? 2023-2025 Aarón René Porras Gutiérrez as RSKLEO. All rights reserved. This work is protected by copyright and other applicable ws. Reproduction, distribution or exhibition of this work in whole or in part is prohibited.

  On a road where silence always reigns... the footsteps of some metallic horses shatter all the peace of the path... The horses were going at full speed, pulling a carriage.

  "Let's go faster!" said a man with a fearful tone; he wore an elegant suit and gsses with a brown frame.

  "This is the fastest!" shouted another man in the driver's cabin.

  A person in bck metallic armor watched the carriage speeding ahead. "That box will be mine," he said in a robotic voice.

  Suddenly, the carriage shook from the impact of something nding on top of it.

  "It's on top of us!" The man in the suit hid the box under his seat, and then a giant bird burst through the roof of the carriage, grabbed the man, and threw him far away.

  The driver heard the sound of a scream fading away. "Damn it!" Nervously, the driver pulled out a shotgun and pointed it upward. "Die, you bastard!"

  The driver fired twice, destroying part of the carriage, and the sound of wings fpping could be heard. Then, only the squeaking of the carriage and the metallic hooves of the horses could be heard. Suddenly, the man in the metallic armor flew in front of the driver.

  "I think that's enough," said his robotic voice, pointing a cannon from his hand.

  The driver was hyperventiting, but gathering his courage, he raised his shotgun. "Die!" The man pointed his shotgun at the metallic head of the one flying in front of him.

  The carriage exploded, sending its remains flying in different directions at full speed. The metallic horses were unched away, crashing into trees and being destroyed instantly. Of everything, the only thing that remained intact was the box, which fell into a nearby stream.

  "Hahaha, see, my brother? I told you it was a good haul," the man in the armor picked up the box and raised it toward the sun.

  "You were right, brother. I’m sorry I doubted you," expressed the brother with regret, with his giant eagle beside him.

  "It’s alright, Jhin. I could have been wrong, but the box survived, so now we just have to open it and see what’s inside. Let’s go to Inock," he added in his robotic voice, getting on the eagle with Jhin.

  The eagle began to fly away from the pce... and then a closed door is shown.

  *Professor Maxwell’s House*

  The voice of Professor Maxwell is heard behind it, apparently upset. A loud sound is heard, like a sm, and then the footsteps of the professor approaching the door.

  The professor opened the door and shouted, "Hanks!"

  "Did something bad happen, professor?" asked Hanks, arriving at the door, puzzled.

  "Call Mei. They stole the blueprints for my reactor," he answered with a tone full of rage, while walking down the hallway of his house.

  "Yes, sir." Without losing a second, Hanks ran toward the phone.

  "And to think I fought so hard to get them back," thought the professor.

  Meanwhile, Louis was doing handstand push-ups on the roof. He wore a blue shirt, bck pants, bck shoes, and a blue neckce hung from his neck.

  "Louis! Where are you?" the professor asked, entering the room and seeing the window open. The professor leaned out the window and saw Louis on the roof. "What the hell are you doing up there? Come down, we need to talk."

  "Right away, professor! Just finishing up," he shouted as he continued the exercise.

  After finishing the push-ups, Louis came down from the roof and took clothes to change while listening to the professor.

  "Get ready. We have to go find a padin to help us catch the thieves who took my blueprints."

  "A padin? Interesting. Can I take a shower?" said Louis seriously and with a bit of surprise.

  "Of course, but don’t take long," he said, noticing Louis’s seriousness. "Are you always this serious?" he asked sarcastically.

  Louis looked at him for a few seconds and replied, "Yes."

  "Well, whatever... Don’t take long!" the professor left the room.

  A few minutes ter. "Professor, the padin Mei is waiting for you at the BckMyth café," said Hanks, approaching the professor, who was modifying his mechanical arm.

  "Alright. Just let me finish this and I’ll be ready. Go get Louis and tell him to wait at the entrance," the professor was very focused on his arm, making some adjustments. "Wait a minute! Did you say Mei?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "Strange... She usually always sends others because she's too busy," he commented, then returned to working on his arm.

  Meanwhile, Louis was getting ready in his room.

  "A padin... I haven’t met another padin besides the ones from my kingdom," thought Louis as he put on his coat. Suddenly, someone knocked on his door. "Come in."

