Chương 25: Chapter 24 - Explanations

After a brief clarification and short explanation regarding his size, Ren watched as Tinsei left the room, only to return some fifteen minutes later carrying with her the fresh scent of clean fabric.

"Here you are," she said simply, setting the pile of clothes on the bed closest to her before taking a step back.

"Please tell me if these fit to your liking." Ren quickly unfolded the bundle and found more than he'd expected. A simple white tunic, a pair of brown pants—complete with a belt—and new leather boots too, ones that weren't falling apart like the pair currently on his feet. Along with all of those items was a thick brown cloak, the fabric heavy enough that Ren could already imagine no longer freezing every single time the wind decided to remind him it was still winter.

He was about to strip right then and there in order to don his new, warmer clothes, when he suddenly realised that the elven Firekeeper was still standing there.

"D-do you mind stepping out for a moment?" Ren asked awkwardly as he felt his cheeks grow hotter. Tinsei tilted her head slightly.

"Would it not be easier for me to stay here? If you are wary of undressing in front of me, do not be, for I cannot see." She waved a hand before her silver mask to demonstrate as much, but upon hearing Ren only shift uncomfortably where he stood, Tinsei dipped into a small bow.

"Very well. I do have many duties to attend to regardless. Should you need anything, do not hesitate to come and find me, or indeed any of the other Firekeepers here."

"Thank you," Ren responded gratefully while Varrin smirked from where he sat on the window sill.

"May the Eternal Flame guide your way," the elven Firekeeper said, exiting the small room and closing the door behind her. Ren turned his attention back to the clothes on the bed, and was honestly surprised by how much they gave him. He would've been more than happy with just a replacement shirt at best, but he wasn't going to complain. But now that he was replacing every last piece of his clothing, he was left with almost nothing of what he'd first transmigrated with.

The river had swept away his pack along with everything inside it, and the brutal fight with that hobgoblin had shattered his dagger well beyond saving. The only thing he had left, and arguably the most important thing of all, was the bracelet Yumè had made for him, still resting around his wrist. Other than Varrin and Elowen, the thin leather cord with the small charm was the only tangible tether he had back to Xantris.'

I'll make it back Yumè,'Ren thought as he slipped the new tunic over his head, finally free of his hole-riddled, dirt and bloodstained old one.' I'll make it back and cure you of your Soul Rot—'"Imagine getting embarrassed from a blind woman 'seeing' you," Varrin said with a smirk from across the room, ripping him from his thoughts.

"I-it was a matter of principle!" Ren responded quickly as he pulled on the fresh pair of trousers. Too quickly, as it turned out, because he promptly lost his balance and cracked his forehead against the edge of the bed frame. The silver-haired boy snickered before sighing and looking out the window.

"What do you think?"

"Think of what?" Ren breathed through gritted teeth as he rubbed his now sore head.

"Of everything that's happened today so far," Varrin responded with an even tone. Ren finally finished pulling on his pants and exhaled slowly. It had been a lot, even if the day was only half over.

"Do you think we can trust Mr. Jester's claim of having the means to send us back?"

"No," the silver-haired answered with a scoff.

"We can't trust him in general, so every word out of his mouth should be treated as false." His expression sharpened.

"But we can't deny that he somehow knew of our transmigration into this world." Ren nodded in agreement.

"It doesn't matter anyway," Varrin continued.

"The gonk wa— he was obviously going to get us involved with something dodgy, that was evident from that name he kept saying, and the assassinations he wanted us to pull."

"You felt it too then?" Ren said, happy he wasn't the only one who was effected.

"The sharp pain whenever he said the name?"

"I'm pretty sure everyone but that jester did," the silver-haired boy said.

"Regardless, we're safer trying to meet Lady Dawn through Galahern then going from there."

"Not to mention," he continued, jumping off the window sill, "the jester claimed his way of sending us back 'wouldn't meet our standards.' Whatever that means, it can't spell good for us." Ren's jaw tightened. His standards were simple enough: to return to Xantris before Yumè's eight months ran out, to possess the power needed to cure her, and to do it all while bringing little to no repercussions back with him. To achieve this, he knew he was going to have to get stronger.

