Vol. 1 Chapter 4: Escape

Okay, so what now?

Of course, I wouldn’t let myself be defeated by my cute former team leader. Teleportation was just one way of getting out of this place; another was to walk straight out of the door.

“Temaire,” I gently roused her. She never let me go after my bosses left, using my lap as her personal chair. I never mind that; back when OyasumiSe7en still existed, it was her routine. Her body was smaller and lighter, anyway, and I trained in martial arts…

Specifically, to protect this brat.

“Yuuki…” she did some stretching, before asking me, “Where are we?”

“We’re still here at the office of the Secretary,” I told her, glancing at my watch that said ’11:15 p.m.’ By then, Lady Yanari left us to process my ‘resignation papers.’ Only Lady Menea remained to take care of our needs. See, Tenma always receive ‘preferential treatment,’ because her family belonged to the esteemed ‘Houses of Magic’—human families that attained legendary status among the Society of Mages for ‘advancing the development’ of the magical arts.

Think of them as a relic of a bygone age of kings, nobility, and sorcerers…

“Haa…” Temaire smiled at me. “You have no idea how much I missed you.”

Well, really, even with all the ugly events that happened to us, she was still my childhood friend. And yes, the feeling was mutual. Nevertheless, my desire to leave the world of adventuring trumped over her call for me to return.

“…” My eyes inadvertently fell on Lady Menea. The elf stared at me. I knew that face; she was indirectly giving me a warning: ‘I can read your thoughts.’

I don’t care. Read it for all you like.

“Tenma, can I leave you for a minute?”

“Why?”

“Will you come to the comfort room with me, then?”

She remained silent for a few seconds, before her eyes widened in surprise and her face became beet-red. “I-I-It’s too-toooo early for us, Y-Yuuki! B-B-B-But I guess…I won’t mind. Wait! N-No! I’ll l-look at it after our ma-marriage! Please go!”

“Thanks!” I hurried to the hallway, and made sure no one else saw the route I took.

-----

After confirming the hallways were clear of people, I headed to the nearest comfort room. It was already 15 minutes past 11 p.m., and while Manila never sleeps, the offices were closed. Only the night-shift employees and guards roamed the headquarters of the Adventurers’ Agency. Looking at the windows near the cubicle, I saw that I was several floors up. To get out of this place, I needed to reach the ground or second floors, at least. However, passing through the normal route would expose me to the security cameras and guards; encountering Lady Yanari on her way back to her office was high.

There’s only one thing I can do to solve this predicament of mine…

“…”

Because of earlier tragic incidents in our country, fire exits were always unlocked. This was mandated by our laws, especially in government offices like this. Of course, the risk of criminals getting into the same doors meant to save lives in an emergency was ever-present, so security guards kept a constant patrol along its route.

But I was a veteran of dungeons. In adventuring, stealth and sneaking around were essential skills, even for newbie members. Observing and timing your opponents’ movements could spell the difference between death and survival.

“…”

A lone guard approached my spot as he went up on his patrol route. Lights were usually installed on fire exit stairs. However, the government policy of cutting down operation expenses caused some of these lights to be turned off. Fortunately, I got the same uniform as the night-shift employees. I could rely on the semi-darkness to confuse the guard of my identity.

“Good evening!”

The man said nothing, though he tipped his hat as I passed him. Normally, these stairs were also used for going up and down the floors, especially at night, when elevators were turned off to save electricity costs. But because the Secretary of the Adventurers’ Agency was still on the premises, an elevator was kept in operation just for her.

The fire exit eventually led to the building’s parking area, and I could see the exit to the streets of Manila. Another guard post stood between me and my freedom. Nevertheless, as there were other employees leaving, they paid no attention to me.

Grabbing my phone, I hurried to a nearby convenience store, and bought some call credits. Then, I opened my ride-hailing app and caught a car to Dasmarinas.

I’m already sleepy, but I need to leave my apartment as soon as possible. Ahh…this is going to be a long night.

-----

***Back in the office of the Secretary…***

“Lady Henrietta,” it was Lady Menea. “Are you sure you’ll let go of the human?”

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

“He’s planning to escape while you’re still out of your wits.”

“Well, yes, I know,” she chuckled as she fixed the creases on her dress. “I grew up with my Yuuki, so I can tell what’s on his mind. I expected him to do that.”

“So, we’ll allow him to escape?”

“For now, yes,” Temaire chanted a spell that caused a bed to materialize before her. “Trust me, that guy? My husband will come running back to me. But, please send people after my Yuuki. I have a feeling that he won’t be alone soon.”

The elf reached for the intercom. “As you wish, Lady Henrietta.”

