Chapter 131: Big Boss

Aurora yawned and watched her group, who were animatedly waiting in line to enter the Cosmos Portals of Atlantis City.

“This is my first time traveling to Japan. I’m excited,” Andrés said with a smile.

“Oh, yeah, me too...” murmured Nicole, just as excited.

“Is that so? I thought that, with these great portals, you guys would travel all over the world.” Cithrel said curiously.

Using the Cosmos Portals, they could travel to major cities in most parts of the world and for a ticket whose price was low for such a quick function.

Clémentine, Érica and Leslie also watched the duo.

“Well, I’ve gone elsewhere on vacation with my family, but vacations are expensive,” explained Andrés with an embarrassed half-smile.

The price to go to another side of the world was ‘cheap’, but it wasn’t as if they who were previously only minors and students could do it whenever they wished.

Andrés and Nicole came from an average family and while they could afford vacations, it wasn’t as if they could afford to travel everywhere in the world.

“By the way, does Terra nova have portals at this level?” Érica asked, changing the subject.

Right now, they were waiting in line to use the cosmos portals to travel to Asia, specifically the ‘land of the rising sun’, Japan.

“Yes, the Falion Empire has large portals of this type, both military and for common travel. We also have flying vessels that are used as their aircraft, but at a slower speed,” Cithrel replied, remembering carefully on the means of transportation.

A flying vessel sounded like something out of fantasy and gained the attention of all the students.

“Your Highness, there are also flying carriages and magical trains,” Venali, who rarely spoke, added.

“True. Flying chariots are more common these days and as for trains, we tried to replicate some feats of the earthlings and apply them to ordinary people across the empire,” Cithrel said, smiling as she nodded.

When they saw ‘Terra nova’ using the virtual machine, they could see it as it was before in the players’ time and not as it was current.

That they could travel to this world not only made it possible for them to help the earthlings to deal with the demons, but it meant an opportunity to learn from the earthlings... Just like the earthlings learned in Terra nova.

As they were about to enter the Cosmos Portals, the group stood silently and waited in line.

They passed through the controls and then entered the other side.

Just a few steps and they found themselves on the other side of the world in Tokyo in an instant.

The first thing they noticed was not all the people around the Cosmos Portal, but the dozens of businesses of all kinds that stood around.

Food, drinks, snacks, souvenirs, and many businesses with flashy, bright signs, sometimes with ‘anime’ characters on them.

The strange words took shape before Aurora’s eyes and in just an instant, she could understand it completely, thanks to the ‘baptism’ of the church of knowledge.

Not wishing to stand in the way, they moved away from the exit of the portal, unable to control their gazes at the surroundings.

Both Cithrel and Venali, and the students, looked on eagerly while the surrounding people would return the gaze of both strangers to this world.

Venali had short hair, which made her long ears exposed, and even though Cithrel had her hair down and her ears were not visible, her blue hair was eye-catching.

Her soft, shiny hair made everyone feel she was a natural.

“I think they’ll think you are doing cosplay...” Leslie muttered with an amused tone.

Aurora also thought the same thing and instead of focusing on that topic, she turned her gaze to the woman, who was waiting for her at the entrance.

“Welcome!” Akira exclaimed, hugging Aurora and then waving to the others while beside her Shao Ya also gave a greeting.

Then Akira’s gaze shifted to Cithrel and Venali.

“They’re so cute,” Akira murmured in a tone full of fascination.

“Her Highness Cithrel Falion and her companion Venali Virsalor,” Aurora introduced and looking at Akira, who was quite encouraged by Cithrel’s beauty, she remarked. “Yoshihisa Akira, our employer for this weekend, and my friend.”

“Thank you so much for letting us come,” Cithrel said, lowering her head softly and giving a sincere smile.

Besides her, Venali also did the same.

That grateful tone and respect that came from a princess would get some people’s hackles up.

It was normal, the group of students who were close to both of them, still had difficulties in dealing with her commonly.

“There’s no need to be thankful, it’s more I am thankful,” Akira replied and with a half-smile, looked at Aurora and commented. “I thought because of her job she wouldn’t come. Now I’m glad I was wrong.”

Aurora smiled at the joyful sight of her.

This might be a mission, but it was also a way to get back together and enjoy a minor break... Although, lately, it also felt like she was on vacation every day.

If the job of protecting Cithrel and Venali had been more intense and troublesome, she wouldn’t have taken time off to come to visit.

“Come on. I have a lot of things I want to do today,” Akira said and, noticing the curious look of those present, gave a big smile and revealed. “We have to visit many places and eat delicious food.”

She added the last words for Alice, who looked bored, getting her to look at her with sparkling eyes after hearing those magic words.

Aurora felt slightly pressured.

If Akira ‘bought’ Alice, then it meant that she surely wanted to bind her to perform different things today.

Was she being paranoid? Aurora couldn’t answer her question and followed Akira.

Heading to the parking lot, both groups being very large, they split into two cars, one being driven by Akira and the other by Shao Ya.

Then, they both exited the Cosmos Portals parking lot, encountering magnificent buildings immediately.

They were in the center of the great metropolis and the buildings filled the city at first sight.

