Chapter 4: A Deal Bound in Sand

[A dense sand wind engulfed the town, slowly enveloping the streets once again. Julius had outstretched his hand in order to introduce himself to this stranger that helped save his friend's lives. However, the heavy sand-filled wind made it difficult to speak, let alone hear anything.

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" The tall man asked, forming a wry smile. The wind had picked up once again, making it hard to hear anything while outside. The blonde woman sighed, pointing at the bar which Subaru and Emilia had just exited.

"Let's go indoors. This sand is unbearable and I can barely hear you out here." The blonde woman pulls her hood over her head and begins to walk towards the doorway.

"Of course. Subaru-kun, please escort this lady inside, I will take Beatrice and go inform the others of our current situation. We found an Inn before these creatures attacked - you should meet us there soon."

"Alright, let Meili and the others know that we'll meet them soon, we'll need to go over our findings in this town as well as whatever just happened. Take good care of Betty."

Subaru called to Julius, who had already turned away from him and was walking towards the Inn. Inside the bar, the broken bodies of the machines were still strewn across the floor. The barkeeper had begun trying to mop the bizarre liquid off the floor, but his mop had disintegrated after being coated by layers of the liquid.

"I wouldn't touch that if I were you, radiolaria can do some seriously nasty things to your body."

The blonde woman points out while removing her hood and dusting off the sand on her armor.

"Radiolaria? I've never heard of that, what is it exactly?"

Emilia questioned, her hands were also busy dusting off the sand on her outfit.

"Ugh Barusu, your vile acts in the presence of women have gone too far now. You've let yourself go in the presence of another woman that isn't Emilia-sama, does your consciousness feel no guilt? Disgusting!"

A small pink-haired woman sneered at Subaru, the tone of her voice sharper than a blade.

"Wha... HEY! This isn't what you think it is on the floor!" Subaru exclaimed, waving his hands in the air.

"Heh, that's pretty funny. Honestly, it would be better if it was. That stuff on the floor is highly corrosive, and also happens to be what keeps them going."

Erin chuckled to herself, before telling those in the bar the seriousness of the viscous liquid on the floor.

"What are these things? Are they some sort of undiscovered witchbeast?"

The silver-haired woman stood over one of the fallen creatures, studying its exterior while avoiding the toxic Radiolaria.

"Witchbeast? No, they're...um. Do you… not know about the Vex?"

Erin's voice wavered while asking them that question. She swallowed a large clump in her throat while awaiting their response.

"It's just as I thought. These people have no idea what on earth you're talking about." A small object materialized over the woman's shoulders. Its outer shell forms a small frown above its eye in the center of its body.

"Oh, are you a spirit arts user? I've never seen a spirit that looks like that before." Emilia pointed at the small floating object next to the woman. Her eyes inquisitively scanned the small creature.

"I'm not a spirit." The Ghost frowned towards the silver-haired woman, causing her eyes to widen in surprise.

"Oh! I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. I've seen spirits in sooo many different forms that I thought you one as well, please forgive me." Emilia bowed her head towards the Ghost, her face flushed red in embarrassment.

At the sight of Emilia's beet-red face Grain eased his sharp gaze, letting out a small sigh. "It's alright. Forgive me, actually, I should not have been so aggressive in the first place," Grain lowers his gaze to the floor, his best attempt to signal an apology towards her.

"If you are not a spirit, then what are you? I would very much like to know." The pink-haired lady barked out, almost ordering the mysterious pair.

"Ram, don't you think you're being a bit too aggressive? She helped save this town."

As Subaru questioned Ram's aggressive question, Erin's shocked expression faded into a more serious look. She let herself rest against the wall, raising an eyebrow towards the pink-haired woman's sudden question.

"Barusu, why wouldn't I question this woman? She appears from the sand dunes and knows exactly what these things are and how to kill them. Who are you exactly, Erin?"

"Please, hear us out. We mean you no harm. However, our current situation, who we are, it's a little difficult to explain. You must give us some time to explain ourselves." The small object beside Erin chirped, its shell spinning as if it were nervous.

"We understand. However, we would very much like answers towards your identity, as well as to the nature of these creatures." The silver-haired woman spoke, pointing her finger towards the fallen chassis of the Vex. "If you would please wait here, we need to regroup with the rest of our party. I promise we will return to sort this endeavor out with you."

Emilia reached her hand out towards the blonde, who in turn, gave her a sly smile. "Sure, I'll wait here. Besides, I gotta help clean up the mess in here, and out there," Erin pointed outside of the bar, towards the bodies of the Vex strewn across the streets, and the mangled corpse of the drunkard.

"Tsk…" Ram's throat choked at the sight of the man's broken corpse; she had been accustomed to seeing the dead, though it was never easy to stomach the smell of them. His limbs were contorted by the force of the Vex crushing the bones, his organs had ruptured, letting out the foul smelling liquids that resided in them. His skull had been cracked open much like an egg would, letting the matter inside spew across the coarse sand of the desert town.

"He may have been an awful drunk, but no one should have to go out like that."

"Mr. Barkeep, did he have a family that might grieve for him?"

"Not that I know of."

"I see. Still, he should be given a proper burial."

"Emilia… we should go see the others now, we'll let the other two deal with this."

"...Alright, let's get going then. Ram-san, do you know where the Inn is?"

"Of course, Emilia-sama. Follow me this way please."

