Magi: The Adventure to the Southeast [REMASTERED]

✩17. Who Are Ya?

Sinbad slowly woke up from his sleep. He rubbed his eyes as he stretched out his arms and legs. When his legs bumped into something, Sinbad blinked, then quickly realized he just made the pile of books in front of him shake. While suppressing a panicked shriek, he managed to immediately get hold of the pile of books and successfully prevent it from collapsing.

"Phew..."

As he sighed in relief, he didn't realize that beside him, Ardhi was slowly getting up.

"Yawn, that was some good sleep..." Ardhi mumbled as he rubbed his eyes before slapping Sinbad by the back, greatly startling him. "Don't you think so, eh, Sin?"

"Oi Aru-!"

Sinbad's panicked shriek was quickly followed by the voice of crumbling tall stacks of books which fell altogether like dominos. Both Sinbad and Ardhi were caught off guard and could only cry out when the books rained upon them.

"Whoa--!!"

"What the-argh?!" Poor Ja'far was caught up in it as soon as he woke up.

Meanwhile, Shafa was oblivious to the little racket they had caused, thanks to sleeping behind one of the supporting pillars. When she finally rubbed the sleep away from her eyelids, she looked behind the pillar and was dumbfounded to find the sea of books there. She was quick to get on her feet and when she found half-buried Ja'far within the books, she deduced the other men must be buried under the books, too. "Sin-san? Nii? Where are you?"

From within the sea of books, Sinbad raised his arm and tried his best to pull his other arm out. "Ugh... Aru, this is your fault, period."

"Why must she call him first..."

It was Ardhi's murmur, but Sinbad couldn't see where its owner was. The violet-haired man tried to look around him, then soon found that Ardhi was buried just behind him and it was only his face that showed between the books. This had made him snicker. "Having a rough time eh, Aru?"

Ardhi deadpanned. "Help me outta here, Sin! I can't feel my legs, arms, and even my whole body!"

"You're exaggerating it," Sinbad replied nonchalantly while trying to wriggle his body out. "And besides--ngh, you deserve that."

"Why don't you just say that you're also stuck?" Ja'far asked, monotonously. His lower body was trapped underneath the sea of books, leaving only his upper body out pressed against the cold floor. Shafa was already in the middle of getting him out of there by pulling his wrists.

Sinbad pouted, watching as his advisor got helped while he's propping his chin on top of his crossed arms. "Fine then, after you've gotten yourself out, I expect you to help me, Ja'far."

"No, me first! See, I'm even having trouble breathing now... And I'm not joking."

Meanwhile, Shafa finally managed to free Ja'far. Ja'far thanked her, earning a smile from the girl. "Hellooo? Can someone help me out already?" Ardhi echoed, this time his voice sounded more desperate. "We're coming!" Shafa replied him and started climbing the books with Ja'far trailing behind her.

"Uh, okay, I guess you could help him first," Sinbad finally decided to give in as he put his cheek on his crossed arms. He noticed Ja'far was stopping near him and the two's eyes quickly met. "...What?" Sinbad narrowed his eyes at him, one of his golden eyes slightly twitching.

"...Pfft," Ja'far hid his devilish smirk behind his sleeve, but not his cat-like eyes that looked down upon Sinbad. "You're so helpless, Sin."

A vein popped on Sinbad's forehead. "You know what, if I want I could easily look what's beneath your tunic now, Ja'far." he smirked. A second later he immediately regretted to have teased his advisor like that, as he saw Ja'far's blank stare.