Some were of different companies and national companies of different types, others were of international companies that had their own headquarters in this city.

Aurora watched out of the corner of her eye as Cithrel observed the buildings that dazzled her.

The wonderful thing was not the buildings themselves, but...

“That’s a lot of buildings,” Cithrel murmured, looking at the surroundings.

Clémentine, who was also in the same car, nodded in agreement with that murmur.

The buildings were more many than Zerzura City or Atlantis City.

“Because of the ‘Great Cataclysm’ and the increased force of nature, the region of Shikoku and Kyūshū was swallowed by the sea. While it wasn’t something that happened suddenly, it was a rapid process that caused the Japanese government to order people to move to another part of the country that was unscathed,” Akira explained, using her historian’s tone, and calmly added. “Now it is common to see a lot of residential buildings in big cities.”

Something similar happened in Africa with the magic forest that spread through most of the center of the African continent, but here two extensive regions and islands were swallowed by the sea.

“It’s a tragedy...” Cithrel muttered and, with a sigh, announced. “And evidence of the force of the elements.”

That the water element became so dense and acted because of magical energy certainly showed of what magic and ‘nature’ was possible.

“That’s right. A tragedy that for years was difficult to cope with, but Japan wasn’t the only country that suffered,” Akira replied in a simple tone and with a smile, she added. “We lost many things, but now we are recovering with greater strength.”

The Great Cataclysm hit countries in different ways, some in a harsher way and others more tragic.

Nature was unstoppable and the only advantage was that humanity had time to reduce the damage.

“Now Tokyo is one of the most populated areas in the world with some of the most innovative transportation systems on Earth,” Akira revealed with a touch of pride and giving a smile, she explained. “Not only do we have a great rail and subway network, but we have a short-range portal system that allows citizens to move to major areas to get their work done.”

The population increased exponentially when those two regions went under and although it cost; they survived.

People recovered by getting jobs in different areas, and they solved the transportation problems caused by overcrowding in different ways, mainly by implementing a system of short-range portals.

Allowing people to travel from one place to another quickly.

The construction of gigantic buildings allowed the city not to expand too much, being possible to leave green areas unscathed or reduce their damage to a minimum.

In its most complicated moment, different companies and churches helped to deal with the problems of taking care of this ‘massive migration’, looking for a long-term sustainable project.

With today’s technology and magical development, most of the world’s pollution and overpopulation problems were being solved.

Decades ago, it was a fear of environmental problems such as the melting of the poles, now because of magical energy, those places were extremely cold and had spread hundreds of kilometers.

Genetic and magical crop research to increase crop production and reduce the negative side effects of mass cultivation were commonplace in today’s development, as they saw in the Cosmos Enterprise.

Magical energy brought with it many problems, but it also made it possible to find new solutions to problems that plagued mankind for decades.

Akira while driving down the street pointed out some interesting points and explained some minor issues to both Clémentine and the foreign duo.

Aurora was sure that Shao Ya, who was in the other car with the others, was the same.

No, maybe Shao Ya was more explanatory, even though she was not Japanese. After all, that woman seemed more knowledgeable than Akira herself.

It was noticeable that Akira was taking a quick trip to show her a bit of the surroundings since she passed by some streets that were cluttered with posters and lights of all kinds.

Posters, holographic images, and many visual effects were common in some buildings.

Sometimes they came across some drawings and holographic images of some ‘anime’ characters, and other times they came across videos of famous Japanese celebrities sponsoring different services or objects.

Heroes were also present with elegant smiles, talking about safety or sponsoring some particular brand.

“Is that an elf?” asked Cithrel doubtfully as she saw a blonde elf modeling for a famous brand in a holographic projection.

“Oh, yes. She’s well known in the fashion industry,” Akira replied, nodding like a great connoisseur and looking at Cithrel in the rear-view mirror, she asked. “Don’t you want to be a model? I also think you have a good image to become an Idol.”

Clémentine’s expression quivered, trying to hold in her laughter.

“Idol?” Cithrel asked curiously.

Alice in response pointed at the televisions where a concert was being broadcast, where some rather pleasing to the eye young ladies were singing and dancing, while the audience screamed with enthusiasm.

“I’ve learned to play a few instruments, but singing is not my forte,” Cithrel replied with a subtle rejection and, giving an animated smile, she added. “As for modeling, unfortunately, I already have a job.”

Her tone was amused and made the others laugh.

Being the crown princess of an extensive empire was certainly a big job and quite an exhausting one.

Traveling for several minutes, they finally arrived at a particular area of buildings that were quite large.

So, Akira parked her vehicle in the guild’s garage that was on site, specifically...

Guild Frozen Storm.

The guild sign was in plain sight as they stepped out onto the sidewalk.

“That whole building belongs to our guild. If I’m honest, we’re a medium-sized guild, but we don’t strive to grow,” Akira said in a half-smile.

There was no pride, but her comment sounded sincere.

“That’s too humble...” Érica muttered, looking at the guild building.

It was a rather tall building and what stood out was that the entire building belonged to Akira’s guild.

Compared to Aurora’s mercenary group, Akira had a large guild under her.

