By the time Neila and Simonn returned to Fell Glades, evening had come. They entered a small cabin they rented since the beginning of their adventuring career together. The cabin’s atmosphere from its orange lights faintly dimmed to give a warm feel but that wasn’t enough to stop the cold weather from entering.

Neila raced into the bedroom and jumped on the bed. She could feel herself about to enter a state of deep slumber. The invention of the bed was a godsend, calming her mind and slowly send her mind drifting into dreamland.

“Take off your jacket before you get dirt all over the blanket. Your hair’s a mess.”

“I’m tried from the trip.”

“I am too, but it was nice we got to visit Crea.”

“Yeah. It was nostalgic.” She muttered. “It’s cold. Can you start the fireplace?”

“Already on it. It’ll take a minute.”

Simonn carefully moved burning tinder into the fireplace. After he was certain the fire was going strong, he unbuckled his equipment, inspecting the armor set he wore against Vassal for damages. The left shoulder guard and his coat was completely punctured. A hole pierced through them, rendering it irreparable physically and magically.

The material used to craft it was hard to procure as it was exclusive within the Demon Realm. Plus, the effects of Vassal’s [Injustice Judgement] prevented any alterations to fix the hole because of an edge of light glowing around the diameter of the hole. His best choice was to pawn it for money. No ordinary smithy would have a powerful enough forge to smelt the shoulder guard back into ingots.

As for his coat, it could be covered by another patch of cloth. He would need to add an enchantment to fill the gap.

He tossed his shoulder guard aside and tested injured shoulder. The bleeding stopped, but it was sore. He could feel his muscle tear just by twitching in the slightest manner.

Neila made her way out of the bedroom, moving near the fireplace.

“How’s your shoulder?”

“Still hurts, but it’ll get better soon. It has to.”

He declared war against the hero. If he wasn’t in top condition before the next encounter, it could result in his death. Every so often, he moved it to prevent it from stiffing up.

“That reminds me. Why do you need to go to the guild tomorrow? Davin collected our reward, didn’t he?”

“It’s for a different reason. We got questioned by a Royal Knight. The two of us were required to give a report on the condition to let us go find you with Felix.”

“A Royal Knight?”

“I meant Captain of the Royal Knights. If he knows who you are, I’m afraid the Princess might also know. Simonn, I’m scared to know what’s going to happen.”

“Tea?”

“Shouldn’t you be more concern about this? And please.”

Simonn helped himself to the kitchen, filling the kettle with water and brought out a variety of containers of tea leaves.

“Did they say anything about me?”

“Not that I heard, but they’re going to look for you. What are you going to do?”

“That’s a good question. What should I do? One thing’s for sure, they’d find out who I am sooner or later.”

“Are you going to run away?”

“Where would I go? It’s not like anywhere else is safe with Otherworlders marching closer.”

“Thank goodness. I don’t know how to persuade you otherwise. I don’t want you to leave me again.”

When she made that declaration with a straight face, Simonn felt a bit guilty. He understood her feelings. She didn’t want to be lonely and with the enemy closing towards the borders, all he could do was make a smile to reassure her.

He set Neila’s cup beside her.

“If it’s you, there’s plenty of ways to make me stay. By the way, something came up. I’m going to head out.”

“This late? Where are you going at this time?”

“I’m heading to the brothel.”

Neila froze for a second then spat tea out her mouth after she processed the location Simonn said he’d visit.

“You’re so clumsy. Did you burn yourself? Are you okay-?”

“Y-you, what?! Where are you going?!”

“To the brothel.”

“N-no! No! Y-you can’t! I,I won’t let you! Why on earth are you going there in the first place?!” There was real anger in her eyes. “I-I understand we haven’t done… any of those… things, but-!”

“What do you mean?”

“N-nothing!” She screamed. “D-d-do you even know what that place is?!”

“A bar, right? I heard from a lot of customers say it’s a great place with great service.”

Neila banged her head on the table and let out a wailing cry.

“I can’t believe you’re going to cheat on me and you’re being so blunt about it!”

