CHAPTER 74: WHAT HAPPENS BELOW

As both Liohime Kitagami and Jolene Aurora entered the private jet and meeting with the other Shinigami Soldiers who they were familiar with, the latter shamelessly demanded to know where the first class section was.

Fortunately for her, the flight attendants ushered everyone to first class without any hesitation, and they all entered a section of the plane where they had all dreamed of being at for the first time in their lives.

"Woah, look at this," Liohime excitedly called out, noting the incredible passenger seats that were actually mini-rooms that contained a small, relaxing bed, a larger window, a tray at the side that featured a variety of high-quality food, snacks and drinks, a large television screen, and a door to enter and exit that could be locked at any time.

Not even bothering to check the rest of the features that existed beyond the passenger subsection, both Jolene and Liohime exchanged glances, bumped fists, and entered adjacent rooms to catch up on sleep.

Before deciding to doze off, though, Liohime locked the door, kicked up his feet and pondered about something.

Meh, it shouldn’t be a problem, right?

"[Enter, Shihon]."

With a different customized incantation, he had decided to summon Shihon into his private personal space so that she could experience the first class experience.

However-

-He did not realize that as the rift opened out in front of him, his Magical Beast Girl had decided to enter with her beast form, and as her monstrous arm clawed into a new scene, he knew at once that she most likely would cause a scene with her huge appearance along with noise and alert the others.

"W-Wait, Shihon!" he cried out in a hushed tone. "In your human form, just this once. We’re on the plane, you know."

"Oh."

Before fully exiting his mindspace and reentering reality, her body contorted and shifted into a beautiful, female figure of the person that he was familiar with, and she fell softly onto his body that had been laying down on the bed.

"Oh, wow," she spoke up, inspecting her surroundings. "Already preparing for me to enter a love hotel is kinda ballsy, you know, Master."

"I’m pretty sure that I just said we’re on a plane..."

"Oooooh!! Snacks!"

"H-Hey, show some restraint, will you!?"

"Not when you’re clearly flying first class, dummy!"

She lunged forward to indulge in the food that was available, and then then peeked out of the large window at the left side while Liohime sighed and closed his eyes and replied, "Well, enjoy it, I guess. I’ll be resting for a bit."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. So, we’re finally leaving Polar Town, huh?"

"Yep, and we’re headed to Hokai City which is near the region of Paradisus. We’ll stay there for three days of rest before we head off on our mission."

"In that case, let’s think of some fun things that we can do in a new area before we head towards a land of doom and despair, shall we?" she answered with a grin, and Liohime exhaled.

"Sure."

Thus, Liohime closed his eyes, and Shihon enjoyed the view as the jet was now scheduled to take off.

***

The young woman known as Margaret Hibert froze, unable to accept what was happening as reality.

While both of her arms were restrained behind her back to the foot of the large bed in the basement, she contemplated her options.

--She was in a dire situation, and she needed to be freed at all costs.

((

Margaret Hibert had returned home, and at once, she retreated into her locked basement where that man had been resting for weeks.

Expecting nothing much, she unlocked the door and twisted the doorknob as she headed inside-

-And the cold barrel of a gun was immediately held against her forehead.

Huh?

Before she could even realize, the actions of a reality that was deemed impossible in her mind was set into motion.

"WAIT-"

"-Her name is ’Shihon’."

Hearing those words out of that man’s mouth, she was about to go limp and accept her fate, but within a split second, she quickly pushed his left arm upwards, with her heart pounding like a drum, and-

Click.

POW!

The bullet had been fired at the ceiling, as the gun had been redirected just in time to face above.

Margaret tried to move, and make a counter, but she was too slow, lacking movement needed for someone who was faced with death.

Instantly, the only thing that she could see was a blur, before the left hook from the figure collided into her temple, knocking her out cold.

))

When she woke up, she found herself restrained to the basement bed, and her Magical Beast, a golden monkey with the ability to heal wounds, was-

-Restrained too, next to her!?

"Mima! W-What the hell!?" Margaret cried out, watching her Magical Beast give her a seemingly disappointed look. "Why do you look mad at me!? You’re chained up too, you know!!"

Then, she heard footsteps, and she immediately shifted her focus to the person who entered the room with a water bottle in his hand, and she winced.

"You know," she angrily yapped at him, "It’s not really a common courtesy to take someone’s food and drink while keeping that person hostage."

"Sorry about that. I was pretty thirsty."

"Well, I’ll forgive you if you can simply let me go and we can talk this through..."

"Are you braindead? Or do you think that I’m five years old?" the man replied with a scornful laugh, before taking in a mouthful of water and gulping.

Margaret clicked her tongue in frustration.

"You’re not supposed to be up by now. Hell, you’re not even supposed to be fully healed. And how do you know about...."

Shihon’s name, she wanted to say, but her voice trailed off. Still, the man known as Derrick caught onto her question and smiled weakly, narrowing his eyes at her while picking up a notebook from a nearby table, and she groaned with annoyance.

My diary, she thought. I’m so fucking stupid.

The monkey at her side comedically shook its head, while Derrick, the man who had been healed in her basement, walked up to her and leaned forward.

"Maybe I should ask questions first," he stated, and chuckled.

And sure enough, she expected that one specific question.

"Where is Shihon?"