“Fog’s even heavier now, shit… Stick close to me, Luci, can't risk us losing each other in this.”

Luci gives her companion a nod. “Yeah, the enemies are way more aggressive too, stay focused.”

The enemy variety on this side of the forest has shifted, malevolent spirits in particular showing up in much higher numbers. The duo try their best to fight them off while trying to not lose their way. Eventually, night falls and the two are forced to set up camp for the night.

“Ugh… We're still in this damn forest, and it doesn't even feel like we've made any progress.” Luci pouts next to the bonfire, wrapping her cloak around herself.

“Worst part is,” Louis adds, “the fog’s only getting thicker, I doubt we could even find our way back to the town at this point.” He sighs deeply. “Well, since we're not moving anytime soon, how about we talk? Floors open to whatever you'd like to discuss, Luci.”

Luci takes a second to think. “Well… Why are you traveling to the capital?”

“It's not a particularly special reason, unlike the Empire, Lunaria has a lot more… tolerance for vagabonds like myself. The Empire all but forces its citizens to work themselves to the bone to provide for themselves and others.” He pauses.

“I saw it happen to my parents, their friends, my friends. The mountaintops are a cruel, unforgiving place. No fertile land to speak of, our backyard is quite literally untamed wilderness. Go far enough and you'll find yourself in a wyvern’s nest.”

Luci stares at him. “And those wyverns…”

“The Emperor and his knights tame them, making wyvern riding the main mode of transport to get off those mountains and import food from the kingdom.”

“Is that how you left?”

“No, not a chance. If anyone found out I was planning on deserting the Empire, I'd be dragged back and made an example of. So no, I had to find a different way.”

“What different way even is there? You said the main way was by riding a wyvern down the mountain.”

“The lake that surrounds Lunaria is connected to a huge waterfall. I just… Jumped off.”

Louis stands up and takes off his jacket and vest, revealing various bruises across his body. “Impact immediately knocked me out, and I ended up getting carried along all the way to the furthest reaches of the kingdom. Now I'm walking all the way back to the capital. You know the rest from there.”

“How are you not dead?! Hell, why are you even fighting in this condition?” Luci felt almost offended that Louis would do this to himself.

“Hah. I get it, I do. But it's not like I didn't rest up, I did. After I came to and got dragged out of the river, I spent quite a long time in recovery. It was only the other day when I finally was well enough to fight again. Before that I ended up helping some guy on the ground before finally setting off. That's when we met.”

“Some guy on the ground… Could he be…?” Luci thinks to herself but decides to not say anything.

“Anyways… So why are you heading to the capital then?”

Luci then realizes that she never had a reason to begin with, she's just drifting aimlessly. Carried along by little other than a few words Darryl mentioned to her. “I don't really have a reason. I just figured I might as well go somewhere and figure things out from there.”

“Now those are the words of a true wanderer. Maybe we're more alike than we thought.” Louis stretches before sitting back down against a tree.

“Anything else you'd like to discuss or maybe learn about?”

Luci nods, one of the things Louis mentioned earlier still weighing on her mind a bit

“Yeah… there is one thing.”