The next day, the party are leaving the ruins of Malluraea and they are all heading west to Egesul. The road to Egesul is far from where they are and traveling from the forests to Ethisia took the party longer to walk on nd. After a few hours traveling, the party continues to walk on until they have arrived at buildings and a harbor. Shokei sees that she arrived at Egesul.

  Egesul is a moderate-sized town that is well-poputed with minorities. The buildings and houses are made from granite. Shokei and her party stand at the entrance of the town, and they are looking at the fancifully paved streets that are around the Center Square.

  After seeing people walking by, Shokei can see the ships that are docked straight ahead. The party walks up to where the ships are and there, they hardly see any activity going on. There are some workers on their ships that are barely doing much nor making any motivation of storing supplies in boxes for goods to be shipped out to other continents.

  "Funny..." Kichiro said, looking around. "Egesul is supposed to be a busy town, not id back."

  "So many ships." Marie said with a concerned look. "Why are there so many ships docked here?"

  "Either way, we need to find out which ship will lead us to Danevana." Shokei said.

  "Perhaps we should ask this fellow over there." Rei said, pointing out to one worker, standing behind the cargo.

  "Sure...hey!" Shokei calls out to one of the crew workers and asked. "Are any of these ships leaving this town?"

  "Unfortunately, my captain said that we are unable to go nowhere at the moment." the crew member replied.

  "How come?" Shokei asked.

  "The oceans are being inhabitant by monsters living in the seas." He said to them.

  "Despite that, we still need to go somewhere important to get to." Rei said to Shokei.

  "Where's your Captain?" Shokei asked the crew member.

  "He's in his cabin." The crew member replied. "You will find him on your right."

  The party head on over to the small cabin and entered inside to find the owner of the docks. The captain sits there, reading a book with his feet on the desk. His focus was interrupted when he sees a group of travelers entering his cabin.

  "Hi there." Shokei said and asked. "Are any of your ships are leaving this town?"

  "Not at the moment." The captain replied. "In fact, no ships are heading out as we are being deyed at this time."

  "Why?" Shokei asked.

  "The currencies in the ocean are behaving strange tely," the captain briefly expined. "One of the ships that had set sail to make a shipment went missing out there. I don't got no survivors that made it out that ocean. I've been hearing tely that a sea monster is lurking out in the ocean, hunting ships that'll be taken down within seconds."

  "Sounds horrible..." Shokei said and takes a sigh. "As you can see, my party and I need to get across to another continent."

  "Really?" the captain pipes up and asked. "And where you're all going?"

  "Danevana." Shokei replied.

  "That's a continent that I never sailed to." The captain said to her. "Ha! I know one ship that sets sails to the continent. That ship had set sailed yesterday to another destination."

  "...oh, I see..." Shokei said with disappointment.

  "Can't remember the name of the ship, but I know it's big enough to handle the sea's currents." The captain said. "The ship won't be back for a few days, so you'll have to wait."

  "Fair enough." Shokei said and looks at her party. "Nothing much we can do for now. We need to settle here."

  "Or we can just find a pce to stay around here." Kichiro said. "I know an inn we can bunk in."

  "Good to hear that." Shokei nodded. "Let's go then."

  Leaving the ship docks, Shokei and her party have decided to check in at an inn in Egesul. The party settled in for a while after a long walk from the abandoned Malluraea.

  "Obsidian, you don't look so well." Marie noticed as he sees him lying in bed. "Are you ok?"

  "I'm fine." Obsidian replied. "My head feels like its hit with vertigo, and I feel exhausted from a ck of sleep."

  "Really?" Marie asked. "I thought your body could handle the weather back at Malluraea."

  "Not just that, the hard floor in the house along with the winds made my body feel uncomfortable." Obsidian said. "I tried to pretend my body was warm enough, but..."

  "Then you'll need some sleep." Marie said to him. "It's the least you can do."

  "Yeah..." Obsidian agreed. He closed his eyes. "Wake me up in case you need anything from me."

  "If I find medicine at one of the shops, I'll be gd to assist you." Marie said, showing kindness.

  "Thanks." Obsidian said and went back to sleep.

  "We should find something to do for the time being." Shokei said to her party. "We can split up in groups if we want to explore this town."

  The party made their choice by splitting up to look around Egesul. Shokei and Marie decided to hang out with each other as Rei and Lei hang out by themselves. The rest of the group went off to explore around the town of Egesul while Obsidian remained in the inn.

  Shokei and Marie are looking around the town of Egesul. They are walking in an market area with shopping activities taking pce. While there, Marie made a purchase of a medicine that she has promised to take care of Obsidian in case he needs it.

  "There's so many stores around here." Marie said.

  "Looks like it." Shokei said, viewing the various shops as she walks by. "There's a variety here in this town."

  "True." Marie nodded.

  "I never been in Egesul before." Shokei said. "This pce has more shops than Malluraea. Sadly, Malluraea could not be more expanded for shops than here."

  "Yeah, various merchants come and go in our home." Marie said. "Sadly...Malluraea is already in ruins."

  "Sad...and true." Shokei said.

