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Ha ha, alright, relax, I'm joking. I just came in to have a look, and drop off some food on the side.

Here, chow fun. You get to it, then. I'm leaving.

Whew, I'm tired.

I've only been up for a few days, and I'm already starting to buckle. Getting off-kilter.

I'm not getting old, right? Shouldn't be, I'm still young if I think about it hard enough...

Maybe I am?

Ha, whatever...

Hey, partner, what do you think? It's been a while since I gave you some exercise. Let's head out to that racetrack in Ngai Kang and give it a spin, feel the breeze.

Hey, your exhaust sounds a little off today. Don't tell me you're getting old too?

No, of course not, you're definitely still latest model. 70vv.

Though I guess a model even newer than you just came out. Steady and smooth, fast as lightning. Their ads have always been pretty good, haven't they?

I still wanna get my hands on one to try, but they break the bank. It's okay, partner, we'll put up with each other for a bit. My wages aren't that high. Can't always spend like I did on you.

You're far from out of date, and I'm far from retirement. We match pretty well, don't we?

What's your opinion? What makes Ch'en so hard to crack?

Think she can get used to Rhodes Island? Is she gonna get into fights? I'm guessing so. It's not like she can't get along with people, it's just if she's not willing...

Nay.

—Who's there!?

Miss Ch'en is no fossilized bonehead.

Nor blindly headstrong.

Ah, who's there? You're... Lady Shirayuki.

(Nods)

Madame Hoshiguma.

I don't need the title. How come you're here, Lady Shirayuki?

The Madam is away. My orders, to protect thee.

Got it.

Lady Shirayuki, I heard the Madam recently assigned you to Rhodes Island?

How is it? Is little Amiya still holding up? And the Doctor by her side... I remember that one sticking behind cover giving orders. Freakishly smart, freakishly tired. How are they all now?

In plentiful vigor, spirits held high.

Raucous blather.

Loud sort.

Ha ha ha ha, sounds like they're still full of beans.

It seems like you have a pretty nice impression of Rhodes Island, Lady Shirayuki.

Truly, Rhodes Island is agreeable.

As goes for Miss Ch'en.

...Thou needn't dwell.

What, so now even Lady Shirayuki's saying it... You're not telling me I've got worry written across my entire face? Seriously?

That can't be right. If I was like that, Missy would've torn a layer off my face this morning.

It's okay, Lady Shirayuki. I'm not worried about Ch'en, that's the truth.

Truest truth. Don't judge Ch'en by her cover. Sure, she'll snap like whiplash, but she's got a delicate heart in there.

I didn't see it coming when I first met her all the way back. Only came to realize after being with her a lot more. I believe as long as she has a brick wall to bash her head against, she'll live decent no matter where it is.

Intelligent and sharp-witted is Miss Ch'en.

Tongue incisive, and her action ne'er pales.

The commonfolk cannot hope to cheat her.

Ha ha, true that.

Tell me, where do you find someone like her? Piss her off and she'll switch to chewing people out, and as long as there's reason, she'll chew out anyone. I've never seen her scared before.

Miss Ch'en... is unreserved.

Honestly, Ch'en's temper hasn't changed once in all these years.

I've always felt she put a lot of stress on chivalry. In those manga about master swordsmen, her sort would be the main character.

But, you know, blood and gore's fun enough to read about, but having those wounds on your own body really aches something fierce.

There are times I see her aching beyond help, and I think, is it really worth this?

It isn't worth it. In truth, in full honesty, I feel it truly isn't worth it.

But she thinks it is.

I'm not worried if she comes to grief. A little grief is no bad thing. Get too strong-willed and you'll come to a lot worse.

I'm just scared that she can't get over it. That she can't let it go.

Miss Ch'en's soul is wide.

Rid of her chest's weight, she is ever more unstoppable.

You see clearly, Lady Shirayuki. And Master Wei and the Madam see even more plainly.

You too, Madame Hoshiguma, are chivalrous.

Me? Stop it, that's over the top now. I'm clear when it comes to myself.

When I was young, I didn't know how things worked. I dreamed, of course, too.

I've done a lot of impulsive things, and it's not like I've never had some hot blood in me.

But the hot-blooded story's over, the kid's no longer a kid, and now what? They wouldn't write this stuff in a story. Write it and the readers'd get mad. Total waste of effort. Save yourself the trouble of ever writing it.

Stories get to end at the best possible times. Life doesn't.

If chivalry looked like me, carrying the weight of the world, then people wouldn't be into it.

One cannot undervalue oneself.

If you may see this.

This is... a comic?

Tai Kam Road, Second Lane bookstore. This month's new publication.

A present for thee.

Really unexpected.

Much thanks. Though I'm surprised. You read this, Lady Shirayuki?

Madame will know at a gloss.

Then. I, Shirayuki, take my leave.

(This series...)

(A new artist's debut work. Second overall in readers' support, and other artists have been recommending it...)

(It seems pretty decent, too. Is this the protagonist on the cover?)

(Kinda... familiar...)

(This big one holding the shield is...)

Ah, ha. So that's how it is. No wonder.

They've got some guts. But they still know their work. Art's not bad, too.

Whatever. What—ever...

If I ever see Ch'en again, what should I call her?

Operator Ch'en?

Hm...

Pretty good. Pretty fitting, too.

(Still not fast enough.)

(Got a curve up ahead. Perfect, I can still kick up a gear.)

The one-horned Oni lets out her breath.

It's been a long time since she sped through the wind so savagely. With every roar her beloved machine lets out beneath her, her young, brazen blood seems to flow again, in speed for its own sake.

—Until suddenly, behind her, sounds another mechanical beast's cries.

The L.G.D.'s Madame Hoshiguma comes back to her senses.

Mm?

(Who is it...?)

(The sound's coming from behind, and getting closer.)

Pretty good speed, catching up to me.

Heh, that model and that engine's sound. It's the latest one in the ads. Odds are it's modified, too.

Let's burn some rubber, partner. We can't lose.

(Strange. When was there someone so good, and how did I never know?)

(And they kind of seem like...)

('Tearing the vacant streets in the dead of night, the ghost driver in the flashes on the winding roads.')