The Circumstance

"We're here," Otto said. He looked around the rickety old buildings and messy gravel paths, "I think we're here." An old man hid behind a tree with an old wrinkly face, with old beady eyes, he didn't look pleased with the arrival of Otto and the other half of Strawberry Pudding.

There seemed to be more and more players coming and going as time went on and that only spelt worse and worse news for people like him, "There are a lot of green dots. I guess green is the colour for a person who's not a player."

"What did you think they were?" Ater grumbled, "Players who never got past level 1? Not possible." Lucas stumbled out of his hiding place, knowing he was probably caught. He glanced at the group and noticed that they were remarkably similar to the other group that had come before.

A small group, no more than ten people wearing the same strange clothing and with the same strange behaviour. As if they've never seen a village like this. It wasn't uncommon anymore.

"Hello, I'm Lucas," He spoke, "Are you here for supplies?" Otto turned his head sharply and nodded. The old man didn't seem to like the group very much as he shuffled slowly and cautiously, "Then I need to get me five Rode Kameliers each." Remembering the strange flowers, Otto dragged a couple out.

Ater was still in human form so he had to count him in as a person. Ade and Hiro were on guard more as Otto dragged out thirty flowers; five for Hai-rong, five for Adrian, five for Ater, five for Ade, five for Hiro, and five for himself, "… A-alright. What do you need?"

"A place to stay, some food, and maybe, if you have some, some clothes?" Hai-rong answered before Otto could. Her voice was sharp as Lucas nodded vigorously, "Do you need money? I'm afraid we don't have any Den-gi."

"Oh, no," Lucas replied, "We exchange everything in the form of Rode Kameliers and so as long as you have flowers, you should be able to get almost everything you need," Hai-rong muttered her thanks as the group went into the village.

Everyone froze for the third time, visitors from no one knows whereas they walked around in fading clothes. Clothes that were most worthless than the ones they were already wearing - they had some worth, with their property.

They stumbled around and Lucas introduced them to a tall woman with long braided hair and an irritated face, "This is Emilia, she's the one in charge of all the clothing for everyone."

"Hi," Was the curt reply as Emilia blinked, "I'm… Emilia." Her surprisingly soft voice that didn't match up with her stature, surprised everyone as she huffed and turned away from the group, speaking in another language rapidly. Lucas smiled awkwardly and quickly frowned as she emphasized something. Her dark eyes and dislikable face made her appear more upset than she probably was.

"A-anyway," Lucas coughed into his hand, "There is a bar that doubles as a motel over there. If there's anything you need to ask you can always ask someone. No one will deny you information here." The old man looked pensive before he gave the most welcoming smile his old bitter face could muster. His prominent lack of teeth disturbed Adrian as he continued on with his message, "I hope you find the continent of Sileo wonderful and interesting."

"Thank you," Adrian replied with a synchronous 'Danke' from Ade, who was still sticking like glue to Ater. Ater was still trying to shake the other off, and Otto was standing around listlessly – As if his mind was dislocated from the current situation.

Hai-rong was sharply looking around, paying attention to everything, mapping out every detail that could bring her some advantage. It was arguable that she was the smartest, but it was also arguable that she was the dumbest. Hiro had been looking down at his shoes, hands folded as he drifted closer and closer to Ater, who had noticed and stopped him from getting too close.

"It's nothing, we can't do much anyway," Lucas chuckled, warming up to the group of awkward people. Hiro heard a sound as he turned around, he saw a somewhat tall man, dressed for winter, with the rest of Strawberry Pudding, trailing.

A shout, a call, and Strawberry Pudding grouped together again – With much dissatisfaction from William as he continued on with his 'I told you so'. Ade seemed to shrink even further into Ater as Klaus eyed him.

"Who's this?" Klaus asked, motioning towards Hiro and Ade. He didn't seem pleased nor upset at rejoining the larger group, still huffy and annoyed. Hiro was shorter than Klaus by an entire head as he stared at the other with a more cautious approach. The addition of the other two people caught half of Strawberry Pudding off-guard as they hung around Ater, "Are these the people from the lake?"

"Yes, Ade and Hiro," Adrian answered, "They are people we found in large lake. Very large lake." Standing nearly head-to-head, Klaus shrugged and turned away from the two. The strangest out of the group laughed and walked over to Lucas before grabbing his hand and shaking it, "Who is he?"

"That is Mr. Bryne, he's here to conduct some sort of survey or something," Klaus answered. Rhys continued to talk to Lucas about the National Survey and what it incorporated before he opened a small bag filled with Rode Kameliers. Upon seeing it, Lucas nodded hurriedly and Rhys tossed in some more coins.

They were small, golden and looked rather clean, spotless even with a little iris engraved.

"This should be enough!" Rhys said, before looking behind him at the party, "I'll pay for them as well. It'll sum up to maybe… three Den'gi? No, maybe two? Three then…" It was cruel in the way how Rhys smiled, it wasn't a matter of how much money he was spending, it was a matter of his knowledge that one Den'gi or two meant the world to the group.

Otto stared at him to open his stats, suddenly feeling a chill as he read them.

