by Sakon Kaidou
To avoid being wasteful, I stored the Magingear and tried walking through the desert alongside Cyco... but it almost killed me. My job was High Pilot, and my sub-jobs were Pilot and Mechanic, so I didn’t have the stats needed to survive crossing a desert. My END was especially low.
That was when we were attacked by a large number of desert-dwelling worms that saw us as food. I tried fighting back with my Magingear, but while the unit was in good shape, I myself wasn’t — traveling through the desert had left me drained — so we’d ended up in a dire situation.
The worms didn’t seem to be cannibalistic, so La Porte de l’Enfer didn’t have any effect on them, either. But right before things became really bad, I heard a song-like sound coming from the sky. Wondering what it was, I looked up and saw a Magingear. It was my first time seeing one speeding through the skies.
The flying Magingear made a song-like sound as it fired shells at the heads of all the worms leaping from the sand, quickly exterminating them. It was so precise that it felt like the pilot knew where they would leap from — none of its movements or ammo were wasted. It fought with a brilliant beauty, and all the worms were dead in less than two minutes.
Once done with the battle — if you could call it that — the Magingear landed in front of me. The pilot left the unit, and looked at me with eyes of different colors: red and white.
“That’s Fran’s unit, right?” she asked. “Wow, you don’t see a lotta human-shaped Magingears here to begin with, but I didn’t think that Fran made any other full custom units besides my Opera... Huh? Now that I think about it, it’s rare for her to go that far for someone. She’s sociable, sure, but a bit... messed up.”
The pilot spoke without even stopping to wait and give me a chance to respond. Her voice was blatantly full of curiosity, wonder... and nostalgia. She clearly knew the person who’d made this unit — Francesca.
That was why I asked, “You know my sister?”
A moment later, I realized my mistake.
In Infinite Dendrogram, Francesca was a man named “Mr. Franklin.”
Even those who knew “him” wouldn’t make the connection between “him” and the word “sister.” Some would even use it to assume that Mr. Franklin was actually a woman.
I panicked and was about to say that I’d stuttered, but the pilot then said, “You know Fran’s gender and call her sister...? Oh! I get it! You’re her little sister, Yu!”
“Eh...?” I was really surprised that Francesca had told this person about her real self.
People she opened up to were rare. Even in the ToW, it didn’t go beyond me and the sub-leader.
“Huh? But Yu’s a sister, and you’re a man... Are you a crossdresser?” she asked.
“N-No. My avatar is a man, but I’m a girl in real life,” I answered.
“I see! Just like Fran! You’re so alike!” she said as she gave me a thumbs-up, for some reason.
The strange vibe about her was nothing like Francesca’s, but it was still a bit overwhelming.
Still, I brought myself to ask, “Umm... who are you?”
She clapped her hands before answering, “I’m The Ace, AR-I-CA! I used to be a part of the ToW, but now I’m with Sefirot! And I’m a close friend of Fran’s!”
That made me gasp.
The Ace, AR-I-CA — Francesca had told me about her.
She’d started out as one of the ToW’s first test pilots, then left to become one of Caldina’s Superiors.
Her nickname was “Blue Sky Songstress,” and I’d heard that she was combat-capable, even for someone from Sefirot.
The fact that such a person was before me surprised me, and as I tried to figure out what to say...
“By the way, what’s with the outdated red and white two-tone color look?” asked Cyco. “It’s excessive and cringy.”
The sudden insult to the Superior’s appearance made me feel like the air had frozen, and I wasn’t even using La Porte de l’Enfer.
I was a bit conflicted. I wondered why Cyco always verbally abused anyone we met — she’d even done it to Ray and Nemesis — while at the same time slightly agreeing that the red and white hair and clothing combo was a bit... much.
“Yes! Red and white are the colors of the coolest legendary pilot! The excessiveness makes it good,” The Ace said as she gave a thumbs up with a full smile.
She didn’t look the least bit upset. It was like she didn’t even understand that she was just insulted.
“Hugo. No good. My insults don’t work on her,” Cyco complained.
“Can you just... not insult her?” I asked.
Insults make things awkward, I added in thought. Let’s just stop badmouthing people’s fashion, okay?
But now that I thought about it... Francesca was a full mad scientist, the King of Destruction was a half-naked bear, and Figaro and Xunyu were weird in their own ways. Maybe it was a rule for Superiors to have a weird fashion sense.
“By the way,” AR-I-CA said. “It looked like you weren’t having a good time here. You okay?”
“Yes. Somehow... Ah!” I realized that I hadn’t thanked her yet and said, “Thank you for helping me.”
“Don’t mention it. Anyway, you’re not used to the desert, huh?”
“I... Yes.”
Those worms had almost gotten me, and going through this desert any further would be difficult. I’d probably need to switch to accompanying a merchant group or something, but then how would I handle logging out?
“All right, leave it all to me,” said AR-I-CA.
“Eh?”
“I’ll become your mentor.”
“Ehhh...?”
“From crossing the desert to the ABCs of Magingears — I’ll drill it all into your head! Call me ‘teach’ from now on.”
