episode_0016

I quickly got up from my seat and walked towards the cafe door.

From behind me, I could still hear the mercenaries’ murmurs mixed with speculation, but now was not the time to care about such things.

As I left the cafe door, I saw Yuna’s back quickly walking away down the crowded central passage.

It seemed her bewilderment hadn’t faded yet, as her gait was somewhat hurried and unstable, far from her usual elegance.

The surrounding people alternately looked at her and then at me, who was following her, seeming curious or wondering if a fight had broken out, and subtly made way for us.

Thanks to that, catching up to her wasn’t difficult.

“Yuna, wait a moment!”

As I called her name and reached out to gently grasp her shoulder, she spun around as if shocked by electricity.

“Why are you following me again?”

She shot back sharply.

But her voice was trembling even more than before.

It was a paradox where the more she tried to hide her emotions, the more they were revealed.

“We’re done talking, aren’t we? I told you to give your answer to my proposal later with that chip—!”

“No, we’re not done.”

I cut her off.

And I looked straight into her trembling eyes.

In that moment, I realized.

The things she had said earlier. That she was worried, that she was anxious, that she had come here without even realizing it.

It was highly likely that all of it was true.

She wasn’t lying now; she was confused by her own emotions and actions, which she couldn’t even understand herself.

It was an unexpectedly human side hidden behind the mask of the Silver Witch, Icarus’s ace.

Realizing that, I too could no longer simply press her.

At the same time, another thought came to mind.

Yuna is currently in a very vulnerable emotional state.

And she definitely has a strong interest in me, or feelings beyond that, though I don’t know what kind. If so, shouldn’t I use this?

‘This woman isn’t in her right mind right now. And she’s really fixated on me.’

I quickly calculated internally.

‘Building a foundation in Terminus by myself is good, but what if Yuna is by my side? Not only would my safety be secured, but she could also be a great help with information gathering and fundraising.’

Of course, there were risks.

She could return to being a cold, corporate mercenary at any time, and there was no knowing how long her interest would last.

But the immediate benefits were clear. Whether you called it piggybacking or a strategic alliance, it didn’t matter.

I needed to keep her by my side.

I softened my expression and spoke in the gentlest voice possible, as if understanding her confusion.

“Calm down, Yuna. There’s no need to rush like that.”

I took my hand off her shoulder and stepped back.

“Thanks to you, my life was saved, but the state of my mech is a mess. It needs proper repairs.”

I continued as if I had just thought of it.

“There’s a really skilled technician nearby. She’s considered the best here in Terminus. Her name is Scarlet.”

I observed her reaction. I didn’t miss the flicker of curiosity in her eyes instead of wariness.

“Perhaps she might be interesting to you as well.”

I smiled, looking into her eyes. As unburdensome as possible, yet difficult to refuse.

“If you don’t mind, would you like to come along? You said you were curious about Terminus’s technological level, didn’t you?”

At my suggestion, Yuna stared blankly at me for a moment, as if speechless,

and rapidly shifted her silver eyes.

She wore a complex expression, as if trying to grasp the intent behind my offer or to sort out her own feelings.

From her perspective, it must have been quite an appealing offer.

Moreover, because of the embarrassment from earlier, parting ways here would have been awkward.

How much time passed? Finally, she exhaled briefly and replied in a voice so faint it was almost inaudible.

“Understood.”

She still couldn’t meet my gaze properly, but she accepted my offer.

I cheered internally.

For now, I had succeeded in keeping her.

“Good decision. This way.”

I pretended it was nothing and walked ahead.

Yuna hesitated for a moment, then silently followed behind me.

We walked towards the junk dealer alley again.

As we walked through the crowded passage, people’s gazes poured even more overtly onto the two of us.

The Silver Witch and an unknown mercenary.

That peculiar combination seemed to be Terminus’s top gossip.

I tried to act nonchalant, but her presence, walking silently beside me, was hard to ignore.

She was still observing the surroundings with sharp eyes, as if wary yet not wanting to miss a single detail of Terminus’s landscape.

We finally arrived in front of a garage with a sign that read ‘Scarlet’s Spiderweb’ in the deepest corner of the alley.

Loud rock music was leaking out from the door.

I paused for a moment and glanced at Yuna standing beside me.

She was slightly frowning at the loud music, and her expression seemed to waver between covering her ears or not.

Was it just my imagination that I found that sight unexpectedly cute again?

The moment I reached out to open the door, it was violently flung open from inside!

“Ah, dammit! Who the hell is it now?!”

Scarlet, clad in oil-stained sleeveless work clothes, appeared with a scowl, a wrench in one hand.

Her sharp eyes first swept over me.

“Didn’t I tell you, you crazy bastard, not to set foot in my workshop again? Or did you find a gravity dampener?”

An expression of annoyance.

And the moment she spotted Yuna beside me, her eyes widened in shock.

“W-wait a minute, are you Icarus’s Silver Witch, Yuna?!”

Scarlet shouted in disbelief. She almost dropped the wrench in her hand and pointed alternately at Yuna and me.

“Someone like her… why is she with you?!”

Even the loud rock music seemed to be drowned out by her shout.

Scarlet’s expression was truly shocked.

“No, it really is Yuna, isn’t it?”

She still seemed unable to believe it, sweeping her gaze over Yuna’s perfect appearance and her snug silver-white pilot suit.

“I thought you popped right out of an Icarus promotional video. But why are you in such a rundown place, and with this crazy bastard of all people?”

Her gaze turned back to me.