  Hanks opened the door and said, "Young Louis, Professor Maxwell wants you to wait at the entrance."

  "Alright, I’m on my way," replied Louis, taking his katana after putting on his coat.

  "I must avoid using too much magic. I don’t want to be expelled from the kingdom for being too dangerous," he thought as he left his room and went down the stairs to the entrance.

  The professor was already arriving at the stairs. "Hanks, remember to activate the shield," he mentioned as he came down the stairs.

  "I’ll do it right away!" shouted Hanks from afar.

  "Perfect, you’re here. Time to go. We’ll take a car to get there faster," the professor and Louis left the house.

  "What’s a car?" asked Louis, showing a bit of confusion.

  Professor Maxwell was a little surprised he didn’t know what it was.

  "They're these." The professor stopped a car, and it asked where they wanted to go. "I need you to take us to the BckMyth café."

  "So they’re called... cars and not carriages," thought Louis, crossing his arms.

  "Of course, that’ll be 100 ystires," replied the driver, who wore a cap and had tanned skin.

  The professor opened the car door. "Get in, Louis."

  "Really?" asked Louis, a little confused.

  "Yes, come on," he insisted, giving him a slight push with his mechanical hand.

  Louis and Professor Maxwell got into the car and began to move toward their destination.

  "Amazing! How does this... car work?" asked Louis with curiosity, examining every corner of the car.

  Noticing Louis’s interest, the professor began to expin how it worked, until they arrived at the café.

  "And that’s how a car works. Amazing, right? A relic of the ancients. Good thing we didn’t lose their blueprints," said the professor with confidence and joy.

  "I didn’t understand a thing," thought Louis. "It’s amazing, professor, thank you for your expnation," he said, trying to hide that he didn’t understand anything.

  "Well, we’ve arrived. Here you go," the professor gave a bill to the driver and then got out of the car, followed by Louis.

  Both entered the café, and in a corner was a woman with short, wavy, purple hair and violet eyes. She wore a shiny pink leather jacket with metallic details over a bck high-neck shirt adorned with an elegant brooch. She wore bck pants and pink boots. She had blue earrings that contrasted with her outfit and was holding a cup of coffee.

  "Purple hair... Incredible!" thought Louis, covering his mouth.

  "Jonathan! How are you? I’m gd to see you. Hmm, I see you brought company," she said in a sweet, gentle tone. "Wow, his eyes are so pretty," she thought, looking at Louis’s eyes.

  "Hi, Mei... Don’t call me Jonathan, please. Louis, introduce yourself," replied the professor with an annoyed sigh.

  "Yes, my name is Louis A. Keeper. Nice to meet you, Padin Mei," Louis bowed his head respectfully.

  "Nice to meet you, Louis, but don’t call me Padin, just Mei is fine," she replied a bit uncomfortable, remembering something that happened to her recently.

  "Alright, Miss Mei," he said, understanding the request and raising his head.

  "Miss? I like that," she thought, a smile showing on her face.

  "So, do you have them?" asked the professor, a bit desperate, extending his arms.

  "Yes, I have them, but first let me finish my coffee and... my cake!" said Mei with joy, seeing the waiter bring her a cake.

  "Mei... I’m going to lose my blueprints! They’re very important, it’s for my machine," he said annoyed, while watching Louis look at the café counter.

  "Okay, I’ll eat it quickly. And the boy?" she excimed, understanding the situation, and then took a bite of the cake.

  "He’s coming with us. He’s a padin from the kingdom of Ahead, from the northern nds," he replied, calming down a bit and resting his arm on the table.

  "Really? A padin? How did you get a padin to stay with you? And why didn’t you tell me?" Mei looked annoyed, eyeing Louis for a moment.

  "Hey, how does this thing work?" asked Louis with curiosity, touching the device.

  "Sir, you can’t touch the coffee machine!" said the woman at the counter, trying to stop him from touching it.

  "Oops... I'm sorry... And this box that makes things spin, how does it work?" he added, feeling guilty after the pitcher fell to the ground, but his curiosity won him over again.

  "Go back to your table, sir!."

  "Are you sure he's a padin?" commented Mei, seeing Louis’ mess and taking a sip of her coffee.

  The Professor looked somewhat disappointed, but a memory came to him. "Yes... Apparently, in his kingdom they don't have technology like this, and that's why he's so curious, although he's usually very serious."

