Later, when we were back at our temporary accommodations, I was laying on the couch looking idly up at the ceiling. There was nothing interesting about it. It was just a good focal point for being spaced out. Ugh, I can't tell if Malcolm was just teasing me a bit or if he really was salty... either way, I'm glad Joanna came along and deflated things. It's not like I asked to be put up in a hotel... come to think of it, it seems that pompous guy is in some sort of trouble; I guess we'll be going home soon, then. Man, it's gonna be weird... I thought as I heard Rachel coming back into the room. We had eaten dinner a while ago with the others; now we were just getting ourselves ready for sleep. Well... mostly. Video games don't play themselves, y'know.

  “You awake?” my girlfriend asked me as she knelt down near my face.

  “I'm awake.” I returned with a grin.

  “Come on,” she then smiled. “We've got some fields to sort out!”

  “Right,” I nodded back, and I got off the couch so we could take our now-usual positions on the bed, setting the Dream Machines on to head into Panarena.

  ***

  “My, my, these carrots certainly are big!” we heard Maisy exclaim as she and Edgar examined the ones that they had already dug up.

  “Heh! You should see the 'taters! Big as a cabbage, some of them!” the mole returned. “Oh! It's the young ladies; 'morning to ye's!” he said as we approached.

  “Hi there!” I smiled back. “They really are big, huh?” I said with amazement as I picked one up. To my surprise there was an info-panel on it.

  Conini Carrot: adds +2 to Wisdom and Dexterity for six in-world hours; regenerates 0.2% health every two seconds for one in-world minute; provides a bonus to sight and vision-skills for six in-world hours.

  That seems... kind of arbitrary? And that regeneration isn't much... I mused.

  “Six health per minute is kind of low, huh?” Ariana remarked as she looked over it with me.

  “Hm,” I nodded in agreement.

  “Take a gander at this one!” Edgar said, handing us one of the potatoes from a basket he had been collecting them in.

  “It really is cabbage-sized,” Ari said, blinking in surprise as she took it from him. “Let's see now... what do you do?” she wondered.

  Galbasi Potato: adds +3 to Vitality and Strength for six in-world hours; regenerates 0.5% health every two seconds for one minute; provides a bonus to defensive skills for six in-world hours.

  “The regeneration looks better, and the bonuses too,” I said as I read it with her.

  “Now I'm curious about the other vegetable,” she nodded.

  “Hmm? The maize?” Maisy asked us. “It's already stored in the silo,” she pointed.

  “We'll look over it later, then; is there more to pick?” Ari replied as we set the vegetables back into the containers.

  “Loads!” Edgar nodded. “We'll have to get a few more baskets and such for all of it!” he told us.

  “Gotcha,” I said. “Where's Joshamee?”

  “He's shearing those woolly varmints of his over yonder,” came the reply.

  Heh, I guess you would consider sheep to be “varmints”... I softly grinned.

  “Well, we'll figure out something to use the wool for... but anyway, let's get harvesting!” I said aloud.

  There really was an abundance of things to be picked, and we found plenty of seeds that we could save for later as well. The vegetables we were harvesting were among the late-bloomers; most of them had already been harvested the day before, but there were plenty of sun-apples and quite a lot of berwheat to gather. All of them had some sort of regenerative effect that went on for a minute; only the berwheat exceeded the potatoes' effect, giving a +1% to the regeneration effect. Sun-apples gave +3 to Vitality and Agility, and gave a bonus to healing skills; the wheat was +5 to Vitality, and provided a bonus to resistances; as for the maize, it had a +3 to Vitality, Wisdom, and Intelligence, the trade-off being that it had no other bonuses.

  Now wait a minute, I thought to myself as I contemplated all of this, I wonder what happens to these bonuses when you cook these things or prepare them in some other way...

  “I'll be back in a few!” I said as I dashed off to the wayport.

  “Okay!” Ari smiled.

  “Hurry back!” Heali called.

  I went to Aldholt City, where there was a butcher I remembered from one of our early quests. Wouldn't want to kill any of the animals we have... I don't think Joshamee would forgive me, I thought to myself as I purchased some mutton, veal, and beef.

  “We've got some venison in from one of the hunters who stops by, if you're interested!” the man said to me.

  “Sure!” I smiled back. When I had bought a good stock of these four things, I returned to Bethelia, where I found Ariana already in the kitchen.

