Ex-Machina in Dimensional Travel Chapter 45

Although she found it strange that this pretty older sister spoke so oddly, the little girl still politely answered her question.

"Mm, my name is Volumen. What's your name, big sister?"

"Xiu Er."

"...Huh?"

"Inquiry: you said your name was Volumen?"

"Yes. Is something wrong?"

Looking at Volumen's puzzled face, clearly unaware of what was wrong with her name, beneath Xiu Er's calm expression lay a deeply unsettled heart.

Although the possibility of someone sharing the same name could not be ruled out, Xiu Er could not help considering another possibility.

Perhaps she had encountered the childhood form of humanity's greatest mage, before Sariel found her and before her homeland was invaded by the Demon race.

A young Volumen!

A Brief Afternoon

Takuson wandered the streets of the city in confusion.

Xiu Er had given him a considerable sum of money, enough for some modest spending.

He had also left his weapon in the room at the inn where they were staying.

After all, why bring that weapon along when going out to have fun? Besides, wasn't his body itself a weapon?

How could a "weapon" be something so inconvenient?

Whenever Xiu Er brought him to a different city, it was always like this—he would give Takuson some money and let him wander around town alone.

As for whether he would get lost, or be robbed or pickpocketed?

Xiu Er was not worried about that at all.

Getting lost was not an issue for him. Takuson's trail could never escape his detection, and Xiu Er always kept track of his disciple's whereabouts.

As for being robbed or pickpocketed, Xiu Er had never taught him anything about that. But Takuson did not see it that way; he would only think it was his own fault for not being strong enough.

If he were strong enough, he could discover a thief before they even touched his money pouch.

That was how Takuson saw it.

"Although Teacher said I could arrange my own time, I have no idea what to do."

Sometimes, having too many choices was also a kind of trouble.

"In that case, I'll go take a look at Food Street first."

To be honest, for various reasons, he had not eaten lunch peacefully.

Since he trained at high intensity so often, he usually needed to eat large amounts of food to replenish his energy. So at this moment, he was still hungry.

"What should I eat? I remember Teacher mentioned things I could eat..."

With that thought in mind, he headed toward Food Street.

"Ow!"

Just as Takuson was imagining food, someone who had seemingly emerged from nowhere suddenly slammed into him.

However, due to years of training and battle, his body was far tougher than any ordinary person's.

Thus, Takuson was completely unaffected by the collision, while the man who had run into him instead fell to the ground.

"Huh?"

Realizing he seemed to have bumped into someone, Takuson hurriedly looked in the direction where he had felt the impact.

"Sorry, sorry. You aren't hurt, are you?"

"Tsk... Watch where you're going next time!"

The other man clutched his backside, his face full of pain.

He grabbed the hand Takuson offered to help him up. Not only that, despite being the one who had deliberately bumped into Takuson, he gave Takuson an unfriendly look.

"Seriously, why train your body to be so hard?"

The man grumbled in dissatisfaction, but he did not pursue the matter. After saying a few words, he tried to leave, looking rather hurried.

However, when he tried to go, he discovered that Takuson had not released the hand gripping him.

"W-What are you doing? I've got things to do. I don't have time to waste here with you."

For some reason, several beads of cold sweat slid down the man's forehead.

In response, Takuson merely watched him with a smile. The hand gripping the man's arm was like an iron clamp, holding him fast without shifting even the slightest bit no matter how he struggled.

"Don't worry. I won't interfere with whatever urgent business you have next."

Takuson spoke with a smile.

"As long as you return what you shouldn't have taken."

"Otherwise, I can't guarantee how many intact parts you'll have left."

After saying that, he extended his other hand, palm up, as though waiting for something.

Seeing Takuson's gentle smile, the man broke out in cold sweat. In the end, he used his free hand to pull out a pouch of coins and tremblingly placed it in Takuson's palm.

Yes, the man who had bumped into him was a thief.

He had intended to steal Takuson's money pouch by deliberately crashing into him.

