Rudy’s sudden departure reminded Cal of his own rush to leave Riversdale; meeting his school friends by chance – with the knowledge it could be years until he saw them again – had momentarily cleared his mind of the fact Penbrooke could be back anytime now; but no longer. “Alright then, boys. I really should get going now if I’m to make good time.”

“Fair enough,” Big Al said, giving him several pats on the shoulder. “You better not forget about us when you make it big out there.”

“Yeah, we’ll miss you,” Billy said with a slap across the back. “No one could replace you within our group.”

“At least say a more convincing lie,” Cal replied, shaking his fist in faux anger. The three of them shared one last laugh at this, before Cal said his farewells and restarted on his way out of Riversdale. He walked briskly and took the main road that led in Fragrant Grove’s direction.

Approaching the edges of Riversdale proper, he was surprised to spot a familiar figure some ways off making a repeat appearance: leaning on the side of a pub building with one foot propped up backwards against the wall, Rudy was supposedly reading his calculus book in this rather awkward pose, a plain tote bag hanging from his shoulder that he must have picked up from his house since Cal had last seen him.

He looked totally oblivious to his surroundings, this intense academic focus striking against the backdrop of raucous laughter and disorderly conversation of drunkards a dozen strides away.

(Amongst the revellers, Cal couldn’t help but notice a certain ruddy-faced guardsman roaring mirthfully and stumbling about with tankards in his hands, spilling drink everywhere. What was odd about him was that he looked identical to the guardsman Cal had seen only a few minutes ago in the streets before he’d met his friends, but he figured he must be mistaken for the man he’d seen had both loudly and solemnly sworn off alcohol, whereas the only thing the man here could swear on was the drink.

Moreover, to have gotten this drunk in such a short amount of time, that guardsman would have had to have made his public proclamation, then without a moment’s hesitation sprinted down to this pub and started guzzling pints like he was paid by the belch and dribble. And that, quite frankly, was a preposterous claim to make about an individual serving in Riversdale’s noble Guard Force, at least not for another hour when their celebratory end-of-shift pub crawl would commence.)

Seeing that Rudy was too focused on his book to notice him, Cal stopped on the spot and ruminated for a moment. The conclusion he came to was that he should leave Riversdale via another route, so he made a clear display of changing directions.

However, this was only for show as he halted several steps into his new route and flicked his head towards the pub: lo and behold, Rudy was staring directly at him with an anxious expression, his posture leaned forwards as though he was readying to chase after Cal.

When their gazes met, realisation dawned on Rudy that he’d been tricked and he grew flustered, grinding his teeth and blushing profusely.

With a chuckle Cal dropped the act and made his way over to Rudy, who was mumbling something about this being the reason Cal was worthy of being his rival. There was a table in the outdoor seating section of the pub that was convulsing with laughter, but Cal glanced over and saw they were looking elsewhere.

And thank the Saviour for that; if they’d been laughing at Rudy, I reckon he’d have run for the hills already.

“Ah, Rudy, I didn’t expect to see you again before I left,” Cal called out in greeting.

“Don’t kid yourself into thinking I was waiting here for you,” Rudy replied with a stamp of his feet. “This just so happens to be my favourite reading spot.”

Cal hummed agreeably as if he totally understood, restraining himself from teasing Rudy any further in fear of scaring this skittish creature away.

“It didn’t even occur to me that you might be waiting here for someone. No, what I was thinking was that seeing as I’ll no longer be around, I guess you’ll be taking top place in everything.”

Rudy fixed his glasses – though its resultant lens glare lost out to the glowing flush in his cheeks – and he slightly raised his calculus book as though he were wielding a holy book against demonspawn. “That’s a given. You may have gotten lucky the last couple of years, but this year I trained hard to take top spot: it would have happened irrespective of your presence.”

“Phew. I guess I lucked out then.” Cal pretended to wipe sweat from his brow. “Seeing as you beat me, I guess it’s only right you replace me within the trio as well.”

