Twenty-third day of Sapta’xhar, 4044 AOT

  Mellow Out Café

  A day has passed since Azalea woke up. It was difficult for her to move around that day, mainly because she is still recovering her physical energy. Today, she regained her health and physical strength, if one would not pay attention to the bandages covering her right arm.

  Michelle Lewin, along with her friend, Catherine Cuthberg, is visiting the café again to check up on Azalea. They are having a drink in the parlor while Azalea prepares to greet them. Catherine has long blonde hair fastened in place by a butterfly hair clip. Her clear green eyes are lively and at the same time calm. She prefers wearing simple shirt and jeans.

  Lillian is busy looking after the café for the moment. They have been served their favorite fruit shake and ice coffee before heading in. The couch is arranged adjacent to each other with a coffee table in front. On the table are different magazines about fashion and culinary recipes. The wall is decorated with paintings of flowers, white lilies in particular.

  “This place feels like a secret base now.” Michelle says while putting on her glasses. She picks one of the culinary art magazines to skim on the content while waiting.

  Catherine chuckles. “Like that small tree house we had when we were young?”

  “Well, something like that… but also something more.”

  “Mhm… Yes. This place… feels kind of safe and warm.” She laughs softly. “I can still remember how excited we were when we first set foot in there. We used that tree house until high school.”

  “O-oh… right.” She takes a sip of her coffee. “It was the tree between our houses, so we often spent our free time there. We also played with your younger brother when your two older brothers ditch him to play with their own group of friends.”

  “This gives quite the nostalgic feeling.” She chuckles sweetly but then her smile faded. “I thought you’d attend a local college and take business management. But you suddenly decided to study culinary arts abroad. It was so sudden, you didn’t even tell me where you’re going, and you didn’t send any letters.”

  She clears her throat as if something got stuck. She looked like she is about to say something, but she paused before she could utter a word. “I’m sorry. Y-you see… I discovered my passion for cooking quite late. So, when an opportunity suddenly presented itself, I immediately took it.”

  “It’s really suspicious, you know?! The only goodbye I got was when you were already about to go inside the car on the day you left. It’s suspicious!” She pouts. “You weren’t even planning to tell me, are you?!”

  “She’s really angry now!” Michelle thought. “I really can’t tell her that at that time I had to go under ICA’s protection because of my ability.”

  “It was a very rough time for my family too, so I thought maybe you we upset about me.” Her voice is shaking as she clasps the glass tighter. “My father was suddenly diagnosed with brain cancer. A very aggressive one that even when he got hospitalized, he continued to deteriorate. Within a few days he lost the function of half of his body. He may get surgery, but his body won’t be able to get back its full function. As we prepare to schedule him for operation, he quickly fell into depression.”

  “Mhm. We were in the tree house when you told me about that. You cried for hours back then.” She pats her back lightly. “I know, you were very worried about the operation… The chemo that would come after... and how painful it all would be for him. I visited uncle once and I saw how thin he has become.”

  “But you know? D-did you hear about it? A miracle happened! The doctor said that if he’s not treated, he may only last a few months. But one day, he was sitting up on the hospital bed all fine. They scanned his head again and the cancer was gone. I wanted to tell you but you already left.”

  She smiles softly while keeping quiet. “I had to… ICA warned me because I used my ability, and it’s indeed a miraculous one, that many people would covet it. I didn’t know it was that big of a deal until that moment.”

  “And I have no idea where you were going! I can’t contact you at all! But the worst part is, you didn’t contact me either! You’re really cruel! And then what? After four years, you only sent me a single letter telling me that you’re fine and you’ll be in contact more often. How did you send that? There was no return address! Then you didn’t send anything after that!”

  “C-calm down, Cat.”

  “No! It’s about time we talk about this before everything gets busy again! It’s very suspicious!”

  “W-well… I h-had my hands full at that time too.”

  “You’re lying! But, you see, I’m willing to forgive you… because you’re like family to me. I just don’t understand.” She drinks her fruit shake before glaring back at her friend again. “You keep disappearing and reappearing. I thought you just left forever. Earlier this year you sent me another letter, inviting me to come teach in AB Academy.”

  “I thought it would be a waste of your talent to be left teaching in a small village. It was also dangerous with all the monsters around.”

  “That small village has very few teachers. I liked teaching there… And I loved those kids too…” She almost became teary. “But you suddenly asked me to come here.”