And so, with a forcefulness I’d never experienced before, I gained a mentor.
◇
That was how The Ace had become my mentor and forced me to call her “teach.”
Her constant forcefulness was a bit problematic, but I could tolerate it just fine.
There were two much bigger problems.
First was the fact that her training was actually hellish. She’d started out by making me level up by throwing me into a lair of worms similar to the ones that’d attacked me, putting my unit in danger of destruction.
Then, she made me do “mock battles” (read: one-sided beatings) with her. She’d evaded my La Porte de l’Enfer despite not knowing anything about it, which was completely ridiculous. She’d even made me pay ten million lir to repair my unit, and I was really glad the broken parts weren’t custom-made.
Her vibrant appearance was hiding a darkness that came out whenever she was acting as my mentor. It was hard to complain, though, since I actually was getting stronger.
Not only was I gaining more levels, I was actually becoming a better pilot beyond just my Piloting sense skill level. This positive canceled out the negatives of the first problem, so I could accept it.
But then there was the second problem...
She was likely the apex of all Magingear pilots, and had a wealth of knowledge about machines in general and Caldina in particular, which made her a mentor deserving of respect.
However, as a person, she had a disposition that made me uncomfortable.
“You’re looking for prey even in a place like this?” I asked.
“Yep,” she replied as she looked around the establishment and drank a non-alcoholic cocktail, clearly satisfied with all the tokens she’d won.
She was looking not at objects, but people such as the attractive servers or the young, rich ladies who’d come here to gamble.
“And who do you have in mind?” Cyco asked her.
“Either that Chinese-looking pretty boy with long hair, that lady with a 90cm bust, or that fiery-looking girl!”
“You really don’t have any limits for this, huh? I hope you die,” Cyco put in.
“And you’re as sulky as always, Cy. It’s soooo cute!�
�
“Don’t hug me. It makes me feel like I’m in danger.”
Yes, that was the problem with my teach’s personality — she hit on anybody she thought looked good.
It also didn’t matter to her whether they were men or women.
In fact, it seemed like she hit on women more often than men.
She’d only have tea with some of them, while taking it far beyond that with others. Still, it was something that a fifteen-year-old like me couldn’t quite grasp.
“If you’re feeling lonely, why not get a lover?” I asked. “You’re in a clan. Don’t you have someone you like in there?”
“Nope. I asked our leader, but he awkwardly refused. I don’t know what Carl’s like on the inside, Albert’s a hardcore, iron-faced terminator, Fatoum is handsome, but married, and the old man and lady are... well... old. There are no good love interests in the clan.”
“Doesn’t Sefirot have three more people?”
“They’re not even worth considering,” she said, strongly implying that she was averse to the very idea of loving them.
Looks like even the strongest clan in the world has some internal issues, I thought.
“Also, getting a long-time lover is fine and all, but one-night stands are great, too,” she said. “Both sides fall in love, are drawn to each other, have a tryst of a lifetime, and part ways with only the sweet memories to show for it. You see that kinda thing a lot in movies from my homeland of Italy. That’s why I’m more about hitting on and picking up than keeping.”
“But... three days ago, you said something about getting a real beauty to sleep with you for a million lir,” I said.
“I did,” she replied as if it was nothing.
“Does that really count as ‘hitting on’ or ‘picking up’...?”
“Looks, words, wealth... I’ll use everything I can to charm them! I’m The Ace of love!”
“...Eh?”
“Though, my Superior Job has nothing to do with my sexuality.”
“Now that’s a relief. For a moment, I wondered if that was one of the conditions for The Ace.”
“Ahahahah! If one of the conditions was to make a number of people fall for me, I’d have gotten it three months earlier than I did!”
She laughed, but it was hard to see it as a joke, considering how she behaved.
“Annnyway,” she continued. “I’ve got a good idea of who I wanna pick up, but when I think about what’s about to happen, I probably shouldn’t do it here... Ah!” She looked at me and Cyco as if she just had a brilliant idea. “Hey, Yu.”
“...What is it?” I asked.
“Let’s have some fun later, shall we?”
So she finally bares her fangs at me, I thought.
“My avatar is a man, but I’m a girl on the inside... an underage one, at that... so I thoroughly refuse.”
“Eeehh? But the three of us could have so much fun, right, Cy?”
“Not in a million years.”
“Oh my, what a shame.”
I really appreciated that she never actually forced anyone to go with her, so all you had to do was refuse.
She’d also told me that she backed down if she found out that her targets weren’t single.
That made it sound like she had limits, but it had to be emphasized that she went for every good-looking person besides those in relationships.
“No chance, huh?” my teach continued. “Fran rejected me, too, so now I’ve been given the cold shoulder by both of you sisters. Oh, woe is mee.”
She went for Francesca, too?
“Aren’t you and my sister friends?” I asked.
“Yeah. That’s why I hit on her with the intention of marriage. She rejected me, but she’s still my best friend!”
...She’d wanted to marry her best friend?
I really didn’t understand her outlook on love. It made me want to turn my brain off.
