Chapter 140: Insomnia has Fallen

At Insomnia, the capital of the kingdom of Lucis. There were four young men that were ordered by the king to depart and go to Altissia, a semi independent state where the prince and the oracle were to be wed. The kingdom has been at war with the Niflheim empire for a long time. And the union is one of the terms in the incoming treaty.

"Noctis... Keep your head high, walk tall. You are the heir apparent. Noctis Lucis Caelum. Wherever you are in this world, you are the heir of the kingdom of Lucis." The king, Regis Lucis Caelum smiled at his son meaningfully. But the young prince did not notice nor think much of it.

"Dad, it will be fine." Noctis, a black haired young man brushed his old man's worries. "Here, take this. It's my favorite, take good care of it." Regis smiled at his son as he gave him some keys.

"The keys for the Regalia?" Noctis looked at him with a raised brow, it was the king's personal car. A stylish convertible with suicide doors.

"It will aid you in your journey, good luck... Son." Regis gave him a determined look. The aged king giving one last trinket to him before he is sent away and marries Lunafreya Nox Fleuret. Noctis' childhood friend from the empire.

"We will take care of him your majesty." A burly guy who looked quite strong bowed deeply. "Umu, I know that you three will take care of him. You have been together since I can remember after all." Regis nodded at them.

"Don't worry your majesty!" A blonde smiled and he had a warm air on him. "It shall be done your majesty, Noctis will arrive in Tenebrae without any problems." A bespectacled gentleman fixed his glasses and had an air of a veteran butler.

"Come on, Gladiolus, Prompto, Ignis, we're burning daylight." Noctis patted them on the back and got embarrassed a bit by his friends being all formal.

The group of four walked away from the palace in Insomnia and he closed his eyes, smiling at them. "Godspeed boys, you are the next generation that will bring greatness to Lucis." His advisor then walked up to him.

"Your majesty, the diplomats who will be discussing the peace treaty will arrive soon." Regis nodded at him and they returned to the palace. "Then let's do our best for the youngsters."

__

At hammerhead, the girls were eating some of the classic american breakfast. "The waffle house has found its new host." Ramiel looked at the indulgent meal of waffles drizzled with honey or maple syrup, a side of scrambled eggs with the iconic curds from a diner, and some good old greasy as fuck, breaded fried chicken.

"I don't know why, but even though it isn't supposed to taste great. It's kinda good..." Erina looked at it with scrutiny and she couldn't understand. "Hmm, you're right. Are the people here really that skilled, Ramiel? They should have good skills in order to make these mundane crap to taste good."

Rindou tore through her chicken and was stuffing waffles in her gullet. With their metabolism and bodies essentially changing because of Ramiel's Mako infusion, they turned into voracious eaters.

"Un, and I feel kind of stronger after eating this. It's slight, but I feel a little improvement." Ikumi was eating her drumstick and noticed that after she started eating, the food gave her a buff.

"This world's weird, do they cook with magic here? Is that what you're doing too back home?" Alice looked at him and thought it was the reason that their cooking is so damned good.

"We don't, it's pure skill. Because if we feed you some food that's prepared with magic. You'll surely separate from your soul." Ramiel explained and was thankful that they weren't moaning and groaning upon eating food anymore due to having resistance upon eating their cuisine.

"So, what's next in our itinerary?" Erina asked as she chewed on her waffle, looking like a squirrel. He pinched her cheek and thought about it. "Noctis and the others will arrive here soon. But that's just no fun, waiting around."

He got an idea and he supposed that it would be pretty nice to have a car and drive around Lucis or the territories of Niflheim. Maybe look at Shiva's fake corpse or something.

"How about you girls accept some missions here, they have a board right there that has some missions." Ramiel pointed at a clipboard and there were tasks there to earn some gil.

Ramiel had all of their funds, and if they don't work for some cash. They would be penniless, he won't cough up cash for them after all. They need to work for it.

"Mission? Is this diner a guild or something? Is there a system like that here!?" Erina's eyes shone and the guy at the counter laughed at her.

