Picnic and Hot Springs

Albo and Kanami finally head out to find Kos, the legendary hero that fought in a war two thousand years ago.

With the help of the priest, they quickly find out where Kos is. He is currently mentoring new heroes and soldiers in a nearby village.

Albo and Kanami pause for a moment to catch their breath. Both of them breathe through their mouth with sweat dripping from their heads.

"We're finally here. The walk was too long for me." Kanami says as she clears her throat and takes a gulp of water from her bottle.

"Hehehe, you're still so weak Kanami. I am booming with energy! Yep! That walking is nothing to me!"

"OBLURGHG" Albo throws up right after she yells out her words. Kanami gently pats her back as she continues to vomit.

"What happened to all that training?" Albo asks with a large smirk on her face.

"We've been walking for three hours non-stop. It happens!"

"Well, it sounds to me like you're the weak one."

Albo stands up straight and with a deep voice and serious face, replies, "I have tuberculosis."

Kanami does the same, "No you don't. Stop lying."

Kanami and Albo walk around for a few minutes. They notice a giant house with multiple windows and two large doors.

In front of the large house, is a sign, "KOS' DOJO! TRAIN WITH THE LEGENDARY KOS SIVONGSA!"

inside there were dozens of young men training with the sword. In the middle of it, a man with one arm, and one eye, stands before them. He has short brown hair and is tall, he has scars could be seen all over his body.

With a harsh voice, he calls out to the two girls.

"Welcome, how may I help you?"

Kanami steps forwards and introduces herself, "Hello! My name is Shini Kanami and she is Albo Flore. Nice to meet you!"

The man's eyes widen, "Albo and Kanami? Say, do you know who Takeya and Sakuta are?"

Kanami and Albo look at each other confused, "No sir, we do not."

"Damn it Kuno." He whispers to himself as he turns his head away.

Albo finally steps up in front of him and asks in a stern voice.

"Are you Kos Sivongsa? The legendary hero that fought alongside Viera Mare?"

The older man nods and replies to Albo,

"Of course I am, although, due to my physical condition, I haven't fought in a real battle in years. I thought because I was connected to my sword, I would be immortal, unkillable. I took too many risks and got to this condition."

"The sister sword of Oukori, Aiea?"

"Well, you certainly studied, you have full armor and that magical helm, what are you doing in a place like this?"

As Kos said, Albo pulls out her sword. The sword shines bright in reaction to being close to Aiea. In the distance, Aiea also glows a bright yellow light.

All the students are blinded by the light and cover their eyes, and even Kanami has to turn around to block the bright light coming from both the swords.

"Okay, so you're a big deal. I get that now."

"I need you and Aiea to assist me in defeating Trilrak. And bring peace to this kingdom, something that not even the queen was able to achieve."

Kos turns to Albo with anger in his eyes, "Don't go thinking that Trilrak is some easy target, he isn't. Listen kid, give up now."

Albo walks up to Kos, "Sorry, I don't plan on abandoning my dreams."

"It's not even your dream to begin with!" When Kos says that, he quickly covers up his mouth, as if he said something he wasn't supposed to. Albo is too angry to notice and starts to yell at him.

"Huh?! What's that supposed to mean?"

Kanami chimes in and gets in between the both of them, "Guys! Let's stop fighting!"

Kos stays silent for a few moments, he smiles and tells Albo,

"You know, kid, you would have been a great Queensguard."

"A what?"

"Nevermind, I'll aid you. I owe it to you both."

Albo makes a confused face, "Huh? What are you saying old man?"

"Nothing, like I said, I won't be able to fight like I used to. So don't expect me to save you."

"You won't need to save me, gramps. In fact, maybe I'll be the one to save you!"

Albo lets out a huge smile,

"We did it, Kanami! We got Kos to go with us on our journey! We can win without any worries now! This was all thanks to you!"

"Albo I haven't done much, I've just followed you around everywhere you went."

Albo shakes her head in disagreement,

"You have stayed by my side all these years helped me fully realize my dream and motivate me to set off on my journey finally. I owe you everything."

Kanami lets out a nervous laugh as she doesn't know what to say.

