Inverse System

Rein suddenly stepped forward, standing in front of Chloe and Zane, staring intently into the prince's former knight. The knight stared back keenly, furrowing his eyebrows at the seemingly familiar boy that stood in front of him. Suddenly, shock covered his face as he recalled.

"You! You're the boy from that day!" He exclaimed, pointing his sword at Rein in reaction.

"I sure am. Time hasn't treated you well, royal knight," Rein insulted. "Are those grey hairs I see?" He laughed, the knight ignoring his remarks.

"My prince and princess, how could you be collaborating with this criminal?!" Artus yelled, losing his cool as he also noticed the other person lying on the floor behind them. "And is that… The prince of Econica as well!? What sort of treacherous endeavors are you 2 plotting?!" He accused.

"That's very funny coming from you, Artus. You were meant to be my brother's guard and most trusted knight. But his trust was repaid with a knife in the back," Chloe remarked angrily, Artus giving no reaction to her words, seeming as though he had already steeled himself to the fact that he'd betrayed Zane.

"Artus, I don't know what kind of things my father and step-mother are planning, or if my father is even involved," Zane stepped forward in front of Rein, taking responsibility for the situation. "But my eyes have been open. If they keep doing things that will hurt the overall well-being of the continent, then I have no choice but to oppose them," Zane declared, his claim enraging Artus, along with the rest of the army.

"Your highness… You insolent fool! You mustn't oppose the nation! And it seems that I must teach you that myself," Artus angrily roared, throwing his sword above the group, then suddenly appearing above them, catching his sword mid-air as he propelled downwards in slashing form.

Suddenly, Rein's senses twitched, a condition that he'd been waiting for having been met. Without any hesitation, Rein swiftly pulled each person into his arms, along with Sho who was on the ground, and took a deep breath, closing his eyes in focus.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" Zane screamed at Rein, who was holding him immobile. "We can't dodge like this!" He pointed at the imminent, falling knight that was threatening them from above, Rein not letting his screams distract him.

He suddenly opened his eyes fiercely, letting out a powerful grunt as he locked on to the target, all of them promptly vanishing into thin air, Artus recoiling in surprise as he landed on the now empty ground under him.

"They vanished?! Soldiers, in which direction did they go?!" Artus looked around him to his soldiers, each one of them having the same bewildered expression as the last, none of them having a single inkling as to where the group disappeared to. "This is unacceptable! How could we have failed a mission like this!"

***************************************************************

Somewhere unknown in the continent…

The same day that Rein and the group went to save Zane, Clyde and Xenia also took a commission, one that took them to the Lakeside town of Tura in the ex-Econican region.

The commission outlined the need for support from 2 B rank Rangers. While Xenia was not B rank, Clyde was S rank, which more than made up for the lack of ranks in the party.

The mission was a mental one, one that required a high level of deductive reasoning. It followed a series of faulty trades made with a market in the city that sold used goods for the needy. The market would take donated goods at a certain price, and resell them to the people in need at a discounted price.

However, this philanthropic business was being taken advantage of by a certain unknown party, one that would sell fake, counterfeit items as the real thing and pass them off as the real thing.

That was all the mission was detailing, and Clyde and Xenia had just arrived at the town of Tura to begin their investigation.

Xenia sighed a breath of relief as the town came into view, letting out some of the fatigue she had after they hadn't bought a carriage and opted to walk there instead.

"Ahh, we're finally here… Who knew walking could be so tiring," she dejectedly remarked, putting her head down in fatigue as she continued to walk by Clyde's side, who was seemingly unaffected by the long hike.

"It was you who insisted that we take the 'scenic route'," Clyde retorted. "You have only yourself to blame," he said, making Xenia's dejected motion grow even wearier.

"I knoooww," She sighed longly. "I just thought it would be fun if the 2 of us went on a walk," she blushed, Clyde trying his best to resist looking at her face.

Suddenly, Clyde recalled what Rein had told him on their way back from Aj'ess. That if he purposefully ignored Xenia's feelings, it would only come back to hurt him, and her in the end. Eventually, he shook off the thought, Xenia raising her eyebrow as to why he was shaking his head furiously.

"Clyde?" She sounded, snapping him back into reality.

"O-oh, yes. I'm okay," he replied, thinking of something to talk about to change the subject as they approached the cities entrance. "Uhh- um… How about that ring on your finger, Xenia? Have you been feeling anything of note thus far? You have been wearing it for a month after all," he expertly changed the flow of the conversation, making her raise her hand up to her face and look at the ring closely.

"Hm? This thing? No, not really," she said with an inclined tone to her voice. "Even when it gets a little loose or when it loses contact with my finger for a bit, I still feel its effects. All in all, I give it 5 stars out of 5!" She exclaimed in satisfaction, proudly showing it off to Clyde, both of them staring at it intently as they stood at the front gate of the city of Tura.

However, interrupting their peaceful stroll was the sudden appearance of a group of 5 people, Rein being the main party among them as they mysteriously and abruptly landed between the 2.

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