As Emilia's group was walking outside the restaurant, the incoherent talking of the townspeople reverberated through the sand wind. They had exited their homes in heavy cloth protection, only to bear witness to the corpses of the Vex and the remains of the drunkard.

"Barkeeper, help me drag the bodies into a pile, I'll take care of them." Erin spoke, as a small spark of flame formed in the palm of her hand, "I'll make sure not to burn any buildings, don't worry."]

"Looks like Natsuki-kun and Emilia-san have both returned safely."

Subaru, Emilia, and Ram made their way to the inn. The person that greeted Subaru and Emilia at the entrance of the Inn was none other than Anastasia. She had changed from her outside clothes and wore a gorgeous and elegant smile as she sat down on her bed. The inn the group was staying the night in was considered a first-class Milura inn. Which in contrast to Priestella's "Hagoromo Inn of the Water '', was a bit unfair of a comparison but the current state that the small town had found itself in over the past few years didn't help the inn's situation.

"Where's Julius?" Subaru asked.

"After he sent me to the inn, he said that he'd look around the town for any more of those things. It was a really heated battle between us, though I assume Julius's fighting ability was hampered by the sand in his eyes. I'm glad to see you two are alright."

"We are glad to see you as well, Anastasia-san. It was a hard battle, but Subaru and I managed to push through, with the help of someone...strange."

"Oh? Someone else in the town assisted you? Julius spoke of someone strange looking fighting those creatures outside the bar you two were in."

"Yeah, a blonde girl named Erin. She tore through the ones outside like it was nothing. It's scary to think about, actually. We spoke with her for a little, and she said that those things were called the Vex. Have you heard of them, Anastasia?"

"The Vex… Doesn't ring any bells, the encyclopedias that I've read on witchbeasts never mentioned anything about them. Their skin looked...metallic. Were they other creatures wearing armor?"

"No, I cut the heads off a few of them, but they still kept attacking us."

"Oh my, that sounds really dangerous. Did the woman say where those things came from?"

"She said that she encountered a few more of them along the sand dunes, so I'd assume they occupy the Agrian Sand Dunes."

"That would explain why we've never heard of them. Very few people have made it back from the sands, let alone with their sanity intact. I doubt anyone who encountered them would've lived to tell the tale."

"So it seems like we will have to add the Vex to our concerns, alongside the witchbeasts and the witches miasma. Beatrice and I can try dealing with the miasma with lesser spirits and we'll have Julius fend off the Vex…but we'll have to depend on Meili for the dunes' witchbeasts."

Emilia spoke those words and looked towards the entrance to the next room. By now, Beatrice should have returned to monitoring Meili. The group wanted to believe that Meili wouldn't betray them, but her previous actions could not be ignored. They weren't ready to completely put their trust in her. They couldn't say with complete confidence that her ambiguous connection with her mother had been severed, and the possibility that her mother had restrictions placed on Meili about what she could say wasn't low.

"The woman we spoke to at the bar seemed to have extensive knowledge on these Vex. It would be beneficial if we spoke with her more extensively."

"So we'll be relying on Anastasia's guidance to get us through the desert. With the Vex being a new adversary for us, this sounds increasingly risky."

"Although, it would be right to call it the norm for us..."

"You're not wrong!"

Subaru smiled at Emilia's rare interruption and then looked at Anastasia. She was sitting up straight on her bed and continued the conversation with a "But well".

"We should all stay calm until we actually accomplish our goal. The dragon carriage's wheel adjustments as well as how we'll deal with entering the sand dunes will be left up to me as usual."

"Right...sorry. We're kinda having you do everything."

"It's alright. Since in return, I'll be counting on Emilia-san in regards to fighting power. Although…"

Anastasia clutched the scarf around her neck, an uneasy look covering her face.

The goals that she spoke of weren't anything too difficult. The tuning of the dragon carriage would be difficult to accomplish in this town, considering it was very accustomed to the types of wheels needed to travel over sand. They had thought of an idea to leave the dragon carriage behind and instead ride on top of earth dragons. However, the fact that they had many women and children, as well as an unconscious passenger made the idea quickly unpopular and unrealistic. Thus, it became a necessity to adjust the dragon carriage to suit the harsh sand dunes. Emilia, Beatrice, and Julius had the best combat prowess in the group, where both Emilia and Beatrice specialized in spirit magic while Julius relied on his strength and techniques as a knight. Before today, the ability of the three fighters had never been questioned, however, with the sudden discovery of the Vex residing along the sand dunes, things had now become more complicated.

"Emilia-san, Natsuki-kun, you fought these "Vex" at the bar, correct? Could you elaborate more on their abilities? It would be greatly beneficial if we think of ways to fight back against them more effectively while we can."

"Yes, I've never seen anything like them, their skin was metallic, almost like iron. When I took the heads off a few of them, they still continued to move around. Subaru saw them as well."

"Yep. Those things are something else, they're like no witchbeasts that we've faced before."

In Subaru's mind, he had a vague idea of what those things were. He could compare them to robots from different science fiction media. However, in the movies he's seen, the head always contained all the circuitry that allowed them to move around. The Vex didn't need their heads to function, so for him, it was completely new. The addition of guns also made him really uneasy. He didn't know if the fragile wood of the carriage would hold against a barrage of their firepower.

"May I make a suggestion? Why not hire that woman to escort us to the tower?"

Anastasia let go of her scarf and blurted out that suggestion to the two in front of her, who in turn, looked at her dumbfoundedly.

