Kapitel 55: The Scientific Journal: Entry 2— The Quest for Wall-Down
AN: Holy shit Arcueid finally came to F/GO! Well, time to fall into that Gacha hell it seems.
Update: I'm reminded of that one meme from the Joker film, but instead of 'All I have are negative thoughts', it's 'All I have are Craft Essences'.
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"A... Kabedon?" Arcueid's eyes were deeply engrossed in one of the 'Japanese comics' as Scientia had called it. At first, it was strange to read from right to left, considering almost every book the True Ancestor has read up till this point was from left to right.
Still, the blonde got used to it soon enough. The 'Japanese comic' she was reading was a rom-com one apparently loosely based on a legend about the moon from Rimuru's old world. She was just reaching the part where one of the characters suggested slamming their hands against a door and staring deep into their target's eyes, before professing 'go out with me'.
Arcueid hummed to herself as she thought of a way to do it. Rimuru is currently in Ingrassia so he's unavailable for advice...
"Guess I'll just have to do it myself then!" Arcueid confidently stated, more to reassure herself than anything.
As it turns out, getting Scientia to actually be in the right position for a Kabedon is harder than one can imagine. It certainly surprised Arcueid but in hindsight, it should've been obvious considering how often the Perfect Homunculus spends in space. In fact, Scientia spends so long in space that whenever Arcueid thinks of the universe, the first thing that comes to mind IS Scientia.
Back to the drawing board, literally.
Arcueid's eyes narrowed at the whiteboard in front of her, various drawings and step-by-step plans all written down on it.
"Perhaps I should go to Ingrassia to get some advice from Rimuru? I mean it was his comics that introduced me to Kabedon and it's pretty close, only a few thousand kilometers westward. If I start at sunrise I can probably reach there by noon if I took the Hyperloop..."
Pumping her fist into the air, Arcueid confidently reassured herself again, "yes, let's do this! Operation Kabedon Advice is a go!"
The next day, Arcueid physically bought a ticket with this weird plastic card she found inside a safe at the massive Hyperloop Hub-Alpha within Metropolis.
The Vacuum Tube Maglev Hypersonic Multi-Purpose Transport, or simply the 'Hyperloop' or 'Vactrain' for the more academically inclined, is the number one way to move across the enormous Jura Tempest Republic. Measured at some 20 million kilometers squared, the amount of land that the Republic owns is just shy of the USSR at its peak, thus proper transportation infrastructure is a must when dealing with the need to connect such a vast nation that's filled with wilderness.
These Hyperloops crisscross the entire nation, linking up everywhere and serving as the 'artery' of the entire Jura Tempest Republic, transporting people and goods from east to west in half a day's time before being disseminated further using highways, roads, and maglevs.
While such a system of transportation may seem complex to an outsider, electronic aid and other helpful maps and guides that dot the entire Hub helps immensely in sorting everything out.
Arcueid's mouth was agape at the sheer size of the Alpha Hub. While in her old world, she's seen how large airports are during her hunt for Roa, the Alpha Hub makes even the largest airport look like a human next to a giant.
"It's so big!" The True Ancestor cannot help but exclaim while spinning around like a child in an amusement park, her face showing nothing but cheerful delight as she looked up at the beautiful net-like patterns that make up the wave-like ceiling, pockets of sunlight shining through.
It sorta reminded her of that one airport in East Asia, in the capital of that nation that sometimes fractures while other times unified.
After entering through the main entrance, Arcueid was greeted by check-in and luggage drop-off. Since the True Ancestor doesn't have any luggage except for the clothes on her back, she was able thankfully to mostly skip this section, as otherwise, the number of people currently in line would've caused her to miss her Hyperloop.
Next, after having her ticket marked, she boarded one of many smaller trains that took her to the actual Hyperloop area, which by train it took 30 minutes.
There must be a hundred Hyperloops here! Arcueid thought excitedly once she exited the train. The Alpha Hub is the primary convergence point where all Hyperloops meet since Metropolis is the nation's beating heart.
