Time Vent

"Did you have a good time at the party?" Polaris asked.

 "As good a time as anybody could have with Roland as their company." Roko sighed.

 "You could try some socializing."

 "With who? The entire village is enamored with the princesses."

 "Ahaha...I guess that's true. Perhaps I can arrange some sort of uh...seminar?"

 "No."

 "Okay."

 "More importantly." Brook walked over as she yawned, "You're going to meet a seer now?"

 "Unless you've found anything noteworthy in Granreveria."

 "Nothing that interesting." Brook shrugged, "A few mentions of the origin of dark elves and this Interminable War but nothing really worth any change in plans. This seer might really be your best bet for the truth."

 "Of course, I'll be looking over the books Brook brought while you're gone." Polaris nodded, "I'll have a report for you on any new information I find there."

 "And hopefully, I'll be able to pry something out of your seer friend."

 "Don't go too rough on him, okay?" Polaris laughed, "I do truly consider him a friend."

 "Well hopefully he'll be ours as well."

 "Speaking of friends, I do have a route picked out for his home. But who do you want to bring along? Of course I can just assign any old dark elf to be your guide but considering your friendships..."

 "Doesn't really matter to me." Roko shrugged, "I don't expect this will be a particularly dangerous endeavor all things considered."

 "That's true." Polaris nodded, "Well, I suppose you already have one volunteer lined up already."

 "Should I guess who that is?"

 "It's Reaumur." Brook smirked, "She seems to be quite upset that she missed your grand performance last time."

 "I would call it anything but that." Roko sighed.

 "By the way, where's Helena?" Polaris asked.

 "Busy getting the trip preparations done. We didn't have much time to finish preparing while attending the party."

 "Oh. Well, I hope you at least had a nice time."

 "We've gone over this."

 "Oh." Polaris sweated, "W-Well, I'll inform Reaumur about your decision. She'll be ready to come fetch you in short time."

 "Got it."

 "Right, let's go then." Brook patted Roko on the shoulder as she began to walk off.

 "Wait, what?"

 "What?" Brook turned around, noticing Roko's confusion.

 "No, it's just..." Roko said, "I figured you'd want to spent some more time with Polaris. You two just got together again so..."

 Polaris and Brook laughed softly together.

 "I thought that's what you'd think." Polaris smiled, "But remember how we were trapped in the forest together? We've already spent quite the amount of quality time together."

 "It was a honeymoon and a half that's for certain." Brook laughed, "We've had a long time to catch up with each other. Everyone's been concerned about us not spending enough time together but it's really quite the opposite."

 "Wow, I...suppose that makes sense." Roko replied.

 "Besides, it would be best to have someone I trust to witness the past alongside you. Assuming you get that far."

 "I see." Roko nodded, "Well, you're welcome to come along if you want. I assume your preparations are done already?"

 "Just gonna take the stuff I took when going back to Granreveria. Might thin it down a little. I don't think we'll be there for that long." Brook said, "Meet you at the gate!"

 Roko returned to their inn to check in on everybody only to find Treesa alone sweeping the floor like it was her own lodge.

 "Habits are hard to break, huh?" Roko said.

 "Oh, Roko." Treesa said, the tiredness she had since she arrived at this dark land now a shade heavier in her eyes today, "There's not much else to do so I tidied up a bit. Everyone else is out to pick up some provisions just in case this visit becoming a camping experience."

 "I see." Roko sighed as he sat down at a table.

 Before Roko could even settle in, Treesa suddenly sat down in the seat in front of him.

 "...Okay." Roko sighed again, "So what do you want to talk about now?"

 "You're going to leave the village for a bit right?"

 "Yeah?"

 "PLEASE TAKE ME WITH YOU." Treesa stressed, pressing her hands against the table as she leaned in, "If you all leave, that means I'll be alone here with that damned dark elf and I don't know if I'd be able to stand it if you're gone for too long."

 "You...really don't like Mistral huh?"

 "I don't know why she's so interested in me." Treesa rubbed her temples, "We don't have anything in common."

 "Well, you have one thing in common."

 "Root is dead and I killed him." Treesa growled, "I don't know anybody else that even looks like him."

 "So we're still at this stage of denial huh?"