"A guild? This is just a regular diner girl, places like these just accept some missions to help the community. And wanderers like you are able to take it, but aren't you people from the city? You don't look like you should fight." The man eyed them and thought they were frail rich girls.

Which was true just earlier, now. They're clumsy superhumans that are like Kara Zor-El. They can accidentally take off a guy's head off with a casual punch to the face.

Erina got depressed and thought they would be registering as adventurers or something. It's a desire of hers to be an S-class adventurer and be known throughout the world.

"Don't underestimate us uncle! We fought a behemoth before we got here, that's why we are so hungry. Damned thing hits hard." Rindou pointed her chicken bone at him.

The man just shrugged and thought they were bragging, armies are needed to take down a behemoth after all. "Whatever you say girlies."

"Ramiel! Let's go on a trip and get tons of money!" Alice was a rich girl, so she wanted to spend tons in shopping later.

"Good idea, we also need money in order to stay in hotels." Ikumi nodded thoughtfully. "Oh, you girls go. I'm going to build something here in hammerhead." Ramiel smiled at them and Alice quickly pulled them to the clipboard.

They quickly looked at the requests and there was a quest to take down some local wildlife that can damage civilians. "A group of flans and gelatin are spotted? What the... Are they seriously calling monsters that?" Alice got interested at a hunting mission.

"Don't be fooled, those guys are like nasty slimes. Black flans can even use dark magic and poison." The man at the counter shouted at them.

"So they're the beginner enemies then?" Erina got excited, it was the adventurer's quintessential first enemy in their quest to be strong.

"Then let's take it, I bet these things won't be as dangerous as behemoths." Ikumi tore off the paper and they told the guy that they'll take them down.

"Ramiel, we'll be going out for a moment!" Rindou waved at him and they took a map to locate where the sightings were.

"Break a leg!" Ramiel waved at them and he stood up. "Now, let's build a car shall we? Take it easy for now before things start to pick up." Ramiel nodded and was still thinking of what to change or sabotage.

Finding Cindy, he waved at her while she was fixing some cars. She was the lead mechanic at hammerhead after all. "Yo, Cindy. I have a proposal." He smiled at her and Cindy wiped some sweat from her brow, her nose having a bit of grease on her nose.

"Well, what're you up to handsome?" Cindy was curious. "I want to build a car from the ground up, want to help me? I've got some materials too, it'll be pretty cool." Ramiel took out a blueprint that he just thought of earlier.

She raised a brow and took the blueprint, giving it a once over. "Well, lookie here. You've thought this through really well! It's a pretty advanced car you want here..." Cindy got engrossed at the blueprint.

Ramiel wanted to make a car like the batmobile after all. It had repulsors on the back, machine guns in front. Some micro rockets at the sides like Samus' power suit. Cindy has never seen anything like it before.

"So, what do you say? It's pretty interesting right?" He put an arm on her shoulder and smiled, looking at his blueprint alongside her.

"I'll be, if I don't accept this. My grandpa will make sure I'll yee my last haw. Of course I'd accept, but shucks. Are you sure you want me in on this? I'm gonna learn a lot from this. And I have a feeling you don't need the help." Cindy understood some of it, but it was basically alien.

With Machina parts and a Mako hybrid engine that can run on high octane fuel as its substitute. She was sure that she'll benefit from trying to build it with him.

"Well, it's much more fun with a companion right? My friends are going on a hunting trip to take care of some flans and they're bonafide chefs. They might get interested at the finished product, but building it? Not in a million years they'll be interested in it." Ramiel laughed and Cindy nodded.

"Then let's shake on it, you won't hassle me for some money or something later?" She raised a brow and he waved his hand nonchalantly. "Like we need some, they're just doing quests for some pocket money."

"We have a deal then, handsome. Using the tools here in the workshop will be free. I can't take cash from you for this project. So, what're you waiting for? Let's start on it!" Cindy was excited as it's the biggest thing she'll work on.

"I like your enthusiasm, maybe I'll show you something much cooler later if you think you can handle working with this." Ramiel smiled at her and he took out some blocks of metal and tons of circuits.

"Woah... Spatial magic? You some kind of royal guard and those ladies are from another continent that are high nobles?" Cindy was surprised as those who can use those kinds of magic are like a needle in a haystack.

