Chapter 12

Upon arriving at the town, the three went straight to the clinic, where they met up with Astill. She lay on a bed, and the doctors said that she suffered no physical harm.

“I’m fine.”

“Are you still dizzy? Anywhere hurt?” Syorin examined Astill’s body, finding no visible wound.

“I’m alright.”

“You should rest for a bit. We’ll pick you up tomorrow.”

“Ok.”

And after that, the three left the clinic. Upon arriving outside, they voiced their conclusions.

“Something’s not right.”

“That’s not Astill.”

“Something happened to her.”

All three of them had noticed the same thing. Astill wasn’t acting like her usual self.

“I swear, I thought she would get angry at me,” Syorin said.

“Yeah, she would have called you a worrying idiot.”

“She’s really that sassy, huh?”

Syorin nodded. “She’ll look for any opportunity to voice her dissatisfaction. I doubt she’s okay with me checking on her like that.”

“We really need to check out that person.”

“Lead us to him.”

Neila had been given an address. As if he wasn’t acting suspiciously enough, the address given to her was a private building, not a commercial lot.

“How are we going to approach this?” Neila asked as they approached the street where the building was located. For one, they didn’t bring the item with them.

“I can’t just go out and punch him, can I?”

“I think that’s a bad idea,” Kakashi smiled wryly, thinking that Astill does have a point in calling her a meathead.

“We should do one pass in front of the building to scout the area, before deciding our next move,” Neila suggested, and the other two agreed with her. The building’s front entrance was located in a small alleyway. It was barely large enough to fit the three of them walking side-by-side. Just in case they’re being observed, Neila pretended to read the address, while the other two looked for the building, despite already knowing which building it was.

Kakashi reached into his pocket, his hand on his controller. The second he passed in front of the door, Kakashi pressed the button. The effect was immediate. He expected Neila and Syorin would be the only ones visible, as their enemies weren’t aware of him yet, thus they wouldn’t be listed.

Or at least, that was supposed to be the case.

Two guards immediately entered the battle, despite the three of them not knowing where they stood. The guards’ speed was below Syorin's but still faster than Neila's, which implied that they were at a similar level. Kakashi quickly deactivated his ability.

“Maybe it’s that one,” Kakashi pointed to a building in the distance, and they left the alley. Once they were far enough, they huddled together.

“They have guards that are constantly looking out.”

“Just when you think they couldn’t be any more suspicious.”

“Can you check if there’s anyone else?” Neila asked.

“No, because they’re not hostile.”

That said, Kakashi doubted they’re still acting non-hostile. They must have noticed being suddenly frozen in place out of nowhere, which would put them on guard. Going back for another round would be risky, however. Some of them would be now looking out the window, wondering what had just happened.

“That pretty much is all the information we got, huh?”

Since they’re going against humans and not goblins, it would be very dangerous for them to go in guns blazing.

“If Astill were here, she could sense how many people were in that building,” Syorin murmured.

Unlike Astill, Syorin, and Neila didn't have the sensing ability. They couldn't tell how many people stood inside.

“Should we wait for Astill before coming back?” Neila suggested. That seemed like a good idea, as it was getting late anyway.

“No need.” For the second time in the day, Astill ‘mysteriously’ appeared behind them. Kakashi already noticed, of course, but he didn't tell the other two girls.

“As- Astill? Shouldn't you still be resting?”

“I know you're going to do something dumb.” She shook her head. She still looked somewhat tired, but her complexion was better than before. “Seventeen people. Two near the front door, ten on the first floor, five on the second.”

It was impressive how quickly she could point out the exact number and location of everyone inside, but the numbers themselves brought concern to the group.

“That's way too many.”

Considering their stats, Kakashi doubted the girls could handle them, even with his help. He couldn't do anything to support them, either, as he knew no spells and could not fight. If they needed to retreat, then no one would cover them.

“We should have taken the box.” Neila sighed. They had all completely forgotten about it and left it back in the dungeon.

“So… Do you have any ideas?” Syorin asked.

Astill turned to Kakashi. “Can’t you break through the second-floor window?”

Since the second floor was within the twenty-meter barrier, Kakashi could fly up there. But, there's an issue,

“I can't break through.”

Kakashi couldn't change the state of items when in this mode. He couldn't open the window, break the glass, or move through.

“I’ll break it for you.”

“Wouldn't that bring attention your way?”

“I have spells that can travel long distances.”

“You're going to use that?”

Many of Astill's spells had long ranges, but they had one of two weaknesses. They're either large AoE spells, equivalent to guided bombs, or spells with low accuracy over distance, similar to artillery strikes. These spells would create a lot of ruckus, something they wanted to avoid, and they also wanted to avoid damaging anything valuable inside, anything that might shed a light on the truth behind that rock.

That said, Astill did have one spell that was perfect for the job. It had just one problem.

A dark spell. Unlike Neila, Astill didn’t want her secrets to be leaked, but like other dark spells, it wasn’t something someone could coincidentally know.

“Are you sure?”

Astill nodded, saying nothing else.

“Fine.”

Thus, the group moved back toward the building. Neila and Syorin kept their distance, Astill the only one coming with Kakashi. Once they stood in range, Kakashi activated his ability.

“Astill, Darkness Arrow!”

Astill brought her staff to the side, the diamond tip pointing toward the window. Dark circles appeared in front of it, and a single shot of magic shaped like an arrow shot forward. That concentrated amount of magic smashed the window into bits, and Kakashi ran straight for the broken window. Upon arriving, he found a group of startled men, all wearing lab coats. Immediately, seven new hostiles were added to the list, including the two guards on the first floor.

The room looked like a laboratory. Shelves filled with books occupied one side, and various equipment occupied the other. There was a box filled with rocks similar to the one they found in the dungeon, with some more on various equipment placed on tables throughout the room.

“Wh- Who are you!?”

“Guards!”

“I can’t move!”

Kakashi changed the result back to ‘faint’, keeping the pain level at ‘minimal’.

“Wait, I can!” One of the men ran down to the first floor and shouted upon running down the stairs. Ten extra people were added to the list, their pictures appearing throughout the list. Since Astill had already moved, she was moved straight to the bottom of the list.

They began moving around. Using the confusion as a chance, Kakashi looked through the research material, looking for any open documents that could be helpful.

“Hey, you! What are you doing!?”

“Get out of here!”

“The materials!”

Kakashi knew he didn’t have unlimited time, as things outside the barrier moved just like normal. He ingested as much information as he could.

Are these… wait… no way…

Kakashi gasped. The people there all panicked, probably realizing that he had just found what he was looking for.

“Get him out of here!”

A guard ran up to the second floor, but not long after he entered, he couldn’t move.

“Damnit, just what is going on!?”

“Get out of the way!”

Because of the narrow entryway, the people behind the guard couldn’t move past him, causing a lot of them to get stuck.

There was too much information to remember, but once he got a general understanding of it, he headed straight back to Astill. The contents he had just read flashed in his mind, causing him to wince. He lightly shook his head, putting a regular expression on his face. Once he got far enough, he deactivated his ability, freeing everyone. Astill reached out and grabbed his hand, pulling him with her as they ran away.