Chapter 131 - 130 - Weird Experiences

Flap... Flap... Clara enjoyed the ride home and flapping her Valkyrie wings happily. The still-quiet atmosphere on the bus was a good sign for me, as I didn’t want to draw attention to Clara’s Homunculus body. Clara’s gaze was fixed on the city, who still bustling with activity. For several times, she saw something she wanted to ask me about, but she had to suppress her curiosity after seeing me with my sleepy face. Just a few hours of sleep had almost made me lose my body’s fall asleep, that’s why I have to stay awake. I had to quickly fix my slightly messed-up sleep schedule without the help of the caffeine pills, whom I often used to stave off the nausea from exposure to the waves of magical energy. In times like these, I miss those handy caffeine pills. I was too confident to leave them at home after becoming a Master, and remembering my old life in Narzik’s world. Flap... Flap... "Um, Master Weiss... are you want to sleeping?" Clara asked, slightly disturbing me and making me open my eyelids to stay awake. "No, I was just... almost closing my eyes for a moment after not getting enough sleep," I replied, glancing at Clara, who seemed to be curious about something. "U-Umm... I’m a little embarrassed to say this, Master Weiss. M-My stomach feels weird, and it’s been making noises non-stop. Is there something wrong with this new vessel I’ve been possessing?" Clara asked, showing her stomach sounds. Gruuyyuu... I listened to the sound of her hungry stomach, and it made me realize the most important thing that must be taught for her, to be able survive on Earth. "That’s a normal reaction for all living creatures that are starving, Clara." "S-Starving? Is that some disease that needs to be cured as soon as possible?" Clara asked, tilting her head. "It’s not an illness. It’s just a normal response for living creatures that need to eat. It would be too difficult to explain, so I’ll show you something that will satisfy your starve." While saying that, I immediately stood up and headed to the snack section that had been provided on this bus. Tap... Tap... My footsteps towards the snack section were greeted by the bus conductor, who was ready to serve the passengers. "Welcome to the Small Canteen on Bus Number Seventy-Eight. Would you like to buy some snacks to stave off your hunger or a heavy meal for breakfast?" the bus conductor greeted while showing off the various menus provided in the small canteen on the bus. "I’d like to buy some snacks to stave off hunger before breakfast at home. Do you have any recommendations besides instant cup noodles?" I replied, examining the rows of various flavors of instant cup noodles. Since this would be Clara’s first time eating anything, I tried to avoid giving her anything with a strong flavor that would be addictive. I didn’t want to give her anything that would damage her self-esteem as a goddess, who become addicted to instant noodles, which can be quite dangerous over time. "There are several recommendations I can give, one of them... is rice ball, which has various flavors from another worlds that have collaborated with our government." "It’s just changing the rice ball flavors, right?" The bus conductor shook his head to deny what I said. "No... It’s not just the flavors that’s different... the seaweed is... also have a different taste than normal seaweed." "Even though the recipe has changed, it’s still the same rice ball," I replied in a flat tone about this. "I don’t deny that, because it’s just a rice ball made from ingredients from another world. There are even some passengers who like the sweet taste of seaweed in their mouths." "Ugh, sweet-tasting seaweed? What other culinary craze is that?" I was suddenly struck by this strange fact. After Earth connected to other worlds and faced the challenge of the Tower of Fate, I was surprised by this unusual culinary development. "I’m a little curious about rice ball from another world, please prepare some different rice ball and label the flavors," I said while deciding my food order at the small canteen on the bus. "Okay! One set of rice ball is ready to come!" By pressing a special button located at the back of the bus, I could see the bus conductor open a storage cupboard containing various kinds of food. Srrtttiinngg... With his hands reaching out and grabbing various flavors of rice ball that were still wrapped in seaweed-plastic, the bus conductor quickly prepared my food order. "Do you have any other drinks... like black coffee or fresh water to keep you awake on this sunny morning?" the bus conductor asked, offering other items. "I don’t mind black coffee and fresh water." "Okay, everything will be ready in no time!" replied the bus conductor, reaching for a drink cup. Pyyyuurrr... "..." I also noticed his movements, which seemed strange. I don’t know if it’s just me or not, but I really feel something strange about him. It felt like I was getting the maximum service, and it made me feel uncomfortable about