Though their legs were aching as they pressed on down the dirt road toward Floré, their spirits were higher than they had been since the start of their journey. With more than six hours of familiarizing himself with music of the Old World underneath his belt, Ren was able to discover a selection of different music genres that he developed an affinity for— with lofi being one of his favorites.

With the colors of the sky having long since transitioned from blue to a vibrant orange, the setting sun lingered over the horizon— its yellow light casting a shadow over the mountains that reached all the way down to the valley floor. Walking by black silhouettes of sparse coastal-redwoods that were casting looming shadows over the brick-laid road, that they were transitioning over from the dirt path they had been on, Ren and Amerika continued to chat amongst one another while still sporting an earbud in their ears; listening to relaxing music of a begotten era.

Now that they had arrived on a major highway, Ren and Amerika had to take to the side of the road, so as to avoid getting in front of a horse-drawn carriage. With the brilliant light of the setting sun reflecting off of his helmet's interior face-shield, the eleven year-old felt drawn to the celestial body's beauty— the protective eye-wear allowing him to finally study its perfectly orbital shape.

'The sun looks… A lot less enigmatic, compared to whatI've seen in published artwork… It's just a ball of light; it doesn't really radiate an aura, now does it?' Ren thought to himself, while the barely audible whirring noise of his helmet's ventilation system blew cool air against his face and down the back of his head— the electronic symphony of keys being played in tune with groovy percussion and deep bass made the overall experience that much more magical for the entranced boy.

"Holy shite, I'm thirsty as hell…" He heard Amerika mutter from his freed-up left ear;causing him to turn to look down at the hooded goblin girl, and away from the glory that was the setting sun.

"I can attest to that— shame we'll have to wait, huh?" Ren subtly remarked, to which Amerika turned his head over his shoulder to stare up at him through her own tinted goggles.

"Fockin' hate waitin'...Might as well see how much time we're lookin' at, until we can finally nab ourselves some goddamn water," Amerika said aloud to him, before unzipping her duffel bag that she had strapped across her leather-protected chest.

Watching her pulling out her bulky black PDA, Ren looked over her shoulder as he watched her use her thumbs to tap away at its backlit screen; the map application bringing up a simple topography of their vicinity, with the blue dot indicating where they were exactly. "Amerika… I just thought of something just now."

"Aye?" Amerika replied in a somewhat distracted tone— inviting the curious child to speak what was on his mind, as she brought up a touch pad keyboard to begin typing "Floré, Italien".

"You mentioned that your cousin Mili used information stored within the… The "you know what," to create that device," Ren brought up after pausing, as he didn't feel comfortable letting slip the name of the relic he and the goblin were on a quest to retrieve— not when the side of the highway they were walking along had heavy foot traffic.

Nodding her head while letting out an annoyed groan the moment she saw that they were still an hour away from the Eastern gate of the walled-up port-city, Amerika slid her PDA back into her duffel bag as she responded with, "Go on."

"Well… If that information she referenced was from "back then", then… How is the map you've got on that contraption even accurate to the world we're living in now?" He asked, while watching as the three-foot tall goblin girl zipped her bag shut before flinging it back over her back, from where she had it resting along her right hip.

Furrowing her brows while contemplating how to answer Ren's question, while there were so many opportunities for eavesdroppers to tune in to what they were discussing— as the confused stares she had already gotten from passerbyers was more enough to put her on edge— Amerika tapping her gloved fingers against his bandage-wrapped chin, before finally knowing just what to say.

"Remember that "main workshop" that I showed you; the one with all the fancy "glowing windows" and "metal towers with lights"?" Amerika mentioned, to which Ren nodded his helmet-covered head at.

"Yeah, of course," he answered.

"Well, Mili used that space to gather "photographs" of the world, usin' the "stars" above us to compare and contrast the way the Earth looks now, to how it used to looked back then— takin' into account for continental drift, ice-caps meltin', and all that other geographical shite," Amerika explained, before going onto further elaborate with, "Amassin' all that information— along with everythin' she could gather from what's available within today's atlas—she created a "Global Positioning System"..."

"... Hence why her "GPS" works in today's world, just like how the old ones used to "back then"," Amerika finished explaining to the intrigued eleven year-old, and had a prideful smirk across her covered-lips by the end of her response. "Does that all make sense to yew, "Goblin Slayer"?"

