Unheroic Life of a Certain Cape

175 Safehouse [Keegan]

I had seen many strange things in my life, but nothing prepared me for this world. We stood before a two-story structure nestled between other homes, all uniform and eerily quiet. Lord Eclipse looked it over with an approving nod.

“A good place,” said Eclipse. “Two stories, hidden in the suburbs. Minimal security presence. Quiet.”

Suburbs? I repeated the unfamiliar word in my head. I had no idea what it meant. Probably some kind of district for nobles or merchants. Everything in his world looked like it belonged to wealthy people anyway.

When we stepped inside, I froze again.

The place was huge. Not castle-huge, but clean, square, and bright in a way I didn’t understand. Strange lamps glowed without fire. The floors were smooth. And the air smelled faintly of old wood and dust.

I had a lot to say about this new world, but none of it would have made sense even if I tried.

It wasn’t long ago that I was fighting for my life in the arena. I’d earned my freedom with blood and bone, but even then, I didn’t know what to do with myself.

When the Seer asked me what I wanted, I told him the truth: All I ever wished for was a life of real fighting against the strongest opponents possible. Even if I were freed, I planned to petition the arena master to continue participating. If not that, I would join a mercenary band or swear myself to a warmonger noble who would give me battles worth dying for.

But the Seer had smiled and told me there was a world beyond ours where warriors were like gods, where men could fly and tear mountains apart with their thoughts.

That was how I ended up under the enigmatic warrior from another world, Eclipse.

I had heard the stories. How he fought Prince Grant. How he stopped the prince’s schemes to destroy the primary houses of Almer. How he fought as if death was merely an inconvenience.

It had filled me with excitement.

And then we arrived in this world.

A quiet street. Metal carriages. Strange boxes of light. No enemies. No battles.

Disappointing, to say the least. ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by novel⦿fire.net

Amelia, the woman with the bow, clapped her hands once, startling me.

“Alright, everyone,” she said. “This place is dusty. We clean it before anything else.”

Dusty? Really? This was dusty to her? This place seemed plenty good enough, reminded me of rich merchants’ small villas. I dropped the sack of magic weapons into the corner, letting it thump loudly against the floor. The others looked annoyed, so I nudged it closer to the wall.

I glanced at Abner, thinking he would complain first, but he simply huffed and pushed his suitcase to the corner. Then he took a long stick with feathers on the end, and immediately began sweeping cobwebs away like he’d done this his whole life.

I sighed. Of course the knight adapted instantly. His future-seeing ability probably helped.

Diane and Jacob also began helping without complaint, moving furniture and holding open doors.

I turned to Amelia. “Should I be calling you Amelia or Tigress?”

She looked amused. “Amelia, when I’m not fighting. Same for Eclipse. Call him Nick when he’s not wearing the mask.”

“I understand.”

“Good. Now help me move this sofa—uh… that big thing with cushions. We need space.”

I braced myself and lifted it easily with her guiding its direction. The thing felt like stuffed leather and weighed nothing compared to the shields and iron gates I’d once carried.

Nick entered the room again, except now he wore the porcelain mask over his face. “I’ll be out for a bit,” he told Amelia. “Educate them about the world. Don’t let them wander.”

Amelia sighed. “You know this is going to be a nightmare, right?”

He shrugged. “Do your best.”

Then he vanished through the door, leaving me utterly bewildered. It was the first time I saw his gift. It was rather bizarre and something I haven’t seen before even with my long time of fighting in the arena against all manner of powers.

There were countless strange objects scattered through the house, each one small, bright, or too smooth to belong to any place I understood. I didn’t know what half of them were supposed to do, so I ignored them before I broke something. Everything here felt delicate and foreign. Even the smell of the place was different. A world without war was interesting, but it also made my hands itch, as if they were searching for something to crush.

Where was the fight I was promised for? Did the Seer deceive me?

Amelia clapped her hands to get our attention. “Alright, listen. I’ll be upstairs for a while. Once you’re done cleaning, call me.”

I frowned but kept it to myself. She wasn’t my commander, yet she spoke like one. Still, she was Eclipse’s woman, and I wasn’t foolish enough to challenge that.

She started up the stairs, then paused halfway. “Oh, and I ordered several boxes of pizza. When they arrive, yell for me.”

