Chapter 69: Roots, Part Seven

{Rin}

"... So, let me get this straight. You went to the Silver Rose alone, met June Dahlia, she kissed you, and then she told you to send her letters every now and then?"

Rin asked this, after spending a solid minute just internalizing what the sprite had said. 

"Yes," Xhez nodded. It was the morning after this had apparently happened, and she was already in her disguise today, as they would soon be going out of the house. "It was very exciting!"

Rin gave a deep sigh before taking a sip out of the coffee her mother made for her.

"... I... but... e-..." Rin shook her head. "Whatever. Uh, Xhez," she said, "it's fine if you want to see things on your own, you're your own person and all, but try not to get yourself into trouble, okay?"

"Understood!" Xhez replied brightly. "But, how do I send letters?"

"I can show you once we head back to Libera. June Dahlia... Seriously?" Rin muttered.

And with that, Rin continued on with her morning.

Today was, of course, Saturday. Tomorrow, she and Xhez would both return to Libera, so that meant that Rin wanted to make the most out of this day before she headed back. She came up with a few things she wanted to do before she left.

Mostly, just two. First, she and her mother were going to spend some time together with Jay, outside the house, and then after that, she wanted to take this opportunity to visit her father's grave.

She hadn't gone to the cemetery in a while. It felt like a good idea for her to pay her respects to her father's spirit before she left again.

From the radio playing in the corner of the living room, Rin heard:

[... something could happen here, folks. As much as I personally would love for there to be more supply routes connecting between the major cities and the outer villages, we need to ask ourselves, who are these routes benefiting? Is it us or the outsiders? Sure, Libera would get access to a few exotic ingredients here and there, but is that worth putting Liberan lives at risk?]

[Well, Carl,] some other guy replied to the first one, [personally, I think that it is the right thing to do to build these roads, but,] he quickly added, [the outer villages need to be the ones pulling most of the weight, because, as you said, they stand to gain the most out of this.]

Rin tuned the rest of the conversation out as her mother approached and sat down next to her on the couch.

"When was the last time we did anything together like this?"

"I... don't remember," Rin replied, trying to think back as Xhez listened to the radio. She seemed fairly interested in it.

"Well, I am glad we're doing something now," Lyn chuckled a little. "I just wish we had a little more time."

"There's no reason I can't come back again, sometime soon," Rin shrugged. "We'll find some time later."

"I would like that."

Just then, someone knocked on the door, and both Rin and her mother stood up. They walked over to it and when they opened the door, Jay was standing there. The woman looked back and forth between the two of them.

"... Not going to lie, seeing the two of you just appear right in front of me like that is jarring."

"Heh, aren't two Asahiros better than one?" Lyn asked. "I would think you'd be happy about such a thing."

"Pfft," Jay scoffed. "Anyway, good morning. Are you two ready?"

"Yes, would you like some coffee? It's fresh."

"Nah, I ate already."

"Then, in that case, Rin," her mother turned toward her, "are you and Xhez ready?"

She looked back, finding that Xhez was still listening to the radio.

"Xhez," Rin called out, and the sprite looked up at her.

"Yes?"

"We're going."

"Oh, right."

In a second, the girl was beside them.

"Now there's three of you. Wonderful," Jay said. "Alright, let's go."

The four of them walked down the street then, on their way to the only park in town. As relatively small as Dren was, it was rather impressive to Rin, now having seen Libera and having something to compare this place to, how much they'd managed to pack into such a small territory. On the way, they came across a stand where an old lady was selling some candy, and Jay bought a few bars of chocolate for everyone. When Xhez bit down into hers, Rin damn near saw her pupils turn into hearts with how much she liked it.

A few minutes later, they reached a space that was mostly grass, trees, and bushes contained within a square of stone. There were already a few groups of people, a few families, and their friends gathered around the area. The four of them sat down at a bench, made warm by the abundant sunlight.

Once here, Xhez looked around, and then tapped Rin's shoulder.

"What now?" She asked.

"Uh, nothing," Rin shrugged. "This is... Yeah, this is basically it."

"What?"

"Hehe," Lyn giggled and the two of them looked over at her. "For someone who's spent so long in a natural environment, I suppose this is quite boring."

[Hm... Yeah, I can see that being the case.]

As Rin considered that, something else came to her mind.

"Actually... The cemetery isn't too far away."

"Ohhh, you're right," Lyn replied. "You could take Xhez there, if you want, and show her around. Does that sound interesting to you, Xhez?"

"What's a cemetery?" She asked.

"It's..." Rin lowered her voice, leaning in a little. "It's where humans take other humans who have died."

"Where you bury them?" Xhez asked.

"Oh? So, sprites bury their dead too?" Rin asked, just as quietly as before, as to not alert the nearby citizens.

"Yes. My mothers told me that if we did not bury our sisters after they had passed, their souls would not be allowed to rest. Though, we do so in water. Is it different for you?"

"... Well, the idea is basically the same for us, but we put people in the dirt." Rin shrugged. "Wanna see?"

"Sure," Xhez replied, and the two of them stood up.

"Okay, we'll be back in a bit then," Rin told her mother.

"Have fun," Lyn waved them goodbye and the two began walking down the street. As Rin had pointed out, the cemetery was fairly close by, so, soon, the two of them were coming upon an iron gate and behind it were hundreds of grey tombstones. At that moment, Rin recalled Xhez's ability to sense spirits, and she worried that a place like this would be overwhelming for her.

