Going home, I was careful to make sure nobody followed us, which thankfully nobody was.

When we were home, I sighed at everything because this was going to be a pain to deal with.

Clare offered to prepare a bath for me again, but I told her not to do that because I was too mentally exhausted after hearing everything. Honestly, none of it made any sense; I doubted I figured it out with what information I was told.

I just changed my clothes and went to bed with my short sword under my pillow.

I haven’t done this in a while, but I better be a light sleeper for the next few days to be ready if someone attacks us. Maybe I should make Clare sleep in my bed since it’s big enough for two and safer because I will be next to her if anything happens.

Thinking that, I don’t think Clare would want that because Clare wants our relationship to be more of a master-servant one than friends.

I sigh my last sigh and shut my eyes to go to sleep.

…

…

…

Feeling a stinging pain across my cheeks, I shot my eyes wide open.

“Hey, you awake?!”

“What did you do that for?”

I tiredly and annoyedly complained as I looked around my surroundings after being slapped by Norn, to see I was in the elevator going down from my named Aias to ground level while on a stretcher, carried by two medics.

“You collapsed when we got out of the cockpit. Be thankful that I caught you and that Scott prepared a medical team on standby.”

“And whose fault was that? I’ve barely gotten any sleep this week from having to write reports since you've gotten us in trouble this week.”

I gave Norn the snake eye, which Norn could only tell under our expressionless face.

She looked away like she was blissfully unaware and didn’t see anything as the elevator doors opened to ground level.

We walked out of the elevator as a maintenance worker returned our jackets. We then went to a cart, ready to take us to the infirmary.

The driver began driving as I looked up from the stretcher to see the hangar’s massive ceilings above me and the heads of multiple Aiases.

When we were at the door to the infirmary next to the hangar, I recovered enough strength to walk with Norn’s help.

A couple of nurses led us to a room specifically designated for us as we passed by other pilots sitting on special-looking chairs with tubes, monitors, pumps, and other medical equipment on them. These chairs are called Ortif chairs. They take blood in our body and get rid of the Ori energy in our blood while also injecting medical nanomachines to repair our body from the strain and damage from Ori energy flowing through our body.

Going inside the room designated for us, which had Ortif chairs that looked different from the ones outside since they were newer models and a wall full of medical supplies just for us, Norn sat on the one on the left, while one of the nurses helped me sit on the one on the right.

I put my arms on the armrest, and it caused a clicking sound that locked my wrist and elbow to the armrest as a nurse took out a blood bag from one of the medicine cabinets with a refrigerator and put it into the chair for me since I was coughing out quite a bit of blood when I got back.

Feeling a pinching sensation on both my wrists, which were needles being injected into my wrist and into my arteries, a loading screen opened in my helmet.

Blood started flowing out of my left wrist, and new blood, from the blood bag, flowed into my right wrist.

A minute or two later, the screen that had been loading finally finished, giving a full scan of my body.

I touched the touchpads in front of my hand on the armrest to see the report.

Overall, everything was mostly within expectations. My OBL, or Ori blood levels, are at 0.87%, higher than expected. Normally when we go on the Ortif chair, our OBL is around 0.70% to 0.80%.

For comparison, the fatal level for a normal person is around 0.40%, while for a normal pilot, it is around 0.90%. For a named pilot, it’s kind of unknown, but the theoretical limit is probably 1.40%.

The reason I coughed out blood and had a nosebleed was because of the strain of sortieing for the last few days, especially our last mission, and barely getting any sleep from having to write reports as punishment from Commander Sharp, which made my tolerance for Ori energy weaken.

I should ask Commander Sharp to stop making me write reports because we are in a war right now, but, for now, I should get some shut-eye.

“Hey, Norn.”

“Yeah?”

Tiredly I said to her.

“I’m taking a nap; don’t disturb me.”

It should take around 1 hour to get rid of the Ori energy from our bodies completely and repair the damage to our bodies, normally. However, with the number of missions we have been doing and being severely sleep-deprived, I’m stuck here longer than Norn, maybe around 3 hours from what the screen told me.

