It was always easy to get lost in Liall. Not because of the size or the on occasion confusing street layout in certain parts of the city. It was just a place that demanded an individual to go out and explore which he often found himself doing.

Today he wandered through a mildly busy part of the city that was full of shops. He had earned a bit of money a couple of weeks ago that Juna shared with him and Lar and with a bit of free time, he had an opportunity to go and buy Della something nice and take it to her since he was planning on seeing her today.

But even with all of this time, he still was unsure of what to get. He had been trying to think of what to get her for a couple of weeks but it just wasn’t something he was all that familiar with. He decided it had to be something other than candy and something more permanent. So that made his search a little easier.

Although the wonderful smell of freshly made bread nearby made his mouth salivate and think maybe just to get her some of it as a gift. Maybe I should just buy her some bread and be done with it. Bread that smells this good couldn’t possibly be received poorly. He thought ultimately against such a simple thing as he walked into one particular shop on the corner of a street.

The inside was quite dark. The light that came in through the entryway and a couple of the windows remained its only source of illumination. Much of it was obscured due to the dark wooden shelves that occupied the space within. On every shelf, all kinds of random objects lay around just wishing someone might pick them up and take them out of here.

He went down one short aisle to see if anything looked worthy of being bought. He wanted to get something nice for Della and something she could truly appreciate.

“Looking for anything in particular?”

Kiran lifted his eyes over the shelf just barely being able to find an older gray-haired man around the counter. They looked like they were easily in their seventies or eighties. They had lived quite a long life. And still, they kept a nice demeanor as they walked around the counter. “I’m trying to find something for a lovely lady”

“There are plenty of things in here that she might like.”

The shop wasn’t just for one thing or a few specific things. It had everything ranging from jewelry to kids’ toys like dolls or wooden bits in the shape of soldiers, boats, and so on. They had ceremonial knives, swords, and even leather clothing. If Kiran were a betting man, he imagined this shopkeeper was a collector of sorts.

As neat as a lot of the things were, nothing stood out to him that Della might like. He picked up a knife that was covered in jewels and given an overly fancy handle. If Della liked knives, he could give her this but somehow he thought she wasn’t exactly into knives. He did think that Juna would appreciate a knife like this since she seemed to like using daggers as her choice of weapon. But he wasn’t in a shop like this to buy something for her specifically.

“Still struggling to find something I see.” He walked over towards him and used a cane to assist in his approach.

He lifted a finger to his chin finding this whole ordeal far more difficult than it had any right to be. “The truth is, I’m not sure what to get her. You’ve lived a long life. What would you suggest I get for someone I really care about?”

“Besides a ring?”

Kiran nodded his head.

“I might have just the thing. Come and I’ll show you.”

He walked down the aisle following him. He went around the counter and into a back room that wasn’t for perusers such as Kiran. When he returned, he carried a box and put it on the counter.

He opened the box revealing a necklace inside. “I gave this to my wife from a time before we married. She wore it up until the day she died.”

As far as necklaces went, it was quite nice. It was made out of what must’ve been silver. The chains were well made and not at all tarnished like he might expect them to be. The centerpiece was a nice three-dimensional star. The old man grabbed it and handed it to him so he could get a feel for it.

“You’re alright with selling something with so much sentimental value to me?”

“I’m alright with giving it to you for free.”

“Free? I will gladly—”

He held up his hands for a moment until putting them back down to close the box. “I’m not long for this world as you can see. This necklace deserves to be out and free rather than being stuck in some box for an eternity. I also believe my wife would’ve liked knowing that it ended up in a good place. Of course if you hate the thing, you don’t have to take it or give it to this lady of yours.”

“No, I’m quite grateful. I appreciate it.”

He smiled and appeared genuinely happy.

What a kind man. I’ll have to come back and buy something. Kiran waved at him as he left out the entrance. He stuffed the necklace carefully in one of his pockets and headed off.

Since he was trying to minimize any potential danger towards Della and her family, he avoided going to The Drunken Pony. He was still in danger of being hunted to some extent. So he made sure to avoid returning to places where he was known to hang around in. Unfortunately, that included the wonderful inn he still had fond memories of working at for a relatively brief period.

While he couldn’t go there, he could still see Della. Just not at the inn.

He ended up meeting with her later that afternoon when she was most likely to be available. She had mentioned wanting to get her own place but she hadn’t done so yet. Until she got her own place away from her family’s inn, they always met outside of a flower shop many blocks away from there.

As he waited outside, leaning his back against the wall, people walked by every now and then, and eventually he spotted Della’s red hair the instant it appeared down the street to his left.

She lifted up an arm waving her hand enthusiastically.

Whenever he saw her he just felt so happy. She had a way of bringing out the joy in him. He still didn’t feel like he was deserving of knowing or being with her. In some ways, he felt like the luckiest man alive.

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Her father had tossed him on his rear end from the get-go only for that whole ridiculous situation to turn positive. I’ll let anyone throw me to the ground if that’s what the result ends up being. Although he knew full well, that such a thing wasn’t likely to happen again.

Nor did he want it to.

“I was wondering if you were going to show up,” he said in a non-serious tone.

“Sorry,” she said. “The inn was quite busy this afternoon so I didn’t have much other choice than to be a little late. Thankfully it died down a little so they could allow me a chance to have the rest of the night off.”

