As Sanosuke stared at the young Norse elf girl, a screen only he could see popped out of his bracer.

One that he quickly skimmed through.

You have met your first retainer, this person has given you access to their name and their role.

Charlotte “Charlie” Wilson

Assassin

Because you two have found each other, you have unlocked the ranking system. This system tallies up all the statistics of the retainers, their soul, what they have done so far in the fantasia world, and how strong they have gotten since entering.

This is to help you gauge the strength of a retainer and help you make decisions on whether to fight at the current moment .

1.???

2.???

3. Japan’s Finest, Sanosuke

4.???

5.???

6.???

7. Underdog Princess, Charlotte “Charlie” Wilson

8.???

Charlotte is currently ranked 7th. You are currently ranked 3rd, go forth and meet the other retainers to know their standings.

Charlie didn’t care about the screen, she dismissed it quickly and took her battle stance again.

“Can you believe how lucky we are!!?” Freya was jumping around in her ethereal form, this time only Charlie could see or hear her.

As grave as the situation was, Charlie would be lying too if she didn’t want to jump for joy.

“Maybe…the universe is finally… letting up on ya…” the static voice chuckled.

“Yeah, maybe.” Charlie replied with a small smirk on her face. She was starting to feel the fatigue of using her seidr magic all throughout the day.

Charlie still had a small pool of ather resources and reserves. She had been unsure if she would had anything left in her tank for the day. Still, she had to put on a brave face.

The right decision was made coming to save Soppio and that decision boosted up team Freya’s confidence tenfold. A confidence that the fatigued team Freya needed now more than anything.

The men around Dan had finished treating his arm wound. The once stoic slave now wore an expression of pain and frustration. An expression to preserve one’s self.

Charlie looked at the man whose hand was blown up by her. “When I got here he was giving you trouble. I’ll hold him back, and you take care of everyone else.”

Charlie had turned her head slightly back to Sanosuke to wink at him. Right as the wink finished Charlie disappeared, only her after-image stayed for a few seconds and disappeared next.

“The little girl is fast, Kento, let’s take up her offer,” Inari commanded. Sanosuke nodded and reached his hand out

“Advent, worshiper’s sake.”

A gourd bottle appeared, it had the Japanese characters for Inari on it, as it was an offering to her from her followers. Sanosuke took a long drink from the bottle, his body glowed slightly as the drink entered his body.

His automatic healing revved up and started to strengthen his body, it was time to counterattack.

He pulled out Kogarasu-Maru and said its name. Taking his own battle stance he dashed towards the men who, in the confusion of Charlie appearing, had decided to head towards the tavern.

While the men themselves were strong they were not of the same caliber as Dan. Sanosuke swung his katana beautifully towards the first man he reached.

The black ather following the blade and his movements, he sliced the chest of the man swinging upwards diagonally, then he pushed off the tips of his toes for another burst of speed.

With his hands raised up from the last attack he swung downwards diagonally next and repeated the action to the next four enemies he faced.

It was an elegant killer dance, a flurry of swings that ended the recipients in one motion each. The black ather line stayed in the air for a while, to show Sanosuke’s elegant motions and movements.

Sanosuke stood defiantly in front of the invaders, all who were now cowering in front of the man that Dan should have been dealing with.

///

Charlie appeared in front of Dan, catching him off guard. He couldn’t believe there was someone as fast as him in this lifetime.

Charlie looked at the few men around Dan, these were the men that had provided the basic first aid he’d needed.

Charlie rotated her body and cleaved into one of the men with twin summer, she then stabbed the other man and lifted the double-bladed sword up, slicing his face in half.

Dan quickly jumped back, grabbing one of the swords that the dead men Charlie killed near him had.

“Press on, Charlie!” Freya punched towards Dan, as if she was firing Charlie towards him.

Charlie swung the double-bladed sword two times, each time Dan either blocked or parried back.

The two were jumping all around Soppio, normal humans couldn’t even see how fast they were moving around.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Dan started this exchange with a hint of fear; after all, this little elf girl blew up his arm.

But the more they exchanged blows the more he realized something. He started to laugh as the two continued their assaults on one another.

The laugh was loud and annoying. Freya pouted, she was the most annoyed at seeing their opponent this way.

“You…are weak. You can’t do…. that other attack again. No?”

Team Freya both flushed with anger, Charlie was fatigued. She probably had enough energy for one more blæst but she needed to also save her energy, in case she needed to dodge an attack using her doppelgänger spell.

All fear and confusion left Dan and he started to gain resolve and confidence. He pressed his attacks harder and was now pushing Charlie around.

“Why don’t you just leave this town alone!” Charlie shouted.

“My master ordered me. What he wants, I want,” he responded with words and slices of his sword.

They clashed again, this time in the air over one of the buildings.

