“Man, those guards sure are fast.” A young man said while catching his breath. The shield and the bastard sword on his back dripped water as if it’s also been running.

“I-It’s because you keep stopping at every food stall you see…” A shy, timid looking young woman said. She uses the staff in her hand to support herself while trying to catch her breath.

“She’s right. Due to that, they almost caught us.” A man with a big, robust body stood tall as the sweat in his body slowly drops. The sheathedsword on his waist hanged proudly and magnificently just like its owner.

“And if you didn’t stop me, I would have at least helped those two people!” Angrily shouted by the young woman who was the one who started the commotion from the streets. If I had a word to describe her, beautiful wouldn’t be enough. Her blonde hair fluttered along the wind and the staff that she was holding shoned brightly, just like its holder. But of course, Shakna is more beautiful, elegant, and magnificent than that young woman.

The four people that entered were the ones that we saw earlier. They were wearing their weapons and armor, so I assumed they were wanderers.

“Why is it my fault!? Those guards were about to catch us. If anything, when will you learn not to meddle with others business, Fuyuki?!” He pointed his hand at the blonde young woman.

“D-Don’t blame her…she was just trying to help, Takana…” The timid looking girl showed some backbone to Takana. I can already tell she’s a good friend.

“Thank you, Kihana.” Fuyuki smiled towards Kihana. “If Hashi stopped me, maybe I would have listened but I wouldn’t listen to an idiot like you, Takana.” A cold remarked by Fuyuki. Sparks flew between the two, not showing any sign of stopping soon.

“Well, that’s finished now. For now, we’ll complete the task that were given to us. Is that all right?” said by whom I presumed is Hashi. Somehow, I could tell he’s the leader of their group or something. He radiated a kind and easy-to-talk to aura. He was also quite good-looking.

“Okay.”

“S-sure, Hashi…”

“If you say so.”

Huh… that’s strange. Their names sounded overly familiar just like the names from my world…

The three agreed then a laugh came from behind me.

“Hahaha! It’s always a treat seeing you two fight.” Chris, who was sitting on his chair, loudly laughed. “So what brings you here?” his tone sharpened.

“Nothing.” Said by Takana. “We just used this dirty, rundown building as a cover to hide from the guards.”

“Oi,” A threatening glared by Chris. “Did you just call my office ‘dirty’?”

“N-No, sir!” Well, that was understandable on how he looked scared. I was just in the same position as him moments ago.

“Better for me, anyway. I don’t want to do more menial tasks.” Chris leaned back on his chair. “Oh yeah, why don’t you tour these newcomers to the house?”

“Newcomers?” Asked by Hashi.

“Yup. We’ve got two trainees today.”

“Huh…” Hashi observed the both of us. “So you don’t have any classes yet and is she a maid or something?” Merry sure did attracted a lot of attention.

“Yeah, we just registered moments ago and she is —“

“A slave.” Merry interrupted me. I mentally facepalmed. Why did she had to say that?

I knew that if I said that word, someone would be furious. And we were all looking at that someone right now. Her face was, as expected, frowning as the beautiful woman became ferocious.

“Dude, I think you should start running.” A good advice by Takana but before I could even move, she already started to talk.

“Slave this and slave that! When will you people learn that enslaving others is bad! You have no right to enslave them, let alone hurt them! People like you are the worst!” She angrily shouted. She lifted her staff and her right hand wrote something incomprehensible in the air while saying something unintelligible, “Sal, mo, rak."

Suddenly, it became cold. Though the door was opened for ventilation, it wasn’t that cold. In fact, that was why the others were sweating in the first place. The sudden coldness came from what appears to be ice forming around Fuyuki.

“Woah, woah, woah! Isn’t this bad!? She’s gonna damage the building!” worriedly shouted by the Takana.

Worry about me!

“Fuyuki, we’re already losing money as the days go by, do you really want to hurt someone and cost us money?” calmly interjected by Hashi.

“H-Hashi’s right, Fuyuki…we still need more money for our badge…” Timidly said by Kihana.

