Chapter 322: Accomplish Free

———Lynda———

<3: 09 pm>

*Clash* *Clang* *Strike*

“Ugh!” I groaned as I collapsed.

“Hmm… I suppose there is a slight improvement.” Emmie said with no clear sense of sincerity in her tone as she walked away while the training ground did its thing and healed me and let me stand back up again.

“You okay?” Glery asked as she walked over, knowing full well that I don’t really have a scratch on me with the healing and Emmie going easy.

“Yeah. Let’s go get dinner or something.” I said before putting my axe away and making our way out of this place. One of the few facilities still usable by students even during weekends, and aside from that giant stadium is the best place to practice. Maybe the simulation room, but the level of improvement you can get out of that is miniscule.

“...Hey, so do you think the fruits are actually harmless or not?” I asked as we walked out of the main building and walked down the path to the exit.

“I wouldn’t rely on them, personally.” She replied as we walked past them. If she says that then I guess I’ll follow. I don’t really want to worry her with a hypothetical.

“I see.” I replied as we walked past the school gate and back onto the streets… Where do we go, actually? Everything I have planned out was for yesterday. Today is very much a free day for me, so I didn’t put much thought into what I’m doing. “...Ah, right. I almost forgot. Did you find the thing?”

“Yeah. I’ll send it to you in a bit.” She replied while playing on her phone as we walked to a nearby fast food place. Been a while since we’ve been there. Anyone who gets sick from eating too much cheesesteaks tends to go there or into the nearby mall.

“We’re ordering the usual?” I asked, seeing that there is a new item on the menu. No discount or anything, but it is a new novel thing. Could be gone in a few months for all we know.

“Yeah. These flavors look odd anyway.” She replied before choosing her orders while I chose mine. Just a few clicks and payment, with that all we need to do is sit down and wait.

“Things are pretty busy here today…” I remarked as I looked around. Maybe it’s just because of the new item, or maybe they’ve been eating the affordable but stomachache-inducing mysterious cheesesteak. It’s probably good to stay away from the gamey cheap stuff for a while no matter how much it can feed a person. We still don’t know what’s in it.

“Hmm… No one we hang out with often around here.” She remarked as we waited for our food. I guess we’re out of things to talk about, so it’s going to be a bit awkward until we split up after the meal.

“Probably just doing homework or something. Not that we really had any that’ll take more than a day.” Already done with mine and Glery already got the stuff for the group project. We can just finish it tomorrow, I feel pretty spent right now. “Oh right, how are you doing when it comes to spells and stuff? Got anything fancy?”

“I like to veer on the side of practicality…” She replied. “Can you stop asking if I can petrify people? That’s scary.”

“Well it would be pretty scary, but that’s also what makes it badass, right?” I pointed out. “Also, didn’t we already ask a few experts on the matter? You don’t have some sort of racial trait to perform that type of ability.”

“And yet your eyes said otherwise.” She complained.

“Hey, I was hoping you’d get something neat and exclusive! That’s usually how you’ll get far in life.” I said to justify my… maybe rather high expectations. I mean she has always seemed more naturally gifted than me, and at least more perceptive in general. “If you get anything like that you’re already better off than me and this axe I got basically out of pity.”

“I doubt such a precious weapon can be given due to pity…” She expressed her skepticism clearly.

“I mean, it comes from Emmie. Who knows what that lunatic thinks about when giving that to me.” She already has her own weapon, and this axe seems to be configured for my use. “Also, it’s not like I’m the only person getting something like that, it’s not super special.”

“Five people is a very small number.” She bluntly stated. “I wouldn’t be surprised if that generosity changed your fate drastically.”

“…Fate feels like a way heavier term after all these magical revelations. Should you really be saying it like that?” I pointed out.

“Why not? I feel like if it was some sort of sentient force we would’ve been warned about that by now.” She pointed out. “It’s hard to say if fate actually exists or not at the moment anyway.”

“That feels like such an existential dread sorta concept, no way anyone who has a definite answer on that is going to spell it out.” I guess they could expose it to be a spiteful prick, but at that point maybe they’re just lying? That’s kind of the thing with it, can you even prove it to someone without… What do they call it? True sight? Something like that.

“It's rare for you to care about such a thing.” She pointed out.

“I think it’s weirder if I don’t care about existential horror. That’s something most people want to avoid thinking about in general. Especially considering what happened.” I bet a lot of people suffered from that after the Eclipse, which is why the streets were so dangerous during the first few weeks. They were genuinely in psychosis from the sudden revelation and their mind can’t handle it.

“Hmm… I suppose actually becoming such a danger is way more likely nowadays. Even if most of the dangers have been dealt with, there are a bunch of fresh faces that can still snap.” She ominously remarked. It’s kinda fun hearing her saying disturbing things when she clamps up when there are more than two people in a conversation. “A pretty morbid thing to talk about. I know that there isn’t really a risk of that happening here, or at least the damage won’t be too bad if it does, but it’s a messed up topic to casually say elsewhere.”

“...Did you talk about it on the net?” She curiously asked.

