“Hey. Wake up sleepy head.”

“Mm…Huh?”

I stir to consciousness.

“I said get up. I’ll sucker punch you if you keep your eyes closed like that.”

My eyes crack open inquisitively, and I see the person who’d roused me from my beauty sleep, Kana, fully kitted and geared up, frowning at me.

It’s been a week in Nerenton, I’ve passed the time training and sparring with Kana and the 153rd, as well as unceremoniously being a glorified basket for Arciel’s shopping.

“What’s wrong?”

I ask, sitting upright on my bed within the Nerenton barracks. Kana shook her head in response.

“Arciel told me to fetch you, we’re rolling out with the 153rd today it looks like.”

Great. Some mystery mission I’ve been dragged into. Unlike the time with Geraldi and Trissdean, I don’t even know who’s ordered me and Arciel to be attached to the 153rd.

Barring the bright sun shining in through a window into my face, I get suited up in my armor within the course of ten minutes; getting armor equipped is a much more time consuming process than I’d initially thought, but thankfully my time practicing with the armor has helped me out quite a bit in the time department.

Hoisting my sword over my back with its familiar weight, I walk out of the barracks with Kana to the streets. The sun was barely risen, and the streets were sparsely populated.

“Took you long enough…Tch. Come on. Let’s get a move on, Freudlin wanted us boarding our ship five minutes ago.”

Arciel, who was waiting outside with her arms crossed, was wearing her usual summoner robes, and not the casual blouse she’d been wearing before; We’re really heading out. This is all so sudden, but I’ve had quite the prewarning since getting assigned to the 153rd in the first place, I knew something would come up eventually.

“So? What’s going on?”

I ask while the three of us hurriedly walk to Nerenton’s port. It’s evident that we’re going to board a ship, most likely headed for Aleeze if Freudlin’s premonitions are correct.

“We’re being briefed on the ship ride over there, so don’t ask me.”

‘Shut up and follow orders.’ Is essentially what Arciel says in response.

…

“Remember, keep calm, I’ll do the talking.”

Alison muttered under his breath to Celis, who was standing right beside him. Leading both their horses on foot, him and Celis were passing through Daigoro’s main gate, and a checkpoint had been set up to regulate travel. Just as Belfest had said, it seemed Daigoro was on lockdown due to the plague in Salva’kar and the rising tensions with the cultist country directly north of Daigoro. The people waiting in line in front of them were members of a merchant caravan, and their wagons were being searched, so him and Celis had been waiting outside the city for some time.

Alisson kept calm as best he could, there was no reason for the gate guards to search him and Celis, as long as their cloaks kept their armor concealed. The horses however, were armored, not militarily so, but it would draw some suspicion; the same with their overabundance of pouches and packs.

Alisson swallowed hard. They needed to get into Daigoro to restock and repair, for they’d be leaving the Caliphate’s lands soon.

“Alright, they’re clear, let them pass!”

One of the garrison guards hollered, and the wagons in front of himself and Celis slowly started rumbling forth into Daigoro through the large portcullis within the colossal stone wall.

“Alrighty then. What do we got here?”

One of the guards, one who seemed to be an officer of sorts, approached himself and Celis. Alisson closed his eyes for a moment, exhaling deeply, but silently.

He then opened his eyes; They suddenly had the sparkles of energy and enthusiasm, complete with a now radiating smile.

“Hello good sir!” Alisson said loudly and in a slightly higher pitch then was normal.

“Uh…Good day…sir…”

The guard seemed taken back, and was evidently hesitant on calling Alisson a ‘sir’.

“I am here for official business regarding the pestilence in the neighboring country, I am a doctor you see, and this is my apprentice apothecary. I have to meet some of my colleagues at the School of Crafts to give some instruction to the students.”

The guard squinted at Alisson, and then at Celis.

“…You don’t seem old enough to practice medicine, kid.”

“Oh, pardon me, I see the Holy Arts as medicine, my apprentice here would give you an earful otherwise however.”

Alisson smiled.

“A practitioner huh? You come from sort of shrine then?”

“Yes in fact, I come from Kretengar.”

The guard rose an eyebrow.

“You do know that Kretengar is barred of any travel here, right kid- er, doc?”

Alisson saw his opportunity.

“Yes. I was sure to bring some confectionaries for just this matter.”

Alisson withdrew a fistful of something from his cloak, and careful to not expose his armor, he shoved his closed fist in front of the guard. When Alisson opened his fist to reveal what he was holding, the guard’s eyes widened. There were at least a dozen gold coins, it was enough for someone to live modestly for an entire year.

Alisson tilted his head, intensifying his smile. The guard’s face steeled and darkened.

“…Go right ahead, doc.”

He then swiped the coins from Alisson’s open palm in a deft motion, and stepped aside. As him and Celis stepped through the gates of Daigoro, they both pulled on the hoods of their cloaks. Alisson couldn’t help but smirk within the shade of the hood at his success.

It was a gutsy ploy Alisson had pulled, but it went just as Alisson had planned; now it was just a matter of hoping that guard kept his mouth shut for as long as him and Celis were in the city.

“We’ll only be here for a day or so. Let’s go drop our damaged armor at a blacksmith, you can let them service your blades whilst we’re at it too.”

Alisson said quietly to Celis while they were both walking down a street, leading their horses. Celis nodded. Although they could maintain weapons and armor by themselves, there were some damages that required the proper tools and temperament from a smithy.

Firstly however, they needed to find a stable to house their horses for the night. So, as they walked along streets, Alisson took in Daigoro, for it was quite unique in its appearance and architecture. The whole city was made chiefly of stone, it was a sign of either the city’s wealth or it’s age. From the vines flowing down walls and soft moss growing the numerous cracks however, Alisson knew that the stone was the work of the elves, and not the humans. The city seemed claustrophobic, its streets were narrow and the entrances to the buildings were very much squished vertically, like the planners were trying to squeeze in as much residence as they could. The space in between buildings was nonexistent, and it was hard to tell where one house or shop started and another ended. The building materials were large stone bricks as long as a person was tall, it gave Alisson a sense that giants lived here, but the small space said otherwise; it created an odd contrast.

Though, Alisson had heard of this. This claustrophobia was found within Daigoro’s outer edges, it was Daigoro’s form of suburbs; compared to Foksly and Curlessi, where they simply had the poorer residents live outside the walls as they liked. Daigoro was in a completely different environment, geopolitically speaking that was. Hostile nations were but mere millimeters above Daigoro on the map, and beasts in the north were strong and rampant because of the northern nation’s complete lack of any action to cull the beasts.

It wasn’t long before him and Celis found a stable of sorts, and, as usual, Alisson made sure to leave a hefty tip for the purpose of loyalty to the stable keeper. Now, it was off to a blacksmith. It was a tricky thing, to inconspicuously repair armor that was so well known. They couldn’t pick one of the many blacksmiths that were openly working with metal in broad daylight in their blend of shop and workspace. They also needed a blacksmith that was skilled enough to repair their armor in the first place, and either be able to be paid to stay tight-lipped on the armor’s origin, or to be uninformed enough to not know where the armor was from.

The problem was that not many humans were willing to keep a secret from their own kind in favor of any Sidonians. Sidonians were seen on the level of beasts to most humans, as an enemy to all of humanity; and the humans that didn’t probably just saw Sidonians as walking moneybags because of their intrinsic value. From seeing the inhabitants of Daigoro however, Alisson could hope that the armor would go unnoticed; for there were many other, more out of place people.

Daigoro’s streets were not like Foksly’s, the streets were not solely human, he could see many humanoids with varying different animal ears and tails and other species-specific signifiers. It wasn’t only these, animalkin, that Alisson saw, but the occasional elf as well. He wouldn’t be surprised to see any harpies here, though they were, just like Nekomata, Angels, and Kitsune, in possession their own plot of land to reside in, not like these other species that could only be described as human-slaves in their dependence.

Chiefly among the passerbys, Alisson was vexed by ones that had cat ears and tails, exactly like the Nekomata, but with only one tail, and not two as per the norm. Any of the human-hybrids that hosted those feline features;

He clenched his fist just looking at them.

They were inferior. Beneath him. Unworthy of such qualities.

They were not like the Nekomata in the slightest, and yet they dare share an appearance. They hadn’t even bothered to even try starting a nation for themselves, the lot of them just sucked up to humans as servants. They were nothing more than damned kittypets for humans-!

“Alavier. Does that place seem good?”

Celis tugged on Alisson’s cloak, pointing to their side. It was a cut out in the mass of stone buildings, like more a small cave or hobble than a real shop. It was dark, and was only lit with the light of a few candles, molten metal and a raging smelter. Hanging over the cave like outdoor shop, was a sign with a hammer and anvil.

“Perhaps.”

