ly on EC… Till became the target for some b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, got rescued by some weird people, when in fact she was never in any danger due to her mom’s company’s security team covering her when she activated her ‘oh s.h.i.t’ b.u.t.ton. Bell reeling in some big fishes after feeding them chum and dangling bait in front of them, tempting them to invest into her little resort plan for Second Phantasia. Flight. A never-dying dream of humankind, an obsession that has been pursued since even before the Age of Chaos. The idea of flight exists everywhere, and has been the dream of every scientist since the varied civilizations crawled their way back up since the Age of Recovery. Due to the extreme lack of resources -and unable to utilize it in a world filled with Auroras-, no governments nor groups actively pursue the study of flight itself. But… this doesn’t stop those with capable minds and aspirations from dreaming of it, especially those that can only watch birds fly jealously. Sadly, the closest they can ever get to it, is in the form of a kite. Entertainment and media had always used the concept of flight since time immemorial, even all the latest games that were released within the last decade have flight in them. There’s one difference though… You can’t feel it. Everyone in the conference room are scientists or have at least some knowledge of science, otherwise they wouldn’t even be able to get a job working in this frozen wasteland. All of them know that Second Phantasia has unparalleled realism even if they haven’t tried it yet. “Are… are you serious?!” The beanpole-esque man walks over to Isabel, grabbing her by the shoulders. “Yes! I am! Umm… you mind letting go first? That’s actually starting to hurt a little.” The still grinning woman looks at the man in the eyes, before shifting her gaze to one of his hands. “Ah!” He quickly lets go of her shoulder, jumping back a little like he just got shocked. “I’m, I’m sorry!” The man mumbles different apologies as he gets quieter. The rest of the group are looking at each other, silently digesting what has been said. Isabel maintains her smile, before it deepens further, revealing a slight dimple. “Hahaha, it’s okay! It’s okay! Really!” She rea.s.sures the man and fixes her posture before continuing. “You should have seen the first time I got in the sky. I was really, really excited, but we were on a mission, so I couldn’t say anything. When I was finally let go and dropped, I… I… You will just have to try it.” Her face turns a bit pink in embarra.s.sment, remembering the various stunts she pulled, flipping around, spinning like a top, her embarra.s.sment deepens when she recalls that a young girl, that is just old enough to be her daughter had she married early, was watching and supervising her casually the entire time. “How does $800,000 sound?” The usually playful George suddenly asks, his frivolous appearance completely disappeared. Isabel’s face changes into one of contemplation as the other five people in the room give yet another look of shock before quickly recovering. Silently discussing it in a pair and threesome. Despite the calm appearance on Isabel’s face, her heart is pounding. Her little project was meant to just expand the Academy while providing a steady source of income, it doesn’t hurt that it would become an additional playground for her, this is completely unexpected! But, $800,000! She knows George, he might seem like a playboy, but that is just how he is, otherwise she’d have kicked his a.s.s already and sent him packing. His pa.s.sions are the Sciences and the Exotic! She is willing to bet her entire fortune that the resort itself isn’t what’s drawing him in. “If it isn’t enough, how does a million sound? But I want free access to all the facilities and dibs on any future projects as well.” Before Isabel gives her reply, George ups his number, a clear, shining, almost fervent, look burns within his eyes. “Alright, but I will have to redo my plans to make them either scalable or have multiple phases depending on how much everyone is investing.” The fiery hair that droops over her ear gets tossed back as she answers with conviction. On the inside, her stomach is doing backflips. [T/N: The expression used was “A carp is struggling to cut the fishing line.”, which I switch to the similar meaning english line of “Her stomach is doing backflips.] “Umm… I will have to talk with the entire department about this… But umm… will you accept $100,000 from my personal investment?” The pet.i.te woman asks. “Clarisse…” The beanpole man fixes his gla.s.ses, giving her a sad puppy look. “Fi-fine, make that $150,000.” The woman fl.u.s.ters before turning to the man. “Don’t give me that look Howard, you know we’ve invested most of our funds earlier in the year, this is all the liquid a.s.set we can pull out.” The man sheepishly nods. Isabel can only look on, wondering who is really the top in that relationship. [T/N: I would have went with “who’s wearing the trouser in that relationship”. But you know how the nips like their