Ah, my head is aching in pain and why is it so hot. I try to twist and turn but I couldn’t move, it was like I was stuck in between two soft mountains. I try moving my arms but I couldn’t, is this what they call sleep paralysis.

“Waaa, I’m suffocating!!!”

Fifi screams and I finally open my eyes with difficulty. She was coming out from underneath the blanket and her clothes were disorderly. There was a strong stench that was coming off of her body as she plops down on my pillow.

“Ugh, my headache’s killing me.”

“What happened last night, Fifi?”

“Oh, good morning, Mister sweet talker.”

“What do you mean?”

I was going to ask Fifi to clarify more but she immediately went back to sleep. I could feel rustling underneath the blanket and the sun shines through the blinds revealing two people laying on my arms. I begin to panic as I realize that it was Mako and Ruka. I was trying to remember what happened last night but I couldn’t, everything is all fuzzy. Noticing the commotion I was causing, Ruka wakes up.

“Good morning, Jude. Last night was pretty fun, wasn’t it?”

“Uh, uh. Did something happen last night?”

“You don’t remember?”

I stare at her but I couldn’t remember for the life of me what happened last night. With a mischievous smile on her face, Ruka whispers into my ear and a tingling sensation is sent throughout my body.

“You were so rough.”

Did “that” happen? It would be my first time if it did happen but what about Ruka. Was she fine with it happening? We were both drunk last night so it wasn’t consensual and the guilt was overwhelming me.

“I’m sorry, I’ll take responsibility.”

“Oh…”

She was so shocked that she couldn’t even respond back. Once Mako wakes I’ll also have to apologize to her. If either of them gets pregnant then I’ll marry both of them and take care of them for the rest of my life. That’s the only way I can think to atone for my sin.

“Ahaha, you’re cute, Jude. Nothing even happened last night, look.”

Ruka raises the blanket and we all still had our clothes on. I sigh with relief as nothing happened last night. I was worried that I might have pushed myself onto them while I was drunk. I wouldn’t mind having my first time with either of them but I would like it to be consensual from both parties. Not like either of them would want me to be their partners, I’m not attractive and I don’t have any redeeming qualities that would attract them.

Mako’s beauty is undeniable and back in college, there were hundreds of guys who wanted to hook up with her. They all had better looks than me and by sheer luck, I get to spend time with Mako. Even though Ruka’s a little bit older than us, that doesn’t change the fact that she’s an attractive woman who guys would want to be with. She looks mature on the outside with her glasses but inside she’s youthful and vigorous just like Mako.

“What’s wrong, Jude? Why do you look so sad?”

I’m lucky to be in this situation so I might as well enjoy this warmth, who knows if I’ll ever experience this again. This cozy and blissful feeling was something I haven’t enjoyed since we left the mansion in Ostempal. Maybe feeling the same as me, Mako snuggles even closer. Ruka didn’t seem to mind and also snuggles in closer as my arms wrap tightly around them. They were soft and I wouldn’t mind if this continues forever.

I wonder if I deserve such bliss? While I’m being embraced by two beautiful women, Lisa is still out there search for Tod. Hopefully, she’s made it to Japon and found him, but there’s no way for me to know that. I wonder if Karla and Justina are doing fine, it’s been almost a week since we’ve left Hope City. Is Karla mentally fine? Is Justina eating enough nutrition? She’s still a young girl so she has to eat a lot to grow, but I wonder if I gave them enough money?

While I was lost in thought, I come back to reality as Ruka gets out of the blanket. Yeah, not all good things last forever.

“Alright, I’m going to go now, Jude. Sorry for teasing you.”

“Yeah, you almost gave me a heart-attack, Ruka. You shouldn’t spend time in a guy’s room you’ve just met.”

“Hoh, so it’s fine if we get to know each other?”

“Hmm, I guess so. This isn’t my first time sleeping together with Mako or Fifi.”

“Haha, you really are an interesting guy, Jude. Let me give you a bit of advice. Women can be scary when they’re interested in someone.”

I didn’t understand her words but Ruka laughs to herself as she leaves the room. I was going to ask her what happened last night but I forgot. Looking outside the window, the sun was barely rising so it should be time to go train. Like it was natural, Mako wakes up.

“Good morning, Mako.”

“Oh, uh. Good morning, Jude.”

Her hair was a mess but it was cute. She must have also drunk some alcohol last night since she was holding her head in pain. Even in that state, she didn’t forget to hurry me so we could go train. Ever since we got trapped in the dungeon we haven’t been training because it would be dangerous if we were exhausted while fighting for our lives. Now that we were safe, we can train just like we did back in Hope City. We fix our disordered clothes and head out to go jog around the town. Fifi was still sleeping so I left her in the room with Kurulu.

“Kyaa, it’s Jude. Here have some fruits.”

“You were the life of the party last night.”

