A/N: Here is the first part of the third chapter that starts off with Saito being the good guy, roguish Shishak being roguish, Cutler doing mysterious merc stuff, and Farmer acting as the cool uncle. Oh, and shit starts to happen.

Keep in mind that there will be some political references that may offend the audience, so try not to get serious about it; remember this is Pavlo speaking in his own opinion, not mine. I rather avoid a political shitstorm than start one.

I've also read the book 'STALKER: Southern Comfort' and in the middle of 'Northern Passage', so I might be thinking of implementing some of their plot elements into the fanfic; there's already a Loner reluctantly cooperating with a bandit and a mercenary, but I'll doubt Farmer would want to be friendly with a monolith fanatic if he knew what they looked like. As I said before in the previous chapter, factions may vary and since we're talking about Halkegenia, one would not be surprised to see people or remnants of early modern organizations from the past centuries.

Anyways, enjoy!


Chapter 3

Breaking Bronze: Part 1


The next morning…

The dimly lit room was quiet and still as the barest ray of sunshine leaked through the curtains. A young boy with black hair dozily snored away in his bliss on a medical bed while some of its current occupants woke up early to explore the academy's campus or otherwise. Not far from him, his pinkette master was curled up on her bed mumbling about cushy bonding hug times and someone's name that was unclear for now.

A tall shadow loomed over her at the foot of the bed with the devious intent of startling his victim, before going in for the main course. The figure cladded in oddly strange apparel hissed at the girl with growing volume of each sound made.

"Pssssssst!"

"Hmmmm…" Louise turned her head slightly to the side, not noticing the background noise as she kept sleeping.

. . .

"Psssssssssssst!" The shady figure tried again with a longer hiss.

"Nyeh~… five more minutes…" She mumbled and hugged the pillow in her arms.

. . .

. . .

"PSSSSSSSSSSSST!"

"Erm…?" Slowly, but surely, her eyelids begin to crack open while she groaned at being awoken when she didn't see the faint signs of sunlight yet. "It's not even light out…"

Something tall and oddly colored caught the corner of her eye so she shifted her view to the object that was standing at the end of her bed and widened her eyes suddenly when she saw a dreadful figure staring right into hers with its soulless black eye and sinister mouthpiece.

"Morning, sunshine~!" The ominous thing spoke to her in a sing-song tone.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Louise flung the pillow at the monster's head hard and backs herself against the wall; her shrieking caused the snoozing boy to jump and fall off the high bed. "What is this foul creature doing in my room?!"

The pillow 'Flumpt' against the two-legged insect like beast and slid down harmlessly, eliciting a muffled chuckle from it. "Well, that's one thing on the list checked off."

What?

She narrowed her eyes at the talking insect before remembering yesterday's event and scowled at the man that constantly disregarded her commands the day she summoned the four of them here. What was his name again? Cutler?

"Hey girly, when you're done trying to melt holes into me, might as well get out of bed for a fresh start, yeah?" The armored commoner turned away, walking past the groaning boy who was picking himself up and toward the large metal box before crouching to his knees to fiddle with its strange lock combination.

Louise rubbed her eyes and grumbled at the man's back before getting out of bed, catching sight of her school uniform neatly folded and sitting on top of the wooden dresser. A loud "Aha!" directed her attention again at the unruly familiar as she watched him take a backpack out of the opened storage and place it on the floor. Some of various items unknown to her were also taken and placed inside the pack after the man opened it in a way she could not describe other than noting the many metal teeth lined around the interior of double strapped sack.

Before closing the box, he dug deeper inside after he took something out from one of the pockets of his dark trouser and was handling what sounded metallic by the opening and clattering noise it made. She couldn't get a clear view as his back was in the way and decided to question him later after her classes were done.

"Why is still dark outside?" She got out of bed and went to the window to look at the barely noticeable sun just rising. "And where are those other two?"

The man turns his head to her when he closed the box with a loud click, "Oh, it's still dusk out there. The sun just went up when I woke you. As for them, they probably left early to explore around."

An irritated glare rose at the idling man now putting the pack on his back and checking over the things he was missing through his quiet mumbling. This simpleton woke her up just when the sun had only risen?! By Brimir, is he that daft to disturb his master this early?

Her eyes veered over to the writing desk as an idea popped into her head. With each slow step, she strode over to the desk's drawer and yanked it open.

Saito stretched his arms and gave a loud yawn, watching the mood between the two occupants talking to one another. His eyes switched to the glowering girl and then to Farmer going through a list of things in his mind while mumbling some of them out, not noticing that Louise was already heading toward a small desk with single drawer and was taking a long, skinny black object out of it. A single gulp from him was all he could make at the scene.

"Familiar…" she growled, smacking the horse whip lightly against the palm of her left hand with an irate frown directed at the man still stuck in his thoughts.

"…Might need some filters for the mask, yes. Shouldn't be too hard to make for replacements…" He counted off.

"Familiar!"

"No wait, what about the activated charcoal? Shit, where am I going to get the chemicals to make them? At least the indicator says the filters haven't expired yet…"

"FAMILIAR!" She roared.

"My name is Farmer, not famil-!" Farmer whipped his head around at her and went silent for a while. He stared at the device held in her hand and pointed at her as he spoke.

"I-is that a riding crop?" He asked, baffled.

Louise's eyes held a deadly glint in them as she step forward to him, "Yes, it is a crop. I nearly neglected my duties by not enacting on your punishment for yesterday, so now is a good time to perform my discipline upon you for your persistent behavior. Assume the position!"

The whip cracked by her side.

. . .

. . .

. . .

"Pfffttttth…" The sign of a stifled snicker escaped from him as his body shook at the sight before him.

"I said 'assume the position', Familiar!" She seethed.

. . .

. . .

"Pffth-heehehehehe! Hahahah…"

Louise almost snarled at the pigheaded man when she got closer to him, "Do you think this is funny? Is my true rage worth seeing right before I inflict my reckoning on your worthless hide!? Or are you sobbing at my wrath, urging me to have mercy through your incoherent begging?"

"PFFFFFTTTT! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Farmer broke down on the floor and bellowed out at the most unexpected, hilarious moment of his life that filled the room with his high-pitched laughter as he continued to point at the furious girl in front of him.

"OH SHIT! HOLY SHIT! YOU-! THAT-! WHAT THE FUCK!" He plopped down on his butt, catching his breath at the sight only his imagination could ever make. "OH FUCK! WHAT THE FUCK! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

The pinkette was at a loss of words, much like Saito gaping at the agitated man with eyes bulging in surprise.

"Ohhhh…. oh ho, that was good. Hooh! Shit, that was unexpected…" Farmer panted, letting some more chuckles out of his system before standing up. "Whooo! Goddamn, Louise, if you wanted kinky foreplay then you're asking the wrong man for that job! Sheesh!"

"U-uh-uhhh…" A flush of red crept into her face as she continued to stammer and stare at the bewildering figure dusting himself off and patting the weird looking firearm on his right hip. "Y-y-you…!"

"You know," He leaned forward to her stupefied state, "if you were taller and more endowed, then I would consider your offer with some thought. Just wear some black leather and we are good to go!"

"Y-y-y-y-y-you filthy INSECT!" Louise threw the whip away like it was a diseased coated object and went for the kick, only for the man to step aside causing her to hit nothing but air as she flips and landed on her back.

"Nah uh! Not this time, brat!" Farmer glanced at the quiet boy watching them and shook his head while gesturing at the fallen girl with his index. "You know what? Fuck it. We're going to have to start early on the talk. Don't give me that look, kid. She needs to learn some modesty if all of us are going to live together."

"But-" Saito began.

"Now!" Farmer snapped. "I'm not going to deal with this shit constantly if she's going to act like this every single-fucking-day! Shishak and Cutler can hear it later; we are starting this right NOW!"

The Japanese clammed up after letting out a puff of air and allowed the man to do his thing with a defeated wave of his hand.

"Now then," Farmer turned his attention to the boiling girl that stood with her clenched fists, "let's all take a seat and discuss things like civil beings, shall we?"


I wheeled the medical table over to act as my chair where Louise and Saito are at and sat down. The weight of my backpack did not bother me since I am used to carrying most of my gear around on long travels. Saito leaned against the wall near the queen-sized bed while the girl sat on the mattress, mustering her indecent glare as if it might make me reconsider my thoughts; fat chance that ain't happening.

"Alright, here's the thing," I started off slowly with arms crossed, "I heard from Saito that you said there's no way to take us back home, so the four of us are pretty much stuck in this world until otherwise."

"That is correct." She replied non-to-kindly. "The summoning ritual is only one way; there is no such thing as a reversal spell."

I nodded in understanding, "Okay, so that leaves us with you. By that, I mean there will have to be changes for us to get along. Unfortunately, you are not exactly quick or patient enough to understand our situation, so here is how things will go between us."

"You are my familiars and everything I say-" I cut her off before she could even finish that sentence about dominating us.

"Uh, yeah, that's the problem I want to address in this matter. The thing is we're not animals or slaves to your rules. We are people who can think for themselves and have managed to enter a situational conundrum where cooperation is a key to our survival, whether forced or agreed upon. Now, you seem like a smart person since the 'Nobles' are supposed to have the best education from my understanding, so all we're asking of you is to listen to what we have to say BEFORE opening your mouth to interrupt me." I emphasized the word, beating her to the punch again when she tried to jump in. Seriously, how is she going to learn to be nice if she keeps using the aristocrat card?

She managed another frown but fortunately kept quiet for now. I continued onward with my explanation.

"Look, just because we have the brand doesn't mean you own us. Like I said, we are not animals. You need to treat us like actual human beings, not a bunch of fucking house pets sleeping on straw beds. I could walk out that door right now without a care because I can take care of myself; the same with Cutler and Shishak since we all come from a harsh environment. The kid can choose to come with us and we'll teach him how to survive on his own. The only reason why I even bother to have this discussion with you is because Saito here wants to give you a chance." That and I was not about to leave all my shit here in untrusted hands.

"So, what I suggest is that we form a cooperative partnership to comprehend each other with no hassle." From the look on her face, she doesn't like where I am getting at, but at least we got that stubborn girl to listen just for once.