  “Welcome back!” she smiled.

  “You really are ten steps ahead of me, huh?” I grinned back.

  “Eh, maybe eight!” she winked in reply. “It's been a while since I thought of using my cooking skills; I think I want to go with something classic. You got mutton and veal, right?”

  “Yep, and some venison and beef,” I nodded.

  “Gotcha... looks like they're all geared towards Vitality, Strength, and Dexterity bonuses...” Ari mused as she looked them over.

  “Hmm... and the venison has some Agi, as well,” I noted.

  “Ooh, neat. Well the mutton has the first two... and a plus two-percent regeneration effect, that's nice!” she remarked.

  “Hm? Oh, that is nice,” I agreed. “So what's the classic?” I then asked her.

  “Lamb stew, with some carrots and potatoes,” she told me. “Hmm... Maisy has some herbs in her garden... I'll ask her if I can use some,” she then said, heading out to do so while I set out some veal for her to use. As to how I know that veal specifically goes into lamb stew, that'd be my grandparents at work.

  I miss her stew, though... I softly smiled, wondering how this would compare.

  A few minutes later, Ariana was back in the kitchen, assembling the ingredients and then placing them into a pot. There was a lamb stew recipe that she got by default amongst her cooking skills, but these specific ingredients would likely affect the end result in some way. For comparison, normal in-game lamb stew is just a delicious treat; I even looked up the ingredients on the forums -- normal ingredients don't have the kind of bonuses that these special vegetables do, though they do have similar regen-effects.

  This is getting interesting... the cooking guilds will probably jump on the chance to get these ingredients if this turns out the way we're thinking it might, I mused.

  “Ah! It's done!” Ariana suddenly exclaimed.

  Eh? That was what, five minutes? I blinked in surprise.

  “And... we now have a pot of 'King's Lamb Stew',” she announced.

  “Oooh, fancy,” Healina remarked.

  “Did the bonuses get 'cooked in' as well?” Sky Belle wondered.

  “Let's see!” my partner smiled. “Hmm... oh wow; adds plus-ten to Vitality and Strength, plus two-percent regeneration to health every two seconds for ten minutes, and provides bonuses to detection and defensive skills,” she read aloud for us.

  “Nice!” I smiled. “Sounds perfect for shield-users and tanks,” I nodded in approval.

  “Oh def.” Ari agreed.

  “Hmm... seems like the carrot bonuses didn't all make it, but I bet they'd be more pronounced in some other dish,” Healina said.

  “Agree.” Belle nodded.

  “Their bonuses are definitely more versatile.” Ariana said as she brought the stew over for us. “For now, though, let's all enjoy this!”

  “I'll call the others in!” Belle smiled as she fluttered out to do so.

  “Call them in quick; this is one of my favorite dishes!” I grinned mischievously.

  “Tee-hee!” the reply came.

  “I didn't know you liked lamb stew,” Healina said with surprise.

  “Hmm?” I turned to her. “Grandma used to make it for holidays and stuff before--before...” I trailed off, a sad smile on my face.

  Before she got traumatized by the work-accident that led to them finally going into that nursing home, I reflected. I saw Heali nodding to me gently; she reached over, and patted my hand.

  “I get ya.” she said softly as Ariana put an arm around me.

  “Thanks.” I replied.

  “Oh sweet, that really does smell good!” Lizzy remarked as she and the others arrived.

  “Let's dig in!” Maryn smiled.

  “Let's do!” Ari smiled back, and with that we eagerly devoured the dish that Ari had prepared for us.

  “We're meeting them here, at Vidaelleus on the coast,” Ariana said later as we flew on Fyu towards the location in question.

  “Good thing they both agreed to meet there,” I remarked.

  “Right??” she agreed.

  “It is fortuitous, masters; Vidaelleus is as neatly between Bethelia and Xuanpu as I might hope for,” our now capable-of-flying dog-beast said to us.

  “And we had the Bretony wayport to shorten the distance.” I nodded.

  “I am quite thankful, master, for such a circumstance!” the other chuckled back.

  “Anhe went to meet Inari personally, so she'll be coming up with them; and Lysandra went to make introductions with Chef's Kiss, huh?” Ari said.

  “Yep; and we gave them both samples of our goods as an enticement,” I replied.

