Chapter 4: The Town of Belsburg

“Can we ride on the helicopter again? Can we, can we?” Thoth asks over and over. We’re currently inside the town of [Belsburg], inside a tavern near the entrance of the town. All six of us are sitting around a circular table, but Thoth was sitting on my lap for some reason.

“No. It’s not a vehicle made for entertainment, and even if it was, I won’t allow it.” Evalot immediately answers.

“What!? Why not!?” She yells.

“Because I don’t want you hanging off the edge while airborne again.” Evalot replies.

“You’re aware that this is supposed to be a subjugation quest, right? We aren’t going for a walk in the forest, we’re going to kill a dragon.” Mira says to her.

“But there’s still 13 days until the expedition starts, we can afford to have a little fun!” Thoth replies.

“So you’re going to slack off until the day comes? You’re still only [A-Ranked], meeting the minimum requirements for this quest. You shouldn’t overestimate yourself.” This statement causes Thoth to become a bit agitated, so I immediately pat her head to calm her down.

“Mira, that’s mean! Don’t be so rude to the girls, you gotta treat them nicely!” Morne rebukes.

“Hearing that from you sounds pathetic, pervert.” They began to glare at each other, while Cam tries to mediate between them. Pyre just sits there drinking a pint of beer while Evalot and Jinada continues the conversation.

“Well, the both of you are not part of the military, so neither of you are obligated to listen to us. Feel free to go tour around in the town if you’d like.” Jinada says.

“My lord, I shall remind you now that you are responsible for them now? If they cause any–” Evalot words are cut off as Jinada interrupts her.

“I know I said that, but really, all they asked for was a ride, not a chaperone. They’re not children, and it’s a good chance for them to meet the other adventurers gathering in the town.” He tells her.

“Yeah, yeah, don’t worry, I’m a responsible person!” Thoth says with pride in her voice.

“...Aria, make sure the town isn’t burning by the end of the day.” Jinada bows to me, and I nod in reply to his request.

“What, you don’t trust me!?” Jumping off my lap, she yells out loud. She caught the attention of other people in the tavern, but they quickly turn away.

“No.” I instantly reply, voicing the thoughts of everyone else.

“Y-you too, Aria?” My best friend looks at me with a shocked expression on her face.

“Yes.” Unfortunately for her, I’m a heartless person. A few seconds later, Thoth is doing her usual act of sulking alone in the corner of the room.

“Hey Aria, what do you two plan on doing now? There’s still 13 days, but you’re not going to spend all 13 days touring around, right?” Jinada asks me, and I nod in reply.

“In that case, why don’t you give me your number? In case you want to see us whenever you two are bored.” He suggests with a strange smile on his face.

“Oh, oh, can you give me your number as well?” Finished quarrelling with Mira, Morne also asks for my phone number. It was a nice idea, and I was about to do it until a heavy aura filled the air.

“What were you trying to get from Aria?” A dark figure appears behind both Morne and Jinada, which reveals itself to be Thoth.

“J-just her number… for emergency purposes…?” Morne responds with nervous laughter. Jinada didn’t say anything at all.

“Emergency purposes, huh? Have mine instead then, okay? No reason for you to have Aria’s number specifically, right?” She phrased it as a question, but it seemed more like a forced demand.

Even though she was smiling, Thoth was scarier than ever at this moment. They both had no choice but to accept her proposal, and got her number instead of mine. She got Pyre’s number as well, but the other two refused to give her their contact information. It seems like we still haven’t earned their trust yet.

“My lord, we should be on our way now. The appointed time is approaching, we shouldn’t be late to the meeting with the other groups.” Evalot informs him.

“Understood. Aria, Thoth, we’ll be going now. We’ll be returning to this tavern tonight to rest if you wish to remain with us, otherwise, you are free to do as you like.” Jinada stands up, the rest of his group following suit, and they all leave the tavern together.

“So we’re finally alone again, huh? Want to go walk around town?” Thoth asks me.

“...sure.” I say, and stand up from the table.

“Ah wait, misses!” The waiter calls out to us.

“Hm? Yes, what’s wrong?” Thoth answers for us.

“The bill hasn’t been paid yet.”

“...”

–––––––

After leaving the tavern, we explored the town a bit. It wasn’t very big, with a few stores here and there. There was a smaller scale version of the [Adventurer’s Guild] here, most likely because this was a small town. The parking lot was completely packed, due to the amount of adventurers that came to complete the quest.