-----

**Yuuki**

I arrived at my apartment sometime after 2 a.m. My ‘taxi’ came to Dasmarinas earlier, but I left my motorcycle at my workplace. So, I asked the driver to drop me there. Good thing our security guard took the initiative of bringing it outside the parking area; it was easy for me to ride out of the compound without disturbing other people.

“…”

Honestly, my body wanted to sleep. My steps were heavy, and the bed looked so inviting I just want to let myself fall on the bedsheets. However, I needed to get away from this place. Maybe I’d just go to our province and stay with my parents for a while…

Oh, good lord…I still have to pack my things.

I dragged myself towards the cabinets, bringing out my travel bags. I got no time to fold them neatly, so I just stashed my clothes inside, making sure every space was filled so I could fit all my belongings. After that, I looked for an ATM on my phone map. My pockets yielded only several hundreds of pesos in cash, and I would need more while on the run.

Great! There’s one at a nearby convenience store.

Once I packed my things, I left a note for my landlord. While I didn’t put my contact details, I would just call him later so I could pay the rest of my rent.

The next problem I got was the bags itself. My clothes and other stuff filled two travel bags, and my motorcycle only got space for one. It didn’t help that I have no ropes to tie it securely, let alone two of those.

I guess I’ll just have to buy some at the convenience store, while also withdrawing cash. Thank God for these guys for being open 24 hours!

Just as I was about to leave, however…

“Oh fuck! Really? At this time?” I could only curse when the lights suddenly turned off. Blackouts were pretty common in this part of the globe, and we had no idea when the electricity would return.

As I felt my way through the darkness of my apartment, I noticed something peculiar outside. Simply put, the lights on our street posts remained in operation. I went to the window to peek…

Huh? The neighbors got their lights on as well!

“…”

At that moment, I remained still. There was something strange about this ‘blackout.’ It couldn’t be a localized one, since my apartment unit’s electric wires were connected to my neighbors. If this was really a power outage, then they would also be affected.

Finally, I heard some creaking sounds.

Someone’s inside!

“Found you!”

“!!!” I quickly parried something that was about to grab me. By this point I only moved through my gut feelings. Years of dungeon-diving made me familiar to some monster tactics of ‘blinding’ their victims, then attacking when the latter was disoriented.

However, my invisible assailant followed through its attack with a flurry of punches. While I blocked some of those, a few connected to my body.

But wait…it didn’t hurt!

I got no time to assess what was going on with me. The attacker kept on its offensive, yet its attacks were never painful. “Who are you?” I demanded as I parried. “Show yourself!”

Just as I moved back to keep my distance, another assailant made its presence known by diving towards me. The force it generated with that lunge sent me flying to the windows, though luckily, the metal bars kept me from flying to the streets outside.

“Hey! You almost killed him!”

“Can’t help it; this is Yukie we’re dealing with!”

Wait…these voices sound familiar—

“Raging whirlwind!”

“!!!” However, before I could do anything else, another powerful gust of wind blew that destroyed my apartment windows, and did send us—including my assailants, who were actually humans wearing motorcycle helmets and dark riding jackets—to the ground.

But, compared to them, my fall was cushioned, as Henrietta Temaire Louise appeared floating above us. With one flick of her finger, the motorcycle helmets of my attackers broke in half, revealing their identities…

“It’s been a while, Alice and Rico,” Temaire smiled while she slowly descended. “What a coincidence as well. I’m discussing with Yuuki the possibility of reviving OyasumiSe7en.”

-----

Of course, with Alice and Temaire having a previous beef against each other, our ‘reunion’ wasn’t that ‘happy.’

“Well, hello there Tenma!” Alice greeted as she cast a spell on her hands. “I see that you moved ahead of us.”

“A leader should always get a step before her subordinates,” Temaire replied, pulling out her wand—a rapier. Whenever she did that, we all knew she was getting serious.

“Maybe you guys should ask me first before deciding yourselves,” I tried to mediate between them. “We’ve been through this before!”

“Think of this as a continuation of what we should’ve finish back in the Antarctic,” Alice told me. By then, their petty quarrel had roused the neighborhood, and people were watching the fight through their windows.

Temaire was the first to attack. With her rapier, she let out a flurry of thrusts against Alice, who blocked those with her magically-infused fists. Then, in a sudden reversal, the latter grabbed the former’s blade, and tried to hurl her on the ground. But Temaire fired a fireball spell that exploded right in Alice’s face.

“!!!”

The brawler blocked it just in time. And while they were busy fighting, I didn’t notice Rico’s presence creeping from behind, until at the last minute.

“Hello, Yukie! I miss your scent!”

I narrowly missed her arms, about to lock me in her ‘embrace.’ Once that happened, it would be difficult for me to get out. I got lucky with her earlier attempt because Temaire blasted them with her wind spell. Next time won’t be as fortunate.

