MEMORIES AND ABU HORMUZ

Episode 3 - Lost and Unchosen

It seemed, the best option was to leave the Red MooN headquarters, but where should they go? Although finding out more information about Atalante was the first step, Haruhiro and the others did not know where to start. They also do not know who can be asked for help. Hector's group, Gori, Udin, even Ragil and Barto do not know where they have gone. It seemed like everyone had split up to tread the path of each.

 Haruhiro, Marco, Alice, and Vina stood outside the Red MooN headquarters in a daze for quite some time.

Alice was the first to speak to break the silence.”Wh...What do we do now?"

Why ask? It was precisely I who had to ask you, Haruhiro wanted to sneak in like that, but on the basis of courtesy towards girls, he also replied to that question, Haruhiro,

"Good question. What should we do now…"

"What... should we do?" Deuteronomy.

"You guys..." Marco sighs heavily.”You guys should be more.yahhh you know. Now is not the time to ask what to do…."

"Then do you have an idea?" Haruhiro.

"I'm thinking hard about that."

Vina giggles.”You don't have an idea either."

Marco rubs the bottom of his nose with a finger.”Damn, I still don't have an idea.”

This is really annoying, Haruhiro can only think like that. Maybe Ragil was right; maybe they were just useless trash. They are four grounds that cannot make decisions or do anything independently. Even from the beginning, they were not necessarily able to cooperate, and all they were doing right now was glued in front of the Red MooN headquarters together. When compared to others, this might be the worst choice.

"Barto was very lucky" Marco said, and inwardly, Haruhiro agreed with him. ”Ragil looks like some kind of shelter to him, after all he's a veteran. Barto can stay at his place for free. In fact perhaps, he would gain the ease of having joined a veteran Party that knew various things. Why was he chosen? I'm the one they should take. I'm more useful than him. Seriously.”

"No idea" Yume said kindly, and Haruhiro chimed in, "I doubt it."

Marco pointed to the two of them in turns. "You say that because you never know what I'm capable of! Don't forget this. I am a man of talent! I've been famous that I have hidden potential since birth!”

"Your potential won't be hidden if you're famous" Haruhiro said.

"It's rude! You'll be exhausted if you analyze all my advantages in detail."

"I'm tired of hearing your babbling."

"You have absolutely no stamina, Haruhiro. Not useful at all. Bad, bad, bad, bad.”

"Only such a word can come out of the mouth of a man with messy hair."

"Don't call my hair a mess!"

"Hey, isn't messy hair also something you can be proud of?”

"really? Is messy hair that cool? I don't really believe you…"

"But Vina's hair is straight, isn't it?" Vina. ”Vina is always jealous of such natural curly hair. So, I don't beat Marco's messy hair!”

"really? Is my hair really cool? Seriously?”

"Yes! Messy hair means that his mind is also messy, and it's really charming!”

"Charming? I just found out that there's a guy called charming by a girl .. But it's not bad, I guess. However, a messy thought impressed me like an idiot ..”

A slow snorting sound could be heard. Haruhiro turned around and saw Alice hiding the face behind her hands, and her shoulders trembled slightly.

"Whoa." Marco looked in wonder.

Vina also looked at Alice, and she blinked. Of course, Haruhiro was also surprised. Alice was crying.

"W-what's wrong?" Haruhiro asked as he reached out to calm the little girl's shoulder that continued to tremble. It may not be a good idea to make physical contact. After all, she was just a little girl.

"T..No..what..what..what." Alice answered in disarray. ”Really... it's okay ... I'm just a little worried, that's all ..”

"Ah.." said Haruhiro.

He can't say anything. Even under these circumstances, the three of them could joke about freely without caring around. At least Alice wanted to say that she cared so much about the situation they were in right now.

"Cup..cup," Vina gently patted Alice.” on the back.Good girl, good girl, nothing. Everything's gonna be fine. Vina herself doesn't understand, but ..”

Marco frowning.”You can't convince her ..."

Haruhiro rubbed the back of his neck.”But we can't stand here without doing anything. Even if we stop talking, it won't help. Maybe we should…. Wellh, you know.. uh ... Looks like we have to find another veteran Red MooN member like Ragil. Maybe ... we can find someone like that and apply for some.”

