“Is he an android?” someone whispered.
“Not even an android can produce that kind of strength. Hell, not even the monsters,” someone said, answering one of Clyde’s questions. Airi was right. The civilians were one hundred percent aware of the non-human beings.
“It’s the caffeine,” Clyde said softly. “Alice.”
She nodded, her expression one of awe and curiosity and, of course, pride. She hesitated before activating her skill.
[Alice activated All Calm.]
[All Calm level 35. All party members restore 50% HP, 50% MP, are cured of all status effects, including hunger and thirst. This skill can only restore a maximum of 50% HP/MP. Make sure to take good care of your primary healer!]
“Much better,” Clyde said. “That reminds me, I need to do a few more equipment inspections and make sure everyone’s up to date. We can’t be getting our asses kicked.”
He stood, eyes still on him - the hotel staff, guests, and his friends. “Don’t mind me, sometimes faulty equipment is needed to save costs.”
The hotel staff anime-fell. Clyde motioned at his friends to follow and together they made an exit.
“So, Clyde, I see you’ve been working out,” Chika said wryly.
“Bench-pressing solar systems,” Noona quipped.
“Either that or he’s on ‘roids,” Airi said, voice deadpan. All four women stared at him flatly.
“I sense a Clyde-roasting session.”
They turned to see Seth walking toward them from a distance.
“Oh great, the villager’s coming,” Airi said.
Alice snorted in amusement.
“That’s a new one.”
Chika sighed.
“Better him than Toru. He gave me that stupid look of his this morning, just because-”
“What’s up, guys?” Seth interrupted, now in range. Clyde shook his hand, then patted his shoulder.
“What’s up, Seth,” he said. And nice save, he thought. The women could say what they wanted about the pervert, but the comedian never backed down, not even against the gods.
“I’ve had some time to walk around a bit,” Seth said, “and I have to say the technology in this city is insane. But I’m still creeped out about getting hit on by an android.”
Clyde laughed.
“What’s the matter? You don’t like it in zeroes and ones?”
Seth rolled his eyes.
“You know damned well what you really want to say. Is it like doing a giant mast-”
“The androids are quite odd, onii-chan.”
Naoko’s sudden appearance made everyone nearly jump out of their skins. Seth shook his head.
“You should make sure your presence is known before sneaking up on people, kid,” Seth said.
Naoko just stared at him with kuudere eyes, probably confused by his statement. Or maybe amused. Hundreds of years old, the loli was as easy to read as black letters on a black sheet of paper in a dark room.
“Yeahhh, anyway, I’m headed back to my room,” Seth said.
“We’re having an equipment inspection later today,” Clyde said. “Maybe around three.”
“Yep, yep,” Seth replied as he started toward the hotel entrance.
Clyde took the time to relay that message in the group chat.
“Let’s go. I’d like to look around before we discuss how to meet the princess.”
Attincusburon, Alon consisted of flying cars, hovering super-trains, angry traffic, and a diverse load of civilians. They carried high-tech devices, wore advanced clothing, and a few even travelled on gravity-defying mini-vehicles such as hoverboards. Real hoverboards.
“I’ve got to get one of those,” Clyde said, eyes hungry.
“Good luck,” Airi said. “You’ll need an Alonian license for one.”
“Then how come the kids are riding around?” Clyde asked.
“Their parents have the license,” Chika said simply. “That’s how it is around here.”
“That is horse ass,” Clyde said, not quite giving up on the hoverboard idea.
The group stopped, noticing a man holding his ass as he exited the bar, a grinning woman at his side.
“You didn’t have to rearrange my organs,” he wheezed.
The woman laughed.
“Next time, don’t go for the Jabberwock Surprise when you can barely hold down ale. I made sure to peg you with the Elephantitan Giga strappy.” She smacked his back.
Clyde shook his head.
“Keep an eye on Seth. We can’t have him getting in trouble with these freaks.”
