Two boys talked about boy stuff. Linden was made aware of existence of several predators explorers have to deal with sometimes. The source of his new knowledge was, of course, rambling Lukas.

‘Hey, what do you think would win, Azure Weepjaw, or a flight of Sicklebeaks? Well, I think…’

And then a rant would follow. A long one.

But Edward didn’t interrupt, nor did he complain.

As long as you let people talk, and occasionally nod, or express your approval, it is possible to gather vast amounts of information.

If you repeat what your conversation partner already said himself, but word it a little differently, there is a chance of him / her assuming you are interested in the same things, and that you know your stuff.

In other words, you can become fast friends.

Linden used this secret technique since he was a little brat, to befriend old football fans and such. He couldn’t tell a ball from the field, but they could, so he let them talk.

One thing about old people, is that they often crave someone who would just listen to them.

And they listen to you in turn, sometimes giving mostly good advice.

Before events that led to his social crippling, Ed would often go and talk to people like that.

Looking at an old geezer stuffing coal into a furnace was much more interesting than playing with some kid roughly your age you never met before.

A belief he would hold onto well into his twenties. Except once he got older, he became the one to shovel that coal.

He sometimes wondered if old geezers would still be great conversation partners once he was older than them.

Or would that make them youngins?

But he never got to find out, as he was miraculously rejuvenated.

………………………………….

Lukas finally stopped his monologues. Once he did, he asked Linden for an opinion about a different matter.

“When do you think they’ll let us get some field experience?”

“My guess is as good as yours. Or worse. Didn’t you ask the guy we met in the guild building?”

“I did, but he told me it’ll be ‘soon’.”

“I hope they won’t make us wait until we’re walking with canes.” Linden knew those bureaucratic types.

‘Please come in November’ They love saying this shit.

“Haha!” “If they make us wait for more than a month, I’m setting out with or without their approval.”

“Is that possible?” “Didn’t the guild have some security measures?”

“Sure, they’d send a rescue party, and charge us with expenses. But not beyond Mount Lowa. Once we get there, no one will pursue.”

‘I think I heard something like that once…’ “Is it because doing that will be treated as a suicide?”

“Yeah, why?”

‘Oh, for fucks sake.’ “Let’s hope they’ll send us quickly.”

Then again, It’s not like Edward was obligated to be a voice of reason. In this world, he was the junior.

“And if not, let’s try not to die.”

“Ha! That’s the spirit!” “Let’s go downstairs. Maybe we’ll catch one of Forest Chases’ group. ‘Fern Flowers’ they are called.”

“A curious name.”

“It’s because of their leaders title. ‘Miracle of the Forest’ was the towns newspaper headline from some years ago, when they returned from a particularly difficult mission. I should still have that article hidden somewhere.”

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He turned to look, but was stopped in his tracks. “Hey. There is a real deal around here, right? How about we find him instead of reading something from ages long past.”

Lukas looked mildly offended, but nodded.

They exited the room, and went to the main hall.

There, Linden saw something.

On the topmost balcony, there was a person. Near that person, occasional swirl disturbed the air.

Edward immediately knew where he saw such sight before.

It was during Maelodor storm.

He thought he was seeing things back then, as his physical condition was rather shitty, but right now, he felt fresh like a cold grapefruit, and he knew he could trust himself.

This person was permeated with Maelodor. He must have been, there was no other explanation.

There were two choices. Run away, or face this potential threat.

Nay. Potential threat it might’ve been, but right now, this person was something fascinating.

“Lukas? Let’s order food, and go to the balcony next to the topmost one.”

The boy in question strained his eyes looking in requested direction, and nodded.

“That’s Ferns’ Flower alright. You’ve got good eyes. Okay, I’m gonna go ask for food, and you reserve the spot, okay?”

“Sure.”

Linden jumped up, and began climbing stairs. It didn’t take long for him to arrive at his destination.

The person with maelodor floating on them was a woman. She had work attire, and a purple key on her neck.

Linden nodded in the direction of the group.

Two of them ignored him, probably because they were sitting with their back turned to him. One of them nodded.

The woman waved her hand.

Linden waved back.

That’s when Lukas came back. He stared at Ed, and finally uttered: “You know each other?”

“Nope, never met her. Why?”