“If your master told you to kill yourself in front of him would you?” Charlie asked.

“Yes. Because I love him.”

This caught Charlie off guard, memories of hers from back when she was on Earth flashed before her eyes.

“I’ll do whatever you want, I love you.”

Those were words the old Charlie told to whatever lover they had at the time. To keep them around. The thing was that Charlie meant it.

Charlie’s love was always genuine. Always passionate because Charlie believed she would get that passion and love back from the person.

But they only ever used her... They only ever used him.

“You're just like me,” Charlie said. “What you're doing is wrong! Your master is just using yo—“

Dan pushed away the blades, breaking Charlie’s guard.

“YOU INSOLENT CHILD!”

He whipped his body and kicked Charlie out of the air, shooting her back towards the ground.

Charlie landed near the wall of a building, coughing up blood. She was positioned unfavorably, something that Dan had planned when he angled his kick.

Charlie caught a small glimpse of Sanosuke out of the corner of her eyes. He was holding his ground and winning against the hordes of enemies.

Taking advantage of this, Dan used his speed and appeared in front of the disorientated Norse elf, he lifted his left arm up and was prepared to strike down.

“CHARLIE!” Freya’s panic voice echoed. It caused Charlie a grand headache. She didn’t have the energy or the time to swap to another godsend.

So, instead, she placed twin summers in its doubled blades form in front of her in a defensive position.

Dan smiled again, he was back in his element. It didn’t matter if he lost his arm, he was a battle savant. He was born to fight, born to win, and born to serve Hughes, the man he loved.

He stopped his swing and instead, he shifted his stance and threw a kick upwards. This kick hit the hilt of twin summers and pushed the blade and Charlie’s hands to the sky.

Freya shouted something but Charlie was too distracted by the kick to notice what she was saying.

Dan took his sword and stabbed Charlie in the stomach, jamming the sword all the way into the wall. Charlie stood in place against the wall, as she spat out blood and wondered if this was it.

Was she going to die like this, defeated by someone who wasn’t a retainer? Dan grabbed her face and pushed it to look at him.

“You are… not good enough to beat… me. Your attacks are shallow, both physically and emotionally.”

Those words stung more than the stabbed sword in her stomach, stung more than the now repeated punches to her face that Dan was giving to her.

“Ma…n, who was I kidding? I couldn’t do this in the end. I’m going to be a failure again just like back on Earth.”

Charlie started to lose consciousness in and out. She heard whispers of Freya and the static voice trying to reach her, to wake her up.

“Ch…ar…lie!”

The static voice broke through and Charlie’s bruised and beaten eyes opened, she saw Dan swing his remainingarm towards her.

“Damn it… it’s over, and I barely did anything here,”Charlie thought.

She blinked and the next thing she saw after opening her eyes was an arrow piercing Dan’s neck. Blood gushed out and Dan looked towards where the arrow had been fired.

He stood, unable to speak with blood gushing from his neck wound. He saw the bodies of his men, defeated on the ground. One lone figure stood around the fresh corpses.

Sanosuke fired the arrow from the bow he’d hidden, after he defeated every single one of the invaders.

Throwing the bow away, he ran towards Dan and slashed his katana. Even wounded the way he was, Dan dodged the attack coughing blood at the same time.

Holding his neck wound with the arrow still in his neck he remembered the words his master had said:

“I can’t lose you just yet.”

Hughes needed Dan.

“Retreat if you must.”

And Dan needed Hughes. Dan made strange gurgling noises and jumped back onto one of the roofs of a nearby building.

He dashed into the forest and disappeared into the night.

“That man is at his limit, ignore him,” Inari commanded.

“He will probably die soon.” Inari thought it was a better idea to check up on their little savior instead.

Sanosuke pulled the sword from Charlie’s stomach, she loudly winced in pain. Next, Sano summoned his worshippers’ sake and poured some of the drink onto Charlie’s wound, he then told her to drink from it.

A cool and refreshing ather washed over Charlie’s body and kicked her auto-healing into full effect. She only wished it could heal the mental scars of the last battle.

“No… time for this!… You need to… speak.. alone… with Inari’s retainer!!!”

The static voice rang in her mind, there was no time to act this way. Charlie would have to deal with her defeat later.

As Sanosuke was about to grab the sake from Charlie, she summoned Freya’s necklace, Brisingamen, onto her neck and placed her right index finger near her lips.

“Silence.”

She threw her cloak up and started to twirl it in the air just like Freya did back on Earth and grabbed Sanosuke, who in response, had pulled his katana out and held it near Charlie’s neck.

“WAIT WAIT WAIT!!! Please wait! I need to talk with you privately, and this spell keeps anyone from listening.”

Sanosuke still held the blade near her throat but motioned her to explain herself.