Ren was able to tell that she rolled her eyes after calling him by his undercover alias; causing him to stiffen a chuckle, while smiling softly as he finished processing the torrent of information she had just fed to him.

"Yeah, yeah, I… I think I know what you're saying— yeah," Ren murmured under his breath— the small fans blowing cool air against his lips causing his voice to be inaudible to those around him who didn't have sensitive hearing, like Amerika did.

Continuing West along the highway, by the time that the duo finally got in the nearly two-mile line to get through the heavily guarded entrance of the Eastern gate, the oranges in the sky had fully transitioned into pastel hues of purple and dark-blue; the white light of the stars above reflecting off the dark waves of the encompassing sea where the massive drawn-bridge they stood upon overlooked.

Just like the twilight sky above, the hundreds of mercantile ships that were docked along the piers of the trading port had glowing lights of their own; hundreds, if not thousands, of candles lit from within the cabins of the ship were visible through the vessels' windows. With the salty aroma of the sea lingering in the filtered air that he was breathing, Ren and Amerika didn't speak much while standing in line— the slow, and emotionally provoking song that they were both listening to served as enough of a medium for their thoughts to be shared, without either having to say a word about it.

As beautiful as the bustling portside of Floré was, the nearly fifty-meter tall beige-brick walls that towered over the bridge was breathtaking in of itself; even Amerika was impressed with the sheer size of Floré's defenses. Through the several floors full of arrow slit windows, the Eastern wall of Floré shined in a similar fashion as the docked ships down below at sea level; creating an enigmatic draw to the city that drew in those around its vicinity towards its walls like moths to a flame.

When it finally came time for them to be ushered into one of the fifty security checkpoints that were set up in front of the raised iron-clad gate, Amerika already had their firearms disassembled, and her devices concealed in a hidden pocket of her duffel bag. Having purposefully left out their daggers in the bag to give the guards something to confiscate— so as to not stand out as questionable as to why they were traveling unarmed in the first place— Ren went along with the goblin girl's fake-story of how they were adventurers who were there to trade scrap metal they found while clearing out a goblin cave.

Only needing to hide her race, Amerika gave the guard who was in charge of logging visitors her name, and mentioned how she was a "rhea" that had burn scars all over her face— hence why she had on the bandages. When asked to show proof, the goblin girl pretended to be in agony while hesitantly pulling back a bandage— creating a scene by screaming, and making the guard uncomfortable the moment he saw what he figured to be gangrene skin.

"T-That's enough! Y-You've proven yourself genuine, milady; there's no need for you to hurt yourself," the guard holding the list insisted, before making sure to avert his gaze while Amerika feigned being in pain as she slowly put the bandage back over her left cheek.

"Alright, guh… Next?" The guard called out, as he waved for Amerika to walk through the warded archway that all visitors needed to pass through, before being let into the city.

Being experienced with being logged in and out by the king's men, Ren made sure to deepen his voice and speak in short sentences when giving the guard his false identity; subtly ensuring that his bangs were covering his dusty rose eyes, when asked to momentary remove his helmet, to ensure he wasn't a wanted criminal.

With his naturally gray hair making it all the more convincing that he was older than he actually was, Ren was allowed to go through the checkpoint with Amerika by his side. Together, the two walked through the grand-hallway that led them through the nearly sixty-meter long wall; hundreds of chandeliers above shining light down upon those passing in and out of the Eastern entrance.

With hundreds of guards armed with crossbows and halberds patrolling alongside the Eastern grand-hallway, paired with the numerous amounts of carriages and groups fellow pedestrians walking alongside them, Ren couldn't help but to feel a mixture of astonishment and claustrophobia while traversing through what would have been a spacious arched-corridor.

It wasn't long during their walk through the grand-hallway did Ren feel Amerika's small hand grabbing a hold of his, in a similar fashion to how he remembered his older sister doing for him, whenever they would walk through the crowded market at their village.

And while the eleven year-old was under the assumption that she was grabbing him for his sake, the goblin girl felt her heart sinking into her chest; the apathetic bystanders around her beginning to blur away from her perception, as her mind began lingering to that one particular creek, within the outer rim of of the Equipoise Forest.

'Oi, Jag! Wot cha' gonna do wif that lil' green bitch?!'

