"Excuse me, ma'am, what would you like?" Even though Kanna had made everyone around them uncomfortable, the restaurant owner still approached Kal'tsit with a forced smile.
"My apologies. Two house specials, please!" Kal'tsit said through gritted teeth, staring at Kanna.
"Of course. Please wait a moment. Two servings of our signature macaroni will be right out." The owner dragged his heavy steps back into the restaurant.
"Kaaaaaannaaaaa!!!!!" The long, drawn-out note in Kal'tsit's voice made it clear that the old woman had rarely been pushed this far.
"Hey, how was I supposed to know? They reacted so strongly over just a few dishes. The book clearly said they were highly recommended! But I really wanted to try that mysterious Sistag-style fruit pizza. The book said the fruit there was huge and sweet, and I've never had any!"
Everything since they entered had been deliberate. Kanna simply wanted to see whether Kal'tsit could truly remain calm even if the sky fell. As it turned out, Kal'tsit merely had a little more patience than the average person.
Naturally, she would never let Kal'tsit know she had done it on purpose, so she put on an utterly clueless act. After all, ignorance was no crime.
Before long, the two servings of macaroni arrived. The moment Kanna opened her mouth, before she could even speak, Kal'tsit moved with lightning speed and stuffed a forkful of macaroni into her mouth.
Under Kal'tsit's threatening gaze that said, Say another word and you're dead, Kanna finally suppressed her urge to keep courting death. Hugging the bowl before her with delight, she happily began digging in.
Before leaving, Kal'tsit apologized to the owner once more, then led Kanna out of town with a face as black as thunder.
"You should be thankful you're a child. If you were an adult, I guarantee you wouldn't have walked out of that restaurant," Kal'tsit said rapidly as they headed out.
"I didn't know either!"
Sensing the faintly baiting tone in Kal'tsit's words, Kanna continued to play dumb.
Kal'tsit glanced sidelong at Kanna, silently wondering whether she had truly wronged her. But hitting every single Siracusan trigger point in just three sentences hardly seemed accidental.
After that incident, for the sake of her blood pressure and mental health—and to keep this little troublemaker from causing more problems—Kal'tsit made three rules with Kanna. Without Kal'tsit's permission, she was not allowed to speak carelessly in any situation.
If Kal'tsit signaled that her answer would be wrong, she had to shut up immediately and let Kal'tsit handle it.
And if Kanna broke the agreement, she would have to recite the entire day's material and undergo a round of questioning from Kal'tsit about the local history she had studied.
Goudan, What Price?
Perhaps because she knew she had angered Kal'tsit badly last time, Kanna returned to being a good child over the following days. Just as they were about to enter Laterano, a message came from Rhodes Island: the inspection team had arrived on the island.
"By the way, are you really comfortable leaving Rhodes Island to Amiya? Is it really okay for you not to be there at a time like this?" Kanna asked, holding a cup of milk tea as she looked at the calm Kal'tsit beside her.
"Do you remember Ascalon? She's on the island. Those inspectors will only see what we want them to see." Kal'tsit remained unmoved.
"I heard before that Rhodes Island seems to have some secret involving Amiya. What if those people try to make a move against her?" Though this information came from the game, Kanna had wandered around Rhodes Island all day long, so it was only natural for her to phrase things vaguely. Hearing some unclear rumors was perfectly reasonable.
Kal'tsit glanced at Kanna. "I didn't expect your ears to work so well. Every member of SWEEP is on Rhodes Island. Outcast will also be guarding Amiya at her side twenty-four hours a day during this period. With Elite Operators like Misery, Pith, and Stormeye there as well, I'd actually like to see them try something against Amiya. At least then we'd have sufficient reason to keep every last one of those people on Rhodes Island."
"Tch! Does Amiya know you're using her as bait?"
"I had originally planned to have Outcast receive them, but Amiya proposed this herself. The other operators discussed it and decided there was no risk before reporting it to me. Think about it—how could I possibly have had the time to arrange such a detailed plan?"
"You're the one who pressures Amiya every day. She just wants to contribute so you'll see it."
"...I'm sorry. But we have no other choice." Kal'tsit lost another verbal sparring match to Kanna.
"Speaking of which, Outcast mentioned something during yesterday's contact." Kal'tsit looked at the gloomy sky overhead, recalling the message she had received about Kanna.