[Rhys Bryne

HP: 200 000 (+10 000 HP due to 'Pity Party Gang Call' skill, only activated when 'Pity Party Gang Call' creator permits it)

MP: 100* (+ 100 MP due to 'Oculto*' skill, immediate effect)

S: 1000

AG: 3000 (+ 1000% AG due to 'Owari' skill, only activated when in life-threatening situations)

DEX: 7000 (+ 500% of MAX DEX due to 'Immediate Organization' and 'Advanced Management' skill, immediate effect)

Skills: Incoming Storm (SQ: 5), Immediate Organization (SQ: MAX), Advanced Management (SQ: MAX), Adjure (SQ: 2), Vychislit (SQ: 10), Owari (SQ: MAX), Percontor (SQ: MAX), Oculto, Nascosto (SQ: 5), Puzzle Work (SQ: MAX), Pity Party Gang Call

Class: Accountant, Mage (Sileoenian), Dukhovnyy Ubiytsa (Kholodian)

Titles: Chief Managing Officer in Lyubopytnyy Bank, Head of Ecclesiastical Affairs Amongst Other Nonbelievers, Owner of the Oculto Curse (Distributer), Host, Second-grade Mage, Apprentice to the head of Lyubopytnyy Bank, Graduate of Kafkiano, Graduate of Sileo's National School for Beginners in Mage-work, Member of the Illustrious Pity Party Gang, High-ranking member of the Pity Party Gang

Party: T'ma (Member), 'Egg'cellent (Co-Leader)

Effects: 'Stay Lost Forever, You Bastard' – Olivia, Oculto, Nascosto (Backward)]

"Y-yes!" Lucas began to quiver as he counted the now several gold coins in his hand, hands shaking with excitement, "More than enough, it's more than enough, Mr. Bryne sir!" With a permanent smile on his face, Lucas turned to Strawberry Pudding with Ade and Hiro tagging before he eyed them – Remembering the Rode Kameliers, "T-this will be suitable for providing your… party with accommodations. I will make sure of it!"

Lucas scuttled off as he went into a smaller, better-built building with the three coins plus an extra one as a 'gift'.

"Did you give him a lot?" Elizabeth asked, "He seems a lot chirpier compared to before." Rhys shook his head and shrugged, "Then why did he seem so happy about it?" Rhys laughed as a loud crash was heard from the little brick house before there was some scuffling. Everyone was staring at the brick house, watching with anticipation as their little mayor began to do his job.

"You wouldn't be able to even buy an apple with five Den'gi in Mormio*," Rhys continued to laugh softly, "A Rode Kamelier is literally one-tenth of a Den'gi. But then again, Mormio has pretty expensive stuff too." Otto continued to stare at Rhys as he shifted, slightly uncomfortable with the onslaught of eyes that bore into him.

Rhys went from his right foot to his left as he didn't address Otto in the apprehension of whatever it was he had to say. He wasn't sure about Otto, not like he was of the others, there was something strange in the way of how he stared at him.

"Where's Mormio?" Elizabeth asked, much to everyone's dismay as Rhys fixed them a strange confused look, "What? I really do not know what Mormio is." Rhys confused face quickly morphed into more laughter as Elizabeth turned pink for whatever it was he was laughing at – She wasn't sure.

His eyes crinkled and he smiled some more as Lucas came running back with something piece of paper trailing after him. Its yellowish tone contrasting with the dark letters on it.

"Mr. Bryne, sir! The receipt!" The rolls of paper came flying at Rhys as they stacked onto his face and head, "With the entrance fee and the clothes and houses expenses taken into account, I've also added in the bonus that you've given us – Thank you for that – there is also the matter of that. I have taken it into consideration as well." Lucas bowed in appreciation before he continued on with the receipt.

"Please find that all expenses are being used for the good of the people and we will continue to strive for a better environment! With the Rode Kameliers, they will be put into the small shed for safekeeping for when the winter comes and the Den'gi will help renovate some of the older buildings. As well as some more supplies for a new vegetable patch we were planning on mak-"

"I don't need a full-on recount of where you use the money," Rhys replied before Lucas could finish, "Just use it wisely. It's not really important where it goes, as long as it goes somewhere." Lucas nodded fiercely before he collected the paper on the ground with Otto and Ade bending down to help.

Ater had wandered to a nearby tree as he sat down under it. It was getting dark so there wasn't much shade to shade over. William and Hai-rong joined him as he grumpily messed with the grass.

"So, you with the red eyes, what're you here for?"

"Me?" Otto pointed at himself dumbly as he returned the large bundles of paper. Rhys looked around exaggeratingly and nodded, "Not sure. You?"

"Ha! That's a nice response, I'm here on important business," Rhys continued to chuckle, the amount of laughter he dispelled in the short period was shocking to Otto, "Say, since you're quite a funny guy, I'll take you to Mormio, you can even bring you… ah, companions if you want." Ade had run back to Ater.

"And why should we go with you?" Klaus asked, warily, "We brought you here, that's the end." Rhys ignored him, waiting for Otto's response as he stayed smiling. He took off his heavy coat (Something Otto believed he should've done a long time ago) and hung it around his left arm before he rested his arms close to his chest.

It would've seemed defensive if not for the fact that his shoulders were loose and relaxed.

"Mormio," Otto muttered, "Is it quiet there?" Rhys burst into more laughter, "It's means 'I murmur' I think. Italian."

"Not sure of the Italian, but hell no. That place is about as loud as a place can get," Rhys complained, "It's nice to… take a walk once in a while. If this could be considered a walk. Been two fucking days since I last saw Mormio and I already miss it, you know?"

"Yeah," Otto nodded in agreement, "So, Mormio, when do we go? Can we get there before dark or do we, you know, stay the night here?" He was faking to know Mormio, something that was becoming more and more clear to the rest of the group as they stopped inferring – It was more so a matter of it being interesting than really it being dangerous.

"Whenever you change your clothes because you'll die from the cold in that."