Essairyn’s gaze spun back to the man shrouded in a dark gray cloak. Her eyes scoped the visible parts of his face, searching for familiarity at his apparent recognition of her. The sharp jaw, lips curled in a soft smile… She flicked her eyes away in self-consciousness. That indescribable timbre of his voice had already been unknowingly memorized in her heart.

“K. It’s you.” She gently smiled and gave a breathy giggle. “Indeed, we meet again.” A corner of her mouth quirked up farther. “I heard you were in Byar’non from Lachlan when we left Reisparte, but I never did get to see you in the end. But here we are now.”

“Better late than never again?”

Essairyn furrowed her brows slightly as she replied, “I suppose. It would be sad if that was the first and last time I met you. But you were already gone before I could even say goodbye, so I was a bit bummed. Though honestly… I was also really suspicious of you from the beginning, but curious too, I guess.” She scratched her head with an awkward smile. “What’re you doing here now? Is it also a part of your mission?”

The mercenary nodded as he picked up several emerald potions by the collar of the bottle with his long fingers. Noticing that he was taking mid-potions that she also needed, Essairyn hastily grabbed the remaining and stood up along with him.

Frowning a little, she tentatively asked, “You also need these?” Not many mid-potions were on the shelves, but with only four in her hands, she was even further from the amount required. While she could bring back the more numerous regular health potions, marked with a single band on the cork next to the double-banded mid-potions, they were five times less effective.

A light chuckle escaped the man, almost sounding like a purr. Essairyn’s eyebrow involuntarily twitched at the throaty yet velvety voice. She subtly shook her head in order to break off the strange attraction to the sound. It seemed when one lacked visual features, the mind automatically focused on other sensory details.

“No,” he replied as he began walking toward the shop counter. “These are for you.” Surprised, she shuffled after him as he continued, “Putting them in your cache would look like you’re stealing. But you can’t carry all of these without using magic, and that would be a waste.”

“Ah, thank you,” she murmured as they reached the register.

“How many do you need?”

She peered up at K, blinking blankly. “T-ten dozen?” She coughed faintly. It sounded almost ridiculous to say it out loud when the shelves carried no more than twenty total of each potion. Do people not usually buy this much? Ten dozen seemed like a lot, but I didn’t question it since this is my first mission, and I don’t know the standard knight procedures…

“Four boxes of mid-potions please, and the rest can restock the shelves,” he requested to the cashier who nodded and went to the storage room.

Upon returning with a box, the cashier inquired, “Why do you need so many? I know adventurers can use a lot, but isn’t this overkill, sir? These potions don’t come cheap, either. Most normal folk only ever use the regular potions since they cost only two pynce. Are you going on a raid or something?”

“No,” K answered for Essairyn. “It’s for a Knights mission.”

Immediately, the cashier accepted the abridged explanation. He was a chatty young boy, but even he knew to stop questioning when it came to Knight missions. “Okay, that’s a synde per bottle, so…” He speedily punched in numbers on the register. “That’s seven and a hathe eleuars total, please!”

Essairyn fetched the eight platinum white coins Aispin gave her, noting that they were exactly the correct amount. As she handed them to the cashier, his eyes sparkled.

“I love how eleuars look! I never get tired of seeing ra’lerium. It’s such a pretty metal! I only ever see syndes and pynces around here.”

She smiled at his babbling as he processed the transaction. As a village town, Farinheld’s socioeconomic disparity was tremendous when compared to Reisparte, much less a city like Byar’non. Gaps in human development across As’pyze engendered stark differences between farmers, working class, and business elites. So it wasn’t a surprise that this young boy delighted in seeing so many eleuars. Essairyn’s tins of gourmet candies from Reisparte would be small luxuries to the Farinheld townspeople. And merchant families like the Andelrins were considered financially privileged despite their nomadic life. Adventurers fell anywhere along the spectrum with mages and upper echelon knights on a whole other level far above the general populace.

However, while their contrasting settings made visiting these three towns enjoyably refreshing, it did bother Essairyn when she considered the wealth gap. But, she was comforted by the notion that Farinheld and other nearby villages would be incorporated into Byar’non. Hopefully, the quality of life could be improved where an eleuar wasn’t such a rare sight.