 "It's not denial if it's true!"

 "Look." Roko sighed, "Didn't you come here to do something? Didn't you want to make food for the dark elves?"

 "Yeah well after two parties, all the food I brought along is now pretty much gone. I can't even imagine what these dark elf parties would look like if they didn't just leech off my supplies."

 "I mean...you could still do it...I'm sure the princesses would happily give you some pocket money if you asked."

 "What do you think I am, a child? I can buy my own supplies!"

 "Well then, why don't you? You came here to prove something right?"

 "I came here to prove that my feelings towards dark elves were justified but all that's just become a huge mess now." Treesa buried her face in her arms, "I just want to go home..."

 "It's been how many days now and you still haven't sorted it out?"

 "I know you're not speaking to me like you're some sort of master of emotions right now, right?"

 "Okay fine, geez." Roko raised his hands, "You've certainly gotten snippier since coming here."

 "Look, all I want is to not spend anymore time with that BITCH."

 "Harsh words. I mean, if you don't want to talk to that dark elf, you can talk to other dark elves."

 "About what? Which one is okay with talking to elves and which ones aren't? Which ones aren't just acting nice to trick me or murder me later on?"

 "I mean, there's at least two...three...seven...at least twelve dark elves I can think of. Plus a lich."

 "Oh yeah sure, let me march up to the government leaders of a society that has been long outcasted by elves and strike up a conversation with them."

 "I mean, you could try. Better than doing nothing."

 "Even if I did have the courage, I don't think we'd have much to talk about."

 "Okay fine. Guess you only have one option then."

 "I don't want to talk to her..."

 "No, I mean the other one."

 "..."

 "So when was the last time you talked to your ex-husband?"

 "...I don't know if I'm ready..." Treesa muttered.

 "Well, you've got nothing else to do right? And it certainly would beat hanging out with Mistral wouldn't it?"

 "..." Treesa sighed.

 "I agree."

 Treesa screamed as she turned around to find Mistral there, "SINCE WHEN WERE YOU HERE?!"

 "After you sat down at the table."

 "You've been here this whole time?! Roko, why didn't you say anything?!"

 "I figured a bit of honesty would do your relationships some good."

 "I've BEEN honest!"

 "Now now." Mistral patted Treesa on the back, "I think we all understand how you're feeling."

 "I doubt that." Roko smirked.

 "And it just so happens that Spark owns a gyoza stand!" Mistral smiled.

 "I thought he was a hunter." Treesa frowned.

 "He is but sometimes he just takes some time off with some of the surplus supplies to run the stand. It's pretty popular. So you can kill two birds with one stone, make food for dark elves and spend some time with your ex!"

 "Uuuuuugh..." Treesa looked sick.

 "Anyway, I came here to play but I guess I'll leave you alone today so you can think this over. Come find Spark when you're ready, okay?"

 Mistral waved and walked off, leaving a very disconcerted Treesa.

 "She sure has a lot of free time for a doctor." Roko noted. Then he turned to Treesa who had gone back to hiding her head in her arms, "You good?"

 "Gyozas were one of the few dishes I ever taught Root how to make."

 "...I see. Good for you."

 The next day, Roko and company gathered near the town's gate without Treesa. There, Brook and Reaumur were standing there chatting until they spotted Roko's group approaching.

 "Hey guys!" Reaumur grinned as she waved enthusiastically at them, "I'll be your guide on this adventure! No dad, no Ohm or Drift, no dogs. Just me."

 "Good to see you!" Helena gave the dark elf a high five, "Have you been to this hermit's hut before?"

 "Not personally, no." Reaumur replied as she pulled out a small note from her pocket, "But I've got some directions from Polaris."

 "Polaris isn't coming along?" Momo asked, "I figured he'd want to experience this himself."

 "That's what I'm here for." Brook smirked, "Polaris still has some things to take care of but even he said he might only get in the way if he came along. He's a known factor and would probably make the old man even more stubborn."

 "So we're the new factors." Roland said as he tipped his hat down, "The unexpected new variables with unknown potential. Right?"

 Reaumur and Brook blinked as they watched Roland posed in front of them.

 "What's up with him?" Reaumur whispered as the three girls turned away from Roland.

