CHAPTER 64: PROMISE TO DATE
XENON WINGATE
1 YEAR AGO
Goldcliffe City is one big city, with thousands of hectares under its jurisdiction. This is the second time I'll be going here after the death of Cheng Du, and somehow, I could not familiarize my way. Half of the land is filled with skyscrapers and prosperity, while half of it is covered in dirty slums. Out of all the better choices, Serena established a pub business in the main district of the slums. Apparently, Serena followed Alphonse's and Danielle's recommendation of erecting a liquor bar that specializes in serving delicious barbecues that were based on Serena's heirloom recipe.
Serena urged me to visit her bar, in which I hesitantly agreed. I know that she wanted me to be the liquor tester of her merchandise, but I smell some schemes on her mind. Something is telling me that there is a bigger reason why we're visiting her bar, and I can't help but feel nervous.
While walking down the dirty slums, Serena can be seen skipping and humming as we venture deeper into this gloomy place.
"Serena, why did you choose a bar in the slums for business?" I asked.
"I chose a bar so that you won't need to go to an expensive club with Alphonse and Danielle again, you cheeky drunkard~" Serena jokingly answered.
"I'll pass, I don't drink that much anymore. And that's not the point." I said with a forced smile. "Why here in the slums?"
Serena stopped walking and turned to me with her innocent eyes. "Remember my dream? I have a goal of spreading happiness throughout the world. I want to give people smiles, humans and dragonoids alike. That is why I chose to establish a cheap bar in this gloomy place so that all the people here will drink, eat, and sing with joy, without worries and full of happiness."
That put a smile on my face. Serena is still as innocent as ever, even though we already went through some sorts of hell. She does not change, and I prefer her to be this way. She's completely the opposite of me, who has traded his soul to something-or-another just to quench his thirst for revenge.
"This will be a great opportunity for you, Senpai!" Serena pumped her fists with joy as she pushed her face towards mine. "Since I'm your dragonoid, you are my co-owner of my pub! I believe this will be the first time seeing your own business!"
"I'm not interested in running a liquor shop," I said. "I only accompanied you because you said that somebody you know made a special weapon for me as a replacement of my shield."
"Oh, right!" Serena knocked her head. "You'll be surprised once you see your new weapon!"
I just made a smile. Seeing Serena more excited than me about having my new weapon is actually blissful because we're planning on challenging our fourth Pentagram Knight next week.
We made a couple of steps further until we finally stopped on a bar that has the name of Heaven's Gate. What a way to name your bar. It makes me feel like I'm going to die the next day after getting drunk in this very place.
"We're here~" Serena happily opened the door.
What's waiting for us inside is a moderately luxury-type pub with high-quality wood as its walls and interior design, brown granite tiles on the floor, and a white painted ceiling. Even for a bar with normal standards, this Heaven's Gate bar is a little too clean. It must be because her business is just starting out, and there are still no customers because it's still broad daylight.
"Oh, Miss Serena! You really came to visit us, totally!" The girl at the counter said.
This girl has long scarlet red hair which has a black butterfly-fashioned bow as her hair ornament, and she's wearing a tank top and short skirt that reveals much of her skin. This girl is indeed adorable like a celebrity, but not on the same level as my Serena. The bar hostess has this familiar crimson eyes. I think I've seen this dragonoid before, but I just don't remember…
"Airi! Thanks for managing the bar for us~" Serena immediately approached the bar hostess and jollily shook hands with her.
"No, I should be thanking you, totally!" Airi said back in the same joyous tone. "If it wasn't for you, I would not be able to start out a new life!"
"Ahaha! Don't thank me!" Serena scratched her head. "My promise about the Dragonoid Rights Bill is a little harder to be approved now, thanks to that scandal that Cheng Du has made. Maybe you will have to wait a little longer for dragonkind's rights to be passed."
"I'm fine with it, totally! Don't sweat it! I know you're doing your best and working hard. It's just that there are always some people who will try to stop you no matter how good your intentions were." Airi said.
"Thanks for your understanding, Airi." Serena made a sorry smile. "Anyway did you bring the thing we made?"
Suddenly, the familiar scarlet-haired dragonoid glanced at me for two seconds with a smug on her face, then she gazed back to Serena. "Oh, you mean that thing! Of course! I have finished it, and it works fine! Totally!"
I totally don't know what they are talking about, but I'm totally sure that it is my weapon. I'm totally unsure why they are hiding it and trying hard to make it a surprise from me, but I'm totally certain that Serena and this girl Airi is excited. Anywho, I'm annoyed on this scarlet-haired dragonoid's speech patterns, totally. It's contagious. Totally.
Airi reached out to a steel shoebox from below the counter and presented it to the table. Then she opened it with full joy and Serena faked out a "Whoaaa!" expression. At first, I thought the box contained some prank notes saying that "You have been bamboozled" but no. Inside the box is a precious platinum gauntlet with shiny silver linings on it, and it is only supposed to be worn on the left hand. There's a bluish-white orb at the center wrist of the glove.
"Tadaaa~ This is the ultimate weapon that Serena and I made, totally! It's called the Futuretech Glove!" Airi said with joy.
"Try it! Try it!" Serena jumped like an excited kid. She's so happy that she materialized her white lizard tail and wagged it like a puppy.