  “I-I’m sorry.”

  “It’s not that… It’s just… I liked it there, but I also wanted to know how you were doing… It was a difficult choice. But I made my decision.”

  “So… I was worried that you might get caught up if there’s a monster rampage.”

  She looks at her with furrowed brows again. “How come you know things that happen around me? I can’t even contact you. I can’t tell you anything. I have no idea what happened to you and what you were doing all these years. It’s dangerously suspicious! How are you teaching in AB Academy when you’re an ubliss?”

  “You know this academy doesn’t discriminate between ubliss and reveil when it comes to their staff.”

  “Yeah… but still… How am I, an ubliss, able to get in here as a professor with just your recommendation?”

  “H-huh?”

  “Almost all the professors here have a great track record and background. Many of them are also highly skilled reveils.”

  “Y-you’re underestimating yourself too much.”

  “Am I really?...”

  “Yes. Have more confidence!” She forces a fake laugh.

  Catherine takes a deep breath. “Are you being threatened?”

  “W-what t-t-threat?” Her lips curves into a crooked smile.

  “I don’t know. Nothing makes sense with the kind of story you weaved for me.”

  She lets out a soft sigh. Her smile curves with calmness. “See… You’re very capable, Cat.”

  “You’re really hiding something…” Her tone softens. “And I don’t qualify as someone who can help you… right?”

  “C-cat-”

  The door creaked as it opens. A white cat with black spots runs inside while Azalea steps into the room. Behind her follows Blair, Tristan, Emil, and Primrose.

  “Good afternoon.” Michelle greets after taking off her glasses and brushing her orange hair with her hand. “You came with friends.”

  Catherine frowns and says softly. “We’re still not done talking. You better give me some decent explanation later.”

  “Good afternoon, Miss Lewin and Miss Cuthberg.” Tristan and Emil greet back.

  “They insisted on coming.” Azalea responds as she takes a seat.

  “I was just dragged here.” Prim frowns while hugging several boxes of cookies.

  “We better look after you since Duke is still resting.” Tristan follows.

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  “I’m just curious.” Blair stands behind Azalea while staring at her bandaged arm. “Are you going to heal her tattoos today?”

  “W-what? I-I-I can’t heal it; I’m not a doctor!” Michelle’s eye twitches. “Blakewood, let me check on your arm for a second.”

  “Weird.” Blair shrugs.

  Michelle looks at Azalea’s arm. “You don’t have to remove the bandages; I just need to see the edges.” She takes Azalea’s hand then looks at the affected fingers. She then observes the shoulder area. “It’s a very small change that not anyone could have noticed it. The marks are fading, although very very very slow. The rate of healing seems to have increased after you woke up from deep sleep. Hmm… Most likely because your body is done healing all the other areas aside from the burned mana circuit.”

  “So, the cool looking tattoos would be gone when it’s healed?” Blair leans forward.

  “More like, you’ll know that it’s fully healed once the tattoo-like marks are gone.” Catherine explains in a gentle tone.

  “Right, that makes sense.”

  “Stop being a nuisance and sit down properly.” Emil takes Blair’s hand and then guides her to the couch beside Azalea.

  “Has the doctor yesterday left?” Azalea asks casually.

  “Ah, yes.” Michelle recalls as she finishes her coffee. “From what I heard, he is part of a group of traveling doctors. What were their NGO called again?”

  “H-huh?.. Uhm…” Catherine tries to remember. “Something to do with scalpels… Knights with a Scalpel… I think…”

  “Kinda cheesy, isn’t it?”

  “Mitch! You just asked me because you don’t want to say it yourself!”

  She laughs after teasing her friend. “Anyway, that group of doctors is mainly sponsored by a larger organization known as the Sentinel’s Shield Foundation. That one has been around for some hundred years, well I’m not sure. This group of travelling doctors are composed of volunteer doctors from different parts of the world, they travel around the most impoverished areas to give free services.”

  “They’re amazing.” Emil comments while wearing a faint smile.

  “Yes… So, they were passing by the city when the attack happened. Because of the sudden strict rules imposed before anyone can leave the city, they got stuck here for several days. They are supposed to be headed somewhere down south. Since they cannot leave for a while, they all volunteered to help those who got injured in the series of bombing in the city.”

