Editing Sorcery Hacker:Volume2 Phase02 (section)

===Part 3===

The luxurious circumstances of the previous day were nowhere to be found. Now that they were on the run, they could not use that fancy cottage.

“Phew.”

Now that they were far enough away from civilization, Mamilis removed her earrings to reveal her long ears. Those signs of her Dark Elfhood twitched from a strange sense of liberation and she seemed happy enough, but Henrietta was a different story.

“Could you not refer to me as part of your ‘gang’!? You are the only illegal Sorcery Hacker here! This is all a misunderstanding! The rest of us have nothing to do with it!!”

“Let’s hope the guard patrol out there agrees with you, Miss Henrietta. Care to return to the crowded beach? Having small children jeer at you while throwing mud and raw eggs at you can be a scarring experience. I am curious to see if a noble knight has what it takes to endure that sort of humiliation.”

The straitlaced Striker groaned and bit her lip. The upper classes were a land of appearances and pride. Those things could be more valuable than money at times. With her values, an experience like that could make her suicidal.

They were in a tropical forest, which none of them were particularly familiar with.

Staying on the walking path would have been suicide. They hid in the bushes while a half-naked Selkie girl passed by with a seal costume pulled down to her waist. She may have been on her way to hang out in the air-conditioned water therapy institute lobby.

They walked a long way through the tropical forest while staying off the walking path.

They saw a bent metal tower sticking up from the colorful trees. That was one of the lightning cloud cannons that Teleria had previously said worked with the others installed on uninhabited islands to blow away dangerous storm clouds. The high-tech device was attractive to the Sorcery Hacker, but for once it was better to hide out in nature. It was best not to approach a sorcery facility that likely had plenty of security installed.

“Let’s set up our base here for now,” said Ayato after peering inside a cave they found.

But this cave was not an underground labyrinth full of bats and centipedes.

It must have connected to some other exit because the wind blew through it and it was strangely bright inside. A vein of crystal and of water must have reflected the sunlight through the cave, making it sparkle.

Ayato was enveloped by a chilly sensation as soon as he set foot inside.

It was gentler and less harsh than the forced chill of the Oceavita Water Therapy Institute.

Henrietta was a pro, but she was also a city dweller who could not eat bat or octopus, so she hid behind Ayato’s back and trembled while glancing around.

“I-I don’t see any weird animals. But why not? It’s such a nice spot.”

“For humans, yes. I bet it’s too cold for the tropical animals that are used to the heat.”

Meanwhile, Teleria, who could eat those things, seemed concerned by the lack of animals.

Because…

“What are we going to eat?”

“There’s plenty of water on Laguntreat. I’m not familiar with the wildlife here, but gathering some small leafy branches, attaching them to a tree trunk with string, and placing them in a river should be enough to catch some small crayfish. We can eat those, or we can use them as bait to catch something larger. Setting up large traps could help people track us down, though, so we should limit ourselves to that.”

Ayato already had a plan as they left the cave.

It helped to have someone like him who was used to being on the run. Moving from that cottage suite to some hole in the ground was not that much of a shock to him.

Mamilis let out a grunt of effort that sounded too flat to be genuine as she gathered palm leaves longer than she was tall. By tying them together, she soon had something like a large parasol.

“I saw things like this on the beach. A beach chair might be too tricky, though. Still, we can place some of the large leaves on the sand to lie on.”

Gathering up too many plants created a trail for pursuers to follow while on the run and they could not leave too many personal items lying around outside the cave, but Ayato must have decided it was best not to let their frustrations build up by nixing every idea they had.

The straitlaced Striker carefully observed Ayato and the others more than the cave itself.

“A-am I the only one having a hard time adapting to this?”

“Your noble lifestyle in the city left you unprepared for this. Just keep at it.”

The forest seemed to cheer up the Dark Elf and she provided an entirely matter-of-fact assessment of Henrietta.

They had to escape and survive, but if they focused all their efforts on this one place, they would never make any progress. They could not forget they had a goal to pursue.

“It really is hard to get over your first impressions of something. But anyway…”

After being told she would be no help in this survival lifestyle, Henrietta decided to use her city-born skills as a hunter. She placed a hand on her skinny chin.

“I am worried about the survival of that frozen man.”

“Miss Teleria.”

“Um, that magic is forbidden, so I doubt he can be thawed out that easily. It should take around three days to break through it by brute force. He will be safe from the curse until then.”

“Coach, are we going after that ice coffin?”

