Elionor didn’t like wandering around the old Lorenzi mansion. For one, even Jasper scowled while she was here, and this was her family’s home; second, ruins always had a certain quality that made her…less than sane. She’d drink if she liked alcohol—drunkenness helped, but Jasper hated when she tried and Elionor didn’t like the taste anyway.

She could never figure out if Jasper valued her as a person or just liked her work ethic—it was easy to assume the former when Jasper took away any knives during Elionor’s episodes, but those same events would also hinder Jasper’s plans if Elionor stabbed, say, the next best person with weapons. She wouldn’t complain since she was still desperate for conversation, but Jasper was an odd person.

Jasper came to the Lorenzi house, walked around a little bit, then left. Elionor was among those asked to stay behind—mostly just to see if Jasper’s mystery friend came. Elionor herself was the unofficial leader of the group, if only because the others saw her madness as a trait that could show itself at any time instead of something that only appeared after certain conditions. She didn’t even need to be armed, and they were scared of her.

They walked from Relan’s old capital to the Lorenzi house a few times a day; the other paths led to other fallen noble’s homes, according to Jasper. Elionor didn’t think about it too much—this whole area seemed to be something that most of Relan chose to ignore. Other than that, the remains of other houses would likely bother her.

It was about two weeks after Jasper had left. Elionor took her group from the ancient capital down the road as she had been, and upon entering the Lorenzi’s old land she saw a group of three. One matched the description of Jasper’s ‘old friend,’ while the other two looked to be from Cheryn.

Elionor took a step forward and questioned them. The Letrelan made some remark, tried to leave, and Elionor opted to make sure they left. Only two out of her group of five fought, given the number of opponents—in the other group, the Letrelan didn’t fight while the other two tried but generally acted poorly. She didn’t think a single arrow from the archer hit, nor did any blow the other managed to hit bleed. Elionor followed them with her own sword until they went past the border of Lorenzi lands; she watched them leave for a few moments before looking back at her group.

“We can go back to Jasper now,” Elionor said. “There’s no need to wait—I saw what I was asked to stay here for.”

The men didn’t exactly agree nor protest, their understanding murmured and silent due to their own fear. Elionor sighed, sheathed her sword, and led them back to the old capital so they could collect their things. Jasper wanted them to meet her in a certain village in Cheryn—one whose reputation lied in wickedness, so that they could begin to purge the evil groups before moving on to the supposed ‘innocents.’

It took another few weeks for them to get from the Lorenzi house to the shore, and another week in Cheryn to find Jasper. Elionor had someone else lead—she had only ever lived in Aliviedo, the nation she was born in, and Relan, so she wasn’t familiar with Cheryn’s land. Aside from that, the warmth—of the people’s smiles, of the coming summer, of her heart through the scenery that reminded her of home—caught her off guard. The others wouldn’t see her falter if she trailed behind them.

They met up with Jasper outside of one of the targeted villages. Elionor opted to get her attention.

“Jasper,” Elionor said.

She looked back at them, offering a nod of greeting. “Thank you for staying behind to look into things for me. Did you see someone matching the description?”

“Letrelan with red eyes and red hair,” Elionor noted. “He was walking around the Lorenzi house with a blonde girl and a brown-haired guy. They didn’t take anything, but they looked a bit disappointed.”

Jasper seemed to recognize the description. “I already have someone looking after that group,” she said. Addressing some of the others, she said, “Two of you need to go back and watch them. Stay a day behind them and track where they go.”

Two men offered to go and they left. Jasper looked back at the rest. “Thanks again,” Jasper said. “We can head into the area in another few days.”

The remainder of the group nodded, and Elionor wordlessly resumed her position next to Jasper. The latter didn’t make any real note about it—Jasper liked watching Elionor to make sure she didn’t, say, stab anyone without a reason (or stab herself for a multitude of reasons), and Jasper was the only one who would understand that Elionor wasn’t completely insane.

Jasper herself didn’t fight—so, when it came time to go into the village, Elionor fought in Jasper’s stead.