“So what are you into, anyway? Men or women?” asked Cyco.
“Both, obviously,” my teach replied without even thinking. “I specialize in taking the lead with other girls, though.”
“Is your gender different on the other side? Like Hugo?”
“No way. I’m a woman all the way through.”
Her indifference for what she was saying made me heave a long sigh.
“Aren’t you a better fit for Legendaria than Dryfe or Caldina?” I asked.
“Ahahah! Don’t be stupid,” she laughed before making the most serious face I’d ever seen her make. “My sexuality has nothing on the perverts there.”
The words by themselves were like a joke, but it certainly didn’t feel like she was fooling around.
Hearing that made me promise myself that I’d never, ever go to Legendaria.
Following the silly exchange about my teach’s sexuality, I lowered my voice and began talking about something more serious.
“About the roulette game... are you sure you didn’t win too much?”
“It’s fine,” my teach replied. “It was obvious they were gonna cheat if the bets were too high, so I bet when the hole the ball was going into became obvious and threw a wrench in their plan.”
I was silent. Knowing where the ball was going to seemed impossible... for anyone except her, anyway.
“I don’t use my eye unless they’re cheating,” she went on. “It wouldn’t be fair if I was the only one doing it.”
“But isn’t this place owned by Huang Hean mafia? If you bet and win in ways that stand out... you’ll catch their attention, right?”
“That’s the plan. I’d seriously appreciate it if they picked a fight with me.”
“Eh?”
“If you wanna fight tians who aren’t criminals, you need them to attack you first. Otherwise you’re going to the gaol. Ha ha!” she laughed before adding, “As long as they pay their share, even mafia don’t count as criminals here in Caldina.”
This was the first time I’d heard that she’d come to this place to fight the Huang Hean mafia backing it.
Shaken by the revelation, but hiding it well, I said, “Before we came here, you said that there was something you were supposed to get here. I thought you just meant some money for the journey.”
“Ah ha ha! Please. I’m not poor enough to need to gamble to get through the day. I’m a Superior, and the money I already have is on a whole different level than what I won today.”
Right... Superiors like her and Francesca were basically people who made astronomical amounts of money with little effort and wasted it just as easily.
I’d heard that there was a broke Superior who was making money selling popcorn, but that had to be an urban legend.
“The thing we’re here for is basically a stolen article,” my teach said.
“Stolen?”
“Yeah, I’m doing this at the request of the good old company leader... Well, the main source of it is someone even bigger. I’ve gotta retrieve or destroy the thing that was stolen.”
Retrieving something stolen seemed like a good enough reason to infiltrate a place owned by the Huang He mafia, but I didn’t understand the rest of it.
“What’s the point of destroying it?” I asked.
“Sorry, I said it wrong. We’re supposed to break what’s inside it, not the thing itself. But that’s only if it comes out.”
That made it sound like the item was some sort of container.
But in that case, shouldn’t she have said that the stolen thing was the content of the container?
“What is it, anyway...?” I asked.
“Something that was stored away in Huang He’s treasury. Not too long ago, when Canglong the third prince was leaving for Altar, they decided to give a couple of these to him, and when they took them out and got busy deciding which ones to pick, someone came in and stole it.”
“You mean it’s a national treasure?!”
Not a Caldinian one, either — it was from Huang He in the east. Something that important had made it to the hands
of a criminal organization here in Caldina.
Though, since it was in the possession of a Huang Hean mafia, it had probably gotten here through Huang He’s criminal channels.
Regardless, this was big enough to become an international problem.
“It’s exactly that,” my teach said. “We’re bound to get a lot from Huang He if we bring it back to them, and if whatever’s inside comes out, we’ll have to break it... and if it comes down to that, it might as well be us. That’s why I was chosen for the job. We don’t have a lot of members who can fight while being careful not to break something. The old lady’s all about one-on-one fights, while Carl’s unbeatable, but a bit dull, if you know what I mean. I’m the least worst choice among us.”
She’d mentioned breaking the contents of the object again.
It was a foreign national treasure, yet she was speaking as if breaking it was inevitable.
“...Teach,” I said.
“What?” she asked.
“Can you describe the stolen object in detail?”
“Ohh, it’s a—”
Before she could finish, the casino became astir.
Suddenly, dozens of people in black suits ran out through the staff doors, and half of them gathered in the eating space — around our table, specifically.
This is...
“Hahahah!” my teach exulted. “See, Yu? I knew that talking about something that big was gonna make them pick a fight with us!”
“You could’ve told me about this...”
“Well, you can look at it as just some observation and perception training!”
Those two words almost made me remember the silver-haired boy I hated, but I did see her point.
The black-suited men who weren’t surrounding us were kicking out the customers, who were complaining, but had no choice in the matter.
“Whoa, now, if you mistreat your customers, you’re gonna lose business,” my teach said cheerfully, not bothered by the situation one bit. “Though... that only matters if this place is still standing by tomorrow.”
She was ready to fight them.
With her hand in her jacket’s left pocket, she was moving something that made a clicking sound.
I’d better prepare, too, I thought.
