In moderately lit room, there were five large chairs that surrounded a large round table. Five hooded members sat in those five chairs and each member wore different colored cloaks and had similar diamond shaped insignias on the collar of their cloaks.

“Now that we all have gathered…” A member with a red hooded cloak spoke. "You may begin, please."

“Yes… well, news that head of the Organization has passed.” Another member with a blue hooded cloak said as he cleared his throat.

“Nonsense. Old man Silias? Clearly, there must have been some mistake. Are you certain?” The member with a green hooded cloak commented.

“Yes, but by who?” A member with a yellow hooded cloak questioned.

“Witnesses have yet to confirm the certainty of the death, but they did say that they had help from the outside.” The member with a purple hooded cloak revealed.

“Impossible.” The green member argued, “An outsider? Are you suggesting that Silias's death had been planned beforehand? That can’t be.”

There was a commotion between the green, yellow, and purple members. The red member had pounded his hand loudly on the round table to silence them.

“That’s enough. We cannot confirm any of this information just yet. Further investigation must be had before a conclusion can be reached. In any case, there are more important matters to discuss. We should not fuss over this with pointless bickering. If any of you who would like to discuss about this shall take this outside.”

None of the other members spoke.

“Good. Now, if there are no further comments on this… you may continue.”

The blue member cleared his throat.

“…Right. Well, other than Silias’s passing… who shall be the next head of the Organization?”

“Who is the next in command?” The red member inquired.

“I believe that would be Master Ellis.” The blue member replied.

“Then he shall be the new leader of the Organization. Any disagreements?”

None of the members had raised their hands nor was there a sound from anyone.

“Good. Now then…”

“Might I ask why you nominated him as a candidate? Clearly there are other Masters at the Organization who could work better.” The purple member interrupted as he raised his hand.

“I believe Master Ellis has a better understanding than Silias would ever have. So far, all Silias has done nothing to benefit us. Although Silias has attempted to make an effort, I’ve always felt that he lacked the necessity of understanding the situation at hand.”

“And the rumors of the Organization and Silias? Shall we investigate this matter?” The yellow member asked.

“I’ll leave that up for you to decide.”

“And the outsider?” The green member spoke.

“…We shall look into it another time. Now if there are no other matters that are in need of discussion, meeting adjourned.”

The five members stood up and left the conference room as they all returned to their daily routines. However, one member still remained. The blue member had stayed behind.

“There’s something I wish to ask of you.”

“Hm? What is it?” The red member asked.

“…I was wondering, even if it already has been too late to bring up. Why did you choose Silias as leader of the Organization all those years ago?”

“What do you mean?”

“His reasoning was clearly driven by purpose, solely for seeking a magic that had once been erased. The experimentation of Contracts, all of us knew how dangerous it would have been if the Contract was not completely stable. If one fails to balance the other, it would have been catastrophic. Even so, many magicians in the Organization still volunteered for the sake Silias’s research… I am to blame for all this."

"My mistake. I was not suggesting—"

“No, if it weren’t my foolishly blind decision, all those magicians should have been still alive. It was my fault, I wanted to give everyone a chance to experience things others could, but it ended up failing. And I will have to live that burden.”

“But we all made that decision as a group. There isn’t any need for who’s to blame.”

“It doesn’t make a difference. Just because I was leader, did not mean that I was the one who led us into the right choice.”

The red member gritted his teeth and gripped his hand into a fist. The blue member put his hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

“Everyone feels the responsible. There was nothing we could have done. Whatever choice we make, we will see through that it is set on the right path. To avoid the calamity.”

The blue member walked out of the room, leaving the red member alone in the empty room.

“Hey, are you awake yet?” A girl’s voice asked.

Kazuma remains motionless in bed.

“Helloooo?” The girl’s voice had asked again.

Kazuma slowly opened his eyes, and the first thing he sees is the girl’s green eyes right in front of his face. Being startled by the closeness of the person’s face, he quickly sat up till his back had leaned against the wall.

“Huh? What are you—”

Kazuma paused for a moment. Seeing that it looked like Alice with her infantile body, but it occurred to him that she looked more infantile-like, and had worn an all-white outfit instead of a white and black one.

“…You’re not Alice.”

The blond girl with green eyes and wearing a white dress smiled at Kazuma.

“Ding! Ding! Ding! Correct!”

Kazuma sighed as he scratched his head and looked around the white-walled bedroom.

“You look kinda weird. Why are you dressed like that?” She laughed at his clothes.

“Huh?”

Kazuma looked at his own clothes and realized that he was wearing his school uniform once again.

“Oh uh, well it’s kind of a long story.”

“Mistress? Where did you go?” An indistinct voice could be heard from the other side of the door.

