Endless Silver Machine

Aika is now like a headless fly wandering around in the market. Before leaving the hotel, Aika did perhaps the most ridiculous behavior in his life, which was to borrow money from the old man with a white beard to buy clothes on the basis of the room charge. The unexpected series of ridiculous requests not only Instead of letting the white-bearded old man and the two girls be kicked out together, they all agreed to Aika.

Should we say that the residents of this small town are as kind as the old man with the white beard? Can such a kind person really not be deceived? With all kinds of confusion and endless gratitude to the old man with white beard, the urgent needs faced by Aika and the others were temporarily relieved.

He bought himself a new black trench coat for the simple reason that "it doesn't look particularly obvious if it gets dirty."

The biggest problem now is that he has never been exposed to girls' clothing. Looking at the colorful women's clothing displayed in the clothing store, Aika felt that just standing in the store and choosing was already a challenge...

"Luoluo only needs light clothes. What should Ling do? How could I possibly know what kind of clothes she would wear besides that robe!"

Aika abandoned herself and rummaged through the shelves using her imagination to select women's clothing that might suit the two girls. Needless to say, the customers in the store gave him quite interested looks, most of them being female customers of course.

"I will make you return this humiliation!"

Aika kept telling the blonde girl in her heart that she must "rest first".

"Oh! Little brother, we meet again! What a wonderful fate!"

A familiar voice sounded behind Aika.

He turned around and looked behind him. The sister with round glasses who had talked to them before in front of the hotel was standing behind Aika with her hands behind her back.

"What? Do you have such interest? Big sister will keep it a secret for you!"

Aika looked at the various women's clothes on the hangers, then looked at the meaningful smile of her sister with round glasses, and immediately understood what she wanted to express.

"It's not what you imagined! I was just helping my sister and friends buy clothes. You saw her in front of the hotel before."

"Yeah, I understand. Don't worry, I will keep it a secret for you."

The sister with round-framed glasses patted Aika on the shoulder with understanding, pushed up her round-framed glasses, and nodded calmly.

"You don't seem to understand anything..."

"In that case, are you the only one going out now? Do you want to go have a drink with your sister?"

The sister with the same round-framed glasses as the old man with the white beard still had a bright smile on her face.

…………

"Hey, that's really hard work."

At the open-air stall of a nearby restaurant, the eldest sister was slowly drinking a drink through a straw while listening to Aika talk about some experiences that happened before arriving in Pfa Town.

Aika used all the money he borrowed from the white-bearded old man to change the tattered clothes of the three people, so his drinks were paid for by the kind elder sister in front of him.

"Thank you for helping me choose clothes for them. I really don't want to experience walking around in the women's clothing store again... By the way, thank you in front of the hotel. Without your reminder, we would have Now I might give up staying in a hotel and sleep on the streets instead.”

"Have you moved in now?"

"Well, the boss is a very kind old man just like you. Now I have temporarily found a room for the two of them to stay for a day, and then I will find a way to make money to pay off the credit."

"Don't you live with them?"

The eldest sister leaned her head over the table and smiled maliciously.

"It's impossible no matter how you think about it..."

"My name is Tara, I should be old enough for you to call me sister. Now I am helping in that hotel, and I will often show up there during this time. Let's just take good care of each other." He joked , Tara sat back in her seat, "By the way, how long do you plan to live in this town?"

"I don't know. In short, we need to find a temporary job here first, otherwise they and I may really have to live on the streets."

"Oh? How about you move in with me? I live alone, so the room is quite big. In this case, I will discuss with the boss and let the two of them move in for free. This will kill two birds with one stone. Bar?"

Tara said cool words calmly while sipping her drink. Aika almost spit out the drink in her mouth.

"Have fun!" Tara raised the corners of her mouth, showing a mischievous smile of successful prank, "How about it? It must feel good to have all your expectations shattered!"

"I wasn't expecting it at all!"

Aika pounded the table hard in defense, but Tara certainly didn't listen.

…………

The sun gradually lost its brilliance and sank below the horizon, and the merchants who were busy during the day also closed their shops.

"It's getting late, let's go back. Those two children must still be waiting for you."

As they walked down the street shrouded in the afterglow of the setting sun, neither of them spoke.

But this was different from the awkward silence with nothing to say. At this time, there was only calm air flowing slowly between the two of them.

