I Shouldn't Ask.

I find myself quite oft thinking back to the quiet days we spent in Ramorza.

That sleepy fishing village where the most interesting time was an annual festival.

Methinks of our Mother, kind and warm. Methinks of our Father, stern yet gentle.

Methinks of thou, Lunia. Mine sister. Mine greatest friend and mine shadow.

I remember the day thou were born.

The moons are important for those whom live off the sea.

Towards the day thou arrived, the moons had combined 'in the sky.

Our mother had looked to them and chose your name in that very moment.

That day is mine greatest remembrance, and mine worst beshrew.

The day I became thou brother.

-Excerpt from the recovered journal of Absalon Ramorski.

♕♛♕♛♕♛♕

Her hand is small in mine as we run.

After exiting the alley, we found ourselves on a large and busy street. Carriages pass, full of cargo. The street is inclined, going right out of the alley the street rises in elevation. A large wall lies in that direction, a large gate carved out of it. Its brick reminds me of the wall the train had passed through a while earlier.

Left out of the alley, the street descends to a large tree that stretches into the sky, a backdrop of stone fills the horizon behind it. At the base of the large tree is a massive, fancy building, and a large square with a fountain and hundreds of stalls dotted around.

I decided to run towards the square, hoping a large group of people could prevent any further issues. If we were lucky, a guard could be found in the crowd.

So we run down the street, people glancing at us as we run.

“Haah- Haah-”

It takes us about five minutes to reach the bottom of the street. The street splits off into two curved streets to the left and right. Past the street is a large square, with small groupings of trees spaced out, a large fountain lies in the middle in front of a large ornamental building.

I look back at the girl, who looks back at me. She’s covered head to toe in dust, dyeing her silver hair two shades darker.

“Um… We can probably wash off at that fountain.” I tell her, pointing towards the square.

“Ah… Yeah.” She says quietly.

We cross the street, dodging carriages and horses.

People stare at us as we approach the fountain. Children peer into the water and splash each other. Couples sit on the edge and flirt with each other.

The fountain itself is a strange design, a beautiful woman with long hair looks to the sky. Chains are wrapped around her body. The statue's arms are raised, water gushing from its palms. Her arms, legs, and neck are chained, leaving the fountain with an odd sense of dark elegance.

“What a strange statue,” I murmur.

“Y-yeah… Maybe it's Iris?” The girl answers quietly as she reaches the fountain. She takes off the black gloves on her hands. She cups water into her hands and splashes it onto her face. The dust washes off into the fountain. She takes a deep breath before turning back to me. “The church is right over there after all.”

She looks toward the left of the tree, a large church lies a little way from the large ornamental building.

“Maybe… but Iris is always depicted as a kid, yeah? Why would this statue be a woman? And why are they chained?” I ponder.

“...” The girl looks at me.

“What?” Crap, did I say something weird?

“Ahahaha, Nothing, nothing. You're just a little different from what I was thinking” She tells me, her voice gaining energy.

“...”

“I’m sorry, I didn't mean anything. I just thought you’d be… Scarier.”

“Scarier?”

“Ah… well…” The girl catches her tongue and doesn’t explain what she means.

“Oh… I guess I did cover you in dust, haha.”

“No, no. I should thank you for that.” She says, her face growing more serious. “Thank you, for helping me.” She bows curtly.

“It’s not a big deal… Seems like you had lots of help anyway.” I think back to that young man who called himself a hero.

“Tch. Guys like that just want to hear someone praise them.” She said bluntly. “Who the heck even is he?”

“I don’t know.” I look back up the street. I don't know what alley we had come out of, but I hope that the young man had gotten away safely. “Who was the big guy? Are you okay?”

“I'm all good.” She says as she sits on the fountain. “I don’t know, I just walked past him and he grabbed me out of nowhere. He was asking about where something was… I didn’t really listen."

The girl rubs her arm uncomfortably while she recounts her experience.

“I hate men.” She says bluntly.

“... Here, let me clean us up.” I stretch my arm out and say-

The world feels as if it freezes. Time slows to a crawl.

““Ensamble””

I feel as if I lost a moment of time.

The dust that covers both of us slowly flies off and gathers, hovering above the center of my palm. A small ball is collected, and after a moment, it drops into my hand.

I look around, find a trash can, and place the ball in it.

“Is that the same magic as before? Why didn’t it explode?” The girl asks me as I return to the fountain. She’s staring at me curiously.

“Oh, that was because the magic hadn’t finished gathering it all. That weird guy had cut it before it finished. When that happens, the magic cancels and sends everything back.” I explain.

“Wow! How’d you come up with something like that? Are you educated?”

“No, it’s just something from a book.”

“Huh…” She pauses for a moment. “Hey… are you here for the Magus course?”

I look at the girl, shocked for a moment.

“Yeah… Are you?”

“Hehe, I guess so.” She looks at me again, this time with more energy. “Guess we'll be classmates!”

She jumps onto her feet and turns to face me.

“I’m Nina Il Manako. It’s nice to make your acquaintance.” Wind blows through the square and picks up her silver hair, revealing her long, pointy ears. Her deep golden eyes looking back at me.

She wears a simple white and green yukata-style dress, black tights over her legs.

“It’s nice to meet you…” I take a deep breath. The sky above is blue, and the sun is shining down on us. “I’m Neia, Neia Samsa.”

♕♛♕♛♕♛♕

“We need to get to the Laden inn, right?” I ask Manako.

“Yes, that is what I was told.” She says.

