For A Better Tomorrow

"You go first. We didn't exactly get much done today so that's why we're disappointed. You two on the other hand look like you have a story to tell."

"Haa... Why not." Sirks told Kies everything that happened to them today, starting with the requests they took and ending with what happened in the mercenary's guild.

"That sounds rough," Kies commented after Sirks finished telling his story.

"Yeah. Also, the mercenary that helped us wants to talk to you in private about something."

"He does? What is it?"

"He wouldn't say. The choice is yours. He didn't demand that he needed to talk to you. He just said that he wants to."

"I'll see about it."

"So, what happened to you two today? I heard that you were with the city's guard for whatever reason. What were you two doing at a place like that?" Sirks asked, remembering that the mercenary mentioned about seeing the two of them over there,

"You saw us?"

"No, someone else did."

"Oh. Well, we got a request from a guard there to help with something."

"You did!?"

"Yes, is there something surprising about it?" Kies asked, noticing the shock in Sirks' voice when he said that.

"Yes. Soldiers and mercenaries hate each other. I really don't know why one of them would put a request up in the mercenary's guild. What's even more surprising is the fact that it didn't get taken down and thrown in the garbage the moment it went up."

"Oh, so that's what you meant." Kies had a feeling that this might've been the case. For whatever reason, the guards in Nell's squad were all unfriendly towards him and Wompa. The only person that talked to them normally and treated them without any hostility was Nell herself. "Is there a reason why the two groups aren't on good terms?" he asked about it.

"Most mercenaries lack the qualifications to become soldiers."

"So, they're jealous of soldiers?"

"They claim that they're not, but their attitude says otherwise."

"Is that how it is?"

"It always has been for the past years. You're really not from here are you?" Sirks scratched his head. Kies didn't know some of the most well-known things that an Otanian citizen should know.

"I thought we made that clear when we first started traveling together."

"Yeah, you did. Anyway, what did the guards ask you to do."

"Catch some thieves."

"Thieves?"

Kies explained to Sirks the entire story of how the city was apparently getting terrorized by a group of thieves. Furthermore, they were going to sabotage the tournament in search of a person.

"That does sound pretty bad..." Sirks commented after Kies finished telling him about what they went through today. "So, are you going to do it?"

"The mission?"

"Yes, what else?"

"Of course not- Wait... Never mind, yes." Kies remembered that he didn't have a choice since he let Wompa decide. He thought that she would've said no since there was no reason in continuing the request when it wasn't worth it, but Wompa chose to take it. He didn't know why she said yes, but it meant that he was going to spend the entire day tomorrow training for the tournament.

Sirks gave Kies a funny look and asked him, "Why did you change your answer all of the sudden?"

"I forgot that we agreed to it."

"You guys agreed to that!?"

"Not me. Your princess did. Actually..." Was Wompa even his princess? Kies was more than certain that Sirks is a guard for one of the two princesses, but he didn't know which one he served. "Whose soldier are you?" he asked Sirks.

"What?"

"Are you Iris' or Wompa's soldier? I heard that they both can have a hundred soldiers each."

"Oh, you mean that. Well, to answer your question, I'm neither. In fact, I'm not even a soldier to begin with."

"Why are you with them then? Wait, what are you if you're not a soldier?"

"Hm, that might be a bit misleading. What I meant to say is that I'm not a soldier anymore. I quit a long time ago and the royal family offered me to be their personal bodyguard."

"For both princesses?"

"Yes. They chose not to have any soldiers serve them which made the queen somewhat worried. So she assigned me to protect them."

"Neither of them have soldiers!?" Kies didn't understand what the two were thinking. Having bodyguards was crucial in surviving for any high-ranking person, and yet the princesses chose to not have any soldiers at all?

"They didn't like the idea of forcing soldiers to serve them. Reminds them of slaves or something. They wanted the soldiers to choose who they want to serve themselves," Sirks explained to Kies the reasoning behind the princesses' choice.

"Interesting..." Kies shook his head disappointed but he respected the reason. Even though it was righteous, it was also very childish. Two hundred soldiers would do them a lot of good right now. But they had to work with what they had. They had no soldiers, only four people.

"By the way, Iris can use magic right?"

Sirks' head snapped to Kies and he stared at him speechless. "How-"

"She showed me." Back then when she got soaked in the river, she showed Kies that she could use fire magic. Furthermore, she even explained to Kies that the fragment can take in her magic and convert it to wind magic. He was also pretty sure that Sirks had been there when those events happened so he didn't get why he was so surprised.

"Oh yeah." Sirks calmed down when he realized that she did in fact show him that she can use magic. *Sigh* "My head is killing me these days. That girl is reckless and doesn't think things through. Showing off her magic like that... What a dumb move. I feel bad for saying it, but thank goodness that those mercenaries scared her enough to the point where she forgot about her magic. If she had set the place ablaze, we wouldn't be sitting here right now."

Sirks got up from his seat and took his empty glass with him. "We better go to sleep. We have a long day tomorrow," Sirks said as he handed the glass to the waiter. "I'll go upstairs first. Since the girls will be sharing a bed, we won't have to sleep on the floor tonight. Well, that is if you don't mind sleeping with me."

"Uh, no thanks. I'll take the floor." Kies didn't like the idea of sharing a bed with anyone. It wasn't just Sirks.

"Suit yourself." The tired man walked up the stairs and disappeared from sight.

Kies sat there for a minute before getting up as well and going outside. He looked around to make sure that there was no one around before jumping into the air and landing on the roof. He found a flat area and laid down on it.

Today ended up being a tragedy. To summarize, they missed their quota and didn't make nearly as much money as Kies wanted. Iris also had an unpleasant experience, and the people who harmed her were probably going to go unpunished.

"What a disgusting world..."

Sometimes, Kies wonders why he even wants to save it. The Stormcaller's final wish... Did it really matter all that much to him? Yes, yes it did. He was willing to sacrifice his life to carry it out. It is his purpose. It is his life... Today might not have been a good day for them either, but hopefully, tomorrow will be better... No, hoping wasn't enough. Yesterday he hoped for the same exact thing and it ended up making things worse. Hoping is useless. He will make it better.

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