Sorey's journey through the unsettled lands between realms was a calm one; although he had to stop once in a while to purify hellions or drive out Malevolence, his group made it past Glayvend Basin without encountering hostile humans. Or any humans, really. The day they first encountered another intelligent being since leaving Hyland, Lailah alerted Sorey to a caravan ahead of them. He deliberated with his companions for a moment, but ultimately decided to not evade them; rather the opposite in fact, he asked Edna to increase their speed, much to the seraph girl's amusement. Sorey did not understand what she snickered about afterward, at least for a while.

The caravan soon came into view as they sped along, matching the horse-drawn carts while he appraised the merchants; they were all clad in blue and white, a kind of uniform he reckoned. However, their slack-jawed expressions reminded him of a vital fact he forgot after the days of travel: most people did not roam the road on a stone throne. He fidgeted for a moment, but ultimately made himself appear nonchalant and waved at them with the best smile he could put on.

Around this time, a defeated chuckle from within drew his attention to Lailah, who failed to consider the situation as well. "You, ah, could have warned us about making this kind of expression, Edna," she reprimanded sheepishly.

"Oh no," the other girl retorted with great cheer, "this is fun. Look at their faces." Sorey fidgeted again in response, on the cusp of apologising to his friends; the main reason he kept quiet was the fact Edna sounded so close to giggling; it was a rarity to hear her so cheerful.

A scuffle on one of the wagons ahead distracted Sorey from the ensuing squabble among his partners, seeing how a somewhat familiar redhead waved at him. He waved back, trying to remember just where he met her before; she waved again, this time toward herself. Sorey nodded, understanding her intention well enough. "Hey Edna, Mikleo, can you bring us over there?"

The two did not even cease their bickering to acknowledge him, though the throne sped up once more. It slid along packed dirt and aligned with the merchant woman's cart, her face almost as red as her hair from the attempt to contain laughter by that point. "Hello there," she greeted quickly. "Fancy meeting you again!"

"Yeah, hello." Sorey hesitated for a moment, but decided to be honest from the start. "I, uh, kinda forgot your name, sorry."

She thankfully shrugged it off while he scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "Nah, it's fine. It's been a while and I wouldn't remember yours if you weren't the shepherd, either. I'm Rose. Anyway," she pressed on with a wave for his 'steed', "gaudy setup you have there. Shepherds travel in style, eh?"

Her question made Sorey examine his ride again, still unsure how to act and thus continuing to answer earnestly: "It's a good way to travel, I guess. Very fast." Yet somehow, his apparent nonchalance drew laughter from Rose at last, with some other merchants joining in.

She chortled and even bent over for a few seconds, then sighed in relief. Only then did she respond, just as earnest as he was before. "I'll tell you right now, it looks silly to anyone who isn't awed by the artes. You get points for making it look impressive, though."

"Say thank you to the one responsible," Edna chirped in the back of his head; Sorey ignored her, now rather more embarassed than before.

"Yeah, thanks for the warning. It beats walking all the way, though."

"Fair enough. How'd you end up traveling like that, though? No horses for sale where you were?" Seeing that she seemed honestly interested and not just making conversation, Sorey relayed the whole story to her; from the day they parted from Lukas to their discussion and bouts of experimentation. Rose hummed and listened, both attentive and patient even though he kept losing himself in the details; when she did interrupt him however, it was toward the end of the tale. "Hold on a minute," she piped up just as Sorey took a moment to breathe. "You're telling me wind seraphim are good at moving things quickly?"

Rose leaned forward intently, which made Sorey lean back a little. "Uh, yeah? Their element is wind after all."

"... DEZEL!"

Her shout made several people jump, up to and including Sorey. Rose turned in her seat with an annoyed look while the winds became solid behind her, forming into a sharply-dressed man whose eyes were hidden by deep green hair. "He is correct," the man confirmed flatly, righting his top hat. Rose was not amused.

"Why didn't you say anything? We could have been in Lastonbell a week ago!"

"You didn't ask."

"You suck!"

"As do you."

He merely showed a toothy grin even though Rose was batting against his chest. Sorey's gaze wandered back and forth between the two while the Sparrow Feathers laughed over their banter, ultimately settling on Rose when she scooted over to mope; his question quickly distracted her from that, though: "So, uh, you can see seraphim, too? Why didn't you say anything last time?"

Rose immediately snapped out of her funk and opened her mouth, then closed it with a shake of her head. "Personal reasons, sorry." She did sound apologetic, so Sorey just accepted the matter and tried to make conversation with Dezel. Keyword being tried because he failed; the wind seraph was even less conversational than Edna.

After a few minutes of watching him try to coax words out of her partner, Rose leaned over and poked Sorey's arm. "Hey, how about you hop over and travel the rest of the way with us? Unless you wanna make an impression rolling in like that," she added with a grin and a wave to the stone throne. Sorey made to respond, but sudden chatter within his mind interrupted him. He winced slightly as three voices talked over each other, making a motion to give him a moment.