Poking their noses in wouldn’t hurt. It wasn’t indoors like Alisson had hoped, but its seclusion seemed to say that people were not fond of the shop. The two of them walked into the shade of the overhanging stone, and Alisson could hear the clear clanging of a hammer upon a heated blade. As they walked, him and Celis passed many black outlines of shelves hoisting unidentifiable trinkets, pieces of armor, and blades. The two of them reached the front desk, where the banging of metal on metal was emanating from.

The blacksmith’s appearance set Alisson on the back foot. He was tall, broad, and had large muscles as any other blacksmith yes, though, there was one thing that Alisson was wary of. His skin was dark. He’d never seen such a human before. He’d seen tanned, such as that street-rat in Curlessi, but never so dark before that a human looked per-say black. It wasn’t just the skin tone either, the blacksmiths head shape was somewhat different than to what Alisson was used to, with large lips and an intimidatingly strong jawline.

The blacksmith briefly glanced at Alisson for a moment, and proceeded to hammer out one more into the blade he was working with; then dropping the orangey glowing chunk of metal into a barrel of oil. He lifted a rag from the workspace, and wiped his face. Alisson couldn’t see his hair, as it was held back and out of the way with a wrap-around cloth, he could only imagine how weird it would be given the rest of the blacksmith’s oddity.

“Are you here on business or are you just going to keep staring?”

His voice was deeper and more refined than Alisson had thought it would be. The blacksmith’s gaze seemed to pierce the hood of Alisson’s cloak, and he felt a shiver run down his spine.

“Ah, n-no. I’m here on business, yes…”

Alisson swallowed, and straightened himself.

“Me and my sister were hoping that you could repair some of our equipment. We’re adventurers you see and we damaged our armor a little on the way over here. We’d like it if the job was done sooner rather than later…sir.”

The blacksmith raised an eyebrow, but nodded.

“Well depends on what I’m fixing, give me a look and I’ll give you an estimate.”

Alisson nodded. Alisson’s armor had nothing but small scratches, nothing to even worry about, Celis’s armor was in need of the real attention. Same with their weapons. Enhérejär did not need any refinement, though Celis’s stilettos and baselards were inevitable in need of some true expertise. He motioned to Celis. She looked at Alisson with a frown for a moment, before nervously unclipping her cloak, and parting it for the blacksmith to see.

Fingers crossed he doesn’t know where it’s from…

The blacksmith laid a hand to his chin, intrigued, but not suspicious.

Alisson mentally sighed.

“Hmm…”

As he stared, Alisson couldn’t help but feel protective of Celis. Seeing her exposing herself to this man was left a gut-wrenching feeling in his throat and stomach, but he knew very well that nothing was truly wrong. His protective instincts were far gone past the norm, that was sure.

“Yeah…I think I can work with this. I’m not a master armorer, but the damage is simple. But, where’d you get armor like this? I haven’t seen anything like it in my whole life.”

Alisson hurried to explain.

“There was an armorer in Foksly who was running out of business, and so he sold his last sets of armor to me and my sister a few months ago.”

“A one-of-a-kind genius huh? Well, onto the blades then.”

The blacksmith crossed his arms. Celis quickly unfasted her baselard and stiletto holsters, and put them gently on the table before the blacksmith. The smith lifted a stiletto, and pulled it out of its sheath partly, examining it. He then examined one of the baselards, nodding thoughtfully.

“Nothing I can’t handle. You kids really have been fighting a lot by the looks of it though…”

Alisson was starting to get irked by the fact everyone called himself and Celis ‘kids’ but he pushed the gripe out of his head.

“I can be done with this within the week for-”

“How much for tomorrow morning?”

Alisson asked. The blacksmith smiled, intrigued.

“A dozen pieces maybe.”

Alisson withdrew a fistful of coins, counting out an amount with his fingers in the pouch within his cloak. He dropped the coins gently on the table, and the blacksmith’s eyes widened ever so slightly.

“…That’s double the amount.”

“I know full well. Is that a deal then?”

The blacksmith looked at Alisson quizzically, and then at Celis, and then back at Alisson. He then shrugged with a sly smirk.

“Sure. I’ll have the work done by tomorrow morning.”

Alisson smiled at the man. Celis after that retreated further back into the shop where she stripped off the damaged parts of her armor, she returned to Alisson and the blacksmith with a clear blush at her exposure. Alisson could see the difference under her cloak, her shoulders were notably less broad and bulky, and her chest was far slimmer due the removal of the few plates of armor.

They left the shop, uttering words of goodwill to the blacksmith as he started to hammer away once more, resuming his previous work. Alisson tapped Celis on the shoulder as the light of day splashed across them.

“Hm?”

She turned; no longer needing to bring her chin to the sky to look at Alisson due to her growth. He withdrew two of his explosion-imbued knives from the inside of his cloak, and slipped them to Celis silently.

“While you don’t have your weapons.”

Celis nodded, and the knives vanished within her cloak as she grabbed them from Alisson’s hands. Alisson looked up to the sky.

“All that’s left now should be to find a place to stay for the night, and to restock our supplies.”

If all went well, there was no reason to head deeper into the city, where there were more guards and international officials, however less claustrophobic it was.

As they approached one of the many bazars along the narrow road, Alisson made a mental manifest of everything they had:

Food that was in need of replenishment if they were to continue through Evering’s State without stop,

Plenty of spare armor pieces,

They were running low on oil for their blades and their whetstones were quite worn down by use,

Alisson had on his person those two flasks of oil from the Goblins, as well as his tonic, and his poison that he’d used minutely,

There was also those non-magic light sources that Sylph had given them upon their departure from Menton.

Alisson, now with a mental shopping list, spent the next hour or so with Celis at his back picking out supplies. He made sure to quiz her on what things were a good deal or good quality and such and such for her own sake. Alisson through out the process felt the slight feeling of being watched, but however hard he stole glances in his peripheral vision, he couldn’t see anybody out of the ordinary.

But, after their shopping spree, him and Celis walked their new supplies back to the stables where they’d left their horses. They loaded up the items quickly and left. He’d rather leave their luggage with the horses, for who in the right mind would think to rob a horse for valuables? And who would think to steal a horse and ride off with it in the middle of a city?

“Hey, Alavier?”

Alisson looked down to Celis.

“We aren’t…running out of money or anything right?”

Alisson looked away.

“No. We have plenty.”

He said tersely. Sidonia didn’t have a currency, because they didn’t use one; so forth any spoils of war were useless to the empire. The entirety of Sidonia’s wealth from winning battles, was given to subterfuge units, like infiltrators or himself. Alisson had enough money to buy out the entire city of Daigoro’s adventurer teams for a contract if he really wanted to. Celis seemed to be a frugal one, Alisson had been as well, until he realized that human money was literally worth nothing to him unless he was needing to make a deal with humans.

“So,” Alisson spoke up to Celis as they walked, “Do you have any preferences for an inn?”

Celis averted her eyes.

“…As long as it’s cozy and safe.” He then heard a rumble, and Celis grabbed onto her stomach with a hand, her face turning red.

“And a meal as well it seems.”

Alisson replied, sharing both of Celis’s opinions. So, they ventured closer to the city center, where the buildings became more separate, and the cold stone lining every surface was minimized. He spotted a taller building, made of wood at its frame and stone for its walls with real windows and not just holes cut into stone. Its doors were open, so him and Celis stepped inside. The bottom floor of the inn, was, as most other inn’s, a bar or resting place. The room was drastically different compared to other inns Alisson had been in, it was far cleaner, and less musty, and candles were lit everywhere, bathing the area in orange. The wood of the floor, chairs and tables was dark, it created a pleasantly calm room; were the building empty that is. The bar goers and inn residents created a drone of talk, and occasionally a group sat round a table would burst into laughter. Some people sat alone, silent with a drink in their hands, and others sat discussing business, and some people were stood heckling others. It was the latter half of mid-day, so the inn was only about half full with people as the night was only beginning to set in.

The bottom floor was on the larger side, and its layout looked more like a restaurant, for the front bar wasn’t directly in front of the entrance; So him and Celis had to weave past tables and people to get to the front. On their way to the front, Alisson didn’t notice the cloaked figure before it was too late.

“Mister.”

Alisson heard a voice, that was directed straight at him. Beside him, a person, in a brown cloak, as tall as Celis was, tugged on Alisson’s cloak. It was evidently a she from the tone of voice. A hood over her head constricted Alisson’s vision of her face to just her mouth and chin.

He stared at the girl intensely for a moment.

“…Never mind.”

The girl suddenly said, and walked away, melting into the crowd of patrons.

“Odd…”

Alisson muttered under his breath, paranoia wafting into his bloodstream.

For all he knew, that girl could’ve been anything from a street urchin selling her body to a veteran adventurer that’d somehow picked him out for some discrepancy in his façade. Alisson kept his eyes peeled after that. As much as that little encounter most likely would do nothing to him in the future, it still made him worried, and his heart raced.