Rudy’s eyebrows rose in comic surprise, before his expression melted into one of plain excitement. “You think they’ll welcome me back into the fold? Back to being the brains of the group?”

I think those guys will owe me for this.

“I do think so, yes,” Cal said with a serious nod. “Someone has to lead those two dummies and who else could do that except for you?”

“That’s right! That’s right!” Rudy’s eyes glazed over at his fantasy of being the leader once more. He would be in on all the jokes and everyone would listen to him and his mum would stop nagging him about always moping in his room like a loner; he could already practically taste this sweet near-future.

Returning to reality, he reached into his tote bag and pulled out a white mask. It was the type to be worn over the upper half of the face – similar to a masquerade mask – and had wide apertures for the eyes. Golden lighting dashed outwards from the corners of the eyes, as well as inwards where they crossed over at the bridge of the nose.

And if that wasn’t flashy enough, there were also bright red feathers stuck to the horizontal edges of the mask to ensure that anyone could spot the dunce wearing the gaudy thing from a mile away.

As it so happened, Cal had seen Rudy wearing the mask multiple times in the past when the latter had been deep in his chuuni phase (easily recognisable from acts such as striking lofty poses and shouting elaborate spell names); even now he held onto it affectionately, his arm twitching as though the mask was inviting him to put it on and unleash its sealed powers in this mortal realm.

This was why Cal was made stunned when Rudy, out of nowhere, handed the mask over to him; in such a state of bemusement was Cal that his hands automatically accepted the cursed gift before his brain could think this through; indeed, so baffling was this sequence of actions that he experienced a sense of déjà vu to how he felt observing Penbrooke, and even then at least the knight’s antics had been thoroughly nonsensical to Cal, whereas Rudy’s affection for this mask was a well-known quantum, only to now be flipped on its head.

Thankfully, Cal managed to break out of his trance when Rudy sombrely looked up and held his gaze. “After I heard you were leaving to go travel the world, I wondered if I had anything I could give you that’d help during your dangerous adventures, but I couldn’t think of anything.”

His fist was clenched and shaking, revealing the frustration he had in himself. “Still, I wanted to give you something, so I decided on this: my most prized possession. I hope it’ll give you as much joy as it’s given me.”

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How can I say no when you’re sniffling and wiping away tears like someone close to you just died… “Thanks, Rudy. I appreciate it,” Cal said instead, bowing to show his gratitude.

Still, I’m not the dressing-up type, so this is going straight to the bottom of my backpack, never again to see the light of day. Sorry, mate, but your mask really does need to be sealed away for good. “You’ve already given me so much so I feel bad asking this, but there’s actually something else you could do for me. It’s about Jessie.”

Rudy wiped away the last of his tears and returned to form with a self-indulgent smirk. “Hmph, the idiot girl? What about her?” Unbeknownst to him, however, his dancing eyes and flushed cheeks couldn’t have made his emotions on the matter more obvious.

“Uh, okay… well, I don’t know how she’s going to manage with me gone, so you’d do me a massive favour if you could tutor her and help her with her homework until she graduates.”

Rudy harrumphed, likely in the hopes it’d throw Cal further off his scent. “Why on teral would I help her? She’s got more air in her head than brains.”

Let’s see if you really mean that. “Well, alright. Fair enough. You were the only one I could ask, but if you’re not willing…” Cal let word linger on his tongue, “then I guess there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Rudy said. “I never said I wouldn’t help her out.”

Cal sighed and brushed his hand through his hair. I don’t have the time to keep going around in circles, so I’m going to need a more direct approach to shock him out of his act. “Listen, the thing is her dad’s been trying to make me and her into a couple.”

Unfortunately, he underestimated the effect this statement would have as it transformed Rudy into a soulless husk, forcing Cal to hurriedly add, “But I only see her as a sister, you see, my sister. That’s right: a sister. And since you like her, I thought you tutoring her could be a convenient way for you to get closer while also helping her out.”

