Tursed my worid upside down

"Sir, allow me to tell you - a quiet voice came from around the corner."

Jiro, who was climbing the stairs to his room at that time, stopped.

"Do you have news, Kaimi?"

"I found him."

"Follow me."

"Yes, Sir."

The fireplace burned dimly in the semi-darkness of the bedroom. The servant slave, who had just finished his evening preparations, bowed before the master and quickly slipped out the door. Jiro approached the table, sat down in his comfortable chair and turned to the search mage, who followed his master like a shadow and was already standing in front of him, looking down at the floor.

"Spill it."

"The prince, as you previously assumed, is indeed in another world and it is difficult for me to reach him. Thanks to the air mage who works at your stimulant factory, I was able to find and use the portal to send an observer there, but I'm afraid that is not enough."

"What do you suggest? How can I catch him there?"

"You need a portal mage, which is quite a rare occurrence, or, if you allow me, transfer the boy from the factory under my command. I will help him replenish his strength and then we will be able to freely use the portal that already exists."

"Where is this portal located?"

"On the outskirts of a village located about twenty kilometers from here."

"Not a short way."

"Yes, but for now it's the only option."

"Okay, I'll try to buy a portal slave, and you take care of the boy. In any case, if he has enough strength to open the existing portal, then maybe something worthwhile will come out of him. How did he even get to the factory?"

"I don't know, but by all accounts he shouldn't be there."

"You're free for today. And tell the advisor that I want to see him immediately."

"Yes, sir," the searcher bowed, and quickly and quietly slipped out the door.

"How did you end up so far away?" Jiro said out loud. "I don't have time to play cat and mouse. Time is running out."

***

Klaus sat in a crowded stadium and pretended to be very interested in watching tall and skinny men throw a ball over the net. To his left sat Alexander and commented on the game, explaining the rules to the prince and naming the players, admiring their serves.

"Seriously? You've never seen how to play volleyball?" he was surprised when Klaus admitted this, "What planet are you from? By the way, I was never able to find out. Where are you from?"

"It's a small country and everyone there is quite far from modern civilization," the guy tried to brush it off, but from the look of his interlocutor he understood that the conversation was not over, but was simply postponed indefinitely.

Sasha's daughter, Tanya, apparently didn't like the game either, and the fact that her father sat between her and a cute guy didn't improve her mood. She threw displeased glances at her father and texted someone the whole time, not paying attention to the field.

The fleeting touches, constant chatter and ambiguous hints that Alexander threw at Klaus for the entire forty minutes they spent on uncomfortable plastic chairs were throwing the guy off track. He counted the seconds to get up faster and increase the distance between his body and the man's hands.

When the game was over, Sasha suggested having a bite to eat together, which his daughter enthusiastically accepted. Klaus agreed only because today's event was paid for by Klara, as an escort, and the young man was obliged to entertain the client. He dropped his work mask, but still tried not to show his true attitude to what was happening. The young man tried to answer Tanya's endless questions politely but distantly. "Where did you meet my father? Why did you decide to go into this particular industry? Are you really from a dysfunctional family? For some reason, all of dad's previous charges were more like nerds from comedy series, you are the first attractive specimen. Do you have a girlfriend? How do you spend your weekends?"

Even her father couldn't stop this endless stream. He clearly didn't like his daughter's increased interest in Klaus, but he steadfastly endured and, as compensation, periodically groped the young man in all available places under the table.

"Alexander Viktorovich, I am grateful to you for such an interesting evening, Tatyana, it was nice to meet you," Klaus smiled his theatrical smile out of habit, which made the girl's cheeks flush.

Before Klaus arrived at the stadium, Clara gave him instructions that his role as the client's assistant, his protégé, and in public the prince should address him in a respectful manner.

"It was nice to meet you too," the girl smiled back. "Listen, Klaus. Father has a tradition of inviting all his assistants to dinner once a week. How would you like to come to us this Wednesday? Dad?" she turned to her father, who had lost his vigilance for just a second, and annoyance flashed across his face.

"Of course! I wanted to offer that too," he pulled himself together and smiled.

Klaus only opened his mouth to refuse, citing the fact that he needed to learn a lot of material, supposedly for a test.

"Klaus, I will not tolerate refusal," he looked meaningfully into the prince's eyes.

"I would be happy to have dinner with your family," the guy smiled and felt as if he had just entered a cage from which he would not be able to escape.

He walked through the empty parking lot. He did not want to go by metro, and he decided not to bother himself with calling a taxi. At the beginning of the already closing fair, there would certainly be a considerable crowd of taxi drivers who were ready to take you anywhere without turning on the meter.

Before entering the stadium and going through the metal detectors, Klaus discreetly threw his brand new tranquilizer into the nearest and, in his opinion, reliable bush. He did not want to leave the house without any weapons, but hiding knives would be problematic. At least, that was what the young man, upset by Clara's call, thought.