I mentally facepalmed. Why does it always have to be about money?

As for me, I was literally just minutes away from dying before, now I was in that situation again. This day was twisted, that was the least I could say. I closed my eyes and hoped for the best but it turned out the money thing was a good way to convince her as she lowered her staff and started to take deep breaths.

“How about I explain myself first?” I took the opportunity so I could clear some misunderstandings. I explained from the beginning how I tried to free her but ironically ended up as my slave. I also told them how our master and slave relationship is a façade though I omitted some parts. They all looked at me like they’d seen something amazing and unbelievable.

“Well, that’s something new.” It sounded like a compliment from Hashi.

“Even I am speechless. I genuinely didn’t believe that people from this world could be kind enough to their slaves. This is great news!” A gleeful shout by Fuyuki. Well, I was not from this world, so I was highly ethical than the people from this world.

And wait. Did she just say ‘from this world’?

“I’m sorry, it seems I’ve misjudged you. I’m Fuyuki Kisaki, Nice to meet you.” She politely bowed and showed a friendly smile at me.

Her name and the way she said ‘from this world’, there’s no mistake about it.

“Are you people also from —! “ Out of joy and pure excitement from knowing that there were people here from my world, I unthinkingly tried to confirm if they were indeed from another world but that was a painful mistake.

Without any warning, my chest started to extremely ache. More precisely, it was my heart that was aching. And I didn’t mean it like those overly-drama shows, it was an agonizing pain like someone was clutching my chest tightly. I wanted to scream and roll around but my body did not respond to anything, it just stood still there. It was as if my mind was the one suffering even though the agonizing pain was clearly coming from my heart.

“Hey, are you okay?” Fuyuki looked at me worryingly. Even Merry was looking at me the same. I wanted to response but my body was still unmoving. Although it only lasted for about five seconds, it felt more than five seconds.

When the pain was gone, I was able to move my body again. I bend over and tried to catch my breath. I moved my body and tried to pinch myself to see if I was okay. These must be the one of the curse that Shakna put on me. The curse was absolutely horrifying, I didn't want to experience that again. It was like dying but at the same time, not dying. Also the memories of my mother chastising me resurfaced because somehow it felt like that but on a gravely level.

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What would happen if it kept happening again? Would I really die? I didn't want to die. I had to save Shakna first.

“This guy is really starting to creep me out, you know? Or maybe she’s so afraid of Fuyuki that he tried to see if it was all a dream? Man, that would be hilarious!” Give me a break, I literally just had a heart attack.

“I’m fine, sorry about that.” I regained my composure. “I’m Terrin Tachibana. Nice to meet you, too.” I tried to smile but my body betrayed me, so it became an awkward smile.

“I’m Hashi Tabata. Welcome to the guild. Tachibana, huh?”

“I-I’m Kihana Saiki. I-I-It’s nice to meet you…”

“Hmmm? Why are you all looking at me? You really don’t expect me to introduce myself to some weird guy, right?” An incredulous look on Takana’s face.

“Well, if you don’t want to…”

“Fine, fine! I guess I’m really just that great to be want to be known! I’m the Great Takana Nakada. You can now clap and pay your respects.” A cocky smile appeared on his face.”

This guy is really going to be a pain. I clapped just for the sake of it.

“Good, good. I’m starting to see a new perspective in you.” He nodded his head as if he was approving something.

“I’ll give you some good advice. Just ignore this piece of trash and you’re day will become much, much better.” A bit harsh but nonetheless, a great advice.

“Piece of trash!?” he pointed his finger at Fuyuki. “At least, I’m not a flat chested!” Well, physiologically speaking, you are a flat chested too, Takana.

“What!? What does that have to do anything? You airhead!” a wise remarked, I’ll say.

Sparks flew again and they fought. Good thing Hashi was here to stop them fighting. What a good guy.

“By the way, what’s her name?” Hashi’s eyes darted to Merry.

“I’m Merry. Pleased to make your acquaintance.” She touched her skirt and bowed elegantly. Why? I also didn't know.