"O-Okay," I muttered as I complied with the two's requests. At first, I was a bit skeptical of this new weapon. I don't fight with my fist often, and my dominant is the right hand. I expected my new weapon as a shield, a gun, or a sword, but I think this futuretech glove will have some kind of gimmicks such as snapping people out of existence.
When I equipped the glove, it gave some robotic sound and outrightly fitted on my left hand. Then, the orb at the center glowed, and there was a cybernetic voice that says "Futuretech Glove Online."
"Now try to imagine a weapon on your hand."
I focused my mind to imagine my blaster shield. At that moment, the orb of the glove glowed, and the glove immediately transformed into a long shield that has a flat round glass at the center of it. It's a complete replica of the blaster shield I lost!
"Try another!" Serena said.
I tried imagining a long buster sword, and the glove itself transformed into a large blade that is attached to my hand. I also tried to imagine a large crossbow, a giant blaster, a gatling gun, and Alphonse's bladed chains. Every time I do this, the glove would transform into that kind of weapon perfectly.
"This is cool!" I exclaimed. "So this is like the jack-of-all-trades kind of weapon!"
"That's not all!" Serena held her hips and smirked arrogantly. "Try to snap your fingers, aiming at that wine bottle!"
As Serena instructed, I snapped my fingers and directed the glove at the display wine bottle. In a blink of an eye, the glove's orb glowed, and a short sword materialized. The short sword immediately launched itself towards the wine bottle, breaking it to thousands of shards, and spilling out the precious wine.
"Cool!" I'm flabbergasted with joy.
"Totally!" Airi said. "But you will have to pay that wine, for a total price!"
"We own this bar, though." Serena faked a laugh. Then, she started to explain the features of the futuretech glove she and Airi created. "Senpai, that Futuretech Glove is linked to my Elform Magic's Endless Forge. Just like the forging glove you gave me, that glove contains my essence, which makes you able to use all the magic I have access to. That also gives you the power to use Forge magic without shouting out the word 'Forge'."
I looked at the futuretech glove. It's awesome, cool and beautiful. It looks so majestic and has so many uses. This might be the best birthday gift I ever had, and it's not even my birthday yet.
"So, what do you think of it, Senpai?" Serena pushed her face forward with a blush. She's softly twisting her body like a shy energetic person, and her innocent puppy eyes made me lost on her charm.
"I love it," I muttered. "This is the best thing I ever had."
At that time, Serena's face brightened, way brighter than the sun. Then, she averted her gaze from me and mumbled something with a redder blush on her face.
"W-Well, you have to pay for it. It would be nice if you could get me to a date or something." She whispered to herself with a pout.
I'm not going to play dumb and didn't hear that. I know Serena has some kind of intentions I don't comprehend, but having a date with a celebrity dragonoid would be a jackpot for me too. Besides, spending time together would greatly boost our magical capabilities by the power of the Vesryn Pulse.
"Fine. I'll take you to date after we challenge the fourth Pentagram Knight. Win or lose, we'll go on a date. I promise." I said as I present my pinky finger.
"That's a promise! You said it! Win or lose, we'll go on a date!" Serena locked pinkies with mine while giggling. "I know you're terrible at making promises, but don't you dare break it this time!"
"Of course," I said as I locked eyes with Serena. Come to think of it, I've been noticing that Serena has been giving off some of her motives. Most of the time, she would jokingly flirt at me, and it's normal for a beautiful celebrity like her to flirt on the opposite sex to raise her PR. I never knew if she would flirt with real intentions or not, but now that she said what she truly wants, maybe she's flirting me because she loves me after all.
"A-Ahem!" Airi immediately interrupted the romantic atmosphere we're having. "Miss Serena and Lord Xenon, we have a room on the back. But before you go lovey-dovey, maybe you guys want to clean the mess you made first."
"W-We're sorry." Serena and I said.
I don't want my dragonoid's hands to be dirtied, so I made the initiative to clean the mess I made in the first place. I used the dustpan to clean the broken wine bottle shards and mopped the spilled wine. While I do all the cleaning, I can hear Airi and Serena chatting in the corner. I can even hear Serena celebrating something like "Yes! Finally!" and Airi is there to compliment her. I never thought that a date would be a great deal for a famous celebrity like Serena. She had non-romantic dates with her fans before, so I don't understand why she's overly excited.
Maybe Serena has feelings for me...
Wait, I have to delete that thought for now. I have to focus on killing the last two people on my list, so I have no time for such things. Cheng Du is dead. It feels easier now that I have accomplished one-third of my goal. Trystgade and Eldritch will be next. After they all die, that is when I'll clarify things with Serena.
The last mess to be cleaned up in this bar is the sword that was stuck on the display case. Since it was created by my futuretech glove, it might be able to dematerialize it back to thin air. So, I snapped my fingers again, fully converting the short sword back to golden dust.
But suddenly…
"Eeeeek!" It was Serena's shout. When I look back at them, I saw Serena almost naked, only her pink bra and panty left on her body. Now that she's showcasing her great shape and flawless white skin, I can't help but have my face red and my nose bleed.
"S-Serena… You're actually using magically forged dress all the time!?" I exclaimed.
"Senpai, you pervert!" She cried out loud. Then she threw out to me all the wine bottles she could get her hands into.