The Challenge of the Masters

⊱⊰ 20: The Only Treasure [Revised] ⊱⊰

The twilight sky painted the scenery. Several buildings had their lights switched on as the atmosphere darkened. Arisa touched the cold glass of the window, her heart pumping excitement. From this view, she could see the wonders of London. From the famous clock tower to the technological buildings that looked really small on the horizon.

"It's beautiful," said Arisa, her gaze still stuck on the view.

"Right?" said Thelma. "London is really amazing. Despite having ridden this wheel so many times, I never get bored of the view."

Arisa didn't drop her view as Thelma chatted with Kazuya. She was amazed by the beautiful places this country offered. Since early in the morning, they had been exploring the wonders of this world with Thelma acting as their guide.

Their tour started in a place called the Tower of London, which exhibited an ancient looking building. According to their official guide, the edifice had more than a thousand years of history as a royal palace, prison, and place of execution. Despite her country having a castle, Arisa couldn't help but be amazed by what she saw.

The day continued and they visited several other monuments, from the wonders of the underwater sea to a view of the outer space in a place called Royal Observatory, Greenwich. Time seemed to pass fast and after they dropped in a location to have lunch, they resumed their tour. The final tourist attraction the trio visited was the famous giant wheel known as London Eye.

As Arisa focused on the transparent glass, she almost jumped when a blue large robot flew close by her view.

"Ah, a war robot," said a cheerful voice by her side. "One day I'll pilot one of those."

Arisa gazed by her left side and saw Thelma trying to take a picture with her phone.

"So that machine is called a war robot," said Kazuya, standing by Thelma's side. "I remember seeing one before we met you. Despite its size and weapons, piloting it seems risky for powerless beings."

"Yeah," Thelma agreed. "Fighting scary monsters while piloting that baby indeed is risky. But there's nothing we can do; we had to protect ourselves somehow as we didn't want to depend on Guardians. Despite the dangers, we've been handling our troubles very well throughout the years."

Arisa remembered the giant white robot from the previous day. Despite the struggles it took to bring down that monster, in the end, it won the battle.

"We can protect ourselves," continued Thelma, "even without powers."

Arisa smiled upon hearing those words. Even though the Earthlings weren't blessed with any kind of power, they were strong in their own ways.

She remembered the agents, willing to walk further in the ruins to make sure no citizen was left behind. As that memory flashed in her mind, she remembered their hateful gaze when they first saw her and Kazuya in their armors.

"I wonder what troubles the Guardians caused to not be welcomed in this country," she said, her tone quiet. "Not that I'm surprised with that."

Thelma gazed at Arisa with a small smile. "The Guardians were once seen as heroes around here, but as time went by, they became greedy."

Arisa stared at Thelma wanting to hear more.

"They set a price for each life they saved, including on the troubles they would have to save them from," said Thelma. "Sometimes they would act nice and save others, but later demanded a payment. They've been banned from this country after the citizens got fed up with their behavior."

Arisa shook her head, not surprised with what she heard. Although she understood the citizens' hatred, she hoped they could have a little faith in them. It was sad seeing the citizens looking at her with disgust even though she was an innocent person, who always wanted to help the needy.