(Ugh. I'm half an hour in advance, and yet Mia is already there. She is too diligent. I hope she wasn't waiting for even longer...)

Alice was torn between meeting with her ahead of time or hiding behind a tree until the agreed-upon time.
Still, common sense won as she only waited a mere five minutes before approaching her maid, who was absorbed in the book she was holding.

"Hello, Mia."
"...! My Lady!" the maid exclaimed, quickly standing up as if she had been caught slacking off during her work.
"What were you reading?"
"Ah..." Mia glanced down at the open pages of her book. "It's a popular book that I picked up from a nearby bookstore just before."
Alice raised an eyebrow and pointed at the book. "You are already halfway through it, though. Did you arrive here at dawn or something...?"
"That is an astute deduction, Lady Alice," Mia remarked in awe.
"Why do you sound so surprised by that...? As for today, you can drop the 'Lady' part. Just call me Alice. Consider it an informality pass for this outing."
A soft smile graced Mia's lips. "An informality pass, you say? Alright. Have you planned our day, or shall we go with the flow?"
"I have put some thought into it, so you can just follow me for today. I am glad I get to show you around before I go to the capital."
"I am ready when you are, Alice."
Alice nodded, "Well, then, let us explore Phesiora!"

***

"This one's fine, isn't it?" Rina pointed at a piece of equipment on display.
"It's not," Cyne said. "While you should go for something that won't slow you down, it still needs to be somewhat protective."
"Is it that dangerous?" the beast girl asked. "If I remember well, inflicting wounds on other candidates is forbidden."
"Fatal wounds are, but a certain amount of inflicted injuries is tolerated during the tournament round. Accidents can happen so you're still at risk. I heard someone even died during a C-rank exam a couple of years ago."
"I should be fine with my magic, though."
"Isn't there a delay between the moment you perceive an upcoming attack and when your mana reaches the targeted parts? That might work against direct strikes, but it makes you vulnerable to surprise ones."
"Ugh... It's a pity Iris won't be there. She could have sent some mana my way if things got difficult. How about you follow her example and use yours?"
"That would get you disqualified, idiot. Besides, I'm not good at controlling my mana."
"You're not very useful, are you?"
"Who's graciously helping you out today...?"

The two adventurers were searching for equipment to prepare Rina for her upcoming E-rank graduation exam.

"You might get better by practicing, you know?" Rina puffed her chest as she gave a piece of advice about magic for the first time. "I've yet to see you use magic."
"I don't use it because I'm not gifted in that area, that's all. I'm not a diamond in the rough like you."
The beast girl smirked, "Isn't it embarrassing that a beastfolk like me is better at magic than you?"
"Oh? Can you really say you're better than me?" he said before moving his hand. "Just try to move."
"Mmh?"

Rina tried to resume walking, but she realized her legs were frozen.

"H-hey! Stop that!"
"Huh, so Iris was right," Cyne said as he released her. "Anyone who knows the trick can beat you. Even someone with crude skills like me."
"I mean... I should be alright if that info doesn't leak."
"That certainly would be bad... I'm worried about how you'll fare on your exam."
"Don't say that, you'll bring me bad luck!" Rina exclaimed before turning her head.
"... Who froze you, this time?"
"Iris is nearby," she answered while sniffing the air.
"Did you really memorize her scent?"
"I-I mean, the hair conditioner she uses is really high-end and has a very recognizable smell…"
"... Let’s go with that. Still, it’s not too surprising that Iris would be in the city right now. She’s taking a day off, so she might be at some restaurant nearby."
"Let’s meet with her then!"
"What don’t you understand about 'day off'? If she wanted to spend time with us, she would have said something. Wait, where are you running?!"

Cyne ran after the beastfolk to prevent her from disturbing Iris, and he eventually caught up at a corner.