Mamilis the grandma’s girl kept working on her home crafts and she sounded somewhat disappointed in that idea. Ayato understood why she might be reluctant to go after that thing. It contained some creepy guy who was a crazy mass shooter.

“If only it was a flower goddess sealed for a thousand combo-years. Y’know, she looks young and smells sweet, but she’s actually really old and clever but is also just a little bit sweet when it counts. Oh, but she would also need a nice rack. And she would definitely want to repay you for freeing her, of course.”

“Give up on your disturbingly detailed fantasies, dangerous individual. Anyway, we know a Sorcery Hacker even more dangerous than you is out there. It is my duty to preserve order and justice, so I cannot ignore that. If those Dextral Mk. IIs are released indiscriminately on the beach, we will have a massacre on our hands.”

“But I didn’t see anyone suspicious there, Coach.”

Mamilis seemed more interested now. Although she might roll over and go to sleep if it turned out the mystery Sorcery Hacker was some filthy old man.

Ayato nodded.

“They might think of themselves as a hacker and a sniper. I mean, we’re on the run now because I carelessly revealed what I am. In that sense, they’re better than me. And if they have business with that ice coffin, they must know what’s going on. Because they’re trying to cover up the truth. For now, let’s pursue that unseen Sorcery Hacker. …Which means we need a clue to follow.”

The question was how to lure out the Sorcery Hacker hiding on this island.

“Done. Here are the crayfish traps.”

“Oh, thanks, Miss Teleria.”

“Hee hee. I know it’s wrong to think this way, but this is kind of fun. Camping out together isn’t bad at all.”

“Hmm, if you say so.”

A troubled “wait, um” came from Teleria but from a completely different direction than before. She was addressing the boy who had been too distracted to pay much attention to what he was responding to.

“A-Ayato, that isn’t me.”

“Eh? Then…whoa! Who is this girl!?”

Ayato, an expert in the illegal world, jumped up in surprise and Henrietta, a born warrior, frantically reached for the sorcery gun at her hip a moment later.

Dark Elf Mamilis only tilted her head a bit.

“So who is she?”

“My, my.”

The voice sounded like a gentle young woman, but the small girl clinging to Ayato’s hip was a head shorter than even Teleria. She had short, fluffy blonde hair and wore a loose-fitting white dress. Her silhouette would probably show through with the sun behind her. In what may have been a fashion statement, she wore something like a small wristwatch on her right ankle.

[[Image:SorceryHacker_v02_BW04.jpg|thumb]]

Mamilis’s Dark Elf ears were still out in the open, but she did not sense any real danger. Probably because she had seen humans and Mermaids sharing the same space without issue here on Laguntreat.

Meanwhile, the little girl held a hand to her mouth while giving off an aura that put even cautious Mamilis at ease.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to surprise you. I am Fleure-”

“Dabrabchcgwhe!!”

All of a sudden, Teleria had moved behind the girl and covered that small mouth with her hands.

They began whispering to each other at extreme close range.

“(Get a clue, mother! Also, you can’t send your core out, leaving your main body behind! That body doubles as a safety device to keep your Water Lord power from leaking out and losing control, doesn’t it!?)”

“(My, my, but can you really blame me? You were having so much fun here I just had to slip out to join you.)”

“(Are you ''sure'' this wasn’t you hearing Ayato talk about wanting to meet a little monster hag and getting all excited about it!? Oh, no! You’re exactly like the flower goddess from his fantasy!! Well, except for the chest.)”

“(I am neither a monster nor a hag! And if you average my chest size between this core and the outer shell, then I have one of the greatest bust sizes in the world☆)”

“(That method would also give you a shockingly large waist measurement!!)”

“Miss Teleria, do you know this girl?”

The blonde girl’s shoulders jumped.

Yes, Fleurelisia was her mother. Not her ancestor, her actual parent. Over the course of her unfathomably long life, that sole female member of the Four Lords would find a new first love (how does that work!?) in each successive era and flirt with them even in that gargantuan body. She was a proactive and carnivorous woman to the core. But for a teenage girl, not much was worse than a mother who would make a move on her crush just because the boy mentioned some silly fantasy! If people found out that was her mother, no one would want anything to do with her anymore!!

“N-not really, ha ha ha. I just happened to meet her while out on a walk last night. Her name is Florence! She lives on this island!!”

“Hm?” Brown Mamilis’s long ears twitched. “But didn’t she say Fleur or Flu or something? …Fleur? That sounds oddly familiar.”

