After seeing Shango off, Ave and Rolla went to Ave’s private office to wait for the results of Shango’s assessment and to finish planning out the smoothest road possible for Shango.

Inside of the office, books and maps could be seen covering nearly every corner of the office except for the wall behind Ave, which had a spear mounted on it that was visually stunning.

The spear held an incredible beauty to it. It drew attention like a world-famous painting that just had to be appreciated. This tool that was used to kill people was just too beautiful. The color of the spear would fluctuate often. If Shango were here, he would note the color was very similar to the Aurora from his old world. Underneath the spear was a grimoire that was an earthy brown color. It gave off a very comforting feeling, one that seemed to make a person let their guard down.

From time to time, Ave would look back with a longing in her eyes before continuing her work. She was happy that it was nothing permanent, but she was still upset that all her effort and training was gone.

One of the main reasons for not immediately starting her training was that she took on the responsibility to look after Shango. She felt mostly at fault for his summoning, plus she knew that if it were left to others, the challenges he would have to face would have been much harder than any other summoned Hero.

“Ave, do you think he will be all right?” Rolla asked as she placed a pile of documents next to Ave, who had her head down reading one document after another while rejecting or approving them.

Finishing up her current pile, she reached for another one next to the one that Rolla had just placed down, continuing the same process of accepting or rejecting each one.

“To be honest, I’m not sure.” she said, not lifting her head from the pile of documents while reading each line with great care. Pausing for a moment, she brought the pen-like object to her lips and gave more thought to Rolla’s question.

“Few people can interact with that elder without wanting to attack him. Even my father thinks the elder is odd and rarely interacts with him. One does not get the name the mad elder for nothing.” A forced smile appeared on her face.

“Hmmph. You are the only one that calls him odd. The rest of us with sense call him what he is—a damn lunatic!” Rolla had a look of extreme displeasure written all over her face. Even her breathing had gotten rough. A small shiver went through her body as she hugged herself, trying to calm herself down.

“Hahaha.” Ave placed the pen she held in her right hand behind her ear and threw both of her arms wide open in the air, stretching while letting out a yawn. “Sometimes I forget that being unable to forgive others is a strong trait in your bloodline.” Thinking about all the people that Rolla had a grudge against, Ave could not help but let out a chuckle.

“Hmph.” Rolla became visibly upset by Ave words and just looked at her for a moment before the most bewitching smile appeared on her face.

It took a moment for Ave to notice the smile, but when she did, she knew she something troubling was about to occur.

That smile was one that Ave had seen many times throughout their many years together, and accompanied it was this look in her eyes. It was similar to the look a cat would have just as it was about to misbehave.

Showing Ave one of the sweetest smiles, Rolla walked out the room for a brief moment and returned with a massive pile of documents that was three times as big as the last pile she brought. She did that repeatedly for several trips, with each pile brought getting bigger and bigger than the previous. It got to the point where it looked comical as the pile was a least two feet above her head at that point.

Bang!

“Break’s over, Ninth Princess Avelina,” Rolla said as she dropped the last and most enormous pile right in front of Ave.

Looking at the massive piles that she could no longer see over, Ave knew she had upset Rolla. Since she had bought Rolla from the slave auction those many years ago, she had come to understand her temperament well.

Even though she would never tell her how she ended up as a slave, she did reveal bits and pieces of her past to her as they grew closer over the years.

“There’s still paperwork that is on the way. I will bring it to you immediately when it gets here.”

The smile that Rolla had was wide, and the look of complete satisfaction was displayed all over her face.

Looking at the piles of paperwork, a sense of hopelessness came over Ave. Knowing that it was hopeless to ask Rolla for help, she just grabbed her pen that was still behind her ear, pulled her self back to her desk, and got to work.

***

“Now was that so hard?” Rolla said as she looked at Ave, who was sprawled over her desk.

“That’s all for today Ave. The rest can be finish after you rest a bit,” Rolla said as she started to tidy up around Ave.

She felt a lot better after seeing the tired look on Ave’s face, so her mood was lifted entirely. Realizing that Rolla was no longer upset, she also felt better, even though her hands were sore now.

“How do you think things are going with Shango and the elder?” Ave asked with her face still flat down on the desk.

“I don’t know,” Rolla replied as she cleaned up the last bit of mess made by Ave, and sat in a chair she had placed directly behind Ave.

“Oddly enough, though, I feel that he may be able to deal with the old nutcase.”

Realizing that Rolla had sat down behind her, Ave sat up and leaned back into her chair. Without skipping a beat, Rolla then proceeded to run her fingers through Ave’s hair like an older sister playing with her younger sister’s hair.

“I also think the same, even though I could not get a good grasp of his personality. I think I can understand what kind of man he is.”

“ I feel the same way.” Pausing for a moment, she began to think of all the interactions she had had with Shango so far and a beautiful smile formed on her face.

“I get the feeling that the elder and Shango many get along very well. Both of them seem to have unique characters.”

“Haha, it may be as you say, Rolla.”

Carrying on like that, the two went on to talk about many things. Awhile later, Ave received a message that Shango had exited the assessment room.