"What?"
"Can you control Catastrophes?"
"Gasp! Cough, cough, cough... Are you sure Grandma Outcast told you that?" Startled by Kal'tsit's ambush-like question, Kanna sucked a mouthful of milk tea into her windpipe. She coughed several times before recovering, then glared at Kal'tsit irritably.
"All right. Can you create Catastrophes?"
"Only things like thunder and rain. I can't do anything else, and I can't learn to..." Afraid Kal'tsit might suddenly make some inexplicable request, Kanna hurriedly answered.
"Like that time in Victoria? Then what's the price?"
"A designated driver? What designated driver? I don't even drive... Fine, there's no price. Lightning can't kill me anyway. Starting one takes quite a bit of energy, but I only need to get it going. The rest is up to the heavens. Then I can conveniently draw down another wave of lightning afterward and replenish quite a lot of energy." Kanna had just been about to act cheeky when Kal'tsit, who had clearly expected it, shot her a cold glare. Resting her chin in her hands, Kanna spoke boredly.
After hearing Kanna's words, Kal'tsit fell silent once again, evidently planning something else.
After the conversation stopped, Kanna looked out the window. At first, the new scenery of Siracusa and Laterano, so different from the wasteland, had interested her greatly. But after watching it for so long, she had grown tired of it.
When she withdrew her gaze, she turned her attention to her system.
Come to think of it, this system was truly strange. Other systems either issued all sorts of suicidal missions just to remind people they existed, or acted like both father and mother, raising the protagonist plump and strong. But hers was so laid-back that she often forgot this thing even existed inside her.
The mission rewards were always vague, leaving her with no desire to complete them. Yet there were no punishments or restrictions, while the difficulty of the missions swung wildly between absurdly high and low. It had even crashed for ages some time ago. She truly had no idea what purpose it served.
Going purely by its name, now that Kanna had learned Prayer for Rain, calling herself the Lord of Thunder would not be much of an exaggeration.
After all, in her own view, even if she had no way to deal with the Sea Creatures in the south, the demons in the north could not possibly evolve as casually as the Sea Creatures did.
If she went north and opened up a Catastrophe zone, then even if those demons could withstand a hundred strikes, could they withstand a thousand? Or even years' worth of Catastrophes?
Just as she had said, summoning a Catastrophe did not consume much energy. Continuously drawing lightning onto herself to replenish it, however, was extremely fast.
As long as no one stopped her and she properly calculated the balance between expenditure and replenishment, creating an endless Catastrophe zone that would last as long as Kanna lived would be no problem at all.
But Ursus and Yan could still withstand the demons' invasion for now, so there was no need for her to use such an almost mutually destructive method to fight them desperately.
At that moment, after repeatedly browsing through the system for quite some time, Kanna finally spotted a feedback section tucked away in one corner.
The feedback section was especially tiny and placed in an extremely inconspicuous location, which was why Kanna had never noticed it before.
Curiously poking it open, she saw a line of text appear.
"This feedback section is used to collect evaluations and replies from system users. It is the sole channel through which the user may communicate with the system. Any questions or suggestions regarding this system may be submitted here, and this system will respond promptly."
Kanna could not help staring in astonishment upon reading that. So this system was not some cold, boring machine—it could actually chat!
That instantly woke Kanna up. Sitting in a vehicle every day had bored her nearly to death.
"Hello! Great System, System Bro, Esteemed System... are you there?"
"..." Three dots appeared before Kanna's eyes, representing the system's speechlessness.
"You can clearly communicate, so why did you hide this interface so well? Looking down on me?" Kanna continued grumbling through her thoughts.
"The purpose of this system is to cultivate the host into the Thunder God of this plane. As a supreme deity, the host must possess independent thinking. However, previous instances of use have shown that an excessively close relationship with the host is detrimental to the host's development. It is highly likely to cause the host to become overly dependent on the system, thereby losing the ability to accurately judge herself.
"However, if the system has no communication with the host at all, that would also deviate from the system's purpose. Therefore, this system adopted a self-concealment method to sever contact with the host during the early stages.
"Nevertheless, if the host actively discovers the contact point left within the system, communication between both parties may still be initiated."
"So I'm not the first user? Then could I encounter other system holders?"
