Chapter 36: Towards the Citadel of the Earth

[Chapter 36: Towards the Citadel of the Earth] 

[Please read Side Story 2 for a better experience!]

As the limousine drifted into the long road from Ritsurin to Hanasori, the road behind them was made a mess by the giant robot. 

Many successful attempts were made to disrupt the robot, but it’s still standing.

“Oh no, it’s coming right after us!” Sai and Luka simultaneously shouted.

“Step on it!” Kazai urged Satora, and the car accelerated, but the robot still seemed to catch up.

They learned the hard way that this giant robot can run.

The car accelerated as the furious and loud mechanical stomping got louder and angrier. Fleur helped cut off incoming missiles, but it just came back with more powerful missiles, eventually, Fleur had a hard time cutting them.

Bang!

A missile almost hit the limousine.

“Naiko, please have mercy…” Kazai prayed.

Surprisingly, her prayers were answered, and the robot was met by a melting light beam.

The robot melted in an instant. No, no one even saw the light beam. The robot suddenly turned into some melted scrap.

 “Wait, stop…” Kazai asked Satora to brake. “They saved Naiko!”

“My hometown is saved! The school, too!” Katasu cheered.

“Heh.” Fleur chuckled. “Kasuri really sacrificed herself.”

“Wait, what? You don’t mean that poor girl, right?” Katasu was worried. “She’s one of my most frequent customers…”

“The purple head living alone in an apartment. I’ve met her before when we both were children, but we barely talk.”

“Don’t tell me my best customer… She died?”

“This is very bad news, yes. But she sacrificed herself for the most populated city in Naiko. You lost your biggest source of income, but you still have your hometown.”

The entire crew were shocked by the fact that Kasuri died, except Rona and Nora, who knew nothing about her.

“Oh, that little purple girl? She kicked my ass once.” Yushiro interrupted.

“I’m gonna fucking kick your ass too, Yushi.” Fleur stared at Yushiro.

“Oh, we’re doing nicknames now, alri-” Yushiro got punched by Fleur, and was knocked out. “Now, where were we? Oh, Kasuri Mano lived a pretty tragic life. She’s pretty much an orphan at this point before she died…”

“I remember her giving me some money so we could help papa…” Luka sighed. “Papa changes his name a lot lately.”

“He changes his nickname once in a while… But it’s hard to keep track of.” Sai added.

Dettonotto just sat there, listening to the conversation, and asked Kano. “How did an 11 year old kid save Naiko?”

“I don’t know the reason…”

“Guessed so.”

The two friends both drink tea, not knowing it’s gonna escalate into chaos. By chaos I mean one of them completely demolishing the other in a console game.

Raki and Kinato were communicating with each other by text, since Kinato is, well, unable to speak.

akirarika: Are you ok

kinato_liuga: Honestly, I’ve barely known Kasuri, but she helped my girlfriend

akirarika: She was a pretty nice girl, but I’ve only met her once

kinato_liuga: I only met her on social media. We used to text each other often… So that’s why she didn’t respond. Because she died…

akirarika: I feel bad for her

kinato_liuga: Everyone does. Rest in peace, Kasuri…

Kinato can’t help but feel bad, although she’s barely known Kasuri.

Kazai suddenly runs into her room, and bursts out in tears. 

“I’ve failed as her caretaker… I should’ve taken the blow instead of her. She’s too young to die.” Kazai started digging her nails into her face, while audibly sobbing inside her room. “I knew Kasuri would make problems when she lived alone…”

Kazai looked at an old photo with Kasuri and Kazai in a café. She taped all photos of Kasuri to a wall, and wrote on the wall with crayons: “Rest in peace”.

She paid respect to Kasuri for hours, until they finally reached Hanasori.

They all came outside, and saw a lot of classic architecture, and wizardry stuff. Eventually, they came before the Hanasori Statue; just without the Chromatia.

The walls around Hanasori are designed to both look royal and be able to protect the city at the same time.

“Woah…” Kazai gasped. “This is where my earth power comes from?”

Fleur looks around the place. “I’ve been in Ritsurin and the MOF my entire life. I’ve only seen pictures of Hanasori. Well, I think it looks nice, but it doesn’t mean that it’s devoid of someone as dumb as Yushi.”

“Awwww! You called me t-” Yushiro was slapped by Fleur. 

“I guess those two are always at each other’s necks… I wonder if Papa is like that too.” Luka sighed.

[They make a ruckus everywhere, but if I could guess who’s gonna come out of the room crying first, I think Yushiro will cry a lot] Kinato wrote.

Behind the statue of Hanasori, there’s a blue-haired witch crying.

“This is bad… How can I even save Hanasori like this…”

Fleur ran towards the blue-haired wizard. “Are you okay, Nano?”

Nano looked up. “Fleur?”

“Ritsurin already healed up, so I’m helping some dumbasses fix Hanasori.”

“You’re as rude as ever… We should discuss this privately.” Nano held Fleur’s hand, and pulled her to an alleyway.

The people were left confused as to why Nano, one of their best wizards, was crying.

They went to a dark alleyway, and discussed.

“I’m the wizard the Hanasori people relied on… But Hanasori will not be saved without my help. You came at a bad time, Fleur…”

“What the fuck happened to you, Nano?”

“I lost my powers. Mae Mi-gyeong took it…”

“That motherfucker from South Korea? She’s with the Reqranians. Where have you been for the past 3 months?”

Nano took off her robe, showing bruises and wounds.

“Oh my fucking god…” Fleur facepalmed. “She’s fucking crazy. Do you need meds?”

“Sure… Thank you, Fleur. I know you’re rude, but you do have a big heart.”

“...” Fleur sighed, and treated Nano’s injuries. She carried Nano to the Sorcery Mansion. 

“Hello. Are you a member of the Sorcery Mansion?” The guard asked.

“I’m Fleur, the Spirit Resonated of Ritsurin.”

“Welcome. Are you carrying Nano home?”

“She’s feeling unwell. She needs to rest.”

“That seems suspicious. Nano will always treat her own illness.”

“I know the actual reason, but I choose to not discuss this right now to prevent shock. It will highly lower your army’s morale.”

“O-oh right, ma’am. You may enter!”

Fleur quickly entered Nano’s room, and put her on the bed.

Sephine enters the room. “What’s up with Nano?”

“Oh, hello, Reqranian. She’s sick from a fight.”

“How could she lose…?”

“Promise to not tell anyone. They’ll be fucking shocked.”

“Okay… I’m already so sad, anyway.”

“Nano was fucking abused by Mae. Mae fucking took her powers, and now she’s fucking crying!”

“...” Sephine bursts out in tears. 

“What the fuck happened to you, too? It’s not that deep.”

“I didn’t want all this to happen to me.”

“What do you mean? I know that girl Kasuri died, and that happened.”

“It’s way more than that.” Sephine is still sobbing. “I was in Reqrania, the land of sorcery, and I attempted to escape. When I tried to escape, I was caught, and beaten up by those bootlickers, until I finally escaped to Mokkato.”

“It all happened in the past. You’ve forgotten the pain, haven’t you?”

“There’s still scars on me. A lot has happened in my life, I only seem happier, because I found my passion in sorcery.” she said in a crying voice. “Kid, there’s gonna be more hardships in your life than you think.”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Maybe, sooner, you’ll believe me.”