I let out a soft sigh as my body finally relaxed in the warm water of white marble bathtub. This night absolutely and utterly sucked in so many ways, it's nice to have at least a little break in the form of a hot bath.

Sherry and Brago left around an hour ago to track down that jester mamodo and burn his book for good… Sherry made sure Koko would give her a word to not leave the mansion while they both were gone and, in case that jerk comes back for some revenge (I highly doubt it'll happen), to not engage in combat and find a nifty spot to hide instead.

Hah, I feel like Koko will not do that if that clown does show up his ugly face. She feels like a strong willed person for sure. She is kind, thoughtful and emphatic, but she also can be sturdy and hard like a rock if she wants.

But, eh, it's not like any danger will come our way anyway - I have high hopes that Brago will find that clown and make quick work of him… And it's not like that jerk knows where we are, unless he's some kind of junkie-stalker creep. So I might as well live a little.

I look at the bathroom and can't help but gawk a bit at everything. The interior is both impressive and impractically dumb at the same time. I can respect the marbled floors and giant full body mirror near the shower… But I visibly cringe at the grand old oil paintings that hang on the walls. Just.. Just Why? Surely folks could find a much better place to store their paintings than in an area with high air humidity.

There's quite a lot of things that rub me the wrong way but the paintings are just the biggest pet peeve here.

Okay, the painting ruined the mood a little (and why did I work myself up over such a mundane thing anyway?) and the bath isn't as comfortable as it was before. Eh, I spent too much time here anyway, might as well take it as a que and leave. I take the soft fuzzy towel from the nearest table and dry myself out. The hair is still wet and heavy but I don't think a hair dryer will do much to help with the mess that my hair is… Don't get me wrong - I love my hair but drying and brushing my curls is like a brand new circle of hell. Might as well just squeeze it like a wet rug.

I wrap the towel around my body and leave the bathroom. Okay, now the real challenge of this house - to find the guest room number 3 where Koko and I are staying. Uh… Was it the third room on the left?

After a bit of walking (and only two doors that led me to the closet and an office) I gave a soft knock on the door of the third guest room.

"Come in!" Koko cheerfully called out from within and I entered, closing the door right behind me.

"Oh, hello Zofis! Hope your wounds feel better after bath!" She waves a hello with one hand while her other is holding my clothes. Wait, it's clean and dry already?

My confusion must've been written on my face because Koko started talking before I could even start thinking about asking.

"Melisa, the maid, cleaned your clothes while you were bathing. It was very kind of her! I also found out that they bought a brand new cloth dryer so I asked if I could use it for your gown. As you can see - it all worked out." She happily says and I give a small nod of acknowledgement. Then she returns to what she was doing right before I entered, she was-

"Wait, are you fixing my clothes?" I was a bit dumbfounded.

"Oh, don't give me that look - I just gave it a few up-n-downs with a needle. Trust me, it was nothing!" She explains and points at the almost invisible long white line. Nothing, huh?

"Woah. I am just… This is very good sewing work! I'm sure there's a lot of people who'd sell their arm and a leg for that kind of talent!" I said taking a seat on the bed across from her, where a small stack of folded clothes laid neatly on the covers. At first it was just a guess that those were mine before I noticed a pair of my own, albeit neatly cleaned, black shoes.

"Hah, you're making me blush!" She said cutting a thread with scissors. "I learned how to tailor because it's cheaper than buying brand new clothes." I feel a tug of melancholy from her. Alright, change of the subject before we go into sad backstory territory!

"That's neat! It's a very useful skill! Say, do you plan on becoming a tailor or a designer in the future?"

"Huh? A designer?" That catches her attention and she gives herself a second to think. "Mhm… As tempting of an idea as it is, I'd rather not." She stands up and walks over to me, giving me my now fixed and clean clothes. She then picks up a small med kit from the nightstand that I haven't noticed before. "Will you let me take a look at your injuries? I know mamodo are resilient but I'd sleep better knowing that you are doing well" She asks. I frown but reluctantly give a stiff nod and turn around, back to her face.

After mere seconds of examination she clicks her tongue.

"Gosh, this is even nastier than I thought! I guess you'll have to stay in bed for a few days! Yep, full on bedside regime!" She exclaims and I feel my skin crawl on my back. No, she must be wrong! My wounds feel great… I mean, they don't feel at all but it must be a good sign, right?!

"What?! B-but it-"

"Ha!" She suddenly slaps my back earning both surprised and a painful yelp from me. "Just messing with you! Your back is healing at the pace of a race car. In humans the injury that you got would be lethal, or would need weeks to heal properly, but your's is already just a scar and nothing else" She explains as I glare at her with slight murderous intent. "Don't think any of your bones broken too, although I am not a doctor..."