  "I'm sorry, Professor... I'll pay for what I broke."

  "It's okay, I'll pay, but don't touch things."

  "Well, I have the list here," Mei pced a holographic device on the table. "Apparently, these three are highly wanted, especially the one in the war armor." The device dispyed the information of the thieves when touched.

  "How do they have such amazing things in this kingdom?!" he shouted excitedly upon seeing the device. "Huh? I... I'm sorry, continue."

  "Don't worry, just be yourself, it's better that way," she said with a gentle smile, touching Louis' head.

  "Hey, don't encourage him 'sigh' So, do you know where they are?" she asked as the waiter pced the bill on the table.

  "Xitri already found them with her cameras, so all that's left is for you to pay the bill," she replied, smiling and finishing her cake.

  "What? How many cakes did you eat?!" he shouted, surprised and annoyed at the total on the bill.

  "One. I donated the rest to the orphanage. Oh come on, don't be like that. Your thieves are at the end of East Street, in a bar," Mei took the holographic device and stood up from the table.

  Suddenly, another device rang. "Hello?... Wow, thank you! Xitri says they're negotiating your box," Mei teased him with a smile on her face.

  "Great, the worst part is my project benefits you and you charge me for it," he replied while paying the bill.

  "Come on, we'll go in my car," Mei walked toward the exit.

  Mei's car was silver-colored and looked very modern and slightly futuristic. Mei got into her car and waited for Louis and Professor Maxwell to get in as well.

  "Whoa! This is even more amazing than the one we used to get here," said Louis, surprised as he looked inside.

  "It is. Well, shall we?" Mei started the car and the moment Louis and the Professor were in, she began to drive at full speed to get there as quickly as possible.

  "Mei, slow down!" The professor adjusted his seatbelt and held onto his seat.

  "This is amazing!" Louis was thrilled, sticking his head out the window.

  "Is this what you talked about, Master Rei?" he whispered, while looking at all the cars and people everywhere. His eyes sparkled at how colorful and beautiful the kingdom was.

  After a few minutes’ ride (which only Louis and Mei enjoyed), they arrived at their destination.

  "Alright, we're here," Mei turned off the car and got out.

  "Next time I'll take a separate car. How do they even let you drive like that?" he asked, annoyed and a little dizzy, struggling to get out of the car.

  "Are you an old grump now? Come on, we have to go in before they sell your blueprints," Mei responded, taking on a more serious tone and pulling a golden scimitar from her trunk, which looked more like a small, cozy room.

  "Cra, wake up, it's time to work," Mei said to her scimitar.

  A golden flying orb came out of the scimitar and nded on Mei’s shoulder, and the scimitar turned pink.

  "Miss Mei has a fairy! That's amazing, it's not easy to befriend one."

  "Her name is Cra. Louis, Cra. Cra, Louis," she said kindly, and Cra flew close to Louis' face to greet him. "Well, it's time, get ready," Mei headed toward the bar with Cra on her right shoulder.

  Mei kicked the bar’s door, catching everyone's attention. "Good afternoon, gentlemen. Pa... Ahem... Private detective Mei. Everyone may leave this pce, except the three at the bar and the idiot next to them."

  Everyone began to leave the bar.

  "Hey, pay first, you shameless people! You made me lose a lot of money, now you're paying everyone’s tabs," argued the furious bar owner as he approached Mei.

  Mei smiled upon hearing the man. "Here, I'm buying the whole bar," she handed a silver bill to the owner.

  "Huh? Impossible... A silver bill from a padin..." said the owner, surprised. "Is it true? You're Padin Mei Teews. I'd never seen you in person, I'm so sorry, I'm leaving now," he continued, now cheerful, shouting: "I won’t have to work anymore!"

  "Padin? Hahaha, I wasn’t expecting this," mentioned Kein with his robotic voice, getting up from his seat.

  "Don’t let her intimidate you, Kein, she's no longer a padin," said a confident thin man with white hair and an elegant suit. "Huh? Maxwell!"

  "Jamiel, you damn scum! I knew you were jealous of me after I won that award," shouted the Professor angrily, pointing at him with his mechanical hand.

  "Die! You bribed the judges!" Jamiel replied furiously, pointing back at him with his hand as well.

  Kein smmed the bar table with a punch and then got up from the chair. "Silence, old geezers! So this is worth even more than what you were going to give us."

