Chapter 53: Ayesha's Hurdle

"Whew. That was even closer than a downer's eyes together. You almost died…

…good thing I acted fast and carried you back immediately without making light of the situation. Right?"

"..."

"Right…?"

"Yes, Ayesha."

Rhys was now inside a tent, surrounded by the Faceless Crew with Ayesha by his side, grabbing his hand tight… perhaps as a warning not to say anything. The Faceless Crew, however, knew exactly what was happening — all of them knew how crazy Ayesha was, after all.

There was also another person there, a medic who clearly did not want to be there.

"Are… you not going to join the conference, Ma'am?" No. 1 asked as the noise outside the tent grew louder and louder.

"Psh, let them handle the unimportant stuff. I stopped the Dig, that's all that matters," Ayesha rolled her eyes and waved her hand, "Just start heating up the jeep, we're leaving as soon as this guy finishes healing our boy."

"Ayesha!"

And as Ayesha's name started being called, she quickly turned to look at No. 2.

"Start the jeep, now."

"...On it," No. 2 could really only nod as he disappeared into the ground.

"That's enough, I'll just carry him."

"He… he's still not fully recovered yet, Ma'am!"

"He will be later," Ayesha then pushed the medic away and gently carried Rhys before throwing him over her shoulder again, "Faceless Crew, it is time to lea—"

"Commander Ayesha!" Before Ayesha and the rest of the Faceless Crew could even take their exit, however, an old man whose pale face was barely visible from his thick graying beard forced his way into the tent,

"You broke protocol again!"

"Pft," Ayesha, however, just very slowly returned Rhys to the bed like she wasn't just trying to escape, "That's not the only thing I broke today."

And while Ayesha just remained casual, the rest of the Faceless Crew, and even the medic all stood up straight, saluted, and greeted the old man at the same time.

"General Banner!"

Donald Banner, General of the Surface Army of Amerka and former Top 15 Strongest Explorer in the world.

"Pft," Ayesha scoffed, "Stop it, he's just an old man on the verge of retirement. The guy's going to think he's still important. You're gonna retire soon, right…

…Dad?"

"...Dad?"

…And apparently Ayesha's father.

Everyone, including the medic, all turned their heads toward Ayesha as soon as her words reached their ears. Ayesha, on the other hand, just shrugged her shoulders.

"You guys didn't know? He adopted me when I was like 18. Dude's so cheap he skipped out on all the student loans."

"You did not even go to school, you damn brat!" General Banner stomped his foot on the ground, causing a crack to crawl across the tent, "And I am not retiring! Even if my balls are already hanging on my ankles, I won't ever retire if you are going to be the one who's taking my place!"

"Bitch, please," Ayesha scoffed, "You think I want your position? You do nothing. All the action's down here and everything up there is just our scraps."

"The fact that we have scarps in the first place means you are not doing your job properly! If I were in your position, I could do your job better even with my ball sack tied to my tongue!"

'…Oh'—everyone thought. So, that is where Ayesha got her colorful vocabulary from.

"Your face might as well be your ballsack with how wrinkled it is!" Ayesha stepped forward, causing the crack on the ground to scatter even further, "Come on, shave your beard! Shave it!"

"You were supposed to bring Fuller's daughter with you! They paid for everything here!" General Banner did not even care that his saliva was showering everywhere as he pointed at Rhys, "Why did you bring that boy, huh!? I heard you were holding his hand too! What's his name!? Which family does he belong to!?"

"I don't care about a Noble's daughter, Dad. Come on," Ayesha once again scoffed, "This isn't a playground. And this boy is Rhys, and I will have you know he is freaking insane."

"...Really?" General Banner's voice quickly lowered as he looked at the barely conscious Rhys, "...You think he wants to join the real Army?"

"W—Just get out! Tell those Noble shits to just eat my shit!"

"Get out? You get out! Everyone, out!" General Banner then pointed at the Faceless Crew and ordered them to leave the tent. Of course, the Faceless Crew had no choice but to obey—they didn't want to be stuck in this orchestra of slurs in the first place.

But before they could take a step, Ayesha raised her fist.

"Wait," Ayesha breathed out as she stepped closer to General Banner. And while everyone was wondering what Ayesha wanted, she suddenly swung her fist straight at the General's chin… knocking him dead.

"!!!"

"W… what did you do, Ma'am!?" No. 1 did not know what to do as he rushed to check on General Banner.

"Go, go!" Ayesha, however, once again just carried Rhys; literally kicking the members of the Faceless Crew out of the tent, "That old man's not going to die anytime soon, go!"

And with Ayesha forcing them out, the crew had no choice but to just rush straight toward their jeep.

"Hm, what's going on?" No. 2, who was just waiting for them there, could not help but blink a couple of times as her comrades practically leaped onto the jeep, with Ayesha throwing Rhys on the back, "Wh—"

And before No. 2 could ask any more of his questions…

…Ayesha lifted the entire truck and just started running.

"...Do I even want to know what happened?"

"No."

***

"The Commander is General Banner's daughter… and she knocked him out?"

"Hm…"

"You're right, I did not need to know that. Are we going to get disbanded now?"

A few hours after Ayesha and the Faceless crew escaped the dig site, their breaths were finally calmed down as all of them just relaxed in their tight seats. Rhys was still slightly out there, but he had enough space to somewhat lie down as Ayesha let his head rest on her lap.

"You guys should just relax," Ayesha waved her palm, "The old man's all talk. And hopefully, he forgets everything if he wakes up."

"...If?" No. 1 gulped.

"Well, yeah. He's old," Ayesha shrugged, "Psh. So, Rhys… how's my lap?"

"It's hard, Ayesha," Rhys let out a sigh.

"Damn right it is," Ayesha nodded and giggled, "That's a premium cu—Damn!"

Ayesha could not finish her words before a screeching noise screamed in the air as No. 2 suddenly stepped on the brakes.

"What the heck are you doing!?" Ayesha quickly turned to look to the front. She did not need to be answered by No. 2, however, as she instantly saw the reason why they had to stop, "Please do not tell me those are spiders."

"Arachnes, Ma'am," No. 2 stood up to get a better view of the things blocking their path,

"...More than hundreds of them."

"No...

...I hate spiders."