The Night Before the Meeting

They arrived at the manor quickly. When they entered there were servants waiting in the foyer for their return. Winston was there with Idris's personal servant along with others who would tend to whatever Breton told them.

"Welcome back." Their voices all spoke at the same time giving Emre a bout of chills.

"The sirs and lady are waiting in the garden for your arrival." Winston then added on.

"Lead the way." Emre stated.

Winston inclined his head and started to lead them to the garden straight away. Breton followed after as well. It only took a minute for them to arrive at the flower-filled garden to breathe in the cold night air once more.

Everyone was sitting at the same gazebo as the night before but all stood up as the three of them were noticed. They seemed lighthearted even despite the presence of Breton but Emre was still in the mindset to get things done.

"Ragan, were you able to get an audience with the Commander?" He asked.

They were startled by his serious demeanor and became more solemn.

"Yes, I explained to him the situation and included the mention of 'you know who'. He wishes to meet you two before he makes any decisions." Ragan answered with little hesitation.

Emre's brow raised. "What did you tell him about us?"

"Nothing much. I just told him that you two were the ones who informed me of this. He wants to determine your trustworthiness with his own eyes."

"Alright, we can go meet him the day after tomorrow. How did getting new armor and weapons go?"

Gerrar responded this time. "Everyone has new weapons and armor, including you two. We've had them placed in your rooms. They are all good quality thanks to Ragan here."

"Good." Emre was relieved that everyone was just a bit safer now.

"How was meeting the High Priest?" Killan then asked.

"It went well." Emre said with a small chuckle, relaxing a bit more that he knew things were working out. "They turned out to be someone I already knew."

"Really? Who are they?"

"They don't disclose their name to others, but I know them from a month or so ago. We met in passing."

"What are they like?"

"Hmm… I know they are kind and thoughtful. They do their job in the Temple well from what I've seen so far. I think they'll be a great High Priest from now on."

"That's great." Killan smiled.

"Did anything else happen?" Conin's quiet voice perked up as he stepped up to Emre.

Of all the people Conin seemed to be the best at perceiving feelings. Before, he was kind enough to talk to Emre by the fire and let him know that he had people who would listen. He must have got the feeling that Emre was stressed right now and he definitely wasn't wrong.

"Yeah… but I'll tell you guys about it another time." Emre said, casting a small glance at the servants around.

Conin smiled and nodded. "We're the best at being patient! Well… I don't know about Killan but…"

"Oi!" Killan interjected.

They all let out a small laugh before Breton spoke up.

"Esteemed—"

"Just, Emre… Is fine." Emre quickly interrupted him.

Breton seemed hesitant but nodded. "Emre, would you like me to be present when you visit the Commander? He is a friend of mine so my presence there may be more convincing."

"Yes, that would be great." Emre accepted.

"Everyone should get some rest now." Idris then said.

There was a bit of surprise that came from everyone, but they seemed happy. Idris caring about their wellbeing was definitely making some progress in chipping his wall down in their eyes. Emre remembered Gerrar telling him about how closed off Idris was to everyone and although he had opened up to Emre, the rest of them still had some work to go.

"That's a good idea. It's late and cold out here." Emre agreed.

He didn't know how long they had been waiting for them but he figured it must have been a while. They all were running about for the whole day so the idea of a good night's rest made them all realize how tired they were.

With mumbled acceptance, they all headed toward their own rooms. Idris and Emre separated from the rest as they walked down the hall toward their rooms.

"Reanil, can you prepare a small meal for us and bring it to Emre's room?" Idris asked his personal servant.

Emre looked at him in surprise but Idris's serious eyes said that no protest was allowed. With a small defeated sigh from Emre, the servant quickly bowed and started back down the hall to do as he was told.

While working at the Temple neither of them had eaten much aside from a few snacks brought to them by the priests while they were helping out. The priests had likely eaten dinner shortly after the Temple closed. Emre was too eager to talk to Tirian to get something proper to eat. He had also been too nervous to have an appetite.

It seemed Idris was intent on not allowing him to skip a meal, however. They both entered the room after Emre told Winston to help out Reanil. The guards took up a proper post outside as Emre closed the door behind him.

An exasperated sigh exited Emre's mouth and he walked straight to the perfectly made bed and flopped down upon it, ruining whatever servant's hard work they put into making it look nice. Rolling over onto his back he took off his overshirt as Idris sat on the couch. Throwing it to the side, he felt freer in the much more flowy undershirt.

"It wasn't as you expected, hm?" Idris asked.

"Of course it wasn't… I mean—!" Emre rolled onto his side to look at Idris over the foot of the bed. "I don't know what I expected…"

Another annoyed sigh left his lips and he let his head fall onto the soft blanket.

"I'm frustrated." He added.

"We should just do as she said and get ready as soon as possible. We need to strengthen ourselves."

"I know… We were planning on it anyway. She didn't need to waste time just to tell us what we already knew."