We enter the building, curious about how different it would be from the one in our hometown. There’s still equipment and items that can be bought in preparations to the subjugation from stores in the building, but there were very few that sold anything of decent quality. The [Guild Office] was a large booth in the center of the building, not as unique as the one back home.

“This is Pyrion’s hometown, right? You think he’ll be around?” Thoth asks while we walk around.

“...yesterday, at guild building…” I tell her.

“Oh yeah, that’s right. Well, I guess we won’t be seeing him any time soon.” She says with a happy tone.

“But I’m quite surprised that Pyrion came from a place like this. He gives off the impression of a rich, prideful guy, you know?”

“...yeah.” I reply in agreement. Sometimes, he gets a bit full of himself, but he’s really kind to his friends. At least, he’s kind to me.

Thoth begins talking about miscellaneous things as we walk around, but we really had nothing better to do. There were a few contests being held here and there, but they seemed to be too plain and boring, so we didn’t bother participating or spectating any of them.

“Hey Aria, look at that! It’s a gun shop, you want to look around?” Knowing that I was into collecting guns, she points at a store I would be interested in.

“...sure.” We enter the shop together, but immediately, I could tell that it wasn’t a great store.

The first thing I notice about the shop was that it had nothing unique. The clerk didn’t even look like someone who knows how to pull the trigger on a gun, and they didn’t have a variety of guns in general. Most of them were [Physical Guns], all of them which were common weapons. The featured weapons in the display cases weren’t that great as well. The sound of gunshots can be heard, so there must be a firing range here.

“Woah, look at all the guns they have in here!” Thoth was excited though, because it was her first time entering a gun store.

“...nothing special.” I speak my thoughts aloud.

“Right, I forgot you were a gun expert. You wouldn’t be collecting so many otherwise.” A scowl can be seen on the face of the clerk, who heard us.

“...let’s leave.” I didn’t want to cause any unnecessary trouble, but it seems like the man thought otherwise.

“What does a clueless girl know about guns anyway?” He purposely says out loud for us to hear.

“...what did you say?” Thoth’s expression changed immediately upon hearing his comment.

“What? Got a problem? Little girls like you two should be playing with magic instead of guns.”

“What do you know, you–!” Nearly about to cause a scene, I stop Thoth right away.

I was going to walk away at first, but this guy was getting on my nerves. I want to prove him wrong without harming him, so the only way I can think of is showing my skill with a gun.

“...firing range?” I ask the clerk.

“You want to prove me wrong? Good luck with that.” He sneers at me as he points to a door behind the desk.

I immediately enter through with Thoth following behind. Inside, was a firing range with several people occupying different bays. I choose an empty one near the far end of the range, attracting the attention of some of the people in the range. I examine the bay as I enter it, and find it similar to the armory back at school. There was a metal sheet with a handprint, and a screen right under it.

Familiar with how this worked, I create several targets down the range at different distances. I also gave them the command to move spontaneously left and right so that they’d be harder to hit.

“Hey genius, it looks like you know how to use the booth, but you don’t have a gun.” The clerk calls out from outside the bay.

I use [Spatial Magic] to access the [Spatial Pocket], and summoned a [Magnum] to manifest in my hand. After doing so, I raise the gun to show that I indeed have a weapon to use. He was surprised to see the weapon in my hand, because he didn’t see me carry it in. I aim the [Magnum] down the range with one hand, before firing seven consecutive shots. Every single one of them hits the target’s head, destroying them completely.

“What the heck? They were moving so fast, and she got a headshot for all of them?”

“They were all destroyed in one shot? What pistol is she using? Is that a [Magnum]?”

“Wait, isn’t that the [HNTR]!? This girl’s casually using that with one hand!?”

There were other spectators who were watching me fire down the range, and they seem to be impressed with what they just saw. They became amazed when they realized that I was using a powerful [Magnum], and I was able to fire it using one arm. What they didn’t know was that the gun I’m using isn’t exactly the [HNTR].

“Pfft, it’s obviously enchanted to home in on the targets. It’s probably not even a real [HNTR] as well.” The clerk says with spite.

“What makes you so sure about that, Birn?” One of the soldiers asks him.

“Just take a look at the person! You think a girl like her can hit three moving targets consecutively or fire a [Magnum] with one hand!?” He yells back.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“...here.” I say as I present the handle of the gun to him.

