Kazue POV
Underground hidden passage of the Azurearozi mansion.
I am currently walking in an underground passageway.
I came here after escaping using the hidden pathway in the Azurearozi mansion.
Next to me is Calm Eastertale.
In front of us are my former classmates and one of the two servants from the Azurearozi estate.
Walking Behind us is Aaron, my familiars, and another servant acting as guards.
We used this route to escape from the assassins who were trying to kill Calm.
It has been a while since we entered this secret passageway.
One servant of the mansion is guiding us inside the maze.
They lit the way with torches to light the way for our group as we walked inside the place.
Honestly...
I was expecting a fancier corridor with magical lamps hanging on the walls with a mystical motif and majestic ancient designs.
But what I saw was a simple place mostly made out of lime bricks and metal bars.
The place reminded me of underground sewers from old times.
The place was dark since the only light source we had were the torches carried by the two servants of the mansion.
The path was quite wide as it was enough for three people to walk side by side comfortably.
The ceiling is quite low and I can even reach it by just raising my hands.
I was a bit disappointed in the fact that the underground pathway looked like an ordinary "underground pathway".
I was expecting more as I was comparing this secret pathway to the ones I saw from mangas and novels I saw back in our world.
Still, despite being disappointed from a visual standpoint, the path still served its purpose well.
It was a fully functional underground hidden passage.
The place was made to have several routes that are meant to confuse people who are unfamiliar with the place and get lost.
So, even if our enemies found the secret pathway they would not be able to chase after us easily.
Although the pathway was mostly moving straight, we would sometimes encounter cross paths in our way.
We moved forward following the servants of the mansion who seemed to be knowledgeable of the place.
Joe, the servant leading us in this maze-like underground passage is trained to memorize the way.
He is leading us to not get lost as we travel in the underground.
Apparently, According to Joe, if you ever take the wrong path inside the place, you will encounter deathly traps and dead-ends.
If one is not knowledgeable of the path, one will surely be lost and encounter such traps inside this maze.
Truly, this place is dangerous for intruders.
Thankfully our guide is trained to memorize the entirety of this complicated maze so that we will have no problem traversing the place.
"I am amazed that they managed to build this maze underground..."
Yuma said as we walked.
He was truly amazed by the place.
"Amazing isn't it? This only shows how powerful the Azurearozi family is. The only people who have access to this underground passage is the Royal Palace."
The servant said to boast about the place.
He was implying that the Azurearozi family has comparable authority to this country's King.
In reality, this was no further than the truth.
Azurearozi's dukedom might be as influential as the king of the Country of Riles.
Anyway.
Leaving aside the fact that I was disappointed to not see a majestic path, I was in awe of the experience of walking inside the hidden passageway.
Why would I not be?
I mean... you can only see such things in fictional works back in our world.
I would never have imagined that I would have to experience using a hidden pathway myself.
[As expected of an Alternate world...]
After some time, I wondered in idle thoughts.
I looked at Calm who was visibly worried walking beside her beloved knight, Aaron Van Zelle.
It seems that she is feeling a bit guilty for having the servants of the mansion who are fighting the assassins who are after her life.
Meanwhile, Aaron is doing his best to appease the troubled Calm.
I looked at Aaron's facial expression as he worriedly comforted Calm.
It was a face full of worry and passion for Calm.
[Seriously, this Aaron guy is obviously in love with Calm and obviously Calm also likes him too. I bet these two will get married in the future.]
[Still, Calm looks really troubled. Well... it's not as if I don't understand why she is thinking that way.]
"..."
I contemplated how should I try to cheer her up.
I am never the type of person who would try to cheer up my friends in such a situation.
It was not in my nature to do such things.
Unfortunately, there was no other person aside from me who could put Calm at ease at the moment.
I scratched my head in annoyance knowing that I had little to no choice but to do it.
Feeling awkward, I walked beside the two of them and opened my mouth to talk to Calm.
"Uh... are you okay?"
The tone of my voice was a little awkward.
It was a tone that sounded like it was rehearsed and forced.
I can even tell for myself that I sounded weird.
Calm looked at me.
I welcomed her gaze with a forced smile.
I can even feel my mouth twitching having it to force into a smile.
It seemed that Calm did not mind how unnatural my tone was.
Calm seemed to have appreciated what I tried to do.
In return, Calm answered my question.
She smiled back and answered me.
"Un, I'm doing fine Kazue-chan."
Calm replied with a lively voice.
"I-i-is that so? Uh... okay..."
I could not think of a way to prolong the conversation.
[Crap, what should I say next?]
Seeing me having trouble answering back, Calm let out a small laugh.
"Pfft... what the hell was that? You suck at encouraging people Kazue-chan."
"Uhgg... yeah... I know that... you don't have to tell me the obvious..."
"Come on Kazue-chan you can do better than that. Try again."
I frowned.
I feel her trying to mock me.
[But well, I have nothing to say, It's true after all. I will accept defeat here.]
-sigh-
I sighed.
I decided to give up trying to encourage Calm.
So, I just said what is in my mind as is.
"Look... I'm not that person you know... I just thought you might need someone to talk to since you looked bad just now."
