White ceiling awaited me in my waking sight, and in my field of vision, everyone who participated in the exam are lying on the other bed bunks in this large chamber. Medical tools and equipment were abundant, and a person in white garb rests on a desk near the doorstep.
It wasn't a hospital as the window shows the campus of Saint Andrea's Academy below and above, the sky was starting to get orange.
"Oh! Finally, you're awake. I thought we'd really lost you there." Gabby sighed as she arrived at the clinic's entrance, taking a seat on the small stool at my side.
But the situation was confusing me. Why was I in the clinic?
From the point of entering the portal until the time we had to win the exam, I could pretty much recall all the struggles we had yet what happened later was rather vague and cloudy.
Explosion, sharp ice, and raining thunder, blurry images which try to resurface but make me puke just trying on thinking about it as if my mind is preventing the memory from being remembered.
"What happened out there earlier?"
"I-I think you went too far on upsetting her." Gabby sighed. "But don't worry about the exam. It ended two hours ago and the principal said we can start on Monday."
"And Ellie? Where is she?"
"I already sent her home so you don't have to worry about her." the president of the school commented as he enters the clinic while dressed in his formal uniform. "I think it is about time you head home as well, judging how you recovered faster than most of the patients here. And It IS getting late after all."
"Nice performance earlier, by the way" he added before leaving.
"What a douche, ain't I right?" Ed groans as he raises from the bed next to mine, and it appears that he has a cast on his left arm. "Didn't even bother apologizing for letting the top rankers of the school break our butts."
"Dude, are you alright?"
"Oh, this? This is nothing. Just a little drained." he laughed. "The other two already went home earlier, if you're gonna ask. They are wrecked too but happy when they left. How about we ditch this place too, huh?"
He kept insisting he was fine and didn't need medical attention, but from time to time, I could get glimpses of him flinching over his injury. Yet he's pretending to be all too joyful as we headed towards Ruri's workplace.
And to our surprise, Lawrence was already there. He had his table filled with meals, probably to celebrate the victory of earlier and to the seat next to him was a little girl we haven't met before.
"Sup, Law! Isn't that girl a little too young for your age?" Ed asked.
"Shut it. That's my sister." Lawrence responded. "And Cipher, was it? Thank you for helping me on getting into the academy. I promise to be of help someday in the future"
He bowed as her younger sister imitates him while I was left wondering what I did to make him do that. Sure, we won but it was all thanks to them as well, and all I did was try to keep everyone in one piece.
"And also, here. I'm here to return this to you. Thanks for lending such an item." he took the bladed whip resting on the table and handed it over into my grasp.
"If you want, I could recommend you to the person who made this. He's a great blacksmith so I guarantee it's as good as this one."
"Don't worry, it's fine," Lawrence replied.
"Are you an idiot? You're now entering the academy as a student knight and you don't want a sword?" Ed questioned.
"That's a sword of caliber! You think swords like those are only worth a penny or two!?" Lawrence replied in a high tone. "I'll just manage to get my own sword in some way, Cipher. No need to go such length."
"A knight? What is that?" Gabby asked.
"You know, the knight in shining armor thingy? The hero saving princess kind of thing? Doesn't ring a bell?" Ed replied but Gabby was only confused further by it. Even I would never know what it is if I hadn't had my current memories and were just a wee little kid in the slum.
"Never mind him. A knight is one of the categories you could enroll in the academy aside from; scholar, magician, and inventor. The three along with the knight category are just one of the most common choices a student can choose from." Lawrence explained.
"Well, lookie here. Someone did some research." Ed annoys.
"That's because I'm planning on entering the academy. It's just common sense to do research about the place you entering, aren't I right Cipher?" Lawrence asked but all I could do was awkwardly agree. "That said, there are other categories aside from what I said. I just forgot what they were. Ed here looks like he's in the tech side so I think he's planning on the inventor's category…"
"Yep! 100 points to Lawrence!" Ed applauds.