Physically, the Hyperloops look like massive white featureless pipes each varying in size to signify the differences in their cargo, with the larger ones being further out since they're carrying goods instead of people. In order to maintain the near absolute vacuum within the Hyperloop, the pipe is made out of a rubber-like 'living' material that takes in carbon and magicule from the atmosphere to self-heal.
Within the Hub, the pipes are laid out next to each other in a fashion similar to a train station, with travel between each platform facilitated by bridges or underpasses.
Arcueid looks down at her ticket that read '3-04', meaning that it's the third Hyperloop or two platforms over.
Walking over to the platform, Arcueid could not help but continuously gap in awe at the feat of engineering that is the Alpha Hub. Everything felt so artificial, yet being in the Citadel for so long has caused the spirit to acclimate to such advanced technology.
The clock hit 8, and right on time, the display on top of one of the entrances of the Hyperloop showed the actual transport stopping.
*Hiss*
Seconds later, the door on the opposite side to where Arcueid's standing opened, letting out passengers.
Ten minutes later, the other side closed and the entrance on Arcueid's side opened.
Clean, sleek, and lacking sharp edges, are the simplest words one can use to describe the inside of the Hyperloop.
The width of the Hyperloop pod is about the same as two SUVs laid side to side with no space in between them, with the length being longer than some of the shorter skyscrapers in Metropolis.
The Hyperloop was divided into three classes in terms of price: Economic, Business, and First-class. Arcueid personally thinks Scientia probably based this off of the airplanes in her old world as she moved forward in the train.
"...09, 07, 05, 03, 04! Ha! Got it!"
The First-class seat is rather spacious. There's a personal slid-in divider that allows the occupant privacy while the seat itself could be flattened and turned into a bed. In front of the seat at arm's length is a rather primitive touchscreen.
It was like having a small room all to oneself.
The vampire's face frowned as she realized there were zero holograms or holographic interfaces anywhere in the train or the Alpha Hub.
"...A bit of an inconvenience but nothing too serious," Arcueid remarked as she got comfortable. The divider helped to isolate most outside sound, but since she's a True Ancestor, Arcueid could still hear people struggling to get their luggage up on the rails.
It took about 20 minutes, but the door finally closed, and the touchscreen in front of Arcueid lit up with an informational video about the Hyperloop.
In a way, a Hyperloop is a lot like an airplane except much safer and faster. With a top speed of 6,000 kilometers an hour, the Hyperloop accelerates at a comfortable 1 G of acceleration, taking around three minutes to get to top speed.
Feeling a small tug on her body as the Hyperloop finally began to move, Arcueid leaned back on her seat while bringing the touchscreen closer.
Being familiar with the far more advanced Datapad, it took a while for the True Ancestor to get familiar with the touchscreen tablet, what with it being made out of an entirely different operating system.
Another slight yanking of her body indicated the Hyperloop had finally achieved top speed. Since it's traveling using magnetic levitation and within a vacuum tube, the Hyperloop was extremely quiet. So quiet that Aruceid could only hear the distant sounds of people on the train with her super hearing. There wasn't any vibration nor anything one would associate with being in a moving car, so it was almost impossible to tell if she was in a moving vehicle.
Putting on the given earphones, Arcueid steadily closed her eyes and fell asleep.
It took an hour and one mid-stop at the Blumund-Tempest Border for the Hyperloop to reach its final station deep within the small Kingdom of Blumund.
"Final Station: Royal Capital of Blumund, Rondo." The speaker loudly announced, jolting Arcueid out of her sleep.
Another minor yank of her body served as the harbinger for the coming destination, with the Hyperloop pod slowing down at 1 G of deceleration.
Unlike on an airplane, seat belts aren't needed because of how smoothly the Hyperloop speeds up or slows down, allowing for a near-seamless transition.
Getting up and stretching her limbs, Arcueid ensured she still have her ticket before opening the divider to find the Pod somewhat devoid of people.
