Foreigner's Journey

If Cloud is the 1st fighter, his strength is indeed enough to run rampant in most of Midgar, and Tifa also hopes that this friend from the same country can live in Midgar.

Hearing Tifa's words, Claude made a decision immediately, and nodded slightly to Barrett and Jesse: "I've accepted the mission, when will it start?"

"A week..."

"Let's go tomorrow!"

Jessie's "a week later" was interrupted by Barrett before she could say it, and both she, Biggs and Weggy looked surprised: "Tomorrow? So soon?"

Barrett proudly took out a note from the inner pocket of his tactical vest and shook it: "I've got the timetable of the freight train for No. I don’t know when I’ll wait any longer. It’s tomorrow!”

No. [-] Magic Furnace?Claude felt that he was involved in some terrible incident, and hurriedly asked: "Wait a minute, you haven't said what the mission is?"

"Oh, we're going to blow up the No. [-] Mako furnace in Midgar." Barrett said lightly, his tone as relaxed as if he was going to eat pineapple and bacon pizza at Dimo's restaurant.

Jesse tilted his head and looked at Claude: "No problem, right? Don't you hate Shinra too?"

This is really not a problem for Claude, because he also hates Shinra Corporation very much, and there is no psychological pressure to fight against them, let alone...

Cloud glanced at Tifa beside him, and then nodded coldly to Jesse: "...No problem. As I said, as long as the reward is right, I can complete even dangerous missions. Then, the time and place of assembly ?”

"Tomorrow at 4:[-] p.m., meet at the gate of Seventh Heaven." Barrett's style is swift and decisive, and he arranged the mission schedule in a blink of an eye.

Biggs and Weggy were gearing up to go back to sort out their guns and equipment for tomorrow's battle. Jessie trotted a few steps and grabbed Tifa: "Tifa, come here?"

With that, she pushed Tifa into the lounge inside and closed the door.

"What's the matter, Jesse?" Seeing Jesse sneaking around, Tifa involuntarily lowered her voice.

Jesse held Tifa's shoulders with a serious face, and said in a sincere and serious tone, "Tifa, am I your good sister?"

"Yeah." Tifa wondered why Jesse asked that.

"Second question, Tifa, do you like Cloud?" With that said, Jesse pouted towards the door.

Tifa froze for a moment, then shook her head slowly: "Jessie, you know who I like. Claude is my childhood friend from the same town, that's all."

"But I think his attitude towards you is very unusual?" Jesse was still asking.

Tifa became more and more strange: "Jessie, what are you trying to say?"

Jesse took two deep breaths and said, "Tifa, I want Cloud to be my boyfriend."

"Ugh--??"

Tifa realized that her exclamation was too loud, so she quickly covered her mouth and lowered her voice: "Are you serious, Jesse? You and Cloud haven't met for five minutes, right?"

"For the first time [love at first sight] in my life, I think this is the arrangement of God."

Jesse clasped his hands in front of his chest, with an intoxicated expression on his face: "Since he is a former 1st fighter, with his strength, there is no problem at all whether it is to open a master house to make money or protect me. He also looks very reliable and has a charming personality. Indifferent. The most important thing is his face... God, the most popular male star in the troupe before can't compare to his appearance! You can't call him [handsome], but [beautiful]!"

As she said that, she hugged Tifa all at once, and rubbed her head hard on her chest: "Tifa, my good sister! This is my request for the rest of my life, please help me catch up with Cloud!"

"How can I help you? I can't do anything myself!" Tifa couldn't laugh or cry, would she even compete with Alice if she had this ability?

"I want to know everything about Claude's past! His hobbies, his previous love history... It's the first time I want to talk about a boyfriend when I grow up. I can rely on you for my future happiness!"

"Even if you say so, I will..."

In the lounge, Jesse was entangled with Tifa like an octopus, as if he would not let go unless the other party agreed.

In the hall outside the house, Claude found Heather who was patiently stirring the chicken curry in the soup pot standing in front of the stove.

###Chapter 41 Curry Rice and Thank You###

, the journey of a foreigner

Claude walked to the bar and looked at the ordinary-looking black-haired man behind the bar who was slowly stirring the soup pot on the stove with a spoon, and the smell of curry was constantly emitting from the pot.

Facing senior brother Tifa, Claude's voice was very cold: "Tifa said, can you help me find a place to live?"

