– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 215, Season of the Setting Sun, Day 70 –

Devon led the way into the house. Fluffy was still circling him every few steps.

“I’m sorry, but what was this about incense?” Terry asked Lizzy.

“Elvis was inquiring about your attitude towards the restrictions on magic.”

Terry scrunched up his face in confusion. He could not read that question into the words that were used.

“Perilous incense is one of the many regional codes for imperial censor,” explained Lizzy.

Devon opened a trapdoor and then walked into the basement.

Terry felt a weird sensation and subconsciously focused on his mana sense. Somehow, the basement was devoid of mana and yet not quite. Like some lingering residue that vanished as soon as you try to focus on it. Like a glimmering light that you can only detect from your peripheral vision.

As soon as Terry walked through the trapdoor, a heavy mana aura hit him. He halted on the stairs to examine the trap door and ceiling. It must be cloaked somehow, but it did not use any of the techniques that Aunt Brynn had displayed during her quick introduction.

“Terry?” Lizzy tapped on his shoulder.

“Uh, sorry.” Terry continued descending the stairs and followed Devon towards a room below the back of the house.

“Hey, Poppy!” exclaimed Devon cheerfully.

Terry entered the room behind Devon and the dog. He could see the back of an elven woman sitting cross-legged on the floor. Her ears – like the rest of her back – were messy with lots of soot and some dark oily gunk. Terry thought he could see the ears wiggling when Devon uttered his greeting.

Happy or not, the woman did not turn around or display any other action to acknowledge their presence. She continued tinkering with something on the ground.

“Ohh, that one’s new.” Devon walked towards one of the many shelves and picked up a small contraption.

Terry moved his eyes over the many items lying around. He thought he could detect something like rune inscriptions in some of them, but again, they did not look like the runes he had seen from Aunt Brynn, nor like the ones he had seen in the dungeon.

Terry reached out for one of the items.

“Careful,” warned Lizzy. “Everything down here is a prototype. How to put it…” Lizzy puckered her lips and considered her words. “Let’s say I would not be surprised if Devon was the only returning customer for this particular section.” She emphasized the word ‘returning’ in an odd manner.

Devon looked up when he heard his own name and accidentally triggered something in the small contraption he was holding. The contraption snapped shut around his left index finger.

“Hmm.” Devon ignored the contraption and tilted his head in contemplation. “I get it.” He wrinkled his forehead. “I think.”

“Last time, the recoil ripped off my arm.” Devon said more cheerfully than would seem appropriate. A moment later, he frowned. “The Captain and Lizzy made me reattach it.”

“Yes, we’re mean like that,” said Lizzy drily.

“I wanted to see if it grows back,” grumbled Devon. “My pinky finger did grow back.”

“Yes, and I am still disturbed by the fact that you tried that,” exclaimed Lizzy.

Devon shrugged. “How have you been, Poppy? When can we try some of these? How is the orphanage doing?” Devon examined the other items on the shelf in front of him and talked without minding the lack of responses.

“You know, we really saw some interesting things during this trip. I packed some of Gretchen’s cookies for you, but unfortunately, the dungeon fairy took them. Stupid dungeon fairy.”

Devon continued ignoring the contraption on his finger.

A sizzling noise could be heard from whatever Poppy was working on. Afterwards, she put the thing down. She turned her head and looked at Devon.

“Dev!” Poppy’s voice was very quiet and soft. “Long gone.”

“During the urgent mission, we had to intervene with some other urgent thing and visit the crawly mountain. Afterwards, we discovered something even more urgent.” Devon puffed his cheeks. “Although, I guess in the end, it turned out to be the first urgent thing again.”

Devon grinned broadly. “Anyway, I saw many things that we can talk about with the children. I even got to defend the honor of a princess in a jousting match!”

Devon’s eyes moved to Terry. “Oh, and I met Terry.” He pointed. “Terry is nice.”

“Greetings, Poppy,” said Terry.

Poppy slowly moved her gaze to Terry. She blinked, then jerkily turned around and sat back down again. “—lo” A quiet syllable could be heard. Poppy picked up her contraption once more.

