When Ariyama awoke, he wasn’t in his bed or in the hospital, like he’d assumed he would be.

  No, instead, he was in a foreign room, which had white walls, pillars in each corner. He was stripped down to just his underwear, under the thick covers of a four-poster bed. His whole body ached as he sat up instinctively and looked around. A row of cabinets were to the left, and a desk with a window above it on the right. On the far wall, there was a walk-in closet on the right, and on the left, there was a small hallway before a door, made of dark wood with a golden knob

  Where the hell was he?

  Fog clouded his vision, claws of agony scratching across his brain like a bear feasting on its prey.

  Dammit. Wasn’t he able to withstand over half a dozen knives slicing through him before? And now he couldn’t handle a morning headache? What a joke.

  Ariyama raked his fringe out of his face, blowing out a breath of exhaustion. What was he doing last? The last thing he remembered before losing consciousness was that person in the black cloak.

  Well, if that was the Pilgrims’ Society, then this must be somewhere owned by them, right?

  On cue, the door on the left opened and Matsune Sasya walked in, with a tray in her hands. Ariyama’s eyes widened at her attire, which consisted of a gray cloak that swept down to her knees, a hood was pulled off her head and a golden clasp with an eight-pronged star engraved on its surface.

  Once their eyes met, Matsune’s face lit up in delight. She quickly set the tray – which held a multitude of breakfast foods, as well as a glass of orange juice – on the bedside cabinet that Ariyama just now realized was there. Then, she pulled over the chair that was tucked under the desk to the right, and sat beside Ariyama’s bed. An awkward silence descended on the room. He’d only been awake for less than a minute, so Ariyama hadn’t a clue what to say.

  So, it was Matsune who finally broke the ice.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Uh, good. I suppose.”

  Ariyama looked around again in a daze, trying to memorize his surroundings with his hazy mind. He rested his gaze back on Matsune.

  “Hey, where am I? The last thing I remember is the school and…”

  Matsune held up a hand to silence him. He swore he saw a twitch of irritation on her face, but it was gone the moment his mind registered it.

  “I’ll explain when the time is right, Ariyama-kun. Just know that we’re in the Pilgrims’ Society’s headquarters, known as the Cloud Keep. It’s far away from civilization, so the Society can conduct their practices in peace.”

  Huh. So, this is the Society’s base of operations? Ariyama couldn’t deny that his room was very lovely, and if he wasn’t even a registered member yet but still got something this pristine, that proved that the Society must’ve been one rich place.

  Ariyama looked at the tray of food on the cabinet, and with a nod of approval from Matsune, quickly dug in. He felt like he hadn’t eaten in days. Usually, he could never eat so much for just his breakfast, but just this time, he was feeling ravenous, like an unfed beast.

  Once he’d eaten his fill, and downed it all with some orange juice, Ariyama laid back on the comfy bed, nestling his head on his plump pillow. This place really was like a five-star hotel, like the sort of places his father probably visited on the regular…

  Ariyama’s stomach churned uneasily, and he scrunched his face up, banishing those thoughts to the darkest corner of his mind. He had too much to be thinking about instead of worrying about him.

  “Matsune… About what happened…”

  Matsune pinched the bridge of her nose, sighing softly. Ariyama could tell she was pissed; not that he blamed her. After all, he had caused a huge conundrum by losing control and making a huge mess of the school. The Pilgrims’ Society, he’d heard, had the main goal of preserving the secrecy of all information about things like the Enchanted Tools and whatnot, so him using his Jallarbor Godred to eviscerate Genichirou, along with a portion of the school, definitely went against the rules.

  Was he going to be punished? Imprisoned? Killed?

  Ariyama’s heartbeat quickened as all those terrible possibilities sifted through his mind.

  “You made a big mistake, Ariyama-kun.”

  Ariyama looked at Matsune, who was watching him with a sad face

  “Yeah… I kinda assumed that.”

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “As you should know, the Society’s main objective is the preservation of life by stopping rogue unregistered Tributes, but also they keep the truth about the secret world under lock and key. That’s why usually they only go after unregistered Tributes at night, when most places are emptier, like we did with Genichirou.”

  At that, Ariyama perked up. He shifted in his bed and sat up, an eyebrow raised.

  “You know about Genichirou? How’d you find out he was the culprit? When I found out, I panicked – I have to admit – and then fought the guy. I nearly died but I stopped him. As you probably saw if you went to the school, my sword blew a big hole in the place.”

  “I wasn’t there myself, but I was given a report on the events. As for how I found out about Genichirou; when the Tribute I sent out to collect you got there, they secured you and Kazura-chan, then investigated the area. They found Genichirou’s body, burnt to a crisp.”

  Yup. That was definitely a result of Ariyama’s sword. Honestly, he assumed he’d vaporized the guy or something, but he seemed to have been sturdier than he’d assumed. Then, his mind wandered to something else, something that made his eyes go wide.