"Then, look for it!" Marco slapped Haruhiro on the back. "Find such people and get info about them! I'll leave it all to you, Haruhiro!”

"It's very clever of you to have someone else work."

"Smart professor!"

"You really pissed me off."

"Honestly, I don't care how I feel."

"Damn."

"Silent. You suggested it yourself, so do your advice, That's how the world works" Marco.” saidBut. okay, we can split this work. Haruhiro, your job is to go find the Red MooN members and get information about them, Alice's job is just to be a depressed girl, Vina's job is to make Alice feel better, and my job is to stay here waiting for you to come back!"

"Marco, do you really intend to laze around and stay here?" Haruhiro answered.

"I love to do things, but I hate to do jobs that are not fun.”

"Happy is not the point."

"Happy is the main reason! I was a man who spent every moment enjoying the pleasures of life. If my life isn't fun, then it's not my life. What about you, Haruhiro? You may be the one who never enjoys life, it's obvious to your eyes that always

sleepy.”

"Finally. Why didn't you tell me in the first place that you were ready? We don't have to argue much, do we?”

Haruhiro was eager to curse Marco in return, but it seemed pointless. People like Marco will only lower your level to be as low as he is. That's not worth it.

"I'll be back in a minute, just wait here" Haruhiro told Vina and Alice, leaving the Red MooN base.

He still doesn't know where he should go. The sun may be heading east, that means it's north, and here it's south, then west it's there.

To the north, there was a huge tower like a castle soaring into the sky. The building was a good landmark point, so Haruhiro decided to go in the direction of the tower. But he was not a tourist, Haruhiro reminded himself. Is going there a good idea?

Haruhiro had no doubt that everything would be fine with the Hector Group. Udin might still be able to survive, somehow. The never-hard Gori might shamelessly ask everyone in the city. Haruhiro hopes that Barto is not fooled by Ragil. If Ragil can really be trusted, then,

then Barto is probably the one who started this adventure very well when compared to the other members.

"I don't think I have a choice but to find someone to question" Haruhiro said to himself. But who? Maybe people are walking around it .. but wait a minute. First, what should he ask? Reserve force. Right, he had to ask about Red MooN. So, where will he find members of Red MooN?

He began to look for people passing around him with the most promising appearance. Age does not matter, but someone who looks friendly is a better choice. However, nearly half of the entire city focused on Haruhiro. More precisely, they were staring at him. Is

Haruhiro looks weird? Maybe he looks weird. Her clothes are different.

No matter where he searched, he could not find anyone who could be approached. He had a feeling that everyone saw him like some kind of alien. Or maybe he is just paranoid?

"It seems like it's not an easy job. Or maybe I'm just being too cowardly ..”

Haruhiro wanders the unfamiliar-looking streets. He headed towards the tower and tried to gather his courage. Well, he had a feeling that sooner or later his courage would definitely increase. Late is better than nothing, but ...

Then he arrived somewhere. After passing through the clean square, he found a magnificent stone tower. Most of the surrounding buildings consist of 2 levels, but there are some that consist of 3 levels. The relatively short surrounding buildings make the impression that the tower is very tall, but in fact the tower is indeed quite tall.

It was a magnificent building. The building looks very strong. The windows and doors are decorated with finely made decorations. Beside the gate and some places around the square, stood the man wrapped in iron armor. There were also the guards standing while holding a spear at one

hands, and shields on his other hands. The building was heavily guarded, there might be a high-ranking official living there. Perhaps a Governor dwells there, Haruhiro thought.

While Haruhiro stood in the middle of the square and stared at the building with wide eyes, a guard approached. The man's armor clinked as some metal clashed against each other.

"What are you doing here? Do you have any business with Tenku Tower?”

"My ten? Ehh, there is no. I have no business with him ..”

"Then go. Or do you want to be arrested on charges of being a troublemaker of the tranquility of His Excellency Khun Atalante?”

"Eh, no, I don't want to be arrested ... Also true. Sorry, I'll go.”

Haruhiro hurriedly left the square. He could not confirm, but it turned out that the tower called Tenku was inhabited by people who were nobles in this border area. He felt that he had managed to gather the first piece of information about this place. But whoever lives there, he must be a famous figure in this area.

