"What…… the f*ck?" Keiko paused after seeing Shiro’ wheelchair and headband.

  "Don’t question it, let’s just talk about our next steps ok?" Shiro sighed as Nan Tian pushed her inside the apartment.

  Looking at each other for a moment, both Keiko and Keomi shrugged their shoulders since they’ve seen weirder things happen around Shiro before.

  Sitting around the table, the duo waited for Shiro to start.

  "First things first, I just want to put it out there that I plan to resume the journey straight away. I know my current state is not optimal but if I rest near Mount Everest, I could recover while also being ready to rescue Yuki." Shiro said as both Keiko and Keomi had worried expressions.

  Seeing this, Shiro only chuckled.

  "Don’t worry, it’s going to be fine. There should probably be a village or something I can rest at near Mount Everest right? It’s not like I’ll be staying in the middle of an enemy camp."

  "I get that but considering how dangerous the situation could be, it would probably be best for you to travel AFTER recovering." Keomi shook her head.

  "But if we’re near the area, we can keep an eye on Mount Everest and check to see if there are any activities. What if Yuki can’t wait that long?" Shiro replied.

  "Yes, but it doesn’t have to be you now does it? If anything, I can go scout out the situation since I’m an assassin. I’ll give you regular reports until you recover and come to me, how’s that?" Keiko suggested as Shiro furrowed her brows.

  "Hmm…… you do make a valid point." Shiro nodded her head reluctantly.

  "Actually, I have someone better in mind to do the scouting." She smiled after pausing for a short moment.

  "Oh? Who’s that?" Keiko asked.

  "Estrella. The spirit that I’ve recently acquired. As you know, her prowess with different dimensions is quite powerful. I can get her to scout for us since she can escape easily. Not only that, she might be able to bypass the barrier without notifying bastard Duan." Shiro smiled.

  "Wait a f*cking minute, what?" Keiko stood up.

  "Yup, you heard correctly. Estrella is now my subordinate." Shiro said calmly.

  "You know she tried to kill you right?!" Keiko frowned.

  "Yes, but her power is helpful. It would be a waste to just dispose of her. Trust me, I’ve got it covered." Shiro chuckled.

  Furrowing her brows for a moment, Keiko reluctantly nodded her head and sat down. While Shiro may seem playful, she never played around with anyone that may threaten her life. Since she decided to suggest Estrella for this mission, it means that she had something in mind.

  "I trust your decision but my main question is, can we trust the spirit?" Keiko asked with a frown.

  "Well…… she’s essentially signed a vow to become ’my property’ in a way. If I’m about to die, she’ll be my meat shield. She’s trustworthy to an extent. Plus, with the vow that she signed, she cannot betray me or her soul will be erased before she could even succeed." Shiro shrugged lightly.

  "Hmm…… I still don’t like it. I know she’s probably very helpful but I don’t like the idea of trusting the rescue of our friend to someone that almost killed you. Though I suppose there is some guarantee due to this vow of yours." Keomi sighed.

  "However, if you’re going to let her do the mission, let me go with her so that I can double check the validity of the information." She followed up.

  "Okay. In that case then how about this? Let’s all go with you and Estrella acting as the vanguard scouts. Me, Keomi and Nan Tian will stay roughly one village away so that we can react in time should anything happen. That way, I can recover while also staying near Mount Everest." Shiro suggested with a smile.

  "Hm…… that’s fine. Let’s go with that then. But you must be far enough so that you won’t be dragged into a fight should it start before your recovery finishes." Keiko ordered.

  "Perfect, let’s get ready to move then." Shiro chuckled since this is what she wanted to begin with.

  As Keiko and Keomi prepared to leave the apartment, Shiro had Nan Tian escort her to the balcony for now so that she could look at the city while they got ready.

  Nodding his head, Nan Tian pushed her wheelchair to the balcony.

  {So, do you know how long it’ll take for you to recover?} Nimue asked from within her Mana Realm.

  ’I have no idea. In the time that I was exploring the city with Nan Tian and Attie, I had already scanned my body and I have to say, I’m basically in a vegetative state. If not for the fact that I can see parts of my body slowly healing at a snail’s pace, I would have thought that I’d be disabled for life. So while I have no idea on how long it’ll take for me to heal, I know that there is a guaranteed chance for me to recover.’ Shiro replied.

  {Mn…… you’re really pushing the limit here with your excursion to Mount Everest. You haven’t even started the rescue process and you’ve already been injured to this extent. And despite all of this, you STILL want to continue the journey. If anything, I must praise your tenacity.} Nimue chuckled.

  ’Well I am pretty proud of it. After all, if I wasn’t tenacious, I wouldn’t have survived the experiments on my body.’ Shiro replied with a smile.

  {True. Speaking of your Nanomancer class, what’s the strongest weapon you can make right now?} Nimue asked curiously.

  ’Once again, I have no idea. With my database full of blueprints and the experiments I had been doing a while ago, I’m able to spend a bit of time to combine them with my second class to form a powerful weapon that hasn’t been made before. However, thinking of this, I see another problem.’ Shiro sighed.

  {And what’s that problem?}

  ’The problem is that to improve past the previous peak that I had reached, I’d need to focus more on how to redesign the nanobots themselves. As described in one of the Nanobot research books that I had found, I’d need to find a way to make the nanobots more compact and efficient. But with all the things going on, I haven’t really had the time to focus on this task. And even if I did, it might take years to develop. I don’t know if it’s possible to achieve this so I might as well focus on the empress class so that I can improve my chances in the coming age.’ Shiro shook her head.

  {Perhaps you need a different approach in order to achieve this? I’m not a scientist so I can’t say for sure but Nanomancer is a mix of science and magic right? You’ve been so focused on science so far so maybe what you need is more understanding in the magic side of things. Now that you’ve gotten your memory about your time as Kuromi, you might be able to use her magic knowledge to find a way to fuse both your classes together to make powerful weaponry.} Nimue encouraged.

  ’Haha, don’t worry. Just because I said I don’t know if improving is possible doesn’t mean I have given up. I’m focusing on my empress class right now so that I can learn more about this class and the magic I have access to. Once I’m able to master this class, I’ll be able to fuse the two classes together. Who knows, maybe I’d be able to form a class with a higher rank than EX.’ Shiro replied with a grin.

  {Look at your grin, sometimes I wonder why I even worry about you.} Nimue sighed.

  ’Ah don’t be like that. You worrying about me urges me on ya know? Having someone to support your back is always a good feeling hence why I’ve got your back too. Once the queens arrive, I’ll make sure to keep an eye out for the ones that were responsible for enslaving the spirit race.’ Shiro chuckled.

  Hearing this, Nimue’s lips curved into a smile.

  {Make sure you don’t kill yourself in the process though.}

  ’Of course. And just for you, I’ll even give them my best torture treatment. One that will make them wish they never stepped foot into this world.’ Shiro narrowed her eyes.

  With her improved control over her nanobots, keeping someone alive while torturing them to the limit is easily done. Hell, she might even start to dabble in soul magic so that she could torture their soul in the process.

  While everyone else was packing up, Shiro noted down a few torture ideas cheerfully since she needed to be prepared for the future.

  After a short moment, they were finally ready to resume their journey. Nan Tian and Keomi were responsible for looking after Shiro while Keiko and Estrella would scout out the road ahead.

  Their next stop, the village of Kuwon. A rather small village located not too far from Mount Everest.