“Me liking a dummy like her… How could I like her? She’s all cow and no man!” Rudy refuted, wagging his head fiercely.

Cal stared at Rudy in silence, and Rudy’s flush steadily intensified until he looked like a tomato ripe for the picking. It ended up being too much for him as he broke off into a sprint, half-wailing. “You’re an idiot. I don’t like her. I hope you starve to death while adventuring!”

“I’d really, really appreciate it if you could tutor her still,” Cal yelled after the fleeing figure, shaking his head in disbelief.

He’s somehow more of a shy and insecure schoolgirl than any of the girls in school – truly a talent.

All the same, Cal was confident Rudy would tutor Jessie, maybe even summon up the courage to confess to her after being in each other’s company for a while. There was warmth in his chest at the thought, feeling proud he’d matched his sister up with a good, albeit a slight delusional, man, thereby clearing away his concerns on how she’d get through the rest of her school years.

Simultaneously, there was a rally of cheers from the daytime drinkers over yonder that distracted Cal, slurred yet earnest, as they shouted over glasses or something, arms raising passionately and making a scene.

Sounds like they want pint glasses instead of wooden tankards. Cal tsked. Spoilt Riversdale boozehounds, not like us humble folk from Greenhorn.

Cal dumped Rudy’s mask in his backpack, then moved on from the drunkards without a second thought to their cries.

And with this, everything was done, all the chapters of his past neatly closed up (or as best as he could have in the little time he had). He was now confident the Demon King, let alone Penbrooke, could take over his body and still fail to embarrass him the way the oddball knight had been doing over the last two days. “Bring it on,” he declared, raising a triumphant fist in the air.

It was in this manner he departed from Riversdale, out into a world ripe for discovery and thrills. His grand adventure had finally begun.

----------------------------------------

“Hey bro, look over there.”

“Hmm? The guard?”

“Nah, nah. That’s the captain of our dear Guard Force, don’t you know? He’s a frequent fixture here. Nah, I meant the boy past him. See there, leaning against the wall.”

“Oh right, the one with the glasses, I see him… he looks a bit stiff in that pose, no? What’s that book he’s reading? Uhh, calculus something… surely not.”

“Nah, he’s not reading it – I’ve been watching him for a minute now. Look how he keeps peeking up from the book; I reckon he’s waiting for someone but doesn’t want to seem like he is.”

“Ah, he’s one of those tsundere types. Huh, what’s he doing now?”

“If I were to guess, I’d say it almost looks like he’s chasing after that shaft of sunlight that just moved a little. Wait, he actually is. Did the frame of his glasses just break? He keeps fiddling with it.”

“Must hav— wait, no, no, look, he keeps shifting it up and down, and gazing out. I think he’s trying to achieve that sun glare effect, you know where if you lift your glasses at the right angle you can make the lenses flash with light.”

“Pfft, this kid’s been reading too many comics. It’s too tryhard, bro, nobody thinks it’s cool. Don’t tell me he’s waiting to do it when his friend or whoever gets here. Wait, he’s gotten really absorbed into his book all of a sudden; did he give up?”

“No, I don’t think so. He was scanning the streets just a moment ago and only now dove his face into the book. So I’m guessing the person he’s waiting for has arrived.”

“Who is it, who is it? Wait, I think it’s the blond guy over there, him with the bulging backpack, yeah. Is that… hmm, that’s the deputy mayor’s kid, right?”

“Yeah, I think so. Backpack kid just spotted glasses standing there. Is he going to shout out?”

“No way! He just blanked glasses, he’s actually walking away. Bro, how could you do that to glasses after he spent so much time waiting for you? Glasses is actually devastated, look at him.

“I can’t watch this anymore, mate; I’m gonna run over and pull backpack kid back. Watch my drink.”

