“What’s your plan now, Iroha? You’re not actually giving up on Ririna, are you? Do we wait?”

I told Bea about the hideout I found, but her response was not what I was expecting. Me and Carol left the palace, and we were heading back to the hotel… Maybe? I don’t know. We’re kinda just wandering around while talking.

“I’m not giving up on saving her… No shot.” We were walking side by side. It was early in the morning when we split up to look for the demons’ hideout, and by now the sun was going down again. “Bea may not be able to help us, but I don’t care. I’ll find Ririna on my own and save her if I have to.”

“I see… Well… That’s the reason we came all the way out here in the first place. I don’t blame you. But are you fine with that?”

“What do you mean?” Carol looked at me with a serious look, but I didn’t really get it. Fine with what? What is there for me to be fine with?

“Have you thought about what’s gonna happen if you go through with that? The demons are going to retaliate if someone attacks their main base.” Carol explained with a detached tone. “Sometimes a mission is worth a few sacrifices. I get that… But what do you think? What if the demons kill a lot of people because you attack them? What if they actually manage to destroy the capital? What are you gonna do then?”

“Ughh… I- I’d rather no one die because of me, but… I already decided I’m not gonna give up Ririna. And I promised I wouldn’t hesitate anymore, right? Maybe I can take out their leader before they have an opportunity to retaliate. Then everything would be fine, right?”

“You tell me. What if Bea claims you’re a criminal for disobeying her orders? Maybe no one dies, and the demons only manage to cause material damage. But are you no one’s gonna pin those crimes on you?” Carol’s tone became a bit confrontational as she stopped in front of me.

“If that’s all, that’s fine by me. I can just hide my identity when I come to this world or something.”

“What about Ririna? You won’t be able to meet her again then. And even if you were, what if she gets blamed as well? She can’t just leave this world like you can. What then?” That wouldn’t happen, right? There’s no way, right?

“If that happens, I’d just bring her with us to our world! Anything’s better than just leaving her to die!”

“You think that would work?” Carol scoffed. “Where would she even stay?”

“She could stay with me… Or the dorm! There are free rooms in the dorm.”

“No… That’s impossible… We wouldn’t be able to keep her hidden in the dorm for a long time, and it’d just cause problems for us. Or are we just another worthwhile sacrifice for you, Iroha?” Carol smiled sarcastically.

“No!” I don’t want to put Carol and the others in danger. But still… “I don’t want to sacrifice you, or anyone…” Knowing Ririna, she probably wouldn’t accept me sacrificing anyone for her sake. If she was blamed for a massacre caused by the demons, she’d probably accept the sentence. Even if it doesn’t make any sense. “What should I do, Carol? I don’t know what’s the right thing to do. I just wanna help Ririna.”

“I don’t know either.” Carol lowered her head. “We don’t know what’s going happen. It’s possible that you might take down their leader before they can do anything. But it’s also possible that it ends up being a catastrophe.” She looked up and smiled. “I think you should do whatever you believe is right. I’m just here to support you, so I’ll go along with whatever decision you make. You’re on your own if you have to bring her to the real world, though.”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“…” Whatever I believe is right… I hate to admit it, but if I have to, I’m fine sacrificing people I don’t know about. As long as that means I can protect the ones I care about, I… If I can save Ririna without doing anything that would get Carol, Flanne, or even Bea to hate me, I’d be happy. “What if something goes wrong? I know what I believe is right, but what if a problem I didn’t consider pops up?”

Carol shrugged and shook her head. “That’s a risk you take whenever you do anything, right? Whenever you make a choice, you can only pick what you think is right and hope for the best.” She’s right… That’s how it always is. I did what I thought was right and sometimes it went well, sometimes it went poorly. The only certainty is that it was always better than doing nothing. Whether I decide to relentlessly pursue Ririna or wait for Bea, I have to be decisive.

“Also…” Carol continued. “If we work together, we may be able to find a way to save Ririna without any complications. In fact, I have some ideas that might prevent any retaliation from the demons. I need some time to prepare, and I need you to warn me before you do anything crazy.” Sh- she has an idea? That was a bit vague, but that’s my Carol for you!

