The sun shone down on a new day, piercing through the blanket of white clouds drifting across the blue sky. The fire in Olfar had been extinguished, and the smoke had cleared. Now, in the eve of afternoon, peace returned to the countryside town, with birds flitting through the sky and the wind bringing the vague scent of trees blooming in the distance.

Luc sat on the steps of the tailor’s shop, which was found across the street from the Happy Farmer Inn. By some miracle, the building had remained mostly intact, as Yata’s wrath had been unleashed on the side of the street where the inn had been. It had been one night since the incident had occurred. The tailor, through Val’s recommendation, had given Luc and Dante a place to sleep for the night.

Glancing down, Luc sniffed at the brown tunic he wore. His silk red robes had been torn and tattered, and Luc reckoned that looking like a peasant would be better than looking like a hobo. Still, he couldn’t quite get over the scratchiness of the plain cloth garb.

There was a heavy sigh next to Luc, and Val slumped down onto the stairs next to him. Her injured leg was wrapped in bandages, and she used a wooden crutch to get around. As she sat, Luc cast her a sideways glance. Val didn’t speak, instead looking across the street at the remains of the Happy Farmer Inn.

Dante and the freed slaves, alongside several farmers, men and women alike, carried rubble and burnt remnants away from the site, clearing the ground to begin rebuilding the foundation of the inn. Near the front of the inn, where the porch had used to be, were four headstones. They denoted the graves of Jad, Sor, Sheel, and Matthias.

“They saved all our lives,” said Val, voice quiet. “That psycho was tryin’ to blow up the whole inn with everyone in it. The three o’ ‘em – Jad, Sor, and Sheel, ya called ‘em – held ‘im off long enough for all o’ us in the inn to get out.”

Luc remained silent, not sure what he was supposed to say.

Val lowered her head, hands clenching in her lap. “If it hadn’t been for me gettin’ trapped, maybe they would still be alive.”

Luc had flirted with countless daughter of nobles in the past. But he realized now, he had never comforted one of them before. Let alone a commoner. So he chose not to say anything, keeping his eyes fixed on a spot in the distance.

“Yer not very good at talkin’ to girls, are ya?” said Val.

“What did you say?” said Luc, glaring at her. “I’ll have you know, my [Seduce] skill is…”

He trailed off, remembering that he no longer commanded that skill.

Val chuckled. “Y’know, at first I really thought you were some kind ‘o noble. But I guess I was wrong.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” said Luc, scowling.

“Ya talk like one, and ya kinda dress like one,” said Val “But the aura ya give off doesn’t seem like the aura o’ nobility.”

“You’re saying someone like you has been around nobles before?” said Luc.

“Nah,” said Val. She turned to him and smiled, tapping the side of her head. “Woman’s intuition.”

“Huh,” said Luc. “So according to you ‘woman’s intuition’, what does the aura of nobility feel like?”

“I would imagine it’s somethin’ like a string,” said Val. “A string that tugs and pulls on ya. It draws ya in and makes ya want to follow their orders. Makes ya think that if yer life was in danger, you’d be able to trust ‘em to have yer back.”

Luc stroked his chin, looking into the distance. Sounds like what I feel around Dante. But me? Not a noble?

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“If I’m not a noble, then what am I?” said Luc.

Val thought for a moment before speaking.

“All ya are is arrogant, rude, and snobbish,” said Val, looking up towards the sky. “But at the end o’ the day, I think yer just like me.”

“Someone like you?”

Val turned to look him in the eye. “Someone who’s livin’ their life for someone else.”

Luc forced out a laugh, although his mind churned.

“I never wanted to be an innkeeper,” said Val, wrapping her arms around her legs. “I only inherited the inn ‘cuz my Pa passed. There was many folk who were willin’ to take over, but I said no. I thought that if I let the inn go, I’d be lettin’ my Pa go too. But now that the inn’s gone…”

Val spread her arms as a sudden gust of wind blew by. The breeze billowed through her blouse and her hair, wide smile spreading across her face.

“I feel free.”