The Hyperloop made it so one could live in Metropolis while still being able to commute to work in Blumund every morning, and since today is a work day the only ones who would come to Blumund are those who worked at the Tempest Embassy or a corporate executive.
Getting off the Hyperloop, "gah!" Arcueid immediately faceplanted into the much warmer temperatures of Rondo like a person accidentally tripping over and falling face-first into the muddy ground under a thunderstorm.
In retrospect, it should've been obvious that Rondo is warmer than Metropolis considering its latitude but it still surprised the blonde vampire, much to her embarrassment.
Recovering rather quickly, Arcueid was rather disappointed with how small the Rondo Hyperloop Hub is. Instead of the enormous behemoth that is the Alpha Hub, the Rondo Hub is like a tiny shrimp in comparison, with it operating only three Hyperloop lines and two of which are for goods only.
In contrast to the Alpha Hub, there's no secondary train to the check-in area, meaning that Princess of the True Ancestors could easily just walk out.
The True Ancestor stopped at the steps leading up to the Hub, right at the entrance to fully take in the city.
The Hub itself resides upon a gated hill overlooking much of the city, Hyperloops come in and out of the castle walls like pipes in a factory.
Since luxuries like plumbing, clean drinking water, and a proper sewage system isn't really a thing in the capital of Blumund, any corporations that wish to do business in the country must first invest in their own infrastructure lest the people they sent over die of diseases. This has resulted in the stark contrast that exists between the urbanized corporate region and the much less developed and very primitive Rondo itself.
The urbanized region is protected by a gated premise and is noticeably significantly cleaner and looks much more like Metropolis.
It's like a little slice of Metropolis smacks dab in the middle of 1200s Paris, a closed-off garden of the future within the wild rainforest of the past.
About a dozen hobgoblins dressed in fine suits were walking out of the entrance behind her, most were talking on their phones.
"—Yes I'm here in Rondo—"
"Ugh, I swear, why does corporate want to expand in such a shit hole—"
"—These nobodies, I swear Trantor has a much larger market—"
"—don't have proper wifi here!"
"You're the lady that Director Scientia trusts!"
What?
Arcueid whipped her head towards the source of that voice, finding it belonged to another child goblin. Behind the child is an adult female goblin, presumably his mother.
A moment later, Arcueid realized that everyone else has stopped and are now staring at her.
The vampire quickly recalled this one chapter from a spy novel she's read that reflects the current situation perfectly.
Like water, Arcueid Brunestud fills the mold.
A friendly, approachable smile appeared on Arcueid's face.
With slow and calming steps, Arcueid jaunted towards the child, "Why yes I am. My name is Arcueid Brunestud, may I ask what's yours?"
Kneeling in front of him, "My name is Kob." The child then excitedly said "I saw a video of Director Scientia slapping you at a casino online! It was awesome!"
"..." Arcueid's smile became strained, like a rope that was about to snap.
Calling back on how rash and escalating actions made Scientia punish her with a painful slap in that casino, Arcueid quickly rein in her budding feelings of annoyance and draped her head.
Empathy is a foreign concept to the strongest True Ancestor. As a weapon, she had no need for such things, but as she developed as a person, empathy slowly integrated with her mindset.
"Well, I guess I can't blame you." Arcueid empathized with the child, "I was even more of an unknown than Scientia, huh?"
The child furiously nodded before the mother stepped in with a sheepish look on her face, "I'm terribly sorry Miss Brunestud, my child is young so he doesn't know anything. Please forgive him for being insensitive."
Laughing it off, the True Ancestor waved the family goodbye before leaping out of the bounds of Rondo in a single jump.
Feeling her hair flutter in the wind as she quickly rises above the clouds, Arcueid felt a serene sense of peace as the world quickly turned into indecipherable noise and colors.
As she reached the tip of the leap and started to fall, the vampire could not help but prefer this type of travel, since it's like taking the scenic route— a casual stroll through a park instead of the faster driving.
