The guard is approaching us and looking at us with a suspicious look. Of course, there is no way we can easily get into the city freely. The guard is full of armor, but not just normal armor. It has black mask and black gloves covering his hands, a dark grey chestplate covering his body and attached with the leggings. He has a long red cape on his back, it's almost like the figure we just fought a few moments ago, but smaller and… weaker than him. He looks so thin even with the armor.
"Erhm… Do you have any problem with me, young lady?" He said after he coughed a bit to catch our attention.
I quickly shake my head in panic to tell him if I have no problem with him. My body moves by itself and hides myself behind Lunette's to avoid his gaze. He's so scary. I can't help but take a quick glance at him from Lunette's back as I keep hiding myself.
Selene laughs at us and speaks in excitement, "This young lady is really funny. And you don't need to scare her, right? This young lady is quite shy." She glances at me with an amused look in her eyes.
Now I start to think again, I usually this shy, but why when I was in Euler I didn't need to hide myself behind Lunette? Is it because I feel comfortable because Big Sister Wave and Lunette always accompany me everywhere I go?
The guard scoffs and speaks to Selene again with a neutral tone, "Fine then. So, what do you want now, Selene? Everyone in this city is talking about your clumsiness with your quest, you know?" Then he chuckles a bit at Selene in a teasing manner.
I can tell if this guard probably has a crush on her judging by his tone. I don't know for sure, but it feels like that. Selene is just giggling along with him and exchanging some jokes like they were close friends. Meanwhile, I'm just standing in place and waiting for them to finish their conversation. It doesn't feel like it will end soon anyway, maybe I should take a look from here.
My eyes are scanning around the place and I notice something weird. We just passed through the Teryu Forest, but I'm still curious about why the whole city's paths are made of sand. It's so very opposite when the forest is full of life and green but the city is so yellow and… almost empty? I can see a few plants that suit the desert's biome and the resident doesn't look like they see it as a problem as well. I wonder if I'm currently in the desert or in the middle of the forest. The building is so futuristic with metal and glass materials, some of the residents are using high technology properties to help their daily lives. The whole city is so peaceful and everyone looks so dignified as if they're nobles.
After a while, Selene grabs my and Lunette's hands with her hands then speaks with her usual cheerful tone, "Now, ladies, let's get inside the city. Are you ready? It might shock you both a bit."
I nodded at her and let her guide us before she asked us a question, "By the way, do you have devices? You both will need it though."
Me and Lunette looked at each other then she said with an innocent tone, "Devices, huh? The one that you put on your ear? No, we don't have it." She tilted her head aside with her innocent face.
The guard facepalmed his face and spoke to us, "I never knew if someone lacks information like this. This city is very famous so you must have heard about some tools that are made from here, have you?" The guard looked at us with a confused face.
I bravely spoke and finally let out a soft voice, "Actually, I never heard of it. I only heard that the first hero once came here so we want to know about it. And our big sister is the one who handled all of those things and about giro." I continued speaking from Lunette's back with a neutral yet slightly shy tone.
Right, I never used giro before. Big Sister Wave is the one who handled the currencies so I never bought anything with myself. I heard that giro is an international currency so we can use it without any problem. The first hero is the one who made the currency system and copied the system from his world. We can use giro as a transaction in every country, so I think we shouldn't have to worry about our currencies. The Guild Master gave us a lot of giros after we finished the first quest and a bonus from staying alive from the tragedy. I can't help but see a fatherly figure on him. Big Sister Wave gave us some pocket money as well to help us on our journey.
The guard sighed as if he already gave up on us, "Wait here, it's my duty to give a newcomer a device." The guard walks into the guardhouse, leaving us in silence.
"Very well, now I will tell you the usage of the device." Said Selene in excitement before she continued, "The device is a tool that allows you to access many features easily. Like if you want to pay for your things you don't need to bring your money in your pocket anymore. You can pay with your device in an easier and more efficient way. This method makes you barely get stolen."
Me and Lunette nodded in understanding as we continued to listen to her explanation. This is just a beginning, but I can see the benefits are coming a lot from her explanation. This tool is really handy and so efficient. To be honest, this tool is probably the best tool I ever know after all of this.
