Aias: from a world of kaijus to a world of fantasy and magic

"My lady, we have a situation."

"Yeah, I could see that."

"My lady?"

Confused by what I meant, I pointed out the window and said. "I could see them over there."

Looking out the window, I saw Aria wave at me, so I waved back.

"Blake, it's you!!! How are you doing?!!"

"Good, how about you?"

"Good. If you're not busy, why don't you come down and hang out with us?"

Hearing Aria's suggestion, I got glares from my brother, Edwen, Isaac, and Serell.

I have so many questions right now. How are they here? Why did it take this long for Clare to inform me that they were here? Aren't they supposed to come here later today or early tomorrow?

No, for now, I need to figure out what is going on first.

"Sorry, I can't; I'm busy today."

"Then how about tomorrow morning?"

"That seems fine."

Smiling at my answer, she then asked where we would meet, and I told her the adventurer guild would be a nice place, mostly because I would have Emma by my side should anything happen.

With that settled, I drew my head back inside and turned to speak to Clare.

"I can't risk Eric seeing you with me, so we'll need to head to the adventurer guild separately."

"Yes, Lady Rita."

After putting on my gear, I left the inn first, with Clare following about ten minutes later. On my way to the adventurers' guild, I deliberately took a longer route than my usual, mainly so Clare and I would meet up inside the adventurer guild roughly at the same time.

Entering the guild through the main entrance, I scan through the crowd of newbie adventurers in a really long line, waiting to turn in quests in the reception area for my brother and his companion, but fortunately, I don't see them in the crowd.

Going up the staircase to the third floor, I saw Emma standing in the hallway waiting for me, with Clare next to her, who entered through the back entrance for guild employees.

Emma opened the door and ushered us inside before shutting it behind us. Then, pulling out the noise-canceling magical device from a drawer and feeling her turn it on, I turned to her and asked what exactly had happened."

Sighing, like she was exhausted, "I'm still piecing it together, but the person I sent to monitor them outside the village was discovered and knocked out by your brother, Lady Rita."

"That is unfortunate. I presume Clare already told you that I've encountered them."

"Yes, I have."

"I'm going to meet with them tomorrow here, so could you have Cade keep a really close eye on Mila so she doesn't leak out my other alias, Nyx, and so does everyone else that knows me by Nyx. Also, just to make sure, could you change my name and eye color on my guild card?"

"I'll see what I can do; it shouldn't be much of a problem."

"Okay, thanks."

Then, shifting the conversation away from our immediate problems and more toward what lay ahead, I added,

"So, do we have any plans in place to deal with them till they leave and go back home, since they already know that I am here?"

The original plan was for me to hide while my brother and his friends were in Farsbarow till they left, but that plan went up in flames when Aria spotted me in the inn I was staying at.

Again, we weren't expecting them to come to Farsbarow so early. Now, I wonder what kind of a plan they have for this eventuality, because I figure Emma and Clare would have made one. The first time I met with them was just me being really unlucky, and the second was just a coincidence. By now, they'd likely already seen the unexpected pattern and anticipated my moves, especially since I was limited in what I could do because I'd been stuck in my room all week, which left me very few options to prepare for anything.

"So… Emma? Clare? Do you two have a plan?"

Emma and Clare looked at me and at each other, and Clare said. "Yes, we have, my lady."

Following on from what Clare has said, Emma explains. "We had originally planned to send you to another village again while we plant a string of fake leads to make your brother go on a goose chase throughout town. However…"

"However, what, Emma?" Concerned when she said "however," I wondered what she meant.

"We've underestimated your brother's and his friends' capabilities."

"How so?"

"You see, the person we sent to watch over them was immediately found out a while after they left the village." Sighing, she continued, "He was one of my best spies, but they found him just like that."

"Really? That fast? ... So that means you can't keep a constant eye on them in town?"

"Yes, I can't have people watching them, or else they would be found out. At best, I do know they enter and leave town."

"That also means you can't guarantee my and Clare's safety outside of Farsbarow. Is that right?"

Well, that is going to be a problem, but it's manageable, I guess. Thinking that, Clare stepped in between my conversation with Emma. Deeply regretful, she said.

"I deeply apologize, Lady Rita, for my oversight of this. I am to blame for this due to my insistence on getting rid of Master Eric."

Hearing that, it's true that constantly sending people after them and sending them off to really dangerous places, which, surviving all that, only sharpened their abilities—leading to the situation we're in now.I, however, had a strong gut feeling that it wouldn't have mattered much because, from my encounters with them, it's practically like fate that we would constantly meet with each other.

So with that in mind, "No, Clare. I doubt much would change, even if you had done things differently."

"Lady Rita, but I—"

"No buts, Clare. You and I know that encountering my brother and his friend is a coincidence at best, but someone pulling the strings at worst, because it's just unnatural for me to meet with them this many times when we are trying to get away from them."

