~Marketplace, hours after the mock battle~

 

Fiona the Flame Tamer. 

That was the moniker that people called her back in the day.

As a mage, she could cast various spells. However, none of those could hold a candle to her affinity with fire.

She once had long flaming red hair, but now it had all grayed and had to be cut short for convenience.

Fiona missed the time when she could go on adventures. But those glorious days were long gone, gone like the wind that would never come back. Fiona could still cast a fireball stronger than any court mage could muster, though. That was one of the things preserving her pride. However, she could not ignore the reality that her body was now old and frail. It could no longer take long walks and could not forego sleep either.

Most of all, she missed the times when she stood beside the Dark Elf Lime as she led the country's army against all odds. 

Will her days rot away reminiscing about the glorious past?

She was a mage who saw countless battles. Like those battles, all she should do was utilize what she had and what she had now was a peaceful town filled with a ragtag of weirdos, young and old, happy and safe.

The younger Fiona thought she was fighting for her future. But now that she settled down, it turned out to be only half-true.

This was what Lime wanted all along. At some point, it also became one of Fiona's goals. A safe place where any race from all walks of life could live.

The Town of Arkbay was the result of associating with Lime as adventurers.

This peace, of course, could soon be broken by the rumors of war.

"No matter," Fiona mumbled as she finished selling off the last fish at the market. Her short figure hulked with age, yet she did not want to be overtaken by these youngsters laughing and running around her. Fiona reflected on Kristoffer's fight against Mute. If she battled against someone as strong as them would she still survive?

It was close to sunset and the orange sun beyond the horizon kept reminding Fiona of some of the worst experiences she had. But those experiences were also the times when she shone brightly the most. 

Thus, deep inside, Fiona wished for war to come. It shall be her swan song to let herself burn brightly in passion. 

Just as she was dreaming of it, a young woman appeared in front of her.

''Who was this again?'' Fiona racked her brain.

The woman's shoulder-length purplish hair gave spark to Fiona's stagnant memory. If Fiona recalled correctly, her name was Fina. 

Fiona chuckled, "Of course it was." 

Fina sounded almost like Fiona but there was almost no similarity between them. At least, Fiona was delighted that her memory was not yet too rusty at this age.

"Excuse me?" Fina waved in front of Fiona's face.

"Oh, sorry. I was daydreaming," Fiona smiled.

The young woman tilted her head with worry on her face. "Be careful. I heard that meant you're getting close to your final moments." 

Fiona laughed while slipping in some swearing. ''That may be the case. But no matter, that's just how life worked.'' 

If it was someone else, though, they might feel sad instead.

"Uhm, I mean to give you this," Fina handed her a letter.

"What's this?" Fiona unfolded the letter.

Fiona tried to read as much as she could despite her dull sight--another thing that reminded Fiona that she was not young anymore. She gripped a section of the parchment and clicked her tongue in annoyance. Through years of hardships in war, mere worded insults could no longer hurt her but the notion of experiencing this much inconvenience until her last breath just frightened her.

In hindsight, Fiona realized that if she could read at all, that indicated that the writer deliberately wrote in large letters. How considerate.

"Is this from Quill?" 

It was easier to guess since Fina worked for Quill.

Fina nodded. "It's an invitation for dinner. I gotta go now. Please take care on your way." Fina bowed before sprinting away.

"It's not as if the venue was outside of town," Fiona mused.

* * * 

~Enchanted Lake Hotel~

The place was empty as always. The first time that the Enchanted Lake opened, Fiona's mouth was agape at the sight of the precious metals and gems strewn about the walls, pieces of furniture, and cutleries. After years of visiting this place thanks to Quill, Fiona was fazed no longer by the expensive objects around her.

Despite there being tens of tables, they would only be using one table as usual. As Fiona sat on her designated seat, the first thing she noticed was not the delicious smell of the incoming food, it was not the shiny cutleries, and it was neither the magical chandeliers.

It was something on the wall, a painting.

There was one thing that the hotel manager started as a hobby recently: collecting paintings. Some of those displayed were the paintings of royalty and nobles. Some were paintings of cities in Rouen and far away lands. Some were random sceneries of the four seasons.

The painting directly in front of Fiona's eyes was something close to her fond memories. Fiona couldn't believe it. It didn't cross her mind that she would be seeing a nostalgic scene.

It was a painting of three individuals standing on a hill--one was a dark elf magic swordswoman, one was a female human firemage, and the third was the mage's darling, a man in shining armor--a knight. The mage was raining down hellfire to an army of orcs as the other two watched.

It was unclear what expression the three wore from the painting but Fiona clearly remembered that she was laughing in delight, the dark elf was smiling as she watched the onslaught, and the knight was exasperated--perhaps at the realization that he had almost nothing to do there.

The dark elf would later finish off the stubborn orc general while the knight's group of militiamen captured the meager amount of wounded prisoners.

The party's fourth member was nowhere to be found since he was off scouting.

"What a shame. The painter could have just added him somewhere looking in awe at Fiona's magnificence."

With that, Fiona deemed to check just to be sure. As she quickly tried to finish her meal, she received a "Slow down, you're gonna choke" from someone.

"If there's one thing that all adventurers have in common is that they are capable of eating as quickly as they can during a battle!"

Fiona stood up to look closer at the painting's background. Fiona chuckled. She actually saw some speck of dots hiding behind the treeline near the orc army's position. She finally remembered. Instead of simply scouting the battlefield, the stalker elf brought the militia to ambush the enemy army. The stalker elf thought he could release half a thousand arrows at the orcs before retreating but the Hero Lime shared Fiona's sentiment that it would do little damage since the trees served as an obstruction as much as a cover. His plan would only get them chased by the orcs after a failed attempt.

The stalker elf should only keep sticking to scouting where he's good at. But Fiona couldn't blame the guy. He just wanted to look cool in front of Lime.

Which was why Fiona simply had the 300-strong orc army burn to ashes. It was simpler and faster.

The stalker elf's angry face afterwards was a nice consolation.

Fiona sighed as her senses returned to the dining hall, noticing the people stirring to stand up as the host finally arrived. Removed from her reverie on the paintings on the wall, Fiona pointed at Quill.

The host no longer appeared in the form of a dark elf she first met, that much was obvious. However, nor was it the halfling she got used to--it was a taller and sexier Quill who appeared and Fiona spat the grape wine as she laughed.

''I see. It has been a year since Emil's death, after all.''

A decade ago, Fiona thought that Kristoffer and Lime had a thing. That's why she was surprised when Lime introduced Emil, a halfling, as her husband.

Fiona didn't understand why Kristoffer was alright with it, either.

Nevertheless, Fiona was amazed by Lime's adaptability with her partners. When Fiona was still in her twenties, Lime already had a husband--a dark elf. 

Fast forward to 50 years later, Lime turned into a halfling.

A decade later, now a human?

This monster probably wanted to experience all races that walked the earth.

Fiona shook her head for the stalker elf. If only that weirdo did not reject Lime's advances then they would have been a couple a long time ago. The pervert was satisfied with stalking. 

Fiona would feel his mana in town from time to time, even seeing him in disguise once. "The piece of shit might even be here."

Regardless, Fiona was happy for her friend and the kid. Fiona knew they'd be happy together. If there's one thing Lime was good at, it was finding people she respected and respected her back.

"Done with her mourning period, Quill is now ready for a new man!"

"Oops. Was I supposed to announce that before Lime does?" Fiona mentally smacked herself for running her mouth again.