Welcoming Back Free Will Like an Old Friend

The early morning sunrays seeped through the windows of Cindespor City, followed by a soft tune of songbirds. Somewhere at a distance, a distant rooster's cry echoed over the cloudy sky, the true sign that morning had officially arrived.

There was a saying here in this city that if a rooster’s cry interrupted a songbird, it meant that somewhere, some people were having a stressful morning.

Those people were us this time.

“What do you mean we got another situation?” Ashrenne sputtered, barely stepping on the threshold of the entrance. “We’re barely on our third day of the week!”

The four of us tenants all exchanged worried glances.

“About that…” I pointed at the enchanted calendar across the room. “We’re actually on our fifth day.”

She blinked at us and at the calendar. “Huh? Wha? Whaaaaa?”

“Yep, we had the same reaction too.”

“We’ve spent all night trying to figure it out!” said Lora.

“For once, we all stayed awake through the night!” said Dahlian. “Except Sloane, I guess.”

“Mrph, I’m… awake. I… swear,” the elf mumbled, eyes closed and nodding off.

“Sure. Anyway, I think we already figured out what’s going on, though.”

“Really?” asked Ashrenne.

“Yeah, we realized that the rift instance sped up time out in the real world,” I said. “It’s the only possible explanation, especially what you said just now. You didn’t realize you went missing the whole day before we went out to look for you, right?”

She blinked. “That’s… true. Now that I think about it, it felt like we only spent an hour or so there, and by the time we left, the day was already over.”

“Exactly!” said Dahlian. “We also entered through the rift instance around lunchtime, but we somehow came back around sunset. I thought it was kind of weird, but I didn’t bring it up since I suck at keeping track of time.”

“Everyone didn’t keep track of time, so no one spoke up on it,” said Lora. “We only found out after checking the moon phase last night! We’re almost to a full moon now!”

Ashrenne’s face grew stern. “No wonder I felt something off about the whole thing. I gotta admit, it’s been bothering me all night.”

“You didn’t sleep well either, huh?” asked Lora.

She nodded and paced around, deeply pondering. “The sudden time skip, the simple design of the rift instance, that glass vessel, and the fact that Florathea didn’t go all out on us and even use psychological assault rather than physical… I’ve fought her long enough to figure out she is definitely not at her prime, and I’m starting to wonder if she opened up that rift instance just to wait until her perfect opportunity during the full moon phase.”

“I can’t think of any other reason but that,” I said. “It’s the best time to regain all her strength.”

“So, in short, everything will fall on that one night,” said Dahlian, scratching his head. “Totally doesn’t sound daunting at all.”

“First, the situation with the queen, and now Florathea…” Lora murmured.

“Oh, speaking of the queen, we still need to tell you guys about the meeting we had,” I said.

“Oh yeah, I almost forgot about it,” said Dahlian. “Yeah, we don’t have to worry too much about her killing everyone.”

“Oh? What do you mean?” asked Ashrenne.

Dahlian and I promptly took turns sharing everything we learned from the queen, much to Ashrenne’s and Lora’s total shock. By the time we brought everyone up to speed, we took a moment of silence to ponder our next plans.

“Yeah, I’m still against it after all,” said Ashrenne, scratching her head. “I get she wants to stop that goddess, but stealing magic is still wrong.”

“I have the same thought!” said Dahlian. “I don’t wanna lose my magic!”

“Neither do I,” said Lora, nodding.

“I, on the other hand, wouldn’t mind too much,” said Sloane, yawning. “That means less responsibility for me…”

“Whoa, you’re awake?” asked Dahlian.

“Always have been.”

“Riiight…”

“I think I’m much better off without magic if it means I can finally get rid of these gli—curses,” I said. “But I can’t say the same for everyone else in this city.”

“Exactly as Haruma says,” said Ashrenne. “Stealing magic is pretty much the same as taking away a limb. We can’t sit idly by with this.”

“So everyone’s going to see the queen? Even me?” asked Lora. “I mean, I’m still wanted, right?”