Abner nodded solemnly. “Understood.”

I muttered under my breath, “What even is a pizza?”

Abner shrugged as if it was the most normal word in the world. Diane snickered. Jacob only blinked.

We got to work, following Abner’s example and occasional instruction. He seemed to know what he was doing. Whatever. As long as we got rid of the dust, it should be fine, right? It wasn’t like we were here as maids and servants.

I asked plainly, curious about something. “Jacob, you were with Eclipse in the attempted coup, right? How strong did he look to you?”

Jacob scratched the back of his neck. “Honestly? I don’t know. I was unconscious for most of it.”

Diane rolled her eyes. “He’s strong. Very strong. He fought Prince Grant while being swarmed by footsoldiers. I’ve never seen something like that.” She jabbed a finger at me. “And Amelia isn’t weak either. Her arrows cut through soldiers like nothing. And her beast form? Terrifying.”

I glanced toward the stairs. “So she wasn’t only bossy.”

Abner smirked. “Amelia is one of the most capable fighters I’ve met. Eclipse is even more so.” His eyes glowed faintly blue as he dusted the walls. “And he will likely be far stronger in this world.”

Jacob looked confused. “Why?”

Abner replied, “Our world limits us. A cap. Here, even my precognition feels sharper. I’m seeing things I shouldn’t see.”

I squeezed my fist, and strength pulsed up my arm like a warm river. “So it’s not just you,” I said. “I feel stronger too.”

Diane smirked. “Maybe you’ll finally get that divine battle you wanted.”

I grinned back. “I hope so.”

My relationship with the others were pretty good, since I got to know more about them during the banquet. We finished cleaning about an hour later. The place looked more like a home and less like an abandoned shrine to strange objects. That was when someone pounded on the door and shouted.

“Pizza delivery!”

All of us froze. Jacob raised a chair like a weapon. Diane grabbed her spear and removed its cloth. I moved toward the sack of weapons.

“Hold it,” Abner said as he called up the stairs. “Amelia! The food thing you mentioned is here!”

She rushed down, completely calm. “Relax. It’s normal.” She opened the door and handed the stranger some thin pieces of colorful paper. Then she lifted several warm boxes stacked in her arms. A rich smell flooded the room, and I swallowed hard before my stomach betrayed me.

Abner hurried to clear a space on the table. Amelia set the boxes down and tapped one.

“Alright,” she said with a grin. “Let’s eat. After that, I’ll explain a few things about this world.”

Amelia gathered all of us in the living room after we finished cleaning. She held up a small black box that fit neatly in her hand. “This,” she said, raising it between her fingers, “is called a remote.”

I leaned forward, squinting at the odd little thing. It had many tiny bumps arranged in rows, each with strange symbols.

Amelia pointed at the biggest one. “When I press this red button, it turns on the TV.”

She pressed it, and the large black square attached to the wall suddenly lit up, showing a man inside talking about a violent clash between local gangs and villains. The man seemed trapped inside the black frame.

Diane gasped, pointing at it. “There are people inside the box?”

I felt the same confusion, but what stirred inside me was eagerness. The fight looked intense. I wanted to be there, throwing punches, and proving myself.

Amelia shook her head. “No, it’s not a real person trapped in a box. This is a TV, an appliance. It plays recordings and broadcasts from other places.” She held up the remote again. “This controls the TV from a distance.”

She pressed another button, and the scene changed to… moving drawings. Strange creatures ran around, screaming in bright colors.

“This is called a cartoon,” she explained. “It’s a fictional story made using moving images.”

Jacob didn’t seem to care. He had already devoured one entire box of pizza and was tearing into a second. His appetite was horrifying to watch. “This food is amazing,” he muttered between bites, cheese sticking to his lips.

I grabbed my own box and took a bite. The warm bread, melted cheese, and savory meat made something in my chest tremble. “By the gods,” I whispered. “What kind of magic is this?”

Diane ate politely at first, then sped up. She tried to hide it, but it was clear she enjoyed it.

“Relax,” Amelia said, amused. “We have plenty.”

She changed the channel again. This time a calm narrator spoke over images of animals running in a forest. “This is a documentary channel. These shows help you learn about the world. News and information shows are even better.”

She gestured at the screen again. “TV is just one way to learn. In this world, you need to know how things work to blend in.”

