“Look, who is here again,” Daes said with a smile, as she saw Alnea stand in front of her once again. “Did you miss me?”

  “…Good morning to you too, Wanderer Daes,” Alnea said, not sure of how to deal with the Wanderer in front of him. Every time he saw her, the Wanderer would always come up with new ways to embarrass him. Since she did not show any malice against him though, his Heart would not allow for him to treat her as his enemy. Or else, what would be the difference between him and the people of the Lotus clan? Thankfully for him, he did not have to think for long, for he was not alone.

  “This is only the fourth day since our first meeting, Wanderer Daes,” Yuri said, with a bland expression on her face. “We do not know you well enough to miss you.”

  “Tsk. That’s why I do not like rude little girls like you. Always trying to meddle into other people’s life.”

  “Alnea is not just someone else for me. He is my companion, and my friend.”

  “Then you should just treat him as a friend, and not try to meddle into his life.”

  “I am not meddling into his life. I am just trying to stop a certain someone from trying to take advantage of his kind Heart.”

  “Me taking advantage of his Heart? No, no, no, you have got it all wrong. Do you not see the smile on my face whenever I see him? Or the sadness in my Heart whenever I see him leave?”

  “…Enough with your ridiculous excuses,” Cecilia said, finally unable to hold herself back. “Just do your work, and let us be on our way.”

  “…Who do we have here? Another pesky little girl. I heard you earned quite some Medals in the Warrior Hall. What happened when you came to the Scholar Hall? Why have I never seen you earn any extra Medals in the past three days? Were all those rumours about your peerless genius false? But the other two did earn some Medals… Ah, I almost forgot. You are a Serpian. It is only natural for you to have a little less talent in areas where you need to use your brain.”

  “You…”

  “…That’s enough, Wanderer Daes,” Alnea said, staring at the Wanderer with furrowed brows. “Although I respect you as a Wanderer, and can even put up with your eccentric acts, that does not give you the right to insult my friend.”

  “…But she was the one who soke so rudely at first,” Daes said with a pout, before turning down the edge of her lips. “Alright. I will not say anything to insult your friends. But you should also control your friends. Though I do not mind you scolding me from time to time, not just anyone can be rude to me. If this was not the Lost City, and if I were not a receptionist… Besides, I do not like it when you look at me like that for other girls… It hurts my heart…”

  “Please, stop joking, Wanderer Daes,” Yuri said, still with no expression on her face. “We are in a hurry.”

  “What are you in a hurry for?”

  “…To get this meaningless farce over with. Do you not see the people waiting behind us?”

  “I do not see any of them clamouring to get this ‘farce’ over with though.”

  “…What do you want, Wanderer Daes?”

  “I just want to talk with Alnea to ease the ache in my heart.”

  “…Do you even have a heart?”

  “…What do you know about the feeling of heartache, little one?”

  “Enough to understand what you are trying to do.”

  “Really?” Daes mused. “Then you should know that when it comes to matters of heart, it is not the length of time you spend with someone that matters, but how much a person resonates with you that decides whether you like someone or not. Some people may spend decades, or even centuries with each other, but would still not make each other’s hearts flutter. Others, on the other hand, need only a single meeting to set off storms in each other’s hearts.”

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Unfortunately for you, you are of neither kind. Not only do you not make his heart flutter, but you will also not be able to spend much time with him either.”

  “…Are girls these days so rude?”

  “Just to people like you.”

  “Tsk. Forget it. I am not in the mood anymore.”

  “…Then can we go back to our business, Wanderer Daes?”

  “What are you still doing here? Just go to your Trial already.”

  “…We would, if we knew where we had to go.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “We mean that we are here to challenge a new Trial today.”

  “Oh? Are you done with the Mystery Trials? But I remember that you have completed only up until the Advanced Stage Trials. Are you going to give up on the Peak Stage Trials?”

  “We are not giving up. We are just putting it off for the time being. We will come back to it after some time.”

  “…So, you have no confidence in passing the Peak Stage Trials?”

  “…You can say that.”

  “That’s interesting. From what I heard, you were able to kill Peak Stage False Wanderers half a year ago, when you were still at the Intermediate Stage. Yet, half a year later, even though you have long reached the Advanced Stage, you claim that you are not capable enough to pass the Trials…”

  “Just because we were able to kill some Peak Stage False Wanderers does not mean that we will be able to pass the Trials. After all, the Trials of the Lost City are not about just fighting.”

  “That may be true for the Trials of the Scholar Hall, but the Trials of the Warrior Hall are indeed just about fighting. And from what I know, you did not challenge the Peak stage Trials in the Warrior Hall either…”

  “…Are you spying on us?”

  “…I just heard some rumours. How can you call that spying? At best, I just gathered some information. Like what your other teammates are doing right now.”

  “…What are you trying to say, Wanderer Daes?”

  “Nothing,” Daes said, shrugging her shoulders. “Like I said, I just want to talk to you.”

  “…I thought you were not in the mood to chat anymore.”

  “…Are you trying to be mean to me on purpose?” Daes said, with a hint of blush on her face. “But I like it more this way… The more ruthless and decisive you are, the more excited you make me…”

  “…You are saying your thoughts out loud, Wanderer Daes,” Alnea said, cursing his fate once again. Or maybe, it was exactly because of the curse of his fate that he had met the woman in front of him. The days were indeed crawling closer to the month of Inkah…

  “Am I? Forgive me for my inappropriate behaviour then,” Daes said, laughing heartily, with no intention of apologies on her face, or in her voice. “Anyways, as I was saying, from how you refuse to challenge the Peak Stage Trials despite having the capabilities to do so… Is it because you wish to break a few more records, and sprint towards the inner city?”

  “That does not have anything to do with you,” Yuri said, growing a little impatient with the Wanderer in front of them. “Your task is to help us in selecting what Trials to challenge, and giving us our due rewards.”

  “I was just trying to help you.”

  “We do not need your help.”

  “Even if it concerns whether or not you can enter the inner city?”

  “…Even if it concerns whether or not we can enter the inner city.”

  “Tsk. Like I thought, you are still just a bunch of kids. How can you call yourself Wanderers if you do not even know when to compromise to seek more benefits?”

  “…Can you just tell us where we need to go for Glyph Trials?”

  “Fine. Fine. I am really not in the mood anymore,” Daes said, clicking her tongue, before pointing to the Wanderers next to her. “Go to the Wanderer in the middle.”

  “…Thank you, Wanderer Daes,” Alnea said, and walked away from the Wanderer, pulling a growling Cecilia along with him, before the crazy woman could say anything else to provoke Cecilia and Yuri. Or embarrass him. Neither of the cases were good for him.

  “…For some reason, I am stating to miss the vixen a little,” Cecilia said, glaring at Daes, as the latter dealt with other Wanderers in a nonchalant manner, only for Alnea to pull her hand to draw her attention, and shake his head.

  “Let’s focus on our task for now,” Alnea said, before turning towards the Wanderer that Daes had pointed to. “Good morning, Wanderer…”

  “Give me your Blood Cards.”

  “Here,” Alnea said, handing over their Blood Cards to the Wanderer. “Just to be sure, the Glyph Trials are on the sixth floor, right?”

  “You are not too stupid,” the man said, drowning their conversation in a silence. A few moments later, the man handed the Blood Cards back, and said, “You can go to the Trials now.”

  “…Thank you, Wanderer,” Alnea said, before walking away with Yuri and Cecilia towards the staircase in the distance.