Nora clicked her tongue in amazement from the side. "I'd long heard that being scolded by the Steam Engine was also one of Castel's local specialties—a must-try experience. I didn't expect you to get to experience it so soon..."
"I-I'm fine." Gwen scratched her head and grinned foolishly, placing a hand on the Steam Engine's boiler.
Two red-hot coal briquettes promptly shot out of the furnace and flew straight at her hand, startling Gwen into pulling it back.
Nora: "..."
Gwen: "..."
The fireman nearby had long since been dumbfounded. Skillfully dodging a coal briquette that happened to fly his way, he finally came back to his senses.
"N-No... This is actually an incredible thing! Machine Souls rarely pay attention to people. If it scolds you, that means it's interested in you. It's something countless mechanical apprentices could only dream of!"
The way he looked at Gwen was no longer merely envious; there was even a touch of jealousy in his eyes—why did the Steam Engine only scold her and not him?
Clearly, he had spent much longer with it!
Gwen was somewhat dumbstruck. Watching the Steam Engine begin to spit coal briquettes at the fireman, she cautiously backed away a few steps, hugged Nora tightly, and whispered, "Are all Castel people this... twisted?"
"I-It should just be an isolated case..."
It had to be said that Gwen really was well liked by Machine Souls. Before long, she was chatting with the Steam Engine, telling it about the wind and snow of the Northern Territory.
The Steam Engine roared and spat several tongues of flame from its boiler.
Gwen had assumed most people would be treated this way—at least Transcendents should have been—but the Steam Engine did not seem particularly interested in Nora. Gwen hung Nora from the flywheel and