“Fuah! This tea is soooo good,” Machua exclaimed as she took another swig of her tea.

  Well, swig was the wrong term. She was drinking from a dainty little teacup, though she was gulping it down like there was no tomorrow.

  Her seatmate, an elegant woman with small white wings growing from the back of her head and her hips, let out a deep sigh. She had black hair tied into a long ponytail that almost reached her hips and she was wearing a white button-up, her vest was draped onto her chair.

  “Should I have purchased the canned kind instead?” She muttered to herself.

  “Yeah, duh! It’s way harder to drink with this cup,” the third and last girl at the table, a catkin with brown hair, responded. The catkin had a cute round face, and straight hair that framed it perfectly, flowing naturally down her shoulders. Her outfit though… She was wearing a tank top and shorts, a far cry from both of her seatmates.

  “That… has a simple solution…” the bird beastkin girl walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a big glass.

  Upon sighting the glass, the catkin rushed to snatch it and poured all of her tea down it. She then began to chug the tea.

  “Yep, Naiya’s not changed at all,” Machua laughed a little as she said.

  “No, she has not.”

  Suddenly, Naiya slammed her glass down onto the table and pointed at the birdkin.

  “Yoona’s changed too much! Now, she’s managing businesses and she has like, boatloads more money. I mean, she managed to get you 5 boxes of Huanglong tea like it was nothing!”

  “Ahaha…” Machua scratched her cheek. “I wasn’t asking for 5 boxes though. I just wanted 5 teabags.”

  Yoona took a deep breath, berating herself under her breath. “It’s my mistake. I should have known.”

  “Yeah! You’ve always been this way, always overbuying stuff. When a girl says she wants lipstick, you don’t have to buy the most expensive brand, ya know?”

  “And I seem to recall you enjoying all the gifts?”

  “I’m not gonna pass up on free stuff! It’s your loss.” Naiya raised her hands in self-defence.

  “They may be free, but all the more reason to be grateful, yes?”

  Upon listening to the sound argument, Naiya lost her energy. “Mm…. I mean, yeah…”

  “Heheh.”

  “Whatcha laughing at?” Naiya asked with somehow renewed energy.

  “You two are as close as ever,” Machua observed.

  ‘Normally the argument would keep going on and then I’d have to stop them.’

  “I’d normally say we are not, but I do think we make a good team at least,” Yoona gestured to Naiya with a smile.

  “Yeah, we do. Uni’s made us gone on all sorts of missions, and we’ve gotten As every time,” Naiya boasted.

  “Speaking of, are you sure you don’t want to join us, Machu? It’s not too late.”

  “Hahaha… I don’t wanna be your junior in uni. I’d feel left behind,” Machua answered.

  The two girls who were her best friends softened their expressions. Now, noticing she had brought down the mood, she hurriedly changed the topic.

  “And anyway, I’m working under Lemuel. I’m sure I’ll be reaaaal busy the next few months.”

  “If you say so…” Naiya muttered.

  “Agh,” Machua groaned, her attempt at bringing the mood up having failed. “I’m going on a big mission tomorrow anyway. Can’t exactly do month long trips abroad while juggling schoolwork.”

  “If you say so,” Yoona responded next.

  “Why can’t any of you guys accept I don’t wanna go to uni? I’ve been working my ass off for 2 years in foreign Cities, and I’ve been just fine. Now, I’ve got an Aspect of my own and I wanna focus on Hunter work. There’s no problem, is there?”

  “I want you with us though…” Naiya slumped on the table. But not before grabbing a biscuit and shoving it in her mouth.

  Yoona sighed. “I suppose we are being selfish. So long as you’re happy where you are, then we’ll be okay with it.”

  “Thank you. Naiya?”

  “…Yeah, it’s fine. Sure,” Naiya said without much enthusiasm.

  “I’ll take that. Now, onto a happier topic, do any of you have a special someone yet?”

