****

Caelania was a prosperous kingdom, filled with many large and small cities, the most famous of them was its capital, Casentano, where every species of every kind walked side by side. In the streets stood the dwarves talking about concerns within the mines. In a high-class restaurant sat elves in a meeting regarding their sacred artifacts. Finally, there were beastmen competing in an arena, testing their strength and skill. The audience was filled with humans, cheering loudly as the fight became more brutal. In the crowd was a young man wearing a black, hooded cloak that covered his face. The only visible feature was his smile, which was so big that his jaw nearly hurt.

BAM!!! POW!!!

The sound of fists striking echoed the stadium and the crowd cheered louder. Through his hood, the young man watched in anticipation as the intensity increased. With one final punch, the ox-like beastman fell to the ring with a hard thud. His opponent, a rhino-like beastman, let out a mighty roar and raised his fists into the air. The victory was achieved and the crowd went wild. The hooded man screamed the loudest, jumping up from his seat and joining in the thunderous applause. As the crowd died down, he leaped from his seats and exited the stadium. Another big smile appeared on his face.

“Man!” he gleefully chirped. “The nightlife in Caelania is so cool! I wonder what other fun I can get up to?” Walking the streets, he noticed that one of the pharmacies, Health and Happiness Pharmacy, was still open. “Well, grampa did say he needed his medicine picked up. No time like the present.” As he walked in, he was immediately stopped by the elderly man at the counter.

“Excuse me, sir,” he spoke firmly. “I’m sorry but I can’t allow you inside unless you take the hood down.”

The young man froze. “Uh…” he babbled. “I-I can’t, sorry. L-look, it’ll only take five minutes-”

“Listen, either you take off the hood or I throw you out. Your choice.”

Reluctantly, the young man reached for his hood. Suddenly, a loud crash was heard, along with a screech. The hooded man turned around to see two men in dark suits. One of them had tails and ears that resembled that of a fox and the other had the horns of a bull. The fox was the unfortunate victim who smashed straight into the glass window onto the floor. The bull was shorter and stood outside, trying his best not to smile.

“Oh wipe that smirk off your face!” the one on the floor yelled, desperately picking himself up. It was a miracle that he wasn’t bleeding. Clearing his throat, he whipped out his pistol and pointed it at the elderly man.

“Gah!” he gasped.

“Hello!” the fox-hybrid bellowed. “My name is Maxim Lamberti, but my friends call me Max! Now then, despite my hybrid physiology, I am just as happy and healthy as you! My actions here today should not reflect on other quimera and I do not speak for them. I act purely on my own, along with my partner over there, as a side benefit to Mr. Blackwood!” Both the shopkeeper and the hooded man were startled and confused. Despite borderline threatening them with their lives, Maxim acted very cheerfully. Were all of Caelania’s criminals this jovial? With a sneer, Maxim turned the gun towards the hooded man and cocked it.

“I think I’ll start with you,” he growled. “After all, you know what they say about respecting your elders. Hand over all of your money. Now.”

From under his hood, the young man smiled. “What is this, a robbery?”

This caught Maxim off guard. Who did this punk think he was talking to? “Obviously! Now hand over the money or I’ll put a bullet in you!”

The hooded man chuckled. “I’m sorry, but I don’t have any money right now. I can write you a cheque, though.”

Maxim’s eye twitched. His patience ran thin. “Don’t you be fucking coy with me, you little-!” His ranting was interrupted by a sharp roundhouse to the face, dropping his gun in the process. Quickly, the hooded man kicked the gun away. Maxim’s nose was bleeding and, in a fit of anger, he reached for a small, baton-like object from his waist. With a little twist, it expanded and shifted into a medium-sized ax. “You are dead!” Maxim yelled as he swung the ax towards the hooded man, only to jump back as he was parried by a sheathed sword. Maxim stared in disbelief, how was he able to reach for that so quickly?

“If you want to be taken seriously as a bad guy, I’d recommend working on your one-liners.” said the hooded man. Pointing the pommel of the sword at Maxim, he pushed him to the floor with ease.

“What the hell?” Maxim gasped. The grip on his ax tightened with anger. A nefarious criminal like himself was reduced to a mere plaything. “Marlo, deal with this punk right now!” he called out. Maxim turned to the window, only to find that his accomplice was not there. “Are you shitting me right now? Fine, we’ll pick this up again some other time.” The fox quimera picked himself up from the floor and dusted his suit, promptly jumping out of the window and running as fast as he could. The hooded man, not intent on letting them escape, followed after them.

“Hey get back here!” yelled the shopkeeper. It was fruitless, however, as the man in the hood had already left. He ran as fast as he could, so fast that his hood fell off revealing his blonde hair and blue eyes. In front of him, he could see Maxim.

“Hey!” he shouted “We’re not finished yet!”

Maxim turned around, nearly tripping again.

“Are you serious right now?! Get away from me, you psycho!”

“Says the guy that wrecked a pharmacy,” the blonde quipped.

“Argh!” Maxim yelled. “Damn you!” Skidding along the road, he turned and leaped straight into a nearby alleyway. There, he found two more of his group’s minions. Lower-level grunts he barely bothered to remember up till now.

“HA! There you are!”

“Max, what happened?” One grunt asked.

“Kid with a sword chased me all the way here!” Maxim shouted, “Marlo bailed, I need backup, so you’ll do!” The blonde skidded a bit as he ran down the alleyway.

“There’s the little bastard! Get him!”

Without a second thought, the goons whipped out a couple of batons and started swinging. It took the blonde a few moments to swat them aside, but it was enough for Maxim to signal a cloaked hover ship. The doors of the ship opened, allowing a chain ladder to hit the ground between the two with a loud thunk.

