M- Mo- MOM!? Now that I think about it though, they do really look alike... Embla turned to look at her friend with her mouth open from shock. It seems that she was not alone in this either.

Cal and Pandora stared at their team leader with equally shocked faces, the same thought going through their minds. Red stood next to her, bowing respectfully to Eschamali as she stood in a heated face off with her daughter.

“Lady Mizore.”

The group turned to see Koji and Azalea bowing respectfully before her. The woman sighed and turned around.

“Sir Kojiro. I thank you for this welcome to Yggdrasil.” Mizore bowed in return. Her tone was cordial and respectful, yet carried that far off regal tone that one would attribute to royalty.

Yuki kept her gaze on her mother, before sighing and turning around. “I’ll explain later,” she said.

Pandora, Cal, and Embla nodded, not even knowing what to say in regards to this revelation.

“Later. You and I will have a talk later,” Mizore said, not even glancing at her daughter. She turned around and walked back to the carriage procession. Kojiro and Azalea followed her. Embla nodded as Koji turned to look at her. He smiled before walking off with the Sage.

“That just… did that just?” Embla pointed at the moving carriage.

“Yes, it did. Hey, Em, can you pinch me? I think I’m dreaming,” Pandora said.

Embla pinched Pandora on the side, causing the elf to yelp and jump away.

“Okay, I’m awake. And holy fu- YUKI, YOUR MOM IS ESCHAMALI!?” Pandora rounded on their leader.

Yuki sighed and raised her hand. “Please don’t do it here. There’s too many people listening. Let’s head back home.”

“Alright but seriously,” Cal said, “I’m with Pandora on this one. Your mom is-”

Embla elbowed his ribs, causing him to go quiet.

“Wait…” Embla placed her hand on her chin. “Red, did you know that…?”

Red turned to her and nodded. “I did. Yuki and I have known each other since we were kids. I’ve seen Lady Mizore multiple times.”

“Woah…” Embla looked between Red and Yuki. A thought popped in her head. As she was about to open her mouth, Yuki raised her hand in her direction.

“If you’re going to ask, at least wait until we get home,” Yuki said. She turned around and walked away from the group. The crowd parted, shellshocked from what they just witnessed.

“Let’s go,” Red said. “Before everyone else gets out of the shock and begins swarming her for autographs or questions.”

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The walk home was quiet and awkward. The atmosphere between Yuki and the rest of her team had changed. The girl had kept a distance between her and them, even Red noticed that she had stood further away from him.

“Is she okay?” Embla asked, walking up to Red’s side.

“Who knows? Yuki and her parents didn’t exactly leave on a good note,” Red said.

“Oh. I see.”

“She’ll explain it when we get home though…” Red sighed.

“Though?” Pandora popped up on Red’s right.

“How much she plans to actually tell us is up to her. Well, by us, I mean you three. I already know everything regarding her circumstances,” Red said.

“Is this some sort of childhood friend privilege we don’t get?” Cal said, walking next to Embla.

Red shrugged and a small smile appeared on his face. “While I do get to see sides of Yuki you guys haven’t even seen yet, there are things about her that I think I don’t know.”

“Like?”

“We’re here.” The four stopped talking when they saw Yuki waiting at the front door, tapping her foot impatiently. Her ears twitched in annoyance, though that made her fail to intimidate them with her stare. The four glanced at each other before walking up the steps to their house.

Red unlocked the door and the four walked in after Yuki, who immediately went upstairs to her and Red’s room. The sound of a door slamming shut could be heard, causing Red to sigh.

“I thought we were going to talk?” Embla said.

“She never said now. She said when we got home so she could mean later,” Cal clarified.

“Don’t be so upset with her. She’s just dealing with this in her own way,” Red said.

“I’m not. It’s just… I understand how she feels a little,” Embla said.

“You do?” Pandora asked.

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“Do I need to remind you of how you reacted when you found out I was close to the Grandmaster of the Knights?” She gave Pandora a dry look.

“Ahaha, oh yeah.” Pandora smiled awkwardly.

“She’s probably thinking that her life as a normal person is over and that she has to move or something. Packing her things and going out to live in the woods until this all blows over.” Embla crossed her arms.

“Are you talking about Yuki or yourself?” Cal looked at her with a slightly shocked look on his face.

“Shut up.” Embla’s cheeks turned red in embarrassment. “That’s not why I lived in the woods.”

“This explains so many things,” Pandora said.

“What?” Embla asked.

“Like?” Red looked at her.

“Why she’s so bad with money! Why she always speaks like she has a pole shoved up her ass sometimes. Our leader was a hoity toity rich girl this whole time!” Pandora held out two fingers as she thought of more indicators.

“She’s probably used to having an unlimited supply of funds that she sometimes forgets that tipping doesn’t involve dropping an entire sack of bullions,” Cal said.

“Yeah, Yuki’s not really good with money for someone who’s a princess,” Embla said.

“Sheltered life can do things to you.” Cal shrugged.

“Yuki’s not that sheltered. At least, not anymore,” Red said.

