As we wandered through the city, I caught Amber looking around, rapidly changing her focus as though she were making sure certain things were where they were supposed to be.
When she realized I was observing her, she quickly stopped herself.
"So… a 'respected Voltaire', huh?" she teased Snapper as we strolled through the city.
"Yeah, I'm kind of a big name around here," he shrugged. "The people love me for all the hard work I've put in over the last couple of years."
"And by "hard work" you mean, going around killing people for a paycheck?"
"Yup, just livin' the dream."
As they conversed, I invested time into scanning the area. There were loud and busy workers upgrading the town's infrastructure, managing construction, finishing repairs, and energetic children of different races, running around and wreaking havoc without a care in the world.
Is this what true freedom looks like? I couldn't help but ask myself that, despite me being oblivious to such things.
"It must totally suck then, knowing you'll have to quit your job to become a Collector," Amber continued.
"Who says I'm quitting?"
"Aren't you like contracted to your coalition or whatever?"
"Yeah, but I'm special."
Amber covered her mouth as though she were suppressing her laughter.
"Special, huh? Guess you're way more self-aware than I thought."
Snapper rolled his eyes. "I mean, I'm more of a freelancer. I can receive job requests from any coalition whenever I'm available, but that'll just happen less often if I become a Collector."
"Oh, I totally get it now," Amber murmured while nodding a few times.
But then she stared at Snapper questioningly.
"Come to think of it, why did you decide you wanna become a Collector?"
"... That's… personal." Snapper looked away shyly.
"I understand. Maybe I should become a Collector too?"
"Huh? But I thought you said—"
"I know what I said, but... if you really meant what you said back there, you know… calling us "friends" and all…" Amber's voice seemed to fall surprisingly low, causing Snapper to blush slightly.
"Pfft, were you blushing just now?" she giggled.
"No…"
Amber continued to stare at him with a funny expression.
"Quit staring at me like that! Why would I wanna be friends with a dirty fox anyway!?"
"Would you stop calling me that!?"
Their incessant yelling started to capture the attention of many locals around the area.
"Umm, could you guys maybe keep your voices down? I think people are beginning to stare," I calmly warned them.
"Oh…" Amber seemed embarrassed.
"No problems here folks! You guys can all get back to whatever it was you were doing." Thankfully, Snapper somehow managed to make them all lose interest... eventually.
…
"Alright, we're almost at the Collectors Station," he noted.
A few minutes of turning around street bends and walking up road hills proved to be physically taxing, however, Snapper, who previously would've had to run back and forth to get us the CCU's, remained stoic.
"Snapper, you don't seem tired at all, do you?" I asked him.
"Death is the only aggressor, my friend. Every obstacle that comes before that is lesser."
I didn't know whether that was some sort of poetic proverb he came up with on the spot, or if it was actually a kind of philosophy he lived by.
"Where the hell did they teach you that crap… Voltaire Academy?" Amber asked, jokingly.
"Well, you're actually not far off, but that's a story for another time… We're here!" Snapper stopped us in front of a large wooden building with a cubic structure.
Its architecture was similar to the vast amounts of timber framed buildings we walked past, however, this one seemed to have a much more modern aesthetic as though a lot of the city's expenses were put into its maintenance.
Above its entrance there was a sign that read, 'Collectors Station', so I figured we had finally reached our destination.
On our way here, Snapper warned me of a few things I'd need to know before we entered.
"Don't tell anyone about what happened back at the village, and make sure not to reveal the card you received from Gouldsworth. If anyone asks you for your birth card, you can just show 'em the Hyper Needle instead; it's better not to share too much information this early."
I nodded in response.
"One more thing," he added. "It seems you're able to use Soul Summon at will, even without a CCU."
I was unsure of what that meant, so Amber decided to explain further.
"It's when you reveal your soul card on command. Most people can't do that without a CCU," she included.
"For ordinary card holders like me, the soul card comes out instinctively: whenever I'm in danger or when I'm really desperate."
