===

Story Fragment

*

Chirstmas Special

===

There was a young girl running alone in the snowy streets. Her bright red hair swayed, shining like a jewel in the sunlight. With a panic stricken face, she threw herself into the crowd.

The people on the street seemed to part as if to let her through, yet none seemed to have noticed her presence.

“Help me!!”

She waved her hand before a knight on sentinel duty, but he walked right past her as if she didn’t exist. “W-Why.. why..? What is going on..?”

Was this punishment for sneaking out of her home?

She turned to look behind.

‘I think I lost her..?’

She swiftly turned into a dim alley to catch her breath. She gazed down to look at her fading hands, a grimace formed on her face. It was as if she was going to disappear from this world.

“Hey, what’s a kid doing here..”

An unexpected voice caught her attention. Frozen in place, she found herself before a group of adult mercenaries smoking.

“.. Wait, what? She’s not human.”

“The ghost?!”

“Wait, so the rumors are true?”

This girl.. her figure was translucent.

“Calm down everyone,” One of the men threw his cigarette aways and approached while doing his best to suppress his imposing aura. His light armor rattled as he shifted his position to meet her height.

She staggered a few steps backwards, his eyes widened. This ghost had clearly responded to him. The phantoms of snowfall– rumors were that there had been many sightings of ghost-like figures on the streets.

It was as if staring into a three-dimensional movie. The ghosts were in their own world, no matter what a person from this plane did to get the ghost’s attention, it’d prove futile. Some say it was a mirage of the past, some say it was a form of hallucination magic.

Yet here they were, able to communicate with this girl.

“My name is Walton, these are my party members. We’re not bad people, just mercenaries having a smoke. Who are you?”

“Y-You can see me?"

“I can see you.”

“I-I am Irene. I.. live.. in an orphanage here..”

“There are a lot of orphanages here. Which one, kid?” The lanky one leaning against the wall clicked his tongue.

“That.. that..” somehow the name just couldn’t come to the top of her mind. “I don’t remember..”

“What? How can you not remember something like that?”

“How did you end up like this?”

“I.. I don’t know. Someone just said that..”

“Boys, circle,” at Walton’s command, everyone moved into formation and surrounded the girl with their backs facing her.

“Ara? What is this?”

A grin could be seen on a woman whose presence appeared deeper within the alley.

“Sorry boys. Could you let things slide? She’s a naughty girl that ran away from home, I need to bring her back.”

“Your affiliation please?”

There was a sickly aura he couldn’t quite discern, Walton didn’t trust her. But one thing was for certain, she definitely wasn’t a staff from a children’s orphanage.

Voluptuous curves to her body, wearing nothing but a tight black dress which looked as uncomfortable to walk around in as it was obscene. A black veil covered her head, yet her bright blue eyes were still visible past the fabric.

“Who is she and why do you want her?” Walton raised the temperature of his body in preparation for battle.

Her lips curled up slightly. A strong wind blew.

At the mark, he tore off his necklace. The sword key expanded into a blue magic sword. It was a blade forged from a young ice dragon’s blood and magic cores of powerful ice spirits.

S-rank mercenary Walton. Nickname: Winter Tide. He was a renounced mercenary that was said to have reached the lowest depths of the three great dungeons of Tnudra Kingdom.

His other mercenary friends weren’t simple goofballs either. They were each at least A-rank themselves.

“Really now, what a big misunderstanding,” the woman groaned. “I’m not a bad person okay? She just escaped from my sight, I need to stop her before she breaks into this world.”

“Breaks into this world?”

“That girl you’re seeing shouldn’t exist. Or should I say, there is already another ‘her’ in the current world.”

“I don’t understand any of what you are saying.”

“The effect of an artifact run amok. That’s all I can tell you. So move.”

“No! Mister, don’t let her!” Irene panicked.

Walton turned around, meeting her tear ridden eyes.

He reached out his hand to pet her– he was surprised that he could actually feel the texture of her hair. “Don’t worry young lady. I’ll make sure she doesn’t get anywhere near you.”

The woman covered by a veil gasped. “You can’t really believe her more than you do me can you?”

“Obviously,” Walton turned around and pointed his sword at her. “After all, you’re definitely part of that Savior’s Cult.”

The woman clicked her tongue.

A spear derived from wind formed in her hands, her auburn hair swayed.

A large pillar of snow exploded into the air.

– Ro turned to the direction of the sound.

===

A couple days earlier..

Risa grabbed a pillow and threw it. It slammed right into Shiro’s face, he was sent tumbling to the ground.

“Noo!!!” Risa yelled.

“What in the world do you think you’re doing?! That hurt!”

Shiro removed the pillow and got up rubbing his nose. The impact had left a vague imprint of his face on the pillow.

“I just realized something,” Risa said with a straight face.

“What.. why did you need to throw a pillow point blank at my face huh?” Shiro furrowed his brows.

“There’s no winter in Rika nation.”

“And so?” Shiro shook his head and picked up the book he dropped.

“But that doesn't mean there’s no nation without winter.” Risa narrowed her eyes.

“So? What are you getting at?”

“I got just the perfect idea. Let’s celebrate christmas!”

===

“Christmas? What’s that?” Lilian asked.

“Apparently it’s some sort of big celebration back in the hero’s world,” Sequence said as he sat down on the couch.

“It’s quite a weird name for a celebration, though, I suppose that’s how it is for most things they introduce to this world,” Ro said.

“So, well, you know. Wanna come to Tnudra Kingdom?” Sequencee dropped the news.

“Us?” Lilian tilted her head.

“Yeah. You two. Schwii asked me to ask you guys, since we’ve never really gone on a trip together– except for that one time we came to Rika nation. We’re just taking advantage of Evelyn’s excuse to meet one of her friends from her academy years, so there’s no pressure if you want to stay back to work on your part time jobs.”

“What has that got to do with this ‘Christmas’ thing?”

“Risa said it isn’t Christmas if it doesn’t snow. Apparently, in their world, there are things known as seasons. The biomes change depending on the time of year.”

“Oh, so that’s how it is in their world? How odd.”

“So, you’re coming right?”

“Um.. why not, right?” Ro turned to Lilian.

“Of course! Though.. is it really alright? We’ve only been taking from you without being able to repay anything back in return..” Lilian gripped.

“In the first place, aren’t we all the same? I’m still dependent on Schwii and Evelyn when it comes to money, you know?” Sequencee smiled bitterly. “I think the point is to just get along well.”

“You’re right in that sense.. but it’s still a little hard to accept, for me at least,” Ro admitted.

“Right?” Lilian agreed.

“So you two are up for it right? We’ll be leaving first thing tomorrow.”

“So soon?”

“Risa said something about having to go early to make it in time before the first year of the New Dawn ends.”

===

The continent of Ekia doesn’t experience such a thing as four seasons. Instead, the regions were divided by the concept of ‘biomes’.

A shift of a few kilometers can be the difference of a tropical weather, or a snowy one.

These phase changes were not brought about by the positions of the land in correlation to the distance to the sun, but by the density of spirits in the regions.

Just like the magic system in Ekia, the classification of spirit types were merely for the purposes of understanding. While there are four basic spirits: Spring spirit (spirit of restoration), summer spirit (spirit of zeal), autumn spirit (spirit of respite), winter spirit (spirit of quietus), these could be divided into small sub-types.

Take for example, the empire’s capital and Rika nation. Both have an asimilar mixture of spring and summer spirits, however, the concentration of autumn spirits and winter spirits are higher in Rika nation. Nonwithal, the aggregations weren’t high enough to trigger snowfall.

So in a sense, Tundra Kingdom, located at the very southern-east point of the human empire was special. It is the only snow biome in the human empire.

The lands and a portion of the taboo sea were covered in snow and ice, the temperature was below freezing point, and many unique magic tools have been developed in order to live comfortably in such an environment.

Lilian blew on the window, a layer of mist covered the surface. She then used her finger to draw.

“Ro, look, it’s you,” Lilian said, pointing at the picture.

“Excuse me?”

“Spiky hair and small beady eyes.”

Ro leaned in, Lilian reflexively pressed her back against the seat. He drew two big circles around the eyes and made the hair longer. “Now it looks just like you.”

“You jest!”

The convenience of warp portals have shortened the month-long trip to two days. They were now in the heart of Tnudra Kingdom, the luxurious carriage they were on was headed straight for the main-stay castle.

“It’s freezing,” Lilian grabbed her coat and tightened her grip on it.

“Sequencee, do you know any spells that can prevent the cold?” Ro asked.

“What do you mean by that? Prevent feeling the cold?”

“You could actually do that can’t you, Sequencee? Creating a pocket of wind, and adjusting the temperature around your own body,” Leticia followed up.

“If I remember correctly, it’s a magic people of this region often use,” Nynim said.

“Really?”

“I’ve come here in the past, so I’m somewhat aware of it,” Nynim looked out towards the streets.

The people of this nation would stand stationary in greetings in order to pay their respects as the carriages passed.

Ro turned to the side and noticed how Quora was leaning against Daizo, his arm around her waist– they were cuddled up nice and warm.

“Sequencee is a member of the royal family now,” Lilian muttered.

“Come again?” Sequencee asked.

“No, nothing.”

Ro, who had been sitting just beside Lilian closed his eyes to nap a while longer.

Since they weren’t part of the main party, they would be staying at the annex of the castle. While one may call this a form of status discrimination, the truth was that Tnudra Kingdom did not have many ‘premium’ guest rooms available. In this situation, they had only the option to move some of them to the lesser guest accomodations.

That said, the rooms in the annex were already amazing as they were.

An apartment split into three spaces, one living room, one bathroom, and one bedroom, each enough to accommodate four people.

Upon arriving, the main group went into the castle to meet the royal family, while the second group headed straight for the lodging.

