Ganersam Volume 2

It was a peaceful morning. We took this day off for preparations and rest. Amber was working on maintaining Riko’s ship. Riko’s ship would not be the only ship taking part in this battle. This time, Amber would be around too. Her ship would be essential in the battle, as her ship was the only one that had heavy cannons... assuming those things worked.

Cannons, like other firearms, were extremely expensive here. It was a surprise when Amber showed me the schematics for her ship the other day, as a way to build trust, but I didn’t pay much attention to it back then.

I did find it a bit funny how someone as talented as her, made boba machines for a living.

“Is Nia awake?”

I asked Emma, who was making hot tea in the kitchen. She looked at me, before scanning the living room, searching for Nia’s iconic cat ears. Her search soon came to a close. She finished making her tea and brought it to me.

She took a sip out of it, before putting it on a table near me.

“... Are you not concerned with indirect kisses?”

I asked as I looked up at her.

“Why should I?”

I shrugged my shoulders. I have given up on trying to understand her way of thinking. I took the cup of tea, and take a quick sip from it. It was sweet and refreshing.

Emma sat down next to me.

“I think she’s still asleep.”

She answered my previous question. I looked around once again, ensuring the person in question wasn’t there.

“I wonder what happened to her...”

We found her crying alone in some alleyway yesterday. We were, of course, concerned with what was going on, but we didn’t dare to ask. She always put a cool and serious air around her, so it was surprising to see her break down yesterday.

I had a feeling that it was related to the demon’s army. We had just decided to attack the demon’s army yesterday. I know she mentioned not having friends before, but maybe she was sad about the idea of killing her own ex-coworkers.

“She didn’t need to force herself to join us.”

I whispered silently as I continue sipping on my tea. Not long after, the sound of footsteps came down from the staircase.

“Ah, good morning.”

She greeted us with a fresh face and a genuine smile. Nia was a professionally trained soldier, so there was not even a hint of sleepiness on her face when she woke up. She occasionally slept around the house at times, but in the mornings, she still let her strict training show.

“Morning.”

We decided to not ask about yesterday, and just continue acting normally. She made her way to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. Amel bought us some food earlier today for breakfast, so we didn’t need to worry about cooking.

Nia looked at the sandwich for quite a while.

“Just take it, it’s from Amel.”

“Ah, alright. Thanks.”

She took the sandwich from the bag and moved it into her plate. She then continue with preparing tea while I return the half-empty cup to Emma. Emma took the cup, and true to her character, casually sips the tea from the part where my lips touched. Guess human customs mean nothing to her.

I mean, she’s an angel, so that made sense, I guess.

“I thought you would be more excited in an indirect kiss with a girl.”

She said while standing up.

“Nah... You were hoping I would get excited?”

“Not really. It hurts a bit knowing you don’t see me as a lady, though.”

She said as she walked toward the kitchen.

I really couldn’t grasp what this girl was talking about. Nia, who had already made her way toward the room, looked at us in confusion.

“Don’t worry about it, Nia, just some Emma things.”

“Alright.”

Nia sat down across from me and started munching her sandwich.

“So, what are we going to do today?”

Emma asked as she returned from the kitchen. I simply shrugged.

“No idea. Under normal circumstances, we’re supposed to go preparing for this... but...”

How do you even prepare for stuff like this? The normal route would be to scout out the enemy base before the attack. Discover their strengths and weaknesses, figure out the traps, and maybe get ourselves some equipment.

“Any intel you could share?”

Nia quickly swallowed the part of the sandwich she was eating before looking at us.

“The base is lightly guarded, mainly because the research center is located deep within demon territory. There are defenses, though, in the form of medium-level guards. Normally, it would be hard to penetrate, but considering the number of firepower we have, it would be pretty easy. I would say the hardest thing is finding the base, but I already gave Senpai the map.”

She paused for a while, looked at the ceiling, and looked back down before taking a sip of her tea.

