Shortcut To Sigfire Castle

The walk back was brutal. Luna seemed to greatly enjoy it, walking taller and with a skip in her step.

“We should stop for the night,” Prix said quietly,

“That’s a good idea.” Sato stopped and looked at everyone. “Why are you all looking so sad?” Sato looked at everyone. “Except you,” Sato said when he saw Luna,

“You stabbed Miki in the back, to put it bluntly,” Idalec said, starting to set up his tent,

“Yeah…” Sato said, looking down with regret as Garia and Carrot set up Sato’s tent,

“Do you have my tent, Garia?” Prix asked, panicked,

“No, I only took the tent which was at hand, which I checked by chance to be Sato’s. As a matter of fact, you probably forgot it at the inn when we were leaving. I am most sorry.” Garia said. Sato started a fire to provide light for everyone,

‘Looks like he’s learned to keep that fire up for a few minutes.’ Idalec looked impressed with Garia’s instruction.

“If I don’t have a tent, where am I going to sleep?” Prix asked, pale,

“Well, well~” Luna licked her lips, lying down on a tree branch.

“Idalec?” Prix asked, worried,

Idalec took a few moments to finish up his tent before shrugging, “I don’t mind sharing my tent.”

“Well, Aka, let’s go to bed,” Sato said as Carrot, Garia, Aka, and Sato managed to crowd into Sato’s tent. Prix squinted in the moonlight,

“Prix, let’s go,” Idalec said, lying down in his tent,

“Don’t make this awkward,” Prix murmured before she also climbed into the tent, feeling her heart racing.

The night rose, and then fell, the sun once again reclaiming its rightful place on the horizon. “Prix, are you going to wake up?” Idalec asked into the tent,

“What?” Prix shot up, clutching her messenger bag,

“I want to disassemble the tent.” Idalec clarified, a fire burning in the middle with Luna sitting near it, a rabbit in her mouth, and a couple of bird eggs lying near her.

“Yeah, sorry.” Prix apologized, climbing out. Once Prix got out, Idalec quickly took down his tent, packing it up. “Good morning, Luna,” Prix said, flustered,

Luna blew a bit of fire in Prix’s direction, getting a kick out of seeing Prix flinch back in fear. “Still the same parasite as always.” Luna snarled as she kept tearing at the raw rabbit,

“You shouldn’t dish out what you can’t take, Revrho,” Idalec said, not thinking about it much as he grabbed a few eggs and threw them into a pot he was carrying in his suitcase,

“Why, but Prix is a parasite leaching off you~” Luna fell onto her side and started brushing against Idalec’s knee,

“Did you name her Revrho?” Prix whispered to Idalec, trying to understand,

“Sit still and stay silent,” Luna said with a hint of embarrassment as she rolled to face Prix. Prix pulled her knees up to her chest as she did as she was asked by Luna,

“It’s…” Idalec started before stopping himself and looking at the eggs slowly sizzling on the pan. ‘Does Revrho just not see the purpose of being polite, of being good, to those who are good to him? Do I not see something obvious?’ Idalec sighed, deep in thought as the eggs started to turn darker brown.

“Idalec, the eggs are getting burned,” Prix suggested, pointing to the eggs on it.

“Yeah…” Idalec said, pulling out his wooden bowl and moving all the eggs from the pan into it. Then placing the pan above the fire, resting it on a Pure Shield, “I’m curious-” Idalec said, pulling out a couple of forks and a spoon, “Luna, how would you split this between the three of us?” Idalec indicated his bowl, which had seven sunny-side-up eggs, some burnt a little more than others.

“Me~” Luna kept ripping apart the rabbit as she thought about it. “Since I’m so nice, master, I would feed it all to Prix~” Luna rolled to face Prix. “I would make sure she eats every last bit; I would also let-make her eat this whole rabbit because I’m so nice… Is that good, master~” Luna rolled to face Sato,

“Well, Prix, what do you think?” Idalec asked, raising the bowl towards her,

“I don’t want to eat all the eggs!” Prix squealed, afraid she was about to be force-fed the eggs and raw rabbit,

“So how would you split it up?” Idalec asked, ‘Two for myself, two for Luna, two for Prix, and one for whoever finishes first. Is how I would split it up personally.’

“I-” Prix said, pursing her lips a little, “I think I would give Luna one egg and then three to you and me.”

Idalec looked into the bowl. “That’s interesting,” Idalec said as the eggs started to grow cold. Idalec gave Luna and Prix a spoon each, which left him with a fork as Prix and Luna ate all but one egg, which they left for Idalec.

Aka the turtle girl came out first from Sato’s tent, looking surprised to see Idalec, Luna, and Prix already up. “Good morning, Aka?” Prix said, looking around and only seeing Idalec had food.

“Hmm.” Aka scoffed, hanging around Sato’s tent,

“You're not actually a beast folk,” Idalec said, looking into the fire he was magically sustaining,

“Wait, what do you mean, Idalec?” Prix squinted at Aka,

“Maybe Sato isn’t an idiot, but all humans are idiots?” Luna rolled around into a sitting position,

“Then why is Aka not a beast folk? She has green hair and a shell.” Prix said, pointing out the obvious.

“Have you ever seen a turtle?” Idalec asked, thinking about the ocean which he visited a number of times.

“No. But I’ve heard they are green and have a shell.” Prix said, justifying her claim.

“Her hair is dyed, and the shell is…” Idalec scooted around to look at the shell. “It looks shell-like, but she’s clearly wearing it.” Idalec pointed out how the shell did it for Aka, but it wasn’t really a part of her. “I mean, you can tell by the face she’s a person.” Idalec pointed out Aka’s hair, eyes, nose, and ears.

“Don’t tell master Sato,” Aka begged, teeth gritted.

“Don’t worry about it,” Prix said, winking over to her.

Over the course of half an hour, Garria, Carrot, and Sato all woke up and ate a quick breakfast of some more eggs which Luna found and Idalec cooked. Once everyone was fed, they set off.

“When are we going to get there?” Sato complained as they kept walking through the trees,

“It’ll be about another day’s walk,” Prix said, consulting her map,

“This is actually going to be like the Rome and Letin situation.” Sato sighed as he started practicing his mace swinging,

“Master Sato, have you thought about whether you would wish to practice magic as well? Maybe you could get some advice from Idalec while we have the opportunity to hear his thoughts?”

“Nah, I mean Sensei stole my thunder,” Idalec said as he kept repeatedly swinging around his mace. He kept this up for nearly an hour before he gave up. “Garia, can you teach me magic?”

“Sure. Remember to first clear your mind-” Garia started setting the atmosphere,

“HA! Why does Sato need to clear his mind if nothing is happening up there!” Luna howled at the thought as Sato’s temple pulsed,

‘I wonder what the next step is?’ Idalec had never actually seen this sort of exercise. ‘Maybe Garia didn’t have a chance to explain it more.’

“Clear your mind first, Master Sato,” Garia started again after gaining back her train of thought. “Think of the wind, do you feel the wind…”

“Yeah, I do,” Sato said as the air was utterly still. Garia looked around for a moment until she stuck out her hand and cast a wind spell at Sato. “I feel the wind blowing at me from the right!”

“Now, imagine you moving along with the wind.”

“Imagine yourself becoming as smart as a brick~” Luna quipped,

“I can imagine myself becoming as smart as a bri…” Sato opened his eyes and looked right at Luna. “Some people are just haters, man.” Sato added, shaking his head, “We’ll practice magic later.” Idalec said, going back to swinging his mace around.