Ro was split into the male camp with Daizo and Dorry. The female camp which consisted of Quora, Nynim and Lilian were in the other room.

“It’s freezing. Can’t even take off my coat in here,” Daizo complained, arms wrapped around his body.

“The bathroom looks good,” Dorry said after some exploration.

Ro, who wasn’t really close to Leticia’s friends, walked right into the bedroom and began to unpack his items.

Based on what Sequencee got from Shiro, their stay was likely to last around two weeks. They would have a lot of free time to explore the city.

Knock. Knock–

“Who is it?” Dorry asked.

“I got the door,” Daizo remarked and opened the door– and was left nonplussed.

“Nice to meet you,” The girl on the furthest right bowed. “My name is Nataline, should you have any requests feel free to call us. We’ve been assigned as your servant for the duration of your stay.”

Her hair was lavender, but it had a darker shade compared to Lilian’s. Her emerald eyes were bright, exuding a calm vitality. She had this gentle but astute aura to her countenance.

“My name is Vallestia. Likewise, I hope to get along,” said the girl in the middle.

Vallestia was the shortest and youngest one of the three, she gave off a simple and easy-to-approach type of vibe. Her hair was curly brown.

“My name is Arila, please feel free to ask if there are any needs,” then the one furthest to the left.

She stood out the most among the three because of her blazing pink-red hair. Her eyes were light blue, she was the only elf among the three.

All three of them were incredibly attractive maidservants in their own unique way.

“Oh, can you hold on for a moment..” Daizo narrowed the gap of the door. He turned inside with a troubled expression. “Dorry, what should we do about this?”

“Just use them. After all, they are private maids assigned to us.”

“Use them? Seriously?” Daizo said with furrowed brows, “I thought you would say something along the lines of telling them that we can handle ourselves.”

“You’re just worried Quora would get the wrong idea.”

“Exactly.”

“But we’re talking about royalty here. If they can’t accommodate this much after chasing us out of the main castle, I believe they would feel quite guilty.”

“What? So we just accept their service happily? I don’t even know what to tell them to do, I’ve never had a maid do my work all my life.”

“We understand your situation so please be at ease. We wouldn’t try to trespass any private matters without consideration. As for matters that we can assist you with, a few to name would be the matter of laundry, the maintenance of room cleanliness and perhaps act as a guide should you want to explore the town,” Nataline said.

“.. Sorry, but could it be that the girls also have their own personal maids?”

“Our butlers will be serving them.”

“...”

This arrangement was made by the head maid, it wasn’t as if they could do anything about it.

“It’s alright.. anyways, can I ask about the schedule later? This is part of the service right?” Daizo asked.

“Later, the hero’s party will have dinner with the royal family. Due to the limited space however, I will have to say unfortunately that you may not get the chance to dine with them. We had instead prepared a feast for the six of you. Or, if you wish, we may recommend restaurants outside the castle, the cost will be borne by the royal family.”

“That’s not bad.”

“So speaking, we are free for the day?” Dorry asked.

“Yes,” the one who replied is Arila.

“What’s going on?” Ro peeked out of the bedroom.

“Uh, we’ve got maids,” Daizo said.

“Maid..?” This would be the first time he would be attended by one.

===

“It’s a pleasure to..”

Quora slammed the door the instant she opened it. She leaned her back against the handle.

“What’s wrong?” Lilian asked.

“I don’t know. But I feel like we’ve got ourselves our own butlers..”

“Butlers?” Nynim, who had already begun drinking, asked.

Quora nodded fervently.

“Why butlers?” Lilian didn’t understand.

“Open the door again,” Nynim took Quora’s place and received the three men on the other side instead.

The troubled expressions on their faces made for quite the sight.

The first guy was Lockes, neat blackish-blue hair and calm blue eyes. He looked the most gentle of the three.

The second was Cawthorn. His dashing appearance was complimented by his sharp-sweep hairstyle and angular chin. His ruby eyes were what stood out in his overall features.

The third was a guy by the name Parish. He had light-blue hair, purple eyes. He looked like a well-sculpted piece of artwork more than anything.

“””It’s a pleasure to meet you three ladies. Don’t hesitate to call us if you need anything. We’ll attending to your every..”””

Nynim shut the door on them.

“I think I understand how you feel now,” Nynim said, looking squarely at Quora with a serious expression.

“That’s rude..”

Lilian took the door knob and opened it for the third time.

“Sorry about that,” the first thing she did was apologize. “Is it alright if we don’t have any servants to help us?”

“That’s not possible miss. We have been assigned to assist you to the best of our abilities,” Lockes spoke.

“Then is it alright that you only come when we call? I don’t want to sound mean, it’s just uncomfortable to be followed around.. you know?” Lilian said bashfully.

Lockes showed a genial smile, “If that’s what you wish, then we’ll gladly comply.”

“Hold on, if you don’t show up, how do we call you?” Quora asked.

“That bell, just ring it twice. We’ll catch on right away,” Cawthorn pointed at the basket on the shelf adjacent to the door.

Each bell had a small ribbon tied to it, and it corresponded to the colour of the ribbon which was tied around their collar.

“Oh.. so that’s what it’s for.”

“Please don’t close the door on us just yet. If you permit it, may we show you around the castle? The royal family has requested that we entertain you while your friends have an audience with His Royal Highness and Her Royal Highness.”

“Sure,” Lilian nodded.

“What?!” Quora squawked.

“W-What? What’s wrong with that?” Lilian flinched.

“Hold on, do the boys also have their own personal servants?”

“Yes,” Cawthorn replied.

“And they’re female maids?”

The butlers nodded with cold sweat running down their backs.

===

“Lilian,” Ro called out.

“Yeah?”

“You have a personal servant too right?”

“Yeah?”

“Then why don’t I see any of them around?”

“We dismissed him.”

“Oh, you can do that?”

The six of them sat around a table. Behind the three boys were the maids which they had been assigned. Meanwhile, the space behind the three girls was empty.

Around the table were various unique dishes rarely seen outside Tnudra Kingdom. As it was a nation built right beside the sea, there were many kinds of seafood dishes. Crystal oysters, king prawns, icespine-lobsters, man-eating sardines, and more. Of course, there were also familiar food items like bread, cheese and wine.

“Miss Arila. I don’t think you need to stand behind us like this. Would it be alright if you left..?” Ro turned around and asked.

“No. Since they aren’t present, we must stay to ensure everything proceeds as intended. So instead, should I move further away to provide you more personal space?”

Ro had no idea how any of this worked, he wasn’t a noble. So he turned to the others silently, eyes pleading for help.

Besides Lilian who was watching the situation play out intently, everyone was focused on the food.

“Then.. nevermind.”

“Yes sir,” Arila bowed.

Ro tried to ignore it. But he only felt more self-conscious the more he did.

“Are there other kinds of wines here?” Nynim asked, tilting the glass to Nataline.

“Nynim, Sequencee is not here right now. If you get drunk he’s not going to be able to help you,” Quora warned.

“We have a few collections which I believe would please you. Should I bring you the wine menu from the chef?”

“Please do.”

Nataline bowed and left.

At the same time, Nynim got up and walked over to Dorry who was digging into the lobster. She wrapped her arm intimately around Dorry and whispered something. He shook his head.

The two other maids merely watched as the development unfolded.

Ro glanced over a short moment before returning his focus to his food.

“Daizo. Let’s go somewhere with just the two of us later,” Quora’s voice rang.

“I was thinking the same. Actually, I already have an idea of where to go later.”

“Sounds good,” Quora nodded in a good mood.

“How about you?” Arila asked softly behind Ro’s back.

“Maybe I’ll just go to sleep early. It’s been a tiring day.”

“Then should I warm the bath now?”

“I don’t need a bath, a shower is fine.”

“Yes sir.”

It was only when Nataline came back with the wine connoisseur did Nynim return to her seat. With this, her intentions had been made clear.

She was going to have a drinking party with Dorry.

===

“Ro, everyone is going to town, are you going too?” Lilian asked.

“Me? I plan to go back to sleep. I’m tired. You?”

“Ah? I actually kind of want to take a look outside though?”

“I can act as your guide,” Arila said.

“Ah, speaking of which, I still don’t know your name yet. Nice to meet you, I’m Lilian.”

“Forgive my oversight. It’s a pleasure to meet you Lilian, my name is Arila.”

“Arila eh? So how did you end up becoming a maid? And one working for the royal family too..”

“My uncle is an admin staff who works with the governors of my kingdom. He recommended I try to become a maidservant here, so I did, and here I am now.”

“Is the pay good?” Lilian asked, Ro rolled his eyes.

‘So this is what she’s getting at?’

“It’s not bad, though, if money is your intention then you are better off working elsewhere. As a still-learning royal maid, I don’t have a lot of free time for myself.”

“I see..”

“That’s harsh.”

“I wouldn’t say so. After all, it’s my own decision.. Sir Ro, will you be going out with Miss Lilian?”

“Um..”

“Come on. Nynim and Dorry are going to hang out together over a sea of wine, Quora and Diazo are going out on a date, it’s just you and me left. And it’s not like we need to wake up early for anything, right?”

“I don’t think there’s anything you need to take note of tomorrow. It’s very likely that the hero’s party will be busy as well. Moreover, the royal banquet is still four days from now. You have time.”

“Ro, come on.”

“Okay, okay. It’s not like I have anything to do tonight either,” he sighed.

“Great! Let’s meet up in front of your room. I need to get my coat.”

“Me too.”

“In that case, please pardon me while I prepare my clothes also,” Arila bowed.

===

Lilian blew white mist from her mouth. She could see her glasses cloud up visible, the path before here was covered in a layer of white.

A harsh winterland of snow and ice, Tnudra kingdom is a nation that never sleeps. As the central gateway to the three great dungeons, many strong mercenaries come to Tnudra Kingdom to challenge them in hopes to earn a name for themselves. Even deep into the night, the streets are crowded with mercenaries from various denominations.

