“Booom!!”
Like every morning in this inn, there was a sound of explosions in the morning that awoke all the occupants. And of course, Loki and Aegis were not surprised to hear it again because it was almost like a daily basis to hear it at least once in the morning. At the same time, he could hear a woman screaming. Curiosity strikes him, Loki decided to check it out to see where the sound was coming from. Just as he opened up his door room, he could already see Helga lying on the floor while her room was opened.
Loki approached her, "Are you alright?"
"I’m okay. I am just surprised when Luke suddenly jumped on my face.“ Helga said while holding her head.
"That explains it. Hmm, where's Luke?" Loki asked while looking around her room, then he saw Luke shaking under the bed, murmuring.
Aegis called Loki to eat breakfast with her but then she saw her master sitting alone in a room with a woman.
"Master, I never thought you would be this daring."
Aegis dragged Loki out of the room immediately. After Loki and Aegis left, Helga consoled Luke who was still shaking under her bed.
"It's okay, Luke. The explosion already stopped. Let's go search for breakfast." Helga said with a relaxed smile
On the other hand, Maria was talking with a man in a black suit in some room that looks like a guest room.
"Is the support from Association of Summoner coming?" said the man with a straight face.
"She’s already resting in my inn. Even though she looks like a total newbie but I can see that she's really talented," Maria said while enjoying her morning coffee.
"I’m sure you're not coming here just to say this right?" she said with a serious tone.
The man can't hide it when Maria said with a face that he always remembered.
"Our captain wants to talk to you again this afternoon."
"He really is hardheaded, huh? Tell your captain that I will send him my messenger."
"But-" as the man said that Maria glared at him constantly, even leaked her aura accidentally.
"I understand." He then immediately left the guest room.
"We will always be waiting for you to command us again, commander," said the man as he opened the door and leave.
Maria was still sitting in the guest room enjoying her morning coffee.
"He really doesn’t know how to give up, huh?"
After she was done drinking her coffee, she decided to go back to work again just like what she always does nowadays. The moment she opened the door, she saw both Helga and Smith followed by her sister that looks like they want to go out somewhere.
"What a coincidence, can both of you accompany Cecilia to City Defense headquarters?"
"Okay, I will help," Helga said in a full manner
"Sorry, but I need to decline that. Both I and my sister still haven’t eaten breakfast yet." Loki said.
"That means you can help, right?"
"I suppose." Loki was thinking for a second before he said that.
"Great. Also, don’t worry about the reward. I’m always thankful to someone who helps me."
"Let's meet up at the inn again then Mr. Smith." Helga then left the inn first with Luke flying behind her.
Loki just waved her followed by Aegis mimicking him.
"Time to go as well, sis," Loki said finishing their breakfast
Aegis answered with a nod.
Then they left the inn, leaving Maria standing in the Lobby inn. After some time, Maria saw Loki and his sister back at the inn again. looking content with their breakfast, and kept silent.
"Master, why did you agree to help her?" Aegis whispered to Loki so no one could hear it.
"It was my hunch, probably we will get information related to my mother there."
Both of them then went to Cecilia's room. As soon Loki was in front of the room, Helga came with Luke walking by her side
"Did you wait long?" Helga said with Luke inside her bag.
"We just arrived. I’m gonna call Cecilia then."
Loki walked up to Cecilia’s room and knocked on the door.
"Who and what do you want from me?" It took a while but Cecilia finally answered.
"It’s Smith. Head inn told me that you need to go to City Defense Headquarter."
"City Defense Headquarter you say? give me a moment." Loki and Helga can hear chaotic noises inside the room.
After the noises stopped, the door soon opened. There they could see Cecilia wearing a pink dress while carrying her little bag.
"Okay, I’m ready."
Loki took a moment to see how Cecilia looked like.
"Sorry. Wrong room." Loki immediately closed the door.
Cecilia immediately opened the door again and smacked him in the head.
"You can be more respectful, you know."
Aegis suddenly reacted to that but Helga saw it stop her.
"He deserved it, Aegis."
Even though Aegis couldn’t understand what Helga mean by that but she instinctively knew that her master was wrong.
"Sorry, but I never know someone who always makes an explosion can be this cute."
"I still haven’t forgiven you, you know." Cecilia's face was kinda red when saying that.
"Let us go then we already late here."
A moment Cecilia walked, see
"Wait, I’ve never seen you before. Who are you?"
"My apologies, my name is Helga Chevalier. I’m the new occupant. Nice to meet you, Mrs. Cecilia."
"Y-you don’t need to add Mrs, just call me Cecilia instead." her face was red because it was the first time someone called her Mrs.
"Anyway, Smith is right. Let us go before my mother is angry."
