ATAPOW Chapter 135
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Chapter 135: A new day
“Gurgle…” Before Ji Bai could ask further, the liquified meat walls gradually solidified while formations, as numerous as the stars, began to glitter.
“…Transportation Magic?” Gordon knitted his brows slightly.
A blinding white light flashed by. Ji Bai could clearly sense [magic] burrowing its way out of the meat walls as if it was planning to tear and burst up the entire space.
“BOOM!…” An oppressive and loud sound exploded in his mind.
[Radiant]’s protection was limited when it came to mental sorcery attacks.
He developed a splitting headache as if the inside of his head was being stuffed full of something.
Ji Bai rubbed his helmet and shook his head before his mind was covered with a sea of emptiness.
…………
“Hey, are you okay? Wake up.” A cold voice roused his ears.
Ji Bai tried to feel his forehead. Before his hands could reach the location described in his memories, they came into contact with the cold and hard surface of his [Radiant] helmet.
“Mhm.” Ji Bai sat upright and looked around.
Bright light passed through treetops, illuminating the area below. One could faintly hear melodious bird chirps through the silence.
“…Where is this place?” Ji Bai shook his head.
“Pardon the blunt words of this lowly self, but has the honorable knight’s brain been damaged by the flood of magic? Can you really not tell where this place is?” Gordon shot a glance at a shabby chapel nearby.
“…The orphanage?” Ji Bai tilted his helmet to the side.
“The fluctuations from the incantations have altered the space we’re in… While the principles are somewhat different from teleportation incantations, the end result is more or less the same.” Muttered Gordon.
“Our luck is really great.”
“I’m afraid it’s not luck…”
“Is that so?” Ji Bai undid his [Radiant armor] before picking up the iron helmet and fang-shaped longsword lying by his side.
“Can we continue the subject from before?”
“Give me a reason to tell you.”
“Perhaps our objectives are the same.” Ji Bai paused for a moment, before putting on his iron helmet once more.
Gordon gave Ji Bai a short, meaningful gaze.
“I don’t care about the rest. The Ancestral God Cult and demons are the only targets I’m responsible for.” After saying which, Gordon took out a palm-sized rune stone from his pockets.
“This is a recording of the traitor’s crimes. I’ve inscribed his personal admissions of what he committed onto this rock, and was thinking it may be of use…”
“Give it to me.”
“Hmm.” Gordon sized Ji Bai up with a bizarre gaze.
“Passing it onto a person dead in the eyes of society who possesses an empty title with no real power? What could you do? Can you even bring it to good use?”
“I can pass it to the higher-ups of the Chivalry Order who hold the real power. How about it?”
“Mhm. That may be the case. As a knight king, you definitely have more connections than I do… But before that, can you tell this lowly self why you’ve faked your death and disappeared for so long?” Gordon narrowed his eyes.
“Does sire suspect I have selfish motives and would use the runestone for other purposes after receiving it?”
Gordon gave a profound smile, but neither refuted his words nor responded at all.
“The reasons pertain to my personal privacy, so forgive my inability to reveal them. However, if you really can’t trust me, then keep that runestone. Without material evidence, I’ll still be able to sift out and exterminate the vermin bringing harm to Border Town all the same.” After saying that, Ji Bai stood up and walked towards the excavated tunnel entrance that he had entered earlier.
“Are you still gonna head in there again?”
“I’m going to smoke them out.”
“Catch.”
Ji Bai caught the runestone that was flying towards him.
“Don’t disappoint me, Mr. Last True Knight.” Gordon stood up and shot a glance at Ji Bai. As there were things that required his attention, he didn’t linger much longer.
After shooting a glance at the rune stone in his hand and putting it inside his pocket, Ji Bai entered the tunnel once more.
“Mhm??”
He was slightly stunned. To his surprise, he found that the stone path was clear of any obstruction, while the meat tissues that had stuck and enveloped the walls and floor were nowhere to be seen.