The sound of a wooden crate hitting the counter snapped Essairyn out of her thoughts. Jerking her head up to look at K, who had returned from helping the cashier bring out the remaining boxes of mid-potions, she spied a snippet of raven black hair flutter against the side of his cheek. And as he straightened his figure after placing the crate down, she stared at the stray strands before they drifted languidly back in the shadows of his hood.

Keen curiosity flickered within Essairyn at the combination of the few identifying features known about this man. In her ardent imaginations, crossing paths once again with this mysterious figure entailed a greater story. Their second, unexpected meeting could not be a mere coincidence.

After storing the mid-potions in her magic cache, Essairyn left the store with K and Akari trailing quietly behind. The spirit fox found the human girl’s behavior with the hooded man rather fascinating. She still didn’t trust the so-called mercenary, but she knew that bringing up her concerns to Essairyn would do little to quell her interest in the mysterious man.

“Are you staying at the inn, too?”

“No,” responded K, “the Knights reserved the entire place for the mission.”

“Oh, I see.” Essairyn looked down pensively. “Then how long are you staying? Or, are you leaving right away again?”

Seeing the woman’s hopeful but restrained expression, K wanted to laugh as he reassured, “I will be here for as long as your mission lasts.”

“That’s great! So then, are we working together? Your mission is related to ours?”

A chuckle escaped K as he replied, “In some ways, but I’m acting independently. Your group that arrived here earlier has already been patrolling the area for unusual activities. But they found nothing so far.”

Essairyn furrowed her brows in consideration. “Hmm, is that a good or bad thing?”

“It does make one anxious.” The mercenary answered her unspoken feeling.

She sighed. “It does. I talked with Darren about it, and we both feel more confident in taking this mission after learning more details from Izlende and the rest. But, I can’t help thinking that we might be biting off more than we can chew…” Essairyn recalled the multiple life-threatening situations she underwent before the peaceful two-week training at Byar’non Academy. “I’ve already had my fair share of near-death experiences, haha. Sometimes, I wonder if Darren was right to stay studying at school…”

K wasn’t sure whether to ask if the two travelers were parting ways after the mission, so instead, he advised, “It would be wise since you are still new. But, I recall your love for adventure when we last conversed in Reisparte market.”

Essairyn bobbed her head, replying, “Yes, I finally convinced him to explore the world a little instead of being cooped up at a campus again. I figured if we head for Neu’arth, then we shouldn’t meet too much danger because of all the human civilizations along the way. And once we arrive, we can consider whether to live there because it has something similar to internet and wi-fi back on Earth since we’re both city people, or keep traveling. And maybe we’d have grown our skills well enough by then to get a full scholarship so we can study at the top Academy, and then––”

The girl halted and blushed faintly upon the realization that she was beginning to ramble. Seeing her glance up at him, K smiled and remarked, “Sounds like you have everything planned out.”

She coughed lightly. “Yeah, I do like being spontaneous, but planning things ahead also gives me comfort…” Nostalgic memories of the past from juggling life from school to work to home flashed uneasily through Essairyn’s mind.

Her small smile as she trailed off looked more like a frown to K who gently replied, “That’s okay. You can have a sense of adventure but still like to secure your own future.” He paused as he reflected on his personal circumstances. “…I’m the same way.”

She peered up at his hidden face before turning away back to the road. “I see…”

As the gray-blue inn peeked in-between the closely situated, rustic wood and stone buildings, Essairyn swung her arms in a walking stretch. “Well, I look forward to seeing you more often now, Mr. K. So don’t be a stranger and visit us at the inn to say hi sometimes, okay? I’m guessing we part here.”

“Hm.” He nodded and smiled at the departing girl. “Take care, miss Essairyn.”

She shook her head, unsatisfied. “You don’t have to be so formal, you know. Just Essairyn or Sairyn will do.”

K hesitated briefly before slowly replying, “Okay…Sairyn.”

Grinning brilliantly, Essairyn hopped backward with a wave and then scampered into the inn with Akari bounding after her. A rising sense of euphoria swept through the girl. Now that K was also here, her concerns about the knights mission were quickly fading away. Based on the mercenary and Lachlan’s relationship, enough capable people were keeping tabs on the murders and mage-napping situation. So if anything did go wrong, everyone could handle it together.

Inside the building, she met up with the others and distributed the mid-potions among them. Afterwards, the mission group gathered in a circle to discuss. Essairyn sat in a chair with Akari on her lap as the team lead, Izlende, reported on the present findings.

