“Captain!”

 

A woman with wild, curly hair raised her eyes to look at the door of her cabin. After a moment of contemplation, she ignored the knocking and continued to inspect the map of the Distorted Depths on her desk.

 

“M.W.S. Dawnlight Captain Riftmire! It’s your Vice Captain!”

 

She stuck a finger in her ear and moved a miniature model ship across the map, several models of various large sea creatures placed elsewhere. The knocking on the door intensified.

 

“Oh Supreme Navy Captain Adrianna, if you don’t answer I’m going to get Ruel to pick your lock!”

 

She spared a moment to roll her eyes in a rare show of emotion and then suppressed a sigh as she stood up, pulling down her gold-trimmed coat from a hook to put on. The woman with ice-blue eyes walked over to the door and swung it open.

 

Standing in front of her was a frowning sea-green-haired young man, his translucent eartips glowing with pale cyan light. “So our great Captain finally deigns to grace us with her presence,” Caspian stated sarcastically.

 

“If that’s all you wanted to say, I’ll be returning to my work.” Adrianna tried to shut the door but Caspian was quick to push back.

 

“Oh no, no, no. You don’t get off that easily.” He managed to force the door open and crossed his arms, narrowing his green eyes at her. “Adrianna, we’ll arrive at White Squall Fortress in half an hour.”

 

“…so?” She gave him a mild look of disdain. “Quartermaster Vima is well prepared and has been an excellent steerer. I was already aware of when we would arrive.”

 

“’So’?! What do you mean, ‘so’?!” Caspian grabbed her wrist and tried to pull her outside. “You are going to help me with our crew’s status reports and check up on our crewmates with me!”

 

“My job as Captain is to lead the crew, not to-”

 

“Does it look like I care?” he asked, shooting her a withering look. “Don’t pretend you can hide how little you’ve interacted with everyone else from me. To repeat what you said, your job is to lead your crew, so you need to get out there and talk to them more!”

 

“Wharifin, I don’t-”

 

“No!”

 

Adrianna watched him with mild frustration as he dragged her across the main deck, heading for the forecastle deck at the front of the ship.

 

It seems he’s more willing to speak his mind compared to the last timeline. Was resolving things with him so early a mistake?

 

“First job is to deal with whatever is going on between you and Noirel,” the demi-Atlantean muttered, letting go of her wrist to plant his hands on his hips as he stood beside the main mast. He looked up and whistled, sticking two fingers in his mouth. “Oi! Arventiel!”

 

Adrianna could see in her perception skill that the half-fae had glanced down and quickly ignored them when she spotted Adrianna, but Caspian frowned.

 

“Can she not hear me? Fine, I’ll leave her for afterwards.” He looked around and nodded when he spotted a woman with dark blue hair near the front. “Maeva can be the first then.”

 

“There’s nothing between me and Arventiel,” Adrianna said with a sigh. “Her fae heritage is giving her difficulties but it’s nothing that can be changed.”

 

“I understand that much, but I want to know what exactly about her heritage is making her so scared of you,” Caspian argued.

 

Internally, Adrianna was in disagreement with that statement. I don’t need Arventiel calling me ‘the false one’ near him right now. Although it might be amusing to see Griffin trying to redirect the conversation when they discuss his ‘Distorter’ status.

 

“Hey, Maeva!” Caspian called out, waving his hands. “You busy?”

 

The blue-haired healer blinked and turned away from her conversation partner, who happened to be Liliana. Maeva shook her head. “Not really, no. I was just talking about water element healing effects with Liliana.”

 

Caspian nodded to Liliana as they both approached. “Hi there. I may as well talk to you too if you’re both here.”

 

“Good afternoon, Vice Captain!” the archer said with a smile.

 

“A talk?” Maeva asked curiously.

 

“More like a survey. I just want a status update on how everyone has been dealing with the tasks and teamwork on the Dawnlight these last few weeks.” Caspian took out a notebook and pen from his dimensional skill. “If it’s fine with you both, can I ask you at the same time? Unless you want your answers to be hidden from anyone else.”