“I doubt Seth would let himself get into that kind of trouble,” Alice said, glaring in disgust at the couple. “Humans.”
“We of the human race disown those two,” Chika said, poking Alice’s nose.
Clyde spared a side-glance at Airi, surprised to see her softly facepalming. And grimacing. He was sure she’d be interested in the fuckery of the departing couple.
“What’s up with you?” he asked.
Airi sighed, shuddering.
“They just had to remind me of the Jabberwock Surprise. I tried it when I was already drunk and too numb to fully taste it. I can only imagine how awful that guy had it.”
“I thought you were joking about what goes on around here,” Clyde said. “I mean, it’s fucking ten in the morning. Bars are open at this time?”
“Yep,” Airi said. “That’s just how it is. Good thing today’s not a holiday. Open pegging and rear-smashing is allowed to run rampant without law intervention for public exposure. That’s probably why monster girls are drawn to this city.”
“Ah,” Clyde said, patting the woman’s back. “Let’s just hope we can get the hell out before then.”
As the walk continued, mostly directed by Airi to keep the party from getting lost, Clyde noticed a few more interesting things. All of the police were female androids. They conducted patrols like normal police; however, that left nagging questions. Are they useless against the wizard gang? Do they not have special android weapons?
His gaze switched to an electronic billboard. Suddenly, it flashed to life with a broadcast.
Announcement from Princess Kaguya. But first, presenting Queen Tarine, read the text. A busty silver-haired woman with a dark tan appeared on the screen. Traffic suddenly stopped. The androids stared up in unison, creeping the young man out a little.
“Good morning, everyone,” the queen said, an accent of some sort in her voice. “I love you all. We continue to make progress on locating the group of wizards and their witch accomplices. Soon, we will put an end to their terrorism. They cannot accept our technological advances, accusing our androids and computer systems of foul play, insisting on the rudimentary ways of living. They cannot have what they want, so the terrorists will try to rip it from your corpses. First, it was an outrage against monster integration, and now our technological system which has been with us for years. We will flush them out. Thank you, and now I shall turn it over to my daughter.”
A girl who looked to be Clyde’s age appeared on the screen, purple eyes glistening with hope. A contrast to her mother’s cold, practical stare. She looked upbeat. Her voice confirmed it. Her tan was light, same for her silver-hair which almost looked white.
“I know Mother doesn’t believe in prophets, but today, my mentor Palona has finally gotten back to us regarding He Who Shall Bless Us. She said he’s in the city right now. He may be walking around with his friends, foreigners. Please be kind and courteous. You may have seen him, perhaps witnessed his super strength or something. If you’re listening to this, Hero, please wait for Palona. She knows all about you. She’ll organize our meeting. In the meantime, please enjoy all this city has to offer. Thank you everyone for listening and I love you all.”
The billboard blinked back into a weather broadcast.
“Well, we have answers,” Alice said, “but I don’t like this.”
Chika turned to her friend, but said nothing.
N
oona frowned.
“You mean the terrorists?”
“That’s a part of it,” Alice said. She shook her head. “I need to meet up with Tear. She’ll know what to do.”
“I know she’s directing the statement at me, but I’m not keen on prophets knowing my location, unless it’s Ming.”
“Ming’s awesome,” Chika said. “I say we get her a present to thank her for everything she’s done for us. Especially, you know, keeping us alive.”
“Do you have any idea what she likes?” Noona asked. “She doesn’t have her bio public.”
Chika shrugged.
“Maybe Natalia… Oh God, I don’t want that runt to have any wagering power over me.”
“I think Natalia wouldn’t mind joining us on this present quest,” Clyde said. “Anyway, I’m-”
Abruptly, two harpies were thrown out of a black building.
“Please let us back in,” the teary harpies pleaded, one of them hiccupping.
“Get out of here, ya drunks! You’ve had too much.” The bouncer slammed the door in their faces.
“Let’s try another bar,” one of the harpies said. Team Stone’s blank stares only briefly followed them.
