Starting location, Priestella

Strangers on the roadside had revealed Anyons location if not her destination and the older graybeard walked on without problem as he inevitably stopped from time to time to further enquire as to the whereabouts of that particular wayward soul whos destination to Mirt seemed to be one of random meandering, so common for that girl to explore and leave him wondering.

Of course he had done the same when he had snuck off to visit the play pretties.

The location now was unfamiliar but unmistakably old. Just a glance at the building told a story of slow deterioration that others may have taken as an omen of danger and avoided, his own guess was Anyons confidence would deny that very observation. Not that he had any reason to believe the place was anything but abandoned.
Still, rather than barge in and perhaps interrupt Anyon and her own wayward comforts of the sheets, Mirt merely walked a circuit about the area until arriving at a large wall. The only way in from this location was a window sporting no glass of any kind (likely broken years before by idle teenagers) sitting closer to 10 feet from the ground.
In moments he had a hand hooked over the railing and, with the ease of a man 30 years younger, hoisted himself up and over legs first, hoping he could conceal the landing before anyone noticed.

The hop put him over the lip of the window and into the dining hall.. right atop a massive creature hunched and ready for something. Soaking up the scene in an instant it seemed this wasn't a friendly moment shared between friends.

Strike quickly. Hit hard. Mirt thought as he collapsed atop the gigantic wolf, strong hands grabbing a thick fistful of coarse fur on the creatures neck while his legs hugged the midsection like a vice. In that same instant his right hand came in quick at the only place the wolf creature could easily be harmed.

Fingers outstretched like the point of a spear, he struck hard for the beasts eye and hoped such a monster was deserving of his intervention. Anyon would have to be found later, apparently.

@ZekariVoblis@BrokenPromise

The giant wolf immediately took notice of flame and was prepared to pounce on him. The creature's height and long legs made it very quick, and Flame would not have normally been able to get out of the way. However...

It proved to be a great distraction for Mirt, who was able to jump onto the creature as it ran by the window. The wolf's attention shifted to its newest passenger. It thrashed about, stomping all over the table as it attempted to buck Mirt off of it's back. But it was no use, and the monk's fingers went straight into the beast's eye unimpeded. But it didn't wimpier. The wolf only growled in response.

It seemed like all Mirt did was anger it further.

At this point, the wolf was threatening to trample the two knights and the girl traveling with them. Not that any of them were on the wolf's mind at the moment. It was just building up speed before leaning against the brick walls. If Mirt continued to hold on, he would surely be ground to bits between the wolf and the fortified wall. But falling under the wolf's back paws presented it's own challenges...

For the non-natives, it seemed like the path to the kitchen was clear. And with the knights showing up, this couldn't have happened a moment too soon.

---

Vasilis grinned as he watched the “foreigners” inspect their surroundings. ”It's like this is all new to them or something. They must be from really far away.” He thought out loud. The knight turned to look at Irene. ”Ready to head back?”

It did not take long for everyone to get to the Golden Quarter. Vasilis stepped out of the cab first, and helped Irene, Chieko, Aerith, and Hiro down in that order.

Fritzi nodded along to Hiro's questions. ”Well, if you want to blend in, it's more than just a question of what to wear.” She raised her finger in front of Hiro's nose. ”It's wear you want to wear it!” She cast her hands of to the side, presenting some fine tunics, each dyed a dark shade of red, blue, or green. ”If you plan on venturing into the noble district, clothes like these would make you blend right in! They're just the right blend of casual and majesty. Fine enough for a noble, while modest enough to wear anywhere in the city. Classy yet practical! But they aren't strictly a mark of the social elite, merchants and some commoners wear them.” Her hand moved to a row further back, which featured similar outfits. Though even at a glance, it was easy to see they weren't as fine. The stitching was much simpler, and the colors were brighter, but looked washed out and flat. ”These are a bit more comfortable, but are less likely to impress a noble. But these are my fastest sellers. The quality is decent enough for most commoners, and everyone loves the price! Just stay out of the noble district.” She slammed her hands against the counter top. ”But if you really want to blend in, you've gotta accessorize!” Fritzi stopped speaking the moment Hiro's hands dove into his pockets and pulled up nothing. She stared at him, mouth hanging agape. There was a twinkle in her eyes, like any second the flood gates would open. ”...Whaaaaaaat?” But then Irene passed a bag of coins to Chieko, and she sighed. ”Um, yea, I'm sure you could trade with someone around here, but YAY! You have money now!” She winked at Hiro before planting her hands on her hips. ”Trading away your belongings for some quick cash is a slippery slope, and I wouldn't advise doing it.” She folded her arms. ”So, what's everyone buying? And do you have names? I'd like to make you guys repeat customers. I feel like there's a lot I could offer you guys!”

---

The situation thoroughly confounded Aer. There was little to no chance of these people being forieners if they didn't have the paperwork. No one was allowed inside the city without some documentation. It wasn't a sure thing, but it was highly unlikely.

They couldn't have been bandits. Firstly, the outfits really drew too much attention. That wasn't something a bandit would wear. Even if they did, there was no reason to come prepared with such a lame story. It was also extremely risky to present a magical device that they had stolen from one of the locals. They also outnumbered her, and had plenty of opportunities to go for their weapons.

They might have been cultists. This was a theory that was showing a lot more promise But she had heard that they were fear mongers who often wielded powerful magic. At least when travailing in a group, it made sense that one of them would be strong enough to protect the others. The only thing that might have made sense was for this demihuman to secretly be a cultist in disguise. But there was no reason to leave his side and surrender to Aer. Even if this was all just a ruse to get Aer surrounded, there were plenty of hostages around. If they were willing to take advantage of the situation, there were plenty of avenues of escape. But they had intentionally separated themselves from their savior to surrender to Aer. That didn't make sense to her. The only way it made sense was if they were more scared of this demihuman than they were of the authorities. And they seemed plenty scared of the authorities. However unlikely, they must have been telling the truth.

"Just... Stand off to the side for a moment." Aer walked past the boys and pointed her weapon at Wisp. It was still wrapped up in cloth. "I see you don't have a problem disturbing the peace." She slid her feet apart and landed in a stance, with the shaft of the object resting in both hands. By this point all the bystanders was giving her plenty of space. "I thought your name sounded familiar, but there's no way you're part of the Compass." She fret her brow. "Put out that fire before I do it for you."

