al, you know I’m not the type to judge.”
“That doesn’t mean I like you staring at me.” He retorted. Speaking of judging though, superstition on hair color still exists, or fur color in this case, so the deep blue hue makes him quite eye-catching. He’s obviously not the strongest one here, James can easily fold him like paper.
…People generally think demi-humans are stronger than normal humans on average, and I don’t think that’s wrong, but assuming that to be the case by default is kinda foolish.
“You should feel lucky James is around to absorb some of that fame. His crazy records kinda overshadowed the rest of us, ain’t it?” That guy certainly doesn’t hate the limelight put on him. Seems to take strides in it, even.
“If anything that only puts more pressure on me! They think just because I look like this I need to outperform him.” I think he’s exaggerating the expectation others have. In the first place everyone is competing with each other on some level, so they should hope for him to do badly more than anything.
“I think that’d breed more resentment if you overperform. Just be satisfied where you’re at. You’re not strapped for cash or attention anyway, right?” He got a good amount of money saved up, so he should be fine as long as he goes dungeon diving occasionally.
“Not really. I’m just doing this more to get myself active. Just going to the gym doesn’t feel good enough anymore.” …With people becoming so overwhelmingly strong nowadays, the struggle at the gym feels more like a light jog. That type of business is probably a lot less appealing nowadays, or perhaps feel even more intimidating.
What has the fitness nut online been posting nowadays anyway? It probably looks even more ridiculous than it already is.
“I get ya there. Nothing quite gets your blood pumping like fighting with your life on the line.” At least there’s a monetary incentive to it, and with how strong even normal thugs are and how complacent and useless those cops are, being strong enough to fend them off also helps.
You’d think those cops would’ve trained to handle more supernatural things, but it seems they get a bit too complacent with their tools and willingness to open fire. “By the way, how is that arm of yours holding up? It’s being dangling there for a while now.”
“It’ll heal eventually. Nothing to worry about.” He answered. Last time I saw it it was quite mangled. If that guy he was buddying with wasn’t so quick to rush to his aid that arm might not even be there anymore.
“Good to hear that. What even happened for you to be bleeding out that badly? Care to talk about it?” It’s rare for someone to be that critically injured and still alive.
“...I don’t quite recall, to be honest.” The way he worded it just makes it sound like it was something extremely embarrassing. Nevermind then, trying to nudge someone to recount their near-death experience is a bad call anyway. Good thing we have a good healer on deck even if the cost is a bit high. At least it’s not staying at a hospital high.
“Alright then. Keep your secret.” Guess we’re not talking about that for a while, at least. Alright, time to scroll and see what crazy things have been happening lately… Hm? Kara sent something in the group chat?
…It’s just a mall, right? There doesn’t seem to be anything special about it… Does she have to point out the name of the shopping mall? Maybe she’s out of state again…
…Uh. What? Canada? How did she even get there? I thought she’s in school and… Wait what? Did the school send her to…
Okay. This is way too much for me to process right now. Why does she love to post something so wild here? Same with Lrem as well.
“What’s with that look?” Alsam asked, since I can’t really maintain composure from thinking about all the implications.
“Nothing, just some stuff my online friend posted. Don’t worry about it.” One thing for damn sure is that I should never disclose any association with her. This group chat has become way more than it ever intended to be. I wonder how the infrequent chatters are feeling right now.