Roland walked out of the bedroom door and was immediately going to activate [Subterfuge], but a voice froze his steps.

“Where, are you going Jake? Planning to leave us behind already?”

He turned around and saw Christina and Jessica looking at him warmly. This really confused him, since he never really recalled being nice to them or anything of the sort.

“Why are you two here? Or rather, why are you up at this hour?”

“We are coming with you Jake, believe it.” Jessica said while smiling.

“No, so bye.” Roland walked a few steps and the girls followed behind him. He stopped while turning around and glared at them.

“Stop following me girls. I’m serious.”

“We aren’t going anywhere Jake. You are stuck with us, whether you like it or not.” Christina said with a stern tone. Her lips were smiling, yet somehow her eyes weren’t and left a cold impression.

Roland started swearing internally. If it wasn't one thing, it was another with this place. There was no way he could get away from the royalty and care for two girls at the same time. He didn’t even have enough supplies for himself right now…

“Look, I really don’t want you coming along alright? Just-” Roland stopped mid-sentence when he heard a pair of metal boots walking down the adjacent hallway.

“Fine whatever. You can come with, but we need to leave NOW!” Roland pleaded with a stern whisper and started running silently.

“Don’t worry about us Jake…we can take care of ourselves just fine hehe~.” Jessica giggled and followed Roland with Christina right behind her.

“Meet me at the North gate outside of the city.” Roland said finally then activated [Shadow Step] and instantly sank into the shadows on the wall, disappearing from the girls’ view.

*Whistles* “He is pretty good with his class already, isn’t he?” Jessica said while seeing Roland disappearing.

“Yes, he certainly is.” Christina said plainly. “I wonder what he got?”

“Dunno, probably some kind of stealth type. Though it could definitely use some work.” Jessica closed her eyes halfway while analyzing what she remembered. Roland didn’t know it, but both Jessica and Christina were there when he “saved” the princess.

“Agreed. Don’t worry, we can help our little Jake grow up nice and strong~.” Christina giggled.

Both she and Jessica experienced similar things to Roland when they came over here. Except instead of fusing with another person’s soul, they completely consumed the demon’s soul that they were suppressing, thus gaining the demon’s language and skillsets.

“Race you to the gate? First one there gets to kiss him in his sleep~.” Jessica looked at Christina and taunted her.

“You are definitely on.” Christina grinned. In her eyes, both their previous world and this one could burn for all she cared. She had a feeling that Jessica felt the same way as her about this too…that the only thing that mattered was the man who was just before them…their “Jake”.

“Alright. On the count of three? One…two…” Then Christina took a step and immediately disappeared while leaving an afterimage.

“CHEATER!!!” Jessica shouted at the top of her lungs as she faded from her spot like an illusion.

***

(Later that day)

The entire class was gathered for the usual routine for breakfast. Murmurs and rumors were flying about in hushed whispers. Rumors of the assassination attempt spread like wildfire throughout the morning, and almost everyone in the castle knew about it. This continued until two double doors opened into the dining hall.

“PRESENTING HIS AND HER MAJESTY!”

The classmates immediately hushed and bowed their heads quickly. It was only proper to bow before royalty, right?

The King was about to speak when the Queen held out her hand and spoke instead. “Is everyone from your group here Ms. Beatrix?”

“No…three of my students are missing your Majesty. I have no idea where they could have gone. Please, you must help me find them! I’m so worried…” Her voice trembled near the end, just from thinking what could happen to her precious students. Her eyes were misty and threatened to spill tears any minute.

“Don’t worry, we will definitely find your students. I personally have a few questions to ask them about a certain incident that happened last night. Again…we will find him…don’t you worry.” The Queen smiled.

When Ms. Beatrix saw that seemingly nice smile, her heart sank for reasons unknown. What made her worry beyond compare, however, is what the Queen said next.

"In the name of the Costa Crown, I hereby order an Inquisition for the capture of Ms. Jessica, Ms. Christina, and Mr. Jake on grounds of: assault on a member of the royal family, attempted rebellion, and suspicions of an attempt at assassination. Dark Edge!”

Immediately, twelve servants materialized before the Queen while kneeling and heads bowed. Before the Queen said anything, they were already in the room and no one saw any trace of them.

“You twelve are to find these three missing students and bring them back alive. Do what you must, and hunt them down to the ends of the world if you have to.”

“”Yes, your Majesty!” They all replied in unison and disappeared just as quickly as they had come.

All of the students rose into a clamor at the thought of one of them attempting to kill the princess. Various boys’ faces turned ugly at the thought of Jake and company trying to harm their crush. Almost all of the boys liked the two princesses and had fallen deeply for them. Whether it was the mind magic or legitimate budding feelings was hard to determine at this point.

The girls on the other hand were worried beyond compare. They all knew Jessica and Christina and wondered where they were at. Why would their idols leave them? A painful feeling gripped everyone’s hearts in one way or another as grief, confusion and jealousy was running rampant in the crowd.

They are just kids after all huh… The Queen thought to herself silently. She closely examined the facial reactions of each of the students as well as the teacher. The uncontrolled emotions were very easy to read for a seasoned professional like herself. Like taking candy from an infant. However, something was definitely off about that teacher of theirs.

