Luckily, it was dark enough to hide her blush. Mila stood in the doorway for a moment, enjoying the brisk evening air washing over her burning skin. She hefted the few belongings she possessed and headed for the waiting group.

Only Isabel was still missing. The rest were in the middle of the courtyard, ready to head out. Silinth nodded on her arrival.

“Did you pick yourself a weapon?” He raised a valid question.

It was a blunder on her part. Mila had spent most of the evening reminiscing instead of looking towards the future.

At least the moment spent with Isabel had vanquished most of her melancholy.

“Not yet. And neither has Isabel.” Mila admitted and threw her friend under Silinth’s scrutiny as well.

“Then hurry,” Silinth waved her towards the armoury. “Isabel! He shouted. “Go pick up a sword for yourself!”

From somewhere inside the building came an answer. Mila did not wait for her friend. She was conscious of the red cheeks and needed time to cool down. Her little stunt had pushed the self-established boundaries by a lot.

Mila was aware it was happening a lot when Isabel was involved. Her impulses always got the better of her logic.

With a sigh, Mila entered the armoury. It had been a while since she had been here. A couple of candles illuminated the large room, casting ghastly shadows on the walls.

Already knowing the general layout, Mila quickly found what she needed. A couple of daggers, a set of throwing knives and a short sword. Anything more than this, and she would become encumbered.

Only once Mila was done did Isabel arrive. Her friend peeked inside the room and hid right after their gazes met.

While amusing, there was no time for this. Mila had calmed enough to keep her composure and calmly walked towards the doors. “Hey there.” She leaned out of the doorframe to see Isabel taking a deep breath.

“Ah,” Isabel jumped. “Yeah. I- Uh, need a sword and a shield.”

“I see.” She nodded and entered the hallway. “Do you perhaps need a helping hand?”

The high-strung girl shook her head, only to change her mind a moment later. “O-okay.” Isabel started to nod.

With the decision made, Mila waited for Isabel to enter the armoury and followed after. She watched her friend head for the rack of shortswords and fish one of them out.

Isabel hefted the sword and deemed it good enough. She strapped it to her side and walked towards the shield selection.

Through all this, Mila noticed Isabel kept peeking at her. There were several times her friend opened her mouth but never spoke. Isabel was clearly nervous. Her expressions kept visibly shifting.

Isabel picked a shield similar to her mana one. Mila approved of this choice. It was not wise to use an easily identifiable magical one when a simple wooden/leather one served just as well in most cases.

With the choice made, it was time to go, but before that, Isabel finally found the courage to speak. “Um, Mila-” She began only to stop.

Mila turned to face Isabel and waited patiently.

“You-” Isabel wavered. “Uh, w- what do you think of g- boys.” She audibly gulped. “I- I mean- we haven’t talked about it before. I was wondering if- if-”

So it wasn’t a confession - just an incredibly awkward way to ask about Mila’s sexuality. It was incredible how Isabel still had not been clued in by Mila’s flirtatious actions.

To be fair, Mila herself had not given it a lot of thought. For the longest time, all she could do was live through other people's experiences - including romance and relationships in general.

“Hmm,” Mila hummed. For a moment, she considered if she should tease Isabel, but after seeing her friend clench her fists and the pained expression on her face, Mila realised it was not the time. “Are you asking if I like boys?” She decided to clarify.

“Y- yes,” Isabel let out a dread-filled breath. She was shaking in fear. Shaking in worry about what Mila would reply.

“I like girls.” Mila easily replied. It wasn’t that she didn’t feel nervous and a bit apprehensive about this development. It was that Isabel needed a firm answer. Not knowing was clearly affecting her friend negatively.

“You do?” Isabel exclaimed far too loudly. She looked at Mila with wide eyes. Eyes full of disbelief and hope.

“I do.” Mila nodded. This development wasn’t quite to her liking.

“T-then-” Isabel hiccuped. “H-how ab- about-”

Mila suppressed a sigh. Wasn’t Isabel rushing too much? Had Mila been pushing her friend's buttons too hard? Well - yes, to the last question. She had been relentless.

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But Mila would have preferred a more romantic place for questions like these. This old, dusty room, filled with weapons of war, was not what she had imagined. The question was now, how to gently guide Isabel away from thoughts about confessing without pushing her away.

Mila didn’t consider herself particularly romantic, but they could do better than this.

Luckily, Silinth called out to them, startling both girls. Mila blinked and tilted her head. Isabel had deflated like a balloon.

That said, Mila could tell Isabel felt a bit of relief. She had been pushing herself. There was also a bit of disappointment and that emotion Mila shared with Isabel.

However, they had to move. Mila shooed Isabel out of the armoury. They walked out of the building and joined the group.