  "Ah... Well... Maybe a little more," replied Jamiel, scared and surprised by Kein's action.

  "Brothers... First, we deal with the so-called padin or ex-padin," he said mockingly as his brothers got up from their seats.

  "I’ll make you eat your words after I rip off that suit," Mei unsheathed her scimitar and unched an attack directly at Kein.

  But Jhin countered her attack with expulsion magic from his sword that threw her back. Then the eagle grabbed her and began carrying her through the air before smming her hard to the ground.

  Inock approached to attack the Professor, but Louis blocked the attack and kicked him in the chest, sending him through the bar wall. Kein caught Louis by surprise and started flying with his suit, grabbing him by the arm and ascending rapidly.

  "Let go of me!" shouted Louis, heating up his arms.

  Kein’s armor began to glow red. "[Sudden temperature rise] What?" he said, surprised by the increase in temperature in his armor. Kein let go of Louis, and he began to fall.

  "Damn, I need to grab onto something," he thought while falling. Louis stabbed his katana into a house wall, then removed it to nd safely.

  "Kid, I think it’s better if you go back home!" shouted Kein before crashing where Louis stood.

  Louis tried to dodge, but the impact hit him and threw him far. The ground cracked, and because of the impact, many people panicked and began to flee. In the car zone, everyone turned around, leaving the area.

  The Professor came out of the bar. "Louis, are you okay?."

  "Yeah, I'm fine..." he answered as he got up from the ground.

  "Don't get distracted, old man!" shouted Jhin from behind the Professor.

  Suddenly, the eagle nded on Jhin, preventing the attack on the Professor. The Professor stepped back from Jhin and began charging his arm with energy.

  Kein ran toward Louis, drawing a sword from his arm.

  "Rubel? What happened to you, buddy?" Jhin removed the eagle from on top of him and tried to wake it.

  "Wretch, you’ll pay for this!" said Inock furiously, seeing the eagle.

  Mei entered the bar at high speed and began attacking Inock with her scimitar. She had all the advantage, but Jhin tried to strike her from behind. However, Cra blocked the attack. Mei stepped back, and Cra merged with the scimitar, turning it golden.

  Jhin and Inock tried to corner Mei, but she easily defeated them both.

  "Golden Ssh!" Mei unched a golden circle from her sword. Both brothers tried to stop it, but it exploded, and they crashed into several bar tables.

  "What's the matter? Not even the two of you with those swords can beat me?" said Mei as she looked at them on the ground.

  "Wretch!" Inock got up from the ground.

  "We can, brother," added Jhin, also getting up.

  Meanwhile, Louis and Kein continued fighting, exchanging blows with their swords.

  "Hey kid, why don’t you give up? I’ll give you part of the blueprints. Honestly, I feel bad finishing you off," they cshed swords, creating the sound of metal striking metal.

  "Shut up!" shouted Louis, heating his katana red-hot and cutting through Kein's sword.

  "Incredible... He heated his katana in such a short time. He must’ve trained a lot with his magic," thought Kein as he saw the glowing katana.

  Kein tried to hit Louis with his metal fists, which, when dodged by Louis, shattered the ground, leaving holes in it.

  "What's wrong? fight!", Louis tried to cut his chest with his katana, but Kein grabbed his arm and punched him in the stomach, sending him flying and crashing through the wall of a house.

  "Waste of time", Kein headed toward the bar, but the Professor shot him with his mechanical arm and began to discharge electricity that managed to stop him.

  "Old man... This won't work!", furious, Kein managed to withstand the discharge. He rushed toward the professor and tore off his mechanical arm.

  "Damn...", the Professor fell to the ground while holding his arm with his left hand.

  "You shouldn't have gotten involved in this, old man", Kein threw the professor's arm to the ground.

  Then, a rge explosion with many golden sshes blew off the entire roof of the bar, raising some dust.

  "What the hell?! Brothers! Are you okay?", Kein ran toward the bar, quite worried about his brothers.

  A hand touched Kein's shoulder and then shattered his armor.

  "[Sudden overheating! Right arm deactivation]", Kein's right arm disassembled from his body, exposing the skin of his arm.

  "You... How are you conscious?" Surprised, he stepped back and pointed with his left arm.

  Louis ran toward Kein, who backed away while shooting with his arm. Louis dodged the attacks easily, until Mei's scimitar, flying at full speed, struck Kein's head, distracting him.