“Who was that?”

Celis whispered. Alisson shook his head in response, and continued to the front inn.

“Ah, newcomers, what’ll it be?”

The man behind the bar, who seemed to be the innkeeper, said whilst rubbing a glass with a towel.

“Hello. A room for two for the night. And a meal as well, sir.”

Alisson said, and the innkeeper eyed him for a moment.

“If it’s a meal you want, take a seat before you get a room.”

Alisson understood the man, the owner probably didn’t want people dirtying up the rooms with food, and would rather people eat in the designated space. Alisson nodded, and motioned to Celis to follow as he stepped away. The two of them found a booth in a sparsely crowded corner of the room. As they both sat down opposite each other, Alisson spotted out of the corner of his vision, that same cloaked girl walk right by them, and a take seat in the adjacent booth. The booth the girl sat in already had someone else sitting in it, a lone man who seemed to be in a drunken stupor. Alisson warily kept an eye on that booth.

After a moment, a waitress in a modestly fancy outfit came to their table, and took their order. As the maid-looking waitress left, he noticed Celis eying him intently.

“…Something on my face?” He asked.

“N-no. I was…I was just thinking about that time in Curlessi when we ate together.”

Alisson’s brow piqued. He had a pretty good guess as to what Celis was really thinking about.

“I suppose it’s becoming a bit of a habit, us eating together like this. Well, this time there’s no parfait though.”

Alisson added that last part on slyly, and Celis averted her eyes with an embarrassed frown.

“You can’t go eating sweets all the time. It’s bad for your mentality when you’re out at work. Though, back at the Capital, I can’t lie that I’m not a glutton when I’m off-duty. I have a sweet tooth, but the dessert around here compares nothing to back home.”

Yes, Sidonia would always be in the lead of such frivolities, the sweets were almost apart of the culture.

“What kind of dessert do you like most then?”

Celis asked him.

“Ice cream if it’s available, though usually it isn’t. I don’t like cakes too much, they’re too dry or too sweet for my taste; so I mostly stick with baked goods.”

Celis’s eyes narrowed, and she smiled slightly.

“Hard or soft?”

Alisson closed his eyes, smiling.

“Soft of course.”

Celis was about to continue on, when a shout erupted from the adjacent booth.

“Ah yes! She ran! She ran away, that she did, and all for the sake of her heart; Oh, what a fickle waste of such a strong heart on me!”

It was the drunken man in the booth where that cloaked girl was sitting, the two of them had been talking, but evidently the man had reached some sort of sensitive topic. Alisson tried his best to ignore him, but he was quite loud for being so close to himself and Celis, recalling all his conniptions. There was now a full pitcher of booze, it was evident that the cloaked girl had been the one to order it, even though she herself didn’t have a mug in her hands.

“Ran away from her noble family you say?”

The cloaked girl said quietly, though Alisson strained his ears to pick out her words, wary of what she was saying.

“Yes, she was from a noble family within the Caliph’s own court, to think how naïve she was, she had to renounce her heritage- She wouldn’t know that only a year later the two of us would be on the damned streets! I couldn’t predict that I would’ve lost my job, but there we were, with our daughter, completely coinless!”

He seemed to be venting his pains to the cloaked girl. From the sounds of it, the two had no previous connections. The drunkard took a swig from his newly filled mug and began once more,

“Oh, but you should have seen her expression, she was as determined as could be, she never lost that strong noble heart of hers, with her tireless advocating, I got a job at a warehouse lifting boxes, and it was a good thing too, for we now had two children, Ior our Cavalier had blessed us with two healthy little girls. Oh - everything was going so well, even if we did live in that damned hobble for an apartment, but then, but then-!”

The man burst out into maniacal laughter, cusping his head with his large muscled hands. It was around that time when his and Celis’s meal arrived, held skillfully all by one waitress. When Alisson took a sip of his tea, he smiled wryly.

“I suppose I’ve been proved wrong.”

The tea was sweet, he hadn’t been expecting the humans to have any such thing. Before Celis could reply, that maniacal laughter from the adjacent booth died down, and the drunkard shouted out once more loudly after downing the contents of his mug,

“It wasn’t long after that, I drank, and I drank, and well, that was the last time I’ve ever worked! Why, why, the drink hath posed on my wife and daughters misfortune, in the form of me?! They scrambled they did, both Nildia and the girls, they worked tirelessly to just keep up with rent while I looked for a job…but well…” Alisson could hear the slyness in the man’s voice, “Right now, I am looking for work no?”

By that point, a few people had gathered around the man’s booth, with smirks on their faces, and they’d all chuckled at the man’s words. Alisson, and it seemed Celis as well, could hardly eat with the man’s ravings.

“I drink now their shoes and stockings-! I’ve sold my own damn daughter’s socks for drink-!”

The man burst into another fit of maniacal laughter, and he rose his mug up as a toast to himself, and downed the entirety of the newly refilled mug once more. The surrounding people also burst into a wave of laughter; not laughing with the drunkard, but rather at him.

“So what happened after that?”

The brown-cloaked girl asked. Alisson could spot her mouth barely from under her hood, she was smiling.

“Well, my eldest daughter, Silvya, she had the face of a doll and could bring any man to their knee’s, she inherited her mother’s nobility that’s for sure! Nildia was always nudging her to action, and she would always replied with ‘No way!’ or ‘Do I really have to do that…?’ oh, Silvya was just precious. Well one late evening, at her mother’s urging, she silently put on her coat, and left into the night. She came back the next morning with a pouch chock-full of coin! And then she sat in the corner, just quietly shaking. Oh, it’s a fine mine my dear Silvya had found- Ah ha ha!”

Alisson’s fist clenched, but he tried his hardest to ignore what the man was saying and continue to eat his meal. The increasingly dense crowd of people gathering around the drunkard broke into another bout of laughter.

“Nildia became quite defensive after that, why, she kicked me out! She said that if I didn’t bring home any money than it shouldn’t be my home in the first place! Oh, but I didn’t forget to snatch up that coin pouch that Silvya had brought before I left! A few months passed after that, and then one day a government clerk sought me out, he said that Nildia had taken her own life – why it seemed her unyielding determination had run out!” The man broke into a short bout of crazed laughter. “…Being the father of Silvya and her sister, I took custody over them and moved back in- my, you should’ve seen their faces-! Ah ha ha! Terror or despair was it- Ah ha ha!”

Again, after a fit of laughing, he downed his mug after refilling it. Alisson could barely manage to eat, thanks to both the story of the man and the surrounding crowd of people. Alisson preferred to eat and relax in quiet and cozy areas, and not whilst in the presence of some sort of public mocking.

“The two of them, my daughters, they sleep together every night now, as far as they can away from me, oh how it brings sadness- I haven’t done a thing to them! I haven’t laid a hand on my daughters and yet they distance themselves from me-! Ah ha ha-! Why, man grows used to everything! It is a devilish thing, this silver that my dear Silvya digs, however-Hurrah for Silvya-! For I now drink from that vile silver she makes in that mine she has dug! Hurrah!”

The man said with a crazed smile, lifting his mug into the air once more. The pitcher was now empty, so when he downed the contents of the mug this time, there was no drink left at the table, and he slammed the mug down with a large thump; the crowd around once more was laughing.

It wasn’t a few minutes after that when Alisson was just about done eating when the man ended his rant, piping up from his drunken stupor.

“Why,” The man shouted, this time in a more melancholic, and reflective tone, “I am certainly not made in the image of Ior, our Cavalier, but a beast! You all too!” He swung his empty mug at the surrounding crowd, “You all are not made in Ior’s image, no, you are all beasts! Ye bastards hear me! For we the shamed shall be brought unto Hell! For we’ve been made as beasts!”

The man was shaking now, his smile was fading, though his eyes seemed to say that he was laughing at himself. The crowd now was the rowdiest it’d been, but Alisson could hear cleanly through all the mocking and the cynicism, the brown cloaked girl speak, if only barely.

“You truly are despicable.” She said through the caterwauling of the crowd.

Alisson then, suddenly felt a soothing weight on his hand. Celis had reached out, and laid her hand on his, staring at him.

“Alisson. Let’s leave.” Although the room was filled with noise, there was no way he wouldn’t hear his apprentice, no matter what.

Alisson closed his eyes, exhaling deeply. He nodded, and stood. Together, him and Celis walked by the rowdy crowd fawning over the adjacent booth to the front of the inn. As the shouting died down and was placed thoroughly behind himself and Celis, Alisson once more didn’t see her approach.

“Are you staying the night? Here, I’ll pay your room.”

With a tug on his cloak, Alisson heard who he now knew was the mysterious cloaked girl. Alisson whipped around, his eyes wide and his hand clenched on Enhérejär beneath his cloak.