“I’m going to be honest, my whole purpose here is to help you win. I am Charlie, the retainer for Lady Freya.”

A jolt of memories came crashing down into Sanosuke’s mind, his meeting with Charlie in the hallway and during the Fantasia festival.

It seemed like the retainers needed to introduce themselves in order for the memories and interactions to return to one’s mind.

“You… ahh I get it now, this must be Lady Freya’s idea.”

Sanosuke understood immediately, it made perfect sense from all the stories Inari told him about her and her battle sister.

“So, you want an alliance? I do not think my lady would approve,” he said.

“Yeah, my lady thought the same thing and why she wanted us to speak together first. I’m… I’m not cut out for this, I thought maybe I was but…”

Charlie paused and thought about the battle that had just occurred.

“You still lived, young Charlie, that just means you have another opportunity to prove to yourself that you … are cut out for this.”

Charlie's eyes sparkled. Maybe it was because he was human or maybe because it was Kento Sanosuke, the man Charlie was supposed to help, but Sanosuke words reignited Charlie's determination. It reminded her of moments with Carmichael or talking to her sister back on Earth.

“Never forget, you were chosen for a reason. I think that’s good enough.” Sanosuke returned his katana into his sheath. He rubbed his chin and laughed with a big grandfather smile booming from him.

“I don’t think you are lying and Lady Inari did speak to Freya during the battle.” He continued to rub his chin. “I’ll try to persuade her.”

Charlie smiled and then canceled the silence spell. As the cloak fell back towards Charlie, Inari appeared in her ethereal form to Sanosuke.

“KENTO! What happened, are you okay?”

“Lady Inari, do not worry. Young Charlie here just wanted to speak with me.”

Inari tilted her head at the young Norse elf girl. She was standing around talking to herself. Inari sighed and revealed herself to Team Freya.

“What are you planning, sister?” Inari folded her arms, not looking amused in the slightest. Freya appeared in her ethereal form in front of Team Inari, she stood with a bag of chips in her hands and smiled at her battle sister.

“Planning? Whatever do you mean? We just happened to be around this area and saw the smoke coming from this town,” Freya said with her horrible acting.

“Ye-eah! So, we came here to be heroes and stuff, not to like find you or anyt-hin-!” Charlie chimed in with her award winning acting as well, but she didn’t get a chance to finish speaking.

Freya covered her retainer’s mouth, it made Charlie instinctively stop talking even with the fact that Freya was technically a ghost.

“Ch-arlie! We weren’t trying to find you!... I mean… find a retainer! YES, and that’s why we are here!” Freya blurted out. The members of team Freya smiled a big grin at the Japanese deity. This only annoyed Inari even more, Sanosuke couldn’t hold it in any longer and started to laugh at the comedy bit unraveling in front of him.

“Kento.” Inari’s stern tone made Sanosuke pull his laughter back slightly, he bowed and apologized, still laughing lightly.

“What do you want, Freya?” Inari asked.

Charlie looked at her deity and nudged her forward, it was her turn to ask. Freya sighed heavily.

“I would like an alliance with you.”

“No.”

“W-hy not? We are battle sisters!”

“I do not want my win to be because of you.”

“What does that mean, huh? My help’s not good enough now?”

“Don’t take it the wrong way. You know how sacred the Tryfing is, to us Japanese deities we want to win with only the help of our own kin. No one else!”

“Bu-But I thought we were sisters!” Freya pinched her cheek to make herself cry.

“You already said that! Also, stop trying to cry. You are not acting like a noble deity in front of Kento. I told him about you, don’t embarrass me after I highly praised you to him.”

Freya siffled. “Yo—you did?”

“Of course, you are my one and only battle sister! I would not have this pact with just anyone.”

“So, you agree we should form an alliance, battle sister? After all, I'm not just anyone.” Freya’s tears disappeared and a sly grin took their place. Inari became annoyed again.

“You! You are truly insufferable sometimes! Have you no shame? You are making me look horrible in front of my retainer.”

“Well, if I’m so insufferable maybe we should team up and you can teach me how to be all noble and proper like!” Freya started to be annoyed as well. With each exchange of dialogue the two got closer and closer.

“You don’t need me to teach you, you already know what you need to do. You are just choosing to be insufferable to get what you want!”

At this point the two ethereal forms started to wrestle with each other, their two retainers had decided to sit nearby watching the exchange.

“She does this all the time, I think it's better for her to let it out, you know?” Charlie said, taking a swig of the worshiper’s sake Sanosuke passed to her.

“Lady Inari is the same in a different way, watching battles is her way of… letting it out.” Charlie passed the sake back to Sanosuke, as Sanosuke finished speaking.

The two watched the angry battle sisters duke it out. Instead of firing insults at each other, the two were passively aggressively complementing each other in angered tones.