Practice may not bring you to perfection, but it would surely bring you closer to it. That was how the phrase about practice went. And that was what Alnea had always believed. Until he was met with the most unreasonable creatures in the world. Women. He had never felt it before—
No, he did experience their unreasonableness before, but back then, he used to be even more unreasonable. His Oaths… He was not a kid anymore though. He was a Wanderer, a man who had begun making a name for himself, earning his due respect. He could not afford to be as wilful as he used to be. Except when in front of his master. And maybe when he was alone with Yuri. But only when she was in good mood. Or else, she would become even more unreasonable than him. Especially when she was jealous. As for Cecilia… Forget it.
Still, barring a few exceptions, he had long lost his qualification to be unreasonable, and get away with it. But the girls sitting next to him… They kept being unreasonable, and acted as if it was their right to do so. Even when he clearly rejected all the girls wishing to join their team, Cecilia and Yuri would still glare at him from time to time, especially when those girls would send him their pleading glances. Or when they would try to make him change his mind with their ‘offers’. How was it his fault that those girls were so clingy, and refused to leave?
Alright, maybe it was his fault that he was not ‘decisive’ enough in his rejections. In his defence though, those girls did not behave aggressively even when he rejected them. They just asked to meet him some time else, or to give them a second chance, all with sad and gloomy look on their faces… No matter how many times he practiced rejecting them, he still could not just simply brush them off. That would have been too rude. And therein lay the source of his problem… And pain.
Rubbing the part of his waist that Cecilia released, snorting at him in displeasure, Alnea moved on from the woman to the Wanderers behind her. And then, from them to the other Wanderers behind them, swiftly understanding their situation. The girls were of course all rejected by him—a mandate that he could not reject. And even if he could have rejected it, she still would not have done so. Three girls were enough. Those unreasonable creatures…
As for the men, those who looked like they were coming to them for some ulterior motives were all rejected, as were the people who seemed too selfish. Then there were those who were weak, with almost no potential. Such people were rejected just as quickly as the girls. It did not matter what kind of people they were, of if Alnea liked them or not. Weakness was the greatest sin of all. Especially in the world of Wanderers.
In the end, long after the scheduled time had passed, the only group of people left were a bunch of men who seemed a little trustworthy, with enough potential or strength to enter the inner city. Five men, to be exact. Ralph Erstone from the Erstone clan of the Broken Stone Valleys. Aren Winstoke from the Winstoke clan of the Winstoke plains. Fran Greenspark from the Greenspark clan of Green Lightning Valleys. Norren Redwin from the Redwin clan of the Red Trail Dessert. And Karl Onet from the Onet clan of the Umber Forests.
A man seeking the recognition of his clan. A man seeking the truth of his sister’s death. A man seeking power to exact his revenge. A man seeking the end of the Wanderer’s path. And a man seeking a way to survive. Five men, each with a story of their own. As for how Alnea knew those stories… He had to admit, Vestia was terrifyingly effective when collecting information. So much so, that she even made him wonder if she knew the colour of his undergarments.
“…Originally, we planned on accepting just two more people today,” Alnea said to the five men sitting in front of him. “But you five just happen to fill in each other’s weaknesses, while complimenting each other’s strengths. More importantly, I like your conviction. I like the reason you are fighting… I like the stars you are chasing. All of you are worthy enough to become Star Seekers.”
Including the five of them, their team had exactly ten people. Three more than what he had expected, but within the upper limit of what Vestia had said would be appropriate. Besides, he was not making excuses. The five men did complement each other, and to some extent, even to their team as a whole. Leaving even one out would make it seem as if their team was missing something. Not to mention the similarities in their past…
Such excellent Wanderers, rejected by their peers because of some silly reasons, or prejudices… It was as if they were all destined to be part of the same team. Fate…
“Thank you for your compliments, Wanderer Alnea—
“There is no need to be so formal, Ralph,” Alnea said, waving his hand to stop Ralph from continuing. “From now, we are all teammates. There is no need for wasting our time and energy on needless things. Besides, if we keep using such flowery words, then we will never get anything done. So, if you do not mind, we can just speak casually with each other.”
“…Whatever,” Fran said, looking a bit disinterested, while the rest just nodded along with Alnea.
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“It’s decided then,” Alnea said, glancing over the Star Seekers, both old and new, pausing his gaze on Zain for a bit longer than others. “As a team that has just been established, there are quite a few things that we need to deal with, like deciding our future direction, and our course of action. But first, let me take you to register in the Blood Hall, and become official members of Star Seekers. And yes, Zain, that includes you too.”
