I Cry Over Beef Ribs

"This seems luxurious."

I muttered, staring at the mouthwatering meal in front of me. The cuisine of this world of the future is different but at the same time similar to my world.

There is a whole variety of stuff nowadays in addition to the dishes I grew up with in my past life.

Meat dishes, soups, puddings, and many delicacies of my time remain, although they are not as heavily seasoned as in the old days.

Felix took me to a small restaurant he said had the 'best food' he had ever eaten. It was in one side corridor, away from the busy central plaza.

The plaza is not the only place with shops. The more extensive corridors of Necropolis also have a variety of stores and cuisine spots, mainly small establishments that have found business opportunities in the Shield.

There were a lot of dishes I couldn't recognize on the menu, which is strangely significant for such a small restaurant.

In the end, I chose stewed beef ribs with a salad. It was the only thing that I recognized.

"You sure about this?", I asked Felix sitting opposite me.

He smiled, "It's my treat. Congratulations on surviving your first battle. Dig in."

I began to eat my meal. It was not even a popular dish but to my tongue that was used to salty soup and stale bread, it was the food of the gods. Tears welled up in my eyes with each bite.

Felix noticed my expression, "I presume the food provided in the Dawn Palace was not the best?"

I nodded and told him about the rude servants who made the old Mordred's life hard.

He whistled, "Those kinds of servants are the worst. Add in the lack of communication between the main palace and the Dawn Palace, it is a miracle that you're still alive."

"So. What happened to those guys when you came here?", he leaned forward.

I swallowed a huge mouthful, "Well. My elder sister discovered what was happening and had the Phantom Knights take them away."

Felix chuckled, "You have a good sister. I heard that the Crown Princess is a cold person. Looks like she has a soft spot for her family."

I chuckled, "She does, but not for me."

"What?"

I looked at him, "You are aware of her ideal, right?"

Felix nodded, "Acknowledge the strong, push the weak to become stronger, and ignore the weakest.", he recited and realization dawned on his face, "Oh."

I smiled bitterly, "Yeah. I never existed in her eyes."

"But she got rid of the servants harassing you."

"She probably did that to make herself feel better, to console herself knowing that she did something for me before I departed toward my death.", I replied as I stabbed at a piece of beef.

Felix shrugged, "I don't know man. Sisters are weird. Sometimes it's hard to figure out what they think, especially ones like the Crown Princess."

I looked at him, "You have sisters?"

He gave a sad smile, "I had. They're dead."

Perhaps I shouldn't have asked. Oops.

"I'm sorry.", I developed an immediate fascination for the carrot on my plate.

Felix leaned back against his chair, "It's fine. It's been a long time. I've moved on."

There was an awkward silence with only the clink of my cutlery when a familiar noise shattered it.

It was the daemon alarm.

I quickly looked at my bracelet with dread, expecting to see the light that blinked me into the battlefield and a world of pain.

Why now? I'm having a meal!

I don't even have a weapon except for the fork in my hand. Panic started to creep into me.

I'm not ready yet!

The faceless daemons would have a hearty laugh seeing me with a bloody fork!

There wasn't any light from the bracelet but it did little to calm me down.

Even when the noise died down, I stared at my bracelet. My meal swirled in my stomach as I calmed myself down.

I heard a muffled noise and looked up to see Felix trying hard to not laugh.

"Really?", I frowned.

"Sorry man. Your expression was priceless! I should've taken a picture."

He calmed down and smiled, "Don't worry Mordred. You won't be sent to the battlefield anytime now."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Minerva selects the Deathwalkers for each battle against the daemons. She searches for the more battle-ready Deathwalkers and sends them to the battlefield.", Felix explained.

"How does she know which Deathwalker is battle-ready?", I asked, putting down my fork and knife after the last piece of beef disappeared into my mouth.

"Minerva monitors every single Deathwalker in the Shield. Their physical and mental state, what they are doing at the moment, whether they are at Althea. She monitors every single thing.", Felix began to explain.

"She takes in those factors and selects the most suitable and free Deathwalkers for the day and teleports them to the battlefield."

He grimaced, "Unfortunately, she doesn't check if any of the selected Deathwalkers have a weapon on them. That has led to some unfortunate deaths."

"So it is an unwritten rule among us to carry our weapons at all times.", he said as he held a fork and grinned.

"And yes, some Deathwalkers have been sent to the battlefield with a fork."

I frowned, "What is it with that stuff with weapons? Can't she just factor in that and not send those without weapons?"

"What will happen if every Deathwalker doesn't take their weapons knowing that Minerva will not choose them for not having a weapon?", Felix asked back.

"Then no one will be there to fight the daemons.", I quickly answered and then realized, "Oh."

He nodded, "Exactly."

I thought about it. There seems to be a loophole in this method of choosing Deathwalkers.

"You said Minerva selects Deathwalkers who are free at the moment of the invasion. What would happen if no one was free at that moment? Deathwalkers can use that loophole.", I said.

Felix smiled, "Ah. That's a good question. You're right. That is a loophole and many Deathwalkers tried to exploit it. Many of them made sure to be busy when the alarm came."

His smile turned scary, "But they underestimated Minerva. She randomly selected the Deathwalkers who were fit enough for battle regardless and sent them to the battlefield."

"I heard there was a guy who was summoned while he was with one of the hookers.", Felix recalled with a laugh. He then wagged a finger at me.

