Being alone sucks!!! I mean it with a fiery passion. I bet you have never been locked in a mansion for 15 years without any contact with the outside world. Even though you excel at academics with the help of my many private teachers, have a good physique thanks to my gym trainer, and have good looks thanks to my personal makeup artist and stylist. Being alone still sucks! You can buy as many fake friends as you want, but they can never fill the void in my heart left by a true friend.
…
Who would have thought the walk would take exactly 5 minutes? Well, the sidewalk being empty does help with that, but wow. That was really quick. The café is like your usual homey café, with a white exterior and a roof that looks like a palace roof. It is sandwiched between two large buildings that look like apartments. To think of it, we did pass a few apartments on our way here. So, I guess this is a residential area. I wonder how much it would cost for an apartment here. I'd better look it up someday. For the future, of course. The school dormitory is still a nice place to live in. Hiromi doesn’t waste time and opens the door to the café. The café is still open since it is still around 4 p.m. As soon as Hiromi opens the door, all of the waitresses look toward the door and say their usual greeting together, which is "Welcome to the White Palace Café". After all of us walk into the café, a waitress comes toward us and offers her assistance to serve us. No kidding, she said, "How can I serve you today, Mistresses?"
The level of role-playing in this café is off the roof. All of the waitresses in this café wear your typical cute maid dress, which consists of a black dress that has a fitted bodice and a flared skirt that falls above the knee, which is sexy to say the least. Not only that, but each waitress also has a different color apron, like pink, white, green, etc. There is more; they also wear either cat, dog, or bunny ears. Oh, God. Thank you for this gift that you have bestowed upon me. A room filled with cute maids with pet ears
"Can you get us a table for four?" Hiromi said politely.
"As you wish, Mistress." She said and bowed down before straightening her back again.
"Please follow me, Mistresses." She put both hands near her waist and started walking toward an empty table.
We all started to walk behind the waitress. The interior is almost like a palace: extravagant and elegant. Full of medieval decoration and furniture that blends really nicely with the light-colored wallpaper. Eventually we reach our table, and four waitresses come and pull our seats for us. After we get seated, they gently push the seat before bowing and leaving us to do their tasks. They really pay close attention to details. I wonder if it is profitable or not to hire all these staff and train them.
"Please excuse me; my friend will help you with ordering your meal." After bowing, the waitress leaves our table, and another waitress walks toward our table.
"Pleased to meet you, Mistresses." The waitress bows down before giving each of us a menu book.
"My name is Natsumi, and I will be your waitress for this evening." Natsumi said while giving a bright smile and putting both hands near her waist.
I look at her again. Still with the maid outfit with a pink apron and a cat ear. She has long, light violet-colored hair and blue eyes. She looks familiar. Violet hair, blue eyes, Natsumi. Wait a minute.
"Natsumi!!!" Fumiko suddenly stands up and points toward her.
Fumiko's outburst causes all of the customers and waitresses to look toward us.
"Fumiko-sama, can you please lower your voice? You are disturbing the other guests." Natsumi said with a calm tone.
Fumiko looks around before realizing what she has done. She blushed and sat down before resting her head on the table and covering it with her hands.
"So, it is you, Natsumi."
"I wish we could talk more, but I have tasks to do. So, it will be wonderful if you can help me out by making your orders. We can talk after my shift is over." Natsumi said in a low tone to not attract the other waitresses and guests.
"I see. Hiromi, if you may." I asked Hiromi since she is the one who will order our meal.
"Oh right." Hiromi put down the menu book before looking at Natsumi.
"Are you ready to order, Mistress?” Natsumi said while preparing her notebook and a pen.
"We’ll just have your Classic Tea Party set for four, a Meat Platter, and a Classic Salad." Hiromi said that while peeking at the menu book from time to time.
While Hiromi said that, Natsumi used her notebook to write our orders.
"Alright, Mistress. Allow me to repeat your order. One Classic Tea Party Set for four, a Meat Platter, and a Classic Salad. Is that all?" Natsumi said that while peeking at her note once or twice.
"That’s all from me and Sayuri-chan. How about you, Fumiko, Hanako?" Hiromi asked us.
