Several minutes pass, and Karlo is running across the rooftops of this morbid city when something catches his attention, forcing him to stop.
(Karlo): Looks like that thing about there being no more people in this country capable of using dark magic was a lie.
Karlo spots two hooded figures walking down the street several dozen meters ahead. Suddenly, one of them stops moving. Karlo quickly suppresses his mana and hides behind the chimney of one of the houses, seconds before the figure turns around, revealing a thick white mask without any kind of detail. Since it doesn't seem to have seen anything, it continues walking and turns left into another street along with its partner.
(Karlo): (Walking around wearing masks and reacting to any presence they feel in a world where you can hardly find anyone alive… it doesn't get more suspicious than that.)
Karlo pulls up his hood and covers his mouth and nose using dark magic, leaving only his eyes visible. Then he uses a simple enhancement spell to strengthen his legs.
(Karlo): (Still, I admit their caution isn't unreasonable.)
Without any warning, one of them suddenly appears floating behind Karlo and tries to slash his leg with a sword. Karlo quickly escapes by jumping as far as he can.
The hooded person leaps after him and uses wind magic to glide through the air.
(Karlo): Tsk.(Of course he uses wind magic.)
A magic circle forms in Karlo's hand, and a stone projectile shoots forward beneath him. He steps onto it and uses it like a board to gain distance.
(???): What the—?
(Karlo): (Didn't expect that, did you?)
The hooded figure continues chasing Karlo and slowly closes the distance as Karlo begins to lose speed.
(Karlo): (Yeah… I figured that wouldn't be enough to escape. But it was enough to buy some distance. Now for my next trick…)
A large building stands several meters ahead. Quickly, Karlo conjures a mass of darkness around his arm while extending it forward until it sticks to the chimney of the building. Karlo jumps and uses the swing of that movement to launch himself in a completely different direction from where he was going moments ago. Once again, he creates a stone board beneath his feet to continue his escape.
Karlo's acrobatics catch the pursuer off guard again, forcing him to slow down for a moment before continuing the chase.
Suddenly, Karlo notices several stone projectiles flying up from below. He tries to jump away, but the shots destroy his stone board, knocking him down. He quickly conjures a stone staff that pierces the ground and grabs it, preventing himself from crashing violently.
(Karlo): (I was wondering where the other one was.)
A hooded figure appears from a narrow street not far from where Karlo stands. A few seconds later, the one who had been chasing him finally catches up, surrounding him.
(Masked 1): I have to admit, you're good. For a moment there, you almost made me think you'd actually get away. So… shall we do this the easy way, or do you want to struggle a little longer? I should warn you—my partner doesn't like wasting time.
(Masked 2): Who do you work for? And what is your objective?
(Masked 1): See? Straight to the point.
Karlo remains on guard, but since they don't seem eager to kill him immediately, he decides to continue the conversation.
(Karlo): I don't work for anyone. And right now my only objective is to fall into bed and sleep.
The more relaxed masked man stares deeply into Karlo's eyes.
(Masked 1): Hmm… he doesn't seem to be lying.
(Masked 2): As if anyone would confess anything that easily.
(Karlo): I'm really not looking for trouble. I just want to rest after a long day of work.
(Masked 1): Could you tell us what you did today?
(Karlo): I gathered herbs and helped an old man take care of his shop. I'd rather not go into more detail than that. I hope you understand.
(Masked 2): This isn't getting us anywhere.
(Masked 1): Well, at least he seems cooperative. Maybe we can trust him a little?
(Masked 2): These aren't times to trust others without a proper investigation.
(Masked 1): You really won't say anything else willingly, huh?
(Karlo): I'm afraid not. I'd be exposing myself too much—unless you're willing to talk as well.
(Masked 1): Unfortunately, we can't expose ourselves either. The mere fact that we're talking to you already puts us at risk.
(Karlo): Then I guess that's as far as this goes.
The talkative masked man glances one last time at his partner, who has not stopped staring at Karlo even for a moment.
(Masked 1): Sigh. I really didn't want it to end like this…
Karlo breaks part of the stone staff that was embedded in the ground, turning it into a smaller staff about 1.5 meters long. He assumes a defensive stance, holding the back end of the staff with his right hand while his other hand grips the middle.
Suddenly, a barrage of air slashes tries to strike him from behind, but he conjures a stone wall to block them. The talkative masked man rushes toward Karlo with a sword aimed at his left shoulder. Karlo deflects the attack with his staff, but the masked man reveals a hidden dagger from his back and attempts to stab Karlo in the left side of his abdomen, just below the ribs.
At the same time, the other masked figure appears behind him and tries to strike the tendon of Karlo's left foot, which is slightly forward.
Karlo makes a small jump backward, allowing the dagger to hit his forearm in order to protect the side of his body. With the jump, he avoids the sword aimed at his tendon.
With a quick counterattack, he makes a thin stone spike erupt from the ground, piercing the arm of the masked man holding the dagger. Immediately after, he swings his staff toward the head of the other opponent, but the man dodges by throwing himself backward. He quickly compensates for his failure by using a stone spell to trap Karlo's legs.
(Masked 1): Argh! Damn it!
Karlo ignores the spell on his legs and focuses on the injured opponent. Extending his staff slightly, he strikes the man's right rib with force.
The other masked man takes advantage of Karlo focusing on his partner and conjures two stone fragments, launching them toward him. Karlo quickly reacts and tries to summon a mass of darkness in front of him to block them.
But his spell is only fast enough to stop one projectile. The other strikes his back, tearing away a chunk of flesh.
(Karlo): Urgh!
Karlo loses concentration, causing most of his spells to fade—except for the shadow still covering his face, which he quickly expands to cover the wound on his back.