“Still, it’s kinda cool right? Having Eschamali as your mom?” Embla smiled.

“Maybe. I’ll go talk to Yuki. I’ll let you guys know if she’s okay once I’m down,” Red said, walking up the stairs.

“Kinda makes you think,” Cal said, watching Red walk up the stairs.

“Makes us think what?” Pandora asked.

“If she lived such a rich, comfortable life in Alfheim, why did she run all the way to Midgard? You think something happened back there?” he asked.

“I don’t know and it’s not our place to pry. If Yuki wants to keep that a secret, then we have no choice but to respect that.” Embla shrugged. “What can we do but support her. She is our friend after all. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go to the backyard.”

“Eh? What the hell do you need to go out there for?” Cal asked.

“Do I really need to tell you why?” Embla asked, leaving the room.

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Embla squinted as she read over the page. “Hey Pandora! What does this mean?” she pointed at a term in the middle of the page. Pandora walked over and peeked over Embla’s shoulder.

“Complex Casting? Oh, that’s how many magical skills you can cast at once. Like back at the bandit base, you saw me casting multiple skills at the same time, remember?” she smiled.

“Oh, right, that.” Embla grimaced as she remembered the maelstrom of elemental magic that wiped out a large portion of the bandits. “Is that something I can learn before the tournament?”

“Well, complex casting is something you can start learning. Complex Casting is basically a measure of how skilled a magic user is. There are four levels of Complex Casting: Dual Casting, Triangle Casting, Square Casting, and Multi-Casting. Dual Casting is being able to use two magical skills at the same time, Triangle is three, Square is four, and Multi is five or more,” Pandora explained.

“So the more magic I can cast at the same time, the better I am at it?” Embla tilted her head in slight confusion.

“Well, let me rephrase. It shows how much mastery you have at controlling your mana to be able to do something like that.”

“Ah… I see. Thanks, Pan,” Embla said, returning to her book.

“I still can’t believe you found the time to train with what’s going on inside the house,” Pandora said, sitting down.

“Well… part of something I learned traveling out on the road is that some people just need time to open themselves up. If this is Yuki’s way of dealing with things and getting the courage to tell us about her problems, then it is. Doesn’t mean we should keep pushing her to tell us. It’ll just drive her farther away,” she replied.

“Huh, I never thought of looking at it that way before.” Pandora placed her hand on her cheek.

“Besides, I don’t think this is something we can solve in one talk. There’s something we don’t know going on so trying to help her get over it without knowing her situation is just adding more fuel to the fire. It’s better if we wait for Yuki to come out on her own about this in these types of situations,” Embla said.

“Wow, I didn’t know you were such a people person,” Pandora commented.

“I had to learn to read people to get by out on the road. It helps when I’m haggling for things like food or a room at an inn when I had money,” Embla said, grinning.

“I don’t think not having money is something to brag about,” Pandora said.

“I’m not bragging. I’m just saying that she needs time. She’ll open up to us on her own. We can’t force her to start spilling state secrets,” she replied. “Now, help me with this stuff. I’m trying to learn my first Shadow Magic Skill.”

Embla shoved the book in her face.

“Is she?” Embla and Pandora walked back into the house. Cal sat on the couch, reading a book about whales. He peeked out from behind the book and shook his head.

“She hasn’t even come down for water. Red’s still up there. I can’t hear what they’re saying because they’re whispering. Or maybe Yuki soundproofed the room,” Cal said.

“Maybe they’re… you know,” Pandora suggested.

“That’s gross. There are three other people living here and it’s the middle of the day,” he replied.

“I’m just saying.”

“I don’t even know what to say here in this situation…” Embla gave her a dry look and sat down. “How long do you think she’ll be up there?”

“All day by the looks of it. A couple of people came by while you two were in the back but Yuki screamed from her room for them to leave. They weren’t from Midgard so…” Cal trailed off. “Really makes you wonder what happened between Yuki and her mom to make their relationship like this.”

“Nothing too bad I hoped.” Embla closed her eyes.

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A hooded woman made her way through Yggdrasil’s busy streets. No one took notice of her for adventurers like her were common throughout the world. She smiled underneath the hood.

That passport Hati got me worked wonders though, did she really have to use my actual name? She thought as she entered the guild. Sigrun’s face crinkled in disgust when she smelled the alcohol. Useless fools, Sigrun thought as she stepped past a table of people, all passed out with several mugs scattered around them.

She walked up to the front desk and placed a slip of paper on the counter.

“Oh, hello there!” a woman said. Her green eyes beamed as she stared at her customer.

“This is for the Ataraxia Guild Tournament. I’m here to participate,” Sigrun said.

“Ah! Yes! Let me just process this for you, Miss… Kurokami?” she looked up at Sigrun.

Sigrun smiled and removed her hood. Her pink hair spilled out behind her back as a pair of rabbit ears twitched above her head.

“Yes, that's me. I am Chiyo Kurokami. I am here to take part in this year’s annual guild tournament,” she said.

Well, Hati. Your brilliant plan to impress the higher ups starts now...