“Uhm…” Terry did not know how to react.

“Poppy is a bit shy with new people,” said Devon calmly. He kept his left hand behind his back. “She warms up to nice people.”

Terry glanced at Lizzy. Lizzy held her hand face down and rocked it slightly. She muttered: “Understatement. Patience required.”

Patience then.

Terry could hear the voice of Samuel in his head and smiled. He decided to take a cue from Devon and simply talk, despite the lack of responses.

Only you would take Devon, of all people, as a role model for social competence. Weirdo.

“Are those rune inscriptions?” asked Terry. He could see the tool that Poppy used, but it differed from those that Brynn had given him.

Silence followed.

Terry continued examining the tools and items in mana sight.

“Squiggly lines.” Terry perceived a barely audible utterance from Poppy.

Another sizzling noise could be heard, and a small puff of smoke rose from the contraption.

“Bad squiggly line.”

Terry wondered if the tools were all self-made. He was awed by the implications and wondered what Aunt Brynn would make of Poppy.

Terry felt humbled. Terry did not know what to do with the feeling. One part was gratitude for having been born in Arcana, and even more so for Aunt Brynn. The other part was…

Terry was not sure. He looked around at the odd cloaking. He remembered the code used by Elvis. Terry experienced something akin to feeling frustration on another’s behalf. It was mixed with respect for their obstinate persistence.

If Terry had been in the same situation, would he have picked up mana-crafting? Mana cultivation? Spellwork?

Who knows…

Terry was pulled out of his thoughts when Devon left the room. A moment later, Devon returned and put the contraption back on the shelf.

Lizzy sniffed the air. “Why does it smell like blood?” She examined the direction where Devon came from. “What did you do?!” She walked out of the room.

“What are you looking for, Poppy?” asked Devon.

Poppy was moving her head from side to side and seemed to search for something.

“Mana crystal.” A soft whisper came as a reply.

Devon moved his gaze over the area. “Don’t see any. Terry, how about your mana sense?”

“None around.” Terry shook his head. “I have some with me. What size do you need? Small shard, ok?”

The back of Poppy’s head moved with a timid nod. She held out her hand over her shoulder without turning around.

Terry retrieved a leftover piece from his mining days and handed it to Poppy.

“—nks.”

“Devon, what the Wastes!” resounded an exclamation from Lizzy. “Why is there a finger in the trash bin?!” She stomped back into the room.

*Krch-poff!* a blast reverberated through the area. In his mana sight, Terry could see a dense net of sizzling mana lines escape from the contraption that Poppy was pointing towards the wall in front of her.

“Ruff.” Fluffy escaped and dashed out the room and up the stairs.

Rumbling and tumbling noises followed. Elvis crossed paths with Fluffy and hurriedly ran into the room.

“What happened?!” Elvis was panicked. “Sis, are you ok?! Do you need healing balms? Any bleeding? Do I need to run for a healer? Oh wait, Lizzy is a healer. Lizzy, you must save Poppy!”

Poppy turned around with a deadpan expression. She held up the contraption and blinked. “Works.”

Elvis regained his composure and exhaled sharply. “That’s…” He inhaled slowly. “Great.” He smiled wryly. “We talked about this, Poppy. No testing in the house. Our cloaking is good, but not that good. Our neighbors are tolerant, but not that tolerant. They draw the line at blowing up the neighborhood. Most importantly, no testing yourself! Don’t hurt yourself!”

Elvis sighed, and his eyes wandered over the room. “Where did you even find a mana crystal? I thought I had hidden all of those.”

Uh-oh.

Poppy blinked and turned away again. She mumbled: “Terry is nice.”

“I see.” Elvis mechanically moved his gaze to Terry. “Another troublesome person.”

Objection! Innocent!

Say something!

Devon is a bad influence on you… Defend yourself!

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Terry was stupefied. He opened and closed his mouth several times, but no words escaped from his lips.

“Sorry, Elvis,” said Lizzy. She was holding her forehead. “I got distracted and left the room for a moment.”

“What was that?” asked Terry. His curiosity had been piqued. “It looked like a discharge.”

