Twenty-Four

The place Rose entered looked like a café.

There were white tables of rectangles, squares, and circles, and the floor was limestone. There was a counter and she could see what appeared like maids and butlers walking about to each table. People of all types crowded this place with the commonality that each had at least one weapon strapped to them.

'They're all homunculi.' She glanced around, noticing those 'waitresses' and 'waiters.'

She saw some of the men feeling the buttocks of the female homunculi, and some of the women ogling the bodies of the male homunculi as they too reached out their hands. Both wore purposefully revealing clothing that accentuated their figures, from their curves to their tops. It was disgusting and she was reminded of the car ride that had caused her death. These homunculi likely were not moving of their own free will either.

She was repulsed by the sight. Instinctively, she wanted to turn around and leave the place. Yet, she was also a logical person. She had, after all, finally found a job that suited her. She grumbled, ignored gazes placed on her beauty, the lustful eyes of men and women, and sat down at one of the empty tables.

"What would you like, miss? A plate of food? A drink? Or are you here for official business?"

She looked up to see one of the waitresses already by her side with a light smile. There were other voices in the area that repeated the same exact words in the same exact tones. It all felt very eerie to her but no one else seemed to notice such a sight.

Rose looked her over. It was a blonde homunculus with blue eyes, large assets, and her uniform only reached to her bare thigh just below her hips. She wondered, if the girl were to turn around, would her skirt even cover her butt?

The homunculus had definitely been dulled down through orders, she thought. Rose listened to her core, it was extremely faint—a mage had certainly set up a passable quality Core Barrier within her—but the girl seemed inhuman. Just like the ones that took the ogling and the touches around her, her expressions were minute and limited, and perpetually stuck at a light smile. It was a life without a single ounce of freedom.

The difference between an N.Series and an S.Series was monumental. An S.Series could be ordered to the very bone of their personality and, although their emotions couldn't be vanquished, they could be repressed to the extremes, they could become glorified Robots just as Maria had been. An S.Series did not come packaged with a core as great as her own, they were only as strong as their original body parameters, and an S.Series had no freedom whatsoever—they could not operate, under normal conditions, without an order.

'I wonder what type of order Mare's 'father' gave her. . .' That girl, at-least, seemed more alive than this. If she had to put her mind to it, the only thing that made sense was that her father had given her pages and pages of specific orders that governed her functionality, to such a degree that it might as well have been coding.

Rose did not want to linger here longer than she needed to. After carefully formulating her words, she sliced straight to the point. "I would like to apply as a Beast Hunter."

She had to be careful about the way she spoke. If she tried to make a request in the form of an order within the earshot of humans and the previous orders of the homunculus didn't allow it the freedom to answer on her own, that was it. So she didn't formulate an order to the girl, she merely stated what she wanted to do in the vein of what she assumed her job entailed, which passed through swimmingly.

"Alright, miss, tap the orb at the center of the table and link your pad to it." The homunculus pointed.

She did as she was told. A screen popped up in front of her, like a menu, and she selected the 'Business' option. Her pad blinked and a new program appeared, requesting for access, she obliged and it downloaded itself.

"There should be a registry."

It popped up when it was done, looking much like a forum board and she soon navigated to a tab that allowed her to register.

'Name: Rose

Geared: Yes — Type: Offensive

Spirit: No answer.

Fighter: Yes — Type: Close-Range — Weapon Type: Gear — Specification: Sword

Is this your first time? Yes.'

When she confirmed her information, she was brought back to the homepage and looking through the program.

She looked up at the homunculus that had stood by her side, unmoving, and spoke "I would like to know what types of jobs are available."

"Certainly." The homunculus bowed at her question then stood up, breasts not well hidden, and narrated what felt like a script.

"We have various jobs, from defensive to offensive, from mobile to stationary, some pay well, others not so well. Some jobs may take days of tracking and completion, others may take only hours. It really depends on the requests that come in, Miss."

Rose nodded and glanced back at the program. "And I would like to know how to take and submit a request."

Essentially, all she had to do was tap on one of the posts to read its description and accept it. As well, there was also a search and filter option that could spring up a certain type of mission, if she wanted to.

"You may return here when the request is complete to turn it in," The homunculus spoke, "If you take a request that requires you transport some materials from the beasts, we will provide a suitable container for you to keep them in, simply come to this establishment to receive said container."

Rose nodded. "I'll be taking this one then."

[Request Type: Hunt and Recovery

Description: A container (three gallon's worth) full of the blood of a Sandworm is required.

Reward: 1,500 Lixels]

"Very well." The waitress bowed. "I will retrieve a container for you then, miss, would you be needing anything else?"

Rose decided against that. The faster she left this environment, the better she would feel. Although she could ignore the states thrown her way and the lewd world around her, she didn't particularly find it charming.

"Good to see you again." She returned to the sword instructor to see his smiling face. "Ready for another lesson?" He asked.

His weapon was already drawn from a previous session and he seemed to have anticipated her training. She obliged and summoned her own.

"I am." She nodded.

"Very well, let's begin."

He came back, blade already crossing the air by the time his voice fell. She fell back and blocked it, face scrunching at his own.

His weapon dropped, her eyes tracked it before a kick reached her stomach—knocking the air out of her and sending her core ringing—then he slashed forward.

Her weapon's sheath blocked the advance of his blade and she countered.

"Oh?" He smiled, dodging. "Good."

An hour flew by and she now had 3.5K lixels left.