“Stop! In the name of Balmetta’Ikarah!”

A commanding voice loudly barked from behind me, clearly directing the order in our direction as we unsuccessfully tried to disappear into the crowd. I looked at the people around us, noticing all their eyes turn in our direction with an expectant look displayed on each of their faces.

What a mouthful, I can’t believe the guard actually said that so fast without biting his tongue. The four of us gave up on trying to blend in with the crowd, and took off at top speed with Ella gripped in my arms despite my recent discovery of the agility-enhancing effects of her magic. I tried to talk her into running with us, but she argued against my plea, saying it was love that compelled her, not magic, and she could only do it when she needed to get closer to me. Whatever... I didn’t have time to argue, and she’s not that heavy anyway.

“Soldiers of Balm’ak! Capture the Chosen One’s group, they are likely assassins sent by the Zoi archbishop!”

The guard shouted from behind us to his men, jumping to ridiculous conclusions as the sounds of rattling armor indicated their clumsy pursuit. I kept myself just behind Grace and Brook, making sure they didn’t leave my sight as we darted between various structures and the seemingly never-ending supply of guards throughout the city. The bunny-eared girl slowed as we quickly neared the edge of the city, matching my pace.

“The gate.”

Grace was looking up at the largest obstacle standing in our path; the massive wall that, I’m assuming, surrounds this entire city. Of course, the large front gate was closed to bar our path, though I don’t really see much of a problem, mostly because the buildings around it were large enough stepping stones for us to leap over it entirely. We veered off into a narrow alley to avoid a small group of soldiers with white bows and arrows lit with a blue flame that had emerged from one of the roads front of us, forcing us to change our route.

The sound of our feet striking the hard ground reverberated through the alleyway, drowning out the noises of the soldiers’ futile pursuit as our escape became visible. Our fleeing halted next to a linen shop as we came upon the monstrous structure that protected this city from whatever nightmares lurked outside, and kept those not allowed to leave inside. The four of us looked up it’s smooth, grey surface for a couple of seconds, trying to take in the ridiculous magnitude of this wall as we searched of the easiest way up.

I looked to my right, then my left, then back at the barrier whose top was not visible from where we stood feeling slightly irritated. Damn it...

“No buildings reach over three stories.”

Ah... please don’t look at me like that... I have no idea what I’m supposed to do. Brook spoke from my right, stating the issue at hand while looking at me with big, hazel eyes filled with expectation, and a little bit of admiration. She may not say it, but her expectations of me are way out of my reach. Although, I guess it’s only natural to have such a high regard after seeing me do all these ridiculous stunts, but I can’t always do things like that on command. So far I can only manipulate the world around me when I get really mad, though it’s probably some kind of subconscious reaction, like fight or flight, or arous-ah... you get the picture.

I chuckled nervously as the other two joined Brook in looking to me for answers I didn’t have yet, and causing the pressure on the air around me to grow exponentially more intense. I suppose Brook and I could carry the other two on our backs while occasionally puncturing holes in the wall to create hand or footholds, but if the wall gets out of reach near the top, we or the person we’re carrying might die. I suppose I could just dig through the wall, but if it’s harder than I estimate, and it takes a while to dig the tunnel, then soldiers may block the entrance and shoot us with those magically-enhanced arrows. I have no idea what their weapons are capable of here, but I’d rather not find out the fish-in-a-barrel style. I suppose we could just ask Grace leap to the top, and see if there’s a ladder or something up there for emergency escapes, but... is it racist to think she can jump high because she has bunny ears?

“Wait a second...”

I stepped over to the wall, slowly reaching out with my hand to touch it’s cold surface with the tips of my fingers, feeling something move inside it. Yup, if I’m not wrong, the answer to our escape lies directly within our greatest hinderance... how fortunate.

“Grace... you wouldn’t happen to know what’s inside this wall, would you?”

The Bunny-girl looked at me blankly for a moment, almost unresponsive to the question, but eventually answered with a slow nod.

“As far as I know, it should be water. Mages that can control water are decently common, and good for wall defense, but the less skilled ones need a source of water to manipulate, so they probably made the wall capable of collecting rainwater.”

Nodding my thanks, I looked down at Ella, then Brook, measuring her level of endurance for a couple of seconds, then the up at the dark clouds starting to form overhead before finally turning to the bunny-girl, who’s expression betrayed her confusion.

“Grace how well can you deal with heat?”

I asked aloud, a plan starting to form in my mind as she looked at me with a curious gaze, nodding with no small amount of suspicion.

“I should be fine even if I were to stand in a flame if it wasn’t too ridiculous... why?”

