There was a perceptible change to the mood of the party the next morning, once they’d all woken up. Whether it was the quietness around them or the knowledge that they’d fallen asleep in a truly safe area for the first time in a while, they couldn’t be sure. They’d decided to take rooms in The Heron tavern and get a full night’s rest before tackling the training that the Adventurer’s Guild was going to offer them. It was a wise decision, even if half the night had been spent in fretful tossing or tortured self-reflection. But when they met in the taproom downstairs, each of them had a relaxed air, or as close as they could manage.

Leonov, Falynn, and Roni were occupying a table in one of the corners when Taiki descended the sturdy wooden stairs from the second floor, and they looked up with a nod of welcome, not speaking. The grizzled former Attosian had both hands clutched around a steaming mug of coffee, and Roni was devouring a plate stacked with food. The druid girl had a glass of juice and a plate of fruit in front of her. As Taiki drew closer, a curvy barmaid approached them with a fresh loaf of bread and some butter.

“Some bread for you, dears,” the woman said. “You’ve got a big day ahead of you, so make sure to eat up.”

“How do you know what we have today?” Taiki asked. In spite of her quiet approach, the barmaid showed no sign of surprise at her sudden appearance. “We’re strangers, after all.”

“Don’t be silly,” The woman said, turning to face Taiki. She had long red hair tied back into a bun, and a certain care-worn set of smile wrinkles around her piercing green eyes. “Leo here told me about it, and if you’re friends of his, then you’re no strangers to me.”

Falynn and Roni both choked into their cups as the woman shortened Leonov’s name, but the warrior pretended not to notice. He favored the barmaid with a slight smile. “Perhaps I shouldn’t have told you so much, Mandra. It isn’t right to disclose too much to a stranger.”

“Oh, nonsense,” Mandra said cheerily, pinching him on the cheek. He showed no sign of irritation at the overly familiar gesture, and the others stared at him incredulously. “Who am I going to tell? You can’t take your meals in silence, anyway.”

Taiki let out a grunt that was neither affirmative nor negatory and sat down at the table to Falynn’s right. The elven girl sat up a little straighter and busied herself with eating the fruit on her plate. Mandra, still smiling warmly, turned to Taiki. “What would you like, dear? Some breakfast? Coffee?”

Taiki gave her a slight shrug in place of an answer, and the woman’s smile widened. “Right away. Leo, dear, yours will be coming soon.”

He gave her a nod of gratitude and took another long drink of his coffee, almost emptying the cup in one. An awkward silence settled over the table as they all waited until Roni broke it. “So. This training. What do you think it will be?”

“I don’t think it will be training,” Leonov replied at once. He seemed relieved to have something to discuss. “I think they’re just measuring our capabilities and seeing how well we can work together.”

“Shouldn’t our successful bounties show that?” Falynn asked, finally looking up from her plate. “After all that stuff we did, I think it’s pretty obvious that we work well together.”

“We’ve only done two jobs,” Roni pointed out, listing them on her fingers. “Escorting Lady Breeden, and recovering the living wood.”

“We also helped recover all those divine artifacts,” Falynn said pointedly. “That was like three bounties in one.”

“But it wasn’t offered by the Guild,” Leonov countered. “That means that, as far as they’re concerned, we’re still novices.”

“But we’re not,” now Falynn seemed peeved by the lack of recognition. “I’m a master Druid, you’re a former Sergeant in the Attosian army, and Taiki fights just as well as you do.”

Roni arched an eyebrow. “Glad to feel included in a group of legends such as you all.”

Falynn’s cheeks pinked considerably, and she scrambled to cover her mistake. “You’re also great too, Roni! You’re an incredible marksman, and your tracking skills are better than mine!”

“That’s because you trip over every root in existence,” Roni muttered. She thought she’d said it too quietly to be heard, and while it had escaped the attention of Taiki and Leonov, the other elf heard it and scowled. “But that’s not the point.”

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“That’s true,” Leonov said, hurriedly glossing over the awkward moment. “They’re not interested in our individual skills. It doesn’t matter how strong any of us are. Higher-level bounties require strong parties. None of us can do it alone.”

Taiki let out another snort, and there was no mistake this time as to its meaning. Leonov shot her a dark look for a second but powered through. “Personally, I think we can all admit that we’ve been a little sloppy in our fights because we’re not familiar with each other’s skills.”

Falynn, who’d opened her mouth to refute whatever he said next, hesitated. She realized that he was right. In spite of fighting in a battle together, they were still total strangers. “Well, how can we become more familiar with each other?”

