{Elisa}

The woman looking back at Elisa in the mirror felt like someone else entirely.

It wasn't that the noblewoman had anything against dresses and gaudy decorations. She enjoyed elegance and grace as much as the next lady. But, after spending half a year in armor, running around the academy in sweatpants and sports bras, the image she was staring at now felt foreign.

It hadn't even been too long, and she could already feel herself forgetting the feeling of holding a sword in her hands. The way her heart sped up upon fighting a tough opponent. The feeling of sweat rolling down her cheeks after a long day of training.

[... How annoying.]

"I think it looks good on you," Elisa's aunt stated as she stood behind her niece. "Hopefully, Marvain will think so as well."

"It would be quite sad if he didn't," Elisa replied with a smirk. "Who knows? He may even feel the need to find someone else to marry. What a tragedy that would be."

"Even if he did, do you think you would be able to let go of your responsibilities so easily? All that would mean is we'd need to find you someone else to marry."

"Ah, yes. Forgive me, I almost made the mistake of thinking I was my own human being who could make choices. My apologies, sincerely."

"... You're still holding onto those fantasies, aren't you?" Carliah asked. "If you wish to abandon your family, the people who have done nothing but spoil you since birth, you have that option, certainly. You could run into the wilderness, find a bandit group, and live as an outlaw. Or, maybe you could do away with all of the progress you've made in restoring your own dignity and go back to living like a common thug, one that slays monsters instead of people. You could do that but don't even dream about holding onto the comforts and luxuries that are gifted to you each day. We have given much to you, Elisa. Through this, we ask that you give a little back. That is all."

Elisa sighed, lowering her head.

[... I know,] she thought as Carliah walked out of the room.

For a moment then, Elisa genuinely wished she'd been born as someone else. Someone with different tastes. Someone whose heart didn't speed up at the thought of combat, or whose hands weren't so greedy when it came to love and lust. Maybe then, she could have just married this asshole, taken his money, and spent the rest of her life eating, sleeping, shitting, and birthing in peace.

The mere idea of that being the kind of life that awaited her made her want to jump off the nearest, tallest building.

And yet, she couldn't say "no". Because, to an extent, Carliah was right. Elisa had grown up having everything she ever could have wanted. And she wanted to give back.

Leaving that room as well, Elisa walked down the halls, flanked by a couple of handmaidens, to the lobby of her home where Carliah was greeting someone.

Someone Elisa did not know, who stood with what looked like two beastborn servants next to her.

She approached them with a curious face.

"Auntie, who is this?" Elisa asked sweetly, trying to be polite.

"Ah, Olivia Varios. She is a scholar from Cradle who wanted to ask us a few questions about the Grand Railroad for an article she's writing. I... had meant to meet with her for dinner later," Carliah said, looking back at Olivia, "but, it seems I lost track of time."

"It is a pleasure to meet you," Olivia told Elisa, putting a hand out for Elisa to shake, which she did. "I do hope I am not interrupting anything," she said, looking down at Elisa's dress.

"Not at all," Elisa replied, dismissively waving a hand in the air. "I was just trying to see how this fit me."

"Quite well, I'd say." Olivia smiled back at her, though it didn't reach her eyes.

As curious as Elisa was about the stranger, she was more curious about her servants. Specifically, two things about them.

First, they lacked the trapped collars that most beastborn slaves in Cradle were known to wear, to keep them from getting any ideas about running away.

Second, they were armed.

Elisa could tell as her eyes briefly caught the hint of a knife's outline at one's ankle. It was a lesson Maria had taught her and her classmates early on in the previous semester at the academy. That, if one was to fight a human opponent, checking their waist and ankles for any hidden weapons was essential.

Two beastborn "servants", neither of which were restrained and both of which were armed, tagging along with someone from Cradle. None of that made much sense to Elisa.

"Can I sit in on this talk?" Elisa asked with a smile.

"What?" Carliah replied. She was shocked. Elisa had never been one to care about this sort of thing. "Uh..." She looked over at Olivia, who grinned.

"Absolutely."

---

"Ah, is that truly what caused it? Just a few unlucky bouts of laziness?" Olivia asked Carliah.

"Indeed. The workers took these maintenance procedures for granted and people got hurt because of it."

They were currently discussing the train's collapse, an event that happened before Elisa was born. Simply put, some workers took their duties lightly and the train ended up running off its tracks during one bad turn.

Today, the D'Ana family was held in high regard, but that event remained a stain on their records, as they took responsibility for the attitudes of their workers.

"Astounding," Olivia said, "isn't it incredible how the decisions of people as small as them could impact the lives of others like this?"

"You can hardly call being lazy a 'decision'," Carliah replied.

"Ah, well, of course. In any case, we thank you for the information."

"Is that all?" Elisa asked as Olivia sat up.

"Hm?" Olivia tilted her head.

"We're barely halfway through our dinner," Elisa noted, kindly. "This article must not be too long, I take it."

"Oh, no, it's just that this information was all we really needed for it. Though, in truth..." Olivia paused, considering something. "There was something else I wanted to ask about. You," she said, pointing at Elisa.

"Yes?" Elisa raised a brow.

"You were briefly a student at the Adventurer's Academy, were you not?"

"... Indeed I was, yes," Elisa replied with a nod.

Olivia took a couple of steps toward her then, hovering over the table between them.

"I have a friend at this academy, you see, and I heard about a kidnapping that happened around half a year ago. I was never given too many details but, could you fill me in on that?"

Elisa smirked.

"Is this for an article as well?"

"Could be," she shrugged. "Seems like an interesting story to me."

"Not mine to tell, unfortunately."

The silence that fell then was deafening. Olivia and Elisa looked into each other's eyes, and to the latter, it looked like Olivia was considering whether to walk away or not.

"... Is that right?" Olivia asked, smiling.

Suddenly, she snapped her fingers, making her decision.

"Yarin, Dameon, could you please help convince our friend to share some of this information with us?"

The beastborn to her left then reached down toward that knife Elisa had seen earlier but pulled two out instead. The other did the same as Olivia stepped back, pulling out just one.

They threw these blades forward then, three knives shot through the air, aimed at Carliah and the two handmaidens who'd followed Elisa here.

Two daggers landed, striking the handmaidens and killing them both as the blades embedded themselves in one's neck and the other's heart.

But, Elisa snatched the one aimed at her aunt out of the air.

She threw it back instantly at one of the beastborn, who hadn't seen the counterattack coming. The knife went through his skull.

Elisa then got out of her chair and jumped over the table, falling on top of the other equally shocked beastborn. With an Essence-infused punch to the neck, she killed him in one blow.

Olivia clapped her hands as Elisa stood up and calmly walked toward her.

"Well, that's unfortunate. Perhaps I will pay you and your friend a visit in the future again, though," Olivia stated before pulling out a knife and slitting her own throat with it.

Upon doing so, however, the woman's body turned to ashes.

Elisa looked around. Carliah stared at the scene in horror.

Elisa just shrugged, though.

"... Looks like I'll be heading back to the academy after all," she said. "A certain someone needs to hear about this."