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They proceeded through the town, past the crowded main streets, and into the dense slums beyond the tourist and common citizen's attention. Soon, the purview to be wary of was not of the knights, but the the narrowed eyes and wary glances of those hoodlums and unscrupulous figures in the dark.
The muddy ground was trodden on by those with ill intent or engaged in dangerous lines of work. Blades, both hidden and openly brandished were commonplace, yet there was a certain order established that prevented wanton killing in the streets.
The sounds of shuffling cards and crinkling coins were accompanied by the muffled sounds of beatings occurring behind closed doors. The air was thick, there was foulness in the atmosphere that exceeded odor.
"I... still think Yuria and En should have stayed back." Felkin remarked.
"It's fine, we... I... can hold my own, and if it's a question of doubting my safety, I should have been left behind with Metas." Yuria remarked.
"But thanks for worrying about me." She added.
"Besides, we're here to help in case anything goes south, but we can call out to you just as easy if it goes the other way around!" Said En.
"Here's hoping it'll all go smoothly..." Said Kieron.
"This is the place, I think. Based on Metas' directions. Felkin and I will check. Sorry Kieron, I'll just be borrowing him for a bit." Ellyn ended on a slight teasing note.
"Mhm..." Kieron exclaimed grumpily, though she narrowly avoided falling for the "provocation".
"Sure, just give him back in one piece- er... alive." She corrected herself.
'Wait, no one questioned that statement?' Felkin thought to himself.
"But that doesn't mean you can jump into a meat grinder or a dragon's jaws with abandon." She turned towards Felkin.
"Sure, sure. Come back alive, and mostly intact." Felkin said as his tender grip loosened around Kieron's hand.
"I'm serious." She briefly tightened her fingers around his hand.
"I won't do anything that'll kill me, but if it's to keep someone safe, all bets are off." Felkin answered, he looked straight into Kieron's eyes with a serious look.
She sighed. "Fine, fine." Kieron gave him a push forward.
But she smiled as Felkin gave her once last look before continuing off.
Their destination lay down a set of steps that led into a musty and dark underground interior. Felkin and Ellyn met up before the stairs, both of them giving a small wave and a smile to each other.
"You fine carrying all that?" Ellyn asked.
"It's fine, you holding up alright?" Felkin remarked.
The two of them began to walk downwards.
"Don't worry about me, I've managed all my life with just one arm." Ellyn remarked.
There was a small pause before she continued.
"So... That pendant, huh. Looks good on you." She exclaimed.
"I can smell fried fish, you bought some?" Felkin asked, cheekily.
The two of them chuckled.
"Alright, let's focus. I do the talking, and you do the punching if need be." Said Ellyn.
"Mhm." Felkin remarked.
They reached a single aged wooden door, two guards sitting at its sides. They wore slightly worn and mismatched armor, though still durable and effective. They were thugs yes, but professional thugs whose bloodlust only surfaced as necessitated for their occupation as security.
"Who goes there?" The first one remarked calmly, though they were ready to draw their sword at a moment's notice.
"We... have business with the 'boss'. It's been arranged beforehand." Said Ellyn.
"Kids like you having 'business' with the boss? I find that... hard to believe." The second one remarked, chuckling.
"Business is... business. In this world, having a knife in your hand and a glint of gold in your eye is enough. Regardless of who you are." Ellyn replied.
The second guard looked at Ellyn whose determination was plain to see, and then at Felkin, at his burn marks, who in turn returned an ice-cold glare.
"Heh, guess you're the real deal. Come on in, though you might have to wait a bit. The boss is dealing with some other matters, business is booming nowadays, the kingdom being a powder keg and all." The second guard exclaimed.
"That was the password that Metas mentioned. I hope this isn't leading us to some sort of trap..." Ellyn remarked.
"For their sake..." Felkin responded.
The interior was dimly lit by candles and faint sunlight peeking through the ceiling and walls. A few bounty posters were up on the walls not too dissimilar to what the party observed in a town earlier.
Felkin opened the door with a slight creak, two other guards on the opposite side of the door turned their heads, though they did not seem to care much. On the far side of the room, the boss was currently engaged in conversation with two others. Her gaze was momentarily turned towards the strangers that walked through her door but she quickly turned her attention back to who she was talking to.
The streaks of light from the outside illuminated the particles of dust floating in the air. Ellyn and Felkin stood around, briefly scanned the surrounding dirt covered walls, and listened to the discussion at hand.
"... The terms of the deal will stand, that was our agreement, right?" The woman at the head of the table asked. She projected a calm but powerful demeanor, her hands clasped on the table as she looked upwards towards the somewhat belligerent customer.
"You don't understand, the deal shouldn't stay the same, because things in the kingdom have already changed! For my business to continue running smoothly, the shipment of goods must go through!" The man placed his heavy fists onto the wooden table, and was clearly agitated.
Wrinkles were carved on his face by years of stress and decision making, sweat ran down them like irrigation channels through dry farm soil. His brow was wrinkled and his beard was damp from worry-caused perspiration.
