6.2.

Outside apartment A312, Sequencee, Schwii and Iona found themselves as a spectator of an emotional farewell scene between an elf and half elf.

“Uwawa– don’t forget about me okay? Remember to not take candies from strangers..”

“I won't..”

“And never go out in the dark alone okay? Make sure to always go with someone else..”

“That too..”

“Also, never ever follow strangers that you don’t know.. make sure to eat proper meals every day.. rest properly okay..?”

‘I’m not a kid..’

Leticia knew Nynim was joking. She was saying all this on the pretext of messing with her. Reese who was on standby could be seen holding back her laughter, her trembling lips warped into a grin.

“Ah, they’re here,” Daizo noticed Sequencee, Schwii and Iona first.

“Oh, so it’s time.” Quora quipped.

Nynim gave her a big bear hug, her green hair scattered about, Leticia gagged at the force.

“Finally, don’t forget about me, okay?” Nynim said with tears in her eyes.

“I.. I won’t..” Leticia said, squeezing the last breath out of her lungs.

“Now then, take care,” Nynim released Leticia and waved. “Toodles.”

“I’ll miss you guys,” Leticia said with a lonely smile.

Whether or not she will return to this dorm, as an official student of the first class enforcer course– that was now entirely up to fate.

“Take care Leticia. We’re always here for you if you need anything alright?” Quora said.

“Yeah, don’t forget,” Daizo said.

“You better get going, they’re waiting,” Dorry insisted.

“Alright,” Leticia turned to them. “Let’s go.”

“Iona, allow me those. I can store them in my shadow domain, you don’t need to carry such a bulky item,” Reese extended her shadow.

“I’m grateful.”

Reese’s black hair tied into a half ponytail, wearing a maid dress which looked identical to Iona’s. Leticia on the other hand donned her adventurer clothes with the magic robe Sequencee bought for her last time covering her.

They greeted each other goodbye as they left for the campus gates.

It was close to midnight. They chose this auspicious time as there are less people conglomerating near the warp gate stations, and it would prevent any large crowd from gathering during their travels.

“Yo!” Risa waved her hand high into the air as they approached.

“Welcome,” Shiro greeted blandly.

Risa Takashi and Shiro Takashi.

They were the chosen, this era’s heroes’. Both of them had black hair and eyes, typical of a human from another world like Japan.

“Good evening.”

“Good evening,” Linton greeted.

Someone in the group yawned– Linzy the beastkin.

Linton and Linzy, like the two heroes, were siblings. Both of them had snow-white hair and a pair of madder red eyes.

“It’s a pleasure to be working with you,” stepping forward, an unfamiliar yet known face, Matilda greeted with a staunch bow.

“Matilda Erst..” Reese muttered under her breath.

Matilda Erst, she could be regarded as a princess in some ways. Her father is the duke of the Lumbire Kingdom. Like any noble girl who pursued the path of the sword, the dukedom was a military family.

Silver-blonde hair shimmering like falling snowflakes in the sunset, her teal blue eyes bore an intensity which would make anyone tremble before her presence–

But of course, not the folks in Sequencee’s group.

“It’s a pleasure to have you on this trip,” Schwii greeted with a curtsy, “I’m Schwii.”

“The honor is mine.”

“Let’s drop the formalities and all be friends?”

“Risa.. different worlds have different cultural norms,” Shiro admonished.

“We just need to break them right?”

Social hierarchy and etiquette was a thing emphasized in this world. While it wasn’t to say Japan didn’t possess social etiquette, it’s simply that Risa felt the practices here were quite outdated. She wanted to change the status quo.

In any case, the group proceeded out of the campus. Evelyn, Shiro and Risa wore artifacts to hide their true identities while the rest moved under the cover of night.

No matter how one looked at it, these bunch of people were incredibly shady. No one goes on a field trip at midnight.

“Excuse me for a moment,” Iona notified Schwii and Sequencee..

“Huh?”

The next instant, she disappeared.

“How did she notice?” Sequencee asked.

“Notice?”

“Enemies. Even though I’m certain I’ve extended my spatial domain.”

“It seems the human empire isn’t as safe as I thought.”

“Should I go too?” Reese asked.

