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Though it was a short-lived conflict, the sides of the forest road of soil and flowers had been encased in frost and sections of the grass were charred black from the archaic machine’s destructive nature. It was a daunting thought to think it was simply one of many such entities that were commonplace.

“Let us just count ourselves lucky we encountered merely a grunt; Magi Golem’s can be quite more…complex and troublesome,” Aife said in a passing remark.

The entire prospect of such complex, sentient golems was intriguing to Emilio, who of course was deeply curious of all things magic, however, the reality of how aggressive the Magi Golems seemed to have left any semblance of wanting to explore them further off the table.

–

Roan hardly seemed phased by the entire encounter as they moved on once more, now making the trip in the back of the creaking carriage a lot more anxious with the prospect of element-wielding golems on the prowl.

It’s just one thing after another in this world, isn’t it? He thought.

As the wheels of the carriage rolled monotonously through the sapphire forest, passing gently flowing streams and habitants of mystical beasts, Emilio found himself pondering as always, thinking of the golem they encountered, lamenting mistakes of the past, and curious of the knight sharing in their journey.

Magul Forest was quite large, creating a journey through the wilderness that lasted over a week, forcing them to camp out multiple nights.

During one such nightfall with the glitter of stars briefly seen between the sapphire leaves that loomed above, they sat around a fire, snacking on grilled rabbit while Roan ventured out alone to refill their water supply.

“…Why’d you become a knight? If you don’t mind me asking,” Emilio posed the question quite abruptly.

Aife seemed to be taken by surprise by the question before smiling, “I do not mind being asked that, Emilio. Still…It’s quite an embarrassing story, I’m afraid.”

“That only makes me want to hear it more,” he cheekily said.

“Me too,” Melisande added.

“Quite devilish youths I find myself traveling with…” Aife joked with a smile, “Well, as a child, I wasn’t as you see my now: I was a ‘lady’–through and through, or at least, I yearned to be. Wearing flowery dresses, pampered by my parents and maids, and always dreaming of the day I found my Prince Charming.”

As she spoke of her childhood, a gentle look was embedded in Aife’s pale-blue eyes as she looked up, as if reminiscing on images unseen by the listening two.

“I thought you’d have been a tomboy,” Emilio said, leaning against a toppled log.

“That’s normally the case, isn’t it? I guess I’m an exception in that regard,” Aife replied.

“So what changed? It sounded like you wanted to live a normal life,” Melisande asked.

After pondering it for a few moments, it seemed the knight wasn’t quite ready to speak of such a past, though it was clear to Emilio by the soft sparkle of restrained tears in her eyes that Aife was holding something painful, yet dear.

“Well, it’s a long story…I’ll save it for another time, alright?”

“Aww…No fair,” Melisande pouted.

Aife laughed quietly, stroking the girl’s silver hair, “How about this? Let’s make a promise: once you two become adventurers, I’ll indulge you in every little detail–down to the nitty-gritty; I’ll talk your ears off all-day and night.”

“That’s a bit extreme, isn’t it?” Emilio smiled.

“A knight keeps their promises,” Aife replied.

“You’ve got a deal,” Melisande accepted.

“Oh? And the young Dragonheart?” Aife looked over at the boy.

“I guess you can count me in–I’m a bit curious now,” Emilio scratched his head, entering the deal.

Thinking to himself for a moment, he realized there was quite a lot of pressure placed on him becoming an adventurer; multiple promises were forged on that very prospect.

Aife smiled warmly, “For now, I can say…what changed for me was the boundless optimism of the man I love.”

“You’re married? I thoughts knights weren’t allowed to–”

Before he could fully pose the question, a quick glance at the tears held back firmly by the knight, though she held a gentle smile, told him that his question was misplaced.

“…You’re correct, Emilio. I’m not engaged, though…my heart is bound to one,” Aife said, placing her hand on her chest.

There was a part of him that didn’t want to follow through on such a promise if it meant digging up painful memories from the kind knight’s mind, though at the same time, he found himself interested in what kind of experiences led to the existence of the humble, beautiful knight of Vasmoria.