The physical body is like a chassis— a discardable thing. In her old world, whenever Arcueid needed to travel long distances, she would literally just delete the body and recreated it at her desired location.
It may be fast, but it completely erases the fun of the journey.
*Booooom*
The earth erupted as Arcueid landed, a tall plume of dirt veiled her form.
"Huh, when did I start getting so sentimental?" Such thoughts surprised even the owner herself. "Hrmmm, maybe I read too many books."
A moment later, Arcueid leaped once more, the sudden increase of several thousand Gs worth of acceleration is a mere afterthought in the back of the True Ancestor's mind.
The vast wilderness came into view as the White Princess reached such a height that she could almost see the distant city-state of Siltrosso if it weren't for the clouds.
This continued dozens upon dozens of times as Arcueid crossed the vast distance between Blumund and Lura, the capital of Ingrassia.
The sun was almost at its zenith when the vampire finally caught a glimpse of the white royal castle and the huge moat which surrounds the city.
Controlling the air and gravity around her using [Marble Phantasm], Arcueid fell much slower. Whereas before she could be seen as a meteor, the True Ancestor now fell more like a single snowflake.
Gently and without any commotion, Arcueid drifted down to the floor of the forest just outside of Lura.
Taking in a deep breath, Arcueid felt connected to the forest on a spiritual level. She could feel the various critters and animals skitter about in the whole place, it was as if she herself is the forest itself.
"I really need to get out more often." Her old world felt so distant despite it being less than half a year since she was kidnapped— well rescued is more accurate.
She's grown so much, it's almost frightening.
For example, she no longer has any reservations about blood, seeing it in the same reference frame a human would with salt water: interesting taste, but grows old fast.
A nostalgic smile appeared on Arcueid's face, "I wonder what would Grandfather think of me now? Would he still recognize me as his granddaughter now that I'm something entirely different? Could I even count as a vampire if I don't even have the desire to drink blood?"
Despite smashing dozens upon dozens of times onto the ground, Arcueid's clothing was still just as pristine as before with not a single bit of dirt on them.
It took her another 15 minutes of casual walking to reach the city gate before the True Ancestor realized she had no ID.
Thankfully there was a long line up so it gave Arcueid plenty of time to come up with a solution.
Jumping in would catch too much attention, so sneaking her way into the city is the way.
Getting out of the line and going back into the forest deep enough that Lura can no longer be seen, Arcueid carefully used her [Marble Phantasm] to control the probabilistic fluctuations inherent within every one of her atoms, forcing them to become a wave function before collapsing inside the walls of Lura.
To the outside world, it would simply appear as if Arcueid suddenly disappeared with no fanfare at all, simply 'poof' out of existence before suddenly appearing in an alley.
Flawless, undetectable, black swan event teleportation.
Arcueid's [Marble Phantasm] has grown even more powerful than in her old world.
"Now if I remember clearly, Scientia said that Rimuru was visiting Ingrassia for diplomatic talks," Arcueid said as she stepped out of the alleyway to the sight of Amsterdam in the 1600s, with horse-drawn carriages, tulips, and people dressed in period-appropriate clothes to boot.
"What...?"
Wait, this isn't Amsterdam, just that Lura bears a strange resemblance to the capital of the Netherlands.
Arcueid continued to stare at the main road feeling an extreme sense of deja vu. The only thing that would take one out of this illusion of being in Amsterdam during its golden age was the massive white castle that overtook the city skyline like a lesser arcology and the different languages spoken by the people.
The vampire's mind then dragged her to a specific memory of Scientia noting how a lot of the Western World's culture was inspired by Medieval and Renaissance Europe, with a bit of early Enlightenment Thinking.
There hadn't been any more important cultural advancements over the past 300 years.
It was as if this world is a time capsule, forever stuck culturally in a mishmash of these eras and can only evolve through innovation brought on by Otherworlders.
The Perfect Homunculus then hypothesized the rise of the Luminous Faith after the Sealing of Veldora coincided with right before the start of the Industrial Revolution had caused this stagnation. How by placing the summoning of Otherworlders as a Cardinal Sin, the Faith had inadvertently stopped the only thing this world had as 'keys' to cultural development.