“Nearly a week, and no sign of the enemy. Not even the villagers appear to be distressed.”

“Yeah, we even interviewed them, but everyone was surprised to hear about knights being killed on duty.” Theryn shook his head regrettably. “Some of them remembered the specific knights visiting Farinheld but didn’t pay much attention, so when they were suddenly gone, they didn’t think too much about it.”

“It’s a strange situation,” agreed Rakun. “No one had seen the survivor of the last recon group, so the town didn’t go into an uproar over the murders or state of the remaining victim.”

Izlende nodded gravely. “Like it never even happened, and yet, the Knights received a report a day after the injured knight was found. But not even the knight could give much info besides being suddenly ambushed and then waking up at a villager’s house, getting treated…”

“Did they question the villager?” Essairyn asked.

“Yes, but they said he was found near the forest out back from their house.”

“So a dead end…”

“Unfortunately. We’re lacking clarity on too much. But we have to make do.”

“We didn’t find anything in that forest, though,” added another girl with wavy brown hair seated in the circle.

Izlende sighed while shaking her head. “Like Brynhilde said, we found no clues in the forest, no sign of struggle or anything.”

“Everything is squeaky clean.” Theryn noted darkly. “Everything is so normal in this town that it’s making us on edge.” He kicked his feet up on a nearby chair and rested his arms behind his head. “Makes me almost miss Benni nagging me all day. When I got the request to leave the Academy early, I thought I had dodged a real bullet because I had knocked over canisters and alchemy equipment, but now I’m bored out of my mind here.”

Rakun tipped his head to the side with a light disapproving shake and tut of his tongue. “Should’ve gotten your ass kicked. You skip way too many classes, I don’t even know how you’re still passing.”

“Aw, did you miss me? I’ll make the next class just for you!” Theryn quipped boisterously, making Rakun roll his eyes ever the slightest before he turned back to the group with a faint smile. “Apologies, we got off topic.”

“It’s okay Rak,” assured Aispin with his arms languidly crossed while he reclined against a wall beam. “Nice to see Theryn as lively as ever. We didn’t get to catch up much last time at Byar’non. Though, I didn’t think we’d meet in this manner after I left the Academy on break.”

“Yeah, I didn’t expect that the next time I saw you was on this weird mission,” said Theryn. “I thought it would be when you return and get mobbed by girls in the hallway. I can hear them a mile away; I lost a game, you know, the final boss, because of their screaming one time.”

“Erm, my apologies…?”

Theryn shrugged. “No biggie, just another earful from Benni when I slammed the desk and got caught in class. That’s why I just skip class all together now, heh heh.”

Rakun held his head defeatedly. “Anyway, let’s state our position and ranks. Now that Essairyn and Darren are here, we can try shifting our duties and see if they discover anything new.” He turned toward the two travelers and placed a loose fist over his chest. “Rakun Umista. Main weapon of choice, katana. Specialty, stealth and swordsmanship. Low-mid B rank knight, mid E rank mage.”

“Izlende Ryrarin. I prefer Izra. Dual-mage. Low B rank. Low D rank knight. Like you saw during the War Game, I use my mage staff as a spear. I got it specially designed as a battle and support mage.”

Essairyn nodded in remembrance of the hybrid spear-staff where the blade laid above the metal-enclosed magic orb. The design had intrigued her, giving her ideas for what her preferred weapon and style would be.

“Theryn Fenens. Broadsword, just a standard knight really. Upper D rank. Gods, I hate introducing myself after these two.”

“Brynhilde Melisande As’nyte.” The brunette proudly proclaimed with her hands laid elegantly on top of her crossed legs. “Spell-mage. Mid C-class.”

Theryn rolled his eyes melodramatically. “Could you say it any more condescendingly?”

Brynhilde’s bright amber-brown eyes flickered in annoyance as she huffed. “Well sorry for being born more talented than you, you boor. I’m only stating what is.”

“Tch! You’re only a C because of your elemental blood. Though As’nytens are only fake elementals, anyway. And you haven’t even improved your rank after all these years while Rak and Rio, Ennrion Azolil I mean, you haven’t met him yet, Izra’s bae––” The silver haired girl face-palmed at Theryn. “––are already rank B.”

Visibly peeved, Brynhilde snapped back. “Cultivating magic is much harder than any knight training you know!”

“Blah, blah, whatever with your magic training nonsense. You depend on spells anyway, so what’s your big deal? Not even a true-mage despite being an elemental, heh! That’s a fake elemental for you.”