He said goodbye to the Prokhorov family in the parking lot and, almost leaving it, remembered his stash, cursed and went back. At first glance, the place that seemed like an excellent hiding place did Klaus a "disservice". How could he not notice such an important, and most importantly, immediately noticeable fact? Next to the entrance to the stadium, along the entire alley paved with stone tiles, dozens of bushes with still very young foliage and a dense interweaving of branches grew. Finding a small black pistol was not an easy task.

And so, under the puzzled glances of the rare passers-by who, for some unknown reason, lingered near the empty stadium, the young man, having taken off his baseball cap, checked each bush, illuminating the search area with the flashlight of his phone. Klaus did not count how much time he spent searching, and finally he saw a small and barely distinguishable object in the shadow of the thorny branches of a bush. At that moment, a meaningful cough was heard behind him.

"Young man, the area is closed."

Klaus hooked his find with his fingers and slowly pulled it towards himself, but did not take it out completely.

"Excuse me," he turned around without getting up. "I dropped something very dear to me and lost track of time while I was looking for it. Give me a couple more minutes."

The guard looked at him suspiciously, put his hand on the impressive baton that was fastened to his belt.

"Not allowed."

"Okay, okay. I'll leave now." He deftly pulled out a pistol, stood up abruptly and put his hands in his pockets, thereby preventing the guard from seeing the weapon, and, therefore, from using the baton and the shocker that was sticking out of the top pocket of his blue shirt.

Klaus slowly moved towards the parking lot, where only a few cars remained in an area with a sign above it in large letters: STAFF ONLY. He glanced quickly at the lonely cars and saw a dark figure leaning over the door of a car, and something moving near the back wheels. The young man stopped. His instincts told him, "Something is wrong here. I need to check it out."

The prince turned towards the unknown. Slowly and as quietly as possible, he moved towards him. He had already begun to discern the outline of a short dark-skinned man, when a piercing cry broke the silence, and from somewhere above a feathered creature flew at him, blocking his view with its wings, and grabbed his shoulder with its claws. Klaus unhooked the bird from himself, pretty much crushing its wings, but it was too late. The noise attracted the man's attention and he, grabbing the crowbar with both hands, which he had been trying to break into the car with, took a pose, protecting the bundle from behind.

Klaus took a few slow steps forward, but the stranger only tightened his grip on the "weapon", bared his teeth, but did not move. Then the young man put one hand in his pocket and moved forward faster. He glanced behind the hijacker and saw a shock of light hair. It was a man. His hands and feet were tied behind his back, and his mouth was taped. Clear eyes looked at Klaus with fear and a bit of relief.

"What are you even doing here!" Klaus shouted at the bundle, and in response received only an inarticulate moo.

"Don't come any closer," the kidnapper spoke up. "I'll kill you!"

"Hey, man, calm down. You tied up my friend and are trying to take him away in a stolen car. Do you think I can just throw up my hands and walk away?"

"I'll kill you!" a glassy look, rapid breathing.

"Possessed" Klaus understood and, without thinking, took a small "Volt" out of his pocket and fired, hitting the kidnapper in the shoulder. He wanted to shoot again, but remembered the warning of the thug from the armory and changed his mind. The stranger looked at his shoulder, grabbed the dart, but did not have time to pull it out, falling to the ground.

Klaus ran up to Egor, who was lying all red from the tension, and tore off the tape with one sharp movement.

"Ow, damn! That hurts!"

"What are you doing here?"

"Maybe you should untie me first?"

Klaus looked around, trying to find at least something sharp, but except for the iron rod that fell from the hands of the possessed, there was nothing around. He reached into his pocket and took out a lighter.

"Are you crazy! Are you going to roast me alive?" Egor tried to move away from him.

"Lie still."

"Wait, wait, maybe you should look for something else?"

"Hey, who's there? The area is closed to visitors," the guard's voice, already familiar to the prince, was heard in the distance.

"We don't have time," Klaus threw to Egor and brought the lighter to the knot between his wrists and legs.

The guard's footsteps were already audible from behind the car, where Klaus was trying to free his friend, but the light went out from the light breeze, and the bonds only melted a little. He realized that at this rate they would not have time to untie Egor. He reached for his gun, remembered that he had no spare darts with him. He cursed, picked up the indignant Egor in his arms, threw him over his shoulder and ran.

The guard rushed after them, shouting warnings, but Klaus did not care much about his cries. He was thinking about how to hide faster. They crossed the parking lot, ran out onto deserted alleys. The sound of a siren. The police. The space was open, there was nowhere to run except for the underground passage, but this was not a way out either. If the police surrounded him, the guy would not escape.

"Klaus, maybe we shouldn't run away. Let's explain the whole situation."

"Do you think they'll believe us?"

"Not right away, but everything will become clear when they find out that we're half-brothers and live under the same roof."