"Fufufu... is that so... but I must say Kazue-chan sure sucks at doing that..."
"You don't have to emphasize that..."
I just decided to shut up.
I decided to just walk beside her in silence.
After a moment of silence, Calm started the conversation instead.
"... Thank you Kazue-chan, I'm okay..."
"Is that so?"
I answered.
[I know that Calm is still feeling bad for leaving some of the servants to fight and defend us.]
"Sorry, I lied... I feel so bad to leave those people to defend us."
To my surprise, Calm said her true feelings.
I thought for a while.
At first, I was thinking of a way to comfort Calm.
Then... remembered that Argent stayed there with the servants of the mansion.
Then I thought that surely, some of the people who stayed there were not as strong as Argent.
They might end up hurt or at worse, die.
Realizing this, I said my peace.
"To be honest I feel the same as you. After all, I am the one who asked Miss Alicia for help. I wonder what will be her reaction once she discovers that I have caused a lot of problems in her mansion."
After saying my thoughts out loud, I felt my face grew dark.
Now, I suddenly remember how much have I caused trouble to Miss Alicia and the servants of the mansion.
I suddenly realized how much I've been bothering Miss Alicia.
[For me to bother her this much... ]
[To "me", who is just an acquaintance.]
[Is it really okay for me to bother her this much?]
[We've only been traveling together for a month.]
[It's not as if me and Miss Alicia are very close friends.]
A lot of thoughts crossed my mind.
"Uwah..."
I am aware of the fact that Miss Alicia was quite fond of me for some reason.
I thought that because of that fondness Miss Alicia had decided to help me out on a whim.
Having that being said, I think that this was too much of a bother for Miss Alicia.
I caused all of this trouble to the mansion.
In the end, I wondered if this was really Okay for me to cause such trouble to Miss Alicia.
[Uwah... I wonder if it's okay... Miss Alicia won't kill me for this will she?]
Calm saw my face twist in a way that showed what I felt.
"Kazue-chan... you were trying to appease my feelings but why are you the one feeling down now?"
"Ah yeah... I was... ha-haha..."
[I hope Miss Alicia will not kill me for this. Right!!! I will just ask for the Church of Life to pay for the compensation. Right, let's do that after all this is done.]
Our group continued to walk forward.
While walking we could hear faint sounds of explosions coming from above.
It even caused small tremors underground.
With just these tremors and noises, we knew that a lot was happening on the surface.
The boys in front conversed as we felt the tremors coming from above.
The fact that our group was able to casually talk about what was happening means that they felt very safe underground.
As we walked, we felt another tremor, the origin seemed to be nearby.
"I wonder what is causing these tremors..."
"I bet battles are happening all over the city."
"So... we're not the only ones under attack?"
"I bet that that is the case..."
"Maybe they are trying to cause diversions or something..."
"Yeah and maybe they are attacking other important VIPs at the same time too?"
"I bet that that is the case."
The boys started to speculate the reason behind the tremors.
But no one among us knew the real reason behind those tremors.
Despite these tremors, it was very clear that it would not harm us in any way.
The passageway way underneath the city was well-built and sturdy enough that no one thought of the passageway from collapsing.
Even with such a large explosion from above, there is no sign that the underground pathway will collapse at any moment.
Everyone felt safe.
The place was built sturdily, the servants even assured us that the place was safe.
The servants even explained that the place was built with reinforcing magic to withstand such impacts.
We continued to walk.
In my estimation, we've been walking for more than 2 hours.
It would not be a surprise if we were nearing the exit of this long underground pathway.
Then, Joe informed us of something.
"We're almost at the exit."
As I expected, I was right.
The group happily smiled upon hearing these words.
Our escape inside this underground path was rather uneventful other than the few tremours we'd felt as we walked.
No assassins were able to catch up to us.
We made a sigh of relief hearing that we were nearing the exit.
About 5 minutes later, we saw a stairway leading upwards.
"We're here."
Joe said as he stepped aside to show us the stairway.
"Before we leave, let me check if the exit is clear first."
Right, even if we managed to reach the exit, there was a chance that the assassins were waiting for us outside.
It would not be a surprise if we suddenly get ambushed as we exit this place.
If the enemies are aware of this secret passageway, there is a chance that they are waiting outside.
Thus, in response to this, Joe and Aaron went up first and checked for any dangers.
We patiently waited underground with the other servant.
If the enemies were outside we would retreat into the dungeon if not, we can proceed.
Thankfully, there are multiple exits to where this underground tunnel leads.
We can use the other exits instead.
A few moments later, Joe and Aaron came back and told us that the exit was safe.
There, we finally were able to happily smile in comfort and walk up the stairs leading to the surface.
We exit the place as the hidden door opens.
A natural-looking rock that was blocking the exit moved due to some kind of mechanism and opened an exit.
The exit was well hidden behind a rocky cliff somewhere in the forest located westward of the city proper.
As we finally left the underground pathway, I finally was able to breathe a sigh of relief.
I took a deep breath taking in the fresh air of the surrounding forest.
It was a familiar scent, the scent of nature.
There were only a few clouds and the dark forest was illuminated by the light of the half moon in the sky.
Later, we decided to climb the cliff to have a look at the city from afar.