She continued her explanation, "Well, you can access any information with the device and you can view the map, track your destination, or translate a language from another country. But you have to be careful since someone can still be able to steal or disrupt your device so you need to stay cautious."
After a while, the guard came out with two devices in each hand then handed it to us. Lunette took it without any hesitation like usual, how rude of her. Sometimes her nature is really maddening and reckless. Meanwhile, I took another device from his hand with a slight wary. My hand trembles a bit as I feel nervous, I never take anything from a stranger, but if I don't take this we probably will have a difficult time in the city.
The guard spoke to me with a firm, yet curious tone, "What's wrong? Just take it already, it's not like this is dangerous." He stretched his arm further to me.
Ugh… My heart was beating so fast until I reached the point where I could hear my own heartbeat. I stretched my arm even further but slowly, reaching towards the device to take it. I can see the guard was curious and started to lose his patience. Well, can you blame me? He's so scary with his armor. I closed my eyes and quickly took it from his arm then ran away behind Lunette.
The guard sighed and spoke with a slightly annoyed tone to us, "Finally, now just go enter Nexus and have fun." Then, the guard looked towards Selene and spoke with a soft tone, "And Selene, welcome back. Don't put yourself in danger anymore, okay?"
Selene smiled at him and waved her hand at him before walking with us into the city. I put the device on my ear and suddenly a message appeared in front of my eyes out of nowhere. My eyes widened and I stopped walking for a while. I don't know what to do or what happened.
The message says, "Welcome to Nexus, the city where we write our own future."
Woah, it's so weird, even there is the voice from the message too. My mouth opened by itself and I bit my lower lip. I don't know why but this thing is kind of scary in its own way.
Selene chuckled at me and spoke with a teasing tone, "Don't worry about that. It can't harm you or do anything at you, instead it will assist you. But I know it might be a bit scary for a first timer."
A voice spoke right into my brain with a robotic tone, "That's right, Luna. Don't worry, I'm just your assistant. Let me know if you need me to help you with anything." Then the message disappeared out of my sight and my vision turned back to normal.
I can't help but be surprised again by the sudden voice that spoke through my mind. This feeling is weird, but I need to get used to it. Selene laughed at me along with Lunette, she doesn't seem like she found it weird. A blush appeared on my cheeks, it's really embarrassing that I was surprised by only a message.
In a short time, I stopped while they were laughing a bit at me to inspect anything about this device. There are some icons in my sight on my top left, but when I tried to press it with my hand, nothing seemed to happen. Despite my effort, it only felt like pressing air. In fact, I really am pressing air. I don't understand how this thing works. I looked at Lunette and found herself struggling as well. Her face showed confusion and curiosity about this tool.
Selene spoke to us like a guide to a customer, very informative, "You don't need to press it with your hands. Just use your mind and imagine it." She tapped her head repeatedly.
Imagine… Imagine… What should I imagine? I tried anything to imagine, something to move it like pressing a button. But everything didn't work for me. I tilted my head in curiosity since I can't do it.
Selene chuckled again and spoke, "Seems like you can't do it yet, huh? Fine the-"
Lunette shouted and spoke in excitement, "I can do it!! I never thought we could even search some information about monsters with this too!! We don't need to read a book anymore as long as we have this!!" She jumped in excitement and tapped her feet on the ground many times like a kid.
I shook my head in embarrassment after seeing her act like this. We're 15 years old already, and she is still acting like a kid. Everyone around us was watching us and some of them were laughing due to her childish behavior. Meanwhile, Lunette just smiled with her carefree nature like she didn't do anything embarrassing. Selene couldn't hold her laugh anymore and started laughing madly. I bit my lip to hold my own embarrassment, but looking at Lunette who started laughing as well as Selene, I couldn't help but giggled as well along with them. The firm expression from my face faltered and changed with a shy smile that kept widening on my face.
Selene spoke at me with a slight joking tone, "Well, you're finally laughing, eh? Maybe you should smile a bit more often, you know?"