"And what is this 'partnership' you have in mind?" She asked with eyebrows furrowed.

"An exchange of deals, to be exact," I cleared my throat and began to count off our demands. "For starters, you don't tell us what to do. That means we are not responsible for your chores unless you ask us nicely, then we will decide if we want to or not. Number two is that you treat us respect, and in return we will respect you back. Number three, lastly, is trust. If we can't trust each other then things get much more soured as quickly as I can say 'Oh fuck' for all of us."

Louise wrinkled her nose at me, "Must you always use such vulgar language in all of your sentences?"

"Hey, we all have our own way of talking unless you want me to stop, which is on rule #2."

"He does have a point," Saito added, "at least you'll have your end of the bargain."

"Alright, let's wrap this up a bit." My head leaned toward her. "In exchange of our demands, we'll pretend to act as your familiar but only if you address your commands politely without acting like a total brat. We will also tell you of our world, experiences, and other stuff if you need help understanding or are curious about us; no secretive bullshit unless we don't feel comfortable sharing it. Thirdly, we will protect you at all cost unless you decide to charge into a dangerous fight like a headless chicken, then we can only protect you from yourself."

"Your proposal sounds reasonable enough for- Wait, what is 'Protecting me from myself' supposed to mean!?" She referred to the last part with an irate scowl.

"It means keeping a cool head and not putting yourself in danger on purpose for your damn pride." I pointed a finger at her. "Believe me, I've seen too many rookies talk the talk and end up dead because they got too cocky out in the field. You bluebloods are one example I've had face to face yesterday with that blond guy and his stupid rose twirling flirty antics."

"Oh, that is Guiche de Gramont 'The Bronze', and I know what you mean by his tendencies." The girl sent a deadpanned look at my direction. "He's a philandering idiot who can't keep a serious relationship. Just don't anger him and you should be good."

At least that's something both of us can agree on.

I reached over to rub the back of my neck with the right hand and gave a wry laugh, "The guy thought I was a golem with human features late at night; I'm pretty sure he certifies for it."

And man, I can't wait for him to fuck up soon…

Instead of laughing or showing any signs of amusement, only a bitter smile appeared, "He still thinks I faked the summoning, just like everyone else who looks down on me for not being able to cast magic."

"What, that explosive fireball from yesterday?" came my question. "Are you sure that doesn't count as magic? It seemed pretty magical to me when you casted it."

Her slim hands covered both of her eyes as a sign of frustration as she bowed her head to the floor in a display of shame and frustration.

"A commoner like you would not understand if I were to explain my own failures so simply." She muttered in a humiliated tone.

"Try me." I replied. "I'm very good at listening and we have some more time before everyone else wakes up, if my loudness didn't do the job first."

Louise looks up hesitantly and did not open her mouth for a while other than stare at me. Saito and I said nothing in return, acknowledging her issue to speak out as we waited for her to get comfortable. Looking at an angle, it doesn't look like she is ready to open up at this time but that'll end soon when something arises in the middle of our adventures.

Because everywhere in every world, adventure is what drives everyone to do something instead of staying in one spot for all eternity and rot for nothing.

. . .

. . .

. . .

"If you don't feel like talking about it now, then we can do it another time if you want. Also, do we have a deal?"

She nodded without a word, some of her nervous tension slowly going away, and got up from the bed to the dresser. Picking up her uniform, she turns to us and said in a low voice, "I would like some privacy, please. Wait outside for me."

That was our cue to leave now and let her change in peace while we waited in the hallway. The slightly revealing nightgown she got on made me think of what she might look like as an adult wearing it as we stood around. Kind of pervy, yes, but it's not like I'm into her at the current age she's in. The way she acted boggled my mind for some time during our talk, almost like she's 17 or somewhere near there. I don't know, maybe I'll ask her later about it.

"You know," Saito spoke with a concerning glance as he stood next to me on the opposite side, "I thought you were going to flip out and yell at her for being bossy, but you kind of surprised me when you said we should have a calm argument. Most people would've given up on her if they were in your position."

A lackadaisical wave was thrown at him while I gave a small yawn, "Ehh, it comes with the job. Getting too mad at small matters doesn't let you focus properly on scavenging. Such is life in the Zone."

He shook his head at me with an amused smile, "Again, you mention about this 'Zone' that I do not know of. What is the Zone, anyway?"

"Oh, it's a place where science happened, a large portion of the land got changed for better or worse, and people like us break through the border to get filthy rich; think of it as a hazardous occupation for the greedy or desperate."

"What's it like to be over there?" He asked.

"Harsh, dirty, stressful, and freaky as shit." The list of all the things I've faced came to mind. "The ecosystem there is dangerous, all the mutants are fugly, people are dicks, and having a gun doesn't even come close to being safe."

"That bad, I guess?"

"Oh, and I hardly see any chicks over there." I pointed out. "Which is both good and bad, I suppose."

"Why is that?" Saito wondered.

"Good that they're smart enough to stay away, bad if they get killed or worse. You would know what I mean by that last part." A small shiver ran down my spine.

. . .

"Oh…"

"Yes, oh. As in 'Oh shit, sex-depraved men' oh! You follow me?"

"Yes." The blush on his face shows his understanding.

"Good; seeing that we're in a medieval fantasy land, that type of low is probably common in the cities or around elsewhere as well." I cracked my knuckles a bit and noticed a certain redhead with her blouse slightly unbuttoned to allow a pair of partially exposed package to show stepping out of her room with that sexy stroll. Her pet overgrown lizard followed suit from behind and whipped its tail around to close the door.

Hm, yeah, I remember her, that bronze-skinned girl who took part in the summoning ritual and was also mocking pinky alongside everyone else. I'm guessing the way she's showing her hooters is for attention-seeking; definitely attention-seeking, mhm. No shame in her personality.

And she happens to be coming this way, no doubt to check us out. That seductive stare she's putting on says it all. Too bad for her, I'm not desperate for a bang.

"Heads up, Saito," I leaned over to the side and whispered to him, "trouble's coming our way."

"Huh?" He took one good look at the young beauty and his entire face soon went red for a very good reason. "O-o-oh…"

The tall redhead stopped in front of us and flaunted her well-endowed chest when she brushed over her bangs back with flair.

"So, Louise's familiars are on guard duty," She did a quick look over before continuing in that light husky tone that would make any lusty man go full retard, "but where's the rest of you? I wanted to see the handsome blond man that outdid The Bronze by his charming looks."

Oh shit, did she just say Shishak is prettier than that Guiche boy? Damn, I was right!

"He's not here." I told her in a bored, matter-of-fact voice, ignoring her pout. "The merc and him went out before us so I can't tell you where he's at. Is there something you want?"

"Straight to the point, I see." The redhead gave a sly smile masked by false shyness and walked closer to me. "Tell me, what is a man of your exotic class doing with a talentless girl like her?"

My head cocked a little at her comment, "Talentless? She seems to be doing a knack of a job keeping us in line."

That was partly a lie, of course. I just said that in order to get her thinking differently.

"Oh, is that so?" She then eyed the boy next to me, who nearly jumped when she got too close to him. "And what do you think of your master, boy?"

"I-I-I think she's doing a great job, like he said!" Saito stammered nervously, having to see a full view of her breasts. "D-don't you think so, Farmer?"

"Mhm." I gave my neck a slight crack. "Doing a good job at it, Saito."

That unconvinced look on her face said otherwise, "Really? Because I heard some yelling from her room along with your mocking laughter when I woke up from it and saw that it was barely morning. It didn't seem like you were getting along with her at all."

"Oh, you heard that?" I asked. "Well, uhh…" Shit, I can't think of anything else to say. "…you got me there."

"Hohohoho~! I knew it." Her boisterous laugh kind of reminded me of the bandits I tend to run into. "So tell me again, why are you allowing yourselves to be commanded under such a pitiful master when you could be serving me instead?"

"Because a Germanian barbarian like you would just use them for your own pleasure." Out comes a steaming Louise glaring daggers at the busty redhead. "What do you want, Kirche?"

That's her name, huh? Guess I don't need to ask then. Also, isn't that a German word for something?

"Ah, Louise the Zero, we meet again." Kirche greeted off-handedly. "I just wanted to see your familiars, but the other two are missing."

Louise shook her head once with a light frown, "They went off to explore."

Damn it, Louise. Why can't you lie like me? And what's with the title 'Zero' anyway?

"Ha! Leave it to the Zero for not keeping her familiars under reigned!" Kirche toss her head back for another short fanciful guffaw then bent down on her knee to rub the lizard's scaly head. "Isn't that right, Flame?"

I assume the walking fire hazard next to her is called 'Flame', since he's been staring at me funny for the past few minutes. Also, what kind of name is Flame? That sounds too original. Why not use badass names like 'Hotshot' or 'Blaze'? Or Dante? Wait, maybe she doesn't know that one.

"Grah!" The fire lizard growled out in response, its eyes still glued on to me as it trotted slowly forward.

What? Is there something on my face, you giant contradiction for a reptile?

I took a step back from it, but the thing still kept going toward my direction like I'm some interesting object or a tasty snack.

Damn it, why is it getting closer to me!?

. . .

Why is it rubbing its head against my leg!?

"Oh?" She took of the notice of the scene I was getting in and made a teasing smirk. "It seems my Flame has taken a liking for you. What is your name again that Louise mentioned? Farmer, is it?"

"Yes, you heard right." I stated, wary of catching on fire from her pet. "Everyone in my town calls me that."

Now it was Kirche's turn to cock her head at me, "What an odd name. What is the name of your town?"

Shit, I gotta think something quick.

"Kiev," I proclaimed, "largest town far from the kingdoms here; really far away and in the middle of a civil war." Which is technically true even though Kiev is a capital city and I happened to live in a cheap apartment there, much to my displeasure; I was lucky enough to jet out of there before shit got real with the civil war and all that. To be honest, I rather have an independent Ukraine than a Russian-controlled puppet government despite how corrupt our current one is. Better to deal with our own countrymen than the fucking russkies trying to take us over with their lies.

"Never heard of it," You probably shouldn't. It's bad enough as it is right now, "is it somewhere in the Sahara?"

"Yes!" Louise piped up with an impatient leer. "The town is right next to Rub Al Khali. Enough with your questions at my familiars already! I'm hungry as it is."