“Ancient spells, take years to learn and properly cast! Why do you always have to pick a fight with me about the same damn thing and call us fake elementals?!” Brynhilde’s cheeks bubbled up in a rosy shade. Her little outburst and dignified pout almost made Rakun chuckle in amusement.

Theryn waved his hand dismissively. “And why do you have to act so haughtily all the time?! Flinging your middle name around just ‘cause you’re a royal. It’s not like you’re the next in line. And I’ll say fake elemental allll~ day.” He rolled his eyes dramatically.

“Argh, you!!!” She seethed and almost vaulted from her chair toward Theryn who stuck a finger in his ear in boredom. A steady hand placed itself on her shoulder, preventing her brash reaction. Brynhilde looked up in surprise to see Rakun gaze wordlessly at her. She could never fathom those sharp yet softly clear eyes. Unknowingly, she clenched her fists as she sunk back down into her seat.

Essairyn attentively observed this whole exchange. With Brynhilde in the mix, the interpersonal dynamics had shifted from what she had discerned in Byar’non. What an interesting bunch… I wonder what this Ennrion guy is like, too… There was definitely more to them than what met the eyes.

Although Theryn seemed happy-go-lucky, she sensed something acutely somber and resentful underneath that skin-tight masque. On the other hand, the stable Rakun exuded a tautly-wrapped mystery that was speckled with subtle idiosyncrasies. And while Brynhilde was vain, and perhaps rightly so, she did invariably work hard at her magical craft despite being part of the royal As’nyte family. The tale of her struggle reached deeper than the mirror surface. As for Izlende, Essairyn’s intuition squealed that they were going to be great friends. Confident yet down-to-earth, she found the silver-haired girl to be something of a role model.

Similarly, Darren looked upon the quarrel with good humor and spirits. It wouldn’t feel so cheerless alongside this motley crew. Clearing his throat, he caught the attention of the others and stated his rank which hadn’t changed from upper-mid D with the weapon of choice remaining as longsword.

Essairyn followed with her newly ascertained level upon the end of two-week training. “Upper-mid D rank knight, Upper C rank mage.” She paused before adding, “Battle mage, I suppose. Erm, I don’t have a favored weapon yet."

Izlende blinked twice before repeating, “No definitive melee weapon?” She tapped her chin while reflecting on their past fight. “Your mage type… Yes, battle mage sounds apt. But why are you unsure saying that? Didn’t they state it during your final ability examination?”

“Uh––” Essairyn was uncertain whether to reveal that she suspected she was a knight-mage due to her ability to forge solid weapons out of magic. That was still something she hadn’t divulged to the knights or professors during her stay at Byar’non Academy. But deciding that it could be something useful in this baffling mission, she disclosed, “I believe I’m actually a knight-mage, but I didn’t get that confirmed during the examination.”

Izlende’s mouth opened in understanding. “I see, you were worried about the fuss that would’ve created. Haha! I don’t blame you! Hearing you say that already has me excited. So you can craft weapons? Could you demonstrate?” Her blue-gray eyes sparkled in anticipation.

“Ahem.” Unable to refuse those eyes, Essairyn concentrated magic into her palms and formed a lavender sword.

Izlende drew back in astonishment before sticking her face close to the magical weapon in awe. “Whoa. To be honest, I thought you were bluffing since you’re a new traveler who probably hadn’t learned much about knight-mage abilities, but man. You can actually make them!!” She squealed and poked at the sword before sliding a finger down the blade. “I’ve never seen one in my life…”

“It’s that rare?” Essairyn was surprised that even the student body president had never encountered a knight-mage before.

Izlende chuckled as she straightened her back. “Yeah, most special types are mage-knights like Aispin here.”

“Oh! Right, I forgot to state my rank. Mid C rank knight. Upper D rank mage. As Izra just said, I’m a mage-knight who can infuse my broadsword with spells.”

“Yes, some mages can make charms that store magic spells, but those are usually limited to specialized rune paper or high-quality gems. Where a mage-knight differs is that they can temporarily apply spells to their physical weapons, but they can’t cast any magic without a weapon medium. Funny how magic works, huh?” Izra grinned and Essairyn laughed airily in agreement.

“It’s so fascinating about how many different types there are, even beyond just elemental or non-elemental.”