Cecilia was back to her high spirit again and walked out first while Loki and Helga followed her afterward. Before they left the inn, Maria gave an envelope and then said farewell to her.
During the trip to City Defense Headquarters, Cecilia keeps staring at Helga.
"Hmm? What's wrong Cecilia."
"Akh sorry, Miss Helga. I am just amazed at how you look. I’ve never seen anyone here looks as majestic as you."
"Oh my, how nice of you, Cecilia."
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
"Sorry if this is rude, but may I know where do you come from Mrs. Helga?"
"I'm from Vinbonne." Helga hesitated to answer the question for a moment.
“Vinbonne you say!? Isn’t that where all summoner live!? Tell me more about it.” Cecilia was really hyped hearing that.
Helga looked pressured with Cecilia's barraged question but you could see that she was enjoying the moment.
“So? Are you summoner too, Mrs.Helga?” she said with glittering eyes.
Before Helga could reply, Luke flew out from her bag.
“Of course my master is a summoner, nya.”
Cecilia was stunned watching a cat floating in front of her.
“Waaa. So cute.” Cecilia immediately tried to hug Luke.
“No! Only master can hug me, nya.” Luke dodged the hug then flew back behind Helga.
Cecilia felt heartbroken knowing she couldn’t feel that fluffy hair.
“Don’t be so mean, Luke.”
“Ugh, alright. You can pat me. But no hugs, ok?”
Cecilia felt refreshed and instantly patted Luke.
“They are very lively right, master.”
“Yeah.” Loki nod.
Sometime later, they arrived at a huge building with two guards in the front door.
“Alright, we arrive at City Defense Headquarter”
“This is the place? I have never seen building this huge,” said Helga.
“Ain’t Vinbonne is huge place?”
“It is but there’s only castle in Vinbonne. Though it’s not as big as my house.”
Then they all approached the guard, the guard immediately stands by when saw three stranger that wanted to come to their building.
“They all coming with me, so let us in.” Said Cecilia with confidence.
Both of the guards knew Cecilia since she’s been coming here every week. All of them then welcomed to enter the building. Inside the building aside from there are not many people here, There were at least three people in the hallway and a receptionist with some decoration and photo of their member. Cecilia and Helga walked to the receptionist while Loki just stood there feeling Deja Vu.
“Aegis, did you have data about this building?” Loki whispering to Aegis.
Aegis then searched for the data and did not even take a minute, she already found it.
“Master Silvia once came here to do experiments, but there’s no more info about what experiment master Silvia does.”
“I see.”
Cecilia looked back knew that Smith still standing in front of the building door.
“Smith why are just standing there, come here!” said Cecilia while waving her hand.
“Coming!” said Loki.
“Aegis, try to scan this whole building. I want to know what my mom doing here.” Loki whispered to Aegis.
“Understood.” Aegis nod.
Both of them then followed Cecilia to the receptionist.
“Uncle Mark wants to meet me, can you let us in?” said with puppy eye.
“Of course you can Cecilia, but these gentlemen and two ladies need to sign up here before they can meet him.”
While Helga just signed up with ease, Loki kinda hesitated a little bit when knowing they needed a fingerprint to sign up. He remembered that he already prepared this kind of thing a long time ago. The receptionist then checked their information. Nothing out of the ordinary, the receptionist then welcomed them
“Cecilia, you know the place, right?” the receptionist asked nicely.
“Yup, thank you, miss.”
Cecilia led the way to the left hallway, then she entered one of the rooms.
“Uncle Mark!” she ran to the young man for a hug.
“Long time no see, Cecilia. You look so energetic today.”
“Hehehe because today I brought my friend,” Cecilia said, pointing to Loki and Helga.
“Nice to meet you, sir.” Loki and Helga said.
“Nice to meet you both too.”
“Where’s my manner. My name is Mark Naedren and I am the leader of City Defense Squad also Cecilia is my Niece,” said Mark while Cecilia standing beside him.
“Well, let us sit first.”
“So, I’m sure you have something important when Cecilia come here with her friends.”
“Mom said I need to give this to you, uncle Mark.”
“This is from her, huh?” he smiled when saw the envelope with the symbol of a white tulip.
“Since this is good news. How about I give you a tour?”
“Can we go to the training room? You never let me see that place.”
“About that…” before Mark finished his word, Cecilia used his puppy eyes again.
“Since Cecilia insists, let us go.”
“Hmm, Mr. Mark I know you can let Cecilia see. But do you really mind letting us see that too?” asked Helga because she knew that this is really confidential matter.
“Don’t worry about it. We are confident about our defense system since the one who’s making it is Silvia Viese. Nobody even us can even copy what she made.”
Loki was surprised at what he just heard, but the one who really surprised is Cecilia.
