Chapter 131: Allies

"Charlotte, why did you call me here?" Eirwen asks as Charlotte tosses a small stone at a post, listening to the metallic clang it makes. She glances around as the moonlight faintly illuminates the area.

"I have some pretty good connections. Thanks to Professor Zenith, I started meeting some important people. Getting to know and interact with important people helped me get a few things. I’ve thought a lot about what Professor Zenith said about allies...for me, it’s...hard to trust people."

"But I think I’m trying to get better at that." Charlotte starts speaking in a low voice as she pulls an envelope from her clothes.

"Okay...that’s good, I guess. It’s great that you want to trust people, right?" Eirwen doesn’t really understand why they’re having this strange conversation.

"Yeah...something like that. We’re all adults, but I think we act kind of childish because most of the teachers were afraid of us, so someone like Professor Zenith undoubtedly saved our futures."

"One of my most recent contacts got this for me. I asked as a favor, and ’she’ agreed to help. It’s some information even Professor Zenith can’t obtain. It’s about your father."

"Honestly, out of all of us, I think you’re the best person for me to start with when it comes to trust...you’re way too moralistic to be a traitor or someone who would abandon me in a life-or-death situation." Charlotte knows very well how ironic her attempt is.

She wants Eirwen as an ally who wouldn’t abandon her when she herself threw Eirwen into danger.

"Oh..." Eirwen takes the envelope with trembling hands.

"I’m sorry, Eirwen...I don’t know if you noticed...but during the fight against that electric monster...I abandoned you there on purpose...I understand if you don’t want to forgive me for that, a-and—"

"I already knew...either way, thank you. I’ve been trying to get everything I can about my father, putting together the story of his life." Eirwen says as she opens the envelope, finding three pictures of her father and some documents that she briefly reads before putting everything back into the envelope.

"W-Wait, you knew?" Charlotte becomes embarrassed because she wasn’t expecting that.

"Professor Zenith told me, but she also explained that you would try to change if you got the chance and that I should keep quiet and wait, so I’ve been waiting months for this apology." Eirwen gives a small smile as she takes out her phone.

"...That...is...I’m speechless..."

"Professor Zenith told me you were pretty manipulative. I almost didn’t believe her because you’ve always been kind and energetic, but Professor Zenith isn’t a liar...so...you regret it, right? That’s good."

"I was already pretty disappointed that you hadn’t apologized, but better late than never!!"

"Eirwen...I feel really embarrassed right now...I...I was a pretty fake person with all of you, but I’m trying to improve...After all, it’s important for my future, and honestly, I’ve been thinking a lot about it." Charlotte sits down on a bench, looking at the starry sky.

"..." Eirwen sits beside her in complete silence, wondering what Charlotte is thinking.

"I’ve been thinking a lot about the future lately. Back when we were new to this...when we didn’t have a teacher, I honestly didn’t care about my future. I didn’t have much to fight for or think about." Charlotte starts speaking in a serious tone.

"After all, we were just students the academy didn’t know how to teach. Honestly, they kept us for four years without a teacher who lasted more than a month...I myself went five years without a teacher who lasted any meaningful amount of time, Edith went three years, Tanya went two years, and Ashlyn spent six whole years without anyone teaching her at the academy."

"We were practically trash in a way because nobody stayed long enough to teach us. Some of us had been at the academy since we were very young...when the academy that was supposed to teach us ignored us like that, it made it seem like we didn’t matter."

"Even though we were treated like great talents, I didn’t see it that way when nobody was really making an effort to help us."

"...That’s it...it’s kind of funny...now that I can see a future for us, I realized that if I don’t want to die alone with nobody to care about me..." When Charlotte says this, Eirwen looks at her face and gives a small smile.

"I think I understand you...my father...when his funeral was held, a lot of people he had saved showed up. It was packed, people were paying their respects, offering to help..." Eirwen speaks in a calm tone.

After losing the "villain" she thought she had in her mind, her thoughts became calmer, and she started seeing the positive side of everything her father had done instead of focusing on the anger she had felt, a personal improvement in character that she achieved on her own.

"It was great having people there thanking him, showing him respect...I should have treasured my moments with him more, and I think it’s great that Professor Zenith became our teacher even though she’s very strict."

