The worst thing about keeping a distance from your enemy is that you are unaware, you don't know what your opponent is doing except what they show you.
There was an advantage of course, they could at least see what we were showing them, however we did not know anything about them.
Considering they increased their investigation on Dan today, they were desperate too.
Which was a good thing for us.
Desperation gives birth to haste, that haste narrows solutions and soon one unforeseen circumstance leads to panic.
Panic was my gamble to victory.
As the door opened a group came inside. The person standing in the middle was a male student in the senior year, he walked ahead and slowly muttered these words -
"I like you, would you date me!"
The person who spoke those words was somewhere around 170 c.m. in height, with a cheerful personality and above average grades he was a decent person to be with.
But the target of those words was the girl sitting beside me, she had long brown hair and a kind nature, aside from that she was one of the top scorers among the senior year students.
She wore glasses but along with her shy demeanour and academic achievements that just suited and even maximised her looks.
The person in question now had to make a decision, with a slight pause the girl replied "Yes" in a shy manner.
If a person without any knowledge was to see these scenes, he would truly be shocked to disbelief after the hints I spread around right?
Now I wonder what sort of expressions will they have on their faces.
The new couple alongside two of Dan's friends, Kevin and lastly me were present inside the room.
As Dan and his friends celebrated and Kevin congratulated Candice who was barely able to hold herself. The door opened and five people walked in.
As soon as they saw all of us celebrating and brimming with happiness they were dumbfounded. But they were not alone, as the situation unfolded our side also went into the state of panic as well with the sudden appearances.
The predator fell for the obvious trap.
Guess these reactions were worth it.
I slowly typed something on my phone and said -
"Sorry for the sudden interruption, I had some business with the student council here as well."
"Oh yeah, me too!" Dan joined.
"But you're going to treat us now that you didn't get rejected, right?"
"I'll do it later, I promise."
"Hey wait a-"
"We should hurry the talks regarding the order of relics right?"
""Huh?!"" The new group was startled by my question and didn't speak ahead.
Slowly everyone walked out leaving me, the five stalkers and Dan alone in the room.
"Shade, what the hell is going on?"
The one who asked was Megan, who was with Shasha, Richard, Miles and our student body president, Adam. All of them were third year students whom I was at least somewhat acquainted with.
"To summarise everything quickly Dan proposed to Candice because his friends forced him with a dare."
"And what about the business you mentioned with us?" Adam asked in his usual composed tone.
"Don't try to bluff, I did try to ignore Miles outside the library and behind the pillar outside of the canteen but now you're just pushing your luck."
"And the papers?"
"All are fake, I replaced the original ones for you to panic and take action."
The real papers left by Dan in the library were just a bunch of scribbles, the second paper that contained Candice and my conversation was all about Dan. I, of course, replaced them with the planning of some terrorist attack.
"You guys are from Order right?"
I came to that conclusion eventually after I understood their method. The only way to look at all of us around the school was through school cameras. If they are authorised to perform such large things the school probably knows about them.
"Wait, Order?!" Dan was extremely shocked by that.
Was that an overreaction or was that really that startling for him?
"Don't think we're in the same boat just because you got to see our faces."
"That's right but we're not the ones who are sinking."
Saying that I revealed my phone's screen to them. It had their names written down.
"It is a message I sent to Lady Ice Demon with a timer, in a matter of 30 minutes it will reach her and she will report the situation to the Order about you guys harassing the Freedom members."
Order can arrest a member of Revolution but it was not even allowed to act hostile against the members of Freedom.
"Now what will-"
"Wait a second, Ice Demon? Then you're from Freedom?!"
"...Yes."
"And then Dan is also from Freedom?"
"Yes but from a different faction."
"Perhaps then we indeed messed up."
Adam apologised and finally the other four relaxed for the first time after entering this room.
"So these four days were wasted."
"I did think Shade and Candice were not suspicious people."
"My heart was close to bursting from this."
"At least we're free from work during the school hours now."
All four of them with Adam's exception completely shifted gears.
"Hey, why are you all relaxed so suddenly! What's going on?"
"There is a criminal misusing his Relics out there, he attacks people, rob them during confusion and destroy their properties, seeing the pattern of time he works it was suspected that he could even be a school student so we were posted to act on duty even during school hours in case he was from our school."
"Also we actually found out that Dan owned a Relic around three days ago so we were forced to actively track him."
"And why are you relaxed now?"
"You're from Freedom so we'll have to remove Dan's name from the suspect list."
"So the school's head is aware of Relics and organisations?!" Dan was in utter disbelief thinking that.
"Of course." I calmly answered him.
"Shade, how do you know about that?"
