Raga of the Dry Branch

Something slipped through the cracks of the door which was barely attached to the wall anymore. Due to the darkness around, all they could see was a black form that slowly approached them with a limp.

“Sister that… isn’t that a human?”

The trembling bodies didn’t move. And by the time the clenched teeth began to hurt, the girl failed to scream in extreme fear.

Followed by the screams of her older sister which pierced the ears, and soon everything turned black.

Rattle

Rattle!

“Come on now, everyone pay attention! Today is the first day of work for Sir Alkeris who is a member of 2nd Division. His task is to assist in documents and information management, thanks to that, the field team will have some time away from paperwork! Welcome him and once you are done, go back to work. We will finally get off work on time! Well, since I made the announcement, you can introduce yourself right? Go ahead.”

A gentle looking middle-aged man with half-tied blonde hair which reached his shoulders and glasses on eyes, was my direct supervisor and the head of this place Sir Oonze.

He seemed like a consistent person, with his mild and gentle words and deeds, but for some reason before coming here, I heard that he was a serious geek.

Well, since it was my first job. Ah, I can feel myself trembling.

“Since it is my first time working, there might be some shortcomings, but I hope to do well by learning.”

With a bow, I briefly said hello and received a strong reaction.

“Ohhhh~! Finally, we have a maknae (youngest one)!”

“But isn’t he too young? I would prefer someone with the same age as Captain Ong. Middle-aged people are the best.”

“Oh my, Dame Mino! You can’t display your personal preferences at work. Disgusting.”

“Well, this much is something which needs to be washed away with water. But you see, both my head and heart are nasty. Huhuhu!”

There was something weird about the place. I thought this would be more calm and silent, but the conversation of these five people reminded me of the five back at our home.

Among them, Heli’s shadow could be seen on a woman who seemed to be the same age as me, who was called Mino. With a different shade of blonde, it would be terrifying that if the two were placed in different places, people wouldn’t know the real one if their appearances weren’t shown.

For a moment I was stunned by them, I noticed that the captain Oonze, or Mr. Negligent for short, took my hand and slowly introduced each one.

The captain first pointed to a large man with reddish-brown curly hair, and silver rimmed glasses.

“Now, this friend here is Shuzlin Khan Kinos, he is the same age as you, and as you can see from the title, he is of knight class, just like you. And we usually call him ‘Sir Khan Kinos’, Shuhlin! Shun for short.”

“… yes.”

I looked at the innocent brown eyes which shone brightly through the silver rimmed glasses.

“Nice to meet you, my friend! I am happy to have made a male friend of the same age as me!”

And then he showed me his hand. From the first meeting to the end, the place and the position were too unbelievable. This place seemed more free-spirited than I thought.

I hesitated for a moment before I grabbed his outstretched hand.

I am not a male friend, but it is true that I am your co-worker.

Shuzlin was tall enough for me to look up at him. A body trained like a knight, a face with thick lines, and well-tanned brown skin.

But it was nice to see such a huge man with shining eyes like a child which didn’t suit his physique. It was my first time meeting him, so I wasn’t used to him. I didn’t know why, but it felt strangely cringy.

While I tried to avert my gaze from his dazzling eyes, the captain introduced me to another one. This time it was the weird blonde, no, light green haired woman who reminded me of Heli.

“This is Dame Mino. Age, gender, race and identity are all unknown.”

“Captain Ong, no matter how you feel about me, aren’t you being too harsh?”

Sharp-eyed Dame Mino, who had amazing eye color and dazzling green hair, was wearing gold colored lenses with purple rimmed pupils. When I looked again, there were a couple strands of two-colored hairs.

It was overwhelming. I ignored the intense stare of Dame Mino and the captain smiled as he added more explanation.

“She is a capable ‘searcher’. And is an activist who helps in the cases and also helps Wyndham get their job done, despite looking young, she is pretty old.”