  Yoona spat out the tea she was drinking. However, before it splattered onto the other two girls, Naiya raised her palm. The tea stopped in its tracks and rapidly swirled into an orb floating above her hand.

  “Lotsa guys confess to Yoona but she turns them all down because she’s ‘too busy,’” Naiya answered, while gesturing.

  Naiya proceeded to toss the tea orb into the kitchen sink that was not too far away. The tea orb broke once it impacted the sink, causing a big splash.

  “Score!” She cheered.

  “I am. I’ve got many things to do, key among them all the staff I have to manage. It’s hard to get them to listen to you when you can’t even drink yet.”

  “Haha! Look at these kiddies who can’t even take a sip of alcohol,” Naiya snickered, despite the fact her birthday was just a month ago.

  “I thought you hated the smell of alcohol? Should I send you a wine bottle for your next birthday?” Yoona asked, with an almost too serious tone.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. And also don’t, I can’t finish it.”

  Machua couldn’t help but laugh at the sheer shamelessness.

  “What about you, Machu?” Naiya suddenly turned to her. “You bring someone special back?”

  “You haven’t.” Yoona stated, matter-of-factly. “It’s impossible.”

  “What do you mean impossible!? I’m a very charming lady.”

  All of a sudden, Machua felt like she was being pitied. Yoona and Naiya’s faces contorted into comforting smiles, their eyes telling her it was okay. It was okay to be a little pathetic.

  Machua hastily blurted out a defence. “W-well, it’s not someone I’m seeing or anything, but he’s-“

  “He!?”

  “He… I’ve always thought you were-“

  “Shaddup,” Machua snapped. “‘He’ is like family to me, got it? And that makes him a special person. He counts.”

  Naiya narrowed her eyes and leaned back, folding her arms. “I wanna see him.”

  “Proof or he doesn’t exist. You must have a photo,” Yoona followed up.

  Machua scoffed and pulled out her phone. She quickly navigated to her pictures.

  ‘Hah, sure, I can do thaaaa…..’ Machua’s thoughts stopped in its tracks.

  The picture of her and Machi exercising together seemed to be staring at her. They were wearing the same outfit, but she was already struggling to keep up. In particular, Machi, who was already laughing at her, seemed to penetrate her soul.

  “I-I do, but I can’t show you,” Machua mumbled out.

  “The hell you mean you can’t show us!? Why!?” Naiya raised her voice a bit louder than she wanted to.

  Yoona, meanwhile, was shooting Machua a deep glare as if she was telling her ‘You cannot be doing this right now.’

  “It’ll ruin the surprise! So you have to wait. I’ll bring him to meet you after my mission is over. Promise,” Machua responded tentatively.

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  Naiya suddenly leapt from her chair, her arm stretched out to grab Machua’s phone. The magic she used earlier began to suck in the phone, but Machua suddenly slapped her arm away. The phone almost fell to the ground, but Machua deftly bounced it back up with her knee before catching it.

  “Stupid World thingy…” Naiya muttered.

  *Thwack!* Yoona’s hand suddenly chopped Naiya straight onto her head.

  “Augh! Not so hard!”

  “Sit down.” Yoona’s hands gripped Naiya’s shoulders and oh-so-gently guided her back to her seat. Which was to say, very roughly.

  “Next time’s gonna be in more than a month, isn’t it? You’re going tomorrow,” Yoona asked with a smile that wasn’t very genuine.

  “Y-yeah. It’ll be too long…” Naiya said, while nursing her big booboo.

  “What’s on your itinerary?“ Yoona asked, ignoring Naiya’s groans. “If City Lyrae is a part of it, then you might be able to visit my parents.”

  Machua slowly grimaced upon thinking about it. Yoona’s parents were… intense. She had only ever met them once but talking to them felt like trying not to step on a landmine.

  “Your parents are exhausting to be around though…”

  Yoona smiled wryly. “Agreed.”

