Once the meal was finished, the sky was maddening red.

The sunset sure is pretty, I hope that the night will be similar to the one on Earth, it will be bothersome if the night isn't dark.

"Hmm, it's strange that the sunset in this world is similar to the one on Earth," said Blair to no one in particualr in a melanchonic tone with a face that seems as if she is recalling the past.

"That's right, with all this strange stuff about magic and soul skill, it seems even weirder that the sunset is similar to Earth," said Linda after hearing Blair's words.

"Kuroko, is it really true that you don't have a soul skill?" Blair asked me suddenly in a worrying tone.

That's weird, I thought that she was suspicious of me, but now she is worried?

"Yes, I don't have an amazing ability like you guys, at least I am not alone since Hokuto is the same as me," I replied, it's not a total lie this time.

"You know, erm... I need to apologize to you. To you and to Hokuto. I... I thought that you were lying to us, that you were colluded with Hokuto for some reason and I started to suspect you, but being here alone without any powers, you should be really scary and I was suspecting you two. I am really sorry, please forgive me," said Blair with a regretful face.

"You don't need to apologize, even I think that we are suspicious so please stop Blair," I sweetly replied to her.

Seriously stop, I don't know what answer gave you a stupid sunset, but it's true that I am deceiving you. I don't know about Hugo, but I know that I am lying to you.

"Me too, I also need to apologize, I am the same as Blair, I also thought that you two were too suspicious, but I know that was wrong. Kuroko, Hokuto, sorry!" apologized macho, in a way that even Hugo could understand.

"Not you too Juán, please you don't need to apologize to me," I replied to Juán while hiding my pained expression.

These people are really nice guys, too nice. But sorry, I need to keep lying to you. I can't risk letting my personal information being leaked out in the castle. Even the tiniest hint that could locate me once I escape is dangerous.

While I was conflicted, Hugo was panicking from the sudden apologizes that he was receiving. If he was telling the truth, then he does deserves the apologies.

While Blair and macho were apologizing, Chris was looking at me with an apologetic face too, making me feeling even more guiltier.

I just smiled at Chris and then headed to one of the maids to tell her that we finished eating.

The silver lining was that Sarah's cheerful face and Linda's hate for me was still the same as when we first met, making me feel a little better.

***

Once the maid understood that we are done eating, they suggested us to go to the bathing area to relax our bodies.

The description of the bathing area was a spacious place with hot and cold water. There was one section for men and another for women, apparently it is used for high class nobles that had to stay the night on the castle.

"A bath sounds nice, I feel dirty with all this dust and sweat sticking on me," Blair said in a tired manner.

"Ah, the dust was my fault, sorry," apologized Linda.

In response of Linda's words, Blair said "Nah, don't worry about that, more importantly, this is the first time that I go to a big bath," with a look of anticipation.

"Hey Kuroko, you are Japanese right? How is it to bathe in a large pool? This is also my first time so I don't know the etiquette for this," said Sarah also with anticipation.

Thinking again, maybe Sarah never doubted me from the start.

"Sarah, the etiquette of bathing in this country is probably different from Japan, if you are curious ask one of the maids," I said to Sarah with a calm tone of voice and hearing my words, Sarah approached to one of the maids.

My voice may sound calm, but in reality I am panicking. If I go to the bathing area they will find out about my gender, which is way more dangerous than revealing my soul skill, since probably a weak soul skill like my appraisal is more common than a man that can easily disguise as a girl like me.

"If you are going to bathe together with us, then try to stay as far away as me, I am sure you already noticed, but I hate girls like you so it will be disgusting to be near you," Linda spitefully said.

A chance!

"In that case, you can bathe first so we won't bother each other. To be sincere, I was planning to roam around the castle a little more before bathing anyways," I said with a voice that was devoid of ill intentions.

"That's what I hate about you! Acting so cute to make others pity you and protect you only because you are weak! Stop that shameless act using your cute face to manipulate others!" Linda angrily shouted.

Yup, she really hates me, well, it's understandable, I would also dislike girls who acts cute just to manipulate others... in fact aren't I doing that right now? Is normal to be hated.