"What is happening there."
Yoshiaga said as he looked at the city from our vantage point.
We all look at the place where Yoshiaga was pointing to.
We could see that there was smoke and flames all around the city.
Aaron was looking at the city with a serious face.
Calm was holding onto his arm.
Yoshiaga, Naonobu, and Daisetsu, the Otaku boys are looking at the city with a startled face.
Nikko silently stared at the city and looked around the place as well.
Yuma and Coco were looking at the city with shocked faces.
None of us has any idea of the actual situation.
"Is this... is all my fault."
Calm said with teary eyes, blaming herself for what was happening.
We can only assume that the main reason why all of this was happening was because of the Assassin Order.
They did all of this to eliminate the Saint, Calm Eastertale.
It was crazy to think that the assassins would cause such destruction just to kill the saint.
"This is crazy..."
"Whose there!"
All of a sudden, Aaron said looking behind us.
It seemed that he detected someone behind us.
I looked at my familiars sitting right next to me.
They also looked in the direction of where Aaron directed his voice.
I looked in that direction and saw movement, then a rustle.
I was unable to see very much as the moon was unable to light everything bright enough for me to see very well.
I squinted my eyes to where the movement was coming from.
The thing that was moving was not trying to hide its presence and was slowly moving toward us.
No, on the contrary, it was trying to expose itself and moved slowly so as to not threaten us.
Quietly waiting I looked back at my familiar who has keener senses compared to mine.
"..."
They are not reacting aggressively.
It means that whatever was there was not trying to threaten us.
Still, I did not drop my guard and stared at the moving figures behind the bushes and tall trees.
Soon enough the figures showed themselves.
Two individual was walking toward us.
I saw Aaron drop his guard and relax somehow.
My familiars also started wagging their tails.
Meaning...
The ones coming are not enemies but allies.
[Who is it? Is it Argent sempai? Miss Aliciam maybe? or probably somebody else?]
I wish as I looked at the two figures walking.
Then we hear a voice coming from one of the figures.
"I see that everyone is doing well."
It was a familiar voice, a voice of a man.
"This voice..."
"This voice sounds familiar..."
"Sir Condrad!"
It was Sir Condrad's voice.
"!!!"
[That's?!]
Without much thought, I ran toward the two figures as I saw those people.
"Kazue-chan?"
"Kazue-san?"
The others had an odd look on their faces.
They did not expect me to run toward Sir Condrad and his companion all of a sudden.
"Rio!"
Yes, It was my friend Rio.
I could not stop myself after seeing her walking beside Sir Condrad.
"Kazue."
I realized that I was running towards her and almost hugged her without thinking.
Well, fortunately, I was able to stop myself from doing so.
I stopped running right in front of Rio.
I felt shy and stopped myself.
Instead, I stood straight in front of Rio.
Meanwhile, I saw Rio staring at me with wide eyes.
It seems that she was not expecting me to run to her worried like this.
Well... I must say that I was also surprised by myself in doing so.
[I was worried so it can't be helped right?]
I shook my head and asked Rio if she was Okay.
"Rio! Are you Okay?"
"Uh... y-y-yeah."
I paused before I talked further.
I said after thinking for a bit.
"... I am glad to hear that."
In reality, I originally was going to say how worried I was about her but I became too shy to tell her that now that I am thinking a bit straight.
"Y-Yeah..."
-sigh-
I sighed seeing Rio standing before me.
It was a sigh of relief.
I was seriously worried about her.
I was worried about her since she was not able to get back to the mansion on time.
Back in the mansion, I was so worried about her that I almost left to search for her whereabouts.
If the assassin had not attacked the mansion, I am sure that I would still be worrying about her up to now.
Since the mansion was attacked, I was a bit distracted by what was happening.
I was trying my best to not think of her so that I would not be distracted since we were in great danger.
Thinking about how I reacted earlier, I could not help but feel happy.
At the same time, I am feeling ashamed of my previous actions worrying about her.
I remembered how I acted back then and got shy.
"Kazue...?"
Rio said in a troubled tone.
I shook my head to clear my head.
"Oh, sorry. ANYWAY! What were you doing up till now? Why are you with sir Condrad? Why did you not return in time? What happened?!"
I said with a serious tone to cover my shyness.
I asked all of those questions all at once.
Rio seemed troubled but she suddenly remembers something out of her mind.
"Oh... that... RIGHT! Kazue! We should move fast we need to leave!"
"Huh? After me? Why?"
"It's the assassin's Order! They are coming for you!"
"huh?"
-swoosh-
-clang-
"!!!"
All of a sudden I heard something.
There was something came flying toward me from the forest.
Thankfully, Aaron blocked it.
It was a small throwing dagger aimed at Calm.
It came from the opposite direction from where Rio and Condrad came from.
If not for him, one of us would have been hit from behind.
My familiars were also late detecting the enemy.
Soon they started growling.
I could feel a presence coming from the dark.
The presence came one after the other.
We are getting surrounded.
This time, those people surrounding us were not allies, It was enemies.
[What is happening?]
I could not understand what was happening.
We could not catch our breath.
Why all of a sudden?
"Damn it! I guess we're too late..."
