Chapter 96: Musachi: Leave Belle to me, Wise. (Patreon)

"What are you… up to?"

When Remielle came back, she found Musachi dressed in a denim outfit and a cowboy hat, and she frowned in confusion. This wasn't his usual style at all.

"Nothing much. I just feel like staying in New Eridu day after day is getting boring, so I'm thinking of going out for a spin. What, do you two want to come? Little 78 can watch the shop."

Musachi raised a finger and flicked the brim of the cowboy hat, smiling at Remielle.

"The Outer Ring? I'll pass. I spent time out there when I was looking for Beli, and it's not fun at all. Wind and sand everywhere, desolate, and you're covered in dust after a single day…"

Remielle sighed and shook her head.

"But what made you think of going there?"

Remielle furrowed her brow and looked at Musachi in puzzlement.

"Nothing much. A customer told me there's an event in the Outer Ring lately and asked if I'd be interested in seeing it. I happen to be free, so I figured I'd go stay a couple of days and experience the local customs."

"A female customer?"

Remielle raised an eyebrow and said it without a second thought.

"Ahem."

Musachi awkwardly scratched his head.

"I knew it."

Remielle rolled her eyes and gave him a resigned look.

"Can't be helped, she's my annual member! And she said room and board are covered once I get there, so all I have to do is have fun."

Musachi grinned at her.

"I don't really know much about the local customs out in the Outer Ring compared to New Eridu, so this is a good chance to play around for a couple of days. Don't worry, I'll be back soon."

Musachi said with a cheerful smile.

"Do whatever you like. Good luck~"

Remielle nodded and didn't say anything more.

"So how are you getting there?"

"Someone's coming to pick me up, so I'll just ride over. I'm traveling light anyway, just two changes of clothes."

As Musachi spoke, a message suddenly came in on his phone.

"Oh, my ride's here, at the entrance to Sixth Street. I'll go take a look. You'll be sleeping alone these two days, so don't miss me too much~"

Musachi waved at Remielle with a grin.

"I can't wait for two days of peace and quiet."

Remielle smiled and waved back.

Then Musachi walked to the entrance of Sixth Street.

There, he saw a big red truck with several wild boars printed on it.

"Hm? It's you, Billy. Did you switch jobs?"

Musachi raised an eyebrow, surprised to see Billy leaning against the back of the truck.

"Oh, it's you, Shopkeeper. Just passing by?"

"No. A friend contacted me and said a car would pick me up."

"Sss… I never thought it would be you, Shopkeeper… Haha, what a surprise. You actually know Caesar?"

Billy stared at Musachi in surprise.

"Yeah, she's one of my customers, so we know each other."

Musachi nodded with a smile.

"Ahaha… a customer, huh?"

Billy nodded, though he wasn't really surprised.

Musachi was a Proxy, so it made sense that he'd know the Sons of Calydon. The Sons of Calydon ran a transport business, but sometimes they had to go down into Hollows too.

As for why Billy never thought of the bookstore… that was because he knew Caesar as well. Caesar was a burly woman. Someone like that, reading books? No way!

Billy dismissed the other possibility without a second thought.

"But Shopkeeper, you'll have to wait a bit. I still have one more person to pick up."

"No problem."

Musachi nodded and leaned against the truck to wait.

"Billy, I'm here!"

Before long, Belle came walking over.

When she saw Musachi, she clearly froze, not understanding why he was there.

"Shopkeeper Belle, you're here. I've got news on the intel you wanted."

Billy stepped up to Belle, then hesitated.

Belle looked at Billy, then glanced at Musachi beside him, and said with a smile:

"It's fine, Billy, just say it. Musachi isn't an outsider."

"Not an outsider? Oh, oh, then that's fine. In short, I've found the intel on Perlman that you asked me to look for. It's with the Sons of Calydon~ But the Sons of Calydon's second-in-command has set a condition. She hopes you'll reach a cooperation deal with her, as an exchange."

"I see."

Musachi listened to their conversation without paying it much mind. He knew about Belle's recent affairs, and since she said it was fine, he didn't pry.

