I'm Perfectly Fine

CRUNCH!

The heavy iron plates shattered the quiet of the winter night. Lily and Kara charged through the fresh snow, their weapons half-drawn as they rushed into the alleyway to protect their leader.

They skidded to a sudden halt, their eyes locking onto the unconscious thugs and the dark-haired bard standing over them with a splintered lute.

Bard Zale glanced at the backup, then put the broken neck of his instrument into his belt. He offered a polite tilt of his head toward Toshio.

"It seems your party has arrived, milady. I shall take my leave. Farewell."

"Wait," Toshio called out, adjusting the heavy velvet folds of his gown. His high-pitched noblewoman’s voice carried a chillingly flat, unyielding tone.

"We are walking the same path."

Zale paused, his hand gripping the edge of the stone brick wall. He did not turn around.

"And how exactly am I supposed to trust the word of a whimsical noble lady?"

"You cannot," Toshio replied smoothly, stepping forward until the silver moonlight caught the glint of his monocular.

"That's why I will trust you first. The name is Toshio Tanaka. The Hero Killer."

The traveling musician froze. His broad shoulders tensed as he slowly spun around, his dark eyes wide with genuine astonishment. He stared down at the elegant, curvaceous figure in front of him.

I know, I know. I'm pretty famous as the Most Wanted. 

Toshio thought boastfully behind his stern mask, his internal corporate calculations running silently.

"Looking like that?" Zale muttered, his voice dripping with utter disbelief.

Toshio looked down at his corseted waist and manicured nails, clearing his throat with a sharp, feminine cough.

"Ah. This is just a shape-shifting magic, don't focus on it."

"Brother is speaking the truth!" Lily yelled, jogging up alongside Kara as the rest of the hidden party emerged from the shadows of the main street.

To ease the doubts, Kara reached up and unclasped the heavy latch of her dark helmet.

She lifted the steel away, revealing her tightly bandaged arms, her towering stature, and the unmistakable, simmering aura of her cursed monster body.

The 'old man' Lily briefly explained about Kara's curse and why they needed the help of the Witch.

Zale stared at them, completely conflicted, unsure whether he should think they were all insane or that they thought he was stupid enough to believe all that.

Zale’s gaze sharpened as he evaluated the weight of truth behind their claims.



Without further questions, he grabbed Toshio's velvet sleeve and dragged the entire party deeper into a pitch-black corridor, hidden from the surrounding houses and windows.

"If you aren't lying... why would you reveal that to a complete stranger?" Zale demanded in a low voice.

Toshio straightened his collar, his demeanor perfectly calm.

"Because if you were associated with the Perfect Prince, his knights would have processed our arrest the exact moment I said those words. Yet, there is no one here but you."

A brief hope flashed within Zale’s eyes before he swiftly masked it beneath a carefree shrug.

"I have no idea what you are trying to say."

"I think you understand it perfectly," Toshio countered.

"What is going on, Sir Toshio?" Luck asked, his body shifting anxiously as he kept watch at the entrance of the alley.

"The Perfect Hero does not have an omniscient tracking system," Toshio explained to his party, his tone carrying the precise weight of an executive delivering an audit report.

"Let's just say he only knows what's known already beforehand, or after? It's hard to explain." 

No one understood what Toshio was trying to explain except Zale.

Zale almost let out an agreeing gasp, his eyes widening slightly.

"You are right about some things sure, but you cannot win against him. Not even his fellow Heroes know his skill. As long as his skill remains unknown, he will always be one step ahead."

A bitter expression of a dark past flickered ever so slightly across the bard's features.

Toshio stepped closer, his noblewoman's gaze locking onto the bard's face with intense, unyielding focus.

"What if I successfully find out his exact skill before the sun rises tomorrow?"

The entire party gasped in unison.

Zale’s composure cracked, a profound curiosity breaking through his bard's mask.

"You know something else too, don't you?"

Toshio raised a gloved finger, laying down a definitive executive gamble.

"Let us make a formal wager. If I decipher his skill by morning, you will trust me and help me take down Suzuki Sawada."

"And find my master!" Stacy added with slight hesitation.

"Yes, and that too," Toshio added one last condition to the bet.

The bard remained silent for a long moment, the winter wind howling between them.

Instead of answering, he reached down and yanked open a concealed, underground wooden hatch built into the stone foundations of the alley.

"You can take shelter in this cellar for the night," he murmured, acting completely unbothered.

"And if you fail to find out, make sure your party is gone before the morning bells."

The bard extended his hand, shaking the lady's hand with some doubts.

You are a good kid, huh, Toshio figured silently, calculating the bard's true intent.

Zale was intentionally trying to keep them out of harm's way, even if they failed to help his ultimate cause.

"We have a bet," Toshio declared.

Descending into the dim, dusty storage room, Toshio pulled out his royal pocket watch

A luxurious, gold-engraved artifact transformed from his ordinary modern wristwatch by Stacy's alchemical magic. The mechanical hands ticked precisely at 8:45 PM.

The moment the hatch slammed shut above them, the party exploded with frantic questions. Everyone started talking at once, their voices echoing off the tight stone walls. 

"How will we even do this!?" Luck said with defeated look. 

"I trust you big brother, but I don't trust unknown people. What if he rats us out?" Lily gave her honest worry. 

"What if they hurt master?" Stacy was mumbling on her own. 

"Kara protect Toshio, okay?" Kara was sad because Toshio didn't rely on her. 

These kids... Toshio thought, raising a calm hand to halt the noise.

"Calm down and listen to me," Toshio commanded, snapping the pocket watch shut with a sharp click.

His eyes sparkled with absolute, terrifying confidence.

"Hope you guys are ready for an all-nighter." The manager said to his confused interns!