———Karra———

  <3: 04 pm>

  “Haaa… Haaa…” Need to… breathe…

  “Why… Is there such a big gap?” Kenni asked, also lying on the floor just like I do.

  “Guess this is the farthest you’ll go for now.” Wiina answered as she walked over.

  “Hey… Was that meant to be that hard?” Kenni asked, still lying on the ground.

  “It seems more or less correct.” She answered with disinterest.

  That was Rank C+. We ran out of stamina just two more battles in.

  “Don’t look too down. Remember that you were going through multiple fights in a row.” Wiina said, probably reading our disappointed expressions. “I think you two would’ve hit a wall here regardless, but probably would’ve done a lot better.”

  “Didn’t you cast some spell on us to fix that issue? Or was that just pcebo talking.” Kenni asked after staggering to her feet while I am still lying on the ground.

  “It can only be so effective, if neither of you want any long-sting side effects then I can only sprinkle in a few spells. Your body could’ve been greatly damaged if you keep relying on it, especially in a short period of time.” She said, bringing up a dreadful possibility.

  “So like… steroids and shit?” Kenni asked in response.

  “Basically. Just like a lot of things, too much of it is not good for you.” Wiina replied, not looking all too concerned. “Anyway, here’s your pay.”

  “Nice!” Kenni said out loud as she took her share, while I took it without saying anything, finally deciding to stand back up. “So what’s next? I guess you’re gonna have us skedaddle out of here?”

  “That would be for the best. Maybe I can lead you around for maybe an hour max, but I don’t think you two have a lot of stamina left to even stand.” She answered, making it pretty clear she doesn’t want us to stay around for long.

  “You know what… How about you treat us with dinner or something. I’m starving.” Kenni suddenly requested. Seems pretty reasonable, but that would mean more money out of her pocket, right?

  “I could use a meal myself. Why not?” …She actually took up on that? “So where do you two want to… Hold on.”

  “What is it?” I asked, seeing her sudden shift in mood.

  “The defense system starts firing up, I need to go check what that was about.” She said before floating up to one of the windows high up, closer to the ceiling, opening it and flying out.

  …Wait. Why would the system start fring up?

  “Tch. How inconvenient.” Kenni said, clicking her tongue.

  “I think I can hear something explode? I’m not sure.” I remarked after hearing something faint in the background.

  “Same, no idea what that was. Would be nice to know.” Kenni replied.

  “The fact that the sounds of the explosion is so subtle more or less shows how soundproof this pce is.” I pointed out, before walking over to the spectator bench to sit down and… “Oh, there’s a water dispenser here.”

  “Ah. Just what I need.” Kenni said and walked over, reaching it before I did. Just seeing the water dispenser makes me realize how dehydrated I am right now. Despite the room being well-ventited and quite cold, I have sweat quite a bit with all the battles going on. “*Gulp*... Haaah! That hits the spot.”

  “Mhmm…” Yeah, it feels nice to drink a good amount of cold and refreshing water after a workout. “...By the way, when did you get that blue scarf?”

  “Oh. This?” She said, grabbing the scarf around her neck that seems very flowy. “I got this from my solo dungeon run, actually.”

  “Huh? How? When Wiina and I went on that dungeon trip we didn’t get a single accessory!” Is it like a super rare drop or something?

  “This isn’t from the school dungeon. I’ve flown around the state and found another dungeon that was blocked off for public safety. Got it from the fifth floor there.” She boasted. So what? I bet I can do that solo as well! “What’s with that look?”

  “You sure abuse the hell out of that flying ability of yours, now that I think about it.” I remarked, not letting my other more competitive thoughts seep through. It’s good she actually got mileage out of it, would’ve been a waste otherwise, but the jealousy is still there, and it’s hard to not mix some of that into my tone. “How in the world does that even work? Two wings together and at most it’s like… three-fourth of your body size?”

  “Honestly. I have no idea either, but it does work.” She answered. I can sorta guess what happened, but I think it’s rather trivial.

