Ep 21

The sun barely visible in the horizon. The whole world covered by the orange light emitted by dawning sun. It was a beautiful sight, a stark contrast to what the faces of certain people were.

The hero's party, gathered around a sturdy table, their faces etched with a visible confusion. The map of the Caldris Kingdom lay spread out before them, but their eyes weren't on the map.

The current situation weighed heavily on everyone's minds.

"Are they being for real?" Cleo slammed his hands down onto the table with enough force to shake the room. The table, however, remained unscathed. Cleo's hand, on the other hand, was another story. "Ouch," he grunted softly, barely audible, as he quickly masked the pain, pretending it hadn't hurt a bit.

Shiina shot him a sharp, unimpressed look. "Can you like shut the heck up for a bit?" she snapped, her voice cutting through the air. "Think about it for a second."

Rumi, ever the calm one, leaned forward, her expression serious. "Shiina's right. It hasn't been long since they tried invading us."

Shiina nodded, her eyes narrowing with frustration. "Just a few days ago, they managed to sneak up on us and invade without anyone noticing. That alone is concerning enough, how'd they managed to evade our notice." She leaned in closer, her gaze intense. "And now? They're being bold. Letting word of their movements spread this far, and this fast."

"Huh?" Cleo muttered, genuinely confused, struggling to grasp what the others were trying to convey.

"Can you, like, use your head just a little?" Shiina shot back, her frustration bubbling to the surface.

Cleo bristled, his pride stung. "What are you saying? I'm dumb? Is that it?"

Shiina's eyes flashed with irritation. "What do you think? Huh? Bastard."

It was just like always, the two who had been together the longest in the party. They couldn't be left alone for more than a few minutes without turning everything into a fight. Question is, was it really a fight.

"It's a trap," Silica interjected, cutting through the back-and-forth banter between the two. Her voice was calm and firm, but it was no use. Despite Silica's attempt to break through the tension, the atmosphere remained thick with their usual dynamics. They'd been like this for as long as anyone could remember.

One might wonder, were they really friends?

They are.

"They're not just letting it spread by accident. This is part of their plan." Silica continued, knowing how pointless it would be to get in between the bickering friends. 

"The real question is," Rumi stated pausing in between the sentence. "why?"

...

The room unremarkable, not lavish or ostentatious in any way. There were no signs of extravagance or nobility. Yet, the serene atmosphere within gave the space an undeniable sense of importance, a quiet weight that set it apart.

The door creaked open, and a woman stepped inside, her face concealed beneath the dark hood of her cloak. She moved with purpose, her footsteps light yet deliberate as she approached the figure standing by the window. The man, tall and composed, was staring out at a distant figure visible from the window. His eyes never wavered from the scene before him, but he acknowledged her presence with a subtle nod.

She positioned herself beside him, her gaze falling on the same figure below. She watched quietly as the person moved, oblivious to the watchful eyes.

"Good evening," the woman greeted, her voice soft yet clear, cutting through the silence like a blade.

The man didn't immediately respond, his attention still fixed on the figure below. After a prolonged silence, he spoke, his voice calm and measured. "What do you think?"

The woman's hooded head tilted slightly as she focused, her senses sharpening. "I can feel its presence," she replied, her voice heavy with certainty.

A faint, almost imperceptible smile tugged at the corners of the man's lips. "I see," he murmured, his eyes still locked on the distant figure. "Then, we proceed."

She regarded him for a moment, then asked, her voice carrying a hint of curiosity, "Are you not worried?"

The man turned to her then, his expression unreadable. He paused briefly, contemplating the weight of his response. "There's no need for that," he said at last, his tone unwavering, cold even. "We're already playing games with the gods. What is there left to worry about?"

The woman simply nodded. "I see."

Without another word, she turned, her cloak swirling behind her as she walked toward the door.

The man remained, his gaze fixed once more on the person below. The person in question, now engaged in a conversation with someone else, unaware of the pair of eyes watching from the shadows.

...

"Can we, like, at the very least, take a damn rest?" I complained as we trudged through the garden. My body felt like it had been put through a blender, tired to the bone from traveling, the carriage practically shaking my butt off, and then the meeting with the King.

Honestly, all I wanted was a bed, preferably one that didn't have wheels and didn't constantly try to throw me off balance.

As for the meeting... yeah, nothing much happened. The whole thing was a lot of back-and-forth about alliances and politics. And then the King asked me a bunch of random questions, most of which I answered with brief responses.

One of the things he asked about was my phone, guess Sylvia might've mentioned it in passing. And then he asked me something that sounded suspiciously like the same question Sylvia had asked me earlier.

I guess they really want that thing.

After the meeting, Sena insisted we head to the garden. 'I want to see the quality of your mana,' she said. That's the reason why were here right now. Whatever that meant. 

"Nah, we do it now. We should be fine here," she insisted, ignoring my desperate glances toward the nearest bench.

"So, how should I do it?" I asked, trying to keep the exhaustion out of my voice. But the sheer fatigue was making it hard to hide. I just wanted to finish this and collapse into the nearest soft surface.

"Just take one of my punches," Sena said casually, as though that wasn't the most insane thing I'd ever heard.

"...Say what?" I asked, hoping I'd misheard. Maybe the fatigue was playing tricks on me.

"I said, just take one of my punches," she repeated, her tone direct, though there was a hint of playfulness in her voice.

Shit.