OK, so I know this was an ABSURDLY long wait time, but these past few months have been a chaotic nightmare of apartment hunting, money making, and trying to get a car legal when I'm not the legal owner and the real owner is across the ocean in a different country. I'm really sorry, but things have finally settled down into some sort of routine, so hopefully I'll now have more time to relax and write and not have to panic over life every day.

Contrary to what he had expected of such a situation, time really flew for Church during his tenure in Aldra's castle. He wasn't sure why it seemed that way honestly, because residing there made it feel like he was isolated from the rest of the world. Sure, he had a nice view of Gainos and beyond every day, but it had still come as a shock to him when he realized that he'd been Aldra's guest for a solid week.

Whether this was because of the routine here or the company, Church wasn't sure, but it seemed likely that it was a combination of both. Truth be told when he thought about castles and royalty, 'fun' wasn't exactly the first thing that came to mind. But in all honesty his time here really had been almost entirely fun. He woke up in the morning to be greeted by a beautiful sunrise over a gorgeous city of stone, and he was always welcomed by a wonderful breakfast.

He'd wasted dozens of hours so far playing Aldra's favorite game with her in the early afternoons, and explored the castle that truly was as massive as it seemed on the outside in the evenings. He often tried to do a little painting before bed at night, and he felt like he was really getting back into the swing of his old hobby.

For the first time in a long time, he was actually getting into a routine of sorts, and ironically enough, something as plebeian as that felt almost alien by now. The last time he had experienced anything close to a 'routine' was back in Syrinidell. It was definitely the last time he had done anything along the lines of 'get up, do this, then this, and finally that.'

Oddly it wasn't quite as comforting as it could have been. Generally speaking a routine made someone feel comfortable and relaxed. They didn't stress, knowing that they could get up and expect the same safe, normal thing every day. And yet, Church recognized that a usual routine meant his chances of experiencing the best parts of life was reduced.

There was not a single encounter he had shared with anyone of interest that occurred during a routine. He would not have met any of the people he considered his friends if he had been following a normal routine. He would not have ever even made it to this world if he had been someone that stuck to a safe, comforting routine.

So being in this castle, spending several days following the same course, with no risk of alteration, was comforting in one sense. Church didn't have to worry about being attacked by some crazy lethal warrior. He didn't have to worry about maybe encountering monsters or terrible weather or anything else that could or would ruin his day.

But it also meant that he wouldn't make any meaningful encounters. He wouldn't have another one of those wonderfully random events that introduced him to new person worth calling his friend. And he also wouldn't have any chance of encountering any of those people a second time. He certainly wouldn't get any answers out of Airi like this, or see Alleyne and Nowa again, or meet Shizuka and Tomoe in the city. In that sense it was a double-edged sword.

But then again, this experience was allowing him to get closer to two more amazing people. He certainly counted himself lucky to have a somewhat personal relationship with Aldra. And even though he certainly wouldn't have labeled the relationship between himself and Irma as anything beyond acquaintances, Church felt as though he was making some headway with her too.

Sure, she spent the majority of their time together glaring at him and not saying anything, but it didn't feel as though she actually disliked him or anything. He really felt that it was more of a matter of just accepting his presence around.

Unfortunately, Church wasn't really satisfied with that. Despite her general aloofness, he felt as though he and Irma may have shared more of a connection than anyone else he had met so far. As much as he hated to label it as such, Church knew that his career as a sniper was very similar to Irma's life of assassination. In that sense he felt like they could understand each other on an integral level, if only the distant woman would open up a little to him.

Of course that was much easier said than done, since she wasn't an extremely sociable person whenever they were both in the same room together. Outside of that, those times were rare in the first place, since Irma didn't spend a lot of time in his company. She was always somewhere else, constantly doing something important or trying to help Aldra accomplish some errand or another. Church really only saw her for a few minutes of every day, so any attempt to advance their relationship was doomed to failure from the start.

That being the case, Church figured now was a good a day as any to try and make some progress, since it really seemed downright criminal to not try and at least be friends with a woman of that caliber. Of course, while Church didn't want to admit it, there was also some small desire to have someone that might have understood him on the level of being a killer.

Granted, there had probably been others; Echidna had certainly seen a lot of action, and she had probably killed a lot of people, but Church had never really had a chance to just sit down and talk with her. Besides, she didn't strike him as the kind of woman to have misgivings about war anyway.

Shizuka was a ninja, and had probably assassinated a decent number of people, but that line of conversation had been the furthest thing from Church's mind on the one day he had time to speak to her.

Irma was technically the only person he could reasonably expect to understand his past that he had spent more than a few days with so far. And yet, despite that, he had probably interacted with her less than any other woman he had encountered. That was saying something, all things considered.

With those thoughts in mind, Church left his bed this morning to begin the by now familiar routine of getting dressed, making himself presentable, and moving towards the door, where someone was literally always waiting for him. The fact that a servant (and very rarely Irma) was always there at eight in the morning served as a better alarm clock than anything else. After all, he had no idea how long they were required to stand out there even if he didn't show, so he certainly didn't want to sleep in late and make someone stand out there waiting for him indefinitely.

Of course, he didn't really like getting up this early in the morning, but having done it so many times recently, he could definitely say that he was getting used to it. Truth be told you could acclimate your body to any time frame if you wanted to. He had just never borne any strong desire to train his body for mornings after he had lost his initial ability to do it.

At least now he managed to get a few good sunrises to watch.

Ultimately he got to the door of his room just a few minutes after waking up, and as always, a servant was there waiting to take him to breakfast. At this point he definitely could have made it to his usual dining area just fine, but he wasn't going to refuse the aid of a willing helper. It was just too bad that it wasn't Irma, as her guidance to the dining area usually comprised half of the total time Church saw her in one day.

Either way, he arrived at his usual place of breakfast, alone once again. Occasionally Aldra would already be there, but only when her duties didn't trouble her this early in the day, and unfortunately they often did.

He forewent pancakes this time, if only because he had chosen said food item more than half of the time for all of his breakfast escapades, and instead went with a simple muffin.

As always, the room in which he dined felt too large for a single man, but thankfully Church wasn't paying it much mind right now anyway. His mind was on other things, namely the one current companion he had that he knew next to nothing about. At this point it almost felt like a personal achievement to be on good terms with any woman he spoke to for more than an hour. He would have honestly felt somewhat insulted if he had someone willing to ignore him.

All things considered, the very first problem was just finding out where Irma liked to be, because he couldn't very well get her to open up to him if he couldn't find her in the first place.

Obviously he could just ask Aldra for the information he required, but honestly that felt like cheating. Surely, if he couldn't even figure out enough about her to locate her on his own, then he really had no right to try and get to know her better anyway.

And unfortunately, even though Church could hazard a few guesses as to where a woman like Irma might spend her free time, he still wasn't acquainted with the castle well enough to pick out those kinds of places. Sure, he could think of a few of them in the areas he had discovered himself so far, but the castle itself was massive; he had probably only seen a small fraction of it so far, and Irma could have resided anywhere in the gigantic complex.

Of course, thinking of it like a game of hide and seek, Church wondered if this made him kind of creepy. After all, if a girl wanted nothing to do with him, he really shouldn't have been trying to force himself on her right?