"Iris is not wearing her hood right now," Rina said.
"So that white-haired kid is her?" Cyne panted, trying to catch his breath. "But that doesn’t make sense. Isn’t she scared that someone would see her ears?"
"Ears?"
"Ah," he let out in realization of what he had said. "Well, I’m sure you found out at some point that she’s not a human, knowing how precise your nose is. Don’t worry though, I already knew."
"What are you talking about? Iris is human. She might smell better than most, but she still has a human scent..."
"... What? Are you telling me she's not an elf?"
"An elf? There's no way I would make that mistake. Why would you even think she's an elf?”
"That's what she told me! Or rather... I was the one suggesting it, but she confirmed!"
"Looks like she's messing with you," Rina giggled.
"That's not funny! Why would she lie about that...?" Cyne let out as he scrutinized Iris. "Just because she has a strange hair color?"

White hair was associated with old age, so Cyne certainly found it a bit disturbing to look at that girl, but it wasn't to the point that he would reject her because of that. Keeping up this lie seemed both useless and exhausting. Still, besides the oddity of the color, there was a sort of familiarity to it, but Cyne couldn't remember where he had seen that.

"That red-haired human just called her ‘Alice’," the beast girl said as she freed her ears from her hat. "Are we following someone else, after all?"
"The names sound similar so, maybe you misheard?"
"Maybe..." 
"Then again, if she’s been lying about the very species she belongs to, it wouldn’t be all that surprising that she's using a fake name too… Are we that untrustworthy?"
"Speak for you, I've not known her for long. Oh, looks like she just realized we're behind her."
"... Did she just pick up that woman before flying away? Is she stupid?"
"Now there little doubt that it was her..."

***

(Crap. Crap. Crap. Did they recognize me, or was it just a coincidence that they were behind us?!)

"Did... did you just jump over that wall…?” Mia weakly asked, her face pale.
"Eh? Did I? Sorry, I must have acted purely on instinct…"
"P-please, put me down. This is embarrassing…"

At that, Alice focused her eyes and saw herself carrying her maid like a princess. The princess was so much taller than her however that her legs were almost touching the ground.

"Ah! Sorry! I did not mean to do that!"

After readjusting both her dress and her master’s, Mia seemed eager for an explanation. "So, Alice, what is the meaning of this?”
"Well... I saw two of my friends, so..."
"... You did this just to escape a friendly conversation with some acquaintances?"
"Don't put it like that..."
"It appears I was wrong: you have not changed a bit. You are still the same socially inept master I serve.”
"I... did not give you that informality pass just so you could roast me, you know?”
"I do not need a pass to state this fact.”
"Ngh…”
"Still, this is somewhat reassuring,” the maid said with a soft smile. "A part of me was afraid that you would change completely without me being there to witness it. In the end, however, you might still have some room for improvement, to say the least.”

(I want to tell her I had a good reason for fleeing, but I can’t say for sure that I normally would have approached them on a day off… Especially since they seemed on a date. What's up with that anyway?! Cyne is like ten years older than Rina! What kind of degenerate is he...?)

***

Later that day, after thinking hard about what he had seen, Cyne had a realization. Seeking information, he decided to approach the person who knew the most about the city he knew.

"Mel. Do you know about the baron who lives in this city?" he asked.
"A baron...? There's none. Or maybe you're referring to former Baron de Ravendall who became a count a few years ago?"
"... Was the title of count superior to that of baron?"
"Cyne... You should know at least that much! As a citizen, you're expected to know who governs the land you live on..."
"At least, the name Ravendall does ring a bell. I think I once saw him in the area give a speech with his wife."
"Well, that most likely happened. So, what did you want to know about him?"
"Didn't the countess have white hair?" Cyne asked, scrutinizing the clerk's expression.
"Why... do you ask?" Melisandre asked in return, wary.
"I was thinking it's an unusual color for someone so young. Would the house of Ravendall happen to have successors?"
"I-I don't know."
"You don't? Weren't you the one reproaching me for not knowing the life of our lord?"
"And I thought you didn't care!" she retorted. "Why are you trying to extract information from me?! I don't want any problem!"
"Do you realize that what you just said at the end is particularly suspicious?" Cyne remarked, which made Melisandre pale. "Whether you answer my questions or not, I'll obtain the answers I want."
"... I need to go," she said. "I didn't tell you anything, you understand?!"

 As he watched the receptionist abruptly disappear into another room, Cyne pondered about what he had learned.
While he had been partly bluffing, he had managed to put a name on the family that governed this land, and he had learned the children of that count were a touchy subject that the Adventuring Guild wasn't fond of talking about.