Arknights, Suika's Messenger Journey

With Star Pod only able to reach an altitude of six kilometers, and this flying broom having a flight ceiling of exactly five kilometers, Suika could not help feeling that this was probably a tool custom-made for Terra.

But why did this thing not list a load capacity? Was it intentional, or an oversight? Suika had no idea.

No matter what, as long as Alina mastered how to use it, even in the worst-case scenario, she would have a chance to escape danger.

Getting such an exceptional item on the very first draw made Suika feel as if she had suddenly become insanely lucky.

Then she mentally fed a second hundred thousand Lungmen Dollars into the item Offering Box.

A few seconds later, a letter appeared before her. Holding it, she wore a somewhat strange expression.

"Help Letter to Gensokyo:

Write down the person you need help from and the matter you need assistance with. The letter will be delivered to the recipient by a tengu. If they agree to help you, they will briefly come to your side.

PS: Remember, do not write Yukari Yakumo's name, or bear the consequences yourself."

This item was terrifying. It could request aid from Gensokyo. Any one of Gensokyo's top figures could stir up a storm of bloodshed if they came to Terra.

Of course, the moment she saw this thing, Suika already had a very suitable candidate in mind.

She put the letter away. It was blank, after all, and she still needed to go back and write it. Otherwise, sending a letter to Gensokyo without writing anything on it would be a complete waste of money.

She was very satisfied with the items from the two draws. Of the five hundred thousand Lungmen Dollars Lungmen had rewarded her with, three hundred thousand remained. Suika decided to draw a skill and see whether she could get something suitable. If not, she would teach Alina the "Ice Talisman: Ice Burst" she had learned earlier.

That spell was not difficult. It simply used Originium Arts to form a large number of ice bullets around the caster. Its power was fairly average, but once Alina learned it, together with the flying broom, she could more or less become an aerial suppressor capable of fighting and fleeing.

After a hundred thousand Lungmen Dollars were fed into the Offering Box representing skills, a new spell card technique appeared in her mind.

Rabbit Sign: "Great Fortune Sigil": Create a rune that increases the wearer's luck. It can be engraved onto any item or object, and the creator can decide how much luck it increases.

However, if the item is transferred to someone else for use, the creator's luck will decline for a short period. The degree of decline will be equivalent to the increase in luck.

PS: Luck is constant. When someone gets lucky, someone else gets unlucky.

PS2: Only one rune can be created each month.

The spell card came from the lucky rabbit of Gensokyo whom Suika worshipped—Inaba Tewi.

Unlike in the games, this did not involve throwing out a barrage of bullets. It created an item that increased luck.

The effect was quite marvelous. It increased luck, but Suika did not know just how great that increase would be, nor did she know how unlucky she would become if she gave the item to someone else.

After thinking it over, she decided to prepare two runes and give them to Alina and Talulah before leaving.

It was not that she could not give more. There were only two months left until spring, and since she did not plan to stay here any longer, she would not have the chance to give out more lucky items.

After creating the first rune, she turned and entered the house. Alina was sleeping soundly inside, completely unaware that Suika had gone out.

The next morning, she stopped Alina just as she was about to leave.

"I got you something to keep yourself alive. It may look a little strange, but take it and practice with it. At the very least, if I leave and Talulah and the others aren't around, you need some way to protect yourself."

Under Alina's puzzled gaze, Suika took out the broom and explained how to use it.

"Ah~~ I have heard in fairy tales that witches ride brooms through the sky.

But of all the things capable of carrying people, why did they end up choosing an item like a broom?"

Alina curiously examined the broom Suika handed over, which looked no different from an ordinary broom no matter how she looked at it.

"Sit on it and try!" Urged by Suika, Alina sat on the broom under the strange gazes of the people nearby.

"Hm? Nothing's happening!" Alina shook the broom, but there was no reaction at all.

Suika was a little confused. "That's not right. Shouldn't this thing..."

Taking the broom from Alina, she examined it and discovered that it was an ordinary broom through and through, not the flying broom she had prepared.

Then where was her flying broom?

A cold sweat broke out across Suika's back.

Just then, the neighbor next door walked out of his house. Seeing Alina, he cheerfully set the broom in his hand aside.

"Alina, your hands are really skillful. This new broom you made is quite useful."

Suika looked over and discovered that the broom in the man's hand was precisely the flying broom.

She could not help covering her face. She had not expected to make such a colossal blunder right at the start.

With a curl of her finger, the flying broom the man had set aside stood up on its own. Then, amid everyone's uncertain and startled gazes, it floated over to Suika's side.

She handed the broom to Alina, her face dark as thunder.

"I took the wrong one just now. This is the one!"

"Pfft..." Seeing Suika's pained expression, Alina could not help laughing.

"Stop laughing and try it already!"

"Okay, okay!"

By then, quite a few people had turned to look because of the floating broom. Then they saw Alina sit on it and rise into the air.

Alina wobbled into the sky, drawing even more attention. Talulah, who was not far away discussing the next plans with Patriot and FrostNova, turned at the commotion and saw Alina flying.

"Don't bob up and down! This is a flying broom, not an elevator! Hold the handle and try moving it under your control!" Suika shouted to Alina from the roof beside her.

"I'm trying... But how am I supposed to make it fly... Ah!"

Alina twisted her body, trying to make the broom move. At first, it remained perfectly still in the air, but she did not know what she did; the broom suddenly shot away with her, leaving a string of screams in the sky.

Half an hour later, Alina jumped off the flying broom with a flushed face. The moment she landed, her legs gave out, but Talulah was nearby and quickly reached out to support her.

Snowball Battle

"Are you all right?!"