 

Maeva smirked. “Cool, secrets. I don’t have anything interesting but maybe our local archer does?”

 

“I don’t know anything that exciting,” Liliana replied with a slight smile.

 

Caspian wryly shook his head. “I need to ask you the questions first. Alright, first up: What tasks have you found the easiest while being a crewmember of the Dawnlight?”

 

“Healing,” Maeva said with a grin. “Because I haven’t had to heal anyone yet.”

 

Caspian shot her a flat look. “That doesn’t count.”

 

“Acting as a lookout to give Noirel a break has been pretty enjoyable and simple,” Liliana told him. “The view is nice up there.”

 

“I suppose that would be your vision-enhancing archery skills helping you out there,” Caspian murmured as he wrote it down.

 

“Ugh, I guess I’ll give you another answer.” Maeva placed her hands behind her head as she thought about it and then smiled. “Being the cook. Everyone seemed to enjoy my dishes too.”

 

“Yes, you’re great at cooking seafood,” Caspian agreed. “Okay, next question is- Captain, what are you doing?!”

 

Adrianna had her spyglass out as she stood on the bowsprit, the long pointed beam of wood at the front of the ship. She scanned the seas, looking for anything interesting. “I’m keeping an eye out while I wait for you to finish. If I have to be out of my cabin I’d rather be doing something useful.”

 

“That-” Caspian stared at her. “You’re supposed to pay attention to the answers of our crewmates!”

 

“I don’t recall that being in my terms of employment as ‘Captain’.”

 

“You get on my nerves so badly,” he hissed. He started when he saw her about to continue walking along the bowsprit and ran over to drag her down. “Get back here!”

 

…

 

“Now that our Captain has returned to the discussion,” Caspian said with a pointed glare at the curly-haired woman next to him. “Can I know what class-related needs either of you might have? In terms of strengthening yourselves on our trips.” He looked down at the notebook again. “We can’t have any of us falling behind in strength by not being able to slaughter monsters 24 hours of the day.”

 

“Hm… well, I’m a healer, so I level up by healing. But considering my second class is a water elementalist class, I can still level up by using my practising the forms of my water element abilities,” Maeva mused. She looked at the woman next to her. “How about you, Liliana? You haven’t had many things to shoot.”

 

“I’m a warrior manipulator, so I’m in the same boat,” the archer said with a smile. “While my elementalist class is focused on being used with long-range weapons, making better water arrows can help me level up. It’s just on the slower side.”

 

“That’s good.” Caspian scribbled something down and shut the book. “All of us elementalists are sorted out then. I just need to make sure I ask Ross- er, Head Officer Stanhope for permission to bring aboard the Navy’s elementalist training manuals. They help make levelling more efficient when you’re not killing stuff.”

 

Caspian nodded to Maeva and Liliana. “Thanks, girls. If Arventiel comes down, could you please tell her I want to talk?”

 

“Sure thing, Caspian,” Maeva said with a nod.

 

“Cool. Alright, onto the next- hey! Adrianna!” He sped after the tall woman when he noticed her walking away from the trio. “Where in the realms do you think you’re going?! We still have more-”

 

“Can’t you see that I’m heading towards our other crewmates?” she asked in a flat voice tinged with mild irritation. “It’s Baxtimer and Deirvetch.” Adrianna’s eyes narrowed at them. “And they’re bickering over something stupid.”

 

Her Vice Captain raised an eyebrow and placed a hand over his eyes to peer at the two men on the other side of the forecastle deck. The short, freckled Ruel Deirvetch had his hands planted on his hips as he glared at Drew Baxtimer, who was smirking with his hands crossed.

 

“I am not going to do your chores for you, Drew,” Ruel stated crossly. “I’ve had enough trouble with the mess Conlan left me this morning, but now you want me to take on your job of cleaning up the shared dorm too?”