"You, although you can't see it on the surface, you are really amazing."

Tara suddenly spoke softly and said this.

"Did you just say something very rude..."

Tara ignored Aika's complaints and continued to talk to herself.

"You have to take care of two girls while traveling alone," Tara walked up to Aika and stood in front of Aika with her hands behind her back, looking at Aika with her light green moist eyes, "I think maybe... I'm already obsessed with it. is you……"

The air solidified at this moment, and the breeze seemed to stay in place.

"Are you... joking..."

"You guessed it, it was a joke! Hahaha!"

Seeing Aika's speech become hesitant and very innocent, Tara couldn't help laughing.

"That's right..."

Knowing that she was being teased by Tara again, Aika finally stroked her chest and breathed a sigh of relief, but there was still a faint regret in her heart.

"If I get serious, I can definitely trick you into my room."

"Please don't do this!"

The two joked with each other and walked back to the hotel side by side.

…………

After Aika and Tara said goodbye in the lobby on the first floor of the hotel, they returned to the door of the guest room where Luoluo and Ling lived.

He knocked politely on the door first. As soon as he opened the door, a pillow flew towards his face.

"What are you doing! You're back too late!" She vaguely saw the two girls wearing only underwear in the room. Aika was not sure whether she was too tired and hallucinating, "Put the clothes at the door. , and then go outside and wait immediately!"

Ling's menacing voice came from the room, and he probably hid inside after throwing the pillow.

"Yes Yes."

Aika placed the paper bag containing their clothes at the door, then respectfully exited and closed the door.

"I have no idea what I'm doing..."

Aika sat down with her back against the door. Originally, I simply wanted to go to the legendary Shimozuki Academy to take the entrance exam, but now I feel that I am getting further and further away from my original goal.

After a while, Luoluo's gentle greeting came from behind the door.

"Brother, are you still there?"

"Um."

"Have you found a job?"

"Not yet. I chatted with someone I just met today on the road for a while. It was already very late when we separated."

"Someone you just met? Well... where will my brother stay tonight?"

"I do not know……"

There was a sudden silence across the room.

Aika began to sort out what happened in the past few days. Initially, with the goal of becoming an independent adult and enrolling in Shimozuki Academy, he left home with Lolo. When they were lost in the forest, they met Ling who suddenly attacked them. In the end, the misunderstanding between the two parties was resolved. Ling became friends with the group and then encountered a group of fire wolves. As a result, he lost all his travel expenses in the battle and developed into what he is today. Such an embarrassing situation.

"It's such a messy life..."

Aika only felt the drowsy fatigue spreading throughout her body. The fatigue that had accumulated since yesterday finally had a hypnotic effect when she relaxed.

…………

The early morning sunlight shone into the room through the curtains, and Aika woke up in the warm quilt.

Opening his sleepy eyes, he looked around.

In the dark room, two beds were placed side by side. On the bedside table between the two beds, the potted plant that originally seemed to be placed on the windowsill has now been moved here. The flowers with six purple petals are still in full bloom today, bringing familiarity to this not-so-large room. of light fragrance.

The girl with loose blond hair was breathing evenly on the bed opposite.

Aika felt something moving around her in a daze, so she turned her head and looked to the side.

A face with a faint smile appeared in front of her eyes, and her long sky-blue hair rose slightly with her gentle breathing.

"It's Luoluo...it's still so early, let's sleep a little longer..."

Aika faced the ceiling again and closed her eyes, and her eyes returned to darkness again.

"..."

Only the sound of even breathing was left in the room.

"How can I possibly sleep!"

Aika's eyes suddenly shot open. As long as he understands the current situation, no boy can continue to sleep peacefully.

Suppressing the violent beating of his heart in his chest, he used the strength not to wake up Luo Luo to break free from the slender arms that were tightly hugging his waist. After getting dressed, he quietly left the room.

As a result, Ling did not show up at the hotel restaurant table. She knew that Lolo and Aika slept in the same bed last night.

While Luo Luo was eating breakfast, she inadvertently asked Aika why she didn't wake them up. He just fooled it by saying that he was not used to sleeping in a strange room and woke up too early.

…………

After Luoluo and Aika finished breakfast together in the hotel restaurant, they returned to their room with Ling's share of breakfast.

Lingzheng was lying lifelessly on the bed, and Luoluo walked to her bed and sat down.