Drifting off to sleep, I was awakened to loud clattering sounds and things falling.

Looking at my surroundings, I saw Norn sitting on her chair, no longer connected, playing a game on one of our old-school handheld consoles.

I guess she went back to our room to get it and came back here, waiting for me to finish, and it appears that I’m done, but what is with the racket?

We look at each other, and it would seem that Norn seems to be wondering what’s with the noise as well, but I’m getting a distinct feeling that we are not going to like it.

Hearing a pair shouting at each other, we had visible frowns on both our faces, knowing what it was as we looked out the door.

“You bastard.”

“No, you’re the bastard.”

Recognizing the voices, I moaned in displeasure because it was the pair of idiots again, James and Lupin.

“It’s them, isn’t it?”

In an equally displeased tone that anyone can pick up on, Norn said.

“They’re fighting again, aren’t they? You know what to do, Alina?”

“Yep.”

I really didn’t want to do it and wanted an excuse, but it had to be done since I’m the responsible one this week…

Looking at the time on the screen in my helmet as I was about to take it off, I saw it was 1 am in the morning.

Huh… it's already the next day and… the next week.

A smirk visibly formed on my face.

Seeing my sudden smirk, I told her some devastating news for her and great news for me: it was Sunday, meaning it was her turn to be responsible for the whole week.

Upon hearing the devastating news, Norn yelled a big What? and groaned, sulking like she was about to roll on the floor and have a tantrum like a kid.

Begrudgingly, Norn got up and asked.

“Where are the brass knuckles?”

Back to my expressionless face, Norn could tell I was gleaming inside.

I put my hand out, signaling her to give me the console first. She gave it to me, and I told her.

“In my jacket’s pocket.”

She walks to my jacket and pulls out a pair of brass knuckles, then walks outside.

Being courteous, I saved her progress and loaded my own save file as Norn left the room.

Hearing the noise outside as I started playing, I heard a pair of screams, first, ones of anger, preceded by ones of pain, then of terror, and finally, screams that increasingly turned to a higher pitch, which we could all guess what was happening.

…

…

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

…

Hearing footsteps outside my room, I immediately woke up, grabbed hold of my short sword under my pillow, and shouted out.

“Who’s there?”

There was a tense second of silence, but I was relieved to hear a familiar voice.

“Apologies, my lady, for disturbing your sleep. It’s me, Clare. May I come in?

“Sure, no need to apologize; I thought you were an intruder.”

“Oh, I see mistre…”

Opening the door, Clare was about to finish what she said when she paused and looked at me.

Reading her expression, there was confusion and surprise in her stone-faced, maid-like expression.

“What? Is there something wrong?”

Clare rubbed her eyes and stared at me for a bit like she was questioning what she was seeing, and another couple of seconds of silence later, she finally said.

“Lady Rita, are you making a frown?”

Not knowing what she meant, I touched my face and realized I was frowning. I guess that is to be expected because one of the only ways that makes me break my expressionless face is having to deal with or remember name pilots in my past life, especially those two idiots that I had the displeasure of remembering in a dream about.

I frowned even more in disgust and tried repressing those memories because, god, they were annoying to deal with.

“Is my lady alright?”

After repressing those memories, my frown went away and back to my expressionless self, as Clare looked at me with worry, I said.

“Yes, I just have a dream about something I'd rather forget.”

“Oh, I see. Since my lady is awake, I’ll be downstairs preparing breakfast. Please go back to sleep, Lady Rita, until I wake you. I apologize again for waking you.”

“Okay.”

Clare proceeded to leave my room and close the door after picking out my clothes for the day.

I proceeded to go back to sleep, which was about an hour, till Clare came to my room to tell me breakfast was ready.

She left my room and closed the door for me to change, and when I went downstairs, Clare served me breakfast while grooming my messy morning hair.

When I was done eating, I readied myself to go to the hospital and saw Clare was carrying a picnic basket.

“What’s that, Clare?”

