45 An actionphobe, a killjoy, Electromorpheus, Champ, Master, and I

Although it was a sunny day, the shade of the Academy’s building spread on the gardens in the morning.

Singing, Noah, Styzz, Jing, and I sidestepped to the right, a watering can in our hands.

In only five days, the garden had been cleaned, and new seeds had been planted. Linah had paid for the special ones while Nina had secretly sown some seeds she had brought from the mountains: when I had caught her planting them, she had pouted shyly and muttered, ‘They’re special blueberry bushes from my hometown… It’s a matter of conscience’. Was she just feeling pity for the poor exploded garden or was she feeling guilty for some reason? That troubled me for some time, but I decided it was better not to ask. In a way, I was glad about what had happened: spending so much time in the garden reminded me of the summers I used to spend with my grandparents. I also had fun seeing Lei with a pickaxe—the elite martial artist was still aching all over from gardening. Linah had worked hard, too—the first day, she ended up so tired that she almost mistakenly buried one of her feet.

The four of us shouted, raising our watering can at the same time, then finished:

We looked at the watered garden, and Noah gave an approving nod.

“The garden’s looking good. Wonder how much time it will need for the seeds to sprout.”

“It’ll probably take some time for the feathering amaranthus,” Nina estimated, standing to her feet a few meters away. “And I heard the piscis odorata is very hard to grow. It needs specific odors, at least during the first months. As for the famis rosea… I’ve read that it can grow faster and even evolve if you give it qi.”

I widened my eyes. Seriously? Wasn’t the famis rosea a bit like an undead, then? Except it probably didn’t transform the gifted qi into deathforce.

“It’s a pity we can’t stay more than two months to see the plants grow,” Jing commented.

“All we can do is keep watering them every day,” Styzz said.

I smiled under my mask.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the result…” Noah suddenly lay his hand on my hooded head, and I protested: “Why?!”

“I just realized,” Noah replied. “The rescue mission is today.”

“Ah. Yes.” Today, we were going to Phoenix City to work as Rescuers—well, actually, all the trainees were going to participate. I pulled his hand away. “I wonder what team we’ll be in.”

He snorted.

“Didn’t you listen to Addison? Our team is basically the Ghost, Electromorpheus, you, and me.”

That bastard had started calling Ray “the Ghost” after realizing that he kept forgetting about our captain’s existence for some “mysterious” reasons. Was he sincere or did he just do it to annoy me? Who knows.

As for Electromorpheus, it was the lame yet accurate nickname Noah had found for Styzz: while the green-haired guy was able to give impressive electric shocks, he was, however, completely unable to wake up on his own in the morning. So, we were only four on the team?

“Seriously? What about Jing and Nina?”

“They’re on the witch’s team. And the instructors don’t seem to accept Lei as Ghost’s subordinate, so he and Big Sasha went to another team to ‘balance’ the strengths. Pay attention when Ponytail talks, stupidstar. Anyway, it’s bad.”

“…? What is?”

“Use your brain. While we were watering plants and singing your silly folkloric songs, the others were training for this day!”

“… So what?”

Noah’s hand caught on fire when it grabbed my skull again.

“You piss me off.”

At this moment, we heard the loudspeaker say in Common Tongue:

“TRAINEES! A REMINDER: EVERYONE MUST BE IN THE MAIN SQUARE WITHIN TEN MINUTES. LATECOMERS WILL BE OUT OF TODAY’S EXCURSION. REMEMBER TO BRING THE NECESSARY FOR THE DAY.”

As we put our watering cans down and headed to the main square, I questioned:

“The necessary? What do they mean?”

“Money for our lunch, maybe,” Jing said.

“Or an umbrella, for the sun,” Styzz added.

We looked at the white and black umbrella he was holding. According to him, the sunrays charged his body with electricity, and although we were still in January, he still preferred to hide from direct light if he was going to be outside for a long time. Under the umbrella, with his green hair raising upward and his only apparent grouchy expression, he looked funny. Heh. Glancing at my orange coverall, my hood, my mask, and my gloves, Noah threw to me:

“You’re not one to talk.”

“I didn’t say anything!”

“A stupidstar speaks louder than words.”

What was that supposed to mean?

The main square was soon crowded with trainees and instructors. Linah’s team had been put together with some of the dryad’s numerous subordinates. Arkifa was among them. I waved at her from afar while Nina and Jing left us to join them. Then I looked around for Natasha, but couldn’t see her. Instead, I sighted the green dreadlocked girl, Andrea, who was living under the same roof as Natasha—or rather, had been living. According to the necromancer, three days ago, Andrea had been provoked by some stupid elite trainee and had filled the Steel House with a thick, poison cloud, not a lethal one, but it had still affected her housemates—all except Natasha of course. The girl had since moved to an isolated house. As expected of Noah’s classmate from the Champion Institute: Andrea Sisalik’s power was not to be trifled with.