To that, Leonov could only shrug. “I expect this Master…”

“Sennid,” Roni provided.

“Right. Master Sennid will surely know how. So as soon as we’re done here, I think we should head to the guild straight away.”

Nobody offered dissent on that suggestion, and they all decided, without saying it, to agree. As if on cue, Mandra returned, holding two large plates piled with food. She settled the first, containing a lot of eggs, bacon, sausage, and some kind of grainy mush, before Leonov. For Taiki, she revealed a pile of rice, with a scrambled and folded egg on top. Taiki sat up a little straighter, surprised.

“Omelet rice?” She asked, looking up at Mandra with confusion. “How do you know how to make this?”

“What, you think you’re the first Nihon-Jan to come to my tavern?” Mandra asked. The tone was incredulous, but her twinkling eyes ruined the look of mock indignation. “If you like, when that's done, I can whip up some miso for you.”

The mention of another food from her homeland seemed to thaw the icy exterior that she’d stubbornly maintained the entire time they’d known her. She devoured the omelet rice with quiet enthusiasm, and by the time Mandra had returned with a bowl of some kind of steaming noodle soup for her, the plate had been emptied completely. Mandra smiled, but didn’t look surprised, and grabbed the plate away, replacing it with the soup.

“So good,” Taiki muttered, after tasting the soup. “Just as good as Master Sato used to make.”

“Aramato?” Mandra asked, her eyes a little wider. “So you know that old bird, do you?”

Taiki paused in her consumption of the miso and looked up. “You know Master Sato?”

“Sure I do,” the woman said. “He used to be part of Issho-Ni. He loved my ramen. Always told me it would be the reason he went broke, the silly man.”

The others looked between Taiki and Mandra, perplexed at the sudden bond of understanding that had formed between the two. For the first time, Taiki was smiling, and at a total stranger at that. Mandra returned the smile, pleased to see that her cooking was being enjoyed, and gave Taiki a comforting pat. “Come back anytime you’re missing home, dear. Maybe for dinner, I’ll whip up some natto for you.”

She strolled away to address another table of customers, and Taiki frowned, the kind of look one got after a strange thought struck. Turning back to watch Mandra walking away, she asked, “How old is she?”

“Why do you ask?” Falynn said, watching Taiki with a frown of her own that the others missed.

“Well, if she knew Master Sato, that means that she was working here at least ten years ago,” she commented. “More than that if she had time to get to know him properly.”

She turned to look at Leonov, who was sipping lightly on a fresh cup of coffee. The former Attosion gave her a knowing smile. “Mandra knows many of the famous and legendary of this city. Even some from outside.”

“Well, this is the most popular tavern in the city,” Falynn reasoned. “Maybe she’s just extra nice to everyone as part of her job.”

“She’s aged well,” Taiki commented, still watching the barmaid. “If she’s old enough to know Master Sato. Perhaps she worked here as a child?”

“Who knows?” Falynn said airily, but her frown deepened. She looked pointedly at her plate of fruit as the others turned to look at her, noticing the frustrated tone. Her face was slightly pink, but she said nothing further, so Leonov continued.

“Mandra is a local legend herself,” he said with a slight smirk. “One day, I saw the Captain of the Royal Guard come in, and he treated her like a mother figure.”

“Captain Ciayol?” Taiki asked, her confusion obvious, and he nodded. “But he must be in his early forties by now.”

“Late thirties, actually, I think,” Leonov corrected. He drained the last of his mug and let out a sigh. “Just another of the mysteries of the world, Mandra is. But nobody bothers to wonder at it. Her food and brews are too good for any of us to care.”

And indeed, they accepted the oddity as if it were just another feature of life, and soon drifted back to focusing on their breakfasts. Only Falynn seemed to continue to ponder the topic, a slight frown fixed on her face as she finished eating. When all their food had been consumed and their drinks finished, they piled the plates and bowl into a pile at the center of the table, and Leonov pulled out his coin purse to pay for it all. They all chipped in a silver or two for themselves, then rose, comfortably full and ready to take on the rest of the day.

“So,” Leonov said, subtly adjusting his belt to bring his sword to a more comfortable position, and tugging on the strap that held his shield over his back to tighten it. “Shall we get on our way to the Adventurer’s Guild, then?”

They all nodded or shrugged, neither overly excited nor against the idea. He decided to take it as a group assent. “Let’s get on with it, then.”