But then again, Church didn't get the feeling that Irma outright detested him or anything. Even if she didn't like him either, it was just neutrality, and maybe a slight bit of interest in their similar professions. In that case it was alright to try and get on her good side right? If she actually made it clear that he was truly bothering her then he would of course back off. He wasn't that kind of guy after all.

Truth be told Church felt a little strange considering this so heavily. After all, despite being in relative safety right now, he felt as though there were many grave and serious things that should have been on his mind at the moment. As always, the fate of his sister was present, even though Daedalus had told him that she was safe. Perhaps the issue was that Daedalus had not spoken to him in quite a long time. Church would have liked an update, even if nothing had changed.

And of course there was the whole mess of confusion with Airi. Having led an unintentionally solitary life due to being in the military at such an unnaturally early age, Church had never actually been outright liked by a girl in a romantic sense. Or at least, if he had, it hadn't been obvious enough for him to catch on to those feelings. Mission had always said it was odd, that he was so good with girls yet had never had a girlfriend. Church had always just chalked it up to being busy. He was often deployed somewhere or the other before NOVA, and immediately after the global catastrophe, no one had exactly been concerned with romance, least of all the handful of surviving soldiers like him, who had been desperately needed to maintain some semblance of order. Compiling that on top of his psychological troubles at the time, and Church didn't find it nearly as surprising as Mission that he had never had a relationship with a nice girl somewhere.

Point being was that it had never been so downright clear that someone had romantic feelings for him. He was grateful that being in this world was relaxing and peaceful enough to let him finally have a somewhat 'normal' life, but he didn't really know what to do.

If the situation hadn't been so complicated, maybe it would have been easy. He definitely liked Airi as a woman after all, alongside thinking of her as a good friend and a wonderful person. In fact, he couldn't think of a single reason he would have rejected her, if only she had stuck around. That was the heart of the problem after all.

The fact that she had likely spent their entire time together lying to his face didn't sit well with Church at all. Deep down it actually pissed him off, even though he told himself that Airi was far too kind to lie for any truly malicious reason. Still though, he didn't think he would be able to forgive her until she finally gave him the truth. And seeing as how she hadn't told him anything at all before disappearing on him, it didn't seem like the secretive redhead had any intention of doing that anytime soon.

Perhaps, in its own way, seriously worrying about love was just as silly as worrying about becoming friends with a royal assassin. One would think that finding a way back home would be the top priority for someone lost in another dimension, but Church had long since admitted to himself that he had no desire to return to his world.

So he cut himself some slack in worrying about things like this for now. With such a small amount of enjoyment and fulfillment in the life he had lived, he felt like he deserved to dwell on making friends, spending time with beautiful girls, and just anything in general that made him happy. After all, who knew if he would find himself stripped of it all a second time? He might as well enjoy it while it lasted.

So yes, even though it might have been seen as too relaxed for his overall situation, Church decided to worry about his relationships, whether it was making friends or trying to work out a potential romance with someone that wasn't even around. Besides, hadn't Daedalus said something about getting on good terms with people being a major part of why he was in this world? If that were true, Church had to admit he was doing a pretty damn good job.

He didn't know how many people he was close enough with to call into battle or anything, but if he wanted to be optimistic, he had a girl very talented with a scythe, an Elf with a thousand years of combat experience, an angel, a ninja, a pyromancer, and possibly even the queen of an entire nation on his side. Hell, wasn't he actually doing amazing here? Theoretically he could field a really powerful fighting force.

Of course, this was under the very unlikely assumption that he could get those people to assist him in some sort of life or death struggle. To be fair Church was fairly certain he could count on Alleyne and Nowa for that, as they practically had done such a thing already. He could probably rely on Airi as well, and Nanael was probably likely. But other than that he didn't know who he could rely on explicitly to fight beside him in whatever conflict Daedalus had in mind.

Church's train of thought was stopped cold only because his brain was forced to register that he no longer had any breakfast to eat. But, on the bright side, being brought back to the present allowed Church to put his mind back on what he felt like doing today, which was of course trying to endear himself to Irma. At this point he could rationalize it as trying to nab more allies, but he honestly didn't care about that. It was just a personal challenge at this point.

Seeing as how Aldra didn't show her face that morning, Church decided that there was no point in sticking around the dining hall. He felt bad for leaving his dishes around, but it was honestly more effective. Besides, this was what the servants around here were paid for right? Assuming they were paid...

Church purged that thought from his mind as he left the dining hall and stepped into the corridor that lead up to it. Having set his mind to a certain mission today, he decided to devote his full attention to that, and of course, the first step was to deduce where he could find Irma. Relying on random encounters wasn't extremely conducive, especially since it meant he would have to skew all of those encounters towards 'endearment.' Even if the end goal was to get on mildly amicable terms with Irma, he already knew that she wasn't the type of person that wanted every conversation to be about her. So he needed to leave space to have mundane, pointless conversations in which she could relax.

If he knew where to find her on a regular basis he could devote some time to revealing conversations, and more importantly, probably learn a thing or two about her.

It occurred to Church that Irma could very well be outside the castle or even Gainos itself at any given time, seeing as how she was constantly carrying out tasks for Aldra, but that was a problem he really had no control over and couldn't do anything about. He had no choice but to operate as though Irma was around... somewhere.

Over the course of his time here, Church had seen many other women dressed in ways quite similar to Irma. None of them were the same, but their attire was still obviously of the same cloth. Kind of like modified uniforms or something.

It had raised the question of what Irma actually was a part of. At first Church had figured that she was Aldra's vassal or something, but now it seemed like she was part of some sort of special group. Obviously Irma was still a personal friend of Aldra, but she clearly wasn't alone in whatever service she provided.

Irma had already identified herself as an assassin, so did that mean the dozen other women Church had seen around the castle were all assassins too? Did Aldra just have an entire brigade of assassins? Honestly it was kind of troubling to imagine that being the case. Aldra seemed like a very benevolent and kind ruler, but she certainly wouldn't have had a special assassination force if she never used them right?

Did she have such an unquestioned and praised rule because she had all of her opposition and dissent eliminated or something? That did seem like the kind of thing that a ruler would do, but he couldn't imagine that Aldra would do that. Or, rather, he didn't want to imagine it. He supposed he could ask her at some point, or maybe ask Irma instead, but he didn't know if that kind of question was off limits.

Besides, did he really want the answer? If he found out that Aldra really did just assassinate people left and right, his entire view of her would change. He certainly wouldn't feel nearly as friendly towards her... in fact, he'd hardly feel safe in this castle at all.

But hey, he would wait until he actually found out the truth. Maybe Irma and her cohorts were assassins, but maybe they only assassinated actual threats to the government or something? Although that was certainly still questionable...

Deciding to bury these thoughts instead of entertain them any longer, Church set about finding one of these women he had been thinking about. He had no idea how amiable they would be to a stranger like him, but he was hoping that they would at least be a little open to conversation considering his quite prestigious status as the Queen's guest. Being welcomed into the fold by the top dog herself really did do wonders for your reputation.

As he searched around marble pillars, crimson curtains, and spotless stone floors for a few minutes, Church was surprised that he had not located one of the women he was looking for yet. There did seem to be a very large number of them in Irma's unit, and for most of the days Church had spent here, he did usually see several of them, always in a hurry to accomplish one goal or another.

