"Koko!" I can hear Sherry scream in distress. I can't see it but I take a guess that she's checking on her friend. "Are you alright? It didn't hurt you, did it?"

"Don't worry Sherry, I'm okay. I'm just tired, that's all!" Koko tries to reassure her friend but it goes all in vain as I still can feel Sherry's concern oozing into the air, gaining in intensity every second.

All right, I've rested on the ground enough, time to move and… Not sure I can help Brago with anything - Koko can't cast spells right now and I am not much help by myself.

I grab the sword's blades that are still X-crossed around my neck and pray them off the ground. Huh, they feel a bit heavier than before. Probably just me getting tired as well.

I stand up and drop the swords. I'd brush the dirt off my clothes but I'm afraid that first - it won't help much; second - my hands are still bleeding.

What a night, thankfully it looks like it's coming to an end.

[GYAN SORUSU]

My head snaps back to the clown, who's half kneeling on the ground after the punch Brago gave him, and my eyes widen as I see a brand new sword forming in his hands. Jester grins, testing the weight of a new weapon with one hand.

"Sorry it took me so long, I saw a family of russulas. Couldn't pass by." Says new voice.

I watch as a large man slowly approaches the field, one hand holding a rusty red colored book while another holds a wicked basket filled with mushrooms.

… a-

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! How did you find your bookkeeper so fast?! You've literally met us less than three hours ago! Where did you even come from, old man?!"

"I was collecting mushrooms in the woods." The newly arrived guest of honor calmly admits.

"He was collecting mushrooms in the woods." The clown repeats after the man, mockingly.

"WHO THE HECK COLLECTS MUSHROOMS IN THE WOODS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT?!" I feel like my head is about to explode from all the pain I feel trying to make sense of the current situation I find myself in.

"I was hungry." The man shrugs.

"He was hungry." Jester says right after.

As if that is suddenly a valid point and explains completely everything!

"You know what, I am not even going to ask…" I mutter under my breath, still massaging my temples to get rid of the dull pain.

"Sir, you can't hold that book!" Sherry steps in, standing in front of Koko. "Please give this book to us before anyone gets hurt-" A small polite cough from me. "-more than necessary."

I-...And what is that supposed to mean, Sherry?!

"Aye, sorry, can't do that." The man says. "Promised this funny little guy to help him win his little tournament game."

"Sir, you do not understand. This "funny little guy" as you expressed yourself, is a dangerous entity from another dimension, you-"

"Oh, a chanterelle…" The man reaches down to cut down a newly found mushroom, completely ignoring the furious glare Sherry sends his way.

I take my attention away from one clownery to another.

The new sword that clown got is good and it doesn't look like he's struggling with suddenly using only one sword instead of yielding two as last time. I cringe when Brago catches the blade with his own hand. He doesn't even blink at that, but I feel phantom pain on my own palms and shudder.

I still think Brago has a big chance against that clown, even with a sword the guy must be at least to some extent tired after my and Koko's stalling match. Still, even if I worry for nothing, I still worry non-the-less.

I give a tired sigh and float to Koko and Sherry.

"I'll watch over Koko, you go help Brago." Sherry me an uncertain look, then she nods.

"Fine. Don't think we can bride that guy from giving us it's book easily." She gives up, picks up the spell book and steps away from us.

I land near Koko, who's… Aw crap, she looks even worse than I feel myself. And I am the one who got the beating. Sheesh, what exhaustion does to people.

"Are you okay? Eh, don't answer - It's more of a rhetorical question. You look like crap." I say, getting myself a weak shove from my now tired and offended partner.

"If I look bad, then you should see yourself in a mirror." She gives a small smile but then her brows furrow. "... Will they be alright without us?"

I turn my head and look at the duet of Brago and Sherry. They're not half-bad with their coordination - Sherry surely has a tactical thinking in her and Brago… And Brago is just a tank. Somehow, he is the definition of both immovable object and unstoppable force phrases.

Good for him I guess.

I turn back to Koko and give her a "so-so" gesture with my hand.

"I think they'll manage without us. At least for now"

I watch the mamodo's body in front of me that gets slowly dissolved into the air, his book burning brightly nearby. The weird mushroom guy walked away when the clown got beaten by santient tank, handing us the book with no real fuss. Sherry also got a lighter from her dress pocket (her dress has pockets, how cool is that?) and the deed was done.

"Getting beaten up right after finding a bookkeeper… You kids are either lucky or really strong." the clown speaks, as everything but his upper body dissolved.

"Eh, a bit of both." I agree. "Too bad the same can't be said about you, carnival freak."

Koko looks at me with slight concern. I am not sure what it is about until I remember what kind of person Koko is. "He'll be fine. We're just sending him back to the mamodo world. He can no longer participate in the battle for the title of Mamodo King." I reassure her, making the concern still linger but not as visible as before.

"That's right," The clown shrugs as his chest and left arm gets dissolved. His right arm still holds a sword in a lazy grip. "But, hey, at least I can make things easier for next guy who get to you!"