"Hey, don't be so harsh with Kuroko, she is gonna cry you know? She is just a little girl after all," said Blair in an attempt to defend me, but again, for some reason Blair's words hurt me more than whatever Linda says.

"I am not crying!" I yelled. If I were really crying, then it would be Blair's kindness.

"Heeh, you are finally fighting back you exhibitionist slut," said Linda in an attempt to taunt me, thinking that I was yelling at her.

I won't fall for such childish taunts anyways... wait, this could actually be useful.

I turned my back to Linda and started to walk away from her.

That's right, if I act hurt now, I'll have the perfect excuse to avoid the bath and explore the castle as a bonus.

But, before I could take three steps, Blair grabbed my arm.

"Wait Kuroko, she really didn't meant that. Linda apologize, this time was too harsh," said Blair as if she were a big sister mediating her little sister's fight.

In response of Blair's word, Linda said "Why should I aplogize to someone like th...", but she could not finish her sentence once she looked at Sarah's eyes, whom at some point returned to the group after finishing questioning the maid.

"Linda, please apologize," Sarah said with a serious look.

Linda took a step back because of Sarah's gaze and then she faced me and said "I am sorry, I went too far," reluctantly.

Sarah was incredible, to the point that even Blair was frozen by her serious look and she managed to make Linda apologize, but right now this isn't helping me at all.

"Okay, now that the fight stopped let's go to the bath, Sarah teach me this county's etiquette and Kuroko you teach me the Japanese one," said Blair happily.

"But, Blair, I seriously don't want to bathe right now," I said while twisting my arm to release it from her grip.

"Don't be shy, Linda already apologized so you don't need to go away, come on accompany us, you are the only one between us that has bathed in a large tub after all," insisted Blair while following the maid that was guiding us to the baths.

This is seriously bad, I know that my arm strength is pitiful, but if I twist my arm like what I am doing right now I should be able to release myself if this were a normal situation, but right now, Blair's grip is not human. She is probably using her soul skill right now. Using that powerful cheat in something as useless as this!

"Blair, seriously let me go, I want to explore the castle!" I pitifully said, while I was being dragged by her.

Sarah was following after us giggling while Linda following with an annoyed face.

"Girls fight, scary," macho muttered.

It seems that even Hugo could understand that since he nodded his head together with Chris.

Yup, girls are scary when they are fighting.

***

I am in the changing room of the girl's bathing area. Sarah and Linda already entered the bath while I was fighting with Blair to avoid to enter the baths.

This is seriously dangerous, but Blair already released my arm since she needs to undress herself too. Shall I take this chance to run away?

While I was thinking that, Blair unbottoned her shirt making my heart waver. No no no, this is concerning my life. If nobody here knows my true gender, then the chance of me being found out after escaping is really low. Control yourself Eun-Ha!

"What's wrong Kuroko? Do you need my help removing that costume?" asked Blair casually with the upper part of her body totally exposed.

Now that I think about it, Blair is my type... stop!

I took a deep breath to calm myself, took a good look at Blair, and then I ran to the exit of the changin room while saying "Sorry Blair, I really want to explore the castle, I will bathe by myself later okay?"

I kept running as fast as I could until I was a few corridors away from the bathing area.

This was seriously dangerous. Blair is really powerful in various meanings. If it was Linda or Sarah I wouldn't had any trouble, since neither of them are my type, but why that sexy Blair had to be the one with super strength!

"Fuuuuu" I exhaled a deep breath to clear my head.

The castle right now is dark, really dark, this is my chance.

Once I realized that this was a my best time to escape I started to quickly walk in the direction of the training field.

I sharpened my senses to hear even the tiniest sound, this way I was able to avoid every person. I was really scared when I felt the sound of a knight's footstep, but it seems that he wasn't looking at me, but just patrolling.

It took me twenty minutes to finally reach the training ground.

My biggest fear was that the wall was somehow repaired before night comes thanks to some strange magic, but it seems that my fear was unnecessary. The wall that Linda destroyed was still missing.

But, I couldn't just go and escape through that hole, there were a few armoured guys stationed there, which was obvious. Their armour are magic armour with the properties to enhance physical strength and magic power, but the material is heavy. Just from seeing this I am sure that they are strong.

