story_durin_1_1

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.

Oi, my red-haired friend, why the skeptical look?

Enough with the red-haired thing! My name's Sesa! At least remember your fellow operators' codenames!

Close enough—

Lemme think, well... Sesa, have you ever seen Myrtle's apple?

Are you talking about the Arts device that the Engineering Department borrowed to study? That's no ordinary apple...

Yeah, stuff like that's perfectly ordinary to us. You could buy one off the shelf in a corner store.

What kind of place do you come from?!

Hey, it's a perfectly ordinary place—

The underground tribe of Durin... I'm sure I've heard someone mention them before...

That's not too surprising, plenty of us come up to the surface to have some fun.

If you ask me though—the surface is nice, bright and spacious enough, with lots of interesting things, but the machinery up here's way too primitive.

In any case... I never knew that Rhodes Island had someone like you around, formidable but willing to hide in the crowd... Hmph, I underestimated you!

Hah, say no more. You don't need to explain a thing, I already understand. I won't press you for more details about yourself.

For people like us, this is a fate we must bear... Is that how the saying goes?

Huh?

(This red-haired tall one isn't very bright.)

(Not that it matters though... *Yawn*... So sleepy...)

(I'm about running on empty here too. After all that exercise, if I don't get some sleep... I might not be able to wake up tomorrow...)

If I was really as amazing as you make me sound... *yawn*... My folks wouldn't have spent all that time nagging me.

But I'm frail, always sleepy... Sigh, it's not like I wanted to be like this...

It seems that your past is also shrouded in mystery.

Tell you what, based on the fact that we just fought a heart-pounding battle together, I'm willing to listen to your troubles...

Hey, open your eyes when you walk, you'll trip!

No way I will. So sleepy... *Yawn*...

This... is nothing... back home folks nagged so much that I slipped out and came here...

But... *yawn*... I was born this way. Can't cure it even if you tried...

ZZZzzzzz

Hey, you're in the middle of a sentence, don't just fall asleep on your feet!

Uhh.... Huh?

(*Stretches*)

(*Yawn*... Did I fall asleep again? Huh, where'd this blanket come from? It's real comfy.)

(That red-haired tall one... Sesa, I think is his name... He's already gone, huh.)

My head hurts a little, what time is it...?

It's getting late, Durin. You slept longer than usual this time.

Oh... Rangers, huh.

I exerted myself a little, so I ended up falling asleep. Couldn't help it.

Pops, were you the one who put the blanket over me? Thanks—

Oh, I can't take credit for that.

When this old man came to see you, you were already sound asleep. Aw, you looked so peaceful, I wanted to curl right up there with you.

*Yaaawn*. The quality of my sleep is nothing to envy, Pops.

Haha, that's true.

The young'un named Sesa had been sitting here looking after you, talking about how he owes you a favor. Ho ho, what a good kid.

Woah... He didn't just leave? I'm safe enough here on the ship.

But, hmm. Rhodes Island sure has a lot of nice people.

Haha, we sure do.

But, Durin, color this old man surprised to hear you went to help him. Why didn't you ask us to deal with it?

It was easy enough. Just felt like helping a newbie and all...

I've never seen you so enthusiastic about helping.

I'm familiar with that kind of machinery. You usually don't see stuff like it on the surface... Guess you could call it nostalgia.

Fair enough. You're better than us at that sort of thing anyway.

But enough about that! Um, this blanket here... The next time I see that red-haired tall one, I'll give this back to him.

Oh, and... Pops, what about the barbecue? Don't tell me you guys went and finished everything without me.

I'd never do something like that, and get on your bad side.

Noir Corne is still grilling and left plenty just for you. We were waiting for you to wake up.

Sounds— good—!

Hey, slow down, be careful not to trip. I've never seen you run that fast.

I slept so well, I'm full of energy.

Durin.

When I watch you sleep, I can't help but get a bit worried. And I think... the others probably feel the same way.

Hmm?

Your health...

Old— Man—

*Breathes deeply*

I'm perfectly fine. Just happened to oversleep a little... What's wrong with that?

But...

Don't worry!

I go to Medical for regular check-ups, and I have no trouble with my normal work. Us Durins are tough—

Besides, I can always just blame my condition, and nobody can get mad at me for slacking off during work hours. Isn't that great?

And now, if I can just eat a bunch of meat, maybe I'll grow even stronger.

Haha, I suppose...

...that you'll have to eat plenty today. Let's go. Noir Corne and the others are waiting.

Woohoo—

Hooray! Barbecue, here I come!

Lack of energy, fatigue and listlessness, illness-prone, and a need for sleep to recover from any amount of exertion — Durin has long gotten used to having such a delicate body.

Congenital deficiency is different from disease and cannot be cured with medicine.

She used to be disgruntled and even angry about it, but when she came to the surface and saw its many stories, Durin came to terms with her physical weakness.

Like...

What does it matter if my body's a bit weaker?

Nothing beats getting sleep free and quiet under the sun during those easy hours of the workday.