Hours

Having fallen asleep at 6 pm, and woken up by 2 am, I quietly rose out of my bed. I went to sleep earlier, perhaps the earliest, of my three comrades. There's a reason for that, of course. But it was nothing special.

I headed out. The lodging house hallway was still lit by the lanterns on the wall, the moonlight in the faintly cloudy sky. The sight of the stars was plain to see. 

Venturing beyond the lodge, I navigated the west town's maze-like ins and outs. If someone gets lost through it, they won't be held responsible. That's how headache-inducing the streets of the west town are.

West town is a slum town. Dilapidated buildings, vagrants, and seemingly criminals populated the area. The thief and dread knight guilds were located hereabouts. They told me more about the area.

'The thief's guild is particularly hard to reach by...' You'll most certainly be lost even if you were to take a cautious stroll in the vicinity.

I kept the area's layout in my head. I was trying to map the area. As for why that'd be done in these hours, let's just say that I wished for a random encounter. 

I thoroughly conceal my existence to avoid disturbing people. I've prepared a few excuses should a guard or simply the residents interrogate me. I had carried my weapon and, my armor along. These should be sufficient to defend myself.

It didn't take long to run into a person in one of many alleyways. 

The person, a lady, drew her weapon. A long, thin saber. Her razor-sharp violet eyes stabbed at me.

"Wait," I said, just to see her reaction. I hadn't drawn my sword, though I could have done so at any time. 'I'm not precisely seeking a conflict. But it was included either way.' There's a thorough reason I chose this time and place to act.

"What?" The dark-clad lady didn't swing her weapon, at least.

"First of all, you're not going to attack me, are you?"

"Depends on why you're lurking about in the predawn hours."

"Well, that's too bad. I find my reason to be weak."

She still didn't seem like she was about to go on an attack.

Who is she? Her gear was neither heavy nor light. They are light plate armor, to be more precise. She had a cloak that seemed like it could hold several things inside. '—Dread knight. Is she one of them? All the characteristics lead to it.'

"You're a warrior volunteer soldier." She said after a short while. This lady is skilled in concealing her emotions. I couldn't tell the true feelings underneath that voice and face of hers. "Your gear is pitiful. What's your name?"

How rude... Not that she was wrong.

"My name is Kiyotaka." 

I deliberately displayed my badge on the front of my outfit. That must be how she knew I was a volunteer soldier.

The lady squinted her eyes ever so slightly. "Were you part of the eight-person group a week ago?"

I never saw her face.

However, I hadn't been able to know the people who were watching me when we were brought to Alterna the first time. A few of them slipped out of my sight unbidden. Either she is one of those people, or simply assumed I was part of the group from the spreading information.

"I was with them, yes. We have effectively finished the first day of our work yesterday."

The lady finally put her weapon down. She still kept it out of the sheath, however. "You have the gift of stealth... Kiyotaka, isn't it? You're managed to keep your head calm in this situation. That's wonderful. Interested in becoming a dread knight guild member, serving the great Skullhell god with others?"

'What, you're a salesman now?' I thought.

Though it wasn't apparent, there was a spirit in her eyes that wasn't there before. She'd still take a looong time to adjust them as naturally as breathing. 

"I'm very interested, but..."

Incidentally, that's the factor I find fascinating about soldiers' lives. 

They encounter life-and-death instances almost every day and inevitably are compelled to accustom themselves to staying alive. I'm curious to find out how my party would turn out by the end of the journey as volunteer soldiers.

"...I need more time to get my mind settled on the matter. One condition of entry is to eternally serve the Skullhell god, am I correct?"

"Yes. What more do you need to think of?"

"There are many."

I elaborated.

Primarily, money was the issue here. No work, no money. No money, nothing.

If there were no matters with Lumiaris and Skullhell in dispute, I intended to consecutively take on the roles of paladin, mage, priest, and dread knight. That is assuming I could still bring the magic skills of them along with me even when I quit. It would be nice if the requirement to join as a dread knight forever didn't exist. Magical arts are the whole reason I want to choose them.

