After they broke the awkward atmosphere up a bit Lance decided to take it upon himself to keep things going. Out of everyone here he was probably the most charismatic and skilled talker. "It feels like it's been so long since that train crash, and yet it's only been a month." He brought up the incident because it would remind everyone here what they had gone through together and help them feel closer. It was a good opening topic even if the event in question wasn't as pleasant.

"Yeah, I looked into it a bit when I got back. That incident was the first time a train has been attacked in the Leviathan territory in over a decade and the worst incident involving a train in nearly a century. Our luck was awful." Rebecca sighed, trains really were poor targets for magical beasts due to their speed and how well armed they tend to be. It requires a large force to attack and most magical beasts rarely came together with enough force to do so.

"Indeed, it truly was quite tragic." Noel felt a bit forlorn as she recalled the number of casualties.

"Actually I was a bit curious about that." Owari spoke up as he recalled something. "What exactly happened? By the time I came to everyone was already together and fighting."

"Oh that's right. You came in later didn't you?" Rebecca seemed to have forgotten all about that.

"The front car was derailed due to the track being torn up." Lance responded as he tried to recall the events that took place. "After that the train crashed pretty bad, luckily the front cars were decently safe and so a lot of people upfront and some in the closer cars survived. I managed to calm down people enough to get a rescue going, once we saved as many as we could we holed up in the most defendable car and held our ground." Lance recalled the whole thing clearly enough as he had been leading the charge.

"If not for Lance taking charge we would have all run around like headless chickens and died." Rebecca sighed, she was very thankful someone like Lance had been around to reign everyone in.

"If not for your recommendations I fear we would have all lost our lives as well." Noel surprisingly chirped up to praise Rebecca.

"I just gave a few ideas. Lance was the one to get everyone to listen." Rebecca humbly deflected the praise.

"It's still true that it was your plan to hold up and call for backup." Lance had done a lot of the on the fly thinking, but Rebecca had made the initial plan. This was news to Owari, but it didn't really change much.

"I guess I have no choice but to accept the compliment." Rebecca chuckled awkwardly, she didn't seem used to genuine praise. "Actually I'm a bit more curious about Owari's situation to be honest. You should have been at one of the cars towards the back, how did you survive? All the cars passed the fourth and fifth ones from the front crashed especially hard when the front ones blocked their way. Some of the far back ones were even barely recognizable as train cars." When she first mentioned it she only seemed to be deflecting but by the end she had realized how weird his survival was and became genuinely curious.

"Oh right. At the time I had not really thought about it as I had begun to talk with the others, but if I recall you were quite fast. Based on how long you were gone and your running speed you should have been a decent way down the train. Which car were you in?" Noel had remembered quite clearly how fast Owari had moved as he ran.

"I think I was on train car 23? Somewhere around there. When we crashed I had held onto my seat and kept myself from being flung as hard as some of the others. Those bugs had made a lot of noise tearing into the train car and I had managed to wake up before they reached me. Luckily I was far away from the point of entry so I was able to wake up and confirm my situation. After that I killed the intruders and escaped before making my way to you guys when I heard the sound of fighting. Unfortunately all the passengers of my car and the ones between us had either died on impact, passed away from injuries before I came to, or were killed by the bugs as they broke into each car." as he recalled the events Owari closed his eyes and he could still see the bloody bodies of his fellow passengers, as well as the wet crunching sounds he awoke too. They didn't haunt him as they might haunt others, but he didn't like thinking about it.

Everyone was shocked to hear how far back on the train he was. Past the 25th or so car the last dozen cars were mangled lumps of steel, on top of that there hadn't even been survivors from the cars between them and him. He was either supremely lucky or he was very difficult to kill, maybe both based on how he had fought. They also noticed the look of discomfort on his face as he seemed to relive those moments after waking up. Clearly he had seen something unpleasant, though even they didn't know how bad it really was. Each of them had been riding first class and so they were in safer locations.