"Atalante. Khun Atalante's. Your Honour. Tenku Tower. Border ... Frontier Forces. Red Moo. Backup team ..”

Haruhiro whispered all those foreign words to himself as he continued to advance north.

As he walked, more and more people appeared on the streets around him. Shop. He had arrived at the area where the shop stood, and also seen roadside stalls crowded with visitors. Although there are still some booths still getting ready, more than half of them have already opened for business. There are a variety of food stands, clothing stores, and other items in large quantities. The clamor of the merchants promoting their goods could be heard and it made an atmosphere

around the more alive.

"A market?" Haruhiro said to himself.

As if he was being directed, Haruhiro entered the shopping area. Trading activity is getting more and more crowded. The prices of all items are written with 1C, 3C, 12C codes, and so on. Haruhiro could read the price tag quite well, but he didn't really know the meaning of the writing. The merchants called him, "You Sir, what you want to buy ..” someone also said to him, "You Sir, come and see ..” But Haruhiro dodged them and rushed on. Haruhiro cursed himself because of him even

not having the courage to interact with traders who are obviously harmless.

Suddenly, a pleasant aroma filled the air. The hair on the back of Haruhiro's neck rose.

"Meats…"

His mouth starts to water. Food ... Someone standing there was roasting a kebab. There is also a booth selling boiling dishes from a large pengi, in another booth, seen mountains of bread stacked and appetizing. Various types of sandwiches are there, there is also a meat-filled steamed bread there ... Steam, smoke, aroma. Haruhiro could not take it anymore. His hands started rubbing his stomach, and he realized that his stomach was concave inward. Why realize now? He's starving.

"But.but Alice and Vina are waiting," Haruhiro scolds himself. ”Who cares about Marco, but ... it is not true if I leave them there while I fill the stomach here.”

"But ... the old saying goes 'You won't be able to fight on an empty stomach." And Haruhiro justifies his own actions.”That means, I can't walk on an empty stomach either ... Excuse me!”

Unable to hold any longer, Haruhiro headed straight for the meat kebab stand. He frantically searched for a leather pouch and took out a silver coin. Can he buy food with this? Is that enough? What if it's not enough?

"Please give me a kebab!" Haruhiro.

"What!?" The eyes of the potbellied man behind the booth widened. ”One silver?! You don't have to pay that much! One kebab costs four bronze..The price is clearly written here, do you see? I don't give you any discounts, but I can't take anything too much either! That's how Kebab Dory does business!"

"Four bronze?" Haruhiro saw coin.”You mean I can't buy kebabs with this?”

"Silver saru is worth a hundred bronzes. You can buy 25 kebabs with it. You can't eat that many kebabs, can you? Besides, it's not lunch time, so I only have 50 bronze in return.”

"So bronze is ..."

"Of course this bronze coin…." The potbellied man took out a coin that looked like a symbol belonging to a Red MooN training member, but it might be smaller in size. He also showed it to Haruhiro.”This is bronze. Don't tell me you don't know? Even if you're dressed strangely.. You're a member of Red MooN, right?"

"Um, not really. I'm just a training member. I'm still new.”

"I get. Well, you're a member of Red MooN who's a little 'different', hopefully you understand what I mean. Even though you have silver, don't you have a single bronze?”

"No, no bronze. And one silver for a hundred bronze ..” In other words, the 10 silvers Haruhiro currently had cost the same as 1000 bronzes. He could buy 250 kebabs. But one kebab alone was already very large in size, and he would be full if he ate one. Thus, 250 kebabs means 250 meals. If he ate 3 times a day, then he could survive for about 80 days. That's long enough. ”Sorry, I'm still a training member.”

"So, you don't understand bronze." The potbellied person frowned and then took a deep breath. ”Then you must not understand Atalante Bank. Why don't you go over there and take a look around? You can exchange your money there to buy everything, even you can keep your leftover money.”

"Atalante Bank?"

"The place is located in the south direction of this market. Exit from the side of the Tenku Tower, go through 3 roads, then turn left. The bank is there. You won't have any trouble finding it because there's a sign outside the bank.”