“What? Why are you so startled?”
“W-what was that for, all of a sudden…?!”
“I was just trying to wipe your sweat.”
“…You don’t have to.”
“But you’re sweating so much.”
“I-it’s fine. Sweats are meant to be sweated out…”
…Huh? What is he even saying? He sounds totally flustered, just blurting out whatever comes to mind.
I frowned a little and reached out again, but Rizley leaned even farther away from me.
Sigh… If he’s going this far to avoid me, I guess I should back off.
I pulled my hand back reluctantly. After a moment, Rizley blinked rapidly and scooted a good distance away from me.
Now it really seems like my guess was right…
I tried not to let it go to my head—it wasn’t the time for that—but Rizley’s reactions made me unbearably curious.
“Rizley.”
“Y-yeah?”
“Do you… like me?”
His already big eyes grew even wider at the question.
His face turned pale, then flushed, then pale again… and then—
“Hic!”
He hiccuped. That alone was all the answer I needed.
So Rizley… does like me.
With his golden hair and amber eyes, he looked like a boy made of sunshine.
The idea that a guy this handsome liked me? No way!
It’s not like we’ve even spent that much time together. Don’t tell me this is a love at first sight kind of situation?
“Wait… did you fall for me at first sight?”
“…Hic!”
“What do you like about me?”
“Hic!”
His face had long since turned strawberry pink and instead of answering, he just looked more and more panicked, unable to control the hiccups.
I thought about patting his back to help, but every time I moved closer, he scooted back twice the distance so I gave up.
Since I already knew the truth, I decided to just wait patiently for his hiccups to calm down.
After a little while, the hiccups did start to subside.
“…S-sorry.”
The first thing out of his mouth… was an apology?
Huh? Why are you apologizing? You don’t owe me an apology. If anything, I should be the one saying sorry.
Whatever Rizley felt aside, our current situation wasn’t exactly good.
Just like Shirea warned… something bad did end up happening. I should’ve listened to her but it’s too late now. There’s no use regretting it when we can’t turn back time.
“What do we do now?”
“Is there no way to contact the escorts?”
“…None.”
Well, of course not. I never even considered that we might get separated from Joshua.
Sigh… This is why you don’t act without thinking. I’m seriously regretting it now. It’s too late, but at least I’ve learned something.
“Hey, Senika. I was thinking…”
“Yeah?”
After a brief silence, Rizley spoke again—carefully, cautiously.
“What if we head back to the central plaza?”
“Would Shushu still be there?”
“Even if he isn’t, maybe he’s still nearby.”
That… actually made sense. We hadn’t made it very far, so he could be circling the area, looking for us.
“Okay. Then should we head there?”
“Not right now. Let’s wait a bit longer, just in case those guys are still nearby.”
I nodded in agreement. It hadn’t been that long since those thugs chased us—odds are they were still around here somewhere.
So it was best to stay hidden a little longer.
“But… where do you think the others went? You think they got away safely?”
“They’ll be fine. Shirea’s with them.”
Right. Erisen was with the sharp-minded Shirea. They’d be okay.
Still, I couldn’t help worrying, especially about their bickering. The two of them didn’t exactly get along.
I just hoped they weren’t arguing. If they raised their voices while hiding, they could get caught.
Please, let them be safe until we all meet again…
After a while, even the faint footsteps we’d been hearing died away completely.
Once Rizley—who had much sharper hearing than me—confirmed it was safe, we finally started moving again.
He must’ve memorized the way we came in, because he walked confidently without hesitation.
“Rizley. You don’t hear the others nearby, do you?”
“No, not yet.”
Just one more turn to the right and we’d be on the main road again but just before we rounded the corner, Rizley suddenly pulled me in close.
Our arms touched as he pressed us against the wall and then I saw why—those thugs were guarding the road up ahead.
Seriously? These guys are persistent.
“…Rizley, what do we do?”
I asked, voice low and uneasy.
Rizley looked just as caught off guard as I was. He hadn’t expected this either.
I bit my lip. We had to think of a way out of this. A miracle wasn’t going to drop into our laps, and I couldn’t sense any pheromones nearby—not Joshua’s, not any escort’s.
We were stuck, just steps away from the exit.
