“…Fine. Then according to your calculations, how many Stars have I accumulated?”

  “…I am a little envious of how you always listen to Yuri…”

  “…Just get to the point.”

  “…Around eleven hundred Stars.”

  “…That’s more than I expected. Anyways, now that everyone knows how many Stars they have to their names, you should all understand how far away you are from accumulating a thousand Stars. Maybe, some of you might earn enough Stars to redeem Top Grade Medals by the time we enter the inner city, but that would mean giving up exchanging other resources. And even then, your chances of earning enough Stars are not high. After all, we are almost done with our preparations to make the last sprint towards the inner city.

  “Rather than wasting your time, gambling your chances on the illusory favour of Goddess Ilea, it would be better to just exchange what Stars you have earned up till now, and turn it into your strength to better help you—help us in achieving our goal. Of course, the end decision is still in your hands. Now, who wants to redeem your Stars right away, and who wants to wait until we have some Top Grade Medals in stock?”

  “…I do not think there is any need to ask that question,” Fran said, shaking his head. “Maybe, if you had not revealed how many Stars everyone has to their names, then we might think twice about accumulating more Stars. But now… except for you and the girls, who else can accumulate more than a thousand Stars?”

  “I have never insisted on accumulating Stars anyways,” Zain added, shrugging his shoulders, with a smug smile on his face.

  “…I never thought I would say this, but I agree with Zain,” Ralph said with a wry smile. “I have always done what I could for the team, without thinking about how much Stars I was accumulating. I always thought that helping the team is the same as helping myself. And after all that we have been through… If you had not brought up the promise, I might even have forgotten about it. But that’s just what I think. I am not sure about the rest…”

  “…You three have already said so much. If the rest of us still insist on accumulating more Stars for exchanging Top Grade Medals, would that not make us seem a little greedy?” Norren said, scratching the back of his head. Unlike him though, Aren did not seem to be too embarrassed by Zain and Ralph’s words.

  “I do not mind being greedy. As long as it can help me achieve my goal,” Aren said, looking into the eyes of his Captain. “But you are right. Accumulating more Stars is not going to help us. Rather than wasting more time, we should try to increase our strength as much as possible to increase our chances of reaching the inner city.”

  “…I am glad that you can think more about the team,” Alnea said, showing a rare trace of a satisfied smile on his face, before turning towards the only man who had not spoken out his thoughts yet. “What about you Karl? Do you want to keep accumulating more Stars to redeem a Top Grade Medal?”

  “…Top Grade Medal,” Karl mumbled, before shaking his head. “Forget it. That’s too much trouble. I better exchange my Stars for some High Grade Medals.”

  “Are you sure? Aside from the girls, you are the closest to accumulating a thousand Stars.”

  “Yet I am still nearly four hundred Stars away,” Karl mumbled. “Besides, I have never thought about accumulating a thousand Stars. The tasks that I did… I have just been trying my best to ensure my survival. And the only reason I have not redeemed any Medals up till now is because I never knew how many Stars I had accumulated.

  “Besides, the others have said it all, have they not? Instead of pinning my hopes on some illusory favour of Goddess Ilea, it would better if I exchange my contributions for some immediate strength to better help me survive the Trials that we will have to face next. Though I would prefer to exchange for Arcanist and Scholar Medals instead of the Warrior Medals that you have right now.”

  “Then I am afraid you will have to wait for a couple more weeks.”

  Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

  “That’s alright. I can afford to wait for a while.”

  “Good,” Alnea said, nodding at Karl, before turning towards the girls. “Then that leaves just the three of you. And though I know what your answers are going to be, I am going to ask you anyway. Do you three have any intentions of redeeming Medals from the team?”

  “…If you know the answer, then why are you asking?” Cecilia said, before pointing to Zain with disgust. “Has some of his stupidity rubbed off on you?”

  “Hey! I am right here!”

  “…She is just joking, Zain,” Alnea said, before turning back to the girls with a wry smile. “Let’s just go through the motions, alright?”

  “…Fine,” Cecilia said. “I have no intentions of redeeming my contributions. At least not now.”

  “And neither do I,” Vestia added, with Yuri chiming in with a nod.

  “…As I thought. Then let’s—

  “Wait a moment,” Vestia said, cutting Alnea off. “Although I—we have no intention of redeeming our contributions, you cannot just shrug off our contributions either.”

  “…I am not shrugging off your contributions, Vestia.”

  “Then how are you going to compensate our contributions to the team?”

  “Are you finally going to show your true colours?” Cecilia said with a snarl, not giving Alnea any chance to answer the blue robed girl’s concerns. “Saying all those things like treating the team as your own and not caring about your contributions… What exactly are you planning, vixen?”

  “…I am speaking for all three of us here.”

  “I do not need you to speak for me. And neither does Yuri. If we want something from Alnea, then we will just ask it from him. You, on the other hand, can only rely on trickeries… Tell me, vixen. Is your Roots based on the lineage of Trickeries?”

  “I am not trying to argue here, Cecilia.”

  “Because you know that I will win.”

  “…If Alnea does not address how to compensate our contributions, then it would not conform to his concept of fairness.”

  “You do not have to worry about Alnea. If something bothers him, he will tell us about it on his own.”

  “…Maybe. But what if even he does not understand what exactly it is that is bothering him? What if, in your ignorance, you end up clouding his Heart?”

  “…Do you understand what you are saying, vixen?”

  “Calm down, Cecilia,” Yuri said, stepping in before Cecilia and her stupid cat could pounce on the blue robed girl. “Let’s hear her out first.”

  “Are you really going to listen to her nonsense?”

  “She may have some… ill intentions for Alnea, but she is right when she says that we need to make a few things clear.”

  “I knew that you would understand me, Yuri,” Vestia said, feigning a hint of excitement in her voice, only for Yuri to glare at her in return.

  “Do not get me wrong,” Yuri said. “I am not taking your side. It is just that I understand what you are trying to say. And I would have mentioned it even if you had not said it. But now that you have said it first, I will let you complete it.”

  “…I will take that for now,” Vestia said, flashing her dimples, before turning towards Alnea. “You should have understood what I—we are trying to say, right?”

  “…I guess,” Alnea said with a sigh, learning another lesson in how to deal with Wanderers. Treating his words like Oren Stones. “Is there anything that you want?”

  “…How about another promise?”

  “That’s enough, Vestia,” Yuri said, before Alnea could give Vestia the promise that she asked. Not that he was going to give her one. “I do not deny your contributions to the team, but you cannot exchange those contributions for a personal promise from Alnea.”

  “…That’s a little too much, I guess,” Vestia said, clicking her tongue in disappointment. “I do not have anything else that I want though…”

  “…What about you two? Is there anything that you two want?”

  “…I think a day out—

  “Nothing personal,” Vestia said, cutting off Cecilia before she could complete her demand, forcing her to click her tongue in regret.

  “Then I have nothing else that I wish for either.”

  “…You two are making things difficult for Alnea…”

  “It’s alright,” Alnea said, shaking his head with a wry smile. “I will think of something to compensate them.”

  “Is that so…” Yuri said, trailing off towards the end. “Then you should not mind thinking of a proper compensation for me either.”

  “…And you too,” Alnea said to Yuri, before quickly shifting the topic away from the girls. “As for everyone else, I recommend that you take your time to decide how to spend your Stars, as this might be your last chance to strengthen yourself before you take the Peak Stage Trials. And if you wish to exchange for Arcanist and Scholar Tokens then you might have to wait for up to two weeks anyways. In the meantime, increase your ranking in the Arena as much as you can. After all, once we are done with all the Trials, it will be time for us to head towards the inner city.”