A blanket of thinly veiled snow found its way onto the outer terrace as a man sat at its center. Legs crossed and eyes closed—amid a trance of mediation. The snow continuously built upon his shoulders and head as he didn’t move even in the slightest. Immersed in that blank and soundless atmosphere, his focus was shattered the moment another decided to parade themselves through the residence behind him.

“Yojim! You around? Hello~”

The voice echoed down the hall, making its way to the snow-covered man, Yojim. His body twitched in both irritation and hesitation as he exhaled slowly and finally opened his eyes—holding an annoyed expression. Swiping off the snow from around his body and head, the boisterous voice had finally located him.

“Yo! Finally found ya, Yojim! Listen, listen! I’ve got some crazy news for you!”

“Do you really have to be this loud, Kamui?”

“C’mon, don’t be such a drab. Just hear me out, will ya?”

Yojim felt reluctant on listening to the prattling of the man before him, but he knew better not to argue against him. Surrendering himself to Kamui’s pace, that boisterous voice continued.

“According to the Mistress, the last one has finally been summoned. Or to be more exact—they came into this world around a month ago. She’s as slow as ever with her info gathering, huh? Ahaha!”

“And? What does that have to do with me?”

“At least humor me a bit, would ya?! Ain’t much others I can really talk with around here after all. Even that lout, Targon, is apparently off getting into random brawls in Ospus. And not a word from the Mistress for him! Guy is fully taking advantage of his Unique SKILL and freedom, huh? ...Shit, makes me a bit mad just thinking about it now.”

As expected, Yojim figured he’d drift toward a tangent like a breeze-driven whim.

“Just get to the point already. I know you didn’t come here just to gossip.”

“Fine. Fine.”

Kamui immediately squatted down, all the while wrapping his arm around Yojim’s shoulder and bringing him along—closer to him. Yojim couldn’t help but tense up in response, and as Kamui pulled him in, a small orb rested in Kamui’s palm. The orb brightened and activated, followed by a sudden whisper near Yojim’s ear.

“You got work from the Mistress, ol’ Yojim. She wants you—alongside that Tamer you’re so close with—to head beyond the border to Cretho’s capital city, Nefra.”

It felt awfully sudden, as Yojim wasn’t one to squander his time without reason—he had indeed spent a prolonged number of weeks inside the current residence on the Mistress’ command.

“Why now of all times? Hm...? The one that was summoned...?”

“Is a Wizard, apparently! Pfft. The Mistress has it out for em already simply based on their Class—ahaha! And she wants you to capture em alive. And if you can’t do that—just kill em. Her own words.”

“And how am I supposed to locate...”

A short pause came as Yojim now realized what Kamui had stated earlier was implying. He then continued.

“So, that’s why I’m bringing her along, is that it?”

“Bingo~”

“I understand then. When are we supposed to head out?”

“Right this second!”

Releasing his arm from around Yojim, Kamui leapt back slightly behind him. Closing his palm over the orb, he gave slight glances to his surroundings as he then shifted his attention back toward Yojim who was now also standing his way.

“You’ve been a shut-in for so long here anyways, so might as well go out and get some clean, fresh city air!”

“It’s not as if I remained here simply because I wanted to.”

“Yeah, yeah. You just gotta stop being such a hard-ass, y’know? The Mistress understands that about you—completely—and definitely makes thorough use of you thanks to that nature of yours.”

“...”

A callous smile stretched to each end of Kamui’s face, while an unease set upon Yojim’s nerves. And as Kamui directed his body to the building nearby the two of them, he threw a hand wave over his shoulder as began to make for his departure. He continued talking aloud in order to make sure Yojim could hear him clearly.

“Oh! I’ll also be heading way down south myself too. Doubt we’ll come across one another, but just wanted to give you the heads up. The Mistress finally got around to easing up on our lockdown. So, without further ado...”

A quick and deadly pivot—in a complete 180°—his now outstretched arms released something from both ends of his fingertips. The hard sound of two separate thuds took to the scene as his actions met his intended targets. Yojim gave a glance toward one of the bodies in the distance, fully understanding what it meant.

“...So, she’s finally giving you permission to deal with those spectators, is that it?”

A joyous smile spread across Kamui’s face once more.

“Yup! Seems like we’ll both be having a bit of fun finally, huh? Feels like we’ve been in prison these past few months, but now—”

Once again walking off, his boisterous voice remained overpowering amid the once quiet blanket of white.

“—You get to hunt a Wizard, and I’ll be hunting some nosy and shrewd Elven! May both of our prey be interesting ones~”

Disappearing into the nearby building, Yojim was now left alone under the slow drift of the falling snow. Bending over his previous spot, he then placed his grip over his weapon and cleared its surface of the lingering white. Reattaching it to his side, he exhaled once more as he watched his visible breath take to the sky and slowly dissipate. Muttering one last thing to himself before heading inside.

“So, all fourteen have finally been summoned? It’s time for us to truly start, it seems.”