Behind the 'boss' were two who seemed distinct from the guards at the door. To the boss' left was a tall, broad shouldered elderly man. He was possessed of two monolids, one of which was rendered inoperable by a scar running down the middle of his right eye. His scalp was dispossessed of a single strand of hair, while his face donned thick eyebrows, a thin grey mustache, and a wisp of a grey beard.
"Hmph." He inched forward menacingly in response to the customer's panicked attitude. The chains on the weapon at his side rattled. It was connected to a sturdy metal weight on one side, and the blade of a sickle on the other. He wore dark black armor, iron plates connected with leather cords. His appearance was not too dissimilar to the shadow knights of the kingdom. Perhaps his original line of work was not so far off.
"Kage." The boss calmly remarked.
The old man bowed and stepped back.
"Calm down you old coot, you're gonna give the man a heart attack." The woman at the boss' right exclaimed jokingly.
She was of a lively and vigorous disposition, was lean but muscular of build, and her face was rosy cheeked in a fair-skinned backdrop. Her hair was an ash blonde, and it ran behind her head in a complex series of braids and curls. A wide grin occupied her face as she leaned forward from the wall.
She waved her hand to tease Kage, her chain mail armor crinkled while doing so. Over her armor were brown leather gloves and a jacket adorned with white furs. One must think to question how one can wear such thick clothing in the sun. She donned it from torso to toe, and on her back were two hand axes, though she did not feel the need or threat to use them at the moment.
"Freyja aside, back to the matter at hand. Our business is, built upon a foundation of a trust, yes? You've done your part in payment, now we will do ours to ensure the whole process runs smoothly; regardless of any developments in the kingdom's social or political sphere." The boss exclaimed.
The woman sitting there was tall and thin, but not for a lack of muscle definition. Her hair was long, wavy, and unkempt; cascading around her shoulders. Her round, brown eyes were forced into a perpetual squint with dark eyebags forming under them. She had a confident, but not arrogant smile. In her hand was a weathered, but ornate pipe which she smoked out of.
Her attire consisted of a dark long-sleeved coat with a small cape attached on the back. It appeared to be made out of expensive leather, it seems cherished though well-worn. Thick dark red lines ran across the sleeves, as well as up and down the coat's surface.
"You don't understand. Goods aren't getting through at the same rate anymore, with the restrictions that the Princess is putting down, you can't get anything over kingdom limits without passing through her and her cohorts. You've heard it through the grapevine too, haven't you? The usual bribes and trusted contacts aren't reliable anymore." The man pleaded.
"But Flare, he's not wrong. A lot of our usual avenues are turning up short, and it's become a looooot more difficult to get people and things, and somesuch, through. If he wants a guarantee, and an advance on top of that, maybe we could get a little something more in exchange? Something shiny, and small, and round, and silvery, maybe golden." Freyja exclaimed.
"If it's gold you want I have it." The customer answered, bringing out a pouch of it and placing it on the table in front of Flare with a heavy thud.
Flare slowly pushed it across the table in a show of refusal.
"Take your coin. We... are honoring the original terms of the deal, no more, no less." She remarked.
The man took it back, turned around and walked swiftly to the door, almost hitting Felkin in his stride.
"I hope you know what you're doing." He remarked as he made his exit.
Ellyn and Felkin looked at each other briefly.
Freyja sighed, shook her head, and threw up her hands.
"I don't understand you sometimes, boss. We had a good opportunity for a trade. He wants his stuff transported faster, so he just needs to hand over more gold to see it happen." She exclaimed.
"I found his offer respectable." Old Kage remarked calmly, crossing his arms.
"We had an agreement, the only thing to do is to fulfill it. But... let's talk about it later. It looks like there's some interesting new customers arriving." Flare remarked.
Ellyn and Felkin walked up to the table, carrying their goods all the while.
"Welcome to my humble establishment, we may not look like much but we always get the job done. For the right price, that is." Flare said proudly.
"Boss Flare, maybe these two just wandered in here? With the things they're carrying..." Freyja observed the two, though Flare interjected.
"If they wanted to be inconspicuous, seeming like an ordinary citizen after a trip to the market is wise, and if they're here..." Flare remarked, though Freyja interrupted her before the former could finish their sentence.
"They know the password and presumably know about this place. Right, got it." She exclaimed, not missing a beat.
"That being said, I... don't know you. Maybe I do, but not in-person. I'm... interested. What brings you here?" Flare asked. She brushed her fingers over the pipe's end, relighting it once more before smoking it.
"We're here on behalf of Metas. Our group is looking to leave the kingdom; I believe a deal was made in the past guaranteeing safe passage for a carriage or two's worth of people right? We're here on his behalf to honor the deal." Ellyn exclaimed.
"Now I'm very interested..." Flare's eyes widened. She continued.
"So it seems the rumors are true. A shadow knight turning traitor and being a catalyst to all sorts of havoc across the kingdom. Though, when we had made that deal, things with Metas were a lot less complicated, it's a lot harder now that he's a national fugitive." Flare leaned back on her chair and sighed. A young man entered the room and whispered something in her ear before leaving.
Felkin, animated, spoke up. "I recall you saying earlier that a deal's a deal, and it seems you value your word very much; I'd like to think that still holds true in this case."