With a hint of explosion. The wall is sturdier than the one in Lori’s room.

“Squiggly line,” muttered Poppy. “Focus.”

Like the basis for a mana refractor?

Terry’s eyes opened wide.

The mana stayed unaspected though…

“Does it work with aspected mana cores?” asked Terry.

Elvis stared at Terry. “Troublesome indeed! No unattended visits for you. You get the Dev classification.”

Waste it.

“I have to say that’s impressive, Poppy,” said Lizzy. She slowly shook her head at all the different contraptions. “You have a gift. Arguably one that should never be used, but a gift nonetheless.”

Voices reached them from upstairs.

“Why did Fluffy come out of Poppy’s house?”

“Are you sure that Fluffy came out and ran back in again?”

“Where is Elvis?”

“Do you think he will mind if we take some toys?”

“No stealing. The Captain said stealing is bad.”

“I thought Dev said that.”

“Dev said the Captain said that.”

“Fluffy!”

“Can we enter?”

“Elvis warned us not to enter on our own.”

“But Fluffy…”

The voices continued chattering.

“I believe your legion of minions has arrived, Dev,” said Elvis, and laughed. “I better go up while my booth is still standing.”

Poppy rose from her cross-legged position and walked behind Devon. Devon waited for Poppy and then they followed Elvis.

Lizzy and Terry brought up the rear.

“Fluffy!” “Come out, Fluffy!” “Here, Fluffy!” Children’s voices rang one after the other.

“Ruff!” Fluffy ran circles around Devon and Poppy.

“““DEV!””” “““Dev is back!””” The children shouted excitedly.

“““Hey, Poppy!”””

Poppy peeked at them from behind Devon’s back and gave a short wave with her hand.

Afterwards, Poppy switched her hiding place and hid next to Elvis in his booth. She knelt on the ground. Only the upper half of her head and her fingers were visible above the counter while she stole glances at the excited children. Her ears were wiggling visibly.

By now, the children were already pulling on Devon and clinging to him everywhere.

“Easy, kids!” said Lizzy. “At this rate, you’re going to rip Devon into pieces. He already lost more body parts today than he was supposed to.” She shot Devon a reproachful glance.

“AHh! It’s the stabbing lady!” shouted one of the girls and hid behind a larger boy.

Lizzy scowled at Devon. “On second thought, do your worst.”

Devon, however, was beaming happily. “I’ll come visiting tomorrow.”

“Poppy, too?” asked another girl.

Poppy waved again from behind her hiding place.

Devon nodded. “Today, I still have to show Terry around. Ah, right. This is Terry.” He pointed. “Terry is nice.”

There it is again. Careful this time. No handing out items willy-nilly.

Terry waved hesitatingly.

“Terry can fly,” said Devon. “Or at least something like that. He can also help others stay in the air.”

“““Woah.””” Sparkling eyes were gawking at Terry.

No handing out items willy-nilly!

Megumi walked up to them. “Greetings, everyone.”

“““The Captain!””” The children stood straight and saluted respectfully.

Megumi snorted and shook her head while chuckling. “At ease, monkeys.” She eyed them one by one. “I hope you have behaved yourselves during our absence. I will check with the orphanage.”

“Found a coordinator?” asked Lizzy.

“Unfortunately not. Looks like a substitute should be somewhere in the settlement, but no one was in. I left a marker for the substitute to come find me.”

***

Lizzy and Devon were meeting up with Terry and Megumi.

“I found him at the orphanage,” said Lizzy, and pointed her thumb at Devon. “He was having an argument with the slum children again.”

“No, I wasn’t,” denied Devon.

“Yes, you were.”

“No, I was not.”

Megumi puffed her cheeks and waited for the two to reach a conclusion.

“I saw you!” Lizzy shook her head in exasperation.

“I have you know, bllblbl…” Devon stuck out his tongue and blew air to make his lips vibrate. “...is not an argument.”

“They’re what? Nine?” Lizzy raised her hands in front with palms turned up to the heavens. “Honestly.”

“Even at nine, ‘bllblbl' is not an argument.”

“They’re children. You are supposed to be an adult.”

