Amaryllis in the Ice Country:Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Part 1

"Someone like you can be scrapped with just a finger."

"Wh-what was that about!?"

"You're trash, Gappy."

The one insulting is a petite girl called Daisy Stalk.

She has a vile tongue. Her appearance is that of a cute girl with soft, chestnut colored hair, but she's actually feisty and stubborn.

"I-I won't get scrapped."

And refuting weakly is a robot smaller than Daisy. He has a semi-spherical head , a plump, grey upper body, and old--fashioned caterpillar legs on the bottom. "I-I-I-I-I'm not...a piece of junk." his retort was lacking in vigor no matter how infuriated he is, for his voice installation is already faulty.

"I-I-I-I-I-I...Gappy."

White smoke is pumped out from Gappy's head. Whenever he gets excited, he'll short circuit, and the sound he makes in such situations is the cause of his nickname."

Daisy points her cute finger at Gappy, and it looks like she's declaring her victory.

"See, you're broken! You're a piece of junk here! Junk! Junk!"

"No-no...Ga-Ga...gappppeeee"

Gappy refutes, unable to form a coherent sentence as he rushes at Daisy. However, his sudden attack's easily dodged.

"Yay, you idiot!"

"D-d-damn it!"

--Seriously, again?

"Okay, enough already."

I stand between the duo.

"Daisy, stop bullying Gappy now."

"I wasn't!"

"Master taught us before, no? 'There is nothing worth disputing over', and 'being harmonious is beauty'."

"We're getting along well though!"

Daisy retorts. This child really is stubborn.

"Are you alright, Gappy?"

Worried, I check on Gappy. His head is fizzling with smoke, and screws popping out near his ears from time to time.

"I-I-I-I'm bine…"

He certainly does not appear to be fine.

"Well, never mind. Let's go have a checkup with Visceria later."

I pick up the screws, and get him to stand up.

"Thank...py, Amar...ryllis."

Gappy continues to use his faulty voice installation and thanks me.

"Better scrap that scrap as soon as possible."

"Hey, Daisy. You shouldn't be saying that."

"But it's true. He wanted to eat some of my oil candy."

"Didn't I say you can't keep it all to yourself? In this situation, you should be 'halving' it."

"Hmph."

"Anyway, what's the reason for your argument now?"

I ask, and Daisy explains everything about how they got into an argument, without holding anything.

Daisy said that they were playing 'horsey' that morning. Gappy was the 'horse', and Daisy was riding on him, shouting 'gallop gallop, heh~!". However, on the third time, Gappy lost his balance, and Daisy fell, her head landing on the road.

"Why were you playing horsey?"

"For an act."

"An act?"

"For the Prayer Festival, of course."

"Ahh, I see."

The Prayer Festival is an annual festival, a ritual to pray for the masters sleeping in the 'Snow White'.

"What are you performing this year, Amaryllis?"

"Hmm, probably a lullaby. Like last year."

"Who will you go with"

"That's still undecided."

There's a stage for the Prayer Festival, and the villagers will perform all kinds of 'acts' on the stage. There is no limit to the content, we can sing, dance, play magic--of course, 'playing horsey' is fine too.

"I'm definitely going to win a prize this year! Watch me, Amaryllis!"

Daisy beams confidently as she enters my embrace. "I suppose." And I give her a smile in return.

"I too...Ga, do my best...ppy."

Gappy enters the conversation, and Daisy yells again "Time to practice!", riding on him. It appeared that she was 'piggybacking' on the shoulders instead of playing horsey.

"Wait, Gappy needs to go for repairs."

"You'll break down soon anyway."

"Even so, Gappy needs to prioritize his repairs...Viscaria! Viscaria!"

I called for the best repairman through the wireless communicator. Most of the villagers have a wireless receiver in their neural circuits, and as long as the microwaves are within vicinity, we can contact anyone at any give moment.

10 seconds later.

"What is it, Amaryllis?"

Viscaria's voice rings in my mind.

"Gappy short-circuited. Can you help check on him?"

"What? Again? Okay, I'll go take a look."

"I'll leave it to you.

Once I'm done with the communicator, "Now then, no practice until Viscaria arrives." I told Daisy, and turn to leave.

Ga, ppy, I can hear the voice from behind.