Chapter 17: Completion

[Ding... Mission Successful. The host is rewarded with the key to open the mysterious box]

Ryder had heard Janus' voice in his head, and he was celebrating when he heard Esmi ask him a question.

"What made you have a crush on me? Just the looks?" Esmi asked.

Ryder didn't take long to answer her as he didn't want it to seem as if he was lying.

"Ah, that's not all. I don't understand the reason myself, but I find myself attracted to you as if you're the most special girl in the world," he said.

"Hahaha, That's a cheesy thing to say, but I'll take that as a compliment," Esmi chuckled.

"We're here. Help me get Bastian on the passenger seat." Esmi said to Ryder as they got to the Car.

After some effort, they successfully achieved their goal. Bastian was sitting on the passenger seat.

"Thanks for everything. I'll take my leave now." Ryder said to Esmi.

The car she owned was a two-seater sports car. It was clear that there was no place for him in the car.

'It's fine, though. My home is not too far, anyway.' He thought as he turned back.

"Why are you, leavening? I said I'll leave you home, didn't I?" Esmi said as she held his hand.

"Ah, It's fine, Esmi. This car is a two-seater. There's no place for me." He told her as he felt as if she didn't understand the problem.

"You don't have to worry about that. We can easily adjust. You sit in the driver's seat." Esmi said with a mysterious smile on her face.

"Me? On the driver seat? Where will you sit if I'm in the driver's seat?" Ryder let out with a confused look on his face as he stared at Esmi.

'Is the alcohol taking hold of her mind? Her words aren't making any sense.'

"Of course, I'll sit on your lap. That way, we can adjust inside the car easily. There's nothing strange about that," She said with a pearl of laughter.

Ryder wasn't sure what stunned him the most. Her answer or her laughter, which sounded like a melody. He was amazed as he noticed that despite her real age, she was really charming.

"You must be joking. It'll be quite uncomfortable for you if we actually did that." He told Esmi with a wry smile on his face.

"It's fine. Get inside," She insisted again as she pulled Ryder and walked towards the car.

Ryder gave up on trying to teach her and opened the door of the car. He got inside the car and sat on the driver's seat.

Esmi followed him and got inside as well. Although it took some effort, she managed to get inside the car. She was sitting on his lap.

They were so close that Ryder was getting her strong smell. She smelled like lavender, but it didn't feel like it was from a perfume.

'Is this her natural smell?' He wondered.

"Hey, I'm about to start. Don't move too much," She said lightly.

"Well, don't worry. I don't think I can move even if I try," He replied to her with a wry smile on his face.

"Esmi said lightly.

"Are you calling me fat?" Esmi inquired as she laughed.

"Ah, no. Not at all. You're so slim and light. It's just the car that is too small," Ryder said.

The engine started smoothly without making much noise. The cars of the modern world had long since abandoned the noisy engine of the past.

Only a few collectors used the supercars of the past that ran on diesel and petrol and made the noise. Almost everyone used silent cars nowadays. Clearly, Esmi was one of them.

The new cars had a lot of advantages over the previous ones. Firstly, the pollution emission was almost negligible from the cars that everyone used. Secondly, they didn't create much noise, which was the favorite feature of quite a lot of people.

Thirdly, with the advancement in technology, the efficiency of making cars had been increased even further, and their costs came down quite a bit. Almost everyone was able to afford a car nowadays, but the number of people who could afford the electric supercars of Ferrari was still quite low.

The car Esmi owned was the latest model from Ferrari. The model was released last year, and there were only a thousand such cars in the world.

"Alright, Let's talk about what you said to me. You have a crush on me, so surely you must want me to be your woman. What would your reaction be if I said yes?" Esmi asked.

"That was... ah. We're already there. I live on 24th Street. You can drop me off here." He said to her as he noticed that they were already there.

Esmi noticed that Ryder dodged the question.

"Oh? That was fast. How about you come with me instead? We can go to my home?" Esmi chuckled as she slowed down the car, but she didn't stop the car.