Ro and Lilian were making their way through the bustling city. Wearing thick coats and an enchanted mantle to keep themselves warm, Arila and Lockes guided them to the famous places which are often visited by tourists.

A statue of His Majesty the king, Dimitri Guild’s founding headquarters, the broadway which overlooked the icy beach, the steam geysers fields, and even the infamous hot spring.

“Hot spring?”

“Yes. Tnudra Kingdom is known for its amazing hot springs.”

“I’ve never gone to a hot spring before, but I heard it’s like a big bath?” Lilian asked.

“It’s something similar. The difference is that there are healing qualities to the special water which comes from underground. There are various stories of adventures managing to cleanse all ameliorants and curses in the bath after toiling in the dungeons.”

“Maybe we should try it tomorrow, what do you think?” Lilian asked Ro.

“How does it work again? If we’re talking about a big bath, doesn't that mean everyone enters?”

“The baths are split between male and females. But in most places, there is the mixed bath with no restriction of gender,” Lockes said.

“I don’t recommend the mixed bath unless you have intentions to do ‘that’. Couples that want a spicy experience often go there to ease up,” Arila followed up.

“Eh, what?” Lilian’s eyebrows flinched.

“That sounds.. like a red light district.”

“Don’t get me started on that,” Arila said with scrunched brows.

“Your tongue is loosening, Arila,” Lockes warned.

“My apologies,” Arila lowered her head.

“I prefer how you’re being frank actually. It makes conversations easier for us,” Lilian said.

“I think so too. We’re not nobles, so we’re not used to the fancy speeches,” Ro also attested.

“I understand,” Arila nodded.

“While that may be true, maintaining basic courtesy is still of importance,” Lockes reminded.

“Where off to next?” Ro asked.

They were at a crossroad.

“Would you like to head to head back, or explore the night bazaar?”

“Castle or Bazaar?”

“I think bazaar. I want to see how it’s different from the one back at the academy.”

“There are a lot of different bazaars, each with their own unique personalities. However, the most popular amongst them is the central bazaar. It’s not too far from where we are now.”

The central bazaar was the go-to place for adventurers that needed to restock on consumables, repair their equipment, haggle for discounts, buy street food to fill their stomachs, and sell materials which they had acquired from their dungeon trips.

It was a bazaar which spanned from the main kingdom gates to the central plaza. Just walking from one end to the other would take a full hour.

Colourful flashing lights, salesy pitches, and the busy ambient made the night feel like day. The place didn’t even feel cold. The liveliness of the flourish nightlife here was one to behold. To Ro and Lilian who knew night to be a time where everyone went to sleep, it came to them as a culture shock.

“Look at all those magic cores,” Lilian pointed to one of the stalls.

“Most magic cores found in Tnudra kingdom are blue, not red. The explanation for this is that the monsters here grew in the effects of mana emanated by winter spirits.”

“Hey, Ro. Do you have money?”

“What?”

“I heard from Leticia that this ‘Christmas’ thing is a celebration where we get gifts for each other. I want to get something for everyone.”

“Well..” Ro opened up his system.

He had saved around 10,000G, which was equivalent to one gold coin.

“I don’t have a lot of leeway, but it’s possible.”

“Better than nothing. Let’s find gifts for them.”

They had been in debt to everyone ever since they left Mane’s home, this was a tacit understanding between the both of them. They knew that most of their good fortune did not come from themselves, but from others. They were blessed to have friends like Sequencee, Leticia, Schwii, Evelyn– the rest.

“May I inquire what this ‘Christmas’ thing you were talking about is?” Lockes asked.

“It’s a celebration from the hero’s world. I was told that it’s a celebration where people give gifts to each other in a snowy environment.”

“How fascinating.”

A new clip pen for Sequencee.

A crystal necklace for Leticia.

Perfume for Schwii.

A hairpin for Evelyn.

A vial of decorative monster blood for Reese.

Two lockets for Linzy and Linton.

Matching rings for Diazo and Quora.

An enchanted crystal core consumable for Shiro.

A jeweled scrunchy for Risa.

Skin cream for Matilda.

A pocket watch for Iona.

A matching mug for Dorry and Nynim.

“We’ve got a lot..”

“There’s so many people, it’s kind of ridiculous.”

“There goes all our money, but I think it’s well spent.”

“Yup.”

Getting the final item–a small hourglass piece for the princess of Tnudra Kingdom, Lyliane, Evelyn’s friend, Lilian and Ro decided to go back.

“Be sure to hide the items. We’ll only bring it out on that day.” Ro said.

“I will be careful of that,” Lockes nodded. He left first in order to avoid suspicion, leaving Arila to take care of them.

“...”

“...”

Of course, it wasn’t as if they were unaware that there was one more person they hadn’t gotten any gifts for.

“Hey Lilian.”

“Yeah?”

“About..” his words trail off. “Nothing..”

“What?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing to me– whatever. You can tell me about it when you’re ready.”

‘She knows.’

Ro contemplated how he should reply when his eyes were suddenly drawn to the sight of a familiar face in the middle of the street. His figure was translucent, almost ghost-like. Yet the confusion.. Ro found himself unable to look away.

‘What..?’

This was Sequencee, but why did he look different? He turned his way briefly before turning away, it was as if he didn’t recognize them.

No.. Ro almost didn’t recognise him either. He looked older– like an adult version of the Sequencee he knew.

“Lilian, you’re seeing him right?”

“I am.. why is he here?”

“Who?” Arila asked.

“You don’t see him? He’s standing right in the middle of the road,” Ro looked at Arila in disbelief.

“No, I don’t.”

In a flit of a moment, he rushed off somewhere. No one could see him except Ro and Lilian, yet it was as if people were making a path for him.

“Should we.. follow?”

“Maybe it’s his illusion magic.. or an artifact. Let’s go,” Lilian nodded.

‘He saw us right? So why did he act as if we didn’t exist?’

The three of them chased after the fleeing figure. It was clear to them that there was something abnormal going on. Sequencee was seen in a panic, stopping every now and then to scan his surroundings for something– or someone.

“Sequencee!” Ro called out.

“Sequencee! What’s going on?”

Despite their shouts, he didn’t turn their way.

“What’s going on huh..?”

“Desperate times call for desperate measures, I’ll stop him,” Ro pushed through the crowd to reach him.

Sequencee turned around to meet his gaze– somewhat. He sighed in relief.

“You okay.. wha?!”

Sequencee ran right past Ro. He turned around and notice Sequencee quickly pulling the hood over a girl. Ro caught a glimpse of fluttering white hair.

“Hey Sequencee, what’s up with.. huh..?”

Before he could finish, they just vanished.

===

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. First princess of Tnudra Kingdom, Lyliane Tnudra greets all,” the princess with light blue hair greeted in glee.

Everyone was seated around a cozy hearth. The crackling of bark to the gentle smell of a minty smoke brought about by the burning of an eucalyptus-like tree species.

A hot milk tea drink had been set before each of them, Lyliane sandwiched between Evelyn and her personal maid Teal.

“It’s nice to meet you~” Risa bowed.

“Same here. Nice to meet you Your Highness,” Shiro greeted

“Hello!” Quipped Reese.

“It’s a pleasure to make an acquaintance,” said Schwii.

Each person greeted in their own unique manner. Lyliane turned to Evelyn and pinched her cheek.

“Lyliane, what are you doing..”

“It’s been a while since I did this. It’s still as soft as ever,” Lyliane said with eyes curled in delight. She then turned to the rest, “My apologies if my actions cause some misunderstanding. I’ve been friends with Evelyn since our time in the academy in the royal capital, so it’s undeniable that I would treat her in such an open manner. As you too are her friend, or lover even, I invite you to open up to me as well. I believe there’s no need to create a barrier between us, I don’t mind if you call my name as is– that is when we’re in closed situations like these.”

Sequencee turned to Shiro.

“Ah, please tell me, which one of them is your partner?” Lyliane grinned.

“That.. I believe you can tell from the limited information alone, can’t you?”

“I still want to hear it from your mouth personally. I was truly surprised when I received news that you were engaged to a demon. Had you not clarified the matter, I would’ve sent for the best mercenaries in our land to subjugate him.”

“That’s not something to be said lightly..”

“I’m joking, I’m joking,” Lyliane laughed with her hand over her mouth. It was only after a pause did she continue. “So then, shall we briefly introduce ourselves? I would like to get to know all of you better.”

“Leticia Estia. I’m a half elf, baroness of the current Estia. I wouldn’t say that I’m competent in any field, and have been indebted to everyone to have reached the place I have now.”

“Oh? You were a survivor..”

Leticia nodded solemnly.

Lyliane said no more and moved on to the next person.

“Schwii Arch, soon turning 19. Daughter of Vyiella Leviath, sole princess of the demon nation of Leviath.”

“Huh..? You’re.. a demon too..?”

“A succubus, to be more precise,” Reese interjected.

“Shut it,” Schwii glared at her.

Reese grinned.

“I will have to admit that she’s the most intelligent among the three of us. Her actions stem from her consideration and kindness, so it’s needless worry if you think that she plans to betray anyone.” Evelyn said.

“Thank you,” Schwii sighed.

“I see.. then you?” Lyliane turned to the girl with black hair and golden eyes..

“Reese Rine. I’m the daughter of Viscount Rine, nothing too special about me.”

“Personally, I think you’re the most eccentric person here.”

“I plan to have both their children,” Reese crossed her hands and pointed at both Sequencee and Shiro.

The two boys looked at each other and tacitly looked away from Reese in opposite directions.

“They will not escape.”

“Shiro, be sure to keep Linzy with you at night at all times.”

“You don’t need to tell me that.”

“How dare you say something so crass in front of the princess!” Matilda stood up and glared.

