Sye drew a runic symbol around Rin, as Eve and Maria gave them both some space.

"You weren't kidding," Sye told Maria as she continued to draw it out. "High-level curse indeed. You didn't tell me you were a mage last we spoke," Sye said, looking up at Rin.

"I'm not."

"Well, you've definitely got something magical going on. And," she whispered, just quietly enough for only Rin to hear her, "I'm not talking about those magic hands of yours~"

Or, rather, it had been Sye's intention to keep that between them. Unfortunately, one of the people in her office was a Rank S adventurer with senses that were far better than any average human, which meant that Maria heard that loud and clear if the sudden confusion on her face was anything to go by.

Once Sye finished drawing the rune out, she instructed Rin to sit down. Sye sat down in front of her, crossing her legs. Rin did the same and Sye began weaving a spellsign in the air.

"This will take a minute or two," she stated. "Try not to move too much. This should only feel a little bit uncomfortable."

"Okay."

As Sye drew the spellsign, she glanced over at Eve and Maria.

"The two of you can wait outside if you want. This is going to be pretty boring," she said with a polite smile.

Maria subtly looked over at Rin before she gave an answer. Rin soon realized why that was.

[Right. To her, everyone in this guild is probably still a suspect in what happened to me.]

"It's alright," Rin stated.

"Alright then."

Just like that, Maria walked out of Sye's office. Eve quietly flew away and followed her out the door. As soon as the two of them were gone, the mage's expression grew far more playful.

"As beautiful as she is powerful, that one," Sye commented. "You're spoiled at that academy."

Rin certainly was. She could agree with that. Especially when she took into consideration the fact that most of her distractions in the Meditation Center whenever she and Maria trained came as a result of her eyes wandering to the Rank S adventurer's hips.

"So, actually, how have you been?" Sye asked. "You, I mean. Not, Rin, the adventurer. I mean, Rin, the person."

"Uh... Rin, the person, is feeling a lot like she wants to drink people's blood. Which, I hope is gonna stop after this."

Sye giggled a little at that, which made Rin smile a bit.

"No worries on that end. By the way," Sye added, "how long will you be staying? Is it... you know, at all possible that we can have another night to ourselves?"

Rin shook her head.

"Unfortunately, ehm, no. After this, we're heading to the Adventurer's Guild. As soon as that's out of the way, though, we're heading back to Libera."

"Aw. Here I was, getting all excited."

Sye sent a mischievous smile Rin's way as her spell continued to work, and for a moment, Rin was contemplating trying to convince the others to stay for a day or two. Unfortunately, doing so carried too much potential danger for Xhez, so, Rin quickly struck that idea down in her mind.

[Actually, now that I think about it...]

"Hey, can I ask about something?"

"Of course," Sye replied quickly.

"Okay, uhm, this is gonna sound kind of weird, but, are there any high-level illusion spells around here?"

"Illusion spells? What for?"

"Anything that changes what you look like," Rin asked. She then followed that up with, "that, ehm, a guard wouldn't be able to see through, I mean."

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

The instant those words left Rin's mouth, Sye's brows shot up.

"Planning on going on a little robbing spree?"

"NO!" Rin all but shouted once she realized what she'd basically just said. "No, no, no, no no no, it's just... A friend of mine needs one." Sye waited for an explanation, so, Rin elaborated. "She... Um..."

[Come on, what do I say, what do I say?]

Things turned slightly awkward as Rin struggled to say anything for a few seconds. A little smirk came up on Sye's face as she waited to hear Rin's reasoning. The adventurer tried her hardest to come up with something convincing, and the first thing that came to her mind was:

"... It's hard to talk about," she muttered, "but, a friend of mine has been working as a prostitute for the past few months."

...

Silence. The look on Sye's face told Rin that this was probably the last thing she'd been expecting to hear. However, Rin took the fact that she at least appeared slightly interested as a cue to keep going.

"Obviously, that sort of thing can, uh, take you to shady places and all. But, on top of that, if she ever gets arrested or gets recognized outside of her work, things might not go too well for her. She's a mage, though. A good one, at that. So, I was hoping if there was a spell that could help her out."

For the first time in a while, Sye took her eyes off of Rin and looked away. She lowered her gaze and Rin could just about see the gears in her mind working to process this information.

