Third-person POV
After that snack time, Aife parted ways with Roel and Kazaki at her home and went inside. Her mother was not yet home, and Aife went into the living room and lay on the sofa in exhaustion from the fun she had all day and the new friendship she had with Roel and Kazaki. Meanwhile, Roel and Kazaki went to their homes and changed their combat attire for house clothes. Roel practiced his piano skills and watched one anime episode of "Tensura" on his laptop. Kazaki, meanwhile, was doing his guitar practice and watching an episode of "Girls' Last Tour" and wished for a better ending to it with tears.
Dinner time came in these households. Aife recounted the great adventure she had with Roel and Kazaki, while Roel and Kazaki did the same with their families at the dinner table. Leon couldn't believe that his younger brother Roel had a lot of fun in his scavenged AOBF attire. "Seemed to be fitting, brother."
"Yes, big brother," responded Roel while munching on a piece of roasted game with spices in it.
A few days had passed, and a few days before the entrance exams at the Saint Ken Academy, Roel and Kazaki went to Greystadt's markets with their older siblings. Leon was a junior knight with a sword, while Reina, the loving older sister of Kazaki, was a potter. For their younger siblings' entry into the prestigious academy, they must have the best things for their studies: pens, notebooks, extra textbooks, and other tools. In this world, the Otherworlders had long introduced modern gel pens, notebooks of all types, ballpoint pens, erasers, and pencils for 510 years. Now they were replicated and made with natural materials and were popular for everyone who needed something to write with and on. Greystadt was among the regional best for purchasing these essentials.
But as they perused through the crowded markets, Roel and Kazaki, in their scavenged combat attires for both protection and vibes, were scanning their surroundings when they saw 2 hooded figures interacting with a third one that looked like a shady dealer of rare artifacts. Among the things the hooded dealer sold was a set of broken parts that resembled a drone that carries bombs (or magical ones in this world). The three discussed its rarity and added potential to their cult's arsenal of terror, and the dealer explained that he found it in Karlmann's northeastern hills that bordered the country's capital city, Manteauville. The hills, he said, were home to a Romanian Otherworlder who had the Engineering skill to make tech like drones and gadgets.
Hearing that, Roel and Kazaki, who were eavesdropping from across the corridor, were stunned and curious about the Romanian Otherworlder's identity. Roel was thinking about acquiring something modern from that person. But then, one of the hooded figures from AOBF turned his head and saw them. He was surprised; his eyes widened a bit as he identified the attire of his fallen comrades.
Roel and Kazaki were taken aback by them.
"Oh, flip…" Roel muttered while taking a few steps back.
"This is gonna be dramatic…" Kazaki prepared his dagger.
"Hey!" the hooded figure shouted (but this area was not crowded, so good thing). "That's our brothers' attire! Why are you wearing it, you thieves!"
His comrades heard that, stopped their discussion, and then looked at their comrade.
Pointing a trembling finger at Kazaki and Roel, their comrade hissed. "These kids…had our dead comrades' attires…! Get them!"
Sensing what would happen next, Roel and Kazaki sprinted out of the scene as the three hooded figures gave chase across the market.
While running for their lives, Roel and Kazaki had an idea of leading the figures out of the city and into the open plains outside of it, fighting them if necessary.