The 6 caravans voyaged on into the unknown, following a carved, dirt path that twisted and turned at the seams. It scaled mountain sides and descended from similar heights. The elevation here varied greatly.

But even when they were faced with a cliff on one side of their path –

“You can’t even see the bottom.” Alice’s voice oozed with awe as she peered the half-wall. “Mom… how far high up are we?”

“Not that high, darling. Come, sit down. There’s nothing to see out there.” Hellen quietly spoke. Alice followed her mother’s instructions without protest.

“She’s a good girl. A lot easier to handle than my Ignis.” Calfasio sounded amused.

“It’s because she’s quite frightened right now. You should see her when we reach Little Tais.” Hellen hummed.

The world slowly grew darker as they travelled further into the bowels of this forest. The pine trees seemed even larger now, to the point where it was impossible to see their branches anymore, let alone a single leaf.

After 12 long hours they finally parked their caravans along a flat stretch of land. The mountainous part was over, and now its was just a matter of going forward. If it were up to Frost, she would have powered on.

But these people were not like her. Even Jury required some rest as she found herself occasionally yawning into her cloak, expertly hiding her many jagged teeth.

The woman eventually found herself asleep, her head resting on Frost’s shoulder. She held her hand from underneath the cloak, causing Jury to mutter something in her sleep.

“… thank you… Frost… Warm…”

“For a guard, she’s awfully close to you, isn’t she?” Hellen hummed.

“She’s… well, she’s a lot of things to me actually.” Frost softly admitted. She refused to elaborate further despite how Hellen’s eyes urged her to continue.

“Hmm~ Do you have children yourself?” She then asked.

“N-No thanks. I’m not even remotely interested in having any either.”

“What about love~?”

What is this supposed to be? An initiation of some kind? I feel like I’m being interrogated.

“Love is… I guess I have Jury already, so I think that’s enough for me.” Frost tried to dodge the question.

Unfortunately, it was like trying to dodge a bullet.

“So you are close for a reason. Talk about forbidden love.” Calfasio chimed in. “But you look more like a mother and child. I think that’s what Hellen was getting at.”

“Hmm~ Give it time and it’ll blossom nicely.” Hellen clapped her hands together.

“Wait, wait just a second. You said forbidden love. Why, is it because we’re both women?” Frost curiously asked.

They were confused for a split second. Like she had just said something odd.

“No? It’s because she’s not human, is she~?” Hellen pointed out.

Well… it was obvious from the start.

Frost didn’t respond and only stared at them with eyes begging them to elaborate.

“Non-humans are prosecuted here in Grandis. Isn’t that why she wears that cloak?” Calfasio began, carefully speaking as if navigating through a minefield.

“Having them as a lover is frowned upon. But none of us here can judge. Not me at least. My wife is part Demi-human, so I can sympathize with you.” He smiled, reminiscing his lover’s face. “Divas Pass… is about the only city in Grandis that doesn’t harbor the cruelty of our past. I hope everyone’s safe. Oh please be safe…”

“Your daughter would be more worried about you if she saw you like that.” Frost said.

“Aha… you’d be right. But you know, I’m not a fighter or anyone strong myself. Everyone here is just trying to get by in these lands. Normal people like us that have no power to change anything.”

His voice resonated within the caravan. Everyone seemed to wear the same, sorrowful expression.

“The healers. The non-humans races. Ourselves. Grandis has a long history of persecution.” Hellen said as she stroked the hair of a sleeping Alice. “And we bear the sins of those crimes we never committed. That’s why I want to at least bring Alice to Brandar. Children should be free spirited, right Frost~?”

Footsteps could be heard outside. One by one, armed Adventurers set up a perimeter around the caravans. They would be staying here for the night.

There was a lot to digest. Her iron stomach churned and yet nothing managed to sit right. Now that she realized it, Grandis was filled with tortured souls. The King of Puritas cared not for his people.

And his presumed son, Iscario, was equally as worse.

Frost had to wonder how these sorts of people managed to remain in power for so long. The same was true throughout Earth’s history. It always baffled her, even though she knew the answer all along.

Power and violent persecution. Fear ruled the weak. And in a world of magic and power beyond comprehension, it was even worse.

She looked out towards the sky hoping to find the Nexus but saw only the black opaqueness of an overhanging fog.

 

* * *

 

The sight remained the same at the dawn of the next day. She hadn’t closed her eyes once. These thoughts stirred in her mind, creating a concoction of emotions that she herself failed to understand.

There were no stars to gaze upon that night. No stars to guide these people in this dark forest. Eventually, when yawns and people began to rouse at the break of dawn to the sound of a loud whistle –

– Frost looked down at Jury’s innocent, sleeping face.

Why can’t the Nexus do anything about this?

“Unknown. But…”

But?

“You are the Amalgam. If the Arbiter was able to enact change within Nexus with the Arbiter’s Trumpet, then perhaps there is something you can do.”

Something I can do, huh.

“Do you backtrack?”

No. Definitely not. I just… want to understand what’s going on in this world first. So, let me help people along the way until we reach that point. I have strength that they don’t have. I think it’s unacceptable that normal people have to suffer like this.

Nav. I’m glad we didn’t end up running off on our own.

“Have you picked up a new resolve?”

Frost smiled to herself, shaking her head.

If it was ‘new’ then I wouldn’t have tried to save Jury from those children in the first place. I wouldn’t have fought to keep her by my side at all costs. And… I wouldn’t have cared about that village.

She held tightly onto Jury’s hand as the woman roused awake, rubbing her cheek alongside Frost’s face.

“Morning… I had a… weird dream… Frost.” Jury whispered groggily. “That I was in… a place filled with books. Many, many, many books.”

Frost’s heart skipped a beat.

“Huh? Jury? A-are you feeling ok?” She did not know how to react accordingly to Jury’s sudden mannerism.

Her voice was fluent. Too fluent. She even managed to place an emphasis on one of her words. The Jury who tried mimicking her words only yesterday had a voice that was entirely that of her own now.

“You’re supposed to say morning back. Am I wrong, Frost? Ah… you’re so warm.” Jury snuggled close unexpectedly.

She needed to unironically pinch herself.

This was Jury, right?

The warmth was still the same. Her appearance hadn’t changed either, and the golden eyes she adored since the start undoubtably belonged to her. Frost found herself holding onto her more tightly than before.

Thankfully, no one else was lucid enough to see what was happening.

“Good morning… Haaah. Jury, where did you learn how to speak like that?” Frost went straight to the point.

“My dreams. I was in a place with lots of blank books.” Jury said muffledly as she spoke into Frost’s stomach. “… that’s all I can remember.”

“A library?”

“Is that what a place with lots of books is called?” Jury looked up at Frost with curious eyes.

Yeah. This was Jury alright. Just a Jury that can finally… finally speak to her like a normal person. She placed a warm hand onto Jury’s cheek and tenderly smiled.

“Mhm. It’s called a library.”

 

* * *

 

Suddenly, something moved along the trees. Her omnidirectional vision managed to catch a rapid shadow appear and disappear almost at will. It was a tiny creature, roughly about the size of Frost’s palm.

But she didn’t know what it was exactly.

Its speed made it impossible to track. However, she managed to pull up its status before the critter could disappear further into the forest. But not without the sound of a camera shutter playing in its absence.

 

 

There was a Corrupted here. Only a low-leveled Corrupted.

But one with the Affinity of ‘Hope’.