“No, no! Florence is right! The locals just pronounce it a little differently, I guess!!”

The blonde girl was so glad they were on the other side of the island from the beach cottages. The giant form on the mountain slope would have been a dangerous reminder for the Dark Elf.

“This must be a peaceful island indeed if a small child like this is allowed to walk around alone at night. All the more reason to keep any Sorcery Hackers away. And that includes you, dangerous individual!”

“Is that what you think, Miss Henrietta? Well, I know just the thing to clear up all these needless misunderstandings between us: intimacy! And with a justification established, let us strip off these cumbersome clothes and frolic in the water, au naturel!!”

“Why does my criticism only excite you further, dangerous individual!? Innocent girl, this boy is a threat to us all, so keep a safe distance from him! I thought it was odd you could live happily with one of the demonic Four Lords up on your mountain, but do you just not know how to recognize danger?”

Teleria was sweating profusely now. She realized it would be more suspicious if she kept covering the little girl’s mouth, so she let go but kept her hands solidly on those skinny shoulders and spoke with as full a smile as she could manage.

Her squeezing hands were a clear message of “say too much and you’re dead”.

“S-s-so what brings you here, Florence?”

“I am here to give you all some advice, of course.” Florence(?) must have been raised well because her smile seemed too graceful for her young appearance. “I know what happened at the Oceavita Water Therapy Institute ''as if I had seen it myself.'' After all, this is a small island and word travels fast. You want to pursue that unseen Sorcery Hacker, but you aren’t sure where to begin, right? But wasn’t there another curious factor about that attack?”

“…”

“Where did the hacked Dextral Mk. IIs come from in the first place?”

Ayato fell silent and Florence raised a small finger.

“You will have a hard time pursuing someone on this island if you do not understand the entire island’s layout. Much like pursuing someone through a maze with no exit without realizing the floor is littered with manholes. At the very least, the Sorcery Hacker you seek understands the island and is using that knowledge against you. You will have a hard time outdoing them if you do not have the same information they do.”

Henrietta in her armor and tight skirt reacted more strongly to this than black-haired Ayato.

“Wh-who is this girl? She’s awfully rational and weirdly knowledgeable.”

“Hee hee. A relaxed island with no locked doors presents some unique opportunities.”

“Then why not try to drive out that member of the Four Lords? That enormous thing is sure to wreak havoc if it starts moving again. Just because it hasn’t moved yet does not mean it won’t move tomorrow.”

The small girl responded to that with no more than a faint smile. Tinged with a hint of sadness.

Just then, a purple light fluttered by in front of Ayato.

It was a night butterfly decorated with bewitching lace and gems. In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a beautiful woman in a classic maid uniform.

“This young lady here is more or less correct, Sorcery Hacker. Do you recall that I offered you a further job yesterday?”

“…I do.”

“You are to investigate what is secretly underway on this island and, if necessary, put a stop to it through sabotage. So how about it? You will be rewarded if you accept it as a job. And if you have to do it regardless, I recommend profiting from it as well.”

Ayato clicked his tongue, but not at Micha Angelos.

He was probably picturing the person(?) she served instead.

“I don’t like this. It feels like we were set up from the beginning.”

“Attempting to understand His Excellency’s carefully laid-out plans with your puny brain is foolish in the extreme, so you should give up immediately. Unless you would like to waste your life on the fool’s errand, of course. So lay aside this absurd paranoia.” Her words were like a slap to the hand of a child reaching into the cookie jar. “I will take this to mean you accept the job. Because revealing the secret of Laguntreat is the only option remaining to you regardless. Work yourself to the bone for His Excellency and the Static Continent, Sorcery Hacker. I will see you again once that is done.”

“Oh? What is this about?”

Florence tilted her head and looked up at the tall woman.

Micha did not bat an eye in her classic maid uniform.

“As I have no authority to command those from outside the continent, I will merely provide some advice: The best way to achieve the result you desire is to let these workaholics do their thing. Tying them down will only make things worse.”

“I will keep that in mind☆”

Whether or not Micha Angelos had seen through to the girl’s true nature, she exhaled through her perfect nose and then flew off as a night butterfly not found in nature.

Mamilis and Henrietta were lost in watching her go, but…

“Huh? Coach, where did that girl go? Um, Florence, was it?”

“Wh-wh-who knows!? She’s one of the islanders, so it’s not like she had to stay with us! Besides, her parents were probably worried about her!”

The girl in the white dress had vanished at some point.

She may have been obeying Micha’s advice.