Just with my eyes, I could confirm that there were ten of them, but I should count fifteen since some could be hidden at the other side of the hole.

Me against fifteen... Maybe I should abandon this reckless plan and try it another day together with the other guys.

They are nice people who stopped suspecting someone they suspected in just a few hours.

If I told them that I don't trust that old king and want to escape, would they come with me? Would they trust me if I reveal that I was deceiving them?

Should I reveal the truth only after we escaped?

While I was suffering due to my conflicting thoughts, someone touched my shoulder.

I felt as if my blood had frozen. I couldn't hear any footstep nor sense any presence. I am pretty confident in my sensorial abilities, so this was something unexpected.

I regretted my excess of confidence and slowly turned around only to find a super common face.

"Hugo?" I muttered.

"Who is Hugo? Hinata-san" said Hugo in response to my mutters.

Why is he here? Didn't he went to the baths with the other boys?

If I count the time I wasted fighting with Blair, then it shouldn't have passed more than thirty minutes since he entered the baths.

No, if I take in consideration that he took a short bath of five minute and he came directly here then it's possible that he could be here and this just be a simple coincidence, but that is almost impossible.

From the start, this guy has been extremely suspicious. He barely said anything from the start, the only person he has ever talked to was me and armor guy, he said that he doesn't know what his soul skill is when everyone including me had one and lastly, he managed to get this close to me without making any kind of sound hiding his presence completely.

This is bad, this could be dangerous. Calm down, let's just probe him a little.

"Hokuto-san, did you also wanted to enjoy a night stroll?" I asked with a cute voice while trying to hide my nervousness.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"You could say that, to be sincere, I was planning to escape from this place, the same as you," Hugo casually answered.

The same as you... that means Hugo already knew that I planned to escape?

"Since when did you knew?" I carefully asked, without using that fake cute voice this time.

"Eh? Did you really wanted to escape? I was just half joking and.. wait, did your voice change Hinata-san? Ah is not that I am complaining, this voice also sounds cute don't worry" said Hugo with a casual common face.

... Half-joking? Which part was the joke?

"Hey Hugo, are you messing around with me?" I said threateningly.

"No, I am not Hinata-san, eh wait did you just called me Hugo?" Hugo panickedly responded.

What is wrong with this guy!?

"Just answer why are you here!?" I said with a voice about to scream sending him a threateningly glance.

This is bad, this guy's super common face and reactions really make me angry! 

"I felt killing intent directed to me from some knights so I wanted to escape to avoid danger, I thought that the hole that Linda-san made this afternoon was the best place to escape came here while hiding my presence after taking a bath of five minutes and when I found you sneaking around I tried to greet you while forgetting that I was hiding my presence since you were so cute!" quickly said Hugo with a scared face.

His confession really bothers me, in many ways, but the most important part was that killing intent he mentioned. 

"Are you sure that you felt killing intent?" I seriously asked.

This is important. Killing intent is not something compelety in the realm of fantasy. From my experience I know that killing intent is real. Is something that you instictually feel after receiving many signals from your surroundings. There are many times that it could be recognized incorrectly by paranoid people and normally I would treat it like that, specially since I didn't felt any killing intent this day, but I can't laugh it off when someone who was able to hide his presence so well mentions it.

"Yes, I am sure. I know that it is hard to believe, but I have been trained to feel killing intent so I am sure that I am not mistaken. I started to feel it after shortly after I touched that strange crystal ball and the feeling intesified after that erm... what was it called.. soul skill training?... that stuff we did where everyone were releasing some super power," explained Hugo.

So he felt it after the mana sensing and the soul skill releasing... but I don't remembering feeling anything like that to us... wait a moment. The time after the mana sensing and then the time after the soul skill releasing, I was completely ignoring Hugo, since I was worried about my weak mana and weak soul skill.

"Hugo, did you only felt killing intent directed at you?" I asked to make sure and Hugo answered by nodding his head.

So Hugo was the only target and he was targeted after the mana sensing and the killing intent amplified after the soul skill releasing. What was common between the mana sensing and the soul skill releasing?

