When they finally entered the Guild of Adventurers again, James Macdonald went to the front desk to deliver the Quest Form and to receive the payment. Alex was at a table with the others, staring at his hands with Anika biting her lip, and Shinatobe in her little girl form while everyone else was chatting.
James Macdonald returned and gave Alex his payment, and asked when he noticed his mood:
“What’s the matter? Everything went well, all things considered.”
“Yes, but I am not sure if she will be safe or not. I hope Kagu doesn’t ruin everything and fails to protect her. I kind of got a liking for that spoiled Princess, and I don’t want to be the one telling her father that she died because I trusted on a stupid Fire Spirit. Shinatobe, can you take care of finding someone to help Aya Martin to gather her things and find a caravan that is leaving for Beliersia?”
Shinatobe got up and gently tapped his arm before leaving:
“I can take care of that. You take care of the escort and go to your room to relax, you need a change of air, you look too moody for my taste.”
Alex nodded and raised his head to look at the puzzled Party Leader:
“Mister James, I want to hire your Party to escort a caravan to Beliersia and to make sure Aya Martin and her daughter arrive safe and sound, but I won’t go, I need to follow a lead. Suijin and Okami will join you, and Shinatobe will stay with me. I also want to know your answer to my invitation, to work for me in my lands.”
“We all accept, of course. You are going to stay behind with only Shinatobe? Is that wise, considering there could be more Dark Mages lurking around?”
Alex made a slight smile:
“I used to be with Shinatobe during several Quests before I met you, I will be alright.”
Alex got up and Anika held his hand:
“Do you need some company? Because you don’t look so good.”
“Don’t worry, I will be alright after thinking about a few things and resting for a while. Help the others, if you and them are going to move to Beliersia, you need to get your things, right?”
Anika nodded and when he left, James Macdonald spoke while staring at him leaving:
“He doesn’t look very good, but I think it’s not only because of the Princess. I am also worried about those Dark Mages because if the Consortium is moving in the shadows again, things can get very dangerous around here. It’s better if we finish our drinks and go clean our house, Bethany. We also need to tell our landlord that we are moving.”
Bethany gulped down her drink and spoke with a twitch on her left eye:
“I can take care of the moving, you go see that old woman. She always messes with my nerves.”
Anika got up with a smile:
“I can help you, Bethany. Maybe when we are alone you finally let me suck a bit of blood from your neck. You are looking rather tasty, lately!”
Bethany trembled in fear, and Pearl Pearson punched Anika’s head:
“Stop scaring her, will you? Let’s go with them, Wenammy. I just need to go to my room at the Inn and gather the few things I have there, first.”
Okami and Suijin got up as well with her saying:
“I can go with Mister James, and Suijin will go with Pearl. He has enough muscles to be a carrier, right?”
As they were all leaving the Guild of Adventurers, Alex was in his room on the upper level, staring at the bullets the Dark Mage shot at him. He put them inside the small purse again and after saying the command phrase, he opened the door of his closet, to go to Earth.
When he exited from the light, he was in his house on Earth, and he quickly changed clothes. He hesitated for a second, but he then took two bullets from the purse and took them with him to his office, together with the sketchbook of his latest drawings.
Alex sat at his desk and looked at the clock on his phone and mumbled:
“Still early. I have all afternoon to take care of some delayed work and to get things ahead, for this week. Better if I keep myself occupied instead of burning my brain thinking about things that I can’t do anything about, right now. Better if I send a message to that bodyguard of mine so that he comes here in the morning.”
For the rest of the day, Sakamo Ryu worked on his computer, checking the emails his staff sent to him, together with the latest data analysis and reports from the several government agencies that were involved on his immense and extremely important simulacrum for a catastrophe. He took a quick break to have some tea in the kitchen, where he ate a handful of cookies while staring at the two bullets, thinking.
The noise of his phone ringing almost made him drop the tea, and he looked at the screen with a frown:
“The Secretary of the Empress? Now what?”
Sakamo Ryu pressed the icon on the screen, and the familiar voice spoke:
“Sakamo-san, how are you?”
“I am fine. What’s the matter?”
“I have a message for you from the Empress. She wants to invite you for a fundraising event this Thursday, at eight. You can bring a date with you, and the Empress specifically said that you should bring your friend, Hangaku Mae.”
Sakamo Ryu made a slight smile:
“Really? She also said why should I bring her, specifically? What about if I want to go with someone else? Or if I don’t want to go? She knows very well I don’t like those kinds of things.”
“She didn’t look like she was kidding, Sakamo-san, or that she let you refuse. An invitation will be sent to you through your driver. The event is a formal suit, of course.”
“That sounds even better! Now I am really going to find an excuse not to go!”
The voice sounded worried:
“Sakamo-san, the Empress is expecting you and Hangaku Mae, and I don’t want to be the one telling her that you are not going. If you don’t want to go, come here and say that to her in person.”
