If both of them had been in shock before, then the state they were in after hearing these words was beyond explanation. If Ashiya didn't even dare to speak, then Kiyeri simply didn't know where to start. He stared blankly for a while as medicinal herbs were applied to his wounds until he finally blurted out "I have a million questions..."

  "And I don't have time to answer them.“ The old woman immediately retorted, ?While one of you is chopping firewood and the other is shelling beans, maybe my joints will stop hurting and my tongue will loosen."

  Briefly and clearly, no way to argue.

  They worked together all day, and there really was much to do. Not only beans and firewood, there were many other vegetables and berries that needed to be sorted out. Ashiya took heavy labor, letting the easier tasks fall to them. One braided onions, another loaded hay, the third repaired the tools, while the first painted the fence, working like that all day long they learned a lot.

  Grandma, named Lorena, was definitely not ordinary, noble by birth, with high talent, she distinguished herself everywhere - in the palace and war. Still young, only twenty-three, she had a daughter, and soon, two sons. After a little rest, she returned to battles, claimed victories and later had the honor of taking over the Sigil. When her sons grew up, they followed in their mother's footsteps, but both died in the war. Heartbroken, the woman devoted all her attention to her remaining daughter and did not let her out of sight, everywhere together.

  While traveling around the country, the daughter met and fell in love with a young man, a simple blacksmith. Such a union is not possible in these lands. Noble talents must create families only with their equals, in order to pass on their blood to descendants. The girl's father was angry and wanted to lock his daughter at home and simply behead the boy, but Lorena secretly took them both to the south and hid there.

  The young couple found refuge in the neighboring country of the Sun, and Lorena returned home. After such a blunder, the entire family lost their title and Lorena was forced to give the Metal Sigil to the next heir. That next was Master Zeni. The same master who many years later had to pass this Sigil to Kiyeri.

  Lorena spoke over a cup of tea while the three of them watched the setting sun on a bench.

  “When I was no longer connected to the kingdom, I moved here, as close to the southern border as possible, and only then did I feel happy for the first time. The morning dew under my bare feet, the lettuce I grew in my garden, the chickens walking around the yard, everything is so simple, but everything seems to have acquired color as if I had breathed air for the first time in my life. In the town, people negotiate, exchange, and chat, and no one counts heads. My grandchildren visit me several times a year, and when I was young, I never even thought that this was exactly what I had always wanted.”

  Turning to Ashiya, she continued "When I opened the door at night and saw your eyes, I realized that I had to help you." She glanced at Kiyeri and pulled herself together. "But I've known Zeni since he was a child, and that child has always been possessed. Many years have passed, I can't talk about him now, but I still want to warn you - be careful of him, don't believe anything he says."

  Kiyeri's heart sank and he swallowed hard.

  After a little more conversation, the sun set and the trio got up from the bench. Lorena regretted not giving them a chance to bathe, only some clothes, and told them to leave: "I probably don't need to explain that you can't stay here. The injuries have healed more or less with the help of herbs, but they still need to be given time. I wish you the best of luck."

  Kiyeri bowed, ?We are extremely grateful as it is. You did so much for us already.“

  Lorena smiled, ?I did nothing of sorts, just hired two passing by boys for farm work in exchange for a meal and old stuff.“

  The guys turned around and left, but just after a couple of steps, Ashiya turned back again asking, ?Granny... Lorena, if we will go hungry again, can we come back for some work?“

  ?If I’m still alive by then, you are welcome.“

  After hearing this answer, Ashiya‘s eyes sparkled in the sunset, Kiyeri found that to be weird, ?Are you asking her for shelter next time? Was that food so delicious? And what about that comment on your eyes??“, but he decided to just leave it.

  The two of them made their way to town with caution, the sky was showing midnight.

  As they approached the gate, they tensed up a bit, there were no guards around at all. They had been chased by them last night, Lorena had also mentioned that the town, and especially the Temple, were constantly guarded, but now it was empty, only one other drunk beggar was still wandering the streets. After exchanging glances, the two of them cautiously walked on. Normally Kiyeri would use his mana vision and be able to see the approaching attacks in advance, but now he couldn't due to his injury.

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  "What a strangely unfavorable coincidence..." he thought, carefully scanning his surroundings and straining his ears.

  ?Kiye should have stayed somewhere, “ Ashiya murmured.

  ?Somewhere, where? This meeting is unavoidable. And I want to hear what she will say myself.“

  That bad feeling Kiyeri had when entering the town now grew even stronger. They knew this might be an ambush, but they needed this Temple too much. Not to mention the scenario that if they did not show up – every home would be turned around by soldiers trying to find them. Ruki and Dali weren‘t that big of a threat, but if someone big was escorting them, there was no chance to win.