Outside Suttlings Basin, Main Road, Priestella -> Golden Quarter, Center Road, Priestella
@Crusader Lord@Ryofu@Althiel@BrokenPromise@liferusher@Tenma Tendo
Deaths: 1

---

Irene quickly solved the money problem by tossing a back of coins towards Aerith. Looked heavy. She cast a glance back to Irene. Well, if she was offering. Wasn't like she had much of a choice anyways. Continuing to check out the clothing, Chieko frowned. What should she wear? She wasn't some...fashion genius. Typically her little sister chose her clothes for her. Like the scarf. She was terrible with this sort of thing. Fritzi seemed really enthusiastic about getting them to buy something, too. "Something warm." She replied to Fritzi amidst her flurry of rather overenthusiastic words. "Don't like col-!" Before she could finish her sentence, someone ran smack right into her.

Who. Would. Dare.

For a brief moment, Chieko was incredibly annoyed. She straightened herself, swiftly turning to exact vengeance on the poor fool who would so much as dare to lay a single hand on her -

"G-gomenasai! Lady-san!"

Her righteous fury was stopped immediately in its tracks. The small girl was immediately followed by another dove-like girl. Chieko fell silent for seconds after they apologized. They. Were. Absolutely adorable! Chieko's face brightened, reddening slightly. Aaaaah, could it be? Could it really be? She was the perfect little sister looking type person! Ah she just wanted to hug and cuddle and -ahem.

"Ahahahah," Chieko laughed nervously, face red with mild embarrassment.
"I suppose someone as great as myself can be merciful on you just this once as long as you watch where you're going later." Chieko replied in a fake, easily seen through haughty manner. She began fidgeting lightly, not even her loner chunni tendencies being able to hold back the next action. She reached out, and pat the small girl right on the head.

Someone may want to calm the Chunni down.


Vertti household
@Tenma Tendo

---

"Hehe, make it snappy, little rabbit!" She called after Grisaia, rolling over on the couch and stretching her arms and legs up into the air. So comfy~! Living in a mansion like this was certainly luxurious. Ha...if she retired, she could perhaps afford a place like this herself, but such a life was a dream. Contentment like that wasn't for her anyways. Scratching the back of her head, she contented herself with idly waiting for Grisaia to return with the tea.

She was not expecting that question when he returned. She blinked, ears twitching in thought. Oho. Now this was delightful...and potentially useful. Vertti told him that, huh? Well, she wasn't wrong. She wasn't too privy to Grisaia's activities when he wasn't helping around the manor, but she was honestly pretty sure he didn't have any to begin with. Well, this certainly would be fun.

"So," Mie's mouth curled into an impish grin as she replied. "You're asking me on a date. And here I thought the shy little rabbit didn't have any confidence. I'm impressed." She took the tea, still grinning like a mischievous fox. It was difficult to tell if she was being serious or simply teasing him more. "Sure, I could show ya a good time...but you might not be able to handle it. I'm having a...business meeting of sorts later tonight, but if you want I could spend the rest of the evening with you. I came to play with the rabbit anyways."

Flame Brooks

And now the Knights from before, accompanied by a female in a Japanese Monk outfit, had entered the room, although Flame recognized that only after it was apparent that the Monster Wolf's attention had been diverted. Another monk, this time a male, then began attacking said Monster Wolf. The boy looked at Alistair, saying, "I think this might be the best time to flee; we have a straight line to the kitchen."

The young man's trust of Alistair had begun to cement itself despite the short time the two had known each other; Flame was starting to ignore 'Father Whiskey' as the latter seemed to be ignoring them. But nevertheless, Flame knew that 'Allie' (a nickname he'll never use in public) had a rivalry with the Blonde Knight with the arrogant grin, and was somewhat afraid that this might cause some new incident.

But this fear was somewhat dampened by the fact that 'Allie', for all his arrogance and blather and posturing, wasn't actually stupid; this might have mystified Flame if he had the time for, well, not trying to get away from the Monster Wolf. As it was, he was spending a few brief moments to wait for Alistair's lead, then see if 'Father Whiskey' was still following them, and make sure the Knights were not going after the three.

And once he got the sign from the blonde, Flame would run. Run as fast as he could.

Ashton Andrews

"Of course, Ms. Pacifica!" the young man said as he stepped aside to one of the remaining clear spots; hopefully the others were close by.

Ashton followed Aer's instructions, even as the adventuress seemed intent on starting a fight with Wisp. He tried to stand beside Kimura and Aaron if they were near and wait for what happened next. At the same time, he noted how 'Ms. Pacifica' spoke about a group called 'The Compass', and in a positive way, too. Were they magic-users of some sort? Nevertheless, Ashton saw how Aer seemed to be challenging Mist to a fight; part of him hoped none of the two would be seriously hurt, while another part of him wanted to see how much magic and special abilities would be used in such a battle; that ought to be useful for their next 'reset'.

For Ashton had resigned himself to dying this round. This was not an easy decision, but part of him knew he should stand with the Japanese Boy and the Chinese-American no matter what. As for the Scandinavian... Ashton suspected they'd meet her again once the timeline had reset; he didn't believe for a single minute that this was a one-time only deal - he was conversant with his over-used and over-dramatic tropes! And as life had begun to shape itself around said tropes, it was needed for him to be genre savvy.

He looked towards Kimura and Aaron, asking, "So, I introduced myself earlier; can you two do so as well?"

After they had gotten out of the alleyway Eiko was already mentioning something about spending her money on something fun to buy. Aki didn't want her to buy anything if it was for Aki. The money could be spend in a better way then simple talismans and stuff. Off course Aki liked simple stuff like that but she wouldn't get that right now if people were litterally starving.

Once Aki had stopped in her tracks to tell Eiko about the foreigners that probably wouldn't want to get near her Eiko gave her some hope. And she was right. She probably shouldn't judge others if they will like it to talk or not. Yet it was still scary to approach someone after having experienced so much in the past.

Eiko briefly mentioned Od Laguna, Aki did not believe much of Od Laguna but did not say any more seeing how Eiko did seem quite protective of Od Laguna.



Aki and Eiko browsed through the shop shortly before Aki fell against Chieko and deeply apologised. To Aki her surprise Eiko immediatly bowed with her like they had been acquaintances for years. This was new for her. Aki flashed a brief smile towards the priestess before continuing to worry about the girl in front of her.

