The next morning, the gaggle of students gathered around the large plaza of Horaud.
They all glanced around the town filled with commodities and shops that were so different from the modern cities they were used to.
"All right everyone, listen up!" Captain Meld's voice roared over the babbling students, and they went silent. "We'll be starting our expedition at noon! If everything goes well, it will take 5-6 hours."
The kids let out a collective groan. 6 hours in a cave didn't sound anything else other than cumbersome.
Meld continued with a grin. "Now, don't you worry! I can guarantee that it would be much more exciting than it sounds. Try not to get your ears ripped off, ha ha!"
Nobody laughed at the Captain's rather poor taste in jokes. Vice-Commander Jose sighed, shooed away him into the Labyrinth, and stepped up.
"As long as you're careful and work as a team, there won't be much to worry about. All of you are already much stronger than an average soldier."
"Not everyone!" Hiyama shouted from the back, eyeing Hajime and Kaito. His gang around him snickered, but none of the others followed their examples.
Kaori squeezed Hajime's hand and grinned confidently. Hajime smiled back. He didn't express it, but he was thrilled about how much his image have improved.
After the harsh bullying incident got spread, the majority of the students came to a mutual agreement that Hiyama and his friends were much more of a nuisance than Hajime ever was.
It also helped that Hajime was no longer the sloth they saw him as prior. Some of them still had a sour taste in their mouths as he was still dating Kaori, but it was a considerably miniature gripe compared to the past.
Jose frowned at the Petty Four, before clearing his throat.
"...as the Captain was saying, the expedition starts at noon. Until then, you are free to explore the town as you please. But I implore you—"
He took a moment to glance at the Petty Four.
"—do not stir up any problems. Not even the Church would think nicely of you for that. Dismissed!"
And with that, the students all broke into groups—mostly with the same members who'd venture into the Labyrinth later. That naturally meant Hajime was walking the market street with Kaori and Shizuku.
"Why did sir Jose specify church?" Kaori wondered out loud.
Hajime was wondering the same thing. From his knowledge, the Church was the faction that led the summoning, but they didn't seem to be intervening much while they trained.
Shizuku, however, had an answer.
"It's because Church is the supervisor of this whole...operation, for a lack of a better word." She explained. "They keep on tabs on who's better than others, and the excelling groups get more privileges than others. How do you think those pests got off easy from assaulting two same heroes?"
Hajime wrinkled his nose. "So they got off easy because the ones who got picked on were the useless ones of the group."
"Pretty much," Shizuku confirmed. She glanced at Kaori, expecting her best friend to be infuriated as usual.
However, Kaori was looking back at Shizuku with a quizzical look.
"What?" Shizuku asked back.
Kaori shook her head with a small grin. "Nothing. It's nice to see you not scowling at my boyfriend for once."
That made her scowl, though Shizuku's mind lingered on a specific word as they walked.
My boyfriend.
Shizuku watched Kaori lead Hajime a step forward. The couple chattering happily about trivial things, enjoying their company.
Once, she was the one walking next to him.
As she recalled the memories, a sudden knot twisted somewhere around her stomach. However, Shizuku quickly shook away the feeling.
"Shizuku, you're falling behind!" Kaori called several stores ahead.
Shizuku swallowed a lump forming in her throat. "I'm going!" She replied, and ran up to catch up with them.
[Line Break]
Kaito was certain that he got the worst partner he could've hoped for. Well, apart from the members of the Petty Four, he doubted that was an option, to begin with.
As soon as they were given free time, his partner, Satoru got distracted and lost in the horde of people in the marketplace.
Thanks to the brutal, yet efficient training he implemented, Kaito had nearly forgotten that his "trainer" first appeared in the classroom by jumping through the window. The man was more chaotic than you could bargain for.
So he roamed the streets of Horaud alone, and to be perfectly honest, he preferred it this way—because Kaito wasn't interested in spending any money.