Any Otherworlders that are summoned are either too small to really make a difference or the difference is too small, like the Otherworlder that came into contact with Rubedo's ancestors, passing on the Japanese tradition of Samurai Honor to a single village of Ogres.
Arcueid walked towards the castle with some people stopping and staring at the beautiful woman in white.
Many of the characters in novels the True Ancestor has read find being stared at uncomfortable. The vampire couldn't really relate to such a notion, how is being admired from afar uncomfortable?
It took half an hour of walking before Arcueid finally reached the outer walls of the massive snow-white castle. The gate was guarded by a contingent of men in enchanted metal armor.
Focusing on her senses, Arcueid felt Rimuru's presence inside the castle.
"Yes! He's in there!" Skipping over to the gate, her every other step practically a small jump, Arcueid was halted by the guards.
"Hey, there beauty! Sorry, but you gotta show us your identification papers before we'd let you in."
Arcueid stopped. Her attention turned to the guards, her serious demeanor had caused the guard who approached her to stop in his movement.
Her eyes turned golden and all of the guards stopped whatever they were doing like a video that's been paused, all of them falling into a trance at the sight of Arcueid's [Eyes of Enchantment], an Intrinsic Skill of being a True Ancestor.
"I don't need any identification papers. You will forget about me after I leave."
Even if memories of her old world felt like a distant dream, the White Princess' training as a weapon still persists ever more like a constant itch, causing her to activate her eyes whenever humans come to bother her instinctively.
"Alright, you may pass." The nearest guard gestured her through.
Wordlessly, Arcueid continued on, using [Eyes of Enchantment] to continue unabated through the castle until she was right in front of the door to Rimuru's room.
Never once did it occur to Arcueid that perhaps showing up inside a highly guarded castle may be a bad idea.
Rimuru's room was at the end of a stretch of hallway, with the door facing the rotating staircase.
Knocking on the door, an odd sense of giddiness bloomed inside her body as Arcueid waited patiently for the door to open.
Knocking on the door again, Arcueid frowned at the apparent indignation.
Using [Marble Phantasm] once more, the vampire ensured the magical lock of the door temporarily failed.
*Click*
Opening the door, Arcueid was greeted with the sight of a rather lavish room with a King-size bed and a balcony large enough for a fancy table and three chairs. The Princess had no doubt if Scientia was here she would say it was perfect for an important foreign guest.
But no Rimuru.
"Hmm..." Arcueid's eyes suddenly widened in realization as it finally hits her: Rimuru isn't here because he was probably meeting up with an Ingrassian official!
"That means he's probably in another part of the castle." She then placed her right hand on her chin while crossing her stomach with her other arm, expressing deep thought, "should I wait here or should I find Rimuru?"
On one hand, if she waits, Arcueid's sure Rimuru would come to her, saving the vampire much stress but it'll take longer. On the other hand, if she goes around, it would be a hassle enchanting every single human she encounters...
"Well, Scientia almost always works overtime and she just slept yesterday..."
A cheerful smile appeared on Arcueid's face as she snapped her right hand.
In a chipper tone, "Even if it's boring, it's worth it! A kabedon, there's no way Scientia could possibly expect such a move, and when her guard is down, that's when I'll strike!"
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Later at night, after dinner.
Rimuru tiredly got up the stairs to the hallway where his room is at, Shizue following closely behind without a sound as her Combat Chassis allows her to gently float in the air.
"Oye," Rimuru uttered a tired phrase he never thought he'd ever say before finally reaching the stretch of the hallway where his room is, "man, negotiating with people who actually know what they're doing is hard!"
"You did good work, Mister President." Shizue tried comforting the one to whom she was assigned, "I don't think I've ever met someone with that intense of a gaze. The Economic Minister of Ingrassia is no joke, I recall he graduated at the top of his class at the University of Galut in Ulgrasia."
