"What great afternoon! Isn't that right Arron?" Rynia stretched her arms as Arron stepped off the carriage, they had arrived at Peia and all that needed to be done now is pay the fee of entering Peia.

Arron rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and did his stretches as always. He glanced over at Rynia and nodded groggily. "Sure..." He said as he rubbed his back.

"Why the long face, Arron?" She asked, her hands fell down to her hips. Arron just walked past her ignoring her.

"You didn't let me sleep, with all your nagging..." He spoke as he remembered how she talked about random topics none stop.

"N-nagging?!!" Rynia exclaimed in exasperation as she physically recoiled as if she had been slapped in the face.

"I could never!" She scoffed as she turned away from Arron.

"Yeah, whatever you say," He rolled his eyes before he walked past her ignoring her completely.

"Let's go! To Prism we goooo!" She exclaimed garnering the attention of the city guards.

"Ah, it's more of those." A guard said nudging his colleague on the side to look over at the two kids making their way over to the gate. "We've been getting them none stop, can you believe that?"

"I mean, Prism is... Prism, you can't expect there to be any less kids all around the world to not come here." The guard shrugged before he turned to the duo that was now nearing them.

"Entrance fee." He said simply as Arron handed him 2 silver coins.

"What about you?" The guard turned to Rynia raising an eyebrow.

Rynia just dug into her satchel rummaging in the small bag until she felt the familiar cold feeling of metal. She pulled out a small badge...

"Here you go!" She spoke as she handed the guard her mercenary badge, a silver one.

Arron's brows shot up in surprise as he recognized the silver badge signifying that she is either a D rank mercenary.

The guard accepted the badge and looked over it for a moment before handing it back to Rynia. She smiled and put the badge back into her satchel.

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Once they were in the city Arron had several questions, "You never told me you're a mercenary." He said on a whim as they walked through the city streets.

"Yeah, I don't mention much to folk I just meet, cause my mom kinda made me sign up for mercenary work." Rynia said a small bitter smile on her face.

Before Arron could prod further Rynia jumped up and pointed at a street food stand exclaiming excitedly, "Over there!"

Arron looked over at the food stand to find that it served meat on the stick, and frankly... He was sort of hungry as well. "That looks really good..."

"Let's go get some!" She exclaimed as she tugged him by the arm to follow her.

Then Arron took a pause, "Listen, I barely know you but there is one thing I'm certain of... You're rich so pay for me and I'll tag along with you until we reach the academy." Arron tried to hide his grin, his eyes shining at seeing a new opportunity. He could tell Rynia was not a social person based on her clumsiness and slight stutter, so he was

"Haa?! F-fine then! But only because I don't have anyone I can hang out with before I get in the academy..." Rynia pouted and huffed turning away from Arron, crossing her arms.

Rynia sighed and started towards the food stand, "Let's just go eat..."

Arron smirked, he secured a wallet now. He doesn't have to spend any of his personal money.

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"Yeah, two rooms. That's what I just said." Rynia spoke, her tone was augmenting in pitch... "This is the fifth time I said it..." Rynia's voice shook from the anger boiling just beneath the surface.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Yeah, I heard you. I was just making sure you didn't want a joint room." The inn lady said, trying her best to hide a grin.

"No, I don't want a joint room!" Rynia exploded in anger, Arron was just standing awkwardly to the side. "Alright! Jeeze, calm down!" The inn lady reached down and opened a drawer picking up two keys and tossing one to Rynia and the other to Arron, all that with one hand to her ear. "You burst my eardrum girl!"

"Was that so damn hard?!" Rynia snatched the key out of the air her tone dimming down in pitch now that she got what she wanted.

"I was just messin' with you..." The inn lady grumbled before she made her way to the back, the sound of dishes and water splashing resounded afterwards. Rynia let out a long sigh and along with it her anger. Rynia nudged Arron on the shoulder and urged him on, "Let's go. Tomorrow we can go to the academy and we can get a place to stay..." Rynia sounded tired and looked tired, I mean for her it was probably hard to sleep in a carriage, so he understood her. For Arron though, it wasn't hard. But it was tiring because she wouldn't let him sleep then.