Shaking the unpleasant memory away, Amerika let out an elongated groan as she squeezed down on Ren's gloved hand. "D… D-Don't lose me, yeah?!" Amerika shouted from the top of her lungs, attempting to drown out her own haunting thoughts, as she focused on the boy instead of herself. "The last thing I want to fockin' do is get bloody lost in this shite!"

Unable to amplify his voice as loudly as she could without straining his vocal cords, Ren acknowledged her instructions by firmly squeezing his fingers back down on her gloved hand— receiving another hand-squeeze back from her, as they braved their way past the indoor shops that were built into the inside of the grand-hallway on both sides, and the thousands of warm bodies around them.

What seemed like an eternity of pushing upstream, Ren and Amerika were finally rewarded for their efforts upon stepping into the far-less populated Eastern courtyard of the city; the relieved companions finally having enough room to stop to stretch their limbs, as the mostly vacant area they were in was lit up by lampposts, strung-up fairy lights, and the light radiating from the interiors of the towering skyscrapers surrounding them.

Once the stress of having gone through the checkpoints and the grand-hall way had worn off, Ren was finally able to breathe in the sights and sounds of the late-night trading hub around them; his starlit eyes marveling at the advanced structures before him, as the full moon lingered above them in the starry night sky above.

"This… This feels like I'm… Like I'm somewhere else completely," Ren remarked in an awed voice; earning himself a chuckle from the amused goblin girl, who had her small hands down behind her lower back to pop her bones.

"Gnuwah…! Aye, of course it feels like that for yew, bruv!" Amerika said with a pompous voice, and let out a sigh of relief as she began relaxing her posture. "From wot yew've told me, all yew've seen in yewr life are either vineyards, or middle of nowhere villages; bet yew've never even been to a city before this, huh mate?"

Shaking his head and validating her assumption, Ren shamelessly admitted, "You're right, I haven't," and paused before asking the goblin girl, "What about you? Ever been to Floré, or any other city for that matter?"

"Pfft!Mate, I've SEEN wot the world used to look like! This shite's nice for wot it is, but none of it can really hold a candle to its predecessors," Amerika doubled down with a prideful tone in her voice, before taking her duffel bag off and setting on the ground to comfortably search through it.

Although Amerika's condescending views on what he saw as a wonder would have been enough to turn anyone off from having a further conversation with her, her mentioning of the Old World only added fuel to the fire that was the boy's curiosity. "Really? And… How grandiose were those cities you've seen?"

Letting out a smug chuckle while taking out her PDA, Amerika began searching for nearby hotels as she replied to Ren, "Bruv, let's just say compared to the likes of Birmingham, Berlin, Naples, and Paris, that all of this is bare-bones level infrastructure."

"Huh…! What I'd give to see a glimpse of that for myself," Ren mused with a note of longing in his deceptively monotone voice.

Standing there awkwardly while Amerika read the names of the available inns in Floré— all of which only had unhelpful satellite pictures from above to go off of— Ren took a moment to imagine what the goblin girl had seen through the Sternengesang, before finally building up the courage to ask, "Speaking of which… Does that device you've got there have any sort of illustrations of those places saved onto it?"

Shaking her head softly, finished mumbling the name of one particular inn that caught her attention, before setting her PDA down in her duffel bag. "Unfortunately, no; Mili wasn't ever one to collect those sorts of things," Amerika replied while quickly reassembling two revolvers within the confines of her bag, without having to actually look at what she was doing.

"Buuuuut~! Mili does have a shite ton of "anime" saved on its drive; I'm sure yew'll be able to get a feel for wot Tokyo used to look like, at least~...!" Amerika offered enticingly, as she handed Ren a double-action revolver.

Sliding the barrel of his firearm first into the leather holster along his hip, Ren smiled at the goblin girl with an appreciative look concealed by his pitch-black face-shield. "You mentioned she had an affinity for "anime" earlier; I can't wait to see what you have in store!"

"Ha! We'll see 'bout that one, mate," Amerika shot back playfully with a note of skepticism in her voice, and handed him a handful of .357 rounds to stuff into the ammo bag he had attached to his leather belt. "Now come along then; I want to get checked in and our shite settled in our room, before we go out for a late-night bite!"

Just as hungry and thirsty as she was, Ren quickly replied back with, "Can't wait," before helping her lift her bag off of the stone-laid courtyard.