They saw some injuries, and had seen a few dead bodies. But what Owari experienced was on a whole other level from that. Because of the difference in their experiences however they were unable to realize the difference, not to mention Owari was rather subdued in his response. Noel who knew him best had a feeling it wasn't as simple as he said though. She recognized his tone as being similar to when he had visited her that morning, like he wasn't fully expressing his thoughts like he usually would.

"Well it certainly was good you had survived. Not only for the obvious reasons, but also because if not for you all of us would have likely died. I know for a fact that I myself would not be here if not for you." Noel decided to get Owari to focus on something more positive. It would be rude to pry into his thoughts, especially in front of others. She may have considered it had it just been the two of them though.

"In fact you helped to save us not once but twice. Once when you saved Noel and held back the front line, and once when you directed her to save me and help Rebecca. You were quite the strategizer huh? I know for sure I'd also be dead if not for you." Lance was also very thankful to Owari who had played a very important role in his survival.

"If not for all of you working to make that defensive formation and working so hard I would have died there too. We all helped save each other, so I don't get why you're so focused on my actions specifically. Rebecca's agency rescued us, Lance directed everyone and made sure we kept going, and Noel's strength helped at a few key moments to keep the whole formation from falling. Each of us did something important." Owari directly pointed out something the others really hadn't thought much about. It was true that they had all done things to save one another and the group as a whole. Yet they seemed oddly focused on Owari's actions, why was that?

"The reason is simple. Because unlike us you have no mystic art and no support from any large faction. The fact that you still played such a vital role is in itself worth noting. After all how many of those backliners had a similar background as you and yet they didn't at all match up to you? It isn't the actions any of us are focused on, it's the person behind the actions." Rebecca honestly answered him while Lance and Noel sat off to the sides trying to think of how to answer him. "Didn't I already tell you something like that before? I didn't think you'd be the forgetful type." She also teased him a bit to lighten the mood.

"If you say so. I just wondered if they felt the same." Owari shrugged, he felt more relieved when he noticed that Lance and Noel didn't refute her words directly. Now that he knew everyone's stance on the matter he was less worried. "I won't really complain about making friends that's for sure. I was just curious about what you all really thought of me. I'm not exactly good at reading people." Owari laughed a bit as he joked openly and honestly about him testing them.

They all smiled a bit oddly hearing him talk so openly about this, but none of them felt it was too bad. At least they could be at ease that he wouldn't try to unconsciously manipulate or use them, it was still weird though. "Well I had thought you knew what Noel thought of you." Rebecca tried to tease him.

"Knowing how someone feels about you and what they think of you are two different things." Owari answered back with a calm smile.

"Is there a difference?" Lance wondered out loud, he felt it was just a matter of semantics.

"Of course. I was best friends with someone I would describe as being scum. I thought very poorly of him, but I still felt that he was my best friend and that I could trust him. Of course I was wrong but that is neither here nor there. The important thing is that feelings don't care about your logic or reasoning. After all, how many people choose how they feel? But you can always choose how you view someone." Owari had learned the hard way that emotions aren't something you can control, at most you could change them with time and effort, but you could never fully control how you felt. He decided to share this lesson of his with his newfound friends.

"Why would you be friends with someone you thought so poorly of?" Rebecca couldn't help but ask in confusion.

"Like I said, how you feel about someone and what you think of them don't always match. Feelings are complicated and I'm the last one who should give any advice on them. I don't really like bothering with complicated stuff so I try to keep things simple." Owari didn't know how to explain it properly so he just shrugged and did his best.

"I think I get it." Lance chuckled. "Just like how you might respect someone but you could never be friends with them. That's how I feel about my teacher, he is too strict and ruthless so I can never see myself as being close to him. However I respect his strength and dedication to his principles." Lance was much better at talking so once he guessed what Owari meant he gave an example.

"That makes sense." Rebecca seemed to understand what he was getting at finally. "But isn't it a bit rude to just openly say you don't trust us?" She laughed a bit to show that she was joking, but it was still a bit dangerous to go bringing this up so openly.