“Crass? Being frank and honest is the path towards building trust and friendship is it not?” Reese whistled.

“I don’t deny that, however, don’t you think that there are certain standards you should maintain of yourself?”

“I’m not that inflexible,” Reese shrugged.

“...”

“Please calm down. I’m sure everyone here has their differences..” Lyliane tried to pull the reins in order to control the situation. “And you, Matilda? Could you introduce yourself?”

“Yes, gladly,” she showed a curt bow. “Matilda Erst, daughter of the Duke Greg Erst from the kingdom of Lumbire. Our family is a renowned military family which guards the border between the beast-people’s territory and the empire. I will be graduating by the end of this holiday and will do my utmost to serve Shiro and Risa as ordained by the Goddess.”

“Ordained by the Goddess? Pfft,” Reese totted.

Matilda silently sent her a look.

“When you mentioned.. as ordained by the Goddess.. could it be an oracle?”

“Yes.”

“Wow.”

“I didn’t know that?” Schwii looked at Matilda in surprise.

“Then.. how about you? Miss who is standing behind Schwii?”

“Iona Egress from the demon empire. I serve as Schwii’s personal maid.”

“She’s the best cook in the world, an assassin, and a demon general,” Risa followed up with these attributes with a sense of pride.

“A demon general you say..” Lyliane was truly having the weirdest encounters today. The scriptures had said that the hero’s circle of companions each have the capability to shake the foundation of the world. She could come to understand a little of that wisdom now. “And you, little one?”

“Linzy.”

“Linzy, I see..”

“Um, sorry to interrupt princess, I’ll explain,” Linton coughed, “Linzy is my younger sister, I’m her older brother. We’re beastkins, but also, my sister inherited my father’s traits as a demon. So you could say that we’re half-demons.”

“Oh, that’s quite fascinating. Nice to meet you both–”

Lyliane turned to the tall man donning full armor.

“I’m Aaron Smite, Your Highness. A former SS-rank mercenary who came from a fallen noble home.”

“Ah, you’re the hero’s instructor. The responsibility you bear must be quite heavy, having so much expectation placed on you to educate them.”

“I wouldn’t say so, Your Highness. Their talent is unfathomable.”

Risa and Shiro, the last two. “Finally, the two great heroes of the New Dawn. May I ask about your life before you came here?”

“Sure thing. Hi, my name is Risa Takashi, this here is my brother Shiro Takashi. We grew up in a nation called Japan, Kyoto. We were also studying at an academy, though it’s more books than it is magic– ah, yes, magic doesn’t exist in our world, but we have what we have science instead..”

Risa went prattling on about their life with family, the difference in how the democratic politics work, anime-manga and how it greatly resembled the world they were in, and she didn’t forget about the smartphones of course.

“As a big finisher..” Risa glanced at Shiro once, he flashed an expression of confusion, “My brother had a crush once with a girl in our world.”

“Hey..”

“That’s.. quite pitiful. Do you have any intentions of returning.. if such a thing is possible?”

“It’s currently impossible. After all, if it was, then his girlfriend would’ve returned before we got sent here.”

“Come again?”

“Rika Kobayashi, is Shiro’s girlfriend, and my closest rival.”

“I’m not getting you?”

“Big surprise right? I believe it has to do with the fact that time here is much slower than in our world. 500 years have passed in this world since Rika disappeared from our world, but it was only about two months for us in Japan.”

“Ah..?”

“But I think– no. We think Rika is still alive somewhere.”

“I don’t deny that,” Shiro agreed upon her words.

“So that’s our mission after resolving the conflict between the demons and humans. If we ever have a chance to go back to our home, I believe the answer lies with her, because she had been researching the subject for more than a century.”

“If the great hero was still alive, that would be incredible,” Lyliane muttered. Digesting the information they have given, a through rose to the surface. She clapped her hand as if remembering something. “Yes, that reminds me. On the topic of legends, there’s been rumors circulating around that people have been seeing ghostly figures lately.”

“Ghostly figures?”

“Yes, ghostly figures. Since we were speaking about the Great Hero Rika and the possibility of her still being alive somewhere, I thought you would be interested in hearing about the story yourselves?”

Shiro and Risa looked at each other.

“How about it?”

“When did the rumors begin?” Iona asked.

“A couple months ago. Of course, there hadn’t been any harm done by these ghost-like figures, rather, the witness experienced it as if they were spectators of some mirage of the past.”

===

“What did you say?” Nynim tilted her head.

“We bumped into Sequencee, but he was acting weird,” Lilian said with brows arched.

“He literally walked right past me. It’s like he didn’t see me at all,” Ro said.

“You said he was bringing a girl along right?”

“I think it’s Her Highness Evelyn.”

“Evelyn?”

“White hair. I clearly saw it before they sort of disappeared.”

“Hm..”

“Maybe they just eloped somewhere. Who knows how Sequencee deals with his harem,” Quora quipped.

“But the problem is that the girl I saw.. she’s clearly much shorter than Her Highness,” Ro remembered the aura surrounding the girl feeling strangely different.

“We can ask about it when we meet them later, if not tomorrow. I believe he has his reasons for acting so,” Dorry added his two cents.

“Right. Oh, speaking of which, we should decide what we want to do today before any of us die from boredom.”

“I don’t know. Seems like it’ll be another busy day for those in the main castle.”

“How about we find a good bar and drink till we drop?” Nynim recommended.

“You.. I thought you complained of a hangover earlier..” Dorry’s brow twitched.

“I’m cured.”

“Ah, I know just the place!” Quora clapped her hands.

“The place you said you wanted to go yesterday?” Daizo asked.

“Yeah, let’s just go there together. We can always find some other place to have a meal with just the two of us.”

“How many servants should we bring with us?”

“No idea.”

They still haven’t gotten used to having maidservants following them.

===

Lilac.

That was the name of the odd-ball restaurant Quora found yesterday night.

It was unique in that the food served was heavily inspired by alchemy. Drinks were served in potion bottles, cakes in beakers, potato fries in glass funnels, fish on ceramic tiles, sauce in test tubes.

The design of the restaurant also mimicked that of a laboratory. The dichotomy of what was appropriate in a dining scene is what made the concept stand out.

“Lime-water cocktail.”

“Combustible burger.”

“Frozen sandwich?”

“A coffee reagent.”

“Pudding in a pill bottle.”

A clear drink that turned blue over time.

A burger that came with sauce burning in blue flames.

An actual sandwich which was covered in ice.

Coffee in a conical flask with white smoke sublimating from it.

A soft served Nim pudding in a hand sized bottle.

Despite the odd naming and conflicting elements, the food tasted amazing if not eccentric. Each dish had a key inspiration which could be traced back to alchemic concepts.

“If you’re interested in bizarre foods such as these, we do have a few places in mind which you could visit at a further date,” Nataline said.

“For example?”

“A dungeon themed cakehouse.”

“Anyone interested?” Quora asked.

Everyone showed interest, though none of them said anything.

“I’m not sure. Is it far?”

“It’s funny how we have to decide on things like this.. feels too luxurious to me.”

“I know right?”

“I think I understand that feeling.”

“There’s no need to be concerned about that. The cost is borne by the royal family.”

“We know that, it’s just..”

Sure, it was a blessing and they were grateful to have been graced with such a privilege. It’s just.. something felt off about not having to pay.

“Let’s just enjoy what we can. We don’t know when we’ll die anyways,” Dorry took a sip of his smoking coffee.

“What a depressing way of thinking.”

“Makes sense though..” Ro nodded in agreement.

“Don’t listen to him!” Nynim retorted.

And like that a cheery atmosphere wiped away the doubts. They decided that their next stop after this would be to walk around in the morning city before stopping by the dungeon themed cake house for tea break.

===

“The snow looks so beautiful,” Lilian muttered.

“But it’s cold..” Nynim complained. As an elf, she was more sensitive to temperature. “ I should’ve brought my alcohol with me.”

“I can’t imagine what it’d be like if you got drunk mid-day,” Quora said jokingly.

“Definitely not something good. That’s all I know,” Dorry muttered.

“No choice but to break out the good al’ candied liquor then,” Nynim chucked a couple beads of something into her mouth.

“Oi, what the hell did you eat?” Dorry narrowed his eyes.

“Beer flavored candy.”

“That one.. I don’t think there’s any alcohol in that. Just flavoring,” Daizo said.

‘Maybe we should’ve gotten that instead of matching mugs.’

Such a thought crossed both Lilian and Ro’s minds.

“I created a snowman!”

To the shout, they turned to frosty park. Kids wearing thick coats sticking carrots and stones into big balls of snow.

“Hey, wouldn’t it be fun to make snow balls and throw them at each other?” Lilian asked.

“Did you read too many stories?” Ro showed a questioning gaze.

“That’s what people do when they see snow right?” Lilian smiled.

Ro scooped up a bunch of ice, packed them tightly into a sphere, and threw it forward.

The snow slammed against one of the light poles with a loud thud.

“That could actually hurt.”

“Yeah.. maybe it’s not that great of an idea..”

Lilian picked up some ice herself. But unlike Ro, she made the packing loose. When it hit, the sound turned out to be more of a splat.

“This is better,” Lilian nodded to herself.

“So you want to play?”

“No. Just experimenting with snow. I don’t want to make a mess of myself, plus, I’m wearing glasses. What if it breaks?”

“Then we’ll just ask Carter (see Chapter 3.19) to give you eyesight.”

“He’s not here at the moment though?”

They made their way through the park. One of the children waved at them, they waved back in response.

“Man, they’re so innocent,” Ro said.

“Innocent?”

“Remember back when we were like them?”

“Back when we were like them huh..” Lilian recalled the halcyon days they spent in Mane’s home.

