As Natsumi followed into the alley, she quickly found herself all alone. Though the two figures had a head start, she was sure that they could not have escaped already. Especially since the alley seemed to be a dead end. But it seemed there was a door surrounded by crates in such a way that one would have to climb over them to enter through. With no other way to go, she chose to climb over the crates and entered through the unlocked door. Since she was technically part of the Absolute Empire, and these people seemed to be some sort of fugitives of the law, she should be permitted to enter under the premise that they could be hiding here. A reasoning she would hate to use, but would probably have to if she was found by an uninvolved party. Closing the door behind her, she now was in a wooden storage chamber, which explained the crates outside, since this place was overflowing with crates of unknown contents. Making sure to be quiet, she lit a small flame on her finger tip to illuminate and navigate through the dark path through the stacked crates without breaking anything. She quickly noticed that it was like a maze, though not really since there was only one path to folllow. She made the comparison due to how many turns she had to make, and her general maze strategy was to always makw a turn at any opportunity to do so, meaning you should never walk a straight line. Whether that was a good strategy was a different question. Though in every maze puzzle game she ever played, Yuki beat her time.
As she continued to navigate silently, she suddenly saw another light source around the corner, and quickly extinguished her own flame.
"There, I told you I saw something!"
"Shh! Is anyone there?"
A make and female voice seemed to have noticed Natsumi's tailing, at which she quickly flew up the crates, there being barely enough space to lie down between the top of the crate and the ceiling, which was easily achieved by levitating your body horizontally. Just in time as well, before the two people came around the corner and found it empty thanks to Natsumi's quick acting.
"Doesn't look like anyone followed us… You just got hit one too many times by that guard, dumbass."
"I just saw another light around the corner, I swear!"
"Candle light tends to flicker, its kinda what fire does."
"I guess…"
As Natsumi watched over the edge of the crate, a mouse ran up to her, curiously inspecting her in this unusual spot. Overwhelmed by its cuteness, she opened her palm for it to hop on so she could get a closer look at the adorable creature. Animals did tend to trust her, so it was no surprise when it jumped on her hand and smelled her curiously. Unfortunately, it squeaked, and in doing so, made the two people beneath her look up and spot her head sticking out from over the corner. Which made the boy let out a short scream. Anyone would be taken aback by seeing someone hide so close to yourself in a dark place like this one.
"What the hell!? Clara, look out!"
The woman apparently named Clara on the other hand was a lot calmer, and most likely the one who pulled him out of the crowd earlier.
"Hey, we can see you, y'know."
"!"
Natsumi quickly ducked her head back, in hopes that they meant someone else. She also made a surprised noise while backing away, adding to her flaws as spy. Obviously, there was no one else either.
"We meant you, snowflake. Come out, we won't harm you, promised."
"Who said anything about harm! Are you criminals, by chance!? If so, I might harm you!"
Natsumi yelled back at them in a high pitched voice, still hiding behind the edge of the crates.
"If you can hurt us, why are you hiding up there?"
"Because I'm really nice and like to avoid violence if possible!"
"Yeah, right… Listen, you sound harmless, so how about you just forget you met us and maybe don't come here again? Whatever you were or are doing here in the first place…"
"No way! Not until I made sure you aren't up to anything dubious!"
"If you're homeless, I'm sure we can find another place for you."
"I'm not homeless!"
"You seem homeless. It's alright, y'know? I get it, this place is warm, protected from rain and all. Really, it's not all that bad."
"I don't wanna live here, okay!?"
Suddenly, her arm was grabbed and she was pulled down along with her mouse. It seemed the woman had just been distracting her for the boy to climb up and get her down. She fell down onto the ground, and a crate almost came down with her, but the woman named Clara held it in place.
"Ouch… You brutes! Now you reveal your true colors!? And I trusted you!"
"Wow… So pretty…"
"What…?"
"N-nothing! And since when did you trust us!?"
"I could have prevented your escape, but I didn't since I thought you might be innocent! But now you attack me and plan to do what not to me!"
Clara pulled the boy back and behind herself before taking over the conversation again.
"Easy, snowflake. We don't owe you anything for your trust, and I doubt a scrawny little thing like you could have stopped us in the first place."
"That's right! The best you could do is throw yourself in the way maybe!"
Natsumi stood up, having protected the mouse during her fall and still holding it in her palm, so it now looked around confused as she pointed her other finger at them accusatory.