Owari didn't seem all that bothered by this though and he laughed openly. "It should be the same for all of us, we only all just met so we don't know one another well. It's important to be ourselves at this point, otherwise we may get to know the wrong people. How can you be friends with someone if they only like the fake you that you put on to please them?" Owari didn't at all hide his thoughts, it wasn't his way to hide things and he didn't want to pretend to be someone he wasn't with people he genuinely wanted to befriend.

"You sound like an old man." Rebecca couldn't help but make this observation.

"I'm just well-read on philosophy. My simpleminded honesty isn't how I naturally am, it's who I wanted to be. At this point it's become a part of me" Owari shrugged, it was his simplemindedness that allowed him to persevere through years of loneliness and training, however ever since he met new people to befriend and realized what his new life would be like he realized he couldn't remain that way. Owari's greatest quality was his willingness to accept his faults and fix them.

"I personally find your honesty refreshing." Noel piped in for the first time in a bit, she had pointedly lied low when the subject had been turned towards her feelings for Owari and only now rejoined the conversation.

"Isn't this supposed to be Lance's celebration? Why are we talking about all this complicated stuff?" Rebecca squinted her eyes as she watched Noel compliment Owari, she wasn't interested in watching them flirt. Not that she would be so rude as to say that out loud.

"I think it's a great way to get to know one another, I certainly learned a lot about everyone here already. Owari seems to be a natural at bringing out people's real selves. After all it's hard to put on an act in front of such shocking honesty." Lance found that he really enjoyed talking with Owari, he didn't feel the need to put up walls which was a change especially recently.

"What is it that you have learned?" Noel asked curiously.

"I'm interested as well." Rebecca directed a half-smile at Lance as well.

Under the stares of the two girls who seemed to want to tear open his thoughts and see just what he was thinking, he looked to Owari. Unfortunately Owari was completely oblivious to the girls less than nice gazes and instead he was also looking at Lance curiously. He could only smile bitterly and explain himself as nicely as possible to avoid stepping on any landmines. This was certainly not how he expected to spend his celebration, however it was definitely interesting. "Well take Owari for example, he doesn't hide his thoughts and he is self-aware. He knows himself and although he isn't a very social person, he still knows how to talk to others." He tried to bring up Owari in the hopes of deflecting things so he didn't have to say more, he also knew Owari probably didn't mind what he said as long as he gave his honest thoughts.

"And what about me?" Rebecca unfortunately didn't give him a chance to retreat and cut anyone off from distracting the topic.

"Well let's see..." Lance thought for a bit as he realized he could no longer escape. "You're much more cunning and quick-witted than you let on. You pay more attention to what's going on around you then you let others see." He decided to take a page from Owari's book and be honest.

"And how did you notice?" She surprisingly didn't seem mad or deny it, she seemed genuinely impressed and curious.

"You like to say and do things that have double meanings, like hiding serious topics in a joke to spur the conversation in a specific direction. It would be hard to tell if it wasn't for how you didn't hide it. When you were guiding the conversation with Owari it felt like you were putting in a token effort." Lance again decided to be honest.

"Huh, I didn't notice. I guess I was being careless since he is so easy to guide conversation with." Rebecca didn't seem broken up about being discovered and she even chuckled lightheartedly.

"Yet you referred to him as being rude earlier." Noel shook her head with a smile. "Well what about me?" She suddenly directed her smile at Lance who had only just started to feel relieved causing his mind to go into overdrive again.

"Well..." As he thought he decided to keep being honest. "You seem to be more subdued around Owari." He shrugged as he calmed down, there was no need to panic. "I'd say it is because we are in a group if not for the fact that I've seen that not much changes about your talkativeness around multiple people. However ever since you showed up with Owari you've talked quite rarely."

"Huh, I hadn't even realized." Noel seemed to think about it, although she wasn't exactly being quiet she was certainly less talkative then normal. "How interesting." She didn't mind it though.

"Well it's good that we're getting to know one another better." Rebecca laughed as everything settled a bit. It was certainly fun to mess around and act so freely without worrying.

A knock came from the door just after she said that. "You may enter." Noel answered as she recognized the knocking as Morgana's.

"Are you ready to order? The server has arrived." Morgana opened the door and stepped half a pace into the room and no further.