Ah, in both events, Hugo showed a completely disappointing result. Don't tell me that they planned to kill whomever was useless? That means, if I hadn't showed any mana reaction then I would have been also a target?

"Hinata-san, why are you keep calling me Hugo?" asked Hugo, but I ignored him and asked him something that was bothering me for a few hours.

"Hugo, do you really not have any soul skill?" I seriously asked looking directly at his eyes.

"Is not that I don't have one, is just that I don't know if I have it or not, maybe you don't believe my words?" said Hugo with a sad face.

Argh, I don't think that he is lying right now, and since he doesn't know, maybe is safe to believe that he doesn't have one? This is seriously confusing.

"Hinata-san, haven't we wasted a lot of time talking, shouldn't we escape now?" suggested Hugo with a little worried face.

Dammit, I still have a few things to ask him, but he is right, we should escape now.

I have never expected that my big escape will include Hugo.

***

"What is your plan Hinata-san? I am seriously troubled, since I didn't thought that there would be guards here," said Hugo with a calm face.

This idiot seriously thought that there won't be any guards?

Now I feel stupid for being careful around him.

"Honestly, if there were any guards here, I planned to make my escape plan another day," I replied to him.

When he heard me, Hugo's calm face crumbled.

"Wait, Hinata-san, then what do I do?! I feel as if I would be killed in my sleep if I stay here!" said Hugo with a panicked face.

...I am sure that his is body is well trained, but why is his personality like that? Doesn't martial arts supposed to also reinforce the mind?

Maybe I should just abandon Hugo and try an escape plan with Blair, her Super Blair Mode seems pretty useful, but since the kidnappers are planning to kill Hugo, I am sure that the other heroes are being watched in case that me and Hugo who suddenly disappeared tries to meet them.

Should I reveal everything to the others and try to escape with brute force with everyone? Or should I sneakily escape together with Hugo?

If the kidnappers realize that we are going to escape, there is the chance that we all be killed on the spot.

I know that the other guys are strong and they can probably defend themselves, but Linda's move is a killing move and I don't know if she is ready to kill. Blair can only fight for a limited amount of time and I don't think that she will be able to protect us until we escape before her time is up. Sasha, macho and Chris doesn't have attacking moves.

It's impossible to escape with brute force at our current conditions.

Meeting with the other guys and moving in secret is probably impossible now. The surveillance towards the heroes have probably increased now that two of them have suddenly disappeared.

It's impossible to conduct another secret escape plan tonight.

It's impossible to escape together with everyone secretly or openly now. I have to escape tonight with Hugo or abandoning him and escape with everyone another day.

...

Right now, the problem is Hugo, he is the only one receiving killing intent. I don't know why the kidnappers wants to get rid of the heroes that are useless, or maybe there is somthing else that I am overlooking, but if I believe in Hugo's words, then he is going to get killed soon.

I am worried that the others will be targeted too once the kidnappers thinks that they useless, but they are strong so I doubt that.

Blair and Chris are intelligent, or at least look like that, so I am sure that they can properly protect Linda, macho and Sarah. Besides macho and Sarah are pretty excited with being heroes so the kidnappers are probably happy with those two and about Linda... she seems like someone who can protect herself without problem.

The next problem will be me. I am not only hiding almost all of my personal information, my abilities are also lackluster compared with the other heroes and if my theory of the heroes being killed when they are useless is true, then I also have to escape as fast as possible.

Now... a plan. It doesn't matter if it is ridiculuos or risky, as long that there is some chance of succeding then I am going to bet on that.

...

...cloudy night.

...ten to fifteen guards.

...

...palace at the hill.

...

"Hinata-san, are you listening? Please, believe me! I am sure that they are going to kill me tonight!" said Hugo, now with some tears on his eyes.

"Argh shut up! if you are so good at hiding your presence then do it right now and stop bothering me while I am thinking!" I angrily said.

But at this moment, an incredibly ridiculous plan that relies a lot on luck appeared on my mind.

"Hugo, how confident are you in your speed and muscle strength?" I asked him while making a few adjustments to reduce the chance factor.

"I was the third strongest, but fastest disciple in my temple," Hugo confidently answered.