"That...isn't that bad of an idea. The lady seemed to have extensive knowledge of the Vex, she knew how to kill them and how they worked. We asked her earlier that we meet up and talk about what happened, so we can bring up the idea of hiring her when we speak to her..."

"That is, if she even is someone for hire."

"I don't mean to sound snobby, but I'm sure that we can work out something with her. After all, we are two of the most important people in the kingdom at the moment, if we were to go missing, there would be people to blame. Our lives are more important to people other than us, you know."

"We can't force her to come along, though; that wouldn't be right of us. The best we could do is gather information on the Vex, which should be more than enough to ask of her."

"I'm not suggesting to force her to come along, I was just telling you the truth of our predicament. People don't want two of the royal candidates out in the middle of the desert in the first place. It would be in our interest to have the best chance of survival, so just asking her if she would like to come with us wouldn't hurt."

While the two girls were having their back and forth discussion, Subaru took the chance to leave the room in order to gather his thoughts. Just by looking at Erin, he knew that she was an anomaly in this world. Unless the other kingdoms were secretly more technologically advanced, then there was no feasible way that she could be from this world. Her armor and weapons seemed to be several decades ahead of this time period, along with that thing that floated around her. There was no way that was a spirit. Most of the spirits he's seen took the appearance of animals, such as Puck looking like a small cat, and Echidna donning the appearance of a white fox. Could she be like Subaru, like Al? These revelations made him even more confused, first Al, then Priestella and Karagi's architecture, and now Erin and her Ghost. The situation of his transportation to this world had now become even more confusing. Was she from Earth, or somewhere different entirely? It had only been about a year since his appearance in this world, so there'd be no way technology could've advanced so fast, unless...

Deep in thought, Subaru turned his head towards the window, believing that watching the outside sand bounce off the window would calm him. The sand storm had grown in size, the brown haziness of the outside covered the town like a thin veil. He let himself be absorbed by the pitter-patter of the sand against the window, when...

"What the…?"

Outside, the sand began to bounce off something, forming an outline as if something was in the way, a humanoid shape. Upon realizing this, Subaru yelped, stumbling back a bit and falling on his rear. The figure at this point was millimeters away from the window, and he could feel its eyes following him.

"Subaru! Are you alright?"

While Subaru was still dumbstruck on the floor, Emilia burst through the door, followed by Anastasia and Beatrice. All three of the women had a confused look on their faces.

"Th-There was someone outside!"

"What? You shouldn't be scared of a peeping Tom, in fact. If you can remember what he looks like, I can make sure he's punished for scaring my contractor, I suppose."

"Agh sorry sorry, still feeling a little jumpy after those Vex things."

"Subaru, you mustn't scare us like that, you nearly made me jump out of my seat hearing you scream!"

"I'm really sorry, I won't scare you like that again, promise."

"If you are sure that someone was outside, Betty will go look around for this intruder, I suppose. I'll leave the task of watching Meili over to you, in fact."

Beatrice pointed her finger at Subaru while puffing out her cheeks. He gave her a wry smile in return, which caused her cheeks to grow even more puffy.

"I'm glad it was nothing more -kun, could you come back inside with us.? Emilia-san and I have come to a conclusion on what our plan entails."

"Oh? Have you two come to a satisfying conclusion on what to do with the woman?"

"Yes. We are going to politely ask her if she wants to come along - a paid venture, if you will."

"Are you certain she will still be there? She may have left by now."

"Julius said that he saw her at the bar, or at least someone unusual-looking. He's not the kinda guy to make something up just by a glance."

"Let's hope he was right. Her information on the Vex will be invaluable. Even if she isn't here, at least we will not have to deal with the bodies ourselves. It seems she's taken care of them herself."

After Echidna spoke of her compromise with Emilia to Subaru, he agreed with the idea and escorted the two women to the bar. They left Julius back at the Inn to watch over Meili while they went to discuss their plan with the woman. Outside, all the bodies had been removed, including the drunken man's. Small bits of amber and charred bits of sand had occupied the space that housed the bodies.

"Fire...so our friend here knows how to use magic?"

"Seems so, it makes sense now that they were able to clear out such a large group of them so quickly."

"No offense, Natsuki-kun… Emilia-san, if you may, would you let me speak with this woman? Again, I mean no offense, however, I am more suited for negotiations for deals regarding money wouldn't you say?"

"That's understandable, just don't be forceful on her. This journey is dangerous and I don't want to force a citizen of Lugnica to come with us for just a sum of money."

"Don't worry Emilia-san, I won't force her into anything she doesn't want, I promise."

"Oi, don't mess it up, promises are important to my Emilia-tan!"

"I know, Natsuki-kun."

The three entered the bar. The floor had been completely scrubbed of any sign of the Vex bodies and fluids. It was more thorough than the outside cleanup, a distinct lack of ash or charred sand was evident, and only a faint outline of the Vex's figures still remained.

"Welcome back, the sand wind brings you here once again."

The barkeeper was cleaning stained cups when the three entered the bar. He raised his head in order to greet them, continuing to clean the cup while doing so.

"Hello Mr. Barkeep, is everything alright?"

"Yeah, this lady here helped me clean up the inside, and outside."

The bartender nodded his head towards Erin, who was downing a large glass of whiskey at a table.

"Ahhh. I gotta say, you know how to make your liquor. You'd make a lot of Glimmer back at the tower you know."

"Tower? Are you from the Pleiades Watchtower?"