Everyone looked around and saw that none of the others were looking at the menu anymore. "We should be." Lance answered back. "Be careful not to eat too much, the desserts here are quite good so you should save some room." He said this to everyone present who checked the menu again just to be sure of their choices.

"What is it you would like?" The one who said this was the server who now stood in the doorway as Morgana stepped lightly to the side. It was a young lady, dressed in a casual but stylish skirt and sweater combo similar to Noel's and Rebecca's, though she had shorts on instead of tights. This was considered a rather average outfit for wearing around the house for young ladies in this region of the continent at least.

"I'll have some vegetable soup and some buttered bread." Lance gave his order first, it was him who was paying and it was his celebration after all.

"I'll have stir fry and fruit salad if you don't mind." Rebecca ordered next.

"I would like to order a well-done steak and salad." Noel was next, though her order was slightly odd as she definitely preferred rare steak. However Owari didn't say anything about that.

"I'll have some lasagna and bread to go with it." He smiled as he recalled the last meal he ate with his mother before leaving. This was her favorite meal and she had eaten some that day. He chose to order this as he recalled his homesickness from the morning.

The young lady repeated their order and after confirming a few details she left. After that the conversation turned more towards small talk as Lance tried to keep the conversation light so they wouldn't be interrupted when their meals came. Owari sat off to the side for the most part and didn't talk as much as he had at the beginning. Noel on the other hand seemed to get back into her chatty mood and in the end Noel and Lance ended up steering the conversation this way and that while Rebecca chimed in to talk often and Owari watched from the sidelines. As he saw how slowly but surely everyone shed their fake selves and acted more openly, Owari smiled in satisfaction. He knew these three were likely stressed out and spent all their time at work pretending to be who their respective groups needed them to be. It couldn't be easy to pretend to be someone you aren't, he knew he wouldn't be able to do it. He didn't hesitate to join when he could and soon they were all joking and teasing one another as they finally found kindred spirits to relax with. The favorite subject to bring up was about Noel and Owari, it was something everyone knew about so it was easy to use it. Unfortunately Rebecca, who wanted to use it as fuel to tease them with, realized they had zero shame about their feelings.

"Of course I have an interest in him." Noel stated matter of factly with a smile. "He did save my life after all, and he is quite a good listener. What isn't to like?" Such was her response when Rebecca tried to tease her. Then she immediately shot back with all kinds of teasing about how Rebecca was naive for thinking she would be some shy girl, after all everyone here had seen her fight so the idea she would turn into some kind of delicate maiden all the time was laughable. After that Rebecca had the whole situation reversed and Noel used this as teasing fuel against her.

"Do I like Noel?" When Rebecca tried to direct things at Owari as a last-ditch effort, he didn't act flustered and instead responded to the question seriously. "In terms of my feelings for her it's complicated. After all I did say I wasn't much of an authority on that subject, but she is definitely more special compared to any other girl I've met." Owari answered seriously, which caused Rebecca to go speechless and Noel to blush with embarrassment despite her claims of not being some blushing maiden not just a few minutes ago.

Lance found the whole situation funny and did his best not to laugh so he could watch the show from the sidelines. They passed the time like this until their food arrived and they all quieted down to eat. Noel and Owari both ate a bit slower and more carefully than usual, Owari had decided to use this as a chance to practice table manners which he would probably need one day. Unlike Noel who was still keeping her refined young lady image to some extent, Owari was only just practicing and he wasn't embarrassed or anything.

Of course Noel wasn't acting with some fake mask or anything, this was how she really was around others. Some parts of yourself no matter how open or honest you are you simply don't share with others. She only ate the way she did in front of Owari because he wasn't much different and he didn't care about that stuff. Not to mention from the beginning she had less wariness towards him after sleeping in the same space as him for three days. Doing that had practically destroyed any resistance she had towards him even if she didn't realize it. Even if she had trusted how he would not have been able to get away with doing anything, he had still been given ample opportunity due to how they were cut off from any notice due to the soundproofing. It had taken a lot of trust to fall asleep like that and it had broken down some walls subconsciously within her. Owari had definitely started to notice this now as he saw how she acted around Rebecca and Lance, but he didn't say anything. He felt strangely glad that he was the only one who got such an unfiltered view of her real self, and so he kept it to himself.