tops and bottoms, right Tensai? Right?! “I think I’ll throw in $300,000.” One of the men chirps in. “I guess I’ll do the same… but eh… can we get a trial first?” The third remaining woman finally adds her voice into the discussion. “What do you mean? We haven’t even bui.. Oh! Right, right, that’s no problem.” With her mind still reeling from the unexpectedly large numbers, it took a moment for her brain to catch up. “Just eh… send me a list of times of when you are free, and I will try to schedule it, but you will have to reach the Sardon-Feia region first.” All six of the men and women immediately take out their handheld computers and start tapping away. *Ding* *Ding* *Ding* *Ding* *Ding* *Ding* Isabel’s own handheld computer starts ringing notifications in succession, making her sigh in her heart. * * * * * “Kun! Kun!” A scar-covered man runs inside the small snow covered building, calling out urgently. “Eh? I’m here, Uncle Hank.” A figure leans backwards from behind one of the wooden pillars, with feed in his hands. “What’s the matter?” *kokko kokko* The chickens, hearing the loud voice, retreat to the other side of the coop. With the expansion of the facilities and the employment of multiple advisers, hunting and foraging can no longer sustain the current population at this site. As such, simple farming facilities were added during the expansion. The idea is to get the facilities going before hiring more abled bodied “Untouchables” afterwards, but it has been more time consuming than what Kun initially thought. “Kun! I need a favour!” “What… what’s going on? I’ve never seen you like this before.” Hank looks a little frazzled, “We need you to log in, I… Um… there has been a situation, and I think you are probably the only one that can fix it.” “Alright… let me lock up and go take a look.” “No, you go on ahead, I’ll lock up, just… go!” “Okay, okay.” The young man walks out of the building into the winter landscape, heading for the main buildings to log in from one of the console rooms, kind of confused at this strange situation. * * * * * “““Kyyaaaaah!””” A group of slightly wet female demihumans scream with shrill voices before skipping away, trying to get away from a middle-aged, brown haired man in nothing but a speedo, exposing his body, it isn’t toned, but obvious hints of muscle can be seen. Two trickles of water would occasionally squirt out from his index fingers, aiming at the demihuman ladies. “Come back here my pretties! Pammy isn’t done giving you girls a wash!” The man’s playful teasing drifts pleasantly in the wind, as though it belongs there. “““You’d have to catch us first~!””” “Then don’t mind if I do! Gahahahaha!” The man laughs as he suddenly sprints to behind one of the demihumans and sprays her legs with a stream of water from his right index finger. “Kyaaaaa!” Kun stands on the side, staring at the spectacle with a dumbfounded expression, a small mound of unconscious demihuman men resting behind him. Further behind the mound is a group of demihuman men looking at the figure chasing the ladies with admiration in their eyes. “Who… who is this man?” The young man asks one of the instructors that has been here since the beginning. “He… He is… Or rather, he was, known as the Rampart General, General Pamuk of the former 3rd Infantry Army.” “Hmm…” Kun tilts his head to the side, vaguely remembering the name, but can’t quite recall it. “What is he doing here?” “He’s the biggest hire Hank had, didn’t he tell you?” “Oh… right…” The impression he got at the time was that the former General being hired was extremely strict, unlike this man running around almost naked. “I umm… I guess I’m supposed to put a stop to this?” “Y-yes, please do so. The others tried and ended up not unlike that mountain of bodies behind you.” “Got it.” *PIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII* Off in the distance, a gray ma.s.s gets up from a figure it was resting on, bolting towards the scene. A small mountain of white slowly rises up after the gray blur leaves the shade of the tree. “What’s the matter, Brother?!” The loud whistle with his fingers also caught the attention of everyone else, including the man that’s chasing the women. “We need to subdue that man over there.” The gray fox turns his head from the young man, toward the man that’s being stared at. “Okay!” “Let me borrow that for a bit!” Kun runs off after grabbing a wooden practice sword from a nearby instructor’s hand while retrieving the rod that’s on his back. Next to him is the gray fox, keeping pace at a fixed distance away. “Hoho, another hot-blooded challenger!” The man stops his chase, starts to shift his shoulders and stretch his neck. “Wait right here ladies, I will be right back!” “Make it quick~” “Who’d want you to be back?!” “Go teach the new guy a le- wait, isn’t that Kun-sensei?” The ladies throw back some remarks, which are completely ignored by the man as he readies himself. “Hya!” *Hyuuu* “Naive!” The man casually sidesteps the overhead strike from Kun’s wooden sword in his right hand, causing Kun to run past him. “«Back