Ch.14

Ramírez sat in his chair anxious. He was worried about what Aura would say after talking with Emi's teacher and the other students. The fight was completely one-sided. But it was how Emi acted that was worrisome for Ramírez.

Aura came into the room, Ramírez looked up at her waiting for answers.

"Well?" He asked, Aura didn't speak right away. She took another hit from her pipe, grabbed a bottle of liquor, and poured herself and Ramírez a glass.

"Thanks for the drink but not what I wanted. What's Emi's situation?"

Aura took a sip of her glass and another hit of her pipe. Ramírez would have smashed his drink if he didn't fear being set ablaze like a lump of coal.

"Nothing. She'll just stay here and study. It was just an accident nothing further."

"Are you messing with me!" Ramírez couldn't hold it in anymore. He drank the entire glass in one gulp and then slammed it on the table. "Woman I swear if you're screwing around and messing with me for fun…."

Aura intensely stared at him, "You'll do what exactly?" The smoke in her pipe grew more, and the atmosphere in the room was getting warmer and warmer. Aura did not take kindly to idle threats, even if it was from people under her employment.

Ramírez wanted to reach for his guns, but he was smart enough to know that hot metal and flesh were a bad idea

"I apologize if you don't get the meaning behind my words but there's a reason. How well do you really know Emi?"

"Excuse me?"

"How well do you know your friend really?"

Ramírez didn't answer right away. It's true he knew her since they were kids, but he wasn't around for her the whole time after he joined the Adventurers' Guild.

"We were friends since childhood. Before the Strayer attack, I lived in a crappy home. My dad was a failed adventurer who visited the tavern more than the Guild. My mom was practically useless as a mother. She cared more about affairs than feeding me. Emi was the first to be kind to me, her mom was the nicest person I met and her dad taught me basic combat. When they died I was devastated, but it wasn't easy for her."

Aura poured into Ramírez glass again, he took another sip but a smaller one instead of an angry gulp as he did earlier.

"When we got to the orphanage she was quiet the entire time. She never spoke a word, barely ate, and any time someone touched her she freaked out badly. I couldn't help her. Best as I tried I felt like I failed her. Then it happened. When an adventurer came to pick kids for trainees she had a Makaizer with her. I thought Emi would freak out again or attack it, instead, it somehow broke her out of her trance. She became fascinated with it so much she got her hands on every book about them and Golems till she started practicing on everyday stuff."

Ramírez finished off his glass, asking Aura for another hit. Aura complied, she was on her fifth glass, and her drinking was more solid than Ramírez who was close to being buzzed off the third glass.

"What happened next?"

"I got picked up a few months later to be a trainee at the Silver Cross Guild, Emi stayed at the orphanage. A year later I heard she was employed by the owner of a repair shop for Golems and Mimics." Mimics; artificial limbs that were based on the ideas of how Makaizer limbs worked powered by small steam converters from the Vulcan Country.

"I would visit when I could and offer her the few coins I gained when I was still training. We never really got to talk like we used to but I thought could make her happy. I wanted to save her."

"You can't save everyone. I learned that the hard way. Some people have to learn to save themselves first or they'll never be able to endure real agony when it comes."

Ramírez didn't want to agree but he understood. Helping Emi too much would be the same as holding her hand constantly like a helpless child.

"You're seriously not going to punish her for what happened?"

"No, Emi was just defending herself. Mishna took it too far. I'll have her healed and punished for her actions later. But one thing concerns me."

Ramírez knew where this was going.

"I know Makaizers can level up their masters when they bond. But this goes beyond that. I had a doctor look at her and her magic readings were off the scale. More so her physical health is not only better than before but signs of muscle growth, her immune system, and all of her body are more enhanced. And that gun, there's no record of it in the archives. Either it's an original or a legendary item like your guns and hasn't been recorded yet. Either way, I'm intrigued by how she got so strong in a short period."

"Her leveling up doesn't worry me like you. It's that Makaizer that does. I've never felt one with an atmosphere like that. It felt ghastly and suffocating. And that weapon it made, I know Genesis cards can affect Makaizers but that felt like it was specifically made to kill. I want to investigate it and where it came from."

"Agreed. You can look into it as long as it doesn't interfere with your work on the Artist. I'll watch over her but if she does something else I should be concerned with then I'll have no choice but to report her, is that clear?"

"Yeah, crystal clear."