“It’s unfair,” I then said. “Every team has more than four members except ours.”

“Heh. That’s how strong we are, stupidstar.”

“I don’t think that’s the reason,” Ray suddenly said.

Caught by surprise, Noah jumped aside.

“Whoa! Since when are you here?”

Somehow, I wasn’t startled. Maybe because my core unconsciously knew where Ray was? My friend went on:

“I think we’re just not joining other big teams because they’ve put all the loners with us.”

Noah and I looked at him, quizzical. Ray pointed his chin at Styzz.

“Remember that Styzz is an elite trainee. He has no subordinate and no captain. So he’s been put with us.”

Noah ran a hand over his crimson hair.

“Now that you mention it, Electromorpheus is an elite trainee, so… Are you saying we’re taking in all the antisocial weirdos?!”

“C’mon, champ, don’t say it like you’re not one of us,” I replied, patting his shoulder.

“You won’t drag me into your sect, stupidstar.”

“I’m not antisocial,” Styzz interjected. “Antisocial people don’t play go.”

Whoa, makes sense, I thought. Noah nodded with connivance.

“Now we’re talking, Electromorpheus.”

“Call me that again and I’ll electroshock you.”

“Oh, oh, social people sure are scary.”

“Actually, I’m surprised, Styzz,” I intervened, thoughtful. “You changed a lot since I met you at school. Two months ago, you were a pesky bully, but now you act cool, like, you’re almost reliable.”

“Almost?” he echoed, and he cleared his throat, a bit embarrassed. “Well, I made some mistakes, but I’ve been training.”

Noah and I raised an eyebrow. Training? What kind of training? He specified with a stern expression:

“I realized I’m too easily influenced by others. Especially by flatterers. So I’ve been training mentally not to stoop low.”

“Oh, that’s awesome, Styzz, you’re incredible,” I said.

He flushed a bit and smiled pridefully.

“Well, I—Wait,” he snorted abruptly. “Don’t flatter me on purpose.”

Noah and I burst out laughing.

“Exc-c-cuse me,” someone stuttered with a soft voice and choked on his saliva.

Surprised, the four of us turned to a young man our age with a sallow complexion and a lime green hat on his straight, auburn hair. He coughed, cleared his throat, bowed, and introduced himself with sudden fluency:

“I’m Eder Irakoze from the Swanbell Clan of Vienna. I’ve been told to join your team.”

“The European!” I exclaimed, recognizing him. He was staying at the Music House, and he was our neighbor.

“Looking forward to working with you,” Styzz said politely.

“Hi,” Noah added.

“Welcome,” Ray and I said at once.

Eder straightened up and added very formally:

“Thank you very much. Who is the team captain?”

We looked at each other. Noah pointed at Styzz, Styzz pointed at Ray, and Ray at me, saying:

“He is.”

“I’m not!” I protested.

Eder turned to me with all seriousness.

“I am in the Keeper group. My power provides almost invulnerable protection to any object or person I touch as long as I hold my breath.”

I gaped at him, and Noah commented:

“With a power like that, shouldn’t you be in the Rescuer group instead?”

“You are wrong. Mine is indeed a rare power, but fate is cruel. In the face of action, I often run out of breath.”

“Asthma?” I asked.

“No.” He shook his head. “I’m just actionphobic.”

I smiled, confused. What kind of phobia was that? He added for me:

“With this, you know my strong and weak points. Please use them as you see fit, captain.”

“Who are you calling captain?” I coughed, annoyed.

Then I noticed that Julen Yamazaki had just stopped by our side. The psychologist and record keeper had been giving us lessons about morality, ethics, and psychology. Instead of learning about codes and laws like in the Lighting Veil’s class, he enjoyed telling us ancient stories and asking us what we would have done if we had been in the main character’s shoes. He liked to say, ‘Know yourself and you’ll be prepared’, which meant that, even though you could not foresee what you would do in a real situation, you could mentally prepare yourself for it. In short, Yamazaki was one of those people who knew how to make my mind go blank with just a couple of sentences. Still, he was one of the coolest instructors. Or so I would have thought if, during his first class, Ray hadn’t inadvertently blurted out through our necro-bond that Julen Yamazaki was a Dark Art Regulator. That meant he was the one negotiating with Makler Vod through Natasha. And that also meant he was well aware of what an undead was.

The instructor was as tall as Ray, and he looked up at Noah, Styzz, and me with a smile.

“Good morning, young ones. I’ll be your supervisor for today.”

‘Worst luck ever,’ Ray grumbled mentally.

He could say that again. Yamazaki glanced at Ray and Eder, at his eye level, and added:

“Aren’t we short one member?”

