It was daybreak when they arrived, with the sun slowly rising over the west and the people of Fortuna beginning their daily routines. Ren and his party led the group of thirteen through the city as an escort. There were high, solid walls encompassing the entire city of Fortuna that seemed to stretch out a number of squares miles. The cobblestone streets twisted and turned, and some of the houses and buildings were made of stone and others wood. It was a pleasant change in scenery, to say the least. On their way to the city, they’d mostly found nothing but empty fields and forests. There was a rise in farms and small houses once they got closer, and they would spot the occasional inn in the distance. Other than that, the surrounding land was barren.

“So, uh, is it just me or does this place feel...off, somehow?” Noburu was glancing about as they walked along the main street.

“I have a similar feeling.” Yamato shared his angst. “Like, I should be surprised and impressed. It's weird, isn’t it?”

They had been the centre of attention the moment they arrived. People were sparing them glances as if they were something they had never seen before. To be fair, Sakuta and the others were doing the exact same to them. The people of the city all stood out as peculiar to Sakuta. They were dressed in plain and simple clothing, unlike himself and the rest of the group who looked overdressed in comparison.

Wait a minute... The denizens were the ones who were peculiar? Compared to them, Sakuta and the others stood out the most here. It wasn’t just how they were dressed in contrast to the group of thirteen, either, but their appearances as well. All of the people in the city’s hair and eye colours were bright, standout colours, and their facial features were also uniquely distinct. It was almost as if Sakuta had just stepped into another world entirely.

Alice asked, “What is this place, exactly?”

“Another nation, I’m assuming?” Glassed turned his head to assimilate his surroundings. “Come to think of it, I don’t even remember my own nationality.”

“My nationality, huh...?” Noburu looked down at the ground and clawed at his chest, thinking. He frowned when he couldn’t seem to remember. “Nah, it's no use. I still can’t remember a thing. What about you guys? Any ideas?”

Sakuta shook his head. Everyone else was on the same page as well. “Nothing is coming to me but my name, even now. My mind feels completely blank.”

“Our names…” Noburu looked around the group. “Come to think of it, not all of us introduced ourselves earlier. Like you, tall guy! Hey! I’m talking to you, buddy!”

The boy Noburu was referring to was indeed a giant of a man with buzz-cut hair and swarthy skin. “Me?” His voice was deep. It matched the cool and composed look he had.

“Yes, I’m talking to you. You’re the tallest one here! It should have been obvious just by that who I was referring to, right?”

“If you say so.”

“If I say so? What’s up with that response?!”

The boy paused for a moment. “My name is Pinto,” he then said after a while.

“Pinto? The hell kind of name is that?”

“My name.”

“What a weird name...” Noburu eyed Pinto up and down, stretching his neck to do so. “So, how tall are you? You’re, like, competing with the trees out here, man...”

Pinto took a second to think about it. “I think I'm one-hundred ninety-six centimetres. More or less.”

One-ninety-six... That was over twenty centimetres taller than Sakuta. He doubted Pinto was the same age as everyone else but, facial appearance wise, he didn’t seem that old.

“Almost two-hundred...?!” Noburu made a show of tripping over himself. “The hell?! Isn’t that too tall?! Aren’t you overdoing it? Just a bit?!”

“Maybe. Or maybe you’re just too short? Simply get taller?”

“Excuse me?! Get a load of this beanpole, belittling me when he barely knows me. The audacity! For your information, one hundred and sixty-nine centimetres is average, Beanpole. Average! You’re just built like a damn pillar, is all. That’s right, you’re the abnormal one here!”

“One-sixty-nine isn’t really average, though...” Sakuta found himself commenting, despite himself.

With a sigh, Noburu suddenly placed a hand over Sakuta’s shoulder and shook his head, no, repeatedly. “Hey, man, listen. If you want to be the straight-man then you have to do it with more zest, you know? Like, more energy? We’re not going to impress anyone if you don’t put in the effort.”

“Straight-man...?” Sakuta was confused. “What are you talking about? Who are we trying to impress?”

“All I’m saying is that you need to work on your delivery, all right? If you don’t it’ll make things harder for me as the guy who decided to play the fool for you. Teamwork makes the dream work.”

“Are you sure that’s something you decided to do?” Yamato asked with just a hint of a smile.

“Huh?! What are you implying, bucko?! Say it with your chest! Come on, out with it!”

“Nothing, nothing. Forget I said anything.”

Alice somehow giggled lightly at this embarrassingly poor attempt at comedy. “You guys are pretty funny,” she said.

Upon hearing that, Noburu's face brightened and he puffed his chest out proudly, as if it was all according to plan. Sakuta shook his head. What a clown.

Pinto seemed to be a man of few words, whereas Noburu was full from the ass with them. Sakuta looked over at Delinquent who was trailing behind Ren. He was curious what his name was but was too intimidated by the man to ask. Instead, Sakuta turned to Timid beside him as a quick alternative. “How about you? What’s your name?”

“H-huh?” the girl seemed taken aback by his sudden inquiry. “Oh... Um, my name is F-Fumiko...I think... Sorry, my head is still a bit fluffy.”

“Do you mean fuzzy?”

Fumiko’s face turned a bright shade of red and she shrunk into herself. “R-right...! Sorry...”

“It’s all right. You don’t have to apologise, so, you can take it easy, okay?”

She nodded but the action itself was tiny and it was obvious that “taking it easy” was not something she could simply do.

This girl is way too shy, Sakuta thought to himself. He didn’t mind the shy types but girls like this were often easy to take advantage of. He couldn’t help but worry for her.