“Oh, my lady, it's food for us and your friend. I thought it would be best to bring extra for everyone.”

“I see. Let’s get going now.”

Leaving my house, I remembered I needed to do something today that I completely forgot about.

Noticing me stopping, I told her I needed to go somewhere first to pick something up before we went to the hospital, which I forgot to tell Clare when we came back yesterday with everything.

“Where are we going, master?”

“A blacksmith shop, he is an acquaintance. His name is Kinwall, and he is a dwarf.”

“A dwarf?”

Clare seems surprised when I mention dwarf, which was to be expected.

“I must ask how you meet such a person, master.’

“It was in Farsbarow; I saw a shop in a rundown alley; it caught my eye from the weapons displayed.”

Clare looked confused when I said Farsbarow and asked.

“Master, didn’t you say this friend of yours, his shop is in Farsbarow?”

“Yeah, but now he is in Acton mostly because he is a dwarf. People seek out his work, especially nobles; he moves a lot to not have to deal with them.”

Clare nodded in understanding since she knew how arrogant and self-serving nobles can be as we continued on our way to Kinwall’s shop.

When we were in front of Kinwall’s shop, Clare was not amused with the location of the shop because, like in Farsbarow, it’s in a run-down alley.

I opened the door with Clare following me and called out for Kinwall, who was clanging his hammer in the back.

Hearing me call for him, he came to greet me, wiping soot off his hand with a rag.

“Hi there, Nyx, and who is this miss with you?”

Since I already told Alex and everyone that I’m a noble and that Kinwall also knows, I told him.

“She is my maid; my family sent her to me.”

“Really?”

Kinwall had a bemused look, so Clare spoke up.

“Yes, I am my master Nyx’s maid.”

Bowing in an elegant and dignified manner, showing her strict training as a maid, Clare said to Kinwall,.

“Excuse me for my appearance; my master does not want to attract attention.”

Seeming to be convinced by Clare's greetings and acknowledging Clare with a nod, he turns to look back at me and asks.

“So, you’re here for the daggers?”

“Yeah.”

Kinwall seemed to be a bit disappointed when I said yes to his question.

“Your daggers are ready. It was a nice change of pace to be making something new instead of making the same thing over and over again for those idiots. I was hoping you would pick them up some other day because I really wanted to work on them more.”

Kinwall looks at me and grumpily sighs since that means he had to get back to work and remake the same gear for the idiots he was referring to. I get it because I remember the times I had to deal with some idiots of my own in my past life, over and over again.

Pulling the Owlbear daggers up from under the counter, he presented them to me.

I took the daggers out of the sheaths and looked at the pure white blade.

Its shape was like a really thick needle, and surprisingly, Kinwall put a lot of work into it, especially the handle, which had an inlay of silvery metal made to look like vines.

I put them back into their sheaths and equipped them on my belt, really surprised by his craftsmanship. He really wanted to waste time and put off what he was doing.

“Thanks, I’ll get going now.”

As I was about to leave, Kinwall spoke up.

“Wait, before you go, do you want me to make you anything else? How about you, Ms. Clare?”

Hearing what he said, I thought for a moment as Clare responded.

“Apologies, unfortunately, I do not have a need for your services as of this moment, Mr. Kinwall.”

Kinwall seems disappointed by her response and looks at me with slightly pleading eyes.

“How about you, Nyx? Do you need anything else?”

Understanding his pain, I thought about my dream last night for the very slightest moment, which is what I could tolerate before I made a frown and thought of something.

“Hmm… I think I might need you to make something for me.”

Remembering my dream last night about those two idiots, I feel like that is a premonition of something. I know it’s a stretch, but I’m not risking it, and this is a fantasy world after all, so I said.

“Could you make me a pair of brass knuckles?”

In my past life, Norn and I shared a pair of brass knuckles to deal with those idiots because it got annoying after the first hundred times.

Kinwall was happy with my answer and said.

“Sure thing.”

“How much will it cost?”

“I’ll do it for free.”

