Ayato and Ashley were walking down the street.
"It was cold earlier, wasn't it? It's gotten better but..."
Ashley cut herself off while brushing her shoulders with her palms. Ayato quickly checked the weather.
"It's minus four degrees and it'll rain soon. Well, we won't be able to go to the theme park you wanted to go to. That famous one. That Thought..."
"Thorpe Park. I agree with you. Where do you want to go?"
Ayato stopped as Ashley asked him. She looked back at him, also stopping. Ayato looked confused. With flushed cheeks, he pointed at himself.
"Me?"
"Yeah, you and Akari have been escorting me for two whole weeks and I haven't had any fun with that woman. She's too strict."
Ashley frowned thinking about Akari shouting at her at almost every turn. Ayato nervously chuckled.
"At first, I thought that I could do this by myself but you convinced me that I need others to help me. Since Akari is still setting up a meeting with Queen Ilistria, the only thing we can do is have fun."
"Still,"
The boy scoffed.
"I'm surprised that you don't go out much. You know, in my country, they call people like that a shut-in NEET. In Japanese, a hikikomori."
"I guess you could call me one of those then."
The young woman readily admitted. The two of them stopped at a zebra crossing.
"I won't be ashamed of staying inside. I mean, I've been researching proudly. Unlike these shut-in NEETS that you're talking about, I work for the Queen."
Ashley said as she put her red hand into her pocket. She watched the crossing sign as it turned green. They walked across.
"So, where do you want to go?"
"Why don't we go to the cinema? It's not every day that I get to watch something in a British cinema. Perhaps a horror movie will do."
"A horror movie?!"
The young woman screamed, fairly distraught. She shivered while chattering her teeth. Ayato narrowed his eyes and sneered.
"Ashley... It's not possible that you're scared to watch a horror movie, right?"
He teased her. Ashley's face flushed red.
"N-no! I'm perfectly fine! L-let's go watch it!"
"You do know that your legs are shaky like crazy, right?"
Ashley's body gave out before her mind. She wanted to change the subject as fast as possible to avoid going to watch a horror movie. She had just the thing.
"A-Ayato!"
"Yes, I'm right here."
"How old are you?!"
"..."
Ayato silently stared at her. He stared at her with wide eyes before he put his hand on his chin. He realised.
'Oh, she's being serious.'
He thought.
"I thought you already knew my age since you knew that I was a World Magician the first time we met."
"No, I only knew your face and name. I'm 19, as you already know."
"I'm 16. I'll be 17 in January."
Ashley was doing the maths in her head. She used her fingers to help her.
"Wait, you're in your... In Japan, you would be in your second year of high school, right?"
"No, I'm in my first. It'd be long if I explained why, so I'll abridge it and say that it's a generational problem."
As for the problems he was talking about, Kiara was held back for the same reasons. It was a matter of generations. Those who were 18 years old and younger in 2105 were considered a part of a new generation.
The Kyouyas wanted to head that generation, hence the irregular difference in person and school age. If they were not the children of Goto Kyouya, then it wouldn't have happened.
For Ayato, he was being hunted down for a short while too.
Ashley turned away and began sweating.
'You're telling me a 16-year-old isn't scared and I am... I'm a Witch! I deal with curses often! So, why am I scared?'
"Ashley?"
Ayato asked, looking at her shaking back. The young woman perked up and put on a false smile.
"Let's go watch a horror movie?"
"Eh? But I thought you weren't comfortable. I was going to suggest an action movie then..."
"If it's one with Kaiser Abel, then don't."
"..."
The movie he wanted to watch did indeed have the famous German actor, Kaiser Abel, starring in it as the protagonist. She thought of him as a narcissist and playboy. He certainly appeared like that in public.
Ayato was at an apparent loss.
"A sci-fi movie?"
"Nothing's sci-fi anymore, not in the age of technology and magic."
"How about comedy?"
"I don't find that type of stuff funny."
"Then, romance?"
"Romance is a curse. I don't like experiencing it or want to do anything with it."
With Ashley's arrow-like answers, the boy let out a sigh. His attempts were all for nought. Finally, Ayato had given up on movie selections.
"How about we go bowling?"
Ashley said, looking across the street. She saw a child with a balloon of a bowling ball. That's how she came to the conclusion. Ayato's face lit up.
"Why not? I'll search for the nearest bowling place."
He said, getting out his phone.
"Shic, bring up a map to the nearest bowling alley."
[Here is a map of the nearest bowling alley to you.]
Shic brought up a map of the street on his phone. Ayato rejoiced.
"Not that far. Lucky."
He turned around to Ashley, showing his phone.
"There's one around 3 minutes away from us. We can walk it from here."
"Oh, it's nice that we thought of that now then."
"Yeah, let's..."
The boy's voice faded. He looked over in Ashley's direction. He dashed toward her and pushed her out of the way.
"Chateau!"
He raised his forearm, and a plate of mana appeared in front of it. It defended against an attack.
"Huh?"
Ashley turned back. Ayato's arm bounced back, deflecting the attack.
Before him was Janet, whose arm also was deflected. She retreated holding her wrist.
"That's a thick defence for Chateau."
She sneered. It was an ugly smile. A stomach-churning grin. Almost like something out of a horror movie.
Ayato stood in front of Ashley. The Witch reached for her wand.
"Man, I'm so lucky that all three of us came."
"All three of us...?"
"Ayato!"
Ayato turned to grab Ashley but she disappeared. In front of him was Marinus and behind him was Janet. Eunithus was nowhere to be seen—he teleported somewhere else out of Ayato's sight.
"..."
"Let's kill him, Marinus."
"Sure, but first."
Marinus took a piece of paper out of his pocket. It was a thin one.
"A talisman?"
The man threw it into the air. It glowed before breaking apart. Ayato stood on guard. He nervously looked at the people around him. Nobody realised what was going on.
A large lion appeared in midair. It dropped down behind Marinus, killing people beneath its feet.
Ayato clicked his tongue as someone screamed upon seeing the blood.
"A familiar? A chimera at that."
"While Eunithus is taking Ashley away, we'll kill you within five minutes."
The two of them smirked at Ayato. The boy glared at them. He stuck his fingers up. Three of them.
"Three."
"Hm? What's that supposed to mean?"
Marinus asked while petting the chimera next to him—it was growling at Ayato.
Ayato raised his chin.
"Three minutes. That's the time it'll take to kill the chimera and you."
He was talking to Marinus. Ayato walked toward him. The chimera roared at him. It had bat-like wings and a lizard's tail. Its mane was black in colour and its eyes glistened red.
"I'll take two minutes with you and one with the other."
The chimera was slobbering in the face of Ayato. Two minutes was the time that he set himself. Two for the chimera and one for Marinus.