“Nice meeting you again,” I called to Rico. “Now if you guys will just leave me alone…”

“I’m sorry,” she replied. “Alice and I wanted you back! All these years we tried to find someone who can replace you, but no. Maybe we’re just wired to be together!”

Yeah, almost as crazy as Temaire. Both of them.

Now that her tricks were exposed, Rico switched from capturing me through stealth to beating me senseless. While Alice and Temaire duked it out against each other, our former scout never let me have my break. She threw punches and round-house kicks, which I had to parry or it would hit my neighbors’ houses.

They got nothing to do with our stupidity.

“Hahaha! I love this! I love this!” Rico squealed as she peppered me with strikes. “You never lost your edge Yukie! You’re still that ordinaria we love!”

“Guys, if we can just take this fight somewhere else!” I shouted. “We’ll drag my neighbors into our madness!”

“Can’t stop now,” Temaire answered. “I’ll just compensate them for the destroyed property!”

“You always run your mouth and money,” Alice teased her. “You never learn, Tenma!”

“A goddess doesn’t need to learn anything,” she shot back. “Come on Alice! If you want to defeat me, put your back to it!”

“Aaarrggh!”

Provoked, the brawler chanted more spells on her fists, which made it heavier than before. As a testament to her inhuman strength, Alice swung those like jumping ropes. Even Temaire knew that once she got hit, she’d dissolve into a mass red liquid.

But of course, taking pride of herself as the ‘world’s walking goddess,’ the swordswoman nimbly evaded Alice’s attacks while countering. If the brawler punched, she’d fire a spell to the latter’s face. If Alice kicked, Temaire would make her crotch explode. What they didn’t realize was that, for every magic they threw against their foe, the shockwaves would hit the houses in the area. As a result, not only did I have to watch out for Rico, I also had to protect my neighbors from the falling debris.

Damn it! It’s been a while! Hasn’t anyone called the police to break this up?

“I miss looking at those elegant martial arts moves,” Rico commented. “You really can’t leave the weak alone, Yukie.”

“How about you help me get the innocents out of danger?”

Well, Rico being Rico, she obliged. Though, she never really stopped gunning for me. While we moved my stunned neighbors away from the battle site, the scout would try to sneak around and grab hold of my arms, or legs.

“Junie,” one of my neighbors asked, “what’s going on?”

“Think of this as a nightmare you’ll eventually wake up from, soon,” I flashed my ‘business’ smile before I took away his consciousness. Once unconscious, I laid him together with his family on the sidewalk, a few distances away from their destroyed house.

“Yukie, here’s another civvie!”

“!!!” I barely caught the sleeping child Rico threw at me. Just as I recovered from the surprise, she quickly closed her distance, and attempted to lock one of my arms in her chains. But I guess she expected I would evade her by reflex, so she ‘double-tapped’ on me by sending a kick towards my arms. Everything happened so fast, I didn’t see when Rico managed to locked my limbs in place.

“Gotcha!” the scout triumphantly declared.

“Oh no, you don’t!” At that moment, Temaire rushed to my aid, sending a fireball to sever the chain that caught me. Angry that her magic was annulled by our former team leader, Rico threw another pair of chains towards Temaire, which the swordswoman easily parried.

“Hey, your opponent is me!” Alice didn’t want to be left out, so together with Rico, they ganged up on Temaire, eventually leaving me alone.

These girls…causing this destruction all because of their unstable emotions.

“…”

Good lord, my eyes are starting to close by itself. I should stop this madness…

I always believed that I was someone ‘insignificant’ to my team. I mean, as an ‘ordinaria,’ I was ‘replaceable,’ like other adventuring parties do. That was why I got the role of ‘porter,’ assigned to me by the Adventurers’ Agency. Only Temaire would insist I was ‘important,’ and I got ‘more leverage’ compared to them. I often dismissed her claims…

However, Lady Yanari’s words earlier made sense to me…

“Having united a party with unique members for years isn’t a normal thing to do.”

Did I really do something extraordinary?

Taking a deep breath, I summoned all my courage and uttered a silent prayer. Damn it, all these years I ran away from these people, and it didn’t solve the problem. In fact, it only made it worse! This time, I would stand my ground. I would never run anymore…

“Hey, guys!” I called out to them. “Once you ceased fighting, I’ll go with you on a date! So please, stop and take care of yourselves more!”

My promise brought the warring factions to an abrupt halt. From fierce dragons and tigers about to wreck an entire sleeping neighborhood, Temaire, Alice, and Rico became meek as doves. I could finally breathe easy.

“Thank you for listening guys—” However, just as I stepped towards them, my sight swam and turned dark. The last thing I saw was my former teammates rushing to me…