This was no coincidence; no, it was almost certain – This girl had an eye out for him and Celis. He’d need to deal with this. Alisson couldn’t very well just leave, from the looks of it this girl wouldn’t give up whatever she was attempting to do. For now, Alisson thought it’d be best to take up this girl within the inn, for her choices were severely limited with the surrounding people. Alisson had anonymity on his side, this girl shouldn’t have the wherewithal to pull something in such a public space on him.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

Alisson looked at the girl, but he didn’t say anything, he only stared suspiciously. Apparently taking his silence for some sort of approval, she walked by him to the inn-keeper behind the bar.

“The third room on the left of the second floor please.”

She withdrew some coins, and placed them on the table. The innkeeper looked suspiciously at the cloaked girl, and then at himself and Celis. He sighed quietly, and waved on Alisson and Celis to the adjacent stairway.

“…Fine then.”

He said, and almost immediately after the fact, the cloaked girl withdrew into the crowds of people, melting away from Alisson’s view. Alisson stared at the innkeeper with a deep frown, though the man only shrugged in response. Alisson kept his eyes sharp for that cloaked person, thinking about what to do.

Alisson could either leave the building entirely, or walk straight into some sort of set-up. He didn’t like either. As Alisson had previously thought, he got the feeling the girl wouldn’t stop her heckling of himself and Celis if they simply found another inn. He didn’t want to be caught in a dark secluded alleyway with someone so unknown, that was for sure. Or, they could face whoever this was directly. Perhaps going on their terms would endow overconfidence in them; Alisson was very doubtful that whoever this was knew of his and Celis’s true capabilities, they’d have the element of surprise in being so brazen.

Alisson sighed. He didn’t like it but, he walked toward the stair case. When him and Celis reached the second floor, where there was nobody in the halls but themselves, he pulled Celis close and whispered into her ear,

“This is a trap. Prep your inscripts.”

He leaned away from Celis, and she looked at him with a determined nod. It was still a bit annoying that Celis didn’t have the telepathy spell. He should’ve requested her to be put through a course to attain it before they’d left the Capital.

The two of them walked to the third door on the left, as said by the cloaked girl. Alisson took a deep breath before the door, and opened it. He and Celis poured into the middle of the room, their weapons armed and their eyes sweeping the room in an organized search.

“Clear.”

“Clear.”

The two of them relaxed slightly. It was only now that he could pay attention to the room’s contents. The room was at first a normal sight, two beds, a window, trunk and drawers…though something was off. One of the beds was not made, the trunk was open, there was a large pack resting against the wall, and the window had been covered over with sheets.

“This place looks lived in.”

Celis voiced Alisson’s thoughts.

“That’s because it’s mine.”

Him and Celis turned in a blur toward the door, their weapons drawn and hands glowing with spells prepared. Standing in the doorway, was, of course, the cloaked girl. She took a step forward, and both Alisson and Celis clenched their weapons tighter, prepared to spring into action. The girl closed the door behind her. After a tense moment of the two parties staring at each other, the girl slowly moved her hand to top her hood, and pulled it off. The sight momentarily left Alisson speechless. His eyes widened, stunned.

“Ki…Kitsune.”

Alisson muttered. Atop the girl’s head, were two large ears that had been laying flat over her orangey hair. Before Alisson could look any closer, the Kitsune dashed forward whilst almost ripping off her cloak, her arms extended toward him and Celis.

The Kitsune embraced both Celis and himself in wide a hug, smiling cheerfully and nuzzling her head into both Alisson and Celis’s sides at once.

“Nekomata! I knew it! I knew it!” She bobbed up and down with her exclamations.

The Kitsune’s fluffy fox tails reached out now that she wasn’t wearing her cloak, wrapped around himself and Celis. Alisson too broke into a smile. A comrade. It was a pleasant surprise, that was for sure.

The Kitsune backed off, her tails bobbing back and forth by her face. Alisson noted that she had six tails. She smiled wryly, as if she were embarrassed by her sudden outburst but still filled with glee. She had long orange hair, and deviously large red eyes. Her fox-ears, now fully standing up over her head, were almost as large as her head, they were multitudes the size of Nekomata ears; This Kitsune would be taller than Alisson if one were to count her ears.

“How…how did you know?”

Alisson asked, suppressing his building comradery.

“I could smell ya, at first I thought I was crazy but…after I saw the way you reacted that drunk’s story…I knew you were Nekomata.”

Then, it made sense to Alisson. The Kitsune standing before him had talked to that drunkard on purpose, made him espouse himself to gather a crowd, so that she could get in contact with himself and Celis quietly.

“Mm.” She cleared her throat and closed her eyes, “I’m currently on a diplomatic mission from the queen. I, I wasn’t expecting to see any other allies, much less Nekomata all the way up here…what brings you two to Daigoro then?”

Alisson shook his head.

“Confidential. We need to keep moving north, and I hope to leave early next morning.”

That’s all Alisson needed to say. The Kitsune standing before him, was a comrade. It didn’t matter that they’d never met before, the sheer fact that he was a Nekomata and she was a Kitsune made them immediately close.

“Though,” Alisson continued, “What do you mean diplomatic mission?” He tilted his head and smiled wryly, “The Queendom is not an officially recognized country.”

Really, even the Sidonian Empire wasn’t allowed to have foreign delegates in human territories, even though they had defined borders.

“Well.” The Kitsune placed her hands on her hips, looking away slyly. “I never said that any humans have acknowledged me as a Kitsune sou.”

So then she’s a spy.

The ‘sou’ that she added sounded to be a Kitsune enclitic, for what, Alisson didn’t know.

“But…” Alisson looked warily around at the surroundings, wary of eavesdroppers. “Is it really okay to be speaking like this…?”

The Kitsune nodded.

“Of course! Me and the innkeeper are tight. I’ve been staying here for a few years and I’ve soundproofed the walls. I don’t wanna hear any humans here, it’s my own little slice of the Queendom~!”

Alisson understood the sentiment well.

“Anyway, I’m Tsuharane of the Areni Clan. But you can just call me Tsuhara.” She winked.

Kitsune names were very simple compared to Nekomata ones, they only had one name, and it was common courtesy to denounce one’s ‘clan’, or alliance, afterward. Kitsune commonly all had the ‘tsu’ in their names.

“You can call me Alavier, and this, Ferris.” Alisson placed his hand to his heart and bowed, “I’m pleased to make your acquaintance.”

“Gah…No need to be so formal, we’re supposed to be blending in right?”

Tsuhara raised her eyebrows smugly, but then she raised a finger to the ceiling.

“Well then, if your leaving at dawn, then you can just crash here for the night.”

Alisson eyed the two beds in the room. He hesitantly shook his head; the benefits of leaving such a small footprint far outweighed sleeping on the floor.

“So, tell me about your journey; you must’ve been travelling for some months to make it all the way up here sou.”

Alisson nodded.

“Next week we’ll have been traveling for two months. Though we’ve been away from Sidonian territory for more than that.” Tsuhara gawked at Alisson’s words, because that was an unusually quick pace, but Alisson continued, “We last rested at a town called Curlessi. We just got back from traversing the Ipithid Plain.”

“Curlessi? Sheesh. You two must be dead on your feet. Had any chance to clean yourselves?”

She asked, tilting her head blankly. Alisson looked away with a crimson-flushed frown, it was true that the last time himself and Celis bathed was all the way back the Capital, and he suddenly felt filthy thinking about it.

“…We, we haven’t even cleaned our clothes since we left Sidonian land…”

It was shameful to admit. Tsuhara’s eyes widened, she obviously wasn’t expecting the response.

“Well I suppose it explains your haste…” Her eyes shot up to him and Celis, a devilish smirk creeping across her face. “I can help clean your clothes.”

“What are you, a laundry mat?”

Celis asked, which surprised Alisson for she usually kept timid with strangers. It seemed she was already more comfortable with Tsuhara, just because she was a comrade Kitsune.

“Yes, the laundry mat for passing Sidonians! Rolls off the tongue doesn’t it sou? Well, not only a laundry mat, but you two probably need a bath right about now sou.”

Alisson’s face immediately flushed red at the given prospect. A bath outside the walls of his home was unthinkable, impure, exposed…A shiver ran down his spine.

“I am no exhibitionist.”

Tsuhara rolled her eyes with a grin.

“Oh calm down. There’s a river in the nearby forest, that’s where I wash my clothes.”

“…You bathe in a river?”

Alisson asked suspiciously.

“No - I made my own little arrangement, you’ll see. If it makes you feel any better, I was planning to wash my clothes and bathe tonight anyway.”

Tsuhara brought her hands to her hips, tilting her head at Alisson and Celis. Alisson and Celis looked at each other for a moment. Celis averted her eyes with a sly smile, her face soft and drooping. Alisson understood her.