"Very well then, go take care of your needs even if you can't grow breasts like mine with all the food you stuff yourself." Kirche cooed with the briefest satisfaction before Louise yelled more hateful things at her in response. The result was pretty obvious.

The tall redhead gave us a wink and turned to the stairs with her blue-haired friend patiently waiting for the conversation to end; the lizard followed from behind after giving me another disturbing stare.

"Oh, and try not to make too much racket the next time you decide to go off your medicine, Sir Farmer." She called over her shoulder with much amusement.

What the hell does she mean by that? I wasn't on anything, from what I can remember.

There was a different book in the short girl's hand this time while she walked side-by-side with Kirche and a long wooden staff with a curled top in the other. If this doesn't give you that anime RPG feel, then I don't know what will.

Everything about this place feels wrong and I'm not talking about 13 year olds being married off to greasy fat guys in crowns kind of thing (wouldn't surprise me if they do it like their non-fantastical counterpart). No, the feeling I'm getting is that everything around me is too goddamn peaceful. I understand that we're in a private magical school where shit just pops out of nowhere with no logical explanation, however it is interpreted, but even with little miss pinkie's explosive personality (no pun intended) the atmosphere of easy luxury and bliss just gives me that uncomfortable itch like I want something big to happen; something worth of a challenge that the Zone gives us most of everyday just to get by and earn hard to get loot.

. . .

I want to go back to the Zone. I miss hearing the gunshots, the mutant growls, the background voices whispering…

…it's just not the same here.

Saito nudged my arm with that look of concern in his eyes again and gestured toward Louise strutting toward the same stairs.

"You're doing it again." He said to me. "Come on, Louise wants us to follow her."

"She always wants us to follow her," I casted an empty glance at the girl's back, "even if we're in agreement, bluebloods will be bluebloods."

"Are you sure you're alright?" The slightly worriment in his tone was comforting, but it did not ease my wariness. "You always get quiet most of the time and then act cryptic when you're awake."

My head shook at him as I gave him a small pat on the shoulder, "Just thinking about home, kid. Let's get going. We might meet Shishak and Cutler on the way if we're lucky."

I patted my Compact just to be sure one more time and then we went after the pinkette to whatever place she wanted us to go. I sure as hell don't feel like thinking about it for the time being.

On our way we found the green eyed blond without his usual ski mask on and his hood down, playing with his PDA while leaning against a white marble pillar. Need I remind myself that with all the infatuated looks coming from the passing female students along with A LOT of dirty glares thrown at him from the boys, it did seem like the pretty bandit trumped the two-timing Guiche in looks and unintentional roguish charms. Too bad nobody knows he'll probably steal their purses than their heart. Fucking bandits, I tell you.

As for Cutler, he was still nowhere to be seen. Maybe wandering around the perimeter still to find the best hiding location like any other sensible stalker would do. Speaking of hiding places, I still need to find one in order to stash my valuable loot. Somewhere that no one will bother to look for. An abandoned building or remote forest with a camouflage foxhole might do the job.

Looks like the bastard is too focused with his thing, might as well call him out to get his attention.

"There you are!" Or maybe not. "I was wondering where you have been!"

The shout directed at Shishak from Louise got him to snap his head at our direction. He stuffed the PDA into his coat pocket and waited for us to draw near before he joins in our group of three by walking with me and Saito.

"What did I miss?" He asked us, oblivious to the giggles of schoolgirls directed at him.

Saito noted the increasing popularity and gave a smile, "Farmer made a deal with Louise, so you will have to hear him out."

The bandit turned to me with a look of question, "What is this deal he is talking about?"

"It's a long story," I said, "but you and Cutler will like it; probably."

"Enlighten me, then." He replied and I nodded.

So, I explained to him about our current situation and how Louise is acting like a total brat and all, which he somewhat agreed, if not a bit hesitantly, which followed to my ultimatu- I mean, 'agreement' with her that we'll follow our part of the bargain if she goes along with what we want. And by 'we', I mean by what I want, which is still a 'we' since I added all of us. After I finished, he gave it some thought and finally nodded in understanding of my actions.

"That is good to hear, Small Farmer; very good to hear." Shishak allowed a devious smile to form on his face. "That gives me more freedom to steal those artifacts from you!"

"Yeah, sure, over my dead body, bastard!" I huffed back.

"Mwahahahahahaha!"

The kid raised a brow at the now cackling blond man as they reached a pair of giant doors where the noise of platter and boasting can be heard from, "Stealing his artifacts? Is this a joke you are making, Shishak-san?"

Louise rolled her eyes at the small bantering behind her as Shishak stopped his evil laugh and grinned at the boy next to me, "Ah, so you do not know of my profession, boy. I should let you know that I am a b-"

"Bartender." I blurted out, managing to cut him off before he could say 'bandit'. "He's a bartender who heard too many jokes from his customers and likes to pretend he's a thief. Of course he is pulling your leg!"

Shishak blinked at me in confusion, much like Saito's reaction, while I gave a quick shake of my head and flick it to a group of students exiting out of the grand entrance. Some of them gave us weird looks before making their way to whatever destination they have in mind. As we entered through the doorway, I quickly slapped the idiot's arm and leaned closer to him.

"Dumbass!" I harshly whispered. "Do you know what they do to those types of people here?! I thought you're supposed to be smarter than that!"

"I thought it was a job-"

"-That nobody fucking likes when they're about to be hanged for it!" I glanced around to see if anyone was paying attention to us before getting back to him. "This isn't the Zone, Shishak! Think carefully before you open your mouth! These people may be morons with magic, but they are not complete retards to know what a criminal is!"

That instantly made him shut up as we made our way to a long table where Louise waited beside a wooden chair. Following on cue, I pulled it for her then pushed it back in slightly after she sat down.

"Thank you, familiar." She replied gratefully, if not absent minded.

"It's Farmer, but close enough." I glance around for any signs of the dark-cladded mercenary, but still couldn't find him in here. Just where the hell is he?

Another good question is where the hell am I at this point?

Saving Shishak's hide left a bad taste in my mouth, but I'm not one to squander a good favor from a bandit leader by letting the law do its job by persecuting him. He could be useful in the future and he did say he always keep his words. I'll believe him when I see his actions in person.

And why did I call these people morons? Sure, they're not advance like us but it's not like they live in the dung ages. Maybe some part of Louise rubbed off on me or I've been spending time in the Zone under constant threat that I feel the need to justify it out of paranoia.

Or maybe I'm just an asshole depending on the current environment I'm in. A reactive jerk, that'll work.

. . .

GodIwanttogobacktotheZonesobadly.

"So," I started off, giving a low hum at the decorative interior surrounding us while we stood near the girl, "this is the dining hall, huh? It looks very nice from this angle we're at. The floors are glistening and the design just screams 'fabulous' here." Personally, it seems too nice for me to look at. Just being in here with a bunch of egotistical young teens makes me want to shoot up the place. A little explosion here, some bullets there; a badass makeover to fit the feel of a modern day Zone just waiting to be filled with stalkers.

I could tell pinky was beaming at my shot-over-the-head sarcasm as she spoke proudly, "The Alviss dining hall is certainly the grand jewel of our nobility. Consider yourself lucky that few, beside the serving staff, can even step foot upon this luxurious floor."

"I'll consider myself lucky when I get a kick-ass gun and a score of artifacts." I quipped and was about to pull an empty chair of my own until the pinkette stopped me in my track. "Now what?"

"Commoners aren't allowed to sit at the tables or take food reserved only for nobles." she explained. "You will have to find your own."

"Wow, really?" I took notice of most of the students around us casting contemptuous glares at us three like we didn't belong here. Some were nervous glances because of my mask while the rest didn't pay any sort of attention or just ignored us all the same.

Yeah, that's right, fear me! FEAR ME!

I gave an exasperated sigh and opted for the floor instead while setting the backpack by my side. Unzipping it, I took out two cans of Tourist Breakfast, three loaves of bread in a bag, two bottled water and a tall can of STALKER energy drink for me before passing out the loaves and water bottles to Saito and Shishak as they sat down with me in a small circle. I took out my trusty Swiss army knife that I had cleaned from yesterday night after stumbling upon that cute maid, finding a water source to clean the blade, and cut a slit on the side of the small bread then gave the knife to the kid as he followed my example. The knife was then passed to the bandit, who did the same, before picking up one of the Tourist Delights and jamming the blade down to open it.

"That thing has a can opener, you know." I informed him right when he was done opening the first can.

"Oh." Shishak placed the tin container down and fiddled with the Swiss army knife until he found it. "Too late now, let us stick with one thing and enjoy this breakfast."

"Let's." I said in mild agreement. "It's not fine cuisine but it will have to do."

Saito peered at the contents and saw one can filled with a paste like beef of sorts while the other that Shishak just opened held white meat that was either chicken or fish.

"What is this stuff?" He asked, watching the skinny blond scooping his fill in.

Overhearing the conversation behind her, Louise turned around for a second to see what they were doing and saw an odd feast to behold.

"Mystery Meat and Tuna Salad, take your pick." My hand reached around the back of my head to unfasten the gas mask and then clipped it to my belt, showing only my mouth again. "Don't worry, they're not expired yet. I think…"

Saito looked skeptical at the canned goods for a brief moment, but shrugged at the potentially harmful morsel when his stomach growled in protest and took the knife from Shishak with a quiet "thanks". He scooped what appears to be tuna to him, spreading the contents in a tight pattern then gave back the Swiss army knife to me and took a bite from his sandwich.

"Hmm! Not bad at all."

"Delicious." The bandit added after scarfing down a large bitten chunk.

"Tell me about it," I emptied out the leftovers and shoveled them into my bread, wiping the blade clean with my tongue, and dug in like a starving animal. In the background, I heard a few disgusted murmurs of "filthy savage" and "rude commoner" nearby, but I could care less about their opinion. Besides, I'm bored and making fun of pinky gets old pretty quickly. Pissing off the people here would satisfy me, if I don't get fireball'd or turned into a newt in the next few seconds by an overzealous mage.

Crumbs were littered all over the clean floors as I took another huge bite out of my simple-combo meal that brought an interesting mixed taste to my buds. The two in front of me made sure not to make a huge mess, with Saito frowning slightly at mine.

