The meeting in Antoris’s office proceeded with much less hostility and although we seemed familiar with each other, the formal introductions took place regardless.
"As you may remember Kazu, this is Xander, an S-rank and platinum benefactor of the guild.” Antoris spoke, and Xander waved from his seat quite casually.
“What’s up, Kazu. been awhile” he remarked sizing me up with a wolfish smirk.
“I suppose…” I said in response before looking away after our introduction. Reiner threw himself on the couch opposite of Xander with an irritated glare.
Antoris then gestured Astrid to introduce herself.
She stood with a refined elegance as she kept a hardened gaze of ice on me, but I didn’t miss the lingering hint of disdain at the edge of her lips.
"I am Astrid, the Sword queen and one of the top five benefactors of the guild. I’ll make myself clear, as long as everyone in this room listens to my-“
Reiner cut her off with a loud snort, "Tch. you wished, miss perfect. I’ll be following Kazu’s orders just like I always do," he growled from his seat as his darken glare glanced her way, but she didn’t take his comment so lightly.
“What?! The hound listening to orders is surprising enough, but you rather listen to him of all people. I have way more experience than him, the difference in our status is obvious.” Astrid insisted as she clearly thought highly of herself, which wasn’t a bad thing, but I was sure she just thought she would be leading the party.
“Heh, don’t kid yourself, miss perfect. Your rank compared to Kazu is irrelevant, but you already know that… pretty damn obvious with that intimidated look you’re trying to hide,” Reiner sneered from his spot once again calling it how it was.
Astrid did her best to contain her annoyance at Reiner's comment as she cleared her throat. “It’s called being cautious. Something you’re to dense to understand. And I am not intimidated… but Fine, if we're going to follow this Xiao, then so be it… as if I actually care,” she said as she stepped back with her arms crossed before giving me the same scowl that never reached my gaze. “If at any moment you make a poor decision, I won't hesitate to take your position in this expedition," She threatened and left me to merely hum.
“That would never happen,” I remarked in return with a clear dismissal.
Antoris let out a small chuckle as he pushed his glasses further up his nose. “It seems everyone is much better acquainted with each other. Now, I’d like to move on to discuss the final details of the Expedition.” He stated as he straightened himself in his seat.
Xander had quickly returned to his bored state on the couch facing an irritated Reiner and Astrid stepped back as she uncrossed her arms taking Antoris’s side.
I stood idle with a certain boredom in my movement as a concerned Lilith hid in my shadow, apparently still not too fond of Astrid’s presence.
Regardless, our silence prompted Antoris to continue.
"The expedition is a day away. The Clans you are accompanying will arrive at the guildhall that morning, where I will be introducing them and the individuals ordered to lead their clan, they are the S-Rank, and the others under them are A-ranked members of their clans. Although you five won’t be introduced as many already know who you are. That aside, I expect you five to complete this expedition without any issues, my Monarch is depending on your results, show him I chose the right benefactors for this expedition," Antoris stated as he glanced between us, "You’ll all be gone for a week and when you return Vectus will finally begin to put its plan into action."
I acknowledged what he said with a silence before speaking, not overly concerned with those plans, but they happened to benefit me regardless. "… we’ll do our job, its hardly worth getting excited over,” I said with an air of indifference.
Although, Antoris found humor in it as he smiled with a small chuckle, "Maybe not for you, Kazu. Well, I do suppose this concludes our meeting, if there are no questions,” he said but everyone seemed to understand our task.
"Tch, we got it old man,” Reiner sneered ready to leave any time as he glared from his seat on the couch.
“Good to hear, we’ll see you soon then. Thank you for stopping by Kazu,” Antoris said before my party began to head out of his office.
“Till next time,” I remarked on the way out with Reiner and Lilith who were quick to follow me.
Lilith seemed to get less tense every step we took away from the office and Reiner was in his usual sour mood.
It didn't take long to exit the guildhall. “Do you two want to go out to eat or grab something on the way back?” I asked idly as I glanced at them both as we walked the streets of Sura.
“Tch, doesn’t matter to me, what about you brat?” Reiner scoffed but noticed Lilith was currently dealing with a developing problem that was plastered on her face.
Although to me it looked like sulking, I took note of the fact that she hadn't said anything since we left Antoris's office, let alone her out burst earlier.
“… Lilith wants to go home,” she said quietly as I gazed upon her while she avoided eye contact, like she didn't want me to question her earlier display.
“That so, looks like we’re grabbing food on the way back then,” I remarked as we continued on with the main street through Sura. As we did, Lilith made no further attempts to communicate but it wasn’t like I had forgotten what had happened. “Lilith,” I mused causing her to slightly jump, but her attention remained on the ground. “Do you mind telling me, why you reacted that way toward Astrid back there,”
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Yet Lilith mumbled some unintelligible remark before she glanced at me as if to see my current state of mind.
After a few moments of silence, she spoke with some hesitation. "... Kazu, should know, and Lilith doesn’t want to talk about it,” she mumbled again with what sounded like a mixture of regret and some anger.
Reiner quickly cut in as he clicked his tongue. “Tch, can’t you just answer him like a normal person? you always say you like Kazu so why don't you ever tell him anything important? I swear you really are stupid at times, brat," Reiner scoffed before I simply waved him off.
“That’s enough Reiner, it’s fine. You don't have to answer if you don't want to, Lilith. So, there’s no point in sulking over it.” I remarked as If to reassure her.
Lilith quickly looked away from me and to the ground with a certain amount of guilt on her face.
All I could do was watch on as I dismissed the matter, it was a mistake to bother asking Lilith about it to begin with.