"I didn't until yesterday but after thinking it's quite obvious, this school was founded mere 5 years ago without any rich backgrounds but it never faced any financial issues despite an average fees."
"So it was a mere speculation."
"Sort of."
I cannot say I came to that conclusion because Chandler recommended this school to me… Somehow I'm still stuck in his plot.
"I'm glad now that this is over but this just starts even more confusion. Including everyone here there are 7 Relic Users in this school alone! How can this be a coincidence?" Dan asked.
I let out a sigh and looked at the five.
"It is unnecessary for now and if we're clear now just don't bother this idiot from now on."
"Yeah!"
"About that…"
It never follows with something great after that line.
"Since the R.U.O.S. is currently down. I would like you to cooperate with us for a bit."
"What do you mean?"
"We can't confirm your identity but we have already reported about Dan to H.Q. so we would have to talk it out with the higherups."
"That... would be a little problematic for me." Until now Dan allowed me to speak on his behalf but now he personally rejected it.
I can think of many reasons why he rejected Adam's plan but with my limited knowledge of Dan's past I cannot pinpoint it.
"Wouldn't it be fine if we just regularly kept in touch with you?"
"How about you just pretend to be hired by us? You don't have to do anything, just show up and stay there for a bit."
"That is still..."
Dan had a complete frown on his face; he absolutely hated the idea of staying with them.
Suddenly a thought entered my mind.
"How about this, I'll attend alongside Dan?"
Dan's expression brightened up a bit and he looked towards Adam for approval.
"But that- No, perhaps it will be fine, give me your usernames just in case."
"I am Dream Devil from the third faction which was led by sir Controller." Dan opened his mouth first.
He didn't tell me his codename until now.
After Dan's words all sights pointed towards me. I sighed again and replied.
"I'm not giving my username that easily, otherwise you'll know both sides of me."
"I see, then I'll compromise a little."
"Huh?! Then why didn't you stop me?!"
Of course they had to know your identity, you were a suspect.
"I'll just say that I'm a high ranking member of Lady Demon's faction, Dan can vouch for me."
"It's hard to believe you're a high ranking member at your age but if that is really the case then we'll not dig in any further but I'll warn you to not relay any information about us to Freedom, it would actually risk our lives." Adam said that with a stern expression.
"Yeah yeah, it was a bluff after all. With the absence of R.U.O.S. I was obviously bluffing about having direct personal contacts with Lady Ice Demon."
"I see. That would be much better."
"I'll be in contact with you through Dan, now you two are now free to go."
"I'll be around with y'all for a few more classes."
"Do whatever you want."
The classes have started and now I don't want to return to the classroom in between.
"Was it really the right choice?" Dan was annoying until now but the reason differed from the current, I'm not sure if I just hated his anxious personality or liked his overactive one.
"Who knows, but I'll manage somehow." It was the line I always used to console myself whenever I felt stressed.
As the school ended I rushed to return home. My job was done until the next meeting and I didn't want this situation to become as stressful as it was with Invisible Hunter's situation.
"Hey, I still have things I want to confirm." The source of this voice was Kevin following me alongside two of our classmates.
"What would that be?"
"When did you contact the student council?"
"When you were busy in the canteen."
"What were you all talking about?"
"About a private matter."
"Then-" "Why are you even bothering Shade?" One of my classmates interfered.
"No, the timing was a little suspicious of their visit."
"Is it about why you were gone throughout the recess?"
"Yeah. I think there was something but I couldn't get it."
"Maybe it is just your imagination."
"Per-perhaps... Bye Shade, see you tomorrow."
"...Bye."
I didn't even have to make up a lie yet their talk ended among themselves. I don't know either of those two's names but I have some idea of their natures.
The tall one on the right was athletic and outgoing, I think he was the one who got into a physical fight with someone. As for the other one... He just doesn't stand out, I think he got scolded by one teacher the other day despite not being the one responsible for the mistake and he took it silently.
Overall, an odd group to form naturally.
As I reached home, I was greeted by Irina at the entrance. She stood there as if she had arrived a few minutes ago and was waiting while completely enraged.
It was rather rare for Irina to reach home before me as I had always prioritised getting home fast unlike other students.
"So how are you still alive? They either bought it when you claimed to be the assistant or they haven't found you out yet."
Looks like I don't need to tell her that they were from Order.
"Would it be that surprising if I somehow succeeded without any repercussions?"
"Unfortunately, it would."
"Oh my naive Irina, you are so wrong."
"What?" Irina's annoyed face vanished after hearing my statement.
"I played a prank on them, when they fell for it I showed them that I pretended to have sent their names to Ice, they panicked and understood that we were from Freedom."