"How big is the Meat Platter, Natsumi?" I asked.
"The Meat Platter is enough for two people. I suggest you buy the Palace Meat Platter or two Meat Platters." Natsumi explained.
I looked back on the menu book and spotted a dish called "Palace Roast" which has a piece of roast beef and sides of roast vegetables. It is also said that it is enough for two people.
"Fumiko-chan. Do you want this?" I whispered to Fumiko before showing her the menu book and pointing at the dish.
Fumiko lifts her head a bit and sees the dish that I mentioned.
"Sure, I don’t mind. It does sound fancy." Fumiko said that in a low voice.
"Alright, I think we will have the Palace Roast." I said to Natsumi.
"Let me repeat your order. Mistresses. One Classic Tea Party Set for four, a Meat Platter, a Classic Salad, and a Palace Roast. Will that be all for today?" Natsumi said.
"I think that should be all for today." Hiromi answered.
"Thank you for your order. Your order will arrive in about thirty minutes. May I take the menu books?" Natsumi asked.
"Sure." Hiromi said this while grabbing her and Sayuri’s menu books and giving them to Natsumi.
I did the same with my and Fumiko’s menu books and gave them to Natsumi.
"Thank you, and please enjoy the night." Natsumi tidied the menus before heading somewhere.
"I never knew that Natsumi would be working here." I said to Fumiko.
"Same here. Man, that was embarrassing. Why didn’t you stop me, Hanako-chan?" Fumiko said while still having her head resting on the table.
"I was about to, but you were just too fast for me to react." I answered.
"I guess you have a point. Maybe I should go to therapy to fix this. I wonder if she is free tomorrow." Fumiko said.
I still cannot understand rich people that much. Why do you need therapy for that? That is not a mental problem. I guess by being rich, you can basically fix even the simplest problem by spending a bunch of money. What a corrupt world we are living in. But that is also a good point in life. The desire to be rich drives us more and more to be better than yesterday. Of course, richness isn’t the only factor in life; sometimes that is helping the poor, bringing smiles to others, being able to hang out with friends and family, having to retire early peacefully, and so much more. Everyone has their own motivation to want to improve themselves, and I believe that is beautiful.
"Hey, Hanako. Can you tell me more about this Natsumi girl?" Hiromi asked politely.
"Natsumi. Well, I can’t say much about her. We just met yesterday." I answered a bit.
I didn’t lie. I don’t know much about her other than that we work for the same organization. Oh yeah, she did say yesterday that she is about the same age as Yuichi Senpai. Should I call her Senpai as well? Maybe I should at least ask her if I should use some formality with her after this.
"That’s alright. I just want to learn a bit more about her." Hiromi said.
I guess I have no choice. What should I tell her? Should I tell her that we have worked once in the past? But this could lead Hiromi to ask further questions. At least I don’t want to let Hiromi know what job we do. That is semi-classified.
"Well, Natsumi is a bit older than me, maybe about one or two years older." I said that first to give Hiromi something to chew on.
"Interesting, then how did you meet up?" Hiromi asked.
"Oh, you see, we first met on our first job together as event security." I answered with a half-truth and lied.
"Event security. What kind of event?" Hiromi asked back.
"It was a wedding." I lied.
Hiromi thinks for a bit. A bit more than usual, if you ask me. I hope she didn’t see through my lies.
"I see. So, you and Natsumi once worked together. But is it really your first meeting? If you are a part of a security team, how come you've never met her before?" Hiromi asked.
Crap, I forgot about that. What should I do? Should I tell more lies? Should I say that I am not allowed to answer that? Um, um. Fumiko, please help me.
"Also, how did Fumiko also know her if it was only you?"
Since when did Hiromi unexpectedly become Sherlock Holmes? Think, Hanako, think. There must be something that I can do to not arouse any more suspicion and to answer Hiromi’s question. Why did it have to be this hard to answer this?
"What Hanako forgot is that our friends ask us to replace them for the job." Fumiko answered confidently.
Huh. I looked toward Fumiko, and she said that with a confident smile and a plan. Thank you, Fumiko. You saved me.