"Emre…"

"I know it probably cost a lot for her to appear in front of us like that, but the time was so limited… I just want to know what the hell she meant."

"I think it's best not to think too hard about it. I'm sure she wants to tell you but can't."

"Why can't she though? She is the Goddess of Creation!" Emre abruptly sat up. "I just want to know what exactly makes me her son."

"She'll tell you when she can, I'm sure."

"Ugh…" Emre rubbed his face with his hands.

"Emre, what you need to worry about now is not the past but the present."

"I know…"

"Then tonight, we'll eat something and then get some sleep. After that we can focus on gaining allies and getting stronger." Idris stated as he removed his vest. "I need to teach you more types of magic and I need some help with getting used to my shadow magic."

"I also need to strengthen my core…"

Idris nodded and stood up to stretch. Then his eyes fell on the items placed on the seat at the foot of his bed.

"Ah, that must be your new armor and weapons." He noted.

Emre's thoughts were distracted by his words and he leaned over the edge of the bed to look. Folded neatly on the bench was a set of mostly leather half-plate armor as well as a sheathed sword and dagger. There was also a large pouch on top of everything as well.

Hopping off the bed, he circled around to take a look at what he was given. His eyes landed on a small note that was placed in front of the pouch first. It read: 'As good as you looked in black, we all felt white and gold would suit you the best. Oh, and you're not allowed to return the money.'

Glancing up, he noted the metal armor pieces were all white aside from golden inlay designs along all the trims. It wasn't too extravagant but it looked quite similar to Breton's armor in terms of aesthetics. The leather parts of the armor were all also lighter than normal.

It seemed the armor came with a half-breast with pauldrons for the shoulders and upper arm as well as bracers. For the legs it covered his feet, shins, and knees, only going halfway up the thigh so his mid-body movement would not be hindered.

His attention then landed on the large pouch and he picked it up, and due to the note and the clinging of metal inside, he could tell that it was a pouch of money. Glancing inside, most of the pieces were gold. He sighed, knowing well that they were probably from Ragan. He would have to thank him later.

He transferred the pouch to his spatial storage and took a look at the sword next.

"This looks like it's good make." Idris commented as he walked up behind him.

Emre nodded aimlessly, not knowing the intricacies of blacksmithing. The scabbard of the sword was white with golden designs snaking up from the tip. The designs looked similar to branches spreading out into the sky.

The hilt wasn't as extravagant. It had a light leather grip and the silver pommel was diamond-shaped. In the middle of the pommel was a small white marble with golden flecking. Unsheathing the blade, it looked freshly sharpened with small rune-looking symbols running down the blade.

"It's enchanted to be able to handle magic output without breaking. Of course, if you were to put too much strain on it, it would break, but it's a fairly strong enchantment." Idris informed him as he also gazed at the blade.

The dagger was also similar. It seemed like the whole armor set and weapons were crafted to complement one another. Emre felt quite happy seeing it, knowing that it was picked out specifically with him in mind. It was also probably very expensive.

"I bet your new armor and weapons are going to be all black." Emre speculated as he slid the blade back into the scabbard.

"I wouldn't doubt it." Idris agreed as he walked back over toward the couch.

Emre joined him and sat down with an inhale. Idris was right. He needed to stop worrying about his ties to Tirian and more about what they were going to do next to fight against the dark creatures.

While they waited for their meal to be brought back, Emre ended up gathering mana to continue strengthening his core. Of course, he didn't get very far before he heard the light knock on the door. Sitting up, he heard his stomach growl.

"Come in." He called out, eager for the meal.

Winston and Reanil entered, pushing in two carts. They got straight to setting out the plates on the table in front of them. For a small meal, it seemed quite large with an assortment of dishes. There was meat, bread, vegetables, and fruit. They even poured tea for them to drink.

They both thanked Winston and Reanil before wasting no time in starting once the two servants were finished setting it all out. The two simply put it off as it being their job and then stood off to the side, ready to tend to them if they needed to.

Emre ate until he was full and ended up stopping before Idris did. Idris seemed to have a larger stomach and ate what he could not. Soon enough, the two of them sat back on the soft couch with content sighs. The two servants cleaned up and excused themselves for the night.

Exhausted from the anxiety and stress he had experienced all day and with a content feeling from the warm meal in his belly, he ended up dozing off while still sitting on the couch. Tomorrow would just be another day of anxieties for him.

Idris noticed quickly as a small snore left Emre's mouth. He let out a small chuckle and stood up. He walked up to the bed, took the top blanket off, and walked it over to cover Emre up.

His brows furrowed and a pitying look appeared on his face as he backed away. He felt like he was making Emre do all the work due to not speaking up enough. Shaking his head, he exited the room to get his own rest. He had to straighten himself out and take charge every once and a while so Emre wasn't as strained…

Emre was new to this world. He was not. It was only natural.