Rio cursed at the situation.
She seemed to know the situation.
"Rio? Do you know what is happening?"
"... Kinda... It's the Assassin's order."
"Assassin's Order?"
"Yes."
Rio nods.
"I came here to tell you about them but I guess I am too late."
"Condrad-san what is happening? don't tell me you lead the assassins here?"
"No, that's not it. But... I was sure that were not being followed, so how... Tsk... I see.. so were late..."
Aaron angrily screamed at Condrad and Rio.
"NO! Were here to warn you about them but... I guess we're a bit too late."
"Tsk..."
Aaron suspected Condrad and Rio to be the ones who led the Assassin to us.
I don't know about sir Condrad but... I know that Rio would not do that.
"Aaron-san, please calm down."
I said to him.
It seems that he was angry.
I could understand why he acted that way.
From what I've heard from Calm, I knew that he got betrayed by the same people who swore to protect Calm.
It's not been long since he was betrayed by those very people.
As I have heard from Calm before, it seems that Aaron and the people guarding Calm betrayed them when she got attacked 8 days ago.
I would not blame Aaron for doubting Rio and Condrad like that.
But... there is no way that Rio would do that.
I looked at Rio and asked her.
From the way it looks, it seems that she has an idea as to how the assassins were able to find us.
"Rio, you know something right?!"
I asked Rio and she nodded all at once.
"Y-y-yes. Actually, I went to spy on the assassin's order which is why I was unable to return it time. I discovered that one of them is capable of tracking you and Calm."
"What? Track me? How?"
"It seems that one of them has a unique skill to track blood."
"Blood?"
"Yes."
"Blood?... Don't tell me?!!!"
[If it's about blood then...]
I was reminded of something after hearing the word "blood".
I remembered the time when I tried to disguise Calm's death by using her torn clothes and trimmed hair to lead away the assassin.
If one of the assassins is tracking Calm using the blood then...
"Was it my blood?"
"Yes. They can find you because of him!"
"That's..."
[It was my fault.]
"I see..."
[But how am I able to know that one of them has that ability.]
One person appeared from the dark.
He walked leisurely toward us.
He did not even try to hide himself as Aaron already saw through him.
My instinct is telling me to run away from that guy.
I could feel hairs in my body standing from fear.
[Who is that guy?]
"Razor..."
"Razor? Do you know that guy Rio?"
Rio was trembling as she saw the man approach us.
"Yeah... He is leading the assassins who are after Calm."
Razor, ignored us and looked at one person within our group.
"Aaron Van Zelle... We meet again..."
"You... the assassin from that time."
The assassin greeted Aaron as if he was an old acquaintance to him.
Aaron glared at the man who was approaching us.
I knew that he was strong as soon as I laid my eyes on him.
I could not control the goosebumps just from looking at that person.
My familiars who are often fearless in front of monsters are feeling fear toward the man as well.
Meanwhile, my classmates are still confused about the sudden happenings.
They could not keep up with what was happening.
Just a moment ago, they were happy to see Condrad and Rio return.
The next moment, they were attacked and Aaron was suddenly angry at Rio and Condrad.
Next, a man dressed in all black started walking from the opposite direction and greeted Aaron as if he were his friend.
They could not understand what was happening after seeing these events unfold.
It was too sudden and too random.
I could not blame them for being confused.
Thankfully, they all realized what was happening and pulled out their weapons.
I intended to pull out my weapon too but I could not find it.
It was not on my waist.
"Huh?"
[Eh? Wait... did I forget to bring my weapon?]
That was the first thing that I thought about.
Then I remembered that I used my Guild Ring to store my weapon inside the iron ring on my finger.
"Oh right."
"Storage, Take."
I whispered toward the guild ring as I stretched my arm forward.
All of a sudden my Katana appeared out of nowhere.
I grabbed the sword that appeared out of thin Air.
Thanks to a lot of practice back in the library of the adventurers guild I was able to skillfully grab the sword that suddenly appeared from thin air.
[Alright! Just as I practiced. As expected, this is so cool.]
"Kazue..."
I hear Rio from beside me.
I blushed a little feeling a bit shy.
Taking out my sword from the "Storage" function of the guild ring and making it appear as if I just summoned a magical sword out of thin air is neat and cool.
But... I also know that it was childish and is something that a person struggling with the Chunibyou syndrome would do.
I glance at Rio... I wonder how would she react to this.
"Kazue... I must tell... That was kinda cool..."
I blushed a bit.
As expected of my friend, she can understand.
[ANYWAY, it's not the time for this.]
I was still blushing.
Thankfully, all of my classmates were busy looking at the assassin and did not see my chuni'ish action.
Like them, I prepared myself to fight.
Then reality strikes me away from my delusions.
Assassins appeared one by one surrounding us from all sides.
I was awakened to the reality of the situation.
Assassins came out from the shadows one after another.
[Sh*t... this getting a bit dangerous...]
Rather than getting afraid, I noticed that I was smiling with excitement.
To be honest I am a bit thrilled by the dangerous situation.
It seems that my battle-freak nature is kicking in again.
Assassins appeared one by one surrounding us from all sides.
[Sh*t... Isn't this getting a bit dangerous?]
