A Night in Jail

“And you’ll be staying there until we confirm a few things!” A stern and weathered voice spoke as they walked away from Fumihito’s cell.

Jail.

Who would have ever thought that he would have been thrown in jail? The college student planted his head against the thick steel bars and blankly stared ahead into the barracks of the department he was planted in. Whoever these people were, they weren’t just some people in cosplay pretending to be warriors. The weapons were real, these iron bars he was behind were real, and the woman lying on her back with the saddest expression imaginable was also real.

Fumihito wished for nothing more than to wake up from this nightmare of a dream, but that didn’t seem so likely anymore.

“I can’t believe I’m going to have a mark on my record. I’m a researcher of the Great Center and now this? Nobody’s going to respect me if they think I’m just some delinquent…”

Honestly, it was hard to feel pity for the poor woman lying on her back at the farthest corner of the cell. After they were taken in, he had his coat removed and lost any change he had in his pockets alongside his wallet. The girl, apparently, had something called an unlicensed brew being held out in the open. The discussion wasn’t something he paid attention to with great interest, but they kept talking about one of the laws of magic.

Now? Now they had to validate her job while he was labeled as an unruly citizen.

“This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t tried to force-feed me some type of poison,” it was probably the first time in his life he’d choose to be snippy.

How he’d come to regret that choice.

“H-Huh? It wasn’t poison, you… you… you jerk! It was a healing drought. It’s meant to lessen pain and relax the mind. It would’ve made sure that your concussion of yours wouldn’t get worse,” the girl had finally risen to her feet and stormed his way. He, however, refused to be intimidated by someone a head shorter than him as she stamped her boots onto the floor and glared.

Well, attempted to glare. If he was being honest, it felt like she was a puppy trying to appear intimidating.

“I don’t even know what that is, but you can stop with this elaborate scheme you’ve set up. This grand shepherd or whatever and this… this stupid place, crazy!” He practically flung his hand forward before a sharp spike of pain struck his skull once more.

The look on the woman’s face had calmed and she lost whatever anger she possessed. He didn’t think someone could turn on a dime like she did. From insufferably sad to pouty and now concerned? It almost seemed unlikely before she reached out and tried to push him down gently.

“See? Now you’re making it… Would you just sit down? Once I’m vetted, I’ll be able to give you the drink and then we can talk this through,” it took a little bit before he caved and plopped down onto the ground and leaned up against the iron bars with a sigh.

She, in turn, sat across from him on the other end of the cell as men continued to patrol the outside while some of them talked amongst one another. He looked around briefly and noticed the vials laid out on a desk. They all had a myriad of colors that seemed almost unreal. Were they chemicals or was this just some fancy parlor trick?

And this place was… It couldn’t have been…

“...Erlana.”

He paused and glanced away from the desk back to the young woman. She was looking at her knees, hands wrapped around her legs, and her vermillion eyes blankly staring at him.

“What?”

She nervously brushed her hands together and sat straighter, trying to make herself look proud.

“My name is Erlana. Erlana Dagny. Not crazy lady…”

Fumihito raised his head higher and blankly stared at Erlana after her introduction. There was still so much about this situation that didn’t make any sense. If he was being honest, he should have ignored her.

“Fumihito.”

But…

There was confusion in Erlana’s eyes the moment he spoke his name, but she didn’t seem to say anything about it. He was still nervous. His hands shook, but he did his best to maintain a conversation. It seemed only fair to trade names.

“Fumihito Hanada, my name. Now, if you don’t mind, could you please explain to me where exactly I am?”

The young woman smiled brightly before a look of confusion finally crossed her face. She tilted her head and glanced over at the guards who were at their stations before she rose to her feet and coughed into the palm of her hand.

“R-Right, I guess I should explain things. I d-did just summon you, so…”

BANG!

A loud noise rattled the bars and the two of them were startled from their conversation. One of the guards from earlier had arrived with a set of keys in hand after they knocked on the front of the bars. He remembered that man as one of the few who approached him from the very start.

“Your record’s clear, Dagny. Apologies, but you can never be too careful with untested potions these days. We’ll get you out of there shortly, but this one,” the man jerked a thumb over in his direction, “doesn’t have any backing. We’ll have to keep him here for a few days until…”

Right, so this wasn’t going to go well, was it?

“H-He’s a colleague of mine! A fresh graduate from the Center, so his records aren’t so clear. I’m so sorry for the trouble we’ve caused. I promise I’ll pay whatever fine I need to for him to walk free.”

Those were the words that escaped the young woman’s mouth. To Fumihito’s surprise, the nervous wreck of a young woman bowed her head down respectfully the moment his sentence came up. It didn’t add up. He was the reason why they were here in the first place and she was lying for his sake?

Why?

“Hm,” the guard looked over at him and narrowed his eyes before he sighed. “Fine, alright, but you’ll be expected to grab all your belongings. Make sure this one doesn’t go around scaring people either.”

The bars shuddered before they slid wide open. Erlana stepped forward and patted down her bright leggings before she turned around and offered him a hand. Her kindness still didn’t make a lick of sense to him.

But, she had done it regardless.

“You wanted answers, right? Let’s talk, Shepherd of Souls.”

Fumihito took a deep breath before he rose to his feet and took Erlana’s hand. He never knew how small it was compared to his. The feeling of skin brushing against skin, his fingers nearly woven into hers, before she led him into the barracks and past the armored soldiers. Some of them sent him a few inquisitive looks, but they went back to work as soon as his vision crossed theirs.

“Come on, we should get going before they look too deep. I’m not exactly the b-best liar,” Erlana sheepishly mumbled under her breath before she stepped toward one of the desks and snagged a large satchel. It seemed to contain all those vials from before.

Of course, even as the two walked through the barracks and made their way through stone halls, there was one question that kept prodding at the front of his mind.

“Erlana, what exactly is this Shepherd of Souls anyhow? You’ve been calling me that this entire time.”

She almost seemed perplexed before she stepped outside the barracks before him. Daylight was starting to set in now. They must have been in there for hours after they were jailed last night.

“Uh, you can stop with the lying now, ‘Fumihito’. I know you just didn’t want to reveal your true name amongst the people of Mythos, but it’s just us now. So, we can finally discuss our contra…”

“But my name really is Fumihito Hanada. I’m from Japan.”

Once again, he swore he felt the air shudder. Erlana had frozen. Her expression was pale, her arms twitching, and her lip began quivering once again. She raised a shaky hand in his direction as tears crawled up the corner of her eyes.

“Y-You’re not the S-Shepherd of Souls?”

He simply shook his head.

“Fumihito Hanada. Now…”

And then the poor young woman SLAMMED her fists into the ground and wailed again as crocodile tears rolled down her face. He froze on the spot and watched the ground crack briefly before she reared her head back and shrieked.

“I CAN’T BELIEVE I MESSED UP THE RITUAL! I’M SO USELESS!”

Somehow, Fumihito had a hunch that things had grown more complicated…