She was about half a head larger then her and wore weird clothing. She did seem reservered and gentle. The chuuni started laughing quite awkwardly. Aki tilted her head in confusion, why was she laughing so weirdly? Did Aki do something funny? Was there something on her face?

Strangely enough this girl simply went ahead with the logicial reaction after laughing so strangely and told Aki that she would forgive her this time if she would pay attention next time. Aki swiftly nodded and gave a smile towards the girl.



Aki was about to walk away but strangely enough the girl suddenly put a hand on Aki her head. Aki jumped somewhat but she felt that it was not meant in harm to her. She felt the hand softly patting her head, it felt nice, she did not feel afraid for this girl. Well atleast for now.

Aki gave into the headpat and closed her eyes for the moment. She stretched her arms and fingers behind her back as she pleasingly smiled. It was a little weird for this to go into petting mode all that suddenly but Aki did not get this treatment very often. Chieko her hand would get slightly dirty from the underwashed hair of the girl. She did try daily though but only with water!

One part of Yuuki thought this was really fucking stupid, how the two others somehow built up a sense of camaraderie between the trio to the point where they'd follow him back to the authorities, despite their own fears and worry. Another part was weirdly flattered by this, even if it was really fucking stupid, how Ashton was going to give up his phone filled with happy memories free of charge. Really, it was just really fucking stupid, and Yuuki couldn't understand it at all. After rushing out from the main road to the docks, they were now just...wasting so much time being indecisive and trying to stay together, when none of them cared about the girl that had ran off before? It gave him a migraine. It made him want to let out a long sigh. It made him feel many, many things.

But ultimately, what overrode it all was...it can't be helped.

The red head and the fire spitter were now squaring off, and if anyone wanted to run away, now was the time to. Yuuki slid his eyes from the boy whose tears dried too quickly to the one that was still silent, unresponsive, before rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yuuki Kimura," he replied, looking more tired than anything. "If you wanna run, you could probably do so now. Don't think we'll get killed for handing ourselves over though, you know? So please don't give them any ideas ahead of time about whether or not to execute us. Last time..."

The ice climbed and he furrowed his brow, feeling the dread of the inner death once more.

"...we weren't already detained and were up against like, the fucking Secret Service or whatever."
@Letter Bee

@Ryofu@Rune_Alchemist@Althiel@BrokenPromise@Tenma Tendo@liferusher

---

Aerith gratefully took the bag of offered coins from Irene, smiling but not all too sure how to say "thanks" properly in this world. It was kind of an odd feeling, but at the same time she had...well, she had to say something! Even if she was surprised at this act of kindness, to complete strangers with an "evil" aura of some kind at that. But the gift was welcome, though thoughts of conserving cash properly entered her mind at the same time.

"A-Ah! Thank you very much, Irene! We'll spend this as wisely as we can!" Aerith said, pushing through the things she felt to give a proper thanks as a small but genuine smile came to her face. She then turned to the wolf-eared girl who had been speaking to Hiro, before continuing on as the admittedly cute but somewhat unnerving (due to earlier) worker at this emporium asked for their names and such-

"Ah, my name is Aerith. As for attire, i am myself interested in one of the casual yet majestic outfits you talked about! About how much would it be for something in a darker color? Say, this one?" Aerith said, her free hand running its fingers very gently over the fabric of a dark green dress, good in style yet modest and casual enough to perhaps pass off in any part of the city as had been said. After all, they didn't know if they ever needed to step into the 'Noble District', and despite the higher price it could help to be prepared for the occasion.

Besides, this shade of dark green was a nice compliment to her own hair and eyes! She knew this for sure, at least from a friend's meddling during shopping in the past...er, back home in her original world anywho.

But still, they could get clothes to blend in! This was a perfect first step, though something gave Aerith mental pause. She had no idea what Chieko and Hiro would want to buy! Aerith hoped they had some sense about them, though between Hiro seeming to change oddly around the animal-like girl, and....wait, someone ran into Chieko? Aerith raised an eyebrow at the situation as it unfolded, albeit only briefly, though things only got somewhat stranger. As in, Chieko going into that "odd" sort of mood and patting the human girl on the head, and the other girl seeming to...enjoy it?! Chieko also seemed to be getting excited, and that, well, she had no idea what this could cause really.

"Ah, pardon me. I need just a second, and i'll be right back with you!" Aerith said to Fritzi, almost a tad sheepish in her behavior before moving to the other matter at hand.

Mentally sighing to herself, Aerith reached over with her one free hand and grabbed Chieko's ear, tugging at it a little bit to get the other girl to stop. Aerith's own face was nearly deadpan in expression at first as she moved to address her fellow otherworld companion.

"Chieko, please come pick and outfit. And please don't pet random strangers without permission please, we might seem rude," the dark-haired, green-eyed girl said, before letting out a small actual sigh, before looking over to Eiko and giving a respectful nod, face brightening up into a normal expression of pleasant politeness as she then addressed the dove-winged girl, the free hand letting go of Chieko's ear and coming back to hold the money bag as well, "Ah, i think my friend here will be fine! We're foreigners to this place, along with Hiro over there, so please forgive us in the case we have offended you or your companion here somehow."

Clothes, attempted damage control, shopping, bandits, animals girls, Hiro's seeming fetish, Chieko's odd behaviors like this....yeesh this first day in a new world was going oddly. Not as poorly as the "last life" here, though, that was most definitely for sure. Even the thought of that matter in general still crawled up and down her spine like a tingling spider, or a sudden shudder of the body during cold months. She wasn't even sure they had time for a second life, much less if they did live again....where would they appear? In the same muddy alley? Having to play pretend again to seem utterly new to all of this? She had no idea, and it did somewhat scare her.

But at least she could try to get the group focused on the matter at hand, in case this entire situation has the equivalent to "checkpoints" like some sort of video game. Though whilst the comparison seemed odd, they had already "respawned", so maybe the concepts applied somewhat? Ugh.

To say Grisaia was expecting the response that came from the fox woman was a massive understatement as he was able to guess almost exactly what she was going to say to him in response to his question. Of course it wasn't anything like that, at least for him. He was just fulfilling the orders that were given to him, nothing more, nothing less. And if Mie, someone he could at least call an acquaintance, was willing to help him out, then that's even better.
"I'd really appreciate it if you did." His voice was unfaltering as his hands were placed loosely behind his back. With the Mistress gone, Grisaia didn't have much to do that the other servants couldn't handle, so any time was favorable for him. However the mention of a business meeting did seem to pique the rabbit's interest judging by the twitch of one of his ears.

