"People, we finally received permission to enter King's Rise. Thankfully, the mess from last night didn't slow us down, so you better all feel grateful to me and my connections!"

A thunder of acclamations welcomed Monsieur Maron's declaration as everyone prepared to finally leave the inn and go back to their family.

"...So, you guys are leaving?" Milena asked, disappointed. Glenn and Sahro, both leaning on the counter, one in a much better condition than the other, nodded positively.

"Yep. I thought I'd be able to enjoy some rest after this hell we went through with the Maron Company, but there's still more work to be done," Glenn sighed, patting Sahro on the back.

"...God knows I would love the rest," The Black Heir grunted, before casting a glance at the empty scene, "...Your bard didn't come today?"

Milena's disappointed face changed to an even sadder one, her lips pinched.

"Indeed...It seems like his autograph was his parting gift for me..." She seemed genuinely distressed, sighing tiredly. Glenn's eyelids flinched and he restrained a sneer.

'I'm pretty sure you're the reason he left. Hah, now you won't have the opportunity to hear him sing 'that' song, nor ask him about how he could be in two places at the same time. Good job, man,' Diamanes mocked inside his mind. Glenn dutifully ignored him, concentrating on Milena who wasn't done talking.

"...Now we won't even gain half the sales we had when he was here...It seems like the Twilight Inn is finally going down..."

Glenn raised an eyebrow, surprised.

"What, you're almost bankrupt?"

Milena nodded slowly, before shrugging.

"Well, the Inn is in a constant state of bankruptcy, not me. The first owner of the inn took large loans to fund his project, before passing out and giving his debts to the next owner, who then abandoned ship, leaving it in someone else's hand, who took even more loans, etcetera, etcetera..."

She shook her head, smacking her lips dismissively.

"It's kind of a tradition to give the Inn away with even more debts than it was first in, I guess it's my turn to leave now..." She scratched a stain on the wooden counter thoughtlessly, before throwing away her towel.

"Anyway, I wish you two a good life, I'll try to see if some other place is going to hire me..."

Glenn and Sahro traded a gaze at the fallen noble's sight.

"...I still don't get it, why the hell don't you just go back inside King's Rise now that our investigation on you is over?" Glenn couldn't help but ask, confused. Sahro nodded approvingly, also unable to understand Milena's choices.

"Because, as I've told you before, if I go back, I'll be eliminated by my Family for having my identity revealed, and with Prince gone, I'm probably the next in line to have my head separated from my body..." She sighed. Glenn crossed his arms together, his eyebrows creased.

"...But then, I'm pretty sure we already told you we wouldn't reveal your identity. It's not like you did us any harm, and it would be a shame for a skilled mage like you to just work in..." He waved around while biting down on his lips, "...this kind of place. And if you're worried about the Thorn's Church, well, we kind of already got rid of their headquarters yesterday, so it should be fine, right?" Glenn asked as he looked at Sahro, who moved his head up and down, agreeing with him.

A complicated expression decorated Milena's face, seemingly struggling to come up with another reason to stay away from King's Rise. Glenn sighed as he watched her, before standing up and pushing a few coins on the counter.

"Listen, here's my proposition. If you're so terrified of the Thorn's Church, you can just come with us," He proposed with friendliness, his thoughts all but benevolent.

'If I can get her to let me take her strange bending or illusion magic away, it would do an incredible addition to my ever-growing spell-book...' Glenn thought as he grinned innocently.

"What?"

"What?"

Milena and Sahro had the same reaction, one with his eyes wide-opened, the other seemingly touched by the proposition. The Black Heir cleared his throat, before shrugging dismissively.

"I mean, it's not like I care, but don't you think we already have enough weirdos in our team?" Sahro asked with a worried tone. Glenn confusedly looked back at him.

"...We just have Javier with us, what do you mean?"

Sahro glanced up and down at him, grimacing.

"Two-thirds of the team are already insane, I'm not sure I want to increase that percentage to three-quarters..."