Now excluding Fumiko and Pinto, there were five others whom Sakuta didn’t know the names of. That was Delinquent, the Twins, Glasses, and the Mysterious Beauty.

He glanced at the Twins. They were walking furthermost away from the rest of the group. Almost everything was similar about the duo, even down to the way they were dressed. They were both in all black nylon outfits, almost like tactical gear specially designed for combat. Even they’re faces were pretty much copy and paste save for a few features. As if to help tell them apart, they wore single matching earrings on opposite ears. The boy wore his on his left ear and the girl wore hers on her right.

Despite their uncanny similarities, there was a glaring difference in how they both carried themselves. The boy looked more carefree, whereas the girl was practically impassive. Sakuta found himself looking at her out of pure curiosity. Out of everyone, she was the one he found the most unsettling. Even moreso than Delinquent. He thought back to earlier when they were ambushed by the gnolls and something didn’t sit right with him about the entire ordeal, particularly how she had acted throughout the incident.

No matter how you looked at it, that was a terrifying situation to be in. Any normal person would have been shaken by that. And yet that girl was totally unbothered. She acted as naturally as she breathed and even challenged one of the beasts to a fight. There was no way she was like the rest of them.

Something about those two made Sakuta want to stay as far away from them as possible.

They were both trouble.

Near them was the girl named Alice. She was flaxen-haired with ocean blue eyes and small facial features. She even spoke with an accent, so Sakuta thought that if anyone amongst them was a foreigner then it must have been her.

She must’ve still been shaken by what the gnolls had attempted to do to her. She was stripped naked and almost defiled, after all. Even now she had a cloak wrapped around her to make up for the tatters her clothes were left in. But you wouldn’t think that if you looked at her. She was smiling and laughing along with Noburu and Yamato. She's tough, Sakuta thought to himself.

“H-hey...” Noburu suddenly cleared his throat. “Not that it matters, but...um, what’s your name...? It would make it easier to talk to you, I mean. You don’t have to answer, of course. Haha.” Apparently, he was trying to talk to the Mysterious Beauty.

“Excuse me? You were a bit soft. Do you mind speaking up?”

“Right!” Noburu straightened his back and gulped so loudly Sakuta was sure everybody heard it. “W-what's your name?”

“Oh. It's Kuina.”

Kuina?

The moment Sakuta heard that, he felt a tight knot in his chest.

He didn’t think he recognised that name. He didn’t think that he did. But he has been having a hard time thinking about anything lately. Sakuta heard a lot of other names, but for some reason that one stood out the most to him. He didn't even know this girl, but...

The more Sakuta tried to think, the less he seemed to know. His head felt like it was enshrouded in fog. He couldn’t make heads or tails of anything that was happening or being relayed to him at this point.

Noburu shoulders loosened as he let out a deep breath of relief, almost like he hadn’t been breathing at all up until then.

“Don’t forget to breathe in, champ.” Yamato teased.

“Oh, shut it!” Noburu flared at him. “That kind of thing is difficult, you know? Girls like that are scary. You never know what they’re thinking. They could be judging you and telling you to go and die in a ditch somewhere, all behind a sweet and innocent smile. I’m telling you, I know these things from experience. You can take my word for it!”

Somehow, Sakuta had his doubts. “From experience, you say?”

“That’s right! Where I’m from, I’m a bona-fide ladies’ man! They call me a young Casanova! I’ve had over one hundred girlfriends! That’s the truth, okay? No one knows more about women than me!”

“Where you’re from? And where’s that exactly?”

“Huh? Obviously, it’s...well...oh, right, I can’t remember anything. I forgot about that.”

This guy’s really just a bona-fide idiot, thought Sakuta.

“It’s no use. I still don’t know any of you,” Makoto said suddenly, sighing and clucking her tongue. “I don’t recognise this damn city, either.”

Yamato turned to her. “What was that?”

She shook her head. “I thought that I would at least recognise one of you if I knew all of your names. Or I would know where we were once I saw this Fortuna. But nothing. It’s honestly infuriating. None of us know anything? Really?”

“I’m not hiding anything.” Noburu shrugged.

“Me neither,” said Yamato. “I don't think anyone is. I trust everyone is telling the truth.”

“Then your trust is cheap.” Glasses scoffed.

Makoto looked over her shoulder. “Can you say the same about everyone?” she asked. She was looking at the Twins, clearly referring to them.

One of the Twins, the boy, noticed this and caught her implication. He rose both of his hands up, smiling. “We know nothing, either. You have my word!”

“The word of a complete stranger.” Makoto retaliated. “Sorry if I'm not as quick to trust everyone’s word.”

“If we remember anything you will be the first to know, Boss Lady!” said the Twin, but it sounded like he was mocking Makoto, if anything.

“There’s no use wracking your brains about it,” Ren interjected. “It's something that happens when you arrive here. For now, try not to let it bother you too much.”

“Oh? Something that happens when we arrive?” Makoto's eyes narrowed dubiously. “You sound like you’re speaking from experience. Is there something you aren’t telling us?”

Ren shook his head. “I'm sorry but I really have no answers for you. Not right now, at least.”

Not right now. Sakuta picked up on that. Did that mean he had an idea of what was going on but for whatever reason could not disclose anything? It certainly implied that. Sakuta wasn’t the only on who thought that. Delinquent was watching Ren closely, and Makoto looked like she still had some questions. For now, though, none of them said anything. They must’ve decided to keep following him.