Still nervous and watching the glass doors with huge eyes, Will goes to pick up his sword that's sticking out of the ground nearby the gazebo.

「What happened to your sister, sniffer? Why is she so pissed off?」

Greaves calls out to Shien as he walks up to the gazebo.

「She didn't seem upset to me… Quite the contrary.」

Shwik.

Shien replies while looking at the glass doors as Will pulls his sword out of the dirt.

「Huh? You mean this whole time she was in a good mood?」

Will asks as he returns to the gazebo and adjusts his glasses after sheathing his sword.

「It seems like it to me. Elder sister tends to not show that she's in a good mood. In fact, her teeth sharpen when she is. Our spar tonight felt like she just wanted to deal with me quickly.」

Turning his black, vertically slit eyes to Will, Shien nods with his usual serious face.

「Wait… Is it possible that she wanted to spar with me?」

Will's head perks up, and he quizzically points at himself.

「Not impossible, at least. I was surprised by the fact that you could block her strikes. It seems to have pleased her as well.」

Shien calmly replies while Greaves listens on with a mixture of a mocking and incredulous expression on his face, resting his head on his hand against the balustrade.

「It was pure luck! She'd kill me if not for the fact that I got lucky a few times in a row!」

Will replies with a nervous grimace on his face.

「No… That's not quite right…」

「Eh?」

Shien shakes his head, jiggling his ponytail behind it. Will furrows his brows while he grabs his staff back.

「…If elder sister wanted to kill you, without a doubt, she would have done so with ease. She was holding back, but it was not her speed or strength that were being held back…」

「Huh?… But… You mean?…」

Confused, Will adjusts his glasses, briefly pointing at the glass doors before turning his finger back to himself.

「…Yes. She was only mindful not to injure you. I would dare to say you were facing her at her full speed and strength, if not that, at least most of it.」

The tall spearman nods in reply, and Greaves scoffs.

「Pft. Bullshit. She wipes the floor with you nearly every night, and I'm supposed to believe Will here is above your level?」

Crossing his arms, Greaves nods at Will, who's standing beside the spearman.

「…It doesn't sound right to me either. I just picked up a sword recently. There's no way I'd compare to someone who trains with a spear since his childhood, like you.」

Will shrugs, and adjusts his glasses as he turns his eyes to Shien's. The spearman lets out a small sigh, and rests his weight on his broad-headed spear.

「…I may have trained since I was a child, but admittedly, I was never good at it. Moreover, I neglected my training ever since I left the islands.」

He replies with a calm tone and a serious face while looking at the two.

「But… There's just no way I can match Lian after such a short time.」

Furrowing his brows, Will glances at Greaves. He's crossing his arms with his mouth aslant while listening.

「You are far from matching her… Just like me. But your progress impressed me, and I think it impressed elder sister too. It's rare for someone to learn how to use a weapon this quick…」

Shien shakes his ponytailed head, and lets out another sigh, turning his black eyes to the night sky.

「…I have always looked up to Lian. No matter what weapon the clan handed her, she seemed to gain an instinctual grasp of it within days, much to the frustration of the clan members.」

「Wait, but why would that frustrate them? Wouldn't that be a good thing?」

Confused, Will adjusts his glasses.

「Normally, it would be so, yes… But it was our adoptive clan. We both used spears, so they gave her a ringsword. She mastered it within days…」

Shien nods, lowering his eyes from the sky back down to him.

「…Then a flail staff, daggers, shortsword… She mastered them all in no time at all. Even when they told her to fight unarmed, it only served to further embarrass them…」

He continues, then gazes up at his spearhead.

「…Eventually, they relented and allowed us to train with spears like the rest of the clan. I knew I could never keep up with her, so I left with the mutagenic chimera as my target.」

Shien nonchalantly concludes, and shrugs his shoulders.

「I've heard this story, but from Lian's side. In her eyes, she was looking up to you. She said that you were mocked, but you never gave up. She admired that.」

Will adjusts his glasses while looking up at the spearman's feminine face.

「Is that so?… My elder sister and I never discussed my departure in depth… And she's not the type of person to openly say what's on her mind…」

Lian's brother tilts his head, then looks towards the glass doors. Two maids pass by inside, paying no mind to the group around the gazebo.