"You want to be my friend, right, Charlotte? I really forgive you for leaving me in that dangerous place, so if you want me to save you whenever you need it, then I want the same from you too, okay?"

"Hahaha, yes, of course I do, Eirwen." Charlotte becomes a little tense about everything because she wasn’t expecting Eirwen to be so casual about it.

"Charlotte, do you want to come to my house so we can talk a little more?" Eirwen asks curiously while Charlotte seems thoughtful.

"Of course. That sounds great." Charlotte accepts, and they both stand there for a while before moving forward.

...

...

...

"What is it? Why are you looking at me like that?" Rouge asks Edith doubtfully as Edith stares at Rouge’s breasts.

"You’ve got some really nice tits, but you don’t have to be shy about them. We’re hunting monsters, right?! I’m just getting a little distracted." Both Rouge and Edith were training their powers by hunting monsters.

They ended up running into each other in the streets and decided to move forward together. Even though they were only hunting weak monsters, Rouge was trying to get used to her weapon, while Edith was trying to learn how to use basic chemical elements to create poisons or medicine.

She managed to turn trash from a garbage can into a concentrated dose of painkillers and muscle relaxants, discovering that with enough creativity, she could use natural substances from the environment to create useful "poisons."

Chemical components from batteries, motor oil, and even basic elements found in the soil could be used, although she found it considerably difficult to use those elements without purity and contaminated with other substances compared to using elements without impurities.

"Hmmm...I’m not interested in having any kind of relationship with anyone." Rouge immediately shuts down Edith’s mild advance in a cutting tone.

"W-Wow, that’s cold. I wasn’t even flirting. We’re supposed to be focusing on today’s training!!"

"...Why are you like this, Edith? Your attitude is annoying. Knowing that you’re going to be part of the medical team and might possibly heal me or the others in battle is frustrating."

"Is there any reason for that?"

"Hehehe. I’ll tell you if you tell me why you’re like this first!"

"Like what?"

"So grouchy, arrogant, and bold, with this strange coldness, always chasing after more strength. It makes me curious." Edith teases as the two continue through abandoned streets looking for monsters.

"...As far as I can remember, my family values strength a lot, and I’d like to surpass my sister. Surpassing my father would be great too, but I think my main focus is surpassing my sister...I’d also like to make my parents proud. That’s all." When Rouge actually explains why she acts the way she does, Edith is surprised.

’Damn...I really didn’t want to talk about this...’ She becomes tense, as she wasn’t expecting Rouge to actually tell her.

"...Haaa...whatever. If you told me your reason, it’s because you want to hear mine, right? Well, I don’t have some special tragic story. I don’t really remember my parents. I think they sold me to some horrible people."

"Men who experimented on me. I was forced to try all kinds of things, from drugs and medicine to poisoning and chemical tests. I barely survived some of it."

"I know not every man is bad, but all I saw in that place were men, so I came to hate them for what they did to me. So I prefer girls, beautiful girls with voluptuous figures."

"The girl who saved me from that place was a Kaira. She was incredible, and she was my childhood crush...but...she was married...I never had a chance. That probably helped fuel my hatred toward men."

"But I never had much of an example to follow, so I learned how to flirt with girls by reading manga secretly at night on the computer at the shelter where I was staying. I guess I read a lot of the wrong stuff on the internet and ended up developing the wrong way of flirting...those people implanted my Core into me, so as soon as I was rescued, I ended up having to enter the academy more or less by force."

"Still, it’s not all bad. Most girls see my excessive flirting as something I do for fun. Did you enjoy learning more about me? Honestly, there’s nothing that special about it. There were plenty of other children in the same situation I was in, and apparently there always will be." Edith says with a small smile on her face.

"...That’s strange, but yeah, I guess it’s a past that makes sense. Maybe that’s the reason behind your powers?" Rouge says, making Edith stop walking.

"...Hahaha, you’re right. Probably. All those tests shaped what my Core gave me as a power...it’s ironic that the past that hurt me will now help me heal people." After hearing Rouge say that, Edith becomes even more certain that choosing to become a doctor in the army is the right path for her life.

"Now let’s put that aside and get back to training, Rouge! I want to try finding more things I can use!!" Edith pulls Rouge along as she runs through the deserted area, while Rouge lets herself be dragged along, her tail wagging slightly as her ears remain raised and alert.