“What a cute name!” Fuyuki went to Merry. “And you’re dress is very cute, too. Right, Kihana?”

“R-Right…”

Although Kihana was a bit shy, she nevertheless tried to socialize with Merry.

“All right, Chris. We’ll take them to the house.” Announced by Hashi.

“Good. Now I can finally sleep. Go on, take this and take them away.” Before making us leave, he threw a badge of the wanderers which says ‘Trainee’ and with a shoo gesture, we started to leave.

*

Being in a group sure feels nice.

We were walking in a street I’ve never seen before. Well, since this was my first day out of the orphanage which would make sense. Anyway, the girls were talking in the back while us, boys, were in the front.

The girls were conversing. I really couldn't hear what they are saying due to the surrounding noise but from the looks of it, they were overwhelming Merry, or more like, Fuyuki was overwhelming her with her, I guess lively self but of course that wasn’t bad. She should interact with them more especially since they think differently than the people from this world.

“Here we are.” Hashi opened the door and entered the two-story house.

The two-story house looked old but well-kept. There’s only one entrance as far as I could see and there are a lot of windows.

We entered and talked to the landlord. The landlord was an old lady who was sitting on a chair. She demanded our badge and showed it to her. After that, she gave us the key to our room.

We went to our room and found out that there were double-decked beds. There were also an old closet and desk. Since they were double-decked beds, Merry and I decided she would be sleeping on top while I would at the bottom.

“Wait a minute. Why does he get to sleep with her?” Takana wanted an explanation.

I swear, this person…

“They can’t do anything about it. There are spare rooms but the landlady didn’t want two rooms to be used.” Hashi said. Good thing Hashi was very understanding.

“But wouldn’t they, you know…do that?” Takana’s face was red and looked at the other way.

“Do what?” Fuyuki tilted her head and asked innocently.

“I-Its better you know nothing, Fuyuki…” Kihana’s face was red as well. Does she know what he meant? That’s unexpected.

As for me, of course I knew what he meant.

“I won’t do anything to her.” I calmly said. “This woman is far stronger than me. Even if I tried something, I’m sure she’ll overpower me.”

“Bullshit. How can this small woman be stronger than you?” Takana questionably looked at Merry.

“I’m a…half-beast.” She said hesitantly. Seriously, this woman just kept dropping bombs. I thought she was a half-monster?

“You’re a half-beast? They did say it’s mostly beasts that are enslaved in this kingdom.” Hashi contemplated with his hand on his chin.

“For real? That’s actually kind of cool! Do you have any beast-like parts?” Takana’s eyes were glowing. I didn't even know how they were glowing.

She reluctantly showed them her blue tail.

“That’s so cute! Can I touch it?” she was moving close with a creepy smile in her face.

“I’m sorry but you may not.” A cold look on her face.

“Oh, I’m sorry for asking.” An apologetic looked on Fuyuki’s face.

“F-Forgive her, Merry, she just really likes cats…”

“No, I’m sorry. I’m just really sensitive with my tail. It’s not your fault.” She tried to smile but it came out stiffly.

“That’s a rather stiff smile.” Merry coldheartedly looked at Takana for the clever remark. “I’m sorry!” He kowtowed.

Suddenly, a loud sound came from what sounds like a bell.

“Well, that was fun.” Hashi announced. “We should really get going. Our training is about to start.”

“Great,” Takana stood up and sarcastically said “Another session with that sweaty old dude."

“Thank you for showing us here. When you need something, just talk to me and I’ll try my best to help you.” Though I do want to stick with my own people, they would notice that I was not really from this world with my belongings and weird movements. I didn't want to activate that curse again. Besides, I had a different goal than them, I’ll just get in their way.

Hashi looked at towards Fuyuki and said “Well, we do need two more wanderers in our team since the typical party consist of five or six wanderers. So, how about it? Would you like to join us?” He offered. I took a glanced with Fuyuki and saw her staring intently at me. Guess she really wanted us to join. Though, I would be contradicting myself earlier, if we would join in their party, not only would Merry be able to make friends, I would also learn how to fight and maybe even get them to help me but first I had to ask her what she wanted.

