“Thanks for the notice, I don’t have anything for you right but I’ll make sure to get you all a nice reward for next time I come around.” Jak kneeled before the kids, giving a wide grin and thumbs up.

“Ooh! Bring us a boatload of bonbons!” “No! Bubblegum!” “… could you bring us some cool Lebensperlen from the festival?” “Do you think there are Bubblegum Lebensperlen?” “… why would they? And bonbons would be much better for that!”

Jak chuckled and stood back up as a small argument broke up out between the Bonbon and Bubblegum factions.

“Heh, I’ll see what I can do.” His lips coiled amused and he ruffled the small Orca Cat’s head as she looked up at him with sparkling eyes. He turned around.

It really had been a good idea to stop by the orphanage first. Jak could vaguely remember that Jenny had mentioned something about TC and Mina wanting her and Geen to help out but he hadn’t really known that they had been doing so throughout the last few weeks. And now he also knew where to go to find her. At the Bridge, huh?

But perhaps more importantly he had been able to confirm that neither haggard nor his goons had been anywhere to be found since this morning. The general consensus was that the City Guards who had been skulking around the slums last night must have spooked them. Jak hadn’t even known there was an investigation going on!

The slums didn’t have a lot of respect or trust left for the City Guard, they preferred to deal with problems on their own. Outsiders tended to make things messy and unnecessary complicated. And if they were here because of that Demon then things could escalate rapidly. Especially if any of the slum’s gangs were dealing with one or more of them.

Shaking his head, Jak set that thought aside and looked around. He quickly found Myra among the crowd of kids. The bunny cat was still visibly awkward but the previous paralysis was nowhere to be found. There was even a happy little grin on her face as she showed the kids some of her smaller inventions. Right now it was a small, spinning disk that she controlled using a few strings, making it float in place or flit quickly through the air. The glow of Amber flowed along the threads.

“Woah! Cool!” “I want one!” “Can we try as well?”

With big eyes the kids enjoyed the show, smiles and gasps of awe sweeping across them. A small grin played over Jak’s face, glad to see that Myra was enjoying herself as well. Her chest was swelling with pride at all the positive affirmation washing over her. A light snort escaped him and his eyes flitted to the side of the hall where a small group of children had huddled up by the staircase. They had been switching out quietly but were now animatedly waving in warning.

Welp, time get going then!

“Hey, Myra! Time to go! You can show them more later!”

Jak called out to her, already having sprinted halfway up to her.

“Huwha…?” She blinked startled before saluting in agreement and turned to give her spectators a sheepish smile, bopping her head to the side. “Sorry, seems like I have to stop here.”

“Aw…” Came the synonymous and disappointed echo from the kids.

“Don’t you worry, she can continue her show in the future. Gotta run or your caretakers are going to spoil the show more than they have already~” Jak waved as he flew past them and Myra whirled around, to join him hot on his tail. Midspin she gave the stationary floating disk a jolt, the threads tightened and it shot at high speeds after her. With a playful wink to the kids she let it spin wildly around her wrist and flicked the threads, letting go of them. Together they flitted back into her pockets.

Awed gasps and cheers echoed after her.

“Bye, Jak! Bye, Myra!” “Come back soon!” “We want answers!” “That was so cool!”

“Bye, bye!” Jak and Myra called back under light laughter.

“I KNEW SOMETHING HAD TO BE UP!!! COME BACK HERE!! JAK?!”

The young, feminine voice echoed loudly from above the stairs as the caretakers rushed downwards. But by the time she had managed to reach the bottom of the stairs, Jak and Myra had already flitted out of the doors and were on their way to the next stop. The TC Gear Club, Vent Bridge.

———

The training area of the City Guard was located within the backyards of each HQ, the General HQ’s was on the smaller side and only a few people were using it right now.

Leora’s blade purred as it cut through the air, barely visible to the naked eyes as she danced around the training dummy. Each time she stopped her sword just before the blade could actually cut into any part of the wooden doll. Then she slowed her movement to a crawl, making it appear as if time had suddenly started to move in slow motion, before gradually speeding up again. It was an exercise of control and her grasp on this exercise put her at the very top among not just swordsmen but even martial artists in general.

Not for the first time Officer Ungehn found himself thinking that her talents were wasted at the City Guards as he watched her from the side. Oh, she was a great Lieutenant, don’t get him wrong, but her position rarely put her on the field where her skills with the blade were able to truly shine. It was commendable, then, that her desire to keep the people of Dampfstadt safe had her pursue the City Guard and not a spot as a professional duelist. He was certain that she would have been able to make it big if she had joined the Knight Tournaments in Uxuno… or perhaps one of the Dojos scattered throughout Sakunari.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Averting his gaze from his Leading General, Lagua Ungehn focused back on his own training. In contrast to her, he was not one for such tight, even instinctive control over his body. No, his was a calm and direct mind. While he could hold his own in melee, his speciality was more of a focus on specific goals than the chaos that came from the blade. And so he had chosen a weapon that suited his attitude far better.