  "Ooh!" Marie catches something in her eyes and gets her attention with Shokei." Hey, there's a museum straight ahead! We should check it out."

  "Sure," Shokei said. "I mean, it's not that we're going to wander off far here and..."

  Shokei can see Marie getting ahead of her as she approaches the museum. Shokei shrugged and meets up with Marie. Together, both girls went inside the museum. Inside, they look around the museum and see various artifacts and legendary paintings. Most to what they see are historical. From viewing around, the pair takes note of one dispy that appears to be missing.

  "That's odd..." Marie walks over to the exhibit. "Something is missing here..."

  "What's that?" Shokei asked her.

  "This dispy is missing something...no description in sight." Marie said, inspecting the dispy.

  "Probably this museum has pns to pce something here, I guess." Shokei said.

  "Wrong! Because it's stolen." A voice speaks out to them.

  Shokei and Marie sees a figure approaching them. The person turns out to be a regur citizen and appears to be a guide for the museum.

  "If you're curious about the missing artifact, it was stolen." The guide said to them.

  "Really?" Marie said and asked. "What kind of exhibit was it?"

  "I'll tell you." The guide replied briefly. "You see, someone had stolen a special artifact that was written by a great explorer. A pirate I should add there. The artifact is a book that was written centuries ago, entitled "The Captain's Cultural Chronicle." The book is very historical, and it includes illustrations that refer to the history of Egesul and its secrets."

  "Secrets?" Marie asked curiously.

  "Yes. Secrets that would lead to finding treasures that no one could find or discover." The guide said in a whisper.

  "Woah..." Marie said in a slight surprise.

  "Anyways," The guide continued. "A thief broke into the museum one night and was accompanied by two cohorts. The crooks were able to get away with the book successfully and we are unable to find the whereabouts to where those bandits are. That book is one of the key figures that makes Egesul a whole."

  "I'm curious what would bandits do for the book?" Shokei asked. "Is it worth value?"

  "Value? Yes." The guide replied. "As for the continents of the book, I have no idea what they possibly stole the book for. Unless they are using the book for profit, that book should never be in the wrong hands. As I mentioned before, a famous pirate has written valuable information in that book, and we need to make sure that book isn't used for the bandit's favors."

  "I see." Marie said.

  "Bandits involved in stealing a book from this museum...that's crazy." Shokei said, thinking about all this. "Why would they steal a book for? And for what purpose?"

  "Unless you're brave enough, you can be the hero and retrieve that book from those scoundrels." The guide said to her. "The Mayor of Egesul would appreciate it."

  "Right." Shokei nodded and looks at Marie. "We need to tell the others about this."

  "Yes. Let's leave now." Marie said.

  Together, both girls leave the museum.

  Meanwhile, at a tavern, Rei and Lei are hanging out together. Both are having drinks as they are occupied for themselves inside the tavern.

  "Mmm! Delicious!" Rei said, finishing her drink. "This Coconut Carmel Blend is tasty."

  "Mine too!" Lei said, taking another sip of her drink. "My Angelic Autumn Berry taste good for me."

  "I see..." Rei said. "This town sure does have good alcoholic drinks. I should come visit here often."

  "You probably shouldn't go overboard..." Lei tried to tell Rei with advice.

  "Hey bartender! Give me another on the rocks! Same drink here!" Rei calls out in request.

  "Ohh geez..." Lei said, shaking her head.

  The bartender hears Rei's request and mixes up the same drink that she just had. With the drink present, Lei looks at Rei and watches her taking her time sipping up another drink. She looks down to see five gsses of the same drink.

  Dang it! She sure had a lot in her belly..., Lei thought. Although these drinks are light in alcohol, Rei does not appear to be drunk from all this. Maybe...maybe it could be the drink...

  "Hey girl..." Rei interrupted Lei's thoughts.

  "Huh?" Lei blinks and looks up at Rei.

  "You, ok?" Rei asked her.

  "Oh! Oh, I'm fine." Lei responded. "What's the problem?"

  "You should try some of this." Rei said as she wants Lei to have a sample of her drink. "It's not strong, but it's kinda sweet inside."

  "Err..." Lei was unsure of having a sip of her drink, but then shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

  "Here." Rei pours a pint of her drink. "Hope you like it."

  "Thanks." Lei said and then tried her drink. By letting the drink touch her tongue, Lei eyes widened and then drank the blend all the way. "Mmm! Good stuff! Even the caramel taste great with this."

  "Taste sweet, doesn't it?" Rei asked. "I knew you'll love it."

  "I do." Lei nodded. "But...about this tavern..."

  "Hmm?"

  Lei looks around and she can see that the tavern is predominantly male and a few females inside. She takes note that there was a group of three men that have their attention on them.

  "...what about this pce?" Rei asked her. "What's bothering you?"

  "Well...some scary beings are staring at us." Lei replied. "I'm...not liking where this pce is going."

  "You don't say..." Rei looks over and she sees that the men are getting up to approach them.

  "Uh uo!" Lei said, feeling uncomfortable. "Look, can we get out of here, please?!"

  "Really?" Rei asked. "Then again, we should stand up to these bastards."

  "Ehhh?"