"No. Once each system holder enters a world, a new worldline will be created from the main world. Those worldlines are independent and will never intersect."
An Encounter with the Silver Wolf
"Is that so? Then that's boring." Though Kanna still acted tough, the knot in her heart finally loosened.
Ever since entering this world, she had wondered whether there might be other transmigrators, and what would happen if they met. But after the system's answer, the worry that had hung over her heart for so long could finally be put to rest.
"Come to think of it, don't systems usually have beginner gift packs? Why didn't you give me one? And what about a personal system space?" Since she could chat with it, Kanna shamelessly began trying to sweet-talk her system according to the tropes of web novels.
"This body of yours is the beginner's gift. Your original body was reduced to ashes during transmigration. By the time you reached Terra, only a wisp of your soul remained. Through a colleague, I copied the body of the final person you saw before arriving here and sent it over, then placed your soul inside it.
"This body is extremely powerful and highly compatible with this system's direction of development. Yet judging by the current situation, you have developed less than one ten-thousandth of your body's power. If you had not found the contact point, you would never have had the opportunity to contact me."
After reading that, Kanna suddenly understood. No wonder she had awakened looking like Kanna—she had already died once.
Thinking back to the moment before her consciousness faded, Kanna really had been the last person in her sight. Looking at it that way, she had made quite a profit.
"As for a personal space, that is not within the range of abilities provided by this system. This system only provides methods to acquire and use lightning-based abilities and related support skills."
"Only lightning? What about electromagnetism? Radio waves?"
"I searched through your experiences. Haven't you already successfully used laser and electromagnetic pulse abilities by yourself? Why would you even ask such a question???"
The final three question marks were clearly mocking Kanna for not being very bright.
At that moment, Kanna felt so angry. She had actually been mocked by her system...
"Then what's going on with your missions?"
"To prevent the system and host from cheating together, the missions issued by this system currently use the most advanced completely random method. Therefore, the missions you receive and the times at which you receive them are entirely random, and I cannot control them. However, the host herself can live for a long time, and mission failure carries no punishment. If nothing else works, just wait a little longer. Eventually, there will be a mission that satisfies you."
Seeing the new message, Kanna looked helpless. She had thought that once she could talk to the system, she might be able to trick it into giving her some benefits. At worst, she could get some preferential treatment for missions. Instead, she had already used the former, while the latter was beyond the control of this trash system.
"Beep, beep, beep!" A group of fully armed Lupo suddenly appeared ahead. From their neat, uniform suits and the handheld crossbows every one of them carried, they were clearly not people to be trifled with.
They were cautiously searching for something. Upon seeing the vehicle suddenly appear, some of them vigilantly aimed their weapons in its direction.
When they approached cautiously, Kal'tsit openly rolled down the window to show that there was no "danger" inside.
"Sorry, we're merely travelers passing through. We have no intention of interfering with your work."
Seeing that the vehicle held only a woman and a child, the people who came to investigate visibly relaxed.
Just as everyone focused their attention on the newly arrived vehicle, Kanna saw a silver wolf emerge from behind a nearby patch of woods. She covered the mouth of the last person with one hand, while the sword in her other hand pierced cleanly through his chest. With a hard twist, she made him tremble once before his entire body went limp.
Before the people in front could turn around, she swept her sword and slit the throats of the two nearest men. Then the silver wolf swiftly crouched and slipped back into the woods. Everything had been so precise and deadly.
Several seconds later, the scent of blood finally made the others realize that their companions had been killed.
Their shouts drew the people by the vehicle over as well. Once they realized the vehicle had nothing to do with their enemy, they had no extra patience left. They waved for Kal'tsit to drive away.
As the vehicle started moving, Kanna stretched a hand out the window and tossed a shrunken Lightning Wedge behind a nearby rock, suppressing its eruption. Kal'tsit, who noticed Kanna's action, did not stop her.
After the vehicle had driven several dozen meters away, a sudden thunderclap rang out behind them. The blast made every Lupo turn their attention toward the road, giving the silver wolf another opportunity.
Using the two openings created by Kal'tsit's group, the silver wolf quickly wiped out the entire team.
She looked in the direction the vehicle had gone, curiosity appearing in her eyes. The first time, she had used their arrival to find an opportunity to strike. But that sudden explosion afterward had definitely been their doing. Yet after searching her memories, she found that she did not know either of them. Why had they helped her?
