Year 4667 of the Unified Imperial Calendar:
Fourth Month, Day 11. (8:38 AM)
◇ Astra's POV ◇
The bright skies greeted us the moment we exited the dark undergrounds. The sky was clear, the sun was still in the east, working hard to reach its daily goal of heading west, the birds did a great job at avoiding a flying 15 meter steel, and most importantly...
"We've returned..." Lady Reyshia muttered.
"Exactly, madam. You're absolutely r—"
"Please keep the bootlicks at a proper time." Lillia suddenly cut me off and scolded.
Cold swear formed on my forehead. I still hadn't told them I was the culprit of the entire incident, you know!
However, I have no choice on the matter. I could only say "Y-Yes. Sorry."
We then moved through the skies. Though me and Lillia were just being carried, that was a small issue. All that matters was that we're going back and I can finally get a proper rest. After I get my roastings.
We passed above the territory, and saw a lot of people waving up in our direction. My heart felt a bit of warmth at the sight. Yeah, this must be what those bigwigs felt if they receive these kinds of cheers everytime they appear on public. It's pretty nice, actually.
I saw Lady Reyshia smile for a moment, but then we suddenly descended, scaring the shit out of me for an instant. Of course, I didn't actually shit my pants. That would be fate worse than death. Valkyria then spun in mid-air as it moved forward, earning even more cheers from the crowd below. Man, our lady sure is loved, huh?
We continued on until we passed through the town, entering the private grounds around the lord's mansion. There, we saw the maids who looked at Valkyria with visible relief. It looks like they had been worried. But continuing further, we then landed in the same hangar that lady Reyshia used to lift off two days ago.
◇◇◇
When we went down from the hatch, we were then greeted by the sight of two people waiting. A pair of middle-aged man and woman, and they wore formal clothes used by nobles(I think). Lady Reyshia also went down the hatch, and ran over to the two as she gave them a hug. "Mother! Father! I've returned"
The woman also hugged lady Reyshia back. "Rhea! Where have you been? We were worried!"
"Yes. I heard about an explosion when we returned yesterday. Are you alright?"
Lady Reyshia nodded. "Yes, I'm alright. A bit of trouble just happened, but it's fixed now." She then turned to me, and introduced. "Oh, by the way, I have a Warslave now! And he saved me when I went into trouble!"
'Oh come on, lady Reyshia. You're making me blush. Hehe.' I thought as I felt my cheeks heat up, while I averted my gaze. It wasn't that I was shy. I was just guilty of everything. Sorry.
Her mother glanced at me. "Oh my..." she then looked back at lady Reyshia, "quite a handsome fellow, isn't he?"
I beamed at her words, as I inadvertently spoke. "Precisely Madam. I have no denial to your w—"
"Astra, shut up."
"Ah. Yes..."
The mother and father pair watched us with interest. The father had an especially intrigued expression.
He stroked his well trimmed moustache. "Now this is quite rare," he said, "Rhea usually never gets angry at people she's not close with." He then laughed with an "Ohohoho" kind of laugh.
"Father!" lady Reyshia protested.
However, it only served to stroke their desire to tease her even further. Look, even the maids are covering their mouths. They're smiling at your innocent reaction, milady!
Seeing that she was being made into a source of warm smiles, lady Reyshia—scratch that. Let's just call her milady from now on. Anyway, milady snapped. "Enough!" she said. Her tone a bit angry.
The place went silent, and milady then flushed at her behaviour. She cleared her throat. "A-Ahem... Anyway, we're tired. So can we rest for today, please?"
The couple smiled, as her mother spoke. "Alright. Rest well, child."
And so, milady dragged both me and Lillia out of the hangar.
◇◇◇
Milady brought us to her room, as she then locked the door. She then sat on the couch, "Go on. Sit." She said as she pointed to a pair of couch.
We did as she said, and sat. Lillia had a nonchalant gaze all this time. Perhaps she knew what topic we were gonna talk about.
Milady then started. She cleared her throat. "Ahem... Astra." She called out.
"First of all, I want to give you my gratitude for helping me back there. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have found the laboratory, and...I wouldn't...have gotten captured.... Hmmm? So it's still you're fault, huh?"
Yeah. It's my fault. From the very beginning it's my fault so please stop slapping the fact to my face!!
"A-Anyway, at least Valkyria was fixed, so I want to thank you."
I gave her a wry smile. "I-It's alright, milady. I'm merely doing my job as a servant." I said. Of course, it's just bullshit, but I'm not lying. It really is the job of a competent servant to save his master.
Her face reddened a bit from my answer, "I-I see. In any case! I wanted to thank you, so I want to give you this."
She then stood, and went as she fetched a long case. She then gave it to me, and returned to her seat. I looked at her in surprise, as she smiled. "Open it."
I did as she said, and opened the case. What greeted my was a sheathed longsword. It had black grip and hilt, and dark purple scabbard, carved with intricate pattern of roses. Same went for the hilt too.
I looked at the cool-looking sword, as I turned to her and asked. "T-This is?"
"My sword." She answered. "Due to personal preferences, I'm not good with swords. So you will wield it in my stead."
"But this looks quite expensiv—"
"Just do as she says and accept it. Slave." A voice suddenly spoke as I turned towards its source. It was Lillia. She now had a silver hair, deep blue eyes, and had become taller and curvier than before. It was her look from the time in the laboratory.