"Oh, so your two friends ask both of you to cover for them." Hiromi said.
"Yeah, they said that they were sick at that time, so they asked us for help." Fumiko said it again with that confident smile.
"What did they get?" Hiromi asked.
"The usual sickness that all high schoolers get. Food poisoning." Fumiko asks while not managing to hold a laugh.
"That is a bit true. I have gotten a few food poisonings in my life." Hiromi said that while also not managing to hold her laughter.
"I know right. Who knew food could be this dangerous? Am I right?" Fumiko said.
Those two have such weird humor sometimes. Sometimes they are wholesome, and sometimes they are as twisted as the night sky. I won’t complain, though, since sometimes their humor is actually funny.
"Alright, alright. I get it. Thanks for clearing things up, Fumiko and Hanako." Hiromi said with a sincere smile.
"No problem. It is the least we can do to clear up the mess Hanako-chan made." Fumiko said with a light smirk.
"You don’t need to stoop that low, Fumiko-chan." I said it with a light pout.
"Sorry, it's just funny seeing you all confused." Fumiko said that with a giggle.
"Yeah, yeah. Says the girl who caused a commotion in the café." I gave a counter to Fumiko.
"That stings, Hanako-chan." Fumiko said in a fake sad tone.
Before me and Fumiko could get even more heated, Natsumi walked back toward our table while carrying a tray with four teacups and a tea pot.
"Here is your tea, mistresses." Natsumi said that grabbing the tea sets from the tray and bringing them to our table was a gentle but efficient way to do it.
"Please enjoy the tea, Mistresses." Natsumi bowed down before leaving our table to do her duties.
"Allow me." Hiromi grabbed the teacup and poured it into all the teacups.
"Thank you, Hiromi." I spoke.
"Thank you, Hiromi." Fumiko said after me.
"You’re welcome." Hiromi said after putting the teapot back on the plate.
I grab my teacup and take a sniff. It has this nice floral smell and that signature tea smell. I could also smell a hint of vanilla there. I blow on the tea a bit to cool it down since it is pretty hot. After I am sure that the tea won’t burn my tongue, I take a little sip. Almost like the smell, I could easily taste a bit of lavender and vanilla. From the taste, I could tell that it was black tea.
"What do you think, Fumiko-chan?" I asked Fumiko.
"This reminds me of the time my chefs make my family afternoon tea." Fumiko said.
"Let me guess, your maid also makes the same tea?" I asked rhetorically.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
"Right as always, Hanako-chan." Fumiko smiled.
"What do you think, Sayuri-chan?" Hiromi asked.
Sayuri uses her right hand to pick up the glass before blowing her tea a bit. Like me, Sayuri takes a little sniff before taking a sip of her tea. After that, she places the cup back on its plate.
"It tastes wonderful, Hiromi. Can I have some more after I am finished with mine?" Sayuri said.
"Sure thing, Sayuri-chan." Hiromi said.
They are really a cute couple. I wish Fumiko would treat me like this every time. In the meantime, I have to deal with Fumiko’s randomness.
"It seems like the food won’t be here for a while. Any story that you want to tell." Hiromi asked.
To be honest, I don’t think I can even try to find the courage to tell a story. I have a feeling that Hiromi will just try to dissect the story further and further. But I have to say something, or else Hiromi will ask why we stay quiet.
"Not much, really. I am dried out of fresh stories." I answered.
"Same here. How about you tell us more about how you and Sayuri met?" Fumiko asked.
"Hmmm. It’s not much of a story, but I think you can find it interesting." Hiromi said.
"Sure, I don’t mind." Fumiko said.
"Alright, where do we begin?" Hiromi said.
"How about when did you first meet?" Fumiko asked first.
"If I am not mistaken, the first time we met was when I was 10 years old and Sayuri-chan was 9 years old." Hiromi answered.
"Where did you meet?" Fumiko asked again.
"It was on the first ever Astrology Opera." Hiromi answered.
"Wait, Astrology Opera. I have heard of it once before." Fumiko said while starting to remember something.
"Is it the one opera that is held every leap year?" Fumiko asked to confirm her answer.
