Ignoring the trigger quest to kidnap the guild receptionist, he made sure not to put his hands in his pockets as he walked up the stairs.
He stayed on the right side to avoid going against the foot traffic.
Not everyone adhered to that, of course. It was more of a manners thing--and perhaps a matter of convenience, so that everything ran smoothly. It was what his parents had taught him, and something he also believed made sense.
A few more steps, another flight of stairs, and he finally reached Cat's Tail.
Some familiar faces he always saw in Angel's Share were lounging around outside.
Wasn't this one supposed to be in Dornman Port for a guild commission? Schulz thought. The guy had complained before about always being sent on errands, and why it was always Dornman Port.
The man in question noticed Schulz and waved, already moving toward him with the kind of loose, swaying walk that meant he was well past his second drink.
Schulz didn't know the guy's name, but he remembered his face well enough.
And the closer he got, the more Schulz regretted it.
Schulz raised his hand to signal him to stop, because--
"Don't get close, you smell like shi...!"
The guy had probably not washed since his journey back and gone straight for the bottle. The reek of sweat and stale alcohol hit like a wall.
Is that why he's outside the shop and not inside?
Was this guy kicked out because he stinks?
Holy fu--
He had to move. For the sake of his own nose.
"Let's get acquainted when you're sober--okay, bye!"
Walking a wide arc around the reeking man, Schulz broke into a jog and slipped inside Cat's Tail before he could follow. The musty green motherfucker had just gotten kicked out, he wasn't getting back in.
Once inside, Schulz did what everyone always did at Cat's Tail: left the order entirely to the Bartender.
He didn't even look at what he was handed. He just took a long, long sip, drawing it out as he pulled up the System Panel in his mind and began to navigate.
He refused to open the group chat for now. Instead, he did what he always did, scanned his panel for any changes.
Quest panel first.
Checking the usual--
His sipping stopped.
His whole body went still.
For a brief, weightless second, his mind went completely blank, and then it came rushing back.
His quest.
Permanent Quest: Ascension.
The progress had moved.
It moved.
An additional 6%.
It had to be said: compared to Liliane's progress, everyone else's was slow--nearly identical to one another. Zhiqiong had been the fastest among them, until Lepine-Pauline completed her qualifications to join the group chat and snatched that spot.
But among the three of them?
His had always been the slowest.
Which explained what happened next.
A reaction he could not control.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!"
"GET OUT!!" The bartender hissed, livid--
Sangonomiya Kokomi understood that while General Kujou Sara lacked the official authority to declare Watatsumi a foreign land directly, it made little practical difference.
With the military force she commanded and her direct line to the Shogun's will, Sara already had everything necessary to ensure the Shogunate treated Watatsumi as such.
Kokomi had never doubted that.
From the very beginning, Watatsumi had clung to a fragile hope--the belief that the Shogun would not descend to the battlefield herself. Because if she did, the ending would be no different from the one now looming over them.
Annihilation.
Every soldier in the Resistance understood this without needing to say it aloud. Their war had always been against the Shogunate's forces--not the Shogun herself. That unspoken distinction was the only thing that made the conflict survivable.
Their true objective had never been victory.
It was simply to endure long enough to reach the Shogun, and persuade her to abolish the Vision Hunt Decree.
And they had almost made it to Narukami Island too...
Sangonomiya Kokomi had requested to speak with the Tenryou Commission's General before they departed, after they had resolved the rampant Tatarigami. At the time, the Tengu General agreed to her proposal and named a time and day.
Kokomi was now waiting for her to arrive.
Through informants, she had come to learn that Watatsumi soldiers--still alive--had not been transported during the teleportation. They had been arrested and put to labor instead.
Some time later...
A low growl rose in the distance, paired with a steady, mechanical hum that grew louder as it drew closer. Beneath it, the occasional crunch of pebbles rolling under something heavy.
Kokomi turned toward the sound.
"You don't have to keep re-centering the steering wheel like with the truck I gave you before--just ease into it."
A male voice, measured and unhurried.
"Park it over there on that side, so it's easier to turn around when we leave--next to that tree, yeah--stop there, alrigh--what are you doing?"
Dantalion cut himself off mid-sentence.
Kujou Sara had not stopped the car.
"..."
She didn't answer him. She simply pressed the pedal just enough to ensure the tree he'd pointed to wouldn't end up right beside her door.
This idiot was trying to trick her for laughs. Again.
Ignoring his question, she addressed the vehicle instead.
"It handles more smoothly than the truck. The energy consumption, however, is another matter."
She didn't think someone like Atsuko would manage something like that.
"Well, I didn't expect anyone else to use it besides us, so efficiency wasn't really a concern." Dantalion said, before adding, "But I still included a way for someone like Atsuko to operate it without bearing the energy cost."
He raised the purple book in his hand.
Not a manual. It was the book that allowed him to access Ei's energy, on her terms, of course.
Kujou Sara looked at him with a strange expression. Slightly irritated, if anything.
He included such a thing--and yet still made me bear...
