The path to the belltower was quite convoluted.
“I can’t believe all the hoops we had to jump through to get here,” I complained, wiping a bead of sweat from my temple.
Newmill tried to put me at ease. “It’s not like we could’ve refused to participate in the event that the Hula Hoop Club were hosting. They were too convincing in their promotional campaign. Plus, I won this!” The boy raised a small stuffed toy with a hula hoop around its waist.
Penrin had the advertising flier of the Hula Hoop Club in her hand. She skimmed it with an uninterested scowl as we walked. “What a stupid club. Why spend time on learning such a useless skill? If I were to join any group, it would be the fighters.”
I was surprised to see that she had taken an interest in those brutes. I supposed her titles and skills were fitting for such company.
“You want to join the Fighters Club?” Newmill asked with a concerned expression. He didn’t seem too keen on the idea.
“I was considering it,” Penrin answered.
The three of us had wandered into a rather peculiar area. Following Keswick and Eppy’s directions, we hopped through an open window on the first floor of a building and entered the corridor across from it. This section of the school looked unfinished. Parts of the walls were missing, and strange constructions were scattered on the floor. Actually, rather than being unfinished, it looked like it was partly demolished. If it was, the demolition job was shoddy and also unfinished.
“Those fighters looked really scary. I wouldn’t join them if I were you,” warned Newmill.
“So what? I look scary too.” Penrin crushed the flier in her hands and threw it over her shoulder. I leant down to pick it up. I’d have to tell her about the horrors of littering one day.
“You’re only scary when you’re mad,” said Newmill.
Penrin flipped her hair. “Hmph, whatever.” She prodded Newmill in the upper arm. “What about you? Why don’t you join the Mages Society?”
Newmill swayed sideways from the prod and then stabilised himself with a half-step. “No way! You know what those study mages are like, don’t you? They’re even more arrogant and conceited than high nobles.” The boy remembered who he was speaking to. “No offence.”
“None taken.”
Newmill and Penrin were walking ahead of me, so they did not notice how fondly I looked at them. It pleased me how close Newmill and Penrin had become with each other, and with me. I hadn’t realised it before, but both of them were quite isolated. One was a neglected prince. Whenever I saw him, he was alone. From what I could tell, he did not have any friends. The other was an ostracised noble. Whatever friends she had before likely abandoned her, after she received her scar.
I was happy that the three of us had one another.
I suddenly felt a rag over my mouth. Strong arms gripped my head and locked it in place. In a panic I gasped and inhaled through the wet rag. That was the last mistake I made before passing out. As my consciousness faded, I saw Penrin and Newmill walking off into the distance, oblivious of my predicament.
My heavy eyelids shut tight.
I awoke strapped to a chair. I struggled against my restraints immediately. My blurry vision could just about make out what was around me as I came to. I was in a room that resembled a science lab. Judging from the light coming in through the window, I wasn’t out for long. Either that or days had passed.
After blinking rapidly, I could see clearly again. There were dozens of students in the classroom. They were all busy with projects of their own. Their tinkering included use of runes and magical materials. I saw glowing crystals and red-hot metals. Whatever was happening in here was a combination of magic and mundane. A workshop for inventors.
Across from me, a cross-eyed girl looked at me, or at least I thought she did. “You’re awake!” she said cheerfully.
I wiggled against my bindings some more. “Who are you? What’s going on? Did you kidnap me?” I was tied firmly to the chair; I could not escape.
The girl smiled. Half her teeth were crooked, and the other half were missing. “My name’s Rye. I brought you here. And yes, I kidnapped you.”
It was freaky how merry this girl was about kidnapping. Above her messy brown hair was a verification of her words.
[Name: Rye]
[Age: 28]
[Level: 35]
Despite being kidnapped and held captive, I was surprisingly calm. What surrounded me was students busy with science and experimentation. None seemed malicious, especially not the girl in front of me. Though it was concerning how none of them seemed to mind me being strapped to a chair in the middle of the room. “What is this place?” I asked.
Rye spread her arms out wide. “This is the Crafting Club. Welcome! How can we help you?”
“What are you talking about? You’re the one who brought me here!” Did she not understand the absurdity of what she was asking? “I should be the one posing that question. Why did you kidnap me? What do you want from me?”
The girl laughed with her lips wide-open but her teeth clenched. Some spit flew out from the gaps between her teeth and landed on my face. “You’re a lively one. I’ll give you the answer to those questions in due time.”
She wanted me to wait to be told why I was captured? That made no sense. “What do you mean ‘due time’? How long will I have to wait?”
“Not long at all,” she said. “The time is due now.”
The face I made in response was of pure bewilderment.
Rye pulled out a sketchbook and showed me some diagrams she had drawn. “Looky here, little boy. This is a drawing of the club. Notice the annotations.”
An illustration showed the room we were in, and there were lines that pointed to text complaining about lacking materials. “Ok…”
“What do you think?” She looked at me expectantly.
“It’s a good drawing, I guess. The shading is nice, and the perspective is unique.” I wasn’t much of an art critic.
“No, you idiot. What do you think of our situation? The Crafting Club has a shortage of interesting ingredients to craft with. Students who go out adventuring or slaying monsters always sell their loot to the guild. Because of that, it’s difficult for us to find new things to craft with.”
“My condolences.” Did this girl abduct me to talk about her club’s dilemma about crafting components?
“Thank you. I’ve brought you here to help solve this problem for me.” The girl fiddled with a strand of hair and then plucked out a split end.
If Rye expected me to go out and get materials for her little clubroom, she had another think coming. I wasn’t about to do charity work for some crazy scientist. “How am I going to solve anything?”
The girl put her finger to my lips. It was coated in black oil and tasted like grease. “Shush little one, I’ll explain that when the time comes. And that time is now. I saw you beat the Fighters Club with strange weapons and an exotic battle technique. I know that someone capable of that must have some special items on them. I’ve captured you to alleviate you of those items and to craft something spectacular for you with them.”
I paused to think for a second. “So, this is a robbery?”
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