In the morning, Alex slowly opened his eyes to the beautiful face of the grown-up Shinatobe that greeted him with a kiss. As he was getting out of bed and grabbing his clothes, she said:
“You may need to go downstairs to say goodbye to the others. Anika and the other girls tried to come here in the middle of the night when you were already sleeping. Or should I say fainted? I sent them away, but I think they are downstairs with James Macdonald, waiting for you.”
“Already? You found a caravan for Miss Aya?”
“They did it, probably while they were gathering their things. I was searching for a lead about those Dark Mages, but I couldn’t find anything. Neither the Spirits all over the World. Well, they didn’t find a lead, but four Dark Mages were caught in the vicinities of a Magical Void that suddenly appeared, and they were apprehended and I think they are still being questioned.”
Alex slowly nodded:
“So they are still around. At least they were caught, so four less. I wonder how many still exist.”
“Well, two of the Dark Mages appeared inside a Castle in another City of Beliersia, together with ten guys with strange clothes and armed with some weird weapons that shot metallic marbles like the ones you showed me, but they were all killed and the Mages captured. Those weapons are no match to an angry Spirit and his Magic.”
“Armed men this time? What did they want? The Dark Mages weren’t supposed to be working in the shadows?”
Shinatobe shrugged and Alex smiled at the bouncing movement of her naked breasts:
“I don’t have the faintest idea. They could be getting desperate, because they tried to break into the Treasure Room of that Castle, perhaps in search of a few Magical Orbs. Maybe their stock of Orbs is low and they need more, considering that every Spirit in the World is protecting every place that has Magical Orbs stashed and capturing every Mage near a Magical Void.”
“Every Mage? Not only the ones dressed in dark clothes?”
“No, because I thought some Dark Mages could be disguised as normal Mages, considering they could be infiltrated anywhere.”
When Alex was ready, Shinatobe changed to her little girl form and followed him to the lower level.
In there, they went straight to the table where James Macdonald was, together with the other members of his Party, and the smiling duo, Okami and Suijin.
Alex sat on an empty chair, and while Shinatobe grabbed a cup and signalled a servant to bring juice for her, he asked:
“So, you guys are ready?”
A frowning Anika answered:
“Yeah, while you were having fun, we were taking care of everything for the voyage. Your Lamia friends are putting their last things in a wagon with a few people that Shinatobe hired to help them. You could at least wait for us, why you had to be with Shinatobe alone on our last night?”
“Because I am not sure I can handle all of you at the same time, that’s why. If I told you to join us, Pearl, Wenammy and Okami would also come.”
Pearl Pearson raised one eyebrow:
“Who told you that you would handle all these girls all alone? I can take care of two at the same time, three, if I must. You may be a little more inexperienced than I thought, perhaps I need to give you a few lessons.”
Bethany Mathews choked with her drink, and she coughed, turning bright red with the effort of clearing her throat, and from the embarrassment of hearing Pearl’s shameful words. James Macdonald slowly shook his head:
“Pearl, that was too much information. Well, Mister Alex, I guess it’s time for us to leave. Any last recommendation?”
“Be careful, and make sure my two Lamia friends arrive safely. Maybe it would be better if none of you told them too much about me, because of the people that are also going in that caravan.”
James Macdonald said while shaking Alex’s hand:
“That goes without saying, Mister Alex. Be careful as well, and join us when you can.”
Alex shook Suijin’s big hand, and got a kiss from each girl, even from the embarrassed Wenammy, that didn’t like to have everyone looking at her as she kissed Alex.”
They left with a final wave, and Shinatobe took a sip from her cup and asked:
“What about you? Are you going or staying?”
“Care to join me for a walk in the City and when we return, we can have lunch in here?”
Shinatobe made a slight smile:
“I would rather spend the rest of the morning in bed if you want to as well.”
Alex got up and gently pulled her, going with her to the stairs without saying a word. Shinatobe disguised a smile because a few Adventurers were looking at them leaving, and she didn’t want for them to figure out what they were about to do.
…
After lunch in the Guild, Alex went to his room again, while Shinatobe went to the Quest Board, to read the new Quests.
In his room, Alex took a small purse from his one-shoulder bag and filled it with small Magical Orbs and pieces of Orbs. He then opened the closed door while grabbing his pendant and mumbling the command words.
When he came out from the light, he was in his house again, and he quickly changed clothes and put them in the hidden compartment of his closet, together with the small purse with the Orbs.
When he was losing his hair, his phone rang and he looked at the screen:
“A video call from Hangaku-chan? Maybe she finished her work already?”
When he pressed the screen, the smiling face of Hangaku Mae appeared and she said:
“You look really cute with loose hair, Sakamo-kun! You should use it like that more often! I finished for today, I recorded a few songs, and the producer was marvelled with me because I only needed two attempts to make it perfect. If I can keep doing it like this, I will have everything recorded and ready for next weekend! Aren’t you proud of me?”
