Year 4667 of the Unified Imperial Calendar:
Fourth Month, Day 14. (7:49 AM)
◇ Astra's POV ◇
Three days later.
After I confessed the fact that I was the cause of the entire shit that happened, I was now in my assigned room, facing punishment. Though they say it's punishment, they're just making an excuse to make me study.
Damn it! I just finished high school and the thesis was fucking hard you know! It was the first time in my life that I actually thought that copying a work was hard! Just give me a rest already!
In any case, I wasn't allowed to leave my room for a week, and that means I still have to keep this up for four more days. Fuck.
"Aaahh....screw this shit!" I cursed loudly in frustration.
Perhaps this was the only advantage that I had. I was alone in my room, so I could curse as much as I wanted. Well, it's not like it's absolute though.
And as if confirming my statement above, the door suddenly opened, and a voice reached my ears.
"Sir Astra, can you please stop cursing every morning? It's bad for your health. Mentally."
I turned around, and saw a petite girl. She looked like she was 12, but don't be fooled. She's a perfectly legal adult at the age of 18. In other words, she's a legal loli.
She had a short blond curly hair that stopped above her shoulders, and big brown eyes that was typical of a loli. Yeah. She's a loli. A loli, I say. A loli. And I'll say it as many times I want. She's a loli. A friggin' damn loli. The main protagonist of the most popular hentai shows in the world, and the future of humankind.
Loli.
Ahem...we're getting side-tracked... In any case, she was a lo—I mean, she was my teacher who was teaching me both to read and write. Nicknamed Nell, and her full name was Quenelle.
The very first thing that popped into my head when I heard about her name was how much her parents must have loved cream sauce, but it seemed she didn't like her name much either. So she settled with the nickname, Nell.
I waved a hand at my friendly and tolerant teacher, "Sup, Nell," I said in a carefree tone, as if I'd never cussed, "finally thinking of stopping on teaching me?"
She gave me a wry smile, "It's the opposite actually," she said, "it's quite rare meeting with someone mastering how to write and read within three days after all."
I snorted, "Oh please," I waved my hand in dismissal, "that's not my full power yet."
"Then how about trying seriously for once?"
"Nope," I shrugged, "I'd be too awesome if that happens."
She sighed at my behaviour. Well, it couldn't be helped. Ever since the enhancement of nanomachines in my body, my mind had somehow gone faster, and my memory had become quite sharp to the point this felt cheating. Probably, she was thinking of me as a rare genius.
"Listen up, Sir Astra," she gently spoke, "you are Lady Reyshia's Warslave you know?"
"And?"
"That means you have to conduct yourself accordingly."
"Don't worry," I reassured, "I properly bootlick every now and then."
"That's not what I meant!!" she retorted. Man, this is why I like this girl. She's talented at quips.
She sighed again as she watched me lazily sit on my couch. I too, looked at her with a lazy expression. I was damn tired of studying, and I wanna go around town. I've never been there before. However, as annoying as it may be, I still needed to study.
'Hey, Isabelle,' I called out to the robogirl through my collar, 'do I really need to do as she says?'
[Yes. The collar once had the program that compels you to obey any orders from a superior. Although it is deleted now, it is still recommended to not expose your freedom.]
'Tch. Damn it' I cursed inwardly.
And as expected, my loli of a teacher spoke the words I dreaded most.
With a beaming smile, she spoke, "Well then, shall we begin studying?"
I slumped, but I had no choice but to oblige. This is orders from milady. To do as she says, and study. But hey, at least she didn't tell me to study my hardest.
And so, another day of torture began.
◇◇◇ Third Person POV ◇◇◇
Reyshia had been very troubled lately. Astra's revelation about being the culprit of her incident didn't actually matter much, however, something was in his statements that was impossible to ignore. As far as she could remember, his words were like this:
"When I was left alone in the hangar, I suddenly remembered the repairman observing Valkyria through a remote console, and I then fiddled with it. And then Lady Reyshia just fell."
And that was it. Although she felt something was wrong with his logic, as no one would fiddle on a device they didn't know about, she still ignored it. After all, a Warslave guaranteed absolute obedience and loyalty. She didn't know why, but it just made their wearers obedient to their masters, and their loyalty too.
That was why she trusted Astra. However, what troubled her most, was the fact that there was a remote control console for her Ark. And if there was one, there wasn't any guarantee that there won't be another.
Thus, Reyshia wanted to see for herself. What exactly was Professor Ashier was planning. And so, she flew with Valkyria to the skies once more, as she headed to the city of Armael.
◇◇◇
The city of Armael was a technologically advanced city that was only second to the Imperial Capital in terms of progress in Aether Technology. Unlike the usual housing designs from all over the world, both the capital and Armael made full use of its spacing as they built buildings in a multi-floored cubic design.
Of course, it wasn't all cubic, and some had designs unique to it, like the Mercenary Guild's spear-like design, but like the rest, it was tall. All the buildings here had at least two floors, and that included citizen's residences too.
Overall, the amount of population the Armael City had was about a fifth of the overall population of the Empire. Thus it was a grand city that many hopes of stepping foot into, and dreams to live in.
'However, if they knew how fierce the competition in this city, then perhaps they'd change their minds.' Reyshia thought as she looked down at the people lining up by the pedestrian entrance below.
Reyshia looked around. She wasn't the only one piloting an Ark, as a few Arks could be seen flying about in the city. Of course, flying without special permission or emergency was prohibited in the city. So most likely, those were police Arks.
In any case, Reyshia moved on and landed on a platform at the top of a huge building. It was the landing zone for Arks, and it was the place to verify identity.
Valkyria made a whirring sound as the Ark neared the ground, and it then landed lightly on the ground. Perfect landing.
-
-
A prompt appeared in her panels, but she just let it be. After a while, a video message appeared.
"You may proceed, Lady Tindalerose."
She ignored the message, and then took of again, as she continued on to her destination.
To Professor Ashier's Workshop.