The Hidden World

“Erica, would you please?” Yuki asked, gesturing toward the unconscious elf.

“Of course,” she replied.

She went to the body of the elf and held his head for a brief moment. Another groan escaped the elf’s mouth before he fell silent again. Then Erica picked his arms up and began to drag him out.

“I take it that everyone is satisfied then,” Yuki said to the six other people.

“I never had any problems with you,” the man who was in the kitchen said.

“You seem fine,” the dwarf said. “I can support someone like you.”

Yuki nodded and looked at the rest of them.

“I am still not confident,” one male said. The male standing next to him nodded in agreement.

‘Akira, how did they react when I accidentally had my pressure on?’ Yuki asked.

[They were shaking a bit,] she said. [The only ones that weren’t affected were the two elemental demons and that dwarf. The female elf seemed a bit affected but not to the extent that those two were. I think those are the imps.]

‘The elemental demons are the ones that were in the kitchen, correct?’

[Yes.]

This told Yuki two things. One was that the imps were much weaker than he was. Based on how Akira described how she used Pressure and the effect it had on the people around him, Yuki assumed that meant that the weaker someone was compared to the person exuding the pressure, the stronger the effect. That meant that the dwarf and the elemental demons were strong. The female elf was probably at the same level Yuki was or a bit weaker.

Erica came back and she was clapping her hands together as if she had just touched something dirty.

“Erica, would you mind escorting those two out?” Yuki said as he pointed toward the two imps. “They are much too weak to be a part of this group.”

“Of course,” she said.

“What do you mean weak?” one of the imps said.

“It means you’re weak,” Yuki said. “Go ahead Erica.”

The imps started to protest and complain but were promptly shut up by Erica’s voice. Then like zombies, they followed her into the house and Yuki heard the door close a few minutes later.

“Done,” Erica announced.

“Where do you put them?” Yuki asked.

“The people I wiped? I just threw them in an alleyway,” she answered. “They won’t remember a thing and would just be confused. It doesn’t really matter where I put them.”

“I see,” Yuki said. He looked at the female elf that hadn’t answered his question yet. “How about you? Do you still have a problem with me as your leader?”

“No,” she said. “I look forward to it.”

Yuki nodded.

“Let’s go back inside and we’ll have our first little meeting,” he said.

He opened the back door and walked into the building, the other people following him. Then he went to the living room and sat on the couch as he waited for the remaining four people to sit down.

“So, how much did Erica or Akira tell you about this whole thing?” Yuki asked them.

“I just know what this is an illegal guild where we beat the shit out of the Shikaku,” the dwarf said. “Is there anything else I need to know?”

“No, not really. That just about sums it up.”

“So the real question is how are we going to beat the shit out of the Shikaku,” one of the demons said.

“Before that,” Akira interrupted. “Let’s introduce ourselves first. You all already know who Erica and I are and we know who you are but Yuki doesn’t. So who wants to start off?”

“I’ll do it. My name is Tiar,” the male demon said. “I am a raijuu and a warrior.”

“I am Zoe and am a dryad,” the female demon next to Tiar said next. “I am a healer that can use a sword decently.”

“I’m a dwarf,” the dwarf said. “My name is Damian and I am a craftsman.”

“Hello, my name is Sarah,” the female elf introduced. “I’m an archer.”

“You already know my name,” Yuki said. “I am a support mage and the head of this little illegal guild. So back to the main topic. How are we going to beat the shit out of the Shikaku.”

Yuki shifted his position on the couch.

“To be completely honest with you all, I’m not sure yet,” he shrugged.

“I like your honesty,” Damian said.

“I do know what to do in order to come up with a way to beat the shit out of the Shikaku and that is to collect intelligence,” Yuki said. “And for now, that’s what the eight of us are going to do.”

“Not to be rude,” Sarah interrupted. “But there are only seven people here.”

“There are eight people in the guild,” Yuki replied. “Trust me.”

“Okay.”

“So anyway. To beat the shit out of the Shikaku we first need to know what we are going to be up against,” Yuki continued. “We need to know how big they are and how large of a reach they have. So for the most part, we will be doing some spying and reconnaissance missions.”

“Can we stop saying beat the shit out of the Shikaku?” Akira said. “It doesn’t sound very professional.”

“Okay,” Yuki shrugged. “To annihilate the Shikaku, I will be spreading us around in order to gather as much information as possible. That means I will be getting you all into positions where you can watch as many things as you can.”

“How?” Tiar asked. “That seems very difficult.”

“That’s where our eight member will come into play,” Yuki answered. “She can do it. We also already have an idea as to where I will be placing you guys. From some of our previous knowledge, we know that the Shikaku have infiltrated businesses, government, and education.”

“How do you know that?” Tiar interrupted.

“I interrogated some of their members,” Yuki said. “Anyway, with the help of our eight member we’ll be able to easily infiltrate the same places that Shikaku have. Then we can observe and later decide on our course of action.”

“I take it you won’t tell us more until you’ve determined where you’re going to put us, right?” Damian said.

“That is correct,” Yuki replied. “And you should be able to guess why. Anyway, on to the second topic for the day. Our headquarters.”

“Isn’t this our headquarters?” Sarah asked, her expression a bit perplexed. “If you don’t mind me asking.”

‘She’s polite. I like that.”

“This is only a temporary base,” Yuki said. “It’s not safe enough to be our permanent one and is too easy to find.”

“I understand.”

“So we are going to relocate and I will show you where the new location of the base will be,” he continued. “We will stay here, though, until the actual headquarters is done.”

“You hired someone to build it?” Damian asked. “I could do it for you, you know? There is no need to pay someone for that.”

“Oh no. I didn’t hire anyone,” Yuki shook his head. “I’m going to be making it. With Akira’s help. And your’s.”

“You?”

“Come with me and I’ll show you,” Yuki said, standing up. Then he started toward the door. “Let’s go to where our base will be.”