Arron followed Rynia upstairs and walked through the hallways until he found his room. It was right next to Rynia's, "Goodnight..." Rynia said before slamming her door shut.

Arron closed the door slowly and turned to look at his room. It was a bland one. A study wooden desk to the left with a wooden chair, a small bedside shelf. A humble bed with soft white cushions.

Arron sauntered over to the bed, threw his hide satchel on top of the shelf before plopping himself down on the bed. And drifted off to dreamland...

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The next day. Rynia walked through the streets looking for a place to eat. The inn they were in didn't serve breakfast. Arron was walking to her side, "Hey," He called out.

"EEECK!!!!" She jumped and slammed her head on a sign before she recoiled into a water puddle from last night's rain... Her clothes were soaked, her head hurt, and her heart was beating rapidly... "Awww... My clothes..." She looked down at her soaked state and grumbled.

"I-I'm sorry..." It looks like Arron underestimated how clumsy Rynia was. He offered her a hand and she took it. She stood up on her feet and looked into her bag before she let out a sigh of relief...

"Haa~ Thank gods... I brought a spare change..." Rynia reached into her bag and pulled out a smaller leather bag, this one reserved for her extra pair of clothes...

"God... I have to find a clothing store that'll let me use their changing room..."

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"I feel new!" Rynia exclaimed her hands on her hips as she puffed out her chest proudly. Her enthusiasm returned once more. Arron did not know how she manages to keep being so cheerful and bubbly when these types of situations always happen to her. At least this time she didn't get hurt. Arron thought to himself as he shook his head.

"Let's just eat so we can go do that magic test at the academy." Arron spoke simply as he started eating his breakfast. It was a simple breakfast of mashed potatoes and a side of soup. Not as good as his sister's though.

"Alright!" Rynia dug into her food quickly, devouring her mashed potatoes.

"So, you said you were tagging along with your mom. Where is she now?" Arron asked curiously as he took a bite of a piece of bread.

"She's back with the convoy." She said, her voice muffled as she chewed her bread thoroughly.

"What?" Arron paused, "Why?" He asked tilting his head to the side.

"She's a mercenary." Rynia shrugged as she swallowed before she fixed him with a confused stare, "Did I not tell you?" She asked as she tapped her finger on the table.

"No, you didn't." Arron raised an eyebrow in curiosity, "What's her rank?" He asked casually taking another bite of bread.

"I don't know... But her badge is red, I think it's SSS-rank..." She said, the words flowed out of her mouth so casually it stumped Arron.

"What?!" He practically screamed drawing attention to himself and to Rynia. Rynia covered her ears, a grimace crossing her face. "Why are you screaming?!"

Arron looked around the café feeling several gazes pierce his back as he sighed, "This isn't just a casual thing to say... I mean your mom is literally one of the few SSS-rank individuals in the whole world!" His tone was lowered now , careful not to draw any more attention to himself and Rynia. Arron thought back to that tanned woman that he had seen with the convoy.

Now that he compared, he could definitely see the similarity.

"So?" Rynia says her eyes looking down at her food, a strange stoic expression on her face, her spoon played with the mashed potatoes. It was clear that she had lost her appetite.

"What do you mean, 'So'?" Arron asked in exasperation, "You could of said it sooner and we wouldn't just be allowed in the city, we would be treated like nobles-"

"I didn't say it for a reason, Arron!" She slammed her hand on the table. The sudden, unfamiliar anger in her voice, "I don't like people associating me with my mum!" Her eyes bore into his, a frown on her face as she stood up abruptly, her eyes shadowing over. "Let's just go..."

Arron was about to say something, but he decided against him when Rynia walked away from him, exiting the café.

Arron stood up and ran after her. He knew he had touched over a topic that she was probably uncomfortable with...

"Wait!" He chased after her, thankfully she was just speed-walking away. "I'm sorry if I said anything you're uncomfortable with. I wasn't aware your mother was a sensitive thing for-"

"Just forget it." Rynia took a deep breath before she met his gaze again trying to smile, "Let's just go to the academy... We'll be late if we don't..." She said and Arron nodded.

They should focus on what's important.