“Then why’d she wave you?”

“I dunno, ask her yourself.” Linden shrugged.

The woman snorted, and looked at Lukas. “Why, isn’t it proper to greet a fellow traveler?”

That earned her looks, both from her companions, and a few customers sitting around.

But she wasn’t the only one getting them, Linden realized.

He was as well.

“Nepizze?” One of her companions, one wearing a blue key said a word that was probably the name of this woman. “Why don’t you elaborate on that? Isn’t this kid a trainee?”

She looked at him like she was not entirely sure what to say, and shrugged.

“Why don’t you come over her? There is space.” She invited the boys.

There is only so much you can do when a pretty woman invites you to come dine with her.

Linden barely bothered with the stairs of questionable safety, and accepted the invitation in few long leaps.

“Sure, why not. My name is Edward Linden. Maybe I’ll be able to ask you some questions.”

“Well, well. Mine is Nepizze, and I had the same thing in mind. I’m quite curious about your journey.” She gestured for him to sit down.

He did. Lukas did as well, although not without hesitation.

What followed, was a brief exchange of courtesies, and a light conversation, where Linden disclosed some things about his travels.

“Unknown entry into Wandering Rocks? This is valuable, you better scribble it down on a map.” One of the blue keys remarked.

“I bet there is a lot of low grade relics laying around there. Did you find this knife of yours there as well?” Asked another.

“Yeah.” Confirmed Linden.

“Am I correct in the assumption, that it wasn’t the only thing you found?” Asked Miss Nepizze.

“Yeah, there was a set of equipment consisting entirely of low grade relics.” Ed could lose nothing by confirming.

Or not. Her eyes lit up, she leaned to him, and asked. “What was the state of the corpse?”

“Corpse?”

“You know, the ones that always lay around such bundles of artifacts.”

Linden wanted to know more. And there was one surefire way to get her to talk.

“There was no corpse I could see.”

The table fell silent. “Well, that’s quite unusual. Do you think something could’ve taken it?” One of the explorers asked.

“Like what? Animals?” Asked another blue key.

“Who knows, they might’ve. Was the gear thrown around, and in a mess?” Nepizze continued her interrogation.

“Quite the opposite.” Linden answered.

She pondered on something, and finally arrived at her conclusion.

“Hey, boys? Do become green keys quickly. I’ll commission you to guide me there.”

Lukas gave his jaw a lap pillow. The Ferns’ Flower members raised few brows.

“Alright. But the credit for finding a path goes to me.”

“Sure, wouldn’t want to rob ya of your hard work.” Confirmed Nepizze. “And besides, I can’t get a promotion through such regular means anymore. Unique key isn’t something anyone can grant you for achievements, even much bigger than this.” She looked down. “Oh, speak of the bird.”

Up the stairs, two people started walking. One belonged to wait staff, and carried food, and the other belonged on the trail, or so he looked and felt like.

Linden looked at the man. That one didn’t swirl with Maelodor. But he wasn’t devoid of it either.

‘It looks like unruly swirls of Miss Nepizza were somehow forced to behave orderly. And in the center of it, is this necklace.’

It looked like a small oak leaf, and pulsed, almost like it was alive.

The person reached the dine space, and greeted everyone.

“Hello, I see you guys found yourself something to do?”

Nepizze was first to speak up. “Yo, leader. This kid here found full set of low grade relics without the corpse!”

The man looked at Linden, and chuckled. “Let me guess, she wants you to lead her there.”

Edward Smiled and nodded.

“Well, it is interesting. They are rarely left alone, and there shouldn’t be any reason for someone to take the corpse and leave artifacts.”

He sat down. The waiter distributed some bowls.

But before they started to eat, Linden wanted to ask something.

“That thing on your neck. Is it a relic?”

Forests’ Chase looked down. “Why, yes. You could say that.” “Where did you hear about it?”

“I didn’t. It just looks like some tool.”

The table fell silent.

“Tool, huh? And what would be its purpose, If you don’t mind telling?”

Linden considered the trinket.

“Is it for siphoning maelodor?”

Nepizze raised her brow. “So you can see it?”

“Barely.” Answered Ed.

The Ferns’ Flower Leader looked him in the eye, his subordinates silent.

“Want to join my squad?”