Chapter 5: Coming of Age Is Just an Illusion

July 16, 1325 – 3:20 PM

“To sum up, we need to split into three groups. The first one will handle the preparations. We’ve got a set of buildings we’ll be using as operational bases…”

“This is weird…” I thought.

And not just because of the speaker’s high-pitched voice...

The scenarrrrio… had quite a few things that threw me off. For starters, the chairs were floating. Comfortable, sure—but floating. Same with the desks, and their surfaces were touchscreen computers.

It reminded me of the university auditorium, but with dreamlike tech… holograms, tablets, an augmented reality display hovering in the air… and the windows showed a snowy, idyllic landscape. But fake. It was a projection—there’s no snow in the city during summer.

Yeah, all that was weird.

But one thing really took the prize.

“…the buildings have already been assigned. The floor for each will be communicated once this meeting ends. The first team will handle transportation. The second, infiltration into various—”

“This is definitely not a hallucination. Ouch!” I pinched my cheek. “Yup, I’m awake.”

“Ien… is that guy for real?” I whispered.

“Shh. Don’t talk.”

“…résumés, ID cards, and other documents will be issued for entry as operators in strategic locations. The third group will handle security. Your task is to watch over each site and prevent incidents…”

“I need a coffee…”

At the floating mahogany desk—yeah, floating too—next to a computer (holographic?) and a stack of documents, sat the speaker.

Now, how to describe him...?

He was a man. Well, technically. Glasses, a knee-length trench coat, a white shirt, black pants, and suspenders.

“Any questions?”

“I’ve got one,” I raised my hand.

Ien shot me a death glare. I ignored her.

“You’re the new girl, right?” the guy said. “I suppose you could ask Ien if you can't be apart from her.”

“No, that’s not it,” I replied. “I just wanted to know if you have your mom’s number, kid. You must feel really lonely without her. We can help you find her."

I swear I said it with complete innocence… no malice at all. Which, in all honesty, only made matters worse. I was so natural in my delivery that you could tell the insult was even more painful.

“…What?”

The so-called leader of the meeting, who spoke with military authority and dressed like a bored thirty-something office guy… yeah, that wasn’t the most shocking part.

He was a kid. A five-year-old boy.

“You speak really well for your age, kid. Who taught you?”

How to put this… in that moment, everyone around me went completely silent. In fact, their mouths were so wide open I almost thought the Slowdown Killer had shown up. I mean it—I genuinely got worried. Even Ien was staring at me, shocked.

“What’s with everyone? I’m just trying to help this chil—WAAAH!!”

“I OFFER MY DEEPEST APOLOGIES, SIR!! THIS BEAST HASN’T BEEN RAISED PROPERLY!! I’LL MAKE SURE SHE LEARNS TO SHOW RESPECT!!”

Amélie grabbed me by the neck and dropped to her knees, dragging me down with her and forcing me to beg for forgiveness.

“What the he—!? Aagh!”

She slammed my face into the floor. Literally. I was kissing it.

“THE BITCH WILL LEARN MANNERS!! NO NEED TO STRIP HER OF HER HUMANITY!!”

I tried to push myself up, but Amélie wasn’t letting go.

“Hey… let me go…”

“Listen up, you animal,” she hissed in my ear with barely contained rage. “Don’t ever talk to Captain Erbis like that again. Got it? Don’t… say… another word!!”

How many of us were in that room? Ten? Twelve? Anyway, all members of the defense department. I don’t remember if I’ve said it before, but Line Corrector is the organization in charge of handling problems caused by temporal stones.

“It’s not like I can say anything now anyway…”

“Robin Ward,” Captain Erbis spoke up. “It seems you haven’t been raised properly. I was under the impression I’d instructed Ien to explain the organization’s rules to you.”

“I left the complete manual in their room,” Ien answered firmly. “I explicitly told them to read it.”

“There were too many pages! I didn’t have time.”

“I highlighted the important parts in advance.”

“I don’t like books… I prefer movies. Can you let me go now? My face is starting to hurt.”

“I won’t let go unless the captain says so!”

Erbis calmly told Amélie, “It's okay.”

I watched both Amélie and Ien gulp at the sound of his voice. Are they seriously scared of this kid?

“Thanks for everything, little guy.” Yeah, I know he’s not a normal child—I’m not stupid. But I just had to push his buttons a bit. “I’ll ask the secretaries to help you find your mom.”

Those were the last words I said that day.

