Chapter 97: Fists and Roses, Part Ten

{Rin}

{Monday}

"Last time, we went over the Liberan region and the monsters you could expect to find around here," Cara stated, as everyone gathered in her class, listening intently. "Today, we're going to be going over Cradle's region, just in case any of you head up there in the future and start taking missions."

Hearing her, Rin got ready to jot down some notes. However, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Elisa was looking right at her, with a curious expression on her face. As Rin turned to see if she needed anything, the noblewoman looked away.

[Uh... Is everything alright with her?] Rin raised a brow but didn't say anything.

"A bit of a history lesson first," Cara said, grabbing Rin's attention again. "Cradle was where the Split began, a thousand years ago. The explosion that caused most of humanity to disappear originated there and spread from that city, out to the far reaches of the world. After that, it was the first city to be re-populated by humans, once the Tribal Years passed and the few humans left reconnected with each other."

She lifted a piece of paper then and showed it off to the class. On it was a dragon of sorts, drawn onto it with giant crystalline blue spikes falling down its back, all the way to its tail.

"What's important for us to know, though, is that the monsters in this area were more heavily affected by the Split than others, and as such, are generally more fearsome. Anything you've learned about so far, things like zombies, yarikos, and skeletons, you can imagine you'd find an upgraded version of near Cradle. Skeleton heroes, thralls, wraiths, ancient dragons, and the like. You can encounter these anywhere, let me be clear on that, but there's a slightly higher chance of finding them north.

Rin paid as much attention as she could, but she couldn't deny that her focus was being pulled elsewhere. This Saturday, after all, she'd have her fighting debut. She was both excited and, due to Maria's warning earlier, nervous.

All of the classes felt like they passed by fairly quickly, due to Rin's distracted mind, however, she still noticed that throughout the entire day, Elisa's eyes remained on her, watching with great interest. Even after everyone finished up Eli's class, headed up to take Maria's dueling class, and finished it up before going back downstairs to have their healing food, Elisa watched her closely.

[I mean, if she really wants to ask me something, she can just do it,] Rin thought, as she walked into the cafeteria by Eve's side, while the fairy told her about some of the stories she'd heard from others regarding the monsters found north.

"Mhm," Eve nodded, as she flew by, "I heard the spriggans up north are even more wooden than the ones here. And, way more powerful too!"

"Is that so?" Rin asked, before finally turning to try to meet Elisa's gaze. Again, when their eyes met, the noblewoman just looked away.

"Yep! I heard a rumor that they aren't aggressive towards fairies either, actually. Though, that's just not really confirmed because, well, if a regular fairy ever runs into a real spriggan that's just death waiting to happen."

The meal went by in a flash, and finally, Rin was by her lonesome, heading up to train with Maria. This had been the moment she'd been looking forward to all day, as she yearned to prepare herself adequately for her fight.

Maria welcomed her into the Meditation Center with a smile, and Rin bowed a little.

"Hey, teach'," Rin greeted her. "So, how am I going to avoid getting my ass kicked on Saturday?"

"Whoa, hold on," Maria told her, with a giggle. "Remember what I said? I told you we'd be adding your human-fighting training in with your monster-fighting training. Not replacing your lessons altogether. For now, we're going to do some regular stuff first. We'll get to your fight preparation later."

"Awww!" Rin whined. "B-But, I was looking forward to this!"

"You can keep doing so," Maria shrugged. "It's good to be excited. But, first things first, we need to continue practicing the fundamentals. Let's go over the routine, then, starting from the top. First things first, we do some Essence building, and then, we do some strength training. Then, we'll get to your new lessons."

---

{Elisa}

Elisa knew she'd behaved like an absolute creep today, but she couldn't help it. The possibility that the woman sitting next to her in class, jotting down the words of her teachers with the determination of any normal adventurer was secretly selling her body out on the weekends to a bunch of desperate noblewomen (like her) was absolutely stunning to think about.

The more she looked at her, though, the more she thought that Rin was absolutely the kind of go-getter type who would do such a thing. But, she still wanted some confirmation. She wanted to go into the room and maybe find some hidden costume labeled "prostitution outfit" that Rin had in her drawers or something, that she'd take out and put on whenever she went to work.

If only it could be that simple, however, as things currently were, there was still one big question. Rin was not a mage. Knowing that, how did she change her hair color?

She definitely wasn't doing it herself, which meant the answer came quickly. Someone else, or something else, had to have been doing it for her. Now, Elisa wasn't about to go through Rin's things just to find some mystery potion, but she did have one good guess about what Rin could be using to facilitate these weekend adventures.

Or, rather, who she could be using.

As Elisa returned to the room she shared with Rin, a little later after her meal as Carliah wanted to let her know she'd be having dinner with her fiance tonight, she was glad to find out that Rin was still up on the fourth floor, training with Maria.

That gave her the opportunity she needed to ask the water sprite the necessary question. So, she went up to the bag she'd been told Xhez called home these days and opened it up.

And, sure enough, she spotted Xhez's silhouette under the surface of the water, laid out.

She tapped on the bag lightly, watching the water shake, and Xhez's silhouette rose up to the top then, as her face broke through the water.

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"Oh? Elisa?" Xhez asked, from inside the bag.

"Hey there," Elisa greeted the sprite. It was still so jarring that the woman was being kept in such a small container.

"Hello!" Xhez energetically replied. "Is Rin there?" She asked, and Elisa shook her head.

"Nah, it's just me," Elisa let her know. She was a little bit surprised to see Xhez's face turn so disappointed so quickly. [A bit attached, isn't she?] Elisa asked herself, before continuing to speak. "I wanted to ask you something."

"Oh." Upon hearing that, Xhez brightened up a little. "What would you like to know?"

"Just one question, real quick," Elisa told her. "Has... This might sound strange, but, has Rin asked you to change her hair color recently?"

Xhez's answer didn't just come out quickly. It came out confidently, and firmly.

"Yes."

"Oh..." Elisa took a deep breath. "Uh, how many times?"

"Just a couple."

"Do you remember how long ago?"

"Ah, I have been asleep for a while," Xhez replied. "It is hard to keep track of human time like this."

"Ah, okay, that's fine. Thanks for telling me."

"You are welcome," Xhez said.

"So.. Do I just close the bag now, or what?" Elisa asked.

"Yes, but, before you do," Xhez said, interrupting her as she went to do just that, "could I ask you something?"

"Yeah, absolutely."

Then, Xhez smiled up at her.

"Did something good happen?" Xhez asked. "Your spirit seems brighter than usual."

"... You can read spirits?" Elisa asked.

"Yes," Xhez nodded, floating in the water. "Yours seems... lighter right now, than normal."

"Hmph," Elisa smirked when she heard that. "Something good? I don't know... Maybe, something more interesting than anything. But, thanks for answering my question. Uh, by the way, don't tell Rin I asked you this."

"What? Why?"

"I just... I'll let her know myself. She might think it's weird, coming from someone else."

"Ah. This must be a human thing. I will remain silent."

And, with that, Elisa received the confirmation she had wanted. And, now, as she closed the bag up, saying "goodbye" to the sprite inside, she wondered about this. Her mind drifted and, as she started getting ready to head out, it fell on one specific memory.

A memory from three years ago, where Elisa had a somewhat memorable encounter with a yellow-eyed, white-haired woman.

And, when she remembered that, her eyes widened.

[Holy shit...] She realized, chuckling to herself. [Rin... That was her!?]

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