  “Certainly doesn’t seem to make sense unless your bones are hollow, at minimum.” I said, staring at her arms, getting the intrusive thought to- Yeah, no. I don’t want to accidentally crush someone’s arms. If I unconsciously use mana-cdding and grip her arm tightly, even if her bones weren’t hollow they’ll still be crushed like a soda can.

  “I sense the bloodlust from here.” She semi-jokingly said as she clutched her arm tight and took a step back. Guess I wasn’t making it subtle.

  “Sorry. Just got curious… Then again, I think even with hollow bones humans probably can’t fly if they have wings, they’re way too big and energy-consuming, right?” Now that I think it through a bit more, considering things like square-cube or aviation w, there’s no way anything remotely humanoid in size and shape could’ve flown even if they have wings, right? Then this is probably more magical in nature.

  “We’re applying logic now?” Kenni asked, clearly sounding a bit bewildered.

  “Why not? Magic can make sense… I think.” I said, hoping that doesn’t come off as too ridiculous of a cim.

  “Pffttt…” She clearly thinks it does, that’s for sure…

  “Alright, I’m back. Got some helicopters trying to trespass.” Wiina casually expined after coming back in through the window. Now that I think about it, only someone who could fly can actually reach it, right?

  “Helicopters? Don’t think the average joe has those.” Kenni remarked. That much is obvious, but that particur fact does raise questions.

  “I don’t really know what their deal was, so after I rescue them from having their aircraft shot down, I send them on their way.” She expined, not sounding all too worried.

  “Lucky that they survive, but you didn’t grill them for info?” Kenni muttered.

  “Nah. It’s not really my issue. I’m not the owner of this pce, first and foremost.” She put that particur fact out there.

  “...I wonder if this is going to be an issue for whoever employs them…” Kenni muttered.

  “Whoever they are will probably get a harsh scolding at minimum… How many were there anyway?” I remarked then asked. Losing even one would’ve been quite a loss, considering they didn’t really accomplish anything.

  “Five in total, which is definitely not something most people would have, so…” Youch. Right, so some sort of authority figure is definitely involved, but who? Why not use something… more durable, I guess? Or maybe use a ground vehicle.

  “Must’ve been an impulsive thing, right?” Kenni theorized. That’s also what I’m assuming, but I guess there are more possibilities.

  “It could’ve also been a miscalcution, not like this sort of scenario is common, to put it lightly.” I proposed. I don’t think they have anything to work off as a reference, a procedure.

  “Regardless of what the reasoning was for the how and why, it is foolish all the same.” Wiina remarked, clearly finding the whole thing rather silly. “Haven’t they been humiliated enough?”

  “At this point it feels like a fetish.” Kenni suddenly said. I definitely don’t see it that way, but what do I know?

  “Who’s to say?” Wiina doesn’t seem to agree or disagree with that particur notion. Considering that everyone was caught ftfooted, mistakes are going to be much more common for a long while. We’re all probably going to look back at this and think that all those mistakes were insanely idiotic.

  “By the way, do you think the owner is gonna notice?” I asked, already aware of the answer, but couldn’t help but ask anyway.

  “Oh, I think they’ll know.” She confidently answered. “But enough about all that, aren’t you two starving?”

  <4: 11 pm>

  “...Is it just me or are there weird vibes from the cooks?” I asked as we waited for our order.

  “Hm? What does that mean?” Kenni asked, not picking up on the odd energy reading. Guess she hasn’t learned how to do that yet.

  “Nothing you should worry about. If it works, it works.” Wiina replied with something very vague. Guess there’s something about this pce that I probably shouldn’t dig into.

  “Huh? Let me in on the loop here!” Kenni protested.

  “Are you guys saying something?” Suddenly our old senior who is the daughter of the owners, Rico, walked over. I guess she would be here helping out without college or university up and running… Does she even go to one? “Nothing intrusive, I hope.”

  …Hold on, what the hell is this energy reading!? It spiked for a moment for me to notice, but it was by far the biggest I’ve read yet.

  “Nothing important, move along.” Wiina quickly replied. She probably noticed that as well.

  “Heh, suit yourself.” Rico said before walking off. Just what was that interaction?

