durin

12:10 P.M. \ Clear

Rhodes Island Cafeteria

Auntie, I'd like a mushroom meal set—

With extra berry jam and bean paste, thank you.

Whew.

Pff... Pff... That's hot...

Oh, if it isn't Durin. Mind if I have a seat?

Sure, no problemo~

Appreciate it. It's pretty packed around this time, and just about everywhere is filled up.

You by yourself? Where's ol' Rangers, and Yato's crew?

I came here first.

Training just ended, so they're still cleaning up. We're about to go get some barbecue.

Huh? If you're going to have barbecue, why'd you order that mushroom combo?

It's fiiine. This tiny portion's basically just a quick little snack—

Ahhh——mm.

(Takes a huge bite and starts chewing)

Wait... am I seeing things?

There was a whole plate of food in front of you just three seconds ago, and now half of it's gone?! Shouldn't you slow down?

Heh heh, that's nothing.

The food on the surface is really different from the stuff back home. I'm already going slow enough to taste it.

Ahh, but mushrooms are delicious no matter how you cook them.

Yeah, we all know how much you love fungus by now.

Real talk though, aren't you worried about getting malnourished, always eating the same kind of food?

Nooope.

Whew, that hit the spot. All finished here.

Huuuh? Wait, when'd you finish eating... I told you, you eat way too fast. Are you sure you're alright?

Yes, I'm fine. Don't worry.

I can eat even faster... But, Medical chewed me out when I had that speed-eating contest with Noir Corne, so I've been taking it easy the last couple days.

What the heck do you guys do for fun?

You know, normal stuff. It's totally fine.

*Yawn*... Eating always makes me sleepy. The others sure are taking their sweet time...

I'll go grab a drink to perk myself up—

(Hmm, I still have some leftover fruit drinks from last time.)

(But it's too far to go back to the lounge... *Yawn*... and I'm getting a bit sleepy...)

(Oh, right, there should be some coffee in the common room now, right?)

Huh?

What's with the racket?

Ugh, who's that over there...?

Gah. Such a beautiful afternoon, but some people don't know to appreciate it.

I feel the convulsions of an evil power... Hey, big guy, control yourself, stop—

Wait, hey, stop it, bro, are you trying to hurt me?!

Who the hell did this? Installing such a huge machine and mounting it with such dangerous heavy weaponry!

'ello.

Dammit, how could this happen?! The mist of evil will spread if this is allowed to continue!

Haah... Left with no other choice, I must resort to the techniques that I swore to seal away...

Um...

Hmph, I should've known. The trembling of my arm was an omen of this moment.

Hey, big guy, don't hate me for this, but I will show you the path...

The pint-sized Durin jumps up wordlessly and delivers a precise kick to the calf of the red-haired Vouivre.

Whose dark mach— Gah, you, you're from A4...

I said, you've been reaaaaally— freaking— loooooud—

What are you doing here anyway, hmm? Reenacting Red Hair-zilla versus Giant Robot?

Red Hair... what?! Don't go ascribing me a title that reeks of a cheap, shitty flick!

Ugh, no, now isn't the time for this! Get back, and stand behind me. Beware of the evil power emanating from— Hey, stop messing around!

What a pain.

Times like these call for...... Take this!

Hold on! Stimulating the sleeping beast invites only disaster... Wait, wait, I already said, don't just start throwing Arts at it! If you trigger the automatic counterattack mechanism, things might get incredibly dangerous—

Huh...? The titan is slowing down?

Heh heh, direct hit.

Phew... *Yawn*... So sleepy. Welp, the rest is up to you.

Hurry, open up the cover under the big guy's robotic arm. The main control box is probably somewhere in there.

Wha... Oh... Huh?

Do you know how to work it? If not, hmm... maybe we can just blow it up.

Hurry, don't just stand there staring. That place I just hit~

If you keep gawking, you're gonna be eating shells real soon.

Stop pushing me.. Tsk, fine, I got it!

Heh, this god-given power is not something that should be casually revealed, but today, I'll make an exception and allow you to bear witness! Don't underestimate me... dealing with machines that stink of oil is my specialty!

You might have a little bit of gumption, big guy, but you still lack refinement! Heed me and come to a halt!

Uhh... I actually wanted to ask you something.

Don't you feel embarrassed at all saying stuff like that?

None of your business!!

Phew... At least that's taken care of.

Now, who was the arrogant fool who put together such a dangerous piece of power armor and even equipped it with weapons? Hah, lucky I was here.

(Hmm, let me see...)

(Oh...! This assembly looks really similar to what those neighbor kids used to put together for fun...)

(So then all you have to do is flip the lid here and then...)

Phew.

How naive. Weaponry is not something that anyone can simply fiddle with, it takes a certain refinement...... Whaaaat?!

Hold up! Don't cross the lines, it's too dangerous!

It's fine, it's fine.

If you don't unplug this, the big guy's gonna be up and running again.

Mm... Wrap this around, and then cut here... Alright, that should do the job. Probably.

You're just doing random crap in there!

Stop, and listen well, if you don't want an electric shock that pierces your soul, stop what you're doing until I can finish the inspection!

Eh...?

It's gonna be bad if this thing starts leaking. Well, the damage here is superficial, so it shouldn't be a problem.

This scratch here, yeah, my last attack caused this. It didn't affect the motherboard, so the risk probably isn't too great...

Ohh, the wiring here is certainly quite interesting. The internal design of the energy device here is rough, but well thought-out.

Huh... Hmm? The movement module seems to have traces of interference. Is this due to the influence of Originium Arts? Also, the part of the wiring responsible for the power supply has been cut...

Are you doooone yet? My hand's getting sore.

And... I'm falling asleep...

Though I got the big guy to stop moving for now, the most dangerous parts are still untouched...

Darn you... don't tell me, all that stuff you were doing before...

It was all a part of your plan!

Hm? What, you mean this control cable here? Didn't I say everything was fine?

You should give a senior Rhodes Islander a little credit, newbie.

(Yawn)

Though I might not be as handy a mechanic as some of my clansmen, can't lift a hammer, and can't make a giant out of sheet metal, not being able to build stuff isn't the same as not being able to deal with 'em... And this thing's real simple.

Leaving the question of your clansmen aside for now, you said this thing is... real simple?

Yep. The principles are really simple.