“Are you sure about this?” Dazien asked, giving her a dubious look.

  “Look, this is a covert self-made mission to investigate kidnappers,” Phoenix expined as she wrapped the heavy cloak around her. “We need to blend in, right? So cloaks and hoods to hide everything should do the trick, right?”

  “I still think you should just stay here while I go check it out,” he replied.

  “Nope. We stick together in the city. That was your rule, remember?” she retorted, not wanting to be left out and also wanting to see the portion of the city she hadn’t visited yet. She never had a reason to go to that district before and her curiosity was getting the better of her.

  “Besides, we’re just going to look around and ask some questions, right?” she pointed out. “We’re not going to sketchy back alleys or anything.”

  “Maybe you can even use your Saintliness to get people to open up more,” Rayna added with a grin. “You know, actually benefit from all the attention you’re trying to avoid?”

  “I don’t think it would be quite the reputation she wants to have by interrogating citizens in the name of the Celestial Pantheon,” Uriel thankfully pointed out in her defense. “That said, you really can just stay here while Daze and I go ask his old co-worker some questions.”

  “But I want to see where he used to work,” she replied, wincing slightly at the whine in her voice. “I want to know more about both of your lives here before I literally crashed into it.”

  “I used to work for a very questionable Floraval Harvester as an aspiring professional Looter. There, now you know,” Dazien said, arms crossing in his defiance.

  “Oh, come on,” she groaned. “You know that’s not the same as seeing it. I even got that special permission thing to portal within the city. If things get hectic again, we can just leave.”

  “We can’t just keep her locked up to avoid crowds in the cities or assassins in the wilds,” Saiya added, and she wanted to hug her for the support.

  “We can absolutely keep her locked up,” her brother retorted. “She even did so voluntarily the other day. I know she has plenty of enchanting materials from the monsters we loot to keep her busy.”

  “Dazien,” Saiya said in her I’m-totally-a-mother tone of disapproval, “there’s still a fortnight left until the blood moon will likely end. We can let her see more of the city before she leaves it for who knows how long.”

  He seemed to thaw under Saiya’s level gaze before he finally gave a heavy sigh. “Fine,” he relented, then pointed a finger at Phoenix. “But if anyone sketchy starts making their way towards you, you portal right back here to the Waynd Estate and wait in the garden for us to return, alright?”

  “Yes, brother dear,” she replied with a victorious grin before pouncing to hug Saiya.

  Phoenix kept gncing around at all the shops and people moving quickly and loudly, almost shouting at each other as they haggled, bartered, and tried to maneuver through the densely packed thoroughfare.

  The group tried to stay close together as the crowd shoved into them while making their way towards their first stop. Rayna agreed to cover Dazien’s back as he entered the first shop to talk to the proprietor he had dealt with in the past. Meanwhile, Uriel, Saiya, and Phoenix waited around the corner of the building and out of the main causeway that the crowd was occupying.

  She tried to keep her voice low as she asked, “Is it always this busy?”

  “It’s usually busy but this is more so than normal,” Uriel answered as he kept his head on a swivel, looking out for potential threats and pickpockets. “The influx of monsters from the blood moon, not to mention the ones summoned during the war, has led to this,” he gestured towards the packed crowds. “There’s plenty of people wanting to sell recovered monster bodies.”

  “Not everyone has a looting power like you,” Saiya added, holding onto her arm like it was a life raft. “And many people don’t have the skills or knowledge to perform a looting ritual on the spot. So they’ll come to locations like this to get the most from their hunts.”

  “It might not always be worth the cost, but it usually is,” Uriel added. “While the fee differs depending on who you go to or what service you’re requesting, you’ll usually make a profit from turning kills or captures into loot.”

  “Captures?” Phoenix repeated with a raised brow.

  Saiya frowned. “I honestly disagree with that method. It seems cruel to me.”

  Uriel nodded. “Capturing creatures instead of killing them just to make sure the body doesn’t dissolve or get further damaged before it can be looted… Look over there,” he said, gesturing towards a magical sled that was making its way slowly down the middle of the busy street, pulled by a silvery spotted sivatherium; the tall creature always made her think of the results of a moose and giraffe having a baby in the snow.

  When Phoenix focused more on the cargo, she recognized a collection of cages holding a pack of snolves, monstrous white wolves with two tails that were attuned to Ice and often spawned in packs. “So they capture monsters, bring them here, then what? Sughter and loot them?”

