The Most Important Gear

Chapter 11

"good work today," al haitham praised you.

the mission was now over, and the hive was disbanded alongside cyno arresting everyone involved. now it was just you and him.

"thanks al haitham," you smiled at him. "i didn't expect you to destroy it like that. it threw me off a little."

"i had to think quickly," he justified himself. "also... would you like to go get drinks with me? i need one especially after today."

"actually, lesser lord kusanali asked me to do her a favor," you said. "so unfortunately that'll be a no."

"i see," he said, a little downcast due to your rejection. "there's always next time."

"i'm sure we'll find a day," you assured him. "sorry i can't come with you today."

he nodded, "we'll make it work."

"i'll have to get going now, goodbye al haitham!"

"see you around," he said as you began to leave.

you decided to meet at the café as proposed, opening the door and seeing the man known as kunikuzushi sitting at the same table as yesterday. "kunikuzushi!"

he looked up at you, giving you a small smile. "you're late. i didn't take you for the type to leave a friend hanging," he commented teasingly.

you looked at the clock that read 8:21. "sorry... the case with al haitham went a little longer than expected..."

"no worries," he brushed it off. "i'm just teasing you."

"actually... we might have to cut our time here a little short."

"how so?"

"lesser lord kusanali is interested in meeting with you."

"oh really," scaramouche faked surprise and intrigue. then, a thought came to mind. "so miss engineer, did you talk about me with her?"

"h-huh," you asked, a little taken aback by his forwardness. "w-well i mean... i mentioned this morning how i met you yesterday. you mentioned some things that i brought to her attention and she was quite interested."

"i see," he said. "then let's get going."

the two of you got out of your chairs and left, walking towards the sanctuary of surasthana. scaramouche turned to you, "did anything interesting happen on your mission?"

"it's just some guy who was obsessed with creating his own reality," you shrugged. "i was just there to dissect the technological aspect. it's nothing interesting, really."

"it sounds like you undervalue yourself," scaramouche said. "dissecting technology like that seems like a very difficult thing to do. you should think of yourself highly."

you gave him a surprised look, then you smiled at him warmly, "i suppose you're right. i just don't want to be boastful about it."

"not at all," scaramouche said. "just know that boastful and taking pride in your work are two different things. from what i heard from you about the god creation plan, i believe you're more than just the 'regular' engineer that you describe yourself as. be proud of your work, but showing it off makes it boastful."

"i guess you're right," you sighed. "you sound like you understand a lot about this type of thing."

"you could say that i'm familiar with these types of things considering i'm a puppet," scaramouche said.

"now i'm curious," you said, then gave him a questioning look. "not to be rude so excuse my question but, what did your puppet master make you for?"

scaramouche didn't know what to say, already realizing what you were implying: "what is your goal by being in sumeru, so far from inazuma?" he swallowed, trying to come up with some sort of excuse before the doors open.

"hello you two!" both of you looked at nahida, and she looked at you. "i trust that your mission was a success?"

"yep! i believe al haitham gave you the briefing already," you said to her. "either that or he's finishing it."

"he said he had to finalize a couple things after cyno is finished," nahida said. "now, both of you come inside! it's very nice to meet you, kunikuzushi."

"nice to meet you too, lesser lord kusanali," he said politely. "i heard from {name} that i had some information that piqued your interest."

"yes you do," nahida confirmed. "for this, i'll speak to you privately. {name}, do you mind stepping out for a moment?"

"of course," you said, taking your leave.

nahida sighed, "you look troubled. did something happen?"

"{name} knows a lot more than we think," scaramouche said, slightly urgently.

"i heard your conversation before i opened the door," she said, then giggled. "i saved you, didn't i?"

he nodded, urging for her to continue. she took the hint, "is this your way of asking me to restore {name}'s memories?"

"at this rate, she'll figure it out in no time. i don't see why you have to continue holding her memories."

"but you haven't fully learned your lesson yet," nahida said. "tell me then... what have you learned thus far? if you can give me a good enough answer, i will restore a small part of her memories."