“Is that a part of their short-temperedness?” Clyde asked Airi.
“A fraction,” Airi said. “You’d better hope this Palona is in a good mood.”
Clyde waved off her statement.
“We’ll see.”
Somewhere…
Dire awoke, panting and angry. Despite the banishment, Su Yang had somehow managed to haunt her dreams. She threatened to invade Dire’s privacy, her secrets. Some nerve. She was given a fair warning and ignored it. Now…
The silver-haired girl yawned and stretched, before crawling out of her hotel bed. She glanced at the rudimentary paper map that Master Aunder insisted on printing. Too bad they couldn’t visit Alon’s capital city. She had heard so many things about their technology.
Online debates raged on. Why wasn’t the technology distributed evenly throughout the entire Nation? The wizard group there were painted as terrorists, but Dire knew the truth. The Alonian capital hogged more than ninety percent of the people’s tax money and invested very little of it back into other cities and towns. They invited monsters to live there, but didn’t take the time to work on the entire Nation. Dire shook her head. They still weren’t as bad as her father.
Hundreds of miles from the capital city, Dire and her master were actually headed somewhere that could help them locate Fatalus. Or probably die.
“As if I’d let that happen. My Master must prevail or just give up on the stupid curse, love both forms, and forget.”
Dire sighed, staring at Su Yang’s spiritual form on her bed. This time, she couldn’t interact with it. No one could. It just stared.
“Give me one good reason why I should allow you back into the plane of the living,” Dire said to the ghost, although… questioning her own sanity. She wouldn’t put it past her to finally succumb to the traumas. After all, only two months had passed since then… Su Yang simply stared at her, eyes lucid, but studying. Dire continued to rant. “You better stay away from my memories, you stupid ghost. Just because your spirit’s untouchable now doesn’t mean…” She sighed. “Just leave me alone. Us alone. I won’t bring you back. You’re not worth gaining the attention of the Punishment Squad.”
Su Yang continued to stare, a smirk on her face. She was wearing a white gown that matched Dire’s.
Episode 59 (Part 3)
Noon…
Hotel…
Clyde peeked around the corner to see the coast was clear. He let out a sigh of relief at finally losing Airi. That woman was going to end up sending him on a first-class trip to Headache City. Either her or Natalia. Just wait until he caught that runt. Alice would have a ball gluing her to the ceiling.
Only an hour and fifteen minutes remained until his equipment meeting. The city tour gave the young man an insight on how things ran. Everything seemed efficient at the first glance, but for some reason, Clyde couldn’t shake off the feeling of wrongness.
There was no way humankind would accept monsters so quickly for one. Hell, it took centuries for them to accept each other on his home world. Why were the androids all female? From shop owners, to police, and even maintenance workers. Shouldn’t the genders be distributed evenly or even neutral? The queen looked damned young. Well, okay, this was anime and a futuristic city. Technology and anime logic probably dealt her a nice hand.
That being said, something just wasn’t adding up. Shit, Clyde would have to reveal himself to Airi for more information about the city. What if the government controlled the internet? What if they monitored search engines?
He’d rather not draw attention to himself until confirming his suspicions.
“What are you doing?”
Clyde spun to see Noona’s gray eyes staring at him with curiosity and a little concern.
“Nothing,” he quickly answered, earning himself a skeptical stare.
“Jiiiiii.”
“Don’t you start,” Clyde said. He realized there were questions he needed to ask the busty demoness. “Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask you this, but what’s the fastest way to cultivate Ki?” He mentally glared at the requirements for his next Ki skills.
Noona tilted her head. “Hmm. I can teach you my method right now if you’d like.”
Clyde smiled. “Let’s do t-”
“But first, we must do that thing,” she said in a lower voice. “You know.”
“Later,” Clyde said. “I need to learn this method as quickly as possible.”