  “Basically. I know it doesn’t seem that different from what we do,” Saiya conceded. “But I see it as just prolonging their suffering. Monsters are already doomed from the moment they spawn. Their constant hunger drives them to kill even if their normal aval counterpart wouldn’t. I like to think that putting them out of their suffering is part of our job, aside from protecting the people they would feed on.”

  “Despite what most people think, though, not all monsters spawn as aggressive, unthinking beasts,” Uriel chimed in. “Depending on their Caste and what kind of creature they are, they could live for decades in a peaceful existence.

  “Take the Mallophant, for example. It’s a big and slow Ruby Caste monster that is passive, even friendly at times, and that’s mainly because it’s able to feed on pnts in addition to Casters as well as being able to efficiently store the magical nutrients. It’s actually known to boost the vitality of pnt life in the areas they graze due to their affinity for Life magic. They can live for centuries before being unable to sustain themselves off of pnts alone and needing Adventurers to intervene.”

  “That’s not the norm, though,” Saiya cut in with a slight warning in her tone. “Most monsters just want to destroy any Vauva like us that they come across. Even the Mallophant will sughter entire vilges to sate its hunger as they reach the end of their reserves.”

  Phoenix frowned as she looked back towards the snolves, assessing the Crystal Caste monsters from a new perspective. Uriel noticed her gaze and added, “One of the problems we see with snolves, in particur, is that they are also native avals to the tundra.”

  “Why is that a problem?”

  He looked on sadly. “They are a part of the natural ecosystem here. Meaning they belong and help keep things in bance. Plus, they often become bonded Familiars.

  “The problem is that out in the wild, it’s hard to tell the aval apart from the monster without good aura senses. So the avals that belong and wouldn’t normally seek out Vauva to eat will get caught up in the monster hunts. It’s causing their numbers to dwindle to near extinction.”

  “I know in Epa Toivo, at least, the government there has tried putting rules around hunting some of the native avals in our area too, but a lot of people don’t care or can’t tell the difference,” Saiya added. “While they’ll punish the occasional offender, most get away with poaching, and there’s not much proof remaining once a creature has been processed.”

  Phoenix grimaced at the cages as they continued out of sight, and her attention was suddenly brought to a small figure in front of her, tugging on her cloak as the little cinderen girl said excitedly, “You’re the Starlight Phoenix!”

  “I’m sorry?” she said in surprise. That was a new moniker she hadn’t heard before, and she wasn’t certain what it might have meant.

  “The Hero of House Waynd! My friends were talkin’ about you! Hair like rubies, eyes like emeralds, and skin like sparkly diamonds! They ain’t gonna believe me when I tells them I met you!” the young girl squealed. “You’re just like the Ruby Princess, savin’ all us from them Reapers!”

  “N-no, I’m not—” Phoenix began but was quickly interrupted by Saiya, who bent down to look the child eye to eye.

  “That’s right! This is Phoenix Waynd, the hero that conjured that big Starlight bird in the sky and protected the city from the monsters!” the traitorous voxen grinned, matching the girl’s enthusiasm, then dropped her voice as though sharing a secret. “We’re on a top-secret mission at the moment, perhaps an apprentice Adventurer like yourself can help us out?”

  “Ooo, what is it? Is there another monster?”

  “That’s what we’re trying to find out. Have you noticed anyone getting super secret deliveries around here?”

  “There you are, scrumpet!” An older cinderen woman walked up to them suddenly and lifted the little girl into her arms. “I said you need to be stayin’ close to me in the crowds. Don’t you be scarin’ me like that again!” she scolded then turned to Saiya apologetically. “I’m sorry about that, she gets curious and likes talkin’ to…” Her voice died as her eyes nded on the voxen ears, then tails, then looked past Saiya to see Phoenix’s face surrounded by red curls attempting to escape from her braid and out of her hood.

  “Mama! It’s the Starlight Phoenix!” she whispered loudly as she clung to the woman’s shoulder.

  Saiya spoke up again, trying to act as casually as possible and not draw more attention to them. “It’s no problem. Your daughter just noticed my friend here and wanted to say hello.”

  The woman spoke in a reverent whisper, “My apologies, Saint Waynd. We didn’t mean to be causin’ you trouble.”

  “No, it’s fine, really,” Phoenix spoke up, trying to put the woman at ease by attempting to mimic Saiya’s friendly smile. “We were actually hoping she might help us.”

