Yuuya looked lovingly at the Violet spider king coat in his hand. Arcus san… He thought longingly of his time at Baras. Smiling slightly at the unexpected nostalgia, he stowed the coat into his ring.

Yuuya turned to regard himself in the mirror. It seemed it was only yesterday when he had looked at the mirror before he had to head back to school. But the Yuuya from then had changed a lot now. Now, it was almost like a different person.

His face had changed the most. The eye patch from Angela covered his right eye hiding from view the horrors of what was left in the cavity. His hair was longer after not having cut it for three months. It hung past his chin, tossing around when he moved. Streaks of crimson shot through his dark brown eyes, giving him a piercing yet calm stare. But what had most changed about his face was the burn.

It was like his skin had folded on itself to form the likeness of a whirlpool, covering his entire left cheek. On his right cheek, there extended an inch long scar which looked like it had only been recently healed. Yuuya fingered it as he remembered the events of that day. His previously average body had now miraculously transformed, his lean body packed with muscles like a fine sculpture. His arms were muscular now, and Yuuya himself looked much more like a warrior. All the baby fat on his face from before had vanished and he himself looked as if he had matured over a few years.

He turned to look at the set of clothes on the bed that Maria, Mili and Saki had handpicked for him. He smiled solemnly as he remembered his apology to them after he had told them what he had seen at the cavern. He had left most of it out as he only told them about that he had seen a multitude of bodies. Although they accepted it, Yuuya still felt a pang of guilt. They had immediately forgiven him for it, and even blamed themselves for leaving it all up to Yuuya. Mili was on the verge of tears as she struggled not to cry. Yuuya smiled as he remembered consoling her by patting her on the head.

With a solemn pace, Yuuya began pulling on the clothes, watching the alien person in the mirror mimic his actions. After he was dressed, he pulled on his leather belt and hung the Dortoh sword on it and admired himself for a few moments.

Yuuya had decided to not wear any of the things he had been given at his farewell party. Although it made him feel guilty about not using their gifts, Yuuya concluded that it was for the best because he was depending on his armor too much and not honing his skills enough. The trio had nearly jumped out of their shoes with excitement when Yuuya suggested to them that he needed some new clothes.

He wore a comfortable white cotton tunic and brown trousers made of a coarser material. A crimson cloak covered his shoulders, fastened by a crystal embedded equal armed cross that Saki had picked for him. On his wrists went a couple of sturdy bracers along with the shield gloves from the Curas treasure. He wore leather padding beneath his shirt, making him look slightly bulkier than usual. Maria had also bought him a helm, although he chose not to wear it unless the occasion demanded its necessity. And around his neck hung a faintly glowing crystal, a mana storing crystal that Mili had recommended for him.

Yuuya looked down at his wrist to see the familiar mana devouring bracelet. He had continuously poured in all the mana he could muster, but it still seemed dormant. Yuuya sighed to himself and made sure that his sword was properly buckled. Taking one long look at his reflection, Yuuya turned and set off.

“Ah! Yuuya! You’re finally here.” Maria greeted him as he entered the lobby of the inn. The trio was at the mess, gorging themselves on the landlady’s excellent cooking. Yuuya smiled at her and seated himself next to Mili. Saki nodded towards him before returning her attention to the piece of fish she was gnawing on.

“Yuuya.” Mili tugged at his sleeve and showed him the brown parchment in her hand. As Yuuya bit into the loaf Maria offered him, he read through the mission. “Hou…. A Platinum ranked mission huh…”

[align=center]

Courier Needed

Requestor Guriera Trading Company

Destination Manjial

Need an escort of warriors to transport precious cargo to the city of Manjial in Triol-Estri kingdom.(12 slots)

Recommended rank Platinum

Reward 60 silvers per adventurer.

“It’s 60 silvers as well…. Not bad Mili.” Yuuya muttered as he read the quest again. “But, twelve slots? Wouldn’t it be crowded? And where is this… Uh… Triol-Estri kingdom? Why do we need to go there?” Mili shifted in her seat as she picked the map from her bag and spread it on the wooden table. She pointed to the Ugraok kingdom, where they were now and began. “Yuuya, I don’t know if you forgot, but I… I need to get to the Forest of the Elves, Yuuya… And for that we have to head further west, to the Kabal continent… Manjial is one of the major harbor cities in Rudia, so we might be able to head to the Kabal continent from there.” She said, tracing her finger straight across the map, right to a continent in the west that was comparatively greener.

Yuuya felt a pang of guilt as he remembered the promise he made to Biriona. He had been so caught up with recent events that he had more or less forgotten that Mili was supposed to be dropped off at the Forest of the Elves. Maria looked gloomy as she stirred her soup around, feigning disinterest. Yuuya painfully smiled as he nodded. “You’re… You’re right, Mili. We should head to this, Triol-Estri kingdom. Good job.” He said and continued consuming his loaf. Mili nodded as she packed her bag up again. For the first time ever, Yuuya didn’t notice the normal air of aloofness around her, but rather, she seemed rather gloomy.

“Well,” Yuuya began, trying to clear up the gloomy mood. “At least we’ve got a few weeks to enjoy together! Let’s have some fun on the way!” He turned to look at Mili. “Mili, did you already accept the quest?”