“The control device did not exist when I left a few months ago. I fear they have developed more dangerous stuff after I left.”

Nia once again paused.

“We have two options. Due to the constant patrol, I doubt we could stay hidden long enough to do a thorough check. We either need a quick surprise attack, or we could gather numbers. I don’t think we’ll have the chance for scouting, though.”

So another case where we threw ourselves into danger with no preparation? I wish I did more of those damn setup missions back on Earth, so at least I havesomeexperience. At least that way I would know what to prepare.

“To be clear, the reason we can’t scout is that they’ll eventually find us. The demons had the technology to fight against cloakings. So while it may work against low-level demons, it won’t against medium-levels, which will be an issue.”

She continued. Emma looked at me, before an invisible !appeared on her head

“To be fair...”

After saying that, Emma sprinted toward the stairs. She returned, bringing back my LIAR with her.

“If we could turn this to lethal, then William won’t be as much of a weight anymore.”

“Just what are you saying?”

“That’s what I was thinking. It’s pretty uncommon for a medium-level demon’s armor to be effective against magic and lasers. So with the amount we have, we could breeze through easily.”

I looked at the two girls.

“Oh fine, but you’re paying.”

“I’m fine with that.”

...

“Emma, is there anything in your mind other than guns?”

“You.”

Emma’s sudden ‘confession’ caused Nia to spit, and I can only open and close my mouth in surprise.

A teasing smile appeared on her lips, which she hid by drinking Nia’s tea. Nia’s face showed even more confusion now that her beloved tea is being drunk away. After taking a sip, Emma returned the tea to the table, before leaving the house with my LIAR.

After staring at her tea for a while, Nia rotated the cup and drank her tea from the edge that didn’t touch Nia’s lips.

“What just happened?”

We asked in unison.

“I’ve checked the person I bought mine from. He’s at Kalagai, which is the closest city to the borders. We could transit there to pick the stuff up.”

Emma said as she returned back down. She had walked up the stairs, returned LIAR back to my room, and casually walked down as if nothing happened.

“I see. Why did you leave the house just for that call, though?”

“Just to confuse you two.”

Nia and I shared a glance. Well, Emma’s trick worked. This girl really made me speechless.

“Oh, Senpai just messaged me. After finishing her work with Riko’s ship, she’s planning to fly to Kalagai, to meet an old friend. She asked if we’ll go with her.”

“When will she be departing?”

Nia rechecked the message.

“Tomorrow morning, 8 am.”

“I’ll ask Amel.”

I picked up my phone and selected Amel’s contact. It took her quite a while to pick up.

“Ah, hello?”

Her soft voice came from the other side, and the slight sounds of machines working in the background could be heard.

“Hi, Amel, it’s about-”

“Riko, that’s too deep! It’ll leak if you continue doing it like that!”

Her loud scream cut me off. I had set the voice to speaker mode so that the girls could hear, but as it turns out, that’s a terrible idea.

“Ah, ah... sorry, Riko is working on the fuel tank, please don’t misunderstand.”

Well, at least it got explained.

“Oh, if you’re going to ask aboutthat, I’ll be heading to Kalagai with Riko. After finishing the repairs, we’ll head to Misana first. We’ll meet you at Kalagai.”

I haven’t even said anything yet. I swear, this girl had mind-reading abilities.

“I see, alright, see you.”

“Yeah, see you.”

I looked back at the girls. Emma looked at Nia with a puzzled look and asked,

“What was Riko doing?”

“Senpai mentioned installing extra fuel tanks the other day, so I think it’s related to that.”

“Ah, alright.”

Well, at least the girl’s discussion didn’t reach any other weird conclusion.

And as if this day couldn’t get any weirder, Nia’s phone rang. Like what I did, she set the output to speaker so that we could hear.

“Nia, tell the others we have a change of plans. We’re departing this afternoon.”

...

What happened to my day off?