"Ahh, them? They're pretty normal yeah. I'm the one who's special~" He winked at her and Cindy pouted at him. "Keep your secrets then." Ramiel laughed at her cute pout and they started with the engine because it was the most complicated.

After a few hours, Cindy was sitting on a stool and she was exhausted. "What in tarnation, you're like a bull Ramiel. How in the hell can you keep on working while lifting that heavy engine?" She stared at him in awe as he was carrying the engine with a pulley and only used mundane tools to work on it.

"Now that you mention it, they should be back by now. And this is gonna go nowhere, we have no specialized equipment here in your workshop." By hindsight, he already knew it. But he didn't expect it would go so poorly.

He procured some gloves inside of his inventory and gave a pair to Cindy. It was a Mako powered multi purpose power tool that engineers would have wet dreams of. It can weld, cut, solder, test electric components, etc.

She stared at it and the sleek design with glowing azure circuitry intrigued her. "What's this? Some kind of magic instrument?" Cindy checked it out and she got surprised when it suddenly tig welded a metal table after she put her hand on it.

With a chuckle, he poked her on the forehead and she understood what it can do. "Woah... This thing is simply amazing. Can I really keep this?" Cindy stared at it with quivering eyes, it was too valuable.

"Why would I give it to you if I wasn't? Keep it, as thanks for giving us a ride earlier." Ramiel patted her head and she raised a brow at him.

"Ya treating me like a kid? I'll have to say, I'm 26 ya know? Unlike those girlies with you from earlier, I'm a grown ass woman." She huffed at him and he snorted. "Then I'm still older than you, call me big bro." He laughed and they messed around with her new tool before the others returned.

And after a few minutes, the four returned with excitement. "Hey! Ramiel! Those flans that were in the mission really were slimes! Thought they have faces on them, it was kind of disgusting honestly." Rindou frowned when she remembered what it looked like.

Ikumi then showed him a picture of what it looked like and it was like a muk. But its eyes were pure red, having beady red eyes. "It was disgusting alright, it tried to spit some foul crap on me!" Ikumi glared at the ground and she remembered smashing it with a rock.

"Hehehe~ we completed our first quest! Ahem... I mean, the monsters here are interesting." Erina was really pleased with what they did, but she noticed her enthusiasm and toned it down.

"I have a question though, are some of the monsters here edible? I think they'd be pretty good ingredients if so!" Alice thought of cooking the things they kill in order to expand their repertoire of cuisine.

"I see that you enjoyed yourselves, hmmm. How about we catch some chocobos and ride them? I'll show you what they look like." Ramiel showed them his chocobo from Midgar and they cooed when they saw it.

"What is this cute thing? And we can ride it?" Erina's voice quivered and she thought his armored chocobo is both cool and cute.

"Maybe later, we'll have to rest first. It's almost sundown." Ramiel looked at the horizon and the sun was setting. Night is near and hordes of demons will be roaming around where there's no strong sources of light.

"Listen to Ramiel girlies, or you'll be toast. Demons spawn at night, they're vicious... Lost my parents to them when they were driving while it was night time." Cindy warned them seriously and they were surprised.

"Demons? Then does hammerhead has a guard or something?" Ikumi asked as she can't see anyone that looked like a guard retinue for the station and workshop.

"Nope, we have some strong light sources here. The demons really hate it and they can't go near light at all." Cindy pointed at some flood lights that they were about to activate.

"Cindy, is there something here where we can spend the night?" Ramiel asked and she nodded. "There's a little motel here too, you can stay there. Don't go out at night ya hear me?" She furrowed her brows and they nodded.

"We won't thanks for worrying." He smiled at her and she nodded. "Good, see ya tomorrow. It'd be a shame if you gon' and died right out there." Cindy raised her cap and went back to her house with her grandpa.

"So, you guys heard. You're pretty strong right now, but honestly. Those things can cause you some serious damage. They're hauling huge ass machetes, and their bodies are made of metal." Ramiel expounded on the common demons that marched around at night.

