Noon was the time of day when most researchers of the K.R.I. stepped away from their desks and notes to sit down and dine in the cafeteria. Although because of the number of researchers and apprentices present as well as the number of staff employed within the institute, you’d be lucky to even get a meal served before one o’clock, as the line of wait stretched around the walls of the cafeteria. Those who’d just received their meals even had to wait for chairs to be vacant, with lots being forced to either share a chair or eat outside.
At least, that was the case until the beginning of the year, when the recent renovations did wonders to the institute, especially the cafeteria. Firstly, a change of location from the cramped and closed off space of the basement to the large open air view in the center of the ground floor, rays of sunlight shines through the sky dome equipped with a built-in heat filtering technology.
Second, would be the mesmerizing hanging garden latching itself upon the inner walls of the institute, maintained both by hand and by drones, small flying automatons with propellers, sprinkling nutritious water on the luscious fauna.
As for the third change, a new interior design changed the once drabby and industrial industry into pristine white, where the mind could at long last think peacefully without the constant pressure sounds from pipes exhausting steam left and right.
And the last and most important change to the cafeteria in particular, a double increase in the number of seats as well the cafeteria stations, meaning shorter lines and quicker service from the young and eager cafeteria workers, whom Human Resources had recently hired and processed by the Overseer.
“Even now, it feels like stepping into a whole new world,” Yukina muttered, holding onto her meal tray of seasoned rice, vegetable soup, and fried mackerel glazed with soy sauce. A simple nutritious dish which reminded her Magikku Academy’s cafeteria, except for the lack of sweets. “I wish there was more variety in the menu though.”
“The renovation entails the environment, not the menu,” said Béatrice Auclair, a fellow Engineer Research Section researcher, as well as a skadjӧrdian with short blonde hair, pale skin, and pearl white eyes. “But still, you’re right about the whole new world part. I honestly can’t imagine how the architect in charge of the renovation could think of such a sleek design. It’s like I’ve jumped a hundred years into the future!”
The two searched for a table and spotted a couple other colleagues waving their hands to them.
“Yukina-san, Béatrice-san, over here!” called Nozoka Midori, another research colleague but from the Historical Research Section, whose dark long overflowy hair draped upon the surface floor, but slightly levitated due to the hair-floater device attached to her hair band.
And right next to her was Mingzhu Huang, the silver-haired Energy Research Section researcher, who decided to bring her work to the table, mixing chemical regents and noting the results in her cute bear-shaped notepad.
This was not an ordinary occurrence by any means. Mingzhu was always the type to bring her work everywhere she went. Yukina would’ve argued the same for herself, but even she knew that the most resilient of researchers were those with a full stomach enough to last them at least six counts of experimentation.
Yukina and Béatrice sat on the table opposite to them both. With the beginning of a “Itadakimasu!” the four—or rather three, feasted on their meal. Taste wise, the complete set was mediocre at best, enough to satisfy the stomach, but not so much for the tongue which desired more distinguished flavors.
Maybe I should build a Mister Cook Version 02 and install it with more unique recipes. Ah, but that doesn’t solve the ingredient supply problem.
Some thoughts like this get passed around the ensuing conversations. As researchers of the Kagemusha Research Institute, it was normal for fellow colleagues to talk about their current projects and experiments regardless of their different departments.
As a newly promoted junior researcher, Béatrice began developing a mountain climbing carriage with an insulating feature for both the passenger and driver’s seat. The northern continent, Skadjӧrd, where she originally hailed from, were mostly made up of mountain ranges with steep cliffs and inclining paths. Traveling incidents were a norm as well as death by frostbite due to the region’s infamous eternal winter.
“So, you want to make traveling there safer? You’re very generous,” Nozoka said. “Can’t say that I have taken a keen opinion toward the nobility there. Are you not worried about one of them taking the credit as their own? Especially with you being the twentieth daughter of the Auclair Earldom.”
“While it is true that my elder siblings will do whatever they can to reap the benefits of my research, I can assure you that such a thing will not happen,” Béatrice answered, confidently. “I'll be having my patent approved here in Hoshikuni instead of back at home.”
Yukina then asked, “But don’t the Valdra … sword something Federation has a law that forbids their researchers from having patents approved in other nations?”
“Then you haven’t heard the latest news. The Valdrasjornn Federation has recently passed a new law that overrides that previous law. Now any patents approved by credible authorities are also recognized by the federation. My siblings will have no choice but to affect the fact, and if they try to kill me, I can just have the institute include a passage in which all future proceedings goes to their funds. I’m sure the higher ups won’t deny a large sum of donations.”
