After traveling through the maze of buildings, we arrived in a meeting point between 4 alleyways. 2 to 3 storey high buildings for housing, shop and others were filled silence. The soft lights of runic lamps coming from the hanging on the front walls of some buildings are ever-glowing.

Few of the shops I regularly visit were already close. Too bad, I could really use a warmer.

The road we walked on was slowly turning more into dirt towards it; the stone slabs become increasingly less and less.

Despite that, this area is fairly spacious. The L-shaped buildings here were cut along its corner, making the area octagonal in shape. It has enough space for pedestrian and even trees and grass.

I saw a simple round fountain in the middle of it. It was not made of glossy quartz nor was it crafted with embellished motif. The fountain wasn’t even close to anything grand. It has cracks because it’s made of simple stone, the shape of it too was only circle and a protruding cylinder in the middle; consisting of two level.

Yet, it was more than that.

For those who live here—people, plants and animal—it was not a mere decoration. It was a life-giver; even just the sound of running water gave them a serene feeling knowing there is plenty of water available.

The spilling water gave nutrients to the surrounding vegetation, and a cool breeze as the evaporated water cools down the hot air during the day.

Below it was a simple plumbing running through the underground of homes and shops in the 3 to 4 storey high alleyway. It serves as a notice to the dweller.

The small fountain which perimeter is around the size of 7 men stretching their arms, has a simple roof with plenty of overhang to keep away rain and sunlight. This fountain has more architectural meaning than those in the palace and grand mansion which only meant to be looked at.

Looking towards it, i smiled. The reflected moonlight drew my attention closer.

Although this alley way meeting point sounds like a narrow and dirty place where the waste management is bad, in reality it was not.

This meeting point was originally just a place to provide clean to the poor citizens, who aren’t capable of affording the cost of clean water directly piped into their home. But it started to a place for the dweller to socialize to each other.

Different from the careless citizen of the capital city who gets everything taken care of; the dwellers here actually take care to the place they live.

They band together to solve the issues of drainage and waste; a custom designed drainage to the main drainage, a self-composting waste storage, and a few simple others like a trash collection system.

The shopkeepers, who mostly are tinkerers of everyday Artifact, came up with the design, the dwellers helped with the resources and the workers installed it.

The majority of dwellers of this alley are workers of odd-job which mind you never have much of free time at their everyday live. For them to join hand together is amazing.

It was all initiated by a simple fountain. Bringing a new meaning to fountains.

Behind the small fountain was a 2 storey house made out of acacia wood and stone. With a balcony on the top of it.

Glass window on the second floor with wooded arches complemented the overall natural look of the house. The woodworks were not overly detailed. In fact it was only a simple pattern of triangles along the overhang.

“All right, everyone please come inside” I said.

“Do you any spare clothing Helmer? Preferably a small one? I’m all busted here.” Louis said while he looks down at his clothing. Yeah, it’s fortunate for him that we traveled at night. Otherwise, kiddo’s new undies might get a smoking debut among the dwellers.

“I do, but I’m not sure if it’ll fit you. We’ll go look for one tomorrow.”

“Okay.” Louis tugged his red scarf.

“And oh—would you help the girl settle in Elle?”

“Sure” Elle replied.

.-.-.-.-.

A slit of bleaching light penetrated my eyes. I further clenched my eyelids to avoid the sudden incoming lights.

To no effort, the reddish light filled my vision.

“Helmer! Wake up you dork!”

I cringed away at the voice which ends with a crack. The voice are not the angelic voice I heard in my sweet dreams—which are the only “sweets” I officially approve by the way—rather, it was a snobby one with infectious irritation in it.

It was followed with vigorous shaking on my part. The voice kept getting louder and louder.

“Helmer!!! Come on, let’s go to the marketplace!”

Dear lord, spare me.

“Nngghh, I’m already awake, gimme 5 more minutes.”

