The way inside the city was thankfully uneventful. They were brought in as guests of the house Kaiser with an important mission to deliver blueprints to the Loxaerion’s family associates. Needless to say Leona was eager to meet said associate, but since it was around noon they decided to eat at a local inn before delivering the locked ornate box to their client.

Upon entering the inn, the tactician was pleasantly surprised to feel the warmth of the interior. Unlike the freezing cold outside, the establishment was furnished with all manner of heating and lighting devices, from the weird looking coiled metal near the far wall of the inn to the various orange heated light bulbs dangling from the low ceiling.

A bald muscular man was hunched forward to avoid accidentally hitting his head against the light fixtures. He just finished serving a woman before turning on the sound of the ringing chime.

“Welcome- oh why hello Miss Athena, long time no see.”

His small hazel eyes locked on the inventor’s face, although his size was out of place in such a cramped establishment he had incredible dexterous movements as he zig zagged through the seats without disturbing any of the other guests’ tables only to personally greet her. His hand was almost three times bigger than Athena’s but there was no hint of pain the moment they exchanged handshakes.

“It’s good to see you again, Jano.”

“The pleasure is all mine.” He proceeded to pull the edges of his brown mustache as he glanced over her and noticed the tactician and high elf behind. “May I help you?”

Athena blinked twice before she looked over her own shoulder.

“Oh right. How rude of me.” She cleared her throat as she gestured to Leona with her open hand. “This is Leona, a guest of house Kaiser and this is Phoebe, an employed mercenary by her.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Miss Leona, Miss Phoebe.” He went ahead and bowed as he took their hands into a generous handshake. Leona was somewhat worried of her hand being crushed by his, but after the greeting she was left wondering how he could manage his strength so well. “I hope you enjoy your stay here at the Capital. Now can I get you ladies a seat? You must be tired of your travel.”

“If you’d be so kind.” Athena replied before turning around to face both tactician and high elf. “Sorry for the excess hospitality. This is the only place I know where we won’t be ripped off from the current death angel situation going on.”

Leona shook her head.

“Don’t worry about it, a change of pace seems to be in order after these tumultuous days. Wouldn’t you agree, Phoebe?”

The high elf nodded.

“Even though it’s quite the norm for me to go through days without food, having a meal prepared by someone else is good for a change.”

Jano showed them a round table with three plates and stools to serve as seats which seemed more like a bar rather than a tavern, not that any of the three would know the difference between the two. The big man turned around with a comically small notepad on his left hand while his right was holding a pencil between the index and thumb finger.

“Should I get the menu for the Misses or can I make a suggestion?”

“I uh…”

Unsure of how to proceed, Leona glanced at Athena for guidance who in turn gave her a confident wink before raising her right index finger.

“I’ll have one of the secret menu for four.”

“It shall be done.”

Without jotting down anything he pocketed the notepad and pencil inside the apron and headed off to the kitchen.

“Wait Athena, don’t you think it’ll be too much for us?”

“Oh don’t worry, you’ll love it. Especially this time of the year with the freezing cold temperatures outside, then again, when is it not cold in Londria?”

Even with the small talk, the tactician seemed on the edge, often looking out the window as if waiting for someone. Phoebe already knew the reason why she was acting like that and gently tugged the tactician’s sleeve and whispered before Athena noticed.

“Princess, he’s safe there. I put some extra measures so no one enters the room aside from us.”

Leona lowered her head to avoid being seen speaking.

“I know but still. I can’t help but feel something is wrong with this city.” She glanced at other customers who seemed unaffected by what she was feeling. “The mana is almost stagnant to the point that it affects the temperature.”

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She began to focus her senses on the ambient mana and her irises started to emit a faint light blue sheen. At first the stillness of the blue strings was worrisome until she noticed a distortion in the air around the coiled metallic feature near the wall; it seemed to work by emitting some sort of aura around it, stimulating the ambient mana around it.

“First time seeing a heater?” Athena’s voice caught Leona’s attention. “It’s a somewhat old invention. It works on electricity if I recall. Coils inside heats up and warms the air passing through them.”

“With electricity? How?”

“Resistance. It’s the same principle that powers up these lights. Electricity running inside of it generates heat and in turn warms whatever is nearby.”

“Hmmm… this is interesting. I never really heard anything about it even in the Grand Academy.”

“I could never trust in the words of mages. Don’t get me wrong, magic is versatile and all but it can’t be trusted like science.”

“Science huh. To be frank, I’m not sure if I-” She was interrupted once a plate the size of almost the entire table was put right in front of her. “What in the world is this?!”