I don't know what kind of temple teaches you to sense killing intent and to hide one's presence, but if he was the third strongest and fastest in a place like that, then I can trust in his confidence.

"Then be the bait please," I said with my natural smile that I hadn't made since I came here.

"Eh?!" exclaimed Hugo with some fear on his eyes.

Besides, in my plan, if he isn't as fast as he said, then he is the only one going to suffer anyways, so there is no problem.

***

In the middle of a cloudy and chilly night where no star can be seen, twelve men wearing full armour were standing on guard in front of a hole.

A few hours ago, one of the heroes completely destroyed one of the walls of the training grounds while the other was left in a pitiful state.

Those walls were reinforced with many magical formations to accomadate the intense training of the Magic Knights, and is rumored that it can even deflect the claws of a wyvern without a scratch, so it was shocking for the soldiers who saw this scene.

"Why are we the ones standing guard here? Couldn't they just assign a random soldier instead of us?, complained one of the armoured men.

"It's because they trust that we are as strurdy as these walls, or maybe even sturdier. You should be honored to receive this mission, now be silent!" said another armoured man.

Saying that they were as sturdier as one of these magically reinforced walls was not an exageration.

They were part of the Magic Knight Squadron, the elite of this kingdom. To reach this position, one needs to be proficient in both, martial arts and magical arts. It's not a place one can reach with connections, one needs talent and hardwork.

"I am n... "

"Help!"

The man who was complaining before wanted to say something else, but he was interrupted by a high pitched yell for help.

Before any of them were aware, there was long haired a maid in the middle of the courtyard and a man enveloped in white blankets holding her from behind.

"Help! Help!" screamed the maid.

In response of that, three armoured man rushed to her while the rest were preparing a magic spell. Their coordination was perfect.

But before they could do anything, the white robed man threw the maid and the blanket to the two knights approachinh and then he disappeared.

The magic knights were startled by that action and stopped their spells to avoid hitting the maid and then the three who were running held the maid.

"Are you okay? What happened!?" asked one of the knights, but in response of that, the maid only yelled "Help, Help!"

They couldn't look at her face since it was covered by her long hair, but they reached the conclusion that she was panicking.

While the maid was screaming help, she started to raise her ten fingers and pointing to the building.

The knights were confused at first and they tried to ask her what was she trying to say when.

Crash. Crash. Crash.

The windows of the castle started to shatter.

The knights understood that this was an irregular situation and used their synchro bells to alert the others.

While they were doing that, the maid started to ran to the hole while pointing at it.

They didn't knew what the maid was trying to say to them with her hand signals, but they concluded that it was something important so they followed her.

She was strangely fast, to the point that they didn't need to hold back at running, but the knights were so confused that they didn't thought that it was weird for a girl who was panicking so much to run with such a good technique and control.

In just a moment they joined with the other nine knights that were at the hole and the one who seemed to be the leader asked "What happened!", but before the knights that were following the maid could say something, the maid pointed outside and yelled "Help!, demon!" then she raised her ten fingers and repeated that series of actions three times.

The knights were startled by her statement. Her words were a little weird, but the knights concluded it was probably due to the panic, which wasn't strange if she saw demons, at least ten of them.

When the knights tried to question her, she grabbed the arm of the leader of the knights and hysterically yelled "Help! Help! Help!" while crying.

While the knights were confused by the panicking maid, the maid released her hold on the leader and pointed to the builiding again and yelled "Demon!" all the knights looked at where her finger was pointing, and in that instant where everyone's focus was on the building, the maid ran outside the hole as if she were running away from something.

The knights were more and more confused, but they prioritized the demons that the maid was so scared of and they decided to make one of them to chase after the maid, three of them to guard the hole while the rest ran to the building to find the demons.

However, the knight that went to chase after the maid returned to the hole in less than five minutes

"What about that maid, what happened to her!?" asked one of the knights that were left on the hole.

"I... I don't know. I am pretty sure that she ran away to the left side, but no matter how much I ran, she wasn't there!" answered the knight that was chasing the maid.

"Just, what is happening tonight," muttered one of the knights.

This night was the beginning of the ghost story of the phantom maid.

***

The escape plan was simple, yet complex.

