It was not even dawn, but D-7 and their new companions, Peram and Vivace, were already up. Because of the ruckus they have made on Pierre’s house, they were alert all night. Someone might become suspicious and turn their eyes on them, given that their visit to this ‘city,’ Reiss, was as sudden as it was. One can never be too cautious, however, as they immediately took plans on what to do next.

Peram and Vivace were busy admiring the reserve civilian uniforms D-7 lent them. They were made of the same synthetic fabric as their black and red ones, but the sole purpose of the attire is to not incite much of an imposing attention from the civilians. They were lightly-armored, however, so D-7 always have the option to resort to these aside from their standard-issue.

The attire itself consists of a white long-sleeved button-up shirt, outlined by red stripes, and brown slacks.

“I have to say, this is impressive. I’ve never worn such formal clothes.” Peram fiddled around with his new attire, which fit him, but Vivace’s only barely did. It was quite baggy for her.

“Vivace… Isn’t that too big for you?” Wizbette consulted, as the reserve attire was hers.

“No… I’m quite fond of this…” She said, lifting up the white fabric of the shirt and letting it go. It fell gently to her chest. After their small inspection, everyone eventually calmed down.

“We should leave when dawn arrives. We cannot stay here for longer.” Gen, now recovered, suggested. He and the others were circling the table, waiting for someone to decide the best action.

“But how can we get out? The gates are manned by the guards, and Pierre controls them. And this… huge truck cannot ease its way past to the other district.” Peram noted. Fein managed to brew a cup of tea before sipping it and responded.

“We’ll try to get out as smooth as possible. If you’re right, then Pierre will be out today, which means his guards are not directly commanded by him.”

“Hopefully.” He paused, before continuing.

“Enna here will try to talk her way out of the city.” He patted Enna’s shoulder, who then looked at him with raised eyebrows.

“Well, if captain wants to… I’d gladly take the responsibility~” She mused.

“Miss… Your ability, how does it work?” Vivace asked while fiddling with the cup in front of her, steaming with hot chocolate that Gen snobbishly offered as ‘apology.’

Enna cleared her throat, as if to feign explanation, but what can she say to reject? The girl was curious, after all.

“Well… let’s just say I’m a good smooth-talker… as ‘someone’ put it…” Enna rolled her eyes, as to remark her nickname given by Ayane. “I can alter someone’s mind to persuade them much easier.”

“Huh… That sounds a lot like Pierre’s…” She looked at the cup, and tried to sip in.

“Ow! Hot!” She squirmed from the sharp pain.

“Ah, you mean the coins? I had that notion, too. Controlling the people using his ability…”

Peram then added to the conversation. “It was about a month or two ago. The people who were not Vassals were slowly getting lazy. It’s as if someone drugged them to be as docile as possible.”

“He’s afraid of a revolt to their corruption. Afraid of change. I think.” Gen pondered.

“He helped us, true. But that was all a ruse to get to the lord’s fingertips, and to not arouse the people’s attention. The lord is not a Vassal, so there’s a high possibility that he himself became a puppet to Pierre’s ability.”

“The lord, though? Where is he right now?”

'“At the center of this city. This… ‘slums’ only makes up the majority of Reiss; most of the noblemen have their own district to themselves. There’s a plaza and a building, which also doubles as the noblemen’s office. It’s pretty far, however, and he’s not that important to our matter at hand.”

“Hmm. Yeah.” Gen shrugged. He then saw Wizbette, coming out of the med-bay.

“Oh, good morning, princess. Even if the sun is not up yet.”

“’Morning… Gen.”

“Up all night taking care of Sora?”

“Yep. His wounds are all closed now, but he is yet to recover from fatigue.”

“That’s good to hear. At the very least, he’s recovering.”

Wizbette looked behind Gen’s back, and droned her eyes to Vivace, who was busy being cautious at drinking.

“Aren’t you mad at her? For doing that to Sora?”

“Of course, I am.” Gen crossed his arms. “She’s annoying, and would’ve nearly cost Sora’s life if she didn’t cooperate…”

“I understand. Danger always catches up to us people. But… look at her. She’s still an innocent girl. After I heard both of their story, I kind of see why they are so cautious. It’s sad to hear…”

“Yeah. She seemed no younger than you, Wiz. She’s been through a lot. But Sora, though…”

Wiz touched Gen’s arm with her palm, feeling the synthetic fabric of his coat.

“Mhhmm. I’m here, though. Just do your best out there, and I’ll always be ready to heal you all.” Leaning onto her front and facing him, she smiled.