"University of Galut huh? That's like... this world's version of Harvard?"
Shizue paused for a brief second to contemplate Rimuru's words before nodding, "that is a good analogy. Ulgrasia's law of essentially banishing people who are unable to acquire a spirit ensured that every citizen within the country could use magic. In order to properly cultivate this work pool, Ulgrasia is the only nation prior to Tempest to have mandatory primary and secondary schooling for all citizens. They also have the largest university campus prior to the completion of the Omniversity in Metropolis."
"I see." Rimuru frowned after reaching the hallway where his room is, "tell me Shizue, what do you think of their practice of banishing anyone unable to acquire a spirit by the age of 20? It kinda violates one of the rights within the Charter, specifically that of 'innocent before proven guilty' part."
The justice system has always been rather contentious in Rimuru's eyes. In Japan, it's not innocent before guilty, it's just guilty. Rimuru's old home has a 99.8% conviction rate, meaning that even if you're innocent, you're better off saving the fees for lawyers and just accepting a plea bargain.
This was one of the main things on Rimuru's mind as he created the Ministry of Justice. How do you make the perfect justice system? Is it better to go full Psycho-Pass and ask Scientia to create a system of monitoring and algorithm to predict crime? Or perhaps continue with innocent before proven guilty?
Is crime based on nature or nurture? The eternal debate that existed since ancient times has led to some seriously horrific results like eugenics.
"...I do not have a good impression of spirits, so I could not give an unbiased answer," Shizue replied hesitantly, "What I do know is that Ulgrasia is known for its safe streets and trusting people. With murders or thievery being practically unheard of in the native population, and any crime that does happen came from foreigners staying in the country, something that every Ulgrasian is proud of."
Shizue then continued, "While it's true that any Ulgrasians that are banished do turn to a life of crime, basic common sense dictates that being poor causes one to turn to desperate measures to survive. This begets the question of how much of this statistic was due to being cut off from any support network?"
Rimuru hummed and thought of the current system in Tempest, comparing it to Ulgrasia's.
The current system in Tempest revolves around active and passive criminal preventive measures.
Active measures involve the almost omnipresent public surveillance network and security drones in the form of the Overwatch Security System.
Passive measures describe the bright sidewalks and alleyways and psychological-based preventive measures like impeccably clean streets, free mandatory education, and chair-size Roomba-like cleaner robots that roam the street at night after charging for a full day, and other more subtle changes that cause people to become less likely to commit crimes.
Essentially, passive measures are meant to reduce the likelihood of people choosing to commit a crime while active measures are for reducing the effect of crimes.
Of course, crimes still happen, it's just almost always white-collar crimes.
"I see." It makes sense why Shizue doesn't trust spirits considering her past, yet not even she could deny the effectiveness of Ulgrasia's system.
As the two talked, Rimuru finally reached his own room.
Placing his hand on the handle, Rimuru threw the door open with a mighty push—
"Ow!"
In a flurry of moves, Shizue grabbed Rimuru's shoulder and flung him back down the hallway before getting in front of his fallen form in a defensive stance, ready to either flight or fight.
This all happened in less than a second.
The stance was dropped when Arcueid walked out from the door, rubbing her nose as though to ease the pain.
Arcueid pouted immensely, her voice distorted, "that hurt! Why did you have the slam the door open!?"
For a while, both Shizue and the humanoid slime were speechless as they just stared at Arcueid pointing an accusatory finger at both of them as though they were in the wrong.
Once Arcueid's words finally sunk in, Rimuru felt an extraordinary sense of indignation, "you're the one who's just hiding there! If anyone should be angry it should be me!"
"Nuh?" Arcueid gained a sheepish look and timid posture, "uh..."
An awkward smile formed on the blonde vampire's face as she scratched her cheek meekly.
'Are those cat ears on her head?' Both Rimuru and Shizue wondered before blinking and realizing that there were no cat ears at all.
"Huh, I... guess you're right."