Freyja matched his fervor with an assumption of her own. "How do we even know you all are telling the truth? You could just be using Metas' name to get through. For all we know, you're imitating him to get a ride of your own, or maybe... You're a rival come here with ill intent towards our boss."
She reached for one of the hand axes behind her. Felkin instinctively reached for his sword, but Ellyn raised her hand between them in a deescalating gesture.
"Miss Freyja." Kage remarked calmly, not appearing to be bothered in the slightest.
"Forgive me, I might have overstepped, but my point still stands." Freyja bowed.
"She's easy to agitate, but correct. You are an unknown element, the original deal called for Metas himself, and a few others. Why isn't he here himself to talk to us?" Flare asked.
Ellyn stepped forward to answer. "He's injured, from the circumstances that have recently occurred in the kingdom, he regrettably can't join us today so I'm here on his stead. He says he values your trust greatly and... 'Fire forges steel, but pain forges flesh.' Did I get that right?" She emphasized her role as the main negotiator. Ellyn gave a stern look towards Felkin for one moment.
"Hmph, you could have led with those words." Said Flare.
"Still, maybe you tortured it out of him. Or overheard it, the terms of this deal have already changed." Freyja exclaimed.
Flare suddenly burst into laughter. "Hah, you'd never be able to get something like that out of him by force. But dear customer, you are right. Metas is an old friend of mine, our ties stem back from when he was a young recruit in the knights. For the bond between friends, I shall hear out your request."
Freyja looked to be in disbelief, then turned towards the stoic Kage.
"Hmph. I do not see anything amiss with their story, and I am inclined to trust them. With that woman's keen eyes and that young man's determined eyes, those of which have seen death." The old man remarked much to Felkin's surprise.
The young swordsman simply bowed silently in response.
"Though... what was first agreed upon was a single carriage's worth of passengers. There's... six of you, right? The two of you here, your three friends outside, and Metas as well, right? Or does that include his two siblings making it eight?" As soon as Flare asked that question, Felkin and Ellyn tensed up.
The two stepped back and immediately used their telepathic connection. The two guards near the door, became alert, though Flare and the others were not.
"Kieron, what's the situation outside?" Felkin asked in an alert tone.
"Yuria, report back, what's happening out there?" Ellyn asked in a concerned tone.
"What's the matter? I don't think anyone's recognized me, though the longer we stand around here it's going to be more suspicious..." Kieron answered.
"Almost stabbed a person or two, but I don't think anyone's caught on..." Said Yuria.
"Why didn't anyone ask me?" En exclaimed.
Felkin and Ellyn sighed, but the two still readied for combat against those in front of them.
"Relax, we don't have any foul intentions, just wanting to... confirm what exactly we're dealing with here." Flare reassured.
"Although, the presence of your allies outside lends more credence to the theory that this is an ambush..." Freyja noted.
"We brought them just in case we were the one being ambushed." Said Felkin.
"How did you know who of those outside were our allies?" Ellyn asked, still cautious.
"Hmph, just a little trick from my homeland. But you relaxed back there, did you somehow know that your allies are somehow safe?" Kage remarked, a purple spark shining in his blind eye.
"We have tricks of our own." Felkin answered.
"I'm... I'm sorry for giving you two a fright, let's start off on the right foot, you can put down your belongings for a moment." Flare beckoned the two over.
Ellyn and Felkin looked at one another, and then cautiously walked forward. Freyja brought out two wooden chairs and set them down in front of Flare's table. Ellyn and Felkin set the goods they have bought for a moment and sat down.
Flare sniffed the air. "Is that fish? Did you all buy that for yourselves, or..." She remarked.
"It's for Metas, he eats it a lot so he likes it, probably." Said Ellyn.
"So you've observed that much from him, huh. You all must be close, to know him enough for that." Flare exclaimed.
"So he does like it? You're sure of this?" Ellyn asked, her expression lighting up.
"Oh? Curious?" Flare teased.
"A passing interest." Ellyn tried to hide her flustered expression.
"But say... you are a strange bunch. You look to be from all corners of the kingdom, or not even from it." Freyja remarked.
"We could say the same for your group as well, a former Lodelethian knight, and two foreign warriors. For us, surviving against the kingdom unites us." Felkin answered.
"Well, a rising tide raises all ships, you'll meet unlikely allies and enemies in this business." Freyja added.
"Still, one of the infamous bandit lords, the ruthless Kieron in your ranks..." Flare commented.
"You know this Flare person, Kieron?" Felkin asked her.
"In... passing, in my previous line of work... We had somewhat of a professional, uh... dealing with each other." Kieron answered.
"We have a mutual goal, as far as we're all concerned, she's... with us." Said Felkin.
"Let's actually discuss what we came here for, now." Ellyn exclaimed in a slight huff.
"Yes, let's get back on track. How many of you all are leaving? So we can arrange how large the carriage will be, or how many it'll take to move you along." Flare put down her pipe, picked up an ink quill and grabbed a blank piece of parchment.
Ellyn recalled a conversation the group had earlier in Jura's rest.
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"How many of us will be going?" Felkin raised his hand.
"Simple. Who here wants to go?" Asked Ellyn.