He didn't tell them that they're basically invulnerable because they'd be stupid and run towards enemies like a madman. It won't do for them to be suicidal maniacs just because they can.

"Then let's go and take refuge then?" Erina agreed in resting for now. And it was a pretty big day anyways, they were running around for hours and hunted some monsters. None of them can navigate with a map reliably.

The girls shared a room and Ramiel was resting on his bed comfortably, communicating with the ones back in Midgar. Because it has been quite some time now.

"Yo, Angeal, Genesis. How are you guys doing?" Ramiel contacted them abruptly and the two were quiet for a moment.

They ignored him for a solid minute and Ramiel furrowed his brows. "Hey, what's the big idea? Is it because you guys are the protectors of Midgar now is it?" He teased them and they snorted.

"Fuck you is what, you didn't contact us for a long time. We were waiting for you to tell us how you were doing. Alexandra just told us you were alive." Angeal scowled and Genesis hissed at him.

"Ahhh, sorry about that. I got too many people to keep busy here, you'd understand when you guys get some girlfriends, I honestly forgot." Ramiel laughed at them and they choked on their saliva.

"Bastard, you're just rubbing it in eh?" Genesis huffed at him. "Sorry, sorry, anyways. How's Vincent and the others?" Ramiel checked in on them.

"Vincent's been following your footsteps, I guess being a bastard must have come from somewhere." Angeal scoffed and Ramiel was confused.

"What do you mean?" He got curious and Genesis had a smirk on his face. "He got together with Aerith's mom."

Ramiel went wide eyed and he sat up from his bed. "Are you for real!? That guy? My dad? You sure you aren't mistaking him from someone else? That guy has no rizz you know? He got cucked by Hojo of all people..." Ramiel was shocked.

"Guhahaha! They've been together all the time." Angeal laughed at him, giving him a mental image of them getting it on.

"Damn, Vincent and Ifalna... Aerith's gonna freak if she learns of this." Ramiel thought about informing the others in the hub world.

Ramiel was about to ask about Lucrecia, but they beat him to the punch. "He's on good terms with Lucrecia now too. I already told you, they've been at it good." Genesis chuckled at him.

"Well, I might have to come back and detain you fuckers for being little voyeurs. What the hell's wrong with you? Listening to their sex lives?" Ramiel spat back and they winced.

"Touche, we're fine over here. A little boring, but it's been the best time of our lives since we joined SOLDIER." Angeal and Genesis were satisfied with the peace now.

"Okay, don't go after Yuffie now. You sexual deviants, listening in on my mother and father. Sick fucks." Ramiel gave them a last quip and cut off the call. Defeating the two smartasses.

"Vincent shacked up with Ifalna... That's crazy, I guess they did have a good relationship. Whatever, it's not like it's my problem." He shrugged and smiled maliciously.

"Aerith might not believe me... So how about I gather some data?" Ramiel lied down and closed his eyes. Separating his soul to travel with his astral form.

Teleporting to Gaia, he was thankful that it was currently in the afternoon. And just his luck, Vincent was hanging out with Ifalna.

Manipulating some odorless pheromones in the air, he made them a bit affectionate. "Now kiss, Aerith will like this very much." Ramiel watched them make out in 8k ultra HD. Recorded in his brain.

"Kukuku, I won't let myself be the only one with cursed knowledge." He returned back to Eos and sent a video to the girls back at the hub world.

Congratulating Vincent and Ifalna with their new relationship. "Now we wait, I guess calling back home bore some fruit eh?" He slept soundly with a smile on his face.

__

The next morning, one Cindy Aurum was lounging around his room because he did not lock his doors. He just doesn't.

'Cindy? She's trying to prank me? I guess I'll teach her some manners then.' He pretended to be asleep and he found her carrying an air horn with her to scare the bajeezus out of him.

But she didn't quite know that Ramiel doesn't necessarily sleep. He manually shuts down his consciousness, but he could still process everything around him without effort.

"Lookie here at this pretty boy, oversleepin' I was quite excited with our would be progress today, but you gon' slept soundly~" Cindy thought she was slick and whispered like a gremlin about to cause chaos.

Pointing the air horn a bit away from his ear, she was about to press it. But his hand suddenly held on to her and he pulled her in.