Were we? We shrugged. Who…? Then we heard a cold voice behind us:

“Sir.” Axel Sunclaw raised his gloomy eyes and glared at Yamazaki. “I don’t know who made the teams, but this is clearly a mistake.”

Holy Gods. Was Axel the missing teammate? He didn’t look at me, but his hatred was floating in the air. At his feet was advancing the small, white kompa that fed on positive feelings. The moment I saw the little creature, I forgot about Axel and crouched, grinning under my mask.

“Hello, Curry! How’ve ya been?”

Maybe remembering me, the kompa slowly approached on the tiled square as Yamazaki echoed:

“A mistake? Feel reassured, Axel Sunclaw. All members are here.”

“This is a mistake,” Axel repeated. My hand was petting Curry’s head when I felt him looking daggers at me. I stopped dead.

Yamazaki’s eyes were scanning our faces with interest, particularly that of Axel.

“I know teamwork is hard for you,” he finally said. “You don’t need to do anything special. Just follow us and act according to your conscience.”

“If I do that, I may shed blood.”

I shuddered inwardly, and I wasn’t the only one. No, wait, “blood”? So he wasn’t talking about me? Unless he still didn’t know I was an undead… Yamazaki raised an index.

“Don’t confuse your conscience with your impulses. I’m sure you don’t want your teammates to fail this mission… for you don’t want to lose to your brother.”

Axel kept silent. As expected of Yamazaki, he knew how to tame even dangerous specimens.

“And now let’s go,” our supervisor said.

As we followed him, I realized that all the teams were moving to the exit, too. As we started going down the stairs, toward the beach, I saw two boats that were already crossing the Neck, full of trainees. Though the sun was bright in the sky, thick, dark clouds were advancing from the north.

I looked over my shoulder at Axel. He had lifted the kompa and was carrying it now on his shoulders. What? Shocked by the odd sight, I lost my balance, and I would have rolled down the stairs, knocking everyone over, if two quick hands hadn’t firmly pushed me back to my step.

“Ah, thanks…”

I fell silent under Yamazaki’s kind gaze. So close… What if he sensed my deathforce somehow or…? I flinched with fear. His hands fell back.

“Oh, my. Are you guys stressed out over this mission?” He smiled. “How pure youth is. Look, if you fail, you more or less just lose one chance out of three to get a recommendation for taking the Hero exams in summer. That’s all.”

Was he trying to comfort us or just tease us? Personally, I couldn’t care more about the Hero exams, but that wasn’t the case for my teammates.

Once we reached the beach, we waited for our turn to cross by boat. I kept glancing at Curry, comfortably perched on Axel’s shoulders. Wasn’t the kompa a little heavy? It looked so to me, but maybe it was just its chubby appearance.

“Oh, instructor,” Styzz said. “You didn’t tell us yet. What kind of mission are we going to do?”

Yamazaki pinched his chin, thoughtful, as he turned to us.

“Hmm. Well, normally, we would go to a Hero Guild to choose the job, but…” He gave us a guilty smile, “I’ve already chosen an interesting request. It’s not an urgent one. Or, more like, no one up until now has been able to complete the job. So I’m counting on you guys. Oh. The boat is back. Let’s go!”

“I beg your pardon, sir,” Eder said, looking worried as we followed our supervisor, “but did you say that no one has been able to complete the job?”

“Yes. That’s what I said.”

“A difficult job, huh? I like the sound of it,” Noah smirked. “How much does it pay?”

Yamazaki cocked his head to one side, amused.

“It depends on your performance.”

As we got on board, I noticed that a team had fallen behind and was going down the stairs only now. It was Cesarine’s team.

“Is it okay if we wait for them?” the boat driver asked.

“Please do,” Yamazaki replied cheerfully.

I glanced at the psychologist, wondering what kind of job could have caught his attention. When Cesarine’s team went aboard accompanied by the Lightning Veil, I met Zeeta’s gaze and smiled at him with my eyes. He stopped beside me and asked shamelessly:

“Can I switch teams?”

“…! You can! Come!” I said, excited at the prospect.

From Cesarine’s side, Katya cast him a deadly look, and Zeeta grimaced.

“I get the impression that I’ll be ripped apart by a demon if I do.”

“Who is a demon, you insolent fool!” Katya replied murderously.

“Well, it’s rude to say that you want to abandon your team,” Yamazaki interjected. “That said, Lizzie, it’s true that your team has ten members, and mine only six.”

The Lightning Veil frowned slightly.

“True. However, Cesarine Lovecryce’s protection is a top priority.”

“I’m sure there are already competent bodyguards for that waiting in town. Leon Sakamoto has just good hearing, right?”

As the boat set off, Ray’s mom and the Dark Arts Regulator looked at each other in silence, both with calm expressions. Then Yamazaki’s lips went up.

“I just had a wonderful idea.”