“Mister, can you show us some magic tricks again?”

“Cool.”

We pass by an orange frogman and he gives me a thumbs up. Whether it was humans or frogmen, they all remarked about something I did last night. Even the children had something to say about me. I tried asking Mako what I did last night but her face flushes red before speeding away. From everyone’s reactions I know I did something embarrassing but I couldn’t remember it.

It was eating away at me but I put it to the back of my head as I spar with Mako. Since it was my goal to defeat her, I put all my effort into the fight but still lost. Back in Hope City, I thought I was getting close to beating her, but after going through the dungeon, she has gotten even strong. Since our spars were purely hand-to-hand combat, I thought I would be able to beat her with stamina and strength alone, but it wasn’t enough.

The hero’s blood in me had visible effects on my strength and stamina, but Mako was too strong. Her skill and technique were something that I couldn’t overcome and made me waste a lot of energy. What’s worse was that she took advantage of my weaknesses if I even let my guard down for just a little bit.

“Your combat skills have improved a lot, Jude. It’s amazing to think that you just started training only a month ago.”

“Thank you.”

Mako was praising me to make me feel better, but it doesn’t change that I still lost to her when she isn’t even taking me seriously. The way she fights with me is different from when she spars with Gorou. When they fight, its like two proud lions fighting for territory but when she spars with me, it’s like a mother lion teaching her cub. I can’t wait until the day she acknowledges me and fight with all of her strength.

Two hours quickly pass by and we head on so we can wash off. Our bodies were drenched in sweat and alcohol from last night’s feast. The village was already awake and busy as we approach the building we were staying in. As we got closer, we could see Gareth and Kayla exit the building, they were arguing with each other.

“I told you I’ve been stressed out. I thought you were ready.”

“Stressed!? That was three entire hours without any breaks in between!”

“What, don’t tell me you didn’t enjoy yourself? It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other!”

“That’s not the problem. We have an important mission today and you’ve drained all the energy out of me.”

Kayla laughs at the complaining Gareth and grabs him by the arm before kissing him on the cheek. From the contents of their conversation, it seems like Gareth had a rough night. Our Unit has been curious about Gareth’s relationship with Kayla and now it’s confirmed that they’re lovers. Realizing that we were walking towards them, Gareth walks out of Kayla’s grasps and she pouts.

“Good morning, we’re going to have a meeting in about 30 minutes. Head over to the building we arrived in when you guys are ready. I’ve already told the others so just get ready.”

Gareth walks away and Kayla says goodbye before chasing after him. She continues to try and soothe him as we enter the building. Mako and I head our separate ways and I decide to take a shower to wash off the smell. Fifi had already washed and was still taking a nap.

With Kurulu in hand, we head on over to the meeting place. The villagers were still teasing me about last night but I can tell they didn’t mean any harm. I had even met Ruka’s mother and she seemed to be especially happy about something.

On the way out, I met Rachel, Ken, and CZ. Ken smirks and jokes at my actions yesterday, while Rachel and CZ were awfully quiet. There was a weird atmosphere between the two of them.

“Hahaha, you were hilarious yesterday. “Even if the campfires die out, the flames in my heart will never exhaust if I get a glance at you.” I’m dying, how can you actually say something like that.”

“Hmmm, it’s not like you were any better, Ken. Who was the one who got tricked by kids and got stuck in a barrel.”

Ken couldn’t say anything back to Rachel. If what Ken said was true then, I did something really embarrassing last night and that didn’t seem to be the end of it. On the way to the meeting, Ken and other citizens would repeat quotes that I had apparently said last night. Each and everyone one of them was just as embarrassing as the last one, and my only solace was the I wasn’t the only one who did something embarrassing. I vow not to drink alcohol ever again.

“Oh, good morning, Mister Sweet Talker. Pfft!!”

“Stop it, Gorou.”

Jill reprimands Gorou but he continues to make fun of me. Although I am embarrassed about everything, I was somehow still happy. This was different from high school and how others made fun of my scars. Being able to joke around with Ken and Gorou shows that our relationship has grown a lot closer.

Besides William and Gareth, our Unit was fully assembled. We enter the building and a member of Unit I guides us to a different room from yesterday. The doors open in front of us and a large conference room was revealed to us. There were around 30 people that had already gathered and I recognize some of them from last night’s feast.

“Hey, isn’t that the fool from last night. I can’t believe he’s in FUUI.”

“Yeah, I guess FUUI has degraded if someone like him can make it in.”

“It’s not just him, Unit K is made up of idiots. Hehe, the only thing going for them is that girl named Mako.”

Although I’m fine if their insults were directed at me, it irritated me to hear them speak down on the members of Unit K. Judging by there uniforms, they were members from Unit I. I thought the rest of Unit I was going to be nice like Kayla, Cammy, and Michelle, but I forgot the true nature of humans. Those members throwing insults were looking down at me like I was an insignificant insect.