“…Fine then. I suppose we’ll have to take you up on your offer.”

Alisson said hesitantly.

“Great!”

The Kitsune rushed to her drawer, digging through it with great speed.

“You can wear some of my clothes in the meantime – Oo this? Or this? Or maybe this?”

Tsuhara ranted to herself. Alisson couldn’t tell whether she was so excitable normally, or if seeing comrades for the first time in so long had made her jumpy.

Alisson cleared his throat loudly at Tsuhara,

“…I’m a guy you know-”

“Oh I know alright!” She replied, and Alisson’s face reddened. “Oo- How about this!”

She withdrew what looked to be a black and white chemise. Her voice emanated a certain scrappy aura that Alisson found pleasing to listen to, though what she was saying was certainly appalling.

“Is that for…” Alisson began to motion to Celis, but he was cut off.

“No, for you!”

Alisson’s eyes widened and his face flushed, he took a step back, instinctively bringing his hands to his shoulders over his chest. Seeing this, Tsuhara’s eyes narrowed and she licked her lips, a gesture that chilled Alisson.

…

I wasn’t expecting to find somewhere to clean. I was fantasizing for a while that me and Alisson would find some sort of spring, but then Alisson would be too embarrassed to bathe, so then, I’d have to force him against his will. Force him to bathe that is. I was surprised that he was actually willing to clean, but that’s probably because his sense of cleanliness is overtaking his pride. But, I know I don’t have any sort of conflict-!

Bathing? Yes please!

In the end, Alisson talked Tsuhara out of him wearing the chemise, and said that we could just go to the river wearing our dirty clothes and just strip there. I mean, I guess he has a point but…I can’t lie that I wasn’t at least a little disappointed. So, Tsuhara packed up all the essentials, like laundry soap, a washboard, pins for a clothesline, that sort of thing. Me and Alisson stripped off all of our armor at Tsuhara’s room though, so we only wear our gambeson and underclothes.

I’m still a little dubious about the fact that this place is so close to the city, I could imagine other people would go there, that would be awkward. Tsuhara said that since she always goes at night, she never see’s anyone outside the city, since there are tons of beasts. However, the three of us are all well above the level of strength to simply sit outside the walls of a city at night without problem…I mean, even if I’m buck-naked, I should still be able to kill something like a Roamer without even breaking a sweat; Probably even more so since I wouldn’t have to be wearing my armor that weighs me down quite a bit. I can’t say that I’m not nervous about being so exposed, not in the safety sense, but the dignity sort of sense. The moon is out completely, but the dark blue sky is very cloudy, so the moon isn’t too luminous tonight.

Turns out the city has a curfew, so the city guard doesn’t appreciate, you know, three non-humans just walking out the front gate. Thankfully, all of us our accustomed to stealth, so we had no problem following Tsuhara to her special little exit in Daigoro. On the outer edges of the city, there’s a building that is easily climbable, and it’s tall enough for someone to vault onto the city walls. So, under the blue veil of night, three cloaked figures, us, easily escaped the city’s curfew whilst evading the guards. The walls of Daigoro were old, and as such many bricks were displaced, making it easy to descend them. So, we waited for a gap in the patrols, and easily snuck down and away from Daigoro’s walls.

It wasn’t long before we came upon a rushing river, it was only a few meters wide though. Tsuhara said that her spot was further upstream, so we followed the river for some time. We soon came to a small hill by the side of the river, the hill had a cave in the side of it. It wasn’t really a cave per say, I could see the entirety of the inside from the dull moonlight alone, so it wasn’t big at all. Inside the cave I could see the shimmer of water against some sort of blackened surface within a cut out in the floor.

“Well, this is the place.”

“This?”

Alisson tilted his head.

“Yes, I made it myself. The brewery down the street was getting rid of an old barrel, so I nabbed it for myself. I cut it in half, and dragged the metal sheet outline all the way out here. Underneath the water there is that sheet, so I light a fire underneath the sheet, and it gets hot and heats the water!”

I tilted my head to the outter wall of the cave, spotting some sort of funnel that jutted from the ground. I know what that is. That’s an air way for a fire, it’s a way to create a relatively smokeless fire, that draft of air from the funnel give the fire a near complete combustion, resulting in little to no smoke. Smartass Kitsune. Only with stuff like this are they intuitive…

Alisson took a moment to look at the rudimentary hot-springs, and then looked at me.

“You can both go first. I’ll wash the clothes in the meantime.”

“-Hoping to dig through our panties, are you? You’re a sleezy dog sou!”

Before I can even reply, Tsuhara sneers at Alisson with a devious grin. Alisson frowned.

“If you want then I won’t-”

“Oh it’s fine. You know, it sounds nice to have a cute boy wash my clothes for me.”

Tsuhara says, stuffing the laundry supplies into Alisson’s hands. I look to Alisson.

“It’s fine if you, if you clean mine too…”

I’m barely able to say. Alisson nodded, he then turned suddenly away toward the river. I was confused why he looked away like that so abruptly, but when I turned my head to Tsuhara, I knew why. She was already unbuttoning her clothes, and before I even blinked, she had stripped her clothes into a neat folded square, which she placed directly atop Alisson’s head. She then skipped to the cave, humming. I could only stare with my eyes wide; I was too bewildered by both her brazenness and speed to actually pay attention to, her…other parts.

Alisson stood still like a statue, Tsuhara’s clothes not budging an inch from on his head, it was laughable, but at the same time a testament to his balance. I suddenly realize that I’m now next to act, and the wave of sudden embarrassment that ebbed over me was almost overwhelming; realizing that I now need to…

Mmph! I’m not some little girl-! There’s nothing to be worried about. Alisson is an angel; he’d sooner gouge his eyes out than careen his head at me right now. I need to keep in mind his loyalty…Thinking like that, my embarrassment of Alisson evaporates, and now my mind is worried about Tsuhara…I can’t let her see me…That’d be…That’d be…

My mind quickly fries.

I shake my head and decide just to ask her outright. I walk into the cave, where I see Tsuhara lighting a fire with some sort of rod under the spring.

“Um…Promise you won’t look?”

I ask, my hands up by my neck protectively. Tsuhara looked up at me, and rolled her eyes.

“Sheesh. Whatever you say. We’re both girls sou.”

She looked down to the ground, focusing on stoking the fire that was under the spring and out of view, evidently uninterested with me. I exhale in relief.

After I’d undressed, I walked meekly to Alisson, who still had his back turned with Tsuhara’s clothes on his head. I look side to side, as if expecting to see someone spying me. I didn’t know what else to do, so I just put my clothes on Alisson’s head too.

“Um…You can go now…Alisson.”

I say. I was expecting him to nark on me for using his real name, but, he silently walked away down the river, still standing straight like a stick with me and Tsuhara’s clothes not even budging on his head. Well, he’s probably overwhelmed. I can only imagine how his facial expression is like right about now. It’d either be very dark and uncomfortable, or in a heated blush. I retreat back into the cave, which really was only a couple steps thanks to the size of it, and see Tsuhara, already in the water, her eyes closed. Her six tails took up half the spring alone, the fur flowing throughout the water serenely. Tsuhara had a frown.

“Hurry up and get in. I don’t like keeping my eyes closed for so long.”

The area of the homemade spring was modest, it was about the size of a king-sized bed. I step to the edge of the water, my bare feet creating audible footsteps on the cold stone underneath. I kneel, and set the knives that Alisson gave me down on the floor next to the spring. I timidly reached out a foot into the water, cringing in anticipation for some sort of extreme temperature. Surprisingly, the water was actually lukewarm.

I heard Tsuhara sigh.

“I just lit the fire, it’ll get warmer soon, so get in while it’s not boiling.”

I take her advice, and quickly envelope the rest of my body in the spring. It was deep enough for me to sit cross-legged and still have just my neck out of the water. To my own surprise, I fought to make sure that even my shoulders were under the water…I didn’t know I was that embarrassed.

Tsuhara’s eyes opened, and she yawned, her body stretching outward. She lay her hands on the rim of the spring, smirking at me. I can see her cleavage…She’s as tall as I am, but hers are bigger…

I almost instinctively look down at my own chest; though I’m barely able to see through the dark water. Ah. They’re…I’ve gotten bigger…

“So? What do you think of him?” Tsuhara asks.

“P-pardon?”

“Isn’t Alavier your mate?”

“E-excuse me!?”

I blurt, looking down into the water embarrassingly, my shoulders scrunching up protectively by my sides.

“Oh sorry sou. It’s just that, from the way you two acted, you looked an awful lot like…”

“N-no! It’s nothing like that!”

“Oh? Brother and sister?”

I shake my head no. Me, being a sister? I never had any siblings…wait…I, I need to think about this…Mm. I’ll save this for later, yeah…

“He’s my…He’s my master. I’m an apprentice…”

I murmur meekly. Tsuhara, despite my weak tone, almost falls forward with a yelp, clearly not expecting my reply. She leans toward me on her hands, staring at me with a look of disbelief.

