Chapter 97

97 Kino the eccentric

Vale on the other floor came into the alchemist’s room named Kino, an eccentric pale skin man with two protruding teeth. Junjin called for him, and Kino have a huge grin on his face.

“Ah, there you are, look I got something new.”

Kino handed Junjin a device that look similar to the two-way mirror. Two small pocket mirrors with a small bead in the center of the mirrors.

“I’ve perfected the distance. Now it can even reach greater distance!” The way Kino talks to Junjin and Vale was very comical and entertaining for them. Kino is a bright and cheerful person, a bit unique in his own way.

Junjin calmed his friend a bit, “Alright, calm yourself a bit. Captain Vale is here with me.”

A surprise came into Kino’s face, “Oh Gods! I am so sorry captain Vale, I didn’t see you at all.”

Vale snorted. His confession totally took him by surprise. “Wait, really?! How come?”

“I am so sorry captain Vale, but that was how kino was,” Junjin felt apologetic to Vale. Not everyone could handle Kino’s weirdness.

Waving his hand to Junjin, Vale grinning from ear to ear, “Not a problem for me, did you see Brom?”

.....

“Oh, right, I forgot about your own subordinate.” Muttered Junjin. Everyone knows about how eccentric Brom can be, even though he is one of the genius magi in the department.

“So, Kino, could you show me how to use this item?” Vale asked Kino while checking on the item. He was intrigued by it.

“The Orbim, that’s the name of this long distance!” Kino, with his hyper-enthusiastic energy towards Vale and Junjin.

“The Orbim?” Vale and Junjin asked Kino at the same time.

Kino nodded his head enthusiastically. “Yes! The abbreviation from the orb mirror. I mean, who wants to use three syllables for an item? It was stupid!”

“I’ve warned you, kino! Shut Up!” A shout came from the lounge room.

Kino open the door and shouted back, “Shut up Gon! It wasn’t my fault that you use some stupid long name for your invention!”

“Shut up!” Said Gon, back to Kino.

“No, you shut up!”

They were going back and forth until Junjin had enough and shut the door.

“Come on Kino, you know Gon will try to get on your nerves!” Said Junjin while massaging his temple. Clearly, this is how Junjin dealt with Kino’s weirdness.

“Yeah... Yeah... I am sorry, he just got on my nerves sometimes.” Kino explained to Junjin.

As funny as the situation may have looked, Vale can see the tension between these two. Although he can’t do anything about it, every department has its own policy and rule, especially inside the alchemia tower.

Vale held onto the orbim and kindly asked Kino how to use the item. Kino gave him the instruction, and he asked him several questions regarding the orbim.

“How many people could communicate with the orbim at one point?”

Kino scratches his head, thinking hard, and then he said to Vale, “For now, only two people at the same time.”

“That’s enough for now,” said Vale, smiling while looking at the orbim, “I would like to bring this tomorrow. I have an expedition with my friends. This item would be so much helpful for us.”

The strangest thing happened. A hand touches Vale’s arm, he looks aside and saw Kino was in tears with a creepy grin on his face.

“You... Did you want to use the orbim? Really?!” Kino was latching on to Vale. The magi captain was speechless and couldn’t muster any words.

Junjin pried him away from Vale, “Oh my God! Kino! Stop, don’t be such a weird one.”

“But... But... he wanted the orbim!” Kino struggled so much, trying so hard to go back to Vale.

Vale tried so hard to get away from Kino, but he never lost the smile on his face. “Yes, Kino, but maybe you could calm down for a bit?”

“Ah, right, you’re right, I am sorry.” Kino laughed and immediately sat on the table for his experiment, rather than sitting on a chair.

Vale and Junjin shared glances. At this point on, Vale just needs to shrug it off. He took the items and go back to the highest floor, where Henry and Anne were cooking in the kitchen. Vale’s eyes immediately go to the bandages on her hand. Anne gave her a smile that makes something flutter inside his stomach.

“Hey, welcome back. I was looking for you.” Asked Anne. A spatula was in her hand. She was stirring meat soup in the pot.