"All right, time to set off. Two Shopkeepers~ It's already getting late, but if we hurry we can still catch the meal when we get there~"

Billy said with a grin.

"Then let's go."

Musachi nodded.

But at that moment, Billy hesitated.

"Haha, the truck only seats two, so… one of you Shopkeepers will have to sit in the back. Don't worry, I've prepared a little stool. It's not as comfortable as the passenger seat, but the back has a glass window, so you can chat on the way and all that…"

"Mm, in that case, sorry to make you sit in the back, Billy."

Musachi nodded and said it without a second thought.

"Huh? Me in the back? I'm the driver!"

Billy froze.

"You're not the only one with a license. I can drive too, you know."

Musachi rolled his eyes.

"Relax, my license covers trucks."

He gave a thumbs-up as he said it.

Seeing that, Billy slumped in dejection.

"In that case, I guess I'll have to sit in the back."

"Buckle up, we're off."

Once in the truck, Musachi shifted gears with practiced ease and floored the gas pedal, and the truck roared forward.

Compared to a small car, a truck actually runs rather steadily. Acceleration and braking are both smooth, and trucks are in fact less likely to cause carsickness than sedans.

Not that anyone present had a problem with carsickness anyway.

With Musachi at the wheel, the three of them soon left New Eridu and entered the Outer Ring.

Unlike New Eridu, which had fully switched to Ether energy, the Outer Ring had little capital and its people were fairly insular, so it still ran on traditional fossil fuels.

"The people in the Outer Ring really have it rough compared to the city…"

Musachi couldn't help sighing as he took in the surroundings.

"That used to be true. But the Outer Ring has its own order now. Back then it was a true lawless zone. These days, the various biker gangs keep order in the Outer Ring, and the biker gangs answer to the Overlord."

Billy explained cheerfully from the back.

"Sounds like a tribal great chieftain."

Musachi couldn't resist joking.

"Haha, you can look at it that way, Shopkeeper. There's no real government here, only the Overlord, the acknowledged leader."

Billy said with a laugh.

"Oh no, there's a vehicle ahead!"

Right as they were chatting, Billy suddenly shouted in panic.

Ahead of them, an enormous truck was barreling straight toward Musachi's truck without the slightest slowdown.

"We're going to crash!!! Oh no!"

Billy screamed as he watched it happen.

A huge truck in front, a mountain wall on the left, a cliff on the right. No matter how you looked at it, it was a dead end.

Musachi frowned, and just as he was about to grab Belle and Billy and abandon the truck, Belle suddenly pointed at the cliff on the right.

"Go this way! There's a Hollow below, drive into it!"

It had all happened so suddenly that Belle could only choose this worst of options.

Musachi nodded and drove straight down toward it.

The next moment, the truck plunged into the Hollow.

"Waaah!!!"

The intense weightlessness made Belle clutch her seat belt, trying to brace against the impact.

Behind them, Billy was ready to smash the window at any moment to get Musachi and Belle out.

But just then, an Ether Singularity appeared beneath the truck, and in an instant the truck dropped into it.

Then it landed smoothly.

"Looks like we're lucky."

After bringing the truck to a stop, Musachi looked at Belle, who was still shaken, and said with a grin.

"I can't believe we were lucky enough to run into an Ether Singularity. Otherwise, if the truck had landed like that, we'd probably have been knocked out."

Belle patted her chest, her face full of fear.

"Seriously, have they no sense of public decency? Driving that fast on a road like that, do they want to die?"

Billy complained from the back seat.

"It's probably not that simple. Never mind, the priority is to get out of the Hollow first."

Musachi started to say something but shook his head. There was something fishy about this. Once he was out of the Hollow, he'd have to have a talk with Caesar.

"But… this Hollow is unknown. Can we really get out?"

Billy said hesitantly from the side.

"Don't worry. When we fell into the Hollow, I messaged my brother. He should be able to come rescue us soon. A small Hollow doesn't have much Ether in it, so we won't be corroded too badly."