"That's right, are there any special requirements for the house?"

Heather replied without turning her head, the spoon in her hand showed no sign of slowing down or speeding up, and was still stirring the curry chicken in the soup pot at a constant speed.

Claude put his hand on the bar.With a serious expression: "I will find a place myself, and you don't need to bother."

For Heather, Claude felt an inexplicable sense of competition in his heart. He didn't want to use Heather's help to find a cheap and suitable place to live, especially when Tifa was pleading.Claude thinks he can do it by himself.

"Really? Then go talk to Tifa, whether she agrees or not, what she means is what I mean." Heather didn't even look back at Cloud.

In the distance, Barrett, Biggs, and Wage had already sat on stools in the corner, watching the two talk in silence.

Claude frowned: "I don't need to tell Tifa myself, it's just to make you give up finding a place for me. This will save you a lot of work, right?"

The spoon in Heather's hand stopped stirring, and she slowly turned her head to look at Claude, and said with a half-smile, "Heh... boy, did you make a mistake?"

Claude jumped back violently, and at the same time put his right hand on the hilt of the giant sword behind him. He noticed the fierce aura emanating from the black-haired man in front of him, which was enough to make his scalp tingle as a 1st special forces soldier. Terrible threat!

Heather knocked the soup spoon against the side of the pot and put it into a bowl beside her. She reached out and untied the tie of the apron behind her, and said slowly:

"You just came to Qifan Street, there may be many things you still don't understand. It doesn't matter, you have plenty of time to learn slowly. But please remember one thing..."

His figure disappeared from the spot in an instant, and even Claude couldn't catch his trace.

The next moment, a hand was placed on Claude's grip on the hilt of the sword, and he slowly pushed back the giant sword that had been pulled out. Heather's voice also rang in Claude's ear:

"As long as you are still in Qifan Street, you have to obey me obediently. Now, all you need to do is to play the role of [an old friend from the hometown reunited after a long absence] that can make Tifa happy, understand?"

Claude's whole body was tense, and the right arm holding the sword hilt was even more muscular, but with the mighty strength of the 1st warrior he had soaked in Moko, he couldn't resist Heather's strange power at all, and the giant sword on his back was just like that. go back.

For a moment, Cloud had the urge to swing his sword violently, but then he remembered that this man was the senior brother who had been taking care of Tifa, and he was someone she valued.

Can't conflict with it for the time being, at least not in this bar, or it will make Tifa sad.

Clang——

Claude took the giant sword back and let go of the hilt, looking at Heather with more indifferent eyes.

Heather put her hand on Claude's shoulder, and said softly, "Look, I not only helped you find a place to live, but also taught you how to behave in the world on Seventh Street, and saved you from a beating. You should How to say?"

"...Thank you." Claude clenched his fists tightly, and the metal baffle on the surface of the glove creaked.

"You're welcome."

Heather smiled and patted Claude on the shoulder, and walked back to the stove behind the bar to continue cooking the pot of chicken curry.

The three of Barrett in the far corner looked at each other, not daring to speak, and whispered in extremely low voices.

"Wow, Boss Heather hasn't lost her temper for a long time, and she's still so scary. Weiji, why are you shaking?"

"Biggs, I'm afraid... Barrett, why don't you..."

"Hush! Keep your voice down! That kid Heather is super shy, if he hears it, it's over. Listen up, pretend you didn't see anything and didn't hear anything, put on a smiling face and prepare to eat curry rice, talk less and more Eating is the key to a happy life."

Obviously, Barrett has gained valuable experience in defeating Heather again and again, at least he is very familiar with how to get along with Heather.

The boss of the Avalanche organization?This job sounds really powerful, but can it help Barrett get another meal in front of Heather?For himself and Marlene's savior and the chef in charge, even the irritable Barrett had to put away his temper obediently.

"However, Boss Heather didn't lose the slightest bit in the face of the former 1st fighter. How strong is he?" Biggs dragged his cheeks halfway on the table, with a bored expression on his face.

Wei Ji rubbed his stomach: "I don't know, I only know that Brother Heather is stronger than anyone else, whether it's fighting or cooking, I'm so hungry..."