Slide»!” The young man’s sword strikes the ground as he leans forward deeply before gliding back all of a sudden, doing a backhanded sweep with his rod. *fyuu* *KA* “Ow! Not bad kid, but I haven’t-” The man is. .h.i.t in the ankle unexpectedly by the strike that defies the laws of physics. Before he can finish his sentence, the wooden sword *shu* from a low trajectory, aiming for his neck, causing him to bend backward. In the same motion, he swings out his left leg in a retreating roundhouse, aiming for the young man’s head. *gobu* “AHHH!” A sharp pain appears out of the blue, a vice-like grip made from needles clamps down on his right ankle. The suddenness of the pain causes him to lose balance, losing his form. *tsu* The rod in Kun’s left hand thrusts forward, aiming for the pelvis. *koku* *KA* The man swiftly drives his left heel back, landing sharply into a bundle of fur before doing a small crescent kick while he spins like an axle, locking the rod in place with his left leg. The man’s rotation doesn’t stop as his bleeding right leg whips out. “«Stardust Impulse»!” [T/N: This cringeworthy name is brought to you by Ishman, IMPULSE IS GOOD OKAY. The original is “星灰 飛び出す”, so we are open for suggestions.] *KAKU* The rod that’s locked in the man’s left leg flies forward suddenly, striking him square in the jaw, knocking him out. “Aww… He’s knocked out.” “Oh well, we had our fun, let’s get back to work.” “Sorry for the mess, Kun-sensei!” The ladies leave the scene lightheartedly as they get back to work, the still conscious demihuman men turn their gazes of admiration from the unconscious man to the young man who defeated him. “Gui, ask for some rope, I’m going to have to string this guy up.” * * * * * *bashan* A bucket of cold water is splashed onto a man hanging from a beam used for training, wrapped up like a coc.o.o.n, hanging by a rope. The demihuman who splashed the bucket moves to the side, making s.p.a.ce for the young man and the fox that’s staring at the hanging figure pa.s.sively. Various instructors are standing behind him in a line. Further back are the students that are already at the Academy as well as the demihumans that came to watch the commotion. “PU! PU! You didn’t need to do that you know! I was awake the whole time, just the d.a.m.n game wasn’t responding to my control!” “Oh, I know.” “And you still did it?! Do you know who I am?!” “Yeeeeeep.” “You d.a.m.n idiots! Untie me at once and discipline this young upstart at once!” The man screams at the men and women behind the young man vigorously, causing his coc.o.o.n to swing side to side. The instructors look to one another uneasily, yet unwilling to move from their respective positions. “Brother… is this man stupid?” “Yeeeeeeeeeeep.” “Who are you calling stupid you d.a.m.n pervert! Stop playing as a beast and fight me man to man!” The coc.o.o.n scrunches up and down as the man taunts the fox. “Cane.” The young man speaks that one word indifferently as one of the instructors step forward with a tapered wooden stick, presenting it with both hands respectfully. “PNF Military Adherence Act - ” Kun continues without changing his tune. “What?! Release me at once before I court martial you!” “Clause 179c, Section 9a. Punishment for disorderly conduct and subordination is…?” The young man asks the group behind him, completely ignoring the man. “““First demeanor is 25 lashes, Sir!””” “Wait, wait, you can’t do that, I outrank you! Clause 213, punishment can only be carried out by a committee of equal ranking or higher! I outrank you!” “Clause 114, Section 3b.” The young man continues, causing the instructors to go “eh…” “umm…” as none of them can recall that part. “All training contracts must be honoured, all visiting authorities must submit to the Chain of Command of the on-site administration unless stated otherwise on the contract.” “… Y-you don’t mean…” The loud, agitated man stops struggling as his coc.o.o.n swings silently while the implication gnaws at him, his face turning pale. “Allow me to introduce myself, I’m Kun Lee Mathis-Sawara, the owner and XO of this training facility.” The young man swings the cane up with a sharp *shi* “I believe we are about to get well acquainted.” “Eh… ummm… I… I’m sorry?” *SHI* “YYOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWW!” Everyone witnessing the sight winces as the cane rips through the air, then the cloth bag that’s holding the man, revealing the red welt on the naked flesh. “By the way, please dress appropriately the next time.” *SHI* “YYYYYYEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWW!” The screams continue for a while, as everyone looks on. * * * * * “Um… Hank… remind me never to p.i.s.s off Kun.” One of the instructors whispers to the bulky dwarf that had logged in at some point, who has been stifling his laughter the entire time. He honestly never expected the young man to deal with the old sarge that effectively. “Yeah, just don’t do anything stupid, he looks soft, but he’s really a cunning honeybadger.” Hank hides behind the crowd as he tries to suppress the laughter once