"A business meeting? Might I ask what for and if you plan on going alone?" He didn't know how Mie did her thing outside of selling things to the Mistress, but if she planned to go alone on a business meeting, with how small and borderline defenseless she was, it wouldn't sit well with the blonde if she went by herself to something like that. Although she might not accept his help, he at least needed to know if she would be safe during the meeting...

---

Not to say that she thought bad of these people, but Eiko remained on guard despite bowing alongside her new comrade, hoping she wouldn't have to do something the other party would regret. As he looked up at the girl Aki bumped into, Eiko could only tilt her head at how...off she looked? Her face was a bit red as if she was just running, and the way she laughed brought a slight smirk to the dove's face. And upon closer inspection, her clothes too were off, but not in a bad way. Being the way she was, Eiko immediately began taking mental notes on how to incorporate some of this girl's style into other clothing she's made.

She was so engrossed in fact that once she came back to reality, she was meet with the sight of the stranger placing her hand on Aki's head. A polite, but mildly confused smile graced Eiko's features as she slowly lowered her staff so that it was now behind her back. This stranger didn't seem so bad...in fact, she seemed to be really nice, letting them get away with Aki bumping into her; praise Od Laguna for her mercy on them!

As another stranger approached, probably in attempts to collect their friend, Eiko didn't bother raising her staff once more. These people seemed harmless enough, if not a bit on the stranger side... The new stranger to join them was taller with more of a...body as well as had eyes similar to her own. She had no mercy for her companion, apparently named Chieko, and did exactly what Eiko expected and tied to get her back to her other friends. As their eyes met, Eiko smiled widely already taking a liking to the girl and her fashion sense.
"Oh no, you're fine! We should be apologizing since my friend bumped into Miss Chieko first. My name is Eiko and this is Aki, it's our pleasure!" She spoke politely and with a faint sense of formality, showing off her pearly whites for a brief second before placing a hand on Aki's shoulder. They probably should get going, but Eiko just had to ask. "You said you were foreigners, right? So where are you guys from? It's hard to guess with the clothes you have on, heh heh." Eiko questioned before letting out a little laugh of her own.

---

This trio of strangers, unfamiliar with their culture, landing smack dab in the middle of enemy territory unaware, and bearing vague auras of malice. Vasilis' musings made her ponder once more: "Where do they come from? Perhaps..." His suggestion to leave them be diverted her thoughts, however. "Mmm-mm," Irene articulated, shaking her head as well. "Let us wait for them to finish. We've taken care of them this long, I don't want to leave them unready and unacquainted."

Just then, a pair of petite figures had stumbled upon their vicinity, bumping onto Chieko and Aerith. While one of them was unfamiliar to Irene, the other not so much. Approaching them slowly as to not frighten them, Irene had greeted them with a wave and warm smile. "Hello there! It's been a while, sweetie. I figured I would see you again." She had stopped in front of them, extending her left hand over to pat the pink-haired girl. She then motioned towards the other damsel, clothed rather enchantingly and holding an unusual pink scepter. "My name is Irene. I'm assuming you're a friend of little Aki here? Nice to meet you!"

A smile coated Wisp's face. At least, in part. While the entire group wasn't willing to join him on his misadventures, at least one was, and that was better than nothing! Whatever kind of trouble the group was in was far from his top priority to deal with - torture, being killed, arrested, all that stuff; he didn't have much stake in their predicament. Whatever mess they had gotten themselves into, and through what means, didn't matter.

Fun did. Now that he was away from Mousey for the first time in ages, and outdoors of all place, there was so much potential! He could eat a load of food, and stuff like that! Was that all he could think of doing? Yes. Yes it was. But it was a noble goal! he'd come up with some other stuff at another time, probably, but for now, the goal was eating food. And what better way to eat food was there than with random strangers wielding magical artefacts? Wisp was ready to leave, to march forward, new friends in tow, when he was stopped, by the one who was willing to join him, no less.

"Here's the device, keep it; we won't need it where we're going."

He barely even got a chance to get going, before he was forced to a halt by the boy. Confusing marred his mind, grinding his thought processes to a halt as he took the device in his free hand, and idly looked it over. The device wasn't even that important to him. He would have had every chance to look it over later after the group became friends, but now he was getting it for free. It was nice to have but... It was missing something, something key. The whole situation was. So they wouldn't follow him? But what about the fun they were going to have?

In the seconds after, with his free had clasped around the device, he turned it over, taking a look at its components to distract his mind from the disappointment he felt. It was saddening to think that maybe they didn't trust him, and that somehow they thought being arrested was a better alternative to going with him, but at least he got something out of the engagement, right? It wasn't all for nothing. It wasn't a waste.

But it only took a couple of seconds for Aer to close the distance between them, placing herself between him and the group. As Wisp pulled his eyes away from the device to look up, he noticed the crowd. Or more-rather, the lack thereof. The crowd around them had begun to disperse, no doubt in part from the fire, but also thanks to the woman in front of him, wielding her weapon - now pointed straight at him. The series of observation fit together like a jigsaw in his brain, until he came to his own hand, where the fireball he had summoned still sat blazing.

"W-wait a second, this isn't- I didn't-!" as quickly as he had seen it, he shook his hand in the air, allowing the heat and energy of the ball to disperse almost as quickly as it summoned, "I don't wanna fight, promise!" as he spoke, he placed the device into one of his pouches, keeping one of his arms outstretched, between him and Aer, both to keep her at distance, but also that she could see that it wasn't doing anything.

As slowly as possible, as to not cause an escalation, he took a step back, and then another, his arm staying between them. If this was going to turn into a fight, he wanted as much distance from her weapon as possible, especially with her reach. He could fight with weapons, but he was a magic user; distance was key here.
"L-listen, I can go with you to the guards, 'kay? I know people there! If you say you're with me, they won't arrest you or anything like that, I know it! And then we can all be friends! 'Kay?"

---

Unlike the others, Hiro did not pat the small girl on the head. He had already filled his quota of that in the last hour. Next time though. Probably. Anyway, he waited for everyone to finish speaking before adding on his two cents to the animal eared lady in front of him.