  ?Should we turn around?“ Ashiya asked casually.

  ?I will hit you. Stop talking and be ready, but PLEASE, don‘t do anything stupid“

  They reached the Temple with no troubles, everything was still empty and quiet. It was past midnight, but no one came to greet them. Then suddenly, from inside the Temple came a delicate voice, ?Master, Ashiya, you came.“

  Both of them looked up instantly and saw a girl emerging from within. This girl looked sweet and gentle, with a soft-lined face carrying a friendly smile. She wore a snow-white tunic, a bow hanging behind her back, and a gilded rapier sword hung on her side. Hands pressed to her chest, she looked at both of them, like seeing someone dear after a long time. This kind of girl would inspire trust in anyone. It was Princess Ruki.

  Kiyeri skipped all pleasantries, ?Did you bring Dali and Seyre with you?“

  ?They are a little farther away, we didn't want to scare you...“

  Kiyeri glimpsed at Ashiya for a second. The hot-headed one was standing firmly in place, arms crossed, an unreadable look on his face. Kiyeri turned back to Ruki, ?Ah, yes, much appreciate your kindness, it wasn't scary at all last night. Where are your guards? Also doesn't want to scare us?“

  Ruki fixed a sad face, ?Master, I just want to talk. Our situation is not that different. My King sent us to hunt you, but we don‘t want to do that!“

  Ashiyas voice, sharp as a knife sliced the air, ?Come closer, tell me more about it.“

  Ruki fixed her gaze at him for a second, before turning back to Kiyeri, pleading, “Master?”

  “If you think, you have nothing to worry about, then you have nothing to worry about, right?” Kiyeri answered.

  After some displayed consideration, she grabbed the sides of her tunic with her fists clenched, lowered her head, and slowly began to descend the stairs, while Ashiya took a step forward and raised both palms, ready to attack. The girl stopped three steps away from them. Without looking up, she spoke quietly, "What do I have to do to make you trust me?"

  Who knew to whom she directed this question, but Kiyeri was the one to answer, “For starters, you can command the ones hiding to show themselves”.

  “You heard him”, Ruki shouted into thin air.

  Soon two more figures appeared from behind the open Temple door, one white, the other blue. The white one also carried a bow on their back and a royal rapier at their waist. The blue one had a long double-edged sword at his side. It was Prince Dali and Seyre - the fifth Sigil of Earth.

  Kiyeri smiled insincerely, “Good. So we are moving on. Will your colleagues come down to talk?”

  The two figures did exactly as they were asked and stopped behind Ruki’s back.

  ?Good,“ Kiyeri spoke again, ?now, what do you want from me?“

  Ruki spoke, stroking the long copper braid on her shoulder with both hands, "We need help. We were ordered to bring you both back alive, but later we learned from a secret source that all five of us were planned to be killed in order to restart the cycle of Sigils. Not knowing what to do, we tracked you down and attacked blindly just to deliver the message and meet. The entire guard under the King is watching us, there was no other choice. We planned to fail that attack and use it as a pretext to send those guards home, saying that we couldn't defeat you, so we will try to lure you in by deception."

  "And you are asking for help from two fugitive criminals?" Kiyeri raised an eyebrow.

  "We are asking the only ones who are not under the King," Ruki replied, almost crying out the words.

  "Then it's decided!" Kiyeri shouted, clapping his hands so loudly that everyone flinched. "If things are that bad, we can talk about them tomorrow, and today we need to rest, but first let's get ready." He climbed up the stairs to the Temple, leaving the other four behind, frozen and gaping.

  Ashiya couldn't believe his eyes and ears "Kiye?!"

  The other three simply stood there, not daring to speak or move. When Kiyeri finally climbed up and entered, all four of them couldn't hold back any longer and followed, avoiding each other's eyes.

  Walking towards that Celestial stone, Kiyeri said, "I am a simple person, I need food and sleep, I am not going to stand all night and admire you all. After traveling to this temple for almost a year, I will not talk until I have done what I came here for."

  His tone was instructive, as if from the past, when he used to scold those three, so Ruki, Dali and Ashiya simply stood behind him and listened. Seyre was much older than the others and Kiyeri himself in age and experience. But as someone who was distinguished by his impeccable discipline, and tactful behavior, he stood next to the young ones in silence, though his eyes flicked toward Kiyeri’s wounds with concern.

  Kiyeri examined the stone closely, closed his eyes, and tried to gather mana, but failed, the wounds were still infected. Although he had never seen it in person, the academy had illustrations of what a stone should look like with a Metal mark hidden on it, so he looked for the pressed-in bars, but they were nowhere to be seen. The stone was large, it would take at least four people to hug it, so to get a closer look he climbed over the surrounding fence, touched the stone, and then suddenly lost consciousness.