'If I'm not to your taste, lass, we'll try something else.'
Loading "repressed_noblewoman" Personality bundle.
Neural connection: "Ah!" Megumi backs off. "I'm sorry, I'm being too forward."
'Mistress, this girl is a possible threat to our health. Responding favorably to her social overtures should make decrease the chance of her acting against us.'
'... Your timing sucks, but you have a point.'
Ponzu smiles and moves into the room. "Don't sweat it, it's fine. Why'd you ask about the Hunter Exam?"
"Because there's all those gruff people aboard, many with their on weapons," she say as she drops on her bed. She raises her fist in front of her and continues passionately. "They all looked on edge and at the same time, spoiling for a fight. That's exactly what I expected of a Hunter gathering!"
'Indeed, a great many we came across on this train looked to be of the disreputable sort. From that perspective, lodging with this young miss may have been a stroke of luck.'
'Were they? Not much of a surprise so close of the Exam's location but I wasn't paying much attention to them.'
'They had the good sense to stay away, so I didn't feel the need to warn you about them'
Ponzu drops her stuff beside her bed, carefully sets down her hat on the nightstand and lay down lazily. 'Doesn't matter, only small fries waste their energy putting on air so soon in the game. They won't even get to the starting line.' She glances at her prospective roommate gingerly. " I'm telling you right now, I'm not looking for a fight."
Megumi shakes her head frantically."That's not what I meant! All these people are mean looking and a lot older than me and I'm not sure how to talk to them," she admits in a rush. "But if it was with a girl my age, I'm sure it'd be fun!" She declares eagerly, eyes shining with hope.
Ponzu shrugs "Sure."
Megumi's eyes light up. "So you're participating to the Hunter exam too?"
"Third time. And you're a rookie, right?"
Megumi nods eagerly.
The conversation picks up from there. Megumi is from an island nation nearly on the other side of the world. She'd had planned to make a beeline for Zaban by plane, but was very surprised when she learned that every intercontinental flight was cancelled for a about a month.
Ponzu conforms her suspicion. "Because of the Exam. Each year, there's tens of thousands of applicants for the Exam, way too many for the organizer to work with, so they make getting there the first challenge. They don't actually keep the plane on the ground, but from the moment you send your application, you can be sure no plane landing within 300 miles of the exam's location will let you on."
"It was quite an ordeal." Megumi grumbles with a pout.
"Believe me, I know." Ponzu assures as she cracks opens a pack of snacks. "Still, getting there is the easy part. Make no mistake, if you're not ready for the exam, you will die." She takes a mouthful, and almost chokes over it. 'Salty!'
'We have improved your tastebuds sensitivity significantly. You will enjoy the taste of your meal more fully now."
Ponzu buries her face in her bed. 'Enjoy my ass, This is almost inedible. And there's this weird bleach aftertaste.'
'Most likely, you are detecting the minute taste of artificial additives. How wonderful.'
'It's not your tongue that asking for a swift death!'
'I see. There is no choice then, in the future, we will have to take the time to find sustenance of the highest quality.' Somehow, the disembodied personality manages to communicate a nod. 'Wherever we go, we shall endeavour to find fresh products. Surely, there must be many regional specialties worth investigating. We shall do it to the fullest, ideally tracking down venerable artisan who never compromise with taste, crafting their food using age olds traditions.'
'This doesn't help me with the ton of crap you've just made me buy, does it?'
'Or maybe, the young ambitious chefs, riding the crest of a new wave of fine cuisine, seeking to innovate with a mix of cutting edge cooking technologies and the introduction of rare, exotic ingredients.'
'Don't mind me, girl. You're only slobbering all over my neurons.'
There is a wistful sigh. 'Truly, the kitchen world is of endless depth.'
"Ponzu-san?"
The green-haired girl's head snaps up. "Want some?"
Megumi nods and the whole pack is tossed on her bed.
"Enjoy," Ponzu grunts. Anyway, what was I saying... Oh yeah, the Exam. A lot less friendly that being stuck using the less-traveled roads, believe me."
Ponzu launches herself in the tale of last year's exam, which took place on northernmost continent. If the beginning is a matter of solving a mildly difficult puzzle, which still cuts the number of participants by half, the story rapidly turn in treks on the tundra with packs of dire wolves on their heel, battles on thin ice bridges above the raging ocean, treasure hunt in the middle of ruins of ancient civilization which led to a swim upstream through an icy and dark river filled with predators.
Megumi perks up further at this. She fires questions with starry eyes and a mouth half full. "How-mm- old were the ruins? 2000 -munch-years? 3000 years? Were there -gulp- calendars to the apocalypse engraved in the rocks? Did you have to go through a forest of swinging blades?" Escape from a giant boulder in a narrow tunnel? Fight off gigantic dinosaurs?"
"Interested in old rocks?"
Megumi nods fiercely, raised fists shaking with excitement. "Yes! I'm planning on becoming a Ruin Hunter! Ancient Civilizations are my great passion since I was a child. What about you, Ponzu-san? What sort of Hunter do you want to be?"
Ponzu smirks. "Wanna know?"
"Yes!"
"Not telling ya." Ponzu snarks.
Megumi starts in suprise. "Why not?" she asks with a pout.
"Ask me again if you make it to the Exam."
Before Megumi can complain further, A loud hron blows through the ship. "We're leaving!" Megumi jumps to her feet. "Ponzu-san, I'm going to the lobby passageway to see our departure. Do you want to come?"
Ponzu. "I'll pass."
"Later then!" She says as she jumps out of the room.
A few mintues later, Ponzu speaks up again. "Hey, SEAN."
"Mylady?"
Ponzu lightly taps her hat, and a faint buzzing emanates from it in answer. The surface of the large hat bends and a bee flies out of it, the hat returning to his original shapes immediately. Ponzu raises a finger and the flying insect lands on it. "What could you do to improve this kid?"
Suggestions?
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*Liam-don passes out.*