Felkin continued to raise his hand, pointed at himself, and then shrugged. Metas briefly raised his hand as well.
"Out of the kingdom is probably best, so I'm naturally going." Kieron remarked.
"I'll go wherever you guys go, so I'm coming too." Yuria exclaimed.
"I'm staying. I have obligations to Jura, and I'd like to see what happens to the kingdom over the next century, good or bad it might be." En chimed in.
"So, that's one, two, three, four... Metas, you think the others will come back to join us? Iris, and Serafion, and... your two siblings." Ellyn asked.
"They have other intentions in the kingdom, that's why they left. I don't think they have any intention of coming back. As for if I'm coming back for two of them... It would probably be better for them the less ties they had with me, and for me to completely disappear from their lives." Metas thought back to his siblings.
"So that's five so far." Ellyn surmised.
"Five? Did you forget to count yourself? That's pretty silly of you..." Yuria exclaimed, with a laugh.
"The carriage, is going to take us out of the kingdom, right?" Ellyn asked Metas.
"I... haven't decided what region to go to, I was supposed to talk it out with... Well, I once had the choice to move to wherever region in the continent, so we'll have to choose where, ourselves. But since things have been more difficult, I don't know if we're so free of choice anymore." Metas was seated, inspecting the Ruler's Regalia.
"Other nations in the continent... I haven't thought much about the other kingdoms, and with all of the other worlds... It's a mess to think about." Felkin remarked, holding a hand to his head.
"What about the other worlds? Can't we pick and choose a sanctuary to go to, instead of bothering to escape the kingdom through this difficult way?" Asked Yuria.
"It would be great, really great. But... Many worlds are just, inhospitable, like no air, no water, inhospitable. Also, Jura isn't really allowed to do that... Like his 'superiors' will put him into a spot of big trouble if he relocates people, especially you all to another realm. And the politics is super complicated, I'm pretty sure you could start a war between worlds if you do something like that." En said, in a very animated fashion, complete with hand gestures, and walking around the place.
"Us?" Felkin asked, curiously.
"You, specifically, but, hmm... How do I put this? The knowledge of your mere existence is sending shockwaves right as we speak." En exclaimed.
"What... am I?" Felkin asked, looking at his hand, visibly distressed.
"Don't know, just that you matter... Either someone important, or dangerous, I'm not privy to details such as this." En added with a shrug.
"You're... Felkin, right? You're someone who bleeds like us, who breathes the same air that we do, isn't that enough?" Kieron asked.
"You're... our friend, right?" Yuria chimed.
"Mhm. Right, you two are both right." Felkin remarked, taking a deep breath and sitting down at a wooden chair nearby.
There was a moment of awkward silence.
"Well, besides... all that, our currency, our knowledge, and probably the way our bodies are used to the environment will make going to a nearby kingdom the most feasible." Said Metas.
"But the question is now... Where?" Yuria asked.
"Let's see..." Metas grabbed a weathered map, and laid it across the table. The party curiously convened around him to see.
"Lodeleth's on the western part of the continent, to our North-East is Nordrheimr, it's cold, it's remote, and the only reason why they're not fighting us is they're too busy fighting themselves." Metas pointed towards a small nation above Lodeleth in the map.
"Great, then we'll be forced to fight in a civil war and/or freeze to death." Kieron joked.
"It's actually not that bad, we stick to the corners, away from the chaos in their capital, capitals... Then we can be scot free from the kingdom's outriders, we could find some trade there." Metas remarked.
"Yeah, like ice fishing?" Kieron remarked with a huff.
"The snow's... not too unfamiliar of a landscape for me." said Ellyn.
"You... thought a lot about this, huh, Metas." Yuria remarked.
"It doesn't hurt to plan." The former shadow knight answered.
"But it means you've been thinking about leaving for a long time." Felkin surmised.
"I did just as a precaution. If everything went smoothly, it would be nothing more than a daydream for me, still... It was more about them, than it was for me." Said Metas.
"Metas..." Ellyn remarked.
Metas continued on in iterating the various details about each nearby region, as well as the pros and cons of living in each.
"So... to reiterate, the nearby desert of Res to our direct east, the temperate island of Kyoshin past that even more east, there's the great nation of Brixellum to the south, and there's Nordrheimr to the north." Metas exclaimed, scanning his hand over the nations on the map.
"The desert's hot, the north is cold, the island is not too hot nor cold but it's far off and relatively old-fashioned, the southern nation is the most advanced but is the hardest to get a job because of all the people." Ellyn observed.
"Honestly, I'm fine with any choice, so I'm leaving it up to you all to decide." Said Metas.
"Brrr, maybe we should go someplace warmer?" Asked Yuria.
"I've had my fill of deserts and scorching weather." Kieron added.
"I... don't know which path will lead to me finding more leads about myself, but I'd much rather choose something that everyone will agree on." said Felkin.
"Our one way ticket out of the kingdom, huh." Ellyn remarked.
'Away from the kingdom, and away from my home.' She thought.
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"Just... around five." Said Ellyn. Felkin glanced towards her as she made her decision.