Seemingly moved by my statement, Clare stopped talking and looked down at her hands, which were tightly holding her uniform, and let go, seemingly reassured that I didn't blame her.

"Okay, Clare, enough about me for a bit; let's talk about you. I can't let my brother find you. I think it is best if you stay in our room for the time being."

If my brother found Clare, I doubt she would be in immediate danger, but it would make the situation we are in much, much more complicated.

Knowing Clare, she already made plans for me, but I have doubts that Clare would make contingency plans for herself, focusing more on me than herself.

I was proven right when Emma asked. "Clare, what is your plan on that? I assume you made one."

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"No, I have not, Ms. Emma. There is no need for concern for me, since our priority is protecting my lady."

"So you don't have one?"

"Yes, that is correct, though I do have a contingency plan if I am ever captured and used to find my lady."

What??? If I know what she means, and I do, that is really extreme.

"Clare, no, I can't have that. Care about your own safety, as well as mine. Don't do something that drastic."

Telling her that and showing that I did not want her to kill herself if she was ever captured under my expressionless face, where she was the only one who could read me, I, in turn, read her and felt that she wanted to argue her case, but from what she could tell from my thoughts, that this wasn't for discussion.

"Yes, Lady Rita, I apologize."

Bowing her head, I turn back to Emma and internally sigh, because why was Clare always like this, especially now? I don't want her dead. I value her as a companion, and the thought of her killing herself for me is something I would not allow.

As I thought that, Emma spoke up, suggesting. "How about Hutch's shop?"

"Hutch's shop?" What's that got to do with anything?

Looking slightly awkwardly away, Emma said. "Umm… you know why, do you?"

I know why. Oh… right. I guess that would work. Have Clare cross-dress as a guy like me.

Clare, also catching on to what Emma meant, nodded. "That is an excellent idea, Ms. Emma."

"I'd guess that would work, but how about Clare's coworkers?"

Proceeding to work on a cover story for Clare, we came up with the alias of Clive, her cross-dressing persona. As part of her cover story, we plan to tell her coworkers that she will be on leave for a while due to family circumstances, and Clive is temporarily transferred from a neighboring adventurer guild to fill in not just for Clare but also Mable as well.

Because Mable's sister, Mila, would cause a massive problem in our plan since I can't just tell her to call me Blake, we arranged for her and Mable to be sent away with a pair of tickets to an all-expenses-paid, week-long luxury spa far from here.

Sorry, Mable, but you have to endure your sister for a while for my sake, since Mila would definitely jump on the opportunity to have some more sibling bonding time with Mable.

After discussing all that, it was getting dark, and I went back to our inn alone, with Clare staying in the guild for the night, in a small bedroom down in the basement that Emma or Cade typically use when there is too much work for them to go home.

Back in my room in the inn I'm staying at, I took off all my gear and sighed out loud. This is the first time in a while that I didn't have Clare with me tonight. It honestly feels weird not having her around, but I have to make do. So, taking a bath, I went downstairs for dinner, and later returned to my room to brush my teeth before finally going to bed.

Waking up the next morning, I felt the warm morning light on my skin. Groggily, I got up and yawned, and prepared for the day, but without Clare's help.

Then, putting on my gear, I went downstairs, ate some breakfast, and headed straight to the adventurer guild.

There I entered and saw that it was as crowded as usual at this time of day, with newbie adventurers crowding the quest board to see which quest to take and waiting in long lines to enter them.

Instead, contrary to what they are doing, I ignore all that and go to the staircase to meet up with Emma and Clare before scanning the crowd for my brother or his friends, especially Aria, mostly because I really didn't want to see her.

As I walked up the stairs, I heard the door open to the adventurer guild, which didn't really catch my attention till…

"Blake!! Is that you?"

I heard a voice from someone I didn't want to hear. I should have expected it. No, I did expect them to come, but I really didn't want to see them right now.

Taking a deep breath, I control my mana and turn my eyes blue. I turned to face her and looked back to see Aria once again, and only her for some reason. Where is everybody?

"Oh, Ar— I mean, Ilesha, it's good to see you."

Pretending to catch myself from saying her real name, I walk down the stairs to greet her and look around a bit to see if I missed them, and I confirm that they weren't here with her.

"Good morning, Blake. I didn't expect to see you here so early."

"Good morning to you, too. I could say the same."

"Really?"

"Yeah, but I don't see your party anywhere. Did you come here alone?"

Nodding up and down. "That's right, I came here a bit early. They should be here in a while, but I don't know how long because they are really dragging their feet about it."

"Is that so?"

"Yep, they don't seem to like you very much," She pouted as she said that, to which I responded.

"Oh, I see, but that makes sense because our first meeting did not exactly get off on the right foot."

"You could say that."

