Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Chapter 834: Two Geniuses And A Deal

While Asmodia refused to answer any questions from Erika, Kara was off to get her father to the city of Elenaris. The others were sent to question any other possible leads about Nerva and the mystery behind the corruption and the dark water–starting from Gallaria, Mono’s twin, and even people like Elowen, who might have been around longer than others due to their age and have heard even a whisper about the stuff.

Markus was reached, so were the council members of Eclanor as well as Inktaus. Regalia even reached out to her three patrons, out of which only one gave her a disappointing response of not knowing anything. The people of Aranuvia, Lululalia, Lantherem, and even as far as Asteradia were being questioned by the extended arms of the hero’s army. Even the mistress was helping–although much like Asmodia, she too refused to answer any questions about Nerva herself.

Being the only ones left to their own devices, Mono and Shamisha were working alongside the vampiress and the lucky elf. The vampire’s curiosity had led them to the top floor of the spire, where the flying ships were still in the process of being outlined for mass production. Watching it with her own eyes, Ditsy was quite stunned by the marvelous piece of work. It almost reminded her of the contraptions the clone of her ancestors were upkeep underground at the tower of elects.

"This is," feeling her breath escaping her, she pressed a hand to her chest and looked up at Mono standing by her side. "Otherworldly–even bizarre yet so beautiful."

"I prefer the word functional, but whatever floats your boat," Shamisha retorted, not exactly thrilled about this whole tour of her tower by strangers whom she barely knew.

"Loosen up, Shamisha–"

"Loosen up?! Someone attacked my home a second time!"

Fanning her hand, Mono turned back to the guests and motioned for them to ignore her.

"She’s been angry with me ever since I brought a dragon into our kingdom."

"A-a dragon?!" Garcia stammered, her eyes nearly bulging out of her skull.

"Ahaha~! Oh, this place, it is as bizarre as the hero promised it to be ahaha!" Laughing at the absurdity of what she’d been hearing, Ditsy wiped the smirk off her face and gave her host a polite bow from her wheelchair. "Thank you for having us, your majesty."

"Mono will suffice, I’m not the one for showy titles." Holding a smile on her face, Mono couldn’t help but stare at the vampire stuck in that wheelchair. It reminded her of the time when she was trapped in the disabled automaton’s body. The very same whose remains were now buried in the royal cemetery. "Now then, if you don’t mind, I have a few questions for you."

Lifting her head, Ditsy nodded.

"I would be happy to answer."

"Before that!" Stretching her hand outward, Garcia interjected herself into the conversation. "I... Well, I just wanted to thank you for having us and..."

With a nervous gulp, she reached for the queen’s arm and tapped it with her finger. The metallic sound confirmed her doubt, and her hand retreated with a jerk.

"By Fortuna, you truly are all metal." As a jeweler’s daughter, Garcia was stunned to make the discovery, as in her mind, no metal could be alive–at least not in the way that mono was. "I’m sorry, but I’ve worked as an apprentice smith and a jeweller, but never in a thousand years would I have guessed that even the cold iron can be used to host life."

Her curiosity had gotten the better of her, but Garcia did not regret touching the queen without her permission, not a bit. Noticing that lack of retreat on her part, a smile fluttered across Mono’s lips. She saw the same thirst for experimentation within her as within herself.

"Not all of me is inorganic," knocking on her chest, Mono made her chestpiece open like a hatch, and within it the girls saw first hand, the ironcore and the encased within an illuminated case. A small tube of light blue liquid was circulating around the core, and as it pumped through the heart, it had turned its pigmentation from a warm red to a deep blue that faintly glowed. "The soul can’t exactly exist without a heart, and although I can pass it from one to the other, that still proves difficult and runs the risk of the person losing all their memories."

Drawn in by the strange apparatus, the two girls held their breath and leaned forward to the coldness emanating from within Mono’s heart. It was both curious and a bit exciting, and that too in more ways than one, given that it was Mono’s breasts essentially laid bare for them to stare.

"Now my core works differently. I have it connected to many of my creations, and I can essentially take over their bodies or switch places and control them as I wish. So in a way, if you ever wanna kill me, you’d have to kill every single automaton in this city and the ones that I’ve hidden in some secret places."

"MONO!" Grabbing Mono’s hand from behind, Shamisha gave it a violent jerk. Flinching in response, the queen quickly turned around, and that playful look in her eyes had suddenly shifted to a hint of frustration. "What are you doing? Tell them something like that, what if one of those invisible bastards is still around and hears you?!"

At a glance, her anger seemed to be directed at the girls standing behind the queen, but the longer Mono stared at her, the more she saw something else reflected within her worried expression.

"Is someone worried that I’ll die and leave them alone again?"

"W-what?!" Narrowing her eyes, Shamisha looked away from her as a deep red blush took over her face. "Shut up, I lived without you for who knows how long already. I’m not a kid who needs an adult around them."

"Ahaha~" Taking a step forward, Mono gave Shamisha a tight metallic hug. "Alright, alright, I won’t joke about stuff like that again."

"You’re..." Shamisha tried to speak, but her words were caught in her mouth. That is, until Mono finally let go of her. "You’re stupid. You almost died twice; be more careful about these things."

"I will," turning around to the other two who’d been faintly smiling at their bonding, Mono placed a hand on Ditsy’s shoulder and finally asked what she wanted to. "But first, I want you to help me make a human body for me. No metal, no core, pure biology. What do you say? Thrilling, isn’t it?"

"Wait, what now?" Shamisha mumbled in the back, but once again, Mono was off in her own world, trying to chase the impossible. But what surprised Shamisha further wasn’t the queen but the vampire’s response.

"That it does. But I’ll only help if you later let me suck your blood." Staring at each other, both Mono and the vampire Ditsy had a strange form of chemistry–not sexual but more like how a rival tries to push their opponent to test the limits of their ability. But in this case, the girls were trying to gauge just who amongst them was more crazy.

"Deal," holding her hand forward, she awaited Ditsy to shake it. "But no sucking from my neck, I hate intimate touching–from girls especially."

Eyeing Garcia sideways, Mono smiled in warning.

"S-sorry."

Chuckling to herself, Mono returned her eyes to Ditsy the moment she’d taken her hand.

"Sounds good to me." And thus, even in the chaos around them, they’d managed to seal their deal.