From what he gathered after a moment of listening to them, Edna was in favour of flaunting their power while Mikleo disagreed; Lailah appeared unsure and spoke the most of the three, finally becoming somewhat understandable when the other two fell silent. "Personally," she admitted to them then, "I believe I am already telling Sorey what to do too often. So I would rather not interfere in this matter, or at all unless it is absolutely necessary."

Neither of the other seraphim responded, both of them humbled for the moment. Sorey lowered his head as well to consider the situation, but then turned to Rose with a question: "Say, how would people react if I waltzed in like this?" His question left the redhead quiet in contemplation for an actual minute, glancing at the contraption he rode a few times. He made use of the silence to consider saddling up with her again; while it would be more inconspicuous, garner less attention, he also felt that riding in under a seraph's power might invigorate the people. Let them know the shepherd was truly there.

Regardless, Sorey listened when Rose spoke up at last: "Hm. You'd definitely get through the gate without much trouble, and everyone would be happy to have you. Shepherd and all that." Her consideration aligned with his own after all, at least that far.

"That might only go for Lastonbell," Dezel chimed in from Rose's side. He nodded toward the town far ahead. "I heard that the people there are more used to seraphim since the Crowe's Nest opened." It was a curious thing to say, one that made Sorey inquire immediately; seeing how he appeared completely unaware, the other duo explained the matter in as much detail as they could.

For the young shepherd, the tale soon became that of a magical place; it had to be if any and all could interact with the seraphim there. His companions were as dumbstruck as he, the total silence in his head a clear indicator of that. Rose laughed when she saw the face he made. "Yeah, that's kinda my reaction too," she admitted cheerfully. "I'll treat you to a meal there once we reach, oh gentle shepherd. We can check the place out."

The driver of her cart immediately tapped her on the head, chiding her: "No seducing the shepherd."

"I wasn't! stop being an ass, Eguile!"

Sorey chuckled, but it turned into a choke when Edna chimed in: "It seems we need to stay on here to maintain Sorey's purity."

"Oh my~"

Lailah giggled while Mikleo somehow produced the equivalent of hitting a hand to his forehead, despite not having one at the moment. Sorey coughed and attempted to contain the heat surging through his face. He was blushing as he called out to his partners: "Uh, guys? I don't think it works that way."

"What works how?"

He turned back to a confused Rose and Eguile, feeling another flare of embarassment and explaining quickly. "Sorry, uh, I was talking to my seraphim."

"Oh? And what were they talking about?"

She leaned forward with a silly grin while Sorey fumbled for words, trying to explain the subject without actually having to say it. However, Edna pre-empted him; he felt her move through his body, materialising next to Rose a moment later and taking a seat by her side. "I said," she repeated herself slyly, "we might have to keep traveling per throne to maintain his purity."

Her comment drew uproarious laughter from Rose and a toothy smirk from Dezel, though Sorey could only duck his head. Eguile blankly looked between them, as did everyone else in hearing distance. The giggles continued for a few seconds before the redhead managed to contain them, at which point she threw Sorey a wink.

"Heh, definitely not how it works, trust me on that. I'm as much a pure maiden as I am the Emperor of Rolance." Comprehension dawned on their audience and further expressions of mirth sounded, from snorts to crude jokes. None of this did in any way help curb Sorey's embarassment, though he was distracted when Rose winked at him again. "But really, I'm not gonna jump your bones. Unless you want me to, maybe."

"I could guess that, but thanks." He still felt his gaze breaking away from her every few seconds, not to mention that he tried to shelve that last comment for later; now did not feel like a good time to think about it.

Into this generally relaxed air, Lailah's voice rang through his head: "Perhaps Rose might be interested in becoming your squire, Sorey. We do not know much about her though, so traveling with them might be a good opportunity to learn what kind of person she is."

Sorey, now thoroughly distracted from the teasing and returned to the original subject, gave the matter some more thought and ultimately decided to leave his 'mount' behind. Once he rose and stepped to the platform's edge, Rose scooted over and patted the seat next to herself; Sorey accepted her invitation, hopping onto the wagon. As he did, Edna flicked her wrist and the stone throne turned to dust; all the water anchored to it splashed onto the ground.

Once Lailah left the confines of Sorey's body however, they quickly realised there was not enough room in front of that one cart; an issue which Rose solved quickly if a bit unorthodox, seeing that it ended with her in Eguile's lap. The burly man did not even comment when she plopped down there and left her original spot to Lailah; moments later, the fire seraph had drawn Edna into much the same situation, though it was the earth seraph who appeared indignant. Dezel jumped onto the cart's roof, where Mikleo followed him with a book.