We enter a random room to get hold of a white bed sheet, then we attack a maid and a butler to steal their clothes

While I was dress myself as a maid, Hugo will use the butler's uniform. The maid uniform and butler uniform are black, which are perfect to blend in this starless night.

We will silently approach the armoured guys while doing our best to hide our presence in the dark and hiding the white sheet on Hugo's back, until the point where we couldn't hide anymore from them.

Then, Hugo will envolp himself with the bed sheet and hold me from behind while I scream help at the same time.

My vocabulary is really scarce, since it hadn't been even a full day since I had been in this world, but it didn't matter if the words are a little mistaken. It goes without saying that I am confident that I am not saying the wrong word, since I am smart.

Hearing the cry for help, one or two armoured guys are going to approach us.

Once they notice me, Hugo is going to throw me and the blanket as a curtain to hide his body then run as fast as he can while hiding his presence as far as possible from the white bed sheet.

The white sheet is incredibily eye catching in this dark night and with Hugo's ability coupled with his black clothings, he will hide in the shadows away from the gazes of the armoured guys, if possible approaching the wall.

To help Hugo, I am going to grab the attention of the armoured guys as best as I can. The more attention grabbing word that I know is demon, maybe I should raise my ten fingers to say that there are ten demons.

While yelling "demon" and "help" I am going to point at the building and Hugo will start to throw small peebles to shatter the glasses.

When everyone are focused on the shattering glasses, Hugo is going to use that chance to approach the hole as fast as possible and he will be hiding as close to the hole as possible. As the saying goes, "the darkest place is under the lamp"

After some time, I am going to run to the hole while pointing at it and screaming demon and help.

Once I am as close as possible to the hole, I am going to grab the attention of all the armoured guys and Hugo will use that chance to escape. This part is the one where I am relying most in luck, but this was the best plan I could come up to at this moment. If I had more time I could have made something safer.

When I think that Hugo has already escaped or I can't distract them anymore, I am going to point at the building and scream "demon" as strongly as I can, to make every armoured guy look at the building. I am going to use that chance to run away.

***

This is fun, I know that I shouldn't have fun in this serious situationl, but the strategy was more amussing than I thought.

I was nervous at first, but once the events were going according to plan, I started to relax and somehow I ended up having fun.

I was scared when the armoured guys were starting to gather mana in their hands, but luckily, magic wasn't fired.

I was surprised at how good Hugo is at hiding his presence. He was able to avoid the gazes of all the armoured guys and quickly ran through the hole without making any sound when I was distracting the guys with some hysterical cries.

The part that scared me the most was when one of the armoured guys went chasing after me. But I quickly hid myself in a nearby bush and waited until the armoured guy returned to the hole.

Ahh, I never expected that this will go as smoothly as this.

Now let's meet up... crap. I forgot to mention how we are supposed to meet up. It isn't only my fault. That idiot should also have realized that this part was missing, unless he wants to go to his separate way now that he is free.

Oh, well, it's not a problem. Let's go to the city to gather information.

With my next course of action in mind, I started to descend the hill when I felt a faint presence behind me.

I quickly looked back and found a super common asian face.

Grr, I didn't wanted to see you again, at least not this soon. I don't regret saving him, but that doesn't mean that I don't find him annoying.

"Hinata-san, you are incredible! Your plan really worked! I am sorry, I honestly thought that it was a little stupid, but since I didn't had a better one I decided to just listen to you, but I am glad I did that. Thank you," said Hugo with a happy and relieved face.

"Wait a minute, I don't know how did you find me so fast, but we aren't safe yet. They will soon realize that we escaped so let's go to the city first, and then I am going to question you a little so you better be honest," I said, getting angrier by his stupid normal looking face.

"Why are you so mad at me? Did I do something to make you angry? Ah, it's because I was concealing my presence just now? I only wanted to surprise you, sorry." said Hugo while we were running down the hill.

That's why the presence I felt was so faint. Carla using her money on stupid stuf, Blair using her Super Blair Mode to drag me to the baths, Hugo using his martial skills to give me a scare. Why the people I know likes to use their skills in useless stuffs like that? Well, I can't complain since I am more or less the same though.