{-Myr-}

“So,” she said casually once her brother joined her, “what did you talk about?”

As expected, he absently mumbled “Nothing important.” before walking into the shop.

“Welcome to the Kehnore City Shop, dears!” Enreru greeted with a smile. “What can I do for you today?”

“Phanes ordered something and he asked us to get it for him,” Llewel explained.

She knelt down to rummage through whatever was underneath the counter. “You know, it’s been a long time since anyone’s ever come here mentioning his name. They designed his quest so that it would be completed after a certain number of players helped… I heard they didn’t expect it to take a month at most. I suppose the players just aren’t all that interested in helping him. Thank you for doing it, I’m sure it means a lot to him.”

It was clear from her tone that there was a lot more she wanted to talk to them about, though wouldn’t dare at this point; there were too many players and even some that had gone quiet after the twins entered. Myr couldn’t help but wonder if, somehow, they knew who they were… or at least what made them different from them.

Enreru came back up with a box in hand and gave it to Llewel. “This should be everything he asked for. You won’t have to worry about paying anything, since he ordered it in advance.” She waved. “Stay safe out there!”

“You have a good day, too,” Myr said with a small smile of her own.

It wasn’t something that lasted, though, once they’d actually stepped outside. “You know ‘nothing important’ isn’t a good excuse.”

“Alright, maybe that was a lie. It’s nothing you have to worry about.”

“The fact you’re not telling me is making me think that it is.”

He sighed. “I promise, it’s really nothing. Just a few stupid things I can’t stop thinking about.” He looked back at her and gestured for her to follow him. “If we’ve gotten our portion done this quickly, then Zetai and Reynneak should almost be done theirs, too. Let’s meet up with them so we can find that couple.”

For a moment, Myr wanted to say something in opposition; with nothing coming to mind, though, she simply nodded and followed him.

Of course, the silence meant she could listen closer to the conversations going on around them. The one or two mentions from before had, at some point, become a buzz that engulfed all the players in the city. She didn’t think there’d been as much talk about any event before—not even the anniversaries, which from the sounds of it were meant to be amazing.

“Zetai wanted me to tell you that you don’t have to be worried about it,” Llewel said casually. “Don’t ask me why she isn’t telling you that herself, though.”

“I’m not worried.”

“And that’s what I told her, too. But at least I can say that I relayed the message.”

They wandered back to find that Zetai and Reynneak were already handing a box of something to Phanes.

Zetai gave the twins a wave before turning to the priest and prompting, “Do you know specifically where the couple might be?”

Phanes nodded, opened up a map, and pointed to the spot. “They didn’t tell me exactly where they lived, but they said they were usually around here. They have a son, too—you may run into him before you’re able to find them. I’ve met him before, you should just be able to ask him to show you to his parents.”

Stolen novel; please report.

“Do we just need to tell them that you’re ready for them?” Reynneak asked.

“Yes. You’ll just need to walk with them back here and then we can get to work.”

…

They didn’t say much on their way to the coast—the most it was was pointing out places Kaerio had mentioned it better for them to avoid. When they got there, they started looking for the couple; Myr, though, kept an eye out for the child. Somehow she knew that might make the search a little easier.

She had, somewhat, strayed from the others in her search. While they went to talk with the other groups that had gathered on the beach, she stayed close to the water.

It wasn’t long before she saw a child playing with his toy. She went to sit beside him and only then did he acknowledge her.

“Oh, you look nice! Do you want to play with me?” he asked brightly. He held the toy up at eye level, mumbled some things to it, then presented it to her. “It wants to play with you, too! There’s not a lot of people who want to play with us…”

Myr managed a smile. “I’ve got boring stuff to do, so not today. What’s the name of you and your friend?”

His disappointment was gone the second she asked the question. “I’m Jun! And this is… well, it doesn’t really have a name. It changes depending on the game we’re playing. But even though it doesn’t have a name doesn’t mean it’s any less special! It’s my favorite.” He was still showing it to her. “Do you want to pet it? It won’t mind.”

She gently stroked the top of its head. The size and color almost reminded her of Mazel. “I was wondering if you might be able to help me and my friends find someone. A priest named Phanes asked us to come look for a young couple. Do you know him?”

“I don’t, but Mama and Papa know someone named Phanes!” Jun exclaimed. He held his toy close to him with one hand and grabbed hers with the other. “Come on, I’ll show you to them!”

As he guided her away, she was able to catch Llewel’s attention; he talked with the other two so that they could all be following Jun.

“This is where they are!” he announced. Turning back to see three new people, he asked, “Are these your friends?”

Myr nodded. “That’s my brother Llewel and our friends Zetai and Reynneak.”

He eagerly held his hand out to everyone. “I’m Jun!” He paused. “Wait, I need to get my parents! We can become friends after you meet them!” Then he rushed off.

It only took a moment to hear his excited explanation as he dragged two adults back with him. They both gave the four of them wary smiles—this wasn’t the first time he’d tried to show them to strangers.

“First the [Animal Whisperer] and now the four of you…” the woman laughed, however tired it seemed. “Jun said that you mentioned Phanes..?”

“We’re helping him restore the temple around here,” Zetai explained. “He said the two of you would be willing to lend a hand.”

“We’ll be more than willing to,” the man confirmed. He nudged Jun. “Make sure you’ve got all the toys you want to take with you, alright? We’ll need to all go together and we’re not going to come back if you forget to bring something.”

Jun eagerly nodded and darted off again.

The woman glanced between where he’d been to the four of them. “I wasn’t going to bring it up in front of him but, seeing as he may be distracted for a little while, I wanted to ask… You’ve been to Kehnore City recently, right?”

“We just came from there,” Llewel answered with a shrug.

“Jun met someone earlier today—a blonde [Animal Whisperer] with a hawk. She seemed nice, but I could’ve sworn I heard people talking about her. Are there rumors about her? Do I want to know the kind of person my son thinks highly of..?”

They all exchanged glances.

“I’m pretty sure there’s probably more than one blonde [Animal Whisperer] with a hawk in the game,” Reynneak reasoned.

Zetai only partially listened to him. “How long was her hair?”

“Neck length,” the woman responded.

Surprisingly casual despite how she treated every other mention of that person, Zetai remarked, “Yeah, you might want to make sure your son stays away from her.”

“You’re familiar with her?”

“More or less, and I’ve got plenty to say about her that I technically can’t say here.”

The woman seemed to understand and nodded. Maybe she would’ve said something else, if Jun hadn’t come back with nothing more than he’d left with.

“Are you taking anything else with you?” the man asked.

“We talked and we wanted to help you!” Jun said brightly, holding up his toy. He turned his attention to the four of them. “You look really cool! I’ve never left Kehnore, but I want to one day. You’re adventurers, right? Can you tell me about it? Please, please?”

Myr gave him a smile. “I’ll happily tell you about what we’ve done so far.”

Well, just the good parts. He didn’t need to know about all that other stuff.