Current time: Early afternoon…
Clyde and Harumi placed a hand on Toru's shoulders, smiling at him innocently.
"Toru, our good friend, our representative," Clyde began. "As someone familiar with the place, you're the best man to speak for us."
Toru frowned.
"He always had an air about him," Harumi said. "Spirit energy that attracts the… uncivilized."
The group of women continued to march toward them.
"Should we really be standing here?" Kitome said, uncertainty in her voice.
"I'll handle this," Sazuki said, her voice cold. "I know of these idiots. Good luck getting them to even talk to a man. They'll come over here, but if you stand up to them, they're all blushes, tears, and apologies until one of them rallies them."
"Well, since they're already rallied, do your thing," Clyde said to Sazuki. He gave one more micro-glare to Toru then turned to face the approaching cult.
"There sure are a lot of them," Sazuki said. "So many gullible buffoons. Disgusting. Women should pride themselves to be at their best, not… worship, whatever a minotaur is. A mythical monster, right?"
"Sazuki…remind me to get you into gaming and fantasy novels after this," Clyde said. The student council president blushed.
"Well excuse me for not being a famous magic-wielding, long-time Team Stone member," Sazuki said.
"We've got you covered," Clyde said. "By the way, how's the training going? Or is Harumi interrupting it to make sure you're not hurt."
Harumi snorted.
"It's going quite well," Sazuki said, "but seeing my younger sister toss around heavy objects, even the boulders at Libado, like pillows, is kind of unsettling. But if it helps settle your consciousness, Toru works us like he's some kind of hardcore sports coach."
"I see," Clyde said then pat Toru on the shoulder. "Good shit man."
"And you wanted to sacrifice me to the cultists," Toru said. "Although." He said in a voice just above a whisper. "Look at what they're wearing. Makes a man glad to be alive."
"I know right?" Clyde whispered back. "Why aren't there a ton of men around, gawking?"
"They probably believe that tangling with the cult-freaks will get them spirited away by the minotaurs," Toru answered.
"What are you two whispering about?" Kitome said, barging in between them.
"Nothing important," Toru and Clyde said simultaneously.
When the cultists were less than twenty feet from them, they stopped. The leader continued forward. She seemed startled when Sazuki moved toward her, poised and dignified.
"Those women are doomed," Harumi said confidently.
"Ice queen president," Toru said. "No man is brave enough to ask her out. She's like Kitome. Unapproachable." The magical girl elbowed him in the gut. "Oof."
"I'm not unapproachable," she snapped. "I just have standards. Unlike you, slime-chaser."
"No need to be a species-racist. A speciest?" Toru laughed, gaining an indignant blush from the blue-haired girl. Her green eyes would probably turn red at some point if the noble continued to push it. Harumi hissed at them to quiet down.
"How can we help you?" Sazuki said to the cult leader.
"We just have a few questions for the men. No need to be alarmed, girl," the cult leader said.
"I know all about you, Lia," Sazuki continued. "So unless you want your name squashed all over the media, I suggest you leave these two college students alone." She emphasized the 'college' to boil up her point. However, the cult leader just didn't back down.
"Perhaps I should tell you what we're all about," Lia said. "Because you clearly have a misunderstanding ringing in that empty head of yours."
Sazuki suddenly punched the woman so hard, she lurched thirty feet backward, crashing into a heap on some of her minions.
"Oh, I forgot Sazuki's habit of punching every girl that insults her," Toru said.
"Reminds me of the first real meeting with her," Clyde said. "Dammit Sazuki—let's go, run!"
Sazuki said nothing but the ice remained in her gaze.
It took the group nearly twenty minutes to find another cab. Kitome muttered what felt like an infinite series of Toru insults. Sazuki looked weary. She apologized for losing her temper, but no one held that against her. They were at the right place during the wrong time.
"Toru, you'll be in charge of checking the news or internet every morning for minotaur cult sermon locations," Clyde said.
"Sure," Toru said, unenthused, but knew he couldn't protest. A fuck-up was a fuck-up.
"Oh no," Harumi said tiredly.
"What?" Sazuki said.
