It had taken Victor quite a bit of time to explain to Lucifer the relevance of attending the flower festival. The man had barely been convincing enough when he decided to travel from Crocus to Magnolia, he had passed that off as a stop on the way to Dahlia. Now the demon and the man got into a bit of a frictional space, since Vic wanted to double back and in fact visit a city that lay north of Crocus even. The back and forth inside his mind was long and arduous. Vic had to carefully explain himself, without making it obvious, that it took a human to understand the concept of such festivities. While the demon was aware that humans relied on such things for their day to day mediocrity, he couldn't fathom why Victor needed to join in. The blonde argued that it was where a lot of powerful mages would gather, it'd be a fine time to assess the population and the note anyone who was worthy of note. It was likely that that Odin creature would be there though, Vic would have to do his damn best to make sure the two didn't end up butting heads again. The lich had spared him once, Victor doubted he'd go easy on the proud demon a second time, unfortunately, it'd be the vessel, that is... him who would pay the price, a very hefty one at that.

239/400

Finding this Rune Knight girl was becoming a wild goose chase. At least, Michelle’s hunch was right. This one, or someone who looks very similar to her, had been to Magnolia. But unfortunately, she was no longer there. In fact, apparently, she had made her presence known in Oak, which was where the assassin was in the beginning. So, she thought it was now going to be a full circle of nothing.

But that wasn’t the case.

The assassin was smart. She wasn’t going to keep chasing this girl; which if she did, she would catch up. Instead, she hoped to intercept her. Obviously, by the time she reaches Oak, it was highly likely that she would have left that town too. It would seem the cop faction was slave-driving her. So, it was time to think where they would put her next. The answer couldn’t have been more obvious at that time. The bloody spring festival… she thought, smiling at the realization.

It was going to be rather odd to ask Victor to leave Hargeon almost immediately after arriving there, but she had to try. Luckily, the blonde man seemed much interested in going to the festival himself. She wasn’t sure if the guy was serious enough for her training if he got so excited over silly celebrations. But surely, now was not the time to bring up that question. She wanted to go to Orchidia and he was willing. Better take that easy win.

The dark-skinned lady was excited, frankly. She really was looking forward to the flower festival; never will she admit it to anyone or even herself, of course. She told herself that this excitement was mostly because she finally had a chance to catch the girls she had been chasing. One thing was annoying however. To cross the capital and the stupid Rune Knight headquarters. A few hours out of Magnolia and they would already be in the vicinity of the tall rocky mountain of Era.

Michelle wished there was a tunnel through the mountain, however, there seemed to be no such thing. So, the two had to skirt around the huge thing and it only made the journey longer. After stopping by at the stores in the outskirts to get some food and rest, it was then time to move on to the capital of Fiore. While Era made it difficult by being a mountain, Crocus was simply annoying because of its sheer size. At least the paths were well lit and there were the occasional guards protecting travellers from robbers. Finally, after more than three days, they were in the vicinity of Orchidia.

440/400

After finally winning against the one he shared his body with, it was time to see if he could sway Michelle the right way too. She too had revealed her pragmatism, he'd need to couch his request carefully to get her to agree and join him. Having another by his side was imperative, while he still mastered control over the power the demon was sharing, very very slowly. The two shared a room, for the purpose of saving money, he didn't mind, she was a neat package and things were relatively uncomplicated. As she left the bathroom after her morning shower, he broached the topic, rather bluntly. 'So... I plan on going to the spring festival, you're going to join me right?' he asked, wondering how soon she'd agree.

If she was the sort that needed targets, the festival would definitely present many. Once he was past all the arguments, it was time to get the show on the road. The journey itself would take a little over half a week, it was likely that they'd miss the commencement of the festivities, but it wouldn't matter, it was likely to run for enough time for the two, or rather three... to reap the benefits.

443/400
==Exit==