  Taking advantage of the opportunity, Louis threw a direct punch to Kein's chest with his va-covered hand. Kein's armor fully deactivated and he was blown out backwards, crashing to the ground.

  "It's over" Louis w

  atched Kein on the ground while his red eye glowed faintly.

  "It's not over until you kill me!", shouted Kein, furious, pointing a gun.

  The gun was cut by the scimitar, and Professor Maxwell pointed at Kein with his mechanical arm, holding him with his left hand. Mei made the scimitar rest against Kein’s face.

  "Damn you all...", Kein was interrupted as he was struck in the head with the scimitar’s hilt.

  "Miss Mei... How can you do that?", said Louis, surprised to see Mei controlling the scimitar with her hands.

  "Thanks to my connection with Cra, I can do this... Are you okay, Jonathan?", Mei turned her gaze to Professor Maxwell’s torn-off mechanical arm.

  "I'm fine... And stop calling me Jonathan!", replied the Professor, annoyed.

  "Okay, okay, here, Louis, carry the box", Mei handed the box to Louis and returned to the bar.

  After a while, a group of knights arrived at the pce, and Mei was talking with them.

  "Professor, I'm sorry I didn’t protect you", said Louis, looking at the Professor sitting in Mei's car, attaching his arm back.

  "Don't worry, I'm fine, it's just metal... And you? Are you okay, Louis? You took a pretty hard hit", the Professor was fixing his arm as he spoke.

  "Yes, I'm fine, but...".

  "But?".

  "No, nothing, Professor", Louis tried to hide the guilt he felt, turning his back.

  "Listen, in a fight anything can happen, didn’t they teach you that?", the Professor understood how he felt, but found it odd for a padin to act that way.

  "Yes, but... I'm a padin, I could’ve done better", Louis clenched his fists, his face showing disappointment.

  "You're too hard on yourself, even Mei couldn’t stop this from happening to me, and she has more years of experience than you. We're all okay, and that’s what matters", the professor stood up and pced his hand on Louis’ shoulder.

  "And remember, don’t tell the Count anything!", shouted Mei, approaching the car while looking at the knights. "Want me to give you a ride?"

  "No, you drive like a maniac", the Professor replied instantly.

  "I do want to!" Louis was excited to ride in Mei’s car again.

  "I’ll go slowly, don’t worry. I was driving like that before because it was an emergency. So, are your blueprints in there?"

  "Yes, they’re there... And Jamiel?".

  "I tied him to a chair when I saw him trying to escape with the box", replied Mei in her sweet and soft voice.

  "You're always the same", said the Professor, noticing the way she said it.

  "Well, I’ll drop you off at your house. I have to go to the PT agency" Mei got into the car and started it.

  "Agency?", thought Louis.

  Mei drove Professor Maxwell and Louis back home.

  "Thank you very much for everything, Mei", said the Professor with a slight smile on his face while carrying the blueprints.

  "Thank you, Miss Mei", Louis bowed his head respectfully.

  "You're welcome. Let me know if anything comes up!" Mei left the pce at high speed and the professor and Louis headed to the house.

  "Hanks! Open the door and deactivate the shield", he shouted at the entrance.

  "Shield? I don’t see anything" Louis looked for the shield, moving his head from side to side.

  "It’s invisible...", hinted the Professor.

  "Professor, how did it go?", Hanks opened the door, letting them in.

  "All good, thank God", replied the Professor, entering the house.

  "God...", whispered Louis, remembering something.

  "Well, I’m going to the b to fully repair my arm", he added while going up the stairs.

  "Did they damage it?", asked Hanks, barely noticing any damage to the arm.

  "A bit, but it’s almost fixed. Louis, go rest. Tomorrow there are many orders to deliver and, besides, I’d like to show you the whole kingdom so you don’t get lost, understood?"

  "Yes, Professor", replied Louis, then headed to his room.

  Louis entered his room, took off his coat, pced his katana beside the bed, and y down, staring at the ceiling. Then he looked at the sunset through the window and finally closed his eyes to sleep.

  End of chapter

  ? 2023–2025 Aarón René Porras Gutiérrez as RSKLEO. All rights reserved. This work is protected by copyright and other applicable ws. The reproduction, distribution, or public exhibition of this work, in whole or in part, is prohibited.