She sat leisurely on her couch, as she placed one leg in top of another. Honestly, it was quite hot. Hm. Very noice.
However, that behaviour caught my attention, and milady didn't seem to mind it. At this point, my mind would have regressed to that of a monkey's if I still didn't realize this maid's more than what she seems.
Milady smiled wryly at her words. "Lillia, when have you been harsh towards Astra?"
"Since the very beginning."
Me. "..."
"I-I see, ahaha. Ahem... In any case, Astra," she said as she looked at me, with a serious gaze, "we know you have secrets. However, we will need to know the truth of a few things. Is that fine?"
"Y-Yes. Please go on."
She let out a small sigh, as if to prepare herself, and continued. "Astra, first off, what happened to you? After you fainted."
I scratch my head, and answered her. "Err...actually, I'm not too sure myself. What I was told is that, I was in a dangerous situation when I fainted, so they saved me. And this is the result."
"Do you know the exact detail?"
"I'm not exactly sure myself. Some sort of nanomachine thingy, being injected on my body...or something like that."
Milady sighed. However, I could tell she was satisfied with my answer. At the very least, I was somewhat trusted at this point. She looked at me again, and asked.
"Then, the second. What are Gundams? And what is isekai?" she said with a serious face, "I need to know."
Honestly, I was really impressed with myself for not bursting out laughing right in front of her. Was it because of the tension of the atmosphere? I don't know. However, I just answered her question.
"Err...Gundams are...Arks? They're just fictional giant humanoid machines piloted from the inside. I didn't even know Arks exist until I came here." I said, and continued. "As for isekai, the short description would be, being in a faraway land. A land you never knew existed."
Milady raised a brow at my answer. She put a hand beneath her chin, and asked. "Astra, are you from a secluded ethnic tribe from somewhere?"
"Not exactly ethnic nor secluded, but I'm sure it's impossible for me to go back."
She exchanged glances with Lillia, and added a question. "Can I ask where it is, and it's name?"
"If I remember, it should be the third closest place near Sol, and is named Earth."
She frowned. "I've never heard of that before. Then why are you sure you can't go back?"
"It's not exactly impossible, but the chances are close to zero. And the countless stories about people getting lost and never coming back have been in the boom at that place lately. Specifically the past decade. We call it isekai."
Yep. I'm not a liar. Isekai was taking the world by storm, and I don't think it'll die down until 2030.
She sighed once more, "Alright. Final question," she said, "Why did that girl want your wisewatch?"
'Umm...excuse me. It's smartwatch maam. Smartwatch.' I retorted in my mind. I still answered nevertheless.
"I'm not exactly sure, but when I woke up, my smartwatch was gone." Milady's face flushed a bit of red when she noticed how I called the watch was different from hers, but still kept a straight face nevertheless. I continued. "Then she just decided a bunch of conditions on her own, and wouldn't take no for an answer."
"And those conditions are?"
"Hmmm....Let's see...If I remember..."
I lowered my head as if contemplating hard, and stroked the collar on my neck. I felt a sudden jolt that spread all over my body, and the next, I heard the notification than I was connected to Quanta.
'Quanta, contact Unit 001 Beta.'
[Affirmative. Contacting Unit 001 Beta.]
BEEP...BEEP...
["Yes Master?"]
'Isabelle, send the information about the bullshit conditions you made up earlier.'
["I understand."]
I raised my head as if I remembered just now, and continued. "Ah! She guaranteed safety of my two companions, a fix to the Ark, a guide when returning, and a promise of non-hostility as long as we keep the place a secret."
Not just milady, but also Lillia raised their brows in surprise at my answer.
"That much for a single accessory that's barely useful?" milady asked. "That doesn't make much sense."
"Then, what is usually used to power most devices here?"
"It's Aether energy. Same goes for the entirety of the empire."
"Then," I said, "Can you imagine making a device like mine without Aether energy? I should say this but, that device is complete. It has its own processor, memory module, and an operating system."
They were shocked at my answer. They stiffened for an instant, but then milady stood in denial.
"That's impossible! Aether energy can be imbued with intelligence thoughts, and it can be systemized to form a complex system which can be considered an AI. Are you saying that other than Aether energy, there is something else which has the same properties?!" she shouted. As if alarmed, but I could see anticipation in her eyes.
However, I shook my head, "No." She was surprised. She frowned, and demanded. "Elaborate."
"I don't know how it works, but the processor is composed of billions, or trillions of codes that emulates intelligence. It then processes data, but only based on what it knows. Unless you add in another decoder for a new type of information, it won't process anything."
"That's not what I'm asking! I'm asking what it uses as energy!"
"Err...electricity, I guess?"
She looked like she was about to lash out, but Lillia suddenly spoke.
"Calm down, Lady Reyshia." Milady then came back to her senses, and looked at Lillia. "He really doesn't know. If anything, It'd be best if you don't trust what he says. It doesn't sound reliable."
Milady finally sighed at her words, "I see," she then scanned my face, "I guess you're right."
Hey! Are you saying my face isn't trustworthy?! Well, at least the questioning's done, right?
However, just when I thought it was over, the final boss made its appearance. Lillia asked a question of her own.
"Hey, slave," she said, "tell me, how did you know that Lady Reyshia was in trouble. Don't try to fool me, I don't believe in that vague explanation of yours back then."
Cold sweat started to form on my brows, as my entire body tensed, getting colder and paler every passing second.
And it was this moment that I realized: I was fucked.