''Easy!'' Hessu said with excitement and picked up a couple of bills from the desk and stuffed them inside his wallet with a smug grin.
''Tsk.'' Antti and Antero clicked their tongues in unison and threw their cards away.
While they were playing, Patti and Ichiro had a discussion about Gensa.
''Did you hear that Irio is about to have a statue after you?'' Patti asked, and after seeing Ichiro's confused face, he received his answer.
''Why?'' Ichiro frowned and didn't remember doing anything to receive such honor.
''Well, it is common knowledge that you have reached Martial Commander at the age of 16, and that is currently highest rank in Irio.'' Patti said and then remembered about his feats, ''Also, you managed to get into National TV, which brought a lot of honor to Irio.''
''Oh.'' Ichiro rubbed his well-defined chin, and he never received such honor in his previous life, but apparently, after he died, he got his name printed on history books, which was another kind of honor.
''Are you planning to visit Irio any time soon?'' Patti asked and could only imagine the chaos that it would cause.
Ichiro shrugged, ''Maybe with Azura, but after High School, I guess.''
Patti nodded and tapped the desk. He was currently an ordinary P.E teacher in his school and wasn't even classified to be their team's coach, but his students and his co-workers heard about him being recruited to be the coach!
They all threw him a farewell party, and most of them thought of him as some kind of hidden master who was hiding in blind sight, and his principal already promised him a promotion if they managed to win.
He had heavy pressure on him, and he kept thinking hundreds of times why was he chosen.
He still doesn't know the reason, but they won, and he was currently having a discussion with a legend.
The name of Kurogami Ichiro was a common occurrence in their school. He kept hearing it multiple times during the day and how everyone aspired to be him.
He didn't have a deep impression of Ichiro at first, but after seeing his fight at the Battle of Cities, he knew that his reputation wasn't overestimated, instead underestimated!
Rarely anyone from Gensa enters a Professional Stage, but now they have very high expectations of Ichiro entering, maybe even winning!
If his students heard about him talking with the legendary Ichiro, he wondered what kind of looks would they have.
''Where are you from?'' Ichiro asked suddenly.
Patti flinched out of surprise but tried to reply as calmly as he could, ''From a small town called Kuja.''
''Mmm...'' Ichiro nodded and thought that it must be very small because he had never heard of it.
Patti checked the clock on his phone and said, ''I guess it's time to go sleep. Tomorrow the plane will leave early.''
Hessu, Antti, and Antero stopped joking around and went to do their nightly routines.
Ichiro stayed on the chair and looked at the gas lamp in front of him, which was the only light available for him. There weren't lightbulbs or anything like that, instead simple gas lamp.
A small spark of flame was seen flickering. It was in the color of yellow, and it reminded Ichiro of his young self in this world.
When they were visiting their grandparents, they were quite old-fashioned and didn't have lightbulbs or anything new technology, instead old gas lamps and candles.
He liked to play around with similar gas lamps and used to watch the flame flickering for hours with no end.
It has been said to have a calming effect, and Ichiro was supportive of that theory.
He heard the sound of four individuals lying down on the hard beds, and the only thing which stopped them from sleeping was the gas lamp.
But, Ichiro knew that their respect towards him would stop them from asking to close the lamp.
''Light off...'' Slowly, the fire started dying down, and the previous dimly lit room became pitch dark.
...
Next morning.
Ichiro and the rest were sitting on the terminal, waiting for their plane to arrive.
They were quite eye-catchy; some looks they received were friendly, some hostile, and some confusion.
The plane they were taking will first go to Summerlight's airport, where they will separate and go on their own ways.
Patti already had enough spare money and lent Ichiro enough to buy his own ticket to Coldland.
''It's here!'' Patti pointed at the available flights, which showed that the flight to Summerlight had arrived.
They stood up and started walking towards the gate.
Ichiro took a few glimpses behind and saw a few men with black suits following behind them stealthily, but they didn't have any intention to harm them.
He started ignoring them after they didn't show any intention of harm. Soon, they reached the gates, and they gave their tickets, which allowed them to enter the corridor which leads to the plane.
A flight attendant was waiting for them with a professional smile.
''Welcome to Flight 447. I hope you enjoy.'' She gave a small bow, which made her long black hair flutter gently.
Patti slightly blushed after seeing the beautiful woman and did a quick nod before walking past her.
Hessu, Antti, and Antero followed behind while all of them gave small nods towards the flight attendant.
Ichiro was the last one and gave a similar nod, but was soon stopped by the flight attendant.
''Excuse me, are you Kurogami Ichiro?!'' She asked in a hurry and scanned his face. She remembered his face from TV and a shock appeared on her beautiful face.
''Yes?'' Ichiro frowned.
''Son-in-law of Nightside family?'' She wanted to make sure.
''Yes.'' Ichiro became more serious after that title appeared.
Patti, Hessu, Antti, and Antero sighed and left because they thought the flight attendant wanted an autograph.
''Government made an announcement for every flight company that if we saw you, we need to inform them instantly!'' She said in a hurry and was about to grab a phone from the wall, but was stopped by Ichiro's hand.
She looked confused and looked at Ichiro's serious face.
''Maybe... It would be wise to wait till we have landed.'' Ichiro said seriously and had a bad hunch of the Government's intentions.
'Why do they need to inform... They should be able to find out if I have appeared on Arya almost instantly, but what if...' He had a face of realization and grimaced, 'They want to eliminate me by shooting the plane down?'
It was only a guess, and he had no idea was it true or not, but this smelled fishy.
''O-Oh, okay, but for one condition!'' She went through her pockets and took a paper and pen before smiling innocently.
Ichiro wryly smiled and gave his autography, which earned a thrilled squeal from her.
Soon, he managed to enter the plane, with heavy thoughts surrounding his mind.