Back then, all they needed to think about was getting good grades, making friends and making sure they didn’t get on the bad side of the teachers. Of course, there were also squimishes among students which Lilian now knew to be the early developments of ‘children politics’.

Nostalgic as it was, they had to leave the nest eventually.

Lilian still remembered vividly, when she thought that she and Ro would be left to survive on their own in Rika nation without a clue as to how society worked.

– It was the first time she had truly felt fear.

If not for Schwii’s generosity, who knows where they might be now?

‘Even now.. if suddenly we lost all support..’

Lilian made it a point to do some more research on job opportunities when she returned to the academy.

KABOOOM!!!

A white cloud rose into the air as an impact shook their bodies.

“What in the..”

Billowing white smoke came from the alley.

“I’ll go check out the situation,” Nynim said with a sharp gaze.

[Spatial Magic: Teleport]

“What..?”

“I’ll notify the knights immediately,” said Nataline.

Ro and Lilian stood there dumbfounded.

===

Walton stood between the mysterious woman and the specter-like girl Irene.

His icy blade glimmered coldly in the light; her shrine-like spear exuded a suppressing aura which even he found hard to resist against.

‘The hell is that weapon..’

The majesty of the spear didn’t match her risque outward appearance in the slightest.

“I have no intention of withholding myself here. So I’ll warn you once again, step aside.”

“No way. Ivan, take her and go.”

“Yes sir!” One of Walton’s party members grabbed the girl by the wrist and..

The woman raised her staff upwards and slammed the butt on the ground. A zephyr rippled outwards, Ivan and Irene were lifted into the air.

“What the?!”

“Looks like I don’t need to..”

[Rule Magic: Magic Dominance]

The wind was quelled, Ivan and Irene dropped back to the floor.

“.. I spoke too soon.”

The woman stabbed the staff in the air to her front, a vortex shot forth.

Tier 2 magic, [Rule Magic: Magic Dominance]. It was an ability which allowed a person to suppress magic within an area or change certain rules about the spell. The higher the tier, the greater the user’s ability to manipulate an opponent’s magic.

[Rule Magic: Magic Dominance]

The man named Yowkle stepped forth and held his hands out. The vortex dispersed immediately.

“Hahh.. what a pity.”

Ivan and Irene had already escaped out into the streets.

“Well, looks like you’re not getting away unscathed.”

The woman began to float in the air.

Walton immediately struck with his sword, a blue frost arc shot forth. With a flick of her spear, the frost projectile was easily thwarted.

But of course, that was merely a decoy.

[Unique Constitution: Turn Snow]

The signature fight which was what gave Walton his title as turn tide–he changed into a snow gale and appeared before her.

He swung his sword.

[Wind Magic: Time Monarch]

Time seemed to slow, the air felt sticky as glue.

The woman struck her spear down before he could move, his body slammed right into the ground.

“Come here.”

“What?!”

“A-ah!?”

Irene, despite the distance, was somehow lifted into the air from a far distance.

[Rule Magic: Magic Dominance]

Yowkle stretched his hands out.

“Too bad it only works at a certain range,” the woman joked, now higher than most buildings.

“Get her down!”

Seeing as their light provocation wasn’t enough, the party began moving in a coordinated fashion.

They scaled the buildings and jumped to her height in order to swipe her down.

[Activated Trait: Blast Power]

[Activated Skill: Momentum Convergence]

[Activated Skill: Absolute Penetration]

[Glacier Magic: Ice Coffin]

To all that, she simply flew a couple meters higher.

None of the attacks reached her.

The woman was just about to stick her tongue out to retaliate when a huge pillar of snow engulfed her from beneath.

It was Walton.

[Unique Constitution: Turn Snow]

He grabbed Irene in a cradle and landed on the roof.

“Boys! Scatter!”

He turned into a snowy blanket which carried Irene with it.

“What a troublesome bunch!” The woman, having just recovered from the impact, complained whilst brushing the snow off her thin clothes– she was freezing out here!

‘I should’ve just used force on them.’

She pointed her spear towards the white moving gale in the air and imprisoned it in a sphere of wind. Walton was forced to revert back to his original body.

“That’s it. No more miss nice woman, I’m taking her home.. eh?”

Walton was grinning.

An elf suddenly appeared, and together they vanished.

“What?!”

[Spatial Magic: Teleport]. At zeroth tier, Nynim could only teleport herself. At tier one, she could teleport herself and another person at max, so she had to teleport to and fro in order to bring both Irene and Walton out of the scene.

Teleportation magic exists. While some people may try to break down how warp gates work in hopes to one day reach that summit where people no longer had to depend on Gifts, the reality was that no one had been able to grasp the concept behind how such a complicated magic worked.

The warp gates which were used all over the empire utilized a standardized, complex array of runes. It was a design which people believed to be passed down from Hero Rika. And, it should be obvious to any mage that rune magic was fundamentally different from magic formulas.

Warp gates could be built and repaired, but to break it down into components and understand how each part worked to innovate on it? No one could do it. It was a design which magic engineers could only replicate identically on a 1-to-1 scale.

“Did we lose her?” Nynim asked.

“I don’t know,” Walton said, holding his arms.

It wasn’t bleeding, but he knew there were a few broken bones inside.

A single casual strike was all it took to cause such a shock to his body.. just imagine if she had gone serious on him.

‘Who the hell is she anyways?’

“You’re safe right?” Nynim turned to the girl.

“U-Uh.. thank you so much!” She lowered her head in an exaggerated manner. From her clothing, it could be inferred that she was a commoner.

Nynim heaved a sigh. “Can you tell me what happened?”

“Heh. So that’s the first thing you’re going to ask after our touching reunion? It’s been a while since I last saw you. So where were you all this time?” Walton grinned.

“Trying to get my license,” Nynim responded in a monotonous voice.

“Your license eh?”

“Really though, who would’ve thought you’d make a name for yourself here.”

They met years ago. Back when Nynim was a wandering elf explorer, he was one of the parties she had joined in order to gain experience.

She remembered being rebuked harshly by this man. Nonwithal, she had learnt a lot from him.

“Who would’ve thought that we would end up back as a party huh?”

“Temporary party.”

“The spot is still open if you wish to join.”

Any person who could teleport was an incredible asset. Furthermore, as someone who had the ability to move herself and one other person.. Nynim was all the more invaluable.

A light wind blew and tickled her face.

“You know, let’s move further away. I know a place we can go to hide,” Nynim grabbed Irene first and disappeared.

===

“Eh, um.. I.. I sneaked out of my home..”

“Ah? You’ve been a naughty girl haven’t you,” Nynim tickled her cheeks.

Irene, seated on her lap, struggled to get away, to no avail.

“And then?”

“I got caught..”

“Seriously, what is going on exactly?” Daizo scratched his head.

They were now back at the castle’s annex, more specifically, the common room.

The story which Ro and Lilian had told them about encountering Sequencee and Evelyn out in the streets– perhaps things weren’t as simple as they thought.

“Where exactly is your home?” Quora asked.

“It’s an orphanage, but I can’t remember much about it for some reason.”

“An orphanage?”

Irene nodded. She clenched and released her translucent fists.

“How did you end up like this in the first place? You’re all glass-like.”

“I don’t know. It just happened.”

“Hm..”

“Who was that lady? Do you recognise her?” Walton asked.

Irene shook her head. “I don’t know who she is. All I do know is that she’s out to kill me.”

He contemplated deeply.

“Should we tell Risa and Shiro about this?” Lilian asked.

“Isn’t that a given”

“I understand. I’ll send for them immediately,” Cawthorn bowed and left the room.

“Irene, since when did you become like this?”

“A few hours ago. I was just walking outside when people started ignoring me. I thought something was wrong.. and then I saw that lady. She was the only person who could see me, I thought she was going to help me, but she said that she will have to kill me if I want to go back home..”

“What..?”

“She said something about Irene coming from another dimension,” Walton recalled.

“Then where is the orphanage? What is the name?”

“I don’t know. I know that there’s a big bakery nearby that sells delicious melon buns.”

“You’re certain that the orphanage is in Tnudra Kingdom right?”

“Yes. I’m a citizen of this nation,” Irene nodded resolutely.

“Then can you remember the names of the people in the orphanage?”

“Daphne, Rilly, Cody.. and Miss Nancy, Miss Tinnia..” Irene went on to name a few more.

“That’s certainly odd. She’s definitely a citizen of Tnudra, otherwise she wouldn’t know about the national anthem.”

“Then she must have taken some weird potion.. or this may be the effect of a Gift.”

“An artifact.”

“Well, I guess we can only wait and see what they’d say..”

“Speaking of which, why is everyone in the royal castle?” Walton asked Nynim.

“Ah? Oh, you’ll find out soon.” Nynim grinned.

“Hold on.. don’t tell me you..”

===

“A ghost sighting?” Ra accidentally dropped the christmas lights on the floor.

“No, rather, the actual person is in the annex conversing with your companions at this very moment. I apologize for the sudden visit,” Cawthorn bowed.

“Okay.. that’s weird. So the rumors are true?” Risa remarked.

“I can’t deny the truth after witnessing what I have.”

“Well, the best option here is to take a look and see what’s going on right?” Shiro got down from the ladder.

“I suppose.”

“Should we let the others know?” Matilda asked, standing up following Shiro.

“Nah. Sequencee has to attend to his wives. Give him some space, we’ll solve the mystery instead,” Risa laughed.

“I can’t retort to that,” Shiro sighed.

“You don’t need to,” Risa grinned.

They welcomed the interruption midway through decorating the space for the Christmas party. Following Cawthorn, they headed to the castle annex.

There they found Nynim’s party members, surrounding a translucent girl wearing an opaque dress. A translucent coat, likely the girl’s, could be seen folded neatly to the side.

There was also an unfamiliar face– Walton. Risa was surprised by his A-grade stats, he was quite the powerhouse.

