'We are finally at the most important phase of this plan,' I thought, looking back at everything that happened since we came back from beyond the portal. 'Even though we can say that we are lucky, it's also because of my personal growth. To think that I would change that much just because I understood certain things. Imagination sure can be extremely useful, but it can be also a source of a lot of problems.'
Nevertheless, I needed to use my imagination again to make sure that the ship could bring us to where we wanted to go.
Unfortunately, I was not a specialist when it came to the technology of this world, and my imagination alone couldn't be taken as facts when it came to things like that.
'In other words, I need to gather more knowledge, and it seems like we were lucky to have Zax around at times like this.'
As ridiculous as it sounded, the fact that Zax was among our group was certainly the biggest proof that what was happening wasn't just a coincidence.
'I want to slap my past self in the face, thinking back about how cringe-worthy some of my thoughts were back then. I was too confident in my abilities, thinking that her presence wouldn't slow me down.'
Remembering my past actions made me sure of one thing, 'I should never believe that I am already the best version of myself, because most of the time, I am at my worst.'
Nonetheless, I could say for sure that my thought process reached a new level, and even though I didn't even think about analyzing something, I ended up scrutinizing the little details and came up with various theories.
Despite that, I always got the feeling that it was still not enough, considering that the person who planned all of the course of events that occurred during the last few weeks managed to make everything work for the sake of his goal. At least, that was what I concluded, and I couldn't stop thinking about it.
'I can't help but laugh when I think about the things that I was asked to do… Save a girl? This was supposed to be a serious matter, and the only lead I got was to save a girl. Probably the villainess type with a certain motive that will incidentally lead to the destruction of the world, bla, bla… It was of course sarcasm.
Just the idea that one person can save the multiverse by preventing another person from destroying it was ridiculous. Is the universe supposed to be some kind of lego puzzle or what?
To put it simply, this is what I was told, 'You will be able to make your dream come true by doing what I am asking you to do. Well, you don't have the right to refuse anyway, because you already got a second life for free. '
And I was supposed to say, 'Okay, the villainess shall be mine.'
What bullshit… Considering everything that happened, it will be millions of times harder than trying to become the protagonist of a dating sim game. The sarcasm though… The sarcasm… Knowing that I was the right guy for it. Really, how dumb was I a few weeks ago?'
As I was thinking about all of these things, Zax began to observe me with curious eyes. Well, it seemed like I was lost in my thoughts again, but it was time to deal with another issue.
"Zax, let's talk a little a bit. You are the most knowledgeable when it comes to this stuff after all," I said.
"Okay, but knowledgable about what?" Zax said.
"Look at this," I said, showing Zax an image of the ship that I took with Cristal's lens, "what can you say about it?"
"Ah! This is a model known as GrandClasse. These are made in the empire, but they are quite rare," Zax said. "I never thought that I would see one at a time like this."
"Is it that rare? Well, I don't know how it ended up here," I said, feeling like there were a lot of things that I was still ignorant about, "but I we need to make it fly, can you operate it?"
"I am familiar with a lot of ships but not this one," Zax said; "however, I should be able to do it. The only problem is that it's too huge so there are a lot of things that need to be taken into account before it can fly…"
Zax looked like she was already thinking about how to tackle this challenge, and I didn't dislike that attitude of her.
"From what I could see, the ship is in a good state overall, but as you said, the only issue is related to its size," I said. "It will be a little bit difficult to take off unnoticed with this."
From the look of it, I needed to use the twenty meters large black cube again and get rid of the monster in the way. I could easily catch up with the ship with the black cape, as long as it didn't leave the planet's atmosphere and used hyperspeed.
'Well, I can't be certain if my cape can't really do that… This thing is amazing after all.' The black was a cheat item, and it seemed like it wasn't even used at its full potential. 'Strange isn't it? I somehow obtain this kind of item when I needed it the most, hahaha…Yet another lucky coincidence.'
I needed to stop there, it was messing with my sense of reality. I couldn't let such a thing influence me too much, even if I needed to be aware of it.