“What the hell. I’ve run back and forth hearing that for 3 times already, just wake up!”

“I’m just…resting my eyes.”

“Okay fine! Don’t let me ask Elle to wake you up!”

My very soul shivered the moment Louis mentioned that. I felt the past crawls from my back, into the back of my neck as I threw my blanket like that of a king’s robe turning back from the audience after a grand speech.

I nimbly kick-start my body out of the bed, with more energy than a man running over an obstacle, and stood up straight.

Still in the same motion of the hand, I folded the blanked as it was falling down. Making sure it was tidy; I ran my hand on top of the blanket. I didn’t forget to adjust the pillows along the way too.

“Ahh! That’s not necessary. I told you I was just resting my eyes” I said with an eager feet.

“Finally, I guess I should’ve Go-for-Elle since the beginning. You’ll wake up earlier than any bell ringer!”

“What nonsense are you saying? Come, let us get shopped! But before that—” I made a “hush” gesture with my hand.

Louis went out of the room with a sigh—plentiful of breath.

Of course I’ll wake up earlier than any bell ringer in the town, when my head rings like a bell. The girl is a madman I tell you. Boy-oh-boy sit down and snack up, you won’t believe what I’ll tell.

Getting in the bathroom, I let the freshwater run through my body after I took my clothes.

So, no Law Bearer can tell a lie. I like sleeping.

It’s my favorite habit because; there is no peace like sleeping for me.

But I have to wake up of course. I got responsibilities I have to take care of. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a “master planner.” I know how to push back and postpone agenda to the limit. I’ve got countless backup plans, if my plan was ruined in an agenda.

It’s all according to the plan. Even when I overslept, I can calculate exactly when I’ll wake up to the seconds. Trust me, nobody knows me better than myself.

You might call me a procrastinator, lazy, or slothful.

Okay, yes, but only to some degree.

You see, the problem is; others may not see it that way(that he is a master planner). Maybe they won’t like it, feel like it is bad habit, or even have prejudice against undisciplined behavior, like my comrades. Wait no, especially because they’re my comrades.

So they’ll sabotage my only peace within my everyday habits. Which is waking me up with different ways, each of them getting more creative than the last. Of course, I prevailed with my intelligence and super-resistance.

However, one individual was much more sinister than the other. That person goes to Aurelle.

Now, Elle is a shy girl. She spends most of her time in creating Constructs, which are technologies from combining the engineering and magic.

She is not the type who’s able to shout at the top of her lung without thinking. No, before any voice come out of her mouth, she’ll consider how many variable that are affected, react, and how random is the reaction.

Essentially having a complete calculation model of how her sound travels, before she’ll even do it. And maybe having a hypothetical war of arguments inside her head too while she’s at it.

In all fairness, she’s a genius in what she does. She works hard in all of her invention and experiments.

You might already get the idea why I avoid her altogether from waking me up.

Well because of her creativeness. She’s too creative for my own good.

Elle uses many of her gadgets and inventions to wake me up. She is a master of tinkerers; many of her machines have weird application. Sometimes it would approve to be very useful in certain situations like travelling and for convenience sake.

Give her enough time and resource; she can create Constructs out of anything.

Various uses indeed, but when she uses them to “wake” me up, then thing are different.

I’ll never forget the first time she wakes me up using a shockwave-producing mini-bombs at point blank when I was sleeping soundly. Terrible sounds followed by a blinding glare of light filled my room. I squirmed like a snail, thrown in a dune of salt.

It was completely shocking, literally. The ringing on my ear lasted for days.

The little gremlin’s bomb-created shockwave—although not harmful—is enough to pop any mortal’s ear drums many times over. And in fact there wasn’t only one, but multiple of them; detonated at the same time.

I glared at her trying to childishly hide her curving lips.

That time, I didn’t know, it was just a start to a hellish morning routine and a bygone to my sweet morning dreams.