The blond-haired girl quickly hid under the covers next to Kazuma. The purple haired maid opened the door and sees Kazuma awake. She panicked as she bowed shyly.

“Ah… I’m sorry to intrude.” She politely said.

“It’s fine. I just woke up anyways.”

“Sorry to disturb you… have you seen my Mistress? She’s always wandering off somewhere.”

“Ah, I see…”

Somehow, Kazuma is getting an idea of who the maid might be talking about.

The blond-haired girl slowly rolled the covers that were over her head to peek. The maid noticed from the corner her eye, and she pulled the covers. The girl quickly clung on to Kazuma the moment she had been found out. The maid put her hands on her hips.

“Mistress, where have you been? Do you know how long I have been searching for you?”

The girl puffed her cheeks.

“Hmph. I just want to have some fun! I never get to do anything! First, you won’t let me play outside, and then you won’t let me play with him!”

“Please don’t bother our guest here, Mistress!”

The maid pulls on the girl as she screamed and continued to cling on to Kazuma. Being pulled back and forth, Kazuma remains a victim without any clue or explanation of what was happening around him.

“Kazuma?” A familiar voice called to him.

He then directed his attention to a familiar voice. It was Alice who peeked over from the doorway as she beamed with relieve and happiness. She ran up to him and hugged Kazuma.

“You’re awake! You’ve been asleep for days! I didn’t know when you were going to wake up!”

“Has it really been that long?”

The blond haired girl that was still clinging to Kazuma puffed her cheeks jealously since he wasn’t paying any attention to him.

“No fair! I wanted to hug him too! Don’t hog all him all at once, big sis!”

Kazuma remembered the situation that he was in seconds later and looked over at Alice all confused and in need of answers.

“Care to explain?”

Alice and Kazuma both looked over at the maid and the small girl. The maid let go of the small girl, made herself look presentable and bowed to him in a polite manner.

“Greetings, I am Elizabeth. Please excuse me for my rude behavior, and all the commotion of my poorly mannered mistress.”

“It’s fine, there’s no need to apologize.” Kazuma chuckled.

“And I’m Celia. Sorry for waking you up so suddenly.” She smirked cheerfully while pulling on his clothes.

“Yeah yeah, apology accepted. So where are we exactly?”

“In my house.” Celia said.

“Huh…?”

Kazuma was a bit confused at first but at the same time, astonished to see that a girl this young of age would be the owner of this house.

“Your… house? So that would mean Elizabeth is your maid.”

“That’s right.” Cecila nodded. “Don’t worry about the minor details. But technically, Elizabeth takes care of me 24/7.”

“I see…”

“So what’s your connection with big sis?” Celia asked as she put her face close towards Kazuma’s while she stared into his eyes.

“You mean Alice?” He replied trying to keep a distance. “And why do you refer to her as ‘big sis’? Are you two somehow related?”

“I guess you can say that. I honestly don’t actually know per say… all I remember is that we were close as kids.”

Alice tugged on Celia’s white dress.

“Don’t bother him, he’s might be still tired from the last battle.”

When Alice had said that, it reminded him of what had happened between him and the Organization’s leader, Silias.

(Now that you mention it…)

Kazuma started to remember bits and pieces of what had happened before he blacked out.

“Is something wrong Kazuma?” Alice asked.

“Huh? Oh…nothing’s wrong.”

Elizabeth tugged on Celia’s clothes as she tells her to leave the two of them alone.

“Ehhh? But I don’t wanna—”

She covered her mouth and bowed to Alice and Kazuma as they took their leave out of the bedroom.

“Excuse us.”

While Elizabeth pulled Celia out of the room, Reika left them alone as well and had closed the door. The two of them were still sitting on the bed and there was an awkward silence that filled the room.

(Ugh, why can’t I at least bring up a topic?) He awkwardly thought to himself.

“Hey, Kazuma…” Alice spoke.

“Hm?”

“Thanks. For everything.”

Kazuma smiled as he patted Alice’s head.

“Isn’t this the second time you’ve thanked me so far?”

“B-but this is more than just a thank you! Now that the Organization is no longer after me, I feel like I can do what I want with my life. You’ve helped me regain that.” Alice mumbled as she turned red.

“That’s great isn’t it?”

She shook her head and puffed her cheeks.

“That’s not it! It’s…”

Her words drifted off into a sudden silence.

“…There’s no way I can ever repay you with just a simple ‘thank you’.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“But… I’ve probably caused you enough trouble as it is.”

“Well, if it’s no problem with me, then there wasn’t any problem to begin with wasn’t there? Besides… it’s more of a blessing now that I’ve survived this far.” Kazuma said as he scratched his head.

“You’re probably right.” Alice said she got up. “Well anyways, I’ll be downstairs with Celia and the others if you need me.”

Kazuma plopped himself back on the bed the moment she leaves the room.