“Well, kid, looks like your attempt at playing “hero” should’ve ended at the shop!” Maxim shouted as he climbed the ladder. “This town’s not worth the effort! Bail!” Maxim ordered the pilot.

“But what about the others?”

“FUCK EM, LET’S GO!!” Maxim shouted.

The blonde prepared to draw his blade as energy began to surround him. Panicking, Maxim turned toward the pilot. “Lay down suppressive fire and charge up the thrusters.”

“But it’ll draw attention,” the pilot protested.

“No shit, genius. We already got enough attention.” Maxim argued. “Now start firing!!”

The pilot relented and fired the mounted turrets at the boy who, in blinding speed, managed to deflect several shots. Despite the pilot’s worry, the turrets bought him and Maxim enough time to blast into the sky, with the stealth-coating panels merging it with the clouds above.

“Damn!” shouted the blonde. But just as things couldn’t get any worse, he turned around and found a woman with her arms crossed. She was dressed formally and had a stern glare on her face. From her head were small antlers that one would find on deer and the ears of a rabbit.

“Prince Daniel Estimar, you’re coming with me.”

Upon hearing that name, Daniel’s heart started to race.

****

In a dark interrogation room, Daniel watched as the jackalope quimera paced the floor. Of all the things he encountered tonight, this was the most stressful.

“Do you know why you're here, Your Highness?” she asked sternly.

“...You mistook me for a criminal?” Daniel joked. The quimera woman didn’t look impressed. Daniel’s smile dropped. “Okay, I see you’re not the joking type.”

“I don’t joke about these matters, Your Highness, even if you are royalty. Now, let’s see…” From her pocket, the jackalope quimera took out her phone and began to read out the charges. “Assault with a deadly weapon.”

“Technically, no.” Daniel objected. “I didn’t unsheath my sword, so that doesn’t count. Plus, that jerk was the one who waved his gun at me and the old man, so that should be classed as self-defense.”

“Destruction of property-”

“Again, that was that guy Maxim. He was the idiot who decided to break in through the window!”

“And who was the idiot who left the window broken and didn’t bother to help clean it up? And deflected several shots from mounted turrets with little to no regard for surrounding property damage?”

Daniel’s face blushed red in embarrassment. “Okay, point taken.”

“Count yourself lucky that there wasn’t anyone else in the pharmacy besides you and the owner,” the quimera said. “Had there been more, your actions could’ve gotten innocent people hurt.”

“But it wasn’t my fault!” Daniel raised his voice, almost shouting. “That guy, Maxim, he's the one who broke in and caused a scene!”

“Listen, I'm not denying what Maxim did. However, your actions were reckless and irresponsible. What you did was no different to that of a vigilante.”

Daniel hung his head in disappointment.

“However, I will be willing to overlook this matter at the pharmacy since no one got hurt. Though you will be expected to pay for the damages.”

“Yes, Ma'am.”

“And I will be informing both your father and grandfather about this little matter.”

“Wait, what?!” Daniel yelped.

“Just because you prevented a crime, that doesn’t mean you get off completely scot-free,” said the jackalope quimera, taking a sip of her water. Just then, the door swung open to reveal a tall, black-haired woman in a beautiful red dress. Daniel couldn’t help but blush while the jackalope quimera blinked in surprise.

“Headmistress Dominguez, good evening.” she greeted her, still stunned.

“Nana Usami, good to see you too” replied Miss Dominguez. “Thank you, but I think I'll take it from here. “ She leaned over to Daniel, whose face became even redder from her beauty. “I must say, Your Highness, your skills are impressive. Anyone who would be willing to take on infamous thieves such as those two would be of use to a variety of organizations.” 

“Uh…. thank you...” Daniel stuttered. “S-So… a-am I still i-in trouble?”

“Not quite,” Miss Dominguez smiled. “I remember taking your siblings on as students in my school. I trust you’re familiar?”

“Y-Yes, Miss.”

“Excellent, because I am willing to do the same with you.”

Hearing that Dominguez wanted Daniel at her school was enough to snap him out of his stupor. “Are you serious?!”

“I’m with His Highness on this one,” Nana chimed in. “You can’t possibly be serious. With the abilities he’s shown thus far, it would be a mistake. The other first-year students would struggle to keep up with him. Such a power imbalance would disrupt morale.”

“I suppose you’re right,” said Dominguez.

“I’m glad you see it my way.”

“He’d be much better suited with the second years instead.”

Daniel’s eyes went wide with disbelief, as did Nana’s. “That’s not what I-!” Nana objected but was cut off by Dominguez.

“Then it’s settled. Daniel Estimar, would you like to be a student at my school?” Dominguez asked. Daniel could hardly believe what was going on. What should’ve ended in jail time was instead being thrown out the window. Instead, this was an opportunity being presented right in front of him. He knew better than to refuse.

“Of course!” Daniel bellowed enthusiastically. “Sign me up!”

“Right answer.” Dominguez chuckled, much to Nana’s chagrin. However, her expression soon turned serious. “Take heed of this advice, though. Heroes are often too romanticized.”

“What do you mean?”, Daniel asked.

“Tell me, what is your motivation? What drives you, Your Highness.”

“Um…” Daniel’s feet went cold. He wasn’t used to being put on the spot like this. “I guess… it would have to be my grandmother. When I was a little kid, she would always tell me stories about her past adventures. I always looked up to her and wanted to be just like her.” From his pocket, he pulled out a pair of gold and black, tatty goggles. “These goggles were given to me by her. I was supposed to get them restored today. I guess I forgot in all the excitement.”

“Hmmm…” Dominguez pondered. “It seems you have your work cut out for you, Your Highness. I wish you all the best.” With everything she needed to say out of the way, Miss Dominguez took her to leave, followed by Nana. Daniel looked up at the ceiling, left to wonder what she meant by heroes being too romanticized.