"What do you-"

What do you mean by that?

I hope-

HURT.

Oh no! Oh no no no

WHY DID YOU DO IT.

It's going to be alright, don't fuss over-

So much-

IT HURTS SO MUCH.

Just small cut, it's-

STUPID IDIOT.

It's gone through his skull! We need to-

YOU DID IT ALL WRONG.

It won't stop

YOU WILL DIE HERE AND TAKE ME WITH YOU.

Why are you so pathetically fragile? Better to-

Please be okay

We've gone so far, don't give up yet

You want to know why you're here, right?

I woke up in a cold sweat, the voices around me seems to died down, there's nobody here to talk anyway. I stare at the white ceiling, trying to recognise where the heck am I.

Wait, I know where I am - this is the guest room in Sherry's house where me and Koko were suppose to be staying. Guess I am lying on my bed right now.

But how did I get here...?

A few memories thrown my way. That clown threw… something… at Koko and I jumped in to shield her. I remember that my head got struck, how painful the impact had been, and how terrified Koko looked back then.

But… I am alright now, right?

My forehead.

I reach to my face and feel it with my fingers. There's a load of bandages right around my forehead, covering something up. I am unsure if I should take them off.

I slowly sit up and untangle the bandages, uncovering a brand new wound. I touch it and hiss - weird, this wound is small but it's still healing. I thought my regeneration would take care of it in minutes…

I need a mirror.

I see a small round mirror on the bedside table and reach for it. I take it and look at my reflection. My face looks fine - eyes, ears, teeth and nose all in the right places. The skin is still ghoulishly blue but it's not like it's not normal for me.

The thing that takes my attention is a wound on my forehead. It's small, pinky in size but looks very deep. Almost as if left by-

Door to the room I'm in opens up and I turn away from the mirror, redirecting my attention from examining my wound to a newcomer.

Koko enters the room, holding a small tray with a roll of new bandages and some antiseptics. She nearly drops the tray when she sees me, fully awake. It's like her heart stopped, how funny. That's not funny, why would I think it was funny...

"Zofis! You-" She stumbles and almost falls, to my amusement, but catches herself and balances the tray just in time so no items fell from it. "You need to rest! I am not sure how but you've just got yourself a very bad wound and you need to sleep it out."

I raise a brow at that statement. I do feel mostly fine, only a bit lightheaded, with a tint of a faraway headache... And a weird presence-like feeling somewhere in the back of my head.

"Don't know what you're talking about, I feel great!" I try to reassure her, why? Giving her a dumb warm smile.

"Oh no you don't." She puts the tray on the table, goes closer to me and pushes me back into a lying position. "Stay down. That's an order!" How dare you?!

"Fine, fine…" I sigh. "Can you at least tell me what happened? My memories are hazy. Last thing I remember is that the mamodo we found on the field threw a rock or something at you…"

Koko stares at me. Stop looking at me with that pitiful expression, disgusting. Her face is unreadable, but it slowly turns into one of regret while her heart screams of guilt.

"Zofis, that mamodo threw a sword into your head. It almost went through." She says, walking back to the table and picking up the roll of fresh bandages.

I mentally digest what she just said, glancing into the mirror, giving my own reflection a questionable look. Well that doesn't sound very fun. That's for sure.

Stop talking nonsense. No, you stop talking nonsense. Wait who am I talking to? Oh right, Koko.

Huh, the room is sure gone quite.

"Well… I survived that, didn't I?" I try to lighten up the mood with a short chuckle.

"You also got knocked out for a day." She states and I make an unrecognizable sound from sudden surprise. A whole day?! "Yep, you've missed like 3 meals." She muses as my shock still clearly plastered on my face.

"Koko, it's not the food I'm worried about-" My stomach immediately gives a primal hungry growl, furiously disagreeing with me. "Traitor." I mutter quietly.

My partner's response was a short chuckle.

"I'll bring you breakfast after I've done bandaging your head. Don't take them off this time, alright?"

"I doubt I'll need them for long, if even at all-"

"-And then you'll rest." She cuts in. She sighs, catching my still sore mood.

"Listen, Zofis. That wound you got back then absolutely terrified me. Brago even gave us an idea to burn your book and send you back to the mamodo world. I did told him off but, to be honest, I did considered it. I am not proud of it, but I was very scared for you." She admits and now it's my turn to feel uncomfortable. Was I really that close? How is that possible?

"And besides... Even if you regenerate fast you'll still need a lot of energy for the trip to Japan we'll have tomorrow."

"Ugh, fine." I give up, I'm still too tired to keep being stubborn. Doesn't help that it feels like my conscious suddenly split into two. Maybe she is right, a nap does sound nice. Especially with a trip Koko said we'll have tomorrow.

Wait, hold on…

"Trip to Japan?!"

[this is the smallest chapter so far

so sorry

also this is also somewhat important chapter]