Editing Amaryllis in the Ice Country:Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 2===

“Amaryllis, I want a hug~” “Carry me please~” “Pat me~”

I entered the village, and the children approach me. Whenever that happens, I’ll either hug them or carry them or pat them. No matter boy or girl, child-model robots like to fawn around.

After playing around with them for 5 minutes or so, “Sorry.” “See you again.” “Next time” I apologized, and pushed aside the fawning children who were forming a wave. If I promised them all, I won’t be done even when the sun set.

“Okay, the kids over there, reach your hands over!”

The houses carved out of ice were lined side by side, forming a beautiful scenery of silver and white. The children are playing some games in the garden of the nursery, and there’s about two weeks until the prayer festival as everyone practises without thinking about anything else.

–Now, what shall I do…

I hear the cute singing voices of the children, wondering,

–The problem here is that rule.

Every year, there is some rule in play for the prayer festival, and this year, it is a ‘male-female’ pair. To add on, last year, it was ‘to pair with a child’, and two years ago, it was ‘group with three or more people’. Every festival would have been the same if we didn’t change the rules a little, but even with this kind of mindset, it’s a little tricky.

–I have to find a partner…

I have a lot of options in choosing a child as a partner, like what I did last year. This year though, there’s a limitation of ‘choosing a robot of the opposite gender and a similar age’. My strong point is definitely singing, so i need to find an adult male who’s able to sing a duet with me.

“Goodness…now I have to look for a partner, and I don’t have a lot of options left for me…”

Right when I’m muttering to myself, brooding over this,

“Don’t you have me?”

Suddenly, my shoulder was grabbed.

“Please do not touch me so casually.”

I slap the hand off. “Ow, it hurts.” Eisbahn pretentiously shouts out, combing the blond slicked back hair he’s so proud of.

“Don’t be shy.”

“Huh?”

“Why don’t you have a passionate makeout kiss with me? That’ll be the best act.”

“I rather be scrap metal than do that.”

I roll my eyes at Eisbahn, and he jokingly shrugs, showing no intent to reflect on his actions.

“And I already thought of who I want to pair with.”

“Heh. So, who?”

“Erm…Götz.”

“You idiot. That foolhardy guy won’t do. He can’t sing or dance to save his own life.”

“Then the chief…”

“He’s old! You’re always so enthusiastic, yet a late bloomer when it comes to dealing with men.”

“Sh-shut up. I’m not going around wooing people like you. And besides–”

At this moment.

Boom. A loud, booming sound echoes everywhere.

“Eh…?”

That’s an earthquake. The underground world of ice shakes, and it’s an intense earthquake. Before I know it, my hands are on the ground.

The tremor lasts for 10 seconds or so. However, this earthquake, which hasn’t happened in a while, causes a huge commotion in the village, and all the children are crying.

“Hey, you alright, Amaryllis?”

“Eehh, I guess…”

–That was a huge one…

I look around, and the nearby buildings don’t seem to be obviously damaged. However, as the massive earthquake might trigger an earthquake, we’ll probably have to go around looking.

Right when I have this thought.



<strong> “All Senators are to gather for an emergency meeting. I repeat. All senators are to gather for an emergency meeting–!”</strong>

 

The Chief’s order enters the communicator, and we exchange looks before darting off.