…Please keep them below the water…

“Y-you’re kidding! He’s a master? If anything,” She leans back with an exhale, “I thought you were the master.”

I give her an incredulous look.

“Why do you say that?”

Tsuhara shrugged in response.

“He’s just so…how do I put it…”

“Shy?”

I put in. Tsuhara lifts a finger toward the cave’s ceiling.

“Something like that. But you’d know more right?” She smirked at me. “Aren’t you chasing his tail?”

I frown and look away uncomfortably. Tsuhara snickered in response.

“I see, I see. You have to be more confident; that kind of guy? -He’s the type that would never make a move.”

I think I’ve found that out plenty of times before. Tsuhara looks at me, apparently unsatisfied with my reaction, and smiles into the cave ceiling.

“All I’m saying is, you’d better act quickly, else someone will come and snatch him away from you. I mean, to me, I think I’d like to play with him…on my bed.”

She says that last part darkly with a lick of her lips. I’m pretty sure that last part is a joke but…what she says about Alisson being swooped away…we, we definitely have something but, I…I don’t know how to put it into words. I, I feel like Alisson would never…with another girl…? My mind quickly tangles, unused to thinking of the subject.

We sit in silence for a while, the water gradually heating and becoming more comfortable. The air here is brisk, daresay chilly now that I’m submerged in water. I notice that Tsuhara had closed her eyes, as if taking a nap. I take the opportunity to wet and wash my hair. While my head is under the water, my eyes can’t help but peer toward Tsuhara- Seriously! What’s up with me!?

“So, who really are you two? If you can tell me your real names that is…”

Tsuhara asks, one eye of hers flicking open at me. I swallow for a moment. It’s not an issue if I tell her, since she’s a comrade and all, and there’s no one around…but I still feel a bit reluctant, about what she said she wanted to do with Alisson…even if it was a joke, I still feel protective about even his name.

“Alavier, his real name is Alisson Vi Nuam.”

Tsuhara sounds to audibly choke, and she sits up, wide eyed at me again.

“No way! The Alisson Vi Nuam?” She asks guilelessly.

I nod in response, and she rolls her eyes, as if saying that the day couldn’t get any crazier.

“And, I’m Celistine Regadonia…You can just call me Celis.”

I add, and Tsuhara nods; evidently, she’s never heard of me or my family name…Compared to Alisson, I’m…I shouldn’t be at his side for how weak I am...

-But, that’s all the more reason to get stronger-! I clench my fist under the water.

The water is now a nice, melty temperature, it’s something I could definitely sleep in. My skin heats, and my eyes grow droopy as the steam starts to rise. After a while, Tsuhara extinguished the flame under the spring, leaving embers to retain the current, perfect temperature. Kitsune, the things they’re skilled at are definitely things that I can get used to.

“P-pardon me…I’m done with the…laundry…”

I hear Alisson’s voice from outside; though I can’t see him. I can tell he doesn’t even want to be in our line of sight. He sounds like our servant, when really, it should be the other way around due to his superior status. Tsuhara cuffs a hand over her mouth theatrically.

“Yes, we’re just about done, come in, please.”

She gives me a devious wink. I careen my head, and see Alisson step cautiously in front of the cave, not looking at us. I can’t see him too well due to the pitch-black night, but I’m sure that he probably has his eyes shut tight.

“I’ll, I’ll let you get out…”

Alisson started to mutter, but he was cut off by Tsuhara.

“No, come right in, there’s plenty of room.”

I could almost sense Alisson’s heart flare that moment, whether in surprise or discomfort.

Tsuhara, she really has no shame or fear does she? I mean, bathing with Alisson? Pfft. No way, he’d never agree. Despite my mind’s dismissal of the Kitsune’s quip…

My chest tightens, and I feel like I’m beginning to sweat, even though that I’m in a hot spring. I breathe faster at the thought of Alisson being in the same bath as me; as if it wasn’t already, my body burned with heat.

“B-b-but-! That’s, I’m a-”

“A boy right? Yes, you don’t sound like a man to me yet. Come on, we’re all comrades, it’s pitch black, don’t worry; we can’t see anything sou.”

Tsuhara says like she’s whining to Alisson. She soundlessly shifts closer to me in the water and gives me a nudge and a wink, urging me to support her heckling.

Wait a second. If I asked, and Tsuhara too was asking…I know Alisson, he wouldn’t be able to deny two comrades asking something of him. If, if I want, I, I could make Alisson join me, right here and…now…

I, I’m not ready for this! I haven’t m-mentally prepared myself! Despite my mind’s terror at my own decision-making power in the situation, a lewd smile crosses my face, perhaps driven on by my body’s mounting heat. I swallow heavily, and my face reddens.

“It’s fine, Alisson, come in.”

I feel dirty to support something against my master’s will.

At that moment, I could visibly see Alisson’s body freeze like a statue. He stands still for a long while. I know Alisson. His brain just got fried.

…

Alisson was walking through the now black night, having hung up the clothing to dry where Tsuhara had instructed. He was now only wearing his cloak, nothing underneath. He held Enhérejär, or rather, it clung to his hip on its own. He felt exposed, but the black of the night, the rushing water of the nearby river, and the overabundance of owl hoos and crickets made the night quite lively, and seemed to shield him like a blanket of normalcy; distracting his mind from what was really at hand. The liveliness of the night, it was a good sign, it meant that nothing was in the area to scare the wildlife.

He was anxious, to be walking toward his own bathing apprentice. Alisson had feared that perhaps Tsuhara would pull some mischievous things on his apprentice, but, he kept in mind her timid and stoic nature; She wouldn’t allow such things to happen, and that soothed him, his worries all but evaporated. He soon came upon the cave where Tsuhara had made her makeshift bath, steam flowed from entrance, and Alisson was wary not to catch a glimpse of anything he shouldn’t see. He was wary to not only protect himself, but also the purity of his apprentice, and perhaps even that Kitsune. He stood beside the cave, not in the view of the entrance.

“P-pardon me…I’m done with the…laundry…”

He called meekly. Of course he couldn’t be confident. He was stripped, in the middle of the night, talking to his perhaps exposed apprentice and the mischievous Tsuhara whilst they were bathing; It was the epitome of something Alisson couldn’t stand.

“Yes, we’re just about done, come in, please.” He heard the Kitsune call from within.

Alisson sighed in relief. He wouldn’t have to awkwardly wait to clean himself. He walked in front of the cave, and relied on his ear to see the two in the spring. From what it sounded like, the two of them were still in the bath, as he couldn’t hear their bare feet on the stone.

“I’ll, I’ll let you get out…”

Alisson was about to move out of the way, to let the two retrieve their clothes, however…

“No, come right in, there’s plenty of room.”

Tsuhara’s words shocked Alisson for a moment. His brain almost died right then and there, were it not for the fact that he realized that it was the Kitsune who he was talking to, she was obviously not serious, that or she was just attempting to cope a reaction out of him. Nevertheless, Alisson still replied in a flustered manner, despite his mind’s calm at Tsuhara’s words.

“B-b-but-! That’s, I’m a-”

He could barely get out any words when Tsuhara spoke once more.

“A boy right? Yes, you don’t sound like a man to me yet. Come on, we’re all comrades, it’s pitch black, don’t worry, we can’t see anything.”

Alisson stood still, a little insulted by Tsuhara’s words. But what she said wasn’t untrue, it was black out, he couldn’t see them and they wouldn’t see him. From her insistence, it sounded like Tsuhara was genuinely asking for him to join them.

He swallowed hard, steeling his will to reject the Kitsune’s offer when…

“It’s fine, Alisson, come in.”

At that very moment, Alisson couldn’t for the life of him comprehend anything.

His apprentice had just, she had just…

-His train of thought stood still, and he wasn’t able to even think about what was happening. Alisson simply lay unmoving, in the black of night, his eyes spinning in twirls of confusion and it felt as if a cloud of steam were expelling itself from the top of his head.

Perhaps it was the chilliness of the night, or maybe his own mind resetting itself, but it suddenly dawned on Alisson; The spring looked inviting, with its warmth, its isolation from the outside, the heat and steam was flowing out and washing over him. It wasn’t only the comfortability of the water that he realized existed, he saw Celis in his head, and had the sudden desire to hug her, for whatever reason. The urge came from the same place in Alisson that all other similar feelings came from, an empty gut that was seemingly about to collapse upon itself from pressure.

Driven on by the ticking time, the stares of Celis and Tsuhara feeling as though they were piercing his cloak, and the warmth of the steam washing over him, Alisson took a step into the cave without thinking. Then another, and another, and soon his body was acting without his mind’s input, which was superfluous to say; because at that moment his mind was frozen.

