8

The carriage draws close to the gate of Ecg, the stone walls standing tall before them. Soldiers bearing spears tentatively approach as they see Regn walk forward. Scima stifles a laugh before he calls out to them.

“Hold on! We’re a royal delegation.”

The soldiers notice the insignia marking the side of the carriage, the royal crest of Dracabana. They lower their spears and prostrate themselves before the carriage. They begin to apologize profusely, but Scima stops them early.

“Stop that, we have business to attend to. One of you escort us to Minister Feoh.”

The soldiers scramble around to form an aisle for the carriage to pass through. Two of them remain between the two rows of soldiers and quickly move towards the city gates. The remaining soldiers all salute to the carriage in their rows as it waits for the gates to open.

The gates open with a loud groaning as the gates disappear inside the walls. Scima spurs the horses forward through the gate as Regn and Sion follow after the carriage.

The soldiers stand slightly ahead of the carriage on either side, anxiously looking around and scanning the surroundings. The soldiers guide the carriage along the large street cutting through the city. Although there are several stores and stalls clearly open for business, very few pedestrians populate the streets, allowing the carriage to pass easily.

Each of the merchants witnessing the passing of the carriage consider, for just a brief moment, trying to sell their wares to the mysterious escorted guests. They erase the thought from their mind quicker than it entered, even faster when they see Regn pass by.

The soldiers round a corner without breaking formation, the one on the outer edge speeding up to keep pace. Scima and the carriage, then Regn and Sion, turn after them.

They turn once more and come upon a manor. Although it is larger than the other buildings in the city, it is not particularly grand or imposing. It gives an air of humility towards its residents. The two soldiers turn and salute the carriage once more.

“This is the minister’s residence, sir.” Sion slides off Regn and brings him before the guards.

“Excuse me, could you watch Regn while we’re inside?” The soldiers look unnerved by the request, intimidated by both Regn’s power and the royal authority of the carriage he followed.

“Y-yes sir, we’d be delighted.” Sion smiles, not realizing their cause for worry.

“Thank you.”

Meanwhile, Scima drops from the driver’s seat of the carriage and opens the door. He helps Eva as she gracefully steps out of the carriage. As they approach the soldiers, they salute once more. Eva and Scima pass by them, and Sion follows after them towards the manor.

When they near the door, an elderly butler opens it. He bows deeply towards Eva.

“Princess Evangelina and her entourage, I presume. I humbly welcome you to Ecg on my master’s behalf. Please allow me to guide you to his office.”

Eva nods her head. The trio follow the old butler through the halls. Much like the exterior, the halls too are humble. Save the insignias of Dracabana and the rare painting, the walls are unadorned. It’s only barely more than the servants’ building in the castle.

Eventually they come to a large set of doors. The butler knocks strongly once.

“Master Feoh, Princess Evangelina has arrived.” A weak voice struggling to be loud enough to be heard responds.

“Thank you very much. Let them in, then return to your regular duties.”

The butler opens the doors, revealing the office beyond them. The office is practically empty save for the desk of the minister and a large bookcase. On the shelves are a large assortment of books of all kinds, from fiction to encyclopedias and treatises. At the desk is a gaunt middle-aged man. He holds his body weakly, his tired eyes raising from the piles of papers below him. Eva, Scima, and Sion walk into the office, the butler closing the door behind them. The man at the desk raises his body and straightens his back with what little strength he has, trying his best to look dignified.

“Greetings, Princess Evangelina. I am honored to welcome you to our lovely Ecg.” Eva curtsies to him.

“Hello, Sir Feoh. All is well?”

“Unfortunately, My Lady, there have been many problems cropping up, though none you need concern yourself with.”

“No, there is no issue beneath my concern when it comes to my people. Tell me what’s happened.”

“They’re really under control, My Lady. I wouldn’t want you to be worrying while you travel to Messis.”

“I’ll worry anyway, at this point.” Feoh sighs, realizing he should have just lied.

“I suppose you’re right, My Lady. The actual problem we’re facing are merchants becoming unwilling to travel to Clea. As you know, my role here in Ecg is to maintain strong trade from the city into the rest of the kingdom. However, when I looked into the root cause of this change, I discovered that time would be necessary to solve this problem. The cause of this situation appears to be both rumors of dangerous bandits attacking caravans en route to Clea and rumors of a large horde of goblins growing near the city. The Saturgrani minister and I have issued a request to the mercenary guild on behalf of the city, so all we can do now is wait for the soldiers and mercenaries to handle it.”

