We were moving so fast that when we ran past someone, the wind currents whipped their clothes around like they were caught in a tornado.

  Sadly, there were no hot guys’ shirts getting lifted. Just my luck.

  When we reached the gate, the guards immediately locked eyes on us and positioned themselves in front of it, spear guns at the ready.

  Yuen skidded to a halt, kicking up a cloud of dust in the process. He pointed at me and declared, “She’s with me. We’re going outside.”

  One of the guards gave him a judgmental look. “Why?”

  “Uh…” Yuen turned to me, his expression blank. “Yeah, why?”

  I stared at him in disbelief. “Dude, now you’re asking me this?”

  Even the gate guards folded their arms and stared at him, clearly expecting an answer.

  Yuen glanced between the guards and me, then casually strolled over to me and muttered, “Don’t make them think I’m weird. They’re going to think I’m weird.”

  I mean, it was already too late for that. The guards were barely holding back their disgust as they whispered to each other.

  Yuen’s face fell. “They think I’m weird.”

  Hmph.

  I stepped forward. “We’re going to hunt half-men.”

  The guards looked at me in surprise. The older one smiled gently, like I was an innocent child who had no idea what she was talking about.

  “Oh dear,” he said. “Those things are very scary. They’re violent, cannibalistic, and… well, let’s just say they’re not appropriate for polite conversation.”

  I assumed “rapey” was one of the words he was avoiding. I cut him off. “I’m assuming the president told you who I am? It should be obvious, given that I don’t have the flow patterns.”

  His voice cracked slightly. “Well, yes, but he also said not to let you leave the city without a royal guard or an entrusted knight.”

  That royal nonsense again.

  I tilted my head, genuinely confused. “Why are they called royal guards, anyway? It’s not like this place has a royal family.”

  “Uhh… It’s complicated… Anyway!” He tried to steer the conversation back. “Like I was saying—”

  I clicked my tongue and pointed at Yuen. “He’s with me. He’s a royal guard, last I checked.”

  “Well… um. Did we say royal guard? We meant entrusted knights. Haha.”

  Time froze.

  Literally. I activated my time-freeze ability, and his laughter and expression stuck mid-motion. I grabbed the frozen Yuen and leaped over the gates.

  It baffled me. In a world filled with superhumans, shouldn’t the—

  Thud!

  I hit something hard and tumbled to the ground.

  “Ouch! Ouch!” I clutched my head, writhing in pain. What the hell was that?

  I pushed myself up and glared at the sky. I couldn’t see it, but it felt like I’d hit some kind of invisible barrier. And it was rock solid.

  Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.

  I turned off my time-freeze and groaned. The guards’ laughter continued until it was replaced with confusion, as it appeared we’d teleported during the conversation.

  Yuen was left stunned, looking around, clearly wondering how the hell he’d ended up there. He’d probably figure it out eventually. Maybe.

  I quickly turned to the guards. “You see that?! My skill is malfunctioning. If I don’t get stronger to control it… I’m going to…”

  I suddenly flinched, my eyes widening in shock. My body folded over as I clutched my stomach, my face contorted with pain.

  With a groan, I gasped, “It’s back again… I’m going to—!”

  Suddenly, I was leaning against the gates, still holding my stomach. “It’s getting bad… I think.”

  The next second, one of the guards was falling from the sky.

  “Oh my, what could have done that?” I said in a terrible British accent before catching him.

  He was skittish now, his eyes darting around. “O-open the gate! Get this creature out of here!”

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  ‘Creature,’ whatever.

  The other guard, equally terrified, opened the gate.

  “Thanks!” I said before grabbing Yuen and rushing out before they could change their minds.

  In fact, as soon as my feet hit the rough, barren road outside, I used Time Freeze to make it look like we’d teleported away.

  I took a deep breath before collapsing into a small field of flowers that shifted colors like a living rainbow.

  I was exhausted.

  Yuen leaned against a massive tree, gazing at the setting sun. He took a deep breath and said, “You can freeze goddamn time. Yeah, that makes sense…”

  I looked at him while lying in the flowers. “You’re a smart one.”

  “Thanks. My brother thought the same thing.”

  Please don’t let this turn into a sad backstory moment. I didn’t want to uncover something tragic and suddenly feel sympathy for him, so I didn’t ask.

  He stood up and started walking. “By the way, just to make sure… all you want to do is kill half-men, right?”

  “Uh, yes.”

  “I’m pretty sure you’re lying, but whatever. Getting outside and walking around is better than being stuck in that boring city, doing the same thing over and over.”

  I could see that.

  Randomly, he started marching, kicking his feet high. “You asked why ‘royal guards’ exist, right?”

  “Yes,” I said, jogging to his side. “It doesn’t make sense to me.”

  “Haha… Everyone who’s normal agrees, except for the traditionalists, I guess. Our nation was once the second most powerful, but… a civil war broke out between three royal siblings. They each had huge families backing them. The only way to settle the conflict was to divide the land into three, and thus we were named Second Cinderayul. Anyway, we weren’t stable, and the people got tired of the kings making stupid decisions, so… they killed the royal family and tried the presidential system to elect a leader. Someone who would represent the people’s desires… but…”

  Oh, I thought I understood.

