It wasn't until the girl stood right in front of him that Andrew finally got a clear look at her.
The round shield on her right arm was decorated with a very unique boar's head emblem. Paired with the shortsword at her waist, she looked valiant and heroic; the girl's face could also be described as quite spirited.
Too bad that once she smiled, all that so-called valor and spirit vanished completely. All that remained was a kind of goofy aura, a beauty untainted by knowledge that washed over him, letting Andrew feel a sense of pure, innocent beauty.
"I'm Caesar, the current leader of the outer-ring biker gang, the Sons of Calydon. And behind me is my good partner, Burnice."
With the brief self-introduction over, Caesar explained the real reason she had stopped Andrew.
"You two aren't from the outer ring, are you? Lost? The road you're on doesn't lead to any settlements. There's not a soul out there. If you're lost and don't know the way, I can guide you. Don't worry, it's free of charge."
The girl's sunny, goofy smile exuded innocence. Noticing Andrew staring at her mechanical hand, she casually extended it forward so he could get a better look.
"Interested in my hand? It's a replacement part from one of our seniors. It might not look like much, but it's actually super reliable."
Since Caesar had keenly noticed his gaze, Andrew nodded openly.
"A mechanical hand this agile, almost indistinguishable from a real arm, is certainly rare. I was just a bit curious. But thank you for your concern. We're not lost. The direction this road leads is exactly where I need to go."
Completely baffled as to why the two of them were heading this way, Caesar scratched her head, a little confused.
But since Andrew had said so, she decided to just give up thinking about it and didn't insist.
"Alright, if you say so, I won't bother you. But if you find something's wrong or run into trouble, you can come back here and head in that direction."
Although she didn't press the issue, out of concern, Caesar thoughtfully provided a backup plan.
"That way leads to Blazewood. We, the Sons of Calydon, are stationed there for the time being. You can come find me for help."
Before she could finish, a fluffy, golden-haired head had popped up by the window of Andrew's passenger seat.
The girl was squatting by the car, her hands on the door, half her head poking out as she looked up at Andrew's suit of armor, her eyes sparkling.
"Whoa~ Your armor is so~ cool! Can I touch it? Can I touch it?!"
"W-Wait! Burnice! Don't go getting handsy with a stranger! We, the Sons of Calydon, are aiming to be the overlords of the outer ring! Maintain our image in front of strangers, image!"
Caesar, who hadn't noticed at all when Burnice disappeared from the back seat, was startled by her sudden outburst. A quick scan revealed that she had somehow appeared on Andrew's side.
Hearing Caesar's words, Burnice thought for a moment, had a sudden realization, composed herself, and stood up to give a formal self-introduction:
"Hello, my name is Burnice, a member of the Sons of Calydon. My favorite drinks are fuel and flames. What about you?"
The self-introduction was incredibly fast, leaving Andrew stunned. However, faced with such earnest, malice-free words, Andrew replied just as seriously:
"Andrew. I'm a blacksmith. My favorite thing... is probably finding materials to craft gear."
Not expecting Andrew to actually reply seriously, Burnice grabbed his hand with a look of pleasant surprise and began shaking it vigorously.
"Then we're good friends now! And since we're good friends, can I touch your armor? Just a little!"
This was a classic case of revealing the dagger when the map is unrolled—getting straight to the point, never forgetting her original intention, and staying true to her mission.
Wasn't this map of Yan a bit too short, though?
"Wait, Burnice! That's not how you make friends with people!"
"Huh? Is there something wrong with it? Isn't this how we became friends? Besides, with armor this cool, don't you want to touch it too?"
As she spoke, Burnice rested her chin in her hands, her eyes
"Now that you mention it... I guess that's true..."
Caesar fell into deep thought, though it was unclear whether she was pondering how she and Burnice became friends in the first place, or if she was pondering whether she also wanted to touch the armor.
As she pondered, the fingers of Caesar's right hand subconsciously tapped lightly, making a stroking motion.
