Ninya looked at the set of clothes inside the briefcase Lord Antikythera handed to her earlier this morning; the clothes inside were called techwear, and they were a type of fashion that was popur in Antikythera's original homend. The quality is good, as promised. Besides the clothes, she was also given a metallic staff, one with a glowing red orb floating on its tip.
And then, there's her handgun; it looked like it was made with gleaming silver, it felt light to carry, and sleek against her palms. The handle was made with a type of material that felt simir to fabric yet is considerably denser.
Her teacher has chosen to leave her alone from now on, which made Ninya feel sad, but he did say he will check up on her occasionally. That made her feel so much better.
Knowing that Lord Antikythera is still watching over her put her mind at ease. She did not want for him to protect her at all times—she can fight now, after all—but she still wished that he would be there for her.
Call her selfish, but she wanted Lord Antikythera to see her achievements. Ninya wanted to tell him about her adventures, talk about her problems, and maybe catch up with him. Ninya closed her eyes; it hasn't even been a day yet, and she's already starting to feel sentimental!
"Ugh..." she murmured, rubbing her eyes. "Why am I like this?"
"Why are you what, Ninya?" her sister asked from behind her.
Ninya flinched and swiftly turned around. She gred at Tsuare. "Hey! I told you not to come in yet! I'm changing!"
"Ehhh~?" Tsuare sing-sang. She hugged Ninya before starting to tickle her. At such a devastating attack, Ninya could not help but fall back into defense.
"You're changing?!" Ninya giggled and told her sister to cut it off. Her pyful warnings were not taken seriously.
"I changed you when you were young!"
"I'm sorry!" Ninya ughed, her back smmed against the table.
"Ah—" the tickling suddenly stopped, and Ninya saw Tsuare looking at her.
"I'm fine, you know? I'm tougher than..."
That was when Ninya realized that Tsuare was looking at something behind her—at the items within the now-open briefcase, to be exact. Ninya quickly closed it.
"This is..."
"What is it?" Tsuare looked at her with narrowed eyes. "Ninya, what are you pnning on doing? Did you ask Lord Antikythera to give you these? We've talked about this!"
"I know!" Ninya shouted, cutting her sister off. "I know, okay? But I wasn't the one who asked for it. Lord Antikythera says that I should become an adventurer, and maybe he's right? I don't wanna sit around all my life, Tsuare, not when I'm a mage! I can do so much more!"
"Ninya..." Tsuare began, but even after a while, she added nothing more to her sentence.
"I can do this." Ninya held her sister by the hands. "Do you really think Lord Antikythera would let me be in danger? He gave me items! Look!" Ninya showed Tsuare her pistol. "It runs on magic, but he says I can use it indefinitely! I have this if I ever run out of mana!"
Tsuare took the gun. She stared at her sister. "You say that you can use this indefinitely?"
"Oh my god—" Ninya wanted to palm her face. Of course Tsuare would want to do this too. "—You know you're not ready—"
"And you are?" Tsuare crossed her arms.
Ninya hissed. Damn it.
"You know you can't use my own words against me, right?" Her sister grinned. "So how about this: if you want to be an adventurer, then I'll join you."
"But Lord Antikythera—"
"Is outside," Tsuare muttered as she eyed the window. "He's there, talking to Mistress Yuri about something. Maybe I can ask him for the same stuff as you?"
"Tsuare—" Ninya grabbed the gun her sister threw at her. She checked the safety and put it back inside her briefcase. Tsuare was long gone by this point, so she could only sigh.
"Well, things just got more complicated..."
When Ninya managed to catch up, her sister was already bowing towards Lord Antikythera, a briefcase in her hand. Ninya smiled when she saw this. She didn't want to leave Tsuare behind and would have asked her to go to the capital with her, but this is good too. Now she didn't have to dread the possibility of her sister wanting a quieter life and staying here.
Lord Antikythera turned to Ninya. "I have given your sister her own gear. As your caretaker, you should listen to her, Ninya."
Tsuare grinned and faced her sister. "See, Ninya? He says you should listen to me," she said, smug. "You should follow the advice of your teacher."
"I already do that!" Ninya excimed. Why is Tsuare embarrassing her here?! She gave Mistress Yuri and Lord Antikythera a side gnce and sighed. They didn't seem to mind. Then again, the two of them rarely show any emotion, so she's not sure how they're feeling right now.
"Get going, Tsuare. Ninya, Yuri Alpha and I have something to discuss." Lord Antikythera cut off their pyful back and forth and commanded them to leave. They both bowed and left the scene.
"That was scary!" Tsuare said as the door closed behind her. "I didn't know that Lord Antikythera would make us leave! Did we disturb him?"
"I hope not." Ninya sat on a chair and leaned back, her eyes found themselves staring out the window. Her gaze drawn to the two figures in the distance.
"I wonder, how did Lord Antikythera and Mistress Yuri meet? They don't seem like the kind of people to willingly talk to others."
"They do feel like they're cold and distant, aren't they?" Tsuare said with a happy tone. When Ninya caught her measuring the clothes she was given, the mage immediately understood why her sister was in such a good mood.
"They don't seem all that social. I wonder, why is that?"
"Possibly because one is a robot and the other is a noble," Ninya guessed. "Honestly, those guys are probably distant to everyone else but not to each other."
"I guess?" Tsuare said as she checked her gun. "This is the same as yours, right?"
"Yeah," Ninya nodded. She herself inspected the weapon Tsuare was given. "Did you have a mage's staff too?"
"No?" Tsuare tilted her head. "But I do have this knife." Tsuare took it out and showed it to Ninya. "I feel something strange whenever I hold it."
Ninya resisted the urge to run her mana through the item and figure out its enchantments. Instead of asking to hold it, she merely nodded.
"It's strong, if Lord Antikythera gave it to you." She sighed. "We're gonna rise through the ranks of the adventurer's guild in no time."
Tsuare paused. "Do you think we're ready to fight quests on the Adamantium rank?"
"Nope," Ninya admitted. She was strong, but not that strong. "We're not Adamantium level. Probably Mythril? But I'm not sure. I'm sure we'll figure it out."
Tsuare pced her gun back inside her briefcase. "I hope so."
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