Chapter 336 - The (unexpected) Results Of Girls Talk

[LOWERING ISOLATION BARRIER… COMPLETE]

[Now then, come along children~]

The avatar floated over and opened the door to the temple before she strolled out of the door, Mercury sighed before he followed after her, Naila hesitated for a few moments before she followed after and asked

"Mercury… That's an Archangel right?"

"Yeah"

"...Then why are you so calm?"

"Because I am not exactly mortal either"

Naila looked at Mercury for a bit before she sighed, then as Mercury walked ahead of her, deep devotion formed in her eyes as she remembered her brother's words from shortly before he died

'He is no ordinary man, he is no man at all… I wish that brother Terak had explained exactly what his [Eye's of appraisal] saw…'

Naila sighed, in the end, she had not gotten a clear answer out of him, soon the group of 3 emerged in the middle of the ruined city of Ode, the eyes of the avatar gazed indifferently across the field of death before she spoke

[Around 15.437 people died here~ As expected of a weapon from the age of the dragon council~]

Mercury sighed before he spoke

"You could at least sound a little remorseful Party…"

The avatar turned towards Mercury before she showed a wide smile and spoke

[Mortals are without limit, they are ugly and dirty~ They cheat, kill, rape, steal and harm others for their own benefit and amusment~ Why should I feel remorseful for such creatures?~]

Mercury nodded

"That's true I guess…"

[That's right Mercury~]

"But that's your view on things Party"

[Huh~… So you say that I am in the wrong~? Look around amidst this field of death carefully again before you lecture me~]

Mercury narrowed his eyes before he spoke slowly

"I have looked around this field of death, I have scoured every inch of this field of death for survivors for 7 days and I still think you are wrong"

[Really? Then why don't you explain why?]

Mercury felt Party's voice grow cold, clearly, she wasn't in the mood to have her views challenged, still, he pressed on

"I don't know what you have seen, nor do I know as much about this world as you do… But I still know you are wrong about mortals"

Party kept silent, then Mercury continued

"There are two types of people in any world Party… People and scum"

[People and scum… Aha~ That's a good one~]

Mercury showed a smile before he followed after Party that strolled around the ruins and eventually arrived at the survivor camp where the avatar casually strolled in as the people around felt the divine aura and instinctively kneeled down as Party casually asked

[Introduce me to your girlfriends Mercury~ Your parent Party will look them over and see if they're good enough for you~]

Mercury sighed before he gestured for Party to follow after him as he walked out to the edge of the camp and found Julia and Marie, Julia was helping Marie practice walking, Marie was walking way better than she was yesterday, still, she looked a little insecure on her feet almost like a newborn fawn

"Julia, Marie"

The two of them looked over and showed smiles when they saw Mercury, though those smiles stiffened slightly when they saw the avatar floating next to him as they quickly kneeled down on the ground and lowered their heads, Party looked rather smug, Mercury sighed before he spoke

"Don't scare my women"

[Fine~ Come let me have a look at you two~]

Julia and Marie stopped kneeling and stood up, they still looked nervous however, this Party quickly took a jab at

[Mercury I didn't expect you to find such weak-willed women~]

Mercury narrowed his eyes slightly but remained silent as suddenly Julia spoke

"We're not weak-willed, isn't that right Marie?"

Marie also looked up, her red eyes flashed with will as she spoke

"That's right… Y-You're tongue is just sharp because we know Mercury better than you!"

[Hoo~ She has a mouth on her that one~ Fine, I'll stop being mean, what's your names?~]

"Julia Helia Augustus"

"Marie Thompson"

[Then Julia and Marie, come let's chat for a bit~]

The avatar snapped its fingers and a transparent dome appeared around Party, Marie and Julia, Mercury recognized this as a soundproofing barrier due to the fact that he could see their mouths moving but couldn't hear them, so he sighed before he looked at Naila and spoke

"Let's go spar for a bit, they're not likely to be done anytime soon"

Nalia nodded as she spoke clearly

"Yes, Mercury!"

Mercury and Naila sparred a few rounds before Mercury asked her

"How's the hand holding up?"

Naila looked down at her prosthetic hand and spoke a little strangely

"Actually I sometimes forget that it's not my real hand…"

"That's good, it means that your PAR is good"

"PAR?"

"It's short for Prosthetic adaptability rating if it's good it means you have the potential to adapt to non-human prosthetics since you have begun to forget that is an actual prosthetic it means that yours is likely to be excellent or higher"

"Non-human prosthetics? What are those?"

Mercury showed a slight smile

"Those are prosthetics for things like a tail or generally things which the human body does not normally have or things like modified prosthetics like a hand that can deploy claws"

"Claws...Right… I think I am good with a normal hand"

"Sure, that's fine too, though I wonder how Maire's PAR is… if it is bad or normal the UTC I installed when I fixed her spine might be unneeded…"

Naila tilted her head slightly before she asked

"What's a UTC?"

"It's shot for a universal tail connector"

Naila nodded before she asked after some time

"Mercury, are you some sort of healer?"

Mercury showed a slight smile and nodded

"I was a doctor with a specialty in bionics… But that's a lifetime ago"

Mercury sighed

'That's the only thing that meditation has revealed so far… I really wish I knew why I reacted so strongly to the word Immortal…'

Naila gazed at Mercury's face for a bit before she showed a smile and raised her curved sword again as she spoke

"I don't know what's bugging you Mercury but getting some exercise is a good way to clear the mind"

Mercury nodded before he showed a smile and raised his gauntlets again as he took a boxing stance and spoke

"Right then, let's see if you can break your losing streak today"

In the evening Mercury returned to the camp after having sparred with Naila most of the afternoon, he sent her off to rest before he returned to the place where he had left Part, Julia, and Marie to chat and found that the 3 of them were still enclosed in soundproofing barrier sitting at a table looking like they were chatting merrily, he waved at them to get their attention and soon Party spotted him and lowered the soundproofing barrier before she waved her hand and summoned another chair, Mercury sat down  at the table and asked

"So… did you make up?"

Party showed a smile

[Of course, we did~ We're best of friends now, right?~]

Julia and Maire nodded, both of them showed smiles when they looked at the avatar that was sitting across the table, Julia spoke

"Party is easy to get along with so of course we're friends, right Marie?"

"Yeah, she's a nice girl… Or should I say maiden?"

Julia nodded before she showed a slightly fox-like smile

"Yeah Party is a surprisingly pure maiden alright~"

[Y-You two sure are merciless, please don't say anything more… I'll be good from now on, okay?~]

Mercury felt that there was something going on here that he didn't quite get but he wasn't about to dig deeper so he changed the subject and spoke

"It's evening, how about I show you back to the temple Party?"

[Sure, let's go Mercury~]

Mercury exchanged a few loving words with Julia and Marie before they parted ways and headed back towards the ruined city with Party after they had walked a bit they heard Marie's yell from the camp

"Good luck Party!"

On the way there she was being uncharacteristically non-hyperverbal, and instead, she stole glances at Mercury as they walked or rather he walked and she floated, Mercury found the mood rather heavy and tired to make a joke

"What's wrong Party? You're acting like a maiden in love~"

[...What's wrong with that?]

Party spoke in a quiet voice, so Mercury almost didn't hear her, almost being the keyword, he heard her and that made his mind blank for a moment before he attempted to salvage the situation with another (poor) joke

"A-Ahahah, don't tell me you've fallen for my charms?"

[...I have]

Mercury stopped walking and turned around and looked at the avatar that floated behind him, Party looked down at the ground while twirling her fingers around the avatar's hair as she asked slightly angry still refusing to make eye contact

[What's wrong with that!?]

'Oh boy'