"The maids will have to clean that up soon, so wouldn't it be more polite to create less hassle for them?"

"I don't carry plates with me, but I see what you mean." In a small form of realization, my free hand gathered the bits of bread to form it into a small pile and transferred many pinches of them to my front pocket on the tactical vest.

"I like to feed the birds." came my quick interjection between bites, quieting their obvious question at my strange behavior. Half of it was true; the other half was catching my own mutant raven back in the Zone as a pet. Nothing like Noah's four legged terror, fortunately.

Shishak finished his meal and uncapped the water bottle to take a short gulp while the kid took a couple sips from his to make swallowing easier because of how doughy the bread was. I open my canned drink and chug down the flavor of cherry induced caffeine into my system before letting a satisfied gasp of energy. Good stuff, I tell you, but make me crash like shit if I don't take it easy.

"You know," I pointed at the empty spot that formed the middle, "all we need now is a campfire and everything will be just like home. Only thing missing are the mutants and music."

I still have the harmonica on me, but I'd rather practice using it when I have the spare time.

Speaking of which, when does that girl's class start anyway? I want to explore this place if familiars aren't allowed in classrooms.

Finishing my rather tasty meal, I turn my head around to see Louise and the rest of students getting up from their seats just in time for me to know that it was probably close to their next course of schedule right now.

"Come along, familiars," Louise still used that commanding tone from last time as she walks toward the exit, "it is time for us to leave. Follow your master, please." The last word sounded a bit forced, but it was an improvement that left me with a good feeling showing my talk with her was catching on.

"Gotcha." I cleaned up the mess by taking out a paper bag from the pack and collected the emptied food cans and lids in them. I figured saving the metals for something like an improvised container would do me some good if I ever needed to store small stuff; have to clean them out first, though.

Shishak got up, along with Saito, with half-emptied bottles in their hand and followed her wordlessly while I grabbed my bag and trailed behind with the rest of students making their leave.

I wonder what sort of class we might be heading into for today.


The double door entrance to the headmaster's office suddenly burst open, revealing a frantic Colbert clinging onto a musty book in one hand as he was about to spread his new founded discovery to the person in charge of the academy.

"Excuse me, Old Osmond! I require your-" The balding professor stopped in mid-sentence when he saw the most out-of-place scene that left him nearly speechless.

"Ahh-ah… erm…"

In front of him, lies the crumpled headmaster having a face-first meeting with the floor while his secretary is seen pressing her foot against one of Osmond's hips. Standing there on the side watching was one of the student's familiars that he recognized immediately right after he barged inside the room with his news in mind.

"Is this a bad time…?" Colbert felt a drop of sweat sliding down his cheekbone at the bizarre sight as he pointed to the door. "…I can always come back after-"

"No, not at all!" The woman with the vibrant green hair and narrow spectacles exclaimed in a cheerful manner, stepping off the wizened sage. "Old Osmond said his hips were starting to hurt, so he asked me to give him a massage! Managing his health is also part of my job, you know."

A small cough that almost sounded satirical was heard from the other man standing at attention. Colbert could not help but noticed that it held a strict military formality in his stance while the person-of-interest kept his steel gaze on them, taking care to glance around the room once in a while.

"Err… I see…" Came his flustered reply, turning his eyes away from the motionless familiar. "Well, I guess that make sense."

"Of course it does!" The headmaster jumped back to his feet while the secretary returned to her post, showing no signs of early pain as he walked to his desk and sat in the comfy chair before signaling him to speak. "Now, what is it?"

"Oh, yes, right. I might have found something that would greatly interest you." Professor Colbert laid the opened tome on the desk and flipped through the pages until he stopped at a specific spot that he wanted him to see. "Right here, where the drawing is shown on this section."

Old Osmond picked up the small book and gave a brief look over while raising a bushy brow at the content before setting it down, "Hmmmm… This is the Familiars of the Founder Brimir, is it not? I see you're still nosing around old literatures like these."

"Err… That and you should see this." The professor handed him a few sheets of notes that held some legible scribbling along with finely detailed sketches of each left hand showing the same symbols on the book.

"These runes are unfamiliar to me," The headmaster said, doing a double-take by comparing each hand drawn portraits on the note with the one on the book, "unless…"

"…They are the exact runes that have appeared just recently after the summoning rite was complete." Colbert muttered musingly.

This made Old Osmond pause for a few seconds as he casted a glance at the evidence lying on the desk, before sharply veering his eyes to the busy secretary organizing the paperwork.

"I'm sorry, Miss. Longueville, but could you excuse us for a moment while we have a moment of privacy with Mr… uhhh…?"

"It's Colbert!" He deadpanned.

"Right, Mr. Colbert."

The secretary known by her called name gave a short nod and got up to leave the room, but not before shifting her eyes to catch a quick glimpse at the strange familiar then left through the door.

"That goes for you, as well, Sir…"

"Cutler will do just fine." The quiet man followed the secretary out the same way and closed the door behind him.

"What a very strange fellow he is…" The headmaster strokes his beard mystically after he was sure there were no unwanted ears in the room. Colbert casted a Tranquility spell to make sure their conversation was muted before turning to the old man. "…almost reminds me of someone. Hmph, it's probably nothing. So, what can you tell me about these runes, Colbert?"

Outside the office, Miss. Longueville stood close to the entrance trying to listen on any details that may have slipped, but sighed in defeat when she realized a spell of Tranquility had been casted to keep anyone from eavesdropping.

She could cast a small counteractive to bypass it, but that would expose her intentions in front of the oddly dressed soldier, if that is his profession, waiting on the opposite side of the wall with hands behind his back.

This man, Cutler, seems to hold a form of discipline judging from the way he kept staring at the empty spot next to her. He wore a tight fitting hood that looks to be wrapped around from the head to the neck, leaving only his stoic face to show. She could not help but notice how rigid his expression was, taking care not to show any signs that he was being watched by her.

Despite how attractive he looked from his face only, there is something about this person that kept the secretary from fully looking at him. The coldness he gave off sent a subtle chill running down Longueville's spine, as if he was studying her in return and is contemplating something she would not want to know. It didn't help her nerves much when she saw how tense Cutler's body is, as if he was ready for action at any time.

As if he was ready to kill.

This man… she could not tell exactly, but there is something clearly off about him that made her want to get as far away from him as possible if something were to happen.

The woman could only hope she was faster than him before he could reach her.


"…And, of course, it has to involve magic in the curriculum." Farmer stated the obvious to no one but himself, earning the man a few odd stares from where he was seated at. "Gee, I wonder what we'll be learning today."

A faint irritated groan escaped from an equally irritated Louise seated right next to him, with Saito on her left and Shishak idling at the back of the large room after some of the students complained about the burnt smell from his clothes. Being himself, his attention toward the insults was less important than staring quietly at his PDA.

"I think having him sit next to you was a bad idea in the first place." Saito remarked with a witty smirk.

"That is to remedy your perverted behavior from his disgusting joke when I caught you peeking up skirts like a dog!" She bit back with much needed steel. "Now be silent, class is about to start."

Before the stalker could add in his comment by stating how it was her fault for starting it, a short middle aged woman with brown hair in a stereotypical black and purple magician robe outfit, completed with a pointed hat, strode into the auditorium from another door near the platform to address her presence in front of the students.

"Good morning, students. I am Professor Chevreuse, recently acquainted in the Tristain Academy of Magic, and today we shall learn about the five aspects of the elements." The teacher announced in a portly manner, catching their full attention to her.

"Hoo-ray." The stalker muttered, earning him a quick "Shush" from the nearly crossed pinkette.

Saito could only shake his head at the act of immaturity his adult friend was displaying. This ought to be good.

During this time the professor explained the concept of the elemental magic, going over each of them with great lengths, especially addressing the importance of the earth elements and how it was used as a main building block of what their large society is today.

At some point, it was interesting to listen as she went on about the use of each element and their functions, but it soon became very dull to hear in a short time, not barring the mentioning of the lost element known as 'Void'.

Saito felt like he could not get anything important out of this class to the moment where he was about to fall asleep, seeing that Farmer wasn't faring any better due to the fact that he was staring off dumbly at an empty space with a slacked jaw hanging out.

One wonders what he was thinking of this class besides resisting the urge to loudly point out how boring it was for him to stay here and do nothing instead of doing his own thing.

I wish had my laptop with me right now, Saito thought pleasantly, it would've helped me pass the time without guessing it. Too bad it's still broken even if I managed to bring it with me to this strange new world.

It wasn't until then, that things got a little more interesting for both of them when Professor Chevreuse laid out a row of three white rocks on the wooden desk and begin her demonstration on something called 'Transmutation'.

"Now, pay very close attention to what I am about to do." She gently raised her wand in the air over them. "Please observe closely, for I will cast a transmutation spell on this rock on this desk!"

A small chant later, the three rocks were soon bathed in a short glow of white light before changing into a different texture of a glistening color that resembled soft metal. Some of the students went off in hushed voices at the spectacular sight while Farmer perked up from his seat, staring intensely at the transformed rocks. Behind the rest of them, even Shishak took his eyes off the small screen to see what was going on and gaped in stupor at what he just saw.

"Amazing!"

"Fascinating!"

"Holy shit, is that…?"

"Is… is that real gold!?" Kirche exclaimed in an excited tone a couple desks above Farmer.

Almost everyone was ecstatic at the sight of precious metal before Chevreuse finally calmed them down by pointing out that, "It's actually brass, which is an alloy of iron and zinc."

Immediately, the tall redhead sat down with disappointment all over her face while the rest went quiet and continued to listen to the given lecture.

Saito took a small glance at the light blue/white-cladded stalker and noticed that he was still paying close attention at the finished demonstration with a serious frown on the lower half of his face. Not an hour ago, the man made it clear in his posture that staying in this class was a complete waste of time until he saw the transmutation in progress. Now his body was upright and rigid as if this long lesson mattered to him to begin with.

The way he sat there sharply made the boy think that he was on to something, adding a resource to a plan unknown to Saito. It looked like he saw something that none of them thought about and was going to take full advantage of it in the near future, but what is he actually thinking about that made him so tense?