"That sounds great, I would be happy to be a repeat customer. My name is Hiro, and I will take that nicer outfit with the deep red shade and black trim. I feel like that one fits me the most."

He flashed a brilliant smile, illuminating his usually somber face. It was getting a little crowded here, but maybe that wasn't a bad thing. There were upsides and downsides to adding people to the group at this point. On the downside, it becomes increasingly likely that their secrets are found out and someone realizes that the three of them are truly not as they seem. On the other hand, when trying to blend in, you should be among a crowd. They would only stand out more and more if they were not with others. And the more people to blend in with, the less they would pop out to observers.

These thoughts were all running through Hiro's head while he carried on this conversation and observed his surroundings. Were one to pay close attention to him, they would realize that there was not a moment when the boxer's eyes stopped flicking from place to place. Taking in the surroundings and absorbing any information that could potentially be useful if something were to happen. His head was unfortunately filled with thoughts more than just how soft the animal eared beauty's ears must feel. Truly tragic.

Regardless, after voicing what he wished to purchase, he turned back to and dipped his head to Irene. He flashed another smile, but this one much more sincere than the showman's smile he had been showing earlier. His eyes were much softer than they had been all day while his lips curled up.

"Thank you both for your kindness. This place is like a whole new world to me and I'm not sure what I would have done if I hadn't run into kind people like yourselves."

Those words were from his heart. He remembered that they had been welcoming before he had died as well, and even if they just felt like they were repaying him for telling them of the ambush earlier, he knew more than that.

@BrokenPromise

No effect at all?

Something was off with the creature he rode as it thrashed with renewed fury. Most every being capable of sight felt pain and the eye was always one of the most hyper sensitive areas to inflict damage, but the stubborn wolf only growled louder as it doubled its fury. Thrashing through its surroundings with abandon, Mirt braced for the moment to strike again.
It would try to crush him with its bulk but the Monk was ready.

When the wolf pulverized its back against the heavy stone wall, Mirt disengaged with grace and swung himself to the opposite side of the collision with a push of his hand, his other arm still held the grisly trophy between his fingers as he avoided being smeared across the wall.
Not one to waste an opportunity, both fists struck out in heavy punches at the beasts legs, aiming every hit at the beasts back knee before gracefully touching down on the floor. It could turn quickly and snap, or attempt to reverse its momentum and crush him still against the floor.

Mirt was ready.

---

Among the many things in this world Alistair despised, one such thing was being forced to retreat. Alistair Archibald held his pride in high regard, so much could be gathered by how he spoke and how he took being slain by a smug knight, so running away was humiliating. But even despite his arrogance, he was still a rational human being for the most part. He was not a fool. And that's why this situation frustrated him to no end. It made no sense to him to attempt to make battle with this wolf. It was far too big, there wasn't enough time, and they were far too naked and inexperienced with this kind of combat.

Logically, there was no better option than to run from this fight.

And so that's what Alistair decided to do. His vision lingered on the appearance of the knight that earned his ire only for a moment, before his blood boiled in a way that it hadn't done before. He was aware that despite the dangers, he'd fruitlessly throw himself at the woman if he didn't leave immediately. He turned away from the scene and towards the kitchen.

"There's no time to waste, let us get out of here!" he told Flame and the Priest as he started running towards the kitchen.

Mirt was as stubborn as they came, but he was faster than he looked. By the time the giant wolf bumped into the wall, Mirt had already changed sides. He was ready to break the beasts legs with his fist, not once letting up on his offense. But the wolf was very in tune to the old man's position. And with its remaining eye, it was able to spot him. Mirt didn't even have time to punch before the wolf slammed it's body into the opposing wall. Everyone could see a smear of blood trailing after the wolf.



But the knights were ready to attack, an went unseen by the wolf. They simultaneously swung at its front legs, severing them from its body. The wolf continued to snarl and snap around itself, even with the front half of it's body forced to the ground. However, It was unable to turn around in the small corridor, its struggles only serving to pump more blood out of its legless shoulders.

That was when Mono and his knights appeared. Once the wolf had wiggled its way over to him, he pointed at the creature and snapped. ”Al Huma.” The effect was not instantaneous on something so big, but already the creature was slowing down. It snorted and groaned, still putting everything it had into trying to devour Mono. ”Al Huma!” the wolf's head twitched before sinking to the ground. The blood oozing out of its eyes and arms had been frozen solid. The beast had been slain. ”I do not pretend to have perfect memory.” Mono stepped towards the trio. ”But I don't remember giving you fucking permission to fucking open the fucking door!” He pointed at Anyon. ”Nor did I tell you to involve a fucking civilian in a fucking fight with a fucking devil beast!” He pointed at Mirt's body, which was still plastered against the side of the wolf. ”I'm not even going to ask how this happened you fucking degenerates!” Mono extended his hand over Mirt's body. ”Huma.” Mono wasn't very proficient when it came to healing magic, but he knew a little bit. He certainly wouldn't be able to heal all of Mirt's wounds, but he was a tough old bastard and he'd at least be able to walk out of here.



Mono turned back towards the knights. ”Where the fuck is Sir Walter? Did he put you up to this?”

---

Meanwhile, the non-natives ran into the kitchen. It was not the armory they had originally expected it to be. There was a table for the chef to prepare food on, several counters, a bucket for water, a small stove, but most of it was very, very old. There was nothing sharp or metal in sight. What really grabbed everyone's attention was the window with a large, friendly looking colored man peeking through it.

”Oh, well hey guys!” He leaned into the window and placed his hands on either side. ”You really shouldn't be walkin' around in there. They say this place smells like the witch. I can hardly believe it myself to be honest.” He chuckled. ”How about you guys come with me? I've got a clinic in the gold quarter. We can talk about life over some tea. There's no reason to hang out in here.” He stepped away from the window and folded his arms. ”Life can be unfair sometimes, but that don't mean you need to hide out in a spooky place like this. I'm serious, let's eat together.” For some reason, Alistair felt like he could trust this man. He certainly had better odds with this man then waiting for the knights to show up. And since his companions were more or less following him, they all agreed to go.