“You want me to use your fake weapon? What’s the point in that?” He replies.

“What, you talk a bunch of crap but won’t back it up?”

“If you want to prove a point, they why don’t you shoot the damn thing?”

“Action speaks louder than words, better prove your claims, Birn!” The other men taunt him, pressuring him to accept the gun.

“Fine! I’ll shoot the damn thing and prove that this girl is completely faking us.” He says with complete confidence.

He grabs the gun out of my hand, and walks into the open bay next to mine. He summons several targets down the range, putting them in the same positions I did and commanding them to move as well. After setting it up, he aims the [Magnum] down the range with a stance that Jericho would call, ‘the textbook example.’ Honestly,  he actually had good form, which I didn’t expect. Along with that, his face was full of confidence, and his hands weren’t shaking at all. This guy seems to be more experience than he looks.

Unfortunately for him, he won’t be able to handle the gun. During my time at Krystalis, after completely finishing my gun training with Jericho, he gave me a little present. On the last day, he gave me a modified version of the [HNTR] which was made by a well known gunsmith he knew. The gunsmith increased the firepower even further, which doubled the recoil. There was no possible way for me to fire it with one mark at that point, even with both hands. This forces me to use two marks whenever I equip it

I doubt that this man could fire the gun effortlessly like I just did. My thoughts come true as soon as he pulls the trigger, and the recoil was so powerful that it actually caused his body to slide back. His arms flailed upwards, and an expression of shock filled his face. He missed the first shot as well, not even grazing a single one of the targets.

“What the hell is up with this gun!?” He yells, facing me.

“...custom made.” I tell him before wrenching it out of his hands. Again, I point it down the range, but I don’t even aim this time and just fire three times. All three targets were destroyed yet again, each with a single shot to the head.

“.Oh wow, Birn got shown up just like that!”

“Damn girl, you go!” The onlookers began praising me while making fun of the clerk, whose face is now red in anger.

“Just get the hell out of here.” He snarls at us while gritting his teeth.

“What, can’t handle the fact that–” I stop Thoth’s taunt by putting my hand over her mouth and dragging her out of the room.

I don’t want to waste any more time here than needed, and if we angered him any further, he might’ve just attacked us. I mean, we already crushed his pride and dignity, no need to take his life as well.

Although Thoth complained about not having the chance to make fun of the clerk after leaving, her mood changes quickly as we walk around the guild building. When we’ve finally had enough of walking around, we decided to leave the building. On the way out, something caught Thoth’s interest.

“Hey, I saw a parfait shop outside the building before we entered, you want to go have some?” Thoth asked me.

I nod in reply, and we both began walking towards the booth the fortune teller set up. Suddenly, I feel a massive wave of mana running through the whole building. Right after, the world around me changed greatly; the colors contrasting and the crowds of adventurers around me disappeared. There were few other people in this contrasted world, including Thoth. During this moment, I feel an extreme chill go through my body, and my limbs begin to freeze in place.

It appears that someone, or some group, has trapped us in a separate dimension of our world that completely inverted it. Considering that our movements are also being forcefully sealed with [Ice Magic], they probably have hostile intentions against us. These people aren’t hostile to Thoth and I specifically, but a few others as well, so they must’ve just picked us based on a similar aspect we all have. The most likely one is strength; the people in this world may be stronger than average. I can’t tell what their goal is, but if I had to guess, it’s to prevent us from joining the subjugation for whatever reason they had.

How unlucky of them to have captured me in this world as well, though. I react by using [Spatial Magic] to forcefully tear apart the contrasting world, destroying it and freeing everyone trapped in it.

My vision returns to normal immediately, and I activate [Enhanced Detection] upon being freed. I couldn’t find the culprit, but I noticed that a large majority of other adventurers were still acting the same. It seems that only the people who were inside the world knew what happened. The few others that went through this were also looking around for the perpetrator. Thoth was muttering to herself though, with a serious expression on her face.

“A sort of scouting spell? No, that spell was targeted to a specific group. The caster tried to entrap us in a contrasting world and lock us in place. Though it’s unknown what their intentions are, considering that they didn’t try to communicate with us before hand, this was likely an attempt to kidnap or eliminate us for whatever reason they have.” Despite being a bit of an airhead, Thoth has also identified the situation quickly as well.

