A knock spread through the principal’s office in the Glorenstein Academy.

“Come in,” said Principal Kurt and the door opened. In stepped the taciturn guard of the front gates, who loyally held post whether it was shine or rain. The guard bowed and handed a letter to the Principal.

“It’s from the Vice-Principal.” Was all the taciturn guard said as he bowed and walked out of the office.

Principal Kurt lowered his glasses and placed away the documents he was signing on a pile to his right and turned to his left, where Gladwin sat relaxedly on the mahogany single-seater.

Principal Kurt opened the letter and scanned it through, only to have a sigh leave him.

“It seems there is some trouble,” said Kurt. He creased the letter from the center and tossed it over to Gladwin.

At the same time, another knock rang on the door and, without waiting for an answer, in stepped a blonde-haired woman. Her eyes were as baggy as the white coat she wore.

“Professor Denadis, you’re here.”

“Yes,” said Professor Denadis as she casually strode over next to where Gladwin sat and settled herself on the last, three-seater couch.

Gladwin smirked as he placed the letter down.

“Funny folks,” he said. “It seems Professor Ethan has stumbled on something big.”

“Professor Ethan?” Denadis repeated. “Again? What is he doing now?”

Gladwin placed the letter down and crossed his legs. He pinned his knees with his hands.

{Found something strange. On an investigative leave with Ethan.

Will probably take a few days.

Don’t cut our pay.

Please.

Seriously, don’t. This is a real problem.

Don’t cut it.

Best,

Richard.}

Those were the words written on the letter. Professor Denadis was slightly amused, but today, her attention was elsewhere.

Finally, Principal Kurt took a seat on the remaining, two-seater couch, and Professor Denadis pulled out a small glass vial from her coat.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“Ethan here, Ethan there. I didn’t think much of him when he came around…”

A green-tinged blob crawled around in the vial. Once part of a giant chimeric beast, this was all that was left from the years of her effort.

“But when I saw him defeat the Chimera that once caused immense destruction… I have to ask you, just who is he…?”

Professor Denadis leaned ahead on the table, staring into Gladwin’s eyes, past his soft smile and straight into the persona he hid behind his cunning smile.

“Just who is that man? What kind of power does he hold…?”

***

Mrs. Frock.

The name rang in my ears like the music I usually heard at night. Strange, since it was barely as relaxing. If anything, this lady’s mention of Mrs. Frock’s name had only alerted all my senses.

As if I had been struck by a truck, the thoughts in my head muddled around. But unlike last time, I couldn’t come to a conclusion. There was no ‘a-ha’ moment this time around.

All I was left with was a strange shock, a sense of disbelief, and an abundance of incongruity.

“Doofus, why were you thrown in here?”

“Mrs. Frock…” I mumbled again. An organization, seemingly anti-imperialistic in nature, was busy making its mark in the shadows of Glorenstein.

It seemed almost impossible for Mrs. Frock to be the one leading it. Was there perhaps a daughter? Or maybe someone pretending to be Mrs. Frock?

As the initial shock started to fade away, my thoughts started to flow again.

“Hey…” I said to my companion in this cave. The place we were stuck in, thrown away by the anti-imperialists.

According to Gladwin, multiple groups were making their moves to have their agendas fulfilled against the gathering of hostages. The ones who held value as hostages for the Empire held even more value as hostages for criminals.

Now, we had found someone inside the city involved in these happenings. Richard and me had initially assumed it would be Mrs. Frock’s long estranged son, or maybe someone else related to him.

But… we never expected Mrs. Frock herself to be the mind behind all this.

A breath got stuck in my mouth. Everyone was gathered to pass-on signals. My fellow captive had mentioned a fight against the entire city. And the ones at the play were extremely particular about the color of my mask.

“The plan was never in the play…”

Mrs. Frock owned a boutique. A boutique that could transform someone like Richard from a dull academic to a socialite.

“The signal was the costumes…”

“Are you talking about their method of communication?” asked my fellow captive. “What is the point now? It’s all over anyway.”

“Over…?” I muttered. “Why is that? I assume you have your own agenda with the royalty too. Why give up so soon?”

“Give up?” she scoffed. “I guess I should tell you. That bitch is using all of us.”

“What do you mean?”

“She’s a witch, a chimera scientist,” my fellow captive didn’t have any regard for my continued shock. “Do you think we can fight and win against the entirety of Glorenstein? It’ll be a miracle if we last a day.”

A chimera scientist.

Eerily enough, I had heard from and seen one mere days ago.

One that talked about a special kind of chimera.

“She is planning to use all of us as a sacrifice to match the mana of a demiurge. That bitch plans to awaken the worst kind of Chimera this world has seen. She even calls it her ‘son’ that bitch.”

Oh fuck.

“I have to stop this…”

“Stop it? Sure, doofus. We are both in this mana vein. Even the archmage won’t be able to use magic here. Give up—”

A snap rang out as I broke the rope binding my hands with a small flex of my muscles.

Thankfully, magic was not something I needed to use.

I quickly pulled down my mask and turned to my fellow captive. A brown-haired lady dressed like a rogue.

“You wanna leave this place?” I asked. “If you want my help to come out you’ll have to help me break this chimera down.”

The lady swallowed her words.

“Did you just… break your binds?”

“Answer.”

She scoffed.

“Fine. There’s someone I really need to protect in this town too.”