  “Not to mention City Lyrae’s wayyy too active for me. I love going to the arena, but the events go on for too long.”

  City Lyrae was famed as an entertainment city with its main attraction being its fighting tournaments. Hunters from all over competed in battle against each other for fame and glory. There were numerous types of tournaments, restricting entrants based on role, such as magician or summoner. Oftentimes, the events would run all day and even stretch into the night.

  “That does remind me. ‘GLOW’ is coming up in a few months from now. Would you two like to come with me to watch? I’ll have to be there for the entire duration of the competition, but I can fly you in only for the finals, if staying the whole time is too much for you.”

  Naiya suddenly stood up from her seat, making it clatter onto the ground. Her impassioned voice rung loudly in the room. “YEAAAASSSS! We have to go! It’s the biggest fighting tournament in the world! Machu, you’re going for the full 3 days right?”

  Machua glanced to the side awkwardly. “… I might have work?”

  “Boring! Go take vacation days off.”

  It was at that point Naiya’s brain came to a very, very awesome realisation. This was probably the best idea she had ever had in her life, she was sure of it.

  “Ooh! Go get your captain Lemuel to join in! I wanna see Erelier get another win! If anyone can do it, it’s Erebus Squad!” Naiya energetically pumped her fists in the air at the prospect.

  “I haven’t even gone on a single mission with him…” Machua lamented. “How am I supposed to…?”

  Machua’s lamentations went unnoticed by the hyperactive Naiya, but not to Yoona. She wanted to do something for her, but honestly, there was no point in trying to stop a Naiya who had an idea in her head. Might as well go along with it.

  “I believe he and Sienna are the only ones never to have participated,” Yoona mentioned.

  “Yeah! Galas did it once to win the magician tournament. But then there’s Reina who won the whole thing 3 times in a row! I heard she got banned after that!”

  “She wasn’t,” Yoona corrected her. “She has only refrained from joining for reasons we don’t know why.”

  Machua’s friends began to fangirl a little over Reina. It was kind of impossible not to, as Erelian girls who were like 13 when she won the literal biggest tournament of the world. That stunning handsome figure and the boundless confidence she projected as she went on to win it 2 more times were emblazoned in the minds of every girl in Erelier. The purple electricity, her beautiful purple hair, the horns, the image of her spear in motion, each and every one of these girls could see it in their mind.

  But for some reason, Machua was a little annoyed at how quickly they moved past her issue. She wanted to get back at them somehow, so she just blurted out something that came to mind.

  “… Well, she has a kid to take care of.” Machua suddenly mumbled out.

  “”What!?””

  The suddenness of their shriek followed by their penetrating glares shook Machua out of her little stupor. Looking back at her friends’ faces, she suddenly began to feel that she was very small.

  “There’s no way that’s true! Where’d you hear that from!?” Naiya almost slammed the table as she asked.

  “I-I mean, she’s 36 right? Isn’t that the normal age you have kids?” Machua blurted out without thinking.

  Naiya and Yoona paused as they had to consider the implications of what Machua had said. Even she was only just now realising that what she said meant something.

  Reina? A mom? The Reina? You mean, the super awesome lightning lady who spends all her time fighting monsters day in day out? The woman who won GLOW 3 times in a row? A record no one has ever broken before?

  Machua just couldn’t imagine it. Reina, the Purple Spark, fastest Hunter in Erelier, maybe even the world. She was even considered the strongest Hunter Erelier had, though she wasn’t the captain of Erebus Squad. Every single girl idolised her growing up.

  So, to think that she had a secret kid was wild. Honestly, she had to ask Machi about that again. She didn’t realise how huge it was at first, because he casually mentioned it, but looking at it again, she should have pestered him for all the details.

  “I can’t imagine Reina pregnant…” Yoona held her hand to her chin.

  The image flashed in Machua’s mind. Nope. Didn’t make sense. Impossible. Reina just… didn’t seem like it. If anything, she’d be the one to get her man pregnant. And honestly, Machua couldn’t see a world where Reina ended up with a guy.