「…It's true I never gave up, but that's only because I looked up to Lian. I didn't want to bring her shame as an inferior younger brother. I don't have the talent or the drive to train…」

He shrugs, placing his weight on his spear again as his slit eyes drift down.

「…I only have burning hatred for beasts of all kind. But now, my master made it painfully clear that mere hatred and turning myself into what I wish to eradicate is the wrong path.」

Shien looks at his open palm, then clenches it into a tight fist, all the while remaining calm and serious-faced.

「Tsk… Master this, master that… He's a big mage! So what!? Everyone's kissing his ass like he's the greatest guy ever… Tsk…」

Greaves chimes in, scoffing before throwing his arms aside. He quickly crosses them back up and leans onto the balustrade, clicking his tongue as he turns his gaze away.

「Greaves… I don't like Straf either, but he did save our ass. Remember?…」「Tsk…」

Will replies, causing Greaves to clicks his tongue again. Shien tilts his head.

「He did?… He never told me.」

Shien asks, glancing at each member of the party for a moment at a time.

「Yeah… A living mountain came to life when we were out looking for goblins. Did Lian not tell you?」

Will nods as he turns his gaze back to Shien and adjusts his glasses.

「Elder sister was there too?… No, she did not. That is interesting. I hope she finds some time to discuss this.」

「There's kind of a slouch at the guild right now, so we should have some time. Why not go to her room tomorrow and ask her about it? Did you talk properly at all since you had your reunion?」

「No… And…」

Shien shakes his head, then grimaces slightly with his head lowered.

「…It is very unwell among my people to walk into someone's private room. I would have to catch her around the common areas.」

He adds, raising his eyes back up to Will.

「…Huh? Why would it be? Just remember to knock so that you don't bother her.」

The young mage tilts his head, furrowing his brows in confusion.

「It's something reserved for lovers, wives, and concubines. It would be very unwell-」

The spearman elaborates, still maintaining his casually serious face.

「She's your sister… Just go see her outside her room if it's that big of a deal.」

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Will says with a pitying grimace. Greaves and Alicia look at each other with a very similar look on their face, and Will turns for the glass doors.

「I'll head back… Think about it, Shien. You're not on your islands anymore… Relax a little.」

He declares as he walks away from the gazebo, looking over his shoulder at Shien with a light smile.

「I will consider it. Thank you.」

Shien bows lightly as Greaves and Alicia join Will on his way back to the palace.

「Hnnngh!…」

Suddenly, Will stops in his tracks and gasps for air with his eyes wide open.

「Will?… What's wrong?…」

Alicia leans forward, and catches a glimpse of Will's reddened face. He quickly turns it away.

「Uh, no, nothing!…」

He exclaims, holding his glasses pinned to the bridge of his nose with his head held high.

「…Okay? If it turns out that you're hurt all along or something, feel free to stop by.」

Though somewhat confused, Alicia nods and continues onward with Greaves. They enter the palace while Will remains frozen. Shien stares at him with a tilted head from a few paces away.

「…No no no, it's not like that… She just isn't stiff like Shien… That's all it is. She just absorbed our culture…」

After a moment, Will thaws and resumes on his way back to the palace, shaking his lowered head with an awkward grin and a red face.

「…It's completely meaningless. Yeah. She meant nothing by it…」

He continues mumbling to himself under his breath, causing Shien to furrow his brows again…

…

An hour later, in a city by the border of the capital region…

Straf's brief stop at a village ended without much noteworthy happening, and after dropping off the traveling peasant, they arrived at a city at the very border of the capital region.

Cycelia slows down and cautiously drives the cart in, mindful of the people walking the streets. She glances at Straf, who is still lying down on his bench.

「Straf, do you want to bypass this town, or would you like to stay over the night in an inn?」

She asks, glancing over her shoulder. Straf lets out a long, fatigued sigh, then sits back up.

「Hhhmpf… I guess you must be tired too. Let's just find an inn. Do you know this town?」

He leans onto the driver's seat with his elbow and watches the road ahead with a bored face.

「No, it's my first time here. I think that's where Greaves and his party fought the vampire.」

「Huuh? What vampire?」

Cycelia shakes her chestnut head with a smile as she catches a glimpse of burned-out ruins in the distance. Straf furrows his brows at her.