"Cough!" Well, that was that, and I needed to get serious and forget about this presumed observer, at least until I managed to get the girls out of here and made sure that my parents were really alive.
"Are you not feeling well?" Zax asked.
"Hmm? No, there was just something stuck in my throat," I said. "Anyway, the first thing we need to make sure of is that we find a way to get the ship out of there."
"I understand, you have already said that. So, there must be some kind of mechanism that needs to be activated to open a path for the ship to take off, right?" Zax, and as I expected, she quickly grasped the situation.
"Yes, that's the best outcome that we can hope for," I said.
"And if that doesn't work?" This time, it was Lou who asks the question. She looked like she was trying to think about something.
"As I said, we need to make a hole in the ceiling, but it will take time and effort," I explained.
"That sounds more problematic," Liu said. "Are you sure that there are no other ships, for example, somewhere inside the weird buildings in the middle of the city?"
"What are trying to imply?" I asked.
"Well…" Liu looked like she was about to say something. "No, it's nothing."
"If you have any idea, don't hesitate to tell us about it," I said after seeing Liu's weird behavior. "Just so you know, my decisions aren't always perfect."
"…" Liu didn't say anything, and just looked away. "I am sure that you have already taken us into account when you thought about this plan, right?"
"What do you mean? I am always making sure that everything that we do will assure our survival," I said, feeling a little bit like Liu was not her usual self. The things that she just heard seemed to have affected her, but I didn't understand why she had this reaction. I sounded like she was a little bit impatient.
"This is not a competition, Liu. You should discard that kind attitude at times like this," Blanca said.
I didn't expect Blanca to say anything at all, but from the look of it, she was observing us. Moreover, I wasn't sure what she was talking about, but it seemed like she was right, looking at Liu's reaction.
'Liu was competing with me?' I thought to myself. 'Well, when I think about it that way it makes sense… But there was no way I could let her act on her own though. It was not a matter of trust or anything else, I just care about her.'
"I…" Liu looked like she wanted to say something back, but knowing that Blanca was right, she stayed silent and accepted that she was wrong.
Still, I could see that she was quite frustrated and she had a lot on her mind.
"How can you be so calm and manage to make everything work at times like this?" Liu finally asked the question that she kept to herself, and I was a little bit surprised.
'She must be feeling a lot of pressure for her to ask questions like that,' I thought.
"Well, it seems like I failed to be considerate of your feelings. I tried to be calm to avoid something like this," I said. "What can I say? You seemed like you already have so much on your mind, so I thought that at least you shouldn't feel too much pressured by the situation."
"I see… Sorry…" Liu said, and I felt like her mood didn't improve.
Blanca glared at me, and I felt like she was telling me that I didn't make things better.
"Cough! Well… You know, I care about you, and I know that you are not weak, I already know about how powerful you are, but I tend to be… How to say it... A bit protective towards the people I care about," I said, and I didn't even know what I was saying, but it sure made me very uncomfortable.
I didn't know why, but talking seriously about my feelings like this was always difficult. Adopting a cool and mysterious attitude was always easy, but facing people and their feelings was always difficult.
"Why… Why do you care about me?" Liu asked, and she didn't even look at me once.
'What is this? Do I need a reason for that? Well, Isn't it already obvious? But there was no way I could tell her about it when a gigantic monster was about to swallow the entire planet….'
However, I still needed to give Liu an answer, and it seemed like this answer was important to resolve this issue, but I didn't know what was the correct answer because there were a lot of possibilities, leading to a lot of different outcomes.
At least, I was sure of one thing. Telling her about my feelings was not a good idea, as I was not completely sure about what kind of mess I was about to throw myself in when I reached the Empire. I didn't want my feelings for her to be used against me every time things went wrong.
'For sure, it will be a bloody mess... And I can't say something that I can't take the responsibility for. This is something as serious as the end of the world for me...'
As such, my reply was...
"I have my reasons, but for now, I prefer not to tell you as it's not the right time," I said, but it was obvious anyway.
"…" Liu didn't say anything after hearing my words, and instead, she began to eat.
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