For such a large castle, it was actually more crowded than Church would have imagined from the outside. Naturally there were a lot of servants of various natures, as well as Irma's type moving about. But there were also many standard soldiers throughout the place. Their crimson armor actually blended quite well with the castle interior, and Church couldn't help but wonder if Aldra had done that on purpose. Then again, considering her own attire, perhaps she just well and truly loved the color red. Had he earned bonus points with her for his jacket?

Despite spending a little more time than he had expected to, Church did eventually find one of the people he was looking for, though it was in fact two. Two women dressed similarly to Irma, which was about where their similarities ended. One was brunette and the other blonde, but compared to the types of women Church had encountered so far, they were relatively normal. He felt kind of like an ass for saying that, but after Alleyne or Nyx or literally any of the girls he had spent a decent amount of time with so far, average really did mean just that.

Still, their uniforms were curious, because they were well and truly unique to the women themselves. One sported a top that covered her midriff entirely, and the other girl had settled for one sleeve only. Why they were allowed to modify their dress was a point of minor interest, as the answer could reveal a little bit about Aldra if it was her call. Maybe she highly valued means of self-expression?

Either way, that was another question he supposed he could ask Irma if he actually managed to hold a conversation with her that wasn't about killing things.

Considering their professions, it didn't surprise Church that his approach was noticed while still far off. Still, the women really just looked confused as to why he was clearly heading for them more than anything else. At any rate, it didn't look like they were going to reject a question from him.

However, what Church didn't expect was the way both women bowed to him once he got close. Honestly the movement was so unexpected that he forgot to get the first polite word in. Being treated with reverence wasn't exactly something he had experienced before.

Oddly enough, he was pretty certain he didn't like it that much.

Seeing as how he had been stunned by their unexpected actions, the brunette spoke first. "Good morning, sir. How may we assist her Majesty's honored guest?"

Apparently his situation carried more perks than he had thought. "Uh, i-it's nothing major really... am I uh, allowed to ask where Irma might be?"

Now that he had asked it, Church realized there were some problems with this line of questioning. While it was obvious that Irma was personally important to Aldra, that didn't mean anything about her position in her personal unit. What if she were a grunt few people knew? Or what if the unit was so large that the chances of these two knowing who he was even talking about was slim? Ultimately, he supposed he still had no choice but to ask.

Either way, the answer he got from the blonde one wasn't to his question anyway.

"If you require assistance, either of us is capable of doing so, sir."

"I appreciate it, but I don't actually need any help... I just wanted to talk to her. If that's allowed...?"

The two women exchanged glances with one another, apparently confused as to why Church was so hellbent on Irma in particular. Despite being the Queen's essential right hand, she didn't actually have a very good reputation. For one, being the Queen's favorite often embittered others, and that was on top of her race, which many Farillians detested after the war. Still, Irma had bested almost all of the Fang members in single combat (and outnumbered in some scenarios), so she at least commanded respect among those ranks.

That didn't explain why the Queen's guest wanted anything to do with her, but considering his status they were obligated to fulfill his request to the best of their abilities.

"She always trains first thing in the morning. However, there's no telling where she might be doing that. At times she'll use the appointed area in the barracks, but I believe she makes use of the gardens sometimes as well. Perhaps it would be best if we located her and sent her to you?"

While that was technically the most efficient course of action, Church knew it didn't suit his purposes. The last thing he needed to do was drag Irma away from a routine she clearly thought was important. After all, he didn't want to irritate her beyond the level of her being spoken to. He didn't really think he could go about his business without her irritation at all.

On the other hand, Church was surprised to learn that there were gardens here. He had always thought that gardens were a required part of a royal palace, but considering the very unique nature of this castle, he had been left thinking that there weren't any. It was kind of up in the air and all.

That said, there was no guarantee that Irma would be there, but he was now interested in investigating the gardens anyway. After all, even though the view from his room was downright breathtaking, it was still the same view. Aside from painting it in different lights, it was the same subject to work with. And seeing as how he hadn't really built up the confidence to try a portrait yet, he could use some new landscape material.

"Could you direct me to these gardens? I haven't seen them yet."

Considering the nature and scope of the castle, Church had no choice but to accept the navigational aid of at least one of the women he had pestered for assistance. It was unfortunate since he hadn't wanted to be a bother or anything, but since the trip took a good ten minutes through way too many twists, turns, and staircases for Church to bother keeping track of, he at least made sure to be openly grateful for the blonde's time before letting her know she could leave him to his own devices.

Left at a door that really looked no different than any other one around the palace, Church felt as though it couldn't really lead anywhere more majestic than where he had already been, but he was pleasantly mistaken when he finally made his way through the portal.

Surprisingly, the first thing that caught his eye wasn't any part of the myriad array of foliage in his view, beautiful as it may be. No, what caught his eye the most was the lack of any discernible horizon. He supposed it was something that few people though about, but that slight curve of the earth that you always noticed while on the ground was what really made you feel like you were restrained, though not always in a bad way. It was when you were high in the air, when there was no horizon at eye level, but rather an endless expanse, that really provided that sense of freedom and release. Having that endless expanse at eye level made you feel like a part of it. And while that was breathtaking in and of itself, being able to see past the trees, the fruit, and the flowers into an infinite sea of clouds was kind of nerve-wracking as well.

Of course, this terrace garden was far from small, so there was a decent amount of ground between himself and that naked edge. Moreover, that distance was filled with dozens of species of plants, most of them flowers and fruit trees, that wove around statues and fountains of various designs. Once he got used to the altitude (and probably the lack of a railing) Church could see himself spending a lot of time in a place like this.

But while it was beautiful, and he would certainly come back here at some other time for a hopefully good painting or two, his primary objective for the day was still unresolved, as far as he knew. The garden was quite large, so it wouldn't be a stretch that he couldn't see someone from where he was, but unless Irma was training her stealth skills for some illogical reason, he definitely should have heard physical training of any sort if it was taking place here. Then again, what kind of training could Irma do here anyway? It hardly seemed like she could mar the trees with knife marks or gashes.

Cataloguing yet another curiosity in the back of his mind, Church decided that he may as well explore the area while he was at it, since it would have been a crime to ignore nature's beauty in this case.

Following the unmarked yet obvious paths around different trunks and bushes, he wondered if this was the kind of place Alleyne would appreciate. It seemed kind of racist to think so, but she seemed to have quite the fondness for nature of any sort, in the typical 'Elves that live in a forest' type fashion. That was just an assumption on his part, as she had made it very obvious that the trees of Syrinidell were highly valued, but maybe that was just because it was her home? Maybe this garden would be an abomination to an Elf because it was man-made or something?

Besides, maybe he was making too many assumptions based on fiction from his world. Sure, the Elves lived in the woods and isolated themselves, and the Dwarves lived in mountains and made weapons... but that didn't mean anything right? After all, as far as he could tell Echidna didn't give two shits about nature. Not that he had gotten to know her very well during their brief encounter.

Truth be told though, he couldn't see anyone hating this place at all. Hell, even Elina would probably admit that it was beautiful, even if she felt the uncontrollable urge to insult or punch him for asking such a question in the first place. But she did seem like the kind of person that would take it in for two seconds only to claim that she had seen enough before moving on. She struck him as that kind of girl, not taking a real interest in anything that didn't concern her.

