Chapter 39: 35. The Will to Fight (Part 1)

Rai and Sin were quite surprised at Tullian’s request. It soon dawned upon them that they’d actually made a new friend who wanted to hang out with them. It was a simple thing. But they, initially, didn’t even consider it as a possibility.

As the three of them were leaving the Academy together, they saw a pair of elves off to the side of the crowd that was leaving. Sin yelled out, “Amy, Lina!”

The two figures turned around, revealing their surprise. Amy yelled back, “Sindyl!” She dragged Lina back through the crowd to the group of three.

Amy looked somewhat confused. “Are you three leaving together?”

Tullian nodded, “These two live together, so I’m going to go hang out with them!”

The excitement on Amy’s face was so bright that Rai thought he'd need sunglasses, “Can we join you?!”

Lina’s face went red. The whole idea of seeing where Rai lived was anxiety inducing. It wasn't easy having a crush on someone like him. Especially with Sindyl constantly being so close to him.

Tullian turned to Rai and Sin, as if asking their permission.

Rai had no particular thoughts about it. In fact, he thought it could be fun. He was worried about not making friends, but they seemed to have made friends on their first day. It would mean that he had to delay reading the other book from the old hobo, but what harm could one day of delay do? He smiled, “It’s fine with me!”

Sin looked at him with wide eyes then let out a soft sigh. She spoke in a monotone, “Fine. The more the merrier.”

Amy joyfully jumped around, while Lina adopted a smile.

The five of them walked down the road leading out of the Academy. Amy, Lina, and Tullian all had fantasies about what Rai and Sin’s living arrangements looked like. Since she was a princess, she must be staying in a castle right? Tullian thought so, but what he didn't know was that there was no room in the city for a castle to exist. Amy thought that they lived in the democratic district, since Sindyl was the daughter of the Deceiver. She was surprised when they turned left out of the entrance, instead of right. It moved them away from said district. Lina imagined a gymnasium with a pair of beds that Rai and Sin separately slept in. It was only right that they lived in a gymnasium considering how athletic both of their bodies looked.

The group walked in an uncomfortable silence as the others thought about what kind of house they were on their way to. Not soon after leaving the Academy district, they all noticed the people and fashion on the streets becoming more and more... risqué.

Lina spoke for the first time since coming along with the group, “Are we... in the red light district?” Amy and Tullian were unaware of the change in atmosphere and surroundings, but looked around after Lina asked the question.

Amy’s typical wide smile turned into a worried expression, “I... I’ve never been in the red light district before. Our parents always told us it was dirty and disgusting.” Lina nodded profusely, agreeing with her sister.

Tullian had almost no care about it, “What’s the problem with it? Just seems like people are dressed more freely here. I kinda like it!” He smiled and waved at some of the women walking past. They, in a strange twist of fate, all reacted in the same way. They rolled their eyes and ignored him. Tullian was defeated.

Amy walked over and patted the tall boy on his shoulder, which surprised everyone apart from the twins since they didn’t realise how tall Amy and Lina actually were. “Sweet, innocent boy. Keep that positive attitude of yours and maybe one day you'll get 'em.”

Tullian was confused. He couldn’t quite tell if he was being made fun of or not. Unfortunately for him, the others giggled at Amy's little joke. This meant that he was being made fun of. Tullian was defeated, once again. However, this defeat did not sting as much as the last one.

Before Tullian could say anything, Sin interjected. “We live in a building my dad owns; it’s called Devil’s Secret. I don’t know about the rest of the red light district, but I’ve been to Devil’s Secret all my life and it’s always been fine to me.” Everyone simply smiled awkwardly and followed her lead.

Surprisingly, the building was easy to get to from the Academy, since it was a straight path without any diversions. They noticed charred marks on the buildings around them. Sin looked at Rai with a slightly disappointed look. “Did you do that?” She pointed to the marks.

Rai winced a little as he looked around at all the marks on the buildings. They were small, but plentiful. “Uh. Maybe? I had to rush; Stormflow was the only answer.”