“Wow… Okay, that’s reassuring. I think I’m going back to the hideout I located to find Ririna’s location tomorrow. Even if I find where she is, I’ll make sure to tell you before I go after her.” I’m not surprised Carol came up with something so quick. She always does whatever she can to be helpful, even if it means biting off more than she can chew. That’s how it was with the mermaid. And it’s even what caused her to get lost in the Forest of Illusion. She always does her best, though. And if that’s the case… “Thanks for the help, Carol. I’m counting on you.”

In response, Carol blushed. “No need to thank me. It’s just a coincidence that I’m helping you. I’m only doing this for my training. You just got lucky.” Yeah, right… Ahahaha!

“By the way, what’s that plan that you’re thinking about? Can you tell me?” Carol just grinned mysteriously.

“Let’s just say they’ll get a taste of their own medicine.” That doesn’t explain anything… That’s fine. I’ll leave it to her. I have to prepare for tomorrow.

…

“Alright, I’ve made it. I’m in.”

No, I didn’t hack anything. I only managed to get into the enemy hideout. I split up with Carol again this morning. She went god knows where, and I went straight for the hideout I found yesterday. I spent some time observing the building until I saw a group of four demons leave.

The building felt pretty empty afterward, so I quickly searched for a way to get in. It wasn’t exactly the prettiest option, but the bathroom window was open… The smell was pretty terrible… I did what I had to do.

With the hardest part out of the way, I went around the main hallway, peeking into the various rooms. I finally found one that seemed promising and decided enter that one after making sure no one was there. I doubt empty bedrooms are going to yield better results.

Still, this room is pretty weird… There are chairs, tables, couches… It’s clearly a place to hang out, but there are also lots of boxes and letters around. There are envelopes and papers on the tables and shelves, along with all sorts of junk… Where the hell do I start? “It’s not that hard of a choice, is it?” Close to a window was a desk that stood out from the mess.

“Guess I should check the drawers.” I circled around the desk and found papers like the ones laying around the room inside the first drawer. It was as good a place to start as any, so I picked up the paper on top and started reading. There was a date, some names, designation numbers that I just didn’t understand, and… “No anomalies reported.” Huh? Why bother reporting that then? I looked through one, two, three different documents, and they were all like that. Menial bullshit that didn’t help at all. Was this a bad idea?

“Wait…” Next to a stack of documents was a folded piece of paper. I wasn’t expecting much, but it was different than the rest. I placed it on the desk and opened it. “What is this?” It looked like some sort of drawing with lines and lots of small boxes. “Am I stupid? This is a map!” Looks like a map of the capital. After looking at it for a few seconds, I spotted a shape that looked like the big castle with the wide street leading up to it.

“This is it, isn’t it? I think this infiltration idea really paid off!” There are scribbles on the map, but I don’t really know what they mean. This should be this hideout, right? It’s circled in red, but there are two other circles. Could the mansion be in one of the other locations? What do all the other crosses and lines mean? I gotta make sense of this fast!

“What’s that noise?! Didn’t you guys all leave?” Huh!? “The hell, man? There’s no one here?” A sleepy green-haired demon suddenly entered the room, walking sloppily. “There’s no way I’m hearing shit… Why did they leave the map on the desk?” He focused and swept the room while heading for the desk. “No one, huh…? But this window…” He turned to face the window behind the desk, the only window in the room.

“Why’s it open!?” He aggressively poked his head out the window, looking down for any intruders trying to run away. “Fuck… There’s really no one then? None of the soldiers have even come close to finding us. No way they could have sent a spy.” His head retreated back inside, and the window was closed.

Th- that was close! He really caught me by surprise! I was pretty sure they had all left! It felt so quiet inside… I rolled around on the rooftop and let out a deep breath of relief. Good thing I can climb up walls so easily… That was way too close!

Heheheh… It’s my win… I win this time! I didn’t have time to bring the map with me, but even if I did, I didn’t want it. They’d probably notice that it was missing, and who knows what that would lead to… So… I took a photo with my phone! Now I can show Carol my findings, and we can pin down Ririna’s location together! The lesson for today? Don’t forget to bring your phone for your adventures in a fantasy world! It will come in handy!

“Whew…” Now then… Time to get out of here before the rest of their squad returns. I wonder if Carol’s done with the preparations for her plan. It won’t be long until we can go after their main base now.