“Ou! If it’s something I can do, tell me! Friends help each other!”
“Thanks. I know I keep being helped by you…”
Hercus bowed, as Yuugo sounded ready to say yes even before he heard what it was about.
And then he raised his head, and explained his request.
“I actually accepted a quest so I could get money and materials to strengthen my magic item. It’s about carrying things in the farm in the suburbs starting tomorrow. But now it doesn’t look like I’ll be able to do it. I feel bad about no showing, so I was thinking about looking for someone to fill in for me…”
“Oh, that’s all? Okay, leave it to me! I’ll take that quest!”
“Thanks a lot… I was thinking about asking people close to me, but with the academy in this state, they’ll just use it to demand something else, so I was reluctant. I’m glad I met someone with whom I don’t have to worry about that.
Of course, I won’t forget I owe you one. I’ll make it up to you in a way that I can.”
“Don’t worry about it! Rid… I mean, colleagues help each other! That means even more if they’re friends!”
Yuugo thought the job description was something simpler than he expected, and accepted it with a thumbs up.
And as Hercus lowered his head yet again, Angel started speaking.
“So you’re not planning to use Blaster tomorrow? Can you leave it with me? I’ll do some modifications while you work.”
“Really!? Thanks! All right then… I’m counting on you, An!”
“Sure. I’m going to start working on reworking the circulation of magic energy of the whole thing, and changing the form of the limbs.”
“I’ll help too. I’ve been tuning my big brother’s Blaster so far, so I think I can help.”
“Thanks. We can have some fun time together without your annoying big brother.”
“Hey, hold on there! That sounds fishy, An! Melt, sorry, but go with Phi. It’s dangerous to leave him alone with An!”
“Hahahahaha, all right, I will! But you really don’t need to worry about it that much~!”
“He gets so worked up when it comes to Phi. Aren’t you a little over-protective, Yuugo?”
An’s words started a big mess between them. But as he watched their back and forth, Hercus let out a small smile.
“It’s kind of nice… Maybe it’s because I got away from the academy and the dormitory, but that tense feeling is completely gone. We were all like this until not too long ago, so how did it get to that…?”
“Well, I’m in the technical department, Phi is an elementary student, Yuugo is as you can see, and Melt doesn’t care about that sort of thing either. I guess you couldn’t be further away from that tense atmosphere.”
“It makes sense for everyone to be wary after monster armor beasts got into the academy. But if it gets so tiresome, you can always come visit.”
“Thanks. I’ll focus on healing my injuries for now. I’ll tell you more about the quest later. Sorry, but I’m counting on you.”
Yuugo watched Hercus leave and waved his hand, and thought about the mental condition of the students in the academy.
He thought the case surrounding Rush was having lingering effects, and worried about all their troubles, when suddenly An spoke as though she just thought of something.
“Ah, I know. Can you take this, sort of in return for keeping Blaster with me?”
“Hna? What’s…!?”
Yuugo looked to see what An was giving him, and his eyes opened widely mid sentence.
He saw An lower her zipper and reach into the valley in her chest. And he could not help but say something when he saw her taking something from there and give it to him as though it was normal.
“Wait wait wait!! Where did you get that from!?”
“From the valley in my chest?”
“Don’t say that like it’s normal! Keep that in your pocket or something!”
“It’s easier this way. Come on, take it.”
Yuugo took the thing stored in Angel’s valley with his face turning red.
What he got was something thin and round that looked like a compact. The body heat he felt from it made him nervous, as Angel explained.
“That’s a provisional communications magic item. When you open it, it shows images from another item, so we can talk. It’s a nice opportunity, so take it as a way to test it. And try talking through it.”
“Eh… So there’s a magic item like this too? And we can talk if I open it? Lemme see…?”
Yuugo was given a magic item that reminded him of cellphones in his world (leaving aside where it came from), and looked at it with excitement.
As Angel said, he opened it to test it, but…?
“Hnn…♥”
“!?!?!?”
Everyone turned to Angel with surprise when they heard a vibrating sound and she let out a sweet voice.
She put her hand on her chest again, and retrieved another item with a smile on her face.
“Maybe the vibration is a little too strong. If it catches me off guard and I let out a voice like that, people might misunderstand… I guess I need to fix that.”
“Awa, awawawawa…!?”
“Hm… Yes, I guess it makes sense for Yuugo to be worried. At the very least, this doesn’t sound good for Phi’s education.”
“An…! You, wha…!!”
Melt smiled awkwardly as she saw Phi looking shaken, and Yuugo’s fists trembled about the words and behavior of the technician that had a lot of problems.
There was a lot he wanted to say, but… He yelled what he felt had to come first.
“Instead of tuning the vibration of your magic item… Think about where you’re keeping it!!”
“Eh? This jumpsuit has too many pockets, so I never know where anything is. This way is easier.”
“At least don’t suddenly put out your boobs in front of Phi! All right!?”
“Yes yes, got it. Geez, you boys never know when to make a big deal out of something or not…”
Angel shook her head, as if exasperated by Yuugo telling her to refrain from doing and saying things too provocative in front of a child.
And so, as he thought that even this not tense atmosphere had its own problems, Yuugo prayed deep down that her presence would not be a bad influence in Phi’s growth.
Join my patreon to support me and read ahead.
reference time!:
That “rid..i mean colleagues should help each other.” is a line from Eiji Hino from “Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Wizard & Fourze: Movie War Ultimatum”
Yeah kinda subtle lol.
Riders help each other? More like push each other into rivers…