  As the men approach the pair where they're sitting, Lei tries to get up to leave. One of the men, whose body looks obese, blocks her in her way. Rei gets up after seeing the confrontation and then she sees one of the other men, walked up behind her and grabs a side on Lei's butt.

  "EEEK!!" Lei shrieked and felt very unpleasant as she feels groped from behind.

  "HEY!!" Rei angrily said. "The heck you touch her for?"

  "Hehe...why not..." said the man, appeared to be drunk. "Your friend *hic* got a nice *hic* bony arse here..."

  "Pervert!!" Lei said and shoved him hard to the ground.

  "What the? You Bimbo! You're gonna regret that!" the man said with an enraged look, gets up and grabs an empty beer bottle, breaking it to be use as a weapon.

  Rei sees the man becoming a threat towards Lei and uses one of the gss mugs to hurl directly at his face. The gss shattered at the man's face, and he instantly fell to the floor, knocked out with one hard hit. Lei moves out of the way as the man's drunken buddies go after Rei.

  "Come on!" Rei said as she gets ready to fight.

  Rei can see the two men coming towards her. Seeing that her enemies are both obese, she acts by kicking the table at the obese man to her left. The man felt the table hitting his stomach, pinching his insides hard. The other man tried to put his hands on Rei and Rei quickly gave a hard punch to the face and quickly gave him a low blow to the groin. The man felt stunned by the impact to his groin, and this allowed Rei to grab the drunk and threw him directly at the man that was unconscious to the floor.

  Once Rei handled two of the men, she has her attention on the st one. The obese man recovered from getting hit with a table. He sees Rei in front of him and then he charged after her. Rei acts by hurling another gss mug at the thug's face. The man felt the mug hitting his face by the nose, but the density of the gss did not shatter. Distracted, the thug was then struck by another attack as Rei high kicks him by the chin. The kick became effective as the impact was enough to send him falling to the floor. After that, the threat was over as Rei can see that she has defeated her enemies.

  "No one messes with my friend and gets away with it!" Rei shouts out to the drunks and cracks her knuckles. "This should teach these punks a lesson!"

  Lei stands there as Rei surveyed the damage she caused. She sees that the thuggish men are all down and one gss and a table was turned over. She meets face to face with the owner of the bar.

  Amazing..., Lei thought. Never thought a being like Rei would save my life. And...she even beled me a friend? A...friend?! Ohhh, what have I got myself into? I could have assisted Rei with my own magic, but...no. I need to keep this secret from her. No, I don't want to be exposed by her! Not yet! Not just yet!

  "Sorry for the damages." Rei tells the owner. "My friend got harassed and I had to defend her."

  "It's understandable." The owner said to her. "I would have you pay for the damages if it escated..."

  "Yeah, I know..." Rei said, rubbing the back of her head.

  "However, because of how you handled these troubled goons, I'll cover your expenses for this time." The owner said with a smile.

  "What?!" Rei looks up as she hears the news to her ears. "Woah. I thought I had to be responsible for my actions."

  "No, no! It's ok!" The owner said with a smile. "Yes. These things happen. We just have trouble with our customers that cause problems in this bar. You're lucky that you didn't cause a ruckus around here."

  "Hehe. Thanks." Rei said, smiling back.

  Somewhere in the tavern, a mysterious figure overhears the conversation and saw the whole fight against the thugs. The figure recognizes Rei and becomes alert to who was it that saved the tavern.

  "Wait a sec..." the figure said to herself. "Isn't that...oh no! I better leave before I'm seen here!"

  The figure sees Rei in the town of Egesul along with someone else with her. Quickly, the figure leaves the tavern from another entrance without being seen.

  During that time, Beatrice and Tamiko are just wandering the streets of Egesul.

  "Seems like a safe pce...but there's nothing to do around here." Beatrice said.

  "Just get used to it." Tamiko said to her. "We have to wait here until that ship arrives."

  "I guess so." Beatrice said.

  While the pair continued walking, something caught their attention just ahead. There they see a mysterious figure in a sweet-lolita dress. Beatrice and Tamiko watch as the strange figure appears to be handing out a flyer to some people. A couple sees the flyer that was shown to them but declined and moved on.

  "Ooh! She's cute!" Beatrice said, admiring the looks.

  "Yeah, but what's with the flyer she's showing to people?" Tamiko asked.

  "Not sure." Tamiko replied. "Maybe it's another one of those lost and found type of things."

  "How would you know that?" Beatrice asked. "Let's just see what it is."

  "Oh, all right." Tamiko said.

  Beatrice walks over and approach the girl. The sweet lolita said nothing and hands her the flyer.

  "What is it?" Tamiko asked.

  "Hmm," Beatrice reads the flyer. "It appears to be someone missing in this town. It states that she is missing her twin sister."

  "Really?" Tamiko asked and takes the flyer to see what it is. "...I see."

  "I don't think we have the time to find this person." Beatrice said. "Then again, we're new to this town anyway."

  "Hang on to this just in case." Tamiko said. "Let's move on while we're at it."

  Instead of finding out more information from the lolita girl, the pair moves on in touring around Egesul.