“It was by happenstance, you know? I never thought it’d be such a sensitive topic still.” I answered. Obviously since they were simple text messages I didn’t take it to heart, but it startled me for a bit. “Really makes you feel isolated from the rest of the world. It’s not like this is the only place with good security, right?”

“They’re scattered throughout the world, so naturally most of us don’t even speak the same language.” Glery pointed out. “Maybe you need to reeducate yourself on what are sensitive topics in this day and age again.”

“Come on, nothing I said online is really inflammatory anyway.” I said while scratching my head. You could try to call me out on being insensitive, but it’s not like I’ll get canceled for that… I’m not even famous online, so what does that matter?

“Back on the topic of being special. I think I’m fine backpacking off you. I’m not comfortable being in the spotlight.” She bluntly stated.

“Really? It felt like I was doing it off you, really. You know how many times I need to rely on you making out the monsters’ formations in order to fight without issues? It’s a lot.” She’s clearly way more talented than me, so I don’t want to hear that.

“As long as people don’t randomly approach me, it doesn’t matter what you think.” I really hope she grows an actual backbone one of these days. Otherwise we might be stuck as a duo for eternity. Doesn’t sound bad, exactly, it’s just that I want both of us to look impressive even when separated, you know?

We’re in an infantile stage of people growing strong and causing a big splash being a sort of status quo. There is obviously those warlords and the likes, but even now the talk about them seems to be in quite a nebulous area, where people can’t quite grasp how dangerous they truly are. It’s hard to understand their impact. Maybe sooner or later we’ll have a better grasp on it like an energy reader or something… Wait, we already have that. Eh, it’s not widespread, so it’s basically the same as not having it.

“I still think we should continue with training. No need for anything too serious for you right now, but you know…” There is a big problem with not being strong in the current age… “I doubt any of us want to be stuck here for a long time. The school lets us go on a trip every week, but not being able to step outside the town feeling safe is such a bad feeling, you know? When was the last time any of us went on an actual vacation?”

“You do have a point there…” She muttered. “But that is still a long way off. Staying here for a few more years won’t make me feel agitated.”

“I guess for you it really wouldn’t…” I commented before noticing that our orders are done. “Let me go grab that, wait a bit.”

She ordered quite a bit more this time around, but it’s well within our shared budget. We saved a lot of money eating that weird mystery meat, so we still have a lot we can spend without trouble.

“You have quite an appetite today.” I remarked as I put down the trays.

She didn’t say anything as she began eating and staying quiet. Even when we’re alone she still likes to take the opportunity to not talk. She’s not much of a conversationalist in general so that’s not a surprise.

…Eh, it’s fine to just relax with nothing but our thoughts. Sparring with Emmie is my exciting moment for the day, I guess. Unless people I follow start posting good videos again. Doesn’t seem like today will be one of those days…

———Lerim———

<3: 27 pm>

“...Why the hell are you here?” I said while barely maintaining my composure. Why. Why is she of all people here!?

“I heard you have good vegetables.” This mousegirl said with her usual deadpan expression. What the hell is happening!?

“What. Is this about my greenhouse? Where did you even hear about that!?” There are very few people who know about such a thing, and last I checked I didn’t tell Karra about this!

“...So can you share or not? I can pay.” She asked with an unchanging expression. What does she even need it for?

“I don’t freaking know. What can you even pay me with?” Obviously I have to play along if I don’t want me and my house destroyed. It’s hard to believe she is only here for that. I already give away a decent amount of them to someone else as well, I don’t have that much left.

“Gold bars, diamonds. salt rocks… I have a few things in my possession.” She answered. Do I even have a place to sell the former two things? I don’t think I do. Also I already purchased all the salt I need and the idea of breaking down salt rocks is kinda annoying…

“Do you have… anything else?” I sheepishly asked. Can’t she just say she can give me some money? Does it have to be an item?

“Hmm…” She took a moment to ponder. “How about a mana orb?”

“A mana orb?” What’s that? I’ve never heard of it.

“It’s a special orb meant to store mana for future usage. Just in case you anticipate being inactive for a long period, the surplus mana you would’ve generated can be stored here.” She said before summoning a clear orb.

…I wonder if I can get something like that from Idea. That shouldn’t be impossible, right?

“Sounds good but I am active almost every day, so…” Disregarding the fact that I could maybe get a high quality version of it, this thing isn’t really that useful to me.

“...How about a power bank that you can recharge with mana?” She said before pulling out the item in question. Where the hell did you even get something like that?

“I guess this can work.” I said before taking it. I have tried experimenting with converting my mana into electricity for all the tools in the house, but it feels awkward at the moment since I would need to move things around in the house if I want to make it operate on that and that is not really my priority right now, not to mention the amount of mana needed would probably be a bit much, and if I mess up the entire house would probably blow up. This pocket-sized battery should be okay. I know for a fact that Idea can make me something like this, but it’s probably not worth owing them a favor. “Where did you even get this?”

“One of those underground labs. It’s supposedly an experimental product but it works fine for me. I have a few more from other labs.” She chillingly said. So she also went around hunting scientists and engineers from those shady places… I shouldn’t be surprised, really. “Alright then, lead me to this greenhouse of yours.”

“Right away…” I replied before leading the way. This is such a weird encounter.