He entered the black dome. Inside, rows and rows of robots toiled on benches. Looking up, Ichi could see pitch blackness. There didn't seem to be any point in making it so large. Room for growth? He stood near a robot which barely had any parts to it. It looked to be made of a mash-up of stone and black matierial. As Ichi got closer, he smelled oil. It reminded him of that night he showed up at Renya's place, the black goo in her yard smelled the same. Strange.

Ichi looked at what they were working on. Some were building small robots, some were crafting small tools. Others made random devices and parts. Other robots hurried around picking up pieces that were finished. A robot would finish it's work, lean back, and one robot would deliver parts while another robot took the completed item.

At this rate, it looked like Renya would have an army. He saw a partially completed maid robot in the corner attended to by a group of robots hurrying around and adding parts to her. It was indistiguishable from a beatiful girl, although the green hair felt unnatural.

Ichi shook his head as he wandered in the darkness with the clicking of the robots silent work humming in his ears. He saw a light in the distance, a small room appeared as he moved closed. Little better than some lighting and few walls, he peeked inside to find Renya.

She sprawled out in a lab coat and glasses on the ground surrounded by parts and black goo. A half-finished robot in front of her. Huge black bags hung under her dim eyes. Under such little light, even her blonde hair and blue eyes looked dull. The twin black and white tails were swishing lazily.

Ichi crouched beside her, shaking her gently.

"Renya?"

"yes, yes."

She gradually pulled herself near a wall, propping herself up. She pointed with her hand to a nearby chair. Ichi went and sat down without a word. He pulled himself close to the girl who looked close to death.

Really, it wasn't the best time. No, there couldn't be a better time, Ichi thought. Get her while she's weak! He steeled himself with those thoughts.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Renya pointed at him, her finger wavering.

"You're thinking, that because I'm exhausted, you'll have an easier time dealing with me, isn't that right?"

Ichi nodded with a grin on his face.

"You are correct," Renya said. Her voice wavering, she continued. "Please excuse my behavior at the moment. I seem to have gotten overzealous. Making a gol- 'giant robot', like this and expanding the cavern hole in a few days, I suppose I got too excited. That's never happened to me before."

Renya's droning voice made Ichi feel like a bad person for bothering her like this. However, he remembered her amorous face when she stood over him, about to swing down her sword. That brightened his mood. If there was any better time to have this conversation, he couldn't imagine it. Get right to the point, he told himself. He didn't have time to let her regain her boundless intellect.

"Can I trust you?"

"Of course not."

Ichi grew pensive. He didn't think she'd answer like that.

Renya sighed as she adjusted her body against the wall.

"There's no way for someone as stupid as you to trust someone as smart and unpredictable as me. And yet, you accepted me. That night under the moon, you invited me to strike at your back. As if the fight between us was but a game. And then, a second time, you accepted my pledge of loyalty by that waterfall. That was even after I tried my best to tear you apart."

Ichi meditated on her words. His hand caught his chin as he answered.

"That fight between us was a game. Couldn't you have just kissed me and ended it at anytime? I wouldn't have know any better."

Renya uttered a tone halfway between surprise and exhaustion.

"I didn't think of it that way. Maybe I was too caught up in the excitement. Yeah, I wanted to feel something, and I did, so, maybe I won, if that was my goal."

Ichi held out an open hand as he continued.

"And for the oath where I called you a Maid Knight, I thought you had some scheme in mind. I've been distrusting you ever since, thinking that you had something planned for me."

Renya nodded weakly.

"Ah, yes, the part where I betray you, inevitably."

Ichi nodded at her. He was hoping she'd say something like this. After all, she knew lying to him was useless. She didn't seem like she was in the state where she'd be able to decieve him either.

"However, my betrayal I planned at that time and the one I planned after you granted me such power with the title of Maid Knight were both rather pathetic. I even got all excited after learning I was now in service of a druid like stories I read online, and went overboard playing around with magic. The result is Avalon and this facility, and that castle, and the red abbey and it's inhabitants."