"I guess it's my que that you're planning on pursuing a doctor or nurse profession in the future?" I ask. She looks up at me as if to say something, but then shrugs.

"Nah. Keep guessing and maybe you'll find out!" She then reaches into her pants pocket and fishes out a small blue cell phone. "I'll be back in five minutes, Sherry asked me to give her a call in an hour to make sure we're still alive, haha!" She says and leaves the room completely to myself.

I mentally shrug and pick up my old clothes.

The moon is shining right through the window. It's big and white and reminds me of that one weird cheese commercial… for some reason. Huh, come to think of it, when was the last time I ate? Oh right, back at the Koko's. Perhaps Koko is even hungrier than I am, considering that I ate almost all of her food, did I? Wish Sherry comes back soon so we could have super late dinner together or something. Of course, eating under the same table as Brago does sound suicidal… But I sure hope food will take his attention off me.

Huh, speaking of the devils. I spot a shadow walking from the front gates. Hm, probably Sherry coming back while Brago is hiding in the shadows… He does feel like that type of guy…. Unless-

A light knock on the door drags me away from the window.

"Come on in!" I call out and Koko enters the room, a small cellphone still in hand.

"Sherry said they didn't find even a trace of this guy, so they'll search some more. Maybe an hour or so…" She says. I look at her phone, then at the window, then at her face. Crap.

"Zofis? Everything alright? You look a bit pale-"

"Hush!" I shush her, prompting her to take a quick look at the window. She reluctantly does and her face, albeit she does need a second to figure it out, pales not worse than mine.

She quickly slides down and sits under the window, as if that clown didn't notice us already.

"What are we going to do?" She whispers with a slight tint of panic."He hasn't seen us, has he?"

"I think it's too late to think about whether he knows if we're here or not. Even if we stay low he'll turn this place upside down in a few minutes." Think Zofis, think. If we start a fight in the mansion a lot of people might get hurt - the maids and butlers are still living here, sleeping soundly on the first floor.
"We need to move somewhere in the open. I know Sherry will have both of our heads on the silver plate when it all ends but we can't just stay here - there are still people here who might get hurt in the crossfire if that guy finds us."

"I gave Sherry a promise not to leave… To call her if something bad happens and then just wait for her." Koko says with uncertainty. "But I am not sure they'll get here fast enough. They might be five minutes away from the mansion, or it might take them a whole hour to get here."

I frown. Waiting for Sherry and Brago is our best bet, especially since there's no way I can beat that jerk in a fight… He burned two books before the end of day one, and that even without his bookkeeper! I simply stand no chance even with spells.

The guy is dangerous but we can't just stay here - we and other residents will be vulnerable here as easy targets for his sword flinging practices.

Ah, think brain! It's not time to go into panic mode! We have no time for that!... Wait.

"Alright, I got a plan!" I exclaim and earn myself a curious but hopeful look from Koko. "It might kill both of us, but for now it's best we got. At the mere least it will keep that creep away from the mansion and all of its residents." I admit but my partner just shrugs and gives a determined thumb up.

"As long as it keeps others from danger I'm in!"

We picked the old flowery field near the mansion as our battleground. Close enough so we could still see the building but also far away enough so any of our blows wouldn't fly to there and break anything. Getting there was actually easier than I thought - I simply flew Koko out the window from the second floor to the ground and then, with a bit of noise to gather the attention of our intruder, we made a run for the field.

Now I and Koko, open book in hand and determination in the eyes, were standing in the middle of the plain site. Waiting what must be ten seconds felt like hours. Suddenly, a sword flew in my direction but one skilful spell from Koko redirected the blow with an explosion's shockwave.

|RADOM|

A vulgar whistle broke the tense silence, the owner's silhouette still covered by smoke and dust.

"My oh my! Old dog learned a few new tricks, eh?" The jester mocks me, stepping away from the smoke and pulling the strings of his sword to himself. "Maybe this time you won't go down that fast too! Oh, this is exciting!"

The clown erupts with pity laughter before launching himself in Koko's direction. Hm, targeting my book? Smart, but I am smarter.

I raise my hand and point it straight at Koko as she cries out a spell.

|RADO-

The clown jumps away from an unseen shot to the side, away from the bookkeeper. But the explosion that he waited for didn't come. A second of confusion before I tackle him from above. He dodges, sending his swords around me to tie me down but I catch them by the blade. Ignoring the sharp pain I give a cold smile. Got you.

|RADOM|

The slightly mottled remains of the swords fall from my hands. The blades are still dangerous but the handle, and strings by extent, are now completely ruined. No more flying swords for you, mister.