 

“Is my subordinate going to disobey his lord now?” Drew asked smugly.

 

Ruel groaned and placed two hands on his head. “Look, I may be a member of one of your clan’s vassal families, but we’re still just crewmates here! And besides, before we came to the Navy you never tried to make me do your chores!”

 

“Well… maybe I never wanted to put my subordinate to good use before this?”

 

“Argh!”

 

“Good afternoon, you two.” Caspian approached and gave them a curious look. “Did I hear something about Officer Griffin causing issues?”

 

Drew shrugged and gestured to Ruel. “Problems for him, not me.”

 

Ruel sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Nothing major, just… he was responsible for washing the breakfast dishes. I came in at lunch to find most of them still fairly dirty and one or two even smashed.”

 

Caspian scratched his head. “That… hm, well, maybe he’s just bad at doing dishes. I’ll see if I can arrange for that task to be swapped with someone else if it happens again.”

 

Adrianna glanced at Caspian, having a very different opinion about Griffin’s actions.

 

He’s probably trying to show he’s bad at general chores so he doesn’t end up doing them a lot. I wish I could assign him to be responsible for the whole crew’s tasks, but…

 

She shook her head, and Caspian glanced back at her. “Captain?”

 

She didn’t answer and looked out at the sea, ignoring him.

 

Caspian rolled his eyes and returned to the other two men. “Right, well… fortunately or unfortunately, I’m mandated to report any abuse of external status within the Navy to our superiors.” He gave Drew a helpless shrug. “So even if you really wanted to, you can’t force Ruel to do your chores without the risk of getting in trouble.”

 

The red-haired man clicked his tongue. “That’s a shame.”

 

“Hey, what do you mean, fortunately ‘or’ unfortunately?” Ruel asked with suspicion.

 

Caspian smiled but didn’t address the query. “Okay then… as we’ve mostly discussed chores and Officer Griffin causing a ‘problem’ already, I’ll skip straight to asking about levelling and class requirements. No need for this to be too in-depth.” He looked up at the young men. “What would I need to stock the ship with for our next trip if you were both going to keep gaining levels or improving your abilities?”

 

“Oh, that’s easy for me.” Ruel crossed his arms. “Just mechanical gizmos and stuff. Preferably get me to upgrade some of the smaller things on the ship.”

 

“Right. Your second class is magic engineer. That’s why R- Officer Stanhope told me to assign you to the warship engine deck often,” Caspian said with a nod. “And you, Drew?”

 

“Hm…” Drew frowned, leaning against the edge of the ship. “Not too sure. All my class stuff is combat-orientated.”

 

“I see… well…” Caspian tapped his chin with a pen and nodded. “I guess I’ll request permission for you to access some of the Navy’s stronger skill manuals. If you can’t improve your level then strengthening your other abilities will be best. Unless your clan bans you from learning other skills?”

 

“Nope.” Drew shrugged. “Any clan abilities get fed into my first class which was made using a path of progression. I’m free to learn anything as long as I don’t touch my clan class.”

 

“Then that’s all sorted.” Caspian wrote that down and turned to Adrianna. “Onto the next crewmate.”

 

…

 

“Captain Riftmire. Caspian.”

 

Adrianna and the sea-green-haired young man looked up to see Silenis Vima gazing at them with one hand on the steering wheel. They had been walking up the stairs of the quarterdeck to talk to the metal element Quartermaster. Technically, the job of the helmsman, the one who steered the ship, could go to anyone as it wasn’t a hard job, but Silenis was tasked with it because as the Quartermaster he was skilled in navigating the seas and charting paths. Often when he didn’t have the task Caspian would steer the ship.

 

Silenis pointed to the front of the ship. “We’re nearly there.”

 

Adrianna and Caspian looked behind them. “It seems I’ll have to cut short my interviews for now,” the demi-Atlantean said with a sigh.