“No one is cheating on anyone. I just found this in our mailbox.” Simonn quickly shot back with a letter in his hand. “Look, I got invited. An old acquaintance wants to meet me there. I don’t know what the place serves, but I promise I won’t stay there long.”

“Is it a girl?”

“Guy.”

“Promise you won’t look or touch anyone else. If I find out, I’ll kill you.”

“Yikes. That’s scary. I wouldn’t want to see another Vengeful Spirit.”

“No touching, no ogling. Swear on it.”

“I promise. Can I go now?”

“Hurry back.”

Simonn quickly changed back to his silver stripped vest over a dark brown jacket. He could sense doubt in Neila’s eyes, but he couldn’t say more. He put on a jacket, waving goodbye to her as he stepped out of the cabin.

What kind of place is a brothel? Other adventurers say it’s a nice place, but Neila opposed it. It must be a bad place since Neila said so. I’ll have to watch myself there.

On the way, he toured through the marketplace. Businesses began closing for the night. He caught a glance of fruits and vegetables in all colors coated with small droplets of water to make them more desirable. A bit beyond the market, a vast selection of different aroma filled the air with the smell of spices from far and wide coming from different eateries.

In exchange for a few pieces of silver coins, he grabbed himself a small snack.

Past a few streets, in its own district, buildings ran across his view shined different colors of neon lights and used their best ladies in slim alluring clothing for advertisement to attract customers.

People gather here to find companionship, but for the most part, the place was targeted towards male audiences.

For a district with many customer interactions, none dared to approach Simonn. His face caught those interested in luring him to do business, but they were wary of the sliver lined coffin on his back. He also shot a hateful glare and drove away those who had thoughts about approaching him.

“If I’m not mistaken, this is the building? Let’s hope a fight won’t be necessary.”

He kept his grim face forward and marched through the brothel’s entrance where the letter stated.

“Oh, we got a cute one visiting tonight~. Welcome-!”

“I’m trying to find this person. Here’s the letter. Don’t waste my time and bring me to him.”

The hostess blinked as Simonn dropped the letter in her hands, suddenly making demands. She studied him, hoping to find embarrassment hidden under his strong front. There wasn’t the slightest hint of him interested in her generously exposed cleavage.

Even so, the strong fragrance coming off hostess should’ve affected his hormones. She never thought there was someone immune to its aphrodisiac effects. Moreover, he was growing impatient over the silence with his face of disgust becoming more clear.

“Now.”

“R-right away… sir.”

He followed the hostess past the cubicles. Through thin walls, sounds of pleasure echo through the hallway until he reached the highest floor with the best room.

The hostess stepped up to knock on the door.

“Dear customer. I apologize for interrupting your fun, but you have a guest-.”

“Get out of the way. You’re wasting my time.”

Simonn battered down the door with his coffin.

“Territory of the Sloth.”

A screen of light swept across through the room, passing all objects and people.

“S-sir?!”

“KYAA!”

“Hey! What gives?!”

Before the man on the bed could grab anything to cover up, a shadow loomed over him. Simonn’s coffin smashed the bed into fragments. The employees raced out, screaming.

The man came out unscathed, but his bare body was covered in a blanket of dust.

“There are people here!”

“I don’t care.”

“You’re still angry because I shot you, right?”

“And you’re an enemy.”

“I won’t deny that, but can I get my clothes on before we talk?”

“Make it quick.” Simonn threw a hefty bag of silver coins to the hostess. “Forget what you and your workers saw and leave us. That’s for the damages. Don’t you dare call the guards.”

“Dude, you’re scaring her.” The man groaned. “Don’t worry, we won’t fight anymore. This was just a friendly greeting. We’ll fix up the place too.”

The hostess was skeptical about the man’s words, but she was too frightened to voice her thoughts. She reluctantly accepted the repair fees and ran back to the front desk.

“Must be nice being rich.” The man commented.

“Coming from a guy who uses up his money once he earned it.”

“Yeah, Yeah.”

Simonn knew this beastkin as Goodman Favhior, the Acolyte of Fellowship. During the summit, he was the only one who did not show up and instead snipped Simonn as per Vassal’s orders.

Goodman swept dirt off his hunter garment and goofily emptied his shoes of pesky pebbles.