I nodded in recognition of her confirmation, and turned away, placing Ella’s feet on the ground and walking away before she had a chance to grab hold, toward the linen shop next to us. My feet thudded against a few wooden steps as I approached, and peered through the window just to the right of the door. I noticed no one was visible inside, and there was no stirring in the air larger than a couple of insects, so I figured it was safe to assume there were no living threats, and backed away.

While the three girls watched intently, I shifted my attention to the very solid wooden door that led inside, jiggling the metallic handle with a light rattling sound. Locked. I shifted my stance so my right arm faced the door, gripping the small metal handle tightly with my left hand while bracing myself.

“Wai-“

The bunny-eared girl realized my intentions, and tried to stop me, but was too late since my body was already hurling itself at the door. The sound of splintering wood was music to my ears as the door gave way to the store inside, however, the sound of the following explosion was much less pleasant, and sent me rocketing back out of the small store. Looking not unlike a bolt of lightning, I shot straight through the concrete-esque backside of the building opposite of where I was previously standing, and collapsed half the structure on top of me.

Ow. I lay still for a moment, remembering the many applications of magic in this world, and noting that trespassing was considered a capital crime here. I let out a small sigh before slowly pushing myself up, letting the rubble clatter off me while looking over at the entrance I had just been ejected from, holding my treasured hat close to my chest protectively.

“What kind of moron are you? Magic traps are common knowledge, and behind pretty much every locked door you will ever run into, yet you just flung yourself straight into one without any prior preparations. You should real...ly...”

Grace started to scold me for my stupidity, but paused mid-sentence, staring in awe at my face as if I had just started growing a second nose. I looked back at her in confusion for a little while, trying to figure out what had captivated her, but then remembered there were no other humans on this world, and my appearance, while subtle at first glance, was definitely unnatural here.

Soldiers shouted from somewhere off to my right, some of them likely hearing all the commotion, and are heading over at top speed in our direction. I placed my hat firmly on my head, and stood up straight, dusting myself off before starting off back towards the store feeling slightly embarrassed.

“We’ll talk later.”

I spoke as I passed them before immediately entering the store, my eyes instantly looking around for what I needed to make my plan work as silence reigned supreme once again. It seems this store makes not only clothes, but just about everything that includes some kind of cloth, such as bedsheets or just regular, unused cloth. I noticed several things while looking around, namely a blue hoodie-like thing that matched my pants, and had two solid black stripes running from the right shoulder to the left hip. I quickly put it on, setting my hat to the side for a moment so I could pull it over my head, before quickly placing it back where it belonged after covering my exposed chest. I could instantly feel some of my self-confidence flowing back to me now that I no longer have to run around with only my hat and a pair of pants to cover myself.

“How disappointing...”

While admiring my new jacket, Ella muttered to herself, staring at me with a disapproving gaze as the previous look of admiration disappeared from her face. She probably wants something else to wear as well, since that nightgown is far too revealing for public travel, and likely pretty cold from the looks of it.

“I don’t get to see Ash’s chest anymore...”

What the hell... that’s her reason? I once again assumed the losing role of the battle with my own self-consciousness, deciding to ignore the comment under pain of further embarrassment at her slender hands. I straightened myself before habitually placing my left hand on the brim of the familiar cowboy hat that tightly hugged my head, calming my mind.

I noticed Brook’s gaze directed intensely at something behind me, a certain spark in her eyes that felt surprisingly nostalgic to me, and I instantly realized what she was looking at. I turned to face the plethora of women’s clothes that lay spread out just past the much smaller men’s section, and gestured resignedly with my right hand.

“If you need it, get something to wear.”

“Well, I don-“

”Ella, you need it. You two may get something as well if you see something you like, but make sure it’s subtle enough to avoid attention on the open road.”

Of course she would protest to dressing decently, it was stupid of me to think otherwise. I sighed as the elf-girl nonchalantly skipped past me while humming a bright tune to herself, while Brook followed close behind her with a slightly embarrassed, but still excited feeling surrounding her despite the unchanging expression she wore. Grace stood in place for a moment, watching the events unfold from the open doorway as dark clouds began forming in the sky behind her, blocking out the early morning rays of sunlight.

I secretly smiled to myself as Ella rifled through a large assortment of different clothes, occasionally picking something up for either herself or Brook enthusiastically. I can only hope they heard my request for subtlety, since I’m hoping to avoid any more unfortunate encounters, but the largest problem when it comes to attention, is still me. Cowboy hats are apparently very abnormal in this world, not to mention my human features that display my alien heritage for all to see, but that can be easily hidden with a hat or hood.

