"Do you think we'll be able to find the culprit with this?" Briar asked Kael.

"Hardly. But it should cause him to turtle away for a bit, and give us time to gain more strength." Kael grimaced. "It seems that no matter where we go, or what world we come to, humans will be humans."

"You're not going to join the war in Grayelle kingdom?" Briar asked.

"If it is such a mess that the king decides to banish his own first level brown class knight, then who are we red classes to try and intervene? Unless we should suddenly have a power upgrade and become black class, I don't think the king would even think to allow us to intervene." Kael pointed out.

"But...he's fighting the war because of me. The kingdom is fighting the war because of me." Briar finally voiced out what she had been hiding in the depths of her heart.

Kael looked at Briar, then flicked her on the forehead. "Stupid. Even if you weren't there as a catalyst, they would've come up with some other reason to attack. This is why government doesn't work. If people can't even properly govern and protect themselves, how can they govern others? All we can do right now is to make sure our friends and family are safe."

"But, still, what about Master Thales and Madam Rothema?" Briar asked. "They've been rushing things for quite a while. Don't you think they're preparing for the war as well?"

"Then you might very well ask what sort of war requires a magi to intervene." Kael replied seriously. "And if such small people as us could make even a little difference in such a conflict."

"Oof! You're right." Briar agreed. "But, still...it doesn't sit well with me."

"Me neither." Kael nodded. "Shall we confront Madam Rothema and Master Thales about it, before everything becomes too late?"

"I'll ask tomorrow, I suppose." Briar sighed, looking around at the streets lit by the lights from magic lamps.

"...should we tell them, I wonder." Kael murmured to himself.

"Tell them what?" Briar asked.

"About the origin of 'Briar' before she became Thera." Kael answered. Briar glanced sharply at Kael before quickly setting up another sound barrier.

"I thought we had decided to abandon that to the forgetful sands of time." Briar noted.

"I meant to use it as a bargain chip to get them to be honest and not to disregard us outright." Kael explained. "It's most likely that they already suspect something. We've been too impressive lately."

"Let's not." Briar shook her head. "I don't want to be seen as anyone other than me."

"Then why did you choose to be called 'Briar'? And why did you wait until it was your birthday to create me?" Kael asked.

"Well, that's...just for nostalgia." Briar blustered.

"And why did you teach Helen survival tactics?" Kael asked. "Not even regular adventurers know some of the techniques you taught her."

"I got carried away, okay!?" Briar shrugged.

"Why did you tell Laura about yourself? You could have said 'I don't know' and fooled her."

"Because...I don't like lying to my friends." Briar replied, quietly.

"Then, what are you running from?" Kael asked. "You are no longer Briar Sparrow any more than I am. This country is not Japan. These people are not your enemies. Even the king is worthy of our respect. The only thing you have that is different from anyone else is the memories from someone who isn't you. Those memories gave you the opportunity to grow quickly and deal with things that anyone else would have been helpless to defend against. Although anyone else in this world can deny it, you and I know better, all right?"

"I thought this was my chance to start over. That everything would be fine if I ignored it and pretended it didn't exist." Briar said glumly, kicking at the ground.

"But, much more than lying to your friends, don't you hate lying to yourself? I'm not telling you to reveal it to the world like an idiot. But, surely the people close to you...that you hold dear....also have a right to know?" Kael tilted his head to glance at Briar's head, which had drooped as she sought to hide her troubled expression with her hand.

"But ...what if they should hate me for it?" The whisper barely made it past the knot in Briar's throat.

"I couldn't bear it. To be hated by the people I care about most...not again." Briar crouched down in the middle of the street, with her face in her hands, as she tried to hide the tears that forced themselves out of her eyes.

In all this time, Briar had not shed a single heartfelt tear. Whether it was because she could handle everything that had come her way, or hadn't cared for much else, she didn't know. But now, in this instant, she found herself unable to stop the tears.

A warm hand patted her on the back. "Buck up, Briar Rose. Even should everyone else turn against you, don't you have me? As someone who is closest to you, and also in the same predicament, you should know that I will never hate you. Do you hate me for knowing it as well?"

"...thanks...and sorry about that." Briar replied, somewhat conflicted. After all, Briar had been the one to place Kael in this awkward situation.

"Let's decide what we can safely reveal first, and seal away everything else, okay?" Kael encouraged, holding out a hand to help Briar get up.

"...Fine." Briar replied, accepting the help as she was pulled to her feet.

The sound barrier dispersed, the two continued on the way back in silence.

--------

"This is a collossal mess." Arthur Pendrag sighed as he held his head in his hands.

"How can the council mess up so badly these few hundred years, eh!? When I was buried, did they think my orders were, too!?"

