Resting on top of the building, Reiren's mind couldn't stop thinking about the blue-haired girl named Aurora. The encounter at the tavern had left her feeling uneasy, and she couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't quite right.

She had never seen anyone quite like Aurora before. Her confidence and poise were unmatched, and she seemed to know things that she shouldn't have known.

As she gazed out over the town, she felt a sense of restlessness wash over her.

"Is she Princess Catharina's ally or something?" she muttered.

"I don't know," Eliphia, who was standing behind her, replied. "But I doubt it. I never heard her name before, and naturally, there is no information about her having a connection with the princess. Not to mention, if she was the princess's ally and wanted to kill us..."

"They would have already done it at that tavern?" Reiren guessed. "Yeah, in a direct confrontation, we would have had no chance of winning against that knight lady. Still, what does she want exactly?"

"I can't tell either," Eliphia said. "But it's better for us not to get involved with them."

"But what if they can really help us?" Reiren said. "And what about there being no traitor?"

"If that's true, then it's a relief," Eliphia said. "But either way, we can't trust her. We don't know her at all! All that she said could be a lie!"

"That's true, but... it's kind of unfair, though," Reiren said. "She appeared and offered us help right when we needed it the most."

"That's exactly why it's suspicious," Eliphia said, her tone wary. "It's as if she could tell the future. Remember when I said earlier that they were waiting for someone before we entered the tavern? I think they were waiting for us."

Reiren stared at her friend in disbelief.

"You mean that Aurora girl knew beforehand that we would come there?" Reiren said. "But how? We didn't even plan to come there at all! It just happened."

"I don't know," Eliphia said. "And if you were observing her carefully, she didn't seem like she was from this kingdom in the first place."

"Do you mean she came here especially for us?" Reiren asked.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"That's a scary possibility, but maybe," Eliphia said. "After all, they seem to want to go to the dwarf kingdom. The only reason they stick around here is that they are waiting for certain people, in other words, us."

"Why?" Reiren said. "To begin with, how could an outsider like her know so much anyway?"

"I... don't know," Eliphia said, troubled. "That's the problem. She is a huge mystery. I admit she didn't seem to be an enemy at the moment, at least, but it's better for us not to get involved with her at all--"

"Let's go meet them again, then," Reiren said, cutting her off. "Let's just ask them directly."

"Rei!" Eliphia said. "Don't you hear what I said?"

"Yeah, but weren't you interested at all?" Reiren asked. "To specifically come here to offer us help, right when we needed it. Not to mention how much she knew. There must have been something bigger in play here."

Eliphia looked uneasy. "Of course, I was interested," she said. "There were a lot of questions I wanted to ask, but..."

"Then let's do it," Reiren said. "As you said, I was stuck. This might be the answer. Even if it's not, I'm willing to make it our last try. If it doesn't work out, we can do what you want, leaving this kingdom behind or whatever it is you plan to do."

Eliphia sighed. If Reiren was willing to go that far, she couldn't reject it anymore.

"Fine, but we still need to be careful," Eliphia said. "Just because they didn't plan to kill us doesn't mean they can be trusted."

***

"Are you sure letting them go just like that will work?" Ruby asked as they drank tea outside the tavern. It had been a day since their encounter with Reiren and Eliphia. They were the only three drinking outside, a request from Ruby. She didn't like being inside the stuffy tavern, so the tavern owner hurried to prepare the area for her.

"I mean, what if they don't come back?" Ruby continued. "I don't like waiting like this."

"Well, if they don't appear again after a week, then we can give up and go to the Dwarf Kingdom," Aurora said.

"So, you're not even sure they will come back?" Ruby asked.

"I think they will," Aurora said. "But nothing is certain until it happens."

"Okay then," Ruby said, lazily putting her body on the table. "I'll just take it easy."

Aurora looked at her and smiled. "Yes, no need to overthink this," she said. "It either happened or not."

"Still," Rita said, finally joining the conversation, "was it fine to talk about something like that around so many people yesterday, Miss Aurora? I mean, they might sell us out to Princess Catharina or something. I'm sure they were willing to betray anyone for a couple of gold coins."

"It was fine," Aurora said. "I doubt any of them could meet a princess that easily. And even if by chance they could, what information could they actually sell? That a group of girls was planning to kill her? She already knew that. That's why she massacred the whole assassins group in the first place, right? And even if she somehow took it seriously, what do you think she would do?"

Rita blinked. "What would she do?"

"It depends on how detailed the information she got, of course," Aurora said, "but she should have known already that catching Reiren and Eliphia would be impossible."

"Oh, maybe she would go into defense instead?" Ruby guessed. "Like she would just hire more guards around her?"

Aurora nodded. "Most likely," she said, "but we won't get close to her, so it won't matter to us anyway."

"True," Ruby grinned.

"And even if I'm wrong and Princess Catharina decided to send her knights to us," Aurora said, "I doubt she would send enough of them to trouble you." Aurora glanced at Rita.

Rita blushed. "You're flattering me."

"Right," Ruby said. "As someone who was strong enough to beat a giant monster, you're practically a monster yourself."

"I... don't like how you put it, Miss," Rita said and sighed.

Ruby giggled. "Sorry, sorry."

They then continued to drink tea in peace until approximately an hour later when Rita noticed something.

"As you predicted, Miss Aurora," she said, "they're coming back."

Aurora nodded as she looked at the approaching figures. The taller girl with the purple hair was Reiren, and the shorter girl with the golden bun hairstyle was Eliphia.

As they drew closer, Aurora could see that they both looked wary and uneasy. She understood their caution, but she still felt a mixed feeling about being treated as a dangerous being.

"I'm... not going as far as agreed with your offer yet," Reiren said, "but can we at least discuss it first?"

"Sure," Aurora said, smiling. "Why don't both of you sit down first? Let's have a proper talk this time."

***