No, he looked out for the opposite opportunity; a chance to earn more cash. He was sure a town this developed would have what he was looking for—
"Bingo."
—and sure enough, it did.
Kaito grinned up at an old, worn-out sign dangling at the entrance of a dreary alleyway.
[Test your memories! No Scam!]
"No scam..." Kaito muttered mockingly and huffed in exasperation, before slipping into the back street.
To no surprise of his, the dingy ally was filled with people swapping cards or cups, singing a short tune as the gamblers watched with bated breath.
Again, Kaito wasn't surprised to find that, more or not, the ones who paid money cried in disappointment and despair. This sort of monte wasn't designed to let the combatants win. Even when you win, it's just a setup for a bigger loss.
This was why one of his few hobbies was to upturn these little businesses.
He casually walked past the ongoing scams and went to the shop deepest inside the ally. The leader of the monte group was already playing a game with someone under a hoodie too larger for her.
Kaito sneaked nearby. The two players were too invested in the game to notice it. There was a huge pile of currency on the crook's side.
"Now, now, Ms," The crook said, licking his lips. "If you lose this one, you'll be giving up quite a lot."
The girl gulped but nodded. After showing the orb on the right, three cups started to swap around the wooden table at incredible speed.
The girl tried her best to follow the movement but lost it after a few seconds. She watched helplessly at the shifting sets of cups and clasped her hand into a prayer.
The crook laughed. "There is no god that'll help you here. It's just you, and your luck."
As he said, he slipped the orb into his sleeves. The movement was so fast that Kaito barely noticed it, even though he was anticipating the trick.
'No wonder this girl lost so much.'
He scanned the area. Only two bouncers were hiding in the shadows. It won't be hard to outmaneuver them, even with the girl.
Finally, the cup stopped swapping. The crook slid out the three cups with confidence.
"Pick your choice."
The girl stared at the line of cups intently. Right when she was about to pick her choice, Kaito moved forward and knocked over the three cups.
"Ah!" The girl screamed in astonishment.
"What the—!?" The crook also shouted. He tried to cover up the cups, but the girl had already seen the truth.
"It was a scam!" She exclaimed, springing up to her feet in a fit of rage.
The bouncers started to lumber forward, but the crook waved them back before looking down at the girl with a sneer.
"This one was, sure. But how can you prove the previous games weren't?" He demanded. The girl opened her mouth to retaliate, but after a few seconds, had to close them again.
The crook sneered again. "That's right. Don't blame your bad luck. And you," He turned to Kaito, who had a cynical smile. "You need to learn how to respect a man's business."
"I don't respect anyone who swings around their poor skill as if it means something." Kaito sneered right back. He sat next to the girl with the cloak, put his dark-red orb for magic tricks, and put three cups over it.
The message was clear. The crook howled with laughter. "You're going to challenge me to a three-cup-monte? Do you know who I am?"
"I'll ask that question right back to you." Kaito retorted. He started swapping the cups as he spoke, and the crook went silent as he focused.
Kaito could sense everyone's eyes starting to gather around him. Not just the crook or the girl, but the entire ally was taking notice of the boy who was challenging the head slicker of the town.
A grin rose along the young magician's face.
Eventually, the cups stopped moving. Kaito removed his hands from the table.
"Take your pick." He said with absolute confidence.
"You've got some shuffling skills, boy. I'll give you that" The crook grunted, his lips curling into a contorted grin. "If I win, you'll work for me here. Free of charge for a year."
Kaito shrugged. "Not happening, but sure. If I win, I'm taking whatever amount she lost." He pointed over his shoulder at the girl.
She flinched, then grabbed Kaito's shoulder. "Sir, you don't have to do this."
"Well, it's a bit late to "not do it" now." Kaito shrugged off her hand and nodded at the crook to pick.
The crook stared at the three cups for a long time before grinning. "I know your tricks, boy."
He reached out and grabbed one of his sleeves. A dark orb fell on the table.
