“I’m going to kill Ven, he woke me up so early just to wait at Levion, I might as well have been at home.” Kay looks down at his empty glass as he slouches in his chair and puts his feet up on the chair across from him. The café started to pick up activity as more people began to enter. Airie grabbed her drink and took Clavis’s hand making her way in Kay’s direction.

“Hey Airie, stop pulling me”

“Kay’s lonely let’s go talk to him!”, says Airie.

“He’s just tired, let him rest”

“No! This is my chance!” Clavis rolled his eyes at the thought of his sister’s one-sided infatuation with Kay that dates back to the day they met, “You’ve been saying that for two years now”.

Kay looks to his right as Clavis and Airie stood beside him looking down at him. A hint of confusion struck Kay as he shifted in his seat to straighten his posture upright, moving his feet back down to the floor. Airie automatically pulled out the chair across from him and sat down putting her drink down onto the small table. Clavis sighed as he looked at his sister then took action in pulling out the chair to the side of them, preparing himself for another failure of a confession made out to an utmost oblivious Kay. “Hey Kay, did you hear that a fourth-ranked mage is coming to this village today?”

Kay’s brows raised in surprise as he heard this news. Hardly any high-ranking mages visited Papillion. There was a time when a third-ranked appeared but she was merely passing by on her way to the neighboring village. “A fourth! Why would they come out to these sticks of a village?” Clavis set his drink down as he crossed his arms. He set his elbows onto the table leaning in closer to them. Kay and Airie played on to his actions as they leaned in closer to him. “They say it’s Jack Riker, the famous snow mage”, “But why is he coming?”

“Last night I heard that the Royals have set up five four-ranked quests and scattered them through different towns, and it just so happens that this village will have one of them posted on the board.” Kay eased back into his chair after hearing those words. “Well, it doesn’t concern us since we can’t even take a quest higher than second.”

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Kay looked back out to the window seeing the weapons stall finishing up their displays. He reached out for his drink which created a pool on the table. He felt the cold water against his hand, which made him reach out for a napkin as he began whipping the puddle from under his cup. Airie looked upon Kay who was setting the now wet napkin off to the side as she began fidgeting her feet from under the table attempting to subside her nerves. She placed her hands on her lap so she could hide the nervous grip that now clutches onto her skirt. She took a quiet deep breath as she convinced her mind to speak out to Kay, with all the courage she mustered out, “Kay! Do you---”.

The sound of glass being pressed on the window aroused the attention of the three, making them jump at the surprise as they all turned to look at its source. There stood an excited Ven pressing his hands against the glass next to them with a mischievous smile decorating his face. Ven turned to walk towards the door as the three settled down their nerves. Ven swung the door out with gusto as he went about joining them at their table.

Ven stood placing himself next to the group as he draped his hands on their shoulders. “Kay I got the quest, lets go!” “About time Ven.”

“Hold on you two, Ven have you heard there’s a ranked four mage coming today”, Clavis explains, “ don’t you want to see him?”

Kay grabs his cross bag that was hanging around his chair as he moves the chair back to stand up. He swings the bag across his broad shoulders and goes about adjusting the strap.

“Oh really, no I didn’t know. It doesn’t really concern us, we’re busy today.“ Ven quickly takes Kay’s finished cup from the table and rushes it to the counter as he says a thank you to the waitress. He turns back to Kay who threw his napkin away and began waiting at the exit. Ven dashes over to Kay with a grin beginning to form across his face. “Well we’re off, see ya guys later”, says Ven “Wait--” before Clavis or Airie were able to prolong the conversation the door closed and the sound of blenders once again begged a salute to the customers.

“Why were they in such a hurry”, says Airie “ No clue, don’t they want to meet a fourth-ranked?”