"Airi texted me. She stood against a group of minotaur worshippers in defense of Yusuke and Seth." Harumi groaned. "And here I thought if Airi took control of Yusuke's lessons, just for today, nothing could possibly go wrong." Clyde winced at the mixed-in sarcasm. "She's also with Kiko."
Sazuki nodded, her trust in Airi visibly displayed. Clyde took in that note. What was she behind those question marks? Did Harumi know? Well, it wasn't his business, for now.
The moment the group stepped out of the car, cheering up at the sight of the mall, the cab driver held up a hand.
"No charge."
"Sir, we couldn't possibly hamper your job," Harumi said.
"No charge," he said again, voice firm. "FRESH MEAT, MEN HERE!" He slammed the door shut and took off while laughing wildly.
Clyde's eyes widened. Sure enough, cultists from just a dozen meters away looked at them, smiling. Leading them was another red dress-wearing woman.
"Friends! Oh, great friends!" she shouted. "Let's chat!"
"You've got to be shitting me," Kitome snapped. "Are the people in this place fucking crazy?"
"This one isn't on me," Toru said.
"Funny enough, it was your suggestion to go to the mall," Kitome said.
"Let's not start the arguing," Harumi said. "It wouldn't surprise me if we found them near the hotel upon return. So, it's time we ditch the hide-magic approach, Clyde, because it's clearly not working."
"Do undercover agents blow their covers in weak situations like this?" Clyde said. "Stick to the plan."
Harumi sighed.
"Why is this happening?"
"I'll tell you why it's happening," Kitome barked. "Doofus-head here and his monster girl attraction magic."
"That only works on monster girls," Clyde said. "Unless I'm blind—"
"Don't be a smartass on me," Kitome said.
"I'll do the talking," Sazuki said.
"No!" everyone shouted.
She smiled sheepishly. Clyde laughed. He almost said, "there's only one kind, sweet, beautiful, girl out there who could handle this," but thought better of it. Kitome was holding his arm now. Making the jive on Harumi would just backfire. Sazuki would probably lapse back into ice mode.
"Harumi, do you want to give it a shot or shall we run?"
"Fine, but you owe me for this," she said. Once again, the leader of the worshippers seemed to be taken aback that a woman would dare side with a man.
"We really got to do something about the minotaurs," Toru said.
Kitome sniffed, but for once, held back her fiery tongue that held a football field's worth of insults for the noble.
**
Somewhere…
"I am Dark…washed up overlord." Dark stared at the tired young man in the mirror. The watchers told Selkie that the Supreme demon lord unlocked the gate to Wonderland and that whatever she was discussing with the Queen of hearts could affect the entire world. And among one barely transmitted word, they caught, 'send a jobberwock to play with the Stone.'
Dark would've simply called the normie to warn him, but his phone was crushed by harpies. As if things couldn't get any worse, guides' had their Jumping privileges restricted to prevent the Viper from honing onto their magic signatures and killing them. Punishment squads were supposedly being prepared to deal with the maniac.
Despite level-grinding, he still didn't learn Jump or any kind of teleporting ability. What a mess for the great lord of the dark. A bloody freaking mess.
The young man sat back on his bed. Selkie walked into his hotel room, mocking humor in her smile.
"Charly, if you're going to continue to solo like a chuuni, then double your training," she said. "Triple it. You've got to do something. This standstill…"
"I know," Dark said. "I know. But…why should I? I'm not ever going back to earth. Maybe I should…"
"Then go back to the palace," Selkie said. "They're waiting for you. Many expressed how much they've missed you."
"I…can't face them," Dark said. "I just left them there. What if the Viper turned out to be even crazier than he already is? Murderous and psycho, bloodthirsty."
"Oh, come on, I'm not that bad," said a familiar voice. Selkie melted into goo, revealing the man with glowing purple eyes. A giant knife spawned from nowhere and lunged into Dark's throat. He gagged as blood poured from his mouth. The Viper laughed, spit-sprinkles dancing over Dark's face.
Abruptly he awoke, panting, breathing hard. A twisted version of the previous night's conversation…
Dark wanted to yell. A familiar ogre grinned evilly at him. To think that she even bothered tracking him fifteen miles—what the hell?
