Three days had passed since the two undead had left the Great Plain. They had walked alongside a humble dirt road meandering through the countryside like a stream. The closer they got to Vitas, the columns of smoke dotting the horizon appeared more frequently alongside the sight of long caravans making their way between towns.

The two had passed through two more villages with little issue. Having the copper emblem of the Adventurers Guild around their necks made their journey swift and without any issues. As soon as the guards saw that the pair of armed women had a reason for coming back from the wilderness they would wave them in.

It made Iris question the bells of her previous life wasted waiting in queues, out in the harsh elements, scorching hot or freezingly cold. She had lost count of how many times one of Brad's companions or the Hero himself vented their frustrations aloud on the guard after being made to wait outside. The reason for this was most likely political as no mayor would house the Hero of Mankind in any old shed although the elf couldn't see how leaving him outside the walls made it any better. Given what the Hero did for a living, this caused the village leaders from the most remote and isolated regions in Edor to panic as usually the most important person who bothered themselves to visit those villages were their liege Lord who only might have visit them in passing. At the time the thought hadn't even dared to enter her mind but thinking about it, the Avatar of Humanity, Chosen of Citranus and the strongest human alive would often be so worn out by the antics of people he saved that he and his party would often camp in the woods near the town rather than having to deal with the village elders or nobles frothing at their mouths at the opportunity to gain some political power.

*Crunch*

The sound of something snapping made the elf look to her right. She then saw the pale white mage struggling to keep her balance as in her left hand a heavy-looking clockwork sphere swayed from side to side while in her right hand, a chocolate cookie slowly disappeared as the girl nibbled on it like a squirrel.

"You still have those?" The elf began to wonder if the bloodsucker hadn't gifted the petite undead something alongside a bottomless pouch inside that signet ring. She doubted that Umbria had such an item but it wouldn't even surprise her in the slightest if the girl had such a powerful artifact stashed somewhere in her inventory.

"Yesh." Kia struggled to respond, resembling even more a squirrel with her cheeks filled to the brim.

"How am I meant to explain that my kitten turned into a tree rodent?" The worried expression caused the squirrel to start thinking she had done something wrong. "Adorable." Until the tall undead's expression turned into a voracious smile.

"Dummy. I'm not a vermin." Kia warned not mentioning that she minded being called a kitten.

"Auch," The elf stepped back holding her chest where her heart should be. "I can't help myself, Kia. The faces you make are priceless."

This honest and truthful compliment lifted from the bottom of Iris's heart didn't spare the risen from the mage's glare. The elf couldn't tell from where her little kitten had learned to make such a scary expression but as recompense she offered her hand to carry the clockwork sphere while she ate. The pouting necromancer put the sphere into her inventory before stepping toward the elf, disappearing under the elf's newly bought cloak and grabbing her hand. The price the risen had to pay for offending her creator was the custody of her hand, letting the deathly cold girl steal her warmth while purring out a stern and angry warning.

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A bell later the elf spotted something she had not seen for a very long time as they walked along a vineyard. A large white triangle appeared in the distance, slowly making its way south.

The huge ships navigating their way up and down Vitas never ceased to amaze the elf. They were these huge monsters made out of wood which somehow seemingly effortlessly floated in the Life Giver's waters, caring little if they were going upstream or downstream. Most trade is done by water either through rivers or by hugging the coast of Edor. Everyone near a river knows where their river stopped being navigable and where it flows to since journeys between countries are long and dangerous, the old imperial roads swallowed whole by forest festering with dark terrifying beings. It wasn't like travel by land was impossible, adventurers and soldiers cleared vast swats of land near settlements who could afford it from monsters but for merchants and nobility travel by boat was preferable, either because of the cost or amenities stuffed onboard.

"Out ' the way!" Iris turned right to see a farmer driving a cart with live pigs tied at the back. The mule pulling the cart forward brayed as it got near the undead before halting, its body stiff from sensing the dark magic nearby. "The hell happened to you?" The farmer caned the animal once but the animal remained still causing the man to scratch his head in confusion.

"Sorry Sir, where are we?" Iris raised her voice over the squealing of pigs who began to panic as Kia and she took a step forward.

"Why are you funny speaking to me?" The farmer spoke in heavy accent as he turned his attention to the tall cloaked woman in front of him. The light gleaming off the tip of Iris's spear reflected into the human's eye making him squint. "You want me to tell you where you are?"

"Yes, if you could." Iris frowned as the farmer seemed to shrink in size, his teeth chattering uncontrollably.

"O-Oriripol is that way." The farmer said pointing toward the north.

"Thank you." Iris said before she stepped back causing the mule to pull the wagon as quickly as it could.

The farmer quickly became just a faraway dot on a horizon tracked by a pair of amethyst eyes before disappearing behind a small rise in the terrain where the city of mages was supposed to be. Eventually, the elf felt something gently pulling on her sleeve causing her to lose her line of thought.

"Did something happen?" The risen asked as she looked down and saw the girl looking incredibly annoyed at something.

"Why did you become very annoying?" Kia pouted.

"What do you mean, Kia?"

"You do that when you talk to other people," The girl said. "I don't like it."

"Sorry," The risen replied. "Force of habit."

"Still don't like it...Why are we standing still?" The ancient observed the elf for a brief moment before changing the topic, her face expressing puzzlement before she spoke a single word.

"I'm wondering where should we go."

"I thought we were going where the man pointed too," The puzzled kitten spoke. "Oreopol?"

"Oriripol," The taller woman corrected. "The land of the faithless, hedonism and chains. Where dreams come to die and be turned into unhappy nightmares." The elf was never inside the city but after meeting some of the people from the city she trusted in the idiom of labels never being created but rather earned.

"Can we go there?" Kia tilted her head like a puppy.

"Why is that?" Iris asked, curious about why the girl wanted to go.

"Because I had never seen it. I want to see how you lived."

"I didn't live in Oriripol, Kia." The elf began to frown but the snow maiden looked unconvinced, seemingly treating the entirety of Edor as where Iris lived.

"The symbol on that man's cart was the same as the symbol on a human I found with you." Kia explained.

"Kia..." Iris's hand began to brush Kia's dense black hair, brushing it back away from her fair and maiden-like face.

"Y-yes."

"You do not plan on killing anyone?" Iris asked, no matter how sweet she thought it was that the girl would kill for her, the elf was uncertain leading the necromancer to Oriripol after nights of listening to her sleep talking conjuring bloody sentences to all barely sentient beings who had hurt her and her favourite thing. "Kia, answer me, please. I can't go with you to Oriripol without telling me, I can't protect you from an entire city."

"I will not kill any humans." Kia murmured unhappily.

"Swear that you will listen to me while in the city."

"I-" The petite girl's voice chimed with magical energy the elf recognised as she took an oath, her hand quickly muffled the girl causing her incantation to fail.

"Simply say I swear, no need for an oath."

"But then there is no legal weight on my promise." The undead whined.

"But I trust you and I hold your words higher then of any oath, you wouldn't betray me would you?"

"Never," Kia's eyes gleamed with determination. "I swear I will listen to you."

"I love you." Iris gave the girl a peck on the lips leaving the girl frowning and unsatisfied. "You will get seconds in the city after we get something to eat." She declared before heading toward Oriripol with a euphoric undead under her wing.