Sion walks quickly through the streets of Ecg, now almost at a run, though careful not to do so and raise suspicion. Not knowing his way around the city, Sion first makes his way back to the cafe. From there, he makes for the guild. He sighs to himself, wishing he could have gone around the city with Anima, though still not regretting his choice to make sure of Gitsung’s true face. From the guild, Sion retraces his path to the Tredan home.

  Sion knocks on the door, seeing the lights still on through the windows. Anima opens the door, startled to see Sion standing there. Weald sees him from the table, then gets up and walks off somewhere. Anima welcomes Sion in.

  “Sion? Um, come in. We were just eating dinner. Did you eat?” Sion walks inside.

  “I haven’t.”

  “Then… I’ll get you some. If that’s alright.”

  “Of course it is. Thank you, Anima.” Anima goes to the kitchen, leaving Sion alone. Just then, Weald returns, a sword in his hand.

  “Die, Sion!”

  Weald swings his sword at Sion, bringing down on him. Sion stops it in the air with a loud clap. Though not as strong as Scima or Kreteo, Sion can tell that Weald is quite powerful, and truly did mean for his blade to strike true. Weald clicks his tongue as he fails to move his blade from between Sion’s palms. Anima walks back into the room. She quickly puts a bowl of soup onto the table then rushes over to them. She grabs her father’s thick arms and lightly tugs on them, away from Sion.

  “Dad, what are you doing?”

  “How can you expect me to—”

  “It really isn’t anything.” Sion interjects.

  “Did I do something wrong?” Anima answers before her father can, but unable to face Sion directly.

  “No. You didn’t. Let’s eat.”

  The three of them sit down to eat, Weald somewhat begrudgingly. Sion eats quickly, then moves on to talking.

  “Thank you, Anima. Will you be ready to leave soon?”

  “So you… finished what you needed to do?”

  “I did. I need to report to the general, the sooner the better. And… it might be bad for me to stay in Ecg much longer.” Weald responds harshly.

  “What did you do, Sion?” Sion seems embarrassed to answer.

  “T-that doesn’t matter. I’ll go find Regn and wait by the gate, Anima.”

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  Sion stands up and walks away. He leaves the house and makes his way to the main road cutting through the center of the city. He reaches it and starts walking towards the gate that leads to Clea. He reaches it and is stopped by the guards stationed there.

  “It’s the middle of the night, man, what could you possibly need to do?”

  “I have a message I need to deliver to Clea.”

  “Is it really that urgent? With so many traders going in and out of the city, it’s dangerous out this late, y’know. I’m sure you can leave it for the morning.”

  “It really is that urgent. And I’m strong.”

  “Fine, fine. I’ll open up the gate, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  Sion steps under the threshold of the gate and looks around. He puts his fingers to his mouth and whistles loudly. The guards flinch when they hear it. They look back in shock, just in time to see Regn’s large body bounding towards the gate. They raise their spears in a panic. Sion looks back at them.

  “Don’t worry, he’s friendly.”

  The guards pull back slightly, unsure what to do. Anima comes running to the gate. Before the guards can collect themselves, she runs past, to Sion. Sion jumps onto Regn’s back, then extends his hand down to help Anima. The guards start to stammer out orders.

  “Ah! H-hold on—!”

  Regn starts running, as fast as he can, down the dirt road. Sion says nothing, the whole of his focus on Regn’s condition. Regn runs underneath the starry sky. In only a matter of hours, they reach the imposing walls of Clea. Regn slides to a stop in front of the gate. The guards seem to recognize him, and quickly begin to open the gates. Sion gets off of Regn’s back and approaches the guards outside the gate.

  “Do you know where General Shard is? And where Mr. Adalwolf is?” One guard thinks for a moment then answers.

  “I think they’re both at home at this hour. Do you know where their manor is?”

  “Not at all.”

  “Then I’ll guide you.”

  “Thank you.”

  Anima gets off of Regn and walks beside Sion. Regn walks behind them, very obviously fatigued. The guard leads them through the city. Even with how dark it is, the city’s decorations, already colorful as they were, seem even more vibrant in preparation for the festival.

  They come to a large building in the vicinity of the castle. The manor is surrounded by a large yard, a request made by Adalwolf, a gate enclosing the estate. The guard leading Sion and Anima says something to another guard behind the gate, then bows to Sion and leaves. The gate opens and they walk inside it. Sion turns to the guard who opened the gate before they move on to the manor itself.

  “Where is General Shard right now, if you know?” The guard thinks it over.

  “Right now, I think he’d still be in the war room with Sir Adalwolf.” Sion and Anima continue towards the manor while Regn walks deeper into the yard.

  “Thank you, sir.”

  Sion and Anima reach the front door. Sion knocks, and the two of them are quickly let in by a butler. Sion turns to the butler.

  “Can you take me to General Shard?” The butler bows slightly.

  “Of course, sir.” Sion turns back to Anima.

  “Anima, the fewer people who know this information the better, so…”

  “Ah, of course. I’ll wait for you.”

  Sion goes off with the butler. Anima looks around and finds a place where she can sit and wait.