"Watchtower? If you're talking about that big pretty white tower... No, I'm not from there."

As Erin spoke, she looked out the window towards the Pleides Watchtower. Its immense size still shocked her, it was bigger than any of the pillars along the Last City's walls.

"Excuse us...if you don't mind, we'd like to talk with you."

"Oh, not at all. Let's grab a bigger table."

Erin stood, pointing to a large table towards the back of the bar. Near it, ash outlines of Vex bodies were still visible surrounding the table.

"Ignore those, they'll go away sooner or later."

Erin waved the markings off, dusting them away with her boot. Following the lackluster attempt of cleaning up, she pulled out three chairs for Subaru, Emilia and Anastasia. Afterwards she pulled a seat for herself, crossing her legs once she was seated.

"Hello, I am Anastasia Hoshin of the Hoshin Company, have you heard of that name before?"

Anastasia asked Erin, her hands crossed over her lap.

Erin shrugged her shoulders. "Nope, never heard of it."

"I see. Well, regardless, I would like to sincerely thank you for the help you provided against these..."Vex" as you call them."

"That's what we Guardians do. It's part of our daily routine."

"Guardians? I've never heard of such a faction before, which kingdom do you come from?"

"We don't come from any kingdom, nor any faction within this world."

A voice that didn't belong to the blonde country woman spoke up, catching the questioner off guard. On her shoulder, the Ghost manifested and spoke those words leaving Anastasia surprised at its sudden appearance.

"Oh, who might you be? Are you perhaps her artificial spirit?"

"No, I am neither artificial nor a spirit. I am what's known as a Ghost. More specifically, I am Erin's Ghost."

"Ah! Apologies, I was told about you already yet I referred to you as a spirit, please forgive me."

"Don't fret over it, ma'am."

The Ghost spun and disappeared from sight, leaving behind small specks of bright dust.

"Uh, where did it go?"

"I have no idea. Pretty sure he's in some paracausal backpack of his."

"Right…."

"Well, regardless of where your "paracausal" friend has gone, I would like to ask something of you, Erin-san."

"No need for the honorifics, just call me Erin."

"Of course. Erin, could I ask you for a favor? One from a royal candidate could mean a large sum of Holy Coin."

"We're not really looking to get paid. Y'know, I think I already know what you want to ask me."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, you want me to come along with you to your little picnic at the tower, am I right?"

As Erin finished her accusation, the eyes of the others in the bar widened, caught off guard by this sudden accusation which was spot on.

"How did you…"

"I could tell just by looking at you, I saw you two coming out of a carriage a couple of hours ago. You also asked the guy at the bar over there about info on the tower, something along the lines of wanting a death wish."

"You were nagging about it for hours! You were on the verge of giving me a stroke."

The group of four turned their heads towards the bar stand, the barkeeper blurted out a short retort to Erin's cheeky comment. This caused Erin's grin to grow even wider, her mischievous side showing to those seated next to her.

"Anyhow, I was planning on looking for you myself and telling you that I'm coming along."

"Eh-what?"

"Well, for one. I'm not going to let a group of kids go out on their own into some grim expanse of a desert. Two, it's my responsibility to deal with situations like this, it's what we...what I, do."

During the finale of her declaration, Erin's eyes narrowed, her toothy smile faded and her demeanor turned more intimidating than carefree.

"It sounds as if you lack faith in our combat abilities. Anastasia-sama and I, along with Subaru-kun and Emilia-san, have endured through worse hardships. We see the danger in these creatures you call the Vex, however I fail to see how these can be any worse than the witchbeasts we are accustomed to."

A stern yet gentle voice spoke out by the bar's entrance. The one behind the voice was Julius, who along with Ram had made their way to the bar in order to join Anastasia in her deal making.

"It's not that I doubt your fighting abilities, I've seen that you are capable. I saw your elf friend here - Emilia, was it? She cut them down pretty quick, but you would've died if he hadn't intervened." Erin lazyly pointed her finger towards Subaru, who was standing next to a flustered Emilia. When Erin mentioned her elvish appearance, she looked down towards the floor in embarrassment, trying to pull her hair in front of her ears.

"From what I've deduced, they seem to be no more than magic archers."

"I agree with Ram-san. If we can defeat these "Vex", then all that needs to be done is to use extra precaution. We have no choice but to continue and persevere, there's too much riding on this operation."

Julius spoke out alongside Ram, his hand placed on his chest in pride. They had been on this journey for far too long. If they were to go back now it would deal a serious blow not only to their reputation, but perhaps even to their legitimacy to the Lugnacian throne.

"The Vex are more than just "magic archers." These monsters are capable of destroying entire civilizations! Our home was almost destroyed because they took away our Sun. They starved our city for days, made us go against each other and even made us spill blood of our own people. These things…these monsters, are not something that should be trivialized."

Erin jolted up from her seat, causing Anastasia and the others to recoil in surprise. She had revealed to them the effects of the Vex's Endless Night. The Vex were able to integrate themselves into reality, so far that they could even block out the Sun from giving life to the Last City.

"Then that's all the more reason for you to come with us. We don't know a thing about them, and we cannot allow them to have their way with our Sun. So please, help us stop them, Erin."

Emilia walked forward towards the table, reaching her hand out in order to comfort Erin.

"Anastasia, can I say something?"

Anastasia turned her head towards Subaru, and gave him a slow nod.