 

“Officer Liao told me what you were doing,” Silenis calmly replied as he slightly turned the wheel. “Levelling isn’t an issue for me because Quartermaster is my second class. All I need to do is continue my normal work.”

 

“Right, you always wanted to work in the Navy,” Caspian said with a nod. “I guess all that’s left is…” He turned to Adrianna. “You, Captain. And then Griffin.”

 

“I’m a mage. Learning and practising spells allow me to level up,” she stated coolly. “I don’t care what chores I’ve had to do nor have I had any issue with some. There, now you can go interview Griffin while I-”

 

But he had already grabbed her wrist to drag her down the stairs. “Nope. I expected that response, but I’m not having it. We’ll visit everyone, together.”

 

“Arventiel is still avoiding us,” Adrianna replied flatly.

 

Caspian rolled his eyes. “Forget about her. We’re still going to visit Griffin.”

 

They walked down the main deck’s stairs and headed for the medium-sized rec room on the floor directly below the deck. Several others were there, including Zhang Mingxia and her company, Charlene Junem, Catherine Sherwood, Palin Zoc’uraghets and Wilden Leutia. Conlan Griffin was also standing near a porthole, chatting with them.

 

He glanced their way when Caspian waved to them.

 

“Officer Griffin, could you come over here for a second?” Caspian called. “We have a few things to ask you.”

 

The golden-eyed man looked curious, his eyes lingering on Adrianna for just a moment too long, but nodded and walked over. “Our reclusive Captain and her Vice Captain both want to speak to me?” Conlan replied casually. “Have I done something wrong?”

 

Caspian smiled. “Not at all. I’m just doing some interviews and you’re the last one. Besides Arventiel.”

 

“Ah, right. I heard about that from the others.” Conlan’s eyes strayed to the silent curly-haired woman beside them. “And our Captain is here… because…?”

 

Adrianna didn’t bother to respond and looked out a porthole window, which made an unusual look pass over Conlan’s face for a brief moment, but Caspian sighed. “She’s here because I told her to be. As you can see, she’s being uncooperative because of that.”

 

Adrianna shot her immediate subordinate a flat look but Conlan nodded. “I see.” He looked between them. “You two seem pretty close.”

 

“We’re not,” Caspian and Adrianna said in sync. They turned to stare at each other.

 

“…right.” Conlan gave them a slightly tight smile. “So, the questions?”

 

Caspian huffed and took out his notebook. “Yes, questions. To begin with, any problems with chores?”

 

Conlan briefly discussed the work and levelling with Caspian. Because Conlan didn’t have any non-combat classes – Adrianna knew all of his main skills belonged to his Unique ‘Hero of Light’ class – Caspian reached the same conclusion he had for Drew and just decided to ask for greater access to the Navy’s special skills for Conlan.

 

Adrianna was sure Conlan was perfectly satisfied to be able to gain the Navy’s exclusive skills that wouldn’t be available once he left. He could level up at any time but skills were rare.

 

“That should be it for the questions,” Caspian said, shutting the notebook. “We’ll arrive at White Squall Fortress very soon and get to put our feet on dry land. Come to me whenever you think you have an issue, either on this ship or while in the Fortress.”

 

“Sure. Although… I am curious about something…” Conlan shot Adrianna a look. “How did you get your rank so quickly, Captain? I thought you were going to be a Squad Leader for a while first, even if you were assigned to command the M. W. S. Dawnlight.”

 

The dark-haired woman’s brows slightly creased as she looked at him, but slowly replied, “I stayed at White Squall Fortress after the training camp. Commander Arkenast decided I was worthy of the promotion after the three months.”

 

“…you stayed… at White Squall Fortress…” Conlan opened and closed his mouth, gazing at her with slight confusion. Then a thought seemed to have struck him as he stiffened slightly and then gave a large nod, a bright smile on his face. “I see. You must’ve wanted to prove yourself to the Commander.”

 

As I expected, he thinks my decision had something to do with him. Egotistical as always.