I don’t remember anything else. The screen just went black… and I woke up in my bed.

My face hurt, my legs, my arms, and especially my butt. I don’t know why, and I don’t want to know. But I was so sore, I swear it felt like I’d gotten beaten up.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Mental note: Never make fun of Captain Erbis again.

Anyway, I was assigned to my first mission as a member of Line Corrector. Since I have zero experience, I’ll just be assisting for now while I learn how to use my temporal stone. I’ve already started thinking of a name for my ability. It’s between Perpetual Cycle and Scion of the Loop, but neither one quite convinces me. Suggestions are welcome.

To sum it up, we have to set up an operations base at three different points. Luckily, I got placed on Ien’s team. I won’t have to be separated from her.

We’ll be taking the magnetic train that runs along the spiral of islands all the way to Rossanetti… the city’s red-light district.

July 17, 1325 – 8:33 AM

“You are the dumbest, most idiotic, brainless, clueless, moronic, senseless, thick-headed, subhuman excuse for a person I’ve ever met in my entire life!”

Amélie was livid. And, to be fair, she had every right to be.

“I skipped that part,” I muttered.

“I gave you every single warning and instruction, and I sent you a summary by email. You’re such a headache. It was highlighted and in ALL CAPS—‘Captain Erbis IS NOT A CHILD!’ He’s an adult.” The effort she made not to go off on Ien was almost admirable.

“His temporal stone trapped him in the body of a seven-year-old. For him, it’s a delicate matter.”

“In my defense… I was thinking about you.”

The girls’ faces no longer looked human. Two dark holes that absorb all light. I lowered my head, defeated.

“Alright, I’m sorry, it won’t happen again,” I said with a shaky voice. “I’m not making excuses, but… all this feels so surreal. If it weren’t for the pain, I’d think I’m dreaming.”

The mood got a little melancholic. The girls calmed down a bit.

“Putting your stupidity aside…” Amélie poked my head with her index finger. “And I mean this very seriously, so listen up, tadpole. This is a military-type operation. It’s not a game. If we tell you something, it’s because it matters.”

“I know, I know,” I nodded, lowering my voice. “I get that my life’s on the line…”

Ien came to a sudden stop. We were walking through the narrow alleys of Rossanetti, that overly decorated district, and her pause had the weight of a mentor about to drop some wisdom.

“You don’t have military training. You have no combat experience. And you don’t know how to use your temporal stone or what it really means to have one. One day, you’ll be a valuable member of Line Corrector, but for now… just focus on what you can do. Like reading the instructions we give you.”

Right. It’s been a few days since I joined the organization. I already told everything to Dr. Hana and her unhinged boss. The loop repeating, the weird visions—everything. They’re setting up a training program to help me control my temporal stone, but it’s not something you learn overnight.

They explained that stone abilities are categorized by range:

[Universal]: affects all of reality.

[Focal]: affects a specific area.

[Particular]: affects a specific object or person.

Mine is [Universal]. The downside is that it only has one link, so once I use it, I have to wait for it to recharge before I can activate it again. Not like Amélie’s, which is [Focal], or the drone maniac’s, which is [Particular].

“With that ability… you could redo your first time as many times as you wanted,” said a female voice behind me, right before something pressed against my back. “Isn’t that amazing?”

“M-Miss Shiromine?” I asked, visibly uncomfortable. The young woman had started touching places she absolutely shouldn’t. “Could you please stop doing that?”

“Doing what?” she asked, smiling innocently.

She was clearly a foreigner—Kuroha Shiromine. Shorter than Amélie, who was already barely 165 cm (five foot five). Long, jet-black hair. Her outfit was as exotic as her accent… I think she called it a kimono, kind of like a short robe, but with a more elaborate design. She wore a flower in her hair and spoke with a calmness that bordered on infuriating.

“Hya… ah… no… get your… fingers off my… Hya…”

“I'm only giving you a back rub.”

“Since I became… hya… a woman, that area… mmh… got kind of sensitive… Ah…”

“I see… Here, here.”

I started making a series of noises that made me question my masculinity… but I’m not complaining.

“Cut it out, you two perverts. Just because we’re in the red-light district doesn’t mean you can do that in public,” Ien scolded her, stepping in right before I ran out of breath. “This isn’t the time or the place.”

“I only needed to see if he had hair.”

“I hope you mean body hair. Also, I don't have a single strand.”

“I’ll find out for myself soon enough.”

