NOVEL NEXT Chapter 357: Missed Calls?
[Next Morning]
{8 am}
Lillian stared at her phone with a frightened expression, her lips shaky, for there were exactly 10 missed calls from a certain Assassin.
She had completely forgotten to give Marionette a call yesterday!
Viesta, who had woken up not long after, found Lillian clutching both sides of her head with a look of despair. She raised an eyebrow, but smiled nonetheless, believing it must be something casual.
"Quite the expression for such an early day, Lillian. What? Forgot to doing something important yesterday, eh?"
Lillian creakingly turned to the woman, her eyes trembling. She then twisted around and face planted into her pillow, letting out moans of regret as she cursed her forgetful memory.
She soon sat up and called the Assassin.
And right as she pressed the button—
Click.
—The call was immediately picked up, startling her.
Right as she was about to say hello, Marionette's voice shot out from the phone—her voice stoic.
"Good morning, Lillian. Have you recovered from your hangover?"
Lillian, sensing the lack of coldness in the woman's voice, sighed in relief. Perhaps the Assassin wasn't upset that she had missed her calls.
"I-I have. How was your trip? Have you reached your estate yet?"
"... I have. I'm now in my room..."
Marionette then went silent for a moment before asking in a cold and scolding voice:
"Why didn't you call me yesterday? And how come you didn't pick up my calls?"
Lillian froze, feeling goosebumps appear on her arms at the chilling tone the Assassin adopted. The woman was definitely mad at her.
Her smile turned crooked, and her face twitched a bit as she thought of a reply to the Assassin's question. Perhaps she could just be truthful.
"W-well... I kind of forgot when I fell asleep. Hehehe~" Lillian gave an embarrassed giggle as she rubbed the back of her head.
"..."
Lillian continued to stare down at the call, wondering and fearing why Marionette had gone silent all of a sudden. But that was when she found the call had shifted.
It was now asking her to accept a FaceTime call.
"Why did you decline?"
Lillian, having just instantly declined the FaceTime, began to ponder a reason why. She couldn't just say that she had taken a train to a town outside the city and was now staying in a hotel, right?
And not only that, but she was also staying with somebody that the Assassin hadn't met yet.
Pulling the phone to her ear, she began to mutter out jumbled words with a stuttering voice, hoping to get something out that made sense:
"I-I, uh... W-well you see, I look like I mess, right now! Yeah, so, uhm... You don't want to see a messy me, right?"
Hearing what she had just said, she couldn't help but puff out her chest at such an excuse.
However, what she heard next caused her to blush uncontrollably.
"... I'm fine with a messy you. I'm sure you'll look attractive, regardless, Lillian."
Lillian fell back onto her bed, slamming her face into a pillow as she flailed her legs up and down out of embarrassment. She let out a high-squeak moan at the loving compliment.
Shooting back up to her knees, she stared at her phone and opened her mouth. However, right as she was about to, Viesta exited the bathroom and called out her name.
"Oi, Lillian. The bathroom is ready for you to use now."
Lillian froze in place, staring at the woman with a darkened face. She then slowly turned her eyes down to her face and heard a voice that was once filled with warmth, now empty of it.
"... Who's with you, Lillian?"
"J-just a friend! A-anyway, gotta go, bye I love you, Mari! Talk to you later, okay?"
Click.
***
Inside a minimalistic room, Marionette laid on a large king-sized bed with a long black nightgown that hugged her curves in a sensual way. And currently, she was staring at the screen of her phone.
She then narrowed her eyes, staring at the notification that the call was cut off. A dark glint flashed through her pupils as she read it.
"... Did she just hang up on me?"
...
After a moment, she let out a small sigh as she placed her phone on the bedside table. Then, she turned in her bed and was face-to-face with a large stuffed rabbit plush.
Her eyes drifted over its white fur and ears before glancing down at its chest, finding a white hoodie worn over it—a piece of clothing she had "borrowed" from Lillian.
She raised a hand and began to play with its paw.
"I have only just left, and she's already with someone else..."