"I know, maybe with time, they could get to know me better and we'll all get along."

Smiling in response as I said that, no longer in a grumpy mood, I got most of the information I needed for now on why she was here early. I excused myself because I needed to go and talk to Emma and Clare, who were waiting for me.

"If you would excuse me, I have a meeting with the guild that is about to start. If you don't mind waiting a bit, I should be done with it shortly."

"Oh, I see. Then I'll be waiting then."

Excusing myself, I proceeded to walk upstairs again, straight toward the third floor, where Emma was waiting for me in the hallway like yesterday.

"Good morning, Nyx. Clive is waiting inside."

"Good morning, but do you have my adventurer guild card ready?'

Shaking her head, "Unfortunately, no, I wasn't able to get one ready in time; however—"

Presenting me with something she pulled from her pocket, she revealed a silver-colored tag etched with my information—altered with my new name and eye color to match my current alias, Blake.

"I got this. Fortunately, we still have some dog tags lying around from before we switched to the adventurer guild card."

Giving it to me, I took it and said, "Thanks, this will work just fine. Anyways, we should make this quick; I saw Aria downstairs."

"Oh, she's here. That is unfortunate."

"Yeah, let's go in now; I said I'll be quick about it."

After Emma and I stepped inside and I closed the door behind us, I noticed someone already in the room. At first glance, he was a man with long white hair tied into braids, dressed in a blouse layered with a vest, slacks, and a scarf. His face struck me as oddly familiar—then it clicked. This was Clare, now appearing as Clive.

"Ah, good evening, Lady Rita. How do I look?"

In a low, masculine voice, I was shocked that Clare could change her voice like that, sounding and talking like a completely different person. And in combination with what she was wearing, Clare looked like a completely different person.

Already sensing my thoughts, Clare smiled a bit, mostly satisfaction at having impressed me, from what I could tell, and amusement at fooling me for a moment with her disguise.

"You've looked like a completely different person; you've done a really good job on it. But out of curiosity, how did you manage to change your voice like that?"

Asking that question, I'd sense Clare's eagerness to tell.

"With this, my lady."

Unwrapping her scarf from her, I saw bandages wrapped around her throat, and she then explained with much enthusiasm.

"Ms. Hazel has taught me a lot during my limited time in her store. It also includes changing the pitch of my voice to be much lower."

Hearing her gradually change her voice back to her real voice, albeit slightly different with the bandage wrapped around her throat, I was truly impressed that she had learned that skill in such a short amount of time.

"Huh… that's really impressive, Clare."

After telling her that it was really amazing, Emma and Clare began filling me in on their revised plan, with the nicks ironed out last night. Clare would just work as a substitute librarian to fill in for Mable, so we didn't have to deal with the potential of one of her coworkers finding out.

I just have to deal with them for around a week before they have to go back home, since the start of the fall semester at the Royal Academy is about to begin in half a month from now.

This means we have to keep them busy for that week and waste their time with a string of fake leads, ones that Clare would personally provide.

Personally, I didn't want Clare to be near them, but the plan Clare and Emma set up was already in motion, and telling her to stop here would make our… no, my situation worse.

So, with all that in mind, our meeting ended, and I left the room to go downstairs to meet up with Aria again.

Walking downstairs, I saw Aria patiently waiting by the corner, where there weren't too many adventurers. I was about to say sorry for making her wait till I felt some gazes, 4 in total, filled with envy, directed toward me, so I turned my head and looked in that direction.

I saw my brother, Edwen, Issac, and Serell glaring at me by the crowded quest board.

Ignoring them, I walked up to Aria and said. "Sorry for the wait."

"It's no problem, so how was your meeting?"

"It went fine, but…" Turning my head to face everyone else at her party, I ask. "What did you have in mind for today?"

"Umm… Let's see, we're… doing some quest to earn some money, if that's fine with you. I don't know what quest we're doing since Serell usually decides our quest. So you should ask him."

"Oh, I see. I'll—"

"There's no need."

Cutting me off, Serell stepped into our conversation and continued, "For you to come with us, we don't really want to waste both of our time."

A moment of silence paused between us as he coldly glared at me, while I didn't react under my expressionless face, till Aria placed her hands on her hips, displeased by what he had said to me, so she said to him.

"Serell, that's rude. He even took the time to hang out with us. You should apologize."

Under Aria's disapproving gaze, in a manor familiar to a red-haired mage, his cold persona cracked, and he begrudgingly apologized to me in a very tsundere way.

After accepting his apology, I then asked. "So, what quest are we doing?"

"We're doing a C-rank iron tusk boar extermination mission. It's around the time of year they come down from the mountains to prepare for the winter, and it's our job to get rid of them. We'll get a large bronze with each kill, plus another large bronze for each tusk you bring back."

"I see. If that is all, then let us go then."