"I'm pretty sure I'm interrupting, but I'm assuming this is an urgent mission? We leave tomorrow."

"Understood!"

Albo and Kanami head to a room that was given by Kos so they can spend the night, both girls take a bath and head straight to bed.

As Kos walks back to his room, a light skinned girl with pink hair and purple eyes kiss him in his cheek. "How was your day today?"

"Hala, you're not going to like this. But I have to aid Kanami and Albo on their journey."

Her eyes widen for a few seconds, "Albo and Kanami?" her eyes then return back to normal as she lets out a soft smile. "I understand. Just be safe."

She wraps her arms around Kos, and his eyes are filled with tears, "Yeah, I'll be home as soon as possible."

Albo opens her eyes.

She is inside a mysterious castle; there are bodies of adventurers everywhere. As she walks by the corpses, she spots a figure in the distance. The character is slender, seemed to have short hair.

"This is definitely not the room I was staying in."

She picks up a sword in the ground and walks towards the character. The figure then opens its cloak, and monsters emerge; they were created with a combination of blood and demonic magic and sent flying beasts her way.

Albo slices them and continues to walk towards the figure. She uses her magic to dodge any incoming attacks.

The figure takes out a sword, Albo can't see what the sword is, but the shadow then leaps at her at super speed.

Albo is surprised by the speed of the figure. She only sees the sides of the character. The figure had short gray hair and ashen skin as if the figure was already dead. The figure also had bright yellow eyes.

Although the figure has overwhelming speed and overpowers Albo at every chance, Albo finds the right timing to strike and stabs the character right through the stomach.

The character lets out a loud yell and then proceeds to die, before death, however, she can hear the character whispering something,

"It's finally, finally, my turn."

Albo then wakes up with cold sweat, she looks to her right and sees Kanami folding her blankets.

"Did you have a bad dream?" asks Kanami.

"Yeah, I don't know, and I've already forgotten about most of it but, I think so."

Kanami smiles at Albo,

"Well, that's good if you can't remember it, come on, we have to get ready to go off on our journey."

They get dressed, pack their clothing, and leave the building. Outside the building, Kos waits for them in a carriage.

"You got everything?" Kos asks as he checks the back of the carriage one last time before they depart.

"Yep! We are all ready!" Albo exclaims as she jumps into the back of the carriage. Kanami slowly enters the back and hands Albo a small basket.

"It's our lunch, so make sure you don't shake it too much.

The group departs on a journey to the Demon Lord castle. The weather is nice and sunny, and the slow, chilly wind encourages the group to stop on the way and have a little picnic.

Once they find a beautiful grassy spot, they lay out the blankets, then, Kanami takes out the basket she told Albo to hold.

She opens the box and inside, there are a dozen sandwiches, all the vegetables look fresh and vibrant. Kanami smiles and hands the basket to Kos first. Then each one of them takes a sandwich out.

"Sandwiches are great for picnics!" Albo exclaimed with her mouth full.

Kanami grabs a nearby napkin and wipes the sauce on Albo's face, "You really shouldn't talk with your mouth full."

Albo bites into the nicely cut sandwich. She makes noises of happiness as she does. The lovely, rich, and fresh taste of the vegetables, the cold ham, and the delicious cheese puts Albo at awe.

"You know." Albo talks with her mouth half full. "If you were the Demon Lord and attacked me with this, I'd become your servant instantly."

"I don't think a hero should be saying those things!" Kanami replies, chuckling.

"But it's true, kid, these are amazing, I know they're just sandwiches but my goodness, it is good!" Kos mentions while also taking a bite of a sandwich.

Hearing overwhelming praise from Kos and Albo, Kanami blushes, she turns around to hide her red face.

Albo asks smirking,

"Kanami, you're not eating? Turn around, take a sandwich."

"I'm not hungry right now, and I like to watch the scenery here."

As Kanami said that, Albo jumps on her back, she turns Kanami's head to face her. Albo lets out a loud laugh.

"I've known you all my life Kanami; I never get tired of your embarrassed look!"

Kanami's face gets even redder, she pouts and tells Albo,

"Stop, stop teasing me, Albo."

Kos laughs in the background, and as he does, the two girls turn back to face him. As they do, Kos lets out a loud sigh of happiness.