“A similarity between the people captured… maybe their strength? The abilities of the other people captured are unknown as well, but assuming that they’re also powerful adventurers, then that only means…” It looks like she’s about to reach my conclusion.

“...he wanted us to meet each other in a parallel world and become friends!”

“Wrong.” I instantly say as I smack her head.

Well, this should’ve been expected considering who Thoth is, but a conclusion like that was just way too stupid. She rubs the back of her head while sticking her tongue out playfully, which makes me think that she doesn’t even realize how dumb that last line sounded. I sigh to myself, before I state a single word that makes up my conclusion;

“...enemy.” I declared.

“Oh~ that makes more sense.” Thoth says with a look of realization. “Okay then! What do you want to do about them?”

“...nothing yet.” I tell her. We had no leads whatsoever, so we’d be chasing a ghost.

“We’ll go with that for now, but I don’t want to let this person go like that. If they’re an enemy, then I’d prefer to have them dead now rather than have them cause problems later on. Can we at least find these people before the expedition starts?”

“,,,fine.” I agree with her thoughts. We don’t know if the perpetrator is a single person, or a group, but they’ll most likely hinder us in the future if we let them free. It’d be faster to just kill them and move on.

With the exception of Ash’s group, I don’t tolerate hostile acts against me. The only reason why I let them live was because I had gotten soft, was attempting to avoid conflict and trying to lay low. This time, I don’t really feel the need to do either of that, so if there is someone out there who wants to be my enemy, then they shall die by my hands.

“Ah, that spoiled the mood for ice cream… you want to go training for a bit?” I nod in reply.

“Then let’s go find an open place outside the town. I want to go a bit wild.”

–––––––

Third Person Perspective:

Two days after Aria’s departure, a certain event occurred in the castle of Atalin. In a certain room inside the castle, stood five people in total. In the center of the room, was a large summoning circle carved into the ground.

“Dear, you’re sure it's complete, right? Nothing’s going to backfire?” A tall woman with sky blue hair asks with a worried tone in her voice.

“I’ve been researching this for a long time, but I haven’t been able to test it until now. We just have to take the risk and hope for the best.” Her husband answers.

“Hana, don’t worry. Kieran’s the smartest we’ve got here in the kingdom. I’m sure his research will bear fruit, and this experiment will turn out as a success.” A man wearing a purple mantle and a crown tries to reassure the woman.

“That’s right, Miss Hana. I’m sure Mister Kieran will be able to complete the summoning without fail.” A boy with snow white hair adds. He stood there alongside his sister, who remains quiet by his side.

“Thanks for the faith you all have in me, but this is still a first attempt. The risk of failing is at it’s highest.” Kieran tells them.

“Okay, everything is set up. I’ve carved all the runes I believe is necessary for the summoning, so all that’s needed is to insert mana. Ash, Raina, Hana, start when I give the signal, okay? Your majesty, please observe a bit farther away. There’s a chance of this backfiring destructively, so I want to minimize the risk of you getting injured.” Kieran gives commands to the other four people in the room, and they all comply.

“On my count, we’ll all start pouring mana in. Three, two, one, go!” As soon as he finishes the countdown, all four people surrounding the summoning circle pour in large amounts of mana.

The circle starts lighting up dimly, slowly getting brighter and brighter. After a while, the glowing light in the circle starts converting itself into visible magic particles. The particles starts spiralling within the radius of the circle, getting faster and faster. Finally, a flash of light completely fills the room, and a shockwave of heat blasts the four people away from the circle.

“Was it a failure?” Kieran mutters as the light begins to fade.

“No, there’s something in the middle.” Hana says, able to make out a figure in the center of the circle. The light finally fades away completely, and they’re able to see what was summoned exactly.

“What the… where the heck am I!? Where did everyone else go!?” A young boy with short black hair and an average build stood in the center of the circle.

“Kieran, I knew you had it in you.” The king praised.

“Ah, honestly, I didn’t expect this to even work. It was a first try, after all.” Kieran states modestly. Though it was true that he didn’t expect it to work at all on the first try.

“Well, first off, let’s fill in our guest about the situation he’s in, shall we?”

“Okay, Ash, greet our guest, will you?” Ash complies with Kieran’s command, and walks up to the boy. The young boy was cautious at first, but upon hearing Ash’s next words, his eyes lit up brightly.

“Welcome, Hero, to the world of Sykerion.”