When she said the energy consumption is another matter, what she meant was: the stable operation of this vehicle for five hours consumed what amounted to the combined life force of at least 2 ordinary people.
Dantalion and Atsuko remained inside the vehicle. Only Kujou Sara had stepped out to walk to where Kokomi was waiting.
Dantalion had, naturally, made Kujou Sara bring warm canned drinks for the conversation.
Sara sat down and offered the drink she'd brought, despite being the guest.
Sangonomiya Kokomi looked at it.
"It's coffee. Unopened." Kujou Sara said plainly, preempting the unspoken question--and the unspoken concern.
Kokomi took that in but did not open the can. She simply held it, letting the warmth seep into her palms.
"What do you think they're talking about, Atsuko?"
Inside the car, with nothing to do and no interest in games, Dantalion broke the silence.
The windows were open, but they weren't close enough for sound to carry clearly. Atsuko couldn't make out a word of what Kujou Sara and the rebel leader were saying.
Which meant she was free to speculate.
"It should be related to the war, right...?"
"No shit." Dantalion couldn't help but press two fingers to his forehead.
"It is not my place to meddle in matters beyond me." Atsuko offered, having seen his expression.
"Sigh..." He let the breath out slowly. Though inwardly, he thought: Well. This might still be a good opportunity.
'This would be embarrassing...'
"Our agreement," Dantalion said, "is that you would let me witness the world through your narrative. Isn't that right, Atsuko?"
Atsuko nodded. That was indeed what they had agreed upon.
"And that agreement hasn't been realized yet--since we're still seeing the same things right now, so there'd be no point to it."
She nodded again. That was how she'd understood it too.
"Then let me add to what I've already given you." He continued. "During moments like this one--when there's nothing else happening, if you ever want, I can tell you about anything you'd like to know."
"After all, it would feel lighter for you if it weren't one-sided. If you were not the only one sharing your experiences with someone else."
The guilt hit her suddenly.
She felt like he was implying she had been ungrateful.
From the beginning, Dantalion had only asked her a question about the conversation between the General and the Rebel Leader. It wasn't that she had no thoughts on it, she had been thrown onto the front lines during the war, had nearly been killed by the other side.
It was simply that she knew her place.
Being favored by someone like Dantalion did not grant her authority over matters that concerned the General of the Tenryou Commission. What did being associated with him even give anyone beyond their own personal gain?
It didn't elevate your standing. It didn't grant authority over others.
Yes, he had promised her family a comfortable life in her absence, their safety, their peace of mind, but outside of that?
...I might have been ungrateful.
She hugged her knees to her chest without realizing she'd done it, her head bowed.
If she were honest with herself--truly honest--she had been ungrateful.
Her dreams had basically been handed to her. Placed on a platter, with the resources to sustain them already attached.
All Dantalion had ever asked for in return was her honesty.
Nothing else.
She would tell him about the world. He would listen. He never demanded anything from her.
Dantalion spoke again.
"I never asked for your gratitude. Nor your loyalty. Nor your obedience." He leaned back in his seat, resting an elbow on the open window frame. His tone hadn't changed at all as per usual, he did not try to emphasize his words, nor did he put it in way that it had to be taken note of.
"All I ever wanted," He said, "Is your perspective in everything around you. Your truth. In whatever raw, flawed, unfiltered form it comes."
"I'm making this a point because it falls within our agreement. If you can't even tell me your actual thoughts on things while you're still in my presence--how will you manage when you're far from me?"
Atsuko slowly lifted her head. Her eyes were glassy. Confusion and something heavier moved across her face.
"Your guilt, is unnecessary."
Then, catching her expression, he added: "Stop that--you're making me look like the bad guy."
'There it is,' Dantalion thought, privately. 'She's emotionally destabilized after everything that's happened in just the past few days.'
'This won't do.'
Though this exchange had begun as his attempt to draw out her thoughts on Kujou Sara and Kokomi's conversation--it had since shifted into something else entirely.
Because from the outside, looking at the two women now--the scene no longer resembled anything like a negotiation between opposing sides.
It looked like two people catching up over coffee.
The way Sara had handed over the drink in particular. It had made the whole thing appear casual to anyone who couldn't hear the words.
Well. He may have helped engineer that effect when he'd forced Kujou Sara to bring those canned coffees--partly to stir something up in Atsuko.
'Hm..'
Suddenly, Dantalion opened the car door.
Atsuko startled, watching him step out. Before she could react or even process what was happening, he was at her door--pulling it open, pulling her out--
And then the ground was gone.
Air resistance pushed against them as they rose, a sharp, explosive crack of displaced air as Dantalion launched them both skyward in a single leap, his grip firm around her.
Their usual method of flight. Neither graceful nor quiet.
Inside the sound barrier Kujou Sara had erected around herself and Kokomi, none of it reached her.
"I don't think you quite understand your circumstances." Kujou Sara said.
Her mood had curdled--just like the coffee she was drinking. She found herself thinking: 'I came back for this?'
--Chapter End--
[0.1] : Here's the chapter, bro, you're making me felt guilt by giving me powerstones despite the lack of update HAHAH