'I make cliches here girl, it is the secret to build good relationships.' He nodded sagely inside his mind and bear hugged her.

"Fuck, what's with this guy's strength?" Cindy tried prying him off of her, but she was powerless. His arms were like steel beams being tried to be bent by tooth picks.

Cursing her unluckiness, Cindy looked for her air horn. But it rolled away and she thought about just waking him up.

But she contemplated her position right now. "Hehe, that's gonna be a really bad idea..." Cindy blushed and imagined that he would assume she did a night crawl on him.

He snuggled his face on the crook of her neck and sighed pleasantly, making Cindy's spine shiver.

"Hmmm, what a pleasant smell." Ramiel pretended to sleep talk and Cindy was panicking big time.

"H-hey, wake up you sleepy head!" She shouted in a whisper to him, but of course he didn't move.

He retaliated instead and gave a soft kiss on her neck. His lips brushed softly on a couple of nerve endings that made Cindy twitch and fidget.

"T-this is bad, that felt really good... No! Damn it, calm down Cindy... Just because you're married to work and grandpa chased the boys, you'll succumb to this demon." She was having vivid images on her mind.

'Kukuku, you little prankster. That's what you get.' Ramiel smiled behind her and licked her neck.

"Hieee!" Cindy shivered. "Your neck is begging to be kissed." He whispered in her ears and she was about to explode.

'And cliche number two, people will wake us up.' Ramiel made the other group wake up with some little noises and rattling with his telekinesis and he could hear them walking in front of his room right that moment.

"Ramiel, you up?" Rindou yawned as she knocked on the door. But nobody answered, they thought he must already be up. But he groaned loud enough so they could hear it.

Cindy was panicking like a motherfucker and her mind ran a mile a minute.

"Heh, checkmate Cindy." Ramiel whispered to her and she looked at him with shock in her trembling eyes.

"We're coming in~ Geez, I thought you were an early... Riser." Rindou saw Cindy face to face with him and they were cuddling in bed.

"Hoh? So you gone and went for the kill eh lady? Take your time, I won't blame you. He's a catch that your whole ancestry won't ever see again." Rindou shrugged and she smirked at Cindy.

"It's not what it looks like!" She shouted out and the other three entered in alarm upon hearing her voice inside of the room.

'Keikaku doori.' Ramiel's metaphysical glasses shone and he had a slight smirk on his lips.

"C-Cindy... You slept with him? You are a traitor!" Erina shouted at her. "Ahhh, we thought you were our big sister Cindy..." Alice shook her head at her.

"You... You just met us yesterday!" Ikumi was scandalized, even though she wears bikini tops and short shorts. She was quite the maiden after all.

"No, this is a setup. I swear to the astrals!" Cindy broke into a cold sweat. "Hmm? What's with the commotion?" Ramiel rubbed his eyes and yawned, pretending to just wake up.

"You slept with Cindy is what's the problem!" Ikumi pointed at him like he was a suspect of a crime.

"Huh? Cindy... What are you doing on my bed?" Ramiel acted confused and he raised a brow.

"That's how you're playing this?" Cindy glared at him and he looked at the two groups with visible confusion.

"I gave a call to my family at home and slept all throughout the night. Cindy, did you crawl to my bed? That's bad you know, I don't do one night stands." He looked at her with concern.

Cindy ran away, not knowing what to do. And he smirked at them.

__

"Come on, I already told you I'm sorry. Besides, you're the one that came into my room with bad intentions." Ramiel gaslit Cindy and she couldn't possibly win against his scheming.

"How did you know that?" Cindy was surprised and she forgot that she was mad at him.

"Hmph, you think I don't? I heard you whisper that you'll blow your air horn right at my ears. You could've busted my eardrums you know? I have heightened senses." He huffed at her and she was the one feeling bad now.

She didn't stand a chance, well. It was her fault in the first place really.

"Sorry about that, I was just really excited to finish our project. And you gave me those handy gloves. Even grandpa hasn't seen anything like it." Cindy remembered showing it to him last night.

"Hmmm, I'll forgive you in one condition." Ramiel raised a finger and milked her mistake to the maximum.

