“She is a child though…” King 67 questioned.
“Let me give thee a piece of advice,” Edward said with his usual smile. “Thee really should not say that in front of Melissa.”
Huh?
All King 67 saw was a small shadow before he felt a mighty thud on his head and crumbled to the ground.
His head throbbed painfully, and his vision was disoriented.
“I dare you to say that again!” he heard Melissa’s gruff voice.
How unwomanly.
“What would you do if I had fainted, or worse, sustained brain injury?” King 67 said weakly as he got up, holding his head.
“Hmph!” Indignantly, Melissa turned her head away.
Oh, now I see.
King 67 looked at the small girl.
She hit me over the head with a screw. How fierce.
“Melissa,” Edward introduced. “This is Tom, our new teammate. Make sure to treat him nicely, okay?”
Melissa, glanced at King 67, sizing him up.
“He’s short,” she replied.
Little girl, that was not very nice.
Upon seeing her response, Edward chuckled.
“How is the ship?” he asked.
"…"
“It’s not doing so well. I’ve been doing my best to maintain it, but the engine’s gonna completely break down soon.”
“Does thee want to abandon this ship and get a new one? We have enough money for that.”
Wait…he is not going to use my money, right?
“No…I don’t wanna abandon this ship.”
“Well, that is simply wonderful!” Edward cheered. “In this city, there is a man who can work together with thee to fix it. I shall bring him over now!”
“Hah?!” Melissa cried. “You think someone can understand the engine?!”
“Possibly,” replied Edward.
Disbelief was written all over Melissa’s face.
“We shall bring him over in about a week,” Edward said with a cheerful tone in his voice. “Is that okay, Melissa?”
…
“Fine.”
“Alright then, make sure to treat him well,” Edward rejoiced as he walked off with King 67.
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“Oh and,” Edward suddenly remembered something. “Remember to drink some water, Melissa. Thy lips are cracking.”
“Tsk…thy this thee that…” King 67 heard Melissa grumble before she took out her bottle and started gulping water down.
-----------------------------------------
By the time King 67 and Edward had returned to the hospital, the night sky had long since draped its velvet cloak over the city.
Walking into the hospital room, King 67 saw Conradin and Selene playing a game of cards.
They immediately stood up upon Edward’s arrival. With a wave of his hand, Edward signalled for them to remain standing.
“Now, Tom,” he turned towards King 67. “I take it as thee is now a member of our team, right?”
I do need that money back…
King 67 nodded.
“Well, then, let me formally introduce everyone!”
He pointed towards Selene. “This is Selene! She is a beautiful maiden who is surprisingly skilled at insulting people. She is also in charge of cleaning the ship and is very nimble!”
He then pointed towards Conradin. “This is Conradin! He also dyes his originally blond hair to blend in here, and covers his burn marks with makeup! He is good at almost every weapon, but specialises in the katana! As thy may have noticed, he is also mute!”
He pointed towards the wall. “Melissa, who you have met, is from the Osworl. Her family was captured and forced to be engineers for them! She and her father were in charge of the special ship that we have right now! Ever since her father died of overwork, she had been in charge of the ship, until I invaded it during its trial run. Now, she works for us!”
What a weird group of people.
“Lastly,” Edward pointed towards himself. “I am the illegitimate son of the Oswor king, a prince. My glitch is Sword of God! Welcome to our team, Tom.”
King 67 was utterly speechless.
“Now, allow me to explain our plan in detail!” Edward continued. “We are a group of people banding together to fight the Osworl!”
He said it as though they were heroes.
“As you may already know, the Osworls plan to completely take over every single country other than the five islands. As of now, they have control over the entire Osworl region and Austoria region, and their troops continue to grow as they move towards the region we are currently in-the Jerum region. They will continue to go East until the very edge of our land, towards Cloud Mountain. So, we must be faster than them. We should now head towards the North-the Bejin region, where we will warn the further regions of the threat, and get them to ally. We should also try to recruit as many of the nine jokers as we can, though four of them are on the Osworl’s side, and Artorius has unfortunately lost his glitch.”
The Bejin region… If I go there, I could find a clue as to why I laughed that night…
“Our mode of transport, which I got from the Osworl, is very unique. It can switch between being a boat and being a large car-truck sort of machine that runs for land. Understand?”
“Yes…”
Huh...
What an impossible plan. It seems I will have to steal the money back, then head to the Bejin region myself.
“Well, that is wonderful! After the ship is repaired, we shall set off!” Edward clapped his hands while King 67, Conradin and Selene remained silent.
------------------------------------------
It had been one week since the meeting with the king of Babylaind.
Selene was still very suspicious of King 67 and Conradin still mostly minded his own business.
To entertain themselves, they would play card games, but most of the time King 67 would be deep in thought, staring outside the window.
Artorius had just been discharged from the hospital, and with the help of a nurse and Edward, went to his large workshop, where Melissa and the large boat or truck-like machine were waiting.
“What is the name of this wonderful machinery?” Artorius marvelled.
“Its original name is 0925, but if you would like to, you can give it a name.”
“In that case… “Seranadia”. How is that?”
“I like it, it sounds elegant,” Edward nodded.
After that, Artorius went to check out the engine.
“What a complicated yet beautiful invention,” Artorius’s eyes widened greatly at the amazing sight before him.
“If you need any help, feel free to rely on that girl over here. Her name is Melissa,” Edward pointed at Melissa.
“Isn’t she just a small girl-ow!”
He had earned himself a painful hit on the waist by Melissa.
After a thorough inspection of the machinery by Artorius, Edward asked, “Now that you do not have your glitch, how long do you think it will take to fix this?”
Artorius returned a smile.
“Give me twenty days."