The walk back to the castle grounds was nothing like their earlier wander through Virencia's streets. There was no urgency now, no restless scanning of tavern signs or half-formed questions hanging on Luke's tongue. The task they had set out to do—find Elric, confirm the crew, set the next piece of the journey in motion—was done. And with that completion came a rare stillness, one that settled comfortably between them as they walked side by side.
The city felt different when one wasn't chasing something.
Virencia in the evening had a gentler rhythm. Merchants were packing up their stalls, voices lowering as laughter replaced bargaining. Lanterns were being lit one by one, their soft glow spilling across stone roads and painted walls. The smell of cooked meals drifted from open windows, mixing with the faint scent of incense from distant shrines. Luke found himself noticing these things more clearly than before, as though the world had finally slowed enough for him to breathe it in.