"Thank you. Erin, we want you to come with us, we don't have any knowledge on how to fight against the Vex. I know that sounds like a reason to give up on this operation, but this is not something that we can just give up. There is a lot, and I mean a lot, riding on these operations. There are people who need the knowledge in that tower. A dear friend…"

Subaru gritted his teeth, the thought of Rem's identity and consciousness being taken away by [Gluttony] made his heart ache.

Looking at Subaru, Erin's tense aura eased. At that moment, she realized she would not be able to convince them otherwise.

"A dear friend of ours had her consciousness and identity stolen. We absolutely need to go to that tower."

Subaru composed himself, catching his breath and finishing his speech. Emilia placed her hand on his shoulders in an attempt to comfort him. In return, he gave Emilia a wry smile.

"I'm sorry about what happened to your friend, Subaru. If you all really want to get to that Tower, then I'll help you." Erin outstretched both her arms towards Subaru and Anastasia, giving them a sympathetic smile.

"Grain and I will help you, but I have one condition."

"What would that condition be?" Asked Anastasia.

"I understand you all have somewhat extensive knowledge on witchbeasts, so I'll have to rely on you when or if we face them. When it comes to the Vex however, you will listen to me. There are a lot of variants, all extremely dangerous. If I say we run or retreat, you will do so. There are some Vex that, regardless of how strong you are, should not be faced."

Erin narrowed her eyes, steeling her expression once again as she spoke her demand. The demand came out as more of a warning, than a threat to the group.

"Alrighty then, you'll be our seudo-sensei on this operation. Make sure to teach us all your secrets on taking those creatures out."

Subaru let out a sigh of relief and gave a short hoora to their new party member.

Erin stopped and looked at the rest of the group. She was used to seeing seasoned warriors, ready to battle without exchanging any words of comfort. Seeing these people bicker and prod at each made her feel at ease.

"I like you kids, just listen to me and dealing with the Vex won't be as much of a colossal task. So, when are we leaving?"

The morning of their departure had arrived. They used one of their days to rest, and the one beforehand to gather information and recruit a new companion. Subaru and the others finished the preparations, speaking with Erin and Grain about the different dangers the Vex possessed. They all gathered at the Milra town's entrance, with their perspective sand dune equipment on. At the sight of his team gathered together, all Subaru could do was let out an admiring sigh.

"Wow, are these…?"

"The earth dragons that will get us across the sand dunes. The Gyras species is one that is tolerant of the sandy soil. They're a species adapted to the sand winds and dryness of this desert. They're big, but they act calm. You'll find out about the nature of these endemic creatures with how easy they are to handle."

Subaru looked at the earth dragons tied to the dragon carriage with widening eyes, their yellow skin glistening in the bright sun. Their first objective was to break through the Augria Sand Dunes, the most difficult part of their journey so far. Normal Earth Dragons are incapable of traversing across the rough spots on the sand roads. As a result, they traded the Earth Dragons which brought them to this point with Gyras Earth Dragons in order to continue on their journey.

"Damn, I knew there were Water Dragons, but seeing more types of dragons with my own eyes. Just how many species are there?"

Subaru crossed his arms while examining the Gyra Earth Dragon, its thorn-like scaly skin matched well with their desert environment. As his eyes wandered up the creature, he took in its dinosaur-like form. He was reminded of the various fossils he would see at the museum near his town, the large bones of the tyrant lizards always left him speechless. Seeing one so close to what made his childlike mind woah in awe, it was like a dream come true. As he reached the Earth Dragons head, he saw Erin petting it, while Julius was tending to its reins.

"I never thought I'd see a dinosaur in person. If only more were this cute."

"Aside from calling it the wrong species, can I ask you something?"

"Go for it."

"What does your homeland use for transportation?"

"Oh, our city uses vehicles called Sparrows, and Spaceships. Though to explain exactly how they work, you'd need to ask someone else from the Last City."

Erin rubbed her forehead while laughing out the last part of the answer. Julius raised his eyebrow in confusion, the more he heard Erin speak the more confused he was. Scratching his head he saw Meili walking past him, twirling her index finger around her ear while rolling her eyes. Julius understood the euphemism, though his personal feelings towards Erins and her fantastical stories are mixed, they remind him of Subaru's descriptions in a way.

"Those feet look like they could deal some serious damage to someone."

"The grains of the Augria Sand Dunes' sand are very small. If they didn't have flat feet like this, there would be a high chance of them slipping off a slope. Locals say that their feet adapted to their sandy environment."

So they evolved to adapt to the desert dunes, eh. They seem like a better alternative to the horses and camels of my world, but what about the water dragons? Thinking about it, I should ask Erin about what's going on in her world, maybe…

Subaru went into deep thought, the image of his parents, his home, his town, everything that he knew back in his own world. Could Erin be from Earth, his Earth, or from somewhere more dystopian?

"Subaru, do you know where your loving Earth Dragon Patrasche hails from?"

"I don't, actually. I never asked anyone about it…I just thought she was a normal Earth Dragon - no offense, Patrasche."

Patrasche looked at Subaru, letting out a loud huff while turning to walk away from him.

"Well, Patrasche is from the Diona species. They are considered to be the ancestors of all Earth Dragons, encompassing the genes of the initial dragons that were dominant on land, sea, and air. Patrasche has excelling adaptability, no matter what the environment is. It's a shame I have to leave my Shaknar in town."

