“So, uh, how has life been so far?” Gemini asked.

“Bad. I’ve been chased down by demons, living off my fieldcraft skills and haven’t used a proper toilet in ages,” Ars-Lila replied promptly. “Being a girl sucks so many ways. You get cramps at bad times, there’s a monthly inconvenience and you’re weaker than the guys when all other things are equal.”

The Constellation blinked. He didn’t expect the demon to be so…straightforward. After eyeing her pasta thoughtfully, he said, “Well, I suppose this place must have been like paradise when you finally arrived.”

“I thought Maia was kidding when he talked about Ark City being a great place, but…” She looked around. “I guess not.”

Gemini felt his chest tighten somewhat when she mentioned Maia, and he looked away.

“Yes.” He forced out a few words. “He wasn’t.”

The demon looked at Gemini, who tried to avoid her gaze. “It hurts, doesn’t it? Seeing someone you know die. He, like many of the other soldiers, never came back. If we had fended off the enemy back then, we could have revived them all at the Blood Pool. But…”

Blood Pool? The Constellation noted the name down, and then said, “We couldn’t have. There was a Demigod there, remember? The Demon God’s familiar spirit. Blasted the walls to pieces, and allowed the primal demons to enter the city.”

“Yes.” She shook her head. “Alright, enough of this depressing stuff.”

Gemini nodded, and without thinking, asked, “How old are you anyway? You look rather young for a Kn—Scholar.”

She glared at the Constellation and asked, “Are you single?”

“Yes, but I don’t think this is rele—”

“Well,” Ars-Lila said, “I now know why you’re single. You call your Campmaster insensitive, but I think you’re the most insensitive one of all. You should work on your conversational skills.”

Gemini opened his mouth, found nothing to say, and snapped it shut again. Ars-Lila nodded at the sight approvingly, saying, “See? If you have nothing better to say, you should keep quiet. Words without value shouldn’t be spoken. You’ll just embarrass yourself.”

“R-right.” The Constellation cleared his throat, but he wasn’t too sure what he wanted to say next. He couldn’t remember the last time he held actual conversation that didn’t concern anything about the current state of affairs.

I’ve…forgotten how to hold small talk? Me? Gemini cast his gaze around, looking for something of substance to say, and started to panic when nothing good came to his mind. After a few months of fighting the demons, it seemed that whatever progress he’d made in the peaceful days spent at Heritage Basestation had gone to the dogs.

“There’s no need to push it, Gemini,” Ars-Lila said. “Silence is also a good companion. After all…that’s the company I had for the past few months too. I’m used to it.”

“I-is that so?” Gemini tugged at his sleeve — he didn’t like his hands being unoccupied, for some reason. “How did you spend the last few months, while avoiding capture?”

“Oho, good question.” Her eyes lit up, and the Constellation heaved a sigh of relief inwardly. “The skies are controlled by the primal demons now, so the safest way to get around would be to walk. Of course, when I say walk, I actually mean crawling around and making sure no one can spot you. The basics of camouflage and fieldcraft are essential here — if you are prepared, you can stay out in the wild for years on end.”

“On end?”

“It’s not hard to get enough food for yourself if you’re adequately prepared,” said the demon. “Of course, life is a lot easier if you have the right tools and knowledge. How to cook without leaving behind traces, or how to create shelters easily…things like this make travelling stealthily a lot more bearable.”

Gemini pondered on her words for a moment, and then promptly decided that he wasn’t enough of a masochist to spend more than a week outfield. Fortunately, he had enough awareness to not say the last part out, and instead chose to put an interested look on his face. Ars-Lila, upon seeing that expression, dove into a day by day account of her days outside.

The conversation began to expand as the two started sharing their tips. It would have been a tip-sharing session for fieldcraft, if not for the fact that Ars-Lila spent a lot of time offering suggestions and tips on how to improve Gemini’s fieldcraft — or whatever meagre experiences he had, anyway. As a Paragon, his experience when camping with the forces of the Second Extermination years ago had been rather comfortable, since he didn’t really need to do anything.

Such an…experience had turned around to bite him on the posterior, in terms of his pride, and by the end of the conversation, Gemini had lost half of his self-esteem, despite the fact that Ars-Lila had been adorably helpful, eager and polite in pointing out his mistakes. He now had a feeling that all his experience he got while on the battlefield was, for the lack of a better word, bogus.

Substandard, even.

After taking a whole host of mental notes from Ars-Lila’s helpful lecture, Campmaster Magnus strode in, flanked by the Warmaster and General Degurechaff. It was an impressive entry, marred by the fact that there were a host of bruises on the Campmaster’s face, and Gemini didn’t really need to think too hard as to who the culprits were.

“Nice to see that the two of you have become friends,” said the Campmaster. “It’s a good thing too, since we’ve decided to offer asylum to Ars-Lila. Gemini, while you’re at it, please take care of her lodging or something. It’s high time you got friends your age, not just old fogies like us.”

“Isn’t he an Exemplar too?” Ars-Lila asked. “How is he my age?”

“Oh,” said the Campmaster. “Don’t let his powers fool you — he’s twenty-two this year.”

“Twenty-four,” Gemini corrected on instinct.

“There you have it,” said Magnus. “But he hasn’t made much friends the entire time he was here. It’s good to have you with us.”

“An Exemplar at the age of twenty-four…” She glanced at Gemini. “Damn.”

“I’m a special case,” Gemini replied. “Most people never get that far in their lifetime…I guess I’m just lucky?”

“Lucky…” she murmured. “Well, whatever. Come on, show me a good house that I could live in.”

With these words, she tugged at Gemini’s arm, pulling him out.