“Yes, it is. Her guild is big enough to have influence in the Japanese government and strong enough to have several A-Rank groups under her command, not to mention supporting dozens of young people trying to ‘cultivate’ them,” Aurora added, and looking at Akira, she joked. “Now we’re dealing with a big boss. You guys need to treat her with respect.”

Shao Ya laughed at that joke, which made Akira embarrassed.

In Africa, she looked like a very normal S-Rank, but it was that she was a powerful leader of a medium-sized guild.

Being ‘medium sized’ meant that there wasn’t an SS or SSS Rank in it and even if they didn’t have one of those individuals, they weren’t weak.

It was the opposite, medium-sized guilds were the major strength of any country and needed to be treated with respect.

Under Akira, they worked with hundreds of people and there were several A-Rank groups among them.

That meant she supported several groups by obtaining items, potions, or whatever utility was needed for them, supporting them completely.

“The adventurer ‘Tempest’ is well known in Japan. A young woman at twenty-one-year-old woman, who raised her guild and in a couple of years made it grow exponentially. She’s certainly well known,” Alice added, giving an evil look, trying to embarrass Akira even more.

Aurora nodded like a chick at that comment, adding to the effect.

The embarrassment came from the people praising her, being Aurora and Alice; that was the weakness.

“Stop joking around and follow me,” Akira ordered, putting on a strong brave.

“Got it, boss!” Aurora exclaimed, which made Akira tremble for a moment.

However, she only held back, as even Shao Ya was giving an amused smile.

Where they headed to was the hotel that was at the front of the guild.

The hotel occupied an entire building, which was not only large but pleasant.

“This hotel is where you will be staying. I’ll tell you what your rooms are. Although it’s not extremely luxurious, it’s comfortable.” Akira said, giving her animated smile again.

The design of the room was not as fancy or elegant as the other hotels, but it was giving a homely atmosphere.

“The building has all the amenities, entertainment, and relaxation areas along with a large and varied dining room,” Akira explained and, with a friendly smile, added. “You can ask for whatever you need and the hotel will try to provide it.”

“This hotel is also Akira’s...” Aurora interjected, getting all eyes to land on Akira.

Without letting Akira have time to say anything, Aurora, with a proud smile, announced. “This is the level of an S-Rank!”

A rare individual who not only had strength but had wealth and influence if she so desired.

And most importantly, this individual was an S-rank at twenty-one years old and such a young age showed incredible future potential.

“Hey!” Akira exclaimed with embarrassment at Aurora’s performance, and trying to avoid the gleeful look she owed her, she ordered. “Go to your rooms and get ready for sightseeing. We’ll start from now!”

Aurora knew Akira was thinking of ‘getting even’, but she just obeyed, laughing, amused... She had to admit it had paid off.

******

Akira made her way to her office as she walked among the clerical workers handling administrative matters.

Behind each guild’s back were dozens of people working to support the adventurers, risking their lives in the dungeons.

It was no lie that the adventurers’ guilds were like small companies, but these were focused on skill users.

The common workers were to support them.

“Are they here yet?” asked Aeko, dressed formally as always when she came to work.

“Yes, and Aurora teased her,” Shao Ya revealed, who followed Akira and with a smile, explained. “You know, because of her youth and accomplishments.”

“Oh...” Aeko muttered, giving a cheerful smile.

Akira ignored her gaze as best she could and, seeing the smile on both of their faces, she finally couldn’t resist speaking up.

“She teases me, but it’s not like they’re just little mercenaries... And they’re a year younger,” Akira muttered, unable to resist.

She was leading a medium-sized guild that certainly had some strength, however, both Alice and Aurora were secretly defeating warlords... They were at different levels!

The worst part was that they performed that job before Akira herself started her guild.

Akira entered her office and looked at the documents on her desk, prioritizing which ones were important to finish.

“You can leave it. I’ll take care of them. If you want, you can go accompany them,” Aeko said, using a professional tone.

Aeko in her team was the vice-captain and, at the guild level, she was the second most powerful person.

Also, most of her group were divided into different sections of the guild, doing different jobs.

Not only were they the strongest group in the guild, but they were also chiefs in different areas.

“That’s right. You’ve been working so hard for this day, you can leave it to us,” Shao Ya said, giving a soft smile so characteristic of her.

Akira had to admit that it made sense for all the rookies to look up to Shao Ya, since with that warm smile she made her the ‘big sister’ everyone wanted.

Aeko, beside her, nodded in agreement.

Akira herself had worked steadily the past days to have some time off for this moment, and if she was honest, the mid-year vacations were too much.

That way, she took her work in Africa with Aurora, as she was away from all the documents and matters of interest.

“Good,” Akira said and after sighing and hiding her smile, she added. “Can you ask Santiago and Oscar to accompany Andrés when needed? I want to take the others to a big shopping party!”

She couldn’t deny that she was excited, but this was also payback.

Perhaps Andrés would be uncomfortable being the only man in the entire group of women who would be shopping, so it was better than when that time came. Oscar and Santiago would take him somewhere of interest to them.

Besides, without a man, she could embarrass Aurora... She wouldn’t let her revenge go by!