In it, along with the earlier contempt, was now a mix of bewilderment and immense curiosity.

Yuna was slightly covering her ears, frowning at the loud music.

Seeing that, Scarlet nodded slightly and ordered.

“Turn off the music.”

At Scarlet’s voice, the rock music instantly cut out.

“Thank you. It was too loud.”

Scarlet’s eyebrow twitched slightly at Yuna’s words, but she soon cleared her throat.

“Well, I had the volume at 100, so that’s understandable. I absolutely have to listen to music when I work.”

“I think it would be better to use headphones.”

“It seems the Ace Pilot-nim doesn’t have a talent for keen hearing. Headphones can’t replace this bass and spatiality, can they?”

“I just think rock music is loud. I prefer calm classical or jazz.”

Scarlet silently frowned and pouted her lips.

“Anyway… Jinwoo, what’s going on here?”

“Shall we say we’re companions?”

“Let’s do that.”

When I looked at Yuna, she gave a slight nod.

“…I thought you were just a regular mercenary, but you’re acquainted with the Silver Witch.”

As Scarlet spoke, crossing her arms, her cleavage was overtly accentuated.

I thought it last time, but it really is big.

As I involuntarily glanced at Yuna’s chest out of the corner of my eye, perhaps she felt my gaze, because she covered her body with her arm.

“…It’s not small.”

“Hmm?”

She mumbled something in a barely audible voice, but I couldn’t hear it.

“Hmm, so why did you come? You’re not going to say you found a gravity dampener, are you?”

“But I did?”

“What? Bullshit.”

“I’m serious.”

I chuckled and said.

“Gravity dampener…?”

Yuna stood still, thinking deeply, then spoke.

“Pirates, Titan’s Tomb… Atlas V gravity dampener.”

She uttered keywords one by one, then grabbed my sleeve as if realizing something.

“You’re saying you have the Atlas V gravity dampener?”

I instantly regretted it.

I shouldn’t have brought up the gravity dampener with her.

From a corporate mercenary’s perspective, it would have been a coveted item.

“Then you also dealt with the Aegis in front of the gate?”

“Uh, yeah?”

“…You were a more capable pilot than I thought.”

After that, Yuna continued to mumble to herself in disbelief.

Scarlet shrugged, watching Yuna, and whispered to me.

“She’s completely different from her image in the media. I always thought she was cool-headed, but she’s just like a kid.”

“I don’t think that needs to be whispered.”

“Heh, anyway, you really are a crazy bastard, aren’t you? You took down an Aegis with a mass-produced 3rd-gen Bugbear? Good grief, I can’t believe it.”

“Jinwoo, do you really have the Atlas V gravity dampener?”

“I do, but you’re not thinking of taking it, are you?”

“No, quite the opposite.”

The opposite?

I didn’t understand what she meant.

“The three pirate mechs that targeted you must have been Red Veil.”

“Red Veil? Those infamous pirates?”

Scarlet chimed in.

Red Veil. No matter how much I thought about it, it was a name that didn’t exist in my database.

As an old-timer, there shouldn’t be any faction names I don’t remember, so what is it?

“Admiral Belzero Karmail, I’ve faintly heard rumors that she’s looking for the V gravity dampener.”

“Belzero Karmail…?”

Hearing that name, a light bulb went off in my head.

“The Three Great Goddesses!”

I blurted it out without realizing.

“Hmm?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

Right, now I realized why I had forgotten the name of Belzero Karmail, one of the Three Great Goddesses.

She was described as a fallen space pirate, existing only in portraits and historical documents, but

due to her attractive appearance, users would piece together fragmented stories among themselves and leave various theories on the community forums.

But the conclusion was that she was already dead within the game’s story.

Does that mean I’m currently in a time before the game’s story point?

“Anyway, Jinwoo, you could be in danger. She’ll come after you. All of Red Veil’s mechs are linked in a single system, so they can review all battle records.”

“…Then aren’t you also in the same danger?”

“That’s right.”

“I guess I’ll have to be careful for a while.”

“It would be best to do so.”

While Yuna and I were having a serious conversation, Scarlet was stealthily retreating back into her workshop.

“Scarlet, you haven’t forgotten your promise, have you?”

“W-what promise?”

“The one about doing it for free if I brought you a gravity dampener.”

“Y-you crazy bastard! That was just something I said!”

“Are you going back on your word?”

As Yuna’s voice turned cold, Scarlet swallowed hard.

“Good grief, this is a personal matter between that guy and me! I don’t think you should interfere, do you?”

“As I said, Jinwoo and I are companions. And a common enemy is targeting us. I think he and I are to be identified as one, don’t you?”

Scarlet sighed deeply at the absurd logic.

“Haa… But, GX-Final Impact Pile Bunker units aren’t even available for sale, so their price is whatever you can get for them.”

“Don’t worry too much, Scarlet. You just have to attach it. Getting the parts for free would be too shameless.”

“Right? My first impression was that you were just a total bum, but Jinwoo, I really like you.”

Scarlet laughed heartily.

Behind that laughter, I opened the shop window.

[Item: GX-Final Impact Pile Bunker (Rank S)]

[Effect: Utilizes compressed energy and a superalloy pile, providing ultimate close-range striking power capable of piercing even battleship armor.]

[Penalty/Requirements: Requires immense energy supply, generates extreme recoil upon firing, extremely high probability of causing critical damage to mech and pilot if specifications are not met.]

[Price: 250,000 CR]

Ah, it’s ridiculously expensive.

My eyes naturally turned to Yuna.