Bab 3: Chapter 3: Help?
"You wish to assist me?" The silver-haired girl questioned as if the very notion was absurd. They were away from the dark alley and now on the wide streets of the city.
"Sure," Accelerator stated with a lackluster tone. He merely wanted to test his theory on whether this girl might have been a trigger for his time problem.
"But why?" The girl blinked in confusion, seemingly still not comprehending his offer. "You've no reason to, surely."
"I think you should take him up on his offer, Lia," the hovering cat inputted. "He isn't offering help out of genuine care, but he ain't got any ill intentions." He stated with a smile. "And besides, if anything, he would make a nice distraction." The girl looked to be contemplating the situation.
"F-fine," she finally relented. "But I bid you not to slow me down." She followed up with a 'stern' tone, which she horribly failed at, eliciting a grin from her cat companion.
"Great, that's all sorted, come," Accelerator pocketed his hands and moved on past her, eliciting more confusion.
"Where are you going?" She questioned, her cat companion seemed curious though.
"I got an idea of where that brat is," Accelerator started as the two followed him. "I'm sure I've seen her around the slums of this city." He lied; truthfully, it was just a gamble. This silver-haired girl was killed there in the slums near a certain building, meaning in the previous timeline she had ended up there because her investigation led to it. And then she was killed; maybe the thief was responsible for that.
"You could have started with that, you know?" The girl stated, a little annoyed he was withholding this kind of information. She tried to muster up a small glare that did nothing.
"Does it matter? I'm helping, aren't I?" He shot back, continuing his stride.
"I suppose..." She could but murmur lowly; this situation was so odd. This boy was the one to offer his help yet he seemed annoyed at having done so. "But you owe me nothing, seeing as you already gave me all that information earlier."
"Relax, Lia, like I said, the kid doesn't have any ulterior motive," the cat spoke up again, easing his companion. He floated closer to Accelerator, appraising small eyes gazing at him. "Isn't that right, um... hold on, what was your name?" Red eyes stared at the flying creature, a simple introduction. That was so foreign if he really thought about it; back in Academy City, everyone knew his name. It was always easy to deduce it was him.
"Accelerator," he uttered after a while, of course, the two looked at him in confusion.
"Accelerator?" The silver-haired girl repeated, a questioning gaze in her eyes. "That sounds more like an object than a name," she murmured lowly, not lowly enough as she got a dull gaze from Accelerator. She grew red in the face from blurting that out so loud, clearing her throat. "S-sorry, I did not mean that." The cat just chuckled at the reaction.
"Well, I'm Puck, nice to meet you, Accelerator," the spirit greeted with a smile. "But Accelerator is such a weird name, is it actually your real one?"
"It is," Accelerator mumbled. Talking casually was beginning to be a chore. However, it was as foreign as giving simple introductions.
"I see, well, this here is-" Puck started, gesturing to the silver-haired girl, but he was quickly interrupted by said girl.
"Satella," she blurted out the name. Accelerator took note of her prying eyes that seemed to lock onto his face as if looking for some change in expression. But to her confusion, there was none; a frown still tugged at his lips, and his brilliant red eyes remained dull and listless. Accelerator did, however, take note of how Puck looked at Satella with confusion. Now Accelerator's expertise remained mostly with mathematics, biology, and memorizing, among a few other things when it came down to what he specialized in.
But even he could deduce the name she gave was not her real one; she was obviously trying to gauge something by uttering said name. And given her companion's use of a nickname that had no connection to said name as well as Puck's confusion, Accelerator could deduce as much. But currently, he did not care; if 'Satella' wanted to remain secretive, then good on her. All he wanted to know was if she was the trigger for him being sent back in time. Her death might've triggered it, though scummy as he was, he was not about to kill some innocent girl for the sake of an experiment. Accelerator snorted out loudly.
("How ironic.")
"Something amusing?" He heard Satella ask, her eyes somewhat narrowed. But it seemed impossible for her to make herself look the least bit intimidating. Accelerator shrugged.
"It's nothing; let's stop with the chit-chat and move on." And the talking had momentarily stopped; Satella would not even know what to say anymore. Accelerator was far too standoffish and a tad rude; Puck was just happy to float around and enjoy the atmosphere of the city. But he did not remain silent; it seems there was something bugging the spirit.
"Say, you don't seem to mind that Li-Satella is half-elf," he blurted out. Satella's head snapped to Puck with a small glare.
"Puck!"
"What? Aren't you curious as well? There's no animosity from him at all," Puck argued. Satella heaved a sigh as the two turned to Accelerator, studying his expression. The only change in expression was a raised right brow that quickly lowered.
"I don't really care," he mumbled out, not realizing the depth of his words. Satella stopped walking. Puck looked at him strangely but with a hint of approval. Satella looked blatantly and utterly confused; she was looking at him as if he were some kind of odd creature.
"You... don't care?" She questioned. Accelerator halted his own steps in the bustling streets as he turned to her.
"Am I supposed to?" He shot back, an undertone of annoyance present. "I don't really care if you're half-dog, half-cat, or half-demon. I just wanna get this over with; I'm sure you want to too." His words might have seemed reassuring from an outside perspective. He was saying he did not care what Satella was; he would hold no prejudice against her. But in actuality, Accelerator did not really care; he was not trying to establish any kind of relationship with this girl. She was just a means to an end.
"Oooh~" Puck threw him a wink and somehow gave a thumbs up; how, you ask? Who knows? "I approve of this one, Lia! He's pretty genuine with those thoughts too."
"I-I see." Still, for whatever reason taken aback, Satella cleared her throat. "T-then let us be on our way." She uttered out. Accelerator just nodded his head as he walked on once more.