"I was only aware of these things after I was taken in not fifteen years ago." Syrel sighed. "All this time, I had thought it was your will. So it was all a plot?"

"Aye. And I have a few ideas for who might be the plotter." Arthur snorted. "Tis time I pay that ole Fey Morgan a visit...you go back and see on your end where the leak came from. Report back to me when you've found something."

Arthur's blue eyes glowed pale in the light of the moon.

"Tis more serious than I had thought." He muttered as he also headed back for the evening, following the footsteps of Briar and Kael.

----------

Unfortunately for Briar, not long after they had arrived back at the mansion, Madam Rothema had called her and Kael into the study to talk. Master Thales and Arthur Pendrag were there as well.

"So, I heard you told Syrel about your eyes?" Madam Rothema asked pointedly.

"We did." Kael replied.

"Good. I was about to tell him myself, with your permission, but that starstruck fan of Arthur's would only think I was complaining about the council again." Madam Rothema shook her head.

"Well, good thing he probably won't think such a thing now that I'm back." Arthur harrumphed. "Looks like I'll need to strike the fear of Arthur Pendrag back into the hearts of a few forgetful old fools."

"Let's not get distracted here." Master Thales reminded the other two. They quickly came back to the main topic.

"The main reason for our talk today is because of Kael, actually." Madam Rothema explained.

"Thales didn't realize it at the time, but I fashioned Kael's appearance after a certain old friend of mine when he was younger, while also changing it slightly to match your own appearance, if you know what I mean. I'm afraid that people who see Kael will mistake him for that acquaintances' descendant."

"...Okay? Is that a good thing? Or a bad thing?" Briar asked.

"Well, some people will undoubtedly believe it is a good thing." Arthur sniggered. "But others won't like it one bit as they have enjoyed a cushy position under that man's name for quite some time."

"It probably depends upon whom you chose for me to look like." Kael pointed out.

"Well, most remember him as the great magician, Marlin." Madam Rothema rolled her eyes.

"Wait, I thought you hated that guy?" Briar asked, confused.

"Not the real one. It's just that a lot of people mistook him for Marlin due to having false expectations on what the real deal would look like. So, in order not to betray their expectations, he pretended to be Marlin."

"Wasn't everything revealed when Marlin found out?" Briar asked.

"Oh no, he thought it was hilarious. He even bedecked the fake Marlin in a bunch of magic items to make him more like a magician. He'd rather make more magic items than deal with people. To be honest, we'd rather he did that too." Rothema laughed.

"He was a rather annoying one, I'll give him that. Never remembering anyones names, insisting upon going to many strange places for materials he needed, spending money like water. I'm rather glad we lost the real one back then." Arthur nodded.

"Lost? Aren't you afraid of him coming back?" Briar asked.

"Where he is? Nah. It isn't just anyone who can navigate the vastness of the void plane." Arthur shook his head.

"He volunteered to check it out even before we learned what it was. And by then it was too late, so the bugger brought it all on himself for being hasty."

"But, even so, I can't imagine that fellow dying easily. He was as difficult to kill as a cockroach. By all rights, he's probably still roaming the void plane."

"So you had the fake one replace the real one after that?" Kael asked.

"Yes. The funny thing is he's a martial practitioner." Rothema chuckled. "And he still has to pretend to be a magician."

"Still? He isn't dead?" Briar asked.

"How rude! He can still live twice as long as he has without a problem!" Madam Rothema harrumphed. "We're all still considered quite young by magi and black class standards."

"Is that so? Then how are you going to explain Kael's appearance?" Briar asked.

"The thing is, I already spoke with him earlier about it. He agreed to acknowledge you as his son, if you should so desire it, Kael."

"That depends. Who is he?" Kael asked cautiously.

"King Marlin of Merlin Kingdom which is a coastal strip on the shores the Mauritian Gulf-" Madam Rothema began.

"Absolutely not!" Kael refused.

"Ah...right. While we appreciate the offer, Madame Rothema, Kael and I do not wish to get involved in politics." Briar explained.

"And here I was hoping you'd get rid of that fool idea-" Madam Rothema began, but was once again interrupted by Briar.

"It's not that we have anything against this Marlin stand-in. He may indeed be the nicest of people...It's just that...Kael...that I have something to tell you." Briar took a deep breath, struggling to find the words. Her hand trembled as she tried to calm herself down.

"I...have memories...of a life before mine." She said. "And in those memories, I was killed while on a government mission that I was blackmailed into joining. I don't expect you to understand, but this is a rather deep trauma for me, which I ended up passing on to Kael, too... I am sorry, but I'm afraid we'll have to decline your offer."

Silence followed after Briar's words.