Then—faintly—I sensed it.
Pheromones.
At the same time, a familiar voice rang out.
“Let go of me!”
It was Erisen’s voice. The pheromones belonged to him andShireia.
If I could feel them, Rizley definitely noticed even sooner.
I turned to check his expression, and—just as I expected—his face was stiff and grim.
This wasn’t the time to panic. We had to stay sharp so we could save Shirea and Erisen.
“Rizley, snap out of it.”
“…!”
I grabbed his shoulders and gave him a rough shake. That seemed to help as he blinked rapidly, regaining focus.
Let’s face it: without pheromones, there’s no way we could fight off those thugs and save the others with just the two of us.
We needed help—badly.
“Can you disperse your pheromones into the wind?”
“…Huh?”
“Don’t just stare like an idiot—answer me.”
He blinked again in surprise, but then gave a small nod.
Good. That was enough.
“Do it now. Make it as strong as possible and spread it far.”
“It’s not hard to do, but… why?”
“Joshua will catch the scent and come find us.”
His eyes widened. Clearly, he hadn’t thought of that.
To be fair, I only came up with it a moment ago too.
Rizley nodded, then released his pheromones into the wind, sending them far, far away.
Now we just had to stall for time until Joshua arrived…
“Rizley.”
“Yeah?”
“Do you think you could carry me like before and dodge those guys?”
“…What?”
“Don’t hesitate. Just answer quickly.”
He still didn’t get what I was planning, but he gave me a sour look and nodded anyway.
“Those thugs want to catch us all at once for the biggest payday. If I rile them up, they’ll be even more eager to get us.”
“…”
“And you just need to carry me and run around dodging them. Easy, right?”
“Uh…”
Rizley didn’t look thrilled. He frowned hard, clearly not loving this plan.
What, don’t like it? Are you gonna say no? Then come up with a better one yourself! You got anything more brilliant than this?
When I glared at him without saying anything, he went quiet for a bit… then looked at me with a determined glint in his eye.
“…Alright. But don’t tease them too hard.”
“No promises. If their reaction’s funny, I might go a little far.”
“…”
“Thanks, Rizley.”
He sighed and put a hand to his forehead like he was already regretting this, but he nodded.
It looked like he had accepted his fate.
“Boss, time to move.”
“Should we just go? These two kids alone oughta fetch a good price.”
Right on cue—their conversation told us it was now or never.
“Let’s go.”
“Yeah.”
“I’m counting on you, Rizley.”
He clenched his fists tight. I smiled. That’s exactly the reaction I wanted. Honestly, I had put a little pressure on him on purpose. At this age, a bit of responsibility brings out their best.
He took a deep breath, wrapped an arm around my waist again, and lifted me into position at his side.
Then we took off down the alley at full speed.
“Hey, you punks!”
My voice rang out loud and clear. The thugs turned toward us.
They clearly hadn’t noticed us approaching thanks to Rizley’s quiet steps.
“What did you call us?! Punks?!”
One of them blinked blankly then bristled in anger.
Seriously? You’re asking why I called you punks…? You really don’t know?
I tilted my head innocently then got back into character.
“Look at your ugly mugs—textbook thugs!”
I pulled a face and taunted them, even tossing in a snort for good measure.
I could see a few of their faces turning red. I guess the plan worked.
They charged toward us like furious potatoes but there was no way they could catch up—not with Rizley flying across the ground using his pheromones.
“Pfft!”
Oops. I tried to cover my mouth, but a laugh slipped out. Not the best time for giggles, but I couldn’t help it.
“Bro! I’m right here—mmph!”
Suddenly, I heard Erisen’s voice. It was shaky and tearful.
I turned toward the sound and spotted him bound and held by a large thug.
Shirea stood beside him. She looked startled to see us but only for a moment. Her eyes quickly sharpened.
The moment we locked eyes, I felt a chill run down my spine.
Rizley changed course before we could hold her gaze for long, but I could still feel the warning behind it.
If you cause any more trouble here, I won’t go easy on either of you.
Honestly, I was scared but that didn’t mean I was backing down.
If we ran away now, those guys might take Shirea and Erisen somewhere else. We would lose our chance to save them.