It was a literal mountain of spaghetti doused in an orange colored thick sauce, bits and pieces of well roasted lamb were mixed in the middle of the intimidating dish. If anything it was enough to make Leona already feel full by just staring at it. Jano bowed shortly before explaining.

“Lamb Stroganov. Normally we’d serve it with rice but since there are almost no traders coming from Akrapocalis, I had to settle with serving it with pasta instead. Apologies.”

“Why are you apologizing?” Athena questioned as she readied both knife and fork on each hand as she was ready to devour the feast. “This by itself looks amazing. Don’t mind if I start eating.”

The inventor took a big chunk off spaghetti with the metallic tongs that came with the giant platter. Somewhat stunned by her appetite, Leona and Phoebe exchanged glances as if asking between them what they should do.

“Hey aren’t you two going to eat?” Athena asked with a single piece of spaghetti dangling from the right side of her mouth. “It’s really good, trust me.”

“Right… excuse me.” Leona picked up the tongs and picked up a chunk of dripping pasta. Once she put it on her plate she could smell a faint fragrance of milk. She rolled some of the spaghetti around her fork and hesitantly took a bite. What followed after was a very familiar sensation, of eating a warm and well made meal after coming back from the Academy, it reminded her of home. A few tears began to drop down on her lap. “Huh…? Why am I crying?”

Jano slowly nodded to himself and took his leave discreetly after leaving mugs of apple cider on the table.

“Are you alright Princess?”

Phoebe asked out of concern, but Athena simply motioned to the high elf’s empty plate with her open hand.

“Try it yourself first.”

Even though she was worried about Leona, she couldn’t come up with a reason as to why she would be crying and was left with the only option to eat the meal.

After serving herself with only half of the plate worth in stroganov, she took a careful bite. At first she was wary of the milky taste but once she began to chew, it was as if all of the tension built up on her shoulders were released. The warm meal made her strangely comfortable, even though she was very far away from her own place she called home.

“I think… I can understand why she felt like crying now.”

There was a certain melancholy to her tone, although it made her happy, the warm meal also reminded her of her mother, her vow to kill her sister.

“Let us enjoy this calm after the storm. For our health!” She grabbed the mug of cider and toasted. “Cheers!”

They spent about an hour eating and talking about their plans going forward. As the head of the Kaiser family, Athena had to compromise with her duties within the so called ‘research’ facility in the outskirts of town, which prompted Leona’s curiosity, however even herself was aware they were in Londria for the singular objective of delivering the ornate metal box entrusted to them by Lady Fye and not for visiting.

“Well then. I’ll be heading off.” Athena stood up and tossed a gold coin to Jano, who was patiently waiting beside the doorway, as she was about to leave the man gently opened the door for her. “Farewell my friends, may we meet again someday under better circumstances.”

Leona and Phoebe offered her a goodbye, waving their hands until she was no longer in sight.

“She is… different from the people I’ve met before. Some sort of easy going but serious way about her.”

Leona muttered.

“Indeed she is. Not once I’ve met someone quite unique in that regard.” Phoebe drank the last gulp of her apple cider and stood up. “Shall we get going as well?”

The tactician nodded.

Capital city of Londria or mostly known as the silver kingdom, can be said to be one of the most important kingdoms in the entire continent. Not only frostburnt silver was extensively used for its mana conductivity, but it was easily the most dangerous metal against any living being as the lingering frost damage could seep into the victim’s wounds and not before long it would make the affected body part brittle as ice or in case of long exposures to the metal’s aura…

“Silver decay.” Phoebe spoke as they made their way inside the main research building near the city gate. “I don’t really know where the name came from. But I do remember my mother saying it was one of the most dangerous metals to have ever existed. Long ago when humans and demons were still at war, most weapons and armor were made of this precious metal for its ability to render regeneration useless.”

“Don’t you find it strange?” Leona asked as she walked by a soldier wearing an Akrapocalian uniform who greeted them in continence as she carried the ornate box. “Even though they knew the dangers of using that metal for armor, they still used them regardless.”

While doing some small talk, they finished talking to the receptionist who gestured to them to wait by the entrance. She wore a similar uniform to the soldiers standing guard, but less armored as to make whoever visits more at ease.

“Apologies, all researchers are currently busy but our second lead researcher will take you to the premises.” She gestured with an open palm to her right as a familiar crimson red haired woman appeared wearing what seemed to be a blacksmith’s attire, consisting of a thick stained leather apron and mitts of the same material. “Miss Athena Kaiser, leader research of weapons and arms of the Kaiser manufacturer. Second lead researcher of the mobile transportation branch of the Loraexion household.”

“Greetings my name is-” Athena was beginning to introduce herself but once she raised her head, her jaw seemed to drop. “Hah?”