“Feeling comfortable?”

Looking over at the direction of the voice, he saw a familiar someone that was looking straight at him.

“I need to talk to you about something.” Edrian as he leaned against the door that closed behind him.

“Before that.” Kazuma interrupted. “What happened to me after I was knocked out?”

“Well, we moved you to a safer location right after the battle where you could recover.”

“In Celia’s house, right?”

“Well…technically speaking, it’s a mansion.”

“Wha— a mansion?!”

“Yeah. Largest homestead in the city.”

“A city…? Just where the heck am I?”

“Have you ever heard of the city of Salem?”

“Salem…?”

“Yeah. That’s where we are right now. Centuries ago, this very city where many were accused of witchcraft and banished many for using the arts of magic. That was before anyone knew that mana had even existed at all. Now its the pinnacle of all that is magic, ironic isn’t it? A city that had once feared magic now becomes it’s greatest uses.”

“Sounds kind of morbid to me.”

“Anyways, Celia’s family is pretty wealthy. And for what I know, Alice used to stay here a lot before she ended up with the Organization. But that’s not what I came to talk about. What happened with you and Silias inside the barrier?”

“Huh…? What happened to him…?”

“I guess they didn’t tell you…”

“Tell me what?”

“Silias is dead. It happened right after it ended, both of you were lying on the ground. We went over to see if you were both still alive, but only to find Silias was the only one dead. I couldn’t imagine that you were the one who killed him.”

“What…? No. That wasn’t me… that couldn’t be me.”

“Well you were the only one that was inside there after all. Do you recall anything?”

“Now that you mention it…” Kazuma began to recall. “He…”

Kazuma hesitated and gulped as began to feel shivers down his spine.

“He was killed by someone else.”

“Killed? By who? Did you see who it was?”

Kazuma shook his head.

“I don’t recall… and on top of that, it was hard to see.”

“Anything that might have stood out to you?”

“No wait… it was a bit hazy— I don’t know who though. All I know that he wore the Organization’s cloak. There weren’t any marks anywhere for sure… but he didn’t attack me, and he grabbed Silias by the neck. I remember seeing light blue eyes… that’s about it.”

(Strange… that sounds a bit like…) Edrian thought to himself.

“Edrian?”

Kazuma interrupted with Edrian’s train of thought. Edrian shook his head.

“Sorry. It’s nothing. Anyways, there isn’t enough information to confirm who it is, there could be many others in the Organization that have the same eye color, and judging by the looks of it… I don’t think there could be anyone that would be as strong as Silias.”

“So what happens now then?”

“We wait, at least. There’s nothing we can do anything about it for now. We’ll have to wait and see about it.”

“What’s will happen to the Organization now? It’ll be without a leader wouldn’t it?”

“That’s up for the High Council to decide, whether or not they will choose a new leader. Until then…”

Edrian exited the doorway. Kazuma chased after him wanting to ask him a couple more questions, but he looked over at where he took a turn, there was no sign of him. As if he had just vanished.

Kazuma shrugged since there was nothing he can do about it now. He walked down the stairs and sees Alice, Celia and a pale-skinned female with long black hair and brown eyes wearing red shrine maiden uniform sitting on a luxurious wooden sofa while Elizabeth poured them tea to drink.

Alice spotted Kazuma looking over at them and she waves to him. She scooted over and patted the sofa to signal Kazuma to sit next to her. Elizabeth poured another cup of tea and hands it to Kazuma. He sipped his tea and looked at the mansions’ interior around him. Marble kitchen counters, yellow painted walls, fancy table ware, mahogany wood tables and chairs, a sofa with gold linings and hard wood flooring. Kazuma gulped at how sophisticated and how clean the place was.

(T-This place is amazing.) He thought to himself.

Celia put down her cup of tea and looked at Kazuma who was looking around at the mansions’ interior.

“You don’t have to gawk at it.” She suddenly spoke.

“I-I wasn’t.” Kazuma jumped, almost spilling his tea.

The shrine maiden had finished, put it down the tea cup on the coffee table.

“Thank you for the tea.” She clasped her hands together with a slight bow.

She got up and walked out the door, and it wasn’t long before everyone else had finished drinking their tea as well, and Kazuma sat quietly while Alice and Celia were conversing with each other. Moments later, he found himself looking up at the ceiling as he grew more bored by the minute. While Elizabeth was washing the dishes, Alice and Celia were playing board games.

“What are you even playing?”

“Just one of the best role playing games.” Alice spoke as she rolled the six-sided die.

Kazuma looked closely at the board game that the two of them were playing. It looked really complex, and it had all these weird pieces that didn’t make any sense to him besides the cards and the six-sided die. Not understanding the game’s mechanics, he turned away and left the two of them alone to play their game.