“Bold of you to come here. If you’re planning to stir some trouble, I’d gladly obliterate you right now.”

“Take it easy. I didn’t bring my rifle today. I just want to chat.”

“You call me out to this place for a chat? I have much better things to do.”

“Cmon man. Vassal’s being healed up right now. I took this chance to sneak out. I was going to give you details about Vassal’s current plan. Do I have your attention?”

Simonn scratched his head and took a seat.

“About what?”

“You know that floating castle you conquered? It’s been a thorn to Vassal’s side. Those otherworlders aren’t progressing as much as he’d like. Monsters over by Zarathous are too strong for them. Know why?”

“Because those monsters are closer to the source than out here.”

“I won’t comment on that, but I’ll leave that to your interpretation. Onto the point! Lately those Otherworlders have began taking on quests for the locals, making it hard for me to increase my karma points. I can’t collect as much magic power as I can for my crest.”

“I don’t see the problem. If Vassal cripples his own allies, it’s a bonus for me.”

“And that’s why I’m here on my own regard. Look, Vassal plans to take down [Sovereign] by conquering [Overlord]. His success chances are pretty high, considering he has a seemingly immortal army.”

“Seemingly?”

“You don’t know?” Goodman grinned. “Should I give you a hint?”

“How much will it cost?”

“That’s disrespectful of you. Don’t think I’m always set on making profits. I said I’m here on my regard to fulfill the conditions of my crest.”

“I see.” Simonn nodded. “Then what you’re saying those Otherworlders are not entirely immortal?”

“Yeah, though you don’t sound surprise.”

“And?”

“Let’s say there’s another method other than your summoning trick. I don’t know the specifics, but it’s more humane than outright killing them. You had Felix hunt down a party for an experiment, right? Man, I saw him when Olga cleaved him in half. He survived that!”

“Get to the point.”

“That summoning magic isn’t as efficient as you thought.”

“You know.”

“Heh! Don’t underestimate me. You’ve wasted a lot of resources to kill off a dozen instead of thousands. I’m just saying there’s an easier and simpler method out there.”

“Goodman, why are you telling me this? Your powers won’t increase more than helping the elderly cross the road.”

“Let’s say I’ll ask for a favor when the time comes. It's not like I wanted to fight you, but I have a reason to join Vassal's side.” There was a bit of grimace in Goodman’s eyes. “Anyways, stay a bit longer! Let’s grab drinks and have a few girls accompany us. For old time’s sake!”

Out of Vassal’s group, Simonn came to trust Goodman the most. He was a simpleton; his intentions were easy to read and everything about him was easy going. The only thing Simonn hated about Goodman was his annoying attitude of drunken behavior whenever he gets his hands-on kegs of alcohol.

Simonn let out a sigh.

“Old times sake means you’re the one getting your ass drunk while I leave you sleeping in the middle of nowhere.”

“Don’t be like that. How else are you going to charm girls with that glare?”

“Is that the purpose of this place?”

“Don’t tell me, it’s your first time in a brothel?”

“Yup,” Simonn said, downing a cup of wine. “The drinks here are about the same as the ones from taverns.”

“It’s not supposed to be a place for the drinks. It’s for the ladies.”

“Then I’m not going to waste my time here. I’ll leave you be, but I’m giving you a warning. Leave before Vassal finds out.”

“I’ll go after the rental for this room expires. Look, I don’t want to fight you again, but I won’t show mercy if Vassal decides to put me against you. Also, you’re paying for my tab.”

“Fine. Don’t cause trouble for me until we see each other on the battlefield.”

“Yeah, I got it. So? About this room, how are you going to fix it? Cuz I’m not doing it.”

“Already made preparations for it.” Simonn heaved the coffin on his back. “Territory of the Sloth.”

Fragments of the shattered bed and battered down door began to mend themselves to their original form as if time rewind itself. In no time, the room regained its appearance before Simonn’s wreaking havoc.

“To be honest, I’d thought Vassal would be getting that coffin before you did. I can’t believe we fell for that silly trap and let you get ahead of us.”

“Be grateful I saved your asses that day.”

“You’re the last person I’d thought would save us. I knew it was Elin who persuaded you. You used us as bait to begin with.” Goodman snorted. “Elin. I miss her. She was the one who held the team together. If she’s still alive, I think Vassal wouldn’t throw the world into another war to get the Memorandums. What do you think?”

“Get out of this country when you’re done.”

“I will. Just wanted to visit Elin and Kaeth’s grave in the capital before I go back to Lizurin. You on the other hand, get to visit whenever you go to Bailum.”

“I’m leaving.”

By the time Simonn left the building, the moon and stars took over the skies.

After hearing Elin’s name, there was pain in his chest. His heart felt like it was bleeding from guilt. He stared up as far as he can see into the endless sky, eyes more open than during the day. He saw a few bright stars visible from the city’s light pollution.

Elin, sorry. I won’t be able to fulfill your request. Vassal needs to die for Neila’s sake.

While clutching his chest, he felt something in his chest pocket.

“Speaking of Neila, Felix sent me the locations of those thugs that made fun of her. I could use this chance to relieve some stress. I believe they’re still in Syi.”

When Simonn woke up, he heard strange noises around him. There was a strange sensation of something tightly clung on him. It was Neila and she moved all over him. She stuck on him like glue and hugged him with her nose moving around his body.

“Morning… Neila? Why are you sniffing me?”

“You didn’t get touched any women there, did you?”

“I swear I didn’t do anything other than to meet up with an old friend.”

“Really? Because you came back late. There’s a faint but sweet scent coming off you when you came back.” She narrowed her eyes. “Are you sure you didn’t do anything at all?”

“Look here, I told you I didn’t. What else do you want me to say?”

“Nggghhh…” She frowned. “T-they must’ve tried getting close to you.”

“In fact, no. Also, the way waitresses dress themselves didn’t really look comfortable either. I mean, they could catch a cold in a season like this. The drinks themselves aren’t all that different from a tavern. I also noticed a lot of weird noises in different rooms.”

“Are you playing dumb?”

“That’s mean. I was hoping to find out what the purpose of the building was and why other adventurers liked it. After constantly fighting Demons for a decade, I have to catch up on a lot of things.” Simonn nodded. “By the way, there were people kissing and rubbing against each other in that place. Was it some sort of ritual or something?”

“Where did this come from?!”

“I heard something from a group of soldiers, if a boy and girl kissed, they get a baby delivered to them by a stork. If that’s true, where does the storks get the babies from?”

Don’t tell me he doesn’t know? Is it because he was fighting for so long, he doesn’t understand how babies are made? Should I tell him? No! It’s too embarrassing!

“I-I can’t answer that…”

“Your face is red.”

“It’s because of your weird questions!”

“You don’t have to answer it if you don’t want to. I’ll ask your parents next time we meet them.”

“E-enough of that! Get changed! We have to go to the guild today.”

“Alright. After you hand in your report, we do what I want. Don’t think I forgot about the deal we made.” Simonn smiled mischievously and leaned over, supporting his body over her.

Unable to reject his words, Neila could feel her face lit on fire. She knew Simonn must’ve saw all kinds of action last night. In Neila’s mind, she envisioned him wanting to try it out as his demand.

Her heart was about to burst from the fantasies in her imaginative mind.

N-no way! I-it’s not going to be t-that, right? I mean, we’ve slept together for a while now and at most we hold hands… ugggghhh what am I thinking?!

“Neila, what are you doing? If you don’t change, you’re going to be late!”

By the time Neila snapped back to reality, Simonn waited by the door. She was still in her night gown. Her hair wasn’t done.

“Don’t tell me you fell back asleep.” He sighed. “You’re really bad at waking up. We’re going to be late for the tram.”

“I’m up, I’m up! Give me a minute!”

She dashed into the washroom, hurriedly doing her morning routine.

Most trades and businesses are located near the north side, opposite of the residential area. There was a sea of heads on both sides of the street as far as the eyes could see.

Fell Glades was closer to the border than the capital. Its location was widely known for its convenience for travellers and adventurers from Lizurin and Sivaria. It has railways that was connected to every major city in this country, including Baliam, the Capital of Yilan.

This city was the largest in the province as it needed the space accommodate up to thousands of travellers per day. Travelling by foot was almost impossible if you needed to get from place to place. An average commute for a worker to get home regularly took at least an hour.

“That was close!”

“Whose fault is it? If you slept a bit longer, we’d have to wait half an hour for the next one.”

The tram began moving with them as the last two boarders. It circled around the residential district before moving up a ramp, above buildings.

The upper level opened a view of the clockwork tower, the main attraction and the most important structure keeping Fell Glades operational. It controls the city’s gates, defences, sewage systems and provides power.

The structure was colossal, three times larger than Behemoths encountered in Syi’s defence. The building was encased in stone bricks, but giant cogs turned between the shell. For the size of its gears, the tower made incredibly little sound. At night, a clock in someone’s living room sounded much louder than it.

“Wonder why they call it the Arkiamandus tower?” Simonn asked.

“I don’t really know. I couldn’t find information about it even though it’s a popular tourist site.”

“As long as the city continues to prosper, I won’t think too much on it. It’s incredible that it’s able to generate this much power. I feel like it shouldn’t exist since it’s creating energy on its own.”

“It powers the city with magic. To be honest, magic breaks all laws of physics.”

“Is that why you became an Artificer despite humans aren’t magically adept?”

“It’s precisely why. Magic is fascinating. It’s like a dream for children to have superpowers.” Neila then frowned. “Speaking of magic, Felix mentioned you know a thing or two about it.”

“Perhaps.”

“What about that arrow you gave me? You never told me you know how to use spells?”

“I never said I don’t know the basics.”

“Basics? You inscribed a compound elemental on the arrow. I haven’t began researching it. What is basic about that?”

Simonn couldn’t help but feel suspicious. From this series of questions, he can guess what Neila would ask next.

He leaned against the window and peered at her, waiting.

“Teach me.”

“When I feel like it.”

“Why?!”

“First of all, do you know why Artificer exams require you to make your own magic stones and ink?”

“For safety reasons. They don’t want people who aren’t certified to be whisking spells everywhere.”

“That makes sense, but it’s far from the right answer. If it’s for safety reasons, we’d have certified shops that trade crystals under the guild’s jurisdiction. If not, there would be a black market for it but there isn’t. There are rare materials sold to make magick ink and crystals instead.”

Simonn opened his hand, asking to inspect a vial of magick ink. He lifted it towards the window where sunlight made the flask glow like a gem.

“Here’s a quiz. When you cast spells by writing Alchemia symbols on an object, why can’t anyone else activate it?”

“I believe it’s the resonance and interpretation theory. Something about the crystal in engravers matching wavelengths with the user when they’re focused on casting a spell.”

“This is why you don’t see everyone blowing up when some guy from across the plains use [Explosion] while the other wants to use a simple [Firebolt]. Everyone has different interpretations on how they want their spells to form. The crystals created becomes bound to whoever makes them.”

“I’m not sure I’m following. I need a bit more explanation.”

“Let’s say we both wanted to cast [Firebolt]. What characters would you use?”

“I’d use [Sei, Pik, Ulos, Gruk, Nalus, Jeltz].”

“Okay, you spark the fire elemental, gather it’s embers and charge heat into your arrow?”

“What about you?”

“I would use [Sei, Foram, Larv, Exles, Val, Jeltz]. The flame elemental would manifest over the arrow and keep it burning.”

“But you’re using a different set of commands to cast [Firebolt].”

“In the end, it’s the same result. It’s all about interpretation. If I use your sequence, the magick ink might not cast [Firebolt] and end up with [Fireball]. The spell resonates with your mind and current understanding of Alchemia characters when it is being casted. It’s almost why no two Artificer often use the same characters for the same spell.”

“It makes sense, but there’s something contradicting your explanation.” Neila jabbed her finger onto Simonn’s chest. “If people can only use their own spells, why could I use the arrow you gave me?”

“It’s because I enchanted it a long time ago. Enchantments activate when a requirement is met. In this case, the spell was already activated, but I programmed it to continue its next set of commands when two contact points of the arrow moved away from each other.”

“That’s when I drew my bow…”

“You got it.”

“T-that sounds ridiculously hard to do. You can’t teach me those symbols?”

“I can but interpreting them is your task. If you can’t have Alchemia symbols act how you want, it’s dangerous to dive into unknown knowledge. I can teach you the basics of elemental compounding and passage programming, but you’ll have to self learn from there.”

“Really?”

“When have I broken a promise with you? On the other hand, you owe me a shoulder rub tonight. I could really go for a good massage for what I went through.”

Bailum, Capital of Yilan.

Day after day, dawn to dusk, stacks of paper flooded into the building more than it has been filed and stored away repeatedly. It might’ve been two weeks since the last time she allowed herself to properly sleep. It was a miracle that she was able to keep herself motivated compared to her other workers with what little free time they scheduled for themselves.

Perhaps her innate High Elf beauty could not easily be affected. Tall and slender, she was so well-endowed even people of the same gender were enraptured by her at first glance. Nonetheless, as she chewed on the last row of candy solidified of a plant that simulates one to stay awake, she continued to keep the peace of her castle as best she can.

“Princess, it’s Gilliam. I have returned from my investigation of the rise of Demons.”

“Excellent. However, I heard news of our soldiers arriving late. What happened?”

“We were intercepted with waves of Otherworlders crawling out of those rifts. They came at us with numbers as if to stall us from reaching Syi.”

“Casualties?”

“Surprisingly little. Their numbers were easy to dismantle because of no command nor strength. Fortunately, Syi rallied enough adventurers to help with its defenses.”

The Princess’ hands stopped moving and took a moment’s rest to relax her mind. She spun her seat to face the nearest window and gazed through into the skies where the direction of the sun’s ray shined from. One might point out she was posing for a portrait. The light brought out the flush in her skin and the ripples of her monochrome hair had turned into the shadows. Her long ears sank below eye level and tapped her finger agitatedly on the table.

“To continue my report,” Gilliam said. “I have spoken with an Acolyte.”

“An Acolyte in Fell Glades? Which one?”

“The one who stood as leading Vanguard in the bloody skirmish of Mestophis Valleys. The immortal masked warrior, Acolyte of Retribution. He has a master, which is possible there are two Acolytes in Yilan at this moment.”

“Two of them are defying against the Hero’s rampage?”

“Yes. I have learned the Acolyte of Retribution goes by the name Felix.”

“Felix? That’s a surprisingly normal name. How did you learn it?”

“A young Artificer mentioned it in Fell Glades. The Acolyte of Retribution took her in search of something. Princess, hear this. She was raised in Crea and her family had moved before the Demons made their appearance.”

“Crea.” She whispered. “To this day, the regret lingers within me knowing I was unable to do more than I should to save the people there.”

“Princess, you did plenty enough to save more lives than you could. Everyone was aware Crea could not be saved. If you had chosen to engage the Demons instead of prioritizing defenses around local inhabitants, we would’ve suffered much more.”

“Even so.”

“It was not your fault. It was impossible for anyone to predict their arrival. Still, we were fortunate to find a survivor on that day. To this day, I wondered how’d the lad survive on that infested day?”

Gilliam did his best to encourage her, but the expression remained on her face.

The Princess took a deep breath to collect herself and dove back to work until she was handed a report.

“These are papers from the young Artificer of what the Acolyte of Retribution was seeking. It contained good news for us. Seems like the Acolyte of Defiance and the Hero have chosen sides.”

“This is from her? I see. This is good news indeed.” She nodded as she quickly scanned through the documents.

“Princess, I suggest we contact the Acolyte of Defiance as swiftly as possible to secure an alliance. The Acolyte of Retribution follows the Acolyte of Defiance. If we act now, we can secure two of the Acolyte’s power to fight with us against the Hero.”

“How will we contact them?”

“Fear not. I have sent an invitation to the young Artificer. She seems well acquainted with the Acolyte of Defiance. I took initiative to do a background check on her. She has family in Bailum, the local floristry where you regularly order plants for your garden.”

“Isn’t that a coincidence?” She looked at the pot of white heathers growing healthily beside her and brushed their petals. “Perhaps I shall make a personal visit for next time I request more flowers.”