  “Good thing Lizzy has that cooking-ware ready,” she grinned back at me.

  “Oh for sure,” I said with a laugh.

  “Masters, I see it ahead,” Fyu then told us.

  Ahead of us, neatly situated on a hilly-bay of the Ur-Pomian coasts, was the sea-side city of Vidaelleus. It was as if someone had brought an Ancient Roman city to life: the buildings were predominantly white, some of them with reddish tiling for roofs; there were villas surrounded by orchards and vineyards on the outskirts of the city; an amphitheater and a circus--the more ancient kind, that is--could be seen; on one of the taller hills there was a grand building that seemed to be the ruler's residence, and on another tall hill was a guildhall, judging from the emblems. Upon the tallest hill was a temple to a female deity who held a torch in her hand.

  Our destination was near the harbors, where a fleet of triremes had been docked. Were they NPC vessels, or did one of the guilds in the city have them built? There were no flags or markings on them that I could see when we got closer, so I presumed the former.

  “Remember, it's marked by a sign with grapes and a wine bottle,” Ariana said as Fyu landed so we could walk the rest of the way.

  “Vita de Vitis, right?” I turned to her as we made our way along the street.

  “That was it!” she smiled in reply.

  “Perhaps that one, masters?” Fyu said to us.

  “Good catch!” I said, patting our friend on the head.

  “And there's a wayport nearby too; let's activate it before meeting up!” Ariana said.

  “I should return to our Bethelia estate, masters, since there is much there to concern ourselves with at the moment,” Fyu said to us.

  “Agreed. Thanks for taking us down here, though,” I said to him.

  “Of course, masters,” the dog-beast bowed his head.

  After we had gotten the wayport and said our goodbyes to Fyu for the present, we entered the tavern that was to be our meeting place, finding our two guildies and four others, two from each guild, at a large table near the fireplace. The four of them stood up to greet us and make introductions; the members from Inari were Kitsune and Spice, and from Chef's Kiss we had Paprikana and Shortbread, both Hauflins.

  “Those sun-apples you sent were very interesting!” Paprikana said as we sat down together. Kitsune nodded to show her agreement.

  “Where did you get them??” Spice asked us. I softly smiled in reply.

  “We encountered a certain quest chain, and they were part of our reward. I don't know how much we ourselves will get into the cooking scene while the competition is on... but we'd be more than happy to set up a deal for these, and certain other items, with your two guilds,” I said in answer.

  “A certain quest chain, huh?” Shortbread remarked, a discerning look in his eyes. “You seem pretty confident that it's a unique quest series, but not confident enough to just go bragging about the details.” he noted.

  Well, sure, pal; I mean, we did learn that Melody, of all people, had once been asked to undertake it--but I guess she flunked the prerequisites soon after by joining or creating her guild of poisoners and such.

  “More or less,” I nodded. “I mean, we could offer you some of the seeds... but why waste time growing it all yourselves when you have a ready supply at hand?”

  I would never have said this unless I was certain that neither of their guilds had an internal supply of raw ingredients--no pun intended. Anhe had asserted to me that Inari's Cuisine and Desserts Club was hyper-fixated on the actual cooking aspect in the game, with a good portion of their players focused on gold-earning quests to buy ingredients at any cost, while Myanihia had informed me that Chef's Kiss had some arrangements with guilds oriented towards gathering food items in exchange for their finished products, but nothing so unique as what we were offering.

  Come to think of it, there's hunting guilds and fishing guilds too in this game; and I think the next chapter of our Ragamis expedition hinted at something involving a quest that might be related to the latter... I quietly mused as the other two guilds softly discussed the proposal.

  “You have other products, then? And, maybe, you might find others as you progress in your quest?” Spice said to us.

  Intuitive guy, isn't he?

  Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

  “That's what we're thinking,” I nodded back.

  “We're already pretty famous for just making good food... but these; these sun-apples have actual stat boots on them if you eat them... which means that the other products likely have them as well...” Paprikana said as she looked over the fruit in question again.

  “And future products, whether fruit, vegetable, grain, fish, or meat, will likely have them as well... it has not been unheard of for certain meats to have bonus effects, but stuff like this...” Kitsune mused aloud as she pondered the proposition.

  Come to think of it, these can't be the only kinds of crops that have these special bonuses; I wonder if there's other unique quests related to other extraneous realms in Panarena that can be found, which might provide comparable or even better ones... I suddenly realized.