"You! I could do much more than just throw myself in the way! It is the duty of all to protect those in danger with the best of their ability! And you guys seem super sketchy and dubious, so I will resolve this situation by myself if I have to! And stop calling me snowflake!!"
"Okay. How about we all calm down and figure this out together?"
"That's my line!"
"I am calm."
"I am also—…"
Natsumi stopped herself and took a deep breath, after which she put down the mouse, giving her a piece of bread which she still had left from the children in Yukimato earlier that day, before giving her a nudge and sending her off.
"Okay. I might have gotten a bit carried away. Now I am calm. But my position has not changed one bit. First, explain to me what happened with that guard earlier. Why was the guy over there pinned down?"
"That's none of your— Ouch!?"
Clara had stepped on his foot, seemingly expecting him to respond with an actual answer.
"…I bumped into him and things got heated."
"That's horrible! No simple collision should result in such aggression!"
"Duh. Didn't seem like he cared though."
"But you should look closer where you are going. The streets weren't crowded, until you caused that scene, so there should have been plenty of room to walk without bumping into each other. Of course, his reaction was completely unacceptable regardless, yes! I will have to speak with his superiors about this."
They looked her up and down, her clothes made out of rather run down leather and fabric, now dirty as well thanks to the top of the crates which naturally were under no cleaning maintenance.
"You? I don't think they take complaints from commoners… Or homeless people."
"I have a home and it's probably bigger than yours! Not that having a small home is bad, but you shouldn't judge a book by its cover! And why wouldn't they take my complaints?"
"Are you new here, snowflake? I feel like I would have remembered seeing a personality like yours here."
"Why, yes I am! I'm a… Uh… Performer! Yes, I perfom everywhere! Which is why I travel! To places. Like this one!"
"And what do you perform exactly?"
"Uh… Kindness and favors!"
"…So a prostitude?"
"N-no!? What gave you that impression!? Selling your body is a sin! And I pray for everyone who is forced into it to find their way back onto the path of righteousness!"
"…So you're a member of that group, huh?"
"What group?"
"The Absolute Church. You're one of those cultists, aren't you?"
"You both are not?"
"Hell no. I don't believe in a god. And if there was one, it sure as hell wouldn't be a nineteen year old self proclaimed emperor that happens to have had strategic success recently."
"My words.", the boy said.
"That's… Wonderful! I mean, that first part wasn't but everything after that was spot on! Yamato totally isn't god, and that whole Absolute Chruch stuff is complete nonsense, isn't it?"
"Whoa, hold on, you just sounded pretty religious. You can't just switch up like that."
"I am! But I believe in the actual God, and not Yamato."
"…Close enough I guess. Back to your question, all ways to hand in formal complaints go over the Absolute Church."
"So? Even as a non-believer, you could still interact with them, or not?"
"I don't trust people that belief in a magical almighty power with no origin or explanation. In the old texts, before the Absolute Church, it is written that the Goddess was all there was, and all there will ever be. Thus, the universe was created through her separating part of her being, to allow self sustaining matter to exist. Now I hear some guy is supposed to be God? And he has like, what three angels beneath him? Ever heard of a more made up story? So everyone who is a member of the Absolute Church must be either too crazy or too stupid to be trusted."
"Is that what you think too?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Just making sure…"
"Three angels… That'd be Yuki, Amael and myself… Urgh, I don't wanna be on that list. And I don't want Yuki and Amael on it either!"
"So, now you now quite a bit about us. But we don't know what you were doing here."
"I was following you two suspicious people because you might be in danger and or are a danger to others!"
"And you were going to do what in either case?"
"That would depend on the case. I might have turned you in to the authorities. Or I might have helped you evade them."
"Which will you do then?"
"Hm… From what you've told me, it's pretty clear you are the victims… But… You shouldn't be hiding down here. Let's go have this handled the proper way, and I'm sure all things will be dealt with!"
"Yeah, no, I don't thinks so."
"Oh… Well, in that case, I will have to come along and supervise you! Until the next injustice happens to you so I can prevent it!"
"You can't just—", the boy tried to throw in but was cut off by Clara.
"Sure, why not. Please come along and take care of our safety. Could you just wait here for a bit, because we left something back there that we need to get."
"Sure, I can wait! Be safe on your way back!"
"Yeah, thank you. You be safe waiting here too."
As they left, Natsumi remained proud about how this situation turned out. Finding it proof that non-violent ways could always be used even in situations of uncertainty. She remained proud for the next hour she waited. The second she became worried, and the following six, she wondered if she might have been tricked.