"Prank?"
I slowly explained the events of school in detail to her. She silently listened to my words and gave out a sigh while covering her face with her hand at the end.
"I don't think I have to inform you how big of a mess you created."
"I think 'Pretended to create' is what you would like to say."
"What are you planning to do next?"
"I'm thinking of going with the flow for a bit."
"I see, then I'll intervene."
"...I have some sort of safety net, so you should just believe me. And I want your help in another way."
"That is?"
"I'm thinking of finding something."
"I'm asking about the safety net."
"I'll tell you all about that later..." I don't want to be led by Irina again. "And I also need my Relic during the discussions with Order."
Hearing my other request she let out a soft sigh and replied -
"It was always in your table's drawer, I'm more surprised how you haven't found it on your own yet."
"Really?!"
"Yes, I'll teach you how to use it in 10 minutes, wait for me in your room."
"Wait, I can learn that?!"
A supernatural power of my own!
"Yes" Replying that she went to her room.
We both had now seperated, I finally got the time to do something else as I also had another person to contact today.
I went inside my room, locked the door and dialled the numbers and waited for the call to connect.
["Hello, Mr. Assistant is it you?"]
The voice on the phone was a sweet feminine voice which belonged to the person I had asked for help.
"Yes, thank you for today."
["I didn't do anything, also I was rather glad that even when R.U.O.S. shut down someone still had something interesting for me to do."]
She was not helping me for something like kindness or getting on my good side but rather for fun during R.U.O.S. was down.
"I want you to investigate something for me."
["Now that sounds fun."]
"A rogue Relic User committing crimes, my intuition says he's not from any groups and should be around in his early 20s, usual time of action could be around 4 p.m. to 9."
["How credible is the information?"]
"Everything I said is just an oddly specific guess."
["If it was somebody else I would have been extremely annoyed by this but I'll make an exception for you."]
Well if she did not agree it would have still been fine for me.
["Also what about the names of your pursuers? I did not reported about anything to Order but is it still fine letting them roam free."]
"They st-" In the midst of my sentence, somebody tried to open my door from outside.
"I'll contact you later." I ended the call and deleted its history in the logs.
As I was deleting the contact history, a click sound came and my door got unlocked and opened.
"I said I was coming in a few minutes." Irina entered my room on her own.
"I got distracted by something else."
It was too close! I never thought I would get careless and almost get caught, I never considered myself a lucky person but Irina not realising my door was locked before trying to open it was pure luck.
"First of all, take out your Relic."
I slowly scanned my belongings in my drawer before I found the dice. I took it out and observed its details.
"What even is this?" I asked while staring at the dice.
"Your Relic, what else?"
"What material is it made from? How do I use it?"
"Relics are... I don't really know, there are countless theories about its materials but nothing like a solid proof, and workings are like any other machine."
"Machine? So what if I break it? Or worse lose it?"
"Relics have been known to exist since the start of recorded human history and till now there have been no cases of it ever being broken. Also I don't think one can ever lose it somewhere, one of my faction's member lost her Relic in another country yet it somehow returned to her without her knowledge of how."
"Creepy."
An unbreakable machine that can't move on its own but somehow always returns back to you should be more feared as a haunted object rather than a weapon capable of mass destruction.
"Now that everything you had to ask is over, let's give it a try."
She gently wrapped her hands around mine.
"I'm not done, I still have questions like what my Relic's powers are."
As she a heard my sentence her expression switched into a sinister grin as said -
"We're about to find out."
She didn't look weird but that was a rare expression of Irina, seeing it out of nowhere made me unconsciously gulp loudly.
I shifted my gaze towards my hand that held the dice. I could also feel the softness of Irina's warm hands on top of mine.
"I'll start now, yell 'stop' when you're at your limits."
As she said that I started feeling that weird sensation that I had become familiar with recently.
Back at the Reverie, Executives referred to it as 'flow', I would have loved to ask about it but it was too late now.
My hand started to shiver and my body gradually lost its strength. The pain was so great I placed my free hand on top of Irina's hands to signal her to stop.
She didn't react, as my sights got blurred and restored, occasionally I was somehow able to look at Irina's face, she was fully concentrating on my hand.
That's when a few images appeared in my mind. They were not completely vague but I couldn't comprehend them.
As I thought of them, they weren't just mere images, they were memories but when did these happen?
My head felt light, it was like experiencing hyperventilation.
I looked at Irina in confusion. She was covered with sweat and her usually styled hair now was completely disarranged.
She looked up at me with concern in her face and spoke my name in a gentle tone "Shade?".
"What…"