Giliath still appreciates power stones even on days chapters aren't posted!
*****
Administrative District.
10:00 AM.
After getting reacquainted with my childhood friend, Elie MacDowell, I wanted to see where her feelings laid, but I knew it was a bad time to ask about such a thing. She remained poised and polite. Considering where my background stood, I'm sure she'll make some time to have a little chat later. Until then, this will be put on hold for now.
Apart from that boat ride back in Calvard, the last time I saw Father Kevin was during one of Grandmother's birthday celebrations. Considering Liberl is treated as a monarchy, Grandmother's birthday is hailed a national holiday. The events change and vary per year, and the martial arts competition is held every few years. The next one is likely going to be held when FC starts, where Estelle and Joshua partake in the competition.
To my point though, that was the last time I saw Father Kevin. He is now a spunky, upbeat man now. He was twenty-two or so during FC, so that meant he had just become an adult. He was more of Sara's age, compared to me. He was seven years older.
It was nice to see Kevin again, to say the least. In the games, there was a running gag with Kevin, which made him the most forgettable character by far. I recall even the CEO of the games' developer said he forgot about Kevin's existence. Haha!
Jokes aside, the scenery changed as the next hour struck. We all wandered from the Central Square to our next destination, the Administrative District. The local library, which was available to all Crossbellans, could use this place. To the north was the Town Hall, which was where Mayor MacDowell resided. Given some time, I would like to see if he's available to meet for a quick chat. I'm sure he'll display a warm welcome. After all, it wasn't just Elie who knew of my origins. Mayor MacDowell did too, as he would show up with Elie at my house each time to drop her off to play.
I am not sure if I'll have enough time today to do that, but hopefully I will. Directly to the left of the Town Hall was the CPD, or Crossbell Police Department. This was the primary office of Crossbell's police officers and detectives alike, should a call for them ever arise. Most of the time, they likely spend their day shift on patrol, or fighting local gangs to keep them under wraps. Bigger crimes now happen less frequently thanks to the successful operation of the cult extermination. Many kidnappings happened during that murky period, but Crossbell City was in a much brighter position now.
In front of the CPD building off to the left side, Tio and I could be seen, leaning against the side of the building with our backs. The entrance's door was tightly shut, but for a good reason. Tio and I could currently hear faint, yet constant sobbing sounds coming from the inside. But thanks to the doors being shut, the people strolling further in the distance couldn't hear it.
A cold breath escaped from Tio's lips as she looked up my way.
"Are you sure it's fine for you to remain outside like this, Naoto?", Tio wondered.
"Yeah. I don't want to intrude on such a delicate moment. Kevin and Elie seem to be working with the CPD, so it's fine if they enter, but the two of us are just regular civilians. I do have friends inside, but I'm in no rush. How are you holding up, Tio?", I asked, feeling a bit worried with Tio exposed to the cold, wintry air. We have been outside for an hour or so. She is much younger than I am, and with her frail body, I did have some worry.
Tio nodded her head, ensuring she was fine.
"Mmm. It is cold out, but bearable.", Tio answered.
"Hmm, if that's the case, should I go buy some hot lemonade to keep us warm, or should I lend you my jacket instead?", I decided to ask Tio.
"Some lemonade would be nice.", Tio nodded.
"Got it. I'll be back in a sec.", I replied, leaving Tio to herself. Thankfully there were a couple of vending machines scattered around the Administrative District. Spotting one to my right, I went straight there. A cool thing about the vending machines here is that they adopted the culture of Japanese-style vending machines in my past life. Not only did they offer a variety of drinks or food depending on the season, one could purchase hot or cold drinks from them. It was very easy to tell which one to buy, you could tell by the button. Red was for hot drinks, blue was for cold.
There were a couple of vending machines in-between the CPD building and the Town Hall. I arrived at the closest one after walking for a few minutes. Thankfully most of the districts were within walking distance, that was why there weren't many orbal cars out, unlike back in Heimdallr. Using my Inventory, I pulled out four one-hundred mira coins, and inserted them into the machine. Another benefit was that you could do it in one fell swoop. Clunk. clunk.
Two hot cans of lemonade dropped. Yet before I reached down, I saw a sole figure quickly enter my view from my right. It appeared to be a pink-haired girl.
"Oh that Ken and Nana, they sure are a bundle of energy. They seek every opportunity they can get to fool around, even though it's cold out.", An upbeat voice of a girl said, reaching my ears. The figure soon halted, not too far away from me, seeing me still in front of the vending machine.
"Ah! Guess I'm not alone. You getting something hot to drink too, mister?", The girl asked. "It really is cold out today!", The girl exclaimed. As her voice left her lips, a couple of cold breaths of air followed.
"Sure am. Sorry, I'll be done in a moment.", I said, reaching down to retrieve the two cans.
"Oh you needn't hurry, mister. You don't seem by yourself though, seeing you get two cans.", The girl said. She then leaned past me, only to see a blue-haired girl in the distance, leaning up against the side of the CPD building. "Getting a drink for your younger sister too?", The girl asked, taking a moment to look at Tio. Sensing the girl's gaze, Tio, who was observing another part of the Administrative District, shifted her head and saw a pink-haired girl looking at her. Tio raised her eyes, as she hadn't seen this girl before.
"Something like that. Thanks for waiting, you're free to go.", I replied, taking a couple steps to my left. This allowed the girl to go next.
"Thanks, mister!", The girl happily replied. She appeared to be an upbeat and cheerful girl. Just like me, she deposited six hundred mira for three drinks. Likely for her two younger siblings that were seated on a bench not too far away. After getting her drinks, she looked up, and looked back at me again.
"Still, I haven't seen you around here in Crossbell, mister. You a tourist?", The girl asked.
"Sure, we can go with that. Got some friends inside the CPD that they're trying to settle a matter with. We're only staying for the day.", I answered, keeping Sherryl's matter vague.
"Ah! Now it makes sense as to why you're staying near the CPD. You know, I'm also looking to become a cop. I'm hoping to start school at the Crossbell Police Academy in a few years.", The girl answered. "Oh. And I'm Juna. That was impolite of me, considering you didn't know who I was.", Juna said, introducing herself.
"Well it was nice to meet you, Juna. You can call me Nao. I'm going back to my company. If Aidios wills it, we'll meet again.", I replied, deciding to use a pen name.
"Nao huh? You seem like a cool dude. But sure!", Juna happily responded, proceeding to grab her three cans out of the vending machine. She waved her spare hand at me before heading off in the distance a bit. She turned around again to look at me. "Those are some cool shades by the way!", Juna continued, before vanishing off into the distance. I could see the pink-haired girl reunite with two smaller children, who appeared to be twins.
"Heh. I'll take that compliment.", I replied. Doing a little motion of my hand, I waved her goodbye and turned around, returning to where Tio was. I passed the lemonade she requested.
"Thanks, but who was that? I haven't seen her around.", Tio wondered, recalling who the pink-haired girl was.
"She said her name was Juna. Seeing her familiar with the place, I could guess she's a Crossbellan.", I wondered. But in truth, I could immediately recognize who that girl was. She was only turning ten this year, and was the same age as Tio, but she was completely different in terms of appearance.
But as to who she was, she went by the name Juna Crawford. She would enroll in the Crossbell Police Academy one year after Lloyd Bannings graduate, and eventually enroll at Thors Military Academy, only to become Rean's student.
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[Insert picture of Juna Crawford here!]