{Rin}

A month had passed since the events at Alera.

Things had gotten oddly quiet. The Scorned hadn't popped up, likely thrown back into hiding due to the fighting at Alera, and Rin, along with the other students, trained and went on missions. Her power did not increase too dramatically, though. Neither did that of Rin's classmates. According to Eli, this was owed to their bodies having reached their first plateaus.

He had likened it to the process of filling up a bottle. The students had done so and, now, before they could add any further water to it, their training would see them trade their "bottles" for new ones, that they could then proceed to fill up the same way. This process was part of what separated experienced fighters from amateurs, and it was where Rin found herself now. Because of that, she enjoyed this peace. It allowed her to continue working on herself without having to worry about psychotic kidnapping murderers.

Unfortunately, though, things wouldn't stay quiet for too long.

It happened as Rin ran around the obstacle course behind the academy for what had to be the thousandth time.

"Don't give up just yet!" Rin told her fairy friend, smiling as she jogged without so much as breaking a sweat. She could have gone faster, but she wanted to keep Eve company.

"Easy... for... you... to... say!"

Rin giggled, waiting for her to catch up.

"Eve!" Eli yelled. "Move those tiny ass legs!"

Sara, who slowed down for no one, briefly glanced at the two of them as she passed by. She was going full speed as well. It nearly made Rin chuckle to see her completely expressionless face as she went about her exercise.

"Stop blocking the way!" Alea complained as she ran past Rin. The raven-haired girl felt like there was plenty of space, though.

Standing there, waiting for her friend, she saw the rest of her classmates, Lisa, Dylan, Carla, John, and Seth all pass without a word.

Eve, panting and struggling, stopped all of a sudden, and looked toward the building.

"Huh? Are you..."

As Rin saw what she was looking at, she stopped as well.

There was someone there whose presence would have made Rin wonder if she was seeing things had she not noticed her precisely because someone else saw her. Tall and strong, with hair like fire flowing down her back, skin that looked like it cost a teacher's monthly salary to maintain, and an expensive suit to match, Elisa stood there with a smile on her face that was a bit too shy to belong to her.

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It was Rin she was looking back at, of course. And as Rin saw her, the woman raised a hand and greeted her.

Rin quickly decided she was done exercising and Eli disregarded her as she walked off the course.

"Hey," Elisa said, "been a while, hasn't it?"

---

Soft, politely reserved sounds filled the restaurant Elisa ended up taking Rin to. Laughter, bickering, and bantering, all of it quiet enough to not annoy any of the other high-class customers found there. A man on the radio rambled on and on about unimportant things. The air, turned cold by way of some mechanisms Rin didn't understand, sent chills down her back.

Or, maybe it was Elisa's eyes, scanning her up and down, that did that.

If she'd received a proper warning, Rin may have been able to find some better clothes to wear. Due to the short notice though, a simple white shirt and black skirt with some boots she'd bought recently was the best she could do.

And yet, Elisa said:

"You're still as beautiful as ever."

Rin sighed.

"And you're still unavailable, right?"

Elisa nodded.

"Yeah."

"So, why did you come talk to me today? Or..." Rin looked away, blushing a little. "Did you not come to talk?"

"I did, I did," Elisa quickly confirmed. "I wouldn't drag you out of class just for something like that."

Half-relieved, half-disappointed, Rin remained silent and waited for Elisa to get to the point. Unfortunately, though, the noblewoman appeared reluctant to do that.

"Have you gone on any missions, lately?" She asked.

"A few..."

"Hmph."

Silence. It was a strange thing, this situation. There was so much Rin felt like saying and, at the same time, they had nothing to talk about, as everything that needed saying had been said already. Their eyes drifted a couple of times but seemed to bounce back up to each other, inevitably.

Suddenly, Maria's earlier words about not being able to simply be friends with Cara came back to Rin's mind. Her reasons were somewhat different, but, to an extent, she felt like she understood now.

"I wanted to talk about those crazy people who kidnapped you," Elisa finally said. "I think they paid me a visit yesterday."

"What?" The complicated feelings in her heart departed the instant she heard that. Elisa grew more serious as well.

"Some rich lady visited my aunt. She had some beastborn guards with her, too. Passed them off as servants but, no, they were guards. They talked about the railroad. Some stuff about the collapse that happened a few decades ago, then, they asked if I was the noble who'd been attending the academy."

[It's the opposite, then.] Rin thought. [It's not that they've been quiet. What happened at Alera must have made them speed up whatever plans they had.]

"... I said yes," Elisa continued. "And, then, they asked me about you."

Rin inhaled sharply.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing," Elisa shrugged. "They didn't like that. They tried to kill my aunt but, well... I guess they hadn't heard that I was actually good at fighting. I killed the two guards, and went to kill the lady too but, then, she stabbed herself and disappeared."

That last statement removed any and all doubt about who it might have been that visited Elisa. Rin felt cold.

"I've already told officials about this," Elisa added. "Just wanted to make sure you knew too. I don't know what they've got in mind, but-"

At that moment, the radio guy was cut off by a brief tune belonging to a news company. Both Elisa and Rin stopped.

"Breaking news," a woman said. No one else in the restaurant seemed to care too much. At least until they heard, "An accident has occurred on The Grand Railroad. we've just heard that the train was derailed on the way to Cradle. The cause of this accident has not been identified, but officials are making their way to the train now to assist any and all injured passengers. More on this later, as the story develops."

Elisa smiled. Rin shook her head.

"Huh," Elisa said. "That's unlucky."