Talulah looked at Alina anxiously.

Once Alina steadied herself, she shook her head.

"It's nothing. I just learned for the first time how interesting it is to look down at the earth from the sky."

"Can I take a look at that broom?" FrostNova, standing nearby, pointed at the broom floating beside them.

Alina nodded and handed it over.

FrostNova took it and tried it, but there was no response at all. The others tried it as well, with the same result. Just as they were starting to wonder whether it was broken—

The broom was returned to Alina's hand, and then, right before everyone's eyes, it floated up again.

"So only Alina can use it?" Talulah asked in surprise.

"That's right. This is my precious treasure.

Don't look at me like that. There's only one. If it weren't for what happened this time, making me so worried about Alina, I wouldn't have been willing to give it away."

Hearing Suika's words, the others looked at her, but Suika cut off any questions they might have had.

"I understand. On this land, any equipment or item that allows people to operate in the air is undoubtedly precious. I am deeply grateful that you were willing to give such a valuable thing to Alina."

There was indeed no greed in Talulah's eyes as she looked at Suika.

"Hmph, I don't want your thanks!" With that, Suika turned and headed outside.

Alina apologetically nodded to the others, then chased after her.

"That child has a rather fiery temper. Please do not take offense."

Talulah watched the two of them leave and pressed her lips together. How could she possibly blame Suika for being so confrontational?

If not for Suika, she might have lost Alina forever.

She accepted every accusation Suika aimed at her. They were burdens she felt she deserved to bear.

"Now that Alina has this flying broom, I think she could undergo some military training later.

I am not insisting that she go to the battlefield, but when manpower is tight, it would be good if she could assist the soldiers with exploration, searches, or reconnaissance missions."

Only after Alina had gone far away did Patriot speak. Although it was a terrible thing to send someone who disliked war and did not know spells to the battlefield—

The Reunion Movement was desperately short of people, especially soldiers skilled in reconnaissance.

He had witnessed the entire flight from below. Even though Alina had only used cruising speed throughout, for Terra, where anti-air capabilities were weak, it was already a highly useful reconnaissance method that would be difficult to counter.

In just a second, he had thought of many ways to use that broom.

Unfortunately, only Alina could use it, and there was only one.

Otherwise, whether they borrowed it before a major battle or formed an aerial squad with multiple flying brooms, it would be a tremendous improvement for the Reunion Movement.

Although Talulah did not want Alina to become too involved in combat, in Ursus, in this dangerous country, she could not completely avoid fighting.

So rather than protect her like a caged canary, it was better to actively teach her how to face the wind and snow.

"I'll discuss it with her," Talulah replied.

"All right. I'm going to train the soldiers." Patriot did not bring up the matter again. Instead, he took FrostNova toward the training ground.

After struggling with herself for a while, Talulah prepared to speak with Alina and Suika about it.

But when she arrived near the house, she found neither of them.

She searched outside for a long time before finding them in a small clearing behind the woods.

As she approached, she discovered that Suika was teaching Alina Originium Arts.

"Don't be nervous. Just use it according to the method I told you about. This spell covers a wide area, but its damage is actually not very high. Compared with damage, it focuses more on harassment.

Speaking of which, Ice Burst has a major flaw: targets within two meters in front of the caster will not be hit by the spell. On the ground, that flaw could be fatal, but in the air, as long as you keep enough distance, it is no longer a flaw.

Now that you have the flying broom, surely you will not stay in the rear and watch Talulah fight alone at the front.

If you have to participate in battle then, just fly into the air with the broom and use this spell for long-range suppression and harassment.

Come on, let's practice a few more times. Once you are proficient at using this spell on the ground, we can try using it while flying."

Standing behind a tree and listening to their exchange, Talulah's heart trembled.

On the way to find Alina, she had kept trying to persuade herself, thinking about how to discuss this with her.

In her view, making Alina, someone who loved peace and life, take part in battle was far too cruel.

Yet before she had even finished agonizing over it, Alina had already made her choice.

"You behind the tree, what are you hiding there for?!" Suika suddenly looked in her direction and shouted.

Alina, who had been concentrating on practicing the spell, turned when she heard Suika. She happened to see Talulah emerge from behind the tree with a melancholy expression.

"Alina, Suika..." Talulah forced a smile.

Before she could say the words she had prepared for so long, Alina grabbed her hand and smiled brightly.

"Talulah, come see how well I've learned this spell.

Once I master it completely, I'll definitely be able to help everyone in the Reunion Movement even more!"

"Alina, actually, you don't have to do this..." Talulah finally said after making up her mind.

"Don't have to do what?

Talulah, do you mean fighting?

You don't need to worry about that. Everyone in the Reunion Movement is my family. When I had no strength, everyone protected me. Now that I have the strength to help everyone, naturally I need to give something back.

Otherwise, wouldn't I become a parasite in the Reunion Movement?"

Alina said with a smile.

"At first, I only had the ability to fly, and I thought I could only be a spectator in the sky. But Suika told me some good news: she can teach me spells, so I can find a way to help you.

Take a look at how my spell is doing!"

Talulah looked at the fist-sized ice ball forming beside Alina. With a light touch of her hand, the ice ball shattered.

"Hey! I've only just started forming it. It's not even finished yet!" Alina said angrily.

"If you want to learn frost-based Originium Arts in the Reunion Movement, you can study under FrostNova.

She can teach you how to turn loose ice balls into sharp enough ice blades, rather than making them looser than snowballs children use for snowball fights."

Talulah rubbed the shattered ice and snow between her fingers. Feeling the chill at her fingertips, she seemed to come to an understanding. The way she looked at Alina softened once more.