Both Yukina and Nozoka stared dumbfounded. The fact that their friend and colleague could be so casual about her possible murder and her relinquishment of research earnings sounded so alien for it to make sense in their heads. Add the occasional mentioning of her seven assassination attempts turned from something outlandish into utter bizarre.
I don’t know what’s more otherworldly. The institute’s renovation or an eskan’s daily life.
The conversation then shifted toward Nozoka and her recent findings on the newly uncovered gravesite rumored to belong to the legendary proprietors of Hoshikuni’s advancements during the New Age’s latter quarter, who steered the nation’s culture into what it was today.
“With this, we can successfully conclude that the Children of the Stars were indeed real figures,” Nozoka stated, while munching on her food. “but as for whether they were indeed responsible for our current cultural heritages remains debatable since none of their stuffs were found anywhere within their graves nor in the villages near them.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” said Yukina. “How would you know that they’re the Children from the folk tales then?
“Their bones,” she said. “When compared to ours, we’ve found that the Children of the Stars’ bone compositions were more fragile by some thirty percent. If the average person can survive a fall from the seventh floor, then they could only survive from the fourth or fifth floor. And while you could say that they might have been suffering from the Brittle Bone disease, it’s rare for all seven of them to have it.”
“They could be siblings.”
“DNA says otherwise. Only two of them were related,” then suddenly, Nozoka turned head down as her voice lowered to facilitate her change of mood. “Additionally, this is something we’ve just uncovered, their bones indicate that they died around their teenage years … and that they were killed by means of beheading.”
The fact took the two by surprise, especially Yukina, who’d once listened to stories about the wonderful adventures of the Children of the Stars from her mother. Their journey of spreading happiness and joy to village after village in their travels brought so many wonderful dreams not just to her, but also to other children nationwide. At the end of the tale, after completing their task of delivering wisdom to the people, the Children of the Stars returned to their homes beyond the skies, in the stars where hopes and dreams flourished forevermore.
“Reality really does hit you in the guts,” Yukina spoke in a somber tone, feeling as if a part of her childhood had just been cut down and its joy erased. Despite her inherent tendency to pursue her curiosities, Yukina was reluctant to ask for more details, unlike Béatrice who did so in a heartbeat. She could do so because of her lack of attachment to this old hoshikunian tale.
“The tales in my home are always about surviving and conquering fear. Like this one where a guy named Oleg has to fight against a pack of wolves coming to invade his cave,” Béatrice said. Might be an attempt to lighten up the mood, but it appeared the idea of distraction was starkly different between an eskan and a hoshikunian.
And now what lingered around was a sense of awkwardness, which both Yukina and Nozoka tried to get rid off with a few jokes. Soon after, the whole table was laughing—quietly so as to not bother the others—except for the one person next to them, who’d yet to touch her meal even once nor whisper a single word to them.
“Mingzhu-san, please put down those beakers and eat with us,” said Béatrice, but her words fell to deaf ears, as Mingzhu continued to be fixated on the boiling flasks filled with unknown chemical compounds. “Is it not table manners to not bring work into the dining table?” she enunciated, but alas, Mingzhu remained immersed in her work. A true researcher’s innate concentration was truly a tough nut to crack.
Béatrice snapped her tongue, “Tsk! If you’re going to ignore me, at least be polite at it.”
“Come on, Béatrice, you know what she’s like,” Nozoka secretly handed over something to her. “You got to give her a bit of a push.” She then gave a wink and Béatrice looked rather intrigued at what she’d been given. Yukina tried to take a look, yet failed upon Béatrice taking her plan into action.
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
“Oh my. What a nice photo you’ve given me, Nozoka-san,” she spoke in a pompous tone. “Dear lord. I know he’s fit, but my oh my, I never thought … How on Antryion did you acquire this piece of treasure?”
“Au contraire, Béatrice,” Nozoka suddenly spoke in a southern eskan accent. “This is but one of the rare few treasures I’ve attained in my pawn shop shopping spree. And it seems like Miss Béatrice knows who this is.”
“Skadjördians are well familiar with the Takamichi Third Division captain ever since the last season’s Primalympics. Still, I never thought this kind of photo was attainable.”
Mingzhu stopped her pen, her curious eyes glanced between her work the photo fervently, more so upon Béatrice flipping it back and forth followed by a sweet air kiss. Her act worked, as Mingzhu now completely enticed over the photo in her hand, fixating on it like a predator to its prey. However, she still had yet to say anything.