"See? See? You think so too, right, Caesar? As expected of my best friend and leader, we're totally on the same wavelength."
Seeing that Burnice was so eager that flames were starting to shoot out of her flamethrower's nozzle without her even noticing, Caesar immediately changed her tune:
"No, no, weren't we here to offer help? How did it turn into causing trouble for someone?! Burnice, don't lead me astray! I was determined not to mess things up this time!"
Although he was grateful for their offer of help, Andrew didn't mind fulfilling their wish.
But he hadn't forgotten that his reason for being out here was likely not entirely legal, and getting tied up any longer could lead to complications. He immediately signaled Wise to drive, while saying:
"Anyway, thanks for your concern. We're in a hurry to get to a place to photograph a meteor shower. We might miss it if we're late. Bye!"
Before the two could reply, Wise saw his chance and slammed on the gas. By the time they reacted, the car had already sped off into the distance.
Andrew could be seen sticking his right hand out, waving goodbye. As the car drove away, his voice grew fainter.
"This time it's really urgent, but if we meet again, I'll let you two touch it to your heart's content, to make up for this time..."
As the car shrank into a tiny dot on the horizon, Burnice whipped her head around and looked at Caesar excitedly.
"Caesar, Caesar! He said he'd let us touch it all we want next time! That's awesome!!"
But Caesar still scratched her head in confusion, muttering to herself:
"Going to the bottom of a canyon... to photograph a meteor shower? Can you even see it from there? City folks have some weird hobbies. But I don't remember the news saying anything about a meteor shower today?"
It had to be said, the lie Andrew had casually spun was a bit too full of holes for someone like Caesar, who had grown up in the outer ring.
Fortunately, the leader of the Sons of Calydon, the only one who might have noticed something was off, was a bit dense and completely oblivious.
Even for a city person, something this absurd was completely beyond the scope of a normal hobby.
As for Burnice?
She was already cupping her cheeks, completely lost in a fantasy of how she would get her hands all over Andrew's armor next time they met.
————
It wasn't until the guide-bug led the car to the bottom of a massive canyon that Andrew realized just how ridiculous his spur-of-the-moment lie had been.
The massive canyon, formed by layers upon layers of fissures, blocked out the light, making the bottom feel like another world entirely. At the end of this path was a passage only wide enough for a single person.
In a place like this, forget taking pictures, you'd be lucky to even see the sky.
Slapping a hand to his face, Andrew decided to just pretend that absurd excuse never happened.
After all, the world was a big place. Maybe they'd never run into each other again.
Probably... right?
He had a feeling he'd just raised a massive flag.
Parking the car on the side of the road, Andrew and Wise got out and walked to the mouth of the fissure. Feeling the gloomy atmosphere inside and the occasional chill wind, Wise's expression immediately became very strained.
"Did this remind you of a scene from some horror movie again? Did Belle force you to watch one with her?"
The moment this was mentioned, Wise's expression turned resentful. He turned his head and glared at Andrew.
"How dare you bring that up?! I only agreed because I heard you were watching too, but then you made an excuse and bailed! Traitor!"
"Ahem, well. You know I'm not the kind of person who can handle horror movies either. So, it's better for one to die than for two to perish, right?"
He felt not a shred of shame for betraying his good teammate in the anti-horror-movie alliance, only regret that he hadn't secretly left his phone behind, recording, when he made his escape.
"Besides, you jerk, you knew it was a horror movie from the start and didn't warn me. In the end, you just wanted to watch me make a fool of myself with Belle!"
Andrew pointed a finger dramatically, loudly turning the tables like a master strategist.
Exposed as well, Wise stopped playing the victim and also started looking up at the sky, pretending it had nothing to do with him.
"My, what a sky-like sky. And the clouds are so... cloudy."
-
Hello! Walnut here! Or... Miku Dayo in this case heheh...
Unfortunately, I had 2 stories deleted from my main account, "Walnut-chan," and I decided to post them here on this other account... I'm counting on your support to recover what we've lost!
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