Devon squinted his eyes at Lizzy and puckered his lips. Then he retorted eloquently by sticking his tongue out and… “Bllblbl.”

Terry could not help it and broke into laughter at Lizzy’s expression.

After the argument – if it was one – had been settled, the group continued walking through the streets of the Chara Settlement. Lizzy and Megumi discussed the plans for the day.

“Oy, Lil‘ Captain and Ol‘ Lizbeth, over here!” A woman’s voice reached them from the side of the street.

Terry could see Megumi’s face freeze mid-sentence. Afterwards, she appeared to make an exceptional effort to display a blank expression.

“Ugh…” Lizzy, on the other hand, made no such effort.

Lizzy and Megumi walked first.

Devon did not pay attention, and Terry had not seen who was shouting at them. They simply followed.

“Varnika.” Megumi nodded.

“You know, we were already walking towards you, Varnika. If you had waited a few more seconds, you would not have to scream over half the empire.” Lizzy scowled at the offending party.

Terry did not know where to look and, for once, it was not because of the awkward atmosphere. This time, it was because this Varnika was decidedly underdressed – literally. She was literally lacking clothes except for a few small pieces of scale armor.

To not cause offense, Terry averted his eyes and looked towards the side… where he saw that Devon did not share his concerns. On the contrary, Devon was openly staring at Varnika’s chest.

“Ugh.” Lizzy noticed Devon from the corner of her eyes and frowned. Megumi skillfully maintained her blank expression.

“Like what you are seeing, handsome?” asked Varnika coquettishly. She winked at Devon.

Devon showed no reaction. The seconds ticked by and he continued staring in silence.

“I promise they won’t run away,” teased Varnika and giggled.

Devon showed no reaction.

“You know—” started Varnika.

Devon averted his eyes and looked at Lizzy. “I don’t get this armor.”

Terry was certain he heard a suppressed snort. It could not have come from Lizzy, who stood there with mouth agape. However, Megumi also seemed an unlikely candidate, and she was still wearing a blank expression.

Devon turned to Terry. “Is it enchanted or something? Is there a mana layer there?” He pointed at Varnika’s chest. “Can you tell?”

Devon moved his gaze back to Varnika, and he tilted his head. His expression suddenly brightened with an idea. “Or do you have really high regeneration like I do?”

Shortly after, Devon scrunched up his face again. Something still did not seem right.

Varnika glanced at Lizzy and then at Devon. She recovered her flirtatious smile. “No need to hide the good parts if I don’t get hit, anyway.”

“But then, what is the point of the armor scales there?” Devon pointed. “Do these parts get hit? They look pretty jiggly. Do they flap around and that’s why they get hit?”

This time, Terry was sure that the suppressed snort came from Megumi’s direction. Her face, however, betrayed nothing.

Varnika’s eyebrow twitched. “You got a problem?”

“Huh?” Devon pondered. “I hope not. I don’t like having problems.”

“Are you trying to mess with me?” Varnika glared at him.

“Huh? Why would I do that? I barely know you.” Devon turned to Lizzy. “I don’t get this person.”

“You—”

“Varnika, I assume you have something more important to discuss with us,” interjected the Captain.

“Huh? Yeah, I do. A few days ago, Mal had to take a trip outside the settlement. He should be back soon. He asked for you to wait in order to discuss some things in person.”

“Thanks, Varnika.”

Varnika glanced at Lizzy again. Afterwards, she threw an unsatisfied glance in Devon’s direction and took her leave.

“What a strange person,” muttered Devon with a perplexed look.

Lizzy patted him on the shoulder.

Megumi snickered and wiped something from her eye. She took a deep breath. “Come on, let’s find an inn for Terry and get something to eat. My treat.”

***

“So Devon, when are you and Poppy finally going out?” asked Lizzy.

“We go out all the time.” Devon tilted his head. “To the orphanage. To walk Fluffy. To test her new ideas.”

Megumi rested her head on her palm and looked at the exchange with amusement.

“Not like that.” Lizzy puckered her lips. “Don’t you like Poppy?”