---

With Wisp deescalating the situation, Aer stood up right and moved her spear behind her back. Not that she had fully uncovered it, but at this point there were few other things it could be. "That sounds agreeable, Wisp. You'll have to forgive me if I'm a bit skeptical about that being your real identity. You don't quite look like what I've heard. But I'm sure someone can verify it's you." She turned to face the non-natives behind herself. "I do not actually believe any of you are cultists or bandits. I'm sorry if I caused you alarm, but it was necessary and, in the long run, will likely be beneficial to you." She looked back at Wisp, but continued to speak to the teenagers. "We can vouch for you, but it will be up to you to explain exactly what happened." Aer started to walk towards the golden quarter. "One of the captains should be this way. We'll get you papers in no time."

---

Vasilis smiled and shrugged his shoulders. ”Up to you Irene. I'm just thinking about all the other damsels that might need saving.”

”I'll definitely remember your names. Tee hee!” Fritzi would have liked to socialize equally with all of them, but she was a merchant, and serving the customers came before talking to them. Especially since most of them had taken an interest in patting the head of the street performer. As long as everyone's needs were being catered to, there was no reason to interfear. One by one, she took their choices and set them on the counter.

Once Hiro thanked them, Vasilis scratched the back of his head. ”Ey! I'd want someone to help me out too. Besides, this is the kind of stuff Irene wants to do.” After a brief pause he added. ”And what I wanna do!”

A cart rolled into the golden quarter, and Fritzi immediately took notice. ”A doctor's wagon? Was there another fight?” After it came to a stop, Alistair, Flame, and Father Whiskey all stepped out. Followed by a...

”Doctor Donovan?!?”

The large black man placed a hand against the side of his neck. ”Everythin's okay. Old man Fumble Foot was excited, so I got to take my wagon with me just to make 'im happy. You know how it is.” he chuckled to himself. ”If you folks want to wear somethin' other than those clothes, I'll gladly pay your way. Fritzi has an eye for fashion. Just look at her. Girl dresses like a slum dog and somehow looks more regal then the noble folk!”

”Please stop! You're going to make me blush!” She covered her cheeks with her hands. ”Oh, Hiro!” Fritzi leaned across the counter. This caused her suspenders to pull tight against her breasts. ”Are you into footwear? I've got something here on clearance, and you're buying so many clothes I don't think boss will mind if I throw something like that in.” She wasn't really asking. Fritzi was already going for the shoes,

Ashton, Aaron, Yuki, wisp, and Aer were walking by just as the medical wagon showed up.
"Mile's emporium looks busy to today." Her eyes darted among all the people. "Wait, were they kidnapped too?"

Ashton Andrews and Flame Brooks

Ashton smiled at Kimura, before saying, "The way I see it, you're a brave person, willing to face death as long as it's from the legitimate authorities. Quite a contrast to my boyfriend; he'd mouth off to anyone trying to take him away if given the chance - he's the type to presume himself innocent before being 'proven' guilty. And you have a point; we weren't pre-detained when that Witch Hunter..." Ashton remembered trying to explain things to Mono before being struck with sudden shock and fear, and his voice lowered to a whisper, "When that Witch Hunter ordered us all killed; we were ran through with swords shortly after your first death."

The whisper continued; hopefully no one was eavesdropping. "Kimura, I also encountered something interesting; whenever we try and tell people -the natives of this place - about being transported here by 'Talus', we're overcome by a mental block of fear. And by we, I mean me, but with the presumption that this applies to all of us 'isekai-ers'."

And with that, Ashton turned back to the confrontation between Aer and Mist, where the latter was trying to resolve things through compromise. That latter part was actually impressive, and it seemed that they'll all be going to the authorities together. Who knows, perhaps with two strong 'patrons' vouching for the party, they might not die this time.

I wish that Scandinavian woman could be here to see things improve... Ashton said as he walked beside Kimura and the others - including a now-helpful Wisp (he had mistaken his name for Mist earlier) - deeper into what seemed to be a high-class commercial district, filled with fancy stores. Ashton noticed from the unusual cleanliness and lack of open sewers (like in IRL medieval cities) that magic and/or magitech must be at work. This bore thinking about, especially if they were going to be in this city for a long time.

It was then that another sign emerged that things were improving; a wagon belonging to one 'Doctor Donovan' rolled into the district, dropping off a rich youth, a priest and Flame onto the streets.

Before anyone can stop him, Ashton leapt towards the redhead, a smile on his face as he tackle-hugged him, shouting his boyfriend's name as he did so. "Flame!" Ashton was now crying as he affectionately continued his embrace. "I'm so glad to have you back!"

"Please, not here!" Flame said awkwardly, a side he rarely revealed. "We're in public and there's a priest and well..." His voice drew into a whisper, "We're being pursued by the authorities; gotten killed once, too."

Ashton's posture turned rigid, then, as rage filled him. "It happened to us as well; don't get angry, Flame. Right now, we've got two people offering to vouch for us, and they're our best bet to not be hunted down. Even then..."

Flame interrupted him with another whisper, "It's a long shot." He then gently pushed Ashton away, before saying, "Are we going to tell the truth? About coming from... An impossible place?" Looking at Ashton, the redhead saw the truth. "Ash, you're too trusting. Our story is too improbable even for these medieval fantasy people; they won't believe it." A sigh, "But if you want to do it, I won't stop you, but I will warn you."

The other boy looked back at his boyfriend, before embracing Flame once more to whisper, "Trying to tell them about the exact moment of transportation, trying to tell them about 'Lord Talus'... There's a mental block against that. So we're going to have to do a workaround."

Flame stiffened with anger at the mention of Talus, before he said, "Ash, if we didn't have any other options right now, I'd say that's stupid; it still is in many ways." He then looked at Alistair, then Ashton as he finally stopped hugging the latter, and spoke to the former, "Alistair, meet my boyfriend, Ashton. Yes, I'm a f*g**t; sorry about that. Ashton, meet Alistair, he managed to get us out of our initial destination and back to you."

He then turned towards Father Whiskey and said, "Father Whiskey, if that's your real name, this is Ashton; I'm 'living in sin' with him. Sorry about that. Ashton, this is 'Father Whiskey' - not his true name. He's pretty chill for a priest."

As if God himself wanted to throw a curveball to the situation, out shattered a nearby window and out popped a very familiar looking older figure. A smile perked up on Anyon’s face as she gave a few quick stretches, getting ready to join in. “Oh shit, looks like I don’t have to look for him now.” Both of her hands went into some strange pockets on her garb, and them came out with a power of golden knuckles, firmly on her hands. With a sprint and her staff out, it seemed like a more fun challenge was a foot. Well, it seemed that way anyway.