“Alright, but I need to talk with Hangaku-chan, I don’t know if she wants to go. One thing is the Empress abusing me, another completely different thing is her abusing my friend. Tell the Empress that I will invite Hangaku-chan, and if she doesn’t’ want to go, I will go alone or with another girl.”
“She will go for sure, Sakamo-san, because her family is on the guest list. It would be better if she went with you, considering that you need a partner, and she is already going.”
Sakamo slowly shook his head:
“As usual the Empress does everything she pleases, and she always drags me into it. okay, I will talk with Hangaku-chan about the event.”
“Very well, I shall warn the Empress, then. Have a good afternoon.”
Sakamo placed the phone over the table again and mumbled:
“That will be a pain in the neck. She knows very well that I don’t like crowds like that. I bet there will be a lot of Ministers and rich people, so full of themselves. It will be the Chamber of Lords all over again. I shouldn’t have told her about Hangaku-chan, now she wants to see us together, and perhaps scare her.”
…
The sun was setting when Sakamo finally shut down his computer and took a few moments to organize the several papers and notebooks scattered on his table. He put the most important ones inside the top drawer of his desk and locked it, and the rest on a small pile near the computer. He took a final look at the drawings on the sketchbook and said as he smiled:
“These turned out really good. I need to ask my bodyguard tomorrow morning to send them to the shop to put a frame. As for the bullets, he could also check them, but I have to make up a lie for it. Well, time for a quick bath and then eat. I wonder what Grandma Takechi-san has on the menu today.”
After his bath, Sakamo Ryu left his house and walked along the small road to the restaurant. He glanced at the window, and as usual, there were plenty of customers inside.
He entered and took a look around, in search of a place for him. Then, he saw a familiar face smiling and waving at him, from a table on the far right corner. As he was approaching, he saw that she was not alone:
“Hangaku-chan, what are you doing here with Tomoe-chan and Tomiko-chan?”
“Surprise! Hihihi! We came to have dinner with you, of course! And to tell you the latest news! Sit and be amazed!”
Sakamo Ryu sat in front of the smiling Shubuyaky Tomoe and with Hangaku Mae on his right side, and she spoke while he glanced over the menu:
“I told you that I went to have a meeting with Tomoe-chan’s agent, right? Well, he is my agent now, and I am going to record my debut album this week, after School. This also means that I won’t be on your back so much, so I hope you don’t feel lonely or sad. I will compensate in School and on the weekend, okay?”
“That’s so cool! Wait, what songs are you going to record? You wrote songs already?”
The smiling Shubuyaky Tomoe explained:
“I have a bunch that I wrote over the years and never used it because they didn’t work with my voice, but they are perfect for Hangaku-chan! I am going to sell the songs to her, for a share of the royalties, of course.”
Hangaku Mae nodded:
“Yeah, that’s cool, right? I also have a few songs that I wrote and I often sing them in the shower or when I am alone, and I am going to include a few in my album.”
Sakamo Ryu looked at the excited trio, unable to mutter a word because of his surprise. He then regained his composure again and said:
“Hangaku-chan, make some free time to go to an event with me this Thursday. You need to wear an evening dress.”
Hangaku Mae twisted her upper lip a bit.
“Thursday? My parents told me to go with them to some sort of fundraising, and I don’t think I can persuade them to leave me behind. Where do you want to go?”
“To that same fundraising event. I am more or less forced to go by a very annoying woman and I can’t escape. Her secretary told me some hours ago that your family was on the guest list, and since you were going, it would be better if you went with me, so that I could have you as my date.”
Hangaku Mae turned pale:
“By annoying woman… you mean…”
“Yeah, that one, alright. She never takes no for an answer.”
While Hangaku Mae was turning pale with nervousness, Tomiko Hari and Shubuyaky Tomoe looked at each other, wondering what they were talking about.
Sakamo Ryu took a small package from a pocket and placed it on the table, in front of Hangaku Mae:
“Here, a present for you. See if you like it.”
Hangaku Mae made a big smile as she stared at the present, and she carefully unwrapped it. She almost dropped the content on her lap, and she asked with a trembling voice while trying to disguise her nervousness:
“What… is this… and where did you find it?”
“Last year I went to China and bought it from an artisan. She told me it’s a crystal that changes its colour according to the mood of the person wearing it. If you are happy or overly excited, it turns dark blue.”
Hangaku Mae tried to remain calm, but her hands kept on trembling, and she showed the necklace to Tomiko Hari so that she could have a closer look. Hangaku made a slight smile and said:
“It’s very pretty, and unusual. The crystal has a nice light blue colour and the string… What’s the string made of?”
Tomiko Hari gasped as she touched the intricate string, noticing the chain links in it and the several small shining stones at every five links:
“Hangaku-chan, I think this is silver and precious stones. The crystal is simple, but I bet this necklace is worth a fortune!”