“Shoot. Yeah, there’s still that problem too.” Ashrenne rubbed her chin. “Honestly? We don’t have to bring everyone. I can talk to the queen on my own.”

“Hey, let me join you!” said Dahlian. “I still need to see that bull guy!”

“Around this time, he won’t be with the queen,” I said. “He’ll be patrolling the streets and keeping order.”

“Oh. Never mind then. Guess I can tag with you, Haruma. Maybe I can cross paths with that guy on the way.”

“Sure, I don’t mind the company.”

Lora started fidgeting with her legs, her gaze downcast. “I know I just said I’m still wanted, but… do I still have to stay inside?”

Ashrenne scratched her head. “Well, I’d say you should, but… there’s still that problem with Entrophys coming after you, right?”

She nodded. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to sit in one spot for too long, and besides, I want to go out!”

“I’m sure Sloane could…” She glanced at the sleeping elf. “He’s already back to sleep?! Uh, on second thought, maybe you’re better off with someone who can stay awake.”

“Then how about you join us?” asked Dahlian. “We can watch your back for you while we do some errands.”

“Do you have anything to conceal yourself? Like a cloak?” I asked.

“Yeah, I have one,” she said.

“Then I think you’re good to go then.”

She beamed and nodded. “Thanks for having me! I’ll be sure to stay out of the way!”

“C’mon, don’t be so formal about it,” said Dahlian. “We’re just going on a simple outing, that’s all. If anyone’s going on a serious mission, it’s Boss.”

Ashrenne folded her arms and shrugged. “I’ll be fine. I… had some history with the queen, but we’re mostly on good terms.”

“If you say so.” Dahlian glanced at the elf, still snoring and drooling away. He scratched his head and shrugged. “I guess the four of us are good to go, yeah?”

“We’re not even gonna assign Sloane anything?” I asked.

“Nah, we’re good,” said Ashrenne, heading for the exit. “Anyway, if things go smoothly, I’ll let you all know by the next morning.”

“Wow, maybe I should’ve slept in after all…” I stretched my arms, got up, and also made my way to the door. “Oh well.”

“I’ll go get my cloak!” said Lora, scurrying away. Barely a few seconds later, she returned with a dark green cloak and followed behind me.

Dahlian spared one last quiet glance at the sleeping elf, squinting suspiciously for a moment. He shrugged and exited the base, and as the door gently closed behind him, he muttered, “Must be my imagination.”

⎒ ⥉ ⎒

Silence hung over the warehouse for a few minutes, frequently interrupted by the wall clock’s soft ticks and the distant songbirds.

Sloane, now all alone, opened his eyes and stood up. He scanned around the room before approaching the sack of light crystals and taking one out.

As much as he’d love to sleep in for the day, there was still one more issue the group forgot to address: Florathea’s followers were still on the loose, and her main host had yet to be identified. Someone still needed to deal with them before things could get messy during the full moon. Unfortunately, he’d forgotten to remind them about it while deeply reflecting upon Haruma's words.

Thus, there he stood alone, pondering with thoughts he never imagined having again.

…This was the first time since the war that he’d be acting on his own free will, with no one ordering him to do so.

With those thoughts subconsciously carved into his mind, second thoughts naturally started leaking out: Could he really achieve anything? What if he screwed things up? What if his actions didn’t matter in the slightest, like they always had been?

He stared down at the crystal. He remained hesitant and even started thinking about going back to sleep.

Right as he started to turn right back around and drop the crystal, Haruma’s sympathetic gaze abruptly flashed through his mind.

“I think… the problem here is that you weren’t thanked enough to make you realize you’ve already done plenty of good things, Sloane.”

His shoulders softened up.

“...Hey, Master? I just wanted to say… thank you… for choosing a normal tree like me…”

His grip tightened.

With a newfound, determined gaze, the elf stuffed the crystal into his pocket, pulled over his hood, and exited the base last, vanishing into the shadows.