Chapter 17: A Special Case
Knock. Knock. Knock.
The pounding on the door dragged Xavier out of sleep.
"Alright, alright—I'm coming," he groaned, rubbing his eyes as he stumbled toward the entrance.
When he opened the door, three figures stood in the hallway.
All of them wore dark uniforms marked with the emblem of the Magic Bureau of Dungeons.
Two were armed.
One wasn't.
"Good morning, Mr. Cross," the unarmed woman said with a polite smile. "We need you to come with us for awakening testing."
Xavier blinked.
"…Can you give me ten minutes?"
The woman glanced back at her companions, then nodded. "Ten minutes is fine. Just don't make us wait longer than that."
Xavier closed the door.
Inside, Serena was already awake, arms crossed.
"They're early," she said flatly.
"Yeah," Xavier muttered. "Let's get ready."
Ten minutes later, Xavier stepped out of the apartment with Serena beside him. The two armed Bureau guards fell in behind them as they walked toward the waiting vehicle.
Xavier glanced sideways at the only unarmed woman.
"New awakenings usually get up to five years to register," he said calmly. "So why are you here now?"
The woman smiled, unfazed.
"That's true," she replied. "However, we received a report that you entered a dungeon."
Xavier stopped walking for half a second.
"…Which should be impossible," she continued, "without registration."
Xavier resumed walking, eyes forward, saying nothing.
The woman studied both him and Serena closely but didn't push further.
They entered the vehicle, and soon the city blurred past as they headed toward the Bureau.
"So," Xavier said after a moment, "are you going to explain why you showed up at my door armed?"
The woman folded her hands neatly in her lap.
"Oh," she said lightly, "you're what we at the Bureau call a special case."
Xavier raised an eyebrow. "And what exactly does that mean?"
"Anyone who can enter a dungeon without following normal regulations qualifies as a special case."
Xavier let out a soft breath. "Alright. That tracks. But where's your proof?"
The woman's smile widened just a fraction.
"We have video footage of you," she said, "moving through the city by jumping across rooftops."
Xavier coughed awkwardly and looked out the window.
"…Right."
He shifted in his seat.
"Let's just go inside the building," he said. "And get this over with."
The vehicle slowed as the massive structure of the Magic Bureau of Dungeons came into view—tall, imposing, and very much prepared for people exactly like him.
And Xavier had the distinct feeling that things were about to get complicated.