Chapter 284 53.3 Off Screen?

SHEN

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Blinking through the exhaustion, Shen did her best to keep up with her companions. All the while, her service of fixing up some of the survivors she saw went on without a word. She made sure to tell them all to shut up, that she was merely doing it out of an urgent need to fix everything that she saw. And while that was mostly true, it certainly didn't help that she felt great doing so.

"Keep yer mouth shut," she harshly whispered at her latest patient. "Go."

"Thank you, kindly..."

Shaking her head, the guilt in her heart when she first started had practically vanished, replace with both pride and apprehension as she carefully did her work. They were still a few minutes away from the clear barrier that they were making their way towards, and she really wanted to not get caught just right at the end of their small journey.

So on she went with fixing up their enemies. Shen would steal a glance at Shade and Maruki to make sure that she wasn't being watched before she would then go ahead and fix up a few more people. She also made sure to keep an eye on Shizu, wishing that the older woman would wake up just to give her some peace of mind for doing a good job at trying to help her.

"Why are you doing this?"

Shen almost flinched as her latest patient asked her a question. It was some random man that had his entire body burnt off. The same injury as the rest of the other corpses they passed, but surviving through it somehow.

Ignoring the question, Shen turned around and left the man. She didn't want to waste any more time talking with the enemy, and she sure as hell didn't-

"Answer me, Imperial."

She paused, her leg once more being grabbed onto as the man prevented her from leaving. Turning around, she averted her eyes from the man's own, her [Fixit] already glowing in preparation in case she needed it.

"It doesn't matter," she grumbled. "Now let go of me."

"Not until you answer, Imperial."

Shen quickly took a glance at her companions. Seeing their retreating backs moving further and further away from her, she clicked her tongue and hastily came up with an answer. "I just like doin it, okay? Can I go now?"

The man mumbled something to himself for a good few seconds, and Shen almost found herself raising her wrench before the hand holding her in place released its grip on her.

"I still don't forgive you lot for doing this to us," the man growled. "Don't think this act of kindness will rid you of your sins."

Blinking, Shen went ahead and left the man behind, quickly making her way back to her group. Of course, she kept on going with her plan of fixing people as she went, but that man's words... They stuck to her somehow.

"Sins, huh..." she mumbled to herself. "Do I have any sins?"

She really didn't care. Or at least, she thought she didn't. All that mattered to her was to satiate her urges to fix things. Whether they be people or inanimate objects, so long as she could make them work, she'll do it so long as she was given the chance. Then again, the haunting moans of the dead from earlier still somehow played themselves in her ears. She was pretty sure her work had reduced them down to a level where they wouldn't be calling to her anymore, but it still raked away at her nerves like she wouldn't believe.

"Shen."

Her ears perked up. "Yes?"

"The Princess is stirring," Shade told her, already kneeling to give her access to the older woman. "Can you check on her?"

"O-Of course!"

Hearing the news of Shizu's revival, she practically trampled her feet over some of the corpses as she made her way to Shade's location. Walking up to him, her attention went to the princess as she ran her hand over the older woman's forehead.

"M-Mhmm... Mother..."

She blinked at the sound of Shizu's voice. Was she dreaming?

"Shizu," she called. "Can you hear me?"

"F-Five more minutes..." Shizu mumbled. "Still sleepy..."

Shen licked her lips as she quickly decided on the proper course of action. Shaking her head, she went up to Shade and gave out her assessment.

"We should just let her rest," she clinically remarked, her accent muted as she did her best to sound serious. "She's still tired, and we might as well not wake her until we absolutely have to."

"I agree," Shade quickly replied as he stood up. "As it stands, there seems to be not a lot of enemies left for us to fight. If at all, even."

Maruki simply nodded beside them, probably preventing himself from shouting out and waking Shizu up with his voice.

"So all that's left is for us to get Lady Guidance and Moriya then," Shen pondered, her gaze turning towards the massive barrier in front of them. "Can we even help them inside that thing?"

"From what I can recall, we can't," Shade sighed. "The best we can do is wait for them to be done fighting. How long that'll take? I don't know, but that's our only option besides making sure that we don't die out here."

Shen could only nod as she followed suit. With their destination now in sight, all of them went on with their unsaid task of trying to find some kind of safe shelter to rest at. They'd all been up for over a day now, and she was sure that her companions were equally, if not even more exhausted than she was. It was already a miracle that she was still up and alert, possibly because her [Manifest] had been keeping her awake with all of the stuff she wanted to fix around her.

Sighing, she went to work. Looking around, she could maybe fashion some kind of shelter for them to use. It would be easy too. With her power and know-how, she'd get something fixed up in minutes. It was only a matter of location just so that they wouldn't be caught out in the open.

"Oh? I know you, right?"

Shen blinked. That voice sounded familiar, but surely nobody would be stupid enough to announce themselves out here. It must be some survivor just trying to connect to their companions-

"It's Shen, right? With the sellswords?"

The mechanic almost jumped as she turned around and brandished her wrench. Her breath almost running away from her, her eyes rapidly went up the sudden disturbance before her nerves slowly calmed themselves down. Apparently, her ears didn't lie to her, and this woman did recognize them.

It was Nicole. The crazy Marquean lady from earlier had somehow appeared in the middle of the war-torn battlefield.

The source of this content is no/vel//bin[./]net'

"W-What're ya doing here?" Shen couldn't help but ask, her tension standing down if only a little. "Are ya with the enemy?"

"Huh? What enemy?" Nicole rapidly turned her head from side to side. "All I see is this massive ray of energy, and I'm too curious not to try and study it."

Shen blinked in astonishment. Even she was surprised by what she had heard. Sure, she could admit that her own morals already had a few screws loose, but to ignore all of the death and destruction around them just to satisfy her curiosity was unheard of.

"O-Okay?" she hesitantly replied, her gaze landing on the crazy lady. "Ya sure you're not gonna try and kill us?"

"Kill you? Why would I kill my future employers?" Nicole scoffed, her haphazardly done-up hair fluttering against the current coming from the crater. "I was even about to leave before this thing happened, as you can see here." The older lady then raised her hand up, revealing the suitcase that she had been carrying with her.

The mechanic stood stock still as she stared at their supposed new crew member. She couldn't believe what she just heard. Or saw. Or both...

Just looking at the few scraps of clothing jutting out from the lady's suitcase already told her that the crazy ran deeper than she could ever imagine.

"Anyway, if you're here, that means the others aren't far behind, right?" Nicole excitedly asked. "Can you take me to them? I have to ask for a bit more time so that I can study this phenomenon before we leave. We still have time, right? Nothing's really happening anyway."

...What?

"Oh? You're the mechanic, right? Maybe you know a thing or two about what's causing this thing!" the lady hopefully pointed out. Wrongly, Shen might add. "Come on! Do you think we can use whatever this thing is to bolster our [Rig]'s engine?"

A few beats passed before Shen managed to compose herself. While the older woman's words did make her head spin with possibilities, she quickly shook her head to focus on the more urgent task at hand.

"Lady, we're in danger right now," Shen stressed out. "If ya wanna live, I suggest ya stick with us."

"That's exactly what I was gonna do anyway," Nicole chuckled. "Now let's go. They're close, right?"

Shen sighed. With a wave, she went ahead and led their supposed new addition to the group.

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