As for what Béatrice was referring to … The Primalympics was a major international combat tourney between the four regions of Antryion: the Nation of Hoshikuni, the Zagaron House Alliance, the Valdrajornn Noble Federation of Skadjӧrd, and the Majaraya Empire of Irdjaya. Held every four years, each region assembled several teams to participate in five combat events chosen by roulette, one being region specific. Last year, which took place in Skadjӧrd, the event chosen were 1V1 Honor Duel, 80-Person Battle Royale, and 4-Person-Team War Tactics, with the regional event being Solo Survivor.
Yukina wasn’t particularly interested in sports. Contrary to her husband, who was an avid sports fan and once bet most of his fortune for the most likely winning teams on various sports events during his academy days. He never did so again, thankfully. That twenty-one losing streak really did a number on him, though that didn’t stop Masaki from traveling overseas just to watch three Primalympics seasons. Yukina even joined him to watch the 47th Season, when it was held here in Hoshikuni. However, she had to miss the 48th due its location being set on the mountains, where winter never ended. And Masaki returned home like a melting block of ice after the tourney ended.
If I’m not mistaken, Ryosuke-senpai won the 1V1 Honorless Duel on the 47th, but what happened in the 48th? Yukina tried to recall the newspapers of that time, but couldn’t remember if Kazuya Ryosuke’s name ever came up in the winning batches. Oh wait. He was in the news, but …
“How unfortunate though. Everyone had great expectations of him after dominating the Honorless Duels, yet he never made it past the preliminaries of the season’s War Tactics game,” Béatrice said cheekily, trying to get a reaction out of Mingzhu. And that she did.
“Ryosuke-sama had rotten luck that year,” Mingzhu argued, finally saying a word—a full sentence. “Firstly, it was cold and freezing, which dampened his flames. Second, the first team the Beguiling Dragon encountered was none other than the Saintly Vestiges. They had three Saints in a single team! I mean what kind of unbalanced team is that?”
The Saints of Zagaron were the highest-ranking priests, whose individual power was said to be on par with the Blademaster, Third Seat of the Ten Council. And their leader, the Grand Saintess Aisya, was rumored to have fought both the Noble Wind and the late Disintegrator in the past and won. It was the first time in the history of the Primalypics for the Saints to join the competition, and probably their last knowing how overpowered they could be.
“Spoken like a true stan,” Nozoka smirked. “But isn’t the last one a good thing for you? He’s single again and you’re both over thirty, so might as well seize probably your final chance at getting married. To him or … anyone really. Plus, you’ve been communicating with him for work, no? I’d say you have a thirty-percent chance at taking it for the win. Fourty if you’re willing to be a good step-mom for his daughter.”
“I’m not going to be the kind of step-mother in those shoujo mangas you read. Also,” Mingzhu suddenly turned to Yukina and whispered, “Yukina, you’re good friends with Ryosuke’s sister. Has she ever mentioned him recently having a girlfriend?”
“Uhm … we’ve only ever talked about our kids, so I don’t really know the situation about her brother’s love life,” she said. “But I did get a chance to speak with him after you mentioned about working with him on that Poisoned Reservoir case.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about that?” her eyes sparked. “What did he say?”
“He said he was happy working with you.”
“And?”
“That’s it. That’s all he said,” Yukina felt a bit taken aback, but nevertheless excited for this new development in Mingzhu. Her dear friend who’d always been so buried in her work and research that Yukina thought she’d never spend some time away to find the thing that truly mattered in life. Spring was in season and people’s hearts were also in full bloom. However, a researcher must first ascertain the facts before getting everything in order.
“Mingzhu-san, may I ask you a question,” Yukina changed her speech into a serious tone, her radiant blue eyes stared at Mingzhu’s clear blue ones, who stared back in the same manner. “Mingzhu-san, answer this question truthfully. Do you like Ryosuke-senpai?”
She made no response. Not a single word came out from her throat. Only a baffled expression and a half-gaped mouth, sent toward Yukina, who felt contempt knowing the truth of her friend’s feelings. However, something perplexed Yukina about this current moment. A particular two, who too sported the same baffled face.
“Why are you two looking at me like that?” she asked, curiously.
All three relieved a simultaneous sigh, as their upturned brows spoke for themselves. “Was it not obvious?” However, a moment of reprieve turned their annoyed look to complete acceptance, with a gentle-looking Nozoka then reaching her arm out to her shoulders and said while shaking her head, “Never change Yukina. Never change.”
“Here I thought it was all a rumor,” added Béatrice, who gave the photo to Mingzhu seemingly out of sympathy, which she later fawned over for the next minute.
Meanwhile, Yukina was left bewildered over what had just happened, slightly frustrated over the nonexistence of a concrete answer, yet strangely protected like a pair of heavenly had just descended to envelop her with their warm wings of light.