Julius answers Subaru's question, which wakes him out of his thinking trance. Julius lonesomely looked upwards towards the inn, his Earth Dragon hitched in a nearby barn. Julius's equivalent of Patrasche was Saknar, a loving and beautiful blue-scaled earth dragon. It was a caring companion, but it had forgotten its master, who had his name and identity taken by the Archbishop of "Gluttony". However, Saknar would always be polite to anyone that rode it. It had been accepting of Julius even before he had his identity taken from him, but ever since their second "first meeting" in Priestella, he had to bond with it from the beginning. During this trip that they've been on for half a month, they began to form the bond they shared from before Priestella. Due to their reforged relationship, he had feelings of guilt for leaving Saknar in the town.

"You're gonna miss her, aren't ya?"

"Yes, it's a shame I cannot bring her along."

"You look like a little puppy watching his owner leave the house for work. Don't worry, you'll see it again soon enough, I'm sure she's in good hands."

"Are you sure you and Subaru aren't from the same town, or at least from the same country?"

"Nope, I'm very certain."

Just like Subaru, your analogies go over my head, you two must have something more connecting you. Just who are you, Erin…?

Julius let himself think over what Erin had spoken about the night before. She spoke of where she was from, a large city in a country Julius had never heard of before. She spoke of the different technological wonders that had even Subaru gasping in awe, something about her was suspicious but also fascinating. The way she spoke about others like her, her Ghost, the enemies they fought. It was as if she was from a completely different universe. He thought that she could be from beyond the Great Casquade. Only a handful of people have even claimed to be from beyond the Casquade, most were lunatics or con artists. But Erin, she had some credibility, from the armor she wore, the weapons she carried, the "magic" she used, even her little Ghost; all of these were alien to Julius and he was sure they were for the others as well. Emilia and Subaru seemed intrigued, and Beatrice seemed indifferent, only interested in things Subaru seemed to take great interest in. Anastasia and Ram seemed skeptical at Erin's claims, which wasn't surprising. Meili was sleeping, so she probably didn't hear a thing out of Erins mouth.

"Julius…. Oi, Julius!"

"Ah….Sorry, you caught me in thought."

"My bad. Can I ask, will the inside of the carriage change like the wheels or?"

"It shouldn't. The windows and wheels were all that needed to be changed."

As Julius answered, Subaru thought back about the inside of the carriage. The closest thing he could compare it to was a multipurpose RV. The front of the carriage was lined with chairs for traveling, and in the middle and back of the carriage was space to relax or sleep. The inside seemed luxurious because of this. On top of it ensuring comfort, it could hold up to 10 people at max. Subaru was honestly surprised by how the dragon carriage had easily surpassed his expectations when he first saw it.

Even without electricity or electrical appliances, they can substitute the work of mastone processing for them. Even here people really seek convenience anywhere they can.

"I don't know what you're mumbling about so seriously, Barusu, but are the preparations finished?"

As he was observing the exterior, the dragon carriage's rear door opened, and a cold voice came down at the same time.

He turned, looking at Ram standing up from the seat closest to the door and looked down on Subaru.

"Well, the preparations were already finished yesterday, so it's more than ready. Last thing on our list is to prepare our hearts and steel our nerves. I'm already somewhat done with that. How about you?"

"When I think about the many days I've spent in this carriage, I can't say I'm very relaxed, no matter how much my needs are cared for. I won't beg for help as if I were a fragile woman in the middle of the sand dunes, even if we get attacked by witchbeasts or Vex."

"….We'll be fine, don't worry."

He gave a heartfelt smile to Ram. Emilia followed in suit whilst exiting from the carriage, and stepped up to Ram's side, tapping on her shoulder. Emilia seemed to have tidied up the back of the dragon carriage before making her appearance.

"Even if something did attack, I would protect everyone in here. There's Subaru, Julius and Erin outside too, so it's perfect."

"Reassuring as always. See look, Ram, even Emilia-tan is saying this too, so don't worry."

"You're right, Emilia-sama. You're very reassuring to me too. However, I find it hard to place my trust into some drifter we've just only met."

"Hey! Don't call me a drifter. For one, I am very well off, thank you very much. Two, I already know someone called that, so it's bad juju to me for someone to call me a drifter so please don't."

Erin walked towards the back after petting the Gyra Earth Dragon. Her armor shone in the blazing sun, her heavily padded shoulder pads and chestplate reminding Subaru of something he'd see if a Westerner tried to replicate a Samurai's armor. Could she be some dystopian otaku? He thought.

"See something you like?"

"Excusemewhatdidyousaytome?"

Subaru blurted out, too fast for anyone to understand. When Erin noticed Subaru ogling at her armor, she decided to joke around. Placing her arm on her hip and sticking out towards him, she smiled and winked at the flustered Subaru. His face had turned beet red at Erin's remark, which caused her to burst into a boisterous laughter. Emilia watched the exchange between the two and frowned at Erin's remark, slowly approaching her with her arms crossed.

"You shouldn't be open about things like that, you know. Especially not to my knight."

"I-I'm sorry it's just…. His face was priceless, he was ogling my armor so much I couldn't miss out on my chance."

Erin stammered out those words in between her laughter. Emilias annoyance was tempered a bit at this, letting out a sigh. Deep down she may have felt something akin to jealousy.

"I wouldn't mess with him that way, it'll encourage his foul heart to do something unthinkable to the beautiful women of this carriage."

"Hey, you're still gonna talk about me like that even after spending close to one month of peaceful nights!? There's no way I can do something like that obscene with you around! I may be courageous, but I'm not suicidal."