  “Yeah, when would she have the time to carry the baby? She doesn’t take breaks at all!” Naiya pointed out.

  It was at this point Yoona pulled out her laptop and did some rapid typing. Machua and Naiya ran over to her side, eager to see what she was looking up.

  On Yoona’s laptop were many pictures and articles of Reina’s deeds, which she rapidly cross referenced with each other. Machua and Naiya could barely read any of the articles before Yoona went on to the next one. The pictures of Reina depicted her doing anything from stabbing straight through a giant snake to ripping apart a manic spider. The one thing that remained the same was her confident grin.

  “I forgot how fast she works.”

  “She finishes all the homework literally the day it’s assigned so she gets to spend extra time doing paperwork or whatever. I can barely get her out of her room.”

  “It’s a good thing I’m back now then. I’ll help her get out more.“

  Yoona’s eye twitched a little at the comment, but she ignored it. She was almost there, almost ready to make a conclusion. Just a few final checks to ensure she had it right.

  “11 years ago, just a year before Erebus was formed, it seems like Reina took quite a long vacation. Of course, she was long overdue, but Reina is something of a… ‘workaholic,’ if you could call it that. It’s not that she has a very diligent ethic, but she personally enjoys hunting monsters, so whenever she does go on a short break, she’s often completing hunting missions for fun during so.”

  “Yeah, and-?” Naiya asked, before getting swiftly interrupted.

  “Let me finish. The strange thing about this long break is that there are no recorded reports of Reina dispatching any monsters during the year she was off. A year is just long enough to carry a baby to term.”

  “Or… she took the break because she heard her baby was being born!” Naiya displayed a confident smile on her face.

  ““…””

  “Wha-what’s with the silence?”

  “… I don’t think technology has gone that far yet.”

  “Oh, I don’t know about that,” Machua absentmindedly mumbled out.

  “Care to tell us what you mean, Machu?”

  “Nope. Back to the issue we go. So, Reina has a 10 year old kid?”

  Yoona slightly raised an eyebrow at the deflection, but continued nonetheless.

  “If we are assuming your information is correct, then it is a possibility. It isn’t impossible, but I can’t imagine the public not finding out one way or another. While she is secretive about her private life, it must take a lot of effort to hide a kid.”

  “Uh-huh. Still don’t believe it. Reina just wanted to relax. Where did you hear the kid thing from anyway?”

  “I’d like to know too.”

  “Uh…” Machua backed away, her eyes glancing to the side.

  Naiya suddenly gasped, another bright idea hitting her head. “That guy told you, right!? The special guy from abroad!”

  Yoona nodded along, agreeing with the assessment. She didn’t say a word though, allowing Naiya to take the lead.

  “That has to be it! What did that guy tell you!? You can’t trust anything he says! Show me his picture!”

  Naiya held out her hand, as if she expected Machua to hand over her phone.

  “H-hold on, just wait a sec-“

  *Ring, ring! Ring, ring!*

  The two girls looked at Machua’s vibrating phone with interest. The silent look they gave her told her what they wanted. She slowly looked down, and her worst fear was confirmed. Yep, it was Machi alright.

  ‘I’ll just tell him I’m busy or something then quickly hang up.’

  Machua turned away from her friends and answered the phone. She glanced back in the hopes they weren’t watching, but they very clearly were.

  “Machu, it’s good to see you picked up sooner this time. You’re getting better,” Machia’s familiar voice gave her some comfort.

  “Yeah, yeah. Anyway, what’re you calling about?”

  “Have you started packing yet, Machu? I know you always like leaving it until the last second.”

  Machua instinctively retorted. “Oh, and you don’t?”

  “I don’t. I discovered I had Dimension a year ago and it stopped being a problem. I’ll teach you when you come home. When will you be coming home anyway?”

  “Oh, I’m out with my friends right now.”