Henry gave her a smile, and he saw some of the soup splash into her hand. Vale took her hand, and his tongue trailed where the soup water splashed. Anne squealed while Henry shouted at him. Vale was having fun with her, and after the unexpected kiss at the library, Vale was more daring than he used to be.

“Gods! If I have known better, the two of you might have been sharing a kiss already.” Gruntled Henry, while he cut the meat on the butcher block. The flustered face of Anne and Vale says it all. Henry gasped and pointed his knife at Vale. “You... F*ck! You kissed her already?!”

Anne hide her face when Vale raised his two hands to Henry. “In my defense, it was purely accidental!”

Squinting his eyes, Henry asked Vale a question. “How long?”

“What?” Asked Vale.

“How long was the kiss?” Asked Henry again.

Vale scratched his head. “Ten seconds? Maybe?”

“Ten seconds?” Henry frowned when he heard the short time of their kisses, “Oh, you need to...”

Then Vale cut his words. “Not for the second time, though.” He even winked at Henry.

Henry put his knife on and tried to chase Vale away. “Second?! Alright, come here you...”

Both of them were running around in the lounge room, while Anne need to finish cooking, they stop for a moment when Justice appeared from his room. Anne’s smile was blooming on her face. She called the crown prince from the kitchen.

“Oh Justice, there you are. Help me slice the fish. I can’t count on those two.”

Vale could see that Justice was hesitant to answer until Henry called him.

“Well, what are you waiting for, you fool? Go and help her.” Said Henry to Justice.

A warm feeling came over Anne. After her conversation with Henry, she was wary about the interaction between them. How glad she was to see Henry was trying to make amend. Justice stand beside her and tried to slice the fish. Anne could see that he had never done any kitchen work before.

“It’s probably safe if you just sat and let me do the cooking.” Said Anne with a nervous grin on her face.

Justice gave her a sigh of relief. “Thank Gods! I don’t know what to do.”

She smirked at his confession while asking him to sit and wait at the dinner table. He watches her cooking, and that’s when he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Vale, smiling at him. Henry, on the other hand, was going back to the kitchen, helping Anne once again.

“It looks peaceful, right?” Asked Vale to Justice.

Smiling when his eyes were focused on Anne, Justice nodded his head. “Yes, it is.”

“By the way, I have some helpful items that we can use tomorrow.” Vale say it to Justice and handed him the orbim.

Looking at the items, Justice tilted his head. “The two-way mirror?”

“No, this is the enhanced version. The alchemist that invented the items calls it the orbim, or the orb mirror.” Said Vale, after he gets comfortable on the chair.

Justice snorted at the mention of the name. “What? The orbim? What a silly name.”

Vale chuckles, remembering about Kino. “Hey, do not say that directly to the alchemist. He was... an eccentric one.”

From the kitchen, Henry’s laughing, “I bet it couldn’t even top your subordinate, Brom.”

Even Anne chuckles after the mention of Brom. They all know how eccentric Brom was. Justice was staring at the orbim, still doubting the item.

“Are you sure it could help us? I mean, even the two-way mirror still has a lot of flaws in the design.”

“I can’t guarantee anything, but it doesn’t hurt to have the item, right?” Vale trying so hard to convince Justice.

“Oh, let me see the item,” Anne felt intrigued as she overheard the conversation. “So, how does this work?”

Vale informed her about how the orbim works. “You face the mirror and said the name of the other one that has the other items, and it will connect to you. You can see their faces and even hear their voices.”

“Oh, kind of like video call!” Anne was so excited, she was forgetting where she was now for a moment, the words video call that had never been uttered in this mysterious new world.

The three gentlemen looking at each other, the slipped tongue from her end, making Anne so nervous, she tried to find a way to escape from the questions that she felt were coming.

The cold sweats came from her face when Justice said, “Anne, what is veedeeo coll?”

But, before Anne answered his question with some meaningless excuse, Bernard came to the floor and called for the crown prince.

“Your majesty, I am sorry to interrupt, but prince Jason is here to meet you.”

A frown came on Justice’s face. “My brother? I thought he was coming tomorrow?”

Prince Jason was already on the floor. He put off his coat with a stern face directly to his brother. “I need to talk to you, right now!”