After they finished eating they all ordered dessert. Lance ordered a heavy dark chocolate fudge cake, shocking everyone with his massive sweet tooth. Rebecca struggled a bit and ended up choosing cherry pie. Noel decided to try some banana pudding as she had never had it and she was quite a fan of bananas and banana-flavored treats. Meanwhile Owari had the hardest time choosing and he had even thought about it while eating. Honestly he wasn't someone who liked to indulge, and because of that he never really ate treats or anything like that. Other than his birthday when he ate a slice of cake he basically didn't eat sweets.

It wasn't that he didn't like them, in fact he liked them a lot. Because he was clueless he just asked Noel to pick for him. Everyone was a bit surprised but nobody asked and just assumed he was unable to pick a favorite. After a few moments she picked out a simple cheesecake that she had thought of getting herself and had decided against. He just went along with it and soon the desserts were being prepared. During this time while everyone was relaxing and letting their meals digest, Rebecca seemed to be considering something. Eventually she seemed to come to a decision and the air around her changed to be slightly more serious. Even Owari noticed it.

"There was something I wanted to mention while we were all gathered together." She began as she slowly considered each word she was saying. "As I'm sure everyone here knows, my agency has been exploring a newly discovered locations recently. It's a cavern system filled with some rather rare and even unique species of magical beasts. The reason I bring it up is because not many of these magical beasts are a fit for my agency which focuses mostly on water-related affinity. Because of this we intend to open it as a public safari for hunters looking for magical beasts to tame. However we also need people to explore the location and ensure it is safe while getting data on the cavern network. My agency is intending to release this information soon and they will be hiring on independent hunters to help." When she mentioned this part everyone glanced at Owari who seemed unbothered by the news. He had plans already and he wasn't going to stop them for some contract work, not unless the pay was really good or unless he was doing a favor for someone like Rebecca.

"Why are you mentioning this to us?" Lance couldn't help but ask uncertainly, he didn't expect the celebration to turn into this kind of talk.

"Well the truth is that I'll be taking part in the exploration as a part of my contract with the agency. I was hoping that the three of you would form a team with me for the expedition. Otherwise I will be paired with strangers who I don't know and who I can't trust completely." She laid out her request on the table trying her best to show her sincerity.

"Shouldn't you be paired with members of your own agency?" Noel couldn't help but ask with some suspicion.

"No. I may seem to be talented and highly valued, but certain traits of mine make me less focused on among my peers. Before any of you misunderstand, I have no ill will towards my agency. The Sapphire agency took me in while I was a little girl and raised me. It's my home even if I am not the most loved member of the family. However I would prefer to have people I can trust my back to and whom I know are capable to join me in my first real expedition. Before the train incident I had actually never even been in real combat, only simulations and carefully supervised and controlled environments." She did her best, but everyone could feel the traces of fear in her voice as she spoke.

"So you're afraid of actual combat? Is that why you chose a bow?" Owari was the first to reply as everyone chewed on her words.

"Yes. It's also why they don't value me much. I'm a coward." She couldn't help but admit to it bitterly.

"You fought so bravely before though." Noel recalled that Rebecca had battled on the frontlines, even though she used a bow she didn't just sit in the back.

"I had proposed the plan. How could I sit back and cower? Besides, our lives were at stake, I had no choice." She rested her chin in her hands and sulked.

"So you want us to join you to make you feel safer?" Lance was quite surprised by what she had said, he had never thought she was afraid of fighting.

"That's part of it." She admitted. "However you are all also very strong and I know each of you love the thrill of a fight. I don't know why you like to fight, but I was hoping that watching you all fighting I could maybe gain that courage too." She was allowing herself to be quite vulnerable by saying all this, but she knew it may be her only chance to fix this part of herself. She wanted to grab this chance even if she had to take a risk. It also helped that over the past month and especially today she had been slowly trying to get a read on them and she finally decided to take the leap now.