  Everyone who are going out of the city after the attack must be thoroughly cleared before getting permission to leave. This made the processing of documents a lot longer. The assigned officers seem to be digging deep into the records of every single one of the travelers to verify their identity. During this process, there are some wanted criminals from different regions that were caught. But for those who are clean, the process is quite tedious and problematic. To some, they have limited budget to spend on this trip and being needlessly delayed for several days takes away from that budget. For those who are travelling for business, the delay in this city gives them no work done, that means they are losing profits. For some who are in very tight schedule, they are losing time on things or people that they may never recover.

  “They are… like real heroes.” Tristan mumbles. “Hopefully, this incident doesn’t give them too much trouble in their real destination.”

  “I see… Volunteer doctors…” Azalea says softly. “That calamity in Cappleasyo must have taken a great toll.”

  Catherine recalls the current events in the city. “The attack in the academy did not just make a big impact for ICA, but it also resulted in many inconveniences for many ordinary citizens.”

  The door clicks open. Lillian enters the room staring down at the phone she holds after ending the call.

  “Hm? Everyone’s here.” She chuckles. “How’s Azalea’s condition?”

  “You don’t have to worry about anything; she will be fine.” Michelle answers confidently.

  “I see. That’s great.” She takes a seat. “Sorry to bother you with this. Won’t others think that you have favoritism if you keep coming to my café?” She teases.

  “I don’t see anything wrong in visiting a former student. Also, aren’t I your adviser in that baking club…” Her brow twitches. “It’s weird… Who named it Burgers and French Fries? It has nothing to do with those at all.”

  “Naming the club was the founder’s right. It’s a club that has been around since the club system in the academy was established. What were they thinking?” She laughs softly.

  “I don’t think it’s as chaotic as ours.” Tristan mumbles.

  Lillian’s phone rings. She quickly picks up after looking at who is calling.

  “Yes, Lillian Adams.” She answers with a polite and gentle tone. She smiles while listening to the caller. “It’s no big deal. We are honored to have been able to contribute to your just cause. Yes... It’s also our pleasure.” Then she ends the call.

  “Are you busy after all?” Michelle asks.

  “Oh, no. Not at all.” She smiles. “That was the team leader of the Knights with a Scalpel. They just wanted to thank me directly before they leave. They have been cleared. They would have wanted to visit but their schedule is very tight.”

  “That’s great news.” Catherine eases her way into the conversation. “I heard you sponsored their stay since they got stranded in the city.”

  Lillian lowers her voice. “Well, not really… because I asked them a favor. So, it’s like a bribe.”

  Azalea raises a brow. “Does that favor have anything to do with me?”

  “I just asked them to look at your condition without letting anyone know. I figured that it’s a situation where we can’t leave your information in a hospital, we don’t have ties with.”

  “You have a point… but maybe you did too much. Did you pay for the hotel they stayed in?”

  “All their expenses were paid for. But don’t worry, I spent my dad’s money.” She laughs with a slightly maniacal sound. “Unlike me, he has a lot of money to spare. I got them listed in charity work under my father’s company. It helps the doctors and also helps boost the company’s reputation so there is no problem.”

  “The way you resolve issues really scares me.” Azalea her head turns away.

  “How ironic that’s coming from you.” Tristan mumbles.

  “You should say that I’m very capable.” Her smile gives off a sinister aura. “Oh right, I was in a call with Evan earlier.” Her tone turns serious. “ICA agents have finished cleaning up the academy grounds. They recovered some intruders, monsters, and demon remains, the metaghosts, and something like a petrified demon.”

  “Petrified demon?” Azalea repeats.

  “Yes.”

  “It’s not a demon. It was human.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It was a human named Elen.” She explains, her eyes almost lost their light for a moment. “I don’t really know how it happened… but she took out some spherical thing then she turned into that. She lost not only her human appearance but also all of her rationality… almost as if she really transformed into a demon.”

  “That sounds like something from a horror movie.” Catherine whispers.

  Everyone else are wearing the look of disbelief. The room becomes quiet until Michelle’s phone rings. She jolts as she picks it up.

  “God! That startled me.” She grumbles while looking at the name of the caller. “Oh, it’s just Alex. Cat, let’s go… Hello? Yes, we’re about to go down.”

  “Thank you for today. We’re going ahead first.” Catherine politely says their farewell as she follows Michelle.

  “You don’t have to escort us out.” Michelle waves goodbye before going out. “We know the way. Go continue your topic. Alex?.. Yes, I was just-... Okay.”