Kazue POV
Underground hidden passage of the Azurearozi mansion.
I am currently walking in an underground passageway.
I came here after escaping using the hidden pathway in the Azurearozi mansion.
Next to me is Calm Eastertale.
In front of us are my former classmates and one of the two servants from the Azurearozi estate.
Walking Behind us is Aaron, my familiars, and another servant acting as guards.
We used this route to escape from the assassins who were trying to kill Calm.
It has been a while since we entered this secret passageway.
One servant of the mansion is guiding us inside the maze.
They lit the way with torches to light the way for our group as we walked inside the place.
Honestly...
I was expecting a fancier corridor with magical lamps hanging on the walls with a mystical motif and majestic ancient designs.
But what I saw was a simple place mostly made out of lime bricks and metal bars.
The place reminded me of underground sewers from old times.
The place was dark since the only light source we had were the torches carried by the two servants of the mansion.
The path was quite wide as it was enough for three people to walk side by side comfortably.
The ceiling is quite low and I can even reach it by just raising my hands.
I was a bit disappointed in the fact that the underground pathway looked like an ordinary "underground pathway".
I was expecting more as I was comparing this secret pathway to the ones I saw from mangas and novels I saw back in our world.
Still, despite being disappointed from a visual standpoint, the path still served its purpose well.
It was a fully functional underground hidden passage.
The place was made to have several routes that are meant to confuse people who are unfamiliar with the place and get lost.
So, even if our enemies found the secret pathway they would not be able to chase after us easily.
Although the pathway was mostly moving straight, we would sometimes encounter cross paths in our way.
We moved forward following the servants of the mansion who seemed to be knowledgeable of the place.
Joe, the servant leading us in this maze-like underground passage is trained to memorize the way.
He is leading us to not get lost as we travel in the underground.
Apparently, According to Joe, if you ever take the wrong path inside the place, you will encounter deathly traps and dead-ends.
If one is not knowledgeable of the path, one will surely be lost and encounter such traps inside this maze.
Truly, this place is dangerous for intruders.
Thankfully our guide is trained to memorize the entirety of this complicated maze so that we will have no problem traversing the place.
"I am amazed that they managed to build this maze underground..."
Yuma said as we walked.
He was truly amazed by the place.
"Amazing isn't it? This only shows how powerful the Azurearozi family is. The only people who have access to this underground passage is the Royal Palace."
The servant said to boast about the place.
He was implying that the Azurearozi family has comparable authority to this country's King.
In reality, this was no further than the truth.
Azurearozi's dukedom might be as influential as the king of the Country of Riles.
Anyway.
Leaving aside the fact that I was disappointed to not see a majestic path, I was in awe of the experience of walking inside the hidden passageway.
Why would I not be?
I mean... you can only see such things in fictional works back in our world.
I would never have imagined that I would have to experience using a hidden pathway myself.
[As expected of an Alternate world...]
After some time, I wondered in idle thoughts.
I looked at Calm who was visibly worried walking beside her beloved knight, Aaron Van Zelle.
It seems that she is feeling a bit guilty for having the servants of the mansion who are fighting the assassins who are after her life.
Meanwhile, Aaron is doing his best to appease the troubled Calm.
I looked at Aaron's facial expression as he worriedly comforted Calm.
It was a face full of worry and passion for Calm.
[Seriously, this Aaron guy is obviously in love with Calm and obviously Calm also likes him too. I bet these two will get married in the future.]
[Still, Calm looks really troubled. Well... it's not as if I don't understand why she is thinking that way.]
"..."
I contemplated how should I try to cheer her up.
I am never the type of person who would try to cheer up my friends in such a situation.
It was not in my nature to do such things.
Unfortunately, there was no other person aside from me who could put Calm at ease at the moment.
I scratched my head in annoyance knowing that I had little to no choice but to do it.
Feeling awkward, I walked beside the two of them and opened my mouth to talk to Calm.
"Uh... are you okay?"
The tone of my voice was a little awkward.
It was a tone that sounded like it was rehearsed and forced.
I can even tell for myself that I sounded weird.
Calm looked at me.
I welcomed her gaze with a forced smile.
I can even feel my mouth twitching having it to force into a smile.
It seemed that Calm did not mind how unnatural my tone was.
Calm seemed to have appreciated what I tried to do.
In return, Calm answered my question.
She smiled back and answered me.
"Un, I'm doing fine Kazue-chan."
Calm replied with a lively voice.
"I-i-is that so? Uh... okay..."
I could not think of a way to prolong the conversation.
[Crap, what should I say next?]
Seeing me having trouble answering back, Calm let out a small laugh.
"Pfft... what the hell was that? You suck at encouraging people Kazue-chan."
"Uhgg... yeah... I know that... you don't have to tell me the obvious..."
"Come on Kazue-chan you can do better than that. Try again."
I frowned.
I feel her trying to mock me.
[But well, I have nothing to say, It's true after all. I will accept defeat here.]
-sigh-
I sighed.
I decided to give up trying to encourage Calm.
So, I just said what is in my mind as is.
"Look... I'm not that person you know... I just thought you might need someone to talk to since you looked bad just now."