Despite a good blind and a few impressive moves, it didn’t seem like Mirt was going to win this single handedly as they both quickly figured out. One quick smash into a nearby wall with an accompanying blood smear made sure of that. A small groan came out her mouth as she looked at the wolf. Looks like she was doing this solo now and needed to figure out how to get Mirt out of there. Her staff hand extended as she went to the side as the knights ripped the creature’s front legs. “I got you, just give me o-!”

Ironically, like with the previous wolf, she was cut off from attacking as another group of knights descended upon it. In only two casts, he already managed to freeze the creature solid. She shrugged this time as she ran over to where the wolf’s body was and, subsequently, where Mirt was. Him chewing those others out barely registered, outside of the mention of her being a civilian. She was too preoccupied with removing a certain someone from the carcass. She put a hand to it, feeling that, at least where he was, the body was still a tad warm. Might as well make him comfortable instead of lying him on the dirty floor. She tugged him off of it pretty simply, put her over her shoulder, and gave a wave of her free hand.

“Al Huma.”

Instead of the usual spear, a clean sheet of ice, sharp as hell, slit the portion of the body he was stuck on, very cleanly in fact. It slipped onto the floor nicely on the meat portion, leaving the fur portion out and about. She lied him back down on it gently as she placed down her staff and extended her hands. The other man already healed him, but it made sense to at least top him off, especially since there were still some scraps and bruises. “Huma.”

As she did so, she looked back towards the other end of the hall. Those other three had already run off. A glare popped out of her eyes as she looked over there. “Cowardly bastards…” With that, Mirt was almost completely patched up, save a few scratches. Anyon sat back giving a shake of her head. “It’s funny how I thought about bringing you to help deal with this bullshit, and not 6 minutes later, you pop out like we had a fucking psychic link or something.”

It seemed like a rhetorical statement, if those even existed, as she stood straight up after saying it and looked over towards the gas-masked knight. She was far less mad with him as she was with the previous knights as, technically, he was right. Warriors they were, they were also technically civilians while in this country. That and healing Mirt obviously sweetened the deal. Though, she really could care less about this “Sir Walter” or whoever he was. There was shit she wanted to deal with. “Hey, did you know those 3 fucking cowards who walked out of here? They looked like they were fighting the wolf or some shit. With shards of glass no less. Then the douches went and booked it the second he came to help out.” She said as she pointed her thumb in Mirt’s general direction when she said the "he." Those...whoever they were somewhere they were clearly not supposed to be and then just ran. Whatever their reasons were, fine, but she wanted to give them an earful cause it was still a pack of stupid fucking reasons.

@BrokenPromise @Zelosse

“Huh?” Yuuki shot Ashton an odd look, confused as to how bravery was related at all to this. He had always thought that being able to run away and barter for freedom with precious memories of their past life was braver, if also more reckless, but apparently the youth before him had other thoughts on the subject matter. “It’s right to think that you’re innocent before being proven guilty though…”

Before he could say more, however, the situation that was simmering to a boil before him suddenly deescalated, the cat-eared boy apparently not so down for starting up a fight after all. It was all very odd for Yuuki, really, but perhaps he simply misunderstood the world, its people, and their intentions. He could accept that. Nodding, the brunette showed a shadow of a smile towards Wisp as acknowledgment of everything that had passed, before turning to Aer. “No, your worries are totally reasonable,” Yuuki said, “Back home, we have an even worse policy towards foreigners. So yeah, not gonna hold a grudge or anything about it.”

With that, he turned to follow the red-haired warrioress, quietly mulling over those extra details that Ashton had given him: that the boy was a goddamn weeaboo and that certain things couldn’t be explained after all.

---

And then, there were more.

As they entered the main road once more, Yuuki hitched up his backpack and dipped his head down, doing his best to seem like an unassuming mule for the two demi-humans that lead the way. One eye flickered off to the horizon, in search of the white steel helms that dictated the presence of those ‘professional guards’, while another eye remained on the bobbing twintails of Aer, so that he didn’t get lost. It didn’t seem like they had all that far to go, however, when Ashton suddenly broke off into a run to embrace another boy in a distance. As if fate itself conspired with, or perhaps against, them, suddenly there were modern folk more or less anywhere, and even Yuuki felt drawn to join them.

But he didn’t. He kept his distance, kept his guard up, and kept his eyes flickering around, sensing the danger that such a raucous union created. Already, eyes were on the strange clothes and the stranger gathering, the ordinary folk clearing a wide berth. Hopefully the warrior-looking folk could vouch for the reputation of the new ‘isekai-ers’ as well, but in the worst case scenario…

“Yeah,” Yuuki said, staying by Aer’s side instead of mingling with his fellow Earthlings, “They were kidnapped too. Not sure what they’re doing, but if you could herd them to where they can get registered as well, that’d be greatly appreciated. Not sure they know of the whole state of Priestella yet.”
@BrokenPromise

Golden Quarter, Center Road, Priestella
Deaths: 1

---

"Waaah?" For a moment, Chieko looked a little upset. Her hand was dirty! Did this girl not wash her hair? Had it been someone less cute, she might have been a little upset. Instead though, somehow, that only made her find this girl cuter. Yep, perfect little sister material. "Ha, you know! When was the last time you washed your hair?" Chieko removed her hand from the head of Aki, frowning lightly in mild displeasure. "You know what? I'll help you wash it. You should be grateful-gah! Aerith!?" Before she could get a reply, Aerith had walked over, grabbed her by the ear and gave it a firm tug.

"H-how dare you! Do you have any idea who I am!? I was just being nice! She liked it too!" Chieko pouted a bit, though it was clear she was forcing herself slightly. Still, she was right. She shouldn't be distracted by an adorable little sister like character. She did need to buy some new clothes, too. "Tsk, fine. I suppose I'll be nice and let you off this once! I need to find new clothes anyways." Brushing off her own clothes, Chieko walked back over to the clothing Fritzi had.

"Uhm...something warm..." Chieko quietly spoke to the fox girl, just in time to see a wagon pull up and other people obviously from Earth hop out. Oh no. She began feeling incredibly self conscious, unconsciously moving a little closer to Aerith as the other people hopped out of the wagon. Who were these people? Right, focus on the clothing. Well, she was really fine with anything as long as she got to keep her scarf.