more, nearby, he spots people that had also served under Pamuk struggling to do the same thing as they also watched the punishment from beginning to the end. A sudden brightness arrives from the back, causing heads to turn. “What seems to be happening here?” A girl dressed in pure white approaches, light surrounding her body, while asking someone nearby. The demihuman dog-eared male can only stammer a bit before tripping over himself. “Ah, someone was causing trouble and Kun-sensei was carrying out some Immortal law thing and dealt the punishment.” An older demihuman woman with multiple long, elegant whiskers chirps in. “Ah, I see.” The princess curtsies in thanks. *BIIIUUUUUUUUUU* *BIUUU BIUUU* The sound of a horn blaring resounds throughout the Academy, this particular series of sounds signifies the arrival of a large contingent. A set of signals were introduced on top of the regular military alarm procedure, the idea was thought up by the students from the Tactics and Logistic cla.s.ses after the unexpected visit by the Feian upper echelon the last time. Immediately, all the demihumans rush to their stations, with messengers flying out towards the grounds entrance in droves. “Hm… What’s going on?” Kun asks as he stops lightly tapping the cane onto his other hand. “That’s the signal for visitors, I think?” One of the instructors who has been observing the various cla.s.ses ventures a guess. “Oh… d.a.m.n, I guess I will have to deal with them since I’m the only one here. Alright, some of you can deal with this guy, the rest can go back to… Wait… why are all of you in here anyways?” Kun looks at the various instructors behind him, numbering in the dozens. “Oh, I’m just here to… eh… familiarize myself.” “I’ve been looking at those other cla.s.ses, especially the cooking cla.s.ses. What’s up with those aromatic chickens with those big wings?” “Eh… We’ve been pla- training with the ones shooting and defending against the arrows.” The other instructors nod their heads like chickens pecking rice. Kun just chuckles and shakes his head at the ma.s.s of excuses. “Alright, keep it up then.” “What is so funny, Brother?” “It’s nothing, come on, let’s go.” * * * * * “De’muel-ni is back! De’muel-ni is back!” One of the students bursts into a cla.s.sroom in the main Academy building, before running down to the next room and repeating himself. Outside the building, at the main road to the entrance of the Academy, a caravan of wagons slowly trods its way forward, laden by their loads. Six fox-eared demihuman escorts can be seen leading the first wagon, waving their hands at the posted sentry. “““Welcome back, Captain!””” “Thank you, keep up the good work.” “Eh, this be yi’home, boy? The Academy ye keep boasting about?” A woman sitting on the wagon asks the youth with the bull-horns. “Yes, Boss.” A proud smile appears on the youth’s face, similarly, the other youths nearby show the same expression. The group has left the Academy for a little over two months on their trade excursion now. They had initially failed to secure any trade agreements - and even had the city guards hara.s.sing them. The Apothecary Guild had tried to drive them out of Ashentor by pressuring the various shops in the Merchant’s Quarter to not conduct business with the group, or face the consequences. Helped by an incident with some children and Sammy, the group had the idea to trade with the locals instead of the merchants. This is helped by the children, who shared their eggs with their families, the neighbourhood ladies -whom Mikhal purchased a variety of things for-, the city guards -whom gave them trouble no thanks to a certain Dumb a.s.s-, the appearance of the various goods during court sessions with the King, and last but not least, the marketplace peddlers whom appreciated the group’s strategy. To be exact, they got the attention of Clair; known as ‘Boss’ by those who respects her. With her endors.e.m.e.nt, the marketplace started to trade with the demihumans for their products. It was merely fascination of the demihumans on her part that gave them a chance, but it was the meticulous attention to pricing and marketing strategy that had ultimately won her over. The group suffered some losses early on due to some bad deals, as she only oversaw their actions, but never give them advice until after the fact. She called it a “Merchant’s Tuition fee”. Even with the losses, the group was making a steady income. The empty field they occupied eventually turned into a bustling marketplace featuring special of the day eateries as the peddlers and cooks move their shop closer to their little tradepost, this is due to a policy Mak’ra thought of as the frequency of trade and the demand for their goods continued to rise. ‘Purchases will be first come first serve with a maximum cap, exceptions will be made for personal purchases and no sales are to be conducted to any shop in the Merchant’s Quarter’. What this meant is that, small families will be able to make purchases in reserve, while the peddlers will have to purchase the goods when they’re available. There was some