"Fufufu... is that so... but I must say Kazue-chan sure sucks at doing that..."
"You don't have to emphasize that..."
I just decided to shut up.
I decided to just walk beside her in silence.
After a moment of silence, Calm started the conversation instead.
"... Thank you Kazue-chan, I'm okay..."
"Is that so?"
I answered.
[I know that Calm is still feeling bad for leaving some of the servants to fight and defend us.]
"Sorry, I lied... I feel so bad to leave those people to defend us."
To my surprise, Calm said her true feelings.
I thought for a while.
At first, I was thinking of a way to comfort Calm.
Then... remembered that Argent stayed there with the servants of the mansion.
Then I thought that surely, some of the people who stayed there were not as strong as Argent.
They might end up hurt or at worse, die.
Realizing this, I said my peace.
"To be honest I feel the same as you. After all, I am the one who asked Miss Alicia for help. I wonder what will be her reaction once she discovers that I have caused a lot of problems in her mansion."
After saying my thoughts out loud, I felt my face grew dark.
Now, I suddenly remember how much have I caused trouble to Miss Alicia and the servants of the mansion.
I suddenly realized how much I've been bothering Miss Alicia.
[For me to bother her this much... ]
[To "me", who is just an acquaintance.]
[Is it really okay for me to bother her this much?]
[We've only been traveling together for a month.]
[It's not as if me and Miss Alicia are very close friends.]
A lot of thoughts crossed my mind.
"Uwah..."
I am aware of the fact that Miss Alicia was quite fond of me for some reason.
I thought that because of that fondness Miss Alicia had decided to help me out on a whim.
Having that being said, I think that this was too much of a bother for Miss Alicia.
I caused all of this trouble to the mansion.
In the end, I wondered if this was really Okay for me to cause such trouble to Miss Alicia.
[Uwah... I wonder if it's okay... Miss Alicia won't kill me for this will she?]
Calm saw my face twist in a way that showed what I felt.
"Kazue-chan... you were trying to appease my feelings but why are you the one feeling down now?"
"Ah yeah... I was... ha-haha..."
[I hope Miss Alicia will not kill me for this. Right!!! I will just ask for the Church of Life to pay for the compensation. Right, let's do that after all this is done.]
Our group continued to walk forward.
While walking we could hear faint sounds of explosions coming from above.
It even caused small tremors underground.
With just these tremors and noises, we knew that a lot was happening on the surface.
The boys in front conversed as we felt the tremors coming from above.
The fact that our group was able to casually talk about what was happening means that they felt very safe underground.
As we walked, we felt another tremor, the origin seemed to be nearby.
"I wonder what is causing these tremors..."
"I bet battles are happening all over the city."
"So... we're not the only ones under attack?"
"I bet that that is the case..."
"Maybe they are trying to cause diversions or something..."
"Yeah and maybe they are attacking other important VIPs at the same time too?"
"I bet that that is the case."
The boys started to speculate the reason behind the tremors.
But no one among us knew the real reason behind those tremors.
Despite these tremors, it was very clear that it would not harm us in any way.
The passageway way underneath the city was well-built and sturdy enough that no one thought of the passageway from collapsing.
Even with such a large explosion from above, there is no sign that the underground pathway will collapse at any moment.
Everyone felt safe.
The place was built sturdily, the servants even assured us that the place was safe.
The servants even explained that the place was built with reinforcing magic to withstand such impacts.
We continued to walk.
In my estimation, we've been walking for more than 2 hours.
It would not be a surprise if we were nearing the exit of this long underground pathway.
Then, Joe informed us of something.
"We're almost at the exit."
As I expected, I was right.
The group happily smiled upon hearing these words.
Our escape inside this underground path was rather uneventful other than the few tremours we'd felt as we walked.
No assassins were able to catch up to us.
We made a sigh of relief hearing that we were nearing the exit.
About 5 minutes later, we saw a stairway leading upwards.
"We're here."
Joe said as he stepped aside to show us the stairway.
"Before we leave, let me check if the exit is clear first."
Right, even if we managed to reach the exit, there was a chance that the assassins were waiting for us outside.
It would not be a surprise if we suddenly get ambushed as we exit this place.
If the enemies are aware of this secret passageway, there is a chance that they are waiting outside.
Thus, in response to this, Joe and Aaron went up first and checked for any dangers.
We patiently waited underground with the other servant.
If the enemies were outside we would retreat into the dungeon if not, we can proceed.
Thankfully, there are multiple exits to where this underground tunnel leads.
We can use the other exits instead.
A few moments later, Joe and Aaron came back and told us that the exit was safe.
There, we finally were able to happily smile in comfort and walk up the stairs leading to the surface.
We exit the place as the hidden door opens.
A natural-looking rock that was blocking the exit moved due to some kind of mechanism and opened an exit.
The exit was well hidden behind a rocky cliff somewhere in the forest located westward of the city proper.
As we finally left the underground pathway, I finally was able to breathe a sigh of relief.
I took a deep breath taking in the fresh air of the surrounding forest.
It was a familiar scent, the scent of nature.
There were only a few clouds and the dark forest was illuminated by the light of the half moon in the sky.
Later, we decided to climb the cliff to have a look at the city from afar.