Noona folded her arms, eyes determined. “It requires one to feel good. So, either we feel good or I’m not going to bother. It’d be a waste of time. Besides… I only want to do it with you… for some reason. Maybe it’s because we’re friends?”
“Not really something typical friends do, but that’s beside the point,” Clyde said. He glanced at the time then at the demoness. “Fi-”
“Kun kun.”
Clyde’s stare went blank, knowing that only one person sometimes vocalized her sniffing. He felt her wagging tail pat against his leg multiple times.
“What’s with the secret meeting?” Ruri asked as she snuggled into Clyde’s bubble.
The young man figured a half-truth may get him past her nose. “I was just asking about an alternate way to cultivate Ki,” he said.
A light seemed to flash in the hellhound’s mind. “I know one,” she said, “well, I think so. One of my mother’s servants charges Ki through what appears to be some kind of meditation.”
Noona sighed.
“That’s what I’m going to teach him. This training’s going to be private, so bye-”
“No way, I want petting,” Ruri said, snuggling adorably into Clyde’s stomach.
“You can get petting later,” Noona said. “My lesson is important.”
Ruri turned to Noona. “Is it really, Boobs? Can it not wait until later?”
Clyde was a little amused at the rare frustration in Noona’s voice. Still, he couldn’t have the demoness and hellhound causing a scene.
“Alright, alright, enough of this,” Clyde said, petting Ruri. “Noona and I were discussing the cultivation technique prior to your arrival, Ruri. This lesson is important. I’ll give you a nice head massage later.”
Ruri pouted, but finally gave in with a sigh. “Fine, but I want more than that later.” She revealed a pamphlet to the young man. “Take me here.”
Meat Empire. The hellhound was just too cute. Power almost rivaling Alice, Ruri sometimes felt like a mystery to the young man. She showed plenty of affection to him - they were even compatible by some unknown demonic system that only seemed to spawn like an annoying Dues Ex Machina.
Clyde chuckled.
“Alright, we’ll go after the equipment meeting.”
“Yay,” she said, her tail wagging harder, then she licked his face. Blushing, the hellhound quickly said, “
so - sorry, it’s so embarrassing when my instincts do that.”
She quickly hurried off before Clyde could reassure her.
In the corner of his eye, Clyde caught sight of a blond man with wolf ears chuckling at Ruri’s retreat before turning to walk away, but not without licking his lips and sniffing the air. Noona noticed it too, her eyes uncharacteristically cold. She seemed to internally shake herself.
“So, shall we get to the lesson?”
“Sure,” Clyde replied. “Your room.”
Clyde texted a few people to keep an eye on Ruri and a blond wolfman. Or maybe he was some kind of werewolf? Male humanoid monsters were exceedingly rare. Clyde wouldn’t be surprised if the man tried to take Ruri canine-style. Maybe Natalia’s ass-sniffing jokes held a little truth? Then again, Ruri and Matsume hated being compared to dogs nor showed any sign that they’d sniffed each other. Beast-type monster girls sometimes only took one or two animal traits and habits, but not all of them.
None of the facts relaxed Clyde. The wolfman clearly didn’t know she was a hellhound. If he tried something, Ruri and Matsume would murder him in public. All of that negative attention painted on Team Stone… the option to meet the royalty, or the axe of execution.
“I hope that guy is just someone with a sense of humor and not an idiot,” Clyde commented offhandedly.
Noona shook her head.
“You’d have a better chance at Seth becoming an honorable knight in shining armor. Never.”
Clyde winced at the burn, but knew if the blond was there to defend himself, Noona’s roast would have been brutal. Or maybe perverted. He couldn’t tell sometimes with the guy.
The young man started to follow Noona to her room, thanking the stars no one else appeared to interrupt.
But luck just wasn’t with him in that regard. More than fifty percent of Team Stone took that time to enter the building, step out of their rooms, or exit the dining hall where snacks were served up all day, spotting him immediately.
The Anime Trope System: Stone vs. Viper, #12 a LitRPG (ATS) Page 3