As she continued talking, she explained the structure of this world’s governance, its city-states, its lack of monarchs, and the strange importance of screens and technology. She went over laws, customs, and what was expected of ordinary people.

Then she moved to the part that stirred my blood.

“In this world, gifts are called powers,” she said. “Conflicts aren’t fought with armies. They’re fought by capes, organized teams, gangs, mercenary groups, and sometimes the government itself. They don’t call warriors warriors here. They call them capes.”

The more she explained, the faster my pulse went. This world didn’t fight long grinding wars. It fought intense clashes between superpowered individuals. That meant there were many strong people here… and I could test myself against them. The thought thrilled me.

Amelia pointed at the remote again. “There are other ways to learn. You can read the news, visit the local library, or use the internet. The internet is the biggest source of information, but…” She gave us a doubtful look. “I’m not sure you’re ready for that yet. So we’ll start slow.”

Abner, who had been quietly nibbling his slice of pizza, raised his hand. “Lady Amelia,” he said, “in this world, what is the most dominant power?”

Even back home, the question of dominant powers always depended on where you stood. The western kingdoms had their ancient bloodlines, the southern empire fielded countless armored legions, and the merchant guilds pulled unseen strings with gold and influence. Every major region had its own claim to supremacy. So when Abner asked Amelia who ruled this strange world, I was curious too. If this place had warriors as strong as Seer claimed, there had to be someone at the top.

Amelia didn’t answer right away. Instead, she reached under the TV stand and pulled out a round object with a smooth, glossy surface. She connected a colorful bundle of thin cords into the back, then set the circular device on top of a small rectangular box beneath the TV.

“This,” she said as she clicked a switch, “is how you view stored data.”

The TV flickered, then brightened with cheerful music that clashed against the serious face of a silver-haired woman wearing a uniform decorated with an emblem of a globe wrapped in metal bands.

“This,” Amelia said, pointing at the screen, “is propaganda from the SRC, the Superhuman Regulation Committee.”

The video showed towering buildings, uniformed officers fighting mutant beasts, capes capturing criminals, and soldiers detaining people with glowing eyes and raging powers. A narrator explained how the SRC formed after decades of global conflict from world wars, cold wars, and disasters that were either public knowledge or hidden from the people. They claimed their purpose was simple: prevent another world-ending event.

For fifteen minutes the screen flashed with heroic rescues, captured villains, and stories of unity that felt too polished to be real. When it ended, the music faded, and the TV went dark again.

Amelia crossed her arms. “Now you know. The SRC is the largest lawful cape organization on the planet. They have branches everywhere, massive funding, and they pretty much police the entire world.”

Abner frowned. “So… they are our enemy?”

“More like our primary rival,” she answered. “We’re going to break laws just by existing here. We’ll probably interfere with the local government. We might step on the toes of corporations and some dangerous groups. But the SRC is the one we must be most careful of. If they discover us, we’re in trouble.”

Abner bowed his head thoughtfully. “Then I must ask… what is our goal coming here?”

Amelia raised an eyebrow. “Why don’t you tell me yours?”

Diane spoke first, her voice soft. “I only want a home, a comfortable one. Somewhere safe. And… I want to repay Eclipse for saving me.”

Jacob nodded beside her. “Same for me. I just want to stay with my sister. That’s all.”

I crossed my arms and gave the honest answer. “I came here for strong opponents. If this world produces warriors like what we’ve seen, I want to fight them.”

Abner sighed, rubbing his forehead. “I am here to serve my lord, Eclipse. That is my personal reason. But I speak of our collective goal. As a group.”

Amelia paused long enough for her silence to become its own answer. “You should hear that from Eclipse himself,” she said finally.

Diane tilted her head. “What about your own goal, Lady Amelia?”

“That,” Amelia replied with a small smile, “I’d rather keep to myself.”

The room went quiet after that. The only sounds came from Jacob finishing the last slice of pizza and Diane gently closing the empty boxes.

Amelia dusted off her hands. “We’ll stay here for a week. If we confirm that nobody tracked us, this safehouse becomes our base of operations.”

I looked around the room, still cluttered with strange devices and bright screens. This world was full of unfamiliar things, but behind all that, I could feel it. Power. Conflict. Possibility.

I couldn’t wait to test myself in this new world.