  “Well, you'd certainly have a head-start on the market for the kind of dishes these crops can create--if you'd like.” I said with a sly shrug. “We'll even throw in some high-quality cookware to sweeten the deal,” I added.

  Heh? That got your attention, I thought to myself as they quickly turned to me.

  “Cookware? What kind of cookware? Is it made from something special??” Paprikana asked me at once. I saw Spice affect a wry grin as she did; he turned to Kitsune, and said a few soft words to her in Japanese that made her smile. From what I could tell, the gist of it was that Paprikana had no poker-face.

  “They're certainly made from something special.” I asserted. “Lizzy's an expert crafter with metal; I bet it'll be the highest quality cooking-ware Panarena has seen yet,” I smiled.

  “Special ingredients, high quality cookware, a certain monopoly on potentially game-changing food items...” Shortbread recounted, a twinkle in his eye. “What's the catch?”

  “We'll keep you supplied... for a ten-percent cut of all future profits you make from your own exports; and when the competition ends, we can negotiate a more permanent arrangement,” I replied.

  “Just ten-percent, huh?” Shortbread raised an eyebrow. “There shows your confidence again, Miss Lana; but! If you're that confident, well, I certainly don't see a reason to refuse what seems to be a deal in our favor,” he grinned.

  Well thanks.

  “You're in, then?” I asked him. He and Paprikana exchanged a glance.

  “We're in!” they both said a moment later.

  “I am also in agreement to these conditions.” Kitsune said, Spice nodding beside her. “When should we expect our first deliveries?”

  “Sometime today,” I replied. “We have all of the goods in question ready for delivery; we just need a location.”

  “Of course.” Kitsune nodded. “And besides these special apples, what else is there?” she then asked.

  “We have golden maize, galbasi potatoes, berwheat, and conini carrots; I'm sure we'll run into more special items soon which we can add to the deal,” I told her.

  “And they all have some effect similar to this?” Shortbread said as he held up a sun-apple.

  “They do,” Ariana replied with a nod. “We tested them out earlier... some of them make a lovely stew; but I'm sure you'll find other ways of preparing them yourselves!” she smiled.

  “I'm sure we will,” the other returned. “We'll look forward to your delivery, then! Here's a location we use for our supplies,” he said, sending us a set of map coordinates.

  “Ah! Yes; ours as well,” Kitsune exclaimed as she did the same.

  “We'll have them over your way as soon as we get back!” I smiled.

  “Please do!” she smiled in reply.

  “Cheers!” Paprikana gave us a thumbs-up.

  Welp. Here's to a new chapter in the guild competition, I thought to myself as we concluded our meeting.

  ***

  Fyu and Dracuoatlax were eager to go when we got back, the latter challenging his friend the dog-beast to a race to see who would get to their respective destination and back again quicker. Fyu assented with a chuckle, and the two of them set off to the south with their cargoes. Meanwhile, I sat back on the porch while some of the others began replanting our crops, trying to sort some thoughts out.

  If these are really the first time these special kind of ingredients are being seen in Harmonia, that likely means they're all quest-gated in some way. That'd be different, but I guess not totally unexpected. Regular carrots, no problem--but no special bonuses on them, except a small regen-effect; conini carrots, get the attention of the Ragamis and do their quest-chain, and end up with carrots that boost stats and combine in certain ways with other foods, special or non, to get stronger effects.

  “Hmm... but that means the pirates have a decent chance of ending up with something similar... though in their case, since the Silvestri leader seemed more materialistic and the pirates more focused on themselves, I doubt that we'll be in too much trouble,” I softly said aloud. “But now I wonder how many other hidden realms there are...” I then wondered, leaning back in my chair while slowly sipping on a drink.

  “Oh! Lana!” Sky Belle waved as she fluttered over. “I just rediscovered these in my inventory, from when we did all those winter-fest quests,” she told me, showing me her panel.

  “Hmm?” I looked over, and then sat up like lightning. “Huh?!” I exclaimed.

  “Snowberries, Rimed Barley, Frostgourds, Silverbell Peppers, and a writ to claim a small herd of Winter Cattle.” she read them off for me. “Silly how you forget things, isn't it?” she added with a chuckle.

  “And how,” I agreed.

