The three of them spoke to Ayuka in private after reuniting with Ralphie and finding her near the park's lake. With scrutinizing eyes but knowing wisdom, she had her arms crossed.
"So, we've got to receive the maiden selection invitation letter so that our female captain is able to enter it and hopefully not be selected as one of the Muro's dumb test subjects? You're really risking our captains life for something this excessive? You're all crazy, not to mention the fact that there is only a chance he'll be selected... sorry, my bad, she'll be selected."
"It's our only hope of entering the castle. I shouldn't just enter the castle now that I've been gone and been acting secretly against the "Sun Soldiers". Please, Ayuka, I know we've just met, but I'd really like your help."
"Ugh... Fine, but I better not see some creepy hands getting dragged across his body, now that he has more of... uh... sexier look? Whatever, I'll help up and make sure to keep his identity hidden. Although, I really don't like calling him a she... if it would be somebody else, it'd be fine, but Tim... There is history that I wish not to reveal just yet."
"Hah, I knew Ayuka would be capable of our trust! She's the perfect sidekick and the first mate of the crew! There's no better version of her than this! Despite her creepy looks in the current transiton."
Ayuka struggled to maintain her composure when Tem delicately put her hand around his neck and smiled while he was looking at her out of context.
"You're lucky to be a girl, or I'd beat you down to a pulp. I am seriously not in the mood... I don't know how I'll deal with this gender switcheroo... it's way out of my league to understand, honestly."
"See? She's perfect for the job!"
"Remember... I'm counting your carelessness and stupidity for when you turn back into your true self. Try not to get on my bad side while you're a girl."
"You've... uh... selected a very strange figure for the first mate role..."
Later, the friends met up in the "Sun Soldiers" private dorm, a structure next to the castle in the far-rear northern area of Harventona Park, where they used to stay. It was surrounded by greenery, and a river flowed out of a tunnel that had been built inside the cave just outside the entrance.
The house was quite little, but bigger than a hut or a natural house. It didn't quite reach the status of a mansion or a huge dorm that is typically gathered around colleges. It was aesthetically pleasing and thought to be wonderful.
"Wow... This is your own private home? You "Sun Soldiers" have amazing quality availabilities. How come we never knew this was here?" Ralphie inquired.
"This area is currently off the limits and it has been rather isolated. Usually we would accept commissions here, but now the "Sun Soldiers" received an award and an available office inside the castle. Those were some good days, and when the "Sun Soldiers" were still putting effort in defending the city. Then it grew awful and terrible. Every member of our kind was persuaded into foolishness, where they started work for Muro. The only member who still had some kind of intelligence was me."
"Then I guess there's still hope for the "Sun Soldiers" to maybe reunite and return to the good side, but I rather ask about the reason why we're here?"
"Usually we would receive a letter that had a list of selected woman for the maiden selection to prepare ourselves for what was to come. The list would contain women's full names, age, address and their body measures. The delivery workers are still ordered to bring the letter here if some of the "Sun Soldiers" happened to guard the area in this section of the island."
"So, that's your plan. You're trying to read the names and learn the addresses to visit that woman that's been invited to the ceremony."
"Not, exactly... I was planning to write down Tem's name on the list, to pretend like she was invited. The delivery workers usually return to pick up the letter to see if the receiver signed the contract, thus meaning we could trick everyone into thinking that Tem is one of the maidens they have picked."
"Hmm, hmm... Would they really believe it, though? Wouldn't the newly written name grow suspicious due to a different style of font?"
"No doubt... However, I'm rather talented to copy other people's font. This should be a piece of cake for me. All we need to hope for is that the letter reached the dorm, and we'll be set."
"I'm still really disturbed by this plan. It doesn't feel right to risk our identities getting revealed by a mere letter shape-shift." Explained Ayuka.
Yumiko gave her an extremely critical look after Ayuka had ignored her. She found it tedious and stupid because, after all, she was a skilled text copycat. She found it upsetting that Ayuka didn't acknowledge her abilities.
"You're definitely no fun. Please, just trust me this one time. You can humiliate me as much as you want if I somehow fail. I swear that my copying skills are top notch, the delivery workers will turn out like real fools, I know it."
"Fine, whatever. Go for it... It's not like I can stop you..."
Yumiko thanked her before attempting to open the mailbox, disappointing her. Yumiko's strategy was totally destroyed when the letter didn't arrive on time and included no papers at all. Ayuka sighed and placed her palm on her own forehead after noticing the failure.
"Aaaand there isn't a single letter, huh? Looks like we'll just have to forget about your plan and come up with something else. Speak your mind out, I'm interested to hear your ideas." Ayuka replied.
"How dumb... Why is nothing going in our favor today. I'm limited on the ideas, you know? Also, there's another problem that I may have misunderstood... but.... um... wasn't Tem with us this entire time?"