“I sure am. Where are you going now? I think I saw Tomoe-chan at the back.”
“Yeah, am going with her and my agent to have dinner, and then I am going straight home, to rest my voice. I just wanted to talk to you for a bit. What about you? Are you going to Takechi-sama restaurant?”
“Not today, I am going to grab a sandwich later, because I need to do some work.”
“Ok, I will see you tomorrow at School, okay? Good night, and dream about me, will you?”
“No need to tell me that! Bye.”
Sakamo put the phone in his pocket and went to his office. The moment he turned on his computer, he frowned at the more than one hundred emails and mumbled:
“This is going to be a long night. Luckily for me, I slept a lot.”
…
In the morning, Sakamo was going to School with Takechi Hito as usual and told him about Hangaku Mae’s phone call.
The moment they arrived near the School’s gates, a crowd was there again, and an even bigger amount of police officers and security guys in dark blue suits were making a safe path for the students. Sakamo walked near the wall with Takechi while glancing at the crowd. Sakamo was wearing a new cap, one that he bought months before entering School, but he still avoided facing the reporters and their cameras. When they finally entered, Takechi spoke in a low voice:
“Hangaku-chan will have more trouble today, to come to School.”
“I am not sure. She told me yesterday that she would probably start to come by car with one of her father’s bodyguards.”
Before they could enter the main building, three boys with their left hand in casket stood in front of them. Takechi Hito recognized his bullies from the first day of School, and Sakamo grinned at their angry looks:
“Look what the cat dragged in, Takechi-sama! So, you were all allowed to return to School. How is the hand? Still hurts?”
One of the boys clenched his teeth and said:
“You think you are funny, don’t you? You were lucky last time because you caught me off guard, but you won’t be so lucky next time. When you least expect, you will get a nasty surprise.”
Sakamo tilted his head and said with a surprised expression:
“Really? Threats so early in the morning? You guys will need more people with you if you want to face me again. Oh, I forgot, most of your gang members are in prison, right?”
The boy jolted, how could he know that? Sakamo twirled his upper lip and said:
“Perhaps I should ask if you know the whereabouts of your gang members, because knowing how my bodyguard works, I think they won’t see the light of day so soon. Unless you intend on joining them in the deep hole where they are right now, it would be better if you stayed away from me, the farthest you can. I don’t have time neither patience to deal with wannabe delinquents. To me and to the ones that are always protecting me, you are nothing more than rubbish that can be disposed of when it starts to smell.”
The tone in Sakamo’s voice, together with the way he was looking at them, gave them a shiver. Sakamo took one step forward and lowered his voice:
“Go away, unless you want to die here, maggots.”
The three boys moved to the side, almost pushing each other in an attempt to avoid looking into the darkness in Sakamo’s eyes. Takechi Hito followed his friend without looking at the three boys.
As they entered the main building, one of the boys gulped and asked:
“Did you see his eyes? What was that? They were completely dark and with a glow in the middle, like if they were on fire!”
At his left, his friend slowly nodded:
“I saw it too, and I believed what he said, he was about to kill us as if we were mere insects. Who is that guy? And people are protecting him? No wonder our gang disappeared completely, and nobody knows where they are!”
“Yeah, better if we stay away from him like he said, at least, until we find out where are our guys.”
Inside, Sakamo was walking along the main corridor, gathering a lot of attention from the girls, as usual. He smiled and greeted every girl and boy he crossed paths with. Then, from a door on the left came Tashiro Saito, followed by his three shadows, the girls that tried to hit Hangaku Mae with a ball, Sadakichi Chiba, Goya Kino, and Nakano Takeko. The moment Tashiro put his left hand on Sakamo’s chest to stop him, Sakamo’s reacted without even thinking. He grabbed the boy’s hand, twisted it, and pushed him hard against the wall while placing an elbow on the back of his neck. Sakamo blinked when he realized what he did, and he loosed a little the twist on Tashiro’s hand while asking:
“Not a good idea to surprise me like that, today, or any other day. Who are you and what do you want?”
Tashiro opened his mouth to scream an insult, but Sakamo twisted his hand a little and said:
“I am not repeating myself. Speak, or you will lose this arm.”
“Wait… I just wanted to talk to you! I am a friend of Hangaku Mae!”
Sakamo twisted some more and lowered his voice near Tashiro’s left ear:
“No, you are not. I saw you yesterday, annoying her. Now you came after me. What do you thought, that I was easy prey, was that it? Big mistake, boy. You know nothing about me or what I can do. Think very well about what you are going to say next unless you want to wake up in the nearest Hospital.”
Sakamo let him go and took one step back while glancing at the three surprised girls that avoided his serious look. Tashiro Saito turned while leaning his back on the wall and gulped. He then noticed that there were a bunch of students looking, and he made a slight smile:
“That was a big mistake, dude. I just wanted to ask you something, and you assaulted me like that. You are in deep…”