Heroine On Strike

While Ella flinched in surprise, Didi took something out from his pocket, put it into place, and tapped on it to summon a transparent wall. Only after he made sure that the transparent wall was completely set in place did he look at Ella and grin.

“What is that?” asked Ella.

“A portable soundproof wall.”

After hearing his brief answer, Ella became puzzled and stared at him. ‘Isn’t that what Xyle cast back at the restaurant? Why does he have to go so far to install a machine for it?’

It was only yesterday when Didi used magic to change the flow of time inside the store from the outside. Didi giggled at the puzzled Ella. The color silver hidden underneath his red-brown colored eyes briefly revealed itself before it disappeared again.

“Yesterday was a magic trick. I had it all set up beforehand and popped it in place in time. I don’t have any talent for magic. I’m the muscle type, like the one outside.” He showed his very unreliable-looking arm to show his muscles. It was very lacking. However, the way he prevented Vylun from entering the terrace was truly amazing, even to Ella’s untrained eyes.

“So, why are you here?”

At her question, Didi snapped his finger as if he had just remembered and looked at Ella. His unfamiliar red-brown eyes were full of curiosity. Then he asked, “Are you friends with the administrator in your world?”

What question was that? Her question was answered with another question. Ella couldn’t understand where this seemingly unrelated question came from. She learned of a being called the administrator just yesterday for the first time in this world.

“No. I didn’t even know such a thing existed. You know that already,” answered Ella.

“Yeah, I suppose that’s true. But I got a gift from the administrator there. Just for you.”

‘A gift?’ Ella’s eyes became intrigued. The word “gift” was used when it was something good. Plus, it was a present given by the very being that sent her here and aware of this absurd situation. A gift to comfort one was usually a good one.

“A gift? What is it?”

“It’s a point,” answered Didi as he pulled out two small cans from his pocket. There were letters that Ella couldn’t read that covered the entire surface of those cans. Then, he continued, “Two points are enough to fix the smaller settings with the condition that it must be fixed in a way that you want.”

The two cans were given to Ella. She could feel a weird sensation in her hands. She was overwhelmed with some kind of warm, kind, and unexplainable fuzzy feelings when the letters on the cans flashed brightly and were sucked into the cans.

‘Wow. That’s interesting.’ She was pleasantly surprised by the cans at first sight, but Didi, who seemed familiar with them, took them without any warning. Ella, whose gifts had been taken away, yelled at him.

“HEY! Give them back! You said they were for me!”

“I just needed to confirm with you that you’ve got them. We can only use them after we go through that confirmation. Besides, you can’t use these even if I give them to you,” retorted Didi.

“Hmph!” said Ella.

But she still felt like something she had just received was stolen. Besides, the warmth made from the cans lingered on her. It almost felt like she could feel it in her hands. Ella looked down at her hands. Didi knew why she was reacting in such a way, so he quickly changed the subject.

“Anyway, thanks to your administrator’s merciful gift, we can take some breathers. That’s why we pushed it a bit to come to visit you. We had to flush out our savings to make this meeting, so please focus on me. Thanks to that, my teammates are out doing their business in an emergency, and I am on my own here.”

“Out, doing their business?” asked Ella.

“Er, it’s similar to begging for money. You don’t need to know. Anyway, we have to put these points to good use. Even with a small fix on the settings, it can change the whole flow of it.”