  “They’re lookin’ for secret packages,” the little girl tried whispering again into her mother’s ear but failed horribly as they all heard her.

  The woman suddenly went tense and got a worried look on her face, gncing nervously around her before saying carefully to the Adventurers, “We don’t know nothin’ about no secret packages…” She hesitated a moment longer before seeming to make up her mind about something and saying in barely more than a whisper, “But you may want to do some questionin’ at the Crimson Rose.”

  “Thank you,” Phoenix said sincerely.

  “No need for thankin’ me for not gettin’ answers,” the woman said roughly. Then she gave them a nod and added softly with a slight bow, “The gods be with you, Chosen One.”

  Phoenix felt the uncomfortable chill run down her spine at the Title but kept the grimace from showing on her face as the mother and daughter quickly vanished from view.

  Uriel pced a hand on her shoulder and said softly, “You give them hope. Don’t be ashamed of that.”

  “Even if it’s a false hope?” she muttered bitterly.

  “It’s not,” he stated matter-of-factly, giving her a knowing smirk. “Do we need to have that talk again about following our own advice? You would never say that the rest of us offer false hope as Adventurers. Why would being a Saint be any different?”

  Saiya spoke over the group chat to inform Rayna and Dazien that they had a possible lead as she continued conversing quietly with her best friend, moving further into the shadows of the alley.

  Phoenix gave a sigh. “It’s not the same, Uriel. Nobody goes around asking Adventurers to raise the dead. They expect so much more from me than I’m even capable of giving.”

  “Would you give it if you could, though?” he questioned, watching her curiously with his warm ember eyes.

  She was caught off guard by the unexpected question but answered, “Yes. I think? I know that’s what I’m already trying to do, but I feel like I’m always coming up short.” She leaned against the metal building as she mented, “People keep ending up hurt or dead. No matter how many monsters I fight or miracles the gods use me for, it never seems to be enough.”

  “But you keep fighting the monsters anyway?” he prompted.

  “Of course,” she answered resolutely. “I can’t let the fact that I fail stop me from continuing to try, right?”

  Uriel gave her one of his rare genuine smiles that she was grateful to see more often tely as he said, “See, knowing you’ll always try your hardest to stand between them and the monsters; that’s what gives them hope. That’s what makes you the Starlight Phoenix.”

  Dazien watched the entrance to the Crimson Rose, which turned out to be a run-down-looking butcher shop in a back alley near the outer city wall but not at an angle for the entrance to be seen from it. His [Eagle Eye] let the group remain at a distance while he watched for people going in or out, but it was retively quiet.

  After his brief discussion with Arin, his old co-worker from Harry’s Harvest, about potential kidnappings being brought to the area, he had realized they were searching for a pebble on the beach. Mysterious packages and covered cages with creatures inside were just another normal day in the Processing District.

  Phoenix’s lead was better than nothing as they sat at the window of a small cafe run by an older cinderen couple on an upper floor a few buildings down. This location let him watch while keeping Phoenix off the public streets though it seemed the hoods were doing their job for the most part of keeping them unseen. It was also likely due to the fact that nobody would suspect the uded Saint of the Celestial Pantheon to be mixed in with the crowds of the bor working css.

  Why would a noble like her even bother to come here when she could simply have a servant go to the markets for her?

  Dazien had been here many times before. Not just for the various jobs as a Looter, but sometimes cutting out the middleman saved him a lot of money. Getting flour here, where it was processed, and having Uriel turn it into bread was cheaper than buying a loaf at the bakery.

  It had been practically impossible for Uriel to get a higher paying job, even as a Crystal Caster, due to most people taking one look at the Silencer around his neck and assuming he was a convicted criminal. It was only by the good graces of Belrosa’s proprietor letting him work as a dishwasher and sometimes-chef that Uriel was able to work at all after turning sixteen.

  Finding ways to save money where they could had become a necessity, and the processing district had been a great way to do that. Now, however, he was beginning to see threats around every corner and idly wondered if this was what Uriel had felt like when they had first met.

  As his thoughts drifted to his partner, so did his attention. Dazien found himself smiling at the sight of Phoenix and Uriel sitting next to each other on the bench across the table from him and Saiya while Rayna sat in a chair opposite the rge windowed wall. Seeing his partner so rexed and happy with anyone else was both a relief and a joy. Uriel being happy made him happy, and he would do whatever he could to keep that smile on his face.