Not being able to use his Soul Power right now meant he'd have to make up for it with effort, and on top of that, he was going to be travelling with Varrin, Elowen, and Lorelle for a while, he didn't want to be dead weight anymore. So he picked up his dull cleaver and looked at his companion.

"Hey, Varrin?"

"What do you want?"

"Do you think you could teach me how to use a sword?" Varrin seemed taken aback for a moment, before quickly recomposing himself, his silver eyes narrowing slightly.

"I could... but what would I gain out of doing that?"

"Umm…" Ren hesitated, "a pupil?" Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Realising how pathetic that sounded, he tried again with a better reason.

"A better friendship with me? I'll be less of a burden if I learnt how to fight, just think about it!" Varrin went silent for a moment before eventually sighing.

"Fine." His tone was flat, but there was no real resistance in it.

"But I'm not a good teacher, and you won't get very far with the balance you just showed me."

"I didn't do that on purpose!" Ren tried defending himself.

"And I don't care if you're a bad teacher!" Any teacher was better than no teacher, by his standards. Varrin nodded once, sealing the deal.

"Alright," the silver-haired boy said, striding past him.

"Get the rest of your clothes on and let's go meet up with the girls. I think we should get out of The Crossroads as soon as we can. Don't forget your sword!" Ren and Varrin retraced their steps back through the hallways, making their way from their room to the warm main chamber again, finding it with little trouble. No sooner had they entered before Ren noticed a beastfolk Firekeeper approaching them, one with long bunny ears and blonde hair. Gabriella, if he remembered what Lady Darla had called her correctly.

"Oh!" she said the moment she noticed them as well.

"You are Sister Lorelle's companions, are you not? Come with me, she's in the dining hall recuperating." Sharing a brief glance at Varrin, who only shrugged, Ren nodded.

"Lead the way then." Gabriella led the two boys along the side of the grand hall, Ren's eyes still drawn helplessly to the massive pillars and the artwork sprawled across the roof above. It didn't take them long to reach the dining hall, which somehow managed to be even warmer than the chamber before it.

That warmth, combined with his new cloak wrapped snugly around his shoulders, left Ren feeling as though he were standing right in front of a roaring fire, which suited him just fine after walking around in the cold air for so long. The dining hall itself was much smaller than the grand chamber had been, lacking both the number and grandness of its pillars, and without so much as a trace of the beautifully painted arched roof.

What it did have, however, were eight long wooden tables, arranged in two sets of four, and an open-plan kitchen at one end where several people were busy preparing something.' Probably the dinner that's at sunset,' Ren thought as he finished looking around. There weren't very many people present at the moment, and he assumed that would change the closer it got to said dinner time, but right now it was easy to spot Elowen's pale blue hair. She and Lorelle noticed them as well and waved.

"Thank you," Ren said to the beastfolk Firekeeper beside him.

"No worries at all," she replied sombrely.

"I am sorry for what happened to your village and commend you both for being strong."

"U-uh, thank you," he repeated, hoping there weren't any additions to the story that would give him away with something he might say. Luckily for Ren, Gabriella only offered him and Varrin a sad smile before bowing slightly and taking her leave, leaving the two of them free to reunite the party of four.

As Ren crossed the dining hall, his gaze fell on another group in the dining hall, a bunch of the very same soldiers who had guarded the entrance to the church, clad in that same black, mismatched armour with the symbol of a bird plastered across their chests.' I wonder what they're doing here...' Ren though as he slipped onto the long seat across from Elowen and Lorelle, Varrin sliding in beside him.

"You got new clothes!" the regal elf remarked. Beside her, Lorelle was eating some buttered bread.

"I did," Ren said, adjusting the cloak on his shoulders.

"Do you like them?"

"Uh, I guess so?" Elowen responded, moving on quickly much to Ren's disappointment.

"Anyway, the news I wanted to tell you all, it was to do with what that jester said." Everyone leant in closer as the regal elf checked the surroundings.

"I think we need to get out of The Crossroads as soon as possible. As far away from that man as we can get reasonably get."

