Squinting his eyes, he saw a familiar figure through the display windows of a chandlery. It was the same girl who frequently visited the Missionary Church. Her short, black, chin-length hair was nothing out of the ordinary, but her graceful demeanour even through the blue windows was conspicuous. Out of curiosity, Dalis entered the store.

As soon as he entered, he felt out of place. Unlike the bright, bustling streets and well-stocked colourful stores, this place was small. Not just small in size, but also in-depth. The only commercial goods in the store were candles and wax. That was natural, and yet there was no vibrancy. It was desolate. Was this really a store found in the Royal Capital? 

He approached her and the many faint sources of light. 

The lurking permeating temperature gradually touched him as he came closer, welcoming him with a warm embrace. 

(I see. I guess it was wrong to have preconceived ideas).

It was hard to describe, but Dalis gained some understanding of why such a place exists in the Royal Capital. Although it was just speculation and could be entirely wrong, he had a sense of feeling that this was a part of the Cresuilge Kingdom. It was just a gut feeling. Images of the Orphanage arose to his mind.

"You came to accompany me again?" the girl said. Her petite fingers gently moved while holding a lit candlestick. There was no smile on her face, but the air around her was a little more friendly. 

Dalis's eyes scanned behind her and then nodded. A tinge of embarrassment was the cause of his actions. 

"Find anything that interests you?" His eyebrows raised abruptly as he continued to curiously skim through the rest of the items. 

"Yes." She pointed to the flickering kindled candles which were arrayed neatly on the clean stone shelves close to an aged stool. 

"Those are pillar candles if I'm not mistaken. We don't use them often back at the Orphanage. How many do you plan to buy?"

"A handful." She returned the candle she was holding to its former place and began to collect the sleek sturdy candles. 

"I see. I'm unsure if we are allowed to use pillar candles for prayer in substitute for votive candles. Unless this is your own personal . . . Hey what are you doing?"

The girl peered over to Dalis and tilted her head in the response. Her arms carried what she considered “a handful” of candles. No, they were clearly an armful. That was not the only issue, though. All of the pillar candles varied in shape and size. They were round, square, and triangular in shape. But they were a minor problem compared to the different sizes. Some were as thick as young tree branches and longer than 5 inches. 

Keep in mind these were not held by candlesticks. 

Not that they are required but still!   

Dalis was unable to continue watching longer; he rushed to the scene to prevent any mishaps from arising. Fortunately, the crisis was averted.

"What were you thinking? You must really like candles." 

" . . . Yes." That was all she uttered.

Dalis felt awkward and was at a loss. This was the second weird encounter with a girl today. It was beginning to stress him out. 

Following her line of sight, it was simply too obvious what she wanted.

"I need a few of them . . ." She was strangely obedient, asking Dalis for permission to buy them.

"That's fine. You don't need to ask me for permission. Just be aware of yourself. There are many other things here in the Royal Capital. It would be a waste to spend it all on one type of candle. You're not an internship orphan correct?"

The girl nodded her head without a change of expression; however, there was a bitter aura emanating from her. It didn't seem she had the intention to hide it despite being concealed well. 

"I apologise. You must really adore candles. Forget what I said and buy them all. If you would like, I will help you carry them. That bag probably won't last with the added load." Dalis believed it was a pity to splurge everything on one type of product on the first day. He had no doubt there would be many things that would interest a young girl like her. However, he respected her decision. 

Realising the sincerity behind his words and then her own lack of maturity, the girl became a little embarrassed. In the end, it seemed she took Dalis's advice to heart, purchasing only a handful of votive candles.

(Jeez. Just what am I doing?) Dalis thought to himself. It was as though he was taking care of a little sister. It was distinct to his treatment of Stilla. The reason did not stem from her temperament or relation with him, but rather an empathy. 

"She might be like me . . ." Dalis murmured.

Silence embodied between them as they walked together along the streets. It made them seem even more out of place with one another—or perhaps this taciturn pairing was fitting. 

"It's a shame. Considering that was a commercial store specialised in selling candles, there would likely be no scented candles elsewhere." Dalis removed the silence . . . to a degree unimaginable to him.

"S-scented candles?" The girl enquired as her voice rose an octave higher but was zipped by the next second. 

"Hm?" Dalis noticed her reaction was somewhat off.

"W-what are they?" 

"Eh . . . nevermind forget what I said. (It's happening again . . . )

"Could you tell me?" At some point they had stopped walking.

"Don't worry about it." (This candle lover! Please don't make things awkward for me). 

Dalis, for some reason, held knowledge which was considered odd to others. This was one of them. It was so odd that it shaped a part of his personality. Nobody could understand this, and neither did he. People have told him it was likely some retained knowledge from his lost memories, but Dalis strongly opposed this. It was as if his entire being was constructed like this. It just didn't make any sense. 

While Dalis struggled internally, he noticed the girl's eyes dilate into puppy eyes.

" . . . "

" . . . "

It wasn't before long until Dalis gave up and explained it to her. Instead of being marvelled at the types of smells and additional effects, she was much more interested in discovering the market of such products. In fact, it appeared to Dalis that was her main goal. Unfortunately for her, Dalis had no knowledge.

"Smells . . ." Along the lines of the discussion, a somewhat faint, hot, greasy scent made its way to tickle Dalis's nostrils. Softly inhaling the scent, he reflexively followed the trails of scent towards a particularly large, red, and yellow, coloured store. Similarly to the smith building, it had a large display to showcase its store name. However, this display was not in a display case, and its name was unclear. Instead, it was shaped with a creative design, much like a logo. It looked very familiar . . . yet very odd? He had never even seen this before. 

Nearby this odd store, a cheery young male youth could be seen huddled around by a jostling crowd. Despite his common clothing, he appeared to be very popular; he was a street performer. Inspecting his skilled charades, it briefly made Dalis wonder if he was eligible to be a minstrel in the Relza Castle. 

"Pardon me, could you tell me about the store over there?"

The young adult woman looked at Dalis, then towards the store, then back to the street performer. Noticing that he had finished his performance, she gladly addressed his question.

"You don't know that store? You must not be from the Cresuilge Kingdom. That restaurant is known as KfMacDondalds or Kfmac for short. It's a very well-liked store, especially among the children. I suggest tasting the unique, delicious food they sell there for yourself. You will be surprised! Oh, but don't get too addicted to the food! Otherwise you would end up ruining your looks like myself. You wouldn't believe how long it took to eradicate those dreaded pim . . . Ahem excuse me." The woman turned away. It was definitely best not to pursue the matter.  

"Kfmac . . . KfMacDondalds . . . KfMacDondalds? MacDondalds???" 

"Are you okay?" the candle lover asked.

" . . .Yes I am fine . . . hopefully." Dalis stared at Kfmac with perplexion written all over his face. "I plan to investigate that store. Would you like to accompany me?"

She shook her head side to side in response.

"I see. Then we shall part from here . . . Speaking of which I have yet to know your name. I apologise, it's been quite rude of me. My name is Dalis. What is yours?"

The girl viewed him peculiarly as if to say “You don't know my name?”

"Could it be you knew my name all this time?" 

Her wispy eyebrows raised up like a wave before collapsing and becoming crestfallen. Although her facial expressions were hardly unchanged, it was plain as day for Dalis.

"Lian Chen." The tone of her voice was almost as calm as water if it wasn't for the ripple caused by a sudden pebblestone.  

" . . ." Dalis continued to watch as her figure slowly disappeared into the passing crowd.

(Her name is Lian Chen. I see. I wished I had asked her sooner. That reminds me, there was that other girl too. Her name was . . . Huh?)