“I see. I wish you and your men luck, Sir Feoh.”

“Thank you, My Lady. Now, moving on, I don’t believe I know your companions.” Scima steps forward and bows.

“Greetings, Sir Minister. I am Scima Yslende, Princess Evangelina’s knight.” Feoh racks his brain for a moment.

“Scima… The great general’s student?” Scima nods.

“That is correct.” Feoh then looks towards Sion. He takes a step closer, but does not bow.

“Hello Mr. Feoh. I’m Sion. It’s nice to meet you.” Scima stifles a laugh at Sion’s lack of decorum, while Feoh only looks caught off-guard.

There’s a weak knock, then a soft and reserved voice that follows it.

“F-father, I have a report about the goblin matter…” Feoh looks towards Eva, who nods slightly.

“Yes, come in.”

The door opens slightly, and a girl slips inside the office. She slouches over as if she were trying to hide herself. Her long dark brown hair falls over her left eye. She shuts the door behind her, only to shrink back when she sees the guests in her father’s office.

“Eep! F-father…” Feoh ignores her surprise and introduces her.

“This is my daughter, Lufe. Lufe, this is Princess Evangelina and her companions.”

Lufe slouches further, trying to make herself smaller. She focuses her gaze on the ground in front of her. Regardless, Eva turns to face her and curtsies.

“Hello, Lady Lufe. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” Lufe keeps her head down, stammering, but failing to string together a word.

When Sion looks at her directly he feels something strange. Something inside of him pulses and shudders, and the translucent blue slate appears in his field of view. Sion had only felt this sensation once before, when this power of his first manifested itself five years ago. However, that is not the end of the strangeness of the activation. The slate is blank, shaking at seemingly random intervals. At times, Sion can see parts of Lufe behind the slate clearly, as though those sections had disappeared completely.

Sion is perturbed by the strange slate before him, unable to look away. No matter how intently he stares at it, no information reveals itself. The longer he observes the blank slate, the more his head begins to throb. He quickly feels a headache growing in pain in response to the slate. When pain fills his eyes, Sion pulls his jaw up and averts his eyes forcefully. He blocks out the light with his hands, drawing the attention of everyone else. The pain is taking much longer to subside than it had to appear. Scima is the first to respond.

“Sion, are you okay?”

Sion doesn't respond. He keeps his hands pressed against his eyes as he begins to take slow, deep breaths. Golden wisps of light like flames flicker out through the small gaps between his fingers. After several breaths, the pain is bearable once more. When Sion lowers his hands, he sees everyone standing around him, looking with worry. Eva gives a quick order.

“Sion, go rest.”

Sion still doesn't respond, instead simply turning towards the door in silence. He jerks the door open and steps through, closing it behind him gently. Sion leaves the manor quickly.

When Sion steps through the front door, Regn happily approaches him. Sensing that something's wrong, he licks Sion's face. Sion smiles and pats his head.

“Can you stay here and wait for Scima and Eva? And then lead them to me when they come out?” Regn yips in affirmation. “Thank you.”

Sion leaves Regn and walks towards the front gate slowly. He opens the gate and passes through, surprising the guards standing there. Sion doesn't pay them any mind, just continuing to walk.

Sion begins to wander through the city aimlessly. Left on his own, he winds up preoccupied with thoughts about what had happened. This is even more anomalous than his own locked skills. He had never seen a slate like that, that had been scrubbed clean of any information. More questions race through his mind than ever. He thought he understood the principle of this one power at least, but it suddenly showed a new facet of itself. His only guess is that whoever gave him this power is now interfering with it. But that assumption too only raises more questions.

Sion doesn't want to think anymore. He just wants to clear his head and rest.

While he tries to lose himself, Sion comes upon a girl sitting at a near empty table on a terrace. She has tan skin and silver hair falling to her shoulders. She shifts quickly between different expressions. She reads a paper from a thick stack, the only thing on the table, with a thoughtful expression, which then shifts to pensive thought, and then to frustration of some kind. Sion steps towards her without a thought.

“Do you need help?” She’s surprised by his sudden question, and quickly straightens her back against the chair to look up at him. Her purple eyes have a strange blurred appearance, although Sion doesn’t question it.

“Ah, no—” She examines Sion more closely as she begins to speak. “—do you need help?”

“No, I’m alright.”

