Chocolate Shake
After quickly finishing the mecha test, I returned to Scarlet’s workshop.
“Scarlet. It’s perfect. Way beyond what I imagined.”
“Only because it’s you, I put in extra effort.”
Scarlet flashed a proud smile through the grease on her face, shrugging her shoulders.
“I can’t believe it’s the Bugbear base. This is insane.”
Yuna stared in awe, then glanced back at the machine.
“Rewriting every single component in such a short time. If her skills are like this, she’s even better than the Icarus engineers.”
“There’s no reason you can’t upgrade Silvera even more.”
Scarlet winked at Yuna with a grin.
“If you’re curious, I’ll let you take a look.”
“For real? No more distracting talk later?”
Scarlet clung to Yuna and crossed her arms.
Yuna frowned, eyeing the massive blob of flesh attached to her arm.
Even though her own arm was substantial, it looked tiny next to Scarlet’s.
“Don’t get so close.”
“Hihihi, sorry.”
Scarlet quickly slid into the driver’s seat of her small transport car and waved for me to hurry up.
“It’s in the upper-level hangar at Terminus Station.”
“Let’s go! Hihihi, I’m waiting. I’m not missing a single detail.”
Scarlet’s eyes sparkled with excitement as she accelerated away at full speed.
Once we arrived at the hangar, Scarlet parked her car haphazardly along the side of the road and jumped out.
“Silvera! Silvera!”
She ran over, shouting like a kid.
“Streamlined armor! Those glowing blue energy lines flowing across it! How is it so damn sexy?”
Still breathless, she circled the entire machine a few times, then dragged over a nearby mobile lift and carefully inspected the underside and top of Silvera.
“How does it control inertia? Is this an original Icarus technology?”
She kept exclaiming in amazement before yanking open the cockpit hatch lever.
“Wait! I never said you could go inside!”
Yuna shouted in panic, but Scarlet didn’t hear her and slipped into the cockpit.
“Whoa!”
“Seriously…”
Yuna’s eyebrows drew together. I could instantly tell she was not happy.
“Leave it alone. If you like alcohol, it’s only fair I let Scarlet tinker with the mecha.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
I cleared my throat and quickly calmed down.
“Sorry, I got too excited. Stopped myself.”
Scarlet’s cockpit exploration didn’t last long.
“Truly magnificent. Silvera. The essence of Icarus Technology. I had the privilege of watching something rare today.”
“If that’s all the viewing, how about we head back? Let’s eat something simple and chat.”
When I suggested it, Scarlet nodded enthusiastically. Yuna, however, hesitated.
“Is something wrong?”
“Sorry for ruining the mood, but I have an urgent return order.”
“Urgent? Why? Didn’t the mission wrap up nicely?”
Could it be that Vance broke out or something?
Yuna looked at my reaction and chuckled softly.
“Curious? You’re an outsider now, so I can’t tell you.”
Her lips curved up with a mischievous glint.
“If you want to know, you can always come to us. The door’s open.”
As she said that, she stepped onto the boarding lift, waved, and boarded.
“See you again, Jinwoo.”
“Anytime. Yuna.”
“What about me?!”
Yuna waved at Scarlet without answering.
After Silvera left the hangar and soared into the distant sky, Scarlet turned back to me.
“Should we eat together?”
“Sounds good. I’ll pay. There are things I want to ask you about.”
“What?”
“Let’s talk while we eat.”
“Okay. Let’s go to the place I frequent often. They have almost everything.”
“Alright.”
We climbed into Scarlet’s car and soon reached the restaurant.
A shabby-looking building with a flickering sign, yet it had that unmistakable good-restaurant vibe.
“Jubi Aunt!”
Scarlet shouted as she entered, and a healthy, curvaceous woman in the restaurant nodded.
“Scarlet! Long time no see. Haven’t seen you around lately. Still buried in work?”
“Yeah, I fixed this machine. It was super fun!”
Jubi glanced at me up and down and nodded.
“Oh, um. Living life, I see you’ve brought a guy along.”
“Huh?! What are you saying.”
Scarlet laughed boisterously and took a seat.
“What do you want to eat?”
“What’s on the menu?”
Jubi answered for the menu instead.
“Everything except the seafood! Meat for meat, seafood for seafood! But the seafood… it’s all gone.”
“Seafood’s not recommended. It’s completely stale.”
Scarlet waved a hand near her neck and shook her head.
“We have the best A set here — steak with sausage and beer.”
“Really? Then let’s get two A sets.”
As I looked at Scarlet beside me, her oversized upper body strained against the thin white tank top.
Normally such characters get hammered.
“Got it~ Change one of the A sets to a chocolate shake, okay?”
Jubi nodded and headed straight to the kitchen.
“Chocolate shake?”
“Jubi Aunt’s chocolate shake is the best. Not just cocoa powder — she grinds up a piece of chocolate cake. It’s so silky smooth and tastes amazing.”
“Steak and sausage… hot chocolate with that?”
Taking something savory and turning it sweet? This is ridiculous.
