Chapter 157: Underwear
"Do you need my meagre help as well, Madame Captain?" Warden said, after fixing up all the tools his companions handed him. In total it had taken two hours… as some needed extensive studying and repair.
However, only Captain Agnes among them didn't voice out any need for his expertise.
"No need, you cannot repair what I have," she said, dismissing him.
"Of course, how could have I assumed I could help Madame Captain, who's the brightest star of—"
"Shut your trap," Agnes glared up at him. Without saying much, she unstrapped her breastplate, which was only a few pieces of her incomplete armoury, and tossed it to him. "See what you can do."
Saying that, she sat on the log and began fixing her braid.
Perhaps I should not antagonise her too much, he considered, staring at her. The captain certainly had an awe-inspiring, commanding vibe about her. Sighing, he put his attention into the breastplate.
The first thing he noticed was that the material of the breastplate was something of superior quality. Not some random alloy, but mostly made out of refined bones of some creature along with superior ores. The ley lines for energy to prosper through the breastplate were truly unique—easily a master's work, as for the scripts and runes themselves.
The very first thing Warden found was a Tier-5 Absorption Script. A type of script made out of runes which were used to gather ambient energy. However, in this instance, it could absorb any kind of energy.
Absorption Script was something lesser used scripts in armour and weapons, not to mention it required an octagonal geometric form like the Anti-gravity script, the most difficult form of the scripts. The captain probably thought he couldn't repair it, but thankfully, Warden had learned this script as well. discover stories mv-l,e-mp _yr
"Holy mother of Jesus!" yet he cursed as he checked more of the scripts. "Half of the formation has eroded… even the frame of the breastplate began to erode…"
What kind of power did she wield to have such an effect, even just by wearing it? And that too, at only iron rank. Well, his void energy has a similar effect, but it breaks materials from the inside, compared to the erosion effect.
Agnes lifted her head, flung the fixed-up braid on her back, and shot him a gaze, clearly saying: I told you so.
"But of course, I can fix it," he smiled at her. "This poor Janitor is not a complete waste, Madame Captain."
Captain Agnes grunted softly.
"However, I don't think repairing it will fix all the problems," he continued. "I need to form the shells for the absorption runes from zero."
"Then what's the problem?" Agnes asked, narrowing her eyes. "I can give you whatever rate you work at."
"It will take a few hours and will leave me drained all morning," Warden informed. "I don't think it's a great idea for me to be tired on the move."
The captain shook her head. "That's not a problem," she said. "We're still far from the deeper region of the rift… but even if there's a horde of cursed creatures, I can deal with most of the attack alone."
Warden considered that for a second and nodded. "Your wish is my command, Madame Captain."
He even saluted, but finding her scowling at him, he didn't think it was the right sort of reply.
"You're still going to act like an ass, huh?" she said, gritting her teeth.
For a second, Warden didn't know how to answer her. He didn't think playing the oblivious card was right here, considering he had been an ass to her…
So far from what he had noticed, the captain was easy to anger, and she showed it to her face and actions. She was the type of woman who wore her emotions on her face and didn't bother with any facades. That was probably the thing that got her into the 16th infantry.
Again, Warden didn't like speculating on other's business, so he cut that line of thought. He was not perfect, far from it, but there were things he tried to be and things he didn't want to be.
Agnes snorted, finding him not replaying. She stood up and crept into her tent.
"Women," Warden muttered and began working. Thankfully, his June wasn't like that. A smile crept to his brows as he thought of her. He missed her so much. Thinking about it, he brought out the blanket he had stolen from her bedroom.
He wrapped it around him, as warmth grew in him. It had her smell and… "Hmm. what is this?"
There was something wrong inside the poorly wrapped blanket. Bringing it out, he found it to be… an underwear…
Warden blinked, holding it in front of his eyes. June's underwear.
Immediately, he looked around. Thankfully, no one was around. The siblings had entered their tent after their meal long ago. Caleb and Kevin were on the watch, and he just saw the captain leaving.
Quickly, before anyone could question his character, he stored away the treasure. The silly smile lingered on his lips. This was an unexpected... small fortune?
I have another thing to remember her by, Warden thought. Although he didn't think she'd think kind of him if she knew.
***
The next morning, Agnes found the pretentious Janitor where she had left him last night, sleeping, wrapped in a blanket. She was already up a long time, as she was among the last pair of watch duty. She had seen him working on her breastplate... from the look of it, he seemed to have--
"Ohh, Mada- I mean Captain," he said, waking up from her stare. Well, he was probably meditating. "I have fixed your breastplate."
Agnes narrowed her eyes, taking the breastplate to check if he was spitting bulls like always. However, the guy did have some redeeming qualities... her breastplate was back to its former capabilities... though with her power, she didn't know for how long she could keep it like that.
"Now about the pay," Warden said with a gleam in his eyes. "The others hadn't woken up. How about we get started with it?"