"I see. A single carriage should suffice, and the destination?" Flare asked, while jotting down the information.
"The island nation of Kyoshin, please." said Ellyn.
Flare stopped and looked towards Ellyn in a curious expression.
"Kyoshin, that's quite the far destination isn't it? We'd have to arrange for multiple transports, there's smuggling you onboard on a ship too..." Flare exclaimed.
"The trust between friends really is commendable, it goes a long way in favors such as these..." Freyja closed her eyes and nodded.
"Trust and a big sack of coin." Flare corrected.
"Still, you should all give thanks to the boss and her kind heart. We could turn you all in and, with a little convincing, get a pretty penny a little bit more than what Metas had given her." Freyja threw up her hands and put them back down.
Ellyn appeared unperturbed by the remark, though she felt slight worry creeping in.
'We... anticipated it. Ever so small, there was a chance that they would just turn us in, and we would have to fight our way out.' She thought.
But her train of thought was suddenly broken by Felkin speaking up.
"It sounds like it's costing a lot extra on your end to do this, especially now. What if we did something to make up for it?" He asked.
"What are you doing?" Ellyn asked, slightly startled.
"If it's not fair on our end to make these demands, then we do something for them in exchange." Felkin answered.
"Hmm." Kage remarked.
"Oh, what do you propose?" Flare asked, folding her hands on the table.
"Earlier, there was a man who seemed to be having doubts about the safe passage of... something that was travelling across the city or kingdom limits." Felkin remarked.
"This isn't what we discussed." Ellyn said, sternly.
"Well, the odds weren't pointing in our favor so I had to act." Felkin answered back.
"Eavesdropping on somebody else's private conversation is bad manners you know." Freyja jokingly exclaimed.
"But having sharp ears is good in this business." Flare remarked.
"See, it's working." said Felkin.
"But those weren't the terms we originally agreed to!" Ellyn fired back, slightly raising her voice.
"So, what are you proposing to make this... worthwhile? For all parties involved." Flare asked.
"I had to jump in before we lost the opportunity, otherwise it would've been too late!" Felkin exclaimed, getting a tad bit heated as well.
"We don't know for sure, they were testing us, and you fell for it!" Ellyn exclaimed.
"We have... evaded the kingdom thus far, and the skills we have are... rare and can often come in handy in certain situations." Said Ellyn.
"Ellyn, you..." Felkin reacted with disbelief.
"Keeping up with what you said so it doesn't seem like we're disorganized, so that we won't get taken advantage of." She responded.
"Plus, we're fugitives and so any crime we're found to do will be traced back to just us." Ellyn remarked.
"You won't fess up, even for your freedom?" Freyja asked.
"They say there's no honor among thieves, but there's trust among friends, right? And we're practically friends here, already." Said Ellyn.
"An auspicious response." Said Kage.
"I... want to say something about us not knowing the details, and our reward depending on that, and if it's really something, we should get a lot in return if we're risking our lives for it. If it's allowed." Felkin swallowed his pride, and asked for permission.
"Sure, it's a good idea, I guess." Ellyn acknowledged.
"But, since we don't know enough about the details of the job, naturally the reward we'll receive will depend on the risk. And if the task is perilous enough to endanger our lives, we'll be expecting something in return." Felkin remarked.
"The whole welcome wagon, and safe passage from here to the island, with no expense spared." Said Ellyn.
"You're agreeing to do a favor for a favor, for something you don't know how dangerous. It's as foolhardy as it is a show of good faith." Flare remarked.
"Good... good, what is bravery without facing a risk head on." Kage seemed pleased with the group's answer.
"About your offer... I believe there is no need, anymore. From what I've seen, your word appears honorable enough. We will aid your escape, though if I may ask... What's a suitable secondary option, if things aren't, shall we say... optimal, for your relocation to the western island." Flare asked.
"Why does it sound like our first option won't be considered?" Felkin remarked.
"Well... we prepared for this eventuality too." Said Ellyn.
"The southern nation of Brixellum, please." Ellyn answered Flare.
"Not an easy place to go to. Though now... When shall we schedule, this trip of yours?" The boss lady exclaimed.
"What's the earliest time you can manage... Not to rush the preparation or anything." Ellyn asked.
"No, no... We understand." Flare wagged her finger.
"As things currently are, it's understandable to want to leave as soon as possible. And as for the preparation... We have people in place for that." She added.
"So..?" Felkin remarked after a quiet pause.
"You won't have long to wait. Not even a week. How does... five, maybe six days sound?" Flare exclaimed.
"Tch." Felkin remarked.
"Well..." Said Ellyn.
"Oh, that sounds lovely. We'd appreciate it if you could arrange a trip in that time." Ellyn remarked, donning a facade of relief.
Kage tilted his head ever so slightly, noticing the hesitation in Ellyn's expression.
"Can't exactly rush them now... But that's the deadline." Felkin remarked, with a grimace.
"So there. Is that a deal?" Flare asked, standing up and holding her hand out.
"But there's a new opportunity now. In fact, this might be the perfect chance..." Ellyn figured something out.
"Yo guys, what's happening, are you all alright?" En asked.
"We weren't sure if there was just some interference so we wanted to check on you." Said Yuria.