 "He got a new hat."

 "It is a nice hat." Brook nodded, "But how does that explain things?"

 "Girl, I don't know. He got that hat custom made around here. Do you know who could've done that?"

 "A few, maybe." Reaumur shrugged, "None of us has ever seen a hat like that so he'd have to provide a sketch or something."

 "He went that far for a hat?" Brook frowned.

 "I mean, it is a nice hat."

 "There are nicer fedoras in human society." Helena sighed, "But for an elf who has never seen a fedora before, it's pretty good."

 "Yeah, I might need to find out who made it." Reaumur agreed.

 "Does the hat do anything?" Brook asked.

 "To Roland's wacked head, yes."

 "Hehe. The girls entranced by my new grandeur." Roland chuckled as he watched the girls discuss among themselves.

 "Good to know Roland's still Roland underneath the hat." Momo laughed to herself as she put her hands on her hips.

 "Corissa, remember to stay away from Roland." Kaguya said.

 "Huh? But I still have to cook dinner for everyone right?" Corissa said, confused, "I don't understand, nothing's changed about Roland, right?"

 "You're so right, actually." Kaguya giggled.

 "Can we just leave already?" Roko sighed.

 This seer apparently lived deep in the depths of Arbrea. Not quite in the darkest depths like the dark elves, but it still took the group a few days of travel well outside the range of the dark elf territory. The luminescent spores that had lit the shallower parts of Arbrea before had returned in greater numbers. But now everything was lit with a deep purple light unlike the blue lights around Granreveria and the white lights around Duskwald. This unusual lighting was apparently due to extra layers of magical security in addition to the warped space.

 "Just a bit of archeomancy from Polaris. Keeps wild animals and monsters away from him along with visitors. It seems this old man's quite the hermit." Brook explained as they set up camp for the night, "Quite crotchety too so I hope you guys have a plan."

 "Half our governing body are usually grumpy old people so I think most of us are used to stuff like this." Helena smirked, "You could call us experts even."

 "I don't know if I'd say that." Kaguya said, "There's a difference between balancing board members and juggling irate elders. I say that having done both."

 "You volunteer at the retirement centers occasionally or something?"

 "...Something like that."

 "I've hung out with Rokusho sensei but it's mostly for training." Momo said, "Roko, what about you?"

 "No experience." Roko replied as he continued writing in his notebook.

 "Do you have a plan for how to handle him if things go awry?"

 "That's too vague a question to bother planning against."

 "Then...do you have an idea on how to approach speaking with him? Aside from keep up manners and such?"

 "I dunno, I say we leave it all to Roland...'s hat."

 "Yeah, Roland's hat is pretty neat." Helena chuckled, "I say we let Roland's hat show off how much he's really changed now."

 "M-me?" Roland coughed, "Well...I...of course, I've got great respect for those who've lived such long lives. Such trivial matters would be like nothing to me."

 "You say you respect them but then you just called them trivial." Momo pointed out.

 "A-All I'm saying is that one old man is hardly worth worrying over."

 "You're so bad at this." Roko muttered.

 "I heard that!" Roland snapped, "I don't want to hear about how bad I am at talking from somebody who doesn't like starting conversations with anybody for fun!"

 "I have things to do, unlike someone else!"

 "More like you just keep finding things to busy yourself with! You're so self absorbed that you can't take time to consider the people around you! It's a wonder you have any friends with how you treat them! We're not just tools you can use when it comes down to a fight! You're like the weakest one out of all of us and you have the least credentials and yet you keep bossing us around because we let you. I'd love to see you actually try to do anything on your own instead of relying on people you don't bother keeping a connection with! See how you last then!"

 "...You want me to go alone?"

 "Yeah!"

 …

 Roko snapped his book shut, got up and began to walk off.

 "Wait, Roko?!" Corissa yelped, "Oh no, wait, the food! Roko?!"

 Hurriedly moving their dinner off the flames, Corissa rushed after Roko as he disappeared into the forest. For a moment, the camp was in a stunned silence as everyone tried to process what had so quickly occurred.

 "Huh." Roland smirked contently as he patted his hat, "Got him to actually shut up. Hat's OP."