All of them were ready to head out. Only Kefo was standing without a weapon. Andrew had his two cool-looking scimitars, Tiff her shortsword, and Silinth had a bow and arrows on his back.

“You both ready?” Silinth hefted most of the rations. He was by far the strongest physically.

“We are.” Mila nodded. Her own bag wasn’t all that large, but she was also the weakest of the bunch.

“Finally! We have been waiting for hours. If we knew you both would be so slow, we could have gotten a bath.” Andrew nagged. His bag was currently fastened on the wolf’s back.

That- Was unfair. Mila eyed the beast. Perhaps if she asked-

“No,” Andrew hurried to shoot her hopes down. “Termi is going to carry our sleeping bags as well. So - no. He won’t be taking any of your stuff.”

“I wasn’t going to ask.” Isabel defended herself.

Mila looked at her friend and saw her avert her eyes away from the wolf.

“Let’s go. We will walk for a couple of hours before sleeping.” Silinth commanded. He gave Andrew a large package with the mentioned sleeping bags.

And just like that, they were once again trudging through the forest. They did not speak. The way ahead pressed heavily on their thoughts. Mila stepped over a fallen tree and tried not to think about the warm bed left behind.

The rustling of the leaves and creaking of the trees was the only noise around. Sometimes, a cry of an animal would try to spook them. It was dark as well.

The sky above was covered with a thick canopy, but even without it, the sky was overcast and offered no light.

They walked and walked. Mila was tired. She did not know if she could do this for several weeks. They would have to wait for her. Well, not only her if they continued at this pace.

Silinth walked behind them, doing something to cover their tracks. The lush foliage already did most of the work, but they did not want to risk it. So the man was erasing their steps and covering their tracks.

After what seemed like forever, they finally found a suitable spot for a camp. Silinth stopped them and ordered them to unpack.

Tiff yawned, and Mila joined her. It was hard to keep her eyes open. They did not bother to light a fire. Silinth used a mage light to give them enough light to prepare their sleeping bags.

At least Mila would not have to stand on the lookout first. That honour fell on Andrew and his animal bonds.

Isabel shifted her sleeping bag closer to Mila’s. Not too close, but enough to hear each other's breaths. Her friend took off her padded leather armour and sighed. “This is not fun.” She grumbled.

“Yeah,” Mila yawned again. She was too tired. At least she would not have to wake up tonight. Most of the guard duties would be covered by Silinth. She prepared for the sleep as well.

“And, um, goodnight, Mila,” Isabel whispered.

Andrew managed to insert himself before Mila could reply. “Goodnight, everyone, and don’t worry about me. I am going to just sit here in the cold.”

It wasn’t that cold. But without moving and fire, it felt like it. Mila crawled into her sleeping bag and turned towards Isabel, who was already inside hers. “Sleep well, Isabel.” She whispered.

“You too, Mila,” Isabel replied.

Mila could tell Isabel was trying to see her through the dark. She blinked, and the sleep overtook her. Her tired body finally forced her to rest.

—

“Of course, there is no rest for me.” Mila sighed. She was standing on top of the usual hillock.

This place was great to further increase her strength, but Mila wanted to just blank out and sleep.

Perhaps even dream of Isabel. Nothing too racy, but a bit of intimacy between them would not go amiss.

Especially since there would be no moments for her to relax and be alone during the trip. Not that Mila thought she was ever alone. But taking off stress here, where she could feel the presence, was different than being alone in her room.

That was not meant to be. Mila prepared herself for another night of continued training when she noticed something was different from the usual.

The presence was usually distant and clearly trying to keep away from her. Not so tonight.

Mila looked around and waited. When there was, nothing she spoke.

“What is it?”

She knew the being could communicate somewhat. That leaflet so long ago had been the first time, but there had been more.

All of these communication moments resulted in more training. The being was an endless well of knowledge when it came to the ways of moving the body.

Of course, every time Mila had tried to find out something more personal, she had ended up with a failure.

“Well?” She was getting impatient. Mila had been waiting for at least ten minutes already. She considered if she should return to her usual training routine when a simple page appeared before her.

Mila picked it up and studied the picture of the blue stone and a single word - ‘North’.

The presence grew noticeably weaker, and the dream faltered for a moment. Mila feared she would wake up, but a moment later, everything stabilised.

Still, this rock was familiar. It looked the same as the one Mila had found in that cursed locket that had robbed her consciousness upon arriving in this world.

Mila wondered what had happened to it. It had slipped her mind after she assumed Silinth took it for safekeeping. She needed to ask him about it.

Whatever the rock was, it seemed that Mila’s ever-present passenger wished to find it or one very similar to it.

And as it happened, they were heading north.