I stopped laughing and made a surprised face before speaking, "R-right. Maybe I'll try next time." I looked away as the embarrassment was taking over me.
Selene shook her head and tried to change the subject, "Luna, I'll try to make it easier than you to use this device. There are some features in it, but there are three important features in this device that you should remember."
I nodded my head and waited for her to continue her explanation as my face showed a slight hint of curiosity.
She nodded and spoke with a gentle tone, "Then, the first one is pocket." She pointed at my top left side as I quickly pulled my gaze at it, then she continued, "If you say 'pocket' it will automatically open that window and it will show your money. You can buy something from that window as well if you have enough money. And if you say 'close' it will close the window in front of you."
I tried to open my mouth and said "pocket", then the window that she mentioned before appeared right in front of me. My sight was covered by the window and made me hardly see my surroundings. Though, it was slightly transparent so I can still be able to see, but not clearly. My eyes moved, scanning it and she's true, there are some photos from the items that are kind of weird and strange in front of me. There prizes are written under the items' name as well. Once my eyes reached the last item, the window scrolled by itself and showed more items again. My head started feeling a little ache because I never saw something like this.
Selene spoke again with a soft and gentle tone again, "If you're done, there is a currency on the top right too. You can see it if you want to know how many giro you have right now."
I took my time to peek at the top of my right due to my curiosity. After my eyes saw the currency, I couldn't help but be surprised by the amount. It feels like thunder just struck me as I saw the amount. It's ten thousand giros! Can you believe this?! Even five thousand giros are enough for you to live for a year. Did I just get it from the previous quest? I don't know, but I need to compose myself and not let anyone know about this with my flat face.
I opened my mouth and spoke with a neutral tone, "C-close. Then, Selene, please continue."
Selene looked a bit curious, but she didn't want to intervene and spoke with the same gentle tone, "Well then, there is a map and information. You can access it the same way you access your pocket. Now, let's have a walk, shall we?"
Lunette and I nodded together and began to walk along with her. The path is covered by sand and there is a slight, small stone in the path. The air is surprisingly cooler than I thought. Before we entered this city, we were in the forest and I understood if the air was cold. But we're now in a city that is almost all covered by sand, so I never thought a desert would be so cold. It's not exaggerating if I say we really are in a desert. I mean, the trees only need a little water and so do the animals.
This city is big too, but the ground and the building are very contrary. This place is completely different from what I think about "desert" and I don't know where I am anymore. It feels like I'm in the past, yet in the future at the same time. Despite how strange it is, this place is really beautiful. The sky is so clear and I started to wonder if we can see a starry sky without reaching a high place.
The buildings are big and tall, we barely can see the top of it. These buildings are made of steel and glass, I can even see my own face reflected from it. As I found a random chuckle from everyone, I quickly looked away with embarrassment.
Lunette spoke to me with a teasing manner, "Luna, don't make us like dumbs. I know you're curious, but please don't do that." She spoke to me and somehow her face was convincing and that made me annoyed.
I countered her words with a defending tone, "Just look at yourself, jumping and tapping the ground like a kid!" I huffed at her in an annoyed tone.
Lunette was surprised but spoke back to me again, "Hey! That's two different things, you know?!"
Selene separated us with her hands and spoke to us, "Hey, hey, don't fight like this. Why don't we just-" She stopped in the middle of the sentence when she looked at the paper on the wall.
I tilted my head as curiosity took over me. I pulled my gaze from her towards the same direction and found a wanted poster. I was surprised as well when I saw the person in the poster and my eyes widened. I shook my head in disbelief and looked back at the poster to make sure if I saw it wrong. But no matter what I do, this is the reality, I guess we just met a dangerous person in this city.
The poster is written, "The symbol of rebellion, a masked devil from the eternal darkness, Chronexus. If anyone has some information about him, you will get 1000 giros, and if you caught him, you will get 1000000 giros. Tell us if you know anything about this traitor."
