âWho would have known that Lime would be changing too . â (Makoto)
âOld acquaintances were pleading to me one after the other, and I finally couldnât reject them anymore⌠Sorry . âIf it goes too far, we will stop . We wonât trouble youâ, is what they said, so I ended up doing it . â (Lime)
âI didnât even know about their existence until today, and it is not like I am thinking about crushing them, so donât worry . I was just bothered by the atmosphere . â (Makoto)
âI can only guide you to two of the major ones that I am acquainted with, butâŚif you want to, I can investigate them a bit more from tomorrow on . â (Lime)
âNo, we will keep an eye on them first . â (Makoto)
âGot it . Then, I will guide you to the forefront fan club of Sis, the Certain Kill Tomoe Family . â
Even if I were to suddenly go out to the city, I donât know at all where I should be gathering information about the fan clubs of Tomoe and Mio .
Now that I think about it, I donât have much experience in gathering information by myself .
When I called out to Lime, who I caught sight of, and brought the topic of fan clubs, his aura clearly changed .
His expression didnât change much from the outside, but thanks to knowing him for a long time, I can feel theâŚhow to say it? Vibes of Lime? The feelings? I could tell he had been shaken heavily .
So, once I inquired for a bit, it seems like he knew about their existence, and he also knows the details about them to a certain degree .
I tried to confirm if he might be a member, and he clearly denied that .
He did spill out that he serves as a consultant for the two top fan clubs .
In a sense thatâs worse than a member which made me want to hold my head in pain, and Lime explained himself that he was simply asked to do it and he didnât have much choice⌠Well, I decided to accept that for now .
âIsnât this the Adventurer Guild?â (Makoto)
âWell, thereâs steps you have to take, you see⌠Hide your face a bit with this . â (Lime)
ââŚGot it . I leave it to you . â (Makoto)
The place Lime guided me to was the Adventurer Guild .
Moreover, the one thatâs not for the wasteland .
Lime may be a former adventurer, but he was a regular at the wasteland, so he is pretty out of place here .
At any rate, this place isnât that prosperous .
There may be adventurers here, but the fact that most of them are pretty young ones stands out .
I could tell at a glance that it is a gathering of novices .
The city itself will be getting bigger, so their chances to make it big will become pretty limited now . The guild might be moved closer to a corner of the city .
âIt will probably be treated as a fresh experience facility kinda thingâŚâ (Makoto)
I mutter this as I follow after Lime .
I cover my head with a large piece of cloth while only showing my eyes .
Now then, about LimeâŚhe looked at a requestâŚand headed to the reception desk?
It is a weird sight, but I have left it to him, so the only thing I can do here is follow him .
âWelcome . What business brings you here today?â
âWhatâs inside the Fuji of today?â (Lime)
ââŚThereâs red, reverse, and white . â
âI will have white . â (Lime)
After exchanging a mysterious conversation that feels like code language, Lime and the receptionist bumped fist with the counter in between .
More pointlessly secretive movesâŚ
âIt has been a while, Consultant Latte!â
âHeya . Whereâs todayâs meeting? I was thinking about showing up since it has been a while . â (Lime)
âIt seems like today they will be showcasing new merchandise, so we have secured a big place . Letâs see . . the 4th storehouse sector . â
âOwned by the Oaks Company?â (Lime)
âYes! As expected of the consultant!â
âThanks . I will bring some gifts on my way back . â (Lime)
â! Thank you very much!! By the way, who is that person there?â
âNew blood . I have been asked to watch after him by a certain someone I canât go against . â (Lime)
ââŚOne more for the Tomoe Family! We look forward to it!!â
So they donât really have a set base .
Like an official FC headquarter kinda thing .
Ah, now that I think about it, they are talking about top and all that, but they are all unofficial .
So doing it all brazenly wouldnât be right either huh .
Just whatâs the standing of an unofficial fan club for a famous person I wonder?
Is it like a manga circle for 2d artwork?
The 4th Storehouse Sector is a pretty big place .
It is one of the storehouses that the wasteland materials are temporarily stored and then withdrawn from, so the coming and going of the materials is pretty intense .
I have heard that the storehouses from the 10th and up are used to temporarily store the products that come from the Golden Highway to Tsige .
The Kuzunoha Company doesnât use the storehouse sectors, so I am not too familiar with them . This is my first time going to a storehouse sector .
â4th Storehouse Sector⌠Thereâs gatherings even during the daytime?â (Makoto)
âThey said something about the sale of new merchandise, so they are most likely hyping it up from early morning . â (Lime)
âThe 4th Storehouse Sector is centered around the wasteland, right? I donât know much about the Oaks Company though . Are they open at this time?â (Makoto)
âThe circulation of things there is pretty intense after all . Accidents are a daily occurrence there . They must have aimed for one of the gaps those have created . They may be a fan club, but unless they have a decent scale, using a whole storehouse is reckless though . â (Lime)
And you are saying it is possible for the Certain Kill Tomoe Family .
Hope they are not dancing with lightsticks in the darkness or something like thatâŚ
When I entered the storehouse sector, I ended up raising my voice .
Because there was a pretty shocking sight there .
âAh, sorry . Uhm, LimeâŚâ (Makoto)
âThat storehouseâŚis giving off a completely different air from the other ones, isnât it? It is as if it is a war-tempered storehouse, or as if it had been attacked yesterday . Thereâs smoke, remains of magic power, and pierced swords in it, you know⌠It is quite the bizarre sight . â (Makoto)
ThatâsâŚsince that one is that and the one over there is thatâŚthis is the 8th storehouse, huh .
