"All right, everyone take your positions~ Ready~ Go!"
"OHHHH!!!!" "UWAAAAHHHH!!!!"
In a corner of the Black Goose Construction Site, a rickety little table had been set up. Seated on either side of it were Manato and Anton.
Their right hands were locked together, elbows planted on the tabletop, arms trembling without stop.
The two of them were locked in the kind of red-blooded showdown that only exists between men. The tension had reached its absolute peak. The outcome of this arm-wrestling match would decide whether Manato got to come along with the group to recover the prototype — and whether he'd be walking away with a bonus.
Five minutes earlier, Koleda had learned that Manato was a friend of Geno's, and that he was plenty reliable and more than capable in a fight. On that basis, she'd agreed to let him join the team.
But before officially bringing him aboard, Koleda said she needed to verify his strength for herself.
So Anton proposed settling it with a high-stakes, pulse-pounding arm-wrestling match.
"Men settle things the way men settle things!"
With that, Anton flung the jacket draped over his shoulders aside, putting the muscles he'd forged through hard labor on the construction site on full display.
Manato wasn't about to be outdone. He planted his hands on his hips, shrugged off his oversized work jacket, and the powerful muscles barely contained beneath his white undershirt gleamed in the sunlight — proof of every ounce of effort he'd ever put in.
"So dazzling. I feel like I've somehow been dragged into the middle of something ridiculous."
Watching Manato and Anton go at it with everything they had, Belle stared on with dead-fish eyes, utterly defeated as she delivered her commentary on this absurd spectacle.
"You chose this yourself, you know, my idol. So why exactly did you insist on bringing Manato with us into the Hollow?"
Geno stood with his arms folded, watching the two of them — both clearly starting to run out of steam, yet neither willing to give an inch — then glanced over at Belle beside him and let out a helpless sigh.
"Well, that's…" At Geno's question, Belle looked away.
I can't say it out loud! I can't exactly tell him 'I just want to keep watching you and Manato have your bromantic little moments together'!
But whatever Belle and Geno were thinking, the two men still locked in brutal struggle had long since stopped paying attention to anything else.
My honor as a man is on the line — I will not lose!
For the bonus — I cannot lose!
The only things in either of their worlds right now were the arm in front of them and each other.
"OHHHHH!!"
"HRAAAAAH!!"
One final push — both men detonated the last reserves of their strength all at once. The colossal force grinding between them was enough to make the table beneath them shudder and shake.
And ultimately, it finally gave out completely and split apart with a crack.
"Ah!" "This…"
Watching the two of them rendered unable to continue their duel due to the 'destruction of the arena,' Koleda stepped forward at last and announced the result.
"I declare this match — a draw!"
"A draw? So does that mean I…" Before Manato could finish, Koleda had already given her verdict.
"Without question, you pass."
Koleda looked at the table, now in two pieces, then looked at Anton, who was equally spent. Her mind was made up.
"So… my bonus?"
"Come find the accountant after we're back." "Thank you, boss!"
Manato was thrilled. He hadn't expected to actually walk away with a bonus after all that.
Meanwhile, the bookkeeper quietly counted on their fingers and began muttering through the process and figures involved in disbursing said bonus — shooting their company president a tiny, barely-concealed look of grievance in the process.
The president says 'bonus' in one breath; the accountant runs herself ragged cutting the check.
But regardless, Manato had officially joined the team. The group could finally get ready to head out.
---
"How did it go?" "My lady Sarah, everything has been carried out exactly as you instructed. The experimental batch of ElixP07 has been deployed."
"Good. Now let's see just how much potential this thing really has."
A dangerous smile curled at the corner of Sarah's mouth. She turned her gaze to the map of New Eridu — to the position of Thorne District in particular.
A flicker of something — a barely perceptible revulsion — crossed her eyes.
"As for what comes next — we'll leave that to our dear allies."
---
Ravenlock Manor.
Hartman had been in an exceptionally good mood lately.
Though the Timefield operation had failed yet again, there was currently no evidence that could point back to him or implicate him in what had been done.
And thanks to the Laudation Society's assistance, his short-term cash flow problems had been resolved.
He no longer needed to keep trying to court the Timefields' support.
"Not that I'll be letting those wretched rabbits off so easily."
Hartman savored the comfort rising up from beneath him and pressed forward instinctively.
Then, after a brief clearing of the throat, silence returned to the room.
Having dealt with certain internal tensions, Hartman felt refreshed and clearheaded. He turned his eyes once again to the map of New Eridu.
The plan was already quietly in motion. The rebels were making their preparations, piece by piece. Very soon, he would be able to drag Ravenlock — a family teetering on the edge of expulsion from TOPS — all the way back to the top.
"But first — let's prepare a little gift for our dear allies."
Hartman smiled with genuine delight. He was already impatient to see the looks on the faces of the Timefields and everyone else who had ever looked down on him — faces full of regret.
---
Inside the conference room at City Hall.
At the vast meeting table, only three people were seated.
"With that, we have nothing more to say."
Old Master Timefield sat in his chair, watching Mayflower at the head of the table — utterly composed, completely unruffled — and quietly closed his eyes.
From this day forward, the Timefield family would be bound completely to Mayflower and the great ship that was New Eridu.
What surprised him most, though, was the young woman sitting across from him.
"Miss Twiggy, are you certain you want to hand over all the returns from your research?"
Mayflower studied Twiggy's perfectly unmoved expression, then looked down at the documents Twiggy had distributed to the two of them.
What was written on them was none other than the anti-Ether Corruption bracelet Twiggy had been researching all this time.
Once this technology matured and entered the New Eridu market, it would send shockwaves through the entire city.
All of New Eridu would go mad for it.
Put simply, this technology was a goose that laid golden eggs.
And what Twiggy was doing was handing over every single one of those eggs.
"Yes, I'm certain, Mayor. We don't have the capacity to safeguard this kind of wealth. Given that, I'd rather surrender it to someone who can put it to better use — and in exchange, gain a measure of protection. That seems like no bad trade."
As she spoke, Twiggy crossed her hands and rested her chin on them, elbows propped on the table.
It was a habit Geno favored. She had picked it up by watching him, and it had the added benefit of lending an extra air of gravity to features that still looked a touch too young.
____
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