Vertti household -> Golden Quarter
@Tenma Tendo

---

"Oh, nothing to worry your pretty little rabbit ears over." Mie replied, hopping up off the couch. "Just some client that wants something a little...difficult to acquire." Grisaia wouldn't know it, but that was a bit of a lie. "A client I've worked with many times before, and he gets...a little peculiar if others are involved." She smiled mischievously. "Concerned? I'm touched, almost enough to say thanks. But don't worry about it. I can take care of myself better than you can, shy little rabbit. Now come on then. Lets see what trouble we can get up to!~" That part, was not a lie. She traveled alone, most of the time after all and rarely had any major incidents.

Seemingly done with that conversation, Mie began swiftly walking through the hallways, heading to the front door of the Manor, intent on leaving and keeping good on her promise of showing Grisaia a 'good time'. Whatever that meant, he was going to find out pretty soon. "So rabbit," She asked once reaching the front door. Perhaps this would be a good opportunity. "Question for you. Do you know what 'Fun' even is?"

---

It only made sense for Alistair to go along with the jovial stranger that appeared in the window. The man had a smile that could brighten anybody's day and a smooth, buttery voice that risked inducing eargasms. Logically, there was no reason for Alistair to trust the man, but deep down, Alistair knew he could trust this friendly individual with his life. Was this true charisma? The man had no reason to offer them sanctuary, especially considering where they were. To him, the three could very well just be dangerous criminals on the run. So the fact that this man would put himself at risk in order to give a helping hand was commendable.

It almost made him regret his decision to abandon that monk who'd lept onto that wolf.

Almost.

Had he not done so, he wouldn't have gotten to experience this fateful meeting with someone he might consider soon calling a friend, were things to keep up this way. And honestly, Alistair wasn't obligated to deal with a giant fucking shadow wolf mere minutes after arriving in this land, unwillingly. Particularly not with this strange cast of characters he was bunched with. The Shadow Man from earlier was REALLY bad at setting up dates with his daughter.

"We appreciate the assistance," he made sure to tell Donovan on the cart ride. "If there's anything I can do to repay you, don't hesitate to ask it of me."

With that out of the way, Alistair noted the cart had come to a stop. Along with the rest of its passengers, he hopped off and looked around to find that a rather sizeable group had formed around here. And with the clothing some of them were wearing, he couldn't help but wonder if these people were natives of this land. He carefully gave people a look over until his inspection was interrupted by Flame, who had been rather friendly with one of the guys they'd met.

"Alistair, meet my boyfriend, Ashton. Yes, I'm a f*g**t; sorry about that. Ashton, meet Alistair, he managed to get us out of our initial destination and back to you."

There was a long pause before Alistair slowly raised his eyebrow at the eccentric introduction, clearly not too sure how to respond. But after a few seconds to think, he replied. "...right. Well, it is good that you found someone you know. And now we know we're not alone here, which is probably a good sign." Archibald was still trying to look over the people in the area as he spoke, and his eyes caught on a certain man who seemed of Asian heritage and he found himself staring because of the familiar feeling he felt when looking at him.

Had he seen this man before?

Now, this was going to bug him. It was right on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't call it just yet. But he was certain he'd seen this man somewhere before, and considering how long they'd been in this world, it could have only meant Alistair'd seen him on Earth, not this weird place. His thoughts were temporarily interrupted when the kind man, apparently known as 'Doctor Donovan', offered to pay for a set of clothes for each of them.

Was this man even human? Normally, Alistair would have been skeptical of this much generousity, but the man felt genuine.

"That's fine, but I don't nee--" Alistair was going to turn down his kindness on account of being quite wealthy, but realized part way that his wealth pointless here. He coughed into his hand, then continued, "...I suppose it would be rude to turn down the offer," he answered, "Thank you, again, Doctor Donovan" he nodded towards the kind doctor. Alistair Archibald would not leave this debt unpaid.

Before the man could think about clothing, his thoughts were interrupted by a rather thirsty woman, or rather, the name she had spoken. 'Hiro' also sounded familiar. He looked at the asian man for a moment, then without much consideration for anybody else, particularly the girl who was trying to get his attention, he got a hold of the man's attention and quite bluntly asked, "You wouldn't happen to be that young boxer, would you?" His tone wasn't that of a fanboy who was about to gush at meeting a celebrity, but that was because he was simply asking to clear things up. The weird sense of familiarity would pester him if he didn't get rid of it by confirming whether or not the man was who he thought he was.

But his curiousity served another purpose here: If this man was the boxer Alistair thought he was, then that likely meant that everybody came from the same exact world that he did. And even the smallest bit of clarity on their situation would be appreciated right now.

Not enough ti-

Mirt had anticipated the reversal, wanted it to happen, but confidence was an insidious killer sharper than any blade and could kill just as easily. Or get someone suoremely confident very easily killed. Poor Mirt, First Warrior of Aeir'Sun, leader to be of the clergy, and supreme master of his will, could only bow his head at the inevitable conclusion to his story.

It was a fleeting feeling of satisfaction in his last moments to accept his likely death had come at the of a stronger being than himself rather than asleep like a cowardly old man.

Darkness claimed him as the demon wolf pulverized his body between its owm bulk and the unyielding stones at his back. A taste of excruciating agony was the only sensation he felt before it was over, in a single instant.

.
.
.
.

Death would not claim him, apparently. Like a miracle from the glorious creator himself, Mirt felt his breathe come in quick and sudden as his heart pumped blood into limbs gone stiff, the dark haze of his mind crumbling away to glorious light as life returned to him!
What had only been a few minutes of death weighed on him as if it had been weeks. Broken bones, shattered skull, torn skin, it had all been mended thanks to a strange knight and.. bless her, that girl he most cared for. Anyon had come to see her mentor to the grave.

Though her wording wasn't as obvious.

A cough had him spill a generous donation of blood onto his clothes as Mort struggled to breathe, letting the healing magic do its work. Anyon addressed him again, accusingly or so he thought, but was simply not capable of responding at the moment with anything but a smile and a nod. Anyon could be fairly oblivious at times but she would surely recognize he was thanking her for being ok, his own wounds all but ignored.
With the energies from Anyon he felt strength enough returning enough to ask a simple enough question.

"Did the strangers make it out better than I did?"