“What are you doing?”
A displeased voice came from the screen. It’s hard to tell whether that voice belongs to a man or a woman, a child or an adult, a Saint or a criminal. Laura did not turn to look at where the voice came from. Besides, the one appearing on the screen should be a ‘man’ floating upside down in fluid.
The General Director of Academy City, Aleister.
Laura, whose extremely long hair hangs down from her shoulders, quietly says,
“Don’t you know? I’m combing my hair. A man shouldn’t be seeing a woman doing make-up.”
She chuckles,
“Several centuries ago, among the English Noblewomen, there are methods to scorch their hair by either using the sun or the moon. The best-looking blonde hair is called the ‘Sun’s hair’, and it’s the greatest virtue for one to accomplish this. Isn’t it stylish to do this without the need of dyes?”
Laura tries to stifle her laughter, but there’s no response from the screen.
She twists her neck and looks at the LCD screen.
“What’s wrong? To remain silent while I'm talking with you……”
There’s no response from the screen.
Just when Laura’s feeling puzzled, a voice came from the other side.
“No……actually, I’ve been trying to ask you something.”
“Hm?”
“To be honest, your Japanese sounds really weird. Or are you treating me as an idiot by saying this? Which one is it?”
Laura stopped what she was doing.
The comb that’s gliding through her hair slightly trembles.
“You……you……do you know what you’re talking about!? There’s no need to talk about etiquette with a man who doesn’t believe in God, just some simple words is enough for you!”
“I see……if you prefer to use such a special accent, it’s alright. What I’m trying to say is that if you’re really frustrated about this, I can send a Japanese teacher to teach you the language. I am the one who ruled over knowledge after all!”
“Uu! I’m not bothered by it! Why would I bother about a language used by a small country in the Far East?”
Laura, who’s combing through her hair quickly, loudly declares.
There’s no response from the screen, and there are no bystanders as the sound of Laura combing her hair quickly echoes throughout the hall.
After a while, Aleister seemed like he wants to change the topic, and says,
“However, why do you want to comb your hair in front of the guest? Shouldn’t you have done it before having a conversation?”
Although she doesn’t like this topic, Laura feels that at least they can break away from the original topic, as her tone and attitude seems calmer than before.
“There’s no time. Actually, night is the time when women are in their bedrooms doing their make-up. Please don’t mind me doing this during our conversation.”
“Hmm, I guess that’s the result of the ‘Sun’s hair’ that you talked about, right? The myth about the moonlight should be a superstition, but the myth about the sun is actually due to the ultraviolet rays that caused the hair to lose colour pigments. This is probably an idea gained from books fading in colour due to overexposure to the sun. But I’ll give you some advice……you’ll get hair loss!”
“………This is rather rude when we’re still developing our diplomatic relations.”
Laura looks away. The hair that’s lying on the floor like a rug is reflecting light from the LCD screen. The shiny hair that’s carefully combed through with the gold and silver combs now reflects other colours like red and blue.
She again mutters, “So rude.”
“I have informed you earlier the reason why I wanted to contact you, so let me confirm it again. Also, I would like to thank you for agreeing to our unreasonable request.”
“If you’re talking about the time difference, there’s no need to worry about it. This is the time when we start our work anyway.”
“What I want to say is that it’s rude of us to interrupt you when you’re doing your work.”
Laura looks at her hair that’s reflecting light, and says,
“It seems like the opening ceremony is under way. As the leader, shouldn’t you go up to the stage and say hello to them?”
“……Do you think I can let people see me like this?”
“Hoho, you’re right, this isn’t appropriate for the occasion.”
At this moment, Laura turns to look at the LCD screen on the altar.
There’s a person floating upside-down inside a transparent cylindrical tank that’s filled with red liquid. No matter how one sees it, it’s unsuitable for this person, who’s wearing a green labcoat, to appear in public like that.