"Enjoying the show?" Louise quipped dryly. "First you don't want to be here, and now you're awfully interested in a simple transmutation spell."

A small wave was sent her way, "Shush, I'm learning right now."

Normally, this brash disrespect would've greatly upset a noble like her, but what surprised Saito was that she took in stride and sent a narrowed glance at the unknown stalker before switching her attention to the lecture. For a loud aristocrat of a cute girl, she sure is getting used to his weird antics, if not slowly.

"So, found anything good yet, Farmer?" He asked.

All he received was a unison "Shh!" for his troubles.

"Now, I would like someone else to demonstrate the spell for us." Professor Chevreuse panned around the audience and called out a name, "Miss Valliere? Please cease small talks with your interesting familiars and transmute this rock I have in front of me."

This managed to rile up all of the students into sheer panic the moment they heard those words were directed at the pinkette as she got up and went to the short podium. Some ducked under the desks while others tried to get as far away from her by joining Shishak, even if the smell was intolerable. The blue haired mage with the book walked out of the room without a word and some followed her example to wait out what ever unforeseen consequences that Saito and the two stalkers had no idea what was coming.

"Oh Brimir, not again!"

"Please don't make her do it!" Someone cried out.

"Uh-hum…" Farmer took a brief look around the room and noted the apprehensive expressions lingering on their faces. "Hmmmm…. Yeah, I don't know what the hell is going on. Can someone fill me in on the current situation here?"

"Beside the fact that you should be hiding somewhere safe right now?" Kirche stated flatly underneath her table. "See for yourself."

"Duly noted." He obliged without any argument and got under the wooden cover. "Kid, I suggest you do the same like everyone else if things are getting serious."

Saito took a quick look at the diligent, if not slightly miffed, Louise and the confused professor before making his decision to follow along with the advice given to him.

Back on the stage, Louise held her wand out in a ready position and started to recite the spell in a different set of words that made no sense. She then waves the magical instrument over the large ball of rock, finishing the chant by announcing the word "Earth!" in a dramatic fashion that cause it to glow the same pure white from the last show. It held on for a couple seconds before releasing an absurd amount of energy from within into a high external force that left the entire room in a mess of flipped down furniture and black soot.

In short, a bigger explosion.


"So…. You make things explode." The last bit of soot was finally cleaned off my armor, again.

It was the middle of lunchtime after the abrupt end of class when our 'master' caused an explosion that almost rivaled the pressure of a C4 in a contained room, leaving us to toil for a couple hours of putting back flipped desks and scrubbing the floors. Earlier, when the stout version of McGonagall woke up from her mild (?) concussive unconsciousness, she made Louise stay back to clean up the mess while the rest of the students went to eat.

This led to Louise unconsciously ordering US to clean up her mess to begin with. Naturally, I got pissed at her for forgetting our deal when the professor left out of earshot range and clearly reminded her that it is our choice to decide whether or not we will oblige. Not wanting to miss her luncheon, she asked us in the most respecting tone to assist her in tidying the room up. After much teasing from me, all of us agreed and quickly went to work as I have other plans to use my free time.

"I don't want to talk about it!" Pinky quickly snapped at me in an attempt to oust any questions that I wanted to ask. But, being me, it did not deter my curiosity to prod further. "Now let me eat my lunch in peace!"

"C'mon," I tried again, "what's your secret? I want to blow shit up with my mind too."

"There is no secret!" She seethed, turning around with a nasty glare.

I was not convinced by her angry outburst one bit. It's likely that she is hiding something from us and isn't too keen on sharing it because of reasons varying from embarrassment to unintentional exposure of her badass powers that might be.

"Please?" I begged in the most obnoxious tone I could muster. "Pretty please?"

"NO." Bah. You always have to suck the fun out of everything, girly.

Both of my hands were thrown up in the air out of minor frustration, "Oh, fine. You win this time, but mark my words! I WILL learn your psychic powers sooner or later."

Louise managed an annoyed shake from her head and went back to eating, "Whatever that is. It's not what you think I have."

What the hell is that supposed to mean? All I want is some brainpower to even the playing field with those fucking Burers and Controllers. Meh, screw it. If she doesn't want to teach me the ways of explosions, then I'll just have to find another method to get it.

Now, how do I make grenades?

Having to be bored as usual from the lack of excitement around me, I got up to do some wandering around while leaving behind the bandit and the boy to their own device. Well, just the bandit since Saito wanted to tag along for the same reason. I didn't want to stick around in this stainless mess hall made for the rich kids. All they do is talk and gossip about glorified bravados and how they planned to be successful in the future by owning countless businesses to rake in the profits.

Sounds extremely boring, if you asked me about my opinion; these kids have no hard work and imagination in their background. Sure, they'll get what they want but it will just be them sucking money from mommy and daddy's large bank account if that's their plan for success. And worse of all, they won't even have to lift a finger since magic is their equivalent of the easy button. In my days inside the Zone I have to loot, deal, and somewhat unintentionally kill the right people for an artifact or a shiny hardware to get by.

I won't even spare my pity to any of them if they squander it all at a later time. If they fail, then they can either pick themselves up or expect jack shit from their clique. Nobody here, much like where I come from, would help someone in need out of selfless kindness. Society only cares for the resources they bring, not the value of individually they hold. No matter how famous they are or the status they hold, reality will always get them.

And that's coming from a man who lives a shitty life in a shitty apartment. That will change soon enough once I save up a motherlode of artifacts and live a life the way I want to it to be. But first, I have to figure out how to make my living here and find a way off this alternate rock.

Right in front of our sights the perky black-haired, blue eyed maid that strangely shares a similar skin tone like Saito from yesterday was busily catering to the snob-nosed aristobrats with her humble front as she went by the rows of tables to deliver their food.

Man, I should be saving my supplies and eat their fancy stuff here but the whole commoner restriction bullshit is really wearing me down. Compared to the amount of food those mage's familiar get, I'm starting to wonder if the non-magic people ever get a decent scrap to sustain themselves at all.

Now, what is that girl's name again?

Salsa? Sally? Sopa?

Urgh, I can never get those Spanish names right!

Saito called out and sent a wave at the cute servant girl, this time, punching my arm lightly to make sure I was awake to greet her properly when we stopped a few feet away, "Hey Siesta, long time no see! It's good to see you again!"

Oh, so that's her name.

"Hello Siesta." I waved as well, albeit awkwardly. "Glad to see another friendly face around here once in a while."

"Oh, you remember my name?" Uh, duh, yes… well, the boy remembers it. "A-ah, yes, it is good to see the both of you, too!" She then waves back to us after placing the last dish on the table.

We met up closer and away from the busy crowds to chat more of our day and such, with Saito bringing up about yesterday when we first met her.

"I would like to thank you again for helping us with the laundry from last night, Siesta." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and I saw the faint signs of red slowly forming again. "I didn't have a clue on where to begin, honestly."

"O-o-oh, it's alright. I'm glad to help out, Saito." Siesta managed a meek answer.

I'm guessing she's not used to having complete strangers complimenting her. Seeing that kind of thing before in the Zone, it was not surprising or hard to know if I was talking to a woman stalker in disguise. Of course, some of the stalkers I have met in the past were actually men with few feminine traits, thus mistaking them for chicks.

Then again, I've always thought Shishak was someone with ratty features, not a girly face that could get the most attention from any passing female within his boundary. I guess life can surprise you on some days.

I gave the maid a short nod of gratitude, despite knowing how to wash clothes in the first place, but nonetheless nodded anyway. "Yes, your assistance was deeply appreciated. I, too, had some trouble with the way of the clothes washing." Okay, that sounded too stiff and unrealistic for a white lie; I might as well ask her to teach me Kung Fu lessons while we're at it.

Luckily for me, she didn't catch on and gave a slight head tilt at my weird answer, "Forgive my impertinence, but are you feeling well, Sir Farmer? You seem to be a bit… off."

Believe me, young lady; 'off' wouldn't come close to being the correct word that I have in mind if you knew where I was at before arriving here. Along with that, I wish you stop calling me 'sir' every time; I feel old whenever she address me with it.

"Yeah," the boy joined in, "you were acting all weird after we met her, and that's excluding the times you did them on purpose."

"What are you talking about?" I prompted.

"You know… like when you took a white sheet off the clothesline and pretended to be a ghost while complaining about not throwing things with your mind?"

I shook at my head, "I don't remember doing that."

"Or when you thought someone was watching us and you kept muttering about 'Bloodsuckers everywhere'?" Siesta added.

"Nope."

"Or when we got outside to the courtyard and you started screaming at the top of your lungs about praising 'the Zone' among other things?" Saito almost made a cheeky face, but restrained himself from letting a snicker out at my cluelessness.

. . .

. . .

"Are you sure I did all of that yesterday?" I frowned lightly.

"Yes!" They said in unison.

Huh…

I don't exactly recall doing any of those from last night. I wasn't drinking anything or got high from weed.

So, what did I do anyway?


What actually happened prior to last night…

"COME ON!" The partially deranged stalker shouted hoarsely on his knees and raised both of his arms to the air. "COME ON! WHERE THE FUCK ARE THE EMISSIONS?! WHY IS EVERYTHING SO GODDAMN QUIET HERE!?"

"U—uhhh, you're making too much noise, Sir Farmer!" The young maid tried to calm him down in a hush, frantic tone without much success. "Please, refrain yourself or you will wake everyone up!"

Farmer paid no mind to her warning and continued to shout at the empty sky, oblivious to the other noise of complaints coming out of the dormitory towers around him.

"I JUST WANT SOMETHING TO TRY AND KILL ME! PLEASE! JUST THIS ONCE!"

"If he doesn't keep it quiet, someone will definitely come out to kill us." Saito muttered, attempting to snap his delusional friend from his stupor. "Farmer, dude, you're not making any sense! Just calm down and we'll try to help you the best we can."

He heard the man sniff loudly and saw his shoulders slumped as Farmer look down in hopelessness, "It's just not the same here!"

"What is not the same here?" Siesta asked him in a comforting voice.

"This," his right arm swept at the area in front of him, "is nothing like the Zone. How am I going to get artifacts without the anomalies!? Why is it so peaceful here?!" Farmer broke down into heavy sobs from the lack action. "W-w-w-w-wh-h-here are t-the assholes shooting at me!?"