“It’s an honor to be in your presence, heroes. The name is Walton, no surname,” Walton knelt on the ground.

“Wow, and he’s super polite too!”

“You’re being rude Risa,” Matilda gave her a chop to the head. She yelped.

“Nice to meet you sir Walton. I’m Shiro, and my younger sister..”

“I’m Risa!”

“It’s a pleasure to make an acquaintance. I’m Matilda Erst, daughter of Duke Greg.”

Outwardly, Walton showed a calm expression, but he was freaking out on the inside.

Who would’ve thought that someone like Nynim had managed to build connections to the hero? Not only that, but as a friend? This was beyond him.

“Let’s get straight to it. Please explain what happened,” Matilda started a second round of interrogation.

===

“This is the one huh..”

Ryle’s Nursery for orphans.

A snowy park nearby with a small playground. A popular bakery just across the street which they confirmed sold delicious melon buns.

Knights often roamed this region, so the children’s safety were properly looked out for. Most important of all, the location was close to where Irene had bumped into Walton.

“It’s just a few blocks away? How could she have gotten lost then?” Dorry remarked.

“Maybe she had never gone outside this area,” Risa said.

“I don’t know. Kids are ambitious creatures, I doubt that they’d be so obedient as to follow regulations,” Matilda said.

In hopes to make things less troublesome, Risa and Shiro had purposely disguised themselves using an artifact.

“Let’s go in to check on them.”

Miss Nancy and Miss Tinnia. They were the actual staff members who took care of the children of Ryle’s Nursery.

Daphne, Rilly and Cody.

These three children were children of this orphanage, just as Irene had said.

“Oh, Irene? She’s playing in the garden.”

“Come again?” Matilda thought she was hearing things.

“Please take us there Miss Nancy, I want to see the girl Irene,” Risa said.

Snow blanketed the field, a white wonderland in the backyard. Young children running here and there, the more senior ones helping the adults with chores.

In this sea of all people, there was one girl who stood out.

Sitting alone at one corner of the backyard..

“What in the world..” Shiro muttered in disbelief.

There was Irene reading a magic book.

But this Irene was not a specter.

She raised her head to meet their gaze.

– She was the ‘real’ Irene.

===

A royal banquet was held a few days later in celebration of the hero’s visit to Tnudra Kingdom. In tandem, it also had the purpose of introducing the imperial princess’ engaged partner, Sequence Arch.

While it was still under arrangement that the engagement ceremony would happen next year, news had already reached the ears of almost everyone in the empire that the princess chose a demon lord as a spouse.

Not to mention, it was done with the agreement of the emperor. The two heroes had no problems with it either.

In fact, that demon lord was part of the hero’s party.

This created a lot of confusion and also brought up many issues of conflicting interests. To most ignorant nobles, this looked like a political move to build friendly ties with the demon empire. To the skeptical ones, they thought the emperor was cold blooded to sacrifice her daughter, who was supposed to be wed to the hero, in this manner.

When in all reality, Evelyn just loved Sequencee. That was all there was to it.

And she hoped to show that.

The party began with guests arriving from all over the regions. Nobles from various prestigious families had come to witness for themselves the princess and demon lord in their fame.

Also, to possibly attract the attention of the hero.

Many young ladies and young gentlemens had been told to act their best tonight in hopes to seduce any of the two heroes.

Lilian felt incredibly out of place in her simple purple-laced gown. Even though the design had been endowed with plenty of ice crystals and snowflake gems, she couldn’t help but be aware that she was a bumpkin unsuited for such glamor.

“I think I understand why commoners are different from nobles now.. this is really too much,” Lilian followed closely behind Leticia.

“It’s your first time attending a party of this scale, right?”

“Yeah,” Lilian sighed.

“It’s normal to be nervous, don’t worry. You’ll be alright as long as you stick close to me, I’ll make sure nobody tries anything on you.”

“Thank you Leticia.”

Ever since Leticia took over Estia, a lot about her had changed. The timid girl had grown into a self-assured baroness. Lilian couldn’t deny that she preferred this Leticia over the one in the past.

‘And she’s really beautiful too.’

Leticia wasn’t wearing an elven dress tonight. Instead, she was garbed in a traditional dress which embodied a design native to Tnudra.

Sequencee and Evelyn hadn’t appeared yet. Daizo and Quora were talking to Shiro and Risa in disguise. Reese was nowhere to be seen, Iona was sticking close to Schwii.

‘Wow. Schwii is getting a lot of attention.. luckily Iona is there to scare them away..’

“Lilian, about that girl Irene. What are your thoughts on it?” Leticia asked.

“Irene? I’m not sure, I feel like this isn’t something I should interfere with.”

“What if it’s a sign of something?”

“A sign?”

“That time– you said you saw Sequencee and Evelyn didn’t you?” Leticia looked at her with a serious expression, “From what I remember, they definitely did not leave the castle.”

“Then, they’re probably the ghost version of them.”

“Why would that be the case though?” Leticia wanted to know the truth, however there wasn’t enough information to go about.

“I don’t know…”

As their conversation trailed off, Lilian looked around the ballroom.

She could feel their gazes on her skin, it was uncomfortable. She tightened the grip on the hem of her dress.

‘She’ll get used to it soon.’

Leticia smiled wryly.

===

“What do you think?”

“About?”

“The plan.”

Sequencee closed his eyes and considered Evelyn’s question.

Currently, the two of them were in the dressing room with their hair and clothes styled by professional maids.

“If Risa and Shiro says that the woman will come, then I can’t say much.”

“Though, do you think it’s really a good idea to leave Ro like that?”

“I think his gift is necessary if we want to take down someone like her. We left him a communication crystal, so if anything happens, he could just let us know. There’s also Walton and Nynim.”

‘Well.. Ro has another reason for withdrawing from the banquet so..’

“Mn.. I just have a bad feeling..”

“Bad feeling– because of that?”

“Yeah.”

What exactly were these ghost sightings and what did it represent? Evelyn would never doubt Ro, but to say that he saw her, and Sequencee’s ghost, of all people?

To add a cherry to top it off, Risa had said something along the lines of not letting the ghosts of the other world meet with the one in this world, if not the world will end. Apparently, such a legend is true in the hero’s world.

‘Good luck finding a gift for Lilian.’

“All set,” the maid said.

“Thanks,” Sequencee studied his profile in the mirror in front of him.

His sole horns had already recovered enough that the wounded cross section was but the size of a pinky. His hair which had been styled using gel, the light make-up applied on his face accentuated his looks.

‘It’s kind of sticky though.’

Sequencee turned around to meet Evelyn who had also finished setting her appearance.

“What do you think?”

Her hair which had been tied into a complex weave of half pony tail and small braids added a great finesse to her delicate face. Light dabs of red to her cheeks and the emphasis of her eyelashes really brought out the subtle qualities of her beauty.

Coupled with the bashful appearance she was desperately trying to hide behind her calm voice..

“You look enchanting, very much so for this occasion,” Sequencee said with a soft smile.

Evelyn swallowed at such a reaction. Her face bubbled up in redness.

===

“What do you think would best suit Lilian?”

“What does she like?”

“I don’t know. She likes.. anything,” Ro frowned.

“Girls generally don’t care so much about the value of items. The consideration of the person themselves is most important,” Walton remarked.

“Oh yeah? Like that shabby wand you gave me in the past?” Nynim complained.

“Hey, I bought the best one I could with the money we had back then,” Walton clicked his tongue.

“Where are we going?” Irene– the specter, tugged at Nynim’s coat.

“We’re going for a walk.”

“B-But it’s dangerous.. isn’t it?”

“Can’t help it.”

Ro glanced at Irene and can’t help but find her innocence pitiful. They were using her, and she’s not in the slightest aware of it.

‘Don’t let her meet the real Irene.’

That was the warning the heroes gave.

“How about that?” Cawthorn pointed to a small florist operating at the corner. The place was just about to close, and he could see beautiful ice flowers displayed on the window.

They were a popular choice of gift for couples. Blue hue for flowers didn’t tie itself to any cultural connotations of gender specification, so it was perfect for both males and females alike.

“A flower huh?”

“I think Lilian would like that,” Nynim nodded.

“But she would misunderstand if I gave her a gift like that wouldn't she?”

“Pardon me? So you’re saying you don’t like her?”

“Ah? What? Me? Like that girl? No, I..” Ro stuttered.

“No way you.. I thought you and Lilian..” Nynim faltered.

“So you two are just friends?” Walton asked with a raised brow.

“S-Something like that. I mean, there’s no way she actually likes me. Besides, unlike the rest, we need to focus on getting our life together some day. There’s no guarantee that we’ll stick with each other in the future.”

“Hold you young man. You’re looking at things all wrong. There’s never such a thing as a ‘right’ time to get a girlfriend,” Nynim lectured. “More importantly, if you two are going to break apart, isn’t it because you two never committed to each other to begin with? How do you know for certain that you’re going to separate, huh?”

“Nynim, his words aren’t wrong, he’s being logical,” Walton argued.

“But still! I’m speaking from the perspective of a girl.”

“I’m speaking from the perspective of a guy.”

The two of them shot each other a cold glare. Irene, stuck in the middle of their skirmish, didn’t know where to look.

Cawthorn snapped his fingers in a bout of realization.

“How about this. Get the flower and see what she thinks? If it turns out to cause a misunderstanding, then you’ll be sure that there’s potential that something will bloom from it. Otherwise, it will make clear that you should move on. What do you say?”

“I guess.. that could do to..”

‘Me liking Lilian? Never thought of that before..’

– You gorilla!

He remembered her calling him that often. He began sulking before he realized it.

The florist was kind enough to give a discount after Nynim’s skillful haggling.

Ro kept staring at the blue hydrangea-like flower. The petals seem to glow subtle with a purplish hue.