"What is happening there."
Yoshiaga said as he looked at the city from our vantage point.
We all look at the place where Yoshiaga was pointing to.
We could see that there was smoke and flames all around the city.
Aaron was looking at the city with a serious face.
Calm was holding onto his arm.
Yoshiaga, Naonobu, and Daisetsu, the Otaku boys are looking at the city with a startled face.
Nikko silently stared at the city and looked around the place as well.
Yuma and Coco were looking at the city with shocked faces.
None of us has any idea of the actual situation.
"Is this... is all my fault."
Calm said with teary eyes, blaming herself for what was happening.
We can only assume that the main reason why all of this was happening was because of the Assassin Order.
They did all of this to eliminate the Saint, Calm Eastertale.
It was crazy to think that the assassins would cause such destruction just to kill the saint.
"This is crazy..."
"Whose there!"
All of a sudden, Aaron said looking behind us.
It seemed that he detected someone behind us.
I looked at my familiars sitting right next to me.
They also looked in the direction of where Aaron directed his voice.
I looked in that direction and saw movement, then a rustle.
I was unable to see very much as the moon was unable to light everything bright enough for me to see very well.
I squinted my eyes to where the movement was coming from.
The thing that was moving was not trying to hide its presence and was slowly moving toward us.
No, on the contrary, it was trying to expose itself and moved slowly so as to not threaten us.
Quietly waiting I looked back at my familiar who has keener senses compared to mine.
"..."
They are not reacting aggressively.
It means that whatever was there was not trying to threaten us.
Still, I did not drop my guard and stared at the moving figures behind the bushes and tall trees.
Soon enough the figures showed themselves.
Two individual was walking toward us.
I saw Aaron drop his guard and relax somehow.
My familiars also started wagging their tails.
Meaning...
The ones coming are not enemies but allies.
[Who is it? Is it Argent sempai? Miss Aliciam maybe? or probably somebody else?]
I wish as I looked at the two figures walking.
Then we hear a voice coming from one of the figures.
"I see that everyone is doing well."
It was a familiar voice, a voice of a man.
"This voice..."
"This voice sounds familiar..."
"Sir Condrad!"
It was Sir Condrad's voice.
"!!!"
[That's?!]
Without much thought, I ran toward the two figures as I saw those people.
"Kazue-chan?"
"Kazue-san?"
The others had an odd look on their faces.
They did not expect me to run toward Sir Condrad and his companion all of a sudden.
"Rio!"
Yes, It was my friend Rio.
I could not stop myself after seeing her walking beside Sir Condrad.
"Kazue."
I realized that I was running towards her and almost hugged her without thinking.
Well, fortunately, I was able to stop myself from doing so.
I stopped running right in front of Rio.
I felt shy and stopped myself.
Instead, I stood straight in front of Rio.
Meanwhile, I saw Rio staring at me with wide eyes.
It seems that she was not expecting me to run to her worried like this.
Well... I must say that I was also surprised by myself in doing so.
[I was worried so it can't be helped right?]
I shook my head and asked Rio if she was Okay.
"Rio! Are you Okay?"
"Uh... y-y-yeah."
I paused before I talked further.
I said after thinking for a bit.
"... I am glad to hear that."
In reality, I originally was going to say how worried I was about her but I became too shy to tell her that now that I am thinking a bit straight.
"Y-Yeah..."
-sigh-
I sighed seeing Rio standing before me.
It was a sigh of relief.
I was seriously worried about her.
I was worried about her since she was not able to get back to the mansion on time.
Back in the mansion, I was so worried about her that I almost left to search for her whereabouts.
If the assassin had not attacked the mansion, I am sure that I would still be worrying about her up to now.
Since the mansion was attacked, I was a bit distracted by what was happening.
I was trying my best to not think of her so that I would not be distracted since we were in great danger.
Thinking about how I reacted earlier, I could not help but feel happy.
At the same time, I am feeling ashamed of my previous actions worrying about her.
I remembered how I acted back then and got shy.
"Kazue...?"
Rio said in a troubled tone.
I shook my head to clear my head.
"Oh, sorry. ANYWAY! What were you doing up till now? Why are you with sir Condrad? Why did you not return in time? What happened?!"
I said with a serious tone to cover my shyness.
I asked all of those questions all at once.
Rio seemed troubled but she suddenly remembers something out of her mind.
"Oh... that... RIGHT! Kazue! We should move fast we need to leave!"
"Huh? After me? Why?"
"It's the assassin's Order! They are coming for you!"
"huh?"
-swoosh-
-clang-
"!!!"
All of a sudden I heard something.
There was something came flying toward me from the forest.
Thankfully, Aaron blocked it.
It was a small throwing dagger aimed at Calm.
It came from the opposite direction from where Rio and Condrad came from.
If not for him, one of us would have been hit from behind.
My familiars were also late detecting the enemy.
Soon they started growling.
I could feel a presence coming from the dark.
The presence came one after the other.
We are getting surrounded.
This time, those people surrounding us were not allies, It was enemies.
[What is happening?]
I could not understand what was happening.
We could not catch our breath.
Why all of a sudden?
"Damn it! I guess we're too late..."