"Yes, that’s the one." Hiromi said.
"Oh, you have been the first to go there. I am jealous. My family went there on the second Astrology Opera." Fumiko asked while pouting.
"That’s a shame, really." Hiromi said.
I still don’t get how much rich people value their lives. Maybe, if I were rich, I could at least know how Fumiko feels and thinks.
After a short intermission, Hiromi continued her story about how they first met. She said that by luck, Hiromi’s family and Sayuri’s family sat side by side. Per rich family tradition, they introduced themselves. That was how Hiromi and Sayuri met for the first time. How sweet. Also, how have I never heard of a rich family tradition? Well, I shouldn’t think about it that much. It is really confusing to begin with anyway.
Hiromi also continue telling the story when her parents died when she was just 12 years old. Since Hiromi didn’t have any relative, the maids and butlers of Hiromi’s house decided to try to contact some of the families from her family’s connection. A lot of them rejected the idea, except for one which was Sayuri’s Family. They agreed under the condition that Hiromi worked as a personal maid of Sayuri, but she could keep her own family fortune after all the legal problems.
Since Hiromi doesn’t have relatives, they accept it, and the rest is history. Now, they are taking a higher education here. And fin.
“That is really interesting, so are you still Sayuri’s maid.” Fumiko asked.
“Yes, I am.” Hiromi answered.
“But isn’t a maid supposed to use formality. Like, Mistress or Master.” Fumiko asked again.
“No, at the core we are friends, but by contract it’s a maid and master relationship.” Hiromi answered.
“I see. Well, good for you two.” Fumiko said.
“Thank you.” Hiromi said back.
I look back at Hiromi’s story and I don’t sense many lies in her stories. So, I believe there are some sort truths in it. After deciding that Hiromi’s story is believable enough, I grabbed my teacup and took a sip. Ah, the taste of tea is something else.
“Hiromi, can you pour me some tea.” Sayuri said shyly.
“Sure thing.” Hiromi said while grabbing the teapot and pouring it into Sayuri’s teacup.
"Thank you." Sayuri said while grabbing her teacup and taking a sip from it.
"No problem. Fumiko, Hanako, do you want a refill?" Hiromi asked.
"Sure, thanks." I answered first.
"I think I am fine for now." Fumiko answered me.
"Alright." Hiromi said and poured some tea into my teacup and hers before placing the teapot back.
"Thank you." I said.
"You’re welcome." Hiromi said with a smile.
Not too long after, Natsumi and two more waitresses bring our meals, which are the other half of the Classic Tea Party Set or the sandwiches tray, the Meat Platter, the Classic Salad, and the Palace Roast. It doesn’t take long before all our meals are set on the table, ready to be devoured or eaten in a fancier way.
"Alright, dig in, Hanako, Fumiko. Everything is on me for today." Hiromi stated.
"Thank you, Hiromi." I spoke.
"Yeah, you’re the best." Fumiko stated this excitedly.
"Oh, it’s nothing much. Um, excuse me, Natsumi." Hiromi tried to catch Natsumi’s attention.
"Yes. How can I help you, Mistress?" Natsumi said while keeping both hands near her waist.
"Can you refill this teapot?" Hiromi said that while pointing at the teapot.
"Of course, Mistress." Natsumi said before grabbing the plate and the teacup together.
"Excuse me, Mistress." Natsumi said before bowing a bit and walking toward the kitchen.
Fumiko immediately uses her knife and fork to cut a piece of the Palace Roast. Meanwhile, Hiromi grabs the Classic Salad and brings it to Sayuri’s side of the table. I sighed before taking a few of the roasted vegetables and some of the roasted meat.
After a light prayer from all of us and another long one from Sayuri, we start to dig into the meal.
"So good." Fumiko said after taking a bite of the meat.
I laughed a bit at Fumiko’s antics before taking a bite myself. If I can describe how it tastes, it is that rich beefy taste with that classic roast flavor. The vegetables are the same; I can tell it was cooked with some of the beef fat. It is unhealthy, but it is one of a kind in my book. I look to Hiromi and Sayuri. Sayuri was eating her salad with a light smile. That’s cute. On the other side, Hiromi was tasting some of the sandwiches. It seems that she enjoys it, but in a more mannerly way. Unlike the girl beside me. But nonetheless, it was a peaceful night. Nothing could ever disturb this moment.