"Sister Ling, you should be up already, right?"

"..."

"What's wrong? I know you're not sleeping. Is it because you have a bad appetite and don't want to have breakfast?"

"..."

Ling still didn't answer, just buried her face in the pillow and rubbed it from side to side.

"..."

Luoluo put his hand on Ling's waist and started scratching it gently.

"...Pfft! Haha...hahahaha! Stop making trouble! Hahaha..."

This is a bad method that Aika often used when she was a child when Luoluo was making trouble and staying in bed.

No matter how strong Ling's endurance was, she couldn't resist her physical reaction at this time and tried to avoid Luo Luo's clutches while holding back her laughter.

Seeing that Ling could no longer hide, Luoluo finally stopped moving his fingertips. The fuss just now has made Ling feel a lot more energetic.

It's probably not that Ling didn't wake up, or that he had a bad appetite. Although Luoluo knew this, she did not inquire into Ling's little thoughts.

"Go take a shower." Ling, who at least seemed to have regained his energy, got up from the bed. "If that guy doesn't find a way to make money, we will sleep on the street with him. Hurry up and enjoy it now while you have the opportunity."

"Are you assuming that my brother will definitely fail..."

"Live in the present. Do you want Luoluo to come and take a shower too?"

"Um."

The two girls walked into the bathroom together, and the sound of their chatter and laughter could be heard from behind the frosted glass door.

The gloomy scene a few minutes ago seemed to have never existed, so just pretend it never existed.

…………

Aika stopped in front of the only tavern in this town.

So far, he has not found a store that needs to recruit temporary employees, so now he has moved from the outskirts of the town to the central area.

After asking around, he found out that this was the most popular place in the town and it would be overcrowded every night. This pub is only run by a female proprietress and a middle-aged man. Since it is a place with so many customers, there must be a shortage of manpower, right? Aika thinks so.

Pushing open the door of the tavern, a lazy atmosphere hits your face.

It's still daylight, and there are only so many customers in the tavern that you can count on your fingers. A middle-aged man wearing a wide-brimmed leather hat, inappropriate beachwear and flip-flops was sitting at the bar drinking glass after glass of what was probably some kind of alcohol.

Another woman wearing a burgundy cheongsam and looking about twenty years old was also holding a wine glass in her hand, lying on the bar in an inelegant manner and talking to the middle-aged man opposite.

Noticing someone coming in, the middle-aged man turned to look at the door, while the woman seemed not to notice the arrival of the guest at all.

"Um, who is the boss here..."

Aika was overwhelmed by this mature atmosphere that she had never felt before, so her tone was a little nervous.

The man put down the wine glass in his hand and walked over, gesturing to the woman behind him with his thumb.

"That woman is the boss, but she is completely drunk now. If you have anything to say to me in advance, I will tell her for you."

When the middle-aged man stood in front of Aika, he took a closer look at the burly middle-aged man again.

He was a head taller than Aika, his resolute face was as sharp as a knife, his voice was also very deep, and he didn't have the drunken feeling of an ordinary drunkard at all.

Standing under the pressure of the middle-aged man, Aika felt that she was even out of breath. However, Aika did not show it, but forcefully forced out a friendly smile.

"Actually, I want to find a temporary job here. My friends and I just came to this town yesterday, but all the travel expenses were lost on the road, so I hope to find a job that can earn back the travel expenses."

After hearing this, the middle-aged man grinned widely, and the pressure he had just put on Aika suddenly disappeared.

He raised his broad palm and patted Aika's back mercilessly twice.

"That's great! I'm also a newcomer here. It's great that you can come and relieve my boredom!"

"Ahem...Thank you for welcoming me so much, but do you need the boss lady over there to agree?"

"Don't worry about her, she'll be fine with more people! Come over here and have a drink with me!"

"Sorry, I'm not an adult yet..."

"What does this have to do with it? As long as you don't get discovered!" The middle-aged man pushed Aika to the bar, took out a new cup, filled Aika with a light yellow drink, and pushed it in front of him, "As a man , If you don’t know how to drink, you won’t be a great person!”

"Then there's nothing we can do... No, no! The problem isn't here at all!"

Because it was really hard to refuse his enthusiasm, Aika had no choice but to take a sip from the wine glass, and a fishy smell rushed into her throat.

——I feel like there will be a lot of troublesome problems if I work here...

…………