“Iona should be able to handle it fine,” Schwii responded.

As they were further back of the group, most of those in the front didn’t notice– or so they thought.

“Iona is moving in covert huh?” Risa whistled.

“Since when?” Shiro peeked to the back secretly. Sure enough, she wasn’t there.

“Looks like we don’t need to worry much about safety once we arrive at Dianne’s Territory.”

“You can never be too sure,” Aaron warned.

This gathering of twelve will split up into three groups.

The capital of Equestria empire will be their first stop. Evelyn and Aaron will return to the royal palace while everyone else will take the warp gate to the different nations.

Sequencee, Schwii, Leticia and Reese will move to Luddite Earldom, from there, they will head to Estia.

Meanwhile, Shiro, Risa, Iona, Matilda, Linzy and Linton will head to Lumbire Kingdom before going to Erst Dukedom. There, they will visit Matilda’s family– the duke.

Once they finish their errand in their respective area, both teams will regroup before heading to Dianne’s Territory from the dukedom. Evelyn and Aaron will not be involved in this operation.

As for the reason why they decided to visit Dianne’s Territory–

“Any nation ruled by demi-humans is a society of tyranny. It’s a society where the strong rules. It’s not safe to assume that there may not be beastkins there stronger than many S-rank enforcers in the empire.”

“I will have to agree with Sir Aaron,” Matilda followed up, “My father often tells me of a wider world out there. What we see as humans is but the surface to a deep ocean.”

By chance, Erst Dukedom is situated between the line of the empire and beastkin’s republic. As a military powerhouse, they hold the duty to defend the frontline of the empire from the assault of these outcast warriors. In a way, they were also the border control of people moving in and out of these two grand domains.

While the stigma against beastkins still remains, the empire did not wish for it to continue forever. Slowly, in time, by opening up to the possibility of this once hostile race back into the empire, a new, stronger coalition will form, reuniting the continent once more.

“They’re right in a way. There’s no better proof than my sister,” Linton added.

Risa and Matilda turned to the cute silver haired beastkin riding on Shiro’s back. She was already fast asleep. Yet behind that adorableness of her’s, she was a force of nature to reckon with.

They reached the warp gate. While the moon was still high up in the sky, a long line could be seen beginning at various checkpoints.

“Nobody brought anything illegal with them right?” Sequencee asked.

“Why?” Evelyn queried.

“No, just asking..”

‘I lost my horns here after all..’

Speaking of horns, the prize of the New Dawn Showdown which Riestallia won– it was now a trophy-like item displayed in the center of the magic concert faculty hall.

With Evelyn’s authority as the imperial princess, they were able to shortcut their way through. Stepping through the large distortion in space, the winds changed. The night felt warmer, the winds stronger. The air smelled different too, reminiscent of the celebration of sweet buns and candy.

“Oh, there is actually a celebration going on.”

There was a bazaar event going on. Round paper lanterns glowing in orange, triangular flags with circular motifs drawn on top, elven calligraphy and vases of pink budding flowers.

“This kinda feels like a mid autumn festival. The moon is bright too,” Risa muttered.

“You’re right about that. Why doesn’t Rika Nation have this though?”

“Oh, I heard that this festival is usually held a little earlier in the capital than other territories. I believe it’ll happen there some time in the next two weeks, mid-holiday,” Reese said.

“Hm…” Evelyn scanned the many stores that line the streets.

“There’s still some time isn’t it?” Leticia muttered, looking up at the moon.

“You’re right about that..” Schwii caught onto her words.

“Are we not short of time? We only have a month to complete everything we set out to do, based on schedule, we don’t have a lot of time to dally around,” Matilda warned.

“But this is also supposed to be a vacation no?” Risa’s excuse cut down her words.

“I know but still..” the overly staunch Matilda struggled to retaliate against the hero. Risa was the hero, to her, the idol of her dreams. Somehow, she didn’t want to offend her.

“Isn’t it nice to break into a new experience once in a while? Life is about the unexpected things, no?” Reese chimed in.

“How about this, let’s switch things up a bit and split the group by genders,” Schwii took the lead.

“By genders?”

“Girls time, right?”

“Oh! I agree,” Reese giggled.

“We don’t have much time on our hands..” Matilda checked her pocket watch.