I look around. Streets line just about every direction in the city. Three main roads stretch out from the plaza, to the left and right, and the one we had run down. The city itself is laid out like a set of stairs, multiple layers incrementally rising along with the streets. The houses are made up of concrete, wooden, and combination style. No matter where I look, I can not find a single surface without the veins covering it.

“Looks like we’ll have to ask someone.” It wouldn't be a bad idea to find a knight to report that large guy to.

I look around the square, it's full of people wandering the stands, merchants selling wares, and families playing.

“No guards around…”

“Doesn’t seem like it…”

…

“Why don’t you ask them there?” Manako points to two women walking by.

“... they seem busy. Why don’t you ask that old lady there?” I point to an old lady walking past.

“No, no, I wouldn’t dare bother her.”

…

This is going nowhere. Guess I'll have to ask-

“Did I just hear you young ladies call me old?” The old woman who had been walking by questioned as she approached us.

She’s about 1.5 meters tall, gray hair is braided and hangs over her right shoulder. She’s wearing a simple green dress. In her right hand is a walking stick, and in her left she's holding 2 pieces of paper.

“Ah, no, of course not… I was talking about the lady behind you, haha.” I look, there's no one there.

“Is that right? Then I suppose I've still got some time ahead of me, hm?”

“Of course, you still seem young and spry to me, miss.” Manako chimes in.

“Haha, thanks, darlin. Was there somethin you youngins were lookin to ask this old granny?”

“Um, we were wondering about the Laden inn?”

“If you could give us directions, please.”

“Ah, good ol’ Laden inn. That old bastard still has that place runnin’ hm? While it should be up there, third layer down from the top.” The old lady points to the street we came down, “Big yellow building there, can’t miss it.”

We ran past it…

“Thank you, miss.”

“Miss, thank you.”

“Haha, keep up those manners, and you two youngins will steal this granny's agin heart. Kahaha.” The old granny looks to the side as she laughs. “Well, I'd better be off now, don’t wanna keep the old hubby waitin. May the Spirit bless your day.” The old woman says as she starts off, toward the right street.

The two of us watch her go.

“She seemed chipper.”

“Seems something good happened.” Manako ponders.

“You know… I could’ve asked about the fountain…” I realized too late.

“You really are fascinated by that statue.” Manako teases.

“I don’t know, guess I’m just curious. What do you think?”

“I think it reminds me… of something I’d rather not think about,” Manako says, rubbing her arm.

… I shouldn’t ask.

“Well, we should get going,” I say, trying to change the subject.

Manako nods and follows after me. We walk in silence back up the busy street.

After a few moments, Manako speaks up.

“You know… I think I may know why you're so interested in that statue.”

“Really? Why do you think so?”

“'Cause you're a pervert?”

“No.”

I chop her on the head.

♕♛♕♛♕♛♕

We reach the large yellow building that the old lady had pointed to. A large sign hangs over the door. “Laden Inn and Kitchen.”

Walking in, we are greeted by an older man behind the front desk. A cat-like ear protrudes from the left side of his head; on the right side, a large scar lies across his head, starting around the eye and continuing to where a second ear should be.

He looks at us for a moment before clicking his tongue.

“You two need’r room? Rooms? Room is 10 rouge.” The old man says grouchily.

“Um.. No, we're actually here for the university…” I tell him.

“Ah, you're over ther.” the old man says, pointing to the doorway to the left.

An opening in the wall leads to several tables and chairs. A couple of people sit at the tables with food in front of them. At the back is a counter with a kitchen visible. A larger woman is seen working in the kitchen. Every other moment, two cat ears appear from beneath the counter, running around the woman.

Booths line the far wall. 3 rows of tables occupy the majority of the floor space. To our left is a set of three windows in a trapezoid shape. The booth furthest back, next to the counter is marked by a sign. Made with a random plank of wood, and written in childish symbols is “University of Saionia.”

We both walk over to the booth, eventually standing just in front of it.

Sitting on the left side of the booth is a girl with dark black hair. She looks back at us with deep blue eyes and a condescending look, which is matched by the extravagant dress covered in frills and jewelry.

On the right side, a girl with glasses notices us. She begins to slide out of the booth.

sitting next to her, further into the booth is a rugged man with an unlit cigarette in his mouth, looking at us suspiciously.

…

“Hello, are you guys potential students?”

“Yeah,” I respond. Manako nods beside me.

“It’s nice to meet you. I'm Helia. I’ve been put in charge of this group.” The girl, Helia, says as she sticks out her hand.

“I-I'm Nina Il Manako.” Manako replies, stepping out from behind me, she shakes her hand.

“Nina..? Ah,” Helia pauses. ”Is it okay if I call you Manako?”

“Ye-yes, that's fine”

Helia, smiling at Manako, finally turns towards me.

Her clothes are tidy, not a single crease appearing on them. Her shirt is a silk white, fitting tightly over a large bosom. Her shirt is met by a dark blue skirt at her waist, which covers most of her legs.

“It’s nice to meet you as well.” Helia moves her outstretched hand towards me.

“Yeah, same here. I’m…”

For a moment, the words don’t leave my mouth. “I’m N-”

“Wha-!”

A noise from behind me interrupts my introduction as I feel a sense of deja vu.

Instinctively, I turn around to see the new character.

Standing in the doorway is a young man. He’s filthy, as if a ball of dust had exploded in front of his face. That’s exactly what happened.

“It’s you two!” The guy cries out to us.

The “Hero” has arrived.