"A symbol of rebellion", huh? I am kind of curious about him. We met him a few hours ago and had a fight. He's really strong and merciless, but he didn't seem like he wanted to kill us even if he could. He said something about "Don't come to Nexus" or something like that. I think this city has its own problem. I can see the solemn expression is spreading from Selene's expression, maybe she has a problem with him too.
We continued to walk down the street and finally reached a blacksmith shop… Or maybe a factory? I'm not sure, not a usual blacksmith that I know. This place is completely different from Niel's place.
The blacksmith spoke with full energy in his tone, "Welcome! Ah, it's you, Selene. What's wrong with you?" He smiled at her with a hand on his hip.
His figure is very big and muscular just like a normal blacksmith. There is a slight scratch on his cheek and his eyes are dark grey. I think this is what they mean by "muscle head". From the top of his head until the bottom of his toe, I can only find muscles just like a lump of meat. Right, he looks like a rhinoceros at this point.
Selene spoke with a cheerful and teasing manner, "Roden, stop joking with me. And I'm fine, thank you." She stuck out her tongue then she continued, "I only want to show these girls about this city."
Roden, the blacksmith, laughed at her and spoke with the same energy in his tone, "I see, I see. So, girls, what do you need? I tell you first that I can make everything in this world, okay?"
Lunette's eyes were sparkling with joy then she spoke, "Really?! You seem like you're the best blacksmith in this city judging by your aura."
Roden laughed at her comment and replied to her words, "Seems like you have a good eye, young lady? My name is Roden, just let me know if you want to buy something or want me to make something. Selene, take them with you and show them about this shop."
Selene nodded and spoke with a gentle tone, "Okay, Roden." Then she looked at us and spoke again while putting her hands on our shoulders, "Let's have a look, shall we?"
I showed a slightly reluctant expression on my face. I want to have a talk with Roden for a while, but I don't want to refuse his kindness. I don't know how to refuse it in a polite way. My hands started fidgeting in an uncomfortable way, and I tapped my feet repeatedly on the ground as I thought about how to refuse it. My mind is full about should I refuse it or should I give in.
Lunette noticed me and spoke to me in a teasing tone, "Luna… Just tell me what you want and let your twin sis help you, okay?" She smiled widely in a teasing manner at me.
Ugh, that face. It makes me so uncomfortable. She always annoys me whenever she can, so childish.
Lunette leaned her face towards mine and spoke again in a more teasing manner, "Well, what's your answer, Luna?"
I couldn't help but feel annoyed and pushed her face away from me using my hands and spoke, "No need, I only want to have a little chat with Roden without you." I frowned at her and pouted a bit.
Roden tilted his head and spoke with a curious tone, "Talk with me? Sure. I mean, I'm free right now, of course."
I was surprised by how easily I could ask him. And Selene didn't seem like she minded it either. Lunette smiled at me, but this time with a slight hint of affection. I wonder if she did it for me or if she just wants to tease me like usual. I can't tell quite sure what's on her mind, but I think I have a little thanks for her.
I looked at Roden with a complicated expression on my face. I fiddled my fingers in my clothes in nervousness and my eyes darted everywhere in the room. The room feels so awkward, no one talking or doing anything. Roden looked at Selene and signaled her to leave me and him alone for a while. I stole a glance at her from my shoulder and looked at her with hopeful eyes.
Selene smiled and pushed Lunette's back from behind before saying, "Alright, Lunette, let's have a look over there, shall we?" She seemed to understand what Roden was trying to say.
Lunette was clearly annoyed and spoke to her, "Hey! Stop that! I can walk by myself! And I can't leave Lune alone, you know?!"
She tried to resist it, but Selene continued to push her out of my sight towards the other room of the store. Selene gave me a signal to encourage me to talk with Roden, before she closed the door. The room feels so quiet and empty. There are no customers in the store, except me. Roden's figure made me scared a bit and kind of… uncomfortable.
Roden sighed and spoke to me with a gentle tone, "So, what do you want to talk about, young lady?"
I quickly looked at Roden after he spoke to me. I'm not a person who usually asks someone to have a chat first, but I want to know something. I composed myself and grabbed my clothes tightly with my hand as I gathered the courage to speak.
