Chapter 613: You’re My Favorite Big Sister!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Because of the difference in species and Aya’s —”Mother” Aya to Bai Yin — insistence, Big Sister Mor-Mor, who everyone knew as Mordred, did not live with Baiyi’s other daughters. They met often enough to have an affectionate nickname for her, though.
The Big Sister Mor-Mor that Bai Yin knew was a beautiful, regal, charismatic, and free-spirited young woman who doted on her so much that she never said no to any of Bai Yin’s request. Almost all of the plus.h.i.+es Bai Yin owned were Mor-Mor’s gifts, and those extra diamonds in her favorite mobile game were bought using Mor-Mor’s money behind Dad’s back. Then there was those delicious, pleasurable food that her mother had insisted on being “bad for health”; Mor-Mor would bring her to eat those, too.
Among so many of her big sisters, Big Sister Mor-Mor was Bai Yin’s second favorite. Mia was definitely not the first; heck, Mia was not even shortlisted.
All of this now became the reason why Bai Yin was a-hundred-percent sure that this weirdo in front of her could not have been her beloved Big Sister Mor-Mor.
“Pwahhh!” Mordred spat our her cigarette briskly. She strode toward them and picked up Bai Yin, nudging the latter’s cheeks with her face. “Do you believe me now?”
“B-But! How… How did you become something like this, Big Sister Mor-Mor?” Bai Yin whispered, confused.
Mordred feigned a cough in embarra.s.sment. “Well… Oh, you know, sometimes a girl just wanna, you know, try something trendy and new…?” She explained half-heartedly. “Look, regardless of my reasons, you need to promise me that you’d nevertell Dad about this, okay? ‘Cause we both know he’ll fu — I mean, really murder me if he knows…”
Bai Yin stared at her in silence.
“Okay, okay! I’ll buy you another fifty-diamonds package the next time we meet!” Mordred relented while clandestinely making a “go away” gesture to her mooks. In an instance, the same pack of hoodlums flexing on their invincibility scrammed like a flock of frightened birds in seconds.
Satisfied, Bai Yin finally nodded and leaned closer to Mordred out of her face-rubbing habit, but the closing distance magnified Mordred’s goth-punk fusion makeup. Clearly disgusted, the girl stopped herself abruptly and began to struggle against Mordred’s arms to free herself from her embrace.
Amused, Mordred put the girl down and turned away before furiously scrubbing the makeup off her face. When she turned back to them, Bai Yin saw her Big Sister Mor-Mor returned and finally stood on her toes with her arms expanded forward for a hug.
She learned it from Mia and was the best among her sisters to emulate the cuteness of the action.
“Anyway, back to you, Little Yin. Why are you here?” Mordred asked the girl in her arms as she studied a dumbfounded Ans.h.i.+n watching them.
“Well, I…” Bai Yin stammered. She was afraid of recounting her transgression against Mia.
“Hmm, I guess this isn’t the place for small talks. Let’s change the scene,” Mordred said and glanced at Ans.h.i.+n. “A friend of yours?”
“Big Sister Ans.h.i.+n was trying to help me get home. And then she protected me from those baddies, too. She’s a very good person!”
“Thank you then.” Mordred gave a curt nod at Ans.h.i.+n. “Would you like to come with us?”
If Ans.h.i.+n was honest, she was still in too much of a shock to answer anything. Her brain was still reeling from this sudden rescue, so the only reaction she had right now was a firm nod.
“Okay then, let’s go back to a living city! I found this eatery with really delicious food; I bet you’ll like it,” Mordred said, swinging Bai Yin so that she could wrap her arms around her neck. “Heh heh! Miss riding your sister yet?”
The last person to ride Mordred — that rode atop her back — was the Third Walker, during the war against the Church. One time, Mordred asked Baiyi if he would enjoy riding her, which exasperated Aya enough that the mother chased and swatted Mordred with a feather-duster.
It was only after her sisters were born when Mordred found someone who loved riding on her back. Bai Vye favored riding on the fairies’ unicorn while Bai Yuu’s naturally against senseless excitement, and Bai Yin loved riding Mordred. In fact, just hearing the offer excited the twelve-year-old to wrap around Mordred’s head, squealing, “I love you. Big Sister Mor-Mor!”
Ans.h.i.+n gawked. What did ‘ride’ mean? Was it different from the meaning she knew of? And if it’s precisely that, then… Squick!
Before Bai Yin and Mordred could clarify the context with a demonstration, the older woman’s phone suddenly rang out, not her selected ringtone but the sounds of sirens. Her face fell, and she put down Bai Yin immediately before picking up her phone.
“Colonel Mordred, the Empire needs you. Gather your people on HMS Luminati within an hour since this point.”
That was the entirety of the message. Not a question nor a request but a command to be carried out.
“Dude, not cool. Our break just started!” She grumbled under her breath, still oblivious to the terrorist attack that had just commenced.