I looked at Merry and asked “Do you want to join in their group?”

“Why not.” She indifferently said.

“Well, you heard her. Thanks for letting us in.” I put my hand forward preparing it for a handshake.

Hashi shook it and smilingly said “Yeah, welcome to the party.” Just like that and in just a day, I found myself in another path.

Fuyuki shouted happily while Takana’s face was saying ‘for real?’ and as for Kihana, she was happy too though a bit shy about it.

“You’re going to the Assassin Association, right? Come with us, it’s just nearby to where I’m going.” Hashi offered. He sure does pay a lot of attention.

“Alright. How about you, Merry? You coming?” I asked.

“No. I’ll go out and buy some food for us.”

“Let’s just go. The lovey-dovey couple is making me sick.” Takana left the room.

Dude, we’re not a couple.

“Take care of yourself. I’ll be back later.” And with Fuyuki and Kihana’s goodbye, we left the house.

*

Hashi told me that the Assassin Association was in the north-west of the town. Though, some towns weren’t rich or prosperous, they all had the classes association because they are supported by the king and were well-supplied by wanderers according to Hashi. Incidentally, there was an old tavern near where we are going where they usually ate.

Hashi was a trainee Swordsman, Takana was a trainee High Warrior, Fuyuki was a trainee Mage and Kihana was a trainee Shaina Priest. With the addition of me and Merry, there will be an Assassin in the group, though I don’t know what Merry’s role would be.

Hashi said that they had been only training for about three days. Usually, a wanderer can hunt monsters after at least two weeks of training. Though the least were two weeks, even if you wanted to extend it for a month, the money the guild provided wouldn’t last for two weeks, let alone a month. Unless you had a side job, in which most wanderers did not have, they had to start hunting whether prepared or unprepared.

The group split up as the other associations were in different parts of the town. Hashi told me where the Assassin Association was and then left.

I was surprised to see that the association was a small building. I didn't even think you would call this a building. I entered and saw a woman in a desk with bookshelves placed in the corner of the small building.

“Excuse me...I was asked by Lieutenant Chris to go here and show you this.” I showed her the letter. She took it and quietly went through it. After nodding, she went through one of the bookshelves and pulled one book. When she pulled it, a floor started to spirally open and a hidden entranced was now opened on the floor.

Wow. Just like one of those mystery movies.

She gave back the letter and told me to go. She gave me a lamp and told me to enter the first door that I would see.

I agreed and lowered down the spiral staircase. Incidentally, did you know that spiral staircases were designed to give the invading enemies a disadvantage because their right hand would be disabled and the enemies would be advancing with their left side to the front? Sorry, I’ll shut up now.

As I got to the bottom, the only light source was my lamp. It was completely dark. I literally couldn’t see what was ahead of me if not for this lamp. I walked and got into an intersection. I chose left just for the sake of it and came across my first door.

I knocked with no response. I tried again but to no avail. I waited for a couple of minutes and decided just to enter. The first thing I saw was still dark though I can vaguely see a dark silhouette on the floor. It was actually scary seeing that since I was a bit scared of the unknown.

“It looks like a stray cat had entered a dangerous alley…” With the sound of exhaling something, a womanly voice came from where I can see a silhouette.

“Excuse me but I’ve —“As fast as the wind, a woman appeared before me. She held a dagger on my throat and with a cigarette on her mouth, she made a confident grin. I stood still since I really didn’t want to die but God knows I was shaking.

“Who are you?” I was about to say who I was but she saw the letter I had in my hand. With a sound of ‘oh’, she quickly let go of me.

“Thank you for that. I thought I was going to die…”

“So, a new trainee, huh? It’s been a while.” She remarked. “Sure, I’ll teach you.”

“Thank you very much.”

“Don’t thank me. You just entered in hell, boy. Welcome.” She said with a terrifying smile.

As the darkness surrounds me, I felt my instinct told me to run right away. I knew from this moment that this woman would be bad but I didn’t know she would be that worse.

What a day.