Swept Off My Feet

Due to the bizarre method for telling time, there didn’t appear to be any way of setting an alarm. Thankfully, I tend to be a shallow sleeper, I could almost feel that I had to wake up or I would miss the meeting.

If I had to guess the time using standards from my original world, I would say it was close to 7am. I wasn’t sure exactly when or where the meeting would be taking place, but I was sure that if I woke up early enough, I would notice other members of the squad who could guide me there.

As a bittersweet timesaver, I had not yet mastered, or even attempted to cook using the strange crystals, so I couldn’t spend time on a meal even if I wanted to.

I stood and glanced out of the window, once again reminding myself of the beauty of this fantasy land. It was almost enough to make me question why I would even attempt returning to my previous world.

“Everything I know is in my previous world and that is reason enough,” I whispered to myself as if I was trying to convince myself.

I glanced at the sword hanging up on the wall by the window, the same blade I wore around my hip yesterday. I wasn’t quite sure of the meaning or relevance behind this blade, but it seemed to be pivotal to combat in this world, despite the fact that people could use elaborate magic techniques.

Either way, I still didn’t know how to use the sword effectively, so it would be dead weight if I decided to bring it to the meeting.

I could simply gaze at the beautiful sunrise and run out the door. However, before I reached for the door handle, I noticed a light breathing beside me, halting my movement.

I didn’t hear Aile come in last night, but she must have at some point. I chuckled to myself quickly, as her unguarded nature took me slightly aback. She had always kept a strict wall between us, so it felt cathartic to finally just see her acting like a normal person. With her eyes closed, she couldn’t use those beautiful and scary eyes of hers to intimidate me. Hopefully it also meant she was beginning to trust me enough to be in the same room as me, however I suspected that her tiredness just outweighed her inhibitions once it got too late.

The second I opened the front door to the house, as if deliberately contrasting the quiet breathing from Aile behind my back, a heavy pant began to creep closer and closer to me.

I glanced to my left frantically, to notice a woman dressed in long white robes dashing in my direction with a befuddled look on her face, stirring up a cloud of dust behind her.

“Huh? Benjiro? Why are you late as well? Come on, we've gotta hurry! The meeting starts in 5 minutes!”

A grip tightened around my wrist and suddenly I had been thrown completely parallel to the ground, flying through the air due to the immense speed of the woman who held my arm.

“Hurry up! If I’m late again I’ll be kicked off the team!”

If I hadn’t fully awoken before this, I was certainly awake now. This woman’s pink hair was so long that while she ran, her hair hovered right into my face, while I still trailed behind her, struggling to keep up.

“So, Benjiro. Why are you late? You’re usually the first person there, it’s strange for you to arrive at the same time as a klutz like me.”

“How would Benjiro reply to this hyperactive behaviour?” I briefly postulated whilst trying to maintain my balance.

“Sorry, Aile was stirring up trouble and I had to clean it up.”

“Did you say ‘Aile’ was causing trouble. Usually you just call her ‘the daughter’. Sounds like someone is getting more affectionate,” the woman whispered with a dubious grin.

“Give me a break.”

It seemed like we knew each other quite well. She seemed to speak to me casually, so maybe that implies some sort of friendship. She also knew about my habits and speech patterns, which is quite problematic.

“I’ll have to pay extra attention to the way I present myself.”

“Hey look! We’ve arrived with a minute to spare,” the girl spat out between breaths.

I glanced towards the meeting place, which was apparently on the second floor of a building at the front of town. This building previously stuck out to me for being the only one with two floors, but I would never have guessed it to be the hideout for the enemy.

I finally regained my balance and a sense of calm returned to my world, as we slowed to a halt.

“Ok, let’s go insi-”

When I thought we had slowed down to enter the building, it seemed that the woman grabbing me was just preparing to jump. Suddenly she shot towards the window, catching herself on the frame of the window. I was not so fortunate, shooting through the window and landing on the carpet face down in a cloud full of dust.

I grunted and picked myself up quickly, to glance at the room I found myself in. The room itself was quite boring, simply a collection of wooden planks, covered by some paintings of rivers and mountains. However, one glance at the people standing in this room and I knew that my naive goal of learning about this world would have no chance of success.

Everyone around me felt like mere silhouettes, I couldn’t pay them any mind. Except for the two people standing at the head of the room, clearly the leader and vice-leader of the group. They each exerted a strong pressure from the strength of their magic that even I, with my miniscule knowledge and experience with magic, could detect it.

One glance at them and I knew that I would forget about my goal and simply do all I could to get away alive.