「You know, the vampire that you punched through a bookshelf?… I forgot his name, but it had to be the same one.」

She replies with a gentle tilt of her head, and turns her emerald gaze upward as she thinks.

「R… R… Rrrr… Rastof?… Rooo… Roskill? Roskiel?…」

Resting his cheek on his fist, Straf utters out as he tries to jog his memory. Cycelia perks up at one of the names.

「That's it! Roskiel! That was his name! Can you believe it? We foiled their plans twice by pure accident.」

She points her dainty finger at Straf's bored face, then turns back to the horse and the road with a smile on her face.

「…Best of five?」

Straf says, then turns his eyes to a large, cathedral-like building.

「Huh. What's this? A church? It ought to be evil. That's the rule around here, isn't it?」

He asks, and Cycelia looks at the building with him.

「That's a Church of Mercia, Straf. Impressive, isn't it? It looks really old…」

She replies, and flashes a quick smile at Straf.

「…We apparently had one back in the capital too, but it was destroyed in the plague riots and was never rebuilt. Their function is very limited these days, anyhow.」

Cycelia adds, and shrugs her shoulder with a hint of disappointment.

「Their function? And what would that be? Kidnapping people for evil magic experiments like every good church does?」

Straf scoffs, smirking at Cycelia as they roll past the city's Church of Mercia.

「Wh-!? Straf! What kind of a church operates in your kingdom!?…」

Shocked and outraged, Cycelia nearly jumps out of her seat, furrowing her brows at his nonchalant bored face.

「Hey, don't look at me, I didn't come up with that…」

He shrugs his shoulders, innocently raising his brows. Cycelia sighs, shaking her chestnut head in disapproval.

「…The Church of Mercia used to have a very important role in spreading Mercia's teachings, but now that everyone already knows Mercia, their role is just giving the poor a basic education.」

Cycelia calmly explains, glancing over her shoulder at the massive building.

「Uhhhh-huh… And who is Mercia, and what's her deal?」

Straf nonchalantly asks. With a tight-lipped grimace on her face, Cycelia pulls on the reins and abruptly halts the cart. Straf gets pushed towards the driver's seat from the force.

「Ngh… What? Did you run someone over?-」

He asks, looking underneath the wheels from the cart's side.

「Straf… Was that a joke?」

She asks with her brows raised, and her lips curled inward.

「…No I'm serious, did you run someone over?」

「I don't meant that, Straf. Do you really not know who Mercia is?」

Lightly confused, Straf furrows his brows. Cycelia shakes her head and clarifies, staring at him with a stiff, wide-eyed grimace.

「…Noooo? Should I?」

Straf quizzically replies, glancing aside. [Contextual Time Perception] activates.

Slap!

Cycelia abruptly reaches for Straf's wrist. Though heavily confused, he allows it. She jumps into the back over the driver's seat, and begins pulling Straf off the cart.

「Eh?」

Neither coming along but neither resisting, Straf simply lets Cycelia tow him by his arm towards wherever she wants him to go.

She begins running towards the church, gripping tight onto Straf's wrist.

「Lia, wait, someone's going to steal our horse…」

Straf tries to argue with Cycelia, but she completely ignores him, remaining silent as she runs towards its doors.

Slam!

She slams into them with her shoulder, throwing them apart. Inside, an old man in simple brown robes turns around and smiles when he sees the two.

「Ah. Welcome… A donation for the poor?-」

He asks, tilting his head with a warm, welcoming smile. A few people kneeling in front of pews facing an empty altar glance over their shoulder, but then return to what is apparently their prayers.

「He doesn't know who Mercia is!!」

Cycelia screams, raising Straf's arm.

「Hnngh!…」「Whnhhnnnghhhhh-!?…」「What!?…」

The old man's jaw drops and his eyes snap wide open in shock. The praying handful stare at the two with utter disbelief on their faces, and a band of robed old men run in.

「Here! Here, here! Come with us!…」

One of the old men says as they grab onto Straf and start pulling him into the church.

「…Are they planning to molest me or sacrifice me, Lia? Why is this such a big deal?」

Straf asks, furrowing his brows at Cycelia, who follows the group pulling him…