“Really?! You never said this to me.” Cecilia said.
“I mean you never asked hahaha.”
“Oh well. Let’s just start our tour, shall we?” said Mark while leading the way.
After they went out of their room, Mark leads their way to some lift not too far from their room. All of them entered the lift then Mark proceeds to press the UG button.
“It's pretty rare to see buildings have underground,” said Loki.
“I don’t know about how underground look like but we have a dungeon in our castle,” said Helga.
“What’s a dungeon?” Cecilia asked casually.
“You don’t want to know. One time mistress got thrown into a specially made dungeon for training. It traumatized us for three whole days after we completed the training”
“Whoa, so it's a scary place.” Her mind filled with how a dungeon could be really scary.
A moment after they talked about the dungeon, the lift finally opened. The hallway filled with a glass-window room that has open space, also the roof felt really sturdy and have a platinum metal that Loki never saw.
“This is our place to training and testing our weapon. We currently on the break so not many people training,” said Mark.
While Helga, Loki, and Aegis looking at the glass-window room, Cecilia's curiosity came and focused on the end of the room that only has a single door.
“Uncle Mark, what’s that?” Cecilia asked.
“Oh, that is where our Abyss&Divina project taken place.”
“Silvia said she needed to make a really powerful weapon for our safety. But the project suddenly stops by Silvia herself, I don't know why she did that.”
“Can I see it!?” said Cecilia looks fired.
“Sure, give me a moment,” said Mark while doing the sequence that he needed to open the door.
The door needed a fingerprint pass, retina pass, and a password. Then the door opened and there are only a single room and a pair of gloves inside of stand glass box.
“Why there’s only glove? Is that really Abyss&Divina?” Helga asked.
“Yes, it is really Abyss&Divina.”
Loki only looking at it silently.
“What can it do, uncle?” Cecilia asked.
“We don’t know what it can actually do but Silvia said it can create and destroy anything,” Mark said.
“How a pair of gloves can destroy anything?” Helga said pessimistically.
“We also want to know. When all our army tried it, it doesn’t do anything.” Mark said.
“We tried to ask Silvia but she only answered that only people that good and at the same time evil can wield it.”
“After Silvia left, we also leave the project because no one can wield it”
Everyone silent after hearing the story behind it, soon they left the room and back to where they met.
“I'm sorry if I’m ruining the tour. But do you guys enjoy the tour?”
“I'm having fun uncle,” said Cecilia cheerfully while everyone else nods.
Aegis, Loki, Cecilia, and Helga then left the City Defend Headquarter after they were done eating snacks. While Cecilia and Helga talked to know each other better, Loki and Aegis followed behind them.
“Aegis are you done scanning that building?”
“Already send it to your PDA master.”
“Excellent, we probably need to go back to that place again. I don't think that Abyss&Divina really made by my mother.”
“Understood.” Aegis nod.
Some faraway outside the Intrivium City, two mysterious people stood while observed how the city looked like.
“So that’s where Abyss & Divina, one of the world's mass destruction weapons.” someone with a red cloak said.
“Why would we trying to steal a weapon that no one can’t even wield.” said the girl beside him.
“You’re the new member, right? That weapon actually not made but founded.” someone with a red cloak said.
“What!? How do you know about this?” the girl surprised.
“Firstly, do you know a myth about seven Eden artifacts?”
“Yeah, I know that. It was a bedtime story about seven heroes wielding seven weapons to fight Eden ruler.” The girl answers it
“Yeah that’s the one, but there’s another version about that story. You see that seven heroes aren’t actually a hero but something unknown who wield the weapon and the one fighting them is the first Eden expedition squad”
“Tell me you just make up that story.”
“You see, our leader has one of the seven weapons and he’s the one who leading the first expedition team.”
The girl just laughs at what she just heard.
“Looks like I’m not wrong joined this organization.”
After that, the girl makes a huge magic circle in front of her.
“Emperor of lord of thunder show your mercy to those peasants and march upon chaos. Hear my plea and arise King of Behemoth.” the girl said and a huge behemoth appears inside the huge magic circle.
“Looks like our leader found some new talent.” someone with a red cloak said.
“Immortal Dragon that tramples all existence show your excellency to those unworthy. Please reincarnate Blood Salamander.” someone with a red cloak said and a big magic circle then suddenly puddle of blood filled the magic circle. Soon all the blood becomes something that resembles a salamander.
“So you’re the legendary red rose knight.” the girl said.
“Let us end their misery.” someone with a red cloak said then both of them march with their summon to the Intrivium City.
Meanwhile, Loki and the other finally came back to the inn. Each of them immediately rests in their room. Loki already sleeps soundly but Aegis still standby beside him because she feels something bad would happen soon.