Current time: Early afternoon…
Clyde and Harumi placed a hand on Toru's shoulders, smiling at him innocently.
"Toru, our good friend, our representative," Clyde began. "As someone familiar with the place, you're the best man to speak for us."
Toru frowned.
"He always had an air about him," Harumi said. "Spirit energy that attracts the… uncivilized."
The group of women continued to march toward them.
"Should we really be standing here?" Kitome said, uncertainty in her voice.
"I'll handle this," Sazuki said, her voice cold. "I know of these idiots. Good luck getting them to even talk to a man. They'll come over here, but if you stand up to them, they're all blushes, tears, and apologies until one of them rallies them."
"Well, since they're already rallied, do your thing," Clyde said to Sazuki. He gave one more micro-glare to Toru then turned to face the approaching cult.
"There sure are a lot of them," Sazuki said. "So many gullible buffoons. Disgusting. Women should pride themselves to be at their best, not… worship, whatever a minotaur is. A mythical monster, right?"
"Sazuki…remind me to get you into gaming and fantasy novels after this," Clyde said. The student council president blushed.
"Well excuse me for not being a famous magic-wielding, long-time Team Stone member," Sazuki said.
"We've got you covered," Clyde said. "By the way, how's the training going? Or is Harumi interrupting it to make sure you're not hurt."
Harumi snorted.
"It's going quite well," Sazuki said, "but seeing my younger sister toss around heavy objects, even the boulders at Libado, like pillows, is kind of unsettling. But if it helps settle your consciousness, Toru works us like he's some kind of hardcore sports coach."
"I see," Clyde said then pat Toru on the shoulder. "Good shit man."
"And you wanted to sacrifice me to the cultists," Toru said. "Although." He said in a voice just above a whisper. "Look at what they're wearing. Makes a man glad to be alive."
"I know right?" Clyde whispered back. "Why aren't there a ton of men around, gawking?"
"They probably believe that tangling with the cult-freaks will get them spirited away by the minotaurs," Toru answered.
"What are you two whispering about?" Kitome said, barging in between them.
"Nothing important," Toru and Clyde said simultaneously.
When the cultists were less than twenty feet from them, they stopped. The leader continued forward. She seemed startled when Sazuki moved toward her, poised and dignified.
"Those women are doomed," Harumi said confidently.
"Ice queen president," Toru said. "No man is brave enough to ask her out. She's like Kitome. Unapproachable." The magical girl elbowed him in the gut. "Oof."
"I'm not unapproachable," she snapped. "I just have standards. Unlike you, slime-chaser."
"No need to be a species-racist. A speciest?" Toru laughed, gaining an indignant blush from the blue-haired girl. Her green eyes would probably turn red at some point if the noble continued to push it. Harumi hissed at them to quiet down.
"How can we help you?" Sazuki said to the cult leader.
"We just have a few questions for the men. No need to be alarmed, girl," the cult leader said.
"I know all about you, Lia," Sazuki continued. "So unless you want your name squashed all over the media, I suggest you leave these two college students alone." She emphasized the 'college' to boil up her point. However, the cult leader just didn't back down.
"Perhaps I should tell you what we're all about," Lia said. "Because you clearly have a misunderstanding ringing in that empty head of yours."
Sazuki suddenly punched the woman so hard, she lurched thirty feet backward, crashing into a heap on some of her minions.
"Oh, I forgot Sazuki's habit of punching every girl that insults her," Toru said.
"Reminds me of the first real meeting with her," Clyde said. "Dammit Sazuki—let's go, run!"
Sazuki said nothing but the ice remained in her gaze.
It took the group nearly twenty minutes to find another cab. Kitome muttered what felt like an infinite series of Toru insults. Sazuki looked weary. She apologized for losing her temper, but no one held that against her. They were at the right place during the wrong time.
"Toru, you'll be in charge of checking the news or internet every morning for minotaur cult sermon locations," Clyde said.
"Sure," Toru said, unenthused, but knew he couldn't protest. A fuck-up was a fuck-up.
"Oh no," Harumi said tiredly.
"What?" Sazuki said.
