Ringo stopped playing with Han Xiao and asked. - So, what did you do?
Han Xiao's lips trembled slightly, clearly reluctant to speak, but knowing that Ringo would likely use this to tease him again, he sighed and began to explain.
It all started a few days earlier, when they received the mission to rescue the Silvers.
Several mercenary groups were hired, including theirs, and just like in the original story, they eventually discovered that the slave trader wanted to take this group to the Floating Dragon.
As neutral territory, the Floating Dragon didn't directly deal in the trafficking of living beings, but it could still buy and sell slaves brought by others. The Silvers were truly unlucky, one thing led to another, and in the end, Han Xiao managed to recover the Silvers. However, this triggered a fight with the Floating Dragon's guards. In the end, they were almost escaping, but Ames appeared out of nowhere and arrested them.
Not only were the recovered slaves lost again, but the mercenary groups were also captured.
Among them, most could afford the ransom, only Han Xiao's group, which had recently started, lacked a background.
In the end, Han Xiao could only ask Ringo for help.
Ringo shook his head, amused, but didn't pay much attention to it.
-Alright, you really are an unlucky fellow.- Ringo sighed and said. -Ames, the Floating Dragon, is in need of manpower?
The image returned to Ames as she raised an eyebrow, she understood what Ringo was suggesting, he wanted her to recruit those guys?
Ames glanced at them briefly, shrugged, not caring much. -Fine, this can pay for their mistake, so you accept?
Han Xiao, hearing this, felt the force field tighten around him even more. He sensed that saying "no" would be the same as asking to die, and sighed. So be it, being a subordinate is being a subordinate.
-We accept.- Han Xiao finally said reluctantly.
//-//
Ringo shook his head after watching Han Xiao and the others being led away, the image returned to Ames, the pair stared at each other for a moment.
-If there's nothing else, I'm going to hang up.- Ames said, about to hang up. She wasn't the emotional type, but Ringo knew that this woman was only tough on the outside.
Thinking about it for a moment, he realized that the look she gave him when he answered the call was because he hadn't called her before leaving, he had practically made his feelings obvious. He hadn't thought much about it afterward, but for women, even for Ames, going so long without calling her seemed a bit inconsiderate.
Ringo could only say that he still thought their meeting should have been when he became a Grade S super, even a call before then seemed to diminish some of the feelings involved.
Of course, Ringo had no way of knowing that the reason for Ames' 'dry' eyes was because she already knew what he was planning, wanting to act behind her back again.
Thus, since there had been a misunderstanding and no one would clarify it, Ringo could only assume that Ames's 'bad mood' was due to the lack of importance he was showing towards her.
He decided to remedy that.
-Well, wait a moment.- Ringo said, causing Ames' finger, which was about to end the call, to freeze.
She raised an eyebrow. -Is there anything else?
Ringo was speechless for a moment. He couldn't tell whether she wasn't actually upset or if she was just that good at pretending. He had assumed she was clearly annoyed with him for not calling her sooner, but seeing her face now, looking puzzled as to why he had interrupted her, he could no longer tell.
No, Ringo sensed even more that she was upset.
-Don't rush to hang up, how are you doing these days?- Ringo asked, clearly making random small talk.
Ames:... serious?
Ames seemed completely confused, how had she been these days? What kind of casual question is that?
Even though the woman's confusion had increased, the fact was that she found the situation interesting, she remained silent for a moment before opening her mouth and saying. -I'm fine.
The two stared at each other for a few seconds, Ringo expecting her to ask how he was, Ames unsure what to say at that moment. Whether it was Ringo or Ames, neither was particularly promising when it came to striking up a conversation, especially since it was the first time they'd had this kind of "casual" chat.
Not far away, Aesop, who hadn't yet left, rolled his eyes. Two idiots.
He shook his head and left quickly, leaving them to try to talk, or whatever that was.
-Good. Good.- Ringo nodded briefly, seeing that she wasn't speaking. For some reason, he felt embarrassed. Why did it seem like he had reverted to his teenage years?
Ames nodded, seemingly thinking about something. She frowned slightly, thoughtful, and finally asked. -And... and you?
She felt that this should be the right response, she wasn't really angry, she just wasn't used to this kind of 'friendly' conversation. For Ames, every conversation always had a purpose, a topic for discussion, or even an item on the agenda. Ringo was no different. This was the first time they were talking simply for the sake of talking, and both quickly discovered they were terrible at it.
Ringo finally sighed with relief inside.
So the conversation that followed was incredibly awkward for anyone who overheard it, at least at first.
Questions like, "How's the weather?", "What did you eat?", "Did you see any interesting programs?" continued to follow.
At first it was incredibly awkward, but Ringo just wanted to start a conversation, and Ames, who didn't know how to react, quickly found a point of interest and began to speak more naturally.
Mainly about the beatings he gave Hadavy, about the wines Aesop had made, about Jenny's complaints about the increase in her workload...
Ringo laughed heartily at the last one, and Ames chuckled softly as well.
The pair soon found themselves genuinely enjoying the conversation, and it wasn't until several hours later that they hung up.
Ames stood still for a while, holding the communicator in her hand and running it along her hand as she thought.
She couldn't quite put her finger on what had just happened, but she didn't dislike the feeling. In fact, it was incredibly interesting, Ames wasn't the type to hesitate when she wanted to say something, yet during this conversation, she felt a knot in her stomach, as if she had to carefully consider her words, even though they kept slipping right out of her mind.
Ames had been a fighter since childhood, she had fought for every step of her life, so she had long since "understood" the world, hesitation only led to mistakes, you simply do what must be done.
This conversation revealed a side of her she hadn't even known existed, it was strange, a bit uncomfortable, yet incredibly interesting, and she found herself increasingly curious about the reason behind this feeling.
Shaking her head, Ames put the communicator aside and let it go, she thought for a moment before starting to float away, she wanted to go talk to Jenny, that sister of hers ought to know what was happening to her.