  “Naiya and Yoona, right? I bet you’re having fun. Must be nice to be with them again.”

  “It is!” Machua turned back to glare at her friends. “But they’re acting really mean right now for no reason.”

  Naiya silently rolled her eyes in response. Yoona, meanwhile, gave her a wry smile back.

  “I don’t know them well, so I hope that gets resolved. I know friendships can be complicated, especially when you’ve been away for so long. People can change so fast.” Machia’s voice sounded a little sombre.

  It was then that Machua remembered Machia was only like a year old. Well, he was 20, like her, but the major difference in their lives was only the past year he had been here. He was physically a year old. Kinda. He had the same memories she did, but she didn’t recall being separated from her friends for long.

  “You’re right, but how would you know that anyway?”

  “… Do you seriously think I have no friends?” Machia sounded almost genuinely hurt.

  “Not what I meant! Sorry.”

  “Anyway, make sure to wake up on time tomorrow. I won’t always be there to wake you up like for the Hunter exams.”

  Machua grimaced at the memory. She did not want to be woken up by a bucket of water again. The worst about it was the water wasn’t even real, Machi made it with magic so whenever she tried ignoring it, he’d just splash her again. At least they didn’t soak her bedsheets or her clothes.

  “I will! It would look bad for the leader of the squad to be late.”

  “Uh-huh. Have fun with your friends. And don’t stay out too late.”

  “I won’t. I’m not a kid you know,” Machua responded, a little annoyed.

  “Oh, also could you pick up a few groceries for me? I’ll pay you back.”

  Machua was slightly taken aback, so her response was a little slow. “Y-yeah, I can do that. I can pick up your groceries.”

  “Okay, I need some sourdough bread, a few canned tomatoes and banana yogurt.“

  ‘What am I, your delivery girl?’

  “Want me to pick up some ice cream too, while I’m at it?” Machua asked semi-sarcastically.

  “You can pick them up on my tab, but make sure to store them in a freezer. If you haven’t figured it out yet, I can teach you how to form one in a dimension.”

  “I wasn’t- Never mind. I’ll pick them up since you said you’ll pay for it.”

  “Great. See you later, Machu. Remember, we’re gonna have to pack, so don’t spend too much energy.”

  “Yeah. Bye, Machi.”

  Machua sighed once the call finished. It was the typical stuff, but she was a little annoyed that Machi almost took it for a given that she’d get him his groceries. Like, what does he even do all day, he can’t even get them himself?

  ‘But when he does come home with groceries, he usually buys some for me too…’

  Machua turned back around, only to see a Naiya who was much, much closer to her than she remembered.

  “Is he your mom?” She asked incredulously.

  “Wha-no! Machi’s not- He’s not my mom!”

  Machua reeled back. She couldn’t believe she forgot her friends were watching her phone call. How much did they hear? Could they hear him?

  “So, Maki is his name.” Yoona stated. “It sounds eastern. Is he from City Ryo?”

  “Uh, yeah!” Machua gave a nervous smile. “Yeah, he’s eastern. I met him while I was employed there as a shrine maiden for a festival. Uh-huh.”

  Naiya slowly walked backwards to Yoona, all while giving Machua a pensive stare. She bent down to whisper to her, looking back at Machua all the while.

  “… What are the odds this is actually her girlfriend?”

  “High. I say we should go along with it for now.”

  “I can hear you. That’s dumb.” Machua’s irritation was slowly growing.

  “To be frank, we should put this behind us for now.” Yoona gave Machua an encouraging look.

  “Naiya, Machua already promised to show us ‘Maki’ once she returns, so let’s let her be.”

  “Okayyyy…” Naiya rolled her eyes, clearly wanting to talk more about this, but she was willing to let it go.

  “But nothing better happen to you while you’re out there. If anyone hurts you, I’ll beat them so hard they’ll have to pay double, no, triple your hospital bills!” Naiya proclaimed.