The two sat in silence for a few seconds. After the pause, Luc spoke.

“If you don’t want to be an innkeeper, then what do you want to be?”

Val’s eyes brightened. “I wanna be a singer! I know I might not have the looks, and I talk in a country accent, but somewhere out there, I’m sure there’s someone willin’ to listen to me!”

There was something about the excitement and enthusiasm that, despite all that had happened, made Luc smile. For a moment, he forgot about who he was and where he came from. They were just a boy and a girl, sitting on some rickety wooden steps and talking about their dreams.

“I’d listen to you.”

Val turned to Luc, frowning. “Is there somethin’ wrong with yer head?”

“What?” said Luc.

“So ya can be nice!” said Val, smacking him on the back and nearly sending him tumbling face-first into the ground. “Looks like there’s still some hope for ya!”

“Don’t touch me, peasant!” said Luc, more embarrassed at himself than anything. Val seemed to know that, laughing at the expression on his face. Leaning in, she lowered her voice.

“I’ve told ya what I wanna be. Now ya gotta tell me what you wanna be.”

Frowning, Luc pondered her question. Since he was young, he had grown up with the assumption that when his father grew old, he would become the Lord of Tosa. Now, recalling the fact, Luc realized that he had never given the matter much more thought than that. Did he actually want to be the Lord of Tosa, or was it as Val said – all he was doing was following someone else’s plan? At the moment, he didn’t have an answer. So he told Val the truth.

“I don’t know.”

Val looked like she was about to rib him some more, but there must’ve been something written on his face. She looked away and combed her hair behind her ear.

“Don’t worry ‘bout it,” said Val. “Even a noble’s gotta try new things, right? You’ll find what you wanna do in no time!”

New things, huh?

“So what’s next for ya?” she asked. “I’m guessin’ ya wanna go home?”

Luc nodded. “Jad said that I can find a way back to Tosa in some city called Notori. I talked to Dante last night, and it seems like he’s got business in Tosa too. We’ll be traveling together for a while.”

Val’s face fell at the mention of Jad.

“What about you?” said Luc, looking at the ground. “What are you going to now?”

The clouded expression on Val’s face split into a small smile. “My older sister is supposed to be back any day now. She’s workin’ in some theater troupe, and they’re finally comin’ back around to Olfar. But this time, I’m goin’ to go with her when she leaves. For the sake o’ all those saved my life, I’m goin’ to do my best to live my dreams!”

Luc’s eyes wandered to Matthias’ tomb and then up to the sky. He could practically see Matthias’ grin beating down on him, saying the words ‘I told you so.’ An unexpected burning sensation seared Luc’s eyes and his vision went blurry. Scowling, he wiped at his eyes, trying to clear his vision. I didn’t even like the guy!

“There’s nothin’ to be cryin’ about,” said Val, thumping Luc on the back once more. “C’mon. We can’t be sittin’ around while the rest of the town is workin’.”

Val stood, balancing herself with her wooden crutch. Limping towards the remains of the inn, she turned and beckoned at Luc.

He opened his mouth to say that manual labor wasn’t the job of a Lord, but he stopped. Even a noble’s gotta try new things, right?

Standing, Luc began to follow her. As he did so, he felt something moving around in his pocket. Reaching down, he pulled out the ring that Jad had given him. He hadn’t gotten a chance to get a good look at it the day before. Holding the ring up to the sun, he turned it over in his fingers.

The ring was a shiny silver circle, smooth and curved around the edges. It was about half an inch wide and was deceptively heavy. Just as he was about to put it back, something caught his eye. Rotating the ring around, Luc saw that inscribed on the ring was a black bird in flight, bearing a crown on its head. Staring at it and thinking to all that happened in just two days, Luc knew without a question what it was.

“You comin’ or not?” said Val.

Luc took one last glance at the ring and slipped it onto the index finger of his left hand. Taking a deep breath, he reached up to make sure that the pendant was still hanging around his neck. Satisfied, he began walking after Val.

That bird was what had gotten him into this whole mess in the first place. And now it was going to get him home.

It was a Nighthawk.