Vol and Evelyne

It turns out that Vol and Eve are quite close. Or so I extrapolate from the length of their hug.

"Goodness, Vol, I have not seen you in almost a century," she said, looking over him, "You are starting to look pretty scrawny."

"Well, I've been a bit busy."

"Caught up in your research, I presume?" she asked with a knowing smile.

"That too, but recently it's been because of Seb... astian here."

Right. That's me. Seb-astian.

"Sebastian," I say, reaching out my hand.

She takes it, looking intrigued and politely puzzled.

"We're actually here to hear about some metal shipments," I tell her, looking to Vol to continue, since he knows her best.

"Right," he says, apparently having immediately forgotten why we were here.

"The blacksmiths around town haven't been getting metal shipments in about a week," he tells Eve.

"Ah," she says, softly, "Yes, I am aware."

"Do you know why?"

"Mmm, in part. Three of the ships that were supposed to be carrying shipments from Cavern have gone missing," she tells us, solemnly.

"The ships have been disappearing? Could they be getting hijacked by pirates?" Vol asks.

"That is what we thought, too. A few days ago, we hired some adventurers to protect the third ship."

"I assume they went missing too?" Vol asks.

"You assume right, dear."

That's a suspicious set of circumstances. And an even more suspicious use of "dear."

"What level were the adventurers?" I ask.

"I hear that they are the best. A-rank."

A-rank adventurers? She couldn't possibly mean them, right?

She continues.

"Apparently, they defeated a greater monster, so we believed they were the best choice."

Ah. She does mean them.

Vol and I exchange glances. I get the sense that Elizabeth won't be very happy about this.

In that moment, an idea springs to mind.

"When is the next shipment?"

"The ship was supposed to leave here tomorrow, but we have been debating putting it on hold until we can find a way to keep the crew safe."

I look over at Vol.

"What do you think?"

He nods,  "We should go. Elizabeth will probably want to come, as well."

Eve looks a bit confused.

"Come now, Vol, you have not fought in ages. And, respectfully," she turns to me, "I do not believe that you are any more capable use than an A-rank adventurer."

"He is," Vol says, without hesitation.

"We need this metal shipment," he continues, "We can do this. Trust me, Eve."

He leans in, lightly putting his hand on hers. Something very suspicious is going on here.

"Very well," she sighs, reluctantly. "I will tell the ship to depart with you tomorrow."

"Thank you, dear," Vol says, smiling.

He gets up and I follow. I must admit, that was surprisingly impressive for Vol. I had already begun considering different ways to convince her, but I guess it wasn't necessary.

After pushing our way back our through the crowd downstairs, we leave through the front doors. On our way back home, I ask the still smiling Vol a question.

"So, how do you know this Evelyne?"

"Hm?" he seems to snap out of his thoughts, "Oh, right. She's- well- my wife."

"You're married??" I exclaim.

"Of course I am," he says, slightly offended, "I've been married for centuries."

"Hold on, you don't have kids, too, do you?"

"Ha-ha, no~ Those I never got. Well, not counting you, anyway. Evelyne and I are both far too busy for that."

"Sure. But you're still married, then? It sounded like you hadn't seen each other in a long time."

"We worked out something of a deal. I think you'd appreciate it, Seb."

"How so?"

"For one, she supplies me with materials and support for my research. It also gives me something of a foothold to still be a part of Voaneve through my marriage. In return, I provide Tayde with frontier research, which improves the town at a much faster speed than anywhere else."

"Huh, that is pretty clever. Wait, what do you mean you're 'still' a part of Voaneve?"

"We founded it together, of course! I thought that'd be obvious to you, Seb."

"What? Why would that be obvious?"

"It's kind of in the name, you know? Voaneve. Vol and Eve."

That really is kind of obvious, isn't it.

"You really enjoy just shortening names, don't you?"

"It's efficient," he says, happily. He seems to be in a good mood after all this.

"I suppose so. Why don't you shorten Elizabeth's name, then?"

"A-haha~ I tried calling her Liz once, but she wasn't too happy about it. She threatened to trash my office," he laughs. "Though, maybe she was joking. I honestly can't tell."

Sometimes I forget that Vol has had a life before ever meeting me. The fact that he's married made me feel just as weird as it did when Elizabeth talked about her and Jonas as children. I might've been disconnected from people for too long.

Nearing nightfall, we arrived back home. Upon telling Elizabeth about Jonas and his group disappearing, she immediately broke in.

"I'm going with you."

"Relax, Elizabeth. You're already invited," Vol tells her, soothingly.

"The ship is leaving from further up the docks, where the tidal spell didn't hit. It's set for tomorrow morning, at dawn."

"In that case," Vol says, "We better get some rest."