He went back to sit on the sofa as he put his hands in his pockets. He felt a rectangular shaped object in there, and pulled it out. Realizing that his phone was in his pocket the entire time, he face palmed and then pressed the power button to turn it on. There was no response.

(Is it really out of battery?)

Kazuma tried pressing it again multiple times but there was no response. He sighed and put the phone back into his pocket.

(Well, my phone is dead. So now what?)

“Hey Alice, I should be getting home soon.”

Alice was so absorbed in the game that she was playing with Celia; she randomly just gave an answer.

“Huh? Yeah in a minute.”

Growing more bored by the minute, Kazuma walked over to the kitchen where Elizabeth was washing the dishes.

“Need any help?”

Elizabeth shook her head politely.

“There’s no need. You’re Mistress’s guest after all.”

“Well, thanks for your hospitality, but I really need to get home.”

“Why not give Mistress and Alice some time together? They haven’t seen each other for quite a long time. Mistress also gets lonely.”

Kazuma looked over his shoulder and sees Alice and Celia of how much they’re having fun together. He smiled.

“Well I guess so… but I really do have to get back though.”

Elizabeth handed a cardboard box to Kazuma.

“Then could you a quick errand for me? I need this box sent to Reika, the shrine maiden that was here a moment ago?”

“Huh? Oh. Well sure but—”

“I’m sure she’ll be able to send you back to your world.”

“R-Really? I guess there isn’t any harm in it. I’ll leave Alice in your care then?”

Elizabeth nodded.

“Yes, many thanks. Please send her my regards.” Elizabeth bowed with gratitude.

“No no, it should be me thanking you…”

Elizabeth waved as Kazuma left the mansion gates, and he spots a shrine not too far from where he stood.

“There it is.”

Kazuma walked over to the shrine that was nearby. While he was walking, there was a serene atmosphere that filled the air.

“This place is pretty quiet. It wouldn’t be a bad place to live in.”

Kazuma walked up the stone steps and looked up at the knitted pieces of paper that were tied on rope between two red pillared posts in a form of a gate. He passed through, and saw Reika sweeping the concrete floors of the shrine.

“Excuse me? Anyone home?” Kazuma called out.

She turned to where the voice called out to her and waved at Kazuma. The shrine maiden leaned her broom against the shrine’s wall.

“Are you Reika?” Kazuma asked as he gave her the cardboard box.

Reika nodded.

“Yes. Is this from Elizabeth?”

When she opened the box, a sweet and pleasant aroma was let out, and inside were white buns that were steaming.

“Meat buns?”

She shook her head.

“They’re sweet buns.”

“Sweet? You mean with cream inside?”

Upon this, Kazuma realized that he in the presence of a Shinto shrine.

“This is a Shinto Shrine? You’re Japanese?”

Reika nodded and grabbed one out of the box and offered it to Kazuma.

“Would you like one?”

“N-No thanks, I’m not hungry.”

“Please, I insist. You came a long way just to bring this to me.”

“No really, this errand only took two minutes!”

Reika did not waver, and she still insisted on letting Kazuma have a bun. Finally, he gave in and sighed as took the bun out of her hands.

The two of them sat on the shrine steps and ate their veggie buns. After they finished, they sat for a while. Kazuma suddenly stood up.

“Well since I’m already here…”

Kazuma put his hands in his pockets to see if he could find any money. He pulled out a couple of 100 yen coins and threw it inside the offering box. He clapped his hands twice and clasped them together as he prayed. He bowed and turned around as he walked down the steps.

“Now that’s done, I was told that you could send me home.”

“Eh? What about Alice? Couldn’t she send you home?”

“She’s doing other things with Cecila. Don’t worry about it.”

“Ah. Well, sure. Give me a moment to set up a teleportation spell for you.”

Reika drew a circle on the ground with enough space to keep one person encapsulated around it. She chanted a couple of words, and with her paper talismans that she flung in the air, it created a portal in which an alleyway of a metropolitan city could be seen on the other side.

Unsure, Kazuma put his hand through the portal to see if it was safe to cross through.

“Is this your first time crossing through a portal…?”

“Yeah… sorry. I’m not really used to this kind of thing.”

“An outsider, aren’t you?” Reika giggled. “Not to worry. We aren’t that different anyways. In the end, we are all just people after all. It is just a matter of perspective.”

Just before Kazuma was about to leave, he turned to Reika one last time.

“Thanks Reika, you should visit sometime!”

Reika waved as she watched him walk through the portal.

Author’s Note

Hello everyone, Saitou here. Just barely managed to squeeze in a chapter before the new year! Or for some of you, this might the first chapter of the new year. Anyways, like always thank you for taking the time to read Pact up till this point! I hope that you will continue to read later chapters. Goodbye for now!