[BL]The Hero and his Party Won't Let Me Go

A deafening silence followed Shuu’s departure. At first, no one said a word... and then Rin woke up and looked around. His eyes searched for Shuu, and he sensed his presence, but he could not find him anywhere.

Secretary Ann noticed that Rin was awake first. He could only tell because there was a strange pressure in the air he had not felt often.

His senses were telling him that he was in danger, and it was because of Rin, so he decided to pay attention to him and noticed that expression.

"Rin, calm down for now. I know that you are disappointed that Shuu is not here, but don’t worry. He just stepped out for something, and he will be back soon-"

Secretary Ann had no idea why he was making such excuses. He just knew that his instincts were telling him to do this if he wanted to survive.

Rin’s eyes were dark when he looked at Secretary Ann, and in those eyes, the secretary could read a lot of emotions-and a lot of trouble as well.

’T-This is terrifying. No kid should be this terrifying. W-What should I do now-’

"Don’t lie to me. Shuu is not here. I cannot sense him anywhere. Where is Shuu?"

Rin asked as he looked back at Secretary Ann. His eyes were warning the secretary not to lie to him, and Secretary Ann gulped down his nervousness to tell Rin the truth.

"Shuu is... inside the dungeon. He was not able to make it out with all of us-! Hey, where are you going?"

Secretary Ann was not able to keep his hold on Rin as the younger broke free and walked toward where the opening of the dungeon had been.

There was nothing there anymore, and yet Rin could sense a small distortion that he wanted to break open. If he used a little more force, then he could-

"Stop it-! I don’t know what you are trying to do, but I don’t think it’s the right thing to do. A lot more people can get hurt if you force the dungeon open-"

"Why should I care? Shuu is inside there, and I need to get to him. No one else matters to me."

Rin confessed, and Secretary Ann felt like he was getting a headache hearing him talk. He wanted to shake Rin and ask him if he was serious about this, but honestly, he did not have the courage to hear the truth.

Kris decided to step forward and take over the conversation.

"Rin, I know you are worried about Shuu. We all are worried about him as well. But if you force the dungeon open, then no one here will agree to help you find Shuu. Instead, it’s better to ask for help from professionals and let them handle this..."

The kid did not look happy, but he was coming around to reason at least. They would be just fine...

Or so everyone thought. But one second, they were telling Rin that it would be fine to sit back and let someone else handle the situation, and the next, a giant rift had been cut through the space in front of them.

Everyone got ready to fight against the monster that did this, only to blink as Kaiden, the latest S-ranked esper, stepped forward.

"It seems like there is a problem here that needs my help. You all can head back now. I will get the person stuck in there to safety."

Kaiden promised, and those who were gathered around felt their pride get snubbed by his attitude. They felt like he was looking down on them all.

But there was one person who had calmed down at his words and decided to walk toward him.

"Hey, what are you doing-! Calm down-! Rin-!"

Secretary Ann tried to keep Rin under control, but he managed to break free of his hold and head toward Kaiden.

The black-haired male looked down, and even though Rin’s features had changed, he recognized him instantly.

"Kaiden-"

"Finally, I found you. Since you are making such a ruckus, I assume that the person stuck inside is Shuu? Somehow, that makes total sense to me. He always was one to get stuck in such situations. Don’t worry. I will get him out."

Kaiden promised before he put Rin down. Rin looked relieved to have Kaiden there, but it rubbed everyone else the wrong way.

Especially Kris, who felt like this person was his competition and that he needed to assert his dominance or he would lose Shuu.

"Excuse me, but can I come with you as well? Shuu is a member of our guild, and it would be much better for him if someone familiar to him comes along-"

"Ah, then I won’t be needing you at all. If you are talking about someone familiar to Shuu, then I doubt you will find anyone better than me."

Kaiden replied, and usually, such a cocky attitude would have been taken as a false claim. But the way Caelis was sticking to him told everyone that this was a special bond they did not know about.

Kris wanted to interfere more and assert his own claim, but he did not feel like he had the right to do that.

So he backed down, and Kaiden walked toward the rift.

He looked at Caelis one last time before he entered and left some final words.

"Make sure you tell Caelis what is happening before he loses his temper and causes a mess. I won’t be responsible for you all if he decides you are a problem."

With those words, the rift closed behind Kaiden, and he was gone. Everyone who watched this looked on with uneasy expressions until an officer spoke up.

"Hey, that man... isn’t he the new S-class esper who broke the official record? I never thought I would see him like this."

That caused everyone to start talking, and even Secretary Ann felt impressed by the presence he had just witnessed.