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"Uh, Xhez," she turned to the sprite. "Are you okay?"

"Hm? Yes," she replied.

"You don't feel anything?" Rin asked, pointing ahead.

"No," Xhez shook her head. "I do not sense any spirits here. It is likely they passed into the next realm, already."

"Hm," Rin nodded. "Alright then." [So, no skeletons or ghosts. Good. I've seen more than enough of those.] 

They walked inside, and quickly, the atmosphere changed. A cemetery, whether it was this one or the one Rin had visited with Maria, always had a way of making things feel eerie. They passed by several rows of graves, as Rin struggled to remember where exactly her father's tombstone was.

[No, no... There.]

She turned to the left, went past several of these dreary resting places, and finally, she arrived at the one that belonged to her father.

[Jiko Asahiro]

[1198 - 1238]

As Rin stood there, seeing his name like this made memories come back that she hadn't thought of in some time, as Xhez got closer.

"Is this it?"

"Yeah," Rin replied. "My, uh, my dad," she let out a deep breath as she tried to push those thoughts away. "Remember, what I said about the whole, one father, one mother thing? Yeah."

"What happened to him?" Xhez asked, eternally curious as always.

"... My dad was a soldier for Dren," Rin explained. "Uh, a soldier is basically someone who fights on behalf of the people who control the town. Think of it like this," Rin said, "where adventurers like me are supposed to fight monsters, soldiers usually fight other humans."

"Really? Why?"

"Because they do things to deserve it," she shrugged. "Any number of stuff could make humans fight each other. It's not really something I can explain briefly to you. But," she turned her eyes back over to the tombstone. "Yeah, one day, six years ago, in the process of being a soldier, he was taken out by some bandits."

"Bandits?"

"Humans who make a living by attacking travelers and stuff," she explained. "One day, he was helping escort a politician from Dren to some village to the east, and, yeah... Got an arrow straight through the heart, and that was it."

Rin's voice gradually lowered as she spoke. Her eyes remained on the tombstone, and, for some reason, she just kept talking.

"My family took the news pretty hard. Mom was a stay-at-home wife and both my brother and I were just kids at the time. We were sad, but, we needed money, so my brother became an adventurer. He didn't join the Academy like I did. He just told us he knew a guy, or something, and took the railroad up to Cradle, to join the Adventurer's Guild directly."

Rin placed a hand on the tombstone as she spoke, with her shoulders slumped.

"He would send us half of every varol he made off of his missions, and for about three years, he slowly made it up the ranks, taking harder and harder missions, but ones that paid more. And then, he just... went missing, one day. That was three years ago. Again," Rin chuckled sadly, "my mom and I, were sad, but, we needed money. And, that was how I started working at the Silver Rose."

She let out a deep breath, getting on her knees and bowing her head so low it touched the ground. She muttered a quick prayer to the Divine, then.

"Brightest of all, let the spirits of our loved ones guide us through these dark roads."

And she got back up to her feet, feeling a little lighter.

"I see," Xhez nodded, and she too looked somber. "I cannot imagine what I would do if anything like that happened to one of my mothers."

"Yeah... All you can do is hope nothing like that does," Rin replied. "Come on, I'm done. Let's head back."

After that, Rin and Xhez walked back to the park. Here, Rin found Jay with an arm thrown around Lyn, raising a brow as she walked up to them.

"Ah, Rin, did you finish already?" Her mother asked, without moving away from Jay. Actually, she seemed more than comfortable like that.

"Mhm," Rin nodded, sitting down next to her, and Xhez sat to her right as well. "I need to relax for a little bit."

"Well, that's what we're here for," Jay shrugged.

"... Right," Rin replied, closing her eyes and leaning back on the bench. "Right."

---

{The Next Day}

"We're really doing this again?" Felix asked as Rin made sure she had everything in her backpack. Of course, she was also carrying that bag full of potions, though neither Jay nor her mother knew what was actually in the thing.

"Yep," Rin replied, stretching her arms. Beside her were Jay, her mother, and the only addition to this little group that had changed since the last time this had happened, Xhez.

"You really can't ditch the Academy for a week or two? We only got hammered once!" Felix whined.

"Nope," Rin shook her head with a smile. "But, don't worry, I'll visit again, whenever I get the chance. Now, get the hell over here and hug me already."

"I'll hold you to that," Felix let her know, before giving her a quick embrace. Then, Jay approached.

"Don't get into any more trouble, kid," she replied, giving Rin a tight hug.

"I know, I know."

Finally, Rin's mother walked up and wrapped her arms around her. Rin held her for just a few seconds before the two separated and Rin said:

"Try not to overwork yourself, mom," she told her with a smile, "but, let me know if anything happens. Or, if you need me to send you anything or whatever. Okay? I love you."

"Of course. I love you too. Good luck on your missions, sweetie," Lyn said, planting a kiss on Rin's forehead, and stepping back.

Rin nodded and looked over at Xhez.

"Well, what do you have to say?" She asked and Xhez raised a hand.

"Right, uhm, it was a pleasure to meet all of you!" Xhez stated as Rin had told her to.

"Oh, wow, that sounded like 50% not awkward, awesome," Felix applauded her.

Shaking her head with a smile, Rin heard the train arriving, and as it reached the Dren's station, she waved her hand at them.

"... I really needed this," she acknowledged, as they all turned and walked away.

"Hm?" Xhez asked.

"Nothing, come on," Rin gestured at the train. "It's time to head back."

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