"Ah, now you're just making it too easy buddy."

"It's pathetic how you continue to insist that with that loud voice, but considering how beautiful the carriage is, it's not out of the question for you to lose control of yourself, no matter how you do it. I'm always afraid. Sympathize with a young maiden's heart."

"Always afraid?"

Ram repeated her saying that boys and girls should be separated once they turn 7, causing Subaru's voice to shake. Incidentally, Emilia did nothing but tilt her head in confusion. It was Emilia's typical cluelessness, and Ram's typical insolence. But, Subaru scratched his head and said "Ah", as he was curious about something.

"Oh don't worry, I'll watch over both the boys like a hawk, the discrepancy between genders here seems a bit too big for a girl like me to overlook."

"Oh shut it you, I don't need someone else glaring at me while I sleep. Anyways, back on track. Nee-sama, how's your body?"

"…Weird of you to ask that. Why do you ask?"

"Your worries about me are unnecessary, but are mine unnecessary? I just want to know if you're doing okay."

"Barusu, you really are cheeky with how attentive you are."

Ram's face wasn't pale, and she didn't appear to have any breathing issues, which meant she appeared to be acting like her usual self, but she didn't deny Subaru's words. She didn't act tough, and she didn't try to hide it. In that sense, Ram was being surprisingly sincere.

"Looks like your wicked tongue is not as sharp as usual. If your body's condition really is bad, then..."

"Then step forward at the point just before our goal after coming this far in 20 days. That's what you want me to do, right? This is just the norm for me, but you're being particularly absurd today."

"Ram, you shouldn't speak like that."

Ram interrupted Subaru, and she gave him an even fiercer look with her eyes. Emilia raises her eyebrow at that girl's behavior and puts her hands on her waists in an annoyed gesture. She points her finger towards Subaru while being next to Ram before speaking.

"Subaru is worrying about Ram. I'm also worried about you. Everyday I'm doing the healing Roswaal told me about, but…."

"Still not sure if you can call it healing, but it's not like I can fault you for that. Even if my Emilia-tan and Beako do it, they can't heal as well as Roswaal."

"….I'm not trying to use that as a reason. I don't want to be a bother."

"You know, Erin has a few backup medical supplies if you'd like. The health condition of a Fireteam member should never be put off to the side."

Grain materialized next to Ram, who snapped her head to the side the moment he spoke.

"Fireteam? What a ridiculous name to call us."

"Apologies, I should not have spoken out loud."

Grain apologized, then dematerialized quickly, leaving the onlookers confused once again. They had seen him appear and then disappear in front of them, Emilia was used to it since she had Puck for most of her life. The others who were still left confused on where he goes, since Puck resided in Emilia's crystal around her neck. For Grain however, Erin had no crystals on her armor, nor any jewelry around her, so they couldn't really tell where her Ghost disappeared to.

"Where does your little friend disappear to? You have no spirit vessels on you, so where does he go?"

"Honestly, I have no idea."

"...Oh."

Ram rolled her eyes over at Erin. She never took anything that she said seriously, in her head, Erin was just another looney from some far off town in one of the four kingdoms. When she gets the chance, she'll unveil all the secrets and lies that she believes Erin to hide.

"Anyways, it's not really a burden if you ask someone for help if you're hurting. Ask your buddies, or ask me, I'm always happy to give some good old fashioned morphine."

"I would rather not take something I've never heard of before…but thank you."

"Exactly. Ram, we can tell that you aren't your usual self, so if something happens, speak up. Don't try to hide things or fool us. Even if you do, we'll still help you, even if you try and reject it."

Subaru pointed his finger at Ram and said that. Ram in response gave a rare look of shame. Emilia and Erin put their hands on their sides, and both let out a smile unintentionally at the situation. Emilia wards off the urge to laugh, and relaxes her lips in a happy way.

"I think that caring and loving side of Subaru is reeeaaally sweet."

"….Eh!? Did you just fall in love again!?"

"Don't talk like that when Rem is sleeping in front of you, harmful enemy of women!"

"Me? Women's harmful enemy, and not just women's enemy!?"

Subaru switches from his low serious voice to a high pitch, flowed by Ram snorting her nose as she says "Haa". After that, she stretched her slender legs, and she recklessly tried to kick Subaru off of the dragon carriage's steps.

"Oi, He-hey! What are you doing? I'm going to fall!"

"Aside from you falling, you should normally be outside, not inside. Mount your prideful earth dragon, and guarantee our dragon carriage's safety. Make haste."

"What do you mean? Listen to what I have to…"

"I've listened to what I'll hear. Now, go."

Ram spoke with a stern voice, and she gave him an even sharper kick.

Subaru gets off dejectedly. Just before he went away from the dragon carriage, he exchanged looks with Emilia. Emilia responded to his look by giving an acknowledging gesture with her chin as if she said "I know".

"Fine, guess I'll go then. But, anyways you should-"

"Go!"

A kick that felt like a surprise attack hits his stomach, causing Subaru to fall out of the dragon carriage as he leaned backward. Then, Ram quickly shut the carriage's door, leaving him outside with Erin.

"Wow, she's really fierce."

"Yeah, you're telling me. But that's alright, I'm used to her attitude, heh."

Subaru let out a small chuckle while being helped up by Erin, her grip was firm yet soft. He could feel her glove, it was as if touching the seat of a car that his parents would drive.

"Here, I got something for you kid, since you'll be outside you'll be at the most risk out of all of us."