The injured masked man tries to strike Karlo again with his sword, but due to the accumulated pain he misjudges the distance and only causes a shallow cut across Karlo's abdomen.
Meanwhile, the other masked man tries to trap Karlo inside a stone tomb, but Karlo counterattacks by summoning stone spikes from the ground. The masked man dodges easily, but it forces him to cancel the tomb spell.
In the end, it was only a distraction so Karlo could reinforce his body again with an enhancement spell. He grabs the wrist of the opponent in front of him and, with his left arm, attempts to land a powerful punch on the man's arm.
However, he releases him immediately when he senses a massive concentration of mana surrounding him.
Karlo quickly raises a stone pillar, saving himself from several stone spikes erupting from the ground. He then jumps onto the roof of a nearby house and, without hesitation, starts running.
(Masked 1): Go after him. I'll catch up soon.
The other masked man raises a stone pillar and begins pursuing Karlo.
Karlo continues fleeing across the rooftops, but his pursuer is only a few dozen meters behind him. Karlo conjures several stone projectiles and fires them backward without aiming carefully. None of them hit directly, but they slow the pursuer enough for Karlo to gain a bit more distance.
The masked man begins to lose patience and decides to counterattack, launching dark spheres toward Karlo.
Karlo quickly jumps down into an alley, avoiding the attack.
Instead of following him down, the hooded man decides to continue pursuing from the rooftops. As he approaches the alley, he notices a cloud of smoke rising and covering the narrow streets.
He sees a smoke bomb explode several meters away and rushes toward it—but when he arrives, there is no one there.
Immediately, he tries to locate Karlo's mana, but he cannot detect anything.
He decides to search the area anyway, unaware that, hidden by the smoke, the door of one of the houses is slightly open.
Inside, Karlo hides in one of the rooms, finally escaping the conflict.
(Karlo): (That was close… good thing I didn't hesitate when I saw that open door. I just hope he doesn't think the same once the smoke clears.)
Karlo treats his wounds using some gauze and bandages.
After about thirty minutes—hoping they have given up or at least moved far enough away—he leaves his hiding place and begins walking slowly toward the academy, trying not to attract attention.
Only a few minutes remain before curfew.
Silvia stands in front of the female dormitory with another teacher, waiting for all the students to enter.
Suddenly, she senses a surge of mana appearing briefly from inside the dormitory before disappearing.
(Teacher): Come on! Only two minutes until curfew! Move, move!
(Silvia): I'll check how things are inside. Do you mind staying here and making sure everyone goes in?
(Teacher): Not at all. There can't be many students left anyway…Hey, you two! Stop chatting and get inside!
Silvia enters the dormitory and follows the mana she felt moments ago. The bell rings, and she realizes it came from her own room.
Preparing to catch the intruder in the act, she opens the door—only to be surprised by who she finds inside.
In the bathroom of her room, Karlo is changing the bandages on his wounds.
(Silvia): Karlo?
(Karlo): Ah—sorry for the intrusion. I needed a mirror to change my bandages, but I couldn't do it in my room. My friends might be there, and I couldn't think of a convincing excuse.
(Silvia): You could've said you fought a monster while gathering herbs. I assume they know you joined the mercenary guild.
(Karlo): Gabriel was born and raised here in Alcarcia. He knows the only monsters around here are slimes, sakis, and small groups of goblins. None of them could tear a hole like this in a human's flesh—unless it was a goblin shaman. But there are no reports of them living this close to the forest's edge. I found that out last week.Anyway… I'm almost done here… urgh…
(Silvia): Take as long as you need. Honestly, I was more worried it might be an underwear thief than anything else.
(Karlo): I'm glad seeing me bleeding isn't a cause for concern…
(Silvia): It's not like I haven't seen you injured before—especially considering the training your mother used to put us through. Here, let me help you.
Silvia helps Karlo wrap his bandages.
(Silvia): So… how did this happen? I doubt it was those boys from the other time.
(Karlo): I was ambushed by two people wearing white masks while I was in the Ashen Lands.
(Silvia): Assassins?
(Karlo): I'd say they were more like spies. Their focus was more on figuring out what I was doing there rather than killing me without reason. They probably belong to some intelligence organization or something like that.We talked for a bit, but one of them wasn't very satisfied with my answers. I could have said more, but since they couldn't reveal much about themselves either, I didn't share much about myself. In the end, it turned into a fight.
(Silvia): Did you win?
(Karlo): I wouldn't call it a victory. I might have broken one or two ribs on one of them, but against the other I didn't stand a chance. In the end, I just focused on not getting caught—and managed to escape.
(Silvia): There, all done. At least I'm glad you're okay. But it would be nice if you stayed out of trouble for a while.
(Karlo): I'm not the one looking for trouble. I don't even know how I end up in these situations. I'm starting to wonder if I really have good karma…
Karlo looks at his jacket and realizes it won't be able to hide his wounds because of the holes in it.
(Karlo): Would you mind if I borrowed one of your coats?
(Silvia): I don't see a problem—just don't rub yourself all over it.
(Karlo): Since when did you start thinking so little of me?
(Silvia): Laughs I'm just teasing you.
Karlo takes the coat that looks closest to something he would normally wear, hoping to avoid suspicion or comments from his friends.
(Karlo): I'll return it tomorrow. I should get going before it's been too long after curfew.
(Silvia): Take it easy so you don't reopen the wound.
Karlo goes to the window he used to enter and creates a small staircase of stone, climbing down until he reaches the ground.
They wave goodbye to each other before Karlo heads into the forest toward the male dormitory.
Silvia closes the window and takes a slow breath.
(Silvia): If they're moving around here… something bad might happen in this city.
She turns off the lights in her room after preparing for bed.
And with that, another day comes to an end.