“Speaking of which…” Izlende narrowed her eyes at Essairyn who had already recouped her magic sword. “You never told me that you have elemental rain magic! What the heck, girl?! I’m only finding this out now because I saw your magic is purple?!”

“Haha, well Lachlan did tell me that concealing your magical abilities is important.”

Izlende chuckled and patted the other girl. “True. We’re only stating our ranks due to the level of this mission. Otherwise, you should only ever reveal your mage rank to those you trust.” She wagged her finger for extra emphasis.

“However, if you’re a professional magical artisan or expert selling your services, that’s a different story––in those cases, you join a guild, preferably the Artisans Guild or AoS, Association of Sorcery.”

“Right, I heard about that from a lesson on magic careers. They’re all backed by the Knight Mage Academy and Knights Order. It’s interesting how the KMA and Order have a hand in almost everything in As’pyze…”

Izlende furrowed her brows slightly at Essairyn’s percipient point. “Yes, I understand how that might be of concern. But I trust Lachlan and the Knight Commanders with my life. The SSPA in Neu’arth too. They work hard to protect and maintain order while developing the rest of As’pyze to match Neu’arth’s advanced society.”

“Wait,” Essairyn cut in, “why Lachlan?”

Aispin raised a brow at her confusion. “You mean you didn’t know that the professor at Reisparte who recommended you was the headmaster of Neu’arth Academy?”

“…”

Essairyn turned and shared a look of dull epiphany with Darren who answered for them. “Nope. He never mentioned that. And for some reason, no one ever told us that until now.”

“Err, well that’s… huh.” Izlende scratched her head. “Just what do they teach you over there in Byar’non? I can’t believe they didn’t mention Lachlan Paleaux at all.”

“Yeah, that’s weird,” agreed Theryn. “Not only is he the headmaster and basically oversees all the campuses––though Benni, she’s the vice principal, Avira Benare, complains all the time about him neglecting his duties to her.” He snickered upon remembering the middle-aged woman’s carping whenever she caught him in mischief. “––He’s also an A rank mage.”

“…”

Essairyn and Darren shared another look.

“Wow, he really practiced what he preached and didn’t tell us at all,” said Essairyn dryly, making the whole group laugh.

“He’s a bit of a recluse, that’s for sure.” Izlende smiled as she thought back to her first encounter with him. “But he’s a kind man. Though, he definitely would rather travel the world and do his own thing, which, he technically does anyway, haha.”

“So an A rank mage…” Essairyn murmured thoughtfully. “That’s pretty incredible… But is he a top-tier or…?”

Izlende shook her head. “At that high level, the incremental steps within ranks mean almost nothing. Whether they’re a low or high A rank, they’ll still kick a B-rank multiple times over. But I believe Lachlan’s pretty up there.”

“As it is,” interjected Brynhilde a matter of factly, “there isn’t a hard ceiling on what’s a top A-class because it can ascend to S-class, which has no definitive regular m’u bar.”

“Hm, I do remember hearing about S-class Chaera Ch’tahur the first day of training,” said Darren. “She’s the only human with that rank.”

“Yes, but I imagine that Classerth Ajenak may one day reach that level.” Brynhilde’s cheeks were slightly flushed as she proudly stated her speculation.

“Ugh, you and you girls’ obsession with Classerth is seriously––” Theryn cut short as he was met with a razor-sharp glare from the brunette.

A corner of Izlende’s mouth quirked up at the two staring one another down in their classic nonverbal spats. “Anyway, let’s wrap this discussion up and show you two the lodgings and town. It’s small, but cozy and clean. As you see––” She gestured around the room. “––we’re using one of the rooms as a meeting place, and the boys each have their own room while us girls have the suite!” She threw her arms out and giggled. “It’s the only room with our own bath; otherwise, you have to use the common bath on the second floor. And it’s also for safety reasons as mages to be the farthest away from everyone else on the third floor.”

Theryn clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction at the room assignments but didn’t verbalize it as rooms without a bathroom weren’t so bad when they had the whole inn to themselves. At the very least, restrooms existed on each floor, so it was more convenient than trudging to the second floor to the full bath. “Yeah, mages are being captured the most throughout the Southern Province. So in some ways, you three are like bait in this mission.” He ignored the vexed expression of a certain brunette at being called bait.

Rakun released a heavy breath. “It’s good to be cautious, but hopefully that’s not the case. I doubt the Knights would deliberately endanger the mages. We can only follow the instructions of scouting the town and discovering who’s exactly behind the abductions.”

