"I... I wish I could be more useful to everyone.." Juria sighed to herself. "I don't want to be on the battlefield just murdering monsters. I'm honestly terrified of this kind of stuff. I could never be a healer either... trying to heal wounds and watching people die. It's traumatising."

The dark haired au ra girl was sitting in her room alone.

"Was that a desperate sigh for my attention, Mrs Blake?" Zaren snickered as he entered Juria's room.

"W-where did you come from? Did you hear what I said?" Juria asked.

"Of course. I love snooping. Also, I have big ears." The young elf laughed.

"Well... so.. what do you think I should do?" asked Juria with a depressing tone.

"I was actually just about to tell you something interesting. Well, I was gonna tell everyone and then pay Laris a late visit but they can wait. I could never leave a woman in distress." Zaren grinned.

"Interesting?" Juria looked intrigued.

"Yep. So, I was just in contact with a friend of mine from the Far East. He's also a machinist like myself. I asked if he'd like to join the Dragon's Scales." replied Zaren.

"Umm.. okay... why didn't you just tell everyone that? What has this got to do with me?" Juria asked.

"I want him to replace me. I'm going to dedicate myself to being Gaius' retainer."

"What?!" This sudden straight up answer shocked the au ra girl.

"Besides learning how to fight, I was always doing servant work growing up. As I got older, I loved the attention I got from men and women traveling across the world." Zaren said.

"So you're a well known retainer in the Far East?" asked Juria.

"Absolutely. It's how I met my friend. His parents hired me to help their son on his journey to Ishgard. Geez, he had so much stuff i almost keeled over." Zaren explained.

"What happened then? Why did you become a machinist and join the Dragon's Scales?" Juria asked.

"During our journey, my machinist companion gave me a basic lesson on how to use a gun. I assumed it was just a precaution incase he ever got in trouble and I had to fight to save his life. To answer your other question, I joined the Dragon's Scales to get closer with certain members that i had knowledge of before joining."

"Why didn't your friend stay with you?" asked Juria.

"He... wasn't much for conversation. After a while he forced me to leave him, calling me 'extra baggage' and he continued the journey on his own." Zaren sighed.

"That's not very.. nice..." Juria frowned.

"Indeed, but I could sense something was deeply bothering him." replied Zaren. "It's best that he explains what his problem is once he joins, if he accepts my offer. Anways, my point is if you don't like fighting, I would suggest becoming a retainer with me. Ah! It's getting late now so i'm going to tell everyone my plan in the morning."

"Can I be useful if i'm a retainer..?" Juria thought out loud.

"Of course. Adventures would struggle without retainers!" Zaren smiled.

"I'll do it. If i can make Leo happy then... that's all that matters to me. I'll tell him tomorrow.." Juria blushed and looked down at her feet.

"Ah.. young love. Haven't we all been there before..." The elezen boy grinned as he left and made his way to Laris' room.