The crook roared with laughter, echoed by his workmen alongside disappointed groans from the spectators.
"Too bad! But you don't swindle with the swindler!" The crook said gleefully.
However, his laugh was interrupted when Kaito picked up the orb into the light. It wasn't the same orb from the start of the game. This one was dark purple.
"Too bad," Kaito smirked. He flipped the orb into the air and spread out his hands at the three cups. "Care to take another chance?"
The crook growled. His eyes frantically went between the three cups, but he'd already forgotten where the correct answer would be.
With a frustrated yell, he kicked the table down. Kaito quickly scooped the money bag into his arms as everything else crashed onto the floor. The three cups rolled on the ground. There were no orbs to be found.
"A scam!" The crook screeched. "You tried to trick me! There was no orb, to begin with!"
Kaito smirked. "Not entirely true. The red orb is behind your right ear."
The crook frowned and fumbled around his ear. Sure enough, something round was stuck behind his ear. When he pulled it out, sure enough, the dark-red orb was there.
"Bu-Wha-" The crook stammered, trying to make sense of what happened. But he couldn't just do it.
While he was in a mental meltdown, Kaito snatched the orb out of the crook's finger and handed the money bag to the hodded girl.
"Keep wondering that until you die. Who knows? Maybe you'll figure it out. Come on."
He nodded at the girl and walked toward the end of the alley at a brisk pace. The girl, stunned as well, quickly followed after him.
"How did you—" She started to ask, but her whisper was interrupted by a furious yell.
"Get them!!!"
"We need to run." Kaito quickly grabbed the girl's arm, trying to make a getaway, but the girl pulled him back.
He looked back with astonishment, only for his eyes to widen in surprise as the girl thrust her cloak away.
"I can take care of myself, sir." Liliana Heiligh said.
She drew a longsword from her side and raised it high as the two bouncers came rushing through the ally, not yet realizing who their opponent was.
"[Stirkes Of Glory!]" She shouted and swung down.
The blade shone with blinding white light, and when it subsided, the two henchmen were lying flat on their backs with dozens of slash marks over their bodies—but none of the wounds were deep enough to be lethal.
"As a princess of this Kingdom," She stated to the stunned crowd, "I hereby declare everyone under arrest."
[Line Break]
Within 10 minutes, the entire gang of slickers was arrested by the town guards. However, nobody could decipher the ones who neutralized them.
Kaito and Liliana made their way out of the bustling arcade of the town and sat on an unoccupied bench.
After making sure no one was looking, Liliana let her hood down with a huge sigh and brushed off her chest.
"That was close. Again, thank you for your help. Sir Kaito."
Kaito wrinkled his nose at the excessive formality.
"Just call me Mikasachi," he said, "That's how people generally call each other in my homeworld."
"By your surname?" Liliana said, surprised. Then, her brow furrowed into a small frown. "But, if I'm not mistaken, didn't the heroes call each other by names?"
"That's because we call each other by our names only when we're emotionally comfortable with each other. Obviously, I'm not with you."
"Oh."
Liliana looked down at her feet, crestfallen. Her sad expression almost made Kaito regret his decision, but he mentally shook himself to not get weak-minded just because a cute girl was looking sad.
He wasn't fond of the royal family of the Heiligh Kingdom, mostly thanks to the young prince Lundel; who could generally be described as a 'Spoiled Brat', with his mother doing nothing to keep him in check.
Naturally, the same disapproving light was cast on the princess in his eyes.
"What is someone as highborn as a princess doing all out in here, anyway?" Kaito asked in sarcastic curiosity, "And rolling some dice on the backstreet, no doubt."
Liliana flinched. Her hands twisted around the sheath of her sword.
"I..." The princess took a deep breath. "I wanted to take responsibility."
Kaito blinked. He didn't expect that as an answer.
"Responsibility?" He asked back.
The princess fidgeted with the edge of her golden hair. "...I am truly sorry for dragging you—all of you into this mess. Joining the cause is the least I can do as a princess of this kingdom."
