Present time
At a small camp located nearby the damaged town, Riyoko and Arisa talked about what had happened while sitting on a two-person bench by a corner.
"And so, you went over to the said area despite knowing there were monsters there, then when you found the watch that's where we met?" Arisa said.
Riyoko nodded, "to be honest, I actually forgot about the monsters and was just extremely lucky that I got through…" he thought.
"The woman you said in the end quite got my interest, but what I find most amusing is that you didn't encounter ANY of the monsters in that area,"
Riyoko nodded, "though I did find a bunch of corpses of monsters… and humans…"
"I see… the place you were in did just become a battle zone before we were sent there. It's so lucky for you not to encounter any alive monsters but you also ran into us when you did,"
"Yeah… very lucky," he mumbled
"I couldn't tell her, but when I found the watch I actually made eye contact with the monster that was chasing me…" he thought, "although I did get stunned for a brief moment, I still managed to break free from it and ran away,".
Riyoko glanced at the setting sun barely visible within the horizon as he notices the sky slowly shifting into darkness.
"Looks like it's getting late, can we still not go?"
"The area has become very dangerous, so we can't leave until there's a signal for us to move. If you're planning to give that watch to that child you spoke of, then you're going to have to wait until tomorrow,"
"But she might be waiting…" He said with a concerned look.
"Don't worry, I was with some people when we found her so I sent them to evacuate her after she told me about the situation between you two,"
"I see… wait, you already heard from her what happened?"
"yes,"
"Then why did you make me talk about it all over again…"
"It doesn't hurt to hear your side of things does it? Also, she was a child so she might have missed some details, like her bribing you with money,"
"I didn't do it for the money… in fact, I won't be taking any after I give this to her,"
"I'm sure you'll get something, THAT IS a national-level treasure after all…"
My hands slightly shivered as I held the watch, covering it with a handkerchief, "you DID say that…"
"jeez… rather than covering that with a cloth, why don't you put it in your spatial sack?"
"I… don't have one… with me…"
Arisa let out a sigh, "it can't be helped, then…"
"I have so much I want to know…" Riyoko thought, feeling quite overwhelmed, "so, in this world where magic exists, there are also monsters, though they seem quite far from the image I have of them in video games. I want to ask about what's beyond that wall, what are those monsters, and what's actually going on here… but it might arouse suspicion so I can't…"
He let out a sigh, "I need to meet up with Reine soon" he said, accidentally letting his thoughts slip out.
"I agree, she's the one who'll know how to deal with you after this,"
"ah… yeah," he nodded
"crap, I'm getting so stressed my thoughts are slipping out," he thought.
"Anyway, speaking of her… you really are Reine's cousin, huh?"
"W… what do you mean by that?" he said, feeling curious and slightly surprised.
"Nothing really… it's just that, it's amazing how you can stay calm in a situation like this, it's pretty bad and it's nothing in the ordinary, so I actually expected you to be a bit panicked or anxious once we sat down,"
"I am anxious," he said, lightly giggling," it's just that, that kid managed to stay true to her goal despite being in such a situation so I thought I should at least try to stay composed all the same,"
"In reality, it's because I don't know anything and what is normal from not in this world…" he thought.
"You and that girl are abnormal, that's what this is…"
"huh!?"
Arisa looked me in the eye and smiled as if she was teasing me.
BOOM*
Suddenly, an explosion occurred from a distance, making Riyoko and Arisa stand up in surprise and caution.
"What's going on!?" Arisa said to one of the soldiers with a telescope, scouting the area.
"There seems to be another monster out there somewhere… I can't get a visual!"
Suddenly an old man in the same type of uniform but with a slightly different kind of design stepped up into the scene.
"Every personnel, prepare for enemy contact!"
Arisa, as well as all the other uniformed men, saluted, straightening their left hand and placing it above the right side of their chest, "yes sir!"
The old man looked at Arisa with serious eyes, "we'll be counting on you when things turn towards the unexpected,"
Arisa nodded sharply, "yes, captain!"
As the old man left, Arisa sharply looked at him, "stay with me this time, don't move too far away. Also, give me your head,"
"Huh?" Riyoko followed at the moment, feeling confused about what was happening.
As Arisa's hands glowed light yellow, she held Riyoko's head.
"Huh…? what's this?"
Arisa looked confused upon touching his head, "I can't…"
BOOM*
Suddenly, another explosion occurred, this time it was nearer.
"Crap, there might be no time… Just follow me!"
Not waiting for Riyoko's response, she grabbed him by the arm and pulled them away from the camp along with the other military men, dispersing
"Flioter!" Arisa said. Suddenly both of them were surrounded by a faint green light.
"Huh? magic?"
"Keep up with me! And brace yourself!" Arisa suddenly moved her hand from touching his wrist to holding his hand tightly.
Feeling somewhat overwhelmed Riyoko focused on the situation and held her hand tightly in return.
"All right!" Suddenly she jumped and both of them floated in the air weightlessly as if there was no gravity bounding them.
"Hold on tight!" Arisa said, pulling him beside her.
Suddenly, small but strong bursts of wind came out from the back of her belt, pushing them further above. They then landed on the rooftop of a semi-tall building, having a full view of what was below.
"Stay down…" Arisa whispered, crouching by the edge of the building.
Riyoko silently followed, sitting close to Arisa while slightly flustered as he notices they were still holding hands.
Arisa took notice of their hands and gently let go, "s… sorry," she apologized with a small hint of embarrassment.
As they continued to sit still in awkward silence, Riyoko notices the emphasis on the street light in the dark road, seeing it had already become night.
"It's already dark…" He whispered.
Arisa nodded, "it could become a lot more troublesome from now on..."
Suddenly, both of them felt a sense of extreme danger as they heard a faint yet deep growl coming from behind them, followed by heavy footsteps coming from something big and heavy.
Arisa silently and quickly grabbed Riyoko's hand, "crap… I made a blunder,"
Riyoko shivered in fear as he felt the extremely threatening presence that was behind them, "what do you mean…?"
Suddenly a bright burning light along with hot air emerged from behind them as if something had set on fire, pulling the wind towards their back as they hear a sound of deep inhaling, increasing the heat greatly by the second.
Riyoko was about to turn his head when Arisa quickly jumped down the building pulling him with her.
Boom*
An explosion occurred on top of the building they were on, just seconds before they left.
Falling down, their bodies began to emit a faint green light once again. The moment they began to float, Arisa quickly took them away with the wind from her belt.
Landing on top of an average building, Arisa touched her earpiece as she stared at the rooftop engulfed in flames.
"This is Arisa, the target is A possible high-class flame monster! Please contact back up immediately!"
As she pulled away her hand from her earpiece, Riyoko looked at her in concern, "what's going on…?"
"You heard me… All we can do now is leave or buy time until someone like Reine arrives…" she held her head, seeming stressed, "jeez… Even I want to know what's going on. How did things even come to this!?"
As they both stared at the top of the building engulfed with ravaging flames, the fire became wilder as an entity slowly emerged from within it, followed by a loud deep roar that sent shivers down the spine of every person within the area.