"What? I won't do anything perverted you know? You... You even kissed and licked my neck." She squinted her eyes at him.

"When I have other ideas, we build them together. But you can't charge me and your labor will be free. How about that?" He smiled at her and Cindy wasn't expecting that.

"Really? That's it?" She raised a brow and was suspicious. "Yes, really." He gave a soft smile and she beamed at him.

"For sure! You can count on me. The head mechanic of hammerhead!" Cindy was proud of her intellect in electronics, engineering, and metallurgy that her grandfather passed down to her.

"Great, then we have a deal miss Aurum." He put out his hand for a shake and she shook his hand with a giggle.

Never have she ever had this much fun besides tinkering and learning with her grandpa.

"Ahh, that reminds me. Grandpa wants to meet you, he got interested in your invention. One moment, I'll call him here. Old man! Ramiel's at the workshop!" Cindy fetched her grandpa.

Ramiel waited and after a few moments, a southern looking grandpa walked up to them and Ramiel analyzed how he looked.

"Cid?" Ramiel uttered unconsciously because he looked just like an aged Cid Highwind.

"You know me boy?" The old man raised a brow and Cindy looked at them both. "You know grandpa, Ramiel? Cid's his name is Cid Sophiar." Cindy explained.

"Ahhh, not you then. My subordinate's named Cid Highwind. You guys just look similar." Ramiel cleared it up and the old man gave him a once over.

"You created these, boy?" Cid pointed at Cindy's all purpose work gloves and Ramiel nodded. "Sure did old man, pretty good right?" He smirked and Cid had to agree, grumbling that kids nowadays were too talented and overconfident.

"What'cha doin' out here in Leide? You don't look from here." Cid squinted his eyes. His retinue looked too noble.

And he got a letter from Regis to take care of Noctis. As a good friend of him decades ago where they travelled all around, he trusted the estranged royal mechanic and engineer.

"Here for an adventure old man, young'uns gotta have some spice in their life. Don't you agree?" Ramiel smiled. Thinking that he got too much of it really.

"Well, be careful out there. Lucis isn't exactly stable right now. And what are you planning with my granddaughter?" Cid raised a brow and saw their interaction earlier. They looked a bit too close for comfort.

"We're creating a vehicle, a sweet combat vehicle. And of course I gotta take your granddaughter too right? It's only natural, she already visited me in my room earlier too." Ramiel grated on his nerves and Cid glared at him.

"Ramiel! What the bloody hell are you talking about?" Cindy shouted at him, but she didn't deny that she .

"Over my dead body boy." Cid huffed and turned his back on them, returning to his old man things.

'I'm probably about your age old man.' Ramiel gave a wry smile and his combined age was pretty close to Cid. Just a decade off, which is close in their case.

"Sorry about that, grandpa is quite rough like sandpaper. But he's a real softie on the inside." Cindy smiled and explained her grandpa's personality.

"It's fine, I quite like your grandpa. Really easy to rile up." Ramiel laughed and Cindy hit him lightly on the chest. "You bad guy, don't tease the elderly you know? He might have a heart attack."

They then worked on the car further with much better speeds now because of their all purpose gloves.

And the girls were having fun, hunting down the local monsters around the area. With Rindou especially heading the charge to get some ingredients.

Before sundown, the girls actually returned with a supposed ingredient. "Oi! Ramiel, lookie what we got!" Rindou was dragging a pretty large animal that looked like a hybrid of a giraffe and a goat.

"This guy's called an Anak. You think it'll be delicious?" Rindou got excited and thought of the possibilities. Was it gamy? Then cook it in curry.

Was it like horse meat? Then sashimi with delectable Sakura niku it was. She then imagined a monster katsudon with its cutlet.

"Woah, do you guys even know how to butcher an animal?" Ramiel wasn't going to prepare it for them to give them the full final fantasy experience.

"Who are you talking too? Of course we can, and I'm a meat specialist remember?" Ikumi huffed at him and took borrowed a knife from the diner.

"An Anak, an adult one too. That thing can kick you and it will kill you instantly. It seems you're really capable." Cindy was in awe, she thought they were just rich girls after all.