it. Tuukk... Tuukkk... Two cups of drinks containing black coffee and fresh water were prepared. I immediately took out my ID card to process the payment, but was immediately rejected by the bus conductor. "I can’t make payments using an ID card?" I asked after seeing him reject my ID card. "Umm, if you don’t mind, could you please pay me by taking a photo with me and signing autographs?" he said with a big smile. "Is it okay to pay like that?" "Don’t worry, this is just to make my daughter happy, and I’ll pay for your food!" he replied enthusiastically. "S-Sure, but... please take care of paying for this meal first, and then we can talk about this photo and autograph." My strange premonition came true. I never thought something like this would happen in my ordinary life. Taking photos with people and signing autographs was supposed to be something only famous people could do. I am indeed famous on the internet, but I am famous because of the popularity of the Idol group Yggdrasil Advent, which was dragged into a big case involving their Idol Group Agency, and coincidentally, I am a Master who received the oath of allegiance from all the Idol members. I don’t know what the benefits are of taking a photo with me, but I’ll take this kind offer. The bus conductor then showed me my food bill, which had been paid in full, according to our verbal agreement. Nod... I nodded to keep the agreement we had made earlier and walked towards the middle of the bus to taka some photo, and gave the food and drinks to Clara. "C-Can we take four different photos?" the bus conductor asked in an awkward tone. "Four photos? Isn’t that quite a lot?" "I-I’ll pay more for this!" he shouted in a high-pitched voice. "Well... at least tell me what those four photos are for?" "J-Just to surprise my daughter in her birthday, who has been seeing you on the news. Unlike me, who is out of touch with the news because of my job, my daughter often praises you as the ideal man she has ever seen on TV." "O-Oohhh..." Bzzrrrtt... Dddrrrttt... When I heard that, my body suddenly felt goosebumps. Hearing my news from someone else’s mouth felt so cringe-worthy, and it disgusted me. I don’t know how far the news has spread, as far as I remember... the news about me was bad news with no positive side at all. I was even accused of brainwashing or hypnotic magic on all the members of Idol Yggdrasil Advent. That news that had absolutely no positive side had made me the ideal man for his daughter? I can only pray that her daughter will be okay in the future with her ideal man standards being broken like that. "Master Weiss, you’re back and... Umm, who is this?" Clara, who had been waiting for me, still sitting quietly. "Ugh, a fan who happened to want to take a photo together," I replied as I placed a set of rice ball on my seat. "F-Fan? Just like Chizuru does?" "Yes," I didn’t know what Clara meant and immediately replied to her. I immediately glanced at the bus conductor, who was getting ready with a portable camera that could print photos at any time on a tripod-printing-device. The bus conductor immediately sat down next to my empty seat and looked at the camera. Snap!! Cling!! With a flash of white light, a perfectly captured photo slipped out of the camera. The bus conductor looked at the captured image with a delighted smile. "This is a great shot, my daughter will love this." "Next... can I take a photo of you... and your maid?" asked the bus conductor, pointing his camera at Clara and me. Nod... I nodded and let the camera lens take the right moment to photograph the two of us. Snap!! Cling!! The white light coming from the camera managed to take a photo of me sitting next to Clara, and it was printed perfectly. "Hmm... this is the perfect photo, I think three photos are enough to satisfy my daughter," continued the bus conductor. Snap!! Cling!! Unexpectedly, the bus conductor took a photo of me sitting relaxed, like a candid pose that showed a natural expression on my face. I, who was not ready for that, immediately accepted the fate that had happened, and the bus conductor immediately handed me the three printed photos, along with a pen that I would use to sign autographs. With three perfectly printed photos, I can’t complain about this. Luckily for me, the candid photo poses of myself weren’t too bad, and my hands had moved to autograph each of the prints. "Thank you very much, Weiss Guderian." "Have a nice day..." When the bus conductor said that, the bus I was riding stopped at my destination bus stop, and I heard an automatic voice message informing me that the bus had arrived at my destination bus stop. "Clara, it’s time for us to get off the bus," I said to Clara while carrying the food and drinks that I gave to her. Clara and I hurried to the bus exit. "See you again next time, Weiss Guderian," said the bus conductor, greeting me respectfully. I also returned the greeting with a nod of my head. Peessshh... Brrruumm... The bus I had just boarded immediately left without picking up any new passengers.