“Sorry, Little Yin. I gotta’ jet,” she said apologetically before producing a pale blue card from her pocket and pus.h.i.+ng it into Bai Yin’s hand. “Eat whatever you like or do whatever you fancy, but don’t get home too late. Don’t make your Big Sister Mia worry, alright?’
She shot one last glance at Bai Yin and Ans.h.i.+n before starting down an empty street. She ran, faster and faster, and then let out a shrill whistle.
Her Harvey bike suddenly started on its own and drifted toward Mordred, who leaped into the air and morphed into a ma.s.sive, silver dragon in mid-jump. The bike sprung after her and began to disa.s.semble and transform into an equally gigantic mechanical armor strapping itself onto the dragon.
The leviathan let out a thundering growl and shot toward the sky, creating a racket as though she had punctured the atmosphere.
“D-d-dragon!” Ans.h.i.+n cried, choking on the abruptness and her fear. She was a beautiful, daring young woman hinting on some not-safe-for-work topics, and then suddenly, she was now a dragon?! Yes, Ans.h.i.+n was intellectually aware of dragons’ existence; yes, she had also heard of the Royal Dragon Knight Corp; and of course, she had seen their epic performance on tv. But nothing one knew from tv and books could ever prepare them to witness the genuine article with their own eyes.
“This is a dream, isn’t it? All of it? How else to explain the existence of such an elegant loli, or a beautiful woman turning into a dragon…” She mumbled in a sh.e.l.l-shocked slur.
Bai Yin was staring at the air where Mordred vanished too, but she was less shocked and more upset. “How are we supposed to get to the nearest city now?” She sniffed.
She turned and glanced at the pale Ans.h.i.+n and sighed.
While the two girls had no choice but to rely on their feet to leave the abandoned city, Baiyi’s meeting in the capital city was far from over. Right now, the Thane Walker was briefing him on their military strategy as the Painter prepared an official call-for-arms.
“A Dragon Knight Corp and three mechanized Sorcerer Special Ops will enter Shensha territory on HMS Luminati and HMS Gloria, respectively. After taking up most of our defense budget, these two battles.h.i.+ps are now equipped with the latest, state-of-the-art cloaking system to ensure invisible entrance into enemy soil,” the Thane Walker explained while shooting multiple meaningful glances on the Hitman.
“Oy, stop giving me those looks!” The Hitman Walker barked. “I’m not there ruining your plan, am I?”
This was not the first time the Empire stealthily dispatched their troops into foreign territories, but there were instances when they failed spectacularly due to the field commander’s errors. After all, what else could one expect from the Hitman Walker leading the way on the field? Needless to say, after the man was transferred to the Defense Department’s office, the success of stealth missions improved exponentially to everyone’s delight.
“Our goal is to have these four forces standing by on the enemy’s critical areas before the official declaration of war is announced. By that point, we’ll begin our a.s.sault; we aim to cripple the enemy’s command within thirty minutes. The elite troop from the Royal Dragon Knights, fronted by Colonel Mordred, will be tasked with apprehending Shensha imperial members,” the Thane Walker said.
“Our best-case-scenario is to finish the war this way, but we’ve also prepared a contingency plan.” The Thane Walker drew up a magical screen showing the blueprint of the latest marionette. “This is the Empire’s most advanced battle marionette, Bael. At the moment, there are only two marionette infantry corps using this marionette. They will be able to appear directly in battle through the transporter portals stationed on the battles.h.i.+ps at one command and annihilate all that stands in their way.”
The marionette’s body was so jam-packed with cannons of all types and sizes that Baiyi could not even see its limbs or any parts of its body. “What the h.e.l.l is the purpose of this design?” He asked, frowning.
“Ho, since that you asked about it, he can’t blame me for ratting him out now!” The Hitman Walker interjected. “That Engineer Walker has been bribing many parliament members with gold and his robot dolls to pa.s.s the bill purchasing this big lug. I’m honestly worried that he might have used the same method to persuade the military to use these gigantic good-for-nothings.”
“C’mon. He surely isn’t that low, is he?” Baiyi said.
“Ha! There’s no depth to his low-ness! Have you no idea that the most popular robot doll on the market — the one that looked a little too much like Noirciel — is his work? That one even perfectly emulates the angel’s unsettling gaze and her “tripping over nothing” ability!” The Hitman Walker said, still snitching on the Engineer Walker. “I’ve even heard rumors that he secretly keeps a Mia-bot and a Tisdale-bot in his bas.e.m.e.nt…”
“Ah. Thank you; I shall summon him for a talk shortly,” Baiyi coldly said. Then, returning to the topic at hand, he asked, “Our battle plan seems apropos, but I still have a question. Why is our target the royal family? Aren’t we supposed to take out the terrorists responsible for the attack to win public support?”
“Not to worry. Grand Princ.i.p.al. We have evidence in our hands that the Shensha royal family colludes with the Anti-Rohlserlian Alliance,” the Intelligence Bureau spokesperson said, waving the materials in his hand. “We’ll publicize them after the capture.”
Baiyi had not expected them to have prepped to this stage. In fact, he had a sneaky suspicion that this “terrorist attack” was a sting operation all along…