  I finished for him, “But the current president really wants to be a king? Or at least likes the idea of royalty, so he named you guys royal guards?”

  “You’re quick.”

  “Heh!” I grinned. “I happen to boast an IQ of 234.”

  “Oh? I’m not sure what that is, but… good for you, I guess.”

  “Nevermind.”

  He chuckled.

  “Uh huh… anyway, how close are we to that route?”

  “Still pretty far. And…” He looked at the sky, which was growing darker by the minute. “We’re going to need your flames to navigate soon.”

  “Got it.”

  And so we continued. But holy crap, I was getting bored.

  “Oi.”

  He turned to me with a weary look. “What is it?”

  “Uh… umm… oh! Why aren’t the presidential knights called royal knights?”

  He turned forward as he replied, “He tried to rename them. But the people threatened to tie his legs to two separate cloud cows and have them run in opposite directions. Basically, the long-dead president who created the title and procedure for presidential knights is highly respected. Changing it would’ve been a grave insult to his legacy.”

  “I see… I think I wanted to ask another question, but I forgot.”

  “Oh. I thought you were going to ask why we called our nation Second Cinderayul and not First or something else.”

  I looked at him suspiciously. “You want a reason to feel like a teacher, don't you?”

  “Actually, I do. It feels kinda great. Boosts my ego, you know?”

  I smiled. “I like that. Go on, tell me.”

  “Nevermind.”

  “What do you mean, ‘nevermind’? You were the one who wanted to talk about it!”

  I was actually interested.

  He replied, picking up his pace, “Oh, so now you’re interested?”

  I kept up with him. “When did I say I wasn’t?”

  “Your smile was mocking me!” he exclaimed before dashing forward. In the blink of an eye he was already across the length of a massive football field.

  "I didn't!"

  Of course, I used my time-freeze to catch up.

  As night fell, we entered the forest.

  Yuen was panting heavily, his hands on his knees, clearly exhausted. Sweat drenched his face as he muttered, “All that running… I think I left part of myself back there.”

  I clung to a tree branch for support. “Yeah, but we’re close. So close.”

  He grumbled, “Create some light already…”

  Right. I let go of the tree and dropped to the grass. Standing up, I flicked a small fireball into the air and fed it more flame, lighting up a four-meter radius.

  Yuen smiled and relaxed. “Finally… I can see clearly—”

  Then he froze.

  I instantly activated my time-freeze, not willing to take any chances.

  I crouched low, moving closer to him, trying to see what had made him stop. But I didn’t see anything.

  I let time resume, my head turning into fire. “What is it?”

  His eyes darted between me and whatever had spooked him. He pointed ahead. “Corpses! Half-men... as far as I can see.”

  He spun around, pointing in all directions. “Bodies everywhere!”

  I realized he was looking way ahead. Why did he need light if his eyes were that sharp?

  Either way, the number of corpses was clearly connected to us.

  “Yeah, whatever passed through here was a monster. Crazy. Anyway, help me find a village.”

  “Wait... oh crap...” He slowly started backing away from me.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “You… you’re one of those erratics who hunt villages to level up!”

  “I’m not that crazy... yet.”

  “YET?!” His eyes went wide.

  I grinned at his reaction. “Yeah… and guess who’s going to be my first flowman victim?”

  Horror filled his eyes just as a war cry erupted from the forest.

  The sound grew closer, coming from all directions.

  I dropped into a defensive stance, my arms igniting with fire, ready to activate time modulation at any moment.

  Then, from the darkness, a semi-naked man leapt out. He wore only a fur wrap around his waist.

  He landed in front of me, one knee down, before standing tall with the confidence of a lion killer.

  It was the same guy who’d run off when I’d tried to make a move on him.

  Great… he was even hotter now. Probably because he was “naked-er.”

  He gripped a spear in one hand and a massive shield in the other. “So, you’ve come to die by our hands?”

  I nodded, taking him in. “Mhm... whatever you say.”

  “Look me in the eyes!” he demanded.

  I pointed at him, raising my voice. “Whoa, whoa! A bit too demanding, don’t you think? Where’s the compassion, the softness, the… niceness?”

  He growled and beat his chest, which set off the others hiding in the trees. They joined in with war cries.

  I rolled my eyes and sighed. “Okay. I get it. It looks weird that I’ve returned here…”

  For a split second, his makeshift fur covering shifted, and I caught a glimpse of something... but no fan service.

  Annoyed, I continued, “I can revive your village… and once I do, I think it’d be cool if you... how do I put this nicely… civilized? No, that sounds bad... Hm... Once you start acting and dressing like you used to, we should get to know each other. What do you think?”

  He stared at me, unmoving.

  Yuen whispered, “Um. Revive what now? And why the hell did you just ask him out?”

  I shushed him and shook my head. “Trust me, I’m a professional. Watch.”

  The man’s eyes began to glow red, which was odd.

  Veins popped out on his face, and he started breathing heavily in anger.

  Yuen looked uneasy. “So… this is part of your plan, right?”

  “Uhh… No.”

  Then, with a roar, the man transformed into a giant. “I’m going to kill you!