Alright, one step of the plan down, moving to the next!

I shake my bloody hands dry, sending a few drops on the ground. Hope nothing got on my clothes, it would be a shame to wash them twice the night!

"Oh! I must say, I am impressed! Not casting a spell fully to confuse me, then using my own reflexes against myself to disarm me!" The clown chirps, looking sadly at the strings remains that were still tied to his wrist, now completely useless. "Too bad you won't live long to tell anyone about that dirty trick you just did!"

He rushes at me this time, but I am more than prepared.

|RADOM|

The bastard jumps high into the air to avoid being hit by an explosion. Silly, I wasn't even targeting you. The ground took on all the explosion power, the blast sending clouds of dust, dead flowers, dirt and smoke up into the air.

|RADOM|

Koko screams once more and another wave of smoke kicks in, making the field hard to see through.

|RADOM|

Final explosion and now the whole field is covered in a thick veil of smoke, hiding from the unwanted eyes both myself and Koko.

I look around, trying to find a trace of my opponent. The smoke is too thick, to the point of me having a hard time navigating… Oops, guess we went a bit overboard with that. Well, it's too late to say sorry, going to work with what we got.

A faint sound of steps right behind me is a quite warning for me that the clown is still here, near me. I just hope he finds me before Koko - I can take a beating if need to, but Koko is not from the mamodo world, therefore her bones are much frailer than mine… And she also has my book, that is literally the only thing keeping me in this world. Would suck big time if it got destroyed by that jerk of all people.

"Enough playing." A dead, serious tone of voice coming from my left, I jump away as two swords sent a powerful slash my way, clearing the whole field from smoke with a powerful gust of wind. What the-

I can see Koko to my right, further away from that clown than me. Tsk, guess his black list is not in alphabetical order after all if he sends a ratchet furious glare my way instead of focusing once more on my bookkeeper instead.

Wonder what I did to piss him off that much? Were it the swords? By the way he clenches the blades with his bare hands, yes. He is mad because I broke his toys. Oh well. I knew what was coming when I came up with this plan.

I raise my hands at the jester and Koko, catching a sign, says the spell.

|RADOM|

My opponent easily avoids it by simply taking a step to the left, letting the spell collide with the faraway tree instead.

"I agree, it is my fault for not taking you seriously…" He says, still in that weird serious tone that does not fit his clowney persona at all. He then gives a heavy sigh. "No more playtime."

His last words is my warning to move out of the way as he lunges at me with broken swords in hand. I dash away with levitation but he chases me down again. That how we dance around for a bit - he lunges, I dash, he hits, I avoid. I make a risky maneuver and catch the blades with my hands, cringing at the familiar burning painful sensation of steel against my reopened wounds.

"R-radom!" Koko calls but nothing happens… No. "What… Why it… Radom!" She tries again, but once again no magic comes from my palms. "Why it doesn't… Work…?!" She falls on her knees, looking unbelievably exhausted and confused.

Why spells don't work anymore? Is that because she's tired? It's… The spells don't just tied to a book? Ah, shoot, no time to think about that!

My opponent uses my moment of hesitation against myself by kicking me in the chest. I lose my balance but before I can sturdy myself with levitation he's already on top of me, swords in criss-cross position around my neck, ready to decapitate me any second.

"... And you really thought you could take me down with some dirty tricks, seriously? And here I thought you two weren't just bluffs!" He snorts. "Oh well once I'm done with you I'll kill you bookkeeper just because she annoys me, any last words, worm?"

I stare at the night sky above me. Then I start laughing. Loud and open, heartful laugh.

"Hey! What's so funny about the situation you're in? If you haven't noticed you're in a bit of a pickle. Better shut up and take what comes to you with dignity!.. That is to say if you even had any in first place."

"Ah, sorry-sorry," I give a fake apology. "Just thought… That you are thinking that we actually tried to take you down back then," I giggle. "Is a total comedy!"

Clown frowns and presses his sword on my neck.

"Wait, if I tell you - you'll laugh too for sure!" I can see weird look Koko sends my way but then something else catches her attention and she turns her head away from me and the jester. "The way you see it - is that a very weak mamodo and his annoying bookkeeper tried to defeat you in a fight, right? Well… That simply is not true!"

A heavy kick to the face from the side sends the clown flying off me, sending him outside of the field like a ragdoll puppet.

"In reality we were just buying time for real deal to arrive."