Chapter 467: Greatest Performance Yet

'These stupid little shits.'

That was the singular thought that circled Nana's mind for a million times in less than a nanosecond. She was just thinking of plans on how to get Riley out of her ship, but now, her men seemed adamant about committing suicide as they continued to try and talk to Riley Ross.

Her crew was even trying to talk in Alltoh—the universal and most used language in the Known Universe. Fortunately for her, her crew wasn't fluent in it, and even if they were, Riley and his female companion didn't seem to know the language in the first place since they were just looking at each other in confusion.

It was a good thing that the only device capable of analyzing his language was in her station; if not, then her men would have surely used it already and exposed the fact that she already knew who Riley is.

"Get out! Get out of here!"

"What? But boss—"

"I said get the fuck out!"

Nana could no longer help herself as she clapped her hands, causing a small quake to travel in the air; the vibrations, only seemingly targeting her men as their bodies all jolted from the oscillating force.

"..."

"..."

Her men then quickly looked at her as they finally shut their mouths, before looking at each other and shaking their heads,

"Looks like the boss hasn't taken her meds yet."

"Let's go, it's probably that time of the year."

"I wonder what we're getting this time? I hope it's another brother so they wouldn't have to leave."

"You know, we—"

"What are you little fuckers still doing here!? Get out!"

And once again, the very air itself started to vibrate as Nana stomped her foot on the floor. Surprisingly though, the ship and any of the unlatched objects within it were completely unaffected by the weird force. And it would seem before it could really happen, Nana's children-slash-crew finally left her alone with Riley and the other drifter.

"..."

And now that she was finally alone with them, Nana didn't really know what to do but to just very slowly and carefully turn her head toward Riley Ross—

"Fuck!"

—only to see him sitting just a foot away from her; his head slightly tilted to the side so their eyes were at the same level. Captain Nana tried her best not to swallow all the anxiety that was flying and circling around her as she returned Riley's gaze. She had no idea what he was doing right now, but she was sure that it was best not to make any reaction.

"..." She then took a glance toward the female drifter to see what she was doing, and judging by the obvious tension also surrounding her like flies, she also didn't know what was about to happen—or maybe she did, that's why she looked so anxious.

"I…" And finally, Nana let out a long and very deep breath as she tried talking to Riley. And unlike her crew, she didn't even try to speak in Alltoh, "My name is Nana Nonoyo. I am glad that you are safe. I will take you to the nearest station, okay?"

"If it is not that much of a problem, then thank you, Captain Nonoyo."

"It… It's no problem at all," Nana waved her hand as an obviously awkward chuckle escaped her lips. But before the 4th breath could exhale from her mouth, her entire face froze and almost cracked from realizing something—Riley just talked to her in her native language,

"You…you… you can understand me?"

"Yes, Captain Nonoyo."

Nana looked closely at Riley's lips, and their movements weren't matching the words that were coming out of them. And before Nana could say anything else, she slightly flinched as Riley pointed to somewhere; Nana, of course, instinctively turned to look to where he was pointing, only to see the female drifter holding some sort of device. And Nana didn't even need to squint to see what it was—just one glance, and she already identified the object.

"That… Isn't that a Teera X120!?" She exclaimed; her feet moving on their own as she made her way toward Riley's companion, "How… how do you have something like that!? This thing costs a thousand times more than this ship and—"

And with Riley's female companion retracting the so-called Teera X120, the tension that Nana momentarily forgot once again started flying around her; this time heavier as beads of sweat began trailing on her small face.

"My name is Riley Ross, Captain Nonoyo. I forgot to introduce myself since the device is still analyzing the language you are using, I think. I am still not quite sure how it works."

"..."

Why did you have to fucking introduce yourself?--- is what Captain Nana was currently thinking at the moment. With her now knowing his name, the risk of Riley knowing that she knows who he is has just risen considerably.

Unbeknownst to her, however, she was not alone in the thought.

Hera, who was the mastermind behind the entire thing also could not help but want to scream in frustration. She was the one who told Riley that they should act unconscious in the hopes that this ship would notice them and they could hitch a ride—but she also specifically told Riley not to introduce himself.

Luckily for them, these small and fun-sized people don't seem to know who he is… is what Hera thought.

"It… it is no problem at all," Nana then once again let out an awkward chuckle as she waved her hand, "Please, make yourselves comfortable. I need to check something with my crew."

And with that, Nana quickly made her exit before any unnecessary conversations could arise. After all, the longer she stays here, the higher the chance that Riley might realize something.

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Unfortunately for her—

"She knows who you are."

As soon as she left the med bay, Hera approached Riley, who was still seated on the floor.

"How would you know?"

"I'm… an actress, remember?" Hera sighed as she shook her head. She initially thought Nana was unaware of who Riley is, but her last words and the way she acted before she stepped out of the room were completely… off—and for Hera, whose eyes were trained enough to even see through Riley's act, it was as clear as day that Nana knew something.

"If you say so, then it must be the case, Hera," Riley nodded as he stood up, "Then I will kill all but the one driving the—"

"No!" Hera blocked Riley's path before he even took a step towards the door, "You just promised me you won't hurt any of these people. Don't tell me you don't honor promises now? Isn't that like your whole thing? I know you don't break promises."

"...No?" Riley tilted his head as he looked Hera straight in the eyes, "Where did you hear that, Hera?"

"From… From Megawoman and your sister," Hera almost stuttered as she returned Riley's gaze, "You… don't want to disappoint them, right?"

"..."

"..."

That was a lie, of course. Or in Hera's case, an act. Aside from the incident before she abandoned Diana's ship, she hasn't even gotten the chance to talk to Megawoman alone— and she couldn't really remember if she and Hannah even had the chance to have a proper conversation even once.

She didn't even know what she was supposed to do right now; all she could really do was the thing she had always done best— to perform. And considering what was at stake right now, this would probably be the most important performance in her life.

She held the life and death of not only her, but everyone they would be crossing paths with from now on.

"Is… that so, Hera?"

"Yes," Hera made sure not to break eye contact with Riley.

"..."

"..."

"I… suppose that's true."

And after a few seconds of what seemed like a lifetime of staring at each other, Riley finally nodded and started walking around the med bay,

"Lately, I have been finding myself to be breaking the promises I made. I suppose Aerith truly would be disappointed if she finds out that I am not listening to you since you are her proxy."

"...Proxy?"

"Aerith sent you on a mission to look after me, correct? That is usually her job. And I suppose it is yours for now."

"...I'm not your—"

'I'm not your caretaker.'--- is what Hera wanted to say. But very soon, an entire scenario started to set itself up in Hera's mind— Riley listens to Megawoman; and if Riley treats her as a proxy, wouldn't that mean he would also start listening to her?

"..." And so, with that slightly dangerous thought surfacing in her mind, she once again turned to look at Riley and nodded her head,

"Yes, she told me to look after you."

"Hm," Riley stopped observing and checking the med bay as he looked at Hera, "Then… I wish you all the best in your endeavor, Miss Hera. I promise to be as troublesome to you as I have been to Aerith."

"Of course, I will— wait… what do you mean by—"

"!!!"

And before Hera could finish her words, the entire ship started to shake and the lights within the med bay dimmed and became red.

"You… I thought you wouldn't hurt these fun-sized people anymore!?"

"I am not, Miss Hera. This is not my doing."

[Notice to all crew and staff! We are currently under attack. I repeat, we are under attack by pirates!]

"Oh…" Hera could not help but close her eyes and sigh,

"...What happened to my vacation?"

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