That kind of life honestly struck Church as pitiful. It was no wonder she was so bitter and angry all the time, if she never allowed herself to just enjoy the things that really made life worth living. Maybe that was the kind of thing he should have talked to her about instead of their little mind games during their jaunt in the ravine.

Despite their last encounter having been awhile ago, and hostile on top of that, Church often found himself thinking about Elina. Not in the same sense that he thought of any of the other girls of course. He wanted to reunite with his friends and acquaintances because they were exactly that. He almost wanted to see Elina again just because he felt compelled to help her somehow. She was definitely a bitch, no doubt about that, but he felt as though it was a product of her shitty life more than anything else.

Of course, she was a noble, so it wasn't like she had lacked the niceties of life, and anyone poor, starving, or homeless would probably feel absolutely no sympathy for someone like her.

But maybe Church had seen enough of this kind of thing in his own world. Before NOVA, it had been the era of pop sensations, rock stars, and actors. They hadn't been nobility of course, but they had possessed every material thing they could possibly want, along with prestige and luxury. And yet, so many of them were revealed to be depressed, often times only after they had taken their own life.

Church couldn't imagine that it was too much different in Elina's case. Sure, she had all these nice things; a title, a castle, servants, wealth... but what did any of that really amount to if you didn't even feel loved? None of her privelages would ever fix the problems she had with her family. They would never entice someone to see the woman beneath all of it and see that she was lonely and hurting.

Since he had really encountered her outside of her station and her luxuries all those times, Church had been able to glimpse the person hiding behind those things, and he just felt bad for her, mostly because she hadn't realized that she could probably be happy if she just looked beyond her immediate surroundings. Sure, he imagined that her situation with her sisters and father would always be a point of bitterness unless they were rectified, but Elina seemed to think that there was nothing else to love or appreciate in life. If she just realized that there was, she'd probably stop being so hateful and bitter.

As he glanced over the edge of the terrace, Church staved off his moment of vertigo by laughing at his own thoughts. Or rather, laughing at the way he knew Mission would have identified them.

'For someone whose only friends are his sister and his rifle, you sure do play at psychologist a lot, y'know?'

With less life threatening situations afflicting him than usual, Church often found himself thinking of his sister. Not that she had been absent from his thoughts before, but the many situations that had required some sense of self-preservation had usually kept him grounded in that regard. Now that he had time to breathe and mentally wander, it often occurred to him just how big the gap in his life was without Mission around.

She was always the person that helped him enjoy life the most. The one that always seemed serious on the outside, but was willing to do silly, stupid things with her adopted brother just for fun. Those types of incidents had decreased after NOVA, but her ability to make him smile and laugh even in the worst situations had been even more prominent then.

Thinking about it now, he would have really liked for all of his new friends to meet his sister. Sure, Mission would probably be downright flabbergasted at the kind of company he had kept these past moths (she'd probably ask if they had been brainwashed or held against their will or something), but ultimately he thought they would all get along well. Once she was comfortable enough in this vastly different dimension, Mission would lower her soldierly guard, and at that point Church was sure she would be just as well-liked by everyone else as she was by him. Her fun and daring side really was infectious, whenever she actually decided to let it out.

"Surprise."

Despite the absolute deadpan tone this word was uttered with, the sudden nature of it caused Church to jump, and naturally, he happened to be leaning over a ledge at the moment. His heart nearly leaped out of his chest as he imagined falling to his death, but thankfully a steel grip caught the collar of his jacket before he leaned too far forward.

Recalling the absolutely unyielding figure he had crashed into several days prior, Church could only imagine that his savior (relatively speaking since she spooked him in the first place) was Aldra. He didn't know any other woman with that kind of solid strength to her body. Shizuka had proven herself to be pretty strong and Nanael was obvious, but somehow it wasn't the same. Aldra's strength felt like a wall. Completely capable of withstanding strain for any amount of time.

Of course all of this was secondary to the fact that he had nearly fallen thousands of feet to his demise, and for a split second he forgot exactly who he was talking to.

"Jesus Christ Aldra, what the hell?! That wasn't funny!"

Turning to face her, Church saw that the expression on the Queen's face was completely neutral. "I agree. However, jest was not my intention."

"You literally said 'surprise.'"

"Only because you were so deep in thought that no matter what I said, you would have been startled regardless. The words themselves were practically irrelevant."

Even though she was probably right about that, Church still felt a little irritated about it. Still, he couldn't really get mad at her. Aldra always seemed to be a rather innocent person; he knew she wasn't, but the constant expression of neutrality made it seem like she didn't understand situations like this. Even though Church knew she did.

So he just sighed, calming his beating heart from a near death experience. "Did you come out here to find me specifically or is this just a coincidence?"

Aldra looked mildly amused by his first assumption. "I'm afraid it's coincidence. I'm actually here for something related to work."

Considering their location, Church was actually curious how this was the case. "Work? How so?"

Aldra stepped beside Church so she could see the west side of Gainos clearly. She analyzed it for a moment before pointing a finger at a particular section. "The Merchant Guild has been pestering me for an expansion of one of their bazaars. I have already informed them that I have no intention of evicting citizens from their homes to expand a commercial district, but they are very persistent."

Church tried to follow her finger to whatever point she was directing his gaze, but honestly he couldn't pick out whatever she was indicating in the sea of red rooftops. "I don't understand; you're the Queen. This isn't a democracy right? How can these people continue badgering you if you've already told them no?"

The snow-haired ruler sighed. "It's my own fault; Jauffre has told me that I am far too lenient. Were I a more ruthless ruler, people like that wouldn't dare continue to challenge me after I've spoken. But, that is not the type of ruler I wish to be. Ruthlessness may ensure obedience for a time, but it always breeds bitterness and contempt in the end. I'd rather not spark a revolt because of poor leadership."

Hearing her speak like this, Church once again thought back the assassin brigade Irma was apparently a part of. The more he thought about it, the less likely it seemed, but wasn't this the best time to just get the real story?

"Er, Aldra, I hope you don't take this the wrong way..."

The young ruler glanced at him curiously, perhaps because she was under the impression that his next words would be offensive.

"Irma identifies herself as an assassin. And there's lots of other women around the castle that are clearly part of the same force she is..."

Naturally, Aldra caught on to his question before it was actually stated. "You are concerned that I have a league of assassins at my beck and call."

"Well... yeah..."

"Your concern is valid. I do have such a thing, after all."

To hear her admit it so bluntly stunned Church for a moment. He had honestly convinced himself that there was no way Aldra could condone such a thing. To hear the exact opposite was unsettling.

"O-oh... I see..."

Aldra probably caught on to his troubling assumption quite easily. "You are of the mind that I use Irma and her cohorts to assassinate people that irk me."

Worried that he had offended her, Church tried to clarify it just a bit. "Well, honestly I convinced myself you didn't, but... what else is a squadron of assassins for...?"

"I think you may have been lead to the wrong conclusion by Irma. It's true that she is an assassin; she has killed many people from the shadows. But she is also a bodyguard, and a spy. The Fang is a special task force that carries out all sorts of missions, and assassination is sometimes among them. However, I assure you that their targets are always selected for the safety of the realm. I do not use them to eliminate people that politically oppose me. The vast majority of the Fang's targets over the years have been warlords, bandit leaders, or rogue nobles planning to wage war with their personal forces. Nothing more."