Walking along each others' sides while listening to the jazz playlist that Amerika had put on to really set the mood for them both, Ren felt the goblin girl's anxious hand reach towards his as they took to the somewhat densely populated sidewalks.

Unlike Ren— who was too preoccupied with the night life of the trading hub to really be bothered with the sheer amount of people going up and down the sidewalks and street— Amerika was struggling to remain level headed as she and the armored boy walked through the crowds of locals and tourists alike.

Memories of what she felt when she was surrounded by the bandits who took turns assaulting her began to leak into her head; distressing her to the point that no amount of staring at her PDA's GPS, or smooth jazz music could help alleviate for her. Feeling her heartbeat racing as a lingering sense of dread threaten to send her spiraling into a panic attack, Amerika once again found herself needing to feel Ren squeezing down on her hand; finding his caring touch to be the one thing keeping her from having a public freakout, as she vividly remembered the horror of when she and her family got surrounded, in the outer rim of the Equipoise Forest.

'Oi, Jag! Wot cha' gonna do wif that lil' green bitch?!'

'He's dead, he's dead, he's dead; they're all dead— they can't hurt me.'

'Enact my vengeance, of course; it's time that whatever ghoulish entity these little hellions falsely worships bare witness to the horrors done onto my sister.'

'Stop, stop, stop; he's dead. He's gone; you got your revenge, lass— they're not real anymore.'

'Ah, sure thing, Boss! Does that mean we'll get to have a go at her green little cunt as well? Or is this more of a "one-on-one" thing?'

"F-Fock yew… Fock all of yew…" Amerika muttered without realizing that she was repeating her own thoughts out loud; causing Ren to shoot her a worried glance, as the part of her brain that was on autopilot led them down an alleyway, between backs of two large apartment complexes.

'Gentlemen, please. Need you ask? Have I not retold the tragedy countless times before?'

'Earth Mother rest Victoria's soul, Boss; she didn't deserve what those lil'fucking gremlins did to her and your village!'

"Fock yew, and fock yewr dead sister…!"

"... Amerika?"

'Indubitably, men… Now then… All of you who wish to participate in taking back what's rightfully mine may clothe yourselves from the waist down; I, of course, shall be the first to violate this disgusting creature… For Victoria!'

'For Victoria!'

'Stop it!'

'For Victoria!'

'Stop it! Please! Stop it!'

'For Victoria!'

'IT'S INSIDE ME (It hurts so much).'

'Gwuah, mmphh! She's tight… She's crying now.'

'IT'S INSIDE (I don't want this).'

'It hurts you, mmmhh~...?! Doesn't it— hah, ahh~...?!'

'HE'S INSIDE (I'm tearing; I'm bleeding).'

'This is what she felt, ahh…~! This is what you did to her…~!'

'HE'S INSIDE (Save me, God).'

'Ohh fuck…~! I-I'm going to cum…~!'

'I want it to end (End me).'

'Nghh, gwuah~...! Ahhh… Those screams— so grating… Allow me gentlemen to muffle that little cock-sucking gullet of hers, before you all have a slice of my vengeance.'

'[END ME].'

"Amerika!? AMERIKA!" Ren finally screamed at her, as he pulled her by the end over to him, catching her hyperventilating body, as she started to convulse violently while struggling to gasp for breath. Staring down at her while she was unconsciously closing her thighs together as tightly as she could, Ren knew right then what horrors were polluting her disturbed mind.

Caught between a rock and a hard place, Ren remained as calm as he could while the world around him seemingly fell apart; the catalyst for what finally sent Amerika into having a seizure lying ahead of them, next to a dumpster.

Laying in a pool of her own urine and blood was an ivory-skinned girl covered in contusions, appearing to be clinging onto what little remained of her life; her long, unkempt blond hair covering her frail, and scrawny body as she stared up at Ren's concealed face.

Placing Amerika on her back while using his hands to cushion the back of her head from the hard ground, Ren stared back into the pleading blue eyes of the brutally assaulted child; traumatic memories of his own flooding in, as he recalled the way his heart dropped in his chest, when he and Bethany first stumbled upon the goblin's defiled body, slumped over the tree trunk where she had been gang raped by over fifty men.

'How terrible… Even with all of its shining lights, this city's just as cruel as the rest of the frontier is…'

'...'

'Beth… What should I do?'