Though she still carried a trace of doubt, her objective had already been completed. The silver wolf did not linger any longer and soon vanished into the forest.
"Know her?" Kal'tsit kept her eyes fixed on the road ahead.
"Don't know her!" Kanna calmly replied upon hearing Kal'tsit's question.
"Then why did you help her? Siracusa is a complicated place. Don't assume that someone you save is necessarily a good person."
She did not believe Kanna would help a stranger on a whim.
"Uh, how should I put it? How about you think of it as appreciating her 'performance'? Or maybe I have a feeling that Rhodes Island is fated to cross paths with her. That Lupo might become our companion."
As a member of Penguin Album, Kanna believed Lappland definitely would not die here. Since they had encountered each other, offering a small favor was merely convenient. Once the Doctor returned, Lappland would also stay on the island with Penguin Logistics for a while.
Back when they fought the exploding bugs and the Sea Creatures, Lappland's silence had saved her life. Helping her now could be considered fulfilling one of her wishes.
Kal'tsit clearly did not believe her. Still, she also did not believe this Little Dragon Person had any connection with Siracusa's mafia. After all, she had seen the Lupo strike, and the other woman had observed them as well. If she truly knew Kanna, she would not have remained so indifferent.
These two chapters supplement the system and explain why Kanna could not transform back into her dragon form. Though I often forget about the system myself, since I established it, I can't just pretend it doesn't exist. As for its chances to appear, it will probably be like before—showing up occasionally. It shouldn't affect the reading experience. Of course, if you aren't satisfied with this handling... there's nothing I can do. My brain isn't that great either, QAQ.
It Wasn't Just Attraction...
Soon, the vehicle arrived at a border town between Siracusa and Laterano.
Siracusa had a standard Italian style, while Laterano was more like the Holy Roman Empire. Since they bordered one another, it gave Kanna a unique feeling.
Just after entering the town, Kal'tsit frowned slightly.
Although the previous towns had also been controlled by Siracusa's "families," they had clearly been managed well. Even if there was a dark side, it did not affect ordinary life.
But the moment they entered here, they saw a group of people happily engaging in a zero-cost shopping spree.
Quite a few of the surrounding shops had been smashed up. At the end of the road, they could even see two groups passionately shooting it out.
"Looks like they're having a 'change of administration' here. Tch. This is a rare sight in Siracusa. Our luck is truly terrible." After observing for only a short while, Kal'tsit had more or less grasped the situation.
In Siracusa, a stable town was generally led by one large family, with countless smaller families gathered around it. The leader of that large family was the town's godfather. For their own interests and those of their family, they tightly monitored the numbers of the other families. To allow the town to develop, the godfather also had to be sufficiently fair. Under this social structure, so completely different from other countries, ordinary Siracusans actually lived relatively stable lives.
Of course, special circumstances could occur. That was a "change of administration." A godfather usually held the position for life, but once he departed, a civil war became unavoidable as people fought for the newly vacant position.
"Have gangs fallen this low now? After one round of fighting like this, the town's economy will regress by at least ten years. The people at the top change, but ordinary people are the ones who suffer."
Kanna had read about "changes of administration" in books, but she had never imagined they could be so chaotic.
"Look at which shops were smashed."
"Hm? Restaurants. What's that one? An entertainment venue?" Hearing Kal'tsit's words, Kanna carefully observed the surroundings and suddenly realized that this zero-cost shopping spree was strange as well.
They seemed to be attacking with very specific targets. Two restaurants stood side by side, yet one had been smashed beyond recognition while the other remained perfectly unharmed. Quite a few people were even sitting inside it, watching the fighting next door.
"The ones that were smashed must be the other side's strongholds. Siracusa's mafia may look chaotic, but there are actually rules within that chaos. Otherwise, if every change of administration caused the entire city to riot, Siracusa's civilians would have fled to other countries long ago. But this has nothing to do with us. We're going to the church in the west. Hopefully, it isn't a battlefield."
Kal'tsit looked at the smoke rising in the west and felt that things did not look promising.
"Isn't this Siracusa? Why is there a church here? Why are we going there? Will there be Sarkaz like Grandma Outcast there?"
Before you continue