"Right, I see. That's why your card appeared when faced against those Stealers back at the village and the black tigers as well, even though you don't own a device like the others," I reiterated.
"Exactly," she said. "It requires a trigger. But you… you're quite special."
I scratched the back of my head in embarrassment, not knowing how to respond.
"Right," Snapper interjected, "you can't tell anyone about what you're capable of, but it can be disguised with a CCU even if you don't really need it."
"I understand," I nodded. "I have to stay out of trouble."
"It's for your own good, trust me… Anyway, we should stop standing around like a bunch of idiots."
"Speak for yourself," Amber countered.
We sauntered past the large mahogany doors and into a capacious hall, where a miscellaneous collection of people were producing every kind of disruptive noise you could think of.
One group of three armored pig men danced merrily to the music of string instruments played by others, while singing dreadfully within the center of the hall. People were crowding around them, laughing hysterically as their hooves clacked against the wooden floor.
"Ah, Berksmen: always as entertaining as ever!" A drunken man cried as he stood up from a table. "Got room for one more!?" Without even waiting for a response, he joined them in their dance.
Is that entertaining to them? I thought.
Somewhere, desperately fighting against the loud yelling, were the high-pitched voices of the fairy people, who sat around one of the many tables that were scattered around the hall.
According to Snapper, the race of the humanoid pig people was called 'Berksmen', and the fairies, who bore translucent wings, were known as 'Chanters' and 'Chasters' for male and females respectively. Like Amber and I, they were Beastren, meaning they had the blood of beasts flowing through them.
"It's just like a bar or restaurant in here," Amber said, her eyes also wandering around the room.
"Then I guess you'll fit right in," Snapper replied.
"No one was talking to you."
"I mean, you were working at that inn back in the village, right? If you're still unsure about becoming a Collector, they've always got vacancies around here."
"Go to hell."
"... Been there, done that. Anyway, let's go over to the reception room, it's way more peaceful in there—"
"Hey, Snapper!" A large stranger waved from the other side of the hall. "Long time no see, buddy!"
"You've gotta be kidding me," Snapper said, slapping his palm against his forehead.
"Wait, Snapper? As in the Voltaire?"
"Is it really him? One of the mask wearers?"
"No way, that's totally him, isn't it? 'The Blue Menace'…"
"Looks like he got back from his mission in the South."
I heard whispers like that from around the room as it slowly began to fall silent. Even the three Berksmen stopped their dance before collapsing and landing on top of each other.
Snapper tried to ignore the guy that called him earlier by proceeding toward the other room, but he continued.
"Snapper! Come on over here! I just freed up some seats for you guys!" Just as he said that, a few people rose up from the seats around the table he was at and left the hall.
I also noticed the handle of a tall blade poking out from behind the man's shoulder.
"Damn, this guy just doesn't know when to quit…" Snapper snarled. "Sorry guys, there's some business I have to attend to."
"Business?" Amber questioned in a rather incredulous manner.
"Yeah, it'll only take a few minutes. Just sit somewhere in the meantime and wait."
For a moment Amber and I shared a look of concern, but we obeyed his instructions without prying any further.
Once we found an empty table, we sat opposite each other, using the free time to finally relax our bodies.
After a minute of silence went by, Amber lifted her head up while laying against the table.
"... You hungry?" she asked me.
"I could eat," I replied, afraid that my stomach might start roaring again.
Amber called a waitress, and asked for two "Eastern Mornings". I didn't know what kind of food to expect with a funny name like that, but I knew that no matter what it was, I would eat it without complaint.
It was as though the food had never arrived, the way we devoured it all almost instantly: sausages, eggs, beans, mushrooms–it was hard to believe that those things had resided on our plates once upon a time.
As the waitress left with our finished dishes Snapper finally returned.
"I'm back. And I brought a… friend," he said, rather unconvincingly.
I looked up at the towering individual beside him, feeling quite intimidated by his stature.
Giant's are quite a common race, aren't they?