…

Hehe. Haha. I was right, Alisson is walking straight toward us, his eyes still closed. He looks awfully wobbly and unstable in his steps. He seems to be walking more as a machine than a conscious creature; with no soul or input.

It was then that I realized what I’d just done. Alisson was about to share the same bath as I.

Every muscle in my body suddenly tensed in nervousness, my once slow and empty mind was filled with dozens of rushing thoughts and doubts.

How will he react? Will he be mad at me? Why isn’t he looking at me – am I not good enough? Am I too impure for him?

– Alisson to me seems like holiness itself, like a being of infinite good, and yet I, I just went and defiled him…On that thought, my brain and stomach ache with guilt, but my body seems to heat even more…I think I feel itchy…Why’s that…?

“Please…don’t look…”

Alisson weakly mumbles, reaching the edge of the spring. It dawns on me that he’s right next to me, and that I should really move out of the way to make room. I give a rushed glance at Tsuhara, and then shuffle over to her side of the spring, her tails now mere inches away from my body. As much as I don’t like being in arms reach of someone so, lecherous, I’d rather not be so, so close to a guy…even if it is Alisson.

When my mind doubles back on my own reasoning as usual, I notice something. For the longest time, I haven’t thought of Alisson as a guy. He’s just been Alisson. I, I feel like it’s disrespectful to lump him in with the rest I guess…

“Ur…” Alisson made some sort of uncomfortable hum, “Can you…look away please?”

The thought just hit me…The only article of clothing Alisson is wearing is that cloak…he’s…

A sudden blush overtakes me, and I desperately look away, like trying to convince myself that Alisson isn’t mere meters away.

“Oh brother…He’s hopeless isn’t he?” Tsuhara said with a sigh, rolling her eyes.

I give her a frown and promptly turn around in the spring, to face the dead-end of the cave. I narrow my eyes at her to do the same. Tsuhara looks at me, and then Alisson, and then shrugs, following in my stead. Alisson didn’t tarry, I heard him enter quickly.

Now that the thing that my mind has been freaking out over has happened, Alisson being in the same bath as me, it really isn’t as world-shattering as I made it out to be. I turn back around to see Alisson, or at least, his hair and eyes; The water goes all the way up to his nose because of how much he’s trying to hide from me and Tsuhara. I notice at his side, leaning against the rim of the spring in the water, was his rapier, as if taking a bath just like us.

I wonder how he’d act if it were just me…I hope he’d be less nervous, and at least look at me…

“Mm…Your making me feel uncomfortable with your eyes always closed like that, Ala-…Alisson.”

Tsuhara says, although she’s much more serious in tone than previous times. Tsuhara voiced exactly what I was thinking, it, it doesn’t feel right that I’m able to see Alisson but he doesn’t want to see me. So much for him being a sadist, if he’s just taking our stares like this, doesn’t that make him a…

I halt my train of thought before I get too derailed.

Alisson was shuffling and bobbing uncomfortably in the water back and forth, he was evidently pondering Tsuhara’s words. His mind was so fried that the only way he can think would be to fidget like some sort of kid in a classroom.

I soon realize, after almost a full minute in silence of watching Alisson uncomfortably shift side to side, that, he’s probably waiting or being hindered by none other than me. Alisson hasn’t heard my opinion, so like a scared dog he’s wondering if I’d let him open his eyes or not. Or at least, that’s my conclusion, from knowing Alisson. I hurry to give my input, a thing I rarely deem necessary to do.

“O…Open your eyes Alisson.”

I debated saying ‘It’s fine’ again, but I decided to be more pushy, because I actually do want him to look at me – N-not like that-!

Alisson’s shifting stops, and he stays still for a moment. I see through the dull light, Alisson cracks open an eye suspiciously. He looks at me first, then at Tsuhara. Blinking quickly, he opens both his eyes.

“Look there Celi-sou, your master is so perverted that he’s trying to look at our breasts from under the water.”

Before Alisson can say or do anything, Tsuhara threw a quip at him.

…I followed his eyes…he wasn’t looking there at all…Regardless, Alisson seems to take Tsuhara’s words to heart, and pops his head out of the water all the way to his neck, like us. I can see that his eyes are wide and scared. His face is red like a peony.

I give a bitter frown at Tsuhara. She really has to cut the crap, Alisson’s not the sort of person who need’s this treatment.

“So, tell me, what makes you so nervous sou? You’re Alisson Vi Nuam are you not? You’ve defeated enemies that I’d break down into tears standing before, and yet you look like you’re going to cry for yourself right now.”

I can understand that Tsuhara is acting to toughen up Alisson but, she moves way to fast. Alisson and I, we’re both far too slow to warm up to people to be susceptible to such things. Nevertheless, I strain my ears to listen to whatever sort of response Alisson will give. I’ve wondered about his shyness. Guys aren’t supposed to be this shy. I have no idea why his nature is like that, my only lead is that his sister was…well, whatever she did, it might’ve had an impact on him.

Alisson’s eyes dart side to side, and his head bobs with his vision uncomfortably. He looks a lot like a girl when he fidgets like that. It’s a shame I can’t get a good look at his body shape to see how much muscle he has, I’m actually quite curious.

“I, I think it’s disrespectful to the two of you, and, I just don’t like it.”

He shakes his head at the end.

“The last thing I think about is respect. Surely you’re feigning.”

Alisson averted his eyes uneasily, and didn’t respond. A long period of silence dragged out, the awkwardness spoiled the enjoyment of the hot water.

“What’s this about, what’s it called, that Opensen you Nekomata have, how come I can’t see those cute ears and tails you have?”

Tsuhara broke the silence with an innocent question. Alisson closed his eyes for a moment.

“It used to be that all Nekomata had the manifestations permanently, though that was in a time far prior to our own.” He swallowed. “We’ve been losing our, ears and tails as you call them, through the generations.”

“That’s not what I mean, like, how does it work in the first place? My tails are firmly on my butt a hundred percent of the time - I know they’re apart of me.”

Technically, her tails were on her tailbone on her hip, above her butt. Alisson shook his head in response.

“Don’t ask me. It’s not something I think about. If Sidonia doesn’t worry, then I don’t either.”

“Well…” Tsuhara brought a finger to her lip. “I’ve heard some rumors about your tails, they have some sort of power, Bacilla, I heard.”

Alisson brought a suspicious eye on Tsuhara.

“It’s not a power, it is a part of the tails…It’s like another body part…It’s hard to explain. But, only a small fraction of Nekomata with their Opensen’s unlocked can use their Bacilla.”

“What about you?” Tsuhara asked. Alisson shook his head in response.

“I can’t use them. Not much is known about Bacilla, the Nekomata that do use Bacilla can scarcely control when they come out or what it does.”

Tsuhara hummed, intrigued.

“You Nekomata sound more beastlike than other species.”

“Humans are the beasts.”

Alisson growled, and closed his eyes with a frown. Tsuhara smirked at him. She lifted a finger at Enhérejär, which was laying partly within the water beside Alisson.

“What about that then, that blade’s gotta be filthy from killing beasts sou.”

Alisson gave a glance at Enhérejär, and then looked at Tsuhara.

“Enhérejär is probably the cleanest weapon in the world, please don’t call it filthy.”

“Oh? So that is Enhérejär, I’ve heard of it, what’s its gimmick?”

Tsuhara asked, clearly not fond of Legendary weapons. Alisson glared at Tsuhara.

“Enhérejär was found the same all other weapons of its class were, it was excavated from deep from underground. It was notable that, no smith crafted it, as usually they dig up artifacts of intrigue and implement them into preexisting blades; Take a rock that emits a limitless supply of fire, or liquid that always remains at a freezing temperature, yet does not freeze. It’s things like that that make up Legendary weapons’ ‘gimmicks’. However, Enhérejär is as it was when it was found, there’s been no tinkering to it.”

Alisson says, closing his eyes for a second.

“It can alter itself like no other blade, I have a theory that many of Enhérejär’s powers are actually self-made.”

“What do you mean ‘self-made’?” I ask, breaking into the conversation.

“I mean that I think Enhérejär has gained or adapted most all its abilities, like its affinity for magic absorption and redirection, I feel that it didn’t have those powers when it was made or came into being. The truth is that artifacts that make up Legendary weapons are just about the most mysterious things in the world, they defy everything we know.”

I suddenly hear a loud click, and I look around to find the source of the noise, but I can’t. I realize that Enhérejär was no longer present next to Alisson, rather its pommel, that had been resting above the water, had shifted down into the spring, as if hiding from us. Though I could still see its feint bright white color from under the water.

Another few minutes passed in silence, when suddenly Tsuhara rose out of the water, in a stretch; standing. Her, parts, were all above the water.

“Sou~ I think it’s time we get out, right Celi-sou?”