The boy gave a large sigh and shook his head in pity, "I guess he really misses his home."

"Are there more people like him?" The maid asked. "I've never seen treasure hunters dressed in weird armor much like his."

"It's a very long story." he pinched between the chambers of his nose. "Even I don't know a lot about him or the other two that came along. He's not really open about the topic of his life."

"I see…" she mused, ignoring the constant sobbing in the background. "…where he come from must be very important to him."

Saito gave a brief shrug, "No doubt about it. He did mention that his town depended on technology. Other than that, all I know is that he doesn't like magic and titles don't mean anything to him."

"Is that so?" Siesta pondered. "The head chef would most likely get along with Sir Farmer with their similar dislikes for mages."

A long agonizing moan erupted from the half-crazed man before ending it with an outburst of, "PRAISE THE ZONE!"

Both of them backed away slowly from him as he gasped for air, continuing his mad rant about artifacts and a bucket of fried drumsticks, not wanting to risk themselves out of growing fear if he decided to go violent at any time.

"What is this 'Zone' he keeps mentioning about?" The trembling maid whispered closely to Saito.

He shook his head once more and sighed heavily, "I have no clue. You might have to ask those other people that came with him. Asking him is probably… bad for your health."

"CHEEKI BREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" Farmer howled at the twin moons and then fell flatly to the ground seconds later, snoring away in blissful loudness for anyone nearby to hear.

. . .

"Zzzzz… Zzzzz... Hrrrk! Zzzzz…."

"We should get him out of here before someone decides to investigate."

She nodded to the young man, "I couldn't agree more."


Currently…

"Are you sure you haven't been going through my stash, kid?" I inspected his eyes for the usual signs of throbbing veins from a short distance, but saw nothing out of the usual. "Because the stuff I usually smoke is frickin' potent and I haven't had a blunt from yesterday."

Saito solemnly shook his head with an annoyed look, "I was with you and Siesta the whole time. Plus, I would never do drugs, ever."

"Alright, I'm just making sure." I gave him a small pat on the shoulder in reassurance. "You're a smart boy, so I know you wouldn't do anything like that."

"Coming from a pothead, I'm not deeply surprised." He smirked.

Oh snap, son!

"Wow, really; that kind of burn coming from you, huh?" I retorted in false grimace.

He nodded with the same smugness plastered all over his face, "Yes, really."

Fine, two can play at this game.

"You know, I didn't think you were into maid outfits." My right hand rubbed the back of my head while keeping a cool tone. "Until I saw that redness in your face."

Judging from that sudden look of agitation on him, he knew where I was heading to.

"I-I don't know what you mean by that." He tried to keep his innocent façade from breaking down, with Siesta standing by confused. "You must be seeing things right before that incident."

The same hand was then placed under my chin as I went into a thinking pose, "Hmm, I don't know, your eyes was a bit lower when we first met her. Don't tell me you were actually checking her out, were you?"

"I-I-I-I-I…" Hah, got you now. "…W-wait, I couldn't see your eyes! How do I know you weren't checking her out?!" Shit.

"U-uh…" The maid felt a tad bit uncomfortable being in the middle of our inside joke. "…What are you two talking about?"

"Oh nothing, besides the fact that Saito is as slow as a turtle!" I rapidly countered with much needed ham. Needless to say, this did not bode well with him.

"Who are you calling slow!? At least I'm not dressed up like one!" The boy bit back with eyes flared.

"Oh, please! I have to drop hints in order for you to get the jokes I tell!" Came my swift reply. "I might as well tell you the entire thing just to make it easy for me."

Saito gritted his teeth slightly and shot back with, "At least I'm not a crazed gunman like you!"

"Oh, oh! You did NOT just go there!" Now it's serious business. "One is a job and the other is mental sickness!"

"Yeah, tell that to the others when you're done with your daily spazzing in front of them." He snorted.

Ouch, burn!

"Well, if you're so goddamn brilliant, then how come you don't own a humongous mecha, huh!?" Yes, that was deliberate. Sue me.

And boy, was his face torn between getting pissed at my racist comeback or laughing at it.

"You know what; you are a retarded Koopa Troopa!"

"And your blond, spikey haired idol is an emo faggot!"

"Hey!" Someone at the tables complained. "We're trying to eat here! Go take your argument elsewhere, insolent fools!"

"SHUT UP, FATTY! NO ONE LIKES YOU!" I roared back, pointing at the now (angrily?) trembling pudgy short kid with the single curled blond hair. "DON'T MAKE ME COME OVER THERE!"

Before things manage to escalate further, Siesta cut in between us with a look of worriment and was nearly in tears in wanting us to stop, "Please! Let us not bicker at each other so pointlessly! Can we not all get along?" And not piss off the nobles anymore, stopping my fun?

If it weren't for the display of cuteness in her pleading voice, I would've ignored her entirely just for the sake of prolonging the argument out of the lack of entertainment. Plus, arguing helps improve your persuasive skills and vocabulary so you can make a better point in other future bitchfests. Ain't life grand?

"Okay, okay!" I held my hands up to her in show of cooperation and to make her not cry. "We're stopping, see?" God, I'm so weak against helpless women. Shooting douchebags in the face is easier without feeling guilty than making a cutie like her cry her eyes out. Sad feelings can make a hardened person like me go all mushy at the sight of feminine distress.

Shishak doesn't count, though. He's just a pretty boy. Coupled with his semi-professional banditry, I wouldn't feel a smidgen of remorse in killing him even if he turned into a woman.

. . .

Then again, I'm not completely innocent of any wrong doing either if I could count the times that I've ambushed military patrols for their guns, ammo, and other goodies. Technically, they were ordered to shoot all illegal stalkers on sight in the past so I had no problem taking the fight to them with a silenced Viper 5 and a bandolier of grenades to boot.

Almost got my ass killed one time when I had a sudden crazy notion to raid the military checkpoint base alone, but it paid off with nearly all my ammunition expended and a couple bullet lodged in my right calf and left arm. A quick limp to the village afterwards along with a few days of recovery and I was fresh for another stalk; can't say much for those dead bastards littered all over the small guard post after I looted their corpses.

Wanting to be a gentleman as well, Saito also caved in to her request compliantly with a shaky grin, "Ah, sorry, sorry! It won't happen again!"

Seeing that we weren't going to cause another upstart at each other, she instantly switched back into her chirpy self once more, "We should not disturb the nobles any further while they dine."

Too late, I'm getting a lot of disgruntled looks from the blue bloods. Something tells me I need to pull an excuse out of my ass to avoid a highly possible conflict that involves getting incinerated or worse.

"Hey, uh, Siesta, we kind of owe you for helping us out last night, so why don't we return the favor and give you a hand with whatever you need to do in return?" Good bait, now she won't be able to say no to us because it's the truth. Half a truth, but who gives a shit?

"Oh no, that won't be necessary!" She protested.

Yeah, no.

"Nononono, I insist." I replied hastily, eyeballing the room filled with livid magical teenagers, excluding Louise who was trying to make herself less noticeable, ready to set their wands upon us. "Seriously, we owe you one. Just take it, you won't regret a thing."

Even though the kid wasn't fast enough to catch on the hostile environment, he went along with me thinking that I was trying to be nice, "I agree with him on this one."

The humble maid gave it some thought when she looked at us and beamed a heartfelt smile before giving a nod. "Well, we are about to deliver the dessert course, so it wouldn't hurt us if you would kindly assist me in passing them out."

Hook, line, and sinker.

"Then we're all in agreement." I exclaimed. "Let's get to it!"

Siesta motioned us to follow her to the kitchen, to which I gladly complied without any complaints with Saito in tow. When we got to the entrance she told us to wait while she brings out the dessert cart for me to push around, leaving her and Saito to handle the distribution of the cream puffs and other assorted cakes. Although I wanted to try a sample, the words of warning from Louise came to mind and I had to curb the urge to snatch a pastry in case no one was looking. Spitting on them almost came through, but I didn't want to see good food wasted if I get caught.

I hope they choke on it, those lazy brats.

"You seem crossed, Sir Farmer." She noted my deep frown as we went on the first round.

"Doesn't seem like anyone is taking our work with much consideration," I sniffed, "makes you wonder if they even appreciate the high-class service, instead of expecting it. Also, just call me Farmer. The added 'sir' at the beginning makes me feel old."

"My apologies, Farmer."

"You don't need to apologize. I just think it's unnecessary to address me with the respect that I haven't properly earned yet." I mentioned to her, shuffling along the aisles.

"Why do you say that?" Saito piped up.

I shook my head, "Best for me not to explain it around this crowd, you know what I mean?" Besides, I already got them riled up too much.

Both of them said nothing, understanding what I meant by the miffed/nervous young mages around us.

We still went through each table, handling the cream puffs in silence aside from the maid's routine formal greetings as she gave the ordering students their dessert with a pair of small metal tongs.

. . .

. . .

. . .

I never looked at myself as the sentimental type, but I guess the life as a stalker can change you through countless hardships and the need to survive when you have to deal violence with greater violence. No one said being a stalker would be easy on the long run. If any of the kids here were in my shoes, they might as well kiss their wands goodbye when mutants or bandits come to greet them.

. . .

Although, I'm not one to shy away from any advantages with the hocus pocus just as long it does not make me entirely lazy. Maybe an underground base or a tree house if it requires that much labor.

Or maybe I can build myself a hut in the neck of the woods with an underground system for crafting needs and storage. Guerillas have done it before, and I heard about some Diggers in Garbage making a hidey-hole base out of the junk piles. Someone with creativity like me should be able to figure it out.

Only problem for me is to find the one earth mage that is not a total dickwad and charge high prices for use of their excavation services, if the rain doesn't hamper the progress by softening the dirt or causing the nearly complete bunker to collapse. Other alternative is to get a shovel and just stick with digging holes for hiding stashes. The simple choice would be going with scattered stashes than building a base where the risk of discovery is high and all my good shit is taken.

Yeah, I'll just stick with the good ol' fashioned stashes and make a map so that I don't forget. It's less hassle and easier to deal with. Just have to find a way to preserve it so nature doesn't muck it up.