"Huhun~ we're great you know? We even bled it out so the meat will be nice and good." Alice used water magic to clean it and when Ikumi the meat master butchered it quickly with her enhanced strength.

It showed that the monster had some insanely high quality meat. It had a nice amount of marbling like horse meat. But it still had a nice bounce to it because of the longer muscle fibers.

Rindou drooled and imagined eating it already. "Fantasy meat, Ramiel! I seriously love you, please take me as your wife!" Her enthusiasm was unmatched.

And she wanted to go to a lot more worlds in order to get more exotic ingredients.

"Hey, get in line senpai!" Alice glared at her and her juniors gave her the stink eye.

"Heh, then let's see you cook it." Ramiel smiled at them and thought it was good they're having fun. Because he just felt the Niflheim empire arrive at Insomnia for the peace treaty.

And things will start to pick up when Noctis and his gang suffer a mechanical error in Leide. Their arrival to hammerhead was getting close.

"Let's cook it traditionally first! With sukiyaki and a hotpot!" Ikumi suggested as it will highlight the taste of the meat.

"Great idea Ikumi, I've actually gathered some mushroom and wild plants with Rindou-senpai earlier." Erina showed them her bag and it was filled with wild mushrooms. Some were even glowing with Mako.

"Your friends are crazy aren't they Ramiel? They seriously hunted that thing down so they can grill it and eat it in a hotpot? And isn't that a mushroom that's been saturated with magic?" Cindy was perplexed.

"They're just like you, only difference is. You're crazy about machines and mechanics." Ramiel pinched her nose and Cindy thought that was true.

"Let's have a hotpot party!" Rindou cheered and Cindy borrowed some pots and grills from the diner.

__

After a few more days, the chefs were having a shokugeki with the ingredients and meat they gathered around the area.

Ramiel and Cindy were the judges, missing one more for an odd number. But they didn't mind, because Ramiel was easily enough for a judge.

"Why are they having a cook off again?" Cindy looked at Ramiel with a wry smile and saw the amazing skills of the girls in the kitchen inside the diner.

"Hey, man. Can you guys like work here? They're really good." The owner of the diner who talked to them earlier wanted to poach them away.

"Like they're for just a diner." Ramiel snorted at him and the owner laughed. "And as for their cook off, I already told you. We're chefs you know? We just adventured here in Lucis." Ramiel shrugged and Cindy didn't thought they were that amazing.

"Order up!" Rindou was the first to serve and it was a bicorn sukiyakidon. Playing the donburi card against Ikumi who was an executive of the donburi research society back in Totsuki.

"Tche, I guess I'll just have to defeat your rice bowl!" Ikumi prepared a basilisk chicken teriyaki donburi.

Basilisks there were blue green overgrown chickens. Though they can still petrify you with their eyes and magic.

"Hmph, I'll beat you guys." Alice plated up her creation and it was a shaved ice made out of a cryonade. A spherical elemental monster that explodes like bombs of their respective elements. Flavored with some custard jelly.

It was a subspecies of the flan slimes that looked like a Muk. It didn't appear appetizing. But it sure did taste like the highest class desserts. One was even named creme brulee.

"Ramiel will surely appreciate a much more complex flavor." Erina prepared a cactuar taco with Anak carnitas.

They started tasting the dishes, and Cindy was wolfed them down like it was the last dish of her life.

"Easy, calm down there tiger." Ramiel laughed and she almost choked on her food because of hiccups.

Ramiel tried them one by one and voted for Rindou, she just had too much experience. Being the 2nd seat of the elite council before she transferred to Ataraxia.

And while they were having fun, breaking news caught his attention in the diner's TV.

"During the peace treaty between Niflheim and Lucis, it has been reported that magitek ships and soldiers stormed the capital and King Regis Lucis Caelum. The 113th king of Lucii has been killed in action." The reporter announced solemnly.

"So it begins." Ramiel squinted his eyes and sighed. "Just like Shinra, they want to control the world. How about we give them a little trouble?" Ramiel squinted his eyes.

__

Thanks for reading everyone, ciao.