  “Well, chick? What d'ya say? Wanna plant them?” Belle asked me with a grin.

  “Do I!” I agreed at once, jumping out of the chair and then skidding to a halt.

  “Hm?” the pixie-girl looked at me curiously.

  “Ahh... Belle... how do we use the writ?” I asked her.

  “We have to go to the representative at the... at the Frosthall... Farm...” she recalled with a crestfallen face.

  Which is in the Winter King's Realm... hahh... wait!!

  “Rats!!” Belle sighed, snapping her fingers.

  “Wait!” I held up a hand. “We might still be able to get there.”

  “Oh you really think so??” she said excitedly.

  “Hrrmm... it's worth a shot!” I said, hurrying over to the wayport.

  “Let's go!” Belle declared eagerly, following after me.

  “Lana? What's up?” Ariana called as she joined us.

  “Just gonna check on something in our other backyard; wanna come?” I said.

  “Sure!” she smiled.

  “We've almost got the next batch planted, Miss Lana,” Maisy called to us. “Anything else we should do?”

  “Not at the moment,” I replied.

  “Got it! See you soon, dearie!” she waved as we got to the wayport, and I dialed up the one for Cloverbell.

  As soon as we were through I began rushing for the dolmen that had been nearby our little estate, the other two close behind me. When we reached it, I could see that it was still... active, for lack of a better word. Some games close off certain things related to events until the next time the event comes around, if ever. Other games have a system in place to allow players the chance to redeem event-related items in case they didn't or couldn't get to it in time.

  “Lucky us,” I said, approaching the dolmen and stepping through. When I had exited it the last a few months ago, I had expected it to be closed again until next December. Therefore I hadn't even tried to go back in. Until now.

  We found ourselves in that mystical wintry realm of the fairies once more, though it was not snowing as much as it had been. Quickly we made our way through the merry-makers to the Frosthall Farm, where we redeemed the writ Belle had gotten.

  “We'll have them sent wherever you like!” the dwarf at the counter said.

  “Then, here please,” I said, giving him the location of our Bethelia estate.

  “Right!” he nodded. “And try not to wait so long next time!” he added with a look of reproof.

  “Y-yes, sir!” I returned with a bemused smile.

  “Good! Pleasure doing business with ye's! Take care, and we'll see you when the winter comes along!” he said, and with that we were whisked away to our own realm of Harmonia. The dolmen then returned to being a structure of mere stones, yet still mystical to my eyes.

  “Aw, we got kicked,” Ari softly griped. “I wanted to find Puck the Rabbit again and have another snowball fight!”

  “Right?!” Sky Belle agreed at once. “Well at least we got our cows. I hope Joshamee is up to the task... maybe we should find more help, huh?”

  “Oh def. At this rate, anyway.” Ari agreed. “What do you say, Lana?” she turned to me.

  I was only half-listening to them, really. As they were talking, I had gone up to the dolmen again, reaching out to touch it. Sure, it wasn't actually real. But it felt real. One of these days... I want to see one in the Old Country, I thought with a smile. One day... one day I'll get there, grandpa, I promise.

  “Let's leave her be for a moment,” I faintly heard the pixie-girl say. I could imagine Ari smiling and nodding in agreement.

  The two of them headed back to Cloverbell, and I let out a quiet sigh as my daydreaming continued. A few minutes later I got an IM telling me that they had gone on back to Bethelia, and I replied that I would be back in a few myself. With that I tore myself from the dolmen, and headed back to the wayport at Cloverbell.

  As I approached our first home, I saw a figure standing a few meters away from the gate near the wayport. I recognized them at once. It was Melody the Blade. She turned to me, and let out a smile.

  “You've been quiet the last few days, Rachel. It's disconcerting.” she said to me.

  “It's been busy, so there hasn't been a lot of time to entertain guests, Jo.” I shrugged back.

  You still think I'm Rachel, huh?

  “I guess so. Heh... I came to this place on a whim; I never hoped I'd actually see you here. The Silvernight Queen herself... where's your lover? Are you sure Sean doesn't know about her?” Melody grinned.

  “What are you here for?” I said in reply, brushing off her own questions.

  “I wasn't sure, really... but now I am. I want a duel. A rematch.” she told me.

  Sure, anyone would want a rematch after that... I reflected.

