"Sharena!" a female voice that was… better(?) than the girl's called from behind us. "Is that you?" We turned toward the voice. "It is!"

"Alice!" Sharena gasped as she moved to meet the other girl. She was blonde-haired, blue-eyed, and her clothing was certainly… unique. She wore a short, frilly pink and blue dress with white poofy sleeves, golden… bowl things on her wrists, and white gloves, along with tights similar to Sharena's, though with more gold on them. The cherry on top was the ruby tiara on top of her head, along with the braid that went behind her head, almost like Sharena's own tiara braid. Unlike the girl's, too, this one's hair was a lot freer. Also, her… chest… was showing a bit more than it should've. And her shoulders, but who cares about those. Also also, she had a ruby necklace on.

The two hugged fiercely. Sharena was the first to break away, saying, "It's been so long! How was your trip?"

"Oh, it was so very uneventful! And how are you? What are you up to? Who's your new friend?"

"Oh!" Sharena gestured toward me. "This is Maxis, the new Great Hero!"

"Truly?" the other girl questioned. "Well, aren't we in luck, then!"

"Mm-hm! Oh, Maxis, this is my friend Alice!" I gave a lazy wave and half a smile. "She's the duchess of this hamlet."

Alice giggled and waved a hand. "Oh, Sharena, you give me far too much credit! I'm just the heir of the title, at the moment." I grunted in acknowledgment. "And what of you, Maxis? What do you do as the Great Hero? Ah! Forgive me if I seem uncouth, but I'm genuinely interested."

"Maxis is a wonderful tactician!" Sharena chimed in for me. "And! He was able to summon six Heroes who have all joined the Order! Isn't that spectacular?!"

Alice gave her friend a look. "Hmm. That does sound impressive. Perhaps you can tell me more about it, Maxis?"

"Oh, of course! We—!"

The noble cleared her throat loudly. "Shall we talk over tea? It's not too far from my estate."

"Sure!" the princess chirped. "Do you like tea, Maxis?"

I shrugged a shoulder. "Not really. 'M not a fan of bitter things."

"Tea isn't meant to be bitter. When it's made correctly, it's much like any other drink." Alice turned around. "Come. Let us away." She started away, and a tall man completely covered in silver armor started following after her. "Ah! I forgot to introduce you, Maxis; this is my retainer, Valjean." He bowed deeply, and I nodded at him.

We continued down the road, away from the castle, until we arrived at a sizeable, symmetrical Victorian-looking mansion. Inside, servants hurried around, carrying wicker-baskets, feather dusters, and whatnot. The interior reminded me a lot of Luigi's Mansion. The walls were a light blue, candelabras lit the halls, and paintings, busts, and vases decorated most spaces. Alice led us into a room containing a round table, a china cabinet, and a stove, along with many decorations. The armored man pulled out a chair for the noble, and she sat and let herself be pushed in with a word of gratitude. He did the same for Sharena while I pulled out a chair myself. Alice glanced at me for a moment before speaking. "So, Maxis, tell me about yourself."

I sat there awkwardly, staring at the tablecloth. "There's not really much t' say."

"Oh? No hobbies? No… dreams, interests,… personality…?"

I shrugged a shoulder.

"Really?" She paused. "Well, I'm sure you're wrong."

"Alice…," Sharena started.

"I'm sure you have thoughts in that head of yours, ones that you don't care to keep to yourself."

"A—"

"So share them," the noblewoman said, her voice becoming more forceful. "I'm sure Sharena and I both would not mind one bit to hear you talk about whatever you pleased. But if you need a little push in the right direction, then what do you do in your spare time?"

I shrugged again. "I read, I guess."

"Oh? And what do you read?"

"Fantasy," I stated, but it really came out as more of a question.

"Really? It's been a while since I've last picked a novel focused solely on the fantasy genre. Any recommendations?"

"Uh, John Flanagan is my favorite author."

"I see. I'll have to find a book from him, then. Anything specific in mind?"

"Uh, the Ranger's Apprentice is his main story." I mentally kicked myself for saying 'uh' again.

"Hm." Alice turned to her retainer. "Could you write that down for me, Val? Thank you."

As the man produced a quill and paper, a loud hissing sound made me jump.

Sharena snickered. "Don't worry, Maxis, it's only the tea!"

I let out a breath through my nose. "…Right."

"You must not drink tea often if you scare at the sound of the kettle," Alice joked.

"Mm-hm."

The armored retainer placed a cup and saucer in front of the noble and started pouring tea into the cup. She thanked him, and he moved on to pour Sharena's cup. When he finished that, he poured my cup and left it in front of me. I left it there, as well.

"What else do you enjoy?" the noble continued before she took another sip of her tea.

"…Uhh. Music, I suppose."

"Ah! A fan of operas?"

"Yeah. I don't really go often, but the last one I heard I wanted to remember the name of it, but I can't find it anywhere. The last line was something like, 'And then I'll tastefully pause as I lift my goblet to my lips.'"