  “Machi. Is she…”

  Matsune nodded with clear relief.

  “She’s fine. As a result of her being exposed to the secret world, due to your actions, she is being brought in as a member of the Society. Well, either that or her mind gets wiped.”

  “Huh? Her mind gets wiped? I’m not letting that happen. Over my dead body!”

  Matsune’s face flickered with sternness.

  “It’s not your decision to make. While, yes, it is your fault that she’s in this predicament now, we’re giving her a choice. A choice only she can decide herself.”

  “Damn. You know, you really are beating me over the head with the fact it’s my fault, huh? But is it? Genichirou was the culprit and he was standing right there with us!”

  “I promised myself to always be honest with you, Ariyama. After all you’ve been through, you deserve at least that. And anyways, did you actually have to fight him with Kazura around?”

  “Sorry? He was probably going to hurt her, or worse. I had to protect her–”

  “You’re not listening to my question, Ariyama-kun. He didn’t do anything to you two when you three were all alone, right? But once you pieced together that he was the unregistered Tribute – which I have to admire – you instantly attacked him, no? From my perspective, Ariyama-kun, it seems that you panicked – as you said you did – and engaged in a battle, where you could’ve waited until the ample time. The best option was to call me with the info, and I’d have sent out someone to assist you, but no. No, you lost your logical thinking and engaged him without considering the lasting side-effects. One, Kazura-chan would be exposed to it. And two, it was in the middle of your school, where any damage done would raise a lot of suspicion.”

  With Ariyama wholly beaten down, he hung his head in defeat. In retrospect, he really had been an idiot, huh?

  Because of his spur-of-the-moment actions, now Kazura was going to have to make a tough choice: get her memories of all this wiped, or be involved in the Pilgrims’ Society from now on.

  Not only that, but also he’d messed up the mission Matsune had left in his hands. If only he’d been less of an idiot and actually thought it through, then he wouldn’t have caused such damage. On an unrelated note, the destruction at the school probably meant it was going to be closed for the rest of the year. But school wasn't a priority in his mind right now.

  “So, um, what’s going to happen to me? Am I gonna be incarcerated or something?”

  Matsune leaned back in her seat, crossing her arms. While she wore that old-school gray cloak, she seemed like a totally different person. But this was the real her, right? This is how she really acted. Everything at school was a fabrication. She was raised to be part of the secret world, and now she was showing him the fruits of that type of childhood. She was still as kind and caring as ever, but there was an air of confidence and seriousness that was kept under lock while at school.

  Matsune seemed to think about Ariyama’s question, then fixed him with a meaningful look

  “Under regular circumstances, yes. But fortunately, I’ve… been able to pull some strings in order for the director to not immediately throw you into a jail cell. Instead, however, he requested a one-on-one meeting with you.”

  “With me? What would the director want with me?”

  “Knowledge, simply. Kazura-chan is still recovering, so for the time being, you're the only one who was there that night, and as a result, the only one capable of giving a reliable story. Oh, yes, and one other thing: don’t lie to the director, OK? I’m not sure how he does it, but he can tell when someone lies.”

  “Seriously? Is that the power of his Enchanted Tool or something?”

  “It doesn’t sound like the type of ability a Tool would give, but perhaps that is the case. Look, for now, I need you to get dressed and to go see him, OK? Technically, up until now, you’ve been unregistered yourself, which was my blunder. I should’ve gotten you integrated into the Society as soon as possible. But I’ve already signed all the necessary documentation.”

  Ariyama’s jaw hung in surprise. He stuttered with his words as his brain tried to catch up to his tongue.

  “W-wait, so you’re saying that I’m an official, registered Tribute now?”

  “You are. I’m sorry if I did it without your consent, but I did say I would make sure you become one before. And right now, you’re in too much trouble to have a say in the matter, I’m afraid.”

  Ariyama’s chest thumped with anxiousness as the weight of his actions pressed down on him. He just hoped this director guy was going to be even half as nice as Matsune was.

  “And Ariyama-kun? One last thing.”

  He glanced at her and nearly flinched back at the look on her face. Her features were contorted into sadness, her lip quivering and her fists bunched in the fabric of her cloak.

  “We both know you’ve made some critical errors, which you will need to answer for in the future. But for now, I just wanted to say… I’m just really glad you’re alive…”

  She wiped something from her eye, and then leaned forward, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her face into his shoulder. The sudden contact made parts of his body go haywire, feeling Matsune’s calm warm breath on the bare skin of his shoulder. But Ariyama steeled himself and plastered a soft smile onto his face, as he also wrapped his arms around Matsune, patting her back supportively. She didn’t know anything about the pain he’d gone through, about the bone-cracking anguish he felt when stabbed by Genichirou’s knives.

  But Ariyama smiled anyway, because he was starting to believe that Matsune was someone who liked him, not for his wealth, but for who he was. And he was just happy he had someone who cared for him.