Church acknowledged that Aldra could very well be lying to placate him, but he instead chose to just believe her, and feel relief at that. "Well that's a relief..."

"I imagine so. However, I highly doubt you came to the gardens to wonder about that. Did you discover this place in your wanderings?"

"No, but I sure wish I had. If I had found it a little earlier I might have already gotten a painting or two done. It's really an astounding place... I never pictured a garden in the sky like this. The view is even better than the one from my room."

"Irma spoke of your request for art supplies on your first day. I must admit, you didn't strike me as the sort for that at first."

"Really? That kind of stings."

Aldra gave him a minute smile. "I did not mean offense. In hindsight I can see it clearly; you're very insightful, which implies that you spend a great deal of time pondering and considering details. At first you struck me as a more curious sort than anything else, one who would move from one point of interest to the next too quickly to bother dwelling on it for long. I am pleased to say that I was mistaken."

Church laughed a little, shaking his head as he eyed one of those massive boulders off the side of the castle. But the sound he made was forlorn. "Well, it's kind of ironic... that eye for detail is shared between both my hobby and my profession. There's actually not much of a difference between snipers and artists you know; it's all about the details. How to best use those details to achieve a very specific result..."

Aldra distinctly remembered the way Church had vehemently spoken about his past career several days before. The tone of his voice now made it obvious that he was outright bitter about it. Honestly it made Aldra quite sad.

"I know this may be overstepping my boundaries since I know very little about your past, but I do not think it is right to feel so hateful towards a talent you possess."

Truth be told Church was mildly offended by such a statement; there was no way Aldra really could understand his feelings on being a sniper. But then again, who was Church to feel that way? He knew he inherently felt like Aldra's experience with killing was almost inferior to his own. But that wasn't fair of him at all. He had killed people one way, and Aldra had killed them in another. If she weren't so unflappable he imagined she could have the same problem that he did.

"You're probably right, Aldra... generally speaking, hating your talents is a big part of ultimately hating yourself. And at one time... not very long ago at all actually, I did kind of feel that way. I mean, I guess subconsciously I always acknowledged that I had other skills. Like painting, I guess. But... I guess in my own world, the only skill that really mattered was my marksmanship. I mean, my entire role in society was being a member of the military. And my entire role in the military was being a sniper. It's different from being a regular soldier. Sometimes a regular soldier has different kinds of objectives. Secure an area. Defend a position. Escort a high value target. But a sniper only ever has one job. The circumstances under which we're killing might differ; sometimes we might even be protecting things, but either way it always entails killing. I guess it just kind of wore me out over time. I-"

"Hold on a moment."

Surprised to be cut off since Aldra was rarely so rude, Church took a moment to stop himself short. "What? What is it?"

Aldra gave him a small smile, but it was distinctly forlorn. "I believe you may have already discerned this, but I'm not, shall we say... 'equipped' to truly help you with this. I can listen, and I will always be willing to do that, but I cannot relate, which is what you need, I believe."

Now that she had brought it up in such a manner, Church couldn't deny that Aldra was probably right. He'd figured out long ago by now that Aldra didn't share his qualms for the absolutes of war. In this one respect she was actually too logical. She was able to mark warfare down to necessity. That wasn't something Church could truly level with, though he was greatly displeased to conclude that. Aldra truly was a great listener, but knowing that she couldn't really understand how he felt kind of weakened the experience.

Fortunately, Aldra wasn't quite done yet. "However, I think there's someone who might be perfect for discussing this with you. She too has lived a life and a career very similar to yours."

While not dense enough to miss who she was implying, Church still didn't see what Aldra was getting at. "Really? Irma doesn't seem to have any issue with this kind of thing at all."

"Well that's hardly a fair thing to assume. It's my understanding that you haven't even spoken to her at length. Can you really learn anything about someone when you've only exchanged a few words?"

It was easy to connect the dots on that, since Church and Aldra seemed to learn more interesting things about each other every day they continued to be friends. It really wasn't right to make any assumptions about Irma with how little Church had spoken to her thus far. He could hardly claim to really understand anything about her.

"Y'know, it's kind of ironic... I was actually looking for her today, before I got distracted with this garden in the sky..."

"I figured as much already."

"You did? How?"

Aldra gave him a little smirk and a sideways glance. "As I said, you have an eye for detail, and you enjoy analyzing and understanding things. I imagine that Irma's distant nature has irked you enough to almost see it as a challenge. It was only a matter of time before you made a move. Besides, you said you did not discover this place while wandering, so I find it safe to assume you were lead here by someone else, and this does happen to be one of the two places Irma spends her morning."

Not for the first time, Church was mildly concerned about Aldra's level of correct deduction. Honestly, was she even capable of making mistakes? She certainly never seemed to guess wrong at any rate.

"To be honest that's exactly it, but please don't tell her that. I don't think any girl likes to be thought of as an accomplishment..."

"I believe you may be right in that regard. Still, I also believe you're invested for more than just the challenge of the ordeal. That being the case I will refrain from petrifying you."

Church would have laughed at the joke, if only he were comfortable in knowing that it was one. He didn't know what Aldra was capable of really, since Nanael had told him once before that the full extent of her abilities was unknown. Still, even if her ability to petrify people was debatable, he was fairly certain she wouldn't actually do that to him...

"Well, seeing as how the cat's out of the bag..."

Aldra gave him one of the most confused expressions Church had ever seen on her face. It was actually kind of amusing, though it occurred to him that this might be the first time an idiom was ever out of place in this world.

"Er, it's just a saying. Anyway, since Irma's not here, this means she's at the barracks, right?"

"Most likely. However, it's unlikely that you'll be able to make it there on my directions alone. Moreover, I do not have time to lead you. I think it would be best if you stayed here. I will direct her to you."

While this was certainly the easiest means of success, Church still wasn't overly fond of the idea. "Hold on, that just makes me seem really desperate..."

"Come now Church, I'm not completely inept. I will be subtle."

Deciding that he had no choice but to trust her on that, Church sighed. "Alright... uh... any tips for this?"

The Twilight Queen gave him that mild smirk again. "You don't really think I will make your job so easy, do you? You are a clever man; I believe you will be fine."

With that, Aldra left the balcony as quickly as she had entered it, leaving Church by his lonesome among the varied foliage of this sky garden. To be honest it wasn't a bad place to be, though he now felt awkward in knowing he had essentially recruited the Queen on a very strange and unorthodox mission of sorts. On the other hand, it was kind of amusing that she was on board. It was like Aldra was a platonic wing-man for Irma. He could almost imagine the two of them working in tandem at a modern bar. Almost.

Considering that he had no idea how far away the barracks was from his current location, Church figured that he could be waiting here for any undetermined amount of time. And that being the case, he decided that he might as well get a good idea of what he wanted to paint from here. After all, that activity made up a decent fraction of his day right now.

It felt weird sometimes to throw himself so completely into a relatively rusty hobby, but he had honestly missed it. Taking the time to consider what would make a good painting meant he spent more time appreciating the world around him, something that had become increasingly hard to do after NOVA in his own world.