The smooth rattling from the small wheels continues to squeak with little noise, clatters of food utensils still clicked against the ceramic plates used by the students of various ages. My hand held a vice grip on the handle as my movement stayed steady, but not too relaxed. The leers I've been getting have loosened up after a few minutes had passed, and still I could not shake the uneasiness out of my head.

Has my stay in the Zone gotten me addicted to its vastly dangerous, but mysteriously beautiful environment that my only stability is to live within it? I don't think so. It's only been two years of exploration and hiding and I still want to go back to the big lands rich. Or perhaps, it's this land itself that is driving me wary and twitchy?

Or maybe I just need a blunt. Spending time in the Zone tweaked my personality with a few hostile tendencies added, but I'm still me. The lack of stress is probably why I feel bored out of my skull because there is no action going around that forces me in every time. I am tense because there is nothing to be tensed about and the lack of tenseness is what makes an experienced stalker like me afraid since there is no one to shoot back at to justify my reason.

The front view of Siesta's covered rear as she bent down to pick up a small glass vial didn't even spark any arousal that I should be feeling right now. Though, I have to admit, having tinted combat goggles attached to the helmet does give a nice perk when you're staring at a young woman's behind. Doesn't help that Saito pointed it out earlier ago, that smartass.

Speaking of behind, who are these people at the round table?

"You have no idea how a handsome noble such as I can be so fortunate in having immaculate looks that will make fair maidens swoon over me." Oh fuck, not this guy again…

"Hah! You're still playing that game, Guiche? Aren't you supposed to be with your fiancée?" One of his friends chuckled at him. "You know how angry she will get if she finds out that you're flirting with a first year."

"Why, I have no idea what you gentlemen are speaking of." Guiche stood on his chair with dramatic pose filled with romantic passion, holding his rose wand up in the air. "It is not me who is at fault for being so grossly incandescent toward the flowing petals of beauty."

What a load of shit.

"I'm starting to get that bad vibe from him already." Saito murmured next to me.

Already ahead of you, buddy.

"Excuse me," Siesta offered the vial to the boasting blond before he could let another passionate speech that makes me want to shoot him, "I believe you've dropped this on the floor, young master."

"Nonsense," The mage spoke out in gusto without a glance, much to the cringing in my head, "it clearly does not belong to me!"

"But I saw it fell out of your pocket, sir." She said.

The slightest twitch coming from him as he jumped down told me that Guiche was clearly lying and is trying to deny the evidence that would further incriminate him, if not for one of his buddies pointing out something that got him busted right away.

"Hey, Guiche, isn't that the perfume made by Montmorency?" Fatty the curly blond questioned him, trying his best to ignore me.

"Yeah, I saw you handing them out to that first year girl. Only Montmorency gives away her concocted perfume to people she's close to." Heh, he's in for it now.

"I told you already, it's not mi-"

"Guiche, what is going on?" The same brown haired girl that I saw from last night stepped in, her quivering eyes showing the heartbroken sadness that is about to come. "I thought you loved me."

"Katie, my darling flower, this isn't what it looks like-"

SMACK!

His attempt of false reassurance was met with a loud slap against his face as the girl finally burst into tears. "You told me I was the only one for you! How could you do this to me?!"

Ouch, sucks to be him.

"But Katie, I-!" Katie ran off, heaving sobs from the pain inside her heart before the dishonest blond could finish. "Katie, wait!"

"So, it is true!" A different girl furiously spoke up, tromping over to the two-timing fop. I soon recognized her by the drill hairs she was sporting. "Katie this, Katie that! You've been flirting with that first year behind my back even when we're still betrothed to each other!"

"Ah, Montmorency, my beloved, this is clearly a misunderstanding between the both of us. I was simply-" He was cut off by second slap to the face.

"Don't give me your lies!" Montmorency barked. "I heard everything the moment you were stirring a ruckus with your flowery words!"

"And what is this?!" She snatched the small bottle out of the maid's hand and held it in front of the nearly shaken boy. "Now you're giving away my token of trust as if they are mere trinkets!? Have you no shame, Guiche!?"

"My dear, I can explain-!"

"There is nothing to explain about!" The drill haired girl uncorked the bottle and poured it down his head before storming off in her simmering rage of betrayal.

"Montmorency!" Guiche called after her, to no avail. "Please, give me a chance to make clear of my intentions!"

Most of the people around him, including Saito and I, naturally laughed at his unfortunate predicament because he had done well fucked up his little cheating system and paid the price for it. This, of course, managed to piss him off and the only thing he could do was either suck it up or cry like a bitch.

In his case, he chose to blame the person partly involved and nearest to him in order to poorly justify his excuse and escape from the responsibility of his obvious dishonesty.

"You there!" He pointed accusingly at a baffled Siesta. "How dare you break the hearts of two lovely maidens and have me falsely accused for such treachery that is your doing, lowly wench!"

Whoa, now that's uncalled for. She didn't do anything wrong, fuckwad.

"B-but I-I w-was only-!" The poor girl was stammering for an answer to correct and, trying at the same time, to find the words that would not offend him but ended up with a plea followed by a low bow instead. "-please forgive me for my insolence!"

"Come on, Guiche; just admit that you're at a fault instead of blaming the servant." A moderate green haired kid (Okay?) laughed at the unnecessary scene playing out.

"It is far too late for that!" He snapped, drawing closer to her with a raised hand. "For this mistake, I must enforce strict discipline for your imprudence! I will have you thrown out of this job!"

"Please, sir, I-!" Siesta winced, expecting the worse to come upon her. Before the slap even touched her delicate face, in comes Saito rushing in front of the frightened maid with a pissed off look that screamed "Are you fucking kidding me?".

Oh, but he wasn't the only one who wanted to kick some righteous ass onto a pompous prick. Just out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Shishak marching up with a heavy frown and knuckles cracking out like he was on his way to lecture the fool 'bandit style'.

As for me, naturally, I went and snuck through the slowly growing crowd of students forming around us to get behind the douchebag trying to lay his hand on the nice young lady just because he's uncool like that.

I also want to mentally scar him for life since I'm a dick like that sometimes just to teach him a lesson.

"All she did was to help you, idiot!" Saito shouted at the angry blond mage. "What the hell is wrong with you? Are all mages that arrogant and snobby to get away with everything!?"

"How DARE you address me in that tone, commoner! It seems your master is lax on her punishment." Guiche addressed him with loud chastisement. "Now get out of my way so I can deal with this personal matter that is just!" He pointed the wand at Saito's face in a form of a threat.

"Boy, you must have either been dropped on the head one too many times and went half-retarded or you were actually born dumber than bricks of shit to begin with." The undeniably shrill, but seriously deadly, voice of my enemy entered the heated conversation with a downright scary expression and an accurate statement that I couldn't agree anymore with.

This is gonna be good.

"Oh look, if it isn't the foul smelling twig with the hideously unkempt attire that rivals my flawless form that is I!" The fop proclaimed again with more dramatic flair.

"Oh look, a spoiled brat with poor manners and understanding." Shishak stated flatly.

This did not go well with the young blond as his spoken words dripped with venom, "You dare!"

The bandit leader did not even blink as he nodded solemnly, "Yes, I dare. Are you going to do something about it?"

Wow, look at him calling that boy out. Guess he's not a total pushover compared to the other bandits I've faced. Anyway, I'm going to continue to wait behind the boy Guiche until the right time; that's how an Aesop is delivered, I think.

Eh, it'll work.

Guiche brandished his wand to the tall man with a fierce scowl on his face as he spat out, "Indeed, I will, you filthy vagrant. In fact, I can rest assure that even with all four of the Zero's pathetic familiars against me, my magic will devastate you clueless louts into nothing; for I am a noble and you shall bow down to my might or else suffer the- ACK!"

"Suffer the 'ACK'?" Saito repeated and looked at him oddly before realizing what had just happened.

I've managed a chokehold around the blond brat's neck while further along creeping him out with my heavy breathing, pretending to get all giddy. "You smeeeeeellll real good, boy."

Actually, he smells like flower-coated shit. Whatever was in that perfume makes me want to upchuck my lunch the longer I stay close to him.

He gave a soft whimper and tried to struggle out of my grasp, but I remedied that by pulling him closer. Just for kicks, I slowly begin to caress his cheeks to see if doing that would expose any insecure sexual orientation. Sadly, I only got him more agitated so he's probably not hiding in the closet.

"You know," I started with a creepy grin, "I could take you to my private little room and show you some things you've never seen before, boy."

Now he was really hoping a loose break would happen to him as he attempts another desperate wiggle, demanding and begging me not to take his virginity away. The way he squealed almost made me giggle in glee, added with the equally horrified audience that held faces of terror and disgust.

"Please! I don't want to be fondled by a golem!" Oh good lord, he still thinks I'm a construct? No wonder Shishak's words rang straight and true.

"I'm not a golem, you retard." I chuckled, holding back a gag after another whiff. "Would a golem be able to actually pull off human mimicry so perfectly?" This made him pause for a bit to think on my words before getting back to pleading for his life.

"I don't want to be fondled by a man!" Guiche gave another cry, causing Saito and Shishak to laugh at his sudden change of word.

Siesta could only stare at the display of ridicule with a blank look plastered on her face while standing next to her other friend and another strange man guffawing away, treating it like a show. Well, one of them was laughing, the other person gave a sinister cackle that you would only hear from plotting mages in mystery novels.

"Familiar!" Goddamnit, Louise, really? "Release him this instant!"

"It's Farmer, get it right!" I called back.

With an exasperated growl she said again, "Farmer, release him this instant!"

"What's the magic word~?" Well, so much for pretending to be her slave.

". . ."

"C'mon, you know what it is."

A few more prodding then got her to cooperate as she casted a spiteful glare at me and said in a hard tone, "Please."

There you go! Was it really that hard?

I loosen the arms around the nearly scarred blond from my grasp and return the pinkette's stern leer with a victorious smirk after the cheating Casanova-wannabe scrambled away from me with much enthusiasm in fear.

And I was just getting to the good part.

"Don't think I won't let you get away with this! I demand an apology from you, wretched barbarian!" He cried out with his wand pointed at me.