Now, we wait to see whether the fox can catch the hare. I look forward to questioning you thoroughly Jake…my daughter can’t marry just anyone after all…hahaha. With that she ordered the breakfast to come out, and strolled into the throne room while thinking about various things with a seemingly nice smile.

***

Jake exited out of the [Shadow Step] near the castle entry way while kind of tired. Due to his mana still being slightly chaotic, it was much harder to control his skills as he wanted to. Nevertheless, he used it again to get outside the castle and began walking into the small city. After the second time, he felt so drained that it was as if he ran five miles as the unfit Jake in his previous world. Roland tiredly walked through the small city and walked past many houses. He activated [Subterfuge] again while looking for various supplies for the three of them to live on for the duration of their travels.

In the end, he only found a small tent, a few copper coins, a rusted dagger, and a backpack to hold various things before the guards on patrol began to walk by his location. Guess we will have to hunt for food and water until we can properly get some supplies in the next town over…

With that thought, Jake started to run to the city’s north gate since running was much more efficient with his strength then constantly doing a [Shadow Step]. After about ten or so minutes, he finally arrived and became dumbfounded.

How did they beat me here?!

“About time you got here Jake. We’ve been waiting for about half an hour.” Christina spoke up with a smug look on her face.

“Yea slow-poke. What took you so long?” Jessica said after, equally as smug.

Half an hour…so they were here only a few minutes after I left the castle? Roland’s head started to hurt. Guess they won’t be such a burden after all…that’s a relief. Roland sighed and told them that he was gathering supplies, or rather trying to. Then he relayed his plan for resupplying in the next town briefly, before resuming their travels.

“Do you have a destination in mind Jake? You seem awfully familiar with this place…” Christina asked with some caution.

“Ok let’s get this straight now. First, my name isn’t Jake, its Roland. The Jake you knew is gone…for now. Second, I was in this world before I was dragged into your world and into Jake’s life so of course I would know a little more about it than you. Third, my plan is to go to Cape Veride down south and escape into the demon lands due west. You can come if you want, but you better pull your weight. Else I’ll just leave, got it?” Roland said with some irritation.

“I don’t think you have worry about us holding you down.” Jessica laughed heartily. They actually knew more about this world than Roland did by far after absorbing the demon’s souls, but they kept quiet. Even if he wasn’t their little Jake anymore, they still loved him dearly. They knew that something was vastly different with him, but they could see traces of the man that saved them regardless.

“Oh? Then prove it. Let’s go already, I can hear the knights catching up.” Roland look back anxiously. The two girls nodded in agreement and set off to the west at a fast walking pace. After a few minutes of walking, they noticed the military carriages start to leave the city and abandoned the road for a more concealed route in the forest that ran parallel with the road.

“Dammit, that was fast.” Roland swore. He was expecting for them to take a little longer to rally everything they needed to hunt for someone…until he saw a flag on one of the carriages that was rumbling down the road.

Immediately he pulled the girls towards him and ducked down between some foliage while activating [Subterfuge]. He recognized that flag and everything it represented.

Fuck, this is bad…that’s a flag of the Royal Inquisition. Don’t tell me that the Queen really ordered an inquisition just for this?! Roland’s mind was feeling numb after seeing the flag. Generally, an inquisition was for long time war criminals, or those with especially heinous crimes. The inquisition had the power of royalty and would chase anyone under orders to the ends of the world and back again. They could sweep through cities door by door with zero restraint and level entire villages for the sake of the hunt.

They hid themselves and held their breaths as the carriages rumbled closer and closer. Roland’s heart was beating faster and faster with each passing minute. We need to get ahead of them somehow. If they lock down the cities after this next one, forget simple supplies, we’d be hard-pressed to just stay alive with multiple cities doing patrols.

He turned to the girls and ask them a question. “We need to get and stay ahead of them if we want to remain free and not be shackled for life… any ideas?”

Jessica and Christina pondered for some time before answering. “I am a crusader while Jessica is a mage…my best movement is the [Flash Step] while hers is [Illusion Road]. What was yours anyway Roland?”

“My only usable movement skill right now is [Shadow Step]. It can instantly let me move through the shadows, however it is currently unstable. I used to be able to go up to a kilometer, but now it’s just a fraction of that distance with ten times the cost...can you take other people with your respective skills?”

Both of them thought for a moment and nodded their heads. It was curious that he said used to as if he could before in their world. “It is going to be harder, but it should be possible…never really tried it for this much distance though.” Christina looked into the distance.

“Alright then I’ll go first. Remember to stick to the forest so that we can avoid being spotted by the inquisition until they are far away.” Roland said with slight nervousness. He grabbed the girl’s hands and pulled them into the shadow world to begin their race against time. He came out only 100m away, but then Jessica took a step and a white light glowed from the bottom of her feet. They instantly appeared over 200m away and she used the skill two more times before she told Christina to switch.

Christina nodded her head and grabbed Roland and Jessica’s waist. She mumbled some words and a door appeared before them. They stood still as the door came closer and closer and eventually engulfed them, while turning their appearances clear like an illusion. Immediately, they were whisked away over 2 kilometers until they exited the door and Roland pulled the girls into the shadow world once more, thus beginning their four-legged race against time and the inquisition…