The Hidden World

Yuki woke up at his usual time of 7:00 and noticed that Mabel was up as well. She was wearing a pair of white pajamas that had a gray furry tail that swayed back and forth. Yuki had never seen Mabel’s tail before as it was normally hidden under her dress.

“Oh, you’re up,” she said. “It’s the weekend, you know? You don’t have to wake up so early.”

“I’m used to it,” Yuki replied.

“If you want breakfast, I can order some for you,” she offered. “Anything that is ordered in the three rooms I booked are paid for already.”

“No, I’m fine. I want to go out in the city to eat,” he said. He pushed his white bed sheets to the side and swung his legs off.

“Okay, just be careful,” Mabel warned. “You don’t know what kind of people are out at this time.”

“Mmm,” he replied.

He went to his duffle bag and took out a slim t-shirt. He took off his pajamas, put the shirt on, and with a snap smoothed out the wrinkles. Then he pulled on a pair of tight but flexible pants and headed toward the restroom. He washed his face and brushed his hair before leaving the hotel room.

[Erica will be at the restaurant we were at last night,] Akira told Yuki as he walked outside of the hotel.

‘Got it,’ Yuki thought.

Before he went to the restaurant, Yuki hid in an alleyway and removed his disguise. Then he walked into the bar and immediately located Erica sitting at a table off to the left of the room. She was hard to miss; her looks stood out from the other people that sat around her.

“Hello, Yuki,” she greeted cheerfully. “Did you eat yet?”

“No,” he replied. “I was just about to order something. Give me a moment.”

Yuki picked up a glass tablet that sat at the corner of the table and selected a basic breakfast of toast and eggs. Once he did that, he adjusted his position on his seat and looked back at Erica.

“So Akira told me that you have some things that you want to talk to me about?” he asked.

“Yes. It’s about the guild thing,” Erica explained. “You said to set it up and so I did that for the most part. We have a temporary base and I found some potential candidates.”

“But?”

“I haven’t accepted any of them yet. I wanted you to have a look at them first before we decide who we choose.”

“That’s good. I’m surprised that you were able to do all of that in a day,” Yuki said.

“It wasn’t that difficult,” Erica smiled. “The hardest part was the recruiting.”

A server interrupted them and handed Yuki his breakfast. Yuki signaled to Erica to go on.

“I have the people lined up. I’ll take you to where I told them to wait after you finish,” she said. Yuki nodded in reply. “By the way, where’s Akira?”

“You’ll see her soon,” he said, swallowing. “Mind telling me the people that you’ve found?”

“There are eight people: two elves, two dwarves, and the rest are demons,” Erica listed. “Of the demons, there is one dryad, one raijuu, and two imps.”

‘Oh, those are considered demons?’ Yuki thought, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, those are demons,” Erica said. She must had read his expression. “The demon race is very diverse. Many of the mythical creatures that humans wrote stories about on Earth are classified as demons. Really, a demon is just a strong person that isn’t an elf, dwarve, or beastkin.”

“That seems like a very broad category then,” Yuki commented.

“It really is. And the label of demon also is kind of unfair and sad actually.”

“How so?”

“It comes with negative connotations, you know?” she said. “When you hear someone say demon, you think of a monster that wants to kill you and eat your soul or something like that. But as you already knew, we aren’t like that. Just look at Akira and me.”

“Oh, so chimaeras are considered demons,” Yuki interrupted. “That would make sense given the criteria that you gave me. She is pretty strong.”

“Yeah chimaeras are dem—. Wait, what!?” Erica exclaimed.

“Shhh, you’re attracting attention,” Yuki said.

“Akira is a chimaera?” she asked in a lower voice.

“What did you think she was?”

“I knew she was a demon of some sorts but I wasn’t sure what kind. I thought her ears were magically created by her just for the fun of it or to blend in.”

“What’s so surprising about a chimaera though?” Yuki asked.

“Because they’re all dead or at least in hiding,” Erica explained. “A chimaera hasn’t been seen in the last two hundred years. There were rumors of a baby one around that time but nothing was proven.”

“You all must have missed something fifteen years ago because there is a chimaera living right now.”

“Well. That explains why Akira is so strong and beautiful,” she said.

“What does being a chimaera have to do with those traits?” he said, tilting his head. “Not that I don’t agree with you.”

“Chimaeras are one of the strongest demons,” she told him. “They are considered one of the elemental beasts. They have the strongest affinities for earth and since earth attribute is one of the strongest elements that makes them one of the strongest demons.”

“Elemental beasts?”

“Mhm. In demon circles, they classify some species into what are called elemental beasts. These are people that have a very strong affinity toward one element. Dryads are one along with raijuu. Wyverns are also one.”

Yuki thought back to the wyvern that appeared in the Sanctuary back at the Academy. He wasn’t sure if the Academy knew of the wyvern but they probably wouldn’t be comfortable with the fact that there is a demon in their school.

“Does everyone know about the variety of demons and things like that?” Yuki asked.

“I don’t know,” Erica replied thoughtfully. “I don’t think so. From what I’ve seen, beings like dryads and wyverns aren’t considered demons by the other races. Even though they are.”

‘So the Academy probably knows but just doesn’t know that wyverns are technically demons.’

Yuki finished his meal and paid for his meal by transferring credits from his account into a small black pane that was inlaid on the table.

“Let’s go!” Erica cried cheerfully as she got out of her seat. “We’ll meet up with Akira first, where ever she is, and then we’ll go straight to the meeting place.”

“Okay, just follow me really quick,” Yuki said.

He walked out and went inside a dark alleyway. Then he glanced around to see if there was anyone around.

‘It’s clear, Akira,’ he told her.

In a flash, Akira popped out of nowhere and was standing smiling at Erica’s dumbfound face and at Yuki who was starting to walk out of the alleyway.

“You guys have bonded that much already?” Erica said.

“Yup! We’re are the best of friends,” Akira replied. “I told you that yesterday.”

“Erica, I thought you were going to lead me to the meeting place,” Yuki called out from the front of the alley. The sun shined at his back and he was only a dark outline.

“Oh, right. I’ll ask you more questions later, Akira,” Erica said in a playful voice. “You better tell me more about this~.”

Erica then took the lead and began to walk. For the next five minutes, they didn’t speak and just followed her. Then she stopped before a small one story building that looked exactly like all of the other buildings that surrounded it.

“Here we are,” Erica announced. “This will be our temporary base. It’s soundproof and moderately large.”

She opened the door by scanning a keycard that she produced from her pocket. The handle unlocked and she pushed the door. Inside the room were eight people that were scattered around. There were two in the kitchen, four in the living room, and two more that were lying on the floor for whatever reason.

‘How long were they waiting?’ Yuki thought.

“Oh, Erica’s back,” a girl in the kitchen announced. She looked like an elf. “And Akira as well. Who’s the other girl?”

“This is Yuki,” Erica introduced, waving her hands as if displaying him. “She’s our guild master~!”

“What?” a male asked from the living room. “No one told me that a girl would the one leading this thing.”

‘This is going to take a while, isn’t it,’ Yuki sighed in his mind.