"Of course I'm right!" Rimuru then got up, before suddenly becoming alarmed. Looking around and seeing no one's heard of the commotion, the slime pushed Shizue and Arcueid inside before closing the door.
Leaning on the door, the President let out a sigh before gritting his teeth and quietly screaming at the unexpected guest, "Arcueid what are you doing here?! Does Scientia know you're here?!? More importantly, did anyone see you?"
The potential diplomatic fallout of a Tempest citizen sneaking into the most protected area within all of Ingrassia—
"No, anyone who did come in I just hypnotized with my [Eyes of Enchantment]. I'm here to ask you for tips on how to do a kabedon. And no, Scientia does not know I'm here. You know how she is, always out there in space." Arcueid waved Rimuru off.
Neither of them could deny that Scientia does spend an exorbitant amount of time in space. So much so that the whole place is like her own domain, and the Perfect Homunculus did promise to take the slime up there after he returned from Ingrassia.
Rimuru sighed—
Hold on a second.
The rest of what Arcueid had said was finally registered.
"Kabedon?"
"Umu" Arcueid nodded enthusiastically, "how would you go about doing a Kabedon?"
Rimuru had a sneaking suspicion of where this is going, "so who's the target?"
Wingman time, Rimuru affirmed inside his head.
"Umm, it's— it's just this— this guy I met at the library. He looked cute." Arcueid played around with her hair as she talked.
"Ah. Wait what?"
Blinking several times, Rimuru discerned that it IS plausible that Arcueid could've met someone else other than the one he thinks she was referring to.
"So what does he look like?"
"Oh uh, he has white hair."
"Mmhmm."
"A perfectionist that uh, always makes sure the library is orderly."
"Mmhmm."
"And uh... uh... uh..."
"Are you talking about Scientia?"
In the novels she's read, whenever confronted about matters of suspected love prospects, it's always: deny, deny, and deny!
"No. It's someone else."
"Uh-huh."
Rimuru narrowed his eyes at Arcueid's flustered state.
"No! It is someone else!"
"Suuuuuure. Anyway, here's how you do a Kabedon." Rimuru then turned to Shizue. A port then opened up on the servant's forehead, projecting a holographic whiteboard.
Arcueid grumbled a little bit before letting go.
Using a single finger, Rimuru wrote out Scientia's name on the holographic whiteboard, "the first thing you need to know is the difference in culture."
In his past life, Rimuru saw many of his foreign coworkers, especially from the West, struggle to adapt to Japanese work life.
"I personally don't think Scientia would mind having her personal space invaded by you so a Kabedon is no longer out of the question." Rimuru then created a vertical line to represent a sideway look at a wall. "In order for a Kabedon to be successful, you would first need to lure the target into the appropriate position, for example, a wall inside the Citadel is perfect for such an occasion as I don't think Scientia's the type to want the attention a public Kabedon is going to get."
Arcueid nodded along to Rimuru's words, her lips pursed and her eyes displaying curiosity like a cat examining a cardboard box.
"I see, but what if Scientia is rarely in a viable situation?"
"Ah, then you'd need to bait her. Research a good place for a hangout and check whether or not it's a viable candidate. Next, just ask her to eat lunch or dinner and do it either before or after."
Arcueid slowly nodded, "I see."
Then the vampire started inching toward the balcony, "a lunch huh? And luring her in? That could work."
Arcueid stopped at the balcony, leaning on the rail guard, and looked to be admiring Lura at night.
The capital city of Lura was a sea of lights and activities, with simple darkness beyond the outermost city wall. Arcueid could almost hear the people moving about, carts being pushed, and the sound of joyous people as they dine on cuisines.
All the while Arcueid was admiring the city, her form was lit by rays of ghostly moonlight, giving her an ethereal presence.
Rimuru had to do a double-take, as he could've almost sworn he saw Scientia where Arcueid had stood.
The slime let out a tiring sigh again and started rubbing the bridge of his nose while closing his eyes, the stress of being a leader is really getting to him.
