Anika grumped, with Wenammy, Okami and Pearl joining her. Alex hugged them in turns, promising to return as soon as possible.
He left with Nadyian to his room, and Anika snorted. Shinatobe took one deep breath and concluded:
“At least she is a nice girl, it would be a bother to see her near Alex if she was a brat.”
That comment granted her a lot of sfrowns from the others, especially from Viscount Tom, that was still annoyed by what she said to him. Or was about to say, if she wasn’t stopped.
In Alex’s room, he and Nadyian were changing to their Earth clothes, and Nadyian asked:
“Do you think they will get used to me? I think I made some of them angry.”
“You think? You were a total brat! You tried to burn them, and you almost insulted Viscount Tom! No wonder they seemed relieved from seeing you leave! You need to change that attitude of yours, Nadyian.”
She answered while sliding her feet in her Earth shoes:
“You shouldn’t even speak, you cheating bastard! We have a lot to talk about, just you wait.”
Alex opened the closet after mumbling the command words, and through the second door, the men’s bathroom in the garden near the Festival waited for them. Alex stepped outside and closed the stall door after Hangaku exited. He went towards the exit and carefully looked around, to see if anyone was in sight. He signalled Hangaku to follow him, and they walked in the path for a while, until Hangaku pointed to a bench for them to sit.
She took out her phone from her pocket and messed with it for a while. She then raised her head and asked:
“Do you know the bank account of your Shrine? Because I can access Tokimasa’s account and I am about to clean all of his money.”
“I prefer if you don’t put my Shrine in that mess. Why are you going to do that? Hangaku no Maki and Hangaku Say may need money, now that Tokimasa is gone.”
Hangaku Mae shrugged while touching the screen of her phone:
“I don’t really care, they are also members of the Consortium. Hangaku no Maki is a Dark Mage in training, and so is Say. A few more years, and I would need to kill them as well. Losing the money and Tokimasa disappearing from their lives might be the best thing that happened to them.”
“Don’t you feel, I don’t know, sorry for them? After all, they were with you for all these years, and they seemed to love you.”
“They love the image I showed them, not me. Hangaku no Maki was never a nice soul, she was frivolous and mean to other people, but she always made sure that the general public didn’t know her flaws. She once returned home with Tokimasa when I was little, covered in blood, and I could sense the Magic in the Magical Orbs she was carrying in a bag. She took a quick bath and went to snug me in, and she told me a story about a mean Fairy and a Spirit of the Wind that were terrorizing a village. She told me that story with a big smile as if she was proud of killing them. I almost choked her on that moment, but I pretended to fall asleep, and she didn’t finish the story.”
“That’s… too cruel. What about Hangaku Say? You said he was also a Dark Mage in training.”
“Yeah, he was always reading some weird stories that the Consortium wrote, probably to explain their cruel acts to the new recruits or to the rich people to which they sold the Magical Orbs. He changed over the years, and he got a liking on hurting stray dogs and cats. From animals to people, it wouldn’t take long for him to make the change, and your Princess friend would suffer in his hands. She might be sad when the news about the Hangaku family reach the media, but she will recover.”
She continued messing with her phone, and while Sakamo was looking at what she was doing in there, she explained:
“I am also going to buy a few plane tickets for Tokimasa so that when the Police start to investigate his disappearance, they have a hard time figuring out to which country he fled. When you burned the bodies of his men, did you also vaporized the gun that he used?”
“Yes, nothing is there except probably a few circles of scorched grass. Why?”
Hangaku Mae touched a few buttons on the screen of her phone and shrugged:
“Because it will be easier. If the gun was still there, the Police would get very suspicious. Like this, I just need to take the money from his account and.. put… in this one, in Switzerland. Then, I access my phantom account and move the money to… this one, in the Bahamas. Then, I send it to my account in Malta… All done. Like this, the money is now untraceable and I can take my time on making generous donations to several charity organizations, and keep a small piece for myself, to help on my mission.”
Sakamo Ryu hold her hand:
“You are not alone anymore, Mae. I am right here if you need help.”
She hesitated for a split second but she then took her hand from his grasp:
“I am not ready to forgive you yet. I still love you, but am so angry with you! I know you had your reasons and I totally understand because I was also hiding some things from you, but at least I didn’t cheat on you!”
“No, you only turned out to be a cold-blooded killer. In my book, that’s way worse than being a cheater, but I also understand your reasons. So, what do we do now? Will you return home to your supposed family, or you will stay with me?”