Still standing on the edge of the terrace garden, Church only spent a few moments observing the capital city far below him, quickly writing it off as being a poor choice. After all, even though it was an amazing view, from this angle it wasn't all that different from the one in his own room. One of the aqueducts was slightly to the left. That was the most difference.

Instead, he recalled that sense of awe when he had first stepped into the area, that sheer ethereal feeling when he saw trees, bushes, and flowers, yet also the clouds at the same level as everything else. It was that moment that had been truly breathtaking, which meant that it was likely the moment most worth putting to a canvas, if it could be done any justice.

He didn't get to spend a lot of time visualizing how he might go about this, because apparently Irma didn't waste any time in following whatever 'subtle' hint Aldra had dropped for her. Unfortunately, the way she sighed was less than reassuring.

"As I suspected."

Looking over his shoulder to confirm what he already knew, Church spied Irma standing in the entrance to the garden with a very non-enthused look on her face. Clearly the jig was up already, but Church figured it was probably best to just roll with it.

"So, what did she say?"

"Allegedly Alfred had gotten lost out here. In hindsight I should have known better. I have more important things to do than be at your beck and call, you know."

Church smiled apologetically, assuming she was referring to a pet or somethimh. "To be fair, I was planning on coming to you initially..."

This didn't seem to appease Irma in the slightest. "There are also many other individuals capable of providing you with amusement or art supplies. I understand I must be a spectacle for you, but I had judged you as a mildly more considerate individual than this."

With that miniature spiel out of the way, Irma instantly turned on her heel and left the way she came, forcing Church to follow immediately so this didn't all end up a total waste.

"Hey, hold on just one minute! I am very considerate!"

The woman he was attempting to convince did not grace him with a look as she continued down the hall. Getting the cold shoulder was unfortunate, even if it did present Church with a fine view of the world's best cinnamon buns.

"Then why are you following someone that clearly doesn't want to speak to you?"

"Well it wouldn't be right to have you believe such terrible things about me... I mean, it's not like I was hoping to run into you because I need someone to fetch things for me. Moreover..."

Church hesitated at this point, because what he was about to say was technically a lie. He wanted to ask what Irma meant by being a spectacle, because he wanted to say he didn't consider her one. Except, on one hand, she really was. After all, she was a smoking hot bombshell in a medieval stripper outfit, who happened to wear it quite seriously and unashamedly. That alone did make her a spectacle of sorts, but then again, that applied to almost every other woman Church had been acquainted with thus far.

"Moreover...?"

Seeing that he had somehow actually garnered Irma's interest, Church decided to simply push forward. "I was confused as to what you meant, calling yourself a 'spectacle.' It just seemed kind of odd."

Irma stopped in her tracks, leveling an actual expression at him for once. Unfortunately, it was the kind of expression that was asking if he was stupid.

"Have you met even one other person similar to me thus far?"

Church's initial response would have been no, since Irma was definitely an incredibly unique individual, but he got the feeling that she wasn't talking about her personality. Of course he could have said yes, because he got what she was going for, but that wouldn't have exactly been fair either.

"In your world? No. The only other person I can think of that has a complexion even close to yours is Echidna, but it's not really the same. I guess you really are a unique woman around here. But don't worry, girls like you are all over the place where I come from, so there's nothing special about it to me."

Irma might have bristled at the mention of Echidna if only she hadn't been interrupted by the need to feel offended. "Excuse me?"

Naturally Church had caught onto the stupidity of his statement before he had finished uttering the last syllable. But before even apologizing, he had to reevaluate his whole life.

"That... might have been the most idiotic thing I have ever said to a woman. I uh, didn't really mean it like that."

The Fang Assassin before him scowled. "Of course not. I can imagine many other ways it could have been meant."

The sarcasm in her voice was obvious, so Church figured he had to clear things up fast. "Honest, that's not what I meant. I just meant that girls of your skin tone aren't a rarity where I'm from. Trust me, I definitely don't recall any woman of your attractiveness in my world. You know, it's really kind of odd, that fact..."

While Irma's scowl transformed into a slightly less menacing frown, she was obviously still displeased. "Is flattery your means of defending yourself from a woman's scorn? I had honestly thought better of you."

Church's mind drew a blank for a moment as he tried to analyze this new line of thought. Of course, it occurred to him that maybe this did seem like flattery, in a world that was teeming with women of Irma's caliber. Especially if she felt that she was some sort of oddball or something.

"Look, I know you don't like to take the things I say at face value, but seriously; you are way beyond the league of like, any girl I've ever laid eyes on back home. Admittedly you've got stiff competition here in your own world, but that doesn't detract from anything about you. I mean it's probably not any consolation but I think you're extremely attractive."

Glad to have recovered from his earlier blunder with something smooth, Church was nevertheless disappointed when Irma replied. "That really wasn't any consolation at all."

With that she began moving again, and it became obvious that Church was going to have a harder time of this than he had originally thought. Not that he had thought it would be easy. In some crazy sense, Irma was actually an even bigger challenge to ingratiate oneself with than Elina, which almost sounded laughable. At least Elina had weaknesses to relate to. Irma's only weakness was something Church didn't even understand.

But then again, the idea Aldra had put forth was not to bond over mutual faults, but their identical strengths. Naturally Church was a little uncomfortable with it, but he had long since moved past hating himself for the past. He was still a little disillusioned with it all, but not to a really unhealthy extent. There was no reason he shouldn't have been able to discuss the nature of his career with someone cut from the same cloth.

But if he just came right out with that, it would almost sound like he was just using her for some sort of solace in himself. And while that would have been a nice bonus, it wasn't his primary motivation for wanting to at least be friends of some sort.

He briefly wondered if he should cut back on the flirting, but Church honestly didn't think he could manage it. Besides, it wasn't like he was trying to flirt. Heck, he hadn't actively flirted with anyone really. Most of the time he just told the truth. Irma was strikingly beautiful, after all. What was the point in pretending otherwise?

Still, he wasn't sure what he should say now; he seemed to have lost her interest again, even though she didn't berate him for following her a second time. Perhaps she already knew there was no point.

Since they continued to move along unmolested, Church kept his thoughts on his next strategic move, while Irma likely wondered how long he would hound her. Honestly Church would leave her alone if he were nothing but an absolute nuisance to her, but he figured that she hadn't exactly given him a fair chance yet.

Ultimately, Irma ended up leading him back to the barracks of the Fang, likely because she had every intention of returning to the training that had been interrupted. Of course Church didn't know it was the barracks when she went up to the door (why didn't anything have a sign around here?), but she did stop to glance back at him with irritation at that point.

"Are you going to stop following me now?"

Church contemplated whether or not he should comply for a moment, but the decision was easy to reach. "As the Queen's honored guest, am I really forbidden from going anywhere?"

Irma's only response to this was a sigh as she pushed the door open and stepped into an entirely separate wing of the castle. The atmosphere was different immediately; the lighting here was significantly dimmer, and the tapestries themselves were a much darker crimson. Racks of weapons and gear adorned nearly every wall, and just looking at the initial cube of a room, Church could tell that it all just connected to other rooms of the same size and shape, but probably with different purposes.

It was the extremely bare bones residence of a bunch of assassins, that was for sure.

