Chapter 123 – I Have Never Seen Grain Bow and Scrape So Much Before

"Lieutenant Priscilla, were you already acquainted with Miss Letaria?"

Grain, who had been watching their exchange, asked with a look of surprise.

"Yes. We met once before, in Cranea. Her bearing and manner were so graceful and lovely that she left a strong impression on me."

Priscilla answered, gazing at Letaria with a gentle look.

"I see... Well, for now, let's go ahead and finish the full tour of the Corps' facilities. After that, perhaps we can set aside some time to talk properly."

At Grain's confirmation, Priscilla nodded -- "Yes, let's do that" -- and turned her gaze to Letaria, and then to Milea standing beside her.

"Miss Letaria, let's have a proper talk again later. ...Um, and would this be someone from Syn-Fibra?"

"Yes. I'm Milea Ichinose, and I serve as chief at Syn-Fibra's Seldia branch."

Milea bowed politely, and Priscilla smiled, looking pleased.

"If you don't mind, I would love the chance to speak with you as well, Miss Milea."

"Of course. I look forward to it."

With that exchange, Grain and Priscilla set off once more to continue the facility tour.

◆◆◆

About an hour later.

Having finished touring the full range of the Corps' facilities and exchanging greetings with the deployed Makina and its members, Priscilla was shown into the reception room at Vigilante Corps headquarters.

In the quiet room, the four of them -- Grain, Priscilla, and Letaria and Milea, who had been waiting for the tour to finish -- sat together over freshly brewed herbal tea.

"It was an extremely worthwhile visit. There was a great deal of ingenuity here that differs from a military facility, and I found many things worth taking as reference."

"You're too kind. Hearing praise like that from a member of the homeland's regular military really lifts the morale of the whole corps, myself included."

Grain bowed his head, looking genuinely humbled. Letaria, watching this rare sight from beside him, gave a mischievous little chuckle and cut in.

"My, my -- this is the first time I've ever seen Grain bow and scrape quite this much."

At those words, a vein bulged on Grain's forehead, but he shot back at once with a mean little smile.

"The Lieutenant is an important guest from the homeland. Don't go lumping her in with a wild little troublemaker like you, 'The Rampaging Lady.'"

"My word! How dare you say such a thing!"

Letaria puffed out her cheeks and fired back.

"Now, both of you...! I'm so sorry, Lieutenant Priscilla, they're always carrying on like this..."

Milea held her head in her hands and apologized, sounding mortified, and Priscilla laughed aloud, clearly delighted.

"No, not at all. You all seem so close and cheerful together, I'm almost envious. ...Oh, that reminds me. Captain Grain, Chief Milea -- please, feel free to simply call me 'Priscilla,' without the rank."

At her easygoing offer to set military rank aside, Grain and Milea exchanged a glance and shared a wry smile.

"Ha ha... well, in that case, I'll take you up on that and call you 'Miss Priscilla.' Please feel free to address me casually as well."

"I'll do the same and call you Miss Priscilla too. I look forward to it."

At Grain and Milea's words, Priscilla's eyes crinkled happily -- "Oh, thank you both."

After that, the conversation carried on lively -- the state of affairs back home, life in Seldia, talk of piloting Makina -- and the reception room was wrapped in a warm, easy atmosphere.

-- It was in the middle of this friendly chatter, when the topic happened to turn to piloting skill and machine performance, that it happened.

"...I see. So Miss Letaria's Arden is a machine built on an old-era Makina base, with Syn-Fibra's technology worked into it. And she really does use Trace Mode..."

Priscilla said, sounding genuinely intrigued.

"Indeed! Arden is my proud partner, and such a fine one at that!"

Priscilla laughed softly. "How very interesting. ...That reminds me, would it be possible to borrow the Vigilante Corps' training simulator? Rather than just talking about it, I think putting our machines through it directly would let us understand each other's tactics and machine characteristics far more deeply."

Grain reacted at once to Priscilla's suggestion, tossed out so casually.

"Do you mean holding a mock battle?"

"Yes, if everyone doesn't mind. I would love for all of us to get a true feel for it firsthand -- myself and the team traveling with me this time, the elite of Seldia's own Vigilante Corps, and Miss Letaria's skill as well."

"Let's see..."

Grain crossed his arms, looking thoughtful.

"Grain, let's do it!"

Letaria's eyes lit up.

"Eh, wait a second..."

Milea, looking a bit reluctant.

An abrupt proposal for a mock battle.

Grain, Letaria, and Milea each reacted to it in their own distinct way.

And so, quite unexpectedly, a mock battle between a lieutenant of the homeland military and the Seldia Vigilante Corps came to be held.