"But before we go… Are we right in assuming that you would rather see the Absolute Empire fall?"
As weird as it was, Nastumi had actually never thought about that until now. Sure, she wanted to see Yamato fail, even though that was somewhat on hold due to their promise. But since that had moved nowhere until today, she was tending to be more against him again. But the Absolute Empire was a completely different question. But then again, Yamato basically was the Absolute Empire, and as such, their downfalls would come together, she concluded. Even if he did not die because of Yuki's protection, would it not be easier to get to her if she had a bit less responsibilies? Though, she still failed to come to an definitive answer, she thought if she had to pick she would tend more towards being against the Absolute Empire.
"I suppose so…? Why?"
"Because we offer you to help us bring it down!"
"And how would two people achieve that?"
"Well, first of all, we are not the only ones. Second, that's not something I could just explain to you like that. But if you come with us, you will understand soon enough."
"I don't know… What exactly is it you have a problem with in the first place? The Empire itself, or its current leaders?"
"The leaders, of course."
"So you wish to get rid of them?"
"Something like that."
"Hm…"
"Obviously, I won't let them kill anyone… But if they somehow got Yamato and Yuki to lose their political power, that might be quite alright with me. If things do get dangerous, I could always pull out too, or stop them if I have to. I guess that settles it…"
"So? This is a one time offer, and we need an answer now."
"Alright then, I'm in."
"Sigh… Happy now, Leo?"
"This wasn't about me!"
"Hm? Where you the one who convinced Clara to offer me this?"
"I'm also sorry for how harsh we treated you ever since we met. You seemed like a really good person, so I thought we could trust you… But we can't walk up to just anyone around here…"
"I suppose I understand. But I never held a grudge against the two of you."
"You're a bit weird, Natsumi.", Clara added casually.
"You're not the first one to tell me that, haha…"
"Well, whatever! Now that this is settled, we should hurry. It's already late and I'd like to get out of the rain now."
"Yeah, me too…"
After following Clara and Leo back into the abandoned mineshaft, they went even deeper than before, reaching a camp of sorts. It seemed where Clara and Leo had camped before was merely used by them to stand guard. There was only one entrance and exit after all. It was here where Clara removed her hood for the first time, revealing her tied up orange hair, contrasting wtih her blue eyes. Natsumi found her rather pretty, though she found most people pretty. But having spend almost her entire life alongside Yuki, it was only natural that her sense of attractiveness would be distorted to some degree. To her, the best she could tell was that Yuki was prettier than someone else. So whenever she was tasked with describing someone's beauty to something more measurable, she simply failed to do so. All were equally pretty because they were about equally less beautiful than Yuki.
"Here we are! Our pride and hope, everything we stand for lies in this place!"
"It's… Smaller than I expected…?"
"Yeah, we are a bit short staffed… But it can't be helped. We are already taking a risk with you. But besides that its nice, right?"
It was surprisingly nice, to say the least. The furniture was looking rather expensive, and the wood used for most structures was of a higher quality than just any day items could provide.
"It is… Where did all this come from?"
"Leo here was pretty rich, y'know? Most of this came from his old home."
"Really? You say that as if he has no way to go back to that home…"
"Well, I'm no longer part of an aristocratic family as of now… Or rather, my family lost its status and members to the war with the Absolute Empire. But I'd rather not talk about it."
"I'm sorry for your loss… I assume that is why you joined and helped build all this?"
"It's my primary motivation, yeah… Anyway, let's introduce you around."
Walking to what appeared to be some sort of workshop, where a man and woman worked, both wearing goggles, leather overalls and gloves. They both had brown short hair, and green eyes, but Natsumi did not feel like they were related.
"Those are Boyle and Cindy, they are our… Inventers and architects, I guess? They do all sorts of cool stuff, so if you want something repaired, build or invented, you should go to them. Boyle and Cindy, this is Natsumi, ohr newest member. She's… Really nice? You never really told us your strengths… She did track us down though, so she's pretty good at that."
"Nice to meet you, Natsumi. I'm Cindy, but you can call me C or whatever, I'm looking forward to working with you."
"And you can call me Boss, and greatest inventer that ever lived."
"Ahaha… I think I will just stick to your actual names, thank you though…"
Since they were still busy, Natsumi and Leo left, while Clara helped them out. It was something Natsumi could not identify, so maybe it was something completely new that fhey invented. Or it was just in too early of a state to be recognized. They arrived at a small enclosed shed-like structure,
"Over here is Charlie's space. She's a bit of a shut in, but that's mostly because she needs to concentrate when at work. She's into chemistry or alchemy, I never really understood the difference even though she tries to explain it every time. She's also got a talent for archery, so she's got a wide range of talents."