They didn't have much sympathy for Claude, and they were not beaten by Heather, but only received a few sarcasm, which was not worth mentioning to them who had been living in the slums and experienced a sea of ​​corpses and blood.Most importantly, Heather has a much closer relationship with them than Claude.

People are always divided into closeness and distance.Even if Claude is a mercenary they hired with money and has Tifa's endorsement, he will not be able to gain more trust from Barrett and the others when he just arrived.

At this time, Heather also put the chicken curry in the soup pot into the plates with rice. The steaming chicken curry, potatoes and carrots were mixed in the thick soup, exuding a strong aroma.

"Tifa, it's time to eat."

Heather yelled towards the lounge, then placed the plates on the bar and waved to Barrett: "Come here, this meal is my treat."

"Wow! Boss Heather's secret curry rice! It usually costs 40GIL per serving!"

Wage and Biggs cheered and rushed towards the bar first.Barrett ran upstairs to find Marlene, and the little girl ran to the second floor after Claude came in.

Claude smelled the aroma of curry rice, and his throat moved unconsciously.Only then did he feel the emptiness and protest in his stomach. The strong sense of hunger seemed to be blocked by something before, and now it began to show its presence.This unbearable hunger... How long has it been since I have eaten?Just as Claude was about to think about it carefully, the headache showed signs of attack again.

Just as he was pressing his temples to relieve his headache, a plate of steaming curry rice was suddenly brought to him.

Claude looked up and found Heather's ordinary and annoying face.

"I'm treating you, let's eat. Of course, if you insist on paying, you can put it on the account first, and pay me back when you earn enough rent." Seemingly counting all of Claude's words, Heather put his The possibility of declining is all blocked.

"……thanks."

This time, Claude's 'thank you' was much more sincere.After hesitating for a moment, he took the plate and spoon, sat down at an empty table nearby, and began to feast.

After Tifa and Jesse came out of the lounge, the latter immediately raised his hands and cheered when he smelled curry, and took a plate of curry rice from the bar counter and ate it without asking.I don't know if it's because Claude is also in the hall, but Jesse's food is much more dignified than before, as expected of an actor.

Tifa looked around and found that Claude was sitting in the corner of the hall with his head buried in his meal. He couldn't help but look at Heather with a smile on his face.

Heather shrugged, as long as she was happy, that was more important than anything else.

That night, Heather lent Claude the basement of the bar to live temporarily.Heather and Tifa tidied up the basement in a warm and comfortable way. There are not only beds and sofas for resting, but also spare drinking water and TV sets.

The time soon came to 4 pm the next day, and everyone gathered at the gate of Seventh Heaven.

Barrett wears sunglasses and holds an arm-mounted rotary machine gun in his right hand; Jesse wears a red headband, a metal breastplate that accentuates his figure and loose sweatpants, with several grenades hanging from his waist; Biggs and Wage also wears a red headband and wears a simple combat uniform for easy movement.

Claude is still the same, but his energy is much better than the first day.

The [Shinra Crash Plan] organized by Avalanche has officially started!

###Chapter 42 The No. [-] Demon Furnace Destruction Incident###

, the journey of a foreigner

Because they were worried that something might happen to Barrett and the others after they came back, Seventh Heaven also put up the wooden sign of [Closed Business] today.

Heather's cuisine and Tifa's cocktails are extremely popular, which has allowed the two of them to save a lot of money over the years, and the suspension of business for a few days will not affect the quality of life at all.

The two of them took Marlene to sit on the steps at the entrance of Seventh Heaven, watching the passers-by with boredom, waiting for Barrett and the others to come back.

Heather did not treat herself badly. She specially made a large plate of hash browns with ketchup and salt and pepper, and brought three bottles of iced drinks.With these snacks as a refresher, the waiting time won't be too boring.

Seeing that the sky was getting darker, Tifa turned to look at Heather, and said worriedly: "Brother, nothing will happen to Barrett and the others, right?"

Heather twirled a piece of potato cake, dipped some pretzel and took a bite, said vaguely: "Don't worry, Barrett and the others will be fine as long as they follow the plan and are not discovered by special forces and special mobile forces. And Isn't Claude still there? He's very strong, even with 2nd-level fighters guarding him, he can break through safely."

Through the short confrontation with Claude yesterday, he probably understood the strength level of the original protagonist at this time.

If calculated by the level in the game, Claude is now about level 12, which should be more than enough to deal with ordinary minions.