Erin gave Subaru something wrapped in a small towel. Subaru unfolded it to reveal a large revolver.

"Wh-What, is this…?"

"Yeah, it's a gun alright. It's called a hand cannon if you want to be more precise."

Subarus eyes were wide with shock at the sight of the gun in his hands. He had never seen anything like it, its design, the engravings, he'd never seen anything like it on the news, on the television, nor any other media he'd consume. In a strange way, the gun looked elegant, as if some divine being crafted a gun in its own design.

"I don't know what to say…. Wait! But I already have a weapon, why give me yours?"

"That whip of yours? You call that a weapon? Dont be stupid, you won't do anythin' with that against the Vex, you're better off using the gun I just gave you."

"Why….Why are you trusting me with this? It's yours isn't it? Why give it to me…"

Subaru looked up at Erin, she was a good head and a half taller than him. Her eyes narrowed on his, causing him to let out a small gasp in surprise.

"I think I know who you are, Natsuki Subaru."

"What do you mean?"

"You're not from here. From this world, are you? You're like me, transported to this world by some unknown means."

Subaru's jaw dropped at Erin's words. Even with Al he'd never truly confirmed anything about being from another world. He'd barely speak of it to the others in his party, only making small nods that they wouldn't understand. This was the first time someone outright confronted him about it.

"H-How did you know?"

"I had a suspicion, the way you spoke, the small comparisons you made. I gotta come clean a little, but Grain was keeping an eye on you while you were talking to yourself the other night."

Subaru swallowed the knot in his throat. The night before he had been theorizing on where Erin could be from, trying his hardest to come up with a plausible conclusion on where Erin could be from. Right now, his emotions on her were mixed. On one hand he was happy that someone acquolidged him, but on the other, he was scared. Scared on what could have happened on the other side, back home. Did time move differently, were there more than two universes? His mind was now even more confused on the subject than ever before.

"Sorry for the spying on you part, but it was necessary."

"How, exactly…?"

"Well, Grain told me that the honorifics that people use here, the -kun, -sama, etcetera. He told me those were Japanese honorifics, so by that point I knew that something wasn't right. I wanted to be one hundred percent sure, so I offered you this handcannon. Judging by your reaction, I was at ease to know that someone else is also from Earth, our Earth."

"Our Earth….ah."

Subaru stopped himself from saying anything else. "Our Earth"… What could she mean by "Our Earth." Was she from his own world? Now he knew she must've been, since she spoke about Europe, Africa, and Asia. There was no other way. He had to ask her, he needed to ask her. Where she was from.

"Subaru, what year were you born in?"

"Huh, I… was born in the early 90's."

"Oh. I see."

Erin's eyes shot open at Subaru's birth year. By the looks of him, he couldn't have been older than 19. There was no way he could've lived long enough to see the end of the "Golden Age."

"How long have you been here?"

"Hey, I have a lot of questions that need answering too. Don't be throwing questions at me like that."

"Please, I need to know."

He sighed. "Alright, I'm 19. I've been here for about a year or so. If I remember correctly, I think it was 2012, when I got transported here."

Erin's eyes dropped their glaring gaze, wincing at the answer the young man had given her. Should she tell him what year it is on Earth? She couldn't, she wouldn't, it would be too much for him. Would he even care, that his home was now gone? Eight hundred years had passed since the year 2012. How did he even get here? It shouldn't make any feasible sense that he's here. The Traveler hadn't even been discovered yet. How did he skip 800 years into the future? She would have to withhold that information from him, until she could break the ice for him.

"Thank you Subaru. Keep the weapon, you'll need it when we fight the Vex."

As Erin spoke, she leapt into the air. Her strong legs shot her up several feet into the air, but she was just short of grabbing to the side of the carriage roof. Just as she reached the peak of her jump, as if she were standing on solid ground, she jumped once again, landing on top of the carriage with a loud bump.

"Wh-what the…"

"C'mon Subaru, get on your Dragon, it's time for us to go."

"But you haven't-"

"I'll tell you in time, just know that everything is going to be alright!"

"You're asking a lot from someone you've just met. Please tell me quickly."

Erin didn't answer back, instead she materialized her helmet and put her hood over it. Subaru was at a loss for words, he thought it would take years until he would get some sort of answer to his transportation to this world. Did he really care though? He lived happily here, he'd met the "love" of his life, made many companions and started anew here. Could he live with the information on what happened at home, his first home?

It took everyone a few more hours to prepare, until they were finally ready to leave. Erin had taken roost on the roof of the carriage, a large rifle in her hands ready to shoot at any Vex from afar. Emilia, Anastasia, Ram and Beatrice were inside the carriage, while Julius and Meili were in the front preparing to set off. Subaru was on his trusty Earth Dragon, Patrasche, still unsure of what to make of Erins conversation with him. He would have to think it over more during the trips down time, but now he needed to focus his attention towards what's to come. It was time to begin their subjugation of the Augrian Sand Dunes.]

AN: Hello, welcome back once again. Sorry for the wait, I took longer than I had wanted to in writing this chapter. I took a 3 days break to sort of write down ideas for future chapters, rewrite some events in this chapter, (and also farm for Ager's Scepte catalyst, which I got finally.) On another note, the next chapter may take about the same amount of time to release, maybe a little bit less but I can't promise anything. Once again thank you for the comments you've all been leaving me, and see you again next time when the gang reaches the middle of nowhere.