"So yeah. Please don't try to outsmart Minerva. She can get pretty upset and boy, she is one sadistic AI."

One of the things he said caught my attention and I blinked in disbelief, "I'm sorry? Did you say hooker? Like a prostitute?"

A sly smile formed on his face, "Oh yes. For Deathwalkers with a lifespan of mere days, dying without getting laid can be quite difficult. So Necropolis has a red light area on the fifty-second floor."

I stared at him, "Seriously?"

Felix shrugged, "Hey, even Deathwalkers are human with desires. Plus, put thousands of young adults in an enclosed structure and things are bound to get randy."

Wow. I can't believe there is an area for that in Necropolis. But this is a city and some cities have these places. Why am I getting surprised?

Suppose you are wondering why I am pretty interested in this. Well, I was quite the playboy in my past life and slept with many women.

Wow. Now that I am thirteen years old, I can't help but feel very disturbed thinking about my 'adventures'.

Felix saw my expression and shook his head, "Oh no. You are not allowd to even be a floor below the red light area."

"Is there a specific age limit?"

He nodded, "Yeah. And you are way below it."

"Tch.", I was disappointed.

"Hey, I saw that.", Felix raised an eyebrow, "I'm older than your sister and the commander put me in charge of supervising you. I'm kinda like a temporary older brother now."

I rolled my eyes, "Ugh. Fine."

I folded my arms and stared at him, "And what about you? Are you a regular of the fifty-second floor?"

Felix shuddered, "Incarni forbid. Jasper would kill me."

I tilted my head in confusion, "Jasper?"

He smiled, "My fiancee."

I blinked, "Fiancee? You're engaged?"

He nodded with a smug smile, "Yep! We'll get married soon after my term in the Shield is finished."

"How long is your term?"

He thought about it, "Four years."

"You have two more years left."

He nodded, "Yep. If things go well and I don't die, I'll be marrying Jasper the day I get out of this place."

"Oh! And you are invited!", he pointed at me. I just frowned, "But we barely know each other."

He waved dismissively, "Don't worry about that. I have a feeling that we'll be best friends by the time I leave."

Felix took out his smartphone and showed me a picture. It was of a beautiful young woman of Morgan's age with fiery red hair.

Her bright green eyes glittered with mischief and a warm smile adorned her beautiful face.

"She's beautiful.", I said and looked at him, "I thought communication with the outside world was not possible."

"Only most news is kind of restricted. All of our communications are restricted and monitored by Minerva so that certain important secrets are not leaked out by a dumb Deathwalker.", Felix replied.

"She even checks our digital footprint.", he huffed, "Honestly, she has no idea about the word privacy."

Felix then sighed, "Well. I guess it's for the best, as much as I hate to admit it."

He looked at my empty plate and smiled, "How was your meal?"

"Divine.", I replied as I wiped my mouth.

We got up and Felix paid for the meal.

"What's next?", I asked. "Time to get you a weapon.", he replied and I followed him out of the restaurant.

Just as we turned to another corridor I saw something that stopped me in my tracks. Approaching us from the opposite side was a Deathwalker and trotting right beside her was a wolf.

It was unlike anything I had ever seen. It was bigger than a normal wolf and made completely of metal.

Bluish silver metal plates shifted with the slightest movement of the body, and gears, pistons, and springs peeked out from between the gaps in the metal. Its tail is made of multiple segments and has a spear point at the tip.

Razor-sharp claws clinked against the floor as the mechanical wolf walked beside the tall and athletic Deathwalker.

Its glowing blue eyes studied the two of us as it got closer to us and seemed to recognize Felix. But when its eyes fell on me, the mechanical wolf emitted a low rumble and the sound of rapidly turning gears from its mouth. It was growling at me.

I took a step backward, my eyes focused on the sharp serrated teeth lining the mechanical mouth of the wolf.

"Easy boy.", the Deathwalker gently stroked the wolf's head. Its ears drooped and a different softer sound emanated from its mouth.

The fierce angry glow of its eyes subsided and it wagged its rather fatal metal tail.

The Deathwalker looked at us. She had onyx-colored eyes and shoulder-length ash-colored hair tied back in a ponytail.

She did not have her jacket on and was wearing a sleeveless turtleneck, exposing her arm and the many scars that stood out vividly on her tanned skin.

"Showing the newbie around, Felix?", she inquired.

Felix smiled, "Yep. I see you are taking Argus for a walk, Juliet. Must've been a hassle to get permission."

The Deathwalker named Juliet shrugged, "It was quite easy. Argus had to undergo maintenance. We're just returning from the workshop and decided to take a small stroll."

"Ah. I understand. By the way.", Felix had a look of sympathy on his face, "I heard about Zach. He was a good friend and a formidable Deathwalker. My condolences."

Juliet bit her lip and sighed, "We know what we signed up for. Zach was the best and he knew the risks."

She looked at Felix with a sad smile, "Thank you, Felix."

There was silence until Juliet herself broke it.

"So. You are the newbie everyone was whispering about.", she said, looking at me.

I tilted my head, "I'm sorry. Do you know me?"

Juliet rubbed her mechanical wolf under the jaw. Its entire body shuddered and a soft whir that sounded like a whimper came out of it.

The Deathwalker nodded.

"Why yes. You are the talk of Necropolis, Mordred Pendragon."