“Where did you learn to fight with bravado like that?”

Ara flopped onto the ground like a fish straight out of water. She was ready to fight whoever this person. But that disappeared the moment she saw his black, white-tipped tail.

She wondered why.

Beneath him was the handless henchman, who whimpered in his final sleep as he bled out. He wore a spotless Receptionist suit and had familiar wolf-like ears that reminded her of someone…

“Does… that matter right now? There’s a healer… being kidnapped. And my cousin… she still hasn’t… come back home.” Ara’s exhaustion finally caught up to her.

She felt strangely safe around him for some reason. That tail was too familiar, and she tried to figure out just who it belonged to.

… white tipped tail. Reminds me of someone. No. Three people… Wait a second… Didn’t Res say she had a brother?

“That’s not a healer. They took the bait. You were better off watching. So.” He knelt down before her, slicking his hair back with blood. “Let me ask again. Where’d you learn to fight like that from? You don’t strike me as someone from the backwaters.”

“That’s cause I’m from the deepwater… lend me a hand already. I can’t feel my arms. Or my legs. Good thing I got these cushions to break my fall, or my nose would’ve been fucked up.” Ara patiently waited, confusing the wolfman. “Hello? Anyone home? I don’t have time to get interrogated by a Receptionist. If that healer isn’t a problem, then you could’ve at least bailed me!”

“Bail you and let them go? And let them become suspicious of the ‘merchandise’? It may be better to kill you right here and now –”

“Raoul.” She interrupted with a loud yap. “You’re Roaul, right?”

His perpetually narrowed eyes suddenly widened, causing her to smirk.

Bingo~!

“Cer’ll get pissed if you kill one of her friends. As a matter of fact, I’m close to the Amalgam. You know what killing me means right? Haha!”

His crimson eyes became like dots. An immense wave of bloodlust washed over her, causing her to stiffen.

“… ha… ha… Hey. You really won’t kill me, right?”

Then, it disappeared all at once.

Raoul shut his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. He then brought a hand to his ear.

“… Azure. A complication just came up. It’s…”

He twirled her hair between his fingers. Now that Ara noticed it, he was pretty tall. To be honest, she was expecting Raoul to be just as short as the triplets.

A look of disappointment overcame her, causing Raoul to tilt his head as an invisible question mark appeared above him.

“… A ‘green thing’.”

A vein popped on her forehead.

“HEY! I got a name! It’s ARA! Tell anyone up there and they’ll know it! So, you gonna help me up or what!?”

“It’s talking moss. Come pick it up. Turn off the CognitO Phantasm. This thing allegedly knows the Amalgam. Don’t scare it. Confirm it. I’ll leave the rest to you.”

He said this, but he couldn’t stop playing with Ara’s hair. He was like a cat infatuated with a toy. Or was a hunter playing with its prey. He was a wolf, after all. And she was no different to a maimed deer.

Except that this deer had connections that ran deep.

“Listen wolf, I appreciate you calling someone here, but I got another favor to ask you!”

“Please hurry over.” He asked in a monotone voice, finally standing to leave her.

But before he could take another step, a bloodied hand grasped onto his ankles.

“My cousin! No – Alice! Blonde hair! Blue eyes! A child! Have you seen her!?”

Despite Ara’s antics, her voice was filled with enough desperation to freeze the man. Unfortunately for her…

“No.”

“Fuck… Alice…”

… Raoul knew nothing.

“You’ll have better luck asking a Star of the Nexus for help.” He added, looking up at the clouded skies. “If they’re a family member of yours, then the chances of her being protected are high. Stars are all over H5 right now.”

The light of the sun didn’t faze him when it returned. His gaze naturally moved back to the Nexus as he took out a smoking pipe from his back pocket, patiently waiting for Ara to unshackle him.

Before he could light it up – Ara’s grip suddenly tightened.

“Ooooh~! So you’re a Star too!”

“No. I’m actually –”

“You were my bodyguard, huh! Aren’t you fucking lousy! I tooted the tromba five times! That’s like… wait – that’s Woe of the Fallen Star!? Oh shit –!”

“I’m leaving.” Raoul gave up, walking away but Ara wouldn’t let go of his foot. She was dragged along the rugged floor, her blood mixing with the handless man’s. her broken arm felt like it was going to fall off.

But she couldn’t allow her to give in.

“Please help me! Please… help me find my cousin!”

Raoul paused again. His ears reacted to an electric beam that blew the skies apart. His tail lowered down to brush against her bloodied face as he lit his pipe and drew a lung-full of smoke.

“Azure can’t help you to begin with. The most we can do is take you to a healing clinic and wait for the Head. Your cousin should be among the protected as I said.” His tone changed all of a sudden. It was cordial. Warm, like it came from the bottom of his heart.

But at the same time, his voice carried a hint of sorrow. Ara could hear this in people’s voices, and most importantly, from the instrument buried deep within their chests.

His instrument was the flute, an instrument symbolizing sorrow.

“You’re worrying over nothing. It’ll be good for you to focus on something else.” He turned around to face her, reaching down.

“A flute, huh… wait – hey!? Waaah!?”

She was swept into his arms before she knew it.

“Oi. Is this how you also carry your guy friends!? Like they’re a princess or something!?” Ara pouted, but it wasn’t like she hated it either.

“I’m happy to throw you over my shoulder. You never answered my question either.”

“Right… well, when I used to be a guy, I lived in S7. Does that solve anything?”

“So you’re not all talk. Noted.”

“You’re not surprised that I’m not actually a girl? Weird. People like to yell at me when I tell them that. We have all the magic in the world and gender changing is apparently impossible.”

Raoul let loose of a long sigh, climbing up a nearby staircase.

“Oi. Green thing. I really couldn’t care less. Fuck this job… I sincerely hope that I won’t have to deal with you again.”

“Really? I think we’d make a good pair. I could make an intro theme for you every time you jump into battle! How cool would that be!?”

“If you can still talk, then you have the energy to walk.”

“I hate people that say stuff like that. You think talking uses more energy than walking!?”

Raoul mentally shut down as Ara barked more than any wolf he had met in his life…

… aside from one other blood-related wolf.

And for that reason, a small smile formed on his face.

“Hey. And, er… thanks. I guess. You should’ve helped me sooner, but I guess I’m still alive. So there’s that.” Ara sheepishly thanked her savior as they left Azure to clean up the mess.

At the same time, the ground wildly shook as Ber went around Greenbirth destroying Dungeons before they could even emerge. And later, the mechanical groan of a colossal train rang out across the city.

The Head was here.