"So why'd you want to help my Lia anyway?" Puck posed the question Satella had wondered herself about.
"Does it matter? I assume you're an empath or something; at the very least, you should be able to gauge my intentions, no?" That much was easy to deduce; this cat could not read his mind. However, it could tell how he felt to a degree.
"Oh, you're quite smart for figuring that out," Puck murmured with an impressed look. "But still, it isn't every day someone just helps my Lia like this." Accelerator glanced at Puck; the small creature's eyes were unreadable. Even if he himself looked happy, he was masking something.
"Just assume I'm doing this outta the goodness of my heart, or somethin'. I don't really care." If Puck had a brow, it would have probably been raised by now. He remained silent for a while, studying Accelerator's expression intently. A few silent seconds passed as they merely walked on, but then it was promptly broken.
"Aha! I've got it; you're smitten with my Lia's beauty, aren't you!" He stated so sure of himself. Satella looked at him; her cheeks were as red as Accelerator's eyes.
"Puck!"
"What? It's clearly true," Puck stated with small folded arms and a nod of his head.
"You're one stupid cat," Accelerator dryly stated with an even dryer stare.
"Hey, I'm no cat! I'm a great spirit!" He denied with a huff and a pout. "Well, you're a rude one, but oh well. Lia, I'm gonna retire for now."
"Retire?" Accelerator could not help but blurt out.
"That's right; staying manifested like this takes a ton of mana, so Lia, make sure to summon me if you're in real trouble, okay?" Puck spoke like a worried father; it was uncanny given his boyish voice.
"Of course, get some rest, Puck." Satella's words evoked a nod from the spirit; Accelerator watched as his form grew all the more dim and see-through until he vanished into seemingly nothingness.
("Magic and Mana, huh?") Accelerator frowned at those foreign words, but the only reason they did not sound completely unfamiliar was that, like most teenage boys, Accelerator had to busy himself somehow. When not participating in any experiment, most of his time was spent reading or trying video games, specifically RPGs, for that freedom of choice; either way, it would be stupid to apply knowledge he got from some game to this new reality. ("Either way, magic is the effect, and mana is no doubt the fuel from what I can surmise; fundamentally, it's different from my esper ability that uses my personal reality.") A deep frown tugged at his lips.
The title of the 'strongest,' that was already brought into question when he lost to that level 0. But now in this foreign world, where did he stand? Could he even be considered strong? Accelerator did not know what he would do were that the case. His rank meant little to him, but he had reveled in his strength. But now...
"You know..." The esper was snapped out of his thoughts as he heard the soothing voice of Satella. Accelerator turned to her. "I've still no clue why you would help me, but Puck is a good judge of character." She smiled; to anyone else, it would have been like staring at the brilliant and ethereal face of an angel whose beauty held no bounds. "With him leaving me in your care, I can safely say you are a good person, at the very least." She said, and she sounded so sure of herself. It was almost adorable; Accelerator had to resist the urge to look at her as if she were an idiot.
("What a naïve idiot.") Accelerator resisted the urge to snort. ("You're nothing but a means to an end; if you're not the trigger for this time reset bullshit, then you're useless.") Yes, the esper was no hero who would go out of his way to help others. At the end of the day, this was all for his benefit.
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"What a dump," Accelerator commented as his eyes scanned the familiar place. Rows of run-down houses barely standing, streets littered with trash, and the people looking much the same. The slums; you were likely to find a place like this in any large city. There are no 'slums' in Academy City, though there were some abandoned areas there, though that was the extent of it. That did not mean Academy City was all that great; it was a shithole.
Satella looked around the area in contemplation; there was pity in her eyes. Maybe for the injustice some people had to face, or all the inequality. Either way, Accelerator did not care enough to pose a question.
"Come on," he ordered as he walked further on, the residents' eyes tracked their every move. They must have looked like easy enough targets, a slouching boy with no muscle on his bone and a dainty girl.
"Hold on; this place is rather large. How are we supposed to find the thief?" Satella questioned as her eyes scanned all around her. "Should we not ask someone here?"
"Don't bother; look at these rats. They're more likely to rob us than give us any answers," Accelerator stated, gesturing to the hawk-like gazes from the people. "Besides, we're heading to that place." Accelerator gestured with his chin to a large building in the distance beyond a wooden bridge.
"Why there?" Satella asked with a confused tilt of the head; it would have been an adorable sight to some random idiot.
"That brat's there," he answered; she should be there at the very least.
"How do you know that?"
"I've been here before, saw that shrimp at that building a couple of times," he smoothly lied. "If she's not there, we can just interrogate someone else." She did not like the use of the word 'interrogate,' but she nodded her head all the same.
"Alright, I'll trust your judgment, Accelerator." She seemed to place her confidence in him just like that. He had to resist the urge to look at her like an idiot once more. So they walked on; it did not take much time to cross the creaking wooden bridge. "Say, Accelerator, once we encounter the thief, could you leave everything to me?"
"Wasn't planning to do much after that," the response was no doubt rude, but even so, she smiled.
"Thank you; I fear I have been relying on you too much here," she stated. "And I do apologize for that."
("What is with this brat?") Accelerator thought with a frown as she continued.
"Even if we should not find the thief there, you still have my gratitude; not many would just help me without a guaranteed reward." Her smile stayed, seemingly growing more mesmerizing.
"Tch, save the useless words," he just waved her off as he approached the large run-down house. Satella did not seem to take his words to heart as she followed after him.
("Only a little bit left 'til it's the same time as when this time crap started; with this, I'll see if keeping this chick alive will change anything.") Yes, that's right. ("At the end of the day, all of this is for my benefit.")
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone