LISTERIA ACADEMY GROUNDS - 2 hours to midnight
The grounds were quiet. Fireflies crowded the fields, making for a dreamy spectacle.
But for a certain team, this was not the time for dreams.
It was time for a mission.
Academy Gates
Habiki wore a full velvet cloak, leaning against the wall.
She entertained herself with a tiny magical orb dancing around her palm
"... Good, you're on time." She put away the orb and looked to the side
Naki showed up, looking different.
He wore a pointed hat and a long flowing cloak, adorned with intricate magical patterns. The moonlight reflected dimly on the designs. A cold breeze lifted the cloak, marginally revealing a short sheathed sword affixed to the side of his waist.
It was a brand new getup from the wardrobe.
"It seems you've put your instructor's closet to good use." She left the walls
"Well, the full cloak may be unisex, but it didn't sit right, depriving you of what is rightfully yours."
"Trust me, I have been deprived long enough. You can keep the cloak."
She said, stretching her hand forward, and the seal on the gates shattered
The steel screeched roughly on the ground as it swung open
"Hm? Won't the administration be alerted about this unauthorized breach?"
"They would be. But only that their prodigy has stepped away from the grounds."
She smiled and walked forward.
"They'll bat an eye."
"You do this...night escapades often?" Naki asked, catching up
"What can I say, I'm a free soul," she grinned.
"(Heh, no surprise Keifa things you'd be able to free her. You must know what it means to be contained as a prodigy, and what it means to be free as a...well Habiki)"
She frowned, "You're thinking. 'She's a delinquent too, no different from Bisky' - aren't you?"
"Haha, miles off," Naki chuckled, catching up with her.
"Hmph! Whatever. I won't have you judge my actions when we're about to do much worse."
She invoked the owl once again, it glowed in the dark.
"Ah, my little owl friend. Will she guide the way once more?" Naki asked.
Habiki nodded, "She'll take us to a spot 100m away from Irauki's carriage. Once we get there, there's only one thing left to do."
"*toot toot*"
The owl flapped its wings rapidly and started flying forward.
"Let's go."
Habiki commanded as they gave chase.
"I've been meaning to ask, Habiki."
"About what?"
"Something about a demon war, and its relation to the hero Emile?" Naki asked.
It took a while, but Habiki finally answered.
"One part of our world is made of the three kingdoms - Listeria, the kingdom of Magic, Allura, the lands of the demi-humans, and Sorusha, the realms of the Awakened."
As they chased after the owl, Habiki tossed a magic sphere into the air.
It expanded and shattered, opening up a map of their continent.
It showed Listeria as the bordering kingdom to another continent
"On the other side of Listeria is a continent known as the Demon Lord Continent."
"And we share a border with this demon lord?"
Habiki nodded, "That's right. Every now and then, demons will trickle from the continent into the kingdom, be it in disguise or through sheer force."
"That's primarily why the Listeria Academy was founded. To train us in magic so we can act as the first line of defense against the demons."
"I see, it makes sense. But I wouldn't really call the occasional border hazard by a handful of unauthorized demons a war."
Habiki turned off the map and tossed another visual.
This time, it illustrated depictions of demon hordes' mounting attacks on the 3 kingdoms.
"Once every 50 years, the demons rally under the banner of the one they call demon lord."
"Under this lord, they storm the kingdoms, and Listeria usually suffers the brunt of their attacks."
Naki frowned at the sight. "Does Listeria get support from Allura or Sorusha?"
Habiki scoffed and turned off the visuals.
"Trust me, you don't want to get into the politics of the 3 kingdoms right now."
"All you need to know is, if the hero Emile, the only one favored by the divine council, fails to do his job, then Listeria is screwed"
She said, picking up the pace.
"(So Emile is favored by that goddess and her ilk... interesting)"
Naki matched her pace.
"Doesn't look like everything is going smoothly on the hero front. Saw Jhun crossing words with him this afternoon. Apparently, he's been shirking his responsibilities."
Habiki laughed, "I understand Emile's reluctance. Jhun can be quite overbearing and also-"
"Also?" Naki asked curiously.
He wondered what could be more important than fighting for a kingdom's survival.
However, Habiki chose not to answer.
Instead, she recalled a discussion she had with Emile
--- [Flashback - Academy Grounds] ---
Habiki caught up with Emile, exiting the training grounds.
"Emile! I understand Jhun stepped out of line. However, you have to recognize as the hero they're demands you can't back away from!"
