Rin didn't bother hiding the dead body. She simply closed the door and pressed her back against it, hoping that would give her enough time to think of what she needed to do. The book was on the bed. Some blood from that man Rin had just killed dripped from her hands and fell onto the wooden floor.

[They're going to find this eventually. I should go get Sara and tell her that we're leaving. That book isn't going to be good enough for the police or anything, but it should be enough to convince the academy, at least, that these are the guys. Especially given that Sara overheard that conversation earlier.]

On that note, she gently opened the door and peeked out to see if there was anyone in the hall who might connect her exit with the soon-to-be-discovered corpse in the room. The hall was vacant and Rin took that opportunity to walk out with the book resting under her right arm.

[If anyone recognizes this thing they'll probably stop me, but I don't really have any other way of getting it out.]

Even though she said that it wasn't like she seriously thought of many alternatives.

Honestly, a part of her hoped they'd get caught. If it was going to happen, though, she didn't want it to happen here.

[I could ask someone for their purse or whatever but I don't want to put anyone who might actually be innocent in danger. Hopefully, Sara's not too far away.]

Deciding that all she could really do was take a chance, she kept her head low and came back out onto the dance floor. In between the music and the sweaty bodies all around her, she searched the area for her classmate. It didn't take her too long to find Sara standing at the back of the room, alone, holding up a glass of wine that she hadn't taken a single sip from.

Rin quickly joined her and, after checking to see how many eyes were on them, whispered:

"I found something. Come on, let's go."

Wordlessly, Sara pushed herself off the wall and followed behind Rin.

"Maybe there's a backdoor or something that could lead us out of here?" Rin asked. "I don't really want to try heading out the same way we came in. Not with this thing on me, anyway," she added, highlighting the book she carried.

Before they began searching through the other doors to see if there was a way out, Rin looked around.

[... I can't see John anywhere,] she noted. [Hell, it looks like almost half the people in the party just left all of a sudden. Where is everyone?]

She had a bad feeling about that, but she shook it off, focusing on the matter at hand.

The path she and Sara took brought them to a bathroom, a kitchen of sorts, and a broom closet. It took just a minute or two more of searching before they finally came upon a room that led to a back alley, where light did not reach.

As soon as the two of them went out, that question she just had was answered.

"Triss," John said, as he stood a small distance away from her, with several men and women by his side. "If that is your real name, anyway. What exactly are you doing out here? Could it be that you already found what you were looking for?"

Rin narrowed her eyes at him as she took a step forward.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"You knew already?" She asked.

"Of course," he replied. "You and your partner here have been acting quite suspicious ever since you arrived."

[Bullshit,] Rin internally called his bluff. [They wouldn't have let Sara hear all that stuff earlier if they'd already been suspicious. Maybe they got suspicious when I went into the hall.]

"We figured we'd keep an eye on you but we did not expect that you'd outright be spies or anything of the sort. Considering what you have in your hands there, though, and the trajectory we blocked, it seems like that's exactly what you both are. So," he clapped his hands, "who are you working for?" He asked then, getting closer just as Rin had done. "The law? Someone else?"

Knowing a fight was probably about to happen, Rin placed the book on the ground by the door. Clearing her throat, she said:

"I-"

However, Rin wasn't given the chance to speak.

Not because any of the individuals up ahead interrupted her, but because her partner did.

She moved so quickly that she caught everyone there off-guard, Rin included. Sara ran up to the closest person, appearing before him in a blink. She dealt him a palm strike to the nose and, just as smoothly, retrieved a dagger that had been tucked away.

She did all of that before John could get a word out. John, Rin, and every thug in that alley stared at Sara for a moment, who had nothing but murderous intent in her eyes.

"Stop them!"

As John said that, finally, everyone started moving again.

Gritting her teeth, Rin ran up to a woman who had begun to draw a spellsign. Before she could finish, the adventurer swept her feet and stomped on her neck just as she hit the ground.

As soon as she was done, she dodged to the right, moving out of the way of a spear made of ice that would have stabbed through her head.

Leaping up into the air, Rin spun and gave a man a spinning kick in midair. He was knocked down, though Rin made a mental note of ending him later.

The fight had only started but five of these goons had already been removed from the equation.

Yes, five, because Sara was making faster progress than Rin was.

Sara, who had already killed three people by now, dodged a spell and took the dagger she'd been holding, and threw it between someone's eyes, earning a string of blood flying through the air before the guy hit the ground.

As another body fell, John must have realized that he was losing. Without a word, he turned and began running away, moving deeper into the alley.

[Crap, we can't let him get out onto the streets. The cops will stop us if he does!]

"Sara!"

Rin warned her partner, nodding at John. Sara responded through her movements.

Running past all of their remaining enemies, Sara ripped out the same dagger she'd just thrown and charged toward John and tackled him, just before he could reach the street.

"H-Hey! Help! Someone!" John called out.

Those were the only words he was able to get out, however. Sara raised a blade up into the air and plunged it into John's skull, letting a nasty "crack" sound ring out in the alley.

"NO!" One of his lackeys yelled out from the side, turning her back to Rin. That would prove to be her final mistake as Rin moved up and placed both her hands on the woman's head, turning it and snapping her neck.

Just like that, there was only one individual remaining, laid out between Sara and Rin. The one Rin spared earlier.

"Y-You lowly fools," the man muttered, nervously looking from one to the other. "The order of the world is flawed. Fall as we might today, we will-"

Rin struck the back of his head, knocking him out.

"... I guess that's done, then," she murmured.

The adventurer glanced over at Sara. Her classmate's eyes were fixed emotionlessly on the bodies of the dead Scorned. She had some blood on her, though not enough to be noticeable in the darkness.

For a moment, Rin wondered what she would even be able to do if Sara became an enemy one day, not that she thought that had any chance of happening. But it was a thought experiment that made Rin shudder.

These people, who Rin could only assume were well-trained, fell so easily before her. Rin already knew this, but this fight confirmed it further.

Sara was the real deal.

"Why not kill him?" Sara asked as she threw the blood-soaked dagger away.

"I'm wondering if it might be good to bring him back to the Academy. Maybe we could let Cara have a word with him? It's not like he's strong enough to put anyone in danger over there anyway."

"I see..." Sara replied.

"Well," Rin said, as she picked up the book from just in front of the door, "let's try it."

"What if any guards stop us?"

"This guy doesn't have any blood on him. We can just say he's our drunk friend or something. We're still dressed to party, after all," Rin noted, highlighting the dress she'd fought in before picking the unconscious man up as well. "Come on, let's head back."

"Right."