It was an early Tuesday morning, one of those rare days when snow didn’t fall.
I had just returned from cleaning the general store as usual and was quietly munching on the bacon and fried eggs Raven had prepared for breakfast.
“It’s already been four days... and still no news.”
The date with Sabrina had been on Saturday. Today marked four days since the chaos in the subway tracks.
Yet, despite the time that had passed, there had been no word from Anser.
Sabrina and Anser had definitely exchanged contact information back then, so why had it been so silent?
I couldn’t help but worry. What if something had gone wrong?
“Hey, temp. Are you eating your breakfast with your cheek instead of your mouth?”
“...?!”
Raven’s voice startled me, and only then did I realize I had been holding the bacon to my cheek instead of eating it.
Ugh, this is why you shouldn’t get distracted while eating. I have a bad habit of losing awareness of my surroundings when I’m deep in thought, and it often gets me into trouble.
Last time, I was so lost in thought while showering that I couldn’t remember if I had washed my hair or not.
Well, first things first: breakfast.
I wiped the grease off my mask and decided to finish the meal in front of me before anything else.
Stuffing the bacon and fried eggs into my mouth, I got up with the empty plate and hurried to the dishwasher.
After placing the dish inside, I rushed to the sink and brushed my teeth in record time.
Normally, I’d go about my routine at a leisurely pace, but today, I felt an inexplicable sense of urgency, as if I couldn’t sit still.
“What’s up with him lately? Haaah... must be puberty or something.”
Who’s going through puberty here?! I’m being serious!
Fuming silently at Raven’s offhand comment as he loaded the dishwasher at his own relaxed pace, I flopped onto the office sofa and turned on the TV.
Flipping through channels with the remote, I eventually settled on a news channel and stared blankly at the broadcast.
As expected, in a world like this, it only takes a few days for any incident to be forgotten.
The subway bombing chaos had already become yesterday’s news.
Not that it was surprising. From the way the media had reported it as a "subway bombing" from the start, it was clear there had been strict information control from above.
The authorities had successfully contained the situation before any major casualties occurred, so aside from the police, no one knew the full story.
“So, no news is good news... right? At least it’s a relief that no one’s calling out Anser’s name or blaming demons. That’s a blessing.”
If there had been undeniable evidence or visible victims, it wouldn’t have been swept under the rug so quietly.
The entire city would have been in an uproar, with people clamoring for justice.
After all, discrimination and conflict sell, and a crime involving demons as the villains?
For extremists, there’s no better excuse to shout their rhetoric from the rooftops.
“But why hasn’t she reached out?! I even used the Tesseract to heal her, left traces of the mastermind on the golem... By now, she should’ve been released and sent some kind of message...”
I stared blankly at the news anchor droning on about topics I didn’t care about, letting out a silent sigh.
Ugh, I just don’t know anymore. Whatever happens, happens.
Exhausted from the endless waiting, I mentally threw up a white flag of surrender.
As I sat there sulking in silence, Raven shuffled into the room in his usual rumpled suit and spoke up.
“What’s this? You went straight to the sofa, so I thought you were watching cartoons, but it’s the news? Developing some high-class tastes there, temp?”
“....”
What’s so high-class about watching the news? Isn’t it just... normal?
I glanced at Raven as he flopped onto the seat next to me, picking at his ear with one hand and grabbing the remote with the other.
“Mind if I change the channel?”
“...!”
“Oh, what’s this? Morning action movies? Let’s watch this.”
I nodded to show I didn’t mind, and Raven began flipping through channels before stopping on a movie channel.
The title in the top-left corner read Civilization 3.
I didn’t recognize it—this must be an original movie from this world.
Judging by the "3" in the title, it seemed to be part of a series... but since it was already halfway through, I couldn’t make sense of the plot.
“Well, the action scenes are decent, even if I have no idea why they’re fighting.”
Watching a movie without knowing the story feels like eating a bun with no filling.
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Still, the CGI was impressive, and the acting was good. Not bad overall.
I sat quietly with my hands folded on my knees, letting myself get absorbed in the film.
Sometimes, it’s nice to just clear your mind like this.
Though it hadn’t been my intention, Raven’s suggestion helped lighten the weight on my chest a little.
“Hello! Oh? What’s with the movie so early in the morning?”
Some time later, Alice cheerfully burst into the office.
She glanced between Raven and me, tilting her head curiously.
We must’ve looked odd, watching a movie first thing in the morning.
“Hey, Alice. Movie channel’s running this, so we decided to watch. Wanna join?”
“Oh, it’s Civilization! I love this series!”
Alice’s enthusiasm surprised me. This must be a popular movie if even she recognized it.
I blinked in mild amazement as she practically beamed with excitement.
Without a second thought, she plopped onto the sofa and casually pulled me onto her lap.
At this point, I’d gotten used to it.
It had become such a regular occurrence that it felt almost routine.
Wait... have I been trained?
“Good morning, everyone!”