“Damn it!” Mingzhu suddenly yelled, gritting her teeth while staring intensely at the elixir she’d produced. Boiling green ooze bubbled within the heated flask, apparently not the results Mingzhu intended, as she quickly threw it in the trash can … which also intensified the smell that caused everyone around to flee and the masked janitors to hastily remove it from the cafeteria.
“Things aren’t looking well for you, Mingzhu-san. That thirty percent seems to be lowering by the second,” Nozoka teased.
“Please stop that, Nozoka-san,” Yukina stood from her chair to defend her friend. “But that reminds me. Does this have anything to do with what you talked about with Jinhyuk-san?”
“Now who’s this Jinhyuk-san?” Béatrice asked, curiously. “A competitor perhaps?”
“Not in his or anyone’s wildest dreams,” Mingzhu spoke sternly. “And yes, it does have something to do with that, but unfortunately it’s not something you’d understand anyway.”
“It’s about the Divine Droplets, no?” Yukina’s reply caught Mingzhu by surprise. “Well, since you’re working with Ryosuke-senpai and had that talk with Jinhyuk-san, I thought that it must be because of the incident in EcoRS.”
“So, that’s the case,” Nozoka nodded her head, understanding the matter whole. “It’s the current hot-topic of the institute, a scandal which could overturn the entire Ecological Research Section. Talks about the Overseer being personally involved in the investigation spread wide.”
Béatrice too understood. Although her gaze appeared to be fixated on one of the tubes containing bright crumpled herbs juiced into a light yellowish liquid with swirls of white and orange. “Stargleam mushrooms,” she uttered. “They’re a known psychedelic drug back in my father’s Earldom. My step-mother uses it to cope with the death of my fourth and sixth sibling. Could it be that you’re trying to recreate the DD drug?”
“Eh, you are?!” Nozoka exasperated quietly. “What are you doing? You could get fired for doing that!”
“But she’s gotten permission from Ryosuke-senpai, right Mingzhu-san?”
“That I did,” she said. “That being said, the paperwork has yet to get through to the Overseer, so currently it’s still considered unofficial research. But two weeks in and I still haven’t got a response. Is the Overseer slacking off or something?”
“He’s … probably too busy!” said Yukina, awkwardly. “The Overseer is also the Noble Wind, so … he’s probably doing all sorts of Second Seat duties right about now.”
“I just want to get it done quickly, so that I can actually get started. So many nights spent …,” Mingzhu slouched on her chair, somewhat half-asleep, while being baby-fed by Nozoka.
There was a rule in the Kagemusha Research Institute, stating that all research projects must proceed through two particular steps. First, the research project must be officiated by the Overseer, the appointed head of the institute, in order to acquire funds, enlist other researchers, and receive protection from outside interference.
And second, at the end of the project, the research paper must be approved by the Board of Magical Science—previously just ‘Board of Science’—so that it could be published for the world to see. As for the case if two researchers were to do the same type of project, it’d turn into a competition to who could produce the fastest result. Although at the end of the day, it’d always be which paper could be considered as more factual by the Board.
Without the two, Mingzhu’s research project must follow Hoshikuni’s general law rather than the Kagemusha Research Institute’s research law, which allowed researchers more freedom in how they could conduct their research. Even something like permission from a Third Division captain couldn’t override that.
“Maybe there was something in the proposal that needed revisions?” Yukina suggested.
Mingzhu replied, “I received no letter whatsoever about revisions nor did I receive the infamous rejection letter.”
It was strange. The Overseer would usually send a letter of revision or rejection when a research proposal couldn't get through. If he’d been held back by matters concerning the Ten Seats, usually it would take him only a few days. One week at most, but never more. It couldn’t be about the Founding Day Festival. That matter was being handled by the Sixth Seat, the Ocean Witch, in collaboration with Magikku Academy; which reminded Yukina to take all the photos she could on Akito before his departure to the academy in three days.
First time living apart from us. I’m worried, but surely he’d make lots of friends from all over the land!
Back to the previous topic, when it came to matters pertaining to the safety of Hoshikuni, the Overseer should’ve put Mingzhu’s research on the priority list. Sure, it’d been done countless times before to no avail, but if anyone could solve the lingering problem of this growing crisis, it would be the woman named Mingzhu Huang, the most determined CheRS researcher Yukina knew.
And love is the biggest motivation factor! she thought, strongly. The Overseer should be in his office right now, as there was no news about him leaving. Very well like him to huddle up inside his room. Something that still hand't change in the decades since their meeting.