Chapter 104 99 - Filler Day

Later

"Alright, I think my brain processed enough information..." Yanagi mutters tiredly as she rubs her forehead.

'Doubtful,' The current Express trio, plus Harumasa, thought in unison, giving the poor lady a stare. They bet their asses she's having a hard time handling the simple fact that Cunning Hares and the PubSec officers are currently being buddies.

"So, for today, we're going to continue with our next lesson," Yanagi says as she clears her throat. "Today's lesson is paperwork."

"..." Upon hearing this, everyone goes silent while staring at Yanagi blankly. It was so quiet that the only sound they could hear was the sound of crickets.

"..." Yanagi could merely smile nervously, cold sweat appears all over her head like she had taken a cold shower.

"...I expected something useful," Phil admits.

"I-it is useful!" Yanagi argues. "When you start working in H.A.N.D., this will be the main job when you're not on the field!"

"...the reality is truly disappointing," Phil says in a blank tone. "My dream, savagely crushed by the most despised word in the business world."

"..." Yanagi didn't say a word, but mentally, she's screaming with nothing but despair as her dream of having her workload lessen is now moving several steps further away from her. She can clearly hear the lack of interest shown by Phil, and it is clear he has no desire to do so.

The cutest intern she had ever lay her eyes on, is showing no interest to help her future issues.

"Ms. Yanagi, may I ask something?" Caelus asks, getting the woman's attention. "I understand the importance of paperwork, and forgive my rudeness, but don't you think you have gotten ahead of yourself? I mean, our previous lesson was about the basics of Hollows, then the second lesson immediately goes to paperwork?"

"...okay, I really did get ahead of myself..." Yanagi says, while chuckling nervously. Meanwhile, Nicole can be seen munching her popcorn as she watches Yanagi mess up with her lesson with Caelus.

"Never thought the day I ever saw Section 6's Ms. Perfect would mess up this bad," Nicole says as she cackles a bit, not even bothered by Yanagi glaring holes at her.

"When did people start calling her Ms. Perfect?" Anby asks in confusion.

"Eh, no one. That was just my nickname for her," Nicole shrugs.

"She doesn't look like Ms. Perfect to me. More like an ordinary office lady," Billy comments, causing Yanagi to gain a tick mark.

"Meh, looks like a rookie teacher to me," Nekomiya comments.

"Are you four done!?" Yanagi asks in annoyance, and they respond with silence. "DOn't you have anything else to do besides watching me!?"

"Not really, we're just resting after the airship incident," Nicole says casually, causing Yanagi to blink in confusion.

"Airship incident??" Yanagi mutters before she remembers Chief Miyabi was called by H.A.N.D.'s higher-ups to discuss something regarding a recent incident, and the news discussing the sudden terrorist attack on an airship.

She then remembered how Caelus mentioned that the Cunning Hares were hired as lawyers by the Canvas Street citizens. It didn't take long for Yanagi to connect the dots.

"Huh, so you guys got caught in the attack?" Harumasa asked curiously.

"More like they collaborate with us to protect the citizens," Qingyi explained as she sipped her tea. "Also, you should focus on the lesson. You've been wasting your new colleague's time."

"O-oh, right..." Yanagi said hastily before clearing her throat. "Y-you're right, Caelus. I was getting ahead of myself; sorry about that. A-anyways, let's continue with several tools required for Hollow Exploration. Last time, we discussed the W-Engines and Drive Disk, and how they were able to help you in Hollow."

"Are we going to discuss Carrots next?" Phil asks curiously.

"Correct." As she said that, she explained how Carrot works. It is a navigational device that helps the explorers in Hollow. Carrot uses what people call the Rosetta Data, an information resulting from decoded and processed Hollow's raw Ether streams, as a reference point, which allows it to negate the 'drift' occurring within Hollow and keeps the users from getting lost.

Carrot Data required constant updates or replacement with new ones every day due to the ever-changing nature of Hollow. If anyone tries to explore the Hollow with an outdated data, it'll be the same as exploring Hollow without Carrots.

'Wait, then how is Slyboo able to help me navigate through the Fourteenth Street and Dead End Hollow without getting lost? If what Yanagi said is true, then his Carrot is completely outdated!' Caelus thought in disbelief before the System displayed a screen with information.

[Trailblaze (LVL 16 | Eidolons: 3/6)]: Grants the Pathstriders the ability to travel anywhere, planting a Space Anchor at a specific location for teleportation, the ability to adjust any terrible environment, EX-Rank on Riding, and any navigation tools will be updated automatically based on the current location. (Registered Navigation Tools: Phil's Carrots, Slyboo).]

'...this is one hell of a plot device!' Caelus thought in disbelief. 'But, wait. What about the mini-map given to me during my first quest?'

[Special one-time privilege]

'You stingy motherfucker!'

"..." Phil can't help but widen his eyes in realization before mentally slapping himself for forgetting that one particular detail. Ever since Caelus had saved his ass in his last solo Hollow Raid, he hasn't had the chance to update the Carrot. But, for whatever reason, that same Carrot hasn't got him or Caelus astray. They should've been stuck inside the Hollow now, not sitting here learning a basic lesson from his idol.

"Is something wrong?" Yanagi asks curiously, noticing Caelus' and Phil's surprised expressions.

"A-ah, nothing!" For the first time, the duo shares a single brain cell and wavelength, keeping such information to themselves. Yanagi looks at them before shrugging.