And finally, a long black haired beauty suddenly approached and the Captain greeted us with a cold face.

“Ilina MaBaleham. And I’d appreciate if you call me Ilina”

“Yes. Please take care of me, Ilina.”

“She is a 4th level Wizard and mainly deals with healing and water, so if you get hurt, go to her anytime.”

Her expressionless face was quite cold, but the black eyes which looked at me were warm. And she seemed to be someone with a friendly personality.

Wait, wasn’t it great to have reached 4th level at such an age? The total number of levels a person could reach was 9. In that case, why was a person like that in 2nd Division? The question kept running through my mind for a while until I decided that it must be her own personal preference.

So, I ignored it.

I was glad. There was at least one person who seemed normal said the captain as he sighed a little out of joy.

“And she is the cleaning head of our division. She will keep this place clean, so you don’t have to worry about that, Sir Alkeris.”

“… cleaning head?”

“If it gets a little dirty, she washes it off with water, so when she is here, keep an eye on the papers. And note another thing. If you do something wrong or say something out of context in front of her, you will end up in huge trouble. A terrifying repercussion will come for you.”

“I don’t really understand it… but sure.”

Was that all? And so, was I finally a part of the 2nd Division? I suddenly wanted to go home. Poppy, I miss you.

“Um, there is another person, the last one of the team, and since they are at work, I’ll introduce you to them later. That friend is the same as you, so you’ll get closer once you meet.”

“The most handsome man of the embassy, so he must be busy with the photographers.”

So there was another. But what was that about photographers? And them?

“Didn’t you say that there was only one male person my age?”

Like a bear, he kept nodding his head and said.

“He is your age.”

As I looked at the captain, he said.

“You are the same age, and same gender, but the race is different. It is called ‘Romance Protagonist’.

“…. This is my first time hearing about it, a weird name too. Is there really a race of that name?”

What kind of race was it? Was it like the Vina who was back at the house? I stared at the captain curiously as he laughed.

“Right. Have you ever heard of ‘Romance Novel Male Lead?’”

… I didn’t know.

“Are you in your right mind?”

I didn’t avoid the gaze of Shuzlin who seemed shocked at me. I just asked to confirm, not to scold him. As I stared at his round eyes which were twinkling again… I was afraid I crossed a line.

Not knowing how I felt, Shuzlin exclaimed in a bright voice.

“Wow~the way you talk is just the way you look, cold, like a cold wind blowing down. You spoke in a polite form, but it felt so sharp!”

“… it is normal to feel bad at what I said.”

Don’t smile. If you smile you will be another abnormal person in my life!

“A fresh attitude. Was it Alkeris? good, from now on you will be the ‘Cold City man’.”

“… what do you mean by that?”

“Well, from now on, you are also the ‘Romance protagonist’. A slender, gender-neutral looking young man like you is quite famous these days. In addition, you have a rough personality. ‘I am a man of cold words, but for my woman I would be warm’. A cold attitude sub male leads, rather than the main, women love your kind like crazy, and they shed tears of blood…”

He kept spitting words as if he was under a spell. Giving up halfway as I couldn’t understand what he was saying, I looked at the captain and asked seriously.

“What is the range that the 2nd Division can go? If a person comes from above, do we have to accept it at all costs?”

But there was no answer. The one supposed to be the captain, and the other two women who were my seniors, were too busy laughing.

Perhaps, they felt the seriousness in my gaze, and the captain coughed to calm himself.

“Huh, my stomach hurts from laughing so much. Don’t worry, Sir Alkeris. It wasn’t because of what you said… rather it is because of that friend there who is a believer of ‘Rupinus’, the Goddess of Kindness and Love, he is a romantic. And a novelist. Sometimes I even lose the difference between reality and fiction, so please try and understand. Of course, that is only when I am not at work. It is like, when we are too immersed in our favourite hobbies, don’t we sometimes make mistakes in real life? He is a bit like that.”