I looked at him with a now turned nonchalant expression and gave a yawn before I could say anything else on my mind, "Hmm, uhhh, no. I don't need to satisfy your bruised ego with an undeserving apology from me if you're going to keep up with that dickish attitude; I'm not the one who was cheating on a girl in the first place. I'm not the one who was power tripping like a despicable twat high on his horses."

"Famil-" Louise tried to chastise me.

"Farmer!" I cut her off abruptly without much of a damn.

She took a trembling deep breath to keep her cool and tried again with a forcibly held calm this time without the temptation of snapping out. With temporary vigor, she looked up at me with intense eyes as she spoke.

"Farmer," the young mage resisted the urge to grind out my name, "apologize to Guiche immediately so that he might stay his hand from inflicting the wrath upon you and let this go with little consequences."

My head shook stubbornly at her foolhardy suggestion that I should take it without baring words of bite or raised fists against the douchebag and let him go scot free to cause another problem that will end up worse if no one bothers to intervene much like what Saito did. I wasn't going to let this blond joke of a romance go just like that; people like him are the reasons why there is still corruption lingering in the Ukrainian government and how much our military is hated for indulging themselves by shooting stalkers and taking our hard earned loot. Apology be damned, I'd rather he learn from his mistake now and stop the bullshit spewing out of his mouth for the sake of protecting some girl I barely even know than let him get away with everything.

"He tried to pin the blame on someone just to get away from his troubles. I'm not going to sully my dignity by kissing his ass. He's not getting my apology any time soon."

Unfortunately for me, Guiche wasn't going to take that as an answer and deepened his glare as he once again attempts another loud shaming announcement to embarrass me or something.

"Fine, if that is what you wish, then I challenge you to a duel!" He proclaimed in his ever annoyingly bold voice.

"Wait, like Yu-gi-oh? I don't know how to play that game." I accidentally blurted out my thought, failing to notice the confused expressions around me.

Saito shook his head at me, "He's not talking about THAT duel, Farmer."

"Oh," My head tilted to the side, "well, when he said 'duel' I thought he meant it like that."

"No. It's nothing like that, bro."

"Oh, really? What about Pokemon?" I asked again.

"It's not like Pokemon either." He gave me a funny look.

"If it's not any of those, then what about Magic: The Gat-"

"It's none of the things that involve card games, Farmer!" The boy exclaimed with mild exasperation. "He's talking about a physical fight between you and him. Meaning: You hit each other."

"Ooooooohhh, then why didn't he say so in the first place?" I gestured with a wave at the somewhat clueless Guiche staring at the both of us without realizing that he's being made fun of right now. "If he said he wanted to fight me, it would've been simpler to just say 'Let's fight' instead of using these fancy terminology."

Saito was just about to open his mouth for another small explanation before I cut him off, "Dude, I'm just fucking with you. I know what a duel is."

God, he's too slow to not get a running gag that we've just done minutes ago.

"Now's not the time to be fooling around in this situation." Shishak reminded. "If he wants a duel, then he will get his duel. Put him in his place, so to say."

I made a frigid scoff as he said this and crossed my arms, donning a shit-eating grin to show my amusement, "Please, by the time we're done with this dandy, he'll be wishing that he never met me."

"Coming from you, I'd have half a mind to stay the hell away from you if were in my city." Saito mentioned.

"I'll take that as a compliment." Came my cheeky reply.

"No big surprise," The bandit deadpanned, "I would not even trust you with my daughter if I need someone to watch her."

The left brow of my constantly shifting eyes covered by the visor goggles were raised at his comment as I made another tilt with my head, "You have a daughter?"

Louise could only palm her face at the inappropriate time for a casual conversation between the three of us while the onlookers shared puzzled looks and murmured at the small oddity that is still happening.

"Hey! I'm still here, you fool!" Guiche shouted over us to get our attention.

"Yeah, yeah, I haven't forgotten your sissy ass face yet. Not that I want to remember it, anyway." I responded with nonchalance. "Can you wait a little longer? We're having a debacle here."

"Absolutely not!" He yelled again. "I'm the one who should be demanding your unquestioning compliance, not the other way around!"

Urgh, no wonder I like being alone…

"If you're going to be an impatient prick about it, then we might as well get this over with." I finally turned to him, cracking my knuckles in the process. "Let's settle this, us against you."

Baffled and surprised more by my irrational words, the blond mage sent a shrewd frown at my direction and thought me crazy, "So now you are suggesting that I should allow myself to be at a disadvantage with your cowardly tactics?"

"Hey, I'm not the one who boldly announced that he can take on four familiars with his spectacular 'magic' and defeat them without breaking a sweat." I gave him my snark with a predator grin on the side. "If you want to prove me wrong, ask the crowd of witnesses surrounding us."

I thought I heard a sudden gulp from him when he shot a bitter glare at my cocky smile, shaking slightly in embarrassment from his unnoticed error after remembering what he said earlier. Another attempt of intimidation, no doubt, but his wavering stance betrayed whatever malicious intent he wanted to show as Guiche caught his voice with a tense tone that held a hint of silent outrage than the usual fake bravado he would always let on.

"I accept your challenge." He turned to the door tersely, but continued to speak over his shoulder. "All four of you will meet me at the Vestri Court so I can teach you the proper etiquette the next time you address a noble."

"Better make that three!" I called out. "The merc is nowhere to be found, but we don't need him to join in on the fun."

Instead of responding, he kept walking to the grand doors and exited out of the dining hall, leaving behind the three of us to ponder to ourselves on what to do next. Despite the obvious thing that we have to do, it never hurts to make preparations. Any battle fought expectedly or off-guard always require readiness no matter what it is.

"So, what now?" Saito asked as the crowd slowly dispersed, making their way to said-court that we knew nothing of.

"Now?" I started off with a genuine grin and gave him a hard pat on the back. "Now, we make preparations for the ass kicking. Ever fired a 9mm pistol, kid? Oh wait, of course you haven't; they don't allow guns in Japan. That makes it even better for the both of us."

"Are you sure it's wise to let him handle a firearm, Small Farmer?" Shishak's tone held concern, probably wary of the questionable course of action that I had in mind. "He is only a child."

"Yeah, he's a kid, but that didn't stop you Russians from using child soldiers in the earlier days of the motherland," My hand was already inside the backpack to fetch a Walker P9m that I also took the measure to be modified by Cardan in case I ever need another backup sidearm, "or anyone else living in a third-world country, so to speak. Beside, he's not going to survive long enough unless we teach him how to adapt like us."

"We?" The lanky blond stepped forward with his fists clenched and eyes narrowed. "What makes you think I am willing to turn him into a killer? He is not like us; we shouldn't expose the boy to what we've been through in the Zone."

"Honestly, coming from you, I'm rather surprised that someone of your profession would actually give a damn for a kid than take advantage of him."

An offended scowl grew on the bandit's face, "Not every 'bartender' is a cruel animal prowling for their next prey; some of us have a life outside and we try to make a reasonable profit with little violence as possible. Those were the good old days before we became nothing more than dishonorable beings."

"Oh yeah, sure, like robbing people of their hard-earned moolah and equipment is considered 'honorable'." I shot back angrily, but quietly, and pointed a finger at him. "It's people like you that give stalkers a bad name. Did you know that most of the few tourists that come to the Zone mistook us for you guys? Even a news reporter thought I was going to shake him down when I only wanted to be on camera and say hi to the cops."

Louise's frantically tight voice loudly interrupted us before the argument became more personal, "I don't know how all of you can be so calm without worrying about your demise! Commoners like you cannot defeat a mage, no matter the numbers or the skills you hold. This is outright madness!"

Madness? THIS. IS. STALKER!

I managed an amused chuckle at my inside joke before looking down at the pinkette sporting worriment in her expression.

"There's a first for everything, you know." I said, finally fishing out the Walker out of my pack. "You might be surprised by how well we can handle almost any given situation thrown at us; the armor I wear isn't just for show." I gave the padded vest a small pat after putting my backpack on to show off its sturdiness.

Siesta, on the other hand, disagreed with me entirely as she walked closer with frightened eyes and quivering lips, "Please, for all of your sakes, reconsider the duel before it is too late. I don't want my friends to die because of me! I can look for a new job elsewhere!"

Despite her kind words and the fact that she considered us (and god forbid, me) friends, I stubbornly refused to comply by shaking my head before handing the gun to Saito to which he managed to grasp without shooting off a round by accident. I need to teach him gun safety after this is over.

"What good are friends like us if we don't help you? This is our choice; I'm not going to let you lose your job all because some magic brat is putting his own problem onto someone like you and gets away with it. That is bullshit."

"What you are doing is beyond foolishness!" Louise pleaded. "If you go against Guiche, he will show all of you no quarter! Do you really wish to throw your lives away so carelessly over someone you know little of?"

Saito countered her argument with his own comment, "We are only doing the right thing for Siesta. Farmer is right, I'm not going to stand by and let this jerk get his way. I don't care about my reputation or my pride; I care for my friends who I can protect!"

"You're not going to do any good protecting them if you wound up dead!" she nearly shrieked, tears threatening to swell in her eyes. "A familiar is supposed to protect their master, while the master cares for them! Who will protect me if I cannot return my care to them?!"

Sheesh, no wonder this place gives me that annoying tingly sensation. There's hardly any humanity in these people. They could at least show some encouragement or go along with the plan and hope for the best.

And here I thought the Zone was filled with hopelessness. This magic land is just crap covered with a silk curtain; a bright fairy tale with a grim plot. I may be jumping to conclusion too soon, but everything about this place just screams contradiction. At least the Zone held some sense, even if nothing is sensible there.

Although, some part of Shishak's words did hit home when I didn't put much thought in having the kid involved. Hell, I gave him a gun without listening to his choice. I am such a shitty role model if I'm going to hand out guns to teenagers and expect them not to blow a digit off.

. . .

Maybe it's not too late to get him out of this; he has a bright future ahead of us. Prod him to the right direction; show him that making a smart move is not cowardice. But, will he listen?

I craned my head to my young friend and was about to ask him if this is his own final decision until I saw something that tickled my eyes as he examine the Walker with his right hand and the unknown phenomenon showing on the other.

"Hey Saito, is it just me or is the Outsider trying to communicate with us?"

. . .

"Who?"

"…Never mind."