"I remember when I used to mess around with my best friend like that."

"What happened to your best friend?" Kanami asks in a soft tone, right after she asked that she felt as if she asked a sensitive question. Kos notices her expression and tells her,

"Don't worry, we just parted ways is all. We both served the queen back a few centuries ago."

"Oh, I was afraid that I might have touched on a sensitive topic."

"Don't worry about it, missy."

The gang eats the rest of the sandwiches and decide to continue their journey. Nighttime arrives, and the carriage has gone quiet. To add some excitement, Kos asks Albo and Kanami,

"You know, you guys should tell me some funny stories from your childhood or your village."

Kanami, realizing this is her opportunity to get back at Albo, jumps at the chance.

"Did you know, when we were around five to six years old, Albo was learning magic, she didn't know anything about sword-fighting."

Albo instantly turns her head in shock,

"Ah! Kanami, we're friends, right? You don't have to tell him anything, right?"

"Oh, now I'm even more curious," Kos mentions as he smiles.

"Yeah, we would play sword-fighting in our free time. And whenever I would beat her, she would run home crying yelling out things like 'If you're so good, beat the Demon Lord yourself Kanami!' She then trained in sword-fighting for a year to beat me. And when she did, she had the biggest smile on her face."

Albo lets out an embarrassed yell and starts to stretch Kanami's cheeks.

"Is this the mouth that is spouting all that nonsense?! Is it this mouth?!"

Kos lets out a loud laugh, and due to him being unfocused, the carriage starts to shake.

"Old man! Can you focus on the road?"

"My apologies, please don't master the art of driving to prove me wrong."

Kanami and Kos start to laugh even harder.

Albo starts to pinch Kanami's cheeks even harder.

"You really shouldn't be telling old people our embarrassing stories Ka-na-mi!!"

As Kanami and Albo go back in forth, Kos starts to calm down and looks at the night sky; he talks under his breath,

"How cute, I remember when I would tease you like that Johni."

Albo lifts her head out, "Eh? Did you say something old man?"

"No, I was just thinking of spending the night at the next village, what do you think Albo, Kanami?"

They both agree, a few minutes later, they all arrive at a small village. They decide to stay at an inn, and they depart with Kos for the rest of the night. Kanami and Albo enter their room and unpack their clothes.

"Hey Kanami, I hear there are hot springs here, you wanna go?" Albo asks as she takes out towels from her bags.

"Sure, I don't mind. Do you want to go now?"

"Yep! Let's go now!"

They both shower and enter the hot springs wearing nothing but a towel, as they sit down, they let out a sigh of relief.

"Ahh, this feels so good. I don't think I ever want to leave this place." Albo says as her body sinks deeper into the bath.

"I know, it just feels so good right now."

Albo sits up and looks at Kanami; she stares at her intensely.

"Kanami, guess what."

"Huh? What's wrong Albo?"

"We are only hours away from getting to the Demon Lord Tower."

Kanami flinches her body at the news, "EH? SERIOUSLY?"

Albo laughs out loud, "Yeah! We have one more village to go and we're there."

Kanami leans back and looks at the sky, "Still, we literally just started this journey and now it's about to end."

As Kanami continues to look at the sky, Albo sits next to Kanami, "Yeah. To be honest, I would have liked it if it was longer."

Kanami and Albo both look at each other, Albo smiles and makes a thumbs up gesture. "But, I guess this works too!" She then stands up and begins to walk away, "I'm leaving now, how about you?"

"I think I'm going to stay here for a few more minutes."

"Okay, don't stay too long or you'll look like a grandma!"

"A-ALBO! DON'T SAY THINGS LIKE THAT!"

As Albo leaves, Kanami closes her eyes and begins to enjoy the atmosphere around her. Suddenly, images begin to flash in her head.

A woman with long hair faces her, "You're nothing but a weapon." The face is shadowed and Kanami can't see the face properly.

An image of the woman with the spear appears once more, this time, she is in a cave without an arm.

Kanami opens her eyes in shock and looks around to see nobody around her. "What was that?" Kanami thinks to herself. "I think I fell asleep or something. I should get going and get some rest."