  The atmosphere in the room has lightened up.

  “Right… I was saying…” Lillian eases back into the topic. “That petrified thing that the agents cannot figure out what, currently, is being investigated by the researchers of ICA.”

  “I see.” Azalea ponders. “Can they undo… Or, revert her back?”

  “That’s… I don’t know. According to Evan, ICA may study it for a while… maybe a month or less. Then it will be destroyed.”

  “…”

  “Can humans really turn into something like a demon?” Emil asks.

  Tristan gulps. “S-something like t-that shouldn’t be allowed.”

  “Well… For what I know…” Lillian thinks deeply. “There’s nothing like that ever recorded in history. I also never heard of any items or artifacts that could transform a human into something else… However, we barely know anything about the organization that attacked us.”

  “So, it’s not impossible?” Emil frowns.

  Lillian can only nod as an answer to him.

  “That’s a very scary thought.” Tristan starts fidgeting. “They won’t suddenly turn us into monsters, would they?”

  “H-huh?” Lillian bites her lip. “That’s a big problem. I should inform Evan about this… However, they might start digging more into who petrified that thing.”

  “It’s fine.” Azalea smiles gently.

  “How about the loot that the defeated monsters left?” Emil suddenly asks. “Can we claim them? We can sell those, right?”

  “Currently the ones who can officially claim those are the agents of ICA.” Azalea answers casually. “I can claim too, but I’d rather not. Ah! Maybe there is also some from the students who have monster or demon hunting license, they can claim too.”

  “At this point it’s hard to tell who can claim what.” Lillian adds. “But if they want, they can send a letter to the headmaster and he will mediate. Then BIDAO will investigate it.”

  “That sounds complicated.” Tristan fixes his gloves.

  “Yes, because owning, selling, and trading magic items, weapons, and the like is regulated by ICA.” Lillian explains. “You need a license for those stuffs. Having a monster and demon hunting license counts. There are also civilian, police, army, and other special licenses.”

  Blair stares at them with her mouth open and brows furrowed. “Why are there so many of them? You all like to complicate things. Didn’t we use those magic equipments a while ago?”

  “Ah-! Right!” Tristan recalls. “The rifle that Azalea lent me has been put in display in the clubroom. Did we actually do something illegal?”

  “Don’t worry, all of those are registered under my name.” Azalea smiles. “As long as you are not caught using them, it’ll be fine.”

  “That part is bad, isn’t it?” Emil frowns.

  Tristan clasps his hands together. “It’s registered under your name so that means you’ll be held liable if caught.”

  “Obviously.” Prim mumbles as she sets aside an empty cookie box. “The stupid blondie likes to challenge and break the rules.”

  Azalea forces a laugh.

  Tristan pinches the bridge of his nose while slightly shaking his head. “Next time we should do something about the use of these regulated things first before we use them.”

  “Sure.” She responds with an innocent smile.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of that so that you won’t be having that problem again.” Lillian reassures them. “I have already started to coordinate with the headmaster.”

  “You work fast as always.” She scratches the back of her head while wearing the same pretentious smile.

  “I just left you alone because it was an emergency. Of course, there’s no way I’d let something potentially harmful to you be left unresolved.”

  Prim scoffs. “Aren’t you lucky.”

  Blair’s phone suddenly rings. “Ack-! Again?” She quickly answers. “Yes, mom?... Everything’s fine. Nothing bad happened anymore after the attack… Yeah… The day isn’t even over yet. O-of course, I didn’t forget!”

  Emil stares at Blair’s forced smile as she tries to lie about not forgetting anything.

  That night after the news about the attack in AB Academy spread globally, Blair’s mother called her to check up on her safety and hear news about her situation. She had an earful for not calling home more often. Because of this incident, her mother told her to call at least once a day.

  Tristan’s mother also called him the next day inquiring about his safety and the situation in AB Academy. After reassuring her that he is fine and the situation is now under control, his mother then seems to have calmed down.

  “It’s about time we get some refreshments.” Lillian says while Blair is still getting lectures on the phone. “Who wants some snacks?”

  “Here, I want more snacks.” Prim raises her hand while wearing the same blank expression.

  “You aren’t even done with your cookies yet.” Tristan mumbles while staring at the unopened boxes.

  “I’m not sharing you anything.”

  “I don’t want it.”