Chapter 30 - Troubleshoot

"Miss Gem, your presence has been requested in the Dining room by the young masters," the maid who was knocking on my door said for the 5th time, interrupting my bonding time with Mr. Gemini once again.

"I'll go down in a minute!" I replied.

"It has been 5 minutes since you first said that Miss Gem." She insisted and started knocking again.

Ugh, I'm not even hungry yet!

*grrr*

My stomach growled.

Never mind, "fine!! I'll go down on my own!" I shouted again for them to hear me beyond this sense-defying room.

I could still talk to Mr.. Gemini in my mind anyway.

When I stood up, I accidentally brushed over my earrings that activated my stat-hut automatically.

I shrugged it off, went straight to the bathroom, and took a quick shower before grabbing my uniform from the closet and wearing them in haste so I could fill my stomach already.

[Error starting Stat-hut, please click troubleshoot so we can diagnose the problem.] A cold and emotionless voice sent chills down my spine as I was having a hard time wearing this stupid skirt.

"Do you need help Miss Gem?" The maid outside shouted with concern.

I purposely locked the door because I was not ready to mingle with them while my Salamandite was awake and active. It might hurt them unintentionally and that would be the last thing I would want to happen in this castle.

"No! I'll be out in a minute," I said, trying to convince myself that I could do this in a minute.

Just a little more zip and we're good Gem... just a little more.

[Error starting Stat-hut, please click troubleshoot so we can diagnose the problem.] The automated woman's voice said again.

I was so annoyed about this skirt that I mindlessly pressed the reboot button that caused me another inconvenience.

"Ouuch!!" I stomped my feet to the right, shifting my weight to where my mind was feeling burnt right after zipping the rest of the zipper in my skirt.

"Wh- at the h-ell" I groaned while having a hard time dealing with the pain in the right side of my head.

Not long after, my left brain started freezing. 'What the hell is happening?? Mr. Gemini help!!'

[Roger that master.]

From my neck, a soothing mist of air started making its way through my nose and my veins, straight to my brain where I immediately felt the subsiding pain.

'Thank you.' I said while several drops of tears escaped my eyes.

[Anytime, master.] He said with a retreating voice.

What the hell was that?

I touched my earrings and felt that the right one was still burning while the left one was still freezing.

What is this? They're still going on with that 'troubleshoot'?

I inhaled another deep breath, trying to calm myself down from the pain that it gave me. As of this moment, this device had hurt me three times already- or two if the freeze and burn were only counted as one.

But as long as Mr. Gemini is here, I'm sure he won't let me get hurt, right Mr. Gemini?

[At your service, master.]

After thirty minutes of eating, the stat-hut screen popped in front of me again, the result of that painful 'troubleshoot' was written with a danger sign.

[A virus has been detected in your body!]

"What!?" I jumped from my seat out of shock because of what I've heard.

A virus? Really??

"What happened, miss? Are you okay?" The maids came running to me and then checked my surroundings while I just stood there, staring at the screen in front of me.

'What Virus is it?' I asked this unreliable gadget.

[An error has occurred in the OS of Stat-hut. Do you want to shut it down?]

'N-no. What are the error and virus about?'

[A virus called Salamandite has entered your superhuman body and is currently corrupting Stat-hut data. Do you want to send a report to the headquarters?]

'No!'

'What are you doing Mr. Gemini?'

[This device was programmed to detect me as a virus, Master. I was just configuring its data to build a harmonious environment between me and this device inside your body master.]

'Okay, but why didn't you tell me? That notification was scary...'

[I planned on dealing with this silently. I'm sorry master.]

'It's okay.. just show me what you're doing. I trust you.'

[Roger that.] He said and proceeded to configure the data of Stat-hut while also letting me see everything that he was doing on my screen.

"Are you okay miss Gem?" The head maid held my shoulders on the right, bringing me back to reality.

"M-mmm" I murmured with frequent but small nods to answer her question.

"Ouch!"

"Oh my!!"

My nodding accidentally grazed the burning right earring to the back of her palm.

I've got to think of an excuse real quick!!

"What was that?" Her wrinkled face faced me with a mixture of worry and fear in her eyes while holding back her left arm.

I tried to deny her look by pretending to know nothing but when she tried to touch my earring, I caught her wrist almost immediately with both of my hands.

"Oh my! What happened here!?" I twisted her left arm to see the burn mark.

[Mr. Gemini please help me fix this!!] I prayed desperately, hoping for a magic to happen and save me again like always.

I shut my eyes tightly, afraid of what would happen if they found out that I hurt somebody again, even if it was accidentally.

I already managed to build my reputation here and prove them wrong about my being a monster but if they found out I hurt somebody again...

As I slowly tried to peek into their faces, I felt my right thumb move. It swiftly grazed above the little burnt mark on the back of the maid's palm and the mark disappeared like there was no mark there in the first place.

"What's the problem madam? There's nothing here." I let go of the maid's hand and she looked at it with utter shock.

"N-no, I swear I felt a burn." She said, perplexed.

'Thank you, Mr. Gemini.' A subtle smile crept on my lips.

Mr. Gemstone's healing powers are really remarkable!

'How did you do that Mr. Gemini?'

[Healing potion.]

'Healing potion?? But it tasted nothing like a healing potion...'

My brows furrowed more when Mr. Gemstone answered.

[Enhanced healing potions with Energy slime.]

'W-where did you get it? How did you get Energy slimes? I thought the salamanders were extinct?'

[They are, but the inside of this gemstone is made of hardened energy slimes. Everything you store inside it will be induced with Energy slimes.]

'Put inside it? What could possibly fit in that small stone?'

[Everything.]

'Everything???'

[Yes master, everything.]

'But how?'

"Young miss are you okay?" Another maid interrupted our conversation, gently assisting me back to the chair where I was seated before.

"Mmm." I nodded inattentively at her.

[The gemstone is an infinite storage, storing at least gazillion Energy slimes inside.]

Storage? It's an inifinite storage!!?

T-that explains how Yumeki was able to steal those gemstones without being seen!

'W-what else? Can I use this storage?'

[Yes master. But only if you feed me.]

'What do you need? How can I feed you?'

[I need energy to replenish the slimes]

'So how do we get this energy? Do you mean electricity?'

[No.]

'Then what?'

I exhaled a deep breath after waiting for Mr. Gemini to talk but he said nothing.

"Miss Gem. Your classes are waiting for you." One of the maids who were worried about me mentioned to the door where Miss Melody was waiting.

'Mr. Gemini?' I checked again for the last time and stood up when he did not respond.

[The problem has been resolved, Stat-hut will now restart.] The female voice announced in my head while I was walking away from the dining table.

So let me get this straight, the gemstone is an infinite storage with a lot of Energy slimes in it, and everything that goes in can be induced with the slimes, making them more effective and powerful than their original state??

For example the Healing potions.

"Ma'am, do you know what Energy slimes are?" I blurted out in the middle of the class.

Miss Melody was alreted from what I said.

It was a subject that was very far from what she was discussing in our Potion's Class but I could not help myself from asking.

The thought has been bothering me the whole time.

"Energy slimes?" She repeated, probably thinking if what she heard was right.

"Uhuh." I said, confirming her thoughts.

"W-where did you learn that?" She was taken aback by my sudden interest.

What? Is this ingredient confidential information or something...?

Oh, it might be.

"N-nothing in particular I just read it somewhere in a book." I laughed nervously.

Please believe me please believe me.

"What are you talking about, Gem? I have never heard of such a thing." Von said playfully which made Ma'am Melody raise a brow at me.

Ugh this guy!!