“Still, it’ll hardly be long before you both meet that criteria, I have no doubt,” Aife encouraged.

Melisande twiddled with her thumbs, “I hope I can be as good of an adventurer as you are of a knight.”

“Huh? Ah…” Aife had a bashful tint to her cheeks at those words, “I have complete faith that you will surpass me; I’m not extraordinary, after all.’

“That’s not true. I think you’re amazing!” Melisande assured her.

“Ah? Really? Well, thank you very much,” Aife accepted the compliment with a beaming smile.

It was heartwarming for Emilio to witness the bond growing before his very eyes, and seeing the girl have her grief distracted in the face of new inspiration.

“What’re you all getting all mushy about without me?”

Roan’s voice came out of nowhere, causing Melisande to jump from surprise before the red-haired man held a cheeky smile, displaying the filled canteens of water he acquired.

“You were right, there was a nice stream down there,” Roan said, looking at Aife.

“It is only natural a knight of her homeland would know its ins-and-outs,” Aife said while elegantly biting down on the grilled rabbit, only to completely falter her royal image as it burned her tongue, causing her to gasp out.

They all laughed at the sight of the knight’s failed attempt at maintaining a knightly image, though Aife herself couldn’t help but join in.

–

At last, the carriage found its way outside of the dense forest, prompting Emilio to lean out as Melisande squeezed by to gaze alongside him, seeing the first city encountered in the foreign land.

Walls made of smooth, light-blue steel stood tall, inlaid with runes that seemed to perpetuate a barrier to protect the city in times of danger.

It was of a scale unseen; tall buildings of fine, gray-and-red brick stretched high, connected by bridges in the sky that acted almost as a secondary layer to the vast city. Some such architecture was made using the same metal for the walls, creating awe-inspiring skyscrapers that were more than ingenious for a world steeped in medieval culture.

“It seems we’ve reached Indasia,” Aife remarked.

“Indasia? That’s where you said you’re stationed, right?” Emilio asked.

The knight nodded, “Indeed. This will be my stop.”

Carriages now rumbled past them as they approached the gates of the illustrious city, flowing in as its prosperous nature couldn’t be any more clear.

Though this proved to be a problem as the amount of carriages, transporting external goods to be traded by merchants, created a long line before the front gates.

“Err…I hate comin’ through here in a carriage, it’s always such a long wait,” Roan muttered from upfront.

For Emilio, it was a picture-perfect image of modern day traffic that occurred back on Earth, only this time the gas-spewing cars were replaced by horse-towed carriage. Still, it was essentially the same.

So, this is traffic in Arcadius, huh? Emilio thought.

“No need to rush things,” Aife said, wiping her sword with a rag, “Detours are the essence of life’s journey, they say.”

Roan scoffed from up front, “Easy for you to say–these damn horses are giving me a headache with all their yanking.”

It took an entire hour for the line of carriages to finally move enough for them to arrive at the front gates, stopped by the citywatch who were dressed in dark-blue, steel armor and black capes.

“Present your identification,” the guard said.

Roan flashed his adventurer insignia, which seemed to shock both of the guards by the black-jewel embedded in it.

“Coming through to rest for a couple days. Is that alright?” Roan asked, tucking his necklace beneath his collar.

“Of course! Please, come through,” the Indasia guard said.

Allowed through the front gates of the immaculate walls of Indasia, Emilio and Melisande both peered out through the windows of the carriage, seeing the landscape of the foreign city in all of its glory.

The width of the streets were bustling, occupied by street merchants and passing adventurers, along with a large population of mages, identified by their robes and staffs. Above their heads, shadows were cast down by the skyhigh bridges that connected the colossal towers of Indasia, which too, were occupied by many denizens of the Vasmoria.

“Wow! It’s nothing like Larundog,” Melisande remarked, “It’s so huge!”

“Right?…It’s kind of overwhelming–but exciting,” Emilio replied.

A unique trait noticed by him of the establishments were buildings that held a variety of unaffiliated shops, similar to malls on Earth; one particular one he noticed had a tailor store on the ground floor, a restaurant on the second, and an inn on the third story.