After a short pause, Sye finally replied:

"... And, this friend of yours is a talented mage, but she needs to resort to sex work to make money?" Sye gave Rin a skeptical look, as her eyes connected with the adventurer's own again. "I have yet to hear of a place where talented spellweavers aren't in high demand."

"W-Well..."

"But," Sye cut her off. "If you really do treasure this friend enough to where you're willing to ask someone like me for assistance like this, then, sure. I'd be willing to help. How about you and I go see what Illusion spells we've got in stock? Of course, provided that you have the coin to pay for them."

Rin's eyes widened and Sye cracked a smile, happy to see her reaction.

---

{Elisa}

{A few minutes ago}

"Whoa..." Xhez let out a sound of awe as she and Elisa walked into the Eternal Library. It was amazement that Elisa could understand, as she could vividly remember the first time she'd stepped foot in this place.

[... It's really been a while,] Elisa thought. Not just referring to her time here, but really, her time in Cradle as a whole.

And yet, she'd be lying if she said she had missed this city.

"This place is so big!" Xhez stated, spreading her arms and nearly slamming them into some people who were also walking in. Elisa took her by the arm and gently pulled her closer.

"Xhez," she said quietly, "Uh, try not to draw so much attention to yourself."

"O-Oh, yes, you are right," Xhez nodded as Elisa let go of her. "But... Look!" She urged. "This is incredible!"

"It's something."

"There is so much... there are so many things!" Xhez exclaimed quietly, "Where should we start?"

"Uh... I dunno, what do you want to read about?"

"Well, now that we are here, I would like to learn a little more about this city," Xhez explained. "We will not be staying here for too long, after all. It would be nice to take as much information in as I could."

"Alright, let's head over to the history section then."

Immediately, Elisa came to understand why Rin sometimes carried a protective streak in her whenever she was with Xhez. The way the girl's eyes darted from one place to another, letting out "ooh" and "ahh' sounds every now and then, absolutely melted Elisa's heart.

The two of them walked past one giant bookshelf next to a ladder and found stairs moving down into a lower section of the library that wasn't visible from the front. The stairs moved in a spiral before ending up on a floor that was slightly less bright than the rest of the library, but no less golden.

"If I remember correctly, this is the history section," Elisa stated. "Don't worry about permission or whatever. The books are enchanted so that if anyone tries to take them out, they disintegrate and reappear back on whichever shelf they were on, so the librarians are pretty lax about letting people take whatever they want."

"I see!"

Xhez then went from one shelf to another, glancing over each of the books' titles until she found one that interested her. She read its name aloud.

"The Timeline of Ilyrum," Xhez muttered.

"What do you think?" Elisa asked, crossing her arms.

"Hm... I want to read it!"

"Alright, go ahead," Elisa told her. Then, she looked around a little, made sure the coast was clear, and added, "it doesn't seem like there's anyone else here, for now, so, I think you're going to be fine. I'm gonna go head up and take a little walk, okay?"

Xhez was already sitting down and opening up the book before Elisa had even finished her question.

"Sure," the sprite replied, and Elisa smiled a bit.

"Be right back," she said, before she walked up, back into the main floor.

Up here, Elisa began pacing around a little. She came up mostly because her mind was currently working to fight off memories of the city as they came in, and Elisa figured that, maybe, it would be better to just let them pass instead.

So, she exited the library, earning a few eyes that tracked her movement as she stepped out the large doors at the front. Outside, the streets were still buzzing with activity. Elisa let out a deep breath and sat down on the steps leading into the library, feeling the sun kiss her skin.

Drab, cold, and boring. That was how Elisa remembered Cradle, and it had certainly lived up to that memory in the short time that she'd been back. The amount of history that nestled itself into every single crack in the walls or speck of dust on old furniture could only be matched by the sheer lack of energy that Elisa felt when she moved through these streets.

[... Or,] she thought, [maybe things at Libera have been more exciting than this lately.]

She suspected this may be the case because, even though she didn't think too highly of this place, she'd also never thought much of Libera either. No, only now did time seem to fly back home.

[And, who do I have to thank for that?] She asked herself, smirking as she already knew the answer.