"You didn't get taken out that quickly, right?" Asked Kieron.
"No, we're still fine. The deal's a success." Felkin said, as Ellyn and Flare shook hands.
"They trust us, maybe, and still plan on honoring Metas' deal. In five to six days, we could be leaving for Kyoshin, or Brixellum. And..." Ellyn added.
"About the particulars of how exactly we'll be led out, where we'll be meeting..." She asked Flare.
"At the western edge of town here, we have a set of carriages and wagons that are regularly used to deliver... non-prohibited goods. Find a 'cabbage merchant' named Norman. Ask him for eastern blue-green cabbages, he knows the details and he'll take care of the rest." Flare remarked.
"So... we'll be there in five days." Said Ellyn.
"If you go seven days without showing up or speaking with us here, consider it canceled." Freyja exclaimed.
"We'll keep that in mind." Felkin answered.
"And not a word to anyone else about our business here, I trust?" Flare added.
"Not a peep." Ellyn replied.
"Good, looks we're all done then." Flare sat back down.
Ellyn nodded. She looked awkwardly back at Felkin, paused before the two of them started bowing to the three in disjointed fashion.
The two then turned around, exited the door and made their way back up.
"Not bad for people who were clearly amateurs..." Freyja exclaimed.
"Though there were times where your inexperience almost reared its head." Flare remarked.
"I... I was just testing them, to see how they would respond." Freyja said, pouting.
"I hope they will be able to endure the coming flames ahead." Kage remarked.
"Yeah. But what we offered was quite a deal, how much did he pay for it again?" Freyja asked.
"A boatload. When I asked him about it, he said it was his life savings like it was some small thing." Flare answered.
"Yes, yes... We've heard enough praise to Mr. Metas from you." Freyja remarked, waving her hand around.
"He seems to be quite a remarkable young man, judging from what you've said about him." Kage noted.
"He used to have a bright future, as bright mine would've been. He could've been an upstanding knight, but everything went into the proverbial shitter." Flare sighed.
"That situation with the princess. And now the nation suffers all the more for it." Kage said, with slight dismay.
"I see myself in the boy, with his successes, and now with his misfortunes." Said Flare.
"It wasn't so bad right? For the first few months we barely scrounged together enough for you to hire me." Freyja exclaimed.
"And me." Kage added.
Flare laughed. "Yes, but we always got the job done the same way without fail, no matter how few we were or how hard the task was."
"Now I fear, there may be yet another hurdle before us." Said Kage.
"Yes, we'll handle it, right?" Said Freyja.
"Yeah, we all will." Flare remarked.
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An echo resounded in the tunnel pathway as Ellyn and Felkin walked back up.
"So... that went well..." Felkin cautiously remarked.
"Yeah, until you almost ruined it. Who knows what might have happened if they were able to catch on? If they weren't so kind?" Ellyn asked.
"But they were. And what if me not speaking up caused their trust to waver and the deal not to follow through? We shouldn't dwell on what-ifs when we succeeded." Felkin answered.
Ellyn glared at Felkin.
"But you can only say that 'because' you succeeded! That doesn't underscore the risk of what you did!" She expressed her anger by moving her arm in the air.
"I... just did what I had to, if succeeding upsets you so much, oh well..." Felkin grumbled, staring right back.
Ellyn stopped in her tracks.
"It's not getting the job done that I don't like, it's you doing something without telling me! We..." She pointed at Felkin and herself back-and-forth vigorously before continuing.
"Have our roles! Metas made me the leader, even though I don't know why, and there was a plan and you didn't follow it! This... This is the reason why I hunt alone! I've seen what happens when a hunt goes bad because someone didn't stick to the plan!" Ellyn exclaimed.
"Well, I don't know what it's like to work with other people, I've just been alone all this time! I just made the choice I thought I should have." Felkin answered.
"You can choose to risk your life all you want, but you're deciding for yourself! Don't risk our hides on our behalf so carelessly!" She slammed her fist against the mossy stone, and then pointed at Felkin.
"I got roped into this mess, I have to risk my life and kill for what it seems like every single day, and now... I just... I don't know if I'll be able to go home, to go back to how things were and..." A furious and watery-eyed Ellyn gritted her teeth.
Felkin's expressions changed quickly. First, his instinct was to match the temper of the one before him, a furious scowl began to form. Accompanying it was the shade of his eyes turning ever so slightly more crimson.
But then he heard the last of Ellyn's words, his expression softened. His face became as neutral as his mood, he averted his eyes and scratched the back of his head.
"I guess... There was a plan and... I didn't follow it. And if it went wrong, I'd be putting all of us on the line for a gamble. So maybe I'll just tell you next time if I had any risky helpful ideas before just doing them." He sighed.
"Ugh, fine. That'll do." Ellyn let out an irritated and exhausted breath.
"It's just... as a group, we're meant to decide things not just by ourselves. But maybe if we switched places, I'd do the same thing. Maybe. Recognizing the efforts of the others in my team is something I should do." She somewhat hesitantly remarked.
"I'll respect your role, and your decisions. But when something happens, and I need to do something, I'm not hesitating to ask for permission." Felkin said, solemnly.