Even the two men we had saved from the lizardman village was joining in on the insults. I had forgotten but these two thought that their lives were valued more than ordinary citizens. It was like looking at the bullies that had haunted my high school life.

“You…”

“It’s fine. It doesn’t bother me.”

Everyone in Unit K tries to stand up for me and that’s enough for me. The only people that matter to me are them and no one else. They might look at me like I’m a bug but to me, they aren’t even worth my attention.

“Everyone, quiet down! We’re going to begin our meeting.”

The room quiets down but there was still chatter from the group that was throwing insults earlier. Kayla sighs and looks at me in apology as she starts the meeting. I guess she has her own shares of trouble within Unit I. Michelle stands by Kayla with her hands on the wall and an image was suddenly projected, it was a map of some sort.

“To catch our new members up, this is a map of the town of Consal. Currently, only part of the town of Consal hasn’t been covered in that massive fog. We’ve tried going into the fog to find the other parts of the town or even trying to escape, but it been unsuccessful. These 5 triangle symbols are indications of the different routes we’ve used to enter the fog, but no matter what, we arrive in the same general location.”

“Excuse me, but how do we know that’s the same location. Is there some sign or marker inside of the fog.”

“I’ll let Mr. Brisben answer that question.”

The same group snickers at my question but Brisben doesn’t hesitate as he begins to explain the situation. Including him, there were 10 frogmen that joined the meeting.

“According to observations in the 5 times they have gone into the fog, they have spotted a specific flower multiple times. If it’s the flower I think it is then they should be appearing in Sipula’s Swamp.”

“What’s Sipula’s Swamp?”

“Sipula’s Swamp is an area us Frogmen have lived by throughout the generations. In fact, this fog that covers the town isn’t rare. Once every 6 months, the Sipula flowers in Sipula’s Swamp would spew out fog that covers entire region. It lasts a week or two, and at worst a month.”

“So should we just wait out the fog?”

“No, situation is weird. The fog been going on for 4 months already.”

The chatter was starting to annoy me because they were making fun of Brisben’s English, but I have to concentrate. If the fog has been going on for months when it’s only supposed to last weeks then the situation is abnormal. Maybe it has to do with the appearance of the dungeon beneath the town.

“Thank you, Brisben, I’ll take over from here. As you know the situation is not natural and waiting for the fog to die out is not a possibility. Today we’ve decided to head out into the fog and cut down as many Sipula flowers as much as possible. According to the frogmen’s research, cutting them down is the best way to make the fog disappear, but there’s also a problem with this plan. As you all know there’s a creature within the fog that actively hunts us down. Luckily we were able to escape with no deaths but this creature is incredibly strong. It actively hides in the fog and attacks when our guard is down. With Unit K joining us, hopefully, we’ll have a better time.”

Kayla continues the meeting and goes into more detail about the plan. We’ll be split up into two groups of 15, William will lead one and Kayla will lead the other. Our goal is to cut down as many Sipula flowers as possible and if we meet that creature then we’ll retreat. The method to retreat is to follow your footprints in the mud back to the town. The principle behind this wasn’t understood but only humans and frogmen can enter the village. According to Kayla and the other frogmen, it should take us about a week to get rid of all the Sipula flowers.

I ask Fifi for her opinion and she also thinks that taking down the Sipula flower is the best plan for now. Cammy, the two guys we saved in lizardman village, another guy, and a girl from Unit I joined our team. Those two guys’ name was apparently Leaf and Urban, the girl’s name was Rachel, and the last guy was Conrad.

“What a coincidence, my name is also Rachel. Nice to meet you.”

“...”

Rachel tries to introduce herself to the other Rachel but she doesn’t reply back. My unfavorable impression of them drops even lower. I didn’t like the eyes of that Rachel and Conrad. Although they didn’t make any snide comments on me, the look in their eyes was the same, they saw all of us beneath them.

“Don’t drag us down.”

Conrad walks away with Leaf, Urban, and the unimportant Rachel. Cammy apologizes to us about there attitude and makes me realize that she really was a nice person.

“God, I hate those pricks. Why do they always have to act all high and mighty?”

“You need to get used to it, Ken. And this applies to the rest of you too. This is going to be your first time working with another Unit and you must learn to separate personal matters and work matters. It’s fine if you don’t like them but you have to trust them in combat, or you’re going to get someone injured.”

William gives us some advice as both groups gather in front of the fog. There wasn’t much to see beyond the fog besides hazy whiteness. It reminds me of the Rat King’s green gas but the situation changes once we walk through. There was still a dense fog but we can at least see a few feet ahead.

The ground was muddy and there were trees all around us. Unknown vegetation was growing on the ground and strange insects were flying all over. It was extremely humid which made the summer weather even worse.