Glenn shook his head with disbelief, before turning his head toward Milena.

"Ignore this idiot. So, what do you say? I'd be glad to have a noble on my side, for once," He joked, holding his hand out. Milena hesitated, before accepting it and shaking it.

"I...I'll try and come with you. I don't understand what you win in this situation, but I won't refuse free help."

Glenn raised an eyebrow.

"Wait, when did I say it was going to be free?"

Milena hurriedly let go of his hand, worry taking place on her beautiful face.

"...I'll be honest, I don't have a single copper to my name right now, and I'm not interested in paying in any other way..." She gritted her teeth, before going to pick up the towel she had previously thrown away.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Glenn stared wide-eyedly at her, chuckling at the absurdity.

"Hah, I just want you to explain to me how your magic works and maybe test it a few times on me, don't worry," He explained, seeing all disgust disappear from Milena's eyes, replaced by a light of understanding. She pinched her lips, struggling, her head leaning to the side.

"...There are some things I can't share, but I'll see what I can do."

Glenn clapped his hands together, a wide grin decorating his face.

"Great! Let's get going, then!"

Milena looked at him confusedly.

"What—What do you mean?"

Sahro looked at her with an amused expression.

"Didn't you hear Monsieur Maron? The departure is in less than twenty minutes, so pack your shit and let's go."

Milena stood frozen for a second, before rushing back into the inn, the sound of items being thrown around rattling. Glenn and Sahro exchanged a look before exiting the inn.

'...Hopefully, I'll be able to get Redan back soon. It's taking way too long for me to get into the Bourgeoisie, it's like some mystical forces are pushing me away from the damn city...' Glenn thought sarcastically until Diamanes smacked its lips with hesitation.

'...Don't tell me something is stopping me from getting back at the Baron or I'll start getting seriously annoyed by Onnea and her bullshit!'

'I mean, if you consider bad luck as a mystical force, then yeah, there's indeed something stopping you, my friend!' Diamanes laughed, his mocking laughter ringing inside Glenn's head.

'Damn you...'

"Alright everyone, it's finally time to get back to your wives, so bear with me and stay on the carriages! We don't want to anger the Scarecrows, alright!?"

"Yes, Sir!"

"Absolutely"

Milena rushed out of the Inn, still in her waitress clothes, two thick suitcases under each arm. Glenn and Sahro chuckled as she jumped on their carriages, casting a worried gaze at Javier, who was silently sitting in the back, his face as blank as always.

"...Is he always around?" She asked in a hushed tone, Javier staring at her with his disturbing glassy eyes. Glenn looked back at him, before shrugging dismissively.

"Oh, don't worry about him, he's a nice guy, just not very talkative."

"...If you say so..."

The Convoy finally departed, the gigantic Twilight Gate opening slightly to let them pass, the individual door too small to let the carriages pass. A loud cranking sound echoed all around them, the ground shaking as the two massive doors creaked open, the ground shaking slightly in the face of this incredible mass shift.

The golden light of the wheat fields shining under the bright sun that had followed after last night's rain welcomed them, a warm hue that soothed their scarred hearts. Glenn leaned against the back of the carriage, remembering the first time he passed through the Fields.

'It certainly was much funnier back then, at least there was some action!' Diamanes complained, making his host frown in disapproval.

'Is it that terrible to ask for just a few days of peace? I had more than enough action in this past month to make up for a whole life, Diamanes.'

'Booo~rinngg!'

The convoy bifurcated at one point to head straight for the Northern Town, passing through a small road in the Fields. After all, the Twilight Gate led directly to the Eastern Town, but it wasn't their goal currently. Glenn turned toward Sahro, wearing a hidden smile.

"Didn't you want to go back to your Eastern Town? You told me they treated you particularly well at that branch of the Workshop."

Sahro waved dismissively, before scratching his chin.