Emile stood silent. Then, sighed deeply.
"Of all the blockheads in this forsaken academy, you were the only one I thought would understand what I'm going through, prez."
Emile's shoulders fell, "You have an academy as a burden, I have an entire kingdom as mine."
Habiki shrugged and looked away, biting her lip.
"Still..." she whispered, saying no more
Emile scoffed, "I refuse to become irrelevant in this world, prez."
"Come to me, when you'd rather discuss than pass orders," his last words before leaving the vicinity.
--- [End of Flashback] ---
"Habiki?" Naki called out. "Everything alright?"
She blinked and shook her head.
"I'm alright, was just lost in thought, that's all."
Naki watched her closely, her silence had him concerned.
"(Is she having second thoughts about this)"
Naki closed his eyes,
"(I shouldn't drag her into this devil's game. I am the one who dealt with the devil, not her)"
Having decided to pull Habiki away from the mission, Naki was about to speak.
"Habiki-"
"We're here."
"Hm?"
The owl had settled at the top of a small hill ahead.
"Try to keep up, heh!"
Habiki grabbed her wand, tossed it, and stylishly leapt forward, sitting on it.
With her legs crossed, the staff carried her to the top of the hill like a witch's broom.
"Huh, show off!" Naki muttered before pacing to the hill.
Habiki had arrived 15 seconds before him
"Nice of you to finally join me, slowpoke!" she teased.
"Heh, I just gave you a head start." Naki countered.
"Sure sure." Habiki walked forward and pointed to the forest meadow ahead of them.
"Irauki is now crossing the forest; he'll emerge in about 10 minutes."
The owl rested on Habiki's shoulders as Naki joined her at the top
"After which, he'll be on a home run. Maintaining our discretion would be difficult then."
"Yeah," Habiki commanded the owl to disappear, and then turned to Naki
"We need to move out now and engage his caravan in the forest."
"I agree", Naki nodded. "Got a plan?"
"Attack the caravan, and I'll back you up from above."
Habiki sat again on her staff.
"Remember, to avoid the risk of filling up the mercy points beyond their limits, you may have to do a bit of self-harm."
"Try not to wound yourself too much, okay?"
Habiki smiled and took the lead.
"Huh...well, the best plans are always straightforward, I suppose."
Naki watched her in the distance, then stared at his sigil hand
"My first engagement outside the training grounds."
Naki smiled, "I have the devil's favor with me, not a lot can go wrong here."
He jumped down the hill and made his way forward, using Habiki's position for bearings to the caravan.
Within the Forest
The caravan Irauki was riding drove forward
Within the carriage cabin, Irauki occupied a seat, reading a magic book.
There were 2 other mages with him - 1 female and 1 male.
"Hey, Irauki, how long till we get there?" the female mage asked.
"Not long now, once we cross this forest, we're pretty much there," he replied, his eyes never leaving the book.
"Phew, we've been on the road for 2 days now. How short is Listeria on instructors they had to recruit from the Allura branch?" the male mage asked.
"Going by the papers, most of their instructors were hired as personal trainers for a certain boy."
Irauki closed the book he was reading, "But after meeting this boy, they either went insane, or quit their jobs afterwards."
The male mage whistled, "Woah! scary!!!"
"The latest victim was their overseer instructor, Sir Zickler."
"Because of this, they needed to promote their year 2 instructor, Samantha, to replace him. As a result, this leaves her spot open."
"Which is where you come in," the female mage concluded.
"Yes."
Suddenly, their carriage came to an abrupt stop.
The mages almost dropped off their seats as they had to hold onto the carriage walls to keep steady.
"Urgh, not again! What the hell happened?" the male mage looked outside
"Oiii, what's the hold up!"
"We-we've got trouble ahead!" the driver's voice stuttered
There was a fire hazard ahead of their path.
The mages stepped out of the carriage, shocked by the sight in front of them.
"What the- where did this fire come from?"
Irauki's eyes narrowed as he saw someone walking through black flames, blood staining his left hand, cloak randomly floating about, calm and confident.
The magicians tensed up as the female armed her grimoire
"W-who are you?" she asked, her voice trembling but confident.
Naki walked out of the black flames, the sigil in his right hand glowing underneath the glove in the dark, his steps uprooting ashes of the burnt wood, lips curving into a sly smile.
He approached with the confidence of a devil and had just one objective in mind.
With a voice as cold as steel and a gaze as predatory as a serpent's, he said.
"My apologies, but this is where your journey ends."