To be honest, Rimuru only wanted to be a leader because of all the luxuries they had access to. In his old life, he would salivate at the food at state dinners or the things those Saudi princes bought.
Being a leader is hard work!
Opening them once more, Rimuru found the balcony to be empty.
"Huh?"
Running over to the balcony, Rimuru looked around it to find the place completely devoid of life.
He was about to panic before Shizue tapped his shoulder and pointed up.
(AN: Play: - It's Already Far Away - Tsukihime Remake OST. Continue until the scene ends)
Following her fingers, Rimuru found Arcueid steadily rising up in the air as though gravity had no effect on her.
She was like a white flower, slowly rising upward, lifted by the wind and completely unaffected by the natural pull of the planet.
The white flower then twirled, its petals spinning around and basking in the light of the moon.
The world fell away, and all one could focus on was that white flower.
Rimuru became speechless at the beautiful sight, captivated and mesmerized by the flying white flower like the opposite polarity of a magnet.
It was a transient beauty, one never to be repeated exactly as the way it was, akin to the temporary flare of a firework as they go off.
An ephemeral dream that would soon be forgotten after the dreamer wakes up with streaks of tears on their face while unable to understand why.
The flower continued to ascend until it became encased by the boundary that separates the alabaster moon and the darkness of the starry night sky. The white flower continued to twirl around, shifting and turning with an indescribable elegance.
An otherworldly beauty, detached from the laws of the world.
That is the power of a spirit of nature, more than mere probability manipulation.
Folding her legs inward, Arcueid stopped rising before kicking the gaseous air as though it was a solid and launching herself out of the city at hypersonic speeds, the subsequent sonic boom and heating up of air due to compression was nullified by her [Marble Phantasm] to ensure the most she would be is a white meteor streaking across the sky before quickly disappearing.
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Early morning.
Arcueid let out a deep breath as she popped into her room at the Citadel.
Looking around, she noticed how different it looked now. It was filled with a mixture of stuff from different eras and genres of fiction since anything she wanted, the automated house AI would provide.
If one painted her room, it could easily be mistaken as a representation of books itself as she has a sci-fi-looking lamp while her bookshelf looked like it came straight out of vampire fiction.
"Hehe~" Arcueid chuckled at her own joke.
If she ever does go back to her old world, the Princess of the True Ancestor is for sure going to change the dreary Millennium Castle Brunestud and outfit it with the proper furniture.
It had been three times that the True Ancestor had changed her room. It was ridiculously easy considering if she wanted a piece of new furniture, she could just design it herself or type in words and have an algorithm create the furniture for her. It typically takes two hours to get individual furniture delivered and it takes another 30 minutes to completely redecorate the room.
Opening the door to her room, Arcueid found an odd sight: Scientia sitting by the dinner table, reading a piece of paper while sipping out of a teacup, lifeless automated Shizue Chassises standing behind their creator and attending to her every whim.
"Scientia?" Arcueid called out as she came down the stairs that connect the guest rooms and the rest of the living section.
Scientia did not return her greeting. Instead, the Perfect Homunculus got up from her chair and walked over to Arcueid at a brisk pace.
As the albino neared, Arcueid wondered if it would be her that does the kabedon—
*Slam*
"Eep!"
Scientia slammed her hand to the wall right next to Arcueid's head, surprising her immensely.
Is this happening?
Scientia draped her head.
Is this finally happening?!
In one motion, the Perfect Homunculus raised her head and her free arm, currently carrying the piece of paper.
Scientia's eyes were closed and her mouth formed into a sickeningly sweet smile, like the one you know is fake.
Oh, it's finally happening—
"What is this?"
"Huh?"
Arcueid took a better look at the piece of paper: 'Notice of Charge for Hyperloop Transit'.
"Arcueid, what do you have to say for yourself? I get 7,000 dollars is a pitiful amount but come on, really? You just couldn't have at least told me you want to be on the Hyperloop. I'm hurt, honestly..."
Arcueid wanted to scream in confusion at the sudden turn of events.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein