It didn’t take long for the noble to fly off. The kid could barely hide his enthusiasm seeing a dragon in this day and age was an extraordinary event far greater than having a wyvern pet. However, he couldn’t even realize the significance of what he had just seen. The count, his father, though had probably gotten a pretty good picture thanks to the exchanged echoes. That was probably one of the greatest advantages nobles had in the world—nobles had the practice of swapping echoes within their families and sometimes subordinates. This wasn’t an item swap, as the practice with guilds and organizations; the echoes were directly placed in another’s realm to ensure information was spread at the speed of light.

There was a time when Dallion would have avoided letting others learn about the dragon and his relation to him. At present, he saw it as an advantage. The news would have gone out sooner or later. Though, this also sent a message to all parties following him, not to be too comfortable. With luck, a few of them might even choose to reconsider or demand higher pay from their clients.

“There’s a small village not too far away,” Dallion broke the silence. “We can go there to have a proper meal.”

“I’ll survive,” Eury said. “I can quit the den,” she offered.

A reflective reaction on Dallion’s part was to say that it wouldn’t be the first time. In truth, he knew that if she did, it would be the last time. Quite possibly she was going to lose her hunter emblem as well. The skilled always received more concessions than the rest, but there was a point after which even skill couldn’t save someone. As Nil liked to joke, traitors only switch sides once—any more, and it became a habit that made everyone distrust them.

“I know. And I’ll be fine.” He placed his arm around her shoulders. “I’ll know if anyone comes close. I’m not the rookie I was when we met.”

“You’re not all that strong, either. If you keep annoying nobles, they’ll come after you directly.”

“They won’t. Not now.”

“They can wait. Decades are nothing to them. Trust me, I know. The emblem won’t protect you for long. Soon you’ll hack to pick a side and it’ll have to be a good side.”

“Not the winning side?”

“The winning side doesn’t always ensure a safe existence.”

That stood to reason. Of course, Eury would know. From the few things he knew of the gorgon’s world, he was aware she was born in a family of considerable importance.

“I just need to go ahead with the hunt.”

“You think finding the phoenix will save you from everyone aiming to get you? The nobles won’t change their minds just because you found a shiny new toy.”

“I don’t plan to change their minds.” Dallion looked around. I plan on changing the mind of the phoenix, he said through his zoology skill.

The idea was as crazy as they came, but at the same time it provided the best odds Dallion had. As it had been established, the aetherbird was indestructible. However, no one claimed that it couldn’t be convinced to take a side. If Dallion’s experience with the feather was anything to go by, the creature could be impressed.

“Before that, know anything about a pair of mercenary gorgons?” Dallion asked. “They were out of province.”

“All gorgons are out of province. That’s one of the reasons I went there. I’ll look into it, but they sound like standard mercs. Awakened?”

“Yes, but from this world.”

“Should make things easier.”

Dallion felt his mouth turn dry. The chit chat over, it was time for him to ask the question he really wanted to. He wasn’t sure what he feared the most. That the conversation would stir up topics the gorgon wanted left alone, or that it would end up another dead end.

“Did you know that your mentor went on a phoenix hunt?” he went straight for it.

“Everyone went on those.” Eury leaned forward, twisting her right shoulder just enough to tell Dallion to remove his hand. “They never found the bird. They wouldn’t even find a feather. Not in that province. There was a rumor going on that the aetherbird disliked the south.”

“Why?”

“It was a rumor.” The gorgon’s swirls twirled. “The creature is impossible to come by anyway, so people came up with various explanations. No one really believed them. Back then, I didn’t even think the creature existed. It was only when I learned how much one of those feathers was sold for that I became interested. I tried to convince Jiroh that we find one, but she wasn’t interested.”

“You wanted to hunt a phoenix?” Dallion nodded, impressed.

“No, just the feather. There were a lot of merchants who wanted to sell me a feather map.” She let out a slight chuckle. “Some I actually bought. I was a bit more enthusiastic back then. It taught me a good lesson who to trust.”

That was anticlimactic.

“So, your mentor never went on a special mission?” Dallion persisted. “It probably was described as something else. Finding a dragon, chasing away chainlings, maybe even facing the Star? Something difficult enough to require a team.”

“He never talked about the really dangerous missions. Even back then, he knew me well enough to know I’d want to take part. There were a few groups he went out with on a semi-regular basis. Most of them moved out of the province even before his death.”

“That’s it?”

“There were a few awakened he was close to in Nerosal. Some of them passed as pretty big shots…” Eury tilted her head, trying to catch a distant memory. “Some of them might still be in the city. Sorry, it’s been a while, and that wasn’t something I tried to remember.”

Dallion nodded. Thanks to his music skills, he knew precisely how she felt.

“I do remember one, though. He might be still alive, but he’s definitely not in Nerosal anymore. He was banished from the city.”

“How do you get banished from Nerosal?” Dallion asked. Initially, he feared that there might be a connection with his grandfather. After thinking it over, he doubted that would be the case. His grandfather had been in the city forty years ago, which was decades before Eury had arrived.

“By messing with mages. You’ve heard the stories about a bunch of mage apprentices making a mess in the city?”

“Difficult not to. One of the guilds got involved, causing the overseer to step in and settle things.”

“That’s the one. My mentor’s friend was the one who beat up a mage, if the rumors were to be believed. His name was erased, and he was banished to some less significant settlement. I remember that my teacher was upset about the whole thing.”

Finally, a clue. That definitely sounded like someone who’d be strong enough to go on a phoenix hunt. Finding him could be somewhat tricky. While people in Neorsal and beyond still talked about the deed, there was no way to associate the person to a name, since that name was erased. Still, it was a start, a very good start.

“Think he’s still alive?” Eury asked.

“I expect so. Anyone who could face a mage would have no trouble surviving in the wilderness. Whoever banished him probably thought so as well, or they would have killed him there and then.”

“You know it doesn’t work that way. The lord mayor could have gotten rid of him not to antagonize the Academy.”

“Guess I’ll have to ask the overseer.” Dallion winked.

“If he’s alive, you wouldn’t have trouble finding him. He’s very remarkable.”

“People change in a decade.”

“He was as big as a bear and had orange hair. Not someone you’d mistake.”

Hearing the description, Dallion froze. The gorgon was right. There was no way anyone would forget, just as Dallion couldn’t. It had been years, but the image remained burned into his mind. Back when he took part in his first chaining hunt, there was another volunteer sharing the same features. The man referred to himself as Havoc. He was massive, with a large orange beard and orange hair. Since his awakening level was three, Dallion didn’t think much of him. The stories he told were nice, and he was a lot more knowledgeable than everyone else, but Dallion’s attention was on the cleric from the Order and Dame Vesuvia—the noble in charge of the party.

It had to be a coincidence. Or was it?

Nil, is it common practice to delevel someone who has been banished? Dallion asked.

Common? No, but the person involved in that incident was, in fact, de-levelled, the echo replied. You think it might be someone you know?

There’s a chance. For now, Dallion preferred to leave it at that.

The Havoc he knew had been taken from one of the villages in Priscord county. Cleric and Vesuvia would know where from exactly, as probably would Nerosal’s overseer. Given that he wasn’t sure it was the same person, he preferred to return to Nerosal to find out.

“Are you sure you’ll be able to handle things on your own?”

“I told you.” Dallion let out a forced laugh. “I can always put an echo in one of your items, if you’d like.”

Dozens of snakes on the gorgon’s head recoiled at the suggestion. “Pass.”

“The orchid is coming along nicely,” Dallion changed the topic. “Once this is over, I’ll bring it to you.”

“Take your time. I can wait. Just don’t get yourself killed.”

“Promise,” Dallion replied. At some point, Eury’a teacher might have said the same. “Will you be taking on some other mission?”

“Probably. Depends if I don’t have to redo this one. The count hasn’t officially let me off the hook. Might be that I found out that I need to go back to the hive and capture the hatcher.”

“Sounds like something a count would do.”

“You’ve become cynical.” The gorgon shoved Dallion in the shoulder. “It’s a good attitude, but don’t overdo it. I prefer some naivete in my fiancé.”

“Only cynical when on a job. Good luck with the nest… and the count.”

“Thanks.”

The rest of the day passed with both of them resting. Neither were in a hurry to leave, wanting to spend a few more minutes with each other. After a few hours in the real world, they agreed to prolong the moment by entering Dallion’s realm. This wasn’t the first time she visited, yet still vehemently disapproved. As far as the echo was concerned, anyone in the realm was to be considered a threat, even someone as close as a fiancée. Dallion promptly ignored him.

Weeks passed in the course of a single moment—days they could forget about the concerns in the real world and take a vacation from reality, as it were. Most of the time was spent talking as they walked about the island; some—doing other things.

At one point, Eury offered to help Dallion complete another of his trials. It was a tempting proposal, but he ultimately refused. There were some things he preferred to do on his own—learning was one of them. As life had proved time and time again, shortcuts were only temporary. The gorgon likely agreed with his reasoning, for she didn’t offer again.

After a month, once they had done everything they wanted, the obligations of the real world slowly wormed their way into the realm. While they could spend an eternity here in bliss, they knew this was not real. Eury had a count to deal with, and Dallion needed to go back to Nerosal to try and find information on the phoenix hunt. Also, he had Diroh to check up on.

This was one major secret he had kept from the gorgon. As much as she would have liked hearing that her friend’s sister was safe in Nerosal, Dallion didn’t want to share anything about the ice properties of the fury just yet. At least, not until he was certain that Eury’s teacher wasn’t the cause of them.

Even in a simpler world, there always were a few complications.