Out of nowhere, the door to the entrance was sent flying into the café. Basically, all of the guests and waitresses were shocked by that, including us.
"Oops, sorry. I must have kicked too hard." A small, blue-haired child wearing a blue dress walks into the café.
The guests and waitresses are still too shocked to even move or react to it.
"Excuse me, can I get a table?" The small child waves her hand.
Finally, a waitress decides that she should at least try not to make the child angry.
"Please right this way." A waitress said nervously before leading the child toward an empty table.
"Thank you." The child spoke while following the waitress.
Eventually, the waitress leads the child toward an empty table near the left wall. The child said thank you one more time before sitting on one of the chairs.
"Can I get a menu?" The child said.
The waitress grabs a nearby menu book and gives it to the child. The child takes it before giving a quick scan.
"Alright, I am ready to order." The child stated.
"What do you want to order, Mistress?" The waitress said it with a hint of nervousness.
"I think I will take you." The child gives a smile.
"Excuse me, Mistress. Can you repeat that?" She said that with a hint of fear.
"I said, I will take you to go." Her smile turns into a smirk.
It happened so fast. In a blink of an eye, the waitress fell on her side with a hole in her chest. The moment the blood started pouring out of the dead waitress's body, all hell broke loose in the café, and every guest and waitress started running out of the building.
"I do like a good hunt." She said while licking some blood from her ice claw.
Suddenly, a light surrounds the child before dispersing and revealing a female child wearing a somewhat revealing outfit since she only wears a blue bra and a blue cloth that cover her underside. She is also barefoot, and both hands have an ice claw with five claws each. Oh yeah, she also has two blue-ish wolf ears on her head. A furry if you asked me.
"Ah, I miss this form." She said this before doing a little twirl.
She hops off her chair and lands on top of the dead waitress.
"Your blood tastes amazing. Too bad that you have died." She walks off the dead waitress before kicking the corpse against a wall
"Now, time for my next prey." She looks around and sees that it is mostly empty except for the four of us.
"I guess I have already found my prey." She dashes toward us at supersonic speed.
Time seemed to slow down, and I could feel her claw getting closer and closer toward us. Will it just end like this? I don’t think Fumiko can grab her artifact on time. I guess this is the end for us. That's really a shame since I just truly met Sayuri and Hiromi. But I can at least look at them one final time.
Or not. Without me even realizing it, Natsumi in her battle dress appeared between us and the girl.
"Why you!" Natsumi said while using her right leg to kick the girl in the stomach.
That sends the girl flying, crashing through the café and into the city, creating a crater on the road.
"Geez, do you have a death wish or something?" Natsumi said this while using her hand to swipe the dust from her armor.
"Thank you for saving us." Hiromi said.
"If you want to escape, use the backdoor. Hurry, before the girl attacks again." Natsumi said while running out of the café through the broken wall to battle the girl once again.
"Come on, let’s get out of here." Fumiko said.
Hiromi grabbed Sayuri's hand, and we all started to run out of the café’s backdoor.
…
Natsumi POV
Great two back-to-back battles, just what I need in my life. I thought having a job as a waitress would be the most peaceful job ever, but look at me now, battling a crazy, lunatic furry. I hope she is easier than yesterday’s Caster. That one was a tough cookie. After I was out of the café, I could see a crater form in the street with the girl standing in the center. I look to my left and right, and there are still some people running on the street. The second problem is that we are somewhat in the middle of the city. If I carry out the battle here, there will be a lot of destruction. I guess I have to lure her somewhere.
I look back on the street and see the girl walking out of the crater and walking toward me. I guess round two has started. I start walking toward her. At last, both of us stop just a few feet apart.
"That was a nice kick; I guess we’re in the same class." The girl said it with a smile.
"You let your guard down. That is not a proper way to fight." I said this while preparing a fighting position.
"Sorry, the taste of blood sometimes clouded my judgment." The girl said it again while licking some of the leftover blood from her claw.