There is the hunter know-how I might be considered. And the thief organization seems to have some useful information on its back. The purpose of the warrior guild is merely to train frontier soldiers, I'm sure. They may be useful for knowing the intricacies of Alterna's military, but other than that, it's not that handy. In any way, I would gain immense strength and knowledge by carrying them out.

Alas, it's not as easy as it sounds.

I have no idea whether joining Lumiaris wouldn't let you merge into a Skullhell adherent later on, or vice versa. Even if I could somehow evade the other dread knight members who were trying to kill me and enter the priest's or paladin's guild, it's not a surprise if I couldn't acquire the Lumiaris power due to having served Skullhell before.

'To begin with, I don't know if these beings called gods exist in this world.' I'm not a believer in deity, it seems.

Kikyou relied on elementals. They were everywhere. The spells and drawings are to bring them out into our world, I presume. Though knowing the mastermind behind our memory loss, it could be more than that, they just didn't tell her for whatever reason.

'Kei mentioned that her skills wouldn't activate if the spell didn't line up.'

The spell wasn't in a foreign language, for the most part, but 'Lumiaris' could possibly refer to them. The same could be said of the dread knight, though I've never seen or known anything about one.

There are many possible assumptions I can draw. But assumptions are ultimately just assumptions. They are not definitive, and they may shift according to the information at hand. For the moment, I have too little information to act on those assumed beliefs.

Anyway, the equipment that the Dread Knight guild provides is undoubtedly inferior to what the Warrior and Paladin guilds provide. Their emphasis was already different, to begin with.

Protection equipment was particularly important in battle, and finding them hadn't been easy with our lack of money on day one. I can't afford to be careless, given my corresponding lack of knowledge about Grimgar.

Warrior was the safest, most versatile, and simply beneficial choice for a trainee. There are no specific binding criteria like the Dread Knight, or the possibility of being unable to join with other guilds due to religious reasons. I can also work with another party, not tied to only one party as thieves do, who can't work under another thief's turf. Paladins provide a free shield that guild warriors do not, but the reason I didn't choose to join has been explained. Of course, the main reason is the free equipment, even if it's second-hand. Hunter or mage is a flat no. They're not the best for a trainee, specifically me.

"You're seriously thinking about all that." The lady inclined her head a little, only slightly confused. 

I shrugged. "It's only natural."

"Did you form a party?"

"With those eight people, yes."

She had sheathed her thin saber at one point. Well, she still had her palm resting on the hilt. As for me, I positioned my hand to quickly draw my longsword at any given time. Both of us were being cautious. 

"...I'm Manami, a volunteer soldier." Her tied-up black hair blew in the breeze as she introduced herself under the crimson moonlight. "You're aware I'm a dread knight. Returning to the first question, what are you doing in these hours?"

I answered half honestly. "I can't sleep. It's a bother to remain still with my comrades, so I decided to take a walk. But I can ask you the same thing."

She snorted. "The night is when dread knights reach the peak of their power. Me being here is perfectly appropriate."

Well, even if Suzune and the girls weren't very thorough in gathering information,I didn't regret not knowing that single fact. It didn't change my opinion.

"Then what are you doing right now?"

Simultaneously, Manami and I turned our heads diagonally to my back. '—There's a cat. No, cats. A pack of them.' They popped up from both building rooftops in the alley. For some reason, their eyes were on Manami. The girl in question twitched, and—

'—oh, I see.' Well, it happens. Playing around with animals to soothe yourself. I don't see anything wrong with that. 'I'm pretty certain you don't like me knowing that, but, you know, you don't have to be embarrassed about it. Really.'

If I were to tell her all that outright, I don't think she'd react positively. That's not how it works. 'Yeah, I'd better pretend like I know nothing.'

"If you don't mind, I'll go back to my lodging house." I made a motion to leave.

"Wait," I paused. Manami stared at me with an unreadable expression. She can calm herself quickly. That's impressive. "You're staying in the volunteer soldiers' lodging, correct?"

"Yes."

"I see," she nodded. I wondered what she was nodding at. "You may go."

As I did what she told me, I thought. 'She's cute.'

'If Suzune, Kei, Kikyou, or Chiaki lost their cool like what happened now, I think I'd like to see that happen.'