Wrapping her arms around the plushy, she breathed in the familiar scent and murmured:
"Something better not happen..."
***
Lillian watched the TV, specifically the news channel. Apparently, there was an attack last night at the tunnel that she and Viesta had passed through, with only 1 out of 12 workers surviving.
Viesta, watching this as well, shivered, "Yikes! We sure are lucky we made it out in time." She then gently elbowed Lillian, "You sure are lucky!"
Lillian gave a wry smile, rubbing the back of her head, "Yeah... I guess I am. Anyway, do you think we will be leaving today?"
"Hm? Well, if what I wanted is finally done, then yeah. Why? Do you have something you want made here as well?"
Lillian shook her head, "Nah. I'm quite good on Items right now."
Viesta nodded and pulled out a laptop from her spatial ring, "I'm probably going to send Beatrice an email or two. I might be here for a while, so you can explore the town, if you'd like. Thanks for paying for the hotel, by the way."
"No problem."
After bidding the brown-haired woman goodbye, she left, but only telling her where she was going. She was intending to go check out the mines today.
Once she left her room and wandered down the corridor, a door swung open. As she stepped back and avoided getting smacked on the nose, she raised an eyebrow.
She then widened her eyes.
"Millis?"
The Heroine, stepping out from her room, glanced at Lillian. Her eyes then lit up immediately, "Oooh! Fancy meeting ya here, bestie! Whatcha up to?"
"I'm thinking of heading out into town, you?"
"Just about the same as well, bud. Hey, how about we go together, eh~?"
Millis walked around to Lillian's side and wrapped an arm around the girl's neck, bringing her in.
Lillian rolled her eyes casually and nodded with a smile. As they left the hotel, they quickly made their way over to the mines, which was also Millis's destination.
Lillian looked around, finding the entire mining site to be equipped with machines and miners walking around with tools in their hands.
"You want to work as a miner?" Lillian asked with a raised eyebrow.
Millis shrugged, "I heard these guys get a lot of money. Plus! With my earth magic, it'll be a lot easier!"
"I guess that sounds logical..." Lillian scratched the back of her scalp.
Lillian looked towards the dark mines and began plotting. If the monster were truly going here, it would most likely search for an area with high mineral content to feed on.
The two of them were then approached by a tall man in a hard hat, who looked at them with confusion. Lillian recognised this man to be the manager of the site.
"Are you ladies lost? Or have you come to take a look at how we work?"
Right as Millis was about to answer, Lillian answered:
"We were wondering if you'll take on two female workers."
The man then tilted his head, raising an eyebrow before shaking his head, "Sorry, but we can't possibly accept women for this type of work. We are also not hiring—"
Millis chimed in.
"We study at Louis Mana Academy and are currently on break. We're just looking for some place to work as interns, ya know? Just to get some work experience."
The manager went silent before squinting at them suspiciously. "And how would I know you guys are not lying?"
Lillian and Millis glanced at each other before pulling out their student IDs, which didn't convince the man.
"Alright. You two got IDs. Now how do I know they weren't forged?"
Millis facepalmed, "You can look on the academy's website. They posted videos of the recent tournament, right? We both participated in it."
Hearing this, the manager pulled out his phone and went to the website like she said and watched the video. After a bit, he gave a low hum as he skipped through most of it.
He glanced at Lillian and nodded, "So, you are definitely a student." He then turned to Millis, "I don't know about you, miss."
"I'm in the match after that!"
Seeing how Millis reacted, the manager sighed, now convinced. "So, you two are mages, then I presume? Lucky..."
Shaking his head, he stated:
"Well, anyway, I guess if you guys wanna be studious and receive some elbow grease experience, could you two first tell me what magic you specialise in?"
After Millis talked about her earth magic and got a definite confirmation, he turned to Lillian, who gave an uncertain answer:
"I... Can give them drinking water when they're thirsty...?"
"..."
The manager scratched the side of his face before asking, "Well... I guess they do get thirsty down there."
He then pointed back with his thumb, gesturing towards a mining shed before stating...