Hangaku Mae stared at him in silence, and she then made a slight smile:
“If you keep on looking at me with those gorgeous eyes of yours, I can’t stay mad at you for much longer. Besides, my career just launched, and Tokimasa fleeing with all his money might give a pinch in my reputation and delay a bit my debut so I may need a place to crash while I wait for my singing career to really kick in. I hope it doesn’t take long and I start making tours to other countries because you heard Shinatobe, she is counting on me to get rid of the Dark Mages on Earth as fast as I can and to totally destroy the Consortium so that never again, they will be able to mess with Azurath.”
“Talking about your singing career, you surprised me on stage, I was counting on some pop songs like Tomoe-chan, considering that you were singing those songs at home. I was not counting with rock-and-roll.”
Hangaku Mae explained:
“It was Tomoe-chan’s idea, actually. She said that some of the songs that she gave me were not pop songs like she normally sings, but those would be amazing for my voice if I managed to get used to them. Some ballads will appear in my album, but I didn’t sing any of them at the concert, because Tomoe-chan advised me that I should sing the ones with more rhythm, to make a strong impression on my first concert.”
“Well, regarding concerts and music, she knows a lot more than us, that’s for sure. She didn’t rise to the top of the charts only because of her looks. By the way, do you intend to work as a model as well, like her?”
“My manager put that on the table, lets see how things go. For now, perhaps you should take me to the rental flats, our classmates are probably wondering by now where are we.”
Sakamo Ryu got up and gently pulled her in:
– You remember that tomorrow morning I must go to the Earthquake Institute to do a final check on things for the simulacrum, right? Maybe you can ask Tomoe-chan or those crazy four friends of mine to take everyone to some of the most famous places of Nakanojo, the ones that you didn’t visit yet. Can I count on you at home when I finish?”
Hangaku approached her lips:
“I think I can find an opening in my busy schedule to wait for you at home. At least in there, there is not a Mermaid, an Elfian or a Mermaid fighting me for your attention.”
Sakamo spoke, and his lips almost touched Hangaku’s lips, making her heart race:
“You forget that Wenammy seemed interested in you, and if I am not mistaken, I saw Pearl winking at you, and throwing a kiss.”
“Yeah, those two are way too daring, even for me. I never went that way, but with those two, I might try a few things, to see how it feels.”
“Well, I think Anika joined them on one occasion, because of how she was acting in the morning and the way the other two kept on teasing her, and she didn’t seem to regret it. I suppose it will make things more bearable if you find out that you also like them that way.”
“What about if you kissed me instead of teasing me like this and making me think about a crazy thing like me in a bed with a cute Fairy and a pretty Elfian?”
They kissed, and Hangaku felt her mind drifting. All the stress of the last events faded away, taken by the smoothness of Sakamo’s lips, and the warm touch of his tongue. When their lips parted, Sakamo leaned his forehead on hers, and asked with a soft voice:
“Feeling better now? I know it’s too soon to ask if you forgive me, but at least you don’t want to take my head anymore, right?”
“Take me to your manor and the ocean on our next travel, and I might consider that. I heard the girls saying that you have a nice swimming pool near your manor, and also a hot spring, and Anika said something about kissing you underwater and that you loved to be able to breathe, like a Mermaid. I think I can also do that if Anika teaches me because my mother died before having time to teach me any of the Mermaid’s High Magic. I only know the “Mermaid’s Voice” and some basic stuff.”
“I think she won’t mind, she is always willing to show off. Besides, she is your cousin, and she seemed really happy for seeing you alive.”
Hangaku kissed Sakamo’s tip of the nose:
“I also need to visit her family, for them to see that I am still alive, but first I must complete my mission.”
“We can go see them anytime, remember that with my pendant, we can use any door and stay there as much as we like.”
“Yeah, that sure is handy. The idea of living in a Castle with a bunch of servants around me also sounds very appealing. I might miss television and karaoke houses, but there are a lot more things in Azurath to keep me entertained. I might even come up with an idea to make something new in Azurath, something that we take for granted on Earth and we don’t value enough.”
Sakamo made a big smile:
“Our future sure sounds wonderful, I wouldn’t mind spending my life with you in Azurath.”
“Yeah, with me and all those other girls, you cheater! Heheheh!”
They went in the direction of the train station, with Hangaku Mae clinging on Sakamo Ryu’s arm, feeling the luckiest girl alive. As for Sakamo, he couldn’t believe his luck. Getting rid of the Consortium on Earth was in his grasp, and in Azurath their influence was quickly decaying. The future sure looked promising!