Resting at the front steps of the manor, Mercy sips from a juice container idly while staring up to the sky. Chances are that she’s returned from a run. The moment she sees me, a cheeky smile grows across her face.

“Hey there, Khiron!” Then she looks towards Vestil who strides beside me. “Oh! And that knight from yesterday. How are the things today?”

“It’s been a fair day so far. About what’s ordinary for me nowadays at least.” As I speak, her smirk stretches wider. “I’ve just returned from doing a few duties at the castle.”

“Pleasant to see you again. Looking like you’ve gotten some good exercise in.” Vestil greets her with her handsome smile.

“I think I get what you mean there, Prince Charming.” She speaks to me and gives in to a fit of giggles before answering her. “It’s a pretty good kind of day today. You’re right. I’d returned from a little run myself not too long ago and I’d also gotten this handy little thing!”

She brandishes her KNITE Signal from her pocket with a peppy flair and faces its screen towards me with a beam.

“Ta da~! A little gift from the kingdom! I would have never been able to afford this kind of doodad working for that cursed fruit stand! You have one of these now too, don’t you?”

“Urania had given me one while I was at the castle. I’m still figuring it out and haven’t made much use of it yet.”

“It’s a real snap!” She makes a beckoning motion with her hand. “Come here, come closer! Take a look at this!”

I meet her at the stairs and Vestil isn’t beyond joining in. We lean down to view her screen. On it is a fox mid trot as it runs. The angle is canted and the lighting is exquisite upon the grass beneath its paws.

“How did you find that picture? I don’t believe there’s anything like that on my own.”

“I’d taken this one myself! It’s a good one, right? Always wanted a phone with a camera!”

“It has a camera? I must have yet to read that part in the manual.” As I continue admiring the photograph of the fox, a realization crashes against me.

“Wait a moment. You took this picture?” Vestil takes the words right out of my mouth.

“That’s right!”

“And the angle is right beside the fox while it’s running?” I take my turn to talk.

“Yeah, yeah! I got this one while I was running around the fields!”

Mercy has shown to be quite the runner, but I hadn’t expected she’d be capable of such active photography.

The scene conjures in my mind. Tearing her way through the hills and grass when a fox jumps out of a patch of shrubbery. A touch startled, it begins to run. Yet this human keeps pace with it all the while handling a strange item in their hands.

“That’s… impressive.”

“This thing can do this as well!”

She pokes her finger around her device until I hear my own chirp and shake. I lift it from my pocket to see two icons floating on the standby screen. One bubble reads [Juna] while the other reads [Mercy]. Though I’m eager to immediately tear open the mail I’d received from Juna, having only now realized it’s waiting for me, I first check Mercy’s letter.

With a small pop, the screen ripples open to a light tan background with a bubble presenting the photo of the fox Mercy had shown me with her own device.

“Vestil had done similar earlier sending a picture.”

“It’d do you some good to get with the times a little more there, Khiron.” Vestil says with a snicker. “But you’re smart enough. You’ll get the hang of it in no time.”

“Yeah. Can’t believe you would actually read the manual.” Mercy high fives Vestil after making her own efforts to tease me. “Why didn’t you or Juna have one of these before? Isn’t it a thing knights use?”

“We’d preferred the old fashioned way. And since we were each others partners, there wouldn’t have been much to do with it outside of messaging Vestil.”

“There’s a heckton of things you can do with this! If it were my choice and I’d made better money with that bum old job I’d had, I’d likely have gotten one myself. It even has a stopwatch!”

She takes the liberty to show off that feature while continuing to beam.

“Why don’t you send me that picture too? It’s a nice picture.” Vestil asks with an aura of desire more than obvious to me.

I lightly chop the side of her head in jest before I check Juna’s message. But I pause when Mercy’s cathartic glee reminds me of another pressing matter at hand. With the Dark Seed’s maturation coming quickly, there’s little time to waste. Outside of my priority to find a way to overturn Chamelis’ ruling, I still have my duties with the Celestial Maidens.

“Say, Mercy. Later on would you like to join me in visiting the training grounds? I could use some exercise myself and I’d imagine that it’d at least be a place of interest for you.”

She leaps from her seat as the stars crash and bounce in her eyes.

“Really?! Yes! Yes! That’d be the best! I’m all for it!” She nearly shouts despite that I’m only a meter away.

“Then it’s set. I have an important matter to settle in the manor and perhaps a bit of rest, then we can be on our way if there’s still time in the day. If not then tomorrow bright and early. I’ll be sure to use this new device to give you the word.”

“Whoo!” She whoops and raises her arms to the sky.

“I would adore to join you and this beauteous maiden but I suppose this is the time I shouldn’t weasel my way between the Celestial Knight and his date.”

“Oh yeah. That whole thing. I guess he and I should hang out alone. But are you up to hanging some other time? I’m up for chatting and some exercise whenever!”

The languid drooping of her head is dispelled faster than light can touch the earth. With a confident, full smile, Vestil does as her heart commands and takes her up on her offer without a second thought.

“Most definitely! Just give the word! I’ll plan it out with you and we could have a da-”

“Mind the speed bumps.” I cut Vestil’s wandering words short with another light tap to the head.

Vestil and I excuse ourselves on our way though I have to drag her cemented heels a distance to get her to come along to Juna’s hearing. I return my focus to my device and pop the second bubble. Another similar window to Mercy’s appears and a blurb of text rests at the top of the application and before the red background.

“Hi, Khiron. I’d gotten one of these KNITE devices today and it seems you have one as well now from what I’d been told. I guess we can finally live in the present age and message each other like this. But of course I would rather speak with you in person.

“Anyway, a man from the castle arrived a few minutes ago. It seems he wants to talk about the ruling of my knighthood. If you’re near, could you please join me? I’d asked to hold off the meeting until I could get confirmation you could show. I really want you to be there. For reasons.”

Without a second to spare, my mind shifts hard into gear and I jog up the steps.

“It seems that an important duty has arrived. Juna needs us so we’ll be off.”

“Go get her, hero!”

Mercy points her finger towards me and clicks her tongue. Then waves to Vestil who attempts to show her a slow, handsome smile but I interrupt her with another tug, my impatience to see Juna having gotten the best of me.