“Woah, hold on, bro. I’ve got a feeling backpack knows what’s up and is just pretending. Pffft, look, look, he’s caught glasses staring red-handed. No way, bahaha.”

“Ssh, shut up, shut up, they’ve turned this way. Look away and act like you’re doing something else.”

“Pfft, I can’t, bro, fuck.”

“Just act like you’re talking to the next table over for fuck’s sake!”

“Alright, alright. Have they looked away yet?”

“Gimme a second. Mhmm, we’re safe now, yeah.”

“Hey boys, what are you crapping your pants over?”

“Oh hey, Becky. You alright?”

“Shut up, Becks. Wasteman tings, innit – you wouldn’t get it.”

“What is wrong with you, Ben? I’m going to tell your tell everyone—”

“Nah, I’m just twisting your leg, Becks, bahaha. Just can it and come over here. Look there, yeah those two.”

“What? Those boys are just talking, what about them?”

“Glasses over there’s my broski. I’m rooting, tooting for him.”

“Guys, look, he just fixed his glasses, but it’s lost its effect now that he’s been caught gawping. I can’t hear what they’re saying, though.”

“Like I said, bro, that tryhard stuff’s not cool anyway. Don’t worry, I can lip-read them. Uh, something about the backpack kid leaving, I think, and glasses replacing him in some group. Ooh, glasses is excited by that, heh heh, looks like he’s been wanting that for a long time.”

“That’s nice, isn’t it? Why can’t you jerks be more wholesome like that?”

“wHy CaN’t YoU jErKs bE LiKe tHaT? I’m Becky, and I’m always bitching about others.”

“Shut up, Ben. You’re such a jerk. I don’t even know why I—”

“Woah, woah, guys, quieten down. Look, glasses just reached into his bag… Oh my Saviour, is that a mask?”

“It seems my bro really has been reading too many comics, huh.”

“Well, some girls find that geekiness cute, you know.”

“Yeah, but look at the way he’s stroking that mask, Becks – I can tell you it gets far more love than his girl ever will; she’s got to wait her turn, heh.”

“Wait, what’s glasses doing now? Don’t tell me he’s… He actually handed it over. Fuck, I can’t believe it…”

“He’s let go of his teenage fantasies and grown up – good on him. I mean, he’s not bad-looking either. Kinda my type now, honestly.”

“That’s why he’s my broski, you already know it. I always had my faith in him.”

“Backpack kid accepted it reluctantly, though – I guess he doesn’t want to hurt glasses’s feelings. What are they saying now?”

“Uh, backpack is asking for something, I think. Jessuh?”

“Glasses is blushing like crazy so it’s gotta be a girl he fancies. Err, um, oh it’s the deputy mayor’s daughter, I bet.”

“Ah, the one with the big jugs, Jessica. Damn, my broski’s aiming high!”

“Eww, you boys are so gross. I’m going – you guys are crass and just pricks. If only yours worked, Ben.”

“Fuck you, Becks. It worked well enough for your bestie. She’s always like this, bro, tries to get under people’s skin but then explodes over the littlest thing. I don’t know why I even—”

“Just ignore her, mate; let’s go back to observing those two. My thoughts are that backpack kid’s trying to set his sister up with glasses.”

“For sure, bro. Glasses obviously fancies her but he’s doing the whole tsundere act like you said. Pfft, look, look, he’s just been called out. He looks like a fucking tomato.”

“Mate, don’t point at him, they’ll see— Oh no, look, glasses is running off now. See what you did.”

“Oh come on. That can’t be cos of me. Hey Glasses, you got this my broski! Don’t give up – I got faith you’ll sweep that chick off her feet! Never give up! Glassesss!! Come on, Cap’n, yeah, give us a cheer to boost the troops’ morale!”

“Huh, uh, er… what you boys on about, ugh? I’ll, hic, I’ll…”

“Come on, everybody, let’s all give glasses a big cheer. With me, now.”

“Woo! Glasses! Glasses! Glasses!”