 

…at least this way he might wait a few more weeks before beginning his ultimate aim of isolating me from everyone else and making me dependent on him.

 

Adrianna turned away and walked towards the door. “Don’t pretend to know my motives.”

 

Conlan chuckled as if he ‘knew’ he was correct. “If you say so, Adrianna.”

 

She glanced over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes coldly at him. “Don’t call me that.”

 

Conlan rubbed his neck, clearly pretending to be feeling sheepish, but Caspian sighed. “You know Adrianna, you’d be much more likeable if you let others be more casual around you.”

 

She ignored him and walked up the stairs to the main deck. Caspian groaned and followed after her. “At least wait to hear the rest of what I’m saying before ditching me!”

 

Conlan watched them leave, frowning when he had heard the informal way Caspian spoke to Adrianna.

 

…

 

A tall curly-haired woman rapped her knuckles on the front of a door. Standing beside her patiently was a sea-green-haired young man.

 

The door swung open to reveal a dark-haired man in the Elite Officer uniform, appearing in his late twenties. “You’re here,” Ross Stanhope said. He let them in so they could stand in front of a large desk, the blonde-haired man who usually sat behind it standing up and looking out of the window that formed his normal backdrop.

 

“Captain Adrianna Riftmire and Vice Captain Caspian Wharifin of M.W.S. Dawnlight, reporting for duty,” Adrianna calmly replied with her hands behind her back. “We have docked the Dawnlight and returned from our trip.”

 

Caspian didn’t say anything and held the same posture as they waited for the Commander to speak.

 

“Riftmire, Wharifin, very good.” Commander Arkenast turned around and crossed his arms as he leaned against the window. “Anything interesting happen on this trip?”

 

“There was an incident where one of our subordinates tried to persuade the rest of the crew that we should’ve taken a route that would lead us into battle against the local monsters,” Adrianna replied, “But that was resolved and we never fought against them.”

 

The burly battle-scarred man raised an eyebrow. “Was this related to the Scavenger’s Drought Isle?”

 

“Yes sir.”

 

“Hmm… Riftmire.” Commander Arkenast tilted his head with a strange smile on his lips. “What if I told you to visit that island because I wanted the crew to enter combat for the first time?”

 

“I expected as much. And that was the reasoning the crewmate provided,” she told him. “But there were still other options and we shouldn’t be quick to choose combat if we could do something else. Also, the way our crewmate went about it undermined both my authority and that of Wharifin’s.”

 

“Oh?” The Commander looked at Caspian. “What do you think, Wharifin?”

 

“Er…” Caspian hesitated as he thought about it and rubbed his neck awkwardly. “It didn’t occur to me at the time because everyone is pretty casual on the ship, but it was a bit… rude of him to try to get others to agree with his opinions like that.”

 

“The word you’re looking for isn’t ‘rude’ but arrogant,” Commander Arkenast said with a stern look. “You may be a very companionable person for your crewmembers but it’s true you don’t deal well with formalities and gaps in status. But Riftmire here isn’t like that and can spot the issues you miss.”

 

Then the battle-scarred man rubbed his chin. “Who was it, anyway? It wasn’t Baervad acting up again, was it? That half-demon has always had issues respecting the positions of the Naval Officers…”

 

“Officer Lynell Baervad has been cooperative since the first spar,” Adrianna stated. “In this instance, it was Conlan Griffin, one of the cadets from my training camp.”

 

“Conlan… Griffin… Conlan… Griffin…” Commander Merrow Arkenast frowned. “The name is familiar but I can’t quite put a face to it yet…” He turned to the silent Ross who was standing in the back of the room. “A reminder, Stanhope?”

 

“He was the light-element swordsman,” Ross Stanhope informed the man. “The one with gold eyes and is quite close friends with Officer Sherwood and Officer Mason.”

 

“Officer… Sherwood… wait. Is he that… other boy we had discussions about?” the Commander asked seriously.

 

Ross nodded silently. The Commander frowned deeper and crossed his arms. “Hmm… that’s an interesting development.”