“As I always do.”

“Hah. Really. Well, it can’t be helped. I’ll try to close our gap, since I have a soft spot for people younger than me…”

“Just don’t incite her temper with yours, eh?”

“Tch. Of course, princess.”

“Everyone!” Fein called out. Everyone except the still-asleep Sora gathered.

“When dawn breaks, we will take action to leave this city as fast as we can. We will then proceed to the outskirts village where the ‘reanimated’ were sighted.”

“We will have to go west. It’s in a forest, so expect that we will need to park the Beaver on the edges.” Gris said.

“Because we have limited information as of now, we’ll scout the place first before engaging. And be cautious. It’s likely that Pierre has some business with that ‘associate’ of his.”

“Wait. Let me see the map.” Peram nudged his way into the table. He traced the marked point on a forest west of Reiss.

“I didn’t realize there was a village here, all this time…” He was intrigued.

“You two.” Fein said. “Are you confident enough? What we might see there will not be pleasant.”

Vivace swallowed, but Peram responded with courage.

“We are. As long as we get to the bottom of all this and expose Pierre for his… inhumane acts.”

“Mhm!” Vivace nodded.

“That settles it, then. You are now in our custody: whatever may happen to both you two, we will take responsibility.”

Mido, who was listening to them all this time, whispered to Wiz. “Hey… I think I have heard that before.”

Wiz softly giggled before responding. “Now, you see. Better get used to it!”

Just as they concluded their discussion, the faint, orange rays dawned upon the city. Realizing this, they all agreed to move out.

“Oiii~” Enna called as she stepped into the cobblestone path. Their vehicle was parked just in front of the gates, the guards in their way.

Mido looked around to assess. There were no people, except for those in front of the Beaver. Enna’s convincing voice echoed through the buildings. Dawn is the supposed time for people to start moving out and about, but not even the cluttering of their kitchens or the faint call of animals can be heard. The footsteps or the creaking of the floorboards inside the buildings were almost absent.

It was eerie.

“Sir Peram… Is this normal?” Mido asked.

“Uhuh.” Peram replied. “It’s always like this in the morning. And not to creep you out more, but the people in this district all wake up at almost the exact same time, when the sun passes that symbol.” He pointed to a distant pillar, barely visible from the distance, but its outlines can be seen just enough for the naked eye. The top looks like a shield, hollowed out by a circle in the middle.

“The guards also sleep in predictable intervals. It’s as if that noble scheduled even their internal clocks.”

“Pierre’s ability, huh. If it’s powerful enough to affect a whole district, I wonder what comes in store for us at that village,” commented Gen.

“Hey! It’s all done!” Enna waved from the path through the window, and swiftly ran back to the Beaver. When she got inside, Enna notified them. “Just play along.”

Two guards approached them. Looking inside their faces, they had the same tired, dazed expression. Because of their insight on the matter, however, they knew why the guards, and quite possibly the civilians also, are acting up like this.

“Nobleman Pierre requested for a delivery?”

“Uh, yes.” Gris said, quite anxiously so.

“Alright. Load the goods!” They lazily searched inside their barracks, beside the gate. But even if one of D-7 tries to peek through, the inside was devoid of these “goods” Enna provoked them to load.

Everyone inside looked at each other. What exactly did she tell them?

“Fucking dummies!” She unremorsefully slapped one of the guard’s helmets, sending a loud clang unto his poor head and dizzying him for a bit. The others were too ‘lazy’ and exhausted to react to it, however.

“The goods are already here… We took the liberty to load it for you lazy boys!”

“Ohh… We’re sorry ma’am.” One of them monotonously said.

“Right. Now let us pass.”

They came back to their posts, and after a while, the wooden gates opened for them. The Beaver shook as it came through, the wheels constantly thudded against the pavement. Once they had a wide clearing, they turned to an intersection and headed west. The prairie fields once again came into view, some patches not blocked by the walls were slowly being basked in the early morning rays.

“That… was so easy.” Vivace looked at Enna, both in awe and wary.

“Officer Enna is essential to us in information gathering and persuasion. Don’t worry, she has a lot of experience…” Gen jeered a bit at the last part as she tapped continuously unto Enna’s shoulder, prompting her to elbow jab him on his right hip.

“Ow!”

“Just shut up, glutton.”

Gen backed out from her quickly and roamed the room. Vivace looked before chuckling a bit. This raised Enna’s eyebrow, and prompted her a question.

“Kid.”

“Yes?” She quickly stiffened herself.