“Yes, it doesn’t do us any good mulling over this now,” Izlende voiced. “Let’s get Darren and Essairyn settled, and then we can discuss plans when we reconvene after dinner.”

Everyone agreed and proceeded to assign various sections of the town for each to cover. Information and familiarity with the surroundings was crucial to preventing further incidents or sneak attacks. Although the town wasn’t large, they were still fewer in number to the knights previously assigned to this mission. And while they were under the guise of an adventurer group, as none of the Neu’arth students swore under the Oath except for Aispin, it would be tricky to not alert the enemy in their reconnaissance.

That night, Essairyn laid in bed with Akari curled up by her side. Lavender-hued orbs gazed at star-lamps bumbling lazily in the skies beyond her window. These night-lights dusted the dark with pale auroras. Their gentle glow quelled Essairyn’s roiling anticipation, guiding, beckoning her to sleep. This peaceful view by her bedside contrasted with the busy events of the day and the following two weeks.

Despite the group’s apprehension, they still uncovered no strange activities nor concerning villager testaments to Farinheld’s supposed plight. Instead, Essairyn interacted with the villagers who loved her occasional wood carvings, sporadically met with the mercenary K who rarely could be found when she sought to chat, and practiced her magic and fighting skills in the safety of the inn suite.

Currently, she was ‘harmlessly’ polishing her swordsmanship. The quivering air shrieked noiselessly wherever her blade passed, and the scintillating gleam of the frozen sword frolicked around, casting the room in an ice-diamond luster. Even morning light couldn’t match the intensity of the reflecting illumination inside the common space. Nor could the glowing stream of falling twilight color the room gold. Frigid billows gushed from fine cracks imperceptible to human eyes. The leaking iciness from the wooden board walls would make anyone approaching the girls' room shiver from the sudden drop in temperature.

Creak. The blade whistled in a downwards strike in the direction of the opening door. Luxuriant silver hair bounced weightlessly like spiraling feathers around a honey-cream complexion. “Sairyn, you ready?” The brilliant ice sword disappeared into the magic cache as Essairyn bobbed her head at Izlende. The platinum haired girl scrunched her face at the appearance of the frosty room.

“I know you can’t reveal that weapon in public, especially not in this mission, but man, this is crazy. I hope everything thaws in time before we go to bed tonight!” Izlende plodded over to the nearest piece of furniture and tapped a suspicious finger upon the shimmering chair. “Eeep~! So cold!” She dramatically clutched her arms after quickly withdrawing her finger.

The sight made Essairyn giggle. “Don’t worry, Izra. You know it only takes half an hour.”

Izlende flashed a helpless smile. “I know, it just amazes me every time. I still can’t believe you got an elemental weapon from some random farmhouse couple on the outskirts of a town. What luck! Although… it’s not like anyone else but you could use it anyway, haha!”

“You can try again if you want,” offered Essairyn.

“Nah.” Izlende waved her hand and chuckled. “I don’t want to be ice-burnt again.” A sudden remembrance of yesterday’s scene popped up in her mind, making her laugh louder in amusement.

“Pft! Though I wouldn’t mind seeing Bryn’s face again! I’ve never seen her so red in my life, even when she’s around Serth, heheheh!” The brunette’s habitual, dignified scowl would melt into puppy love whenever she spied Classerth visiting the Neu’arth Academy. As someone who knew the Lieutenant Commander more closely than she would have cared to know, Izlende found Brynhilde’s lovestruck expression quite comical.

Essairyn shook her head at the sound of Izra’s devilish chortles. “You’re the one that set her up like that. Poor girl! So evil, but I approve!” She gave a thumbs up, and Izlende grinned, returning the gesture.

“Gotta tone down that haughtiness of hers whenever we can.” Izlende winked. “She’s actually a nice girl, but sometimes… you know. We get along just fine, but I was surprised when she volunteered for the mission, too.”

“Yeah, she’s definitely a ‘princess’,” remarked Essairyn, gaining a cackle from Izlende. “But she seems to adapt to these…simple accommodations rather well. I didn’t realize that As’nyte was a ‘superficial’ elemental, though. It’s crazy that a whole new race was created from a demon god blessed by Light who then fell in love with a human.”