Regardless, with idle chatter from me and Reiner, we did stop by a market stall before we returned to our room at the inn.
Upon arrival, each of us sat in our usual spot on the couch as they finished up the last few bites of their dinner.
It wasn't long before Reiner slumped against the back of the couch with a tired groan. "Tch, I don't know about you two, but I'm ready to call it a day," he remarked as he stretched out his arms.
Lilith had already curled up on the couch in her usual spot next to me with her head rested against my shoulder as she had her moment.
"That sounds good, Reiner. We still have another day before the Expedition, so we’ll use that time to get some supplies," I said idly before looking down at Lilith who had just fallen asleep against my side.
"Heh, you bet. The sooner we get this over with the better,” he replied with a yawn and headed for his bed in the room.
I was left to carry Lilith to her bed, So I followed after him and set her down on her side of our shared bed. Even if I set Lilith on her side by morning, she would be taking up all the space on the bed and clinging onto me as she slept. It didn’t overly matter, I got used to it. Lilith was just being Lilith. Regardless I laid down on my side and got comfortable.
Our room was quiet aside from the sounds of Lilith’s snores.
“Oi, Kazu, you awake?” Reiner called from his bed as I glanced over my shoulder.
"Yeah, what is it?" I responded with a hum as I settled myself on my bed.
"I’ve been thinking, we’ve been partners for a while now, huh? What I mean to say is... out of everyone I’ve met in the world, you're probably the closest thing to a friend I have," Reiner remarked with a growl like he had the thought on his mind for a while now but couldn't find the right time to voice it.
It wasn't exactly something that needed to be said, but it wasn't something I was going to brush off either. “Is that right? That's good to hear. I can say the same of you as well. I’ve been back on the mainland for awhile now and both you and Lilith have stuck with me to this point. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't grateful for that," I said honestly with a familiar happiness stinging the depths of my core.
"Tch, yeah well…” Reiner murmured unable to find any words for his moment of openness as he stared up at the ceiling. "You look out for us, somebody’s gotta do the same for you… I guess I just wanted to say something in case you never knew.” He finally said before his voice trailed off to silence.
” Thank you, Reiner. I wouldn't trade the time I've spent with you and Lilith for anything in the world, you guys have been a great help in more ways than you know," I stated leaving us in a comfortable silence as the darkness of the room loomed over us.
I was beginning to experience an odd warmth within my chest, one that reminded me of Mythral as I continued to gaze at the ceiling in my room. I had the answer as to what it meant which caused a small smirk to appear on my face as I thought about it.
it wasn’t long before, the only thing on my mind faded and I began to slowly fall asleep.
***
At last, the day of the expedition arrived. I awoke the typical warmth clinging on me and the sound of snoring, as usual Lilith had taken up the entire bed as I only got the edge of the it to myself.
A small hum of annoyance crossed my mind before I rose from the bed causing her to stir momentarily as she snuggled deeper into the covers. Regardless the preparations for the expedition were complete, and we would be departing after we met up with the Clans at the guild hall.
I dressed myself in the everyday gear I had been wearing for years on guild requests. Of course, Reiner awoke shortly after me and that left me to wake up our sleeping beauty.
It took the usual amount of time to wake her, whether that consisted of me calling her name repeatedly or outright ripping the blankets off of her.
Lilith rose with a yawn as she sat up on the bed rubbing her eyes. "... Morning Kazu,” she said with an early smile.
"Morning. We’re leaving soon, go get washed up and dressed,” I remarked before she crawled out of bed and headed for the bathroom.
"Okay, Kazu," she chirped as the bathroom door closed behind her. Lilith didn’t stay upset about the other day for long and returned to normal as if it never happened. Although that was a good thing watching her sulk for hours on end was always tiresome.
I left her to as I finished readying myself in the living area of our room, where Reiner was ready and waiting with the only thing, he ever needed which was his overcoat.
It wasn’t long when Lilith returned in her baggy black shirt and boots as she bounced toward us. “Lilith just has one more thing she needs to do before we go," she said before jumping to the window.
I knew what she meant and didn’t bother commenting on it. Although Reiner growled as his boots hit the ground.
“Oi, brat. We don’t have all day,” he scoffed in annoyance, but Lilith still opened the window, where her two bird friends appeared from the shadows of the surrounding rooftops and hopped near the window.
They chirped at her in what sounded like a greeting.
“No? Yami and Yoru can’t come, Lilith and Kazu will be back, we have a big day today.” Lilith said like she was trying to convince them. “… It will be okay, Kazu will be there. See you when we get back,” she exclaimed, which to me and Reiner her conversation with the birds looked absolutely ridiculous.
After some more chirps between the two birds, they left with Lilith waving goodbye from the window.
"Tch. I can’t believe I just listened to that," Reiner grumbled under his breath as Lilith happily hopped next to me.
"Lilith is ready, Kazu!” She announced as she presented herself in front of me.
I couldn't help but find some amusement at Lilith and her two pets. "… Let's get going then." I remarked leading us out of our room and the inn.
The residents of Sura, were well aware members from Graced Clans were arriving today to make progress in one of the eternal Labyrinths, which caused many merchants to set their most prized merchandise out for display and many more funnelled toward the guildhall to catch a glimpse of their arrival.
Regardless, we followed the flow of people toward the guildhall as they lined up around the perimeter, while carriages approached from the main street of Sura.
“Tch. let’s get in there before these imbeciles get on my nerves,” Reiner sneered as he cut through the crowd, but he was right. These people were just spectators, the guildhall today was strictly open to those going on the expedition until the meeting was concluded.
We stepped through the doors into the lobby of the guildhall where the crowd of people completely disappeared.