pushback by the peddlers at first, but the policy’s effect became obvious when the Merchant Guild tried to muscle in and buy out all the stocks. The demihumans’ obstinate refusal, repeatedly reciting the policy, was like a splash of cold water, waking the angry peddlers up. There won’t be a monopoly by the rich Merchant Guild, supplies will be stable and the price can never be artificially inflated by someone manipulating the supply line; this means the peddlers will always have a piece of the pie as long as the policy is in effect - as long as they manage to purchase in time while supplies last, that is. During the entire upheaval, only Clair and her close a.s.sociates stayed quiet while silently getting the proper permits to either move their stalls or open a branch store near the shabby looking tradepost. The Merchant Guild became incensed with the demihumans, claiming jurisdiction on all large-scale trade activity. Surprisingly, it was Carna that made the guild representative speechless by asking. “If that is so, then where was the Merchant Guild when the Apothecary Guild tried to stop us from selling our goods?” De’muel followed her up by showing the permit issued by the King himself, that if there’s an issue, the Guild should go argue with the King instead. This unexpectedly caused a rift between the Merchant Guild and the Apothecary Guild as this was apparently a unilateral move by the latter, it was at this time that Clair made her move and gave them a single piece of advice. ‘Change the last policy so that only Merchant Quarter’s shops that admit their fault and come clean about the Apothecary Guild’s involvement can purchase the goods’. De’muel, being more cunning than Mak’ra, accepted the advice and immediately announced the new policy. This mended their relationship with the Merchant Guild who received some face at the concession, further pressuring the Apothecary Guild, causing them to lose influence as well as building new bridges with the merchants who were between a rock and a hard place. Of course, all of these actions didn’t go unnoticed by the traveling traders who specialize in imports and exports, whom immediately went toward the little tradepost sitting in the middle of what is now the busiest part of Ashentor. The Kingdom of Sardon, along with the Norman Kingdom, are at the extreme tips of the major trade routes that connect the known parts of the continent. As such, the news didn’t spread far, but like a spark dropping on dry kindle, it spread at exponential speed, causing the sight that’s now before the Academy. “I will try to introduce you to Bell-sensei and Kun-sensei if I get the chance.” De’muel adds as he slows down the wagon ever so slightly as a group of demihuman youths line up on the side along with a man and a young girl that are riding on top of an extremely large bundle of white fur. “Welcome back, De’muel-ni, Mak’ra-ni, everyone!” “Welcome back.” *Kero Keroro* “Souvenirs! Souvenirs!” “Trailmixx! Trailmixx!” The older students greet the returning group properly while the younger ones were more concerned with gifts. Of course, this is due to the fact that each time someone comes back from the outside to retrieve more goods, they’d bring back some novel food or toy for them, thus spoiling them. Sammy and the man sitting on top of him greet the group happily in a calm manner. The group alighted their respective wagons as they park orderly at the empty s.p.a.ces as directed, looks of nostalgia and soft smiles on their faces. “It’s good to be back.” “Ah, I wonder how Isnic and Dosnak have been, they must be exhausted.” “Hmmmmm, I can’t wait to sleep in my own bed.” “The guys are going to flip when we show them all these new spices! Wait, we should go stock them right away!” The returnees spontaneously speak their own minds as they disperse. A few remain behind to help organize the wagons in the caravan to park in an orderly manner, separating the users and non-users, as well as the size and grouping of the wagons. The many merchants look around in curiosity, a few of the non-users spot the man on the white blob, rubbing their eyes. “Oy! Philipe! Am I seeing things or what?!” One of the merchants roughly grabs his colleague. “The h.e.l.l are you on about?” “That!” The merchant twists the man’s head into the direction of the white blob. “WAHH?!” The colleague also rubs his eyes to double check. “Didn’t he retire?!” “Even in retirement, he’s beating the lot of us. f.u.c.k!” The merchant slams his hat onto the floor and stomps it a few times. “Hey, hey, calm down. Even if we can’t take a big piece of the pie, there’s still profits to be made.” “f.u.c.k! And here I thought we’d finally make it to the top in one go, ARGH!” The merchant picks up his hat, roughly swings it to dust it off and takes a deep breath. “Alright, let’s go, no wonder those brats wouldn’t budge, they’ve him as a backer.” The merchant, along with his colleague, slowly join the group that’s forming at the front of the parked wagons, readying themselves to make the best pitches of their lives to rake in some profits.