«Leah»  

 

“The raid will be done during the night. These type of people are better dealt with under the embrace of darkness…” 

 

Or so he said. Sigh...

 

Well, that meant I had free time. It was nice to have free time; well actually I haven't spent enough time here to actually tell if free time is a nice thing to have or not; technically all my time has been free. Aside from actual collecting, I was free to do whatever I wanted, eh… 

 

Now that I think about it… He treats me surprisingly nice⁠—  

 

Bump. 

 

“Oh! Fellow Collector, sorry! How are you doing?” 

 

Before I realized it, I was on the ground. The sunlight being blocked by a shadow, I had crashed against it. Well, it was a person... his tone was kind... But I couldn’t truly process what actually happened. 

 

He waved his hand in front of my face. 

 

“Em… Are you there?” 

“Ah… yes…” How awkward… 

 

I looked up to see, I could barely make out his face due to the basking sunlight; only a cold shadow with the glint of his eyes to be seen. 

 

“Ah… hello.” 

“Looks like you are finally there.” He took a step back and extended his hand towards me. 

 

I gripped his scorching hot glove, the leather was soft. He pulled and I well… got lifted? He barely used any strength and I was back on my feet! He smiled; his beard and thin face did not match his strength nor voice at all! 

 

“Or maybe not… You stare quite a lot, huh?” He sighed and extended his hand towards me. “It’s my first time seeing a female collector.” 

“Oh… I haven’t… seen you before?” 

 

Where did he even come from?! Do people that don’t know each other just talk like that here? So random...

“Ah, pardon me. I am from branch 3, what’s your branch?” 

“Branch 1…” I think. His eyes widened. 

“Ooh… Only the elite get to be there! That’s amazing.” Uh oh… 

 

If only the elite get to be there… doesn’t that mean I am a pushover?! Moreover, I got in there by random chance ⁠— just because the Collector decided to… decided that it was worth it ⁠— why did he do it?  

 

“So how has collecting been going lately?” He randomly asked. 

“Well… I did two collections about one day ago…” 

“Ooh! That’s amazing, I’ve only done one this week!” Eh… so you are telling me I got almost murdered twice in the same day while this guy gets the luxury of only having it once a day!? 

 

“How unfair…” I muttered. It escaped me. 

“Eh is it? Isn’t the pay good?” 

“Right… aside from almost getting murdered twice that is…” 

 

He sighed and dropped his shoulders, the smile from his face faded and his eyes darkened. 

 

“Well, that’s how it is. Arlesh is not for the weak after all. Albeit the future of the city is uncertain, but I like it here ⁠— there are no particular laws against other races if I remember correctly; albeit everyone hates beast-kins law or not.” He shrugged. “And protocols can be quite harsh, but it’s nice here, a change of tone for once. Take care collector girl, shall we meet again.” He gave me a pat on the back and walked away. 

 

That was… Eh… So sudden… Why would he say that so randomly?! Is this place different than everywhere else? Also, are there laws against beast-kins in the first place? I mean, discrimination is rampant as is… Why did he… Well, I can assume he comes from another town then? Weird… what part of the future is uncertain?! I kind of want to know… 

 

Sigh… Why are things so complicated. Although the future is always uncertain. 

 

“Well, time to go to the Tradehoousee…” My voice trailed off as I saw yet another ashen dark building next to the first one. “Two trade houses?” Em, did something glitch out? 

 

I stared in bewilderment ⁠— standing at the entrance of the main plaza and yet no one seemed weirded out. How did another building get erected from one day to another… it can’t be… I slept for a month straight?! No, that doesn’t make sense… Then how come… I…

 

I decided to turn around and look at the guard that stood near me.

 

“Why is there a new trade house?” 

He tilted his head and looked at me in utter bewilderment. 

 

“Well… the major saw it as necessary?” 

“No. I mean… how come it got built so quick!” 

“Ah, it’s all thanks to you lots.” Eh? “Thanks to the GCFP system the major can do things like that.” 

 

“GCFP?” Stop blabbering jargon! 

“Gatherers, Collectors, Fighters, Processors. They all form a process that allows the major to do such things!” He smiled. “Isn’t it wonderful?” Ah... I totally know that. . .

“Ah… yes… Which is Tradehouse 1, then?” Why does it feel right to number it? 

“The one to the left, surprised you know the name already. Lots of people seem to get it wrong on opening day.” Of course, it’s numbered...

 

Sigh… “Thank you.” 

 

After thanking the guard I made my way to the left tradehouse, or Tradehouse 1™… Such a stupid name… What’s next? Actually I don’t even want to think about it. It sounds like a product name, the last thing I want is to have windows codes in things. Sword Mk300XE Pro. Just kidding~ 

 

If only I had known… 

 

* * * 

 

“Ooh! It’s you again!” The butler-y vendor from yesterday called me as I passed his shop. I couldn’t help but enter due to familiarity. Ending up looking at him in front of the counter. 

 

“Hey?” I mean, why did I even enter his shop? 

“I have something to show you. I asked myself yesterday: why did she dislike Murakuzani so much? And I think I arrived at the answer.” He lifted his finger up in the air with a smile. “This is it!” He went under the counter.

“Oh no.” 

 

He took out a sword with a marbled scabbard and black stripes...The ornaments were silver instead of gold… It was… 

 

“I present to you! Murakuzani XR Pro Max!” Fuck… 

 

And of course, he handed me the little tablet with the information. 

 

[GOLD Murakuzani XR Pro Max XS ⁠— Designed with care by the best blacksmiths in the GOLD factory, now featuring an improved silver blade. Removed counterweight due to lack of space. 

+160% to Cut type damages. Control penalty of -5.] 

 

“What’s with the "XS" also… control penalty of -5?!” 

“Aah… that is… Well, since no one cares about control anymore we decided to remove the counterweight! You know, -5 out of 100 is not that bad. Well, albeit I don’t know what your control is.” Ah… what is my control? 

 

“Interested?” Why would I be?! But… I need to confirm...

“Is it going to break as soon as I drop it?” 

“Eh… No.. well… actually…” Fuck... I saw it coming… I am done here. “It’s not that bad! We can replace the broken blade for half the price of the sword!” The blade is the thing that breaks?! 

 

“No…” 

“B-But!” 

“No. I am not interested.” 

 

I walked out of the store without even hearing what he had to say in justification. I didn’t care. Why would he do such a thing?! I clearly didn’t care about the sword, besides, I am pretty sure looking at my stats Cut type damage is bad for me. My distribution was abnormal… Although I wonder what is control? 

 

I kept thinking to myself as I made my way to the top floor, using the revolutionary elevator system. That used… Sius? Ah whatever, weird word. Based on things I’ve heard it’s kind of like mana, except… I haven’t seen a single mage. Weird. 

 

Ding! 

 

The door opened. I was in the last floo⁠— or maybe not. 

 

The first thing I saw in my vision was a window. There were no windows on the top floor. But I was supposed on the top floor, according to how the elevator worked. 

 

I was still curious about the view of the city. I kind of wanted to get a glimpse of the city, mostly because of the districts part. Since they kept being mentioned and all. Also, seeing what was on the floor was good enough. 

 

Thus I exited the door and got closer to the window. From the corner of my eye, I saw her. 

 

Head against the window, ears plopped down, long brown-shiny hair, tail swaying side to side. 

 

“Rin?”