"Damn, all that happened on the other side?" Momo frowned, "Wish I was there."
"I figured you wouldn't want to have your eventual duel with Kajou so soon." Roko shrugged.
"That's true." Momo nodded, "I really want to beat her with your secret plan and once I mastered THAT spell."
"Well, this part of the operation was just meant to gather more information on Kajou so I can make a more detailed plan so think of it as research."
"Got it." Momo grinned, "Hey, Malus! You're not slacking off back there are you?!"
"I'm curling! What else do you want from me?!" Malus snapped as he continued lifting his weights.
"I told you dozens of times to lift them HIGHER than that!"
"This goddamn woman thinks she can boss me around..." Malus grumbled.
"Those were the conditions of your loss and you lost so get used to it." Momo shook her head, "Seriously, you complain so much..."
"It's my god given right to complain!"
"If you're so keen on complaining then maybe you need to be taught a lesson again. How about a rematch against Aranea?"
"Y-You think that scares me?!" Malus tried blustering as he glared down at the child next to Roko's feet.
Aranea hid behind Roko again but still bravely poked her head out and raised a ready fist as if to threaten Malus.
"Oh look at that, the small slave child has more guts than you do." Momo smirked, "She seems ready and willing. How about we have that rematch right now?"
"You keep that FREAK away from me!"
"THEN SHUT UP AND CURL HARDER!"
"Fricking insane woman..." Malus said, quieting down significantly.
"How's Malus' progress?" Roko asked.
"Well it's...progressing." Momo sighed, "As you can see, he's still pretty lazy about the whole thing. If I'm not around to light a fire under his ass then he probably wouldn't be training at all. But at least he's here and actually training."
"I see..." Roko nodded, "Do you need any help?"
"Nah, I've handled lazy soldiers before. You just leave him to me and focus on your next plan."
"Got it."
"Speaking of, what is your next plan?"
"Consolidating all the new information I got."
"What new information? I thought Kajou didn't add give any new information up."
"She did somewhat with her silence but that's not what I'm talking about."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, let's just say the goods you transported were maybe a bit more important than you think."
"Morning." Roko called as he arrived at one of the Earthbound base's supply storeroom, Aranea following behind him.
"Oh hey Roko." Melia looked up from her clipboard, "I've just been consolidating the resources we got last night. Pretty good haul for what your operation was."
"I admit that this is a bit more than even I expected." Roko said, raising the lid of a crate to check the contents, "I told them to prepare a single cart and fill it with as much resources they wanted. I didn't tell them what to put in or how much to add. They could add a single random item and they'd qualify to see their family, said family be willing. It's just a matter of how much they think seeing their family again is worth."
"Evidently a lot." Azimuth said as she appeared from around some boxes, "There's a few novel items we hadn't received before but most of it's what you'd expect. Pretty high quality stuff though. I figured you were going to take all this stuff back to M83."
"We already took a token amount of resources to supply the fort for now." Roko replied, "You're free to have all this if you want."
"How generous." Azimuth smirked, "I'm sure the chefs will appreciate some of the fancy new stuff they get to cook with now but if you need anymore resources we're still pretty well stocked. If anything, we're about to receive another resupply from one of our Muldingirmus partners so go crazy if you want."
"I might take you up on that offer." Roko nodded.
"By the way, Fort M83's done renovating now." Melia reported, "All the holes have been patched up and every room's been tidied up and dusted so it's finally in basic livable condition now."
"Finally." Roko sighed, "That took longer than I expected."
"Evidently, filling up holes in a stone castle isn't as easy as one may suspect." Melia chuckled, "I've opened up the floor for any rebels willing to cooperate with us to move into the base and claim a room. Naturally the captain's room in the top floor is all yours."
"I was just going to get a normal room..." Roko admitted.
"Don't be ridiculous. If you're not going to take the captain's room then who will?" Melia shook her head, "I know you're a humble guy Roko but there are limits."
"Where are you and the other princesses going to sleep?" Azimuth asked.
"There's a collection of higher tier rooms close to the captain's quarters that we've already claimed." Melia answered, "I for one am already moved in."
"Damn, I think I'm actually going to miss you guys once you're gone." Azimuth grinned.
