The streets outside Ark Interior were positively bustling when compared to the gloomy inner city, with the din of people making a living and going through their daily routines creating a din soothing to the ears. It was life itself, something that Gemini had grown to love in his days spent at Heritage Basestation.

Most of Ark City’s important people had two places of residence. One within Ark Interior, and the other someplace outside Ark Interior. The former was allocated by the Congress while the latter was chosen by those people themselves. It didn’t take too much brain cells to figure out which residence was more popular with the key appointment holders of Ark City.

Ars-Lila was looking around the place curiously, at his side. She was most interested in the food stands that seemed to be omnipresent everywhere around Ark City’s streets, each of them giving off a delightful smell.

“If you’re interested in trying them out,” said Gemini, “you should begin your tour as soon as possible. I make it a note to patronise three new stands every day, but I haven’t finished more than half the city yet.”

“That many?” Ars-Lila replied.

“Yes,” said the Constellation. “And I haven’t counted the eateries, restaurants and what have you yet.”

“Where does all that food come from?” She asked, her eyes alight with desire. “I don’t think your city has a huge hunting contingent, right? Most of the beasts have been killed off — we had to rely on what the Demon God called farming for millennia.”

“Livestock, I think.” Gemini rubbed his nose. “Ark City is a place of surprises. Its food production is kept highly regulated and secret — it was designed to last millennia under a siege, like Ars, or so I’m told.”

The Constellation caught himself as the comparison slipped through his mouth, and hastily apologised.

“It’s okay,” said the demon. “It’s history now. We have to face it. Most of us are gone, dead. And whatever remains have fled for a new home, over at a place of legend. I’m not even sure if they managed to get there. And even if they did…”

She shook her head. “I’m effectively the only one left from my tribe now.”

Gemini felt a pang in his chest. Somehow, her words had struck a chord in his heart, something deep within his subconscious. His eyes were warm, and as he looked at the lost demon, the Constellation suddenly knew what to say.

Raising his right hand, he placed it on her shoulder and said, “You’re in Ark City now. You’ll never be alone here. There’ll be friends you can make. New people to interact with. And…I’ll be here too. I still need to pay you back for your lesson fees.”

“Gemini…yes, you still need to pay me my lesson fees from earlier,” Ars-Lila replied.

The gloomy atmosphere around her had subsided, something that brought a small smile to the Constellation’s face, and in high spirits, he brought her to a nearby store. Ark City’s stands had one staple in common — chicken skewers, and it was not a stretch to say that the skewer scene was competitive to the point that an average skewer in Ark City could be a gourmet dish in the Five Lands.

“A dozen skewers, please,” Gemini asked. “Season every pair differently.”

The middle-aged woman grinned. “Coming right up!”

Her hands left afterimages as the chef basted twelve skewers and brought them over to a grill. Even from the other side of the stand, Gemini could feel the sheer heat from it, and after a few seconds, she retrieved the skewers, which were now a rich roasty brown, with no black charring marks on them. Seasonings fell like rain, and with a flourish, the skewers were done and placed into two separate bags.

“There you go, handsome fella.” She winked. “That’ll be two large bronze coins.”

“Isn’t it two large and four small bronze coins?” Gemini asked.

“Oh, don’t sweat the little details! Few people bring their girlfriends to patronise stands like ours. Most of them choose the restaurants or eateries.” She shook her head. “Whenever the Festival of Hearts comes around, we’re always watching long queues outside them. It’s kinda sad.”

Gemini wanted to debate the ‘girlfriend’ part, but doing so might make Ars-Lila think that he disliked her, so he chose to ask about the Festival of Hearts instead.

“Oh,” replied the chef, “it’s a day when you bring your lover and tour the city! There’s a lot of places around here that are perfect for dates, but during the Festival, there’ll be signs and marks to point you there! Ah, youth…”

“That sounds fun,” Ars-Lila said. “We could do that sometime.”

The Constellation rubbed his nose after realising that Ars-Lila didn’t dispute the ‘girlfriend’ or ‘lover’ bit, but it could very well be due to the differences in culture.

“Yes, you two should. Now, you two should find some nice spot to eat, before you tempt me to eat my own food. Shoo!” With a little smile on her face, she waved the two away from her stand, and promptly began to serve another customer that had wandered over.

“She’s a nice person,” Ars-Lila mumbled.

“Most of us are, until we aren’t,” said Gemini, passing over one of the bags. “And some of us aren’t, until we are.”

She pondered over Gemini’s statement thoughtfully. “Which one are you?”

He picked up a skewer seasoned by cinnamon and took a bite out of it. After savouring the taste, Gemini replied, “The latter.”

A small smile broke out on her face. “You’re nice now?”

“I like to think I am,” replied Gemini. “But I’ve a long way to go before I reach my destination, if there’s even one for me.”

“You’re too troubled for someone a year older than me.” She frowned slightly. “But there’ll definitely be a destination for you. I know it!”

“…Thank you.” Gemini waved the skewer in his hand gently. “Well, now that we have food, let’s go get your accommodation settled.”