Arc 1 Epilogue

Tenth floor.

A cafe near the testing area.

The five Regulars at one of the tables.

"So where is this jerk? He's the one who made the appointment after all," the brown-haired girl said irritably, picking at her plate with the salad. In her opinion, this whole thing about finding new crewmembers was a load of crap, considering that up to this point they'd managed just fine with four... five. Though the Guide who was with them never took part in the tests, sometimes Su Ami was quite good at giving helpful advices. On the other hand, they're wasting their time in this shabby little cafe also because of the Guide.

"Come on, Androssi, delays can happen and not that much time passed," Rachel laughed softly, trying to reassure the Princess. But to be fair, she too wanted to meet the new team member quickly, after all their team had already spent almost two weeks on this floor. There was the test on the floor, which required a member from each position, which wasn't really a problem: just find any Spear Bearer, but... that was where Androssi's reputation came into play.

In the short time their group had been climbing the Tower, the Princess had earned quite a bit of popularity among the Regulars, after all she was a Zahard, and not just beautiful, but she also was the strongest E-rank Fisherman. It was all funny at first, especially when the "cheerleaders" showed up at some stations. Androssi clearly enjoyed the attention. However, after a while it became annoying and it seemed that problems with stalkers and other possessive personalities were solved rather quickly (and often with violence), but when you had to do it on a regular basis it began to get tiresome. The tenth floor was the worst in this regard, after all it is the floor where Regulars linger most often. Today, though, the group has been lucky so far.

"If he doesn't show up in next..." Androssi started to say, but just at that moment a guy with light blue hair and the exact same color eyes walked into the cafe. The pale, handsome face had a relaxed, half-smile on it.

"I'm sorry I'm late, I suddenly had some urgent business to attend to," the guest said with a touch of guilt, taking the last empty seat at the table.

"Is everything all right, Mister...?" Rachel only now realized that Miss Ami had never mentioned the name of their potentially new team member.

"Khun. Khun Aguero Agnis, but just call me Khun," the guest folded his fingers into a lock, while staring at the blonde.

"Little snake," Androssi said with a predatory smile. There was no trace of her boredom and irritation anymore. But Rachel ignored Princess' comment at starts introducing her team:

"My name is Rachel and I am Lightbearer. Androssi Zahard is a Fisherman. Hizu is our scout," He simply nodded, then closed his eyes again. "Anayuma, our little Wave Controller," Rachel pointed to Hizu again, and only half a second later Khun noticed the squirrel sitting on scout's shoulder. Anayuma murmured a greeting and continued to eating a piece of bread. "And you've already met our guide: Miss Su Ami."

"Quite an interesting team," Khun actually already knew who was who, after all he had had time to carefully study the information available about each member before the meeting and Rachel understood that, they were both Lightbearers. "Unfortunately Novick and Michael couldn't make it to the floor today and so I can't introduce them in person, but first one is Spear Bearer and second a doctor and Wave Controller.

"That's what I said the first time I met them as well," Ami giggled.

"I assume you don't mind combining our teams?" Rachel asked, just to be sure.

"On the condition that I am the captain." A little sharply said Khun, checking the reaction of the others sitting there.

"Khun after all," Androssi was not surprised by the statement. After all, Khun family were famous for their ability to manipulate and control anyone and everyone, including their own family members.

"If you will able to, ha ha. I was kind of a captain, but someone. I will not be specific stubbornly ignored it which result in total chaos every time" Rachel lowered her head and exhaled. Indeed, in most tests, the Princess ignored her command and did as she pleased, which was far more exhausting than the tests themselves and the daily drills. She might have resented such a condition before, but now Rachel didn't mind it at all. "I have no objection."

"I've already heard about Miss Androssi's temper, ha-ha. I've had some experience with Princess, though," Aguero said sadly. "So I don't think that will be a problem."

"Hey, don't you think it's not polite to discuss a girl in her own presence," Androssi angered her angrily, and Kun only raised his hands conciliatorily. "Especially in that tone, if you're going to talk about me, you should always start with compliments and praise and..."

From there, a casual conversation ensued that had nothing to do with the business of the team and was simply aimed at getting to know each other a little better. Toward evening, when the Chosen Ones were on their way to the hotel, Kun approached Rachel and asked an unexpected question:

"Miss Rachel, you know Baam, don't you?" The blonde paused for a moment and looked at Aguero.

"Y-yes, but how did you...?

"I met him on the second floor. He told me a lot about you," Khun glimpsed Androssi and Ami eavesdropping though they tried to pretend they weren't interested in the conversation. Amateurs.

"Oh..." Rachel looked down sadly. "I'd like to hear more, but not right now, okay?"

"Of course, it's all rather personal after all." Khun nodded.

"Yeah... "Rachel inhaled. "I'll come to you when I'm ready to talk.

"Sure."

"Thank you, Khun," she smiled softly at Aguero.

"No problem," Khun smiled back, but as soon as she looked away, the smile disappeared from Aguero's face and his eyes were full of determination.

Shibisu tried to talk Khun out of his quickly made-up plan. In the end, it all sounded like sticking his head in the lion's mouth, but Shibisu clearly didn't count on how personally Agero took what happened on the second floor, because it wasn't just the his pride that was hurt after all. Khun involuntarily clutched the dark red ribbon in his pocket.