“Of course I like Poppy. Poppy is best people. Like the Captain.” Devon nodded towards Megumi. “And Terry.” Another nod. “And Elvis and Gretchen…” Devon moved his eyes back to Lizzy.

“...”

“You’re good people, too, Lizzy.” Devon wagged his index finger at her. “When you don’t stab people.”

Terry had to suppress a snicker.

Lizzy narrowed her eyes at Devon, but decided to let it go. “I meant settling down. Finally live a normal life.”

“I thought I was.” Devon furrowed his brow and looked from side to side. “Seems more normal to me.”

“I would very much hope so,” said Megumi and chuckled. “I would hate to lose out to a deathcult tower in that comparison.”

“Besides, I can’t just settle down,” said Devon. “That does not fit with my plans at all.”

That statement caught everyone’s attention.

“You have ‘plans’?” asked Lizzy with a skeptical expression.

“Of course,” replied Devon. “For now, I’ll keep accompanying you and the Captain to keep you both out of trouble.”

“Aren’t you usually the one attracting the trouble?” questioned Megumi.

“Exactly.” Devon wore a proud expression. “Then there is less trouble left for you two.”

“Sounds reasonable,” said Terry, and grinned.

“I figure if the Captain ever decides to retire, you two will already be old and wrinkly,” said Devon. “You ladies will probably move into a nice little cottage where the Captain can polish her sword collection and you can pile up your bad pottery.”

“I won’t be wrinkly,” barked Lizzy.

“Yes, you will,” retorted Devon nonchalantly. “All wrinkly and flabby. I’ve seen that before.” He reminisced. “Somewhat tinier, too. Women seem to shrink more for some reason.”

Devon frowned and glanced back at Lizzy. “Perhaps you’ll call me Eveline or something.”

Lizzy scowled. “For the last one, you’re picturing Lady Rumsworth, aren’t you?”

Devon maintained a deadpan expression.

“So, where do you fit in?” asked Megumi.

“Someone has to keep a lookout and make sure the villagers don’t disturb the two wrinkly ladies.”

“Why would the villagers disturb the two?” asked Terry.

“Elvis said that villagers are known to go around with torches and pitchforks if they find an evil witch.”

“And why would the villagers believe there is an evil witch?” questioned Lizzy. She squinted at Devon with a bad presentiment.

Devon shrugged. “I figure if rumors go around about the old flabby lady that stabs people, they might have similar reactions. Better to be on the safe side.”

Lizzy glared at Devon and demanded: “Why exactly would there be such rumors?!”

“I’m allowed to defend people, but I’m not going to lie for you, Lizzy. The Captain said that lying is bad.”

“You—”

“Doesn’t sound too bad to me,” interjected Megumi with a warm smile. “Sounds like a nice retirement.”

Lizzy’s angry expression melted away.

“But you’ll be in charge of keeping the vermin out of the garden, too,” said Megumi to Devon. “And if you ever want your own cabin to receive visitors, you’ll have to build it yourself.”

Devon frowned. “The roof is going to be all leaky. Elvis and Poppy might complain.” He looked at Lizzy. “I’ll have to borrow some of your pottery to catch the water.”

“Hmph.”

Megumi tapped her fingers on the table and pondered. Eventually, she looked at Devon. “Aside from your orphanage visit, we should reserve some time tomorrow to restock supplies. For you, that primarily means spare clothes.”

“Here.” Megumi handed Devon some paper notes denominated in vals, the Tiv currency. “I figure you can get them yourself. You can check the secondhand shop again.”

“Terry, for you.” Megumi handed Terry some vals as well. “I have included your contributions in the message to Guardian management. I can already share the monetary reward. To properly enter your assistance in our mission into your Guardian card, however, you will need to go to the nearest Guardian outpost.”

Megumi paused and established eye contact with Terry. “I hope you won’t be quite as unreasonable with your salary as Devon.”

“We should still accompany him to the market,” said Lizzy with a teasing tone. “Terry had barely arrived in the settlement when he had already become an accomplice in trying to blow it up.”

Objection! Innocent!

Terry smiled wryly.

Megumi raised an eyebrow. “Do I even want to know?”

“No,” replied Lizzy flatly.

***