Lawrence just clicked his tongue at Ed's response and then faced me "... What about the two of you, Cipher? I'm getting a hint you'd be planning on joining the same category as mine?"
"Haven't really decided yet but… As long as they would help us create a mana container within us, any category is fine."
The two stared blankly at me, seemingly confused about my response.
"C-Cipher… I think you're misunderstanding something." Lawrence stated. "They aren't gonna teach you to get one… they'll teach you how to hone what you currently have… "
"W-what!?"
Before I could even start questioning him for further explanation, the system rang and on the floating screen, Josie's name was engraved in it, calling.
"What is it, Josie? What's the emergency?" I answered in the heat of the moment, forgetting I was still in front of the others.
I could see Lawrence's eyes diverting but Ed's were different. He was eyeing me with a grin.
"Oh, excuse me for a sec…" I reasoned, exiting the building. "Sorry for the hold, Josie. What happened?"
["… S-someone's here… and it's looking for you…" she responded with a shaky voice.]
"It?"
["It's from the portal…" she replied.]
My heart raced upon hearing it, I went back inside in haste and called "Gabby, we got to go. Now!"
There was no telling what IT might want but one rule I learned about the other side, is never to trust anyone coming from it. It's based on experience and multiple warnings from my previous tutor.
But with the bad traffic caused by some incident in the nearby district, we were forced to run on foot towards the alternate bus route a few minutes from the school. It was longer than the normal route but faster than having a marathon home.
And the moment we entered the mansion's living room, Gabby couldn't help but scream at the sight she had seen and fainted.
Yet even I was shocked by was I was seeing.
"Greetings, master of this mansion. My name is Rodentia, knight of young lady Tarra Rataceya." it spoke with a female tone.
A brown-furred rat as tall as a teen stands on its two feet while bowing its head. It even had a leather vest and a sword hanging at its waist.
Josie took Gabby back into her chamber as the other people present in the room watched the intruder with unease.
"What made you traverse to our world?"
"That is to ask thee a favor…" it responded. "We seek permission to take shelter in the barracks you've made in our world."
"B-Barracks?"
The fallout shelter we made on the other side in case things don't go well in our world was filled with rats walking in twos. Civilian and soldier rats were all over the place, mending their wounds as they invaded our stockpile. Not to mention, the small dressed rodents roaming freely and actively.
Although they cramped themselves in, not a single hint of the fences was brought down nor damaged but many holes could be seen within the ground.
"Deepest apologies towards the behavior of my brethren. I shall compensate for any damages and lost items you have." the rat lady claimed as she knelt on the ground and soon after, the other soldiers followed her action even in their wounded state. "Please let us stay until we recover our strength!"
"Fine-fine. Just until the wounded recovers." It's not like I can do anything about it. They've already invaded the shelter. What's even the use of asking for permission? "Just ensure no one traverses into our world. And if it is an urgent matter, you're the only one allowed to pass through the portal, none else."
"You have my sincerest gratitude, noble one. I shall keep them under-watched" it bowed which was pretty uncomfortable, especially while the others were watching.
"Of course, I'm only letting you because you're humble enough to not engage in battle," I claimed. "But if you disobey my words, and dared do something which would cause us trouble. I'll make sure you'd regret ever trying or even letting something like it happen."
It brought a little fear in the eyes of the rats but it was the only way to set the boundaries and keep the others safe. They were still strangers, even if they carry decency upon making contact.
"Also, don't try to come when it's night in our world. Unless it's really urgent. We also need our beauty rest…" Ellie claimed then gazes at me as she notices my glance. "What?"
"Just like she says…" I still can't remember why she's all pouty in front of me. I get it. Using her favorite doll to embarrass her into surrendering was a bit harsh but she didn't have to glare at me like that.
"Are you sure about this, kid?" Simon asked as we returned from the other side.
"I'm not sure either. I'm only doing this because they didn't harm any of you" I replied but something tells me the rat who made a path to escape the sadistic bitch was one of them. Just considering it a return of the favor. "And don't worry, I'll let the doors into my room open and watch over the gate from there."