Grey slid into line, clearing his throat as though he didn’t see the problem with it at all.
Right in front of him, there was what he could only describe as a small child. Until, of course, she turned around and he realized she was just a woman with severely stunted growth. She must have been 4’11" at most, and she was so small her cloak dragged along the ground despite what looked like a poor attempt at tailoring.
She turned around with a frown, looking up at his face, and then his clothing, and then back up at his face.
"What do you think you’re doing?"
"Worry about yourself, shorty."
"What did you call me?!"
The words came out in a shriek that made Grey’s lip twitch. He had barely made a little jokey joke, why was she reacting like he had stabbed her mother?
The woman jumped up and grabbed one side of his bomber jacket’s collar, trying to yank him down.
She was fast enough that Grey was actually caught off guard, but not strong enough that he couldn’t react after the fact.
She ended up dangling in the air with her arm bent, frozen in a position of trying to yank his face down to her level.
"Say that again to my face!"
Grey was speechless.
By this point, everyone had looked over at them, including those at the front of the line.
Unlike the front gates, this line was moving a lot faster. It wouldn’t have been more than half a minute or so before they were at the front, so for there to be any pause at all was nearly unheard of.
What Grey couldn’t help but take note of was how hesitant everyone else seemed to have become when they saw who was tugging on him.
’Just my luck? Why is someone with so much weight waiting in line in the first place? Don’t these assholes usually just bulldoze their way to the front?’
Grey shook his head and grabbed her tiny little wrist, pulling her away from his collar and dangling her up in the air.
"Look at that, I’m keeping your cloak clean for you."
The woman’s feet dangled in the air. She struggled a bit, waving a tiny fist at his chest, but she couldn’t reach, not with him holding her out like this. She could only change targets to his arm.
’She’s pretty strong.’ Grey thought as the first round of fists hit his bicep.
The Crimson Dragon Nexis Suit wasn’t exactly a defensive item, but it was formed so sturdily that it functionally acted like one a lot of the time. But he could very clearly feel her strength through its fabric nonetheless.
"Ow!"
"Young miss! Young miss!"
A pair of old men dressed like butlers rushed out of the building.
"Unhand me, menace!" the woman roared as though she hadn’t heard the butlers at all.
Grey sighed and let her go.
She stumbled to the ground and then tripped on her cloak.
Grey’s hand shot out like lightning, catching her before she tumbled over.
"Careful there, kid. You’re going to hurt yourself. Keep the superhero cosplay at home next time."
"Thank you—," the woman said quickly before she remembered that Grey was her mortal enemy and registered his words, "—how dare you?!"
This time, Grey was fast enough to cover his ears ahead of time. The two butlers weren’t so lucky, unfortunately for them.
"Unhand the young miss!" a wave of pressure from what Grey could only believe to be a Vanguard Class warrior hit him.
Grey blinked. He wasn’t even touching the woman anymore. His hands had been on his ears, covering them from the noise pollution spilling out of the little firecracker’s mouth.
"Young miss, are you okay? Why didn’t you tell us that you were coming? There’s no need to wait in line, please come with me, please come with me. Cordier will handle the scoundrel."
"Scoundrel? I’m very handsome, thank you very much."
"What is the correlation?!" the young miss shrieked as though she was more interested in listening to Grey than the butlers who were basically pincering her from the front and back at this point. "Only ugly men wear masks!"
"If you couldn’t tell, squirt, this isn’t a normal mask, this is an amazing mech formed by my own hands. It’s only here to spare you all from suffering under your sheer inferiority."
The small woman scoffed. "A mech?! I would know a mech when I saw one! That is definitely just an..."
Her voice suddenly trailed off as she froze.
The echo of a sword unsheathing echoed through as Cordier drew a rapier.
Grey seemed instantly triggered by its appearance as though he was seeing Amunet all over again.
Chi.
His body shot forward—straight forward. It was like he couldn’t see the blade sitting and waiting to impale him.
And maybe that was because it couldn’t.
The tip of the blade pressed into his chest and then bent into a crescent moon as Grey landed a fist on the butler’s chin.
He sprawled onto the cobblestone, his head rebounding against the ground like a basketball with a sickening echo of cracks.
"Don’t pull weapons on me, asshat."
"YOU—?!" the second butler seemed about to make a move, but whether by coincidence or design, the young miss made a move that cut him off. He nearly tripped over her small frame.
She didn’t seem to notice, though, walking up to Grey and looking up at him with her hands on her hips and her eyes wide.
"Impossible. Absolutely impossible..." She mumbled. "... I could have sworn it was an item... you made a mech that can integrate and enhance treasures? It even bypasses the Frame Type restrictions? Impossible, absolutely impossible..."
Her voice trailed off again and she started walking around Grey. She seemed so distracted that the helm of her cloak fell free, revealing her face for the first time.
The entire world seemed to freeze, but all she could see was Grey’s mask.
"The blueprint? How much? I’ll give you whatever you want for it!"
She looked up at Grey with eager, burning amber eyes.