"I see! Yes, I, too, struggle to remember the names of some notable performances. If I find that one, I'll be sure to let you know."

"Thanks."

"You're absolutely welcome. I do so enjoy hearing from others with similar tastes."

"Yeah, I think anyone who says they don't like classical music is lying to themselves."

Alice paused with her cup pressed to her bottom lip. "Hmm. Yes, quite," she said quietly before taking another sip.

"Maxis," Sharena started a bit sheepishly. "Do you play any games ever?"

"Uh… I guess you could say that."

"I thought so! It's only to be expected of our expert tactician!"

"Is that so?" Alice questioned as her eyes seemed to bore into me. "How intriguing!" We sat there in an awkward silence before the noble spoke up again. "I noticed that you haven't yet touched your tea, Maxis."

"Uh, yeah, 'm not really a tea drinker." I kicked myself again.

"Oh, I see. That's most unfortunate."

"What else do you like to do, Maxis?" Sharena asked.

"Uh… I don' know. I don' really do much." Another kick.

"But you're a tactician, so you must draw up plans and the like, do you not," Alice said.

"Uh, no, actually. I'm, uh, quite new t' the job." Kick.

"Is that so? Well, I'm sure you'll be doing plenty of that in the future."

Valjean moved around the table and poured the two women some more tea.

More silence passed. The noblewoman kept staring me down. Sharena fidgeted a bit. I was beginning to feel restless, as well.

A glass of water was placed in front of me, and the tea was taken away. I looked up the arm and into the seemingly glowing eyes of the armored retainer. "Thanks." The water sat there, as well.

"Well, Sharena," Alice started. "It seems to me that there's no end to your friendliness, is there?"

"Huh? Oh, yes, thank you," the princess replied. "Um… I think it's best we left soon, or else the commander will be worried."

"Ah, of course. I'll show you two out, then." The noble stood up, Sharena following suit, and myself after her. She led us through the mansion once more and turned to Sharena. "I must thank you for keeping me company, regardless of its duration."

"Of course! You know I always have time for you!" The two embraced, and Sharena accepted my clothes back from Valjean. I guess I didn't see her pass them off.

"And Maxis, it was nice meeting you," Alice said to me. "I look forward to getting to know you better in the future."

"Yeah," I said with a nod. "You too." Sharena and I moved through the door, giving waves. "Take care." We strode through the town again and entered the castle, finding Anna approaching us.

"There you two are!" she spoke. "Did you get clothes?"

"We sure did!" Sharena chimed as she held them up. "And then we ran into Alice and had tea with her!"

"That explains it. Come on, we're having dinner soon, and I have a report."

"Does another world need our help?!"

"Yes, but I want to make sure everyone is present when I read it so I don't need to repeat myself."

"Oh, of course! Come on, Maxis!" We followed the commander through the castle to the mess hall and sat down in front of bowls of stew. I frowned. Tacos were sounding more appealing at this rate.

"Listen up, everyone!" Anna shouted from the head of the table. "Another world needs our help, this time the World of Binding." She pointed to Bartre. "The world you're from."

The burly man hummed. "Those Emblian folk are trying to enslave my friends, then, huh?"

"Exactly right. So all of you get ready to move out tomorrow; get plenty of rest, train, whatever you need, we'll try to accommodate."

Everyone hummed in agreement.

"What kind of terrain should we expect, Bartre?" Azura asked.

"Hmm. I can't really say for sure."

"Well what kind of places did you go to on your travels? When we freed… the World of Conquest, it was called? We were transported to places that I had been before coming here."

"You mean I might be reliving battles like you did? Hmm. I suppose besides fields and such, we went through a desert and a cold, mountainous region. That's all the variety that I know of."

"That's useful information," Anna said. "We should probably see if we can get cold-weather gear." She nodded towards Azura and Olivia. "Especially for you two."

Azura nodded back while Olivia blushed and looked away.

We all started eating, and I was beginning to struggle with my stew. "Is something the matter, Maxis?" Sharena asked.

I shook my head. "No, i's nothing."

"It doesn't look like nothing," Azura noted. "Are you ill?"

"No."

"Then what is it?" the blonde princess asked.

I sighed. "We've jus' been having a lot of stew lately."

"Oh, yeah, that's true."

"My apologies," the blue-haired songstress spoke. "It appeared that we had plenty of ingredients for it, so I thought it would be a waste to not use them."

"That makes sense," Anna spoke. "But I'm with Maxis on this one. We should try to avoid stew for a little while. I once had stir fry nearly too many times, so it makes me a bit sick thinking about it."

"Is that so? I'm afraid I didn't know. We'll try to avoid making it in the future, then."

"Thank you."


It had become the end of the day and by proxy the end of the night. As I lay in bed after having said my prayers, one thought crossed my mind: She's never going to find that book.