"It's not like we'll be gone completely." Roko frowned, "Momo for one will probably be commuting regularly back to this base to train Malus and the other soldiers. The rest of us are probably going to poke our heads in pretty often. And people are free to visit either base whenever they want."
"Yeah but I'm going to miss finding you in a random corner reading some book or whatnot." Azimuth smirked.
"I might still do that." Roko scowled, "Especially now that I have to plan our next REAL operation."
"Do tell, what do you have in mind now?" Azimuth asked.
"We still don't have enough information on the format of Muldingirmus so it's back to reading for me."
"I think you've read everything we've had to offer already." Azimuth scoffed, "What's left to read?"
"That's why I got some new reading material." Roko said, reaching into the crate and rummaging around before pulling out a piece of paper.
"What's that?"
"It's a map of Muldingirmus."
"You managed to get a MAP?!" Azimuth cried, "We've been trying to get one for ages but nobody was willing to give us one!"
"If I had to guess the reason, they just didn't want to be bothered to find a map." Roko replied, "I mean, do you have a map of Mulapin ready at anytime in your own home?"
"I mean I live here basically but at my old personal home? Not really."
"Exactly." Roko nodded, "Same for those in Muldingirmus. They're not unwilling to give you a map, they just don't want to to bother with the effort of procuring one. I assume you just asked for one?"
"Well yeah. What's wrong with that?"
"Like I said, it's a minor inconvenience that most people wouldn't bother with. Not for free anyway. That's why while we did this special deal, I requested for a map among the things for them to give us. Among other things. And lo and behold, all they needed was a reason to get us one."
"Man, why do you always make it seem so easy?" Azimuth shook her head.
"To be fair, a map is such a simple ask that you probably never considered having to trade for one. But this is a very important asset to have in a rebellion."
"True, we've just been mostly relying on people who remember the format of that side of Mulapin before the wall was established." Azimuth said.
"What else did you get?" Melia asked.
"I asked for some toys for children." Roko said, rummaging through the crate again, "Maybe Aranea will be interested in some of them. Let's see what they got us."
Roko pulled out a kite.
"...Are they mocking us?" Azimuth frowned.
"Let's not assume the worst immediately." Melia chuckled slightly, "Look, they brought some toys for us too. Like this...action figure." Melia squinted as she looked around the box, "Of some cartoon guy or something."
"That is a limited edition Arfigure of Draconesis The Dragons Bane."
"HOLY!" Everyone jumped as they suddenly realized that Vespa was standing right behind them in his black leather outfit and wild black hair.
"That in particular is Draconesis' Golden Black Fang form that only appeared in his fifth movie, Draconesis and the Vampire Dragon. That movie was only screened once in theaters before it was recalled due to excessive violence and nudity."
"Nudity in a kid's show?" Melia frowned.
"It was meant for a teenage audience but the ratings system wasn't paying attention and just slapped it with the child friendly tag since it was how all the Draconesis movies were rated. The nudity is actually with male characters as the vampire dragon is female."
"I'm interested."
"Azimuth, please." Melia sighed.
"The vampire dragon would later become canonized and brought into the main story as an estranged possible love interest that could never happen." Vespa continued.
"Hey, I just realized, nobody asked..." Roko muttered.
"Can I have it?"
"Huh?" Melia blinked, "Oh, the figure?"
"Yes. It's a collector's piece worth several millions of gold to the right person."
"You plan on selling it?" Azimuth frowned.
"No, I'm going to add it to my collection."
"Well...alright..." Melia shrugged, "You can have it."
"Thanks." Vespa said as he took the toy in his hands and stared at it with childlike wonder.
"Are you sure your collection will be okay with that black dragon Aldeztroi running rampant in your body?" Roko asked sarcastically.
"My collection is stored away in a safe place away from even this base." Vespa answered, "Not even Aldeztroi can reach it and I only go there when I am sure the dragon is asleep."
"You know, I can't even tell if you're making this up anymore and that's worrying." Azimuth frowned.
"Draconesis is my savior." Vespa said, "His tales of slaying dragons is an inspiration for my own struggles."
"With Aldeztroi?"
"...Yes..."
"Can I ask you a question?" Roko spoke up, "Why did you join the rebellion?"
"...I wanted to be a hero."
"Just like Draconesis?" Azimuth asked.
"Yes." Vespa nodded, "I wanted to stop evil and save lives."
"Then why aren't you helping anymore?"