"Because that person he is hunting is someone we could never dream of fighting." A sense of unease ran down Ren's spine at the seriousness in Elowen's voice.

"Heh," Varrin scoffed smugly, "I knew I was right not to trust him. Just how dangerous are we talking?" The regal elf looked around again before leaning in even closer.

"What I'm about to tell you is classified House information so don't tell anyone else. The only reason I even know this is because I inherited a strong portion of the Bloodline."

"Each of the great Houses has its own extremely powerful Blessed, ones who sit high upon the Ladder of Ascension, and their names are kept secret for security reasons. The strongest of House Aelcryth is a Blessed known as Madam Elasha." Upon hearing the name, the same feeling of power wriggled uncomfortably in his mind.' The person Mr. Jester wanted us to weed out was as strong as the strongest Blessed of one of the strongest Houses!?' He shook his head in disbelief.

"And to think I was considering working with him..."

"You're too trusting and naïve," Varrin said offhandedly.

"But that's even more of a reason to get out of The Crossroads, princess."

"Lady Darla agreed to help us get to Solaris and said she should have our supplies ready by the morning," Lorelle piped up, sucking snot up her nose.

"We'll be safe to sleep here, and Lady Dawn will protect us in Solaris."

"But we'll be exposed the entire way there," the silver-haired boy sighed.

"What else can we do?" Elowen argued softly.

"If we try and join a caravan of some kind," Lorelle tried, "at least we would be in a group until we reach Galahern at Pyreridge Bastion."

"Something like that is going to have to work," Varrin responded, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Is it even guaranteed this Galahern will help us? And can we trust him?"

"Of course we can trust him! He's a member of the Roundtable Hold!" the young Firekeeper exclaimed, sounding somewhat hurt.

"But you're right, I don't know for certain if he'll help us or not, but trust that he will!" Varrin sighed once more.

"The fifth day since our transmigration hasn't even finished, and already we've escaped a demonic incursion, trekked through the wilderness after throwing ourselves into a freezing river in the dead of winter, then somehow survived getting caught between a dispute between two insanely powerful Blessed. I'll forgive you for hoping something finally goes our way for once." Lorelle smiled sweetly and picked up the last piece of bread from in front of her, which Ren had been eyeing greedily this entire conversation.

Swallowing down yet another bout of disappointment, he spoke up.

"Are you going to tell Lady Darla about Mr. Jester? Warn her about him?"

"If he and the person he is hunting are truly as strong as Elowen says," the young Firekeeper said after finishing her mouthful, "Then even if I did it wouldn't mean much unless someone stronger came to stop them. Someone like Lady Dawn." She finished off the piece of bread and wiped the edges of her mouth.

"And besides, I don't know if I'm just being paranoid or if I'm not feeling the best, but something about Lady Darla... I don't know, just ignore me."

"Ignore you?" Ren said, leaning forward slightly.

"That seemed pretty important, though. Is it something to do with all those not-Flameguard guards standing around?"

"Maybe," Lorelle admitted, glancing briefly toward the group of dark-armoured soldiers.

"But it's not all that unusual, I don't think. There are loads of cults scattered about these days, so hiring protection isn't so strange in and of itself." She paused, thinking for a moment.

"It's actually because of the war. Forty years ago, the demons started their incursions heavily in the East, and things have only gotten worse ever since. According to what Lady Agatha once told me, there used to be so many more Flameguard than there are now, and one of the requirements to even become one was that you had to be Blessed. But since most of them ended up being moved East to fight back the demons and hold the line, they had to relax that rule entirely."

"So that's probably why the Church of the Eternal Flame here in the Crossroads had to go and hire a whole mercenary band," she continued, gesturing subtly toward the birds emblazoned on the guards' armour.

"Just to keep up with everything they can't manage on their own anymore." Ren nodded slowly, mulling it over. It made a fair bit of sense, all things considered. And that was precisely when his stomach chose to growl, loud and long enough that Varrin and Elowen both turned to look at him, while Lorelle stopped talking entirely. Ren felt his face grow warm.

"So, uh," he began sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck, "do you think there's any chance I could get some of that bread too?"