Rio cursed at the situation.
She seemed to know the situation.
"Rio? Do you know what is happening?"
"... Kinda... It's the Assassin's order."
"Assassin's Order?"
"Yes."
Rio nods.
"I came here to tell you about them but I guess I am too late."
"Condrad-san what is happening? don't tell me you lead the assassins here?"
"No, that's not it. But... I was sure that were not being followed, so how... Tsk... I see.. so were late..."
Aaron angrily screamed at Condrad and Rio.
"NO! Were here to warn you about them but... I guess we're a bit too late."
"Tsk..."
Aaron suspected Condrad and Rio to be the ones who led the Assassin to us.
I don't know about sir Condrad but... I know that Rio would not do that.
"Aaron-san, please calm down."
I said to him.
It seems that he was angry.
I could understand why he acted that way.
From what I've heard from Calm, I knew that he got betrayed by the same people who swore to protect Calm.
It's not been long since he was betrayed by those very people.
As I have heard from Calm before, it seems that Aaron and the people guarding Calm betrayed them when she got attacked 8 days ago.
I would not blame Aaron for doubting Rio and Condrad like that.
But... there is no way that Rio would do that.
I looked at Rio and asked her.
From the way it looks, it seems that she has an idea as to how the assassins were able to find us.
"Rio, you know something right?!"
I asked Rio and she nodded all at once.
"Y-y-yes. Actually, I went to spy on the assassin's order which is why I was unable to return it time. I discovered that one of them is capable of tracking you and Calm."
"What? Track me? How?"
"It seems that one of them has a unique skill to track blood."
"Blood?"
"Yes."
"Blood?... Don't tell me?!!!"
[If it's about blood then...]
I was reminded of something after hearing the word "blood".
I remembered the time when I tried to disguise Calm's death by using her torn clothes and trimmed hair to lead away the assassin.
If one of the assassins is tracking Calm using the blood then...
"Was it my blood?"
"Yes. They can find you because of him!"
"That's..."
[It was my fault.]
"I see..."
[But how am I able to know that one of them has that ability.]
One person appeared from the dark.
He walked leisurely toward us.
He did not even try to hide himself as Aaron already saw through him.
My instinct is telling me to run away from that guy.
I could feel hairs in my body standing from fear.
[Who is that guy?]
"Razor..."
"Razor? Do you know that guy Rio?"
Rio was trembling as she saw the man approach us.
"Yeah... He is leading the assassins who are after Calm."
Razor, ignored us and looked at one person within our group.
"Aaron Van Zelle... We meet again..."
"You... the assassin from that time."
The assassin greeted Aaron as if he was an old acquaintance to him.
Aaron glared at the man who was approaching us.
I knew that he was strong as soon as I laid my eyes on him.
I could not control the goosebumps just from looking at that person.
My familiars who are often fearless in front of monsters are feeling fear toward the man as well.
Meanwhile, my classmates are still confused about the sudden happenings.
They could not keep up with what was happening.
Just a moment ago, they were happy to see Condrad and Rio return.
The next moment, they were attacked and Aaron was suddenly angry at Rio and Condrad.
Next, a man dressed in all black started walking from the opposite direction and greeted Aaron as if he were his friend.
They could not understand what was happening after seeing these events unfold.
It was too sudden and too random.
I could not blame them for being confused.
Thankfully, they all realized what was happening and pulled out their weapons.
I intended to pull out my weapon too but I could not find it.
It was not on my waist.
"Huh?"
[Eh? Wait... did I forget to bring my weapon?]
That was the first thing that I thought about.
Then I remembered that I used my Guild Ring to store my weapon inside the iron ring on my finger.
"Oh right."
"Storage, Take."
I whispered toward the guild ring as I stretched my arm forward.
All of a sudden my Katana appeared out of nowhere.
I grabbed the sword that appeared out of thin Air.
Thanks to a lot of practice back in the library of the adventurers guild I was able to skillfully grab the sword that suddenly appeared from thin air.
[Alright! Just as I practiced. As expected, this is so cool.]
"Kazue..."
I hear Rio from beside me.
I blushed a little feeling a bit shy.
Taking out my sword from the "Storage" function of the guild ring and making it appear as if I just summoned a magical sword out of thin air is neat and cool.
But... I also know that it was childish and is something that a person struggling with the Chunibyou syndrome would do.
I glance at Rio... I wonder how would she react to this.
"Kazue... I must tell... That was kinda cool..."
I blushed a bit.
As expected of my friend, she can understand.
[ANYWAY, it's not the time for this.]
I was still blushing.
Thankfully, all of my classmates were busy looking at the assassin and did not see my chuni'ish action.
Like them, I prepared myself to fight.
Then reality strikes me away from my delusions.
Assassins appeared one by one surrounding us from all sides.
I was awakened to the reality of the situation.
Assassins came out from the shadows one after another.
[Sh*t... this getting a bit dangerous...]
Rather than getting afraid, I noticed that I was smiling with excitement.
To be honest I am a bit thrilled by the dangerous situation.
It seems that my battle-freak nature is kicking in again.
Assassins appeared one by one surrounding us from all sides.
[Sh*t... Isn't this getting a bit dangerous?]