Sin facepalmed, confusing the other three who weren’t quite sure what they were talking about. She scowled at him, “Did you mess up Devil’s Secret while you rushed out of there?”

Rai shook his head profusely, stammering to get his words out, “No, no no, of course not! I did my best to avoid messing up the building. If anything there might be a handful of marks on the ground, but I didn’t destroy the floor or anything like that.”

The other three were even more confused now. How could he destroy the floor? Rushing? What does that even mean? Their thoughts resonated with each other, and they grew a form of camaraderie in their confusion.

Sin’s concern relaxed, “Okay, as long as you didn’t somehow make a mess for dad to deal with.”

The group continued walking. Before they realised it, they were outside the building.

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There was a queue of people leading outside of the building, as per usual. Because of this group of students wearing their Academy uniforms, they caught a few questioning looks from concerned individuals. They were wondering why there were students in the red light district.

Rai’s attendant was stood at his post just outside the building. Rai walked up to him, “Mr. Guard, we brought some friends from school, is it alright for them to come up to the penthouse with us?”

The guard waited for a moment as he looked down the stairs at the group of students. He seemed to be analysing them, checking for any potential dangers. He snorted, then nodded. Rai waved them over to join him.

As they were walking up the stairs, there were some voices of malcontent from the queue of people who’d been waiting to get in. One loud man was fuming, he waved at Rai’s attendant, “OI! Why do these students get to go in after they just got here! I’ve been waiting for hours now!!”

Mr. Guard made his way over to the man. He simply grunted, saying “They’re VIPs. Now, shut that mouth of yours before I take it from you.”

The man winced, his elven ears deflating much like a puppy that’d just been scolded.

Mr. Guard returned to the group, giving them the same instructions that he gave Rai. “Stay behind me, don’t wander off.”

The group listened to his instructions as they entered the building.

Devil’s Secret’s extravagance wasn’t limited to its exterior. The inside was just as beautiful as the outside. There was a bar, a restaurant area, and signs directing people to different areas that were designed to host different types of events. Mr. Guard took the group through to the reception area, where the pink-skinned succubus clerk was sitting, admiring her nails.

She turned her head toward the group of students, raising both eyebrows. Rai walked over to the desk, separate from the group. Mr. Guard went into the backroom. She looked at Rai and practically whispered to him, “You’re a pretty boy, but you? A ladies man?”

Rai stared at her deadpan, “Eh? We made some new friends... It has nothing to do with my looks.”

The clerk shrugged, continuing to admire her nails, “You underestimate yourself boy, just watch their faces. That elven girl especially, the one with green eyes. She steals glances at you, even now.” She sighed, “But you don’t see it.”

Rai facepalmed, “I do see it, but I don’t care. I’m happy just being her friend, but I know nothing about her. Just being pretty isn’t enough to make me want to be partners with someone.”

The clerk burst out in laughter, attracting attention from the group, “So that’s why you rejected me. I’ll admit, I have a bit of a rotten personality.”

Rai rolled his eyes, then spoke quietly, “I had a good first day. I almost couldn’t hear what you said this morning, but I pieced it together after thinking about it later. Thank you for caring to mention it.”

The clerk’s face was blank. She wasn’t expecting this, but her heart felt a bit warmer now. “... Good. I’m glad you had a good first day.” She smiled softly, “You can talk to me about anything, I’ll try to listen.”

Rai nodded with a smile, then returned to the group after Mr. Guard came back.

Rai's attendant talked at the group, “The newcomers are not cleared to explore the rest of the building, but the master granted them access to the penthouse. I’ll take you up now.” He pushed the button on the golden lift on the other side of the reception room.

It only just occurred to Rai that this might be a private receptionist room for VIPs, since there were rarely any other people in here, but the other receptionist room was always full. The lift door opened, and the group entered.

Mr. Guard pushed the top button in the lift, which speedily took the group up to the penthouse.

They walked through the small hall, then the attendant opened the only door that was there.

The group walked into the penthouse.

“Woah.” They exclaimed in unison.

Rai and Sin’s new friends were blown away.

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