“Mmhm, it wasn’t uncommon for demon and spirit gods back then to fall in love with humans. Our races lived amongst one another until the end of the War. That's why some demons are humanoid-looking. But now…” The platinum-haired girl shrugged. “Well, the cool thing, at least, is that we humans sorta got our own elemental species, besides the rain elementals, anyway.”

Essairyn recalled how rain elementals were humans blessed by the goddess Cyrienne. While they were originally humans, they magically functioned and looked like the other natural elementals, albeit, not quite as tall.

The girls continued chatting pleasantly as they strolled over to the modestly resplendent dining room of the inn. Despite their short time together, the two young women were inseparable, even aggrieving Akari at times who felt reduced to a cute pet. Essairyn was simply delighted to have found someone whom she could be completely comfortable around without any pretense or caution. She didn’t want to be clingy with someone she had only recently known, but luckily, Izlende shared her enthusiasm. So, Essairyn flicked away her inner self-warning to not get close so quickly. Regardless of what may happen, she felt most at ease with Izlende, so there was no need to restrain herself due to concerns about the future or self-preservation from getting hurt in friendships.

This decision made Essairyn realize that she needed to live more emotionally free. If she kept guarding herself, she’d only end up the same as in her previous life. With Akari alone, Essairyn still needed to remove the final psychological barriers between them. She hated loosing friends from disconnect caused by time and her weak courage. She was shamefully coward to let go of people she held dear and then mope introspectively after like she had suffered greatly. Essairyn only had herself to blame for the layer of ice that sparkled innocuously around her heart. People were drawn by her enigmatic aura, then eluded, and rebuffed like a magnet that attracted everyone until they were too close.

“Yo Izra, Sairyn! Over here!” Theryn thumped the table with a bright smile. Brynhilde glared at the blonde while Rakun elbowed him. “Ack! Okay okay, I only wanted Sairyn to sit next to me anyway, not Izra, tch!” Brynhilde half-rolled her eyes at Theryn’s confession.

“Not today, buddy! She’s with me.” Izlende stuck out her tongue, plopped down, and patted the seat to her left for Essairyn. Seeing the other girl oblige, a sunny smile graced her elvish face. She had to resist pinching the other’s cheeks like she was an older sister doting on a younger. Izlende, though, was in fact a year older than Essairyn. The entire Neu’arth group were all the same age except for Brynhilde who was a year younger.

Shortly after the two girls’ arrival, the rest of the crew arrived along with the host of the dinner. Upon the sight of the inn owner who had arranged this small feast for their last day in Farinheld, Essairyn inwardly gasped. It was the red-haired man that she had previously encountered. Amber eyes connected lavender for a brief, breath-stopping moment. Instantly, her mind tumbled with theories. She could now connect a name to his face. As she sat down after the group’s greeting to him, she wiped away her conspiratorial thoughts.

“Thank you all for staying at my inn and graciously accepting my humble wish to dine together on your final day. I hope you enjoy the modest Farinheld delicacies I have prepared. Please dig in!”

Landing upon the assorted dishes that seemed to be glossed in a delicious shine, her eyes sparkled ravenously. Hearing the accompanying low rumble of her stomach, Darren seated next to Essairyn blinked at her with round eyes. If she weren’t feeling a little self-conscious, she’d have smiled a little at his curiously cute expression. Izlende, on the other hand, cackled at the other girl’s eagerness to eat. Pouting, Essairyn stabbed the food closest to her and chomped down on a strip of steak. A radiant light flushed her countenance. Ah~! Nothing beats good food! Hearts seemed to emanate from Essairyn as she devoured everything in front of her.

“Whoa, and I thought I was the biggest foodie!” Izlende gasped.

“Oh, I know someone who has an even bigger bottomless pit!” Essairyn snickered, thinking of a certain fox.

“So you admit to having a bottomless void for a stomach!” Theryn hooted, receiving another elbow jab from Rakun. Hurt by his scolding, the blonde was tear-filled as he protested, “You hit me again! And I thought we were best friends! What’s with you hitting me so much lately!”

“Because you’ve been very bad lately,” responded Rakun apathetically.

Theryn held his chest as if he had been struck by a brutal arrow. “My best friend, you have hurt me so.” Everyone laughed at Theryn’s antics; even Brynhilde scoffed in amusement.

The rest of the dinner continued merrily. When Essairyn retired to her chambers before Izlende returned, she was impudently greeted by a pale caramel streak. Immediately, the girl retaliated with aggressive head pats and cheek squishes.