"Well I'd definitely be willing to help you, but the problem is that I belong to a different agency." Lance responded after a moment, he seemed to consider something. "However if you really want I could negotiate with the higher-ups to consider this as a way of building relations with the Sapphire agency. You'd have to do the same on your end obviously. However if we can do the negotiating successfully then I'll help you." In the end formalities were something they couldn't ignore, however he seriously tried his best to make things as easy as possible. Luckily they were from relatively friendly agencies. They valued radically different lands and tended not to fight over resources so they could work together to some extent.

"My side is easier, after all I am given freedom to pursue my mystic art. As long as I was to use the excuse that it is for my training and that it is a good opportunity, my family would likely not care." Noel was able to give a definitive answer and heavily implied that she was willing.

"For me it depends on when the expedition will actually be." Owari shrugged, he had it the easiest however he also felt he was the least important so he didn't really make a huge fuss.

Rebecca seemed relieved hearing Lance and Noel, however when she heard Owari she couldn't help but ask back. "Why would that be?"

"My next trip out was going to be a week-long expedition with a chance of a few day overstay. I've been planning it for a month and I have a good lead. I figure since I'm the weakest here it isn't as important I come along. If it's within the next few weeks I'd have to decline." Owari couldn't let his findings be snatched out from him, as an independent hunter this type of finding was too valuable to pass up. It didn't just involve his training or a potential waste of his research. This also involved his livelihood since this was a large chunk of income. As much as he wanted to agree he also couldn't ignore his pay, plus he figured he wasn't as important as Lance and Noel in regards to helping Rebecca in this case.

"I see." She breathed a sigh of relief. "It shouldn't be before the end of this month at the earliest. They not only have to give out the news but they also have to negotiate and write up contracts and a few other things before we can even set out. Not to mention all the supposed team-building exercises they plan to do to try and make up for putting strangers into groups to work together. Not that it ever helps much. Also if you do agree, regardless of if I would offer it the agency will negotiate a contract with you. Before you refuse it isn't just to pay you, it is also a liability waiver so if you get hurt you can't blame them. They won't allow you to come without it so you might as well accept the pay." She seemed so relieved after everyone agreed that she couldn't help but start talking quite rapidly, even interrupting Owari when he intended to refuse the payment.

"If you say so then I might as well. If I'm being paid by them I should do some prepwork. You said they wanted the tunnels to be mapped and the magical beasts to be properly analyzed and recorded right? I can help with that." Owari decided to do the work he was given, it wasn't his style to skip out even if it wasn't his original goal.

"I never really thought about that stuff." Rebecca suddenly remembered the actual goal of the expedition. "Can you really do mapping and ecological data collecting?" She couldn't help but wonder how good he could be at that stuff at his age.

Owari thought for a bit, he had obviously mapped and collected information for the forest he was exploring. He intended to sell it when he finished his exploration of the forest, though not until he either gave up on that region or found something. "I have some examples of my work at home. I'll bring them when I negotiate with your agency. If they are satisfied they'll say so and if not then I expect the same. Hopefully it's good enough otherwise we may need someone to join us in our expedition and I'm not a fan of strangers." Owari really did hope his skills were acceptable as he would be uncomfortable sleeping in the presence of someone he didn't know or trust.

"I hope so too." Rebecca and everyone else also agreed with him. After that was said their desserts arrived and everyone moved away from the serious topic. They could discuss details another time, Rebecca had only been hoping for them to agree to help her so now that it was done she was noticeably more comfortable and seemed to grow more friendly. As Lance had said the desserts were quite good, and Owari quite enjoyed the cheesecake, it was definitely much better than anything he had eaten before. Like this they all started to joke and talk as they finished up their desserts and prepared to separate for the night. After it was all over they certainly felt much closer and on friendly terms, they all seemed to have a natural chemistry with one another. Though this mostly had to do with the camaraderie built up after the life or death battle at the train crash, but they were still too young and inexperienced to realize this fully. Either way they did still seem to be very compatible and so the night went very well.