When Yumiko pointed out the spot, the three looked about only to discover that Tem had vanished yet again. Their faces fell, and they began to perspire.
"Oh. My. God. You have got to be kidding..."
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Tem's brain began to tingle with her female instincts, which also started to damage her mood and transform her completely. She had been looking for items that appeared to be jewelry, such rings, earrings, or bracelets. She was aimlessly strolling through streets lined with pricey objects.
"I'm still hungry. That piece of meat didn't do the job... Man, why am I starving so much, lately... Is this what they call woman's feelings? I don't even know..."
She presented a calmness that was considerably different from her typical demeanor, and it is safe to assume that the market's ongoing sale of pricey jewelry has prevented her from getting sustenance.
The objects virtually glowed, their silver and golden tones sparkling like sparks. Many of them had interesting and unique-colored diamonds on them; just the sight of them roused Tem's repressed feminine instinct, which was the exact reverse of what she had perceived as a boy.
She was almost tempted to touch the necklace since she thought it was so gorgeous. She would slowly extend her hands forward while her eyes glowed with anticipation.
"If you would like to purchase some of our best-selling jewelry made with unusual shards that can only be found in the caverns of Harventona Park, please choose what you would like."
"Nah, no thanks! They don't interest me! Is too girly for me! See ya!"
The woman behind the market stood there infuriated as Tem stretched her palm in the air and walked away smiling. Her eyes twitched, giving the impression that she detested and misunderstood her customer.
"Wait, please! Don't just walk away. Everything you see here is supposed to look girly! We're crafting them for beautiful girls such as yourself! We'll give you 10% off if you desire to buy them! We promise, there's no better market for such creative and adorable silver!"
Tem didn't pay attention to a word the saleswoman said, which only enraged her further. The saleswoman whizzed around the kiosk in the ensuing seconds and quickly grabbed Tem's neck sleeve, dragging her back to the market while sneering dismissively. She bent Tem's torso forward so that her eyes were almost in contact with the jewels.
"Take a look at these beauties. I promise it's worth your time! There's rings, necklaces, bracelets and even earrings! For example, those white and blue earrings would suit well with what you're wearing. That beautiful blue diamond on those earrings shine just like your delightful appearance! We'll give you 20% off if you pick those that we recommend."
"Come on, woman... I've already told you that I don't want any of these."
The saleswoman's face practically darkened into a tense purple tint in response to Tem's denial, her eyes burning crimson, and her grin vanishing into mute rage.
"Take. A. Look. I said... Now!"
She forced Tem's face closer to the earrings and then began shaking her back and forth while yelling loudly, but Tem continued to reject all of the saleswoman's offers. When the woman finally lost her calm, she grabbed Tem by the ear and drew her close after overhearing her whimper in agony.
"Hey, w-what are you doing?"
She took the earrings and pushed them firmly through Tem's ears, which caused Tem to whimper once again as she tried to gently touch the ear.
"Ow ow ow, that hurts!"
The salesperson quickly circled to Tem's other side, though, and inserted another pair of the same earrings into that ear. She then quickly grabbed a silver bracelet that sparkled brightly and placed it around Tem's left arm. Then, as she sped back behind the stall, she leaned forward and grinned sweetly.
"That would be $139,99 for the bracelet and $351,99 for both of the earrings in total of $491.97! But worry not, we promised you a 20% discount for the earrings, which puts each of them at $140,99 for the final price of $350,99! Now, please pay."
Tem tried to gently take off the earrings while she was hearing the saleswoman's offer, but she struggled since she wasn't sure how to do it and felt excruciating agony that nearly caused her to cry. She finally gave up and turned to face the saleswoman.
"There is no way I'm paying for something that I didn't want to pay! Now get these earrings off me!"
"Sorry, lass. No can do, when the earrings are inserted into your ears, you should wait about six weeks for the earrings to fully heal. Try not to complain too much, all right, and be careful! Removing them too soon, might cause you to bleed! Careful... Now pay for the thing you took!"
"I don't have that type of money! What do I look like to you? Some sort of a rich person?!"
"Very well, then. We'll give you a couple of days to gather the money and pay for what you took! It's a wonderful gift for visiting my market. You may leave now, and remember! Don't put out those earrings, it would be painful!"
Tem gave the salesperson an indifferent look before being grabbed by the wrist and made to sign a contract that required payment within the following two days. With that, she was released and allowed to leave, and the salesperson offered her an innocent grin as she did so.
"Have a wonderful stay at the Harventona Park, young lady!"
Only then did Tem turn around and show her the tongue, which caused the salesperson to chuckle before going silent.
The maiden selection was a few hours away from starting...
To be continued...