  “Come on, gals…” Kenni meanwhile still insists on knowing what’s going on.

  “Let’s talk about that after eating.” Wiina said, probably knowing how to deal with the situation far better than either of us. “Don’t you have a lot more pressing questions to ask?”

  “What? Like your whole goddamn history? No one’s gonna answer something like that.” Kenni sarcastically replied. “Though there is one thing I did think about, no one has mentioned it as far as I know.”

  “What is it?” Wiina said, humoring her.

  “Are you human?” She asked an odd question.

  I guess that never crossed my mind before. She looks like a regur human, so I would’ve thought she is human, if one who is way too knowledgeable and proficient in magic.

  “I am.” She answered. “Do I look like anything else to you?”

  “Just a gut feeling I got, but if you say so, I won’t press that button further.” Kenni said, not looking all too convinced. “You got nothing to ask, Karra?”

  “Me? I don’t have anything on my mind right now.” I already have her contact number, so I feel like I should only ask her something when it’s a pressing matter, since I can do that at any moment, theoretically. “It’s kinda rare for this pce to have this much free space.”

  “No kidding, and it probably won’t stay that way for too long.” Kenni remarked. It definitely wouldn’t, with more people willing to venture outside, the more things return to normal… Retively normal.

  Ah, the food has arrived.

  <4: 48 pm>

  “So? Can you tell me already?” The moment we left the premise of the diner Kenni quickly tried to ask for context again.

  “Basically, both of us get an odd energy reading from some of the employees there.” Wiina answered her query.

  “Energy reading? When did you two have that ability? When was that a thing?” Kenni asked another question. Hm?

  “I could’ve sworn I talked about that…” I muttered out loud. Did I not do it during the stream?

  “No!?” Kenni answered, clearly bewildered.

  “Ah. Must’ve slipped my mind, sorry.” I casually apologize. Why didn’t I think it was important to mention again?

  “In fairness, in a lot of stories involving supernatural powers, power-sensing isn’t exactly uncommon.” Wiina said in my defense. Right, I guess there’s that.

  “Okay, but let’s get to the point already.” Kenni doesn’t seem to care that much about the specific details, just what we sensed.

  “It’s that simple, really. Those employees seem to have odd energy readings that aren’t normal. In fact, humans don’t have strong energy reading, if at all.” Wiina further crified to finally satisfy her inquiry. “It could mean either they are powerful individuals who for whatever reason choose to work there, or they are not humans. Is that satisfactory?”

  “Right. I think I get it.” Kenni muttered, probably still catching up to all the possible implications. “...But would that mean anything? That’s what I want to know.”

  “As long as no harm comes to the patrons, I don’t think it’s worth digging into.” Wiina gave her opinion. “Though admittedly, for someone who just figured this out, it does seem rather arming, doesn’t it?”

  “Yeah, which is why I asked.” I said, noticing now that I’m the one who led us all to talk about this mystery. “Wiina, do you know more about the reasoning?”

  “Can’t say I do with a high level of certainty. I think you guys have a lot to think about already, so I’d rather refrain from saying more.” She answered, making it clear she does have some clues, but thinks we’ll just end up in a meaningless wild goose chase.

  Guess we have a lot to worry about already, mostly with how uncertain a lot of things are. It’s not like there’s anything particurly threatening to worry about, but the past few weeks have felt slow because there’s not a lot to go off on.

  “Suit yourself.” Kenni said with a dismissive gesture. “Anyway, I guess we’re done here.”

  “Indeed. If you have nothing else to ask.” Wiina followed up, giving me a gnce.

  “I think this is a good time to split up, I’m sure you have other things on your mind.” I said to make it clear we don’t have any more hung ups.

  “In that case, see you two ter.” She replied before walking away.

  “Yeah, see ya.” Kenni said after she had already started to leave our view. “...Well then, guess we’ll part here too. Those guys are gonna be so jealous!”

  And with that she walked off. She really does pn to brag to everyone, just like I do.

  More stream content to go about, but considering her offers, maybe it’s best if I hold off on that for now…