“You have not registered yourself with the team yet?” Karl said, looking at Zain said in confusion.
“…I was just too lazy to register before,” Zain said with haughty expression on his face. “Anyways, registering a week sooner or later does not make any difference.”
…Alnea chose not to blow Zain’s cover for the time being, leading everyone into the Blood Hall instead.
“Good morning, Wanderer Martha.”
“You again… What is it now?”
“We are here to register our new teammates.”
“…Are you going to register them right away? What about testing their trust and loyalty?”
“Trust is earned by trusting others, Wanderer Martha. If I do not even dare to trust them, how can they trust me?”
“…Finally revealing your hypocrite colours, are we?”
“Please respect yourself, Wanderer Martha,” Yuri said, stepping in before the disgruntled Wanderer could lose control of herself. “And let us be the judge of whether he is hypocrite or not.”
“…Forget it. Why do I have to care about ignorant little girls like you… What are you people dazing out for? Are you planning to stand there for the rest of the day?”
“…What?”
“Are you dumb? Give me your Blood Cards or get lost and stop wasting my time.”
The five new Star Seekers handed their Blood Cards over to Martha, with Zain following right behind them. Just in case, Alnea took out his own Blood Card too, ready it to hand it over to the grumpy Wanderer before she could find an excuse to scold him. Fortunately, with Yuri by his side, she did not embarrass him too much, and just blandly asked for his Blood Card. She almost looked like a normal Wanderer working in the Blood Hall. Almost.
“Alright, you are done,” Martha said, practically shoving their Blood Cards back into their hands, before waving her hand to shoo them away. “Now, get lost and stop bothering me.”
Thanking Martha once again, Alnea waved once to Tia in the distance, before dragging Cecilia and Yuri out of the Blood Hall. Cecilia kept grumbling, as usual, complaining about how rude Martha was, while Yuri kept thinking in silence. Was she thinking about what Marth had said earlier? Or was she thinking about why Martha behaved the way she did?
They could not deny the help that Martha had provided them, but they also could not deny the fact that the Wanderer had not told them everything she knew. Was she really trying to help them back then, or was she trying to gain their trust, before executing her plan? If so, what was her plan? Sowing discords? Why would she do that though? They had no enmity with her, and they did not remember offending her either…
Or maybe it was because of how rudely Cecilia and Yuri reacted to her from time to time. But that did not make sense either. Martha had been grumpy from the first time they had met her. Back when they had just come to the city. They had not even known her, and yet, even then, she had tried to sow discord between them. Not to mention the unexplainable tolerance she had for Yuri…
In the end, Alnea just suppressed his useless thoughts back into the depths of his Heart, before leading the five new Star Seekers back to their mansion. But that he suppressed his thoughts did not mean that others also did the same. The moment that they entered the mansion, and sat down in the main hall—three of them had to sit on the ground, as there were only eight cushions, and Forne would not let anyone sit on its exclusive cushion— Karl could not help asking about Martha’s strange behaviour earlier.
“…Does Wanderer Martha have a grudge against you?”
“…There is no grudge per se… She just does not like me. Anyways, no matter what, she has to follow the rules of the city. So, stop worrying about her.”
“But—
“It’s alright, Karl. I know you like to be cautious, but do not worry. Even if she has a grudge, she cannot act out of the rules. As for making things difficult for us within the rules, as long as we are working together, what are we afraid of?”
“…Still, we need to be more careful in the future.”
“…That is what we are going to talk about next. But before that, how about introducing ourselves to each other?”
“…Introducing ourselves once again is just a waste of time,” Fran said, with his face as stiff as ever.
“No, it is not,” Alnea said. “The earlier introduction was just a formality, a test to see if your convictions fit with our team or not. Besides, this time, it will be not just be you introducing yourselves. We will also introduce ourselves. Now, you may say that it is not necessary either. Probably because you heard a few things about us from rumours. Yet, how can you be sure that what you heard from rumours is true? Or even if what I have shown is the extent of my abilities?
“In a similar fashion, although we know a few things about you, it is limited to the things that you were willing to say earlier in front of everyone. In face of your teammates, you should have a few more things to share, right? Like a bit more details about our strengths. After all, we will be entrusting our lives with each other in a few weeks. Now you tell me, is introducing ourselves a waste of time?”
“…That’s a nice way to describe the necessity of introductions…”
“…Whatever.”
“I do not mind.”
“I would love to introduce myself once again.”
“…Just keep it short.”