  It wasn’t until Uriel frowned that he actually paid attention to what was being said.

  “Wait, so you got so upset by what the Night Lurker did to me after I passed out that your earrings just exploded?” Phoenix asked him incredulously.

  “They didn’t explode,” Uriel corrected. “They still kind of work. One of them just cracked and the effect seems both weaker and slower to respond now.”

  “Don’t all magic items explode when they break, though?” she asked, causing most of them to chuckle at the inaccuracy.

  “When you fail during the enchantment process they often can,” Dazien interjected. “And some that are singur pieces with very intricate and powerful enchantments like your sword and my shields had. Many aren’t enchanted in the same way, though, or have enough… oomph to cause an explosion when damaged.

  “There are also Crafting Csses that reduce the danger during the crafting process and enchantments that make it safer if it is destroyed, but many will forgo safety enchantments for more power or useful effects.”

  He gnced back out the window towards the Crimson Rose again and let out a sigh. “Why don’t we leave this for today and go see if that earring can be repaired instead? I don’t want to waste more of our own time chasing after rumors.”

  Dazien almost ughed at the matching frowns the two main sources of chaos in his life gave him as his accident-prone sister objected, “It’s the best lead we have, though, and your parents—”

  “Are likely not waiting for me to come rescue them,” he interrupted with a firm tone. He needed to be reasonable about this whole thing and not let his hope get the better of him. “It’s been sixteen years since they went missing from my life. I barely remember what they even look like. A few more days won’t make a difference. The AOA have an entire division dedicated to doing what we’re attempting, and we have more missions of our own to see to.”

  He went to run a hand through his hair only to remember it was currently pulled into a messy bun and smoothed his palm over it instead. “I still need to turn in that report and see if Patricia managed to get the new stiputions of what missions we’ll be accepting sorted out. Normally, Paul would be the one doing something like that as our official Mentor, but hopefully, as Ambassador, they’ll accept her request instead.”

  “Can’t you just turn down anything outside the wall they offer?” Phoenix asked. “I know that we basically get assigned missions during the blood moon instead of picking from anything avaible, but I thought we can still decline.”

  Dazien gave a sigh. “We can, but then it looks bad. It’s a bit of a smear on our party’s reputation to decline something that has been specifically assigned, especially during a blood moon. I’m worried that doing so will either signal to others that we’re not confident in our capabilities or that we’re trying to take advantage of our privilege by only taking missions we prefer, unlike others who don’t have as much political leeway.

  “Also, many Adventurers take dangerous missions like the one we just did for the income, and declining might be seen as paying for safety during a blood moon. We don’t want people starting rumors that the Regent and Heir of House Waynd are sitting back nice and safe within the city while others risk their lives fighting monsters.”

  “Isn’t that kinda what we’re doing by requesting not to be assigned those missions in the first pce?” Rayna asked while leaning back in her chair.

  “Yes, but no,” he continued expining. “If we put on paper that we’re requesting the limitation due to an attempted assassination, that gives us legitimacy in declining. If they tried to give us a mission like that now, they’d be seen as the ones furthering the danger to us rather than us running from it.”

  Phoenix scrunched her nose at him and he smiled at the habit as she asked, “Have I mentioned how much I hate weird social politics like this?”

  “Multiple times,” he replied with a chuckle. “But that’s what being a noble or any person of prominence entails. Whether you want it or not, you are the politics. Everything we do in public will be analyzed and seen as pushing some agenda, even if it’s just drinking a cup of coffee at a cafe.”

  Saiya smiled at that. “I remember reading a news article back in Viimeinen talking about one of the local nobles choosing to drink tea over coffee at a cafe and then specuting over the imminent fall in prices of the coffee beans that Epa Toivo exports. Like choosing tea was signaling some insider knowledge that the test harvest was worse somehow.”

  “So, when are we leaving the tundra again?” Phoenix asked, turning back to look at him with pleading eyes.

  Dazien ughed. “A fortnight from now, the blood moon is estimated to come to its end, and we’ll be on a ship headed east,” he replied. Giving a wicked grin, he added, “After the parties, of course.”

  As he predicted, both Phoenix and Uriel groaned while Rayna cheered. Saiya chuckled and wrapped her arm in his as she whispered, “You enjoyed that far too much.”

  He smiled brightly at her and whispered mentally, “I look forward to enjoying it even more when they realize that this time, there will be dancing involved.”