“No. I asked the receptionist, and she said that we need to go to the Guriera Company ourselves and accept it. It’s a recruitment quest, so that ‘s the procedure, it seems.” Yuuya nodded as he replied. “Fine then. As soon as we eat up, we’ll head for the company.” Everyone nodded except Saki, who seemed to have managed to get a fishbone stuck in her throat.

“So wait.” Yuuya said. “To get to this… Triol-Estri Kingdom, we have to travel through…” Yuuya squinted as he tried to read the script on the map. “Te… Terof Kingdom?”

“Terosf Kingdom, and yes. It’s a small kingdom though. A bit bigger than Ugras perhaps.” Mili said matter-of-factly. “Right, right.” Yuuya muttered, struggling to restrain a smile. “You know Mili, how do you plan to get across an entire country? Or more importantly, how long do you plan to take?”

Mili seemed to stammer a bit as she replied. “W-we just have to… um… walk… Wait!” She started. “Like we’re going with these traders now, we can get there… And as for how much time…”

Yuuya relished in her nervousness as he pressed. “Well, that’s good and all, but you do know that it took us nearly a month to get to Ugras, and that was because Ugras was closer to Ravenblack Mili. But if we’re talking about one- no, two countries- Oh wait, it’s actually three countries. Haha.” Yuuya said as he slowly traced his finger across the countries. Maria stifled a laugh as she saw Mili sweating profusely.

“Oh wait!” Yuuya said, faking an expression of surprise. “Then, we’ve got to travel…” He moved his finger to the green Kabal continent. “…All the way here. By your estimate, how much time will we take Mili?”

“Yuuya, you idiot!” Mili yelled as she bolted away from the table. Maria burst out in laughter and even Saki managed a smile as she struggled to spit out the bone.

Chuckling silently, Yuuya returned his attention to the map.

But after all, I have been here so long, I’m no closer to find Shizuka…. I haven’t been able to find much here what with all the training and the Snake god. “-uuya!” Maria’s shout broke Yuuya out of his contemplation as he turned towards her.

“Yuuya, what you said, is Mili really going to leave at the…” She asked sadly. That reminds me, Yuuya thought, Maria doesn’t know about how Mili and I met. Yuuya nodded as he replied. “Yeah. You see Maria, Mili’s aunt actually told me to escort Mili to the Forest of the Elves, and I… I haven’t got around to doing it yet.” He added guiltily.

Maria stirred her soup gloomily. “Then, Yuuya, whn are you going to leave?” Yuuya laughed heartily as he rubbed Maria’s head on an impulse, making her blush. “I’m not going anywhere for now, nor do I have anywhere to go… But I am searching for someone. Someone important to me.” He added, widening Maria’s eyes. “Im-important… Is it…” She began, but Yuuya quickly cut in. “She’s someone who has helped me out a lot in the past. It’s only right for me to want to search for her.” Maria let out what seemed to be a mix of a relieved and a nervous sigh. “On that note, where do you want to go Maria?”

She played around with her soup as she replied. “For now… I just want to stay with the Dusk Hunters.” It took Yuuya a moment to figure out that it was the name of their party. “I… I feel happy here. Satisfied. And that’s something I haven’t felt in a long time.” Maria smiled sweetly at Yuuya. Yuuya grinned back at Maria as he stood up. “Well, that’s good to know. Get some work on your Freeform magic.” He patted Saki’s head as he left and she slightly inclined her head as a reply. Still silent huh. Yuuya thought.

A quick use of Detect and his senses were all it took for Yuuya to find Mili. She was in her room, snuggling herself inside the blanket. She merely sniffed as Yuuya greeted her, not even turning to look at him. Smiling, Yuuya seated himself next to her. “So, what’s wrong?” Mili shifted, but didn’t speak. Sighing, Yuuya reclined on the bed, staring at the ceiling. “You know Mili, I know you’ve been through a lot, but unless you tell people, it will eat you up from the inside. If you want to, I can always lend an ear.”

Mili’s blanket moved as she removed it to regard him with her brilliant emerald eyes. Yuuya was startled to see that the tips of her eyes were shining with fresh tears. She took a deep breath as she replied after a few minutes. “I… I feel confused Yuuya.”

“Mm?” Yuuya raised an eyebrow.

“It’s… it’s like you said… I want to be with Dusk hunters, but… but I also want to see Papa and Mama…” She sniffed, fresh tears beginning to flow. Yuuya thought for a minute before replying. “Well, like I said, we’ll be together for a while. And obviously, we’ll come with you to see your Papa and Mama. And then we’ll all be together for some time, won’t we? So cheer up. You’re gonna have to put up with me for a while more.” Yuuya said, grinning.

Mili wiped her eyes as she replied. “Y-you’re… you’re not as bad as I thought Yuuya…” She seemed to be struggling over the words, making Yuuya smile painfully. “But you’re still a big idiot!” She added with a smile that made his day.

Yuuya smiled back at her happily as he replied. “Then, let’s go to this… Gurie-whatsit company and head to Manjial!”

“Mm!”