"Alchemy is usually just about turning one thing into another. It's also less scientific and more of a predecessors to chemistry, though I suppose here they are somewhat in a similar state."
"Does that mean you know places where they aren't?"
"Ah, no! Only my head!"
"So you are somewhat of a chemist too?"
"I have experience in the field, you could say… But it's nothing special, and nothing worth mentioning!"
"I'm sure it's mire knowledge than I have on the topic, so no need to be so modest. But if you insist on not making a big deal out of it, I guess we can move on. Although, the only one that's left is Fred, but he is not here at the moment."
"And where is he?"
"In Yukimato, gathering intel on something that we've been planning for a while. He should be back soon though. He's been there for almost a month now. He's what I would call a bit shady, or rather sneaky. I don't know, it's a bit hard to explain…"
"…"
"Oh no… What if he saw me there? Then, once he comes back, I will look super suspicious, depending on what he saw me do and with whom! I don't even know what to do then… I might just have to return to the Citadel for good then…"
"Natsumi? Is everything alright?"
"H-huh? Yeah! Totally! Everything's fresh with me!"
"Okay then… Well, you can make yourself at home. Feel free to ask if there's anything you need and I will see what I can do. I'm going to go to bed now. Maybe you should join me."
"Huh?"
"I-I mean you should go to bed too, it's been a long day! Not literally go to bed with me! Like, go to bed but in your own bed and—… Anyway… Good night!"
"Ah, okay. Good night to you too, Leo!"
Leo walked off a bit faster than what seemed to be his ordinary walking speed, Natsumi was not sure why it increased now. She figured he was just tired and wanted to go to sleep as fast as possible. Though she was not particularly tired, since she did not need sleep, she figured going to bed anyway was the normal thing to do. After asking Clara where she should sleep, she was pointed to another shed-like structure, with five empty beds. Since Leo was not here, she figured women and men slept separately, which she was not entirely sure about when she first saw this place. Since three of the five beds were messy and had clothes on them, she figured the two empty and cleaner beds were okay to claim. As she sat down on one of them, she found them remarkably comfortable, despite how they looked. But being used to Yuki's equipment at the Absolute Citadel, they still paled in comparison. She was of course grateful for their hospitality regardless. She peacefully went to sleep, already having forgotten about most of her worries since she seemed to be surrounded by so many kind people. As she dreamed of literal sunshine and rainbows, a scope was aimed at the entrance to the abandoned mineshaft, which was quite well hidden through trees and rocks giving natural camouflage.
"Should we engage right away? It was confirmed that they can only leave through that exit right there.", a muffled male voice spoke.
"No, just continue to monitor them and document their actions and patterns. Then repeat until further instructions.", a clear female voice responded.
"Yes, ma'am!"
Natsumi woke up the next day relaxed and refreshed, having pretended to sleep so sincerely that she actually fell asleep right away. It seemed she was the last one to wake up, so she quickly changed from her bunny pajama back into her secret stealth clothes, those being the regular clothes she wore yesterday to fit in. As she left the room, everyone already sat at a table, along with two unfamiliar faces. One was a young woman with short and messy blue-grayish hair and eyes of that same peculiar color, wearing glasses and a stained lab coat, eating her salad in a way that seemed compulsively orderly, making sure to stab the exact middle of each item on her plate with her fork before eating it. The other person was just a guy, who looked completely average, with brown messy hair and red-brownish eyes, enjoying his sandwich in a way that made it seem tastier than it looked. It looked average.
When he saw Natsumi, Leo stood up, and signaled her to sit down at an empty seat next to Clara.
"Now that we are all here, for everyone that wasn't there to meet her yesterday, this is Natsumi, our newest member.
"Sup.", the average guy said.
"Nice to meet you. You must be Fred, right?"
"That's me."
"And you over there must be Charlie."
"…That's me. Nice to meet you, uh… What was the name again?"
"Natsumi! But feel free to ask me if you forget it again!"
"…Okay."
Nastumi's bright eyes seemed to shine too bright for an introvert such as Charlie, so she used the common tactic of avoiding conversation by putting food in her mouth. At which Natsumi also took a bite of a sandwich someone seemed to have made for her.
"Thank you for the food!"
"Don't worry about it. However, more importantly, now that we are complete… Nastumi, it's time you hear the details of our plan."
Leo pulled up what appeared to be an early iteration of a whiteboard, something Nastumi had never seen in this world before. She assumed this was Boyle and Cindy's work. However, the drawing on it was what catched her attention even more. It made her impressed, dreadful and in disbelief all at once.
"The Absolute Citadel, located in the new imperial capital city Yukimato. Both palace and church, as well as maybe other hidden uses. It's height alone makes it one of the most impressive architectural achievements in history. And we, are going to break into this monumental structure."