“Mmphff! I surrender!” Akari shrieked as she struggled in Essairyn’s arms. “Pah-too!” The fox shook her fur after the girl let go on top of the bed. Akari didn’t run and simply looked at her with vigilant but happy eyes. “You’re hardly around now; I rarely get to see you these days.” She pawed the bed covers forlornly. “Are these rounds even effective? Did you discover anything when you’re already leaving here tomorrow?”

“What, did you miss me, cutie?” Essairyn grinned and hugged the fox who was now the size of a small dog rather than a stuffed plushie. She already missed the miniature Akari who had gotten fat and big from good food of the Farinheld inn and Byar’non campus. The fox was too large to stand comfortably on her shoulder now. “We didn’t find anything at all.” She sighed. “You should join me next time instead of lounging around all day.”

“Hey! I was not! I was helping too!”

“Is that so? Then tell me, did you discover anything?”

Akari turned away guiltily. “N-no. That’s why I asked you.”

“Hm, I thought so.” Essairyn lazily smiled and rolled over on her back on top of the covers. “Pu~ you deserted me as soon as we entered Farinheld. So you can’t complain that I didn’t look for you.”

“Wah!” Akari jumped and slumped over Essairyn’s belly with her front legs. “You can’t say that! You know I like to explore on my own! Besides, I don’t like that guy. He looks at me weird…” She drew soft ellipses with her paw on the girl’s shirt.

Essairyn propped herself up on her forearms. “You mean the innkeeper, Kajarn?” Akari nodded with big, glimmering eyes. Essairyn placed her palm comfortingly behind the fox’s head. “Yeah, I have mixed feelings about him as well. And to think that he’s actually a noble, too. …I wonder what he’s doing in this small town much less in Byar’non.”

“Maybe, he was just restocking in the main city for his business?”

"I thought you didn’t like him, but you’re making up reasons for him?”

“I don’t know. We might just be overthinking things because of the mission and all. And it’s not like it’s the first time people stared at me strangely. Actually, you’re the weirder one for sticking with me.”

“Hmph, I would much rather have you over him any day. Although, to be honest, I dig the long hair. It’s quite pretty. Do you think he’s a fire elemental or something with that red hair and orange eyes?”

Akari shook her head. “Trust me, when you see a fire elemental, that guy’s red would pale in comparison. He isn’t even an elemental, just a human.”

Shocked, Essairyn sat up completely. “Really?! But he’s dressed so finely! And a noble!”

“Humans can be part of the noble class too, you know? It’s not like the elemental kingdoms are anarchies. Sure, they can’t be part of the royal family, but there are plenty of mixed elementals who married humans. Kajarn isn’t mixed, though, since his family serves As’rien kingdom.”

“Choyal family, huh?” Essairyn murmured pensively.

“I know nothing about the family except that they've been around for a long time. Maybe the royal family’s pretty lenient? Or he got kicked out?”

The door clicked open. The two turned their heads at Izlende entering. “Hey girls! How’re you feeling after dinner, Sairyn? Theryn’s jaw drop when you announced you had a second stomach for desserts was priceless! I can’t believe that idiot actually took your words literally!” Izlende guffawed with her fingers over her mouth. “I kinda understand though. Your magic’s amazing, so a goof like him would fall for it!”

Essairyn blushed at the casual compliment. “Thanks? Haha…”

Izlende suddenly darted toward Essairyn’s bed and leaned over to whisper mischievously, “Let’s surprise Brynhilde in the washroom.”

“Huh?!” Essairyn jerked back in surprise.

“She deserves it after stealing the bathroom first for three nights in a row! Blasted gods, I want hot water today!” Izlende protested vehemently.

“Pft!” Essairyn stifled her laugh. It was true that the spoiled Brynhilde spent all of the hot water with her hour long soaks. While the inn was pleasant overall, it was still lacking due to being in a small town village detached from the city. They would have to wait another hour before the water heated sufficiently enough, and that was if the men didn’t consecutively shower. Both she and Izlende weren’t patient enough to wait nor desired to skip a shower after a dusty, long, fruitless day of scouting.

That night, the unsuspecting Brynhilde, who took Izlende’s tolerance for granted, didn’t know what hit her until she met with merciless splashes and tickles. The prank was a comical success—and an antithesis to the hellish fires of the next morning.