Belle said with a smile, holding up her phone.

"No need for all that trouble. Don't forget, I'm a Proxy too."

Musachi shook his head.

"But… without the latest Carrot data, it's hard to get out of here, isn't it?"

Belle looked at Musachi hesitantly.

After accidentally falling into a Hollow, running around blindly would only make things more dangerous.

"Relax. I don't rely on Carrot to go down into Hollows."

Musachi said with a grin.

There were no outsiders here, so Musachi didn't hide his abilities. Of course, to anyone who didn't know his true identity, he always said he had the ability to sense Ether.

Since the appearance of the Hollows, Ether had granted people plenty of special abilities, so Belle and the others didn't find Musachi's ability especially remarkable.

"Let's go. The truck still runs, so we can just drive straight out."

As he spoke, Musachi stepped on the gas, and the big truck surged forward again.

"Ethereals! There are Ethereals ahead!"

Belle spotted a few Thirens appearing in front of them and warned Musachi beside her.

But Musachi didn't hesitate for a moment at the sight of them. Instead, he floored the gas pedal, pushing the speed past a hundred.

Bang!

The Thirens bared their fangs and claws and charged at Musachi, and then…

And then there was no 'then.'

"Ethereal, schmethereal. I thought they were speed bumps. There's nothing especially tough in a small Hollow like this, and one truck is plenty for us to plow right through."

Musachi paid no mind to the Ethereals he rolled over, and said to Belle beside him with a grin.

"Whoo, running Ethereals over like speed bumps reminds me of the old days in the Outer Ring…"

Watching this from the back, Billy couldn't help reminiscing.

"All right, stop being nostalgic. I found the exit."

Musachi curled his lip, then said with a smile.

"That fast?"

Belle looked at Musachi in surprise. How long had it been, ten minutes? And he'd already found the exit?

"It's just a small Hollow. How long did you expect it to take? If the space weren't so unstable, getting out would be a breeze."

Musachi curled his lip. Ten minutes of driving could cover ten kilometers, which would be a long distance anywhere outside a Hollow.

"I can't believe we got out so quickly… I thought we'd be waiting for rescue…"

The next moment, after they left the Hollow, Billy said, dazed.

"Let me contact my brother first."

Belle nodded and called Wise.

"Belle, are you alright? I saw the message you sent and was just about to set off."

Once the call connected, Wise's voice came through, laced with concern.

"Don't worry, brother, I'm fine. With Musachi here, we left the Hollow very quickly. Thanks to Musachi. There was a small accident earlier, but it was more scare than harm."

Belle said with a smile.

"You're already out of the Hollow?"

Wise was taken aback. How long had it been?

Ever since receiving Belle's text, Wise had rushed to contact people and make preparations. He'd only just gotten ready to leave, and now she was telling him it was already over?

That was a little too efficient.

"With me around, of course it's efficient."

Musachi said from the side with a grin.

"Hm? Musachi, you're there too?"

Wise said in surprise.

"Yeah. A friend invited me to the Outer Ring for a couple of days, and we happened to be in the same truck. Don't worry, Belle's in good hands with me."

Musachi said with a grin.

Belle nodded beside him.

"Don't worry, brother. With Musachi here, nothing will happen. He's very reliable."

"Mm, that's good. But do you need me to come over? I'm not too comfortable with you being alone in the Outer Ring."

Wise nodded, then said with concern.

"No need, brother. This was just an accident. Once the details of my cooperation deal are settled, I'll contact you."

Belle shook her head.

"Don't worry, Wise. Belle won't come to any harm with me around. Just leave Belle in my hands."

Musachi added with a grin.

"Uh… then I'll leave it to you, Musachi."

On the other end of the line, Wise had a nagging feeling that something about what Musachi said was off… What do you mean, 'leave her in my hands'? Who do you think you are, you bastard!

But he didn't say anything, and only nodded helplessly.

Soon, Musachi saw the entrance to Blazewood.

This was the territory of the Sons of Calydon.