"Huh." Kaito examined Liliana's face. There were no signs of fraud. He didn't say it outright, but he was impressed by this girl's courage, or foolishness depending on viewpoint.
"But they won't let you. You're royalty." Kaito pointed out. Liliana turned to him and bowed her head.
"That's why—if it isn't a burden—I'd want to join your group in the expedition. I was never allowed to participate in real danger, and this is a prime opportunity."
Kaito considered the proposition.
Convincing Satoru won't be too hard, and despite her claims of never being in a realistic situation, the princess herself proved herself to be fairly well-skilled with her sword.
'Perhaps she is already better than I am.' Kaito thought. It wasn't a very cheering thought, but he nodded nonetheless.
"Alright. But I'm not taking any responsibilities if you get hurt or, well, die down there."
Liliana nodded firmly as well.
"Thank you, again. Mikasachi." She said while beaming with a dazzling smile.
"...You already said that," Kaito grumbled after a short pause, then stood up.
It was nearing noon. They'd better return to the plaza before they are late and draw unnecessary attention.
[Line Break]
Now that the sun was directly over their heads, a gaggle of students was gathered around the entrance of the Labyrinth.
"Did you have to buy all of that?" Shizuku asked with her usual exasperated tone, minus the hostility.
Hajime had a sack full of various items ranging from extra medical potions to magical items lugged over his shoulder.
He had used up all of his money to buy them and even had to borrow a hefty amount from Kaori to make the purchase. Naturally, Shizuku was frustrated about it.
"They'll all come in handy," Hajime assured, reciting the list of items in his bag.
"Kaori..." Shizuku groaned, hoping for aid from her best friend.
Kaori shrugged. "I'm sure Hajime has hidden good reasons. I trust him."
Shizuku sighed but didn't pester them any further.
As Jose started organizing students into groups, Kaori leaned into Hajime and whispered. "You do have a good reason, right?"
Hajime raised an eyebrow. "I thought you trusted me."
"I do," She hastily added. "I'm just making sure."
Hajime glanced forward as Jose was asking Kaito and Satoru something. He couldn't hear the exact conversation, but they seemed to have hauled someone in their group. After some back and forth, Jose sighed and waved his hand in consent.
"We'll see once we go in." He said, which wasn't a straight answer as Kaori hoped.
The first two floors of the Labyrinth were a breeze. Even though it was technically a part of the maze, there were small merchants and shops everywhere to the point where it felt like an extension of the town.
Jose made them stop at the front of the staircase to floor 3. The soldiers accompanying them handed a small flare to each student.
"Below this floor, each floor is only inhabited by monsters. You'll be going down in separate groups, and find different routes to the 20th floor.
Try to go as far as you can just within the group, but if you need assistance you can use the flares to ask for help. Any questions?"
One of the students raised their hand. Jose nodded.
"Where's Captain Meld?"
"He is making his way down himself to greet you on the 20th floor. Any other questions?"
None of them raised their hands. A mixture of excitement and concern hung in the air as students stared at the entrance to their first authentic training.
And soon enough, group by group, the students went down the staircase.
"Good luck, my apprentice," Satoru said with a grin. He pats Hajime's shoulder, nearly toppling his sack down, and went down with Kaito and the stranger.
Hajime sighed deeply. As heavy as his duffel was, it wasn't nearly as heavy as his heart.
Now that the moment was a stone's throw away, he was rethinking what Shizuku had said last night.
Was he making the right choice? Perhaps he was stepping out of his league—biting off more than he could, or should dare, to chew.
"Hajime?" Kaori called on the step. Shizuku was eying him carefully next to her.
Hajime mentally shook himself. He had to get rid of the negative thoughts.
He had decided to become a new man. Someone much better than the passive person he was. It was natural to feel fear.
The point is, that he should step forward despite it.
With a last gulp of air, he followed his companions down to the maze.