Surprised that he is doing it free this time again, I ask.

“Again? Aren’t you losing money already doing it for free, twice?”

Kinwall shrugged his shoulders and said.

“I make plenty of money from my other work; it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Since he is doing it for free, I guess I shouldn’t complain about it.

“I see, thank you again. I will be going, and when will it be ready?”

“I’ll be seeing you again in 3 days, and hopefully you too, Ms. Clare.”

Saying goodbye to Kinwall, Clare bowed as we left his shop and went to the hospital to meet with everyone.

When we got to the hospital, the guards outside the room where Alice’s knights were staying and the ones near the room let us through, remembering us from yesterday.

Inside the room, I saw only Maria, Alex, Alice, and Alice’s knights.

Alice seems to be watching Alex and Garner sparring with each other, while Maria is looking out the window impatiently for some reason.

“Hell—”

Before I could finish, Maria ran up to me.

“Nyx, hello. How are you?”

Seeing her run up to me, I wondered if something happened.

“Good, but is everything alright?”

Clasping her hands, Maria said.

“Yes, but could you do me a favor?”

“What is it?”

“Could you get something in the house I rented on the 19th floor?”

Hearing her request, I wondered why she was asking me.

“I didn’t store some of my herbs properly since, you know, we are guarding Garner, Rollo, and Arnald. So, could you bring them to me, if you don’t mind?”

“Umm, why are you asking me? Why not ask Lucia since she is off training or something?”

“Oh that, Lucia came back yesterday and is in the other room, sleeping with everyone else since she was guarding everyone with Chelsie and Wendy throughout the night.”

For some reason, Maria and Alice were skeptical about what Maria said like they didn’t believe it, while Alex was dripping cold sweat like he didn’t want me to know something. However, I ignored all that and was more curious when Maria mentioned everyone else because I was wondering where they were.

“Everyone else?”

“The hospital let us use the unoccupied room next to us to sleep in.”

“I see.”

Turning to look at Clare, she nodded back, giving her approval to let me go to the dungeon for a bit.

“Okay, I’ll be back in a few hours.”

After Maria told me what herbs to get, I made my way down the dungeon floor quickly since I wanted to get back fast.

Eventually, after around an hour and a half where I ran and ignored all the monsters I passed by, I made my way into the village and in front of Maria’s house.

People were giving me weird looks again, which was to be expected since a kid down here is an odd sight.

However, they were surprised when I took out a key and opened the door to Maria’s house.

Closing the door behind me, I went to Maria’s alchemy room and looked around.

Maria told me to look for a pouch filled with a purple-colored herb with a heart-shaped leaf, which I eventually found on a table with a lot of equipment on top.

Grabbing the pouch, I left Maria’s alchemy room and the house. However, when I exited the house, three adventurers approached me.

“Hey kid, are you Maria’s friend?”

Seeing them, they looked to be normal seasoned adventurers you see in this village. However, I don’t know why, but my intuition of a noble I developed in this life was warning me for the first time after I ran away.

Reading their facial expressions and body language made me suspicious of why they asked because I felt like they were hiding their malice.

Compared to everyone, I could tell if they were hiding something, like Alex, who for some reason was putting his life on the line every time he was hiding something from me. I didn’t really mind it because, so far, I had never met someone who had the secret desire to do me harm like the hellscape of noble society.

“Yeah, why do you want to ask?”

“We were wondering when Ms. Maria will come back; we haven’t seen her in a couple of days. Did something happen?”

Another adventurer chimes in.

Hearing their reason, I told them, on guard.

“There is some personal reason that came up. I won’t tell you what specifically, but it should be resolved in a couple of days. I just came here to pick some things up for her.”

“I see; that is a shame. Thank you for informing us.”

Turning to look at one of his party members, he said.

“Go inform the party leader that we’ll need to make some runs outside.”

Looking back at me, he thanked me again with a grateful expression, which raised alarm bells in my mind.

When we walked away from each other, out of the village, and out of the 19th floor to the 18th, I felt like I was being followed.