 

Adrianna and Caspian traded looks.

 

“Commander sir,” Caspian spoke up. “Is there something about Officer Griffin that has you concerned? If it’s related to my job as Vice Captain then I’d like to know, if possible.”

 

I’m glad I don’t have to be the first to bring it up. This way Griffin can’t link the conversation back to me if someone says something.

 

“Ha… well, it’s not the issue you think there is,” The Commander said with a chuckle. “Stanhope and I just agree that the boy doesn’t have the temperament to be a member of the Navy.”

 

Caspian blinked. “Sorry, sir? Temperament?”

 

Ross walked forward and shook his head for Caspian. “It’s been a few months, so he may have changed, but we noticed that he was concealing much of his strength during the training camp. In the military, you need to know what all your comrades are capable of and vice versa to ensure there is trust in the group.” Ross glanced at the Commander. “The type of manipulation Griffin showed is… undesirable for such a cohesive unit as the Navy. A normal Officer who showed tendencies like that would be disciplined, but as a member of the Elite Cadet Training Camp, things were a bit different.”

 

Commander Arkenast waved his hand. “Don’t focus on our words too much. Conlan Griffin might show a different attitude now. Just be careful that he doesn’t gain more power among your crewmembers.” He glanced at Ross. “That’s all we need to discuss for the moment, I think. Tomorrow I’ll call for you both again, but for now, I’ll let you both leave.”

 

He gained a wicked grin. “Your next trip will be the first time you fight against monsters.”

 

“Don’t scare them too much, Commander,” Ross said. He placed a hand on each of their shoulders and turned them away. “Now, I need to hear a more in-depth report of your time out at sea and check to see what needs to be restocked, so if you don’t mind, I’m going to take you to my office for the next hour or so…”

 

---

 

“…are you sure you’ll be fine?”

 

“Yep!”

 

“Are you absolutely certain?”

 

“Ugh, I’ve told you already Lucy, we’ll be okay! Won’t we, Sedric? Hargrave?”

 

The four of them were standing in the main lobby of the Aurelian Commission Headquarters. Lucille had her hands on her hips as she was dressed quite unusually that day. She was wearing the clothes she entered the Tower in, her black boots, black turtleneck, black pants, and black trench coat.

 

Opposite Lucy were three individuals, Scytale, Sedric and…. Hargrave. Who was looking very bemused about the whole situation.

 

“Hmm…” Lucille studied them with mild scepticism. “You haven’t been out of the Commission yet without me coming at least halfway, Scytale. I feel like you’ll only get into trouble.”

 

“And I think you just want to ruin my- I mean our fun,” the snake snarked. “Go off and visit-uh, do whatever it is you want to do and leave us be.”

 

Lucy smirked and crossed her arms. “I’ll ask once more, just to make sure. Are you sure you don’t want to come with me?”

 

Scytale narrowed his eyes at her. “No. Whatever you’re going to do has nothing to do with me, and can’t you see?” He gestured around himself. “We already have plans.”

 

Lucille glanced at the scarlet-haired man in their midst and raised an eyebrow. “Hargrave doesn’t look like he knows what’s going on, though.”

 

The ex-mercenary sighed. “Scytale came into my room and dragged me to the main lobby, claiming we had an important task to do before I got a word in edgewise.” He ran a hand through his hair, looking exasperated. “And I still don’t know where these two plan to go.”

 

She hummed. “So, will you return to your room instead?”

 

“Nah, come with us! It’ll be fun!” Scytale said. Then he hesitated. “Well, more exciting than staying cooped up in the Commission’s Headquarters all day. There’s only so much flaunting of wealth you can take before your eyes feel like they’re bleeding.”

 

“…I haven’t had that problem yet.” Hargrave the snake a bemused look and then shook his head, looking resigned. “I’ll follow them. It might be more productive than spending another day reading or training and I might have the opportunity to prevent them from getting into whatever trouble they’re bound to come across.”

