“On second thought,” I said.

I remained invisible, looking at Mary. After having no luck with the adventurer's guild, I found her at the Inn in her room. However, her head looked like it would explode at any second. She tapped hard against a wooden table, the table groaning every time. I briefly considered returning to my space with the girls.

“Eerie,” Mary said in a sing-songy voice while smiling, the tapping on the desk stopping.

“Yeah?” I asked reflexively.

She turned around and looked at me—through me. Mary stared at me with narrowed eyes. “Why don’t you show yourself?”

Knowing that defying her would mean my demise, I obliged her request, only to be jumped on immediately.

“Whaff arf uuoo foing?” I asked.

She squeezed and pulled on my cheeks roughly. Mary grinned like a maniac while pulling my cheeks apart. She laughed from my torment!

“Eerie!” Mary finally released my cheeks and hugged me, to my surprise.

I hugged her back awkwardly for a while and almost forgot why I went to find Mary in the first place. I managed to slowly push her off of me.

“Mary, I have to tell you! I am not a criminal!”

She sighed and facepalmed. “I know you are not a criminal. Though, sneaking into my room…”

“This isn’t what it looks like either!”

“I know. You just happened to end up here, right?”

“No—I mean, yes!”

Mary giggled, further amused by my situation. “Ah, this is great.”

“How is this great!? They think I am a criminal! You have to help me!”

She walked over to her bed and sat on the edge before tapping a spot next to her. “Don’t just stand there. Come, sit.”

I nodded, walking over and sitting next to her.

“First,” Mary said, “you need to relax.”

I did as she said and took slow, deep breaths, closing my eyes. I always appreciated how my mana felt when I was most relaxed. It was like a calm dance around me, gently caressing me. And in that moment, I needed that feeling, so I relished it.

“Good,” she said, placing a hand on my shoulder. “I would love to help you. But I am going to need your cooperation.”

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“My cooperation?”

“Yes, there is a bounty on your head, and the kingdom is actively watching me.”

I nodded. “Wait!”

“Shh,” Mary said, touching my lips. “They can’t see in here. I have a barrier around the place.”

I focused magic into my eyes and saw it precisely as she said. A barrier surrounded the inn room. The magic circles were even more robust than the ones on the castle gates or buildings.

“So, I need you to tell me what happened,” she said.

I recalled the events that led to the heroes’—otherwise known as world-hopping actors—capture. I explained about the hooded man first and how Sine kidnapped herself. Then I told her how Sumire showed up with a band of honor guards.

“Is it a case of wrong place, wrong time, then?” Mary asked while I nodded. “I feel like you are leaving out an important puzzle piece.”

“What should I do now?”

“The good news is the king seems interested in you. By the way, where are the heroes now?”

“I can take you there.”

Mary shook her head. “No, I can’t be away for too long. I have to start tomorrow at the guild again.”

“But it would just be a second!”

“No, a second to you could be like a week,” she said. “Besides, there is an easier way. If they are safe, then that’s fine.”

“Then what is the easier way?”

Mary grinned like a demon. I could swear I saw horns, but they were gone when I wiped my eyes. “You will simply have to meet the heroes. I will tell the king I met you in secrecy, and then you will stroll into the palace and act Eeriely.”

I grimaced. There was no way that would be a good idea! They would throw me in a cell, or worse, I’d be executed! Not to mention, this demon, Mary, would sell me out? I wanted to curl into a ball and cry.

Before I could voice my complaints, she started to massage my shoulders. “Don’t worry, Eerie. Don’t you trust me?”

“You are asking me to trust a demon that would sell out her own?”

“A demon, aye?” Mary asked.

“No, I mean, a bully.”

“Well, you aren’t wrong. Have I ever led you astray, though?” She asked

“No.”

She stood up from the bed and stood in front of me, presenting her pinky. “I promise that no harm will befall you. Besides, they wouldn’t hurt you since you have the hostages.”

I didn’t know they had pinky promises in this world, but I knew they were unbreakable. If someone had broken one, they’d be forced to swallow a thousand nails. I nodded and accepted the oath.

“Good. Now, I will need you to disappear again so I can make the arrangements.”

image [https://i.imgur.com/tMKbYLP.png]When I arrived back in my manor, Sine and Sumire rifled through old books in the library as they sat at a table. Of course, every book in this room had been written by me. As soon as Sine noticed me, she jumped from her seat and ran over to hug me.

“Witch!”

“Did you two have fun reading?”

“Reading?” Sumire asked. “We can’t read a single one of these. What language was it written in?”

“I am pretty sure I wrote every book here in English.”

“Ugh, no, you didn’t. This is not even the Roman Alphabet, not even kanji or hiragana, either.”

“Say what?”

I ripped the book from her hands, but sure enough, it read like standard English characters in my eyes. Even focusing magic into my eyes didn’t change that either. I looked at Sumire’s face, and she didn’t appear to be joking or lying.

I knew what this was. It had to be my bad handwriting!

“Witch special,” Sine said, hugging me tighter.