She looked at me, but I was too focused on observing Alisson’s reaction. Unlike how he was when he first entered, he was simply frowning with his eyes averted into the water. It was almost out of place in a sense, how flustered he normally is compared to now. I guess I have Tsuhara’s brazenness to thank for that, it looks like Alisson at the very least can get over himself. Though, he is still sitting very defensively, his head low in the water and his body clearly quite compressed and scrunched.

“Yes, I think so too…”

I say, but I don’t stand out of the water, rather I sit, and watch Tsuhara hop out, walking to the end of the cave. With only me and Alisson in the water, I place my gaze directly on him. He looks to me, seeming quite conflicted.

“I’m sorry I was so…needy. And, I’m sorry for putting you in such an embarrassing position. I hope I haven’t caused you any distress…”

He looks down with his words, guiltily. I feel a certain pang of disgust at myself, he’s apologizing for something that was the result of me…Alisson is such a pushover. I open my mouth, about to make a stand and correct Alisson, but he’s faster. Alisson looks up sternly at me, with some degree of renewed vigor in his gaze.

“But, thank you. For…for…”

Alisson trails off, and his gaze returns back to the waters below, his eyes closed; he evidently didn’t know what to say.

“Alisson.” I stand up, and walk to Alisson through the water. “It’s nothing, really.”

He doesn’t look up at me for obvious reasons, but, I see his crestfallen countenance break into a slight smile. I kneel next to him, sinking back into the water to my neck. My eyes were locked on Alisson’s face, and I suddenly realized that I had reached out a lingering hand above his head. I sat there in silence for a second, staring at my impulse in the form of my hovering hand.

…I quietly sigh with a small smile, and bring my hand down, firmly atop Alisson’s soft hair. I see him visibly jump; I can feel his head bob further up into my hand for a second. He opened his eyes and looked at me. He was, smiling, hopefully even. His smile, was not like one’s I’ve seen previously. He usually closes his eyes when he smiles at me, and when he doesn’t close his eyes his smile is but a smirk. Now however, he looks up at me, his eyes wide and his smile innocent, and child-like, it reminds me of how I’d smile at him.

After a moment of having my hand on his head, not rubbing him or anything, he looks down and away, still smiling.

“Now, would you so kindly allow me to enjoy a bath?”

He says half-jokingly, I nod happily, even though he wasn’t looking. I lift my hand off his head, and rise back out of the water. I exit the spring. Wary of the outside, I eye Alisson’s cloak on the cave floor, feeling the wind on myself.

I quietly borrow it. Just for a little while. Surprisingly, it isn’t as big as I thought it would be on me. Clicking Alisson’s cloak around my neck, I hurry out of the cave to catch up with Tsuhara, and retrieve our now washed clothes, courtesy of Alisson.

…

It was a little past midnight when the three of them returned to Daigoro. Alisson wasn’t worried about sleep all too much, they had plenty in the preceding days in the Ipithid plain; Though thanks to Celis’s trick in the day prior, the extra sleep hadn’t been needed.

The three of them sat outside the walls of Daigoro. Alisson was happy to be in his gambeson again, that was for sure. They saw their gap in the patrol, and easily mounted the massive wall and were over it in a ridiculously short time for how tall the wall was. Alisson was glad to note that Celis did not fall behind him and Tsuhara. After that, they returned to the inn, and quietly sifted back into Tsuhara’s room.

As all of them were preparing for bed, he noticed Celis eyeing him intently.

“What’s the matter?”

He asked whilst loosening the collar of his gambeson.

“I’ll sleep on the floor, Alisson.”

He shook his head immediately. It was reassuring that Celis too thought of such small and insignificant things, though sometimes it was a bother to deal with. Realizing this, he once more felt bad about his own obsessive nature.

“No. I made the decision to stay with Tsuhara, so I’ll take responsibility.”

Celis fidgeted uncomfortably.

“Then…then I’ll sleep on the floor too then…”

Alisson smiled softly at her.

“There’s no winning with you is there?”

Her smug smile in return spoke for itself.

“Oh-! Sou this and Sou that! Shush and get to bed already!”

Tsuhara sounded, clearly agitated. The next moment, Tsuhara flicked off the flickering light, and the room was bathed solely in the blue of the night. When Alisson got to bed, he couldn’t exactly sleep right. The thought of Celis sleeping on the floor instead of himself was nagging at him, thinking about it was just as uncomfortable as it would be to be in her place, if not more so. He tightened his eyes as hard as he could, but Alisson couldn’t even get tired in the slightest. He was facing the wall of the room within the bed, unable to see the rest of the room. It must have been about half an hour when he heard something, it was the rustle of sheets.

Alisson was too caught up in trying to fall asleep, so he didn’t notice it at first. It was only when he felt two cool arms wrap around his chest that he realized what was happening. He stayed still as could be, feigning to be asleep, terrified of showing his consciousness. In all his effort to not move a muscle, he soon became drowsy, and without realizing it, fell asleep.

…

The waves of the Andestine Strait pounded against the hull of the ship. I could hear them clearly, even though I was in the captain’s quarters. Beside me around a table with a map atop it, were Arciel, Kana, and the sixteen members of the 153rd Platinum Knight Platoon.

Freudlin brought a knife down onto the map fiercely.

“Here. The brass estimates them to be near Tarakia, west of Evering’s State by their pace by the time we get there.”

Freudlin, with his helmet off, said hardily.

“Alisson Vi Nuam…So we’re really going in for the kill?”

Kana asked, her hand on her chin. Freudlin nodded.

“We won’t get a chance like this in two lifetimes. He’s isolated on the other side of the continent from Sidonia. He has no support, hell, a few our boys could take him right?”

The surrounding 153rd knights chuckled resolutely. They were veterans, the top dogs of the rank and file soldier, I could see their confidence brimming.

“But remember, we’ve also been tasked with finding out why the hell the Pixie is even up in the north in the first place, and interfere with whatever he’s trying to do.”

The 153rd all nodded sternly. Watching this, I’ve had my fist tightened the whole time. I knew I’d see him at some point or another. Alisson Vi Nuam. That bastard was the first person I’ve fought in this world. I was weak then, unskilled, but now, I’ve seen the world a lot more since then; He’s not something I can’t handle. Compared to Lady Crazcyon, he looks weak - that psycho girl was mowing down swaths of troops like it was nothing, and Alisson couldn’t even finish off Clarke and Arciel, or me and Epsilon when he fought us.

I can take him. I can beat him. With the Lackadaisical guy, I had the support of three summoners and Kana, I can’t take the credit all for myself. If I was alone in a room with that guy, I probably would’ve lost; I only was able to beat him because he was distracted, and he probably underestimated me.

“Hey. I’ve seen Alisson fight before, he uses spells as well a rapier. He’s really fast, bastard dodges everything.”

I put in, and the surrounding knights listen to my words intently.

“Mm. Watch out for his swordplay too, you might laugh at a rapier, but the way he uses it, you won’t be able to see the tip of the blade until it’s already impaled into your throat. Oh yeah, that reminds me, the Pixie is known for attacking the necks of his opponents, so keep your swords high. Command has prepared a strategy for taking him down, I implore all of you to brush up on it before we engage, because that will be the plan we’ll be using. His century long reign of terror will end with us. Am I right?”

“Sir, yes sir!”

The knights shout vigorously. Oh, I just realized, these men before me, they’ve probably lived with Alisson Vi Nuam’s existence their whole lives, same with that Lady Salchyon. The Sidonian warriors, thanks to their long lives, remain and accumulate a hell of lot more notoriety than any humans could ever hope to achieve. That also means a great deal if we can take out one of them too, every legend we kill, Sidonia’s power will plummet by an order of magnitude. The same goes with their rank and file troops as well; I’ve been thinking, and what Trissdean said at the end of the fight outside of Geraldi is making more sense to me, about the trade off of three-hundred soldiers for a mere sixteen.

With the briefing being concluded, the 153rd shuffle outside of captain’s quarters, leaving only me, Arciel and Kana.

We all sit in silence for a moment.

“Well, we can beat him, right?” Kana asked. Arciel was and had been staring at the floor pensively, it was unlike her usual self.

“Theoretically, yes. Just the three of us should be able to pose a strong opposition against Alisson Vi Nuam.” She swallowed. “With so many Platinum ranks too…it should be a cinch. But I still have this doubt in my head…I always get it when we’re up against Sidonians…they always have some ace up their sleeve, something we don’t see, it’s like we always fall into some kind of trap.”

Arciel says clutching her staff.

“I know what you mean.” I say. “We’re just going to have to cross our fingers that they don’t see our attack coming. If all goes as planned, we should be scaring the shit out of that idiot, and killing him before he has the chance to react.”

“I guess that’s all we can do…” Arciel looked out the window of the captain’s quarters, at the roaring blue waves of the sea. “…hope.”

***