"I still need to help with Redan's matter, and I also need a new weapon. The Eastern's Town blacksmith is great, but not as great as the Smith."

Glenn nodded with understanding. The Smith was indeed probably the best in his craft. At least, Glenn was never disappointed with how he took care of his stuff.

...Well, he'll still have to see if the man could make him a suitable weapon, but he would worry about that matter later. Right now, the priority was getting all the rewards he could and using some of those to find out information about Redan's kidnapping. Each second that passed increased the chance of the old man dying, he couldn't afford to lose a second.

'...Hopefully, Milena has some intel about the Bourgeoisie nobles, even though I doubt it. She's from the Court after all, it would be incredible if she even knew who the Baron was,' Glenn rubbed his chin, lost in thoughts. The woman was currently enjoying the sun, her raven hair tied in a bun behind her head.

'Don't forget to find a way to decrypt the notebook concerning that Sword of Damocles Project, I'm very curious about its contents,' Diamanes reminded him, the young man nodding mindlessly.

'Indeed, I'll need to try and copy the contents of the book on something else, because, in its current state, it's barely readable and much too prone to crumble under my fingers.'

"Sahro, do you mind getting me the notebook we found back in the Laboratory? I'll try to read a bit more of it."

The Black Heir pulled out the notebook from his belt, where it had remained safely stashed. He held the book out with a serious gaze.

"You better not destroy another page, or I'll swear you'll never see this notebook ever again," Sahro warned him, unwillingly passing the notebook. Glenn smiled widely as he picked up the notebook, carefully opening it. Milena glanced at the book, and pushed herself, curious.

"This looks super old...Where did you find that?"

Glenn was about to answer when he remembered the fate of a particularly interesting book that ended up in her hands. With a pale face, he covered the book away, worried.

"Don't—! I don't want you to burn another important piece of history, so fuck off!" He spat, ready to use his spells to defend the precious book. Milena blushed with shame and coughed while trying to keep an innocent smile.

"I...I have no idea of what you're talking about...A—Anyway, I know that there's a Restoration Operator in the Seekers, if you want I can ask for his help."

Glenn looked at her suspiciously, closing the book carefully and pushing it into his dimensional pouch, ignoring Sahro's grunt of complaint.

"I heard about those Seekers, but I've never really got to understand what or who they were."

Milena's eyes lit up with passion and she leaned forward.

"The Seekers are a group of persons of all origins that are passionate about history, hidden secrets, or civilizations. They are a side branch to the Magi Brotherhood, and officially, their main goal is to find ancient spells, but they're spread on a variety of subjects."

She pointed at the worn notebook, smacking her lips together.

"They have someone called the Restoration Operator, who has developed a spell to recover lost scriptures like the one you're holding. Of course, that's an expensive thing to ask for, but generally, they accept any work as long as it's something they've never encountered before."

Milena chuckled and scratched the back of her head.

"Haha, every single bit of knowledge is like diamonds in their eyes..."

Glenn rubbed his chin, and the corners of his lips curved slightly upward.

"You seem interested in them, are you part of the Seekers?"

Milena hurriedly shook her head, putting her hands in front of her in denial.

"Of—Of course not, I'm not worthy of being part of them yet, and it's not my main priority, but I would love to be in the future..."

'...I could have never guessed she was so interested in history seeing how she burnt out the only example of that book, the Body Enhancement Thing of Exan...'

Glenn sneered and looked away, lost in thoughts.

'I think she's more scared of her identity being revealed than interested in keeping history alive...Whatever, I'm sure I'll be able to find another edition of that book if I search hard enough.'

'As if you had the patience to search for such a thing, heh.'

'...Couldn't you just, I don't know, believe in me from time to time?'

"I'll think about it, but thanks for the suggestion, Milena."

The woman smiled before going back to enjoy the sun. Glenn sighed, enjoying the rest. Finally, after a few hours of travel, they arrived at their destination.

The Maron's Company was back in the Northern Town.