"...I'm...weak..."
"Weak?" Azimuth frowned, "You're one of our strongest members."
"Not strong enough. Therefore, weak."
"Don't say that, you can always get stronger." Melia said reassuringly.
"I will never be a hero." Vespa said, Melia's words seeming to have fallen short of his ears, "I will never be able to save anyone."
And with that, the lanky figure left the room clutching his precious collector's item.
"...Is that boy okay?" Melia asked.
"Honestly, I don't think any of our 'Planetary Stars' are." Azimuth shook her head.
The rest of the supplies were quickly recorded and Roko left not long after to study the map that he had acquired back at M83. It was an interesting read not because it was particularly detailed but because it was essentially a tourist's brochure, providing various sights and attractions that Muldingirmus had to offer. Not that there were a lot of places to have fun at since it seemed to be mostly factory tours or brand name stores of a lot of different businesses. If he wanted to attack them financially, he could just throw a rock down the street and whatever building it hit would probably be a business big enough to cause some economic damage if they destroyed it. But it wouldn't do any real damage to Sirius. He benefited from ALL the businesses. Attacking one would do little damage to his empire. Especially when he still had his own business ventures to survive off of. There were a few storehouses Roko could target, few business records he could destroy to set Sirius back but a definite, focused and direct attack against him...that would have to be an attack on his home, Min al Az'al.
"This map gives me a good idea of the area around Min al Az'al." Roko muttered, "But the blueprints of the home will be next level difficult to procure. If I knew more about Sirius' important business partners, I could have a chance of interrogating them for more information. Though those same people would also make for effective attack targets. Hm...I can worry about the methodology later. For now, I need some way to figure out more about Sirius' business. The Earthbounds don't seem to have much written knowledge about this...maybe Azimuth knows someone I can consult..."
A knock at the door interrupted Roko's thoughts as he looked up to see a small Aranea timidly open the door and walk up to him with a book.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
Aranea silently held the book out to him.
"What's this? A book about Ashanti folktales? Was this in the supplies we got last night?"
Aranea nodded.
"...Do you want me to read it to you?"
Aranea nodded again, more timidly.
"...Can...you not read or write by yourself?"
Aranea scrunched up a little defensively as she nodded again with worry.
"..." Roko sighed, "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you scared. Do you want to learn how to read and write? I can teach you."
Aranea looked up in surprise then started looking around as she thought the idea over in her head.
"I don't mind." Roko added, "Things will probably be slow for a while and I'll be staying at the base looking over this map more so I can fit some time in teaching you."
Aranea looked down, embarrassed and bashful but still managed a small nod.
"Alright." Roko nodded, "If you're not going to school, I can at least teach you something like this. We'll begin with letters. I've got some pencil and paper here so we can begin."
The next few days, Roko was left largely alone as he focused on breaking down the details of the map while teaching Aranea basic literacy. She learned pretty quickly, able to connect the sounds of the words she was able to speak to the letters she was being taught. She even developed her own cursive writing style which was a tad unusual though it did look very pretty. Once she was able to read about half of the folklore book she wanted to read, Roko decided it was time to get her some new reading material to expose her to new words. As well as consult Azimuth on the business partners of Sirius. But when he arrived back at the Earthbound's base for the first time in a long time, it was a very changed setting. Less people were walking around and everyone were wearing face masks as if there was a disease going around.
"Ah, Roko. Good thing I caught you early."
Azimuth walked up to Roko wearing her own face mask and handed Roko a mask of his own, "Take this. You too Aranea. Sorry but there's been a nasty virus going around the base. This is for everyone's safety."
"A virus?" Roko frowned as he put on his face mask.
"Oh yeah." Azimuth nodded, "A scary new strain of a virus known as Nessus. An old strain terrorized the people of Mulapin for several years back in the day. Disrupted our rebellion operations real good. We thought we had seen the last of it after it just kinda disappeared a year or two ago but it's back. Sorry but rebellion work will have to wait till we sort this out."
"I see." Roko nodded, "What can you tell me about this Nessus?"
"Go to the medical bay for more info." Azimuth sighed, "The doctor can tell you more and there's plenty of people suffering under the disease there for you to run some tests or whatever."
"I'll take a look. Thanks."
Heading over to the medical bay, Roko found his other companions already there helping to treat the patients.