"So tell me," Rose began once they were all settled, "what's it like to be shepherd?" Her question received a moment of hesitation, but then Sorey began to explain how he found it so far. All in all, he realised looking back, the title felt like a burden at times but also a blessing at others; he had a great duty to fulfill, yet this also allowed him to meet many more people than he otherwise would. It allowed him to see many different places, half of which he could never have imagined before leaving home.

"It's not easy," he admitted to a contemplative Rose, "but I wouldn't give it up for anything." Finding he was done, Sorey decided to ask a question in return. "How about you tell me what being a merchant is like?"

"Oh, sure." She indulged him readily and so they continued for hours; Rose turned into a chatterbox and Sorey was happy to just let her talk however long she wanted, feeling more at ease listening instead of having to say anything himself. Time seemed to fly and all too soon, they approached Lastonbell's eastern gate.

When he first saw the imposing structure, Sorey was in awe; he had only beheld walls of that size once before, around the capital city of Ladylake. This time, he found a sight just as impressive on a border city; he almost missed Rose jumping out and talking to the guards at first, though they believed him being shepherd readily enough after a quick light arte to demonstrate his powers. Then papers were checked and two men took a quick look through the wagons, an inspection the Sparrow Feathers were obviously quite used to.

"They don't seem particularly thorough," Mikleo noted after a few minutes, squinting against the late afternoon sun.

Dezel shrugged at the younger seraph, not even looking their way. "It's mostly just procedure at this point. We come through here every few months and we're trustworthy. Rose is on first name basis with some of the guards, among others." His explanation earned him several understanding noises and a cheeky wink from the woman in question. Soon after, they were cleared to enter.

The exact moment their cart rolled through the gates, Sorey's expression changed to one of mesmerised awe. Edna knew then that he would be useless for the next few hours. He had already been enchanted by a mere wall, but now they had access and sight of Lastonbell's entire architecture. Admittedly, she would be just as entranced by the beautiful stonework and masonry, by the looming belltower most of all; at first she was, even.

Then they entered the marketplace and she spied Velvet standing out in the crowd by virtue of her size; moments later, Laphicet became just as apparent by her side. Edna would recognise that beautiful hair anywhere. Seeing him, however, reminded her of the awful truth she unearthed a few days prior; Edna stiffened momentarily, but forced her body to relax. Her gaze followed the seraph boy as she considered her options, finding that there was but one she desired. Her mind made up, Edna hopped out of Lailah's lap. "I'm going to look around on my own,", she informed her group.

The motion had drawn Laphi's attention; he turned their way, beaming the moment their eyes met. His honest smile made something seize up within Edna again and she averted her gaze while the boy wandered over.

"Are you sure?" Sorey distracted her, having followed and standing a bit to the side with Edna now. "Shouldn't we stay together for now?" He had a point as well, she realised; her just wandering off like that would raise suspicion. She had to think quick, for Laphicet was but a few seconds distant; fortunately for her then, or perhaps unfortunately, that Lailah took notice of him as well.

With a giggle, the lady seraph tugged on Sorey's white cape. "I believe she wants to meet a friend of hers." She then waved toward Laphicet, which finally tipped off Mikleo and Sorey as well. Edna knew exactly why Lailah emphasized that one word so much and desperately tried to stop herself from turning crimson in response, but the analytical part of her mind also found an out. An embarassing, mortifying out that she had to take.

The moment Laphicet reached their cart, Edna hopped off and landed in front of him, unable to stop her lips from curling up the slightest bit. "You'd be nice enough to escort a lady around town, no?" Taken aback, the boy's owlish look turned into a slight wince when Lailah and Rose started cooing behind them. He thankfully gathered his bearings fast, glanced back to Velvet who was still busy haggling, and nodded.

"Sure."

Her expression remained in place, as it always did. Yet beneath it, parts of Edna were cheering and elated. Laphi went along with her, not asking any questions or pushing back; he trusted her!

Not, however, with everything. Remembering that tempered Edna's feelings, but failed to suffocate them entirely. She felt anxious about who he was, about being this close, yet at the same time remembered having been near him many times. She wanted to be near him again, so she offered her arm for Laphi to take; he did it without hesitation.

"Oh, I get it. Have fun!" Sorey's call remained uncommented as Edna let herself be led away, the intimacy of another body so close to hers creating another bout of anxiety. Only this time, it had nothing to do with Laphi being a god, and everything with him being a boy; with him being Laphi. She knew it and knew denying it was futile.

However, Lailah cooing about how cute they looked together finally cracked Edna's stoic facade and her cheeks heated up even further, turning visibly red; a glance to her friend revealed him in much the same state, their blushes thankfully hidden from the people they were leaving behind. He peeked her way, saw what she saw, and smiled weakly. "I won't say anything if you don't," he offered, glancing the slightest bit down at her cheeks. Edna agreed at once.

"Deal."