At the end laid an enclosed space with stone walls on all sides.
…………
Within the magical dimension of the Moon Knights.
“Lalala~” Carrying a small basket filled with a set of dresses, Ke’er softly hummed a children’s song and hopped out of the apartment’s entrance.
‘Gotta keep up my spirits for the day ahead!~’
Beast-kin ladies had a very strong resistance towards the cold and didn’t need to wrap themselves up into a woolen ball, even during midwinter. Putting on a few regular clothes was enough for them to maintain their warmth the entire day.
‘The first step after leaving your house is to give yourself a pep talk~’
Under the warm winter sunlight, Ke’er comfortably stretched her body.
“Grandpa Sun is up early today as well. Nyaa~” Ke’er straightened out her ahoge and shook her ears.
‘It’s quite late~ Mr. Ji Bai is going to come back in a moment. I still have to prepare a meal for him. Let’s try to be quick and finish today’s tasks~’
Lifting the basket, Ke’er hummed a lively tune as she made her way towards her destination.
Apart from the accommodation and teaching areas, the remaining space within the moon knights’ magical dimension was enough to fit in three entire schools.
Leaving aside the main education district and the center tower, it was a complete small city with all necessary facilities. Even Ji Bai hadn’t thoroughly explored nor understood this neutral place that was beyond the jurisdiction of outside powers.
After a while, Ke’er stopped in front of an anime-themed coffee shop. The surface on its glass door was adorned with all types of stickers, as well as a sign that read ‘Unblemished heaven’.
A pink counter decorated in an extremely girly fashion, adorable plush toys set up on the table alongside all sorts of adorable anime girl wallpapers; It was truly the go-to place for a number of gentlemen with special fetishes.
“First day, I’m going to give my best~!” Ke’er pumped herself up, took in a deep breath, and pushed the shop’s door open.
“Ring, ring, ring…” Chimed the little cat-eared bell hanging on the shop door.
“Welcome back, beloved master~ …Oh? Aren’t you the cat-eared little sister from yesterday?” A black-haired girl clad in a maid dress froze slightly.
“Mhm… Hello, sister Blue. Nyaa~ Can I trouble you to inform Miss. Store Manager that Ke’er is looking for her?”
“Sure. Of course, you can~” The young maid mischievously stuck her tongue out. Looking at the shaking cat-ears of Ke’er, she felt the urge to reach out and touch them.
Not being able to put those thoughts into action made her sigh.
“Alright, little sister Ke’er. Please wait a moment.” Blue gave a mischievous but adorable smile as she quickened her pace and ran upstairs.
“Hey, hey~ Little Sister Ke’er. The store manager knows and told me to bring you in.” Said Blue a moment later with a grin after running down the stairs like a fluttering butterfly. She then grabbed Ke’er’s hand as if they were close friends.
“U-Eeeh…O-Okay. Uhm, Miss Blue, can you slow down a little?”
“Oh, my bad…” Blue slowed down her pace.
“There, the store manager is waiting for you inside. Head in~ I’m heading back to work first~” Blue led Ke’er to a room with a “Do not disturb” notice on the door, before leaving with her hands clasped behind her back.
“…M-Mhm. Give it your best, Ke’er! You can do it! This is all to lighten Mr. Ji Bai’s burden…” Ke’er deeply inhaled a mouthful of air before pushing the door open.
“M-Miss Store Manager! In accordance with yesterday’s agreement, I have arrived~!”
Inside a warm-colored, anime-styled room, a young girl wearing revealing pajamas was indolently sitting on a sofa with her legs propped up.
Fair skin, pale yellowish-grey long hair that hung all the way down to the floor, as well as an undeveloped young girl’s body, gave people the impression of a sickly princess.
“…Mhm.” Her dark-green eyes shifted to Ke’er in an instant.
One could see the lazy, sickly-looking expression in her eyes from before instantly bursting with life.