I stepped over to the front counter, and dug my hand into my right pants pocket while still deep in thought, pulling out the three gold coins Ella had given me when we went shopping earlier. I weighed them for a moment, feeling the the cold of the metal against my skin as my eyes traced the small castle engraved on the clean surface, and noticed the word Moria written just below it. If I’m not mistaken, Moria is one of the gods the people of this world worship, and I’m pretty sure Grace is some kind of “Chosen One” for this particular god... though, I could be wrong.

A memory flashed through my mind as I tried to keep everything straight, one of my dad sitting at a small wooden table across from me, his hands rubbing his creased forehead in befuddlement. His hat was pushed up in a ridiculous manner as the old man’s eyes stared at a white sheet paper in front of him, which I recalled as being my math homework.

I had spent about twenty minutes relating to him the math formulae my teacher had described to me just over an hour beforehand, but my hope of receiving help had already faded to almost nothing when I saw his growing frustration. Finally, he gave in, slamming his palm against the table in resignation before slumping back into the wooden chair beneath him, the air he was holding in his lungs now released through a series of deep breaths.

‘I give up. This shit’s flying way too fast for me to catch.’

I had to stifle a laugh as the memory faded back into the deep recesses of my mind, understanding exactly how my dad must have felt at that moment. This ways of this world are all common knowledge to the people around me, but I still have yet to learn the currency, much less the politics, laws, cultures, and historic background, not to mention the ever-present magic that influences all the above, and plenty more. I like to understand my surroundings better so I can at least get a grasp of what I’m supposed to do, but this world doesn’t seem to function solely on logic, and learning everything about it will take time, which is something I don’t have at the moment.

“The Moriaki Vel. Surely you’ve at least heard of that, right?”

The bunny-eared girl interrupted my thoughts, stepping up next to me with the soft dignity her name implies, and looking down at the small coins in my palm. I shook my head, hearing the sound of Ella giggle at Brook’s shyness off to my left before insisting she try on one of the outfits in her hand. I turned to face away from the pair, placing the coins on the counter with a faint clatter before turning my attention to the confused Grace. Yeah... I must seem like an absolute moron. Ah, well... I’ll explain myself later, when we are comfortably on our way to... um...

Shoot, I have no idea where to go from here, and asking for directions is no longer an option until we are far away from this city and it’s inhabitants. Even then, I’m sure we will become wanted criminals for murdering a nobleman, not to mention Grace is pretty famous from what I’ve gathered, so hiding in plain sight with those massive bunny ears will be all but impossible.

“That’s my home-or... was my home. I need to get back to the man living there before he hears about the Balmetta’Ikarah’s death, and beseeches Moria to remove his blessing from me. The only problem is I can’t use navigation magic, so I was hoping the three of you could help me. You did say you would help me any way you can, right?”

Grace asked, looking almost desperate as she did, but I had gotten a little lost after the tongue twister, and was still trying to figure out what she wanted. I gave up on trying to mentally pronounce the noble’s name, and turned my thoughts to the navigation magic she mentioned. I paused, remembering how Ella had directed me to this city a few day earlier, and, making a rather logical assumption, figured that must be navigation magic.

I nodded in response, stepping away from the counter before slowly making my way to the shattered doorway and the world outside.

“I said I’d help you in any way I can, and I have every intention to follow through.”

I took a step out on the wooden deck, hearing several drops of rain tap the brim of my hat, and feeling the air turn cold as the ominous dark clouds overhead blanket the world below it in dark shadows.

“I think Ella is familiar with the navigation magic you mentioned, so that shouldn’t be a problem.”

The sound of rattling armor and alarmed shouts indicated the soldiers’ approach from the street to my left, likely spotting the damaged building across from us. The girls, who had finished changing, came up behind me, following closely as I stepped down off the front deck, and into the road, facing the wall.

“Ella, do you think you can heat up the water inside the wall really fast?”

I directed my question at the elf, who nodded enthusiastically in response with a proud smile spread boldly across her face, immediately taking a step forward while holding her hands up in front of her.

“Don’t know why, but if that’s what my hubby wants!”

Ah... please don’t call me “hubby”

... it sounds...

A deafening clap mixed with the sound of warping metal followed by a shroud of scalding hot steam slammed into us, forcing me to step protectively in front of Ella and the others, holding on tightly to my hat. The gas whipped past us, thoroughly drenching every inch of our bodies, and sending several large chunks of metal flying through the air, some of which I had to swat away from our group.

A few seconds passed before the momentum of the steam died down, the sound of the soldiers’ pursuit coming to a halt, either out of shock, or had simply been blown away. The shroud slowly lifted as the rain began to pour down from above, revealing a twisted metal hole in the wall large enough to fit a three story building through. Steam steadily flowed from the second improvised exit we had made today as we stared through the opening to world just outside, the shock evident on the girls’ faces.

That went surprisingly well.