An Englishman in Castle Aincrad

Floor 3 - Chapter 3 - ...It Pours.

December 10th, 2022 - Floor 3, Lyusulan Camp

A few days had passed since the first night in the camp, and Jet, Koharu and Rain had started to get the hang of working in a three person formation, rather than the usual duo. In addition, they hadn't seen Klein and Strea since the first day, apparently due to Strea not knowing her own strength, and seriously overdoing her training... like brother, like sister, Koharu supposed. ''Morning, brother of mine, Koharu, Kizmel, and... new girl?'' - Strea glanced back and forth to check she wasn't hallucinating. Nope, there was definitely a red haired girl stood with them now. Almost instantly, Strea started smirking... a sure-fire sign that Jet might want to consider the pros and cons of being alive, over whatever his sister was planning... - ''Well, well, well... when did my little brother become such a heartbreaker? I'm sure Mom and Dad will love to hear about this, you know...'' - Yeah, living had more cons now. Jet, Koharu and Rain all went bright red, and started babbling incoherently, trying to present their sides of events, and clear up any misunderstandings... at the same time. The resulting noise made radio static sound like smooth jazz...

''I'm... I'm not- It's not like that!'' - Jet yelled, as his sister burst into hysterics.

''Yeah, yeah, I know. You and Koharu are good friends, and you and the new girl are forming a ginger's league... by the way, Redheads United. Remember to credit me for that one, yeah?.''

''It's not that at- wait, what? No, you know what, we're all just friends! I don't have feelings for either of them!'' - Jet lied. He did, but giving Strea that ammunition was akin to handing a child a chainsaw... a really bad idea. - ''I never said anything about feelings, little brother... I mean, I wouldn't judge you if you did...'' - Strea winked towards him, as Jet tried to process what she'd just suggested... wait... did she suggest that all three of us... nope! - ''IT DEFINITELY ISN'T THAT, STREA!'' - Thankfully for Jet, Strea tended to speak to him in English anyway, which he wasn't entirely sure if either Koharu or Rain knew well enough to understand the implications of his sister's teasing.

''Heh, you are too easy to wind up... so, who is the new girl, anyway?''

''Rain, this is Strea. Strea, Rain.''

''Privyet.'' - Rain bowed politely towards the older girl.

''She's Russian then...'' - Rain hadn't missed the obvious disdain in Strea's voice at that. Jet just glared at his sister in annoyance at her.

''Don't mind her, that's how she says hello. She's not what I'd call a normal human being, see, Rain... she is in fact... a moron.'' - Strea gave a look that suggested Jet wasn't long for this world. Jet just smiled dumbly back towards his sister... who mumbled something about 'giving him a moron'... not like he needed another one. She was there, after all. - ''Okay, onwards with today's mission. We're going to hunt down the Spider Queen... oh, what now?!'' - Jet sighed, as Klein held his hand up like a schoolchild.

Strea was fighting not to laugh. She was also failing miserably. - ''You do realise you don't have to raise your hand to speak, right?''

''You forgot me! Again!''

''Huh? Oh, Klein, Rain. Rain, Klein. Done now, we good?''

''Much better.''

Some time later, inside the Spider Queen's Cave...

The group had entered the caves, and at the suggestion of Koharu, had been leaving small indicators to mark their exit, should a hasty retreat be necessary. Upon reaching one junction, Kizmel had noticed something in the webbing - a small pendant type object, covered in webbing. Both of the duo noticed Kizmel's unhappy look at the discovery, before she spoke up - ''This was the crest of the commander's family. One of his relatives must've been amongst the scouting party.'' - Everyone present at least tried to look down in respect for the deceased. The group carried on further into the cave until they reached a ledge, overlooking a room, and more importantly...