  “Hah. Thanks, Nai. I appreciate you two waiting, but I have to ask you guys to keep a very open mind once you see him. You’re not gonna believe it.”

  “We’ll see.”

  “Yeah. So, do your best out there. We’ll be waiting for you.”

  ———————————————————————

  “Once again, I repeat, the airship Errant is now departing. Any passengers will be happy to know that we have hired additional hunters to defend the Errant should another monster attack happen, though it is unlikely.”

  “I thought they were gonna go on the Erebus Squad’s personal airship,” Naiya said.

  “The Fairy Tale is almost treated like Reina’s personal airship at this point. The only other person who leaves Erelier on missions regularly is Galas, and he often takes commercial airships,” Yoona explained.

  The two were standing in Erelier Airport’s observation deck. It was a specially designed area where visitors could watch airships fly off from a safe distance. Some pilots hovered near it for an extended period of time so the visitors could wave goodbye to their loved ones. It was said that the Great Inventor specially designed airships to have great hovering capabilities precisely for this purpose.

  “Oh, it’s coming up!”

  The Errant, a relatively mid-sized airship, rose from the hanger. It slowly floated upwards, allowing the visitors on the observation deck a full view at its size. The Errant consisted of 3 stories, the bottom layer reserved for the crew and maintenance, the middle layer leading to the flight deck and was where passengers boarded, and the uppermost layer for seating. It wasn’t particularly big and could only hold a modest amount of passengers, but it did the job well. The Errant also seemed to have a fresh coat of paint on it, as it was now coloured red instead of silver.

  “Machua,” Yoona pointed to their friend.

  “Machu! Hey, Machu! We came to say bye!”

  Strangely enough, Machua didn’t seem to hear them. She was instead solemnly observing the City below her, the City she grew up in and would be leaving once again. It seemed like she was reminiscing on something or was perhaps distracted by her thoughts. It was a side of Machua that the two had only seen once or twice.

  “Hey, am I not shouting loud enough?” Naiya asked her friend.

  “She can definitely hear you.”

  “I’ll try again. MACHU!”

  Naiya enhanced her screaming with her mana, her roar causing the many other visitors on the deck to cover their ears. Yoona herself almost wanted to throw her over the edge. She was this close, and if it weren’t for them being in public, she probably would have started strangling her.

  Machua herself also covered her ears. She mouthed to them that she could hear them the first time with an irritated look on her face.

  “Bye, Machu! Have fun!” Naiya shouted back, ignoring the complaint.

  “Do your best!” Yoona followed up.

  Machua took a deep sigh and silently waved back. She went back to her solemn staring at the City, content to ignore them.

  “Man, she’s not usually like this. Normally, she at least pretends to smile.”

  “It could be that she’s worried about her mission. She is the leader of her squad after all, which is very admirable of her.”

  Naiya lit up at the mention of Machua’s position. “Yeah! It’s so cool she got picked up by Erebus and then was chosen as leader. I could never imagine the old Machu doing that.”

  “She’s come a long way. I’m looking forward to all of her achievements in the future.”

  “Yup! It’s all up from here.”

  Naiya and Yoona looked up towards their best friend, smiles on their faces. The last time they saw Machua off like this, she was so uncertain about her future, and it was all she could do to smile back at them. It was a little heartbreaking to see her try so hard. But now, they could watch her leave with a genuine smile.

  It was that point another person walked up to Machua. She turned her back and laid against the railing.

  “It must be a squad me-…” Yoona began to say, trailing off when she this other person came into view.

  It was another Machua. She also laid her back against the railing and chatted happily with her double.

  “…”

  After a brief chat, the second Machua returned to the inside of the airship. The first Machua, now in a happier mood, looked back over the railing. She took notice of her two friends, then stuck her tongue out playfully. She snickered at the silence, then made her way back into the ship.

  “Th-that was, that one was the real Machu, right?” Naiya shakily asked. “It has to be.”

  “… I don’t know.”