Juryo Ku and Suberi were invited to Erik's office. Suberi was really nervous, as she couldn't accomplish anything during the Prison Break. But Juryo Ku seemed alright.
When they entered the office, however, the sight made him go pale.
Next to Erik was a young man with a mohawk, a cocky grin on his face. He wore a jacket over his shirtless body and was glaring at Juryo.
"Who is he?" She thought to herself.
Juryo's hands started twitching, and he began to sweat profusely.
Erik didn't speak a word.
"I'm… I'm so sorry, sir!" Juryo fell on his knees and started begging, shocking Suberi. "Please! We won't fail ever again! We won't disappoint you, we won't… please!" He even started bowing.
Erik was still quiet. The young man cackled. "So this is the man I'll replace as the Third Apostle, huh?"
"What is this about, sir? If this is about the Prison Raid… we're sorry! But our plan was interrupted by a third party, Asim! We didn't even stand a chance." Suberi pleaded, trying to keep her composure.
Erik kept his silence.
"Excuses." The man with the mohawk said. "Juryo Ku knows why Commander brought me here. He failed, and I'm his replacement."
"We're sorry, we're sorry!" Juryo started crying. "You…" Suberi was left speechless. The normally carefree Apostle was now… sobbing and begging for his life. "Sir… I- Juryo didn't fail. It was my fault." She lied for him, even though she didn't know why.
He has been nothing but cruel to her, yet she lies for him.
Erik stood up and approached them.
"He was about to capture him, but I accidentally used my Treasure and allowed him to escape." She looked down. "It's not his fault. It's mine."
"Then you're both dying today." The replacement laughed and approached them. "Sir, if you allow me, let me get rid of these pests myself-" Before the young man could finish his sentence, Erik grabbed him by the throat and lifted him in the air effortlessly. He tried to break free, but it was futile.
Suberi screamed and stepped back, clutching the wall in fear. Juryo went into shock, filled with confusion.
Then, like breaking a twig, Erik snapped his neck and killed him. His body dropped to the ground, lifeless. Something King Cells cannot save.
Erik sighed, went back to his table, and sat down. "I expect great things from you two." He smiled.
In contrast to the traumatizing event the two went through, Otoru was trying to teach Pablo stuff about the world. They sat across the table while eating food, and Otoru's patience was at its limits.
"So… were the evil human traffickers the Caedis family or the Celestyr family?" Pablo struggled to make sense of it. "Both! Both of them are evil human traffickers!" Otoru yelled.
"It's confusing!" Pablo yelled back.
"The Caedis family traffics Magiborns. The Celestyr family traffics Giants. How is that so hard to understand?" He furiously took a bite out of his food.
"Okay, okay, calm down. I didn't even go to school. I'm from Thalorien." He looked away in embarrassment. "I'm from Thalorien too, dumbass!" He launched himself at him, but Kori stopped him again. "Easy, easy." She couldn't help but laugh.
Slowly but surely, they made it. They anchored their ship at the dock, and had a surprisingly normal welcome. No illegal routes, no shady things.
It was all thanks to Otoru's experience. He forged fake documents to make it seem like it was an authorized visit.
Their first impression of the island was jaw-dropping to say the least. The dock was entirely made of hard candy that looked like wood. The ground looked exactly like dirt, but in reality it was made of cake, and the roads were made of chocolate rocks which looked like stone paths.
Everything looked normal, but in reality it was candy.
…Everything looked normal.
The Island wasn't visually impressive. It was colorful, amazing, and Pablo found himself nibbling on basically everything, and yet… it didn't fit what he had on his mind.
The three walked in the streets as they talked about their plan.
"You're not leaking too much mana, good. Even if someone sensed it, it's so unnoticeable they would play it off. If you don't expect to see a Dawnthinker with mana, you don't see a Dawnthinker with mana." Otoru changed his outfit in the ship to not stick out.
He now wore a dark gray t-shirt and even darker sweatpants. He wore two sneakers, allowing him to use his athleticism to its full potential.
"Wait, you can sense my mana? Before my awakening, everyone could see it, but after I took control of it only people that had mana could notice it. Or at least, that's what Nasaki said." He looked baffled. "Obviously. I have awareness of the soul, which also gives me awareness of mana."
Pablo wore a brown cloak to cover his body and hid his Zweihander in it. Aside from the prosthetic hand, he was also gifted a Zweihander made out of Manasteel, but a lower purity one.
Kori, on the other hand, wore a white sundress with flower patterns on it. She also wore a straw hat because of the heat.
Briochea was hot like it was summer, and it was surprising how the candy didn't melt.
"What's our move?" She said. "It's best to just go around town and interrogate things. We can either draw attention and get the family to focus on us, so we can infiltrate it. We need information, and I hate that I am saying this, but… if anyone can help me with my disease, it's people that know about how Magiborn bodies work."
"Disease? You never told me about a disease, but a newborn could tell you're sick." He fought back a grin. "Yeah. That's how I use mana too. My Aura Link is assimilated with mana, somehow. Lots of it. It's…" Pablo's mood visibly lowered.
"Oh." Otoru's expression became heavier. "How… long you have left?"
"I don't know, but not too long. I'm getting worse by the day. But don't worry, I'll find a cure no matter what." He cleared his throat and fought back a coughing fit.
"Other than that, why are we here?" Kori's curiosity wasn't satisfied.
"I need the government's attention. They know I want to save Tsuyoi, yet they are keeping his new location secret. We can get intel from the Caedis family, but I also think it's clear that they want me to get that information myself, whatever it takes. They want me to make noise."
"Pablo, did you get your hair done?" Kori grabbed a handful of his hair and ran her fingers through it. "N-No." He went red instantly, but tried to play it off. "Why?"
"I think it looks beautiful. Long pink hair, it fits you." She giggled.
"Thanks. I think you look…" He was frantically searching for the correct word. "...cute with that dress."
"I'm happy to hear that." She laughed and hid her mouth with her hand. "Pablo Drake, you dirty dog." Otoru slowly shook his head with a sly smile and muttered to himself. "Why are you looking at me like that?!" He got even more embarrassed because of Otoru's reaction.
The streets were lively and almost cozy in a way, far different from what they were in Eldoria or Thalorien. For once, Pablo enjoyed walking outside.
They first made it to the bazaar street, where they were looking for anything out of the ordinary, but also just buying stuff out of curiosity and mostly just on a whim.
Something caught Pablo's attention, right in the corner of his eye. It was far away, so he couldn't hear anything or even see something clearly. But he caught a glimpse of it.
A big muscular man slapping a child and leading them to an alleyway. "I'll be right back. You two go to the casino like we planned!" Pablo said, and began sprinting. "Wait, where are you going?!" Otoru called out, but he didn't respond back. "Shit."
His body moved before his mind. Maybe it was reckless. He didn't put too much thought into it. The expression on the child's face was enough.
When he went to the alleyway, to his surprise, nothing was there. "Huh?" He started panting and wiped the sweat off his forehead.
"Nothing's here-" He looked around frantically and reached for any sign of the man and the kid, and when all hope seemed lost, he found something.
A piece of paper on the ground, with something written on it. The writing was messy, and it obviously belonged to someone who didn't write much.
If Pablo knew how to read, he'd know that on the paper, it read:
"Found you."