This is the 8th storehouse in the 4th Storehouse Sector .
Just whatâs happening thereâŚ?
Donât tell me it is that one .
âThatâs our storehouse . â (Lime)
ââOurâ? âŚEh? Ours?! As in the Kuzunoha Companyâs?!â (Makoto)
âYessu . Sis complained that the number 4 was bad luck and didnât want it, but when she heard the 8th was open, she said âthatâs fine thenâ . â (Lime)
ââŚThat Tomoe . I donât get her . â (Makoto)
âShe said something like *48 moves* and forty eight . That she wouldnât want it if it were 4 alone, but if it comes with 8 as a set, thatâs fine then . â (Lime)
I was surprised that our company had a storehouse, but I am also surprised that Tomoe is playing a weird number game with the storehouses .
âWell, I understand now that thatâs a storehouse we have borrowed, butâŚwhy is it in that state?â (Makoto)
âIt is attacked on a daily basis . Well, we are dealing with quite the outstanding products despite our scale, so thieves probably attack us without much worry . Most would fall from Sis, Mio-neesan, and Shiki-danna, but thereâs also Mondo, me, Aqua and Eris, and the dwarves . We pride on our strength, but without enough hands, those kinds of people pop out endlessly . It is properly being protected by Eldwa Security, so thereâs no losses on our side though . â (Lime)
âI see . It is because we are making transactions on an amount that would be troublesome to explain if we were to not borrow a storehouse, huh . â (Makoto)
âRight-ssu . â (Lime)
âBy the way, what do you put inside it?â (Makoto)
If the attacks are frequent, we shouldnât put anything too important .
âEmpty-ssu . â (Lime)
âEmpty, huh . â (Makoto)
âYes . We have been throwing out information that we are putting things in there, and thereâs times when we act as if we are taking out stuff from there . Actually, in the normal product storehouses at the other side, the 13th storehouse of the 13th Storehouse Sector is ours as well, and it is also empty . â (Lime)
âThatâsâŚif an attack were to miraculously succeed, it would be pretty pitifulâŚâ (Makoto)
âThe fate of thieves is mostly pitiful-ssu . â (Lime)
ââŚRight . By the way, was it Tomoe who chose the general product storehouse one?â (Makoto)
âNo, that one was decided on the fly by Mio-neesan because that one was coincidentally open . â (Lime)
âAah, this time it was Mio . I see . â (Makoto)
Just how much in maintenance costs would it take to borrow two storehouses of such sizes? âŚWait, it should obviously be in the account book that I check on a regular basis .
Is it an amount that I would even skim over?
No, letâs just admit that I slack by just skipping over all items that donât have quite the high number in it .
âOh, it is that one-ssu ne . â (Lime)
ââŚIt is such a normal looking storehouse among normal storehouses . Is it a secret organization?â (Makoto)
âIn a sense, it is . The iron rule of the fan club activities is to not cause any trouble to the people themselves . Thereâs the possibility that Sis and Mio-neesan have already noticed it and have just left it be since they find it cute though . â (Lime)
ââŚI see . â (Makoto)
They might be more of a decent bunch than I thought .
I may get betrayed, so I should stop having faint expectations .
âThen, letâs enter . â (Lime)
âApologies, but this storehouse isnât taking or sending any goâConsultant Latte!â
âOsu . Are the sales of the merchandise going well?â (Lime)
âSorry for the rudeness of just now . Ah, and who may that person be?â
âPotential new blood . A request from a person I canât refuse . â (Lime)
âIf it is a referral from the Consultant, thereâs no problem! Go ahead! A bit of a problem is happening, but it will soon beâŚoh . â
Feeling the presence of people, I move away, and a number of people pass by flying between us and the person that seems to be the gatekeeper .
âYouâve got guts bringing drugs to Tomoe-samaâs fan club!â
The comeback of the Dusk Street?!
âYou as well . Donât go bringing out strange business discussions here and there!â
AahâŚpeople that gather for things like fan clubs do give the impression that they have loose pockets .
âYou stink of Aion . What . This time you are trying to enter our ranks and thinking of doing some sketchy stuff? âŚWant me to erase you?â
Aion did accept the invitation of coming to Tsige despite having been completely beaten up at the war, so they must have a reason as to why they accepted .
Of course they would try to have their prided spies infiltrate Tsige, huh .
âŚThey really donât learn .
Considering that they have an eye on Tomoe means that they have quite the discerning eye, and yet, it doesnât seem like they are taking into account the chances of success .
Not only that, they were disposed of in an instant . Canât help but laugh .
âLooks like it has been wrapped up, soâŚConsultant, potential new member, please go ahead and come in . â
âAlright . Keep it at just driving them away, okay?â (Lime)
Lime waves at the people who were surrounding the blown away people as well, and entered the storehouse .
Now then, it is finally the moment of truth .
âLocation cleansing-ssu ne! Consultant, thanks for speaking to us-ssu!!â
âŚHierarchy, physical education gathering system .
Location cleansing; is it the edo kind?
A type of exile punishment .
They also support Lime quite a lot despite what he says .
While holding slight uneasiness in my heart, I was also swallowed by the darkness inside the storehouse .