"I'll keep that in mind." Ellyn replied, graven of face.
The two of them shielded their eyes as they emerged outside, into the noisy hustle and bustle of the noontime sun.
"We're done, let's go." Ellyn said to the rest of the party.
"Took you long enough, my feet were starting to hurt because of all of the standing and walking around." En remarked.
'Does that sort of thing happen to him?' Felkin thought.
"We were a bit worried, everything's good, right?" Yuria asked.
"Just like I said, all good. No problems." Ellyn said, though the others could "hear" the contrary in her voice.
The group began to walk out of the area one by one.
"You really didn't hear or see anyone watching you?" Felkin asked them.
"Nope. And I have an especially keen eye for these things." Kieron boasted.
"Heh, with someone like Kieron on our side, no one's gonna track us!" Yuria exclaimed proudly.
"Actually, there was someone that was able to see all of you guys hiding outside." Said Ellyn.
"Wha-" "Oh, spoke too soon." Kieron and Yuria remarked.
"I think Metas mentioned the old man with the boss was from the East, I hear they have their own techniques and magic there. At least that's what the old man told me." Ellyn added.
"Yes, yes. That must be it." Kieron nodded.
Though still, she discerned something from how Ellyn and Felkin spoke, something seemed strange.
"Hey, En... We can talk to each other using this mind-thing without the others hearing, right?" Kieron asked him.
"Yeah, like we're doing right now, the others can't hear us." En replied.
Kieron narrowly avoided a few passers-by as she was focused in their mental communication.
"They seemed... troubled. Do you think that something happened that they're not telling us?" She asked him.
"Definitely. One of the things I just know is how people feel, and a can tell they're a bit mad." En remarked.
"Hmm." Kieron exclaimed.
"Maybe we can ask them later?" En asked.
"I hope this doesn't cause us problems in the long run." She remarked.
Yuria chimed in to break the apparent silence as the party trudged through the mud covered pathways of the slum.
"Still, I know that we talked about it, but it's still worrying me that we're planning to leave with the fact that Metas and the other heirs of flame could still be summoned to that realm hanging over our heads." Yuria remarked, looking up in contemplation.
"We've discussed this before right?" Ellyn reminded.
"Hmm..." Yuria tried to think back, one finger on her chin.
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"Wait, even if we leave the kingdom, wouldn't Metas and the others being summoned to that kingdom of flame render all of our efforts moot?!" Yuria shot up from her chair.
"Not really. If that flame woman sends us to that realm if we're already in a different country, we'll get summoned right back to where we were. At least, that's according to what she said." Metas pointed towards Kieron.
"That was the case last time, it might be the case again." Kieron said, with a hint of doubt.
"But... that's presuming we win." Yuria said, concerned.
"We'll win." Felkin said assuredly, looking down on his sword. His expression was stone-faced and almost expressionless.
"We'll just have to." Kieron shrugged.
"And we might not have to worry about it." Said Ellyn, reviewing her stock of tools.
"Hmm?" Yuria remarked.
"This whole... kingdom of flame summoning matter only happens to Lodelethians right? It must be tied somehow to their lineage, and maybe this land. So if we leave the land of the flame..." Ellyn started.
"The summoning thing might not happen at all! That's genius!" Yuria jumped up, though Ellyn interrupted the former's excitement.
"Though, that's pure conjecture. It probably won't be that easy, and there's likely safeguards in place from those flame... people, so that their ceremony takes place successfully." She remarked.
"So we'll still be preparing to fight." Kieron stared at her ivory sickle.
"No matter what happens, we're likely to fight either way, so this truly is the best choice." Said Metas.
"Wait, what if there's a way we could stop Metas and some of the others from being summoned anyway? You know, like using magic? Hey, En..." Thought Yuria.
The young witch turned towards the spirit lad and started vigorously shaking him awake.
"Mhm... What? This discussion was going on so long it made me sleepy..." En exclaimed, "groggily".
"Can I... we do something about the flame summoning thing? Something magical?" The young witch insisted.
"Mhm, magic? It's probably impossible. This whole thing ties Lodeleth to that flame kingdom realm right?" En explained, while Yuria nodded.
"So it's probably something deep rooted in his blood as a Lodelethian. Removing it would be more than just separating himself from the kingdom or renouncing his identity, it would likely be tantamount to messing with the very composition of his existence." En stood up and walked towards Metas.
"Hmm..." The lad held his hand out and closed his eyes.
Metas simply stood there, curious. He sipped a cup of water as En finished a reading of some sort.
"I was right. There is something etched into his blood, a contract... or a pact maybe. And it seems like, it's with the entire bloodline of the kingdom!" En exclaimed, surprised.
"The old man and I always wondered why the Lodelethians and () only the Lodelethians were able to summon flame like they do." Ellyn remarked.
"They used to tell us that our people was blessed by the dragon. I always thought there was just a kernel of truth in those stories, but now they might be closer to reality than I thought." Metas snapped his fingers twice to ignite and extinguish his flame.
"From what little I'm able to figure out, it's tied to your very being... Removing it could have unintended effects, the most likely of which is... Metas losing his power of flame." En remarked, with a graven tone.