Today, in theory, was recon day. We were supposed to check out the buildings we’d use as operational bases. It was also supposed to be Ien’s day off… but apparently duty outranks her right to rest.

“I believe this is the location,” Ien stated, halting in front of a three-story building.

“This is the base? It looks like a dump…”

From the red-lit façade to the music leaking out onto the street, everything screamed brothel. There was a window display with some very provocative posters—girls in lingerie posing like they were on the cover of a trashy magazine—a velvet purple door, and, to complete the scene, a garbage bag sitting right next to it.

And yes… I recognize that brothel smell.

Never actually been to one, of course. But I know the “vibe.” For academic purposes… obviously.

“Correction: it’s a whorehouse,” Amélie clarified.

“I don’t see the difference. But… uh… no, this isn’t the place we’re using,” Ien said, scratching her head, clearly uncomfortable. “You do remember how many members are in this unit, right? I mean… you did pay attention in the meeting?”

“I don’t even know how it ended… but yeah, we’re supposed to be five. Who’s the last member?”

I sat down with zero enthusiasm—right on the garbage bag.

“Ick…”

“What was that?” I asked, frowning.

The bag moved under me.

“Don’t tell me the fifth member is in there… in the brothel?”

“He comes here often. But yeah, you nailed it—the fifth member is in there.”

Great. Best news I’d heard all day. Not only were we going to have to go inside, but we’d also have to search for our new teammate in a sea of women wearing next to nothing.

“Will they even let us in? I mean… we’re supposed to be girls”—even if deep down I’m still a guy—“I just hope they don’t try to recruit us by mistake…”

“Ick…”

There it was again. That noise… It was starting to freak me out.

“There’s no need to go in,” Kuroha said, calm as ever. “Actually, like Amelie-san said—”

“Amélie, not Amelie,” Amélie corrected flatly.

“…the human scum we came to find is here.”

“Yeeeah… but don’t be so harsh on the guy. Maybe he was just curious,” I added, still not fully getting it.

“I don’t think you get it yet, Robin.” Ien glanced at Amélie with a look that promised nothing good. “The fifth member is…”

Without warning, she kicked the trash bag.

“Yyaaaaaaaaaaaa!! My balls!!”

“What the hell?!” I nearly jumped out of my skin.

I landed flat on my back, and as I sat back up, I saw the garbage bag moving. Legs popped out. Then arms. And—yep—he was holding… that. There was a hole in the bag. I don’t want to get too graphic, but… yeah, he was definitely holding them.

“Ow! You’ve murdered my future children!!”

“Oh God… he’s an exhibitionist,” I was totally horrified.

“Worse,” Ien cut in, arms crossed. “He’s our teammate.”

“What?! That degenerate is the fifth member of our unit?!”

Out of the bag crawled a man with messy brown hair, a half-zipped leather jacket… and the bag rolled down to his waist, covering only the bare minimum. Emphasis on minimum.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Albert Ravenfield.”

“He bounced back fast…” I muttered, stunned.

What a clown.

He reached out to shake my hand. Reflexively, I took it… and instantly regretted it.

“Robin Ward… nice to—ah, shit,” I froze. “Goddammit, I just shook hands with a guy who was fondling his own balls!!”

“Told you,” Amélie said, wearing a devilish grin. “He’s worse than a devout follower of the Holy Church of Brothels. Don’t worry, it’s not contagious… though I can’t promise the same about whatever he had on his hand.”

“The pleasure is all mine, my lovely lady.” Albert grabbed my chin with those same fingers.

“NOOOOOOOOO!! I’m gonna have to burn my face now!!”

After a round of yelling—louder than funny—and with the bouncers kindly inviting us to leave (read: threatening to snap our necks), we ended up in a nearby park. Albert, acting like nothing had happened, started recounting his “epic tale.”

“…and that’s how I ended up in the trash bag,” he concluded proudly. “Don’t go around biting butts if you’re broke; that's the moral.”

“Right. After hearing that, I can confidently say you’re a degenerate,” I said flatly. “Where do we even get pants for this guy?”

“What are you talking about? This is my favorite trash bag.”

“…”

“I’ll say it till I’m hoarse,” Amélie sighed. “That guy makes even the horniest priest in town look respectable.”

“No doubt… he’s revolting,” Kuroha added in her calm, quiet tone. “Don’t you agree as well, Robin-san?”

“Kyaa—Not again,” I flinched as I felt Kuroha’s fingers creeping up my back.

At least I won’t be bored…