“Don’t worry about it, I’m sure it’ll be alright,” Risa patted her shoulder.

“I told father we would arrive by midnight..” Matilda muttered, her last resistance.

“Don’t worry! We’ll definitely make it in time. Come on, let’s go! We’ll meet back here at 1 am alright everyone?”

“Two hours? Okay, sure,” Shiro checked the current time, it was 11:19 pm.

“Then let’s go. We don’t have much time!”

And so, they parted ways, Iona having to drag the reluctant Linzy along unfortunately.

Left were Aaron, Shiro, Linto and Sequencee.

Linton let loose a yawn. “Let’s go find something to eat.”

“Sure thing.”

They headed off in the opposite direction of where the girls went.

===

“Hey Melty, isn’t it unusual of you to come out at this sort of time?” Alice said as she nibbled on a charred rice cake on a stick.

The girl with the round rim glasses shook her head. She too had a sample, except, she didn’t look too interested in it. She merely ate one or two at best.

“Do you still want it? Or..” Alice’s word’s tapered off.

Melty held the unfinished rice cake on a stick up to her. She received it with glee.

“Too bad Linton isn’t here. I swear he would’ve helped you finish it..” Alice gobbled it down in seconds.

Melty frowned, not that Alice noticed.

“Ah? They have shaved ice here too, want to try that?”

Melty raised her head towards the stall which Alice was pointing at. There was certainly a lot of finesse to the whole design of it. You could even choose from the limited toppings that it comes with.

“Yes?” Alice looked at her with eager eyes.

Melty looked away with a huff and nodded simply. In an instant, she was dragged by her strong force.

“Two medium sized portions of the original flavor please!” Alice had pulled out a couple coins ready.

It was busy, really busy. Alice was excited, the hustle and bustle didn’t bother her one bit. However, for Melty.. it was sapping her of whatever energy that remained of her.

Why did she agree to come out with her? Even she wished to know why.

Looking down at the cobblestone ground, Melty rubbed one arm with the other. The night was cold, a sickening feeling in her stomach. If only she had a book here she could distract herself with–

A clump of white hair caught her eyes.

Her head shot towards the direction which it left towards.

She wasn’t sure if it was even the person she thought he was, yet her feet had already begun to move.

Two fluffy ears on top, his hood lowered, the smile of delight on his face at the many food options that surrounded him.

Melty captured it all in one moment.

There was no way this wasn’t him.

Just as she was about to advance her nth step, she was held back by the wrist.

“Melty?” Alice called out.

She hesitated, the person with white hair fading into the crowd–

Melty shook her wrist away and pursued.

“Wait! WAIT! Melty!!”

Why was she acting this way? Why did she come to the festival? Why was she so restless?

The crowd grew denser the deeper she got.

She was losing him, her mind scrambled.

– She never got to say goodbye.

Reflecting on that day when he told her about his decision.

“Melty, you know how I found my sister, right?”

She nodded.

It was a conversation just between the two of them over a warm cup of nim.

“And by some weird luck, she ended up by the hero’s side. I don’t know if I should be happy or worried,” Linton said with a rather serious expression, very unlike himself.

Melty took a sip of the warm bean drink.

“I don’t mean that I’m going to leave everything behind okay?” Linton panicked.

Melty lowered the cup back down on the table, she looked at Linton with concerned eyes.

“.. I’m sorry Melty. I.. I think I really need to take this opportunity. Like, thank you for everything.”

Melty opened her mouth, but no words came out. She wasn’t one to speak, but something inside her compelled her to do so yet.. nothing.

What was this weird emotion inside her? It ached.

“I don’t know how you feel about this but, I think it would be less of a burden to you if I joined them. Of course, part of it is.. or most of it is because this is a once in a lifetime opportunity..” Linton’s voice tapered off.

Melty looked down at her glass.

“Go.”

“Melty?”

She raised her head to look at him.

And after that, she never spoke to him again.

– She was going to lose him.

Her mind returned to the present. A deep desperation bubbled up from within, cracks to her shell of personality, she opened her mouth.

All the things she wanted to convey.

The feelings she wished to express.

If she lost this chance now, there would never be another one like it again.

“Lin–!”