"Hey."
"Hey, you're finally here." Helena said, smiling behind her mask, "Glad you could make it."
"We've just been helping with the treatment." Melia added, "Not much work on a cure but there's not much we can do to help with that anyway."
"You've been here the entire time?" Roko frowned, "Why didn't you tell me anything?"
"You were busy." Helena replied.
"I was busy teaching Aranea."
"Yeah. Busy finally spending time with your daughter."
"She's not-" Roko sighed again, "Whatever. How's everything looking?"
"Not good." Momo said, coming out from behind the blinds of one of the hospital beds, "Things started out minor but they're getting worse pretty quickly with no signs of getting better."
"Momo? What happened to training Malus?"
"Take a look." Momo smirked as she pointed to the bed she just came from.
And sure enough, Malus was lying there, sheets partially thrown off his body as he moaned pitifully.
"Damn, look at you now." Roko smirked.
"Don't you pretend like you've never been sick before." Malus scowled, "Have you no sympathy for the dying?"
"As someone who was very sick myself once I can relate." Roko crossed his arms, "Still doesn't make it any less amusing to see you sprawled here."
"You..." Malus coughed, "Bastard. This is why you don't have any friends."
"At least I don't pay people to sing praises for me."
"Go *cough* yourself."
"Ahaha, you have to admit you brought this upon yourself somewhat, Malus."
"Hirudo!" Roko said as the sickly swordsman drew back his blinds, "You're okay?!"
"Indeed!" Hirudo coughed, "Well, okay is a relative term. Seems the Nessus has not yet infected me. Maybe the cocktail of illnesses in my body has made it inhospitable for anything else to infect me."
"We're not doing well either." Melia added, "I mean, we've been trying to help out so it's no wonder we're getting sick but it's still not great."
"Yeah, I'm using reinforcement magic to give us a bit of a boost so we can all help out." Momo nodded grimly, "But I dunno, if I stop using it, we might just be as bedridden as the rest of them."
"How's the work on a cure?" Roko asked.
"They're trying." Helena shrugged, "That's the best we can say. Not like we understand all the medical jargon to understand or help with anything."
"Got it." Roko nodded, "I'll take a look at their work later."
"I didn't know you were a doctor." Melia smirked.
"I don't know how much I can help out but I also can't just not do anything."
"Everything's in good hands with you." Helena gave a tired thumbs up, "As long as you don't get sick as well."
"Even then, this probably won't be much compared to the time he got mana poisoning." Momo smiled.
"Ooo, what if we get smiley Roko again?" Helena grinned.
"Never again. It's never going to happen." Roko scowled.
"We'll see." Helena winked, "Anyway, it's about time to grab lunch for everyone here so we're about to take our lunch break as well. Wanna come join us?"
"Sure. I need more information about the recent events anyway."
"We'll do our best though there's not much interesting to say."
Entering the Earthbound's dining hall, Roko could see a few people in remote groups eating their meal slowly with a grim look on their face. Half eaten meals laid scattered around the tables, abandoned by their consumers.
"Yeah, people have been collapsing while eating sometimes." Helena explained when Roko remarked on his observations, "And some healthier people just don't feel well enough to finish their meal. It's not a good time right now."
"Here you guys go." Momo put down some simple meat and vegetable soup that Roko was used to eating now in the Earthbound's base, "I'll grab some food for the rest of us after I take a little break."
"Get well soon..." Roko said, unsure of what else to say as Momo collapsed on the table.
Roko and Aranea picked up their spoons and were about to eat when Roko's eyes were drawn back to the food that were left around everywhere. This detail nagged at him as something strange so he locked eyes with one of the half eaten dishes and used Analyze on it. When the surprising results came in, Roko looked down at his food as well and used Analyze on it as well.
"Don't eat the food." Roko said, quickly putting a hand between Aranea and her spoon before she could take her first sip.
"Why? Food's not to your taste?" Momo asked tiredly.
"Melia, have you finished categorizing the latest food supplies that the Earthbounds received?"
"Yeah, that was a long time ago." Melia frowned, "Why?"
"Are the supplies separated by shipment batches?"
"No? I mean, maybe some are but most people just threw the apples in with the apples. Why, what's wrong?"
"Nessus isn't a sickness." Roko replied, "It's a poison."