There weren't many of Irma's companions in this first chamber, though the few that were present quickly exchanged their looks of confusion for bows in Church's direction. Like before, he was exceedingly uncomfortable with the idea, but he got the feeling he wouldn't be able to convince any of them not to do it.

Irma pretended like nothing was the matter at all, proceeding to one of the many doors on the right side of the nondescript chamber, quietly hoping that Church would eventually lose interest in his current endeavor. Unfortunately, she could tell already that he was quite a willful person. He had to be, for Aldra to be intrigued by him.

That being the case however, Irma was no different. She could continue to ignore him indefinitely. Maybe. He said interesting things sometimes.

The next room over was one of the strangest Church had seen before, even though he understood it's purpose. It was just the fact that it was so solely devoted to that purpose that caught him off guard.

The large chamber was entirely empty, save for two things; a large rack of throwing knives and other projectiles, and targets. Lots and lots of targets. Some were plastered on the ceiling, others were stuck on odd angles, a few were even hanging from ropes. It was obvious why this room existed, it just struck Church as odd that it was so dedicated to it. Seemed like a waste of a big ass room.

As per the usual by now, Irma wasted no time in securing numerous weapons for herself, ignoring Church's presence entirely. However, in this one instance, the man found that he didn't mind. This was something he wanted to observe quietly, after all.

He had already counted a total of twenty six targets scattered around the chamber, and although Irma was definitely not holding twenty six knives, She was standing close enough to grab more from the weapon rack as her lack of ammunition required it.

Wondering if the goal of the exercise was speed, accuracy, or both, Church watched as Irma leaped into action without any warning whatsoever. Not even a deep breath to calm her nerves, assuming they ever got frazzled in the first place.

The way she twisted in the air created the force she needed to target every side of the room in one movement, though she targeted only six of them at first. Each throw throughout her flourish sliced through the air with perfect precision, though how Irma could have known they hit their mark was up to her own confidence on the matter. After all, she didn't stop to check and see if she had made the bullseye.

Landing back on the ground, she quickly swiped more ammo from the rack before performing another aerial maneuver that gave her enough time to launch another eight projectiles. Naturally, there were all perfect throws as well, but Church had stopped paying attention to whether or not Irma hit her mark. He was too busy watching her, appreciating the full measure of her ability.

He hadn't known she was such an acrobat, that she could move this smoothly. To see such an exotic beauty perform to such an amazing martial standard was breathtaking in its own right, and it served to remind Church that he truly was out of place here, in this world full of amazing people with incredible abilities and skills.

It was no wonder he had been at Irma's mercy on their first encounter. To think, if he had dared try and resist, it would have been child's play for her to crush him even without having the element of surprise.

His thoughts didn't distract him from the way her toned body twisted and corkscrewed throughout the air a third and final time, in a ridiculously intense move that kept her airborne long enough to all of the other twelve knives she had left to throw. And of course, they all landed perfectly on target.

Church was left staring at her in awe as she made her final landing, for more reasons than he could count. It was the first time he had seen Irma looking even slightly out of it, with the way her chest was heaving in an attempt to restore her stamina after that brief but intense exercise. And he was, of course, incredibly impressed by her capability. On top of all of that though, she somehow looked more appealing at this moment than at any one prior to it. Lots of men were put off by competent, strong women for some reason. Church found that a woman like this was infinitely sexier than some wallflower of a girl that was pretty but couldn't do anything of note.

In hindsight, maybe their looks wasn't even half of what made the women of this world so attractive. Maybe it was just how amazing they all were, how reliable and strong they seemed to be. It was a big change of pace from the social norms of his own world, but one he welcomed with open arms.

Besides, all these incredible physical feats of theirs meant they were in amazing shape, so it was two birds with one stone.

Irma had truly forgotten about his presence for the few moments she had engaged in her endeavor, and even a few afterward as she judged her own performance. While she had landed a perfect hit on every target in the room, she'd been much too slow for her own liking, falling nearly a half second behind what she expected of herself.

Still, she failed to berate herself when her sweeping gaze returned to her single member of the audience. What on earth was he giving her that red-faced blank stare for?

"What?"

Having been so lost in his admiration, Church didn't give the cohesive answer he would have liked. "W-what? What is it?"

"You're staring."

"Oh... well, I'll pretend to be sorry. That was really amazing. I can't imagine how you manage to be so graceful even when doing something so physically intense..."

There was the slightest twitch in Irma's expression that could have almost been a smile by some great stretch of the imagination, but her next words convinced Church that he truly had imagined it.

"I imagine that someone of your talents would find it extraordinary. But that's a mark against you, not a credit to me."

Church somehow continued to shock himself. Maybe he had been vilifying Elina a little too much, because Irma was the hardcore queen of ice.

"I'll have you know that my marksmanship could kill a man at distances so great you couldn't even see the target."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, just... you know, with a weapon you've never heard of before..."

"How conveniently dubious."

Wondering if making any headway here was completely pointless, Church nevertheless forged ahead. "You said yourself that I'm too well-versed in the assassin's code to not be one."

Irma's expression was as unimpressed as always. "Yet I never said I believed you to be from another world of some sort. Moreover, you yourself said that you do not consider yourself an assassin."

Realizing that his only option was to go all in, Church steeled his nerves. He didn't like talking about the earliest days of his past, as they often troubled him the most. It was a sudden change of tone, surely, but unless he was completely upfront and honest with Irma he didn't think he would get through to her.

"The first person I ever killed... he was just a kid. Thirteen or fourteen, at most. I looked him dead in the eye before mowing him down. And I told myself I had no choice, but that was just a lie I told myself to make me feel better."

Irma may have felt the urge to doubt this story before it even began, but the look in Church's eyes prevented her from doing so. She had seen that look before. The look of a person that wasn't in the present, but lost in a memory they regretted. She had seen the same look on Echidna's face many times throughout her tutelage. She knew better than to doubt that look, and so she let Church continue.

"I was moving down an alley, having left my previous position because it had been compromised. The entire city was chaotic; a lot of squads had been separated from the main force, and I didn't even really know where I was going. So I was really nervous, moving through enemy territory like that, and while creeping through that alley, this kid ran out the back door of his home. We stumbled right into each other, and at first I was just worried that he would give away my position, but... he was armed."

Confused, Irma dared to make a single comment. "But he was just a child; surely you could have disarmed him without killing him?"

Church merely shook his head in a forlorn manner. "If only. Weapons in my world aren't like yours. Here, a weapon is only as useful as the person who wields it. If you weren't skilled with your knives they wouldn't be that dangerous. Weapons in my world... anyone can pick one up and slaughter a dozen people. Imagine if you could just point a crossbow at someone and fire sixty arrows in a few seconds. Even a child could kill someone with that, right?"

Even though she bore her doubts about such a weapon, Irma held her tongue and simply nodded.

"Exactly. This kid, he had a weapon like that. And of course, I had one too, but I was already prepared to attack, while he had been surprised. There was no way he would be able to get me first if he tried to kill me, so I was hoping that he would surrender, or maybe just run off..."

"That didn't happen."