The moment Xiu Er handed Takuson the money pouch, this thief had noticed it and chosen him as prey.

Who would have thought this kid was so strong? He had noticed instantly.

The moment his hand was caught, the thief's heart had dropped. Then, upon seeing that smiling face, his heart had turned ice-cold.

After weighing the money pouch in his hand and confirming that nothing was missing, Takuson finally let go.

However, he had no intention of letting the thief off so easily.

"Aah!"

A scream rang out on the street, drawing the attention of passersby.

But after seeing who was screaming, those passersby turned back around and continued with their own business.

"Hah, looks like your reputation around here isn't very good either."

Takuson noticed the expressions of those passersby as well, and that made him understand something.

Without the slightest pity, he looked at the man lying on the ground, clutching an arm whose bones had been completely shattered. His cold gaze made the man on the ground abruptly choke back his cries.

"Take this as a lesson. If I find out there's a next time, it won't be as simple as breaking one arm."

"Eek—!"

The thief was so frightened that he scrambled away, too panicked to care about his broken arm as he fled as though crawling.

"Mm, just as expected. Looks like all that effort training this technique was useful."

Yes, in order to avoid being pickpocketed again, Takuson had painstakingly trained an extremely powerful perception skill specifically "for thieves."

As long as someone came within five meters of him, he could immediately sense everything about them.

Over the past few years, he had beaten up quite a few thieves with this move. The one from just now was only average.

But then again, did the city guards not arrest these thieves?

The people on this street had witnessed Takuson punishing the thief, and they felt satisfied because of it. Thus, the passersby watched him leave with approving looks.

What a hassle.

That was what he thought to himself.

A few minutes later, Takuson arrived at his destination—Food Street.

He stopped in front of a small stall selling cookies.

"Mm, these smell pretty good. I'll bring some back for Teacher to try."

And with that, Takuson began his shopping trip through Food Street...

"This one's good."

"This one tastes good too."

"This one's a little expensive."

"This one tastes a bit too rich."

--

Soon, it was almost time for dinner.

Remembering the time he had agreed on with his teacher, Takuson hurriedly gathered up the pile of food he had bought, including gifts he thought tasted good and wanted his teacher to try.

Then, in high spirits, he ran to their meeting place like an overexcited husky.

It was the place his teacher always visited whenever they arrived in a town—the city's central plaza.

"Hehe, I think I bought a little too much today. I hope Teacher likes it. But I can still finish whatever is left, so none of it will go to waste."

Thanks to Xiu Er's training, Takuson had also been forced into developing the habits of a big eater, needing quite a lot of food.

The food he had bought this time was actually enough for an ordinary person to eat for three days, but for Takuson, it was only half a day's worth.

In high spirits, he arrived at the plaza and spotted his respected teacher.

But this time, there was someone else beside his teacher.

A little girl sat beside his teacher, chatting and laughing, while his own teacher was unusually talking with a stranger.

"Eh? Who's that?"

That was the only thought in Takuson's mind right then.

A Future About to Change

"Teacher, whose kid is this?"

A firm male voice interrupted Xiu Er and Volumen's conversation.

"You're back, Takuson."

Xiu Er was not surprised. As mentioned before, Takuson's whereabouts were always within her detection range.

"Inquiry: how was your day?"

"It was alright, same as usual."

"I also brought you some tasty things. I hope you like them."

As he spoke, Takuson walked closer to his teacher.

Carrying a bag of snacks in one hand, the black-haired youth wore a smile that easily inspired goodwill.

"Mm, thank you."

"Do we really need to say 'thank you' between us?"

"Rebuttal: it is a necessary courtesy."

Facing Xiu Er's rebuttal, Takuson did not say anything more, because his teacher could be unexpectedly rigid about certain things sometimes.

But it was not a major issue. He had long since gotten used to it.

Just as Xiu Er had become accustomed to having such an enthusiastic disciple at her side, Takuson had become accustomed to his teacher's seemingly cold attitude and slightly rigid personality.

Xiu Er casually picked up something that looked like a loaf of bread.