"I guess we won’t get along that much." I said this while pivoting my foot to prepare for a fight.
"The feeling is mutual. But before we start fighting, How do I call you?"
"Call me, Light. Because I am the light of this country." I stated this confidently.
"A bit cringey. But I guess I play along. You can call me Snowflake." Snowflake said while preparing for a battle.
"Same goes for you. Excalibur, Double Strength Boost, Double Speed Boost, Defense Boost." I shouted while pouring a bunch of my AM into Excalibur.
"Double Strength Boost, activated. Double Speed Boost, activated. Defense Boost, activate."
As soon as Excalibur gave me all that stat bonus, I dashed toward Snowflake and swung Excalibur, aiming for her right side. She manages to see it briefly before using both claws to block my attack. The impact of our attack causes a massive shockwave that manages to damage nearby buildings. I guess I have to move our fight somewhere.
Snowflake must have seen me doze off. That's because after a few minutes of stalemate, she pushes me off with both claws before trying to attack me. I used Excalibur to block one of her claws, but her right claw managed to slip through and hit a spot on my right-side armor, causing it to freeze. I used Excalibur to push her back before falling back to check on my situation. I use my left hand to check the frozen spot on my armor, and it doesn’t seem to penetrate it.
"What did you do?" I asked.
"Oh, don’t think about it too much. You should just focus on the battle." She said this before dashing again toward me.
I used Excalibur to try to deflect both claws, but again, her right claw managed to slip through and hit the same spot. This time, she destroyed it and pierced her claw through my body. It's a good thing I managed to react fast enough and kick her in the stomach before creating some distance from her. I was on one knee and coughed out some blood. I was fortunate enough that it didn’t hit any fatal organs, but it did cause me to lose a lot of blood. I hate that I have to use it so early.
"Excalibur, Holy Healing." I poured some of my AM into Excalibur before standing up.
"Holy Healing, activated." Excalibur started to heal the wounds and stop the bleeding.
"Oh, interesting. Does that happen every time?" She said this before walking toward me again.
"Who knows." I take a fighting stance.
My only problem is that she manages to always get a hit on me. I guess my armor can only stand two hits from her before breaking. I am really in a tight situation.
"I guess I have to find that on my own." She said this while dashing again toward me.
I used Excalibur to block both claws. This time her left claw managed to slip through me and hit a spot on my armor, causing it to freeze. This time is much worse since I saw that it hit the armor that protects my heart. I used Excalibur to push her away before retreating again.
"You do know what will happen if I hit you again." She said this while walking toward me.
"Yeah." I said while keeping a cool and calm look.
"This time, you won’t survive this." She immediately dashed toward me.
"Excalibur, Dual Sword." I poured another bunch of AM into Excalibur.
"Dual Sword, activated." Excalibur suddenly shines.
Snowflake ignored this and was still dashing toward me. I managed to block her first impact with Excalibur using my right hand, but her left claw managed to slip through.
"Time to die, Light." She shouted.
Time slowed down for me; she really thought that she would kill me right here and now. Too bad; I have a duty to do. Another Excalibur suddenly appeared on my left hand, and using it, I parried her left claw.
"What the?" She said it with a shocked tone.
Using both swords, I push Snowflake back and start attacking her with both swords. She had some difficulty blocking both swords for the first few minutes, so I managed to land a few cuts on her. The problem with this mode is that Excalibur's attack stat is cut by half, and all five of my boosts are switched to Speed Boost. But my main objective for now is not to die and to get her to a more secluded place. I believe there is a big church near here. I hope it is empty. I start to push her toward the church. Sadly, she now knows my movement and manages to at least block the attack, but my speed start stops her from slipping through and attacking me.
"That’s enough." Her eyes start to shine, and she suddenly creates a bunch of ice spears that look like fangs to separate me and her.
This is going to be problematic. But I didn’t let up the attack and just slashed through the ice spears. Lucky enough, it isn’t that strong.
Though she doesn’t let up with creating more ice spears and retreating. I guess it will be tough to break through it. Eventually, I had enough and distanced myself. She finally stops creating ice spears before falling on one knee and panting. I also take this to rest a bit since all those constant swings did tire me out.