“You look like an adorable girl, but how did you actually do that to Sora?”

“I got a bit too scared yesterday, I think. That man. Mido, was it… He nearly burned Peram’s arm off…” She said timidly, pointing to Mido, who immediately responded.

“Right… I had no choice, though. And so did you. But still, I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right. At least it’s intact.” Peram jested a bit. Disregarding it, Mido ushered a half-bow to him.

“Ah, raise your head. Besides, it was all a misunderstanding.”

“Sorry… I’ll need to tell that to… Sora…” Vivace looked at the med-bay door.

“He’s still recovering. Hopefully, he’ll be able to rejoin us before we arrive at the forest.” Mido commented, to which Vivace nodded. Her beige hair shyly bobbed as she moved her head.

“Hmm… They say temper governs man, if ungoverned.” Enna quoted. “You’re still young. And brave. But don’t let anger be the only driving force in that bravery, okay?”

To be fair, Vivace was surprised at Enna lecturing her. She thought she might remark her carelessness in making soundless decisions, but she did not expect her to be this consoling. Little by little, Vivace, and by extension, Peram, warmed up to D-7.

Nodding, she turned to see the grass fields dancing and whizzing past by as the Beaver drove away from the small city of Reiss. The walls became tinier, and the winding dirt path soon inserted itself into the main road. They were now heading west, following the trader’s information, and into the outskirts of this land.

“Mido…” Wizbette called to upstairs. As she went up, she saw him, all alone, staring at the expanse.

“Yep?” Mido asked, focused on looking at the landscape.

“So, what do you say? It’s like an adventure, right?”

“With the risks, I think so. I mean, I only saw snow until now. To think that the world extends farther than the ice plains is so… Unimaginable.”

Wizbette leaned closer.

“We’re still not even at a quarter of the world.”

“Wiz. You came from a nation, right? How far is it?”

Wizbette sighed and arranged her hair as it flowed through the wind.

“Oh, it’s far away, alright. You’d have to travel a lot of weeks just to get there. But still, when you get to the border…” She shook her head.

“Hm?”

“Nothing. You see, Anzach, the nation, is very tight on who goes in and out. I was lucky when captain’s group came for me. Designation Seven…”

“Were you saved too?”

Wiz nodded. “Mhhmm. Just like you. But, oh well, it’s all in the past. I still revere Anzach as my god, though. The God of Life is merciful, even to a little priestess that is so far away…” She slowly extended her hand to the morning rays.

“Ah… I still don’t know what to say…” Mido said as he leaned on the metal fencing. “It is a wide world out there, and I still want to see more of this. It’s changing what I truly see…”

“Well… Not to boast, but you’re beside your, ahem, ‘healer,’ don’t you remember? Be grateful, Mido…” She quite literally boasted.

“Really, Wiz… Why are you taking pride on me? Gris said you witnessed and saved lots of lives during your time with them, but why me?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Wiz giggled while covering her mouth.

“Out of all the people I saved, you’re the first person that I can actually see grow.”

“What does that mean?”

“it’s true, I take pride on saving lives. I’m a priestess of the God of Life, of course. But I’ve never had the chance to actually see how they live their second lives. It’s exciting, you know… For me, at least. Because my ability always risks itself to give another chance to someone, I want to know if they are grateful or not…”

“Your curiosity surprises me always.”

“Say for yourself. But because you, ‘of all people,’ are on my eyes now… I want to see you prosper.” Wiz looked at Mido’s chest and saw the medallion Gris gave to him. The phoenix, clutching a topaz gem.

“Oh! Where did that come from?” She pointed to the medallion, which Mido promptly grabbed.

“This? Gris gave it to me. Said it’s from my town. It might be the only memento left of that…” Clutching it, he turned his head to Wiz.

“That speaks for you, you know. Coincidence or not. That creature, the phoenix, as they call it, symbolizes rebirth. They also say that that birdlike creature is forged by sun, and is the familiar of Anzach, being with life and all.”

“Huh… Intriguing…” Pondering for a while, Mido looked at Wiz through her emerald eyes.

“Wizbette… I’m grateful. I’m now far away from home. But I cannot return to it… Even my head is closed off to them. But still, I have to find whoever’s responsible. I need to, or I might lose my purpose.”

Wiz held his arm. “Like I said, Mido. I’ll see to it that you’ll find justice.”

“Even if I’m blind?”

“Yes. Even if you are blind.”

Even if you are blind, someone will always lead you. Be it a dog, servant, or someone dear.

I’ll strive to be that one.