"I'm curious about that… I mean, about the bounty. Selene looked complicated when she looked at the bounty." I said to him with a soft and hesitant voice.
Roden sighed a bit then spoke to me, "Young lady, unfortunately, this city isn't safe for now. Chronexus, the symbol of rebellion is the example. He's one of the rebels in this city that hunts after the nobles and king. No one ever caught him so, of course he left us in fear." He crossed his arms in front of his chest with a serious face.
I think I picked the wrong time to enter this city. A group of rebels, I never thought a future city like this would have trouble like this. I mean, this city is very advanced and the population is peaceful. What do you want to ask for? Yet, there is still a rebellion in this city. I tried to wrap my mind, but I couldn't understand what the rebels wanted. Is it money? Or maybe something that I couldn't think of happened?
Roden spoke to me again with a serious tone, "Young lady, hear me and promise me one thing. Keep this as a secret and don't tell anyone else." He leaned his face towards me.
I tilted my head since I couldn't guess what he was trying to tell me, but I nodded anyway.
Roden spoke with a soft voice like he's telling a secret, "This city isn't safe. The king is very, very crazy and always picks sides on the nobles."
What does he mean? The king is crazy? I mean, this city didn't show anything about the king causing any trouble to the people. Instead, he made the city so advanced and made it successful, right?
Roden pulled back his face and spoke to me, "Young lady, I don't know what you want from this city, but you better leave while you can. Or you will know the dark side of this city and be unable to get away anymore." His tone was firm like telling me a warning.
His gaze sharper at me and his aura changed a bit from friendly into an intimidating one. Everything about him is like giving me a warning as if he doesn't want me to intervene in the problem in this city. But I can't just leave yet, I need to know about the Book of Origin and the first hero who came to this city before.
I gathered my courage and took a step forward before saying, "Sorry if I'm being pushy, but I can't leave just yet. Something that I really wanted to ask is about-"
An explosion occurred near us, and its voice was very loud to make everyone surprised. All of us, including Lunette and Selene, quickly ran out from the shop and gathered around the source of the explosion. We ran in a hurry as if there was no time left and we quickened our pace more and more until we arrived at the source. I panted in exhaustion as we reached the place and my body was sweating. I can see Lunette was trying to make a way so we can get through the crowds.
"Hey, let us pass! We want to see what happened here!" She shouted while stretching her arms to separate the crowds just enough to let us pass.
The crowds were very thick, we barely could see anything through it. Some of them were nudging at each other and bickering while we were trying to pass through. Someone's elbow hit my cheek, but I don't mind it anyway. These crowds barely could move until we almost got separated.
After a while, we finally were able to see what happened at the explosion's place. We can see two nobles' guards and a noble that looked very rich and… rude? On the other hand, there was one man who was crying above a woman's body who was laying on the ground. What happened? The man seemed to cry so hard and shot the noble with an angry glare.
The noble lifted his chin and spoke with a rude tone, "What's with that look, garbage? You don't have the right to be mad at me. She's the one who nudged my arm and didn't want to apologize." He blew a soft breath to his gun from his mouth after he said it.
The man was fueled with anger and shouted at him with a raised tone each word, "YOU EVIL!!"
The noble clicked his tongue and aimed his gun at him before saying, "Evil? How dare a garbage like you call me that? Send my regards to your wife on the other side. Tell her that she deserves it after disrespecting me." The noble slowly pulled the trigger of his gun.
No!! What did he think? She just nudged your arm and you killed all of her family?! Does he crazy?!
My body moves by itself, trying to reach the man who is staring at the noble with anger. I extended my arm towards him and my steps were getting bigger and bigger each step. Lunette does the same thing with me, she ran in front of me to protect the man from the noble's gun. But the guards with black armor were blocking our way by swinging their swords to us, making us have no choice except to step back.
Lunette shouted in anger and yelled at the guards, "Let us go, you dumbass!! Don't you ever dare to BLOCK our way!!" She pulled out her purple sword called Aurius to fight the guards.
