Drop Off

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The tear opened wider, revealing bright lights of various color, like looking through the glass of a kaleidoscope, and streaks of shadows began their descent.

Then, the tear closed, almost as soon as the shadows were dropped, shrinking faster than he could blink before disappearing at once.

Unfortunately, the owners of those shadows didn't expect that their landing spot would be the tranquil body of cold, ocean water.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

The familiar screams of certain individuals pierced through the peaceful and previously silent night sky as they realized their immediate predicament.

It was like watching a train wreck that Hadrian cannot take his eyes off.

*SPLASH*

One moment, it was quiet a moment after they went under water.

Then another passed, and immediately, five heads emerged from the water.

"FUAAAAAAAH! AAAAAAAAAH!"

"OHMYGOD! OHMYGOOOOD!?"

"WHY! WHY THE FUCK IS IT SO COLD!?"

"I'MMA FUCKING KILL THAT OLD MAN!"

With deadpan eyes, Hadrian watched Charles, Astolfo, Arash, Yan Qing and Kieran cried out loudly in the distance, sighing when they turned on one another as per usual.

"Well… they've arrived here safely, opa." Hadrian commented monotonously, causing the old magician on the other side to laugh out loud.

"Ahaha! They sound lively as ever!" Zelretch said mischievously.

Sighing again, Hadrian didn't need to see that the old magician was greatly amused with what he did to his servants.

Then, he blinked, realizing something odd.

"Wait a minute, I thought we agreed to send out Arash, Yan, Kieran and King Hassan here. Why do I see Charles and Astolfo there with the other three, except for King Hassan?" Hadrian asked, squinting his eyes as he zoomed in on the retainers with the automaton granting him hawk-eye like vision with additional statistics.

"Hmm, I see." Zelretch hummed. "So that's why it felt a bit heftier to bring them over there. I thought something was amiss. Those two knights of yours must have sneaked into the portal I made for the four."

"Will their presence here be a problem?" Hadrian asked, sweat-dropping as he watched Yan, Kieran and Astolfo try to drown each other out of annoyance.

"Their numbers is stretching the limits of the mission, but I don't see a problem. As long they behaved themselves and follow your commands faithfully, I'm sure it'll be fine." Zelretch answered. "Oh, as for your assassin, he's there. I'm sure of it."

"Where –" Hadrian was about to say, but cut himself off when he noticed a dark silhouette standing in the air fifty feet above where his five retainers were arguing with one another. "Never mind, I see him."

"Then, that'll be all, enkel. I'll be expecting an update from you next time we speak."

"Sure, good night, opa. And please give my regards to mama and the others for me as well." Hadrian smiled.

"Will do. Goodnight, enkel."

With that said, the line ended and Hadrian breathed a quiet sigh as he put the PT away from his ear.

Just as he pocketed the mystic code, the gentle fluttering of cloth caused Hadrian to turn his gaze upwards, just in time to see the hulking figure of King Hassan descending in front of him.

"Ah, good evening, King Hassan." Hadrian greeted the servant with a smile.

"Hm." The powerful assassin class servant hummed, nodding to him in return.

Knowing that was all he was going to get from the man, Hadrian turned his gaze to the ocean… where his retainers seemed busy trying to swim for the shore whilst squawking at each other.

"Pinky! Use your spear and get us the hell outta here!" Kieran ordered.

"I can't do that! It's too cold!" Astolfo whined.

"Fuck that! I just saw some sharks over there! Use it, damn it!" Yan pitched in.

"Don't wanna! I'll hurt the fishies if I do that!" Astolfo retorted, looking cold, nervous but adamant.

"Yeah! It'll be animal abuse if we do that!" Charles agreed, though he also looked nervous by the thought of sharks being nearby.

"FUCK ANIMAL ABUSE! WE'RE ABOUT TO BE EATEN!" Kieran exploded, pointing to the suspicious dark gray fins peeking out of the water every once in a while behind them.

His words made the four in the water with him into a panic, causing them to move as they swam as if their lives were on the line.

Although, somehow, Astolfo managed to caught sight of Hadrian standing on the veranda, which was kind of impressive since it was a difficult angle to accomplish from the former's position.

The pink-haired knight had even gone as far as to stop for a moment, smiling widely and waving a hand to him.

"OOOOOOIIIIIIIIIIIII! IT'S MASTER! LOOK! MASTER'S OVER THERE!"

"WHAT?! WHERE!"

When the four saw where Astolfo was pointing at, they all moved again.

"BOOSSS! HEEEEELP!"

"MASTER! PLEASE HELP!"

"BOSS! QUICK! USE YOUR FLYING SHIP! IT'LL BE FASTER THAT WAY!"

Hearing their pleas, Hadrian closed his eyes and exhaled.

He opened his eyes, just in time to see new two people into the scene.

"What in Merlin's name is going on here!" He heard Nicolas exclaimed in shock.

"Dear… why do we have people swimming in our beach at this time of night?" The disbelief in Penerelle's voice was clear to notice even as the four idiots' screeching insults was louder than hers despite the distance.

And just when he was about to go into bed and rest, Hadrian would have to explain the situation to the ageless couple, which would just prolong the time for him to get back to bed uninterrupted.

For what seemed like the third time that night, the Schweinorg heir face-palmed under the stoic gaze of one King Hassan, who can only offer his quiet sympathy to the young man's situation.

"Umu..."

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