“Ro, should I bring this back first? Just in case,” Nynim asked.

“Sure thing.”

“M-Miss Nynim is going to leave..?” Irene tightened her hold on her clothes.

“Just a short while Irene. I promise.”

Ro handed over the single flower bouquet to Nynim, and she disappeared in an instant.

“It’s amazing how she can just teleport like that. Just how much mana is it consuming?” Walton muttered.

“It consumes a lot of mana?”

“Obviously. For a spell so powerful, there’s got to be something sort of compensation for it.”

“Um..” Irene made her way beside Ro and held his hand.

“Well, should we go somewhere safe for now?” Ro suggested.

“It’s a good ide..”

A sudden burst of thick white steam covered the entire area.

“RUN!”

Ro grabbed Irene and hugged her close to himself.

He could barely see anything within the white fog.

‘The hell..?’

Something felt off.. and then he realized.

His feet were off the ground.

He tightened his grip around Irene, and injected mana into the necklace around his neck.

He wanted to speak but a great force propelled him across the sky, he hadn’t the time to say anything.

The steam fog parted– the skies opened up, a magnificent cityscape appeared before him.

“Wow–” Irene enunciated in awe.

And then he and Irene crashed into the room of a building.

The window shut and everything was blanketed in darkness.

===

“Ah? Iona, the pendant,” Schwii noticed it glowing.

“I’ll leave immediately.”

“What?!” Quora jumped.

“Hold on, what should we do now? I didn’t think it’d be so early,” Daizo panicked.

“Calm down, Reese is also on site,” Risa said.

“They’ll be alright.”

Iona disappeared, leaving the place in a tense silence.

“What now?” Risa asked.

“Since we can’t leave the banquet, we have no choice but to let them deal with it.” Schwii admitted reluctantly.

“Then.. us?” Quora pointed at herself.

“In the first place, our main objective is to figure out what is going on, not to resolve the problem. I believe the woman who wanted to kill the duplicate has a better picture of the situation, and since she hasn’t made a move until now, there must be a reason for hiding herself like this.”

“A duplicate?”

Risa nodded. “I explained it last time, that the two Irenes’ shouldn’t meet. One of them must be removed, that’s what I think.”

“I don’t understand it myself. But the gist of it is to understand the situation without getting involved,” Schwii explained.

“Is that so..” Quora showed a pout.

“You should’ve told us that to begin with,” Daizo said.

“Really..?” Risa scratched her cheeks.

“Speaking of which, here they come now,” Shiro turned to the stage. The emcee had arrived.

“Oh, then we better go remove our disguise,” Risa grabbed Shiro by the hand.

===

Ro found himself in a dark room. There was a simple bed, wardrobe, a table..

“To think you’d part with that half-elf here. What a coincidence.”

Ro shuddered to her voice. Still holding Irene in his hand, he looked up.

A mature woman with brown hair reaching her shoulder. Her bright blue eyes reflected the night lights outside the closed window.

“Now then, let’s not make things complicated. Leave her here, and you can go.”

“No mister!” Irene clung on tight, refusing to even look at the woman.

“Why are you doing this?” Ro asked.

“If I could explain everything to you then my work would be so much simpler. I can’t unfortunately, so you’ll just have to trust me.”

‘She’s not.. a bad person, so why?’

“What are you going to do with her if I hand her over to you?”

“Mn..” she pondered for a moment before responding, “I’m sending her back to where she belongs.”

“You’re lying!” Irene yelled.

The woman massaged her temples, “Killing you is the only way I know of to send you back home.”

‘Killing her is the only way to send her home..?’

“How do you know.. no. It’s pointless, I won’t understand it even if you explain it to me,” Ro muttered.

“Fufu, that's just how some things work. So could you please?”

“Can you tell me at least, why these things are happening around here?”

“The effect of an artifact. I don’t have the full details either. I just need to stop it from affecting this world.”

“I see..”

“Anyways, you better leave her here and get going before your friends get worried.”

“Well..”

“Well?”

“.. Sorry, I still don’t trust you.”

[Unique Skill: Sacrificial Lock]

A skill which suspended all actions of both the initiator and the initiated.

It was a skill which couldn’t be considered to be useful in a solo situation.

However, what if he were in a party, and could temporarily halt the movement of the most dangerous foe? This skill could be the difference between life and death.

In this case, Ro was willing to put both himself and the woman in a bind in hopes that someone else would arrive in time.

“M-Mister?”

Irene called out to him, he only showed a grin.

‘Reese, now..’

He couldn’t talk, not even blink.

His mana was being sapped away at an incredible rate.

‘Reese..?’

Why wasn’t she moving? That was the initial plan, right? If Walton, or anyone else were here, they could’ve put restraints on the woman very easily.

“A.. nooy..ing..” the woman gritted her teeth as word barely formed from her mouth.

Strong wind threw the room into a mess.

An explosion–

Ro crashed into the wall and groaned in pain.

‘My mana..’

As a tier zero skill, the fact that he could incapacitated someone who had a skill beyond S-rank was already proof of it’s strength.

He quickly stood up, in hopes to confront the woman again but..

To his horror.. Irene had already been impaled by a spear.

Yet, the expression the little girl saw was neither pain nor sorrow. It was surprise.

Then she faded away, and the clothes which covered her fell on the ground.

“Hah.. so troublesome. Maybe I should’ve just sliced her up with wind blades.. but no, the elements somehow just avoid them naturally. System gifts are a pain,” the woman muttered to herself.

“What..?”

“Hm? Right, you can go out now. Shoo, shoo. I don’t want to see you anymore,” she opened the window, floated Ro in front of the moonlight, and kicked him out.

He fell to the ground with the pedestrians watching him, stupefied and shocked.

‘What in the world..’

“Ro!” Walter called out.

“Are you alright?” Cawthorn lifted him on his two feet.

“Tsk. Take care of him, I’ll go find her–”

“Wait, Irene is missing,” Cawthorn observed.

“Ro, what happened..”

“She’s gone. Irene is gone.”

“What..?”

Walton turned into a snow gale and broke into the window where Ro fell from.

There stood a girl wearing a black dress in stupor.

“You. Who are you?”

“I guess she was right after all..” she muttered.

“Hey..!”

“Eh? Oh, hello,” she– Reese, turned to him and waved.

“Don’t tell me you were colluding with–”

“Hold your horses! I was just following orders and looking out for them alright?!”

Walton ignored her words and swung his sword forward.

Reese rolled her eyes and disappeared into the shadows.

Just because she had a seductive face, it didn’t make sense why everyone assumed her to be an enemy the first time they met!

Walton struck the wall, a chilly aura spread out in hopes to incapacitate the shadow.. but it failed to meet its mark.

“Damn it.”

Creak–

“Uh?”

“W-What is this?”

A staff of the inn had opened the door to find the room damaged.

‘Crap..’

===

“Hahh.. mercenaries these days don’t have manners..”

“Reese.”

“Ah! Iona.”

The two of them met on top of the bell tower as planned. The city below them brightly lit, the path of the bazaars interconnecting, forming random squiggles that seemed to snake their way from one end of the kingdom to the other.

Reese explained the situation while gazing towards the castle.

“So that’s what happened huh..” Iona muttered.

“Yup.”

“So she’s a member of the Savior's religion.”

“From the way she presented herself, and the cloak she wore, yes. But she doesn’t seem to be a cardinal.”

“What did she tell you?”

Reese shook her head, “She disappeared before I could reach her.”

“Disappeared?”

Reese smiled suspiciously.

“I see..” Iona didn’t believe her, but she wasn’t going to ask about it either. “Is there a need to further investigate the matter?”

“No. The matter has been settled.. or will be settled by her. Don’t worry about it.”

“Understood.”

“Thank you for putting your faith in me,” Reese grinned.

===

The party had progressed late into the night. There were as many skeptics present as they were supporters. More and more people were introduced to the heroes and the imperial princess’ new spouse, light was cast to the dark, situations were made clear that they were the new hope of this era.

“Have you ever tried dancing?” Leticia asked.

“Dancing? I have no experience with it whatsoever,” Lilian said.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve tried it myself. Makes me wonder how Sequencee is able to do it so well,” she turned to the dance floor, watching Sequencee twirl about with Schwii after Evelyn had her turn.

“Aren’t you.. going to go?”

“Ah, no. I’m not just going to leave you be. Besides, who am I to make myself known to the people? It’s enough that he recognizes me, I’m not good with publicity.”

“...”

“Really, I’m fine.”

Lilian grabbed Leticia’s slender wrist.

“Eh?”

“You’re following me.”

“W-Wait, Lilian, you know if I did that the people would..”

“Sequencee! You’re forgetting someone!”

Lilian’s yell prodded many people to look over. Questionable whispers spread through the crowd.

“Lilian!” A silent rage could be seen dwelling in Leticia’s eyes. Lilian remained firm.

“Who’s that?”

“Huh, look at her dress? Must be taking advantage of that pretty girl to attract the attention of the imperial princess’ spouse.”

These words stung, but Lilian hid the pain in her heart.

Sequencee took a pause and bowed to Schwii. Then quickly, he proceeded towards Leticia.

“Well.. that’s awkward,” Sequencee said with a wryly smile.

“I-It’s alright..” Leticia stammered.

“Thanks Lilian,” Sequencee said briefly, then proceeded to take Leticia’s hand.

“H-Huh, i-it’s alright..”

“No, it’s my mistake. Come one, just one dance.”

Leticia, without being able to resist, was dragged to the dance floor where the two began spinning. Lilian watched them with a

“Huh, what kind of relationship does she have with that man?”

“Maybe she’s some maid?”

“Maid? Even maids dress better than her.”

Lilian flinched.

‘Where are the rest..’

She looked around and noticed Quora and Daizo in cahoots.

‘No, let’s not disturb them..’