One of the guards scoffed at her and spoke with an underestimating tone, "Heh, what can a little girl like you do? Crying to you mommy?" The guard ready his lance and his stance.
Meanwhile, I was still trying to reach the man and shouted at him, "GET OUT FROM THERE!!" The other guard kept preventing me from saving the man.
The noble looked at us and spoke with a nonchalant tone, "Who are those girls? Do they dare to intervene?"
Lunette shouted at him and gave him a warning, "Don't you ever dare to shoot that person, you hear me?!"
The guard thrust his lance towards Lunette to keep her away from the man, "Or what? Our employer wants it so of course he can."
A panic started attacking me and taking over my body. My body was sweating like I just got a bath a few minutes later. My body was shivering, not from cold but from fear. The thought that someone would die again was driving me crazy. These guards were keeping us away from saving him. My eyes kept darting towards the man and the guard who was in front of me back and forth as my head was racing about what I should do. The time felt so slow as the noble prepared himself to shoot the man. My heartbeat was getting louder and louder with my heavy breath.
Finally, the noble pulled the trigger and shot the man. Me and Lunette instinctively moved our legs to run towards him, but the guards kept us away with their lance. We both were caught in a battle with the guards and almost running out of time.
Lunette screamed at them with a warning tone, "GET OUT OF MY WAY!!"
She swung her sword and clashed with the guard's lance. The guard just smirked while defending himself with his lance. I pulled out my sword as well and swung it towards the guard, but got parried by his shield. The time kept running and the bullet was fired from the noble's gun. My eyes widened in fear as the bullet was about to hit the man and my heartbeat is getting faster and faster each second. The battle was going intense like it became a war itself. The swords were clashing like serpents that were fighting for their lives.
As the bullet hit the man's body and got through his chest, I stopped in the middle of my action. My arms slumped down and my head turned blank as I saw the blood escaping from his body. My eyes widened in surprise as well as Lunette. The battle quickly stopped after the man died and lay lifelessly beside the woman's body.
The guard just laughed and said, "Hahaha! Just like that! You really do know how to do it boss!"
The other guard put his palm on his eyes and laughed madly, "Oh, this man is really something! Only if he didn't do anything stupid, he won't die like an idiot!"
What? They were starting to disrespect him even after they killed him? An anger flicked inside me, I can't stand it. Why did no one move or try to help him?! My eyes scanned my surroundings in anger, but then I was surprised. I can't believe this is happening. My arms lost their strength and my shoulders slumped down. I can only stare at the crowds in disbelief.
Lunette shouted at them with a very loud and angry tone, "WHAT'S SO FUNNY?! SOMEONE JUST DIED IN FRONT OF YOU!!" She raised her tone as the anger took over her.
Everyone around us was laughing at the man's death. Some of them were letting out tears, but that's not tears of sadness. It was tears of happiness like when they're laughing too hard. It felt like chaos, everyone in this city is so weird. I thought this city was normal, but they laughed at the poor man along with the guards and the noble. Some of them let out disrespectful comments at the man as well, telling if he deserved it or else.
I grabbed my sword tighter as if I wanted to fuse my sword with my hand. My eyes were locked on the ground and I bit my lower lip until it started bleeding. A feeling of guilt and anger appeared in my chest. A guilt for not being able to save the man, and an anger about the crowds were disrespecting him like that. I really, really can't stand this. My legs were shaking along with my hands.
The guard looked at me and spoke again with an amused tone, "Do you understand now? Now, should we take you to them as well?" The guard pointed his lance at us and underestimated us.
This city sucks, there is no humanity in this city. I can't believe I just entered a city like this. Lunette walked towards me and patted my back, trying to comfort me. But my mind was still refusing to calm down. My blood was boiling, and I subconsciously activated my magic in anger. Now I know what Roden and the mysterious figure called Chronexus mean about leaving this city. I think I'm dragged into a big problem, and we can't get away from this.
Lunette nodded her head with her serious face, signaling me to prepare for a fight. I replied to her nod with another nod then ready myself. I can see Lunette activated her magic as well, along with the guards. It seemed like we should leave this city sooner than we thought.