"And have you thought about the possessed one? Actually, I tranquilized him, I don't think such toys are allowed here at every step. I'll have problems no matter what. I'm not used to giving up while there's even the slightest chance to win."

Two cars stopped near the road. Klaus was standing in full view. Without thinking twice, he gathered all his remaining strength (running with a man on his shoulder was not as easy as he thought, and the lack of proper training over the past few years had seriously damaged his endurance) and rushed towards the nearest houses, where the signs of closed shops, restaurants, and 24-hour bars were burning.

The police saw their target and rushed after them. Two of them. The remaining two tried to reason with Klaus using a megaphone. All that was left was to cross the road and they would have a chance to hide in the courtyards, so, not paying attention to the numerous cars that were honking, and the drivers were calling out very unflattering words, he, stumbling and sweating, ran forward.

The policemen didn't lag behind, and Egor thought in a panic that it was all over. He saw how hard it was for Klaus, heard his quickened breathing, but was amazed at the concentration and speed with which he continued to escape. Now they were already at the corner of the first house, where all the lower floors were reserved for shops, and a couple was walking towards them and chatting pleasantly about something, but seeing a tall guy with a tied-up man on his shoulder, they ran away screaming, each trying to save his own skin, not thinking about the safety of his partner.

Klaus turned into the first arch, which led to a courtyard where the building facades were less attractive, and the time-worn asphalt in the dark courtyard almost caused broken heads or, at least, scraped knees of the young men. But Klaus kept his balance, swaying dangerously and grabbing Egor under the bend of his knees so that he would not fall.

It was a drafty courtyard, and as soon as the more agile of their pursuers appeared in the arch, the young men disappeared on the other side, where the only light was a single flickering lantern. This darkness saved them. They hid behind a small square building, which was responsible for either electricity or heating for the nearby houses. They sat quietly and tried to catch their breath until the disgruntled voices of the policemen moved away to such a distance that they could no longer be heard.

What saved them? A lucky coincidence? An untimely inspection by the city lighting service? Or maybe the lax attitude of the young police officers to their work, who did not even bother to go more than ten steps from the second arch to find, as they believed, the criminals, or rather the kidnapper and his victim. Yegor considered this pure luck, which Klaus was known for, although he would never admit it.

Later, when they were sitting in the kitchen, dirty and tired, retelling the events of the day to Pouoka, Egor remembered the man they had left in the parking lot.

"What will happen to him now?" he asked Klaus, but his grandmother answered.

"He is possessed, as soon as he comes to his senses, he will start looking for you."

"What if he is arrested?"

"Let's hope that doesn't happen. Be on your guard and always carry this with you - she handed him a pearly white ball.}

While Klaus was in the shower, Egor rubbed the blue stripes from the rope on his wrists and thanked fate that Klaus was in the right place at the right time. When the young man was watching the prince, he was forced to leave his occupation after the black-haired guy entered the stadium territory accompanied by an unfamiliar man and a girl of about sixteen or seventeen years old.

He understood that Klaus would not appear for at least thirty minutes, but he was afraid of losing the guy, so he remained standing in place, watching the large crowd. At this time, a short dark-skinned man with excessively broad shoulders and no waist, which made his upper body look like a square, approached him.

"Young man, could you lend me your phone? I lost my friend, and my phone, as luck would have it, is dead," as if to prove his words, he took the phone out of his pocket and showed a dark screen.

"Yes, of course," Egor handed him his mobile, considering the man a law-abiding citizen.

"Can we move a little? There are so many people here, I'm afraid we will interfere with traffic."

Egor followed the stranger towards the parking lot without a second thought, but as soon as they reached the tall SUV, the man grabbed his arm, stabbing him in the back with something not particularly sharp, but still making Egor freeze.

"Not a sound! If you try to scream, I'll run you through."

Egor turned pale and, stuttering, tried to say that the wallet was in his pocket, and the man could take it, he wouldn't report it to the police.

"Catch him alive!" the man answered in a crazy voice "Bring him. Catch him alive!"

Egor's head was spinning. The fair-haired guy realized that the man was possessed and this time Egor was lucky. They wouldn't kill him. "Klaus, where are you?" flashed through his head the first thought "Help me" and he lost consciousness, either because the man squeezed his carotid artery, or because of fear, the young man didn't remember. He woke up in the dark near another car, tied up, with his mouth taped, and the man was trying to break into the car with a crowbar.

And again Klaus saved him, although Egor swore to himself that he would not cause the prince any more trouble and would handle everything himself, but.... When they were sitting behind the outbuilding in the dark yard, barely breathing, Klaus from fatigue and Egor from relief, the prince did not lose his composure there either. He found a bayonet sticking out of the iron door and literally sawed through the prisoner's bonds with it.

Klaus also took care of their safe return home, while Egor was recovering from the kidnapping and pursuit, following the prince like a duckling follows his mother.