"No... he tried to turn his frail, small little body so he could point his weapon at me, so I shot him in the face. I just acted on instinct, and pulled the trigger as soon as I realized what he was going to do. I blew a bloody hole right through his eye socket. Pieces of his skull splattered all over the wall behind him. It wasn't even really a conscious decision on my part. I just realized that he was going to try and kill me, and that scared me. So, I killed him first. Some kid that was probably just trying to defend his home or his family in some misguided way. I managed to bury the memory at the time, since I was in the middle of a warzone, but... the rest of the day was just the same. Killing armed civilians left and right, people that probably saw my army as invaders of some sort. Mothers, brothers, children... who knows? I probably killed a few of each on that day alone."

Irma wasn't quite sure what to say to this. No one except Aldra ever opened up to her like this, so her experience in comforting people was highly specialized towards one person. Then again, she got the feeling that Church didn't want to be comforted so much as understood. And maybe he felt that Irma was someone that could.

Thing is, he wasn't mistaken.

"The first time I killed a man... it was right after my brother was murdered. My village was right on the border between the North Realm and Farillia, and unlike our countrymen, we had sporadic contact with our neighbor. They always had large patrol regiments on the border, just in case of course... we allowed one such force to rest in our village during a particularly savage snowstorm. Apparently the Urian tribe caught wind of this somehow, and no sooner had Farillia's soldiers departed than their warriors descended on the village to punish us for sheltering the 'disgusting foreigners.'"

Church was glad to see that Irma was sharing something so personal with him, but the nature of it kept him sober. Having been born and raised in a country that at least promoted military camaraderie, he didn't know what it was like to be so thoroughly betrayed by your own countrymen. Thus, he stayed silent as Irma continued.

"My brother and I were in the market when they stormed the place, cutting down anyone who stood in their way, and burning every building they could. My brother was barely a teenager at the time, but he tried to buy time for me to run anyway. I didn't make it very far before I saw his torso sliced in twain. My small stature would have allowed me escape with ease, but instead I used it to hide. I concealed my tears, content to grieve only after I killed my brother's murderer. With a knife I had taken from the butchery during my hunt, I stabbed him in the spine when I saw the opportunity. I killed two more men in the same fashion, since my height didn't allow me to strike anywhere higher... I was eight when this all occurred."

Church decided against saying sorry, since he knew such a hollow consolation would be worth next to nothing. Besides, Irma wasn't finished just yet.

"For some reason, Aldra herself had been at the border at the time... personally inspecting the lines maybe, because she suspected aggression. Whatever the reason, she brought a force of her own troops to defend the village as soon as she was aware of what was happening. It was... too little, too late, but I at least admired her for her rage. She was truly furious that we had been attacked for our generosity. The Urian tribe was obliterated by her forces just a few days after the raid. After that she swore to rebuild the village and keep it garrisoned with her own men. At that point I decided to swear fealty to her."

With that she was finished, though Church noted that she had neglected to mention her brother a second time. He imagined that she had gone back to cry over him, or maybe she buried the hurt so deep that she had never truly grieved. Either way, she didn't seem willing to share that kind of information, and Church was certainly not going to pry.

"Thank you."

Irma cocked an eyebrow at him, confused why she was receiving gratitude. "For?"

"I know I've been pestering you a lot lately... I'm sorry about that. It's just... you might be the first person I've met that understands this kind of life. Even my sister, being a soldier herself, doesn't really get it. Like I told Aldra, regular soldiers get to feel like true protectors from time to time, but for people like me... it's hard to feel like you're doing the right thing when your whole life revolves around killing people."

The woman he spoke to gave him a measured look, judging something about him, before eventually sighing in some sort of resignation. "I won't pretend to share your qualms with being on the side of righteousness. But... I do understand how it feels to be people like us."

Church couldn't help but smile as she said 'people like us,' even though Irma's expression turned stormy again as she made to retrieve the thrown weapons she could reach.

"I have little patience for small talk and pleasantries. But, if you desire to discuss something serious... I suppose I won't mind, if it's only occasionally."

Before Church could even make some mention of gratitude for her concession, Irma glared at him icily. "Don't abuse my good graces."

Church smiled reassuringly as he figured it was time to make an exit. After all, apparently Irma did have things to do this morning. "No promises. I've used all my willpower being serious today as it is."

Irma was fairly certain that he was joking, but she wasn't confident enough in that to be comforted. "I regret my decision already..."

Her new irritant made no response to that, making his exit from the training room instead. Irma stared after him for a moment, utterly confused as to why he was so hellbent on getting to know someone so icy and defensive, but ultimately she couldn't chalk it up to anything quantifiable.

Maybe he was just a masochist.

When Mission finally laid eyes on the town of Bosk, it was not met with the fanfare she felt it deserved. The town of dark oak buildings with crimson rooftops was mostly nondescript, save for the one windmill it had turning. Honestly she couldn't justify coming all the way here over the course of the past week. Risty seemed to share her lack of enthusiasm, making Leina the only one glad to be in the town.

Though technically, Mission was glad just to be one more step towards accomplishing... whatever it was she was trying to achieve. Heck, she wasn't even fully certain yet. But, anything was better than nothing, and whatever she was doing now applied to 'anything.'

The ill-begotten trio had already entered the town's outskirts, though Risty was just following her two cohorts at this point. She didn't really have anything to do here, so she just kept her sack of treasure close to her chest as she followed Mission, who followed Leina. The blonde was the only one who knew where she was going, having visited the allegedly legendary blacksmith Mission was looking for.

Thankfully Bosk was a relatively small town, and within a few minutes of entering it, Leina had lead them to a large house with an open storefront chock-full of weapons.

"Alright, here we are! It's the middle of the day, so I would think Cattleya is here to manage sales or something..."

Risty eyed the residence in front of her without appreciation, quickly deciding that she had better things to do. "I'm heading to the market. See you guys whenever."

Leina began to protest, but the redhead was already gone. "Why do I get the feeling I shouldn't let her wander off...?"

Mission, ever the practical one, stated the obvious. "Probably because there's a fifty percent chance that she'll ditch you."

The blonde's aghast expression proved that this wasn't that unlikely of a possibility, so Mission gave her permission to chase the redhead, not that it was really necessary. "Go on, I'm pretty sure I can take care of this on my own."

With a single word of thanks, Leina dashed off in the direction Risty had taken, which was suspiciously not in the direction of the market, while Mission proceeded towards the smithy that hopefully held answers for her wayward quest.

However, as she approached, she didn't see anyone; rather, she heard the one that she was likely looking for, but it confused her as to why the rather shrill voice of a little girl could be so knowledgeable about smithing.

"-on top of that, I can't get the steel to fold properly, at least not to a degree where it's as flexible as needed yet strong enough to actually be a weapon. Honestly, I kinda wonder if Church just made this thing up; I just can't think of any way to-"

The diminutive blonde that had been talking to a much larger woman in the corner of the storefront stopped as she noticed the arrival of someone new. And that someone new had a whole lot of questions to ask her.

OK, so I get that it took forever for this update, but now that I'm kinda sorta moved into a new apartment, hopefully I'll be able to get back on track with writing. I know waiting a long time for updates sucks, but unfortunately life has to come first, or I'll end up on the streets.

Look at it this way; if I didn't have a home with internet, you'd never get updates.

Either way, I hope to get back on schedule, now that I've mostly settled down. Here's hoping.