Usually people go for soda, beer, or wine.
“Is it edible? Want me to try some?”
“No… I’ll pass. On a day like this, beer’s the way to go.”
“What do you actually want to say?”
Scarlet tilted her head and asked.
“I want to discuss parts I can add to the modified Bugbear you’re working on.”
“Addable parts? The load capacity’s already over the limit, so this is the best option right now.”
“I mean weapons.”
“Hmm, do you have a lot of money? I don’t know where you got that file bunker, but you spent two hundred and fifty thousand credits. Oh right, Yuna lent it to you. By the way.”
“That’s already repaid.”
“Repaid? How? Why?”
“There are some complicated circumstances. It’d take too long to explain.”
“Hmm.”
Scarlet narrowed her eyes and nodded slightly.
“I get the gist. I’ll keep my ears open while working.”
She laughed softly, as if she had guessed right.
“Corporate intrigue at Icarus? That sounds about right. Did you get dragged into it too?”
“Something like that.”
“So you’re making money from it? That’s just… unbelievable. What kind of stunt did you pull?”
While she grumbled to herself, Jubi brought out the food.
Even though it was steak, how did it come so fast?
Is this technology?
The food looked incredibly appetizing no matter how you looked at it.
“It smells delicious.”
“Enjoy your meal.”
Scarlet really dug into the meat, devouring a massive handful and chugging her chocolate shake.
Her appetite was beyond me.
If it were something salty like potato chips, maybe I’d understand.
“Crack! That’s the taste.”
“You don’t drink?”
“I can’t drink.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
I really wanted to draw a clear line.
“Can’t. One beer and I’m already drunk.”
“Oh. Got it.”
Knowledge gained.
One girl nearby was a boozehound, and another was a tattle-tale.
“So you want to buy a weapon with that money?”
“It’ll definitely come in handy, so having it ready is good.”
Normally I could just use the shop system to buy anything, but I wanted to hear her expert opinion.
“Hmm.”
She stayed quiet for a moment, deep in thought.
“Right now, while I’m modifying your machine, the top priority is creating an environment that can utilize the file bunker.”
She sliced her sausage while speaking.
“Gravity dampers handled the recoil, right? Then booster performance and instant acceleration are the big ones, aren’t they?”
“That’s right. I didn’t need to say anything — you figured it out perfectly on your own.”
“Haha! What do you think I am!”
The sausage slicing finished, and she stabbed it with a fork.
“The only things I can add to your machine right now are energy shields or anti-air missiles. That’s it.”
She chewed on it and muttered.
“The rifle is balanced, the shotgun has the file bunker and that’s already too much. The bazooka can’t take the weight.”
She shook her head side to side, still thinking.
“The rifle is the best, right?”
“Yeah?”
I rested my chin on my hand as an answer. Scarlet pointed her blade at me.
“Are you thinking something crazy again? You are.”
Caught red-handed. She was fast on the uptake.
“What about a sniper rifle?”
“Sniper rifle? You’re insane! Seriously. Obsessed with one-hit kills?”
Her forehead vein twitched slightly.
“Alright, theoretically. Take out the target with the sniper, then approach with the file bunker and blow it up.”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking. You got it.”
“If that works, mechs or not, we do it your way.”
Scarlet said it reluctantly.
“Choice is yours, but I recommend the rifle.”
“Thanks for the advice.”
She looked at me and muttered.
“Annoying bastard.”
She downed the rest of her chocolate shake and stood up.
“Jubi Aunt, the bill!”
“I’m paying, remember?”
“Yeah, because you prioritized my work, your own queue is backed up.”
Scarlet checked her terminal and sighed.
“Another headache. Just wait a little longer.”
“Who is it?”
After finishing the bill, we stepped outside the restaurant.
“They call themselves Steel Fang. The mercenaries are complaining nonstop that I’m not finishing their jobs fast enough. They say I have to pay thousands in hangar fees and repay them or something.”
“Wait. So you put off the mercenaries’ jobs because you took my request first?”
“Yeah, basically.”
“Did you do something wrong?”
“No, you did. It’s your fault, got it?”
I couldn’t argue with Scarlet’s blunt words.
“...If I did something wrong, then I did.”
Even after thinking it over, Scarlet was in the right. But if I pushed further, I’d just get cussed out for nothing.
After all, she had been furiously slamming her terminal and cursing up a storm.
“Damn it! These bastards got so wide-mouthed lately. Last time they were begging for money because they had nothing to offer!”
Scarlet urgently got into the car.
“They’re even coming to my workshop now?”
I wanted to say I’d be furious if my own work got delayed, but I swallowed it down.
“Let’s go together.”
The mercenaries, worked up to the very end, would obviously cause trouble.
They’d either wreck everything or go looking for reasons to harass us because their jobs were delayed.
As soon as we boarded the car, Scarlet floored the accelerator.
And as if she had read my mind, she said.
“Don’t worry. I have someone watching my workshop. They won’t dare mess with me.”
“Yeah… thanks…”