That’s right. She rather spent possibly hours to create a finely tuned BOMB, rather than waking me up the normal way with few shakes and maybe a couple of nose pinch—literally turning me into an experimental media.

She’s just that awkward at interactions.

I made a mistake. I forgot she was staying at our base.

Luckily, Louis took the initiative to wake me up earlier than Elle. Perhaps it was because he needs a new set of clothing that he woke me up. What a relief.

I sighed as I buttoned the last button on my shirt, and put on my robe. I went out of my room.

 The creaks of the wood followed my steps when I made my way downstairs.

Looks like it’s time for another renovation, the wooden flooring and the stair needs a quick re-do.

Looking at the living room, Louis was there slouching his back against the sofa.

“Good morning Helmer.” Louis said.

“Morning, where’s everybody?”

“Weiss is reading outside. Sis is up stair, she is…”

Louis paused. The tone of his voice turns low. He looks down in a bitter smile.

“I guess so huh? Get the cloud out of your face Louis, it wasn’t anyone’s fault.”

Poor kid. He was doing his best at everything. Might he anticipate everything in a comprehensive way, he could’ve avoided the simple mistakes he made that turn into a big failure. He should’ve not taken any chance at all; avoiding any risk.

Risk involved is what you should’ve taken in account, especially those regarding simple things. Not a single one should be allowed. It is the same with everything.

Being cautious at every steps and he take is crucial, as one misstep is all that it takes. Serves him right, he deserved this and let him learn his lesson.

Is what a coward would’ve said.

No amount of preparation can get you ready, not when you’re facing everything. In fact you will never be ready enough.

Louis made a bold choice for what he think is right. I appreciated it. No matter how hard you avoid failure, it will always be there if what you pursue is success.

Bringing Ovelia along after she learns the truth that will only hurt her; is a choice not easy to make. I’m sure Louis trusted Ovelia, enough for him to reveal the truth of the Aegis. So either forget her, or reveal the truth. Either way, she’ll get hurt.

And his choice is clear.

My lips curved.

I make my step through the kitchen counter. Creaks followed my steps every now and then.

“She’ll be just fine. Come on, I’ll make you breakfast.”

.-.-.-.-.

I flipped the butter-smeared Yellow Artichokes on the hot pan. The melted butter then drizzles in sound. The yellow color turns into brown crisp. The caramelized part brought a slight meaty flavor.

Beside the smoldering hot pan, a fragrant pot with sticky liquid was cooking in a bare simmer. I stirred the pot’s content carefully in an “8”motion. I sniffed the aroma; a mild spice stung my olfactory. My shoulder was leaning too close in the fire stove.

I turn my back against the stove.

Grabbing inside the hanging bag, I took out Morning glory, Blue Rivergrass, a generous amount of sweet potato, and put it a basket.

After separating them, I slice them just as big as my finger. Then I let the sink’s running water wash the vegetable clean.

Tapping the vegetable while at it, the Morning Glory began to bud new stem. That’s when I raised the basket—not forgetting to tap in the sink first, so the water fell. Then I watched the Blue Rivergrass turn slightly blue from green in the pot. As I stir it, and increase the flame.

So convenient, I’m so glad I bought a separate bag to hold all of our daily necessity. While I do have one on my own, I would prefer if the treasures inside don’t get mixed with things like butter, soap, and salt.

Next I took out a special herb from my bag. Throwing it in the air; I casted a spell. Balls of water enveloped the herbs. It turns boiling hot, where after the mixture flew into a set of mug I already prepared.

Quickly I check the pot.

I sighed; some part of the porridge was turning yellow than the other. A sign of some part of the porridge has been overdeveloped. Nonetheless, I stir it completely before lifting it to the table for serving.

“Louis, give me a hand won’t you?”

“Okay.”

Louis took the tray containing the teas over to the dining table.

Although not all, I saw some of the cloud on his face clearing up. It sets the weather just right for blooming.