"Who knew you were this fast?" She said this while still panting.
"Same here; I almost thought you lied to me, and you are a Caster." I said this while trying to get some rest.
"It is a special skill of mine, though I don’t like using it much. It makes me look like a coward, and I don’t like that." She said it with a weak smile.
Suddenly I got an idea to get her into the church. It’s a bit dishonorable, but I just have to fight back my pride for now.
"Yeah, you are a coward." I said it mockingly.
"Excuse me." She said it with a hint of irritation.
"Only a weak Fighter Class like you will use such a skill and not your swordsmanship skill." I said it mockingly while showing off my swordsmanship skills.
"Oh, I will enjoy killing you and devouring your blood and flesh." Her eyes suddenly light up, but this time they're red and not her usual light blue.
"I guess I have struck your ego." I said this while taking a fighting stance.
"Hjarta ór íss." She said that with such a low voice and fast pace that I only heard one word from her.
But there is one thing I know: the temperature around her just dropped enormously. I can see that almost every street and wall near her froze.
Without noticing me at all, she dashed toward me with both claws, which seemed sharper than usual. Her speed also improves tremendously; she just closes the distance in under a second. I used both Excaliburs to block the attack, but due to her strength, I got pushed really hard until I slammed against a wall.
Oww, that hurt." I said this before removing myself from the wall.
She dashed toward me again with more killing intent than before. I guess that incantation made her a Berserker. I guess she is a Berserker Subclass. This is going to be wild. After closing her distance, I got hit by a flurry of attacks that are really hard to block. Unfortunately, one manages to slip by but hits a new spot. I don’t want to risk it, so I fall back and start my journey to the empty church.
I look back for a while and see Snowflake following me—well, more like trying to catch up to me. I have a hunch that in this form, she is just a blood-driven wolf. I can judge that by her ear and red eyes. Though there is one thing that makes things difficult: as she is catching up to me, she is making a road full of ice spears. I guess I have to take the long way to the church. I took a sharp right turn, which she followed. Legs, don’t fail me now!
…
Hanako POV
I kick open the door and look around for any danger. After I was sure, it was an empty alleyway. I sighed in relief before walking out of the café. Sayuri, Hiromi, and Fumiko followed suit. I sit down and catch my breath. Man, that was intense. Thank goodness, Natsumi made it in time. While Fumiko looks around the alleyway, it seems that Hiromi and Sayuri have calmed down. Maybe this isn’t their first rodeo.
"Should we head back now?" Hiromi asked.
"I have to agree." I said while looking for a taxi on my phone.
"Don’t worry, I have asked my private driver to come here." Fumiko stated.
"When did you get the chance?" I asked confusedly.
"As we were running, I managed to call my private driver." Fumiko said proudly.
"Thanks, I guess." I spoke.
"You are so ungrateful, Hanako-chan." Fumiko said it with a fake sad tone.
"Where is the pick-up point?" Hiromi asked.
"It shouldn’t be far. Follow me." Fumiko said this before walking somewhere.
"Wait up, Fumiko." I said before standing up and catching up to her with both Sayuri and Hiromi behind me.
Fumiko slowed down her movement to let me catch up to her.
"Hanako-chan. You take Sayuri and Hiromi out of here. I will help Natsumi. I already gave her my instructions." Fumiko whispered to me.
"Alright, Fumiko-chan." I whispered back.
"Thanks."
Eventually, we reach an empty street with a limousine parking near the walkway.
"Hanako-chan, Sayuri, Hiromi, you can take the middle seat. I will take the front seat." Fumiko said.
"Alright, Fumiko-chan." I spoke.
"Thank you for the ride, Fumiko." Hiromi said.
"Thank you, Fumiko-san." Sayuri spoke in a low voice.
"No problem. Come on, we don’t want to wait any longer." Fumiko said this while walking toward her seat.
I open the door and let both Sayuri and Hiromi sit before myself. After I closed the door, the limousine started moving, leaving Fumiko behind. Fumiko, I hope your battle will go smoothly.