Kieron raised a brow, Felkin and Ellyn had a concerned expression, and Yuria nearly jumped into the air with shock.
"Wha- What! But that's..." She exclaimed.
"Alright with me. If that means I won't be in a fight that could cost me my life, I'm game." Metas said, calmly.
"Oh, oh..." Yuria said, surprised at Metas' indifference.
"Damn thing never took to me, anyway. If it's no use to me when I have it, better not to." He shrugged.
"Well, in that case... Is there any way we can do it?" Said Ellyn.
"Us, here, no. It would take someone with a vast amount of knowledge and magical expertise to do it. It would be tantamount to finding someone who can obfuscate or overturn someone's fate..." Said En.
"That just means our original plan is what we'll follow." Metas remarked.
"Since when did you know how to do that?" Yuria asked.
"Oh, seeing what magically-backed conditions are present on someone? A while. I think I can do it better now." Answered En.
"Why didn't you say you could do it? It probably could've been useful in some way, shape, or form." Kieron asked.
"Well, you didn't ask." En retorted.
"I guess." Kieron shrugged.
"What about... me, can you tell me anything about... () me? " Felkin asked.
"Now you, I've been hearing a lot about, even without a reading." En's eyes lit up as he walked towards Felkin.
"Like what? I know there's information Jura and the others have that they're not telling me..." Felkin remarked.
"That you have limitless potential, and you aren't hindered by normal limitations. Which makes you dangerous... or useful." Said En as he stopped before Felkin.
Felkin turned towards Kieron.
"More... or less what we know so far." She remarked.
En closed his eyes, raised his hand, and the others waited for what it seemed like an eternity.
"Hmm. Hmmm.... Mhm. Tsk, tsk, tsk." En remarked.
"What... What did you find out?" Felkin asked, worriedly.
"There's... nothing." En remarked.
"Wha- What?" Yuria exclaimed.
"No, no, no. I should've phrased it better. There is () something... Something that allows him to transcend ordinary human borders, to elude even death. Nothing to stand in his way..." En remarked, with a certain dismay that caused Felkin to take a step back.
"What does that mean? How is that possible?" Kieron asked.
"I... don't exactly know. Something very powerful has affected Felkin somehow, maybe it's a blessing of some sort?" En said to himself.
"A blessing? It sounds like it's more of a..." Ellyn said, inquisitively.
"Curse. It could be." Said En.
"All these blessings, contracts, pacts, and curses... They're so confusing..." Yuria exclaimed.
All the while, Felkin was silently processing the information being conveyed to him.
"They're all different, but all of them have a thing in common. They're backed and bound by magic, thus breaking them requires a higher amount of magic than the one enforcing them." Said En.
"How... are they different?" Metas asked, curiously.
"Contracts are a type of deal or agreement between one or more magical entities, typically some kind of magic based result is the effect of it." Said En.
"Pacts or Oaths are a form of magically backed promise, certain magical effects could be granted because of it." He continued.
"Lastly, there's Blessings... Or Curses. They're usually from some otherworldly or magical being's favor, or ire. Sometimes, you can't tell the difference between them. There's also Wishes, Bonds, Covenants... There's all sorts of outliers, overlaps, and exceptions to the rules... It's all very confusing." En explained.
"I feel like my head's swirling with too much information..." Yuria remarked, a hand to her head.
"So, these are all things that can grant power to ordinary mortal that they otherwise wouldn't be able to have..." Ellyn wondered out loud.
En looked on at Ellyn with worry.
"But it seems at a high cost of course, every temptation comes with an equally high cost." The huntress swiftly corrected herself.
"But if I have this power... Wouldn't it mean I could be able to change the fates of those shackled by them?" Felkin asked, determined.
'I can feel the hold of an outside god is strong on you, break free of that shackle, or it'll end up like this once more.' He thought back to Raia's words, the demigod that he had fought back in the dying desert realm.
"Do you know how to do it? Because I don't." En asked him.
"Uh... no." Felkin's determination waned.
"Then we still can't do anything about it." Metas sighed.
"But having an exceeding amount of freedom from having no limits, is in itself a shackle. Or something like that, right?" Yuria put on a foreboding voice.
"It seems like your power's more trouble than it's worth." Kieron teased.
"Felkin's gotten us through a few ruts though, it has its uses." Said Metas.
"But it seems like I might have directly or indirectly caused some of those problems..." Felkin shyly scratched behind his head.
"It's true though. Because of the immense power you have, you're bound to conflict, and you'll probably be shackled to a life, that's far from normal." Said En.
"If that's who I was, who I am, who I'm meant to be... Then I guess that's the path I'll walk, but I'll still be searching, and any choices I'm going to make are still my own." Felkin remarked, clenching his fist.
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"Yeah... We planned it all out, too bad we have to risk it still. There's still some things we can't overcome. Maybe if I knew more about magic..." Yuria remarked.
"We just have to work with the limitations we got." Ellyn answered.
'Breaking fate... Saving others from theirs, is it possible? Is it the right thing for me to do?' Felkin thought.
The group continued their journey out of the area, and started for their return to their hideout.