Eva was sure that she had come to Oak for some training. As much as it was known as a castle town, Oak was also a great place to hone some skills with the kind of terrain it was built up on plus with the weather and almost non-existent population. It was of no doubt that the town would have blessed her with just enough peace and silence that she could have got some training in before moving along. She was, in fact, quite anxious to move back down as well. Eva had not heard of anything about Grmoire Heart from the almost MIA position she was in at that moment. She had cut ties in several ways, not having anyone else but Hanase being able to contact her. With such actions came big risks, she was aware, and the biggest one was most likely that she was completely oblivious to what was happening in Hargeon at that moment. Well,, now it couldn’t be helped as it won’t be long until she is made aware of what’s going on.

The biggest problem in that town, Eva noted, was something she had literally bumped into that morning at the famous Phantasm castle. Clearly she had not been looking where she was going or Eva was sure that she could have avoided getting her back hurt from slamming into some vampire like lord who had a greatly pained expression on his face which had been a sight to see with her on the ground, a burning bum, and him standing over her as if he had not slammed into anyone at all. It made her even wonder if she was truly the one that fell and if she was just not hallucinating. Bu definitely, the aching back was a testament to the fact that she had been on the receiving end. So why was this man so sad now? She had asked without meaning to, quickly earning a single glance from him and then a sigh.

“It’s my wife’s death anniversary,” he had said, voice in just a light whisper. Despite the heaviness of his voice, the audibility of it was so poor that Eva had to get up and ask him the question again. “I said it’s my wife’s death anniversary,” the lord slightly picked up his pace this time, raising his voice slightly and finally getting back to his position as a true lord with his back now straight and an aura of noble purity surrounding him,.

This man, Eva knew, was not exactly someone that was completely to be trusted. No matter how she thought about it, he had been in the Council’s noted list for a time and she was sure that had been so for a reason which meant that it was purely her choice whether to help the man or not and Eva decided that it was worth the time seeing as she had nothing to do that day except training which she had already done plenty on.

502/1000

“This is the way inside the dungeon,” the older Lord told her, pointing towards the entrance of what seemed to be an intimidating looking cave and Eva almost groaned in annoyance. It appeared to be that this man’s wife’s favorite flower was something so rare that they had to go through some dangerous obstacles to find it. Rich people made no sense to her, so did people with power but as it stood, she had been the perfect piece of offering to go find that flower his wife wanted and he held no remorse as he promptly gestured her to go in and fetch the flower.

Eva did as she was told the second time he impatiently started tapping his foot on the muddy ground below them. She used the light from the entrance as a guide for a while until the darkness slightly started growing around her. At that point, she had to get support from the slightly damp and cold walls of the dungeon, venturing further and further deeper into it. At some point, the whole structure made her think of a highly advanced game of maze, which was starting to annoy her since twice that day, she had actually rounded off corners and even passed by the same place more than once.

In the end, Eva managed to climb up some of the rocks, getting to a slightly higher ground before continuing her journey inwards to a small clearing, this one different with the kind of aurora like light that reflected in the walls. Around the middle of it was a small flowerbed with just a single flower at full bloom. “Was that it?” Eva wondered as she went to grab it, immaturely off guard about the surroundings and the small ditch along the way that she fell into. In the end, Eva had to use her flight spell to get out of it, only to be stopped by the low spiky ceilings of the cave. She grabbed the flower, however, and had to stop flying and jump over the ditch to get back up to where the Lord was still standing, now seemingly lost in his thoughts. Eva climbed up without another thought, however, placing the flower on the lord’s palms before proceeding to dust herself off.

The man seemed extremely surprised that she had made it, but all the more happier that he had gotten the precious flower for his precious wife’s death. Eva wasn’t even sure if it was truly the man that was on the Council’s list now that was almost crying in front of her now. Maybe there was more to something than what meets the eye, Eva wondered as she took the rewards he gratefully gave her and went on her way. Maybe she could get something rather tasty to eat now that she was paid and had more money, something that she had forgotten to take enough of with her when she parted with Hanase. Well, time for some stake anyway. The next day would be another adventure, most likely.

1012/1000