  “No NPCs, no guildmates... just you, and me. If you lose, I want a date. It can even be an in-game date, if you like. Just one, I promise.” she continued.

  “And if you lose?” I returned.

  I guess an in-game date wouldn't be too much... Ari will be cross with me, I bet, but it's just one date, I mused. Yet somehow I didn't feel all that confident about my assertion.

  “If I lose... let's see... I'll join your alliance.” she said in reply.

  “And, if, if, mind you, it somehow ends up in a draw?” I asked.

  “Come now, let's not take each other so lightly.” she grinned back. “But I'll humor you. If, somehow, we do end up in a draw... I'll give you one of the ingredients for Dragonsbane, and you can hand over to me enough ore of the special Hitherlands or Untold Deeps ore to make a new sword,” she then suggested.

  Hmm...? Now I kind of want it to end in a draw... I blinked, then nodded my assent.

  “That sounds fair.” I agreed.

  “Then draw,” Melody softly commanded, taking out her own sword.

  I took out my own twin-blades, and assumed an attack posture. She readied herself in one of the opening postures I had seen her use when warming herself up backstage. A second later, I went on the attack, using just some basic skills to prod her reactions and defenses.

  Tight!! She's definitely just playing around when we duel on stage, I mused as I quickly defended myself from her counterattacks. As I unleashed my Shadow's Dance routine on her, she calmly evaded and blocked each blow, each thrust, then drove me back a few paces.

  “No tricks today, cutie?” she said with a fierce grin.

  “All you had to do was ask!” I retorted, dropping a lotus bomb and vanishing for a few moment.

  Might as well try the combo-skill on her...

  It felt like a cheap shot, but with someone of her skill I wasn't sure I cared. Yet as she had done on the ship, Melody accurately pinpointed where I would attack from, evading me like a shadow and interrupting the skill. I hastily twirled around to get back into a defensive posture as she readied herself for what looked like a fierce lunge attack.

  Suddenly, my brain took me back to that night Joshua and I had been in the car. My body started shaking. Her sword was levelly pointed at me, just as the driver of the car had been dead-set on ramming us. I started panicking. Melody lunged towards me. A short shriek escaped my lips, and I dropped my swords, curling up into a ball on the side of the road. Melody halted a split-second before reaching me.

  “… Huh?” I heard her say; the voice was faint, almost shocked. I suddenly remembered that I had done something similar a couple of weeks ago at school. Yet I couldn't look up at her. It was all I could do to try and stop myself from shaking.

  Do something. Get angry. Slash me. I don't care. I don't care!! I thought to myself as I trembled, my breath ragged.

  “The way you just... but that means... then who in the world--” Melody softly spluttered, then took a deep breath as she put the pieces together. “Ariana. Ariana is Rachel. And you...” she stated, kneeling down beside me. “What in the world did this to you?” she asked me.

  “C-c... car...” I choked out.

  “A car?” my opponent said in surprise, and then she let out a sigh. “I remember now... that was you who almost got hit a few nights ago, huh?” she said. “No wonder you broke down, then or now...” she continued, placing a hand on me.

  Don't you hate me?? Don't you hate me for this?? I screamed inside my head.

  “I guess we're both trying to escape something here, huh?” Melody said instead, words that suddenly stopped my shaking.

  Am I...? Am I trying to escape from something? I wondered to myself then.

  “Isn't it... isn't it that we're trying to find something, rather than escape from it? I mean... maybe both...” I replied as I calmed down, and she looked thoughtful for a moment.

  “That's true. Both can be true, and at the same time. Me, I'm trying to escape my horrible fate, and to find someone who loves me for me; and you...”

  “I'm just trying to escape, I guess... and to find connections... but I found them, here and there. Maybe, maybe I'm just lucky that way. But I'm sure... I'm sure you can find them, too.”

  “I don't know.” Melody softly frowned. “Sure, there's Clara... but she's too... possessive.”

  “Hrrm.” I sighed bemusedly.

  Ya think?

  “Lana...” she then said to me. “I'm... well, I deceived myself, I guess...” she said with a rueful grin. “So I can't be too mad at you.”

  “I-it'd be fine if you were... I mean...” I trailed off uncertainly.

  What could I even say? I groaned inwardly.

  “You're sweet. Maybe, maybe if I had a fiancé like you...”

  “Gyeck!?”

