The Devil’s Assembly, Diaboli Conventus.

“So, I’m a part of your group now?” I asked.

“Kuh Kuh! Yes!” the crow guy said. His ‘kuh’s were getting rather annoying. “Though we can’t do it officially yet. You’re set for the most part. All the thirteen seats are yet to convene, so you can only join officially once we are all here.”

I nodded at the crow’s words. “So, do I have to live in this cave forever now?”

“No? Did you dislike my class that much?” Isabella chimed in. “We’ll be going back to school and pretend nothing happened. Do you think anyone can get away with kidnapping Agriche Students? The faculty would flip the earth to find you two had I not been in touch with them.”

That sounded about right. Despite being a school, Agriche Academy could be called one of the greatest powers in the world on par with great guilds and Hunter Associations all over the world. Not because of its authority in matters of international concerns, but because of the people and resources it had with itself. Many have tried and failed to mess with Agriche time and time again, and these people were surely smarter than that.

“Of course,” Damian spoke up. “You’re also going to spy on Agriche for us. There are many people and resources in there that we can use. You’ll get them for us.”

I was wrong.

“Use? What are you gonna use Agriche’s people for?”

“Well,” the crow mask shrugged. “We are a crime syndicate. We kill... no, we blackmail and sometimes kill... actually, we do anything for money. You never know when we’ll need something.”

Fuck.

These guys were worse off than I thought.

“Well... why do you even need me? Don’t you have a teacher in Agriche?” It was important to draw some borders here. I didn’t want to risk them sending me into death’s embrace before I could protect myself. “It’ll be troublesome if I am caught, and I also won’t have access to anything that a teacher can’t get.”

In the first place, how did they even plant a teacher in Agriche?

“Isabella’s pretty useless there, you know?” The doctor woman answered my question this time. “We wanted her to infiltrate the rankers and the International Awakener’s Association. Those old coots sent her here to limit her influence and keep her in check. She’ll probably get chewed out like anyone for keeping you two away for these two days.”

{These guys’ politics run deeper than I could’ve imagined}

Knowing more about how these things were working brought my attention to the other important thing. “What about Kristina then? What does she have to do with all this?” I asked, remembering my ruby-eyed classmate.

“Right!” Damian said. “We’re killing her, Isabella. No witnesses, we can’t break that rule.”

Isabella Ahlgrim clicked her tongue and shot to her feet. “Dumb bastard, I keep telling you! She has great potential! If I teach her, I can mold her into a powerful tool.”

Kill her, already? Didn’t they just say that would cause them a lot of trouble? Did they have countermeasures in place, or were they being stupid? With the threat pointing at my neck gone, I could see this group and the current situation from a broader viewpoint.

And the scale was absurd.

To kidnap two students so casually from one of the most important places on earth. Having someone like Isabella Ahlgrim, one of the world’s top rankers in their ranks...

Just what kind of group had I entangled myself with? What ungodly troubles will these people land me in?

Just what kind of ways could I use them? What unreachable paths will this group open for me?

“Isabella, you’ll probably get too frustrated and drop her into a volcano or something. Just don’t bother with it.” The doctor woman spoke up.

“No way, are you stupid!?” Isabella snapped back. “And anyway, she’s a student! You’re not touching my student. I will raise her well, and I guess I’ll teach this other one a few tricks too.”

“Not a few. He’ll be one of us! You should at least teach him enough to stand against an S-Rank, Kuh!”

“That’s just plain crazy, no way. Not happening. I don’t wanna risk it with this crazy bastard.”

The mood was constantly heating up in here.

The options for Kristina were to either let them fight and see who wins or to die. I pursed my lips and looked around the room to see the muscular guy staring at me. He met my eyes for a few seconds and nodded, as if understanding my intentions and saying I should intervene.

In the end, I could only sigh. I slowly raised my voice and interrupted their fight.

“Um, I’ve got an idea,” I said.

“Hm? What?”

***

Tired footsteps reverberated in the hallways of the lowest floor of the awakener course’s building. The sounds of crickets chirping and the songs of the nocturnal birds mixed with the thuds of the footsteps.

The haggardness made my mind run in all directions except the one I needed to be looking at.

I passed by the passageways that I had seen three days ago inside the awakener course’s building. It was my first time in this place in the dead of the night. To my surprise, there were no automated lights and the dark of the night filled the place.

“Well...” A sweet voice rang out from behind me. I turned to meet eyes with a beautiful girl, her ruby-red eyes curved low and her slick hair exhausted. “Whatever the fuck just happened, huh?” Kristina Steitz said, not stopping her feet.

“Tell me about it,” I muttered back and turned my eyes away. Both of us were rather intent on getting out of the place, so we didn’t slow our pace at all.

Soon, the gates of the building entered our sight. My mouth lifted into a slight smile on its own as I kicked my feet faster. Kristina did the same, following behind me. Our hurried steps turned into jogs and before we knew it, we were running out of the gates.

I spread my arms outward and giggled as I jumped past the door and felt the moonlight graze against my skin. The smell of fresh air with no mold or moss, the feeling of freedom from the wide, wide world.

Both Kristina and I relished the feeling of freedom. It lasted only a few seconds before wearing off, and we were again on the road away from the building with drooping shoulders.

Neither of us were heading toward our dorms, but rather taking the deserted path that led to the central areas of the campus.

The reason was simple. We were too damn hungry.

As we continued on the narrow road, Kristina’s voice reached my ears again.

“Hey,” she said. “Thanks.”

“No, I am sorry. I was too rude when I took that doctor hostage.”

I felt bad about it. Not too much, just a little.

“No, don’t worry about that.” Kristina shook her head. “I would have never gotten out if not for you.”

“Right...”

We continued walking ahead.

“Guess...” Kristina said. “We’re now a part of a crime syndicate, huh?”

My eyes got bored with the pavement below and slowly turned up, further above the streetlights illuminating the path and toward the night sky. The twinkling stars sprinkled on the black canvas above me looked strange. As if inviting me in, to go beyond the stars. As if mocking me, to stay beneath them.

With my gaze stuck above, I replied.

“Guess we are...”