 

“I feel more comfortable leaving them in your capable hands,” Lucy replied wryly.

 

“I don’t get what the fuss is about. It’s impossible that anything will happen to us. Sedric rolled his eyes. “We’re only going to-”

 

“Shhh!” Scytale covered the crafter’s mouth as he hissed at him. “Don’t ruin the surprise for him.”

 

Sedric shot the snake an odd look. “But you-”

 

“If you want to make it back for dinner, then you best leave now,” Lucille reminded them. She took out her pocket watch to check the time for herself. “As I should too. I have to do a certain amount of… investigation, considering I don’t know the exact place I’m supposed to go to.”

 

Sedric gave her a strange look. “Then how will you know what to do?”

 

“My acquaintance told me the suburb and features of his home, so I’ll make do.” She put away the pocket watch and gave them a wave. “Be quick and don’t get yourselves in trouble. Hargrave, I’m relying on you to drag them back if something happens.”

 

“We know, mum,” Scytale said sarcastically.

 

Lucy rolled her eyes and walked away, leaving the front doors of the Headquarters’ main lobby to use a carriage to go to the closest teleportation array. In actuality, she planned on going ahead to wait a small distance away from their location to ensure everything was alright. She knew where they planned to go.

 

Once she was in the carriage she told the coachman to drive slowly through the streets so she could keep her perception field open. Scytale knew what she was doing and was mildly irritated but ultimately decided to get on with his trip. He turned to the others.

 

“Alright! Let’s get moving!” he said with his hands on his hips.

 

“Are we taking a carriage?” Hargrave asked seriously.

 

“Shouldn’t need to,” Sedric said as he walked in front. “We can just take a short-distance teleport array. Lucille is going to another plane but we’re still going to be in Gilded Seat.”

 

Hargrave shrugged and followed the crafter, who wasn’t wearing his apron or gloves. Scytale walked beside Sedric with a grin on his face. They left the lobby and entered the busy streets.

 

“Why did you ask to go visit there though, Scytale?” Sedric asked with mild confusion. “I was just going to use Lucille’s help to get the Commission staff to do something about it.”

 

“Because I’m bored!” Scytale said with self-righteous indignation as if that was the most horrific injustice in all the realms. “Lucy is going off to do her own thing, and I don’t want to just nag Hargrave to fight all day like some needy attention-seeking brat! I’m older than I look. Any stuff I used to do I can’t do now, and I’m too low rank for Lucy to trust me to go out on my own!”

 

“Yeah, but that doesn’t answer my question,” Sedric pointed out. “I want to know why you want to go to this specific location.”

 

“Oh, that’s because Lucy got to go but I didn’t,” the humanoid snake said with a shrug. “And anything she gets to do I want to do too. Unless I don’t.”

 

“Then… why aren’t you going with Lucille now?” Sedric asked suspiciously.

 

“Because in this instance…” Scytale paused for effect. “I don’t want to go.”

 

Sedric rolled his eyes and continued walking past the multitude of different people and races on the streets. “You’ve seen Lucille’s memories, so you obviously know there’s nothing interesting there.”

 

Hargrave, who had been staying silent as he tried to guess where they were going from the two young men’s conversation, walked forward with a frown. “If you’ve only been bonded for less than a year then you shouldn’t have the ability to share memories yet.”

 

“Hm? Oh…” Scytale glanced over his shoulder and looked away. “Lucy is skilled at soul magic so she manipulated our bond to make it stronger.”

 

“But…”

 

“Anyway, we’re here!” Scytale abruptly announced. “Behold! Gaze upon the spectacular past abode of our dear crafter here and be in awe of his former living conditions!”

 

Sedric facepalmed as the noisy snake spun around and held his arms out grandly. “Marvel at the splendidly grimy glass, the rotten wood walls!”

 

Sedric scowled. “Oi, you-”

 

Hargrave stared at the horrendously rickety, dark wooden building before them. “…huh?”