He gazed at his target, rifle set n, and the moment everything aligned his eyes dilated and a pulse of Amber travelled along the barrel. A second later the sound of a dull crack echoed across the training area as the charged bullet impacted the target, energy rippled across its surface. It had been just a training round and so no special effects had been imbued within it. But had it been a person, Officer Ungehn’s shot could have paralysed them immediately or caused any number of other outcomes, some exceedingly deadly. The latter was especially true if used on untrained civilians, understanding of Amber manipulation and awakened Arcs had the tendency to grant natural resistances against any outside effects caused by Amber.

“Acceptable…” Lagua mused quietly, noting that the bullet had missed the bullseye by just a few millimetres, and readied himself for another shot.

Behind him, Leora finally ended her own exercise with a flurry of movements and coming to a graceful stand the training dummy’s head and arms slid cleanly off its body. She was breathing a bit more heavy now. Leora knew that exerting herself before an important mission like this wasn’t exactly smart, but her body had been itching to do anything besides waiting for those responsible to fetch her and her men. All that tension from stress and worry were far worse enemies than some mild exhaustion as they would just lead to locked up muscles. It was better to warm them up for action beforehand than to grow rigid.

Her gaze turned towards the cloudy sky, a tinge of yellow began to spread across it as midday began to yield to the early afternoon.

———

“Welcome home, Lady Rehn.”

With a warm smile the dachshund maid bowed lightly as Rehn exited the elevator into the private, upper floors of the Dampf Tower.

“We’re still readying dinner… and your father, Lord Velric, will not be available this evening.”

“Thank you, Rumi! I will be in my room, then!”

The cat girl waved cheerfully, gently handing her backpack to the maid before speeding away through the hallways. Her quick flight was not a new occasion as the other staff of the tower skilful dodged out of her way. She hadn’t even blinked at the mention of her father’s absence.

“Haa… really, that old fool would do well to be a bit more present in the young lady’s life.”

Rumi shook her head with an exasperate sigh and carried Rehn’s school items to the closet.

As soon as the door to her room closed behind her, Rehn let out a sigh of relief and visibly winced as she no longer ignored the dull, aching pain throbbing within her head. They had been getting worse over the last few months and only went away when she fell asleep, building up over the day again. The first time around she had mentioned her headaches she had been immediately dragged to the doctor who had found nothing wrong, his tentative diagnosis had been stress from school work. Even back then she had snorted, she had never felt stressed about school. Yeah, she tried to get max points at every test but that didn’t mean she stressed about it, really!

“It’s not school…!” She groaned, falling headfirst into her pillows.

And that’s why she had decided to just keep quiet instead of visiting the doctor again, clearly he couldn’t help if he had nothing new to add after the third time around. It would just worry her father and give her reasons to actually develop a stress headache. Something she really didn’t need on top of everything else!

Rolling to the side, Rehn pouted and continued to brood on her bed for some time. She probably wouldn’t have brooded for much longer but the knocking sound at her window definitely startled her out of those negative thoughts earlier. She had been more annoyed, really.

Perking up, she turned towards the sound.

“Oh, hey. I see you’re still visiting me.”

Rehn giggled lightly as she reached the window, a black bird staring back with beautiful, sapphire blue eyes. A nevermore, the body pitch black from the feathers to the claws over the beak and even the sclera of the eyes and tongue. Playful she stuck out her tongue with a wink.

“You know I’m not a witch, right?”

The bird cocked his head to the side as she opened the window and she laughed before giving him an apologetic smile. With a sheepish laugh she let him inside.

“Sorry, but I don’t have anything for you right now. Dinner’s still a while away.”

A warm feeling fluttered within her chest as the nevermore flapped his wings and gracefully landed on her shoulders. Gently he rubbed his head against her own, wing laid over the back as if to pat her. He was a pretty big bird, towering half a head over her, but still felt light as a feather.

It has been about two months now since he had started knocking at her window. One of the only true secrets she kept. Pets weren’t allowed up in the Dampf Tower but to her, the nevermore also felt more like a friend. The only one she had within these walls. The maids and butlers didn’t count. She could never know when they would snitch her out to he father!

A small giggle escaped Rehn.

“You know, I really need to give you a name…”

Rehn tapped her chin with a warm glow in her eyes. She had been thinking about this for a while now since it had become clear that the nevermore was actually visiting her and not just coming around for the food she sometimes had to hand.

“So, what do you think of Blau Auge?”

She looked at him hopefully only to for a deadpan stare to come as reply. A sheepish laugh escaped her and she rubbed the back of her head.

“Hehe, yeah. I’m not really good with names…”

For a moment the nevermore looked at her disappointed but understanding face and then rolled his eyes with a heavy. Sounding a caw of resignation he nudged her cheek from the side and gave a slow and deliberate nod. Her eyes sparkled wide.

“Really? You take it? Hehe, that’s great! Then I pronounce you Blau Auge, he of Steamy Skies~!” Rehn declared cheerfully, giggling brightly.

The newly named Blau Auge crinkled his namesakes akin to a smile, glad to have cheered the young mistress up. And then braced himself for what was to come. He had kept a close eye on the dates and not forgotten about all her talks with him, after all.

“So… what do you think I should wear for my date with Thale tomorrow…?” Rehn asked him.

A suppressed, suffering sob echoed through his skull. Witches and warlocks, why did he have to deal with dating advice?!