“But you look so pale. And you’re swaying.” Sion doesn’t look convinced of his persisting unwellness. “Anyway, please sit down.”

The girl gestures to a chair across from her at the table. As Sion falls into it, she starts stuffing the papers into a carrier bag hanging from the back of her chair. Sion slumps forward against the table involuntarily. He sees another person approach the table, and the girl across from him start talking. And then he feels the world fall away as he disconnects from everything.

Sion feels like he’s in a dream of sorts. The world surrounding him is a pitch black void, similar to the one he saw during the Rite of Bestowal. Where he might have expected to find the word “Inheritor,” Sion insteads sees the blank slate once more. He’s drawn inexplicably towards it. Some sort of script, though one that Sion cannot comprehend, flickers on the slate and fades, only for a new script to take its place. As he draws closer to the slate, he begins to hear whispers. The whispers speak without meaning or sound, leaving behind only the impression of urgency. The whispers grow more intense and more numerous as Sion keeps walking forward. When he stands in front of the slate, still quickly shuffling through unknowable scripts, the whispers, even silent, have grown into a large chorus. Sion instinctively reaches out to touch the panel in front of him. He presses his fingertips into it. The script on the slate suddenly takes a permanent shape and begins to move. It flows from the panel onto Sion’s arm, as though his skin was just an extension of the slate. Suddenly, Sion begins to understand everything. He learns the cause of the strange blank slate, he learns the tragedy at the root of it, and he begins to grasp the danger that may befall them.

Sion jolts back up and opens his eyes. Any discomfort he had was gone, replaced by a tender warmth filling his eyes. He remembers nothing of his dream. All he remains aware of is the fact he had dreamt at all.

On the table in front of him are a filled cup and a small plate with a slice of cake on it. Across from him is the same pair, the girl already beginning to eat. She looks at Sion with relief.

“Oh, you’re up. And you’re already looking better. Umm… I don’t know if you like it, but I got tea and cake, so please, feel free to eat.” Sion takes a small bite of the cake.

“Do you need help?”

“No, everything’s fine. Do you like the cake?”

“Yes. You looked worried before, though.”

“I am worried, but it’s nothing I need help with.”

“Even then, I can still listen, and that might be better than worrying on your own.”

“Alright… Ah! We haven’t introduced ourselves. I’m Anima.”

“I’m Sion. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Yes, it is. What I was worrying about was the goblins that appeared recently.”

“The ministers are already handling it.”

“Yes, I know. It’s not the goblins themselves I’m worrying about. I need to go further into Saturgranum, to Messis—”

“For Sagax?” Anima is surprised that Sion guessed it, having been trying not to say it herself.

“Yes, that’s right. I’ll need to leave soon, but I’m too worried about my father. You see, my father runs a small trade company, and I just don’t feel right leaving while he’s struggling so much. I was even considering taking the job for the goblins myself, but—”

“I’ll help you.” Anima is shocked.

“No, no we can’t. I’m not that strong, so…” Sion begins to look over her abilities. She doesn’t have anything flashy, but she’s not so much weaker than him or Scima.

“If it’s just goblins then we’re more than strong enough.” Anima continues to try to deny him.

“No, I mean, we hardly even know each other, and there’s not much I can offer, so you really don’t need—”

“That’s not a reason not to help someone.”

“It’s really fine, just listening was enough.”

“But if you want to help your father and stop worrying about the goblins, wouldn’t just doing this be the best way?” Anima resigns herself.

“Fine. You’ve convinced me.”

As Anima agrees, Sion turns his head back towards the direction he came from. He sees Regn’s large body, and stands up. Regn gracefully weaves between the tables on the terrace as he approaches Sion. Scima and Eva follow after him a moment later. Scima starts talking.

“Sion, we should head back to the manor and get ready to leave soon.”

“I told her I would help with the goblins.” Sion points towards Anima. Anima stands up and starts grabbing the bag on her chair.

“It’s really fine, Sion. If you need to leave, you don’t need to help with anything.”

“No. I already decided to help you stop worrying.” Scima teases Sion a little.

“What’s with you and rushing head first to fight goblins? Is that really all you want to do?” He walks closer to the table to address Anima. “So? What should we do? Go to the guild?” He turns his head towards Eva. “That’s alright, isn’t it, Lady Eva?” Eva sighs.

“Yes, it’s fine.” Sion looks towards Anima.

“Anima, what do we do next?”