"...so, anyone wondering how Caelus gets their Carrot Data to be able to travel to two different Hollows twice?" Nicole asks curiously in a quiet tone. "If I remember, those fuckers in the underworld love to sell their Carrot data at steep prices, and Caelus back then didn't seem to have much money given he's from Outer Ring..."

"Let's ask them later," Anby whispers in a serious tone. "From their expression, something about Path ability is involved, and they don't seem to be ready to reveal it to Section 6."

"How can you even guess that?" Billy asks in confusion.

"A hunch," Anby says plainly, earning a dry stare from Nicole.

They continue with the lesson as Yanagi enthusiastically bestow more basic knowledges to the boys, while Harumasa can be seen sleeping at another table and Soukaku can be seen munching every snacks in the grocery bags. This has gone on for a few hours; the PubSec officers have left with the girls dragging Seth's 'drunken' ass out of the cafeteria, and the Cunning Hares lying in their seats, looking bored as hell.

"I expected the bunny to be a nerd, based on how he acts and looks. But how in the world was Caelus able to listen to her yapping non-stop!?" Nicole asks in disbelief as she collapses onto the table.

"I think we forgot Caelus is also a nerd. He read a thick textbook about basic medical knowledge while sipping his morning coffee at a cafe," Anby says as if it were obvious. "Also, the upgrades we got are only possible because Caelus is a nerd."

"...then why is he not acting like one most of the time?" Nicole mutters. She still remembers how annoying Caelus can be when he was trolling and how generous he can be sometimes. Every time she sees him, she never sees him acting nerdy.

"You only knew the stereotypical nerds from movies, Nicole," Anby says blankly.

"...true, barely met nerds in real life," Nicole says with a shrug.

"Doesn't the Phaethon count as one? A 'movie' nerd?" Billy whispers to them.

"..." Nicole simply facepalms, forgetting the one basic thing about Phaethon.

"Oh, I think the lesson is over," Nekomiya comments as Yanagi puts all of her stuff back into her bag before slowly approaching the sleeping Harumasa. Without any warning, she pinches his left ear, causing him to jolt awake.

"W-what was that for!?" Harumasa asks in disbelief.

"You slept through the entire lecture," Yanagi says in a blank tone. "Do you realize what kind of impression you gave to your junior?"

"Uh..." Harumasa mutters, not saying a word before glancing at the boys. "They...don't mind?"

"... you show that you get to slack off during work," Yanagi says, causing Harumasa to gulp.

"...ehehe, sorry?" Harumasa apologizes sheepishly.

"You're staying at the office till 7; finish as much paperwork as you can," Yanagi says without argument, causing Harumasa to sigh in resignation. He can't exactly argue with her, given he did screwed up. Soukaku approaches Yanagi while giving her a snack.

Yanagi can't help but smile at her before accepting the snack and leaving. Both boys let out a sigh of relief after seeing that they had left the building.

"Okay, talk," Phil says as he looks at Caelus. "How did my Carrot manage to guide us through multiple Hollows without getting us stuck?"

"Wait, you didn't know!? I thought you and Caelus knew," Anby asks in surprise.

"Nope, how did you even come up with that conclusion in the first place?" Phil asks while sweatdropping.

"...I may have had an idea, but I need Slyboo and your Carrot for a moment," Caelus says as Phil looks at him with a raised eyebrow before giving him the Carrot. Caelus nods before picking up Slyboo, who's on his way to the kitchen. The poor Bangboo could only let out a confused 'Eh-nah' as Caelus placed him on the table.

"So, what are you proving here?" Nicole asked in confusion.

"Phil, try using your Ether energy scanner," Caelus said, confusing Phil. The bunny Thiren wants to know what is going on, but knowing Caelus, he'll just demand that he scan it. Phil pulls out a scanner and uses it on both Slyboo and his Carrot.

[Unknown Energy Detected]

"Huh?" Phil asks in confusion before he hastily tries to connect the Carrot to his device. It still shows the Rosetta Data for the Hollow. "Okay, what is going on?"

"Path Energy," Caelus says.

"...after doing all of that, that's the only answer you can give me?" Phil asks incredulously.

"Well, I need to test a theory. You guys know what Trailblaze is, right?" Caelus asks, earning nods from everyone. But they stop to think for a moment before looking at Caelus with a look of realization.

"So, Trailblaze updates the Rosetta Data on Carrots?" Billy says, earning a nod from Caelus.

"It's more like updating any navigation device with the updated geography data, like if a path is blocked by a landslide, the map will automatically update itself," Caelus says. "And apparently, it also works on Carrots and Rosetta Data."

"...gimme that shit," Nicole says in a serious tone.

"You guys have Phaethon," Caelus deadpans.

"Yeah, but there will be times when we won't work together! And with how they get to know more Hollow Explorers or Raiders, he won't just hire us!" Nicole exclaims.

"...I don't know how I did it," Caelus sighs. "If I accidentally channel the wrong Path energy, you guys will either get a destroyed Carrot, or nothing will happen. I just realized I accidentally walked in the Path of Trailblaze not long ago."

"How did you not know?" Anby asks in confusion.

"It's like doing things subconsciously, like how you hate someone and slowly get consumed by anger to the point you didn't even realize it," Caelus explains. "Also, if you do that, you may walk in the Path of the Hunt."

"Ah..." Anby merely nods.

"...then can we at least borrow it?" Nicole asks while giving Caelus puppy-dog eyes.

"...I'm not letting you take my Bangboo," Caelus says while hugging Slyboo. Nicole pouts before looking at Phil.

"No," Phil says bluntly, not letting Nicole say a single word.

"...you guys are stingy!"

To be Continued