Chapter 13: Escape
I frowned seeing the front door of the storage room is locked. No wonder I was not able to get out. What is more, there are two people standing outside which from the looks of it, are students guarding the door. They looked like athletes based on their bodies' fitness build. Even in Mana Scan's holographic figures, I can tell if they are athletic or not. After I canceled the effects of Mana Scan, I sneak close to the side of the entrance. It's hard to see anyone in this area but you can perfectly see what was going on on the entrance and hear conversations there secretly without being busted by these guys.
As I try to listen, I managed to hear a piece of news on how I got tied up and locked up in the first place. Although I didn't manage to get what they just said firstly, I can already get the gist of it.
"I heard that this guy shamelessly molested our goddess while she is sleeping on the bench. Isn't that being shameless enough?" the guy on the left said.
"But I don't recognize his face. Our goddess might have ordered him to get tied up but I don't know if he really did it. I was just told like what I was supposed to do as one of her followers."
"I have a photo of him "molesting" our goddess. It was from her friend who found the two of them," then he pulled out his phone and showed the photo to the other guy.
"WTF! He dares to sleep on her chest? I didn't even get to fondle them and he dares to do that?!"
"That is why our goddess is very angry. Now that her boyfriend broke up with her to go overseas, it was only something she can vent out her anger into!"
"Her boyfriend broke up with her? Seriously?"
"Yes. It came from the goddess herself. I am betting my money that this guy won't have a face to show himself in school for tomorrow once he sees all of the controversies and rumors that are now spreading from him."
"Speaking of that guy, did he already regained consciousness?"
"Who cares about him? He can just stay there for at least a night at most. We can untie him tomorrow morning. The goddess said so herself."
"Then, we starve him for a night then? We might get in trouble if he died from starvation!"
"Tch, dumbass, humans won't die just by not eating dinner once. Can you stop being melodramatic? We just have to give him that punishment. No one dares to humiliate our goddess like that."
...
After hearing all of that, I can't help but grin. This is just my first day of school and now I am famous? A pervert molester on top of that. Although I just fainted, I didn't expect that to happen to me. Well, it might look disadvantageous to a person with dignity to protect but to someone without one, what damage can they do? I, who never cared about my own dignity and reputation, being targeted by rumors, is not really a bad thing. In fact, I felt elated. This way, no one will try to get close to me and I can keep my status as a "loner" continue.
Do I sound crazy? Maybe I am, but I am already fine with that. Other people might go crazy if they found out about their reputation broken overnight. But to me, that was fine, in fact, it was rewarding. After becoming a magician, isolation, peace of mind and training my body are the things I really need to do as soon as possible. Now due to this piece of news, I can actually say this is a blessing.
Due to the rumors, normal people will tend to avoid me and would just spread rumors about me. I am fine with that, the lesser the people to talk to, the better. Also, this move only allowed me to get famous instead. I will get a peace of mind since people never really cared if I exist or not. And lastly, delinquents and people that supported the so-called "goddess" will start trying to bully me. If that was the case, then that means I have to be fighting against thugs. I am lacking in training after all of my years of quitting the practice of martial arts. And since almost all of my magic is related to close combat quarters, it is just normal for me to get elated. There is no problem for me to initiate a fight against others.
There is no point in staying here and get noticed by them. It's better for me to silently slip away and let them guard someone that doesn't exist inside rather than create a conflict with these idiots. I also need to sneak out and take my bag that I just left inside the classroom before I slip away and go home...
...
That night, after finishing my dinner, I opened my phone and click on the Anonymous app. After the events earlier in the school, I am somewhat aware now that the magicians are there for peacekeeping that lets humans safe from the danger that the world is hiding. As soon as I entered into the app, I heard the mechanical voice of the app that spoke to me during the first time I accessed the app. This time, it was for a different reason.
"Welcome back, Magician Kazuma. We received a report about your exploits from Magician Voltaire. Due to your exemplary actions during the battle and for successfully stopping the demon from killing an innocent life even though you just started as a newbie magician, you already are a qualified man to receive a reward from us. Due to your efforts, you are awarded a tier 1 Familiar Summoning Spell that can be used once to summon a permanent Familiar. The materials for the spell and the instructions are all sent to your inventory. Enjoy your rewards. You deserved it."
I was surprised by the message of the voice for me. I did a good job? Well, that was the first. I know I didn't do well in the demon battle and besides, I did not deal with the final blow that is why I have not expected to get a message that I did a good job on the battle. Still, it might be due to Voltaire that I get to have a good report to the higher-ups. He is a cool guy and he didn't even bother to bat an eye to the demon which means he is very strong. Maybe I managed to get into his good books that is why he did that to the higher-ups?
The summoning spell is stored in the inventory. However, I am in no rush to get it out. With classes and upcoming trouble coming to my way, I will delay the summoning till this weekend. After passing by on the channels, I hovered to the chat group's discussions. As always, they are still discussing some things that are related to the rise of the demons all around.
...
Tsukoyomi: Aw, f*ck. These demons are starting to annoy my nerves now. Why are they popping out like mushrooms everywhere?!
Zan: Hey, you can't get used to them? I am used to it. The problem is that they are now trying to use demonic beings and spirits in their arsenals too. They are much more troublesome than the demons themselves.
Titan: Punching them doesn't work anymore. Maybe kicking will do?
Moonlight: Most of the places around Japan are now notorious with demons pretending humans now. I heard that they managed to reach outside the country and the magicians in America are now having trouble with the riots done by demons at night.
Raigaki: Seriously? Even America too? Then, does the hot blonde babes are all affected in there now?
(System Announcement: Raigaki has been muted for 12 hours: Reason: :3 )
Voltaire: Indeed, even Russia and China branch are all complaining. I heard that they are trying to recruit magician helpers from the Philippines, France, and Australian Branches. Do we also have to do that too?
Zacharias: The higher-ups said that they don't plan to do so at the moment. But if the situation gets dire, they will take action and might try to find some helpers from the foreign countries soon.
Catmod: Many of my disciples are getting anxious about the demon invasions now. They are afraid that the demons would kill them in the end.
Tsugimoto: I plan to make a spell that can allow us to fight better than us now for the sake of defeating these demons. If anyone has suggestions on what kind of spell would be great, I would appreciate it.
Yaya: You are making a new spell?
Moonlight: He is tasked with making improvised spells for the sake of fighting demons now in modern society. It gets harder to fight with demons already acquainted with the modern world.
Rena: How about long-range magic like fire arrows?
Tsugimoto: No. It is already similar to the burning arrows that I developed in the past that ended up as a failure.
Yaya: But due to that, we managed to get valuable knowledge on using spears instead of arrows. Maybe we should try it again?
...
I suddenly gained interest in the turns of their topic. They are making magic? Maybe I can help? After encountering demons, I am quite sure that they are a bit easy to target if I suggest this one.