“I been telling you that I can’t recall.”

“Let’s go.” Gibson yawned, pulling on the bag that once had their dinner and leading our seven heroes back to Pinkgrad.

“How do you think we’ll rescue Lady Pinker?” Prix asked in a hushed voice,

“Mmm,” Idalec shrugged.

“Maybe The Swordomizer 32K isn’t the best name.” Sato sighed as they were eating breakfast the next morning,

“Really?” Miki scoffed,

“Yeah, see, I learned this morning that maces aren’t actually swords,” Sato said, looking at Miki with a deadly seriousness.

“We all knew that~” Luna snickered as she finished up her omelet

“You can’t possibly know that.” Sato said incredulously as he looked at everyone nodding, “Liars! Then why did none of you correct me?”

“Idalec said that weapon was a mace,” Prix said casually, finishing her breakfast last. “And what did you say?” Prix paused. “You asked if that’s what you called a pregnant sword.” Prix put her hand over her mouth as she laughed to herself.

“Yeah, I mean anybody could have made that mistake!” Sato said, reddening, “What do you think you're any better than me because you know what a mace is? Huh?”

‘Morally speaking-’ “Prix is better than you.” Idalec whispered as all seven heroes once again made it to Lord Pinker’s manor.

“Sensei…” Sato whined in defeat, so he turned his attention to brush Carrot.

“Good morning, Lord Pinker.” Prix greeted Lord Pinker,

“Morning.” Lord Pinker was sitting in his study behind his desk, looking tired from stress.

“We have cleared out the demons,” Prix informed Lord Pinker with a bow,

“That’s nice.”

“Now we’ll go out to look for your daughter,” Prix said, which caused Lord Pinker to sit up in interest. “Could you give us a description of your daughter?” Prix asked, pulling out a loose page,

Lord Pinker stood up. “I actually have a painting of her.” Lord Pinker moved swiftly through the halls, our heroes following behind him. “She is around ten years younger in this portrait, but I think this should help you.” Lord Pinker stood in front of a painting with himself, his wife, son, and his six-year-old looking daughter,

“How old is your daughter now?” Prix said, looking at the painting; her hair probably stayed black with red highlights and blue eyes.

‘What else can be deduced from this painting other than Mary is around sixteen, hair colour and eye colour?’

“She just turned sixteen, with fair features- she had honor in every step she took.” Lord Pinker looked at the painting,

“Where was Mary last seen?” Prix asked after she finished noting all the details she was getting,

“Uhh-” Lord Pinker thought,
“You can just start listing places where you remember her before she vanished,” Prix suggested,

“Well. Mary went missing around three days ago, in the forest between here and that cave Gibson brought you to. Or it was a little more south of there…” Lord Pinker said shakily,

“We’ll look for her then.” Prix gave a quick and courteous bow before getting everyone out of the manor in record time. “Ok. So who are we going to find, Lady Pinker?” Prix asked, tapping her pencil against her page,

“She’s probably dead.” Luna shrugged. “I mean, Prix here can’t even survive a single day without being pampered, so this Mary is definitely dead somewhere.” Luna reasoned,

“Nah, I don’t think she’s dead,” Sato said, walking towards the woods,

“Sato, we should at least discuss if we’re going to split up!” Prix said indignantly,

“I got a good feeling about this.” Sato said, tapping a finger to his temple, “Just watch this, Idalec. I'm about to find her without your help!” Sato bragged as he just walked right into the woods. Carrot beside him, “Relax, Sensei, your super student got this…” were Sato’s last words as he left.

“Hmm.” Luna shrugged

“Garia, Miki. Let’s go; we'll clear more ground if we go scouting.” Prix ordered as the three of them also entered the woods,

“What are you standing here for?” Luna scoffed at Idalec and watched the three girls enter the woods.

“Mm.” Idalec shrugged as he walked back to the inn they had been staying in,

“What do you mean, mm?” Luna pressed him,

“I need a break from everyone.” Idalec yawned; he had been able to keep back the chronic tiredness for the most part. Ever since he was a kid, he was always tired. ‘I shouldn’t have broken myself in those last three months.’ Idalec had trouble recalling how he wrote the book he etched into his soul; he would have even forgotten the book altogether and his old self had he not etched it into his soul. After Idalec had vanished into the inn, she raced off into the woods, overflowing with vitality.

Idalec got comfortable in his bed, drawing the curtains before snuggling on the inn bed. ‘Is this how life is meant to be? No modern technology, few books to read, no plays of interest…' Idalec drifted off into sleep. “Hmm.” Idalec opened his eyes to see the sun setting and nobody around. Idalec changed into a new set of clothes before heading out into Pinkgrad.

“Welcome!” A waiter said as Idalec walked into one of two taverns in town,

‘Maybe I chose the wrong one.’ Idalec thought, looking around at the bare, swelling wooden walls. An unmistakable musk lingered around; Idalec wafted his hands around his nose as he took a seat at a table with a cloaked man who didn’t smell that offensive. ‘This is one strange man.’ Idalec looked him over: leather gloves on his hands that extended up to the elbows, an oversized black hood over his face, and a monk-like tunic that extended down, covering his legs. The man dropped the spoon, which he had been gently holding between his index and middle finger, his thumb providing a little support as it lingered lower down the spoon. “That’s an interesting way of eating,” Idalec commented absentmindedly,

“What would you like to drink?” the waiter asked Idalec,

“Can I get that same soup?” Idalec asked

“Ok. Twenty copper.” The waiter said, and Idalec paid.

The man opposite followed as the waiter left before whispering over to Idalec, “How did you find me- what more do you want from me?”

Idalec looked at the man a little more closely, but nobody came to mind. “Do I know you?”

“You do.” The man picked up his spoon once again, holding it strangely,

“I’ve been meeting a lot of people lately.” Idalec sighed,

“You don’t remember me?” the man demanded incredulously,

“...”

“Now?” The man lifted back the hood to reveal that he was actually a demon,

“Mmm…” Idalec lazily studied the man's face a little more. “I been telling you that I can’t recall.”

“What? You just said my name, though? Iban?” Iban Tell whispered angrily

“Iban… I will be honest, I don’t know many demons.” Idalec got his soup with a spoon,

“You exiled me from Rome.”

“Did I?” Idalec started eating his soup. ‘This demon is nearly as arrogant as Sato.’

“So what did you want from me?” Iban demanded, lowering his hood so that not even Idalec could see it.