“Well now that you’re here, I’m fairly certain that we’re required by law to have fun.”

“Required by law? Imagine if that were really the case.”

“It might not actually be a bad idea if you think about it.”

“I bet they’d mess it up somehow,” she said with a laugh. “I guess you didn’t bring Lar with you?”

“Did you want me to? I thought we’d be spending the rest of the day just by ourselves.”

“I might have to make a teensy tiny confession.”

Oh no, what could it possibly be?

“I might have a bit of a love for cats. I haven’t seen her in quite a while so you might just have to bring her with you one of these days.”

“I can already tell you that she would hate the mere thought of that.”

“Really?”

“Actually, I think she’d probably like coming to see you. You seem to know how to pet her in a way that she appears quite pleased with even if she wouldn’t ever admit it.”

Della raised a finger to her chin as she lowered her brows. “Well she’s for sure going to have to come with you one of these days soon.”

“You’re just dying to pet her, aren’t you?”

She eagerly nodded her head.

I do have to admit, Lar is quite adorable as a cat. And quite pleasant to run a hand through her white soft fur.

Those adorable looks and eyes came with a cost however. Behind that cute facade, was a devious and most intense personality that could break a weak person. Kiran was certainly capable of handling Lar at their worst, but could Della handle her?

Probably. I don’t think even Lar could break her. Della would kill Lar’s antics with overwhelming kindness. Perhaps for Lar’s sake, she should be kept away from Della lest she actually turn into a kinder person.

Since he had a bit more money in his pocket, he took her to a place that served smoked meats and cost a bit more than a lot of the nearby competition. While it might be argued, that the cost was far too much for what they got, he couldn’t say that the food was bad. He left the place with a happily filled belly and Della appeared pleased to have gotten to try it.

“Where’d you get all of this money?”

Kiran stuffed his coin purse into his pocket as they walked along the cobblestone street. “I did some work a couple of weeks ago. It paid pretty well surprisingly.”

“So this coalition of yours does pay you?”

“Well, this payment wasn’t associated with the occasional pay the coalition gives us.”

“You didn’t uh, steal it did you?”

“I most certainly didn’t steal anything. Although we did have some people try to steal from us during a job. Thankfully they ran away like a bunch of cowards.”

Her eyes looked a bit concerned. That made it quite clear to him at least that she didn’t like hearing him being put in danger. They stopped along the street for a moment with a few other people around. “Kiran.”

“Yes?”

“How much danger are you in by being with these people?”

“It’s hard to say. I haven’t been given any tasks that are truly life-threatening except for that one time so far.”

“But that may change.”

He nodded his head. “It’s likely to. They haven’t assigned me to any yet, but I’m sure it’s coming up.”

“I’ve heard plenty of stories the last few years of members being captured and heinous things being done to them. I’ve heard rumors of them doing heinous things themselves but I don’t know whether that’s true.”

It was easy to be cruel when one side was cruel. The history he knew of this world had shown that to be the case. As for whether the coalition conducted itself in ways that he might not approve of, he couldn’t rightfully say. He just knew they were willing to give him and Lar protection along with some benefits such as food, shelter, and more to be provided regularly to them.

Della had reason enough to be concerned for him. But honestly, he was more concerned for her safety, not his. If he died, well, he supposed that had happened already. What was dying yet again to him at this point? He just wondered whether he would reappear again if he did. He still didn’t know who had killed his past self although he often wondered who it might’ve been.

His attention focused back towards the now as Della led them down the street. The night was soon approaching. As a result, the aura-infused lighting throughout the city began to stir into action.

The light it cast carried itself all over except for the alleyways. Those were always dark and somewhat creepy admittedly at certain places.

Before they were to go their separate ways, he wanted to give her the gift he had received earlier before meeting with her. He pulled the necklace out of his pocket grasping it tightly with his hand. With her back turned, she didn’t yet know what he carried but she soon would.

While they walked together along a bridge, he gently tapped her shoulder. “Della, I have something for you.”

“Oh, what is—”

With a hand out towards her, the star necklace in his hand surprised her. She grabbed it and smiled. “You got this for me?”

“I did.”

“It’s beautiful. Here, let me try it on.”

He helped her get it around her neck. It managed to fit well on the first try. “You’ve been waiting this entire time to give this to me haven’t you?”

“Well,” he said with a grin, “maybe.”

She chuckled briefly and sat her hand down after touching the centerpiece of the necklace. “Thanks for this gift Kiran. I’ll be sure to cherish it.”

They said their goodbyes, hugged each other, and went their separate ways. He didn’t want to go any further since they were nearing the inn. Even during these happy and joyous moments, the dangers within Liall always loomed around him making him act in certain ways.

He was just happy to get to spend more time with her at all and to see her joy from receiving something nice that she could have to remind her of him. She treated him nicely. He had every reason to do the same towards her by offering up a gift that wasn’t announced prior.

Once more he found himself alone within the darkening city of Liall, a city which demanded him to go out and see what may lie beyond. He had time to kill before necessarily returning to the coalition. He knew not where he would go or end up, but thought to search the city just to see what he might find or discover.

What else can I find or do before the night is over? Perhaps I will find out. The city was large enough and full of places to go, that it would be easy to satisfy that part of him that enjoyed adventure. It certainly beat the period of time he explored the world outside of the city that was filled with many varying dangers.