  “Ha-ha! Teasing.” Melody smirked, and then surprised me with a hug.

  Eh?? Huh?! Wha--!?

  “I... need time. A lot of time, maybe, to process this. Let's do our best for the musical though, okay?” she whispered to me.

  “Sure,” I replied softly.

  “Will you call me Mel?” she asked. A soft smile came to my face.

  “Sure, Mel.” I returned, gently hugging back. When we let go, she helped me to my feet, and we put our weapons away. “I guess I owe you a date...” I faintly blushed.

  “Pffft!” she grinned back. “How about the ore instead?”

  “Or the ore,” I nodded.

  “And I'll send you the--” she started, then her face froze in surprise.

  “Mel?” I asked her.

  “What is this...” another voice behind me said.

  Oh snap... I thought to myself as I recognized it, laden with anger and coldness as it was. I turned to see Clara standing about three meters away.

  “You... you're... Melody, why?!” the green-haired girl all but shouted, glaring intensely.

  “It's none of your business, Clara.” her guild-leader replied evenly.

  “Like hell it's not!!” the other retorted venomously.

  “It's a game, Clara... it's a game; this is someone I know from my school, you don't have any right to get angry about this!” Melody said, her voice rising.

  “Do you know how much of our guild funds have gone into trying to take these girls down at least once?! And you've been crushing on this one the whole time, and now you're BFFs, is that it? Are we not good enough for you?? Am I not good enough?!”

  “I never said that!”

  “You don't have to! It's plain as day from where I'm standing!” the witch returned.

  “I am not arranging a date here!” Melody protested.

  “Oh? Then what are you going to send her later? Huh? Flowers??” the other quipped back, and then I saw her twitch. “Flowers... you're going to give her one of the ingredients... for the Dragonsbane poison...”

  “Clara, calm down, right now.” Melody said, her voice once again even.

  “You...!!” the green-haired girl hissed at me. “You little hussy!!” How dare you!! When you already have half the girls and even some of the boys--”

  “Clara!!” Melody thundered.

  “What?!” her guildmate snapped in reply.

  Melody shook her head, then brought up a panel. Unable to refrain from looking, I saw at once that it was her guild panel. No way... is she kicking Clara from her guild? I wondered; but then I saw that it was not Clara she was kicking. She was resigning her leadership and leaving the guild.

  “Nyah!?” I started in disbelief as Melody finished the action with a sigh of relief.

  Clara, on the other hand, stared in shock as she received the notice. Apparently, from what I had briefly seen, she was Melody's second, which now made her the leader of Venomheart.

  Oh boy, I thought to myself with a brief shudder. Clara's eyes glazed over with rage.

  “Fine.” she said, her voice angry yet shaking. I thought I saw her wiping tears from her face. “Fine!!” the older girl snapped again, storming off towards Aldholt City. Melody heaved another sigh of relief when she had gone, then turned to lay her head on my shoulder.

  “Say, Lana... do you mind, if I join you guys at lunch sometimes?” she asked me a moment later.

  “We'd love to have you.” I told her with a soft smile. She stood back up, smiling back at me. “And... I'll have Lizzy make you a new sword.” I said, faintly blushing.

  “Mooncap. The green kind.” she said in reply.

  Hm? Oh! The ingredient for Dragonsbane, I intuited, and nodded back to her.

  “I guess... I'll see you Monday,” she said to me then.

  “Yeah, Monday,” I agreed. “Um... Mel... if... you ever... get lonely, here...”

  “I'll think about it.” she quickly smiled.

  “Okay.” I replied.

  “You really sell the act, here, you know.” Melody told me. “It's hard to believe you're actually...”

  “Well... sometimes, I guess,” I shrugged back.

  “And... watch out, okay? For Venomheart,” she said, and I nodded. “I mean it, Lana. Besides me, I think Cyan is really the only sane one in that guild... each of the others, they all get progressively more psycho...”

  “On a scale of Cyan to Venomy?” I quipped with a grin.

  “Exactly.” she nodded back returning the grin. “Okay... for real, now. I'm gonna head to that beach place we first met. Take care,” she said, and waved as she headed off.

  “You too,” I replied.

  Well this is a lot... and I mean a lot, I thought to myself with a bemused look as I turned to finally head for the wayport at Cloverbell. Mooncap, mooncap... the green kind.