“New recruit’s here.”
“Good morning, Mr. David!”
“...!”
Shortly after, David entered the office, as punctual as ever.
Though it might seem like he was the office’s habitual latecomer, that wasn’t true.
David was meticulous about time and always arrived exactly 30 minutes before work began.
It was just that Raven and I lived here, and Alice often spent her weekends hanging out at the office. Compared to us, of course, he seemed late.
As I glanced at the film, preparing to re-focus on the action scene, David carefully approached me.
“Yuria, do you have a moment?”
“...?”
“Sabrina mentioned she wanted to talk to you.”
Sabrina? This early?
Curious, I thought for a moment before a realization hit me. Could it be... what I think it is?
“....”
“Yuria...”
Reluctantly, I wiggled out of Alice’s clingy grasp, gently patting her arm as if to console her.
Once free, I took the communicator David handed me.
Naturally, since I couldn’t speak, it was a video call.
Not wanting to disturb the movie, I stepped into the office hallway and connected to the number David had already dialed.
The call barely rang before Sabrina’s flushed, excited face appeared on the screen.
Her voice burst out, brimming with joy.
“Yuria! It happened! It finally happened!”
“...?”
“Anser! She’s been released from the police station! She’s completely fine—no problems at all!”
“...!”
It was the wonderful news I had been waiting for.
*
A dim, secret underground space with no windows, illuminated only by the artificial light from ceiling fixtures.
A man with an unnervingly muscular build, whose suit looked ready to burst at the seams, listened intently to the words of a researcher standing before him.
“I will now present the results of our investigation. This metallic fragment... as expected, matches none of the elements found on Earth. Similarly, we had a mage from the Otherworld examine it, and the findings are consistent.”
“So, you’re saying...”
“Yes. It seems this is an unidentified metal that belongs neither to Earth nor the Otherworld.”
“Hmm, I see.”
Rip.
The man’s suit let out a strained creak as his bulging muscles flexed involuntarily.
The tight fabric of his custom-fitted suit struggled to contain the sheer size of his frame.
This reaction was only natural for the chief of Night Haven’s Police Department.
A metal that doesn’t exist on Earth or in the Otherworld.
That could only mean one thing: the Invaders, who had once plunged the world into peril, were on the move again.
A catastrophic threat could soon descend upon Earth once more.
Even with his formidable strength, the weight of this revelation made it difficult for him to maintain his composure.
“If the Invaders have truly begun to stir again... this isn’t just a problem for Night Haven. This requires a global response. I must inform the mayor immediately.”
The Invaders were an enemy that required the combined strength of the entire world to combat.
The stakes were high—nothing less than the survival of the planet was at risk.
He couldn’t afford to let them take away their home again.
Lost in thought, the police chief continued to ponder the gravity of the situation, oblivious to the sound of buttons popping off his suit under the relentless onslaught of his overwhelming muscles.
*
Crunch.
Sticky red liquid dripped between the thumb and forefinger of a black-haired girl.
The object crushed between her fingers was a raspberry.
Its crimson juice, thick and sticky like blood, made it her favorite fruit.
Her face remained expressionless, devoid of any emotion.
Yet, the atmosphere around her radiated anger, an intense frustration brewing beneath her calm facade.
It was the kind of irritation that arose when plans didn’t go as intended.
The girl’s presence exuded the volatile tension of a bomb ready to explode at the slightest provocation.
A man, standing before her, bowed deeply, sweat dripping down his face as he stammered.
“I-I apologize, Miss. The plan... it completely fell apart....”
“...It’s not your fault. It was just bad luck. From what I could tell, the plan itself wasn’t flawed. Have you figured out what went wrong?”
“W-We’re still investigating that.”
“Hmph, I see. So, you don’t know.”
Splat!
Another raspberry burst between her fingers.
The thick red liquid dripped to the ground, sending chills down the man’s spine.
The thought that, should her anger rise just a little further, it might not be a fruit that burst next but his own head, constricted his throat with dread.
Luckily for him, the girl seemed to retain enough composure to refrain from any unnecessary bloodshed.
She casually cleaned her sticky fingers with a handkerchief that floated to her from somewhere unseen. Her voice was cold and emotionless as she spoke.
“A surprise attack is most effective when the target doesn’t see it coming. This complicates things. It looks like we’ll have to stay quiet for a while.”
“Yes, I’ll make sure the others are instructed to do so.”
“Leave now. Before I change my mind.”
The man wasted no time obeying her command, scurrying away like his life depended on it.
He knew all too well that lingering in the presence of a being capable of killing with a mere flick of her finger could only end in disaster.
Left alone in the room, the black-haired girl gazed absentmindedly at the ceiling and murmured to herself.
“I miss my brother. I hope there aren’t any girls batting their lashes at him....”
Her soft breath, visible in the cold air, carried her quiet words into the void before dissipating.
And thus, the wheels of fate began to twist in their own separate directions.