As for Dorry, he was taking care of Linton and Linzy while being surrounded by women for some reason.

‘He’s busy too..’

The heroes were practically swamped.

‘No way.’

Lilian turned to look out towards the sky.

‘In this sort of situation.. the best thing to do is..’

Lilian turned to the exit and– left the hall.

It wasn’t because she felt bad, no. She just needed to take a break.

Not everyone was as kind as Leticia. What she had witnessed was the ‘reality’ of things. The fact that she could even step inside the hall despite her status was already a blessing in itself.

She never really belonged there. She never should’ve been.

So being liberated from such a space eased her mood.

She stepped into the frozen garden of the castle courtyard.

A winding path with many trees and shrubs with blueish-green leaves. The warm lights which lit the place added a nice contrast to the gentle cold ambience.

White mist condensed at her exhale.

Cold–

She was outside, wearing nothing but a simple dress.

She grabbed the edge of the capelet and pulled it closer to her chest.

She didn’t know where she was going exactly, all she knew was that she didn’t want to return to the ballroom.

She found herself staring blankly at a small flower.

Every other blue flower looked the same, gorgeous, beautiful, perfect.. yet the one that stood out the most was this little purple one.

Unlike its counterparts, it was small, a little malnourished. Yet, she found it captivating.

“Just like me..”

Lilian showed an obscure smile. She felt sentimental for no reason.

She stood up, and was about to make her way to the annex to rest when something caught her eye. There, on the open bench sat a couple.

A man with auburn hair blue eyes, and a girl with curly white hair crying. He was consoling her.

Lilian thought she was interrupting them, thinking that she should leave when a realization struck her. She looked at the man again, her eyes widened in shock.

“Sequencee..?”

The Sequencee she was seeing looked more mature, height was taller. The clothes he wore were that from some ancient kingdom, and there was a hard to describe aura around him that made it hard to approach.

“What in the world..”

That girl sitting beside Sequencee, Ro said it was Evelyn.. but in Lilian’s eyes, she was someone completely different.

Hiding behind a shrub, Lilian observed quietly for sometime.

‘This Sequencee.. was being extremely intimate with this girl.. who is she?’

Draping his coat over her, he stood up and offered his hand. She accepted it genially, they began walking off.

Something felt off. The way he smiled at her.. his gestures.. it was different from the Sequencee she knew.

Lilian chased after them–

The girl turned to look at her.

Her iridescent eyes were like the gateway to her soul, Lilian was bound in place. All the while, Lilian had thought that Schwii was the most alluring person she had ever seen.. but seeing this person before her.. that notion had been smashed apart.

The girl’s lips curled into a soft smile.

“WAIT!!? Who are..”

Her shout didn’t reach. Snow drifted by her vision.

Two of them had just disappeared.

It was too late.

Lilian lowered her outstretched hand.

The sight of Sequencee accompanying that girl..

Why did he look so lonely?

“Lilian?”

“E-Eh?!”

“Oh, jeez. So you really are here.”

“R-Ro.”

“Yeah.. so.. what brings you here?”

“I-I.. um..” Lilian was about to talk about what she saw when she noticed Ro acting all suspicious with both hands behind his back. “Wait, what’s that behind you?”

“Close your eyes.”

“Not until you tell me.”

“Just close your eyes Lilian,” Ro rolled his eyes.

‘What..? Is this Ro also a fake?’

Lilian couldn’t get rid of the sight, seeing Sequencee and that other girl together. Somehow.. just somehow..

“Open your eyes.”

And so she did.

To find a beautiful flower held up to her face.

“Merry Christmas..? I think that’s what the heroes call it.”

“No.. what? You really..”

“Take it.”

Lilian kept looking between the blue hydrangea and Ro. Her eyes glazed over as she held the stalk.

‘He got this for me..? I didn’t even prepare something as nice as this..’

A sense of embarrassment and delight filled her heart–

“Irene.. died..” Ro muttered, scratching the back of his head.

“What..?” Just when she thought she could wallow in this feeling of bliss, Ro just had to drop such a news.

“But I don’t believe it,” he gazed up towards the starry sky. “I think she was sent back to her world.”

She stared at his side profile for an uncomfortably lengthy few seconds.

===

“Reese. Tell me the truth. That woman who killed Irene, who is she?”

Schwii stared at her with an unwavering gaze.

Reese shook her head with a sigh, “Can’t tell you. You will find out someday, now is not the time.”

“Reese..”

“All I can say is that she’s just like me,” Reese folded her arms with a huff and looked away.

“Iona,” Schwii turned to her maid.

“Sorry, Your Highness. I’ll have to side with Reese for this occasion. ”

“What..?” Iona was siding with Reese? “What did you do to my Iona?!”

“I didn’t do anything to Iona okay? There are things that we shouldn’t know. It was a mistake to involve ourselves in this,” Reese spat.

The age gap between the Irene of this world and the ‘fake’ Irene.

The mysterious sighting of an older Sequencee as a specter along with a girl which Lilian referred to as a divine beauty.

A mysterious woman who knew the cause of these ghost-like sightings was the work of an artifact and was working alone to stop it.

These points connected only led Schwii to a few possibilities.

‘I hope it isn’t what I think it is..’

“We can’t let Sequencee know about this.”

“Hm? Why?”

“He may overthink things.. I don’t want that.”

– How old did Sequencee look?

– He looked.. maybe five years older?

That was the response Lilian gave her.

“What is going on exactly..” Schwii bit her lips.

===

Risa and Linzy fired a party popper each. Confetti rained down upon the unsuspecting people.

“Merry Christmas!!”

“Ta-da!”

“We’ve made a christmas tree!”

Underneath the crafted pine tree were hundreds of presents wrapped in ribbons, each marked with a tag which delineated who the presents were for.

Risa told everyone to come to this room early in the morning without taking off their pajamas– who would’ve thought it would be to celebrate this made-up christmas morning.

Schwii had the urge to turn around and change into something less risque when Sequencee held her wrist and spun her into his arms. He wasn’t letting her get away.

“It’s embarrassing. Let go,” Schwii complained.

“Nope. You’re cute when you’re embarrassed.”

“I’m going to push you down accidentally if you do something to change attitude ot yours,” Schwii said to coerce, but she couldn’t help but notice the edge of her lips curled up a little.

“Let’s see what we got for each other!” Risa grabbed a present and shook it.

“Oi! One of them is wine, you’ll break it,” Daizo complained.

“Wine eh..” Nynim’s eyes turned sharp.

Everyone sat around the hearth and began opening their gifts one by one.

“A fountain pen, nice.”

“I wonder who bought me this pair of underwear huh…” Leticia muttered, glaring at Nynim.

“Oh? A consumable crystal.” Shiro muttered.

“Ah!? A snow globe?!” Risa yelled.

“A magic sword necklace?” Matilda studied it with a curious eye.

“...” Iona held a damascus kitchen knife in the air. She could tell immediately who gifted her this.

“This is your’s, isn’t it?” Ro held up the ring embedded with a crystal.

“How did you guess?” Lilian asked.

“Intuition..” Ro glanced at the same ring which could be seen on Lilian’s ring finger.

It was a special equipment which would form a barrier similar to the SOS crystal when mana was injected. And as it was directly in contact with the hand, it was convenient to activate. Of course, there was also a chance of accidentally triggering the spell.

“Thank you Lilian.”

“No problem.”

‘I don’t know how I should take this..’

Ro put the ring over his own ring finger. Now the two had matching rings.

“Congratulations! Now you two are engaged,” Quora said with a grin.

Lilian turned away with a red face.

“OOoohhh. So spring has come for them!”

“It’s still winter.”

“There’s no such thing as winter.”

“If there are no seasons, why does the phrase ‘spring has come’ exist here anyways?”

“Congratulations.”

“Oh? What a surprise.”

“Hey, Lilian..” Ro drawled.

“Yes?”

“This.. the fact that you got me this ring.. does it mean that..?”

“What do you think, you knucklehead?” Lilian responded with a put.

He wrapped his arms around her. She accepted it reluctantly.

“Thank you.”

“S-So sudden.”

“You were the one who.. I mean, let’s just take things at our pace.”

“Y-Yeah.”

The peanut gallery couldn’t help but grin at the sight.

“Sequencee?” Leticia called out to him.

“Hm? Sorry, I was just thinking about something.”

“What is it?” Evelyn asked.

“Evelyn, do you mind accompanying me out later in the evening today?”

“Me?”

“Yeah.. unless you have something you need to attend to.. then it’s alright.”

“No, of course I would gladly accompany you out..” she leaned in and whispered, “But how about Schwii and Leticia?”

“I’m sure they’ve already had their turns,” he averted her eyes subtly.

“...”

Sequencee looked back at her, only to show a stiff smile.

“So that’s how it is huh? Fine. You better treat me to something good.”

“I will.”

===

“There you two are.”

A snow storm covering the land of which extended all the way to the far reaches of the white plains.

Her black coat swayed only slightly despite the strength of the blizzard winds, her bright blue eyes stared ahead at the two individuals walking hand in hand.

“I’m sorry, but I have to send you back,” she brandished her spear and took a big stride.

Slowly, their appearance became visible.

Her blood froze, fingers trembled uncontrollably.

He opened his mouth, but no sound could be heard.

Just like Irene, they had entered a partial state. While they could vaguely interact with the people of this world, they hadn’t gotten to a point where they were able to interact with this ‘past’ world.

That was why she needed to get rid of them now before things got complicated.

“Why.. why.. how..” the woman tightened her grip on her spear.

He was the last person she expected to see here.

What in the world happened?

No matter how much she cared for him, she knew now wasn’t the time.

She swung her spear down. The man pulled the girl into his embrace.

– Could the future be changed? She didn’t know.

As they faded into the snow, the last words he left just wouldn’t leave her mind.

– I missed you.