How could Sheeta know who Honekawa Suneo was?
She was recalling the words her grandmother had once said, searching for the entrance to the Laputa Fortress's Central Hub, when she saw Baru running over behind her looking all jittery. He opened his mouth and asked her, 'Who is that tailor!'
Huh? What tailor?
"Honekawa Suneo! I already know his name!" The Boy stamped his feet anxiously, wanting to reach out and hold Sheeta, but then shrinking back timidly, shouting urgently, "He might not like you! Sheeta, don't be fooled!"
Sheeta was completely bewildered:???
"Honekawa Suneo! You said you were going to marry him!"
"I... marry who?" Sheeta looked at Baru and asked with an unclear meaning, "Who do you want me to marry?"
Under the girl's serious gaze, Baru lowered his head and stammered, "Sister said you like Honekawa Suneo..."
"But tailors are not good!"
Sheeta understood something and asked with a smile, "What's wrong with tailors?"
"A tailor... a tailor, a tailor will be very busy! He won't have time for you, and you're so brave and cute, he... he..."
After talking for a long time, Baru didn't even know what he was saying. He just recklessly reached out both hands to hold Sheeta's uninjured palm, lowering his head in silence.
"Baru." The girl shook her hair against the wind, pulled her hand out of his grasp, and then held Baru's hand in return. "Didn't you say you would take me back to my hometown?"
"Didn't you say you wanted to see my hometown?"
"Are you going back on your word?"
Baru immediately shouted, "I'm not going back on my word! It's just... it's just..."
"A tailor can't leave his tailor shop, nor can he take me home alone." Sheeta smiled and turned to continue walking forward. "Besides, I don't know anyone named 'Honekawa Suneo'."
Baru stood frozen on the spot until Mori Tsukisa's group caught up. Then he asked blankly, "She... Sheeta... what does she mean?"
"She means she likes you."
Nagini was quite certain that after the tail of that sentence brushed past the Boy's ears, his eyes almost bloomed with flowers.
"Re-Really?!"
Mori Tsukisa smiled without a word.
"That's great..." Baru paused. "Really..."
Suddenly, the Boy thought of something and turned to glare at Mori Tsukisa: "Just who is Honekawa Suneo?!"
"Ah... he's a friend of Nobi Nobita."
"And who is Nobi Nobita?"
"That's your sister's former name." Mori Tsukisa licked the frosting. The titanic-shaped lollipop had been eaten until only the bottom hull remained, looking quite like it was sinking upside down.
"Mori Tsukisa!!"
Baru really couldn't stand this sister of his. He threw out a retort and turned to chase after Sheeta.
"See, no normal person can stand you." Bastet had watched the whole thing from Nagini's arms. "You always have the talent to drive others crazy."
"I also have the talent to ignore you, Bastet."
The black cat instantly changed her tune: "I just love this talented attitude of yours!"
Arrietty: Another flatterer... as we gradually approach the hub, killing becomes necessary.
Soldiers holding guns, loaded weapons, bombs ready to go—ever since Mori Tsukisa sent out Nagini, the places the group passed through were always scattered with countless severed limbs and blood.
On the walls, on the vines, on the ground.
"Your Attendant is always so cruel."
Mori Tsukisa ignored Bastet's words and followed Sheeta into the passage. It was gradually getting cooler here as they went deep into the core; the walls and floors began to show various carved characters and patterns.
Extremely primitive expressions, coupled with the unchanging royal crest.
"This is what grandmother once mentioned..." Sheeta muttered to herself as she touched the moss-covered wall, "the Children of the Wind..."
Suddenly, footsteps came from ahead. Nagini glanced at Mori Tsukisa, handed the dragon egg to Anck-Su-Namun, and walked silently into the darkness. Soon, screams rang out not far away, then quickly vanished.
The woman walked back while smoothing her skirt, took out a handkerchief to wipe her mouth, and took the dragon egg back from Anck-Su-Namun.
Anck-Su-Namun didn't pull a face the whole time, quietly and gently acting as a human storage rack.
Ever since she learned of and saw the combat of Mori Tsukisa's Attendants—this cold and proud woman with a Mortal body had fallen into a long period of self-doubt.
Every 'Attendant' possessed extraordinary power!
And she... was just a Mortal.
This made the woman, who had thought she was invited because of her own charm and strength, feel truly uncomfortable. This even changed her attitude towards Mori Tsukisa: she was always trying to do something to prove that she was special, that she could compare to Nagini and Arrietty, or even to Imhotep.
Just like when Nagini first joined, except Nagini was truly skilled, whereas she was forcing herself to be skilled.
'Just be yourself, Anck-Su-Namun. If you're talking about being a Mortal or not...' Mori Tsukisa had answered quite heartlessly at the time, propping up her chin with her little feet swinging back and forth in the air: 'You and Imhotep are the same.'
'In terms of combat power, none of you can beat me. Killing Arrietty, killing Nagini, killing Imhotep, killing you—to me, it's just a difference of ten seconds versus five seconds. Your division between "extraordinary" and "Mortal" is a wrong judgment in itself.'
'If you insist on dividing it, I can only say you and Nagini are in the "5-second zone," while Imhotep and Arrietty are in the "10-second zone."'"
These words had made Imhotep smile bitterly as well; he admitted the girl was right.
'So, starting from Arrietty, I don't look at my Attendants' combat power.'
'Just be yourselves. You are partners traveling with me. You understand what traveling and journeying mean, right?'
'The most important thing, of course, is to be happy and have fun!'
It was unknown how Anck-Su-Namun interpreted these words, but since then, this normally cold and proud woman had often fallen into deep thought.
'She's digesting it, don't worry.' Nagini had uncharacteristically said a few words to Imhotep. She had been the same way before, taking a while to adapt to the mode of being by Mori Tsukisa's side:'She needs to find a suitable state for herself.'
On the other side, after Sheeta finished her identification, she led Mori Tsukisa down a small path—an immense number of vines almost completely blocked the gaps, their years of abandonment having allowed these plants to grow lushly.
Arrietty led the fairies to clear the way ahead. Behind them, when Sheeta pressed a switch, the corridor's entrance slowly closed.
"We are taking a shortcut to the Central Hub." The girl listened seriously with perked ears for a while, then turned to speak to Mori Tsukisa: "I don't know if we can reach the hub before Muska..."
Mori Tsukisa was curious: "What is there?"
Sheeta shook her head: "I don't know... on the airship, he let it slip: 'Operate the hub, control the World.' I guess it's a place where his ambitions can be realized."
"Sister..." Without looking back, the tiny girl bending forward suddenly thanked her in a low voice: "Thank you for helping me."
"Can I call you sister?"
"Of course. Baru is my brother, so you're my sister-in-law."
"By the way, have you really decided? Choosing Baru instead of Suneo?"
Sheeta: Just who is Suneo...
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