"Airi texted me. She stood against a group of minotaur worshippers in defense of Yusuke and Seth." Harumi groaned. "And here I thought if Airi took control of Yusuke's lessons, just for today, nothing could possibly go wrong." Clyde winced at the mixed-in sarcasm. "She's also with Kiko."
Sazuki nodded, her trust in Airi visibly displayed. Clyde took in that note. What was she behind those question marks? Did Harumi know? Well, it wasn't his business, for now.
The moment the group stepped out of the car, cheering up at the sight of the mall, the cab driver held up a hand.
"No charge."
"Sir, we couldn't possibly hamper your job," Harumi said.
"No charge," he said again, voice firm. "FRESH MEAT, MEN HERE!" He slammed the door shut and took off while laughing wildly.
Clyde's eyes widened. Sure enough, cultists from just a dozen meters away looked at them, smiling. Leading them was another red dress-wearing woman.
"Friends! Oh, great friends!" she shouted. "Let's chat!"
"You've got to be shitting me," Kitome snapped. "Are the people in this place fucking crazy?"
"This one isn't on me," Toru said.
"Funny enough, it was your suggestion to go to the mall," Kitome said.
"Let's not start the arguing," Harumi said. "It wouldn't surprise me if we found them near the hotel upon return. So, it's time we ditch the hide-magic approach, Clyde, because it's clearly not working."
"Do undercover agents blow their covers in weak situations like this?" Clyde said. "Stick to the plan."
Harumi sighed.
"Why is this happening?"
"I'll tell you why it's happening," Kitome barked. "Doofus-head here and his monster girl attraction magic."
"That only works on monster girls," Clyde said. "Unless I'm blind—"
"Don't be a smartass on me," Kitome said.
"I'll do the talking," Sazuki said.
"No!" everyone shouted.
She smiled sheepishly. Clyde laughed. He almost said, "there's only one kind, sweet, beautiful, girl out there who could handle this," but thought better of it. Kitome was holding his arm now. Making the jive on Harumi would just backfire. Sazuki would probably lapse back into ice mode.
"Harumi, do you want to give it a shot or shall we run?"
"Fine, but you owe me for this," she said. Once again, the leader of the worshippers seemed to be taken aback that a woman would dare side with a man.
"We really got to do something about the minotaurs," Toru said.
Kitome sniffed, but for once, held back her fiery tongue that held a football field's worth of insults for the noble.
**
Somewhere…
"I am Dark…washed up overlord." Dark stared at the tired young man in the mirror. The watchers told Selkie that the Supreme demon lord unlocked the gate to Wonderland and that whatever she was discussing with the Queen of hearts could affect the entire world. And among one barely transmitted word, they caught, 'send a jobberwock to play with the Stone.'
Dark would've simply called the normie to warn him, but his phone was crushed by harpies. As if things couldn't get any worse, guides' had their Jumping privileges restricted to prevent the Viper from honing onto their magic signatures and killing them. Punishment squads were supposedly being prepared to deal with the maniac.
Despite level-grinding, he still didn't learn Jump or any kind of teleporting ability. What a mess for the great lord of the dark. A bloody freaking mess.
The young man sat back on his bed. Selkie walked into his hotel room, mocking humor in her smile.
"Charly, if you're going to continue to solo like a chuuni, then double your training," she said. "Triple it. You've got to do something. This standstill…"
"I know," Dark said. "I know. But…why should I? I'm not ever going back to earth. Maybe I should…"
"Then go back to the palace," Selkie said. "They're waiting for you. Many expressed how much they've missed you."
"I…can't face them," Dark said. "I just left them there. What if the Viper turned out to be even crazier than he already is? Murderous and psycho, bloodthirsty."
"Oh, come on, I'm not that bad," said a familiar voice. Selkie melted into goo, revealing the man with glowing purple eyes. A giant knife spawned from nowhere and lunged into Dark's throat. He gagged as blood poured from his mouth. The Viper laughed, spit-sprinkles dancing over Dark's face.
Abruptly he awoke, panting, breathing hard. A twisted version of the previous night's conversation…
Dark wanted to yell. A familiar ogre grinned evilly at him. To think that she even bothered tracking him fifteen miles—what the hell?
