Clink clink clink. That was the sound of our teaspoons stirring inside our four cups. Sarasa apparently needed help, and, at Ririna’s suggestion, we went to a high-css restaurant to talk about it.

  It was still too early for dinner, and at this time of the day, they served tea and a few other things to the bourgeoisie out in the city. The pce was nicely kept, and all the tables had long red cloths over them. But even though it looked very high css, it wasn’t located in the noble district. That’s why I’m confident to say nobles aren’t the target audience here. It’s probably just for the higher-ups of the various guilds to py pretend.

  It was honestly a bit uncomfortable, but whatever… Ririna had pushed the bill onto Sarasa, saying it was the least she could do if she wanted to ask us for a favor. Bit of a waste, though. I took a sip of the tea, and it was just like I thought. It’s wasted on me. I don’t know high-quality tea. This just seems fine.

  “Alright, Sarasa. You may speak now.” What a tragedy… The mood here has gotten me speaking weird. Maybe I’m not different from the idiots who come here to py pretend!

  “The request? Right, right… Where should I start…?” While Ririna and Carol sipped their tea elegantly, also giving in to the mood of this pce, Sarasa didn’t care. She leaned back on her chair, then forward abruptly when it was time to talk. Worrying about manners was not for her.

  “Have I ever told you why I became an adventurer? I’m actually from a cn from the Fractured Lands, you know? Not that it’s hard to tell with my clothes.” She spread her arms to show off her clothes. Light, thin clothes and many golden accessories. Combine that with her straight, bck bangs, and you get the Egyptian fantasy theme that appears in the game in that area.

  “I had my suspicions since we first met, but it’s good to hear confirmation directly from you. What does that have to do with your request?” I do like the way she looks. Fits her very well. It’s sexy and cute. Her bronze-tanned skin is very pretty.

  “So basically, I want you to help me find something. The reason I came to the western continent and became an adventurer is because I want to retrieve an artifact that belonged to my cn centuries ago. It’s a very important item that I absolutely need to recover!” Sarasa had a determined look on her face.

  Thanks to Ririna, we learned that this world is called Alterra. I didn’t remember the name, but I’m still able to visualize what the map looked like. Roughly speaking, there’s a big ocean in the center, where Azcester floats. This ocean is surrounded by an incomplete ring of nd, and outside, there’s another yer of water. Don’t know if there’s anything beyond that, but in the game, that was all there was.

  The nd to the south and southwest is demon territory, and it connects to the Endless Silver through a thin piece of nd. The Endless Silver occupies the lower half of the western continent, with the upper half being human territory. This connects to the fiery ndscapes of the Wastend up north, which then connects to the Fractured Lands in the northeast. The ring is incomplete as there’s nothing but water in the southeast, creating a big gap between the Fractured Lands and the demon territory.

  “And how do you want us to help you find it? Are we just supposed to keep an eye out for it? We can definitely do that…” As inefficient as that would be.

  “No no… I recently learned of its location from a very reliable source. It’s not too far from here. I want you to come with me and help me retrieve it.”

  “Reliable sources? Does that mean you know for sure where it is? What makes you think that information is reliable?” Carol joined the conversation with skepticism as she put down her cup.

  “Uhmm… Well…” Sarasa was at a loss. “I overheard some adventurers talking about it. They were talking about the details of an important quest of sorts… It really sounded like this pce has the thing I’m looking for.” She sounded unsure of what she was saying, and Caol wasn’t convinced. “Anyway, I really need to retrieve that thing! I need it to help my sister!”

  “For your sister?” I don’t really see how that’s relevant information, but… “Wait, you have a sister, Sarasa?”

  “That’s right! She’s back home, and she’s the cutest thing ever!” Her enthusiasm was back as she stood up. “That’s why I have to help her as soon as possible! As an older sister, it’s my duty to protect her.” She puffed up her chest as she said that.

  “Ehh… You really treasure her a lot, huh?” For such a free spirit, I wasn’t expecting Sarasa to care that much about her family. Back home, huh…?

  The Fractured Lands is a region composed of many floating desert isnds magically hovering over a void. There’s sand constantly falling like waterfalls, sandfalls. Most isnds have at least a town or a city, and they’re all filled with beautiful ruins and oases. At the center of the Fractured Lands is a giant, green beam of light, visible from anywhere in the region, that looks almost like a pilr. It’s one of the coolest-looking pces in this world, but it’s a pain to traverse.

  “I think I get. You just want us to go with you and help you get your sister’s artifact back. Have you asked Ririna for help too?” I turned my head to her, and Ririna nodded.

  “I said I’d help. Sarasa’s a friend after all.” Ririna looked at Sarasa, then back at me. “But don’t feel pressured to accept just because I did, Iroha. There’s nothing in it for you, so I’d feel bad to force you to help us.”

  My retionship with Sarasa is not as strong as with Ririna, but that doesn’t mean I don’t see her as a friend. I can’t ignore a request from her. Besides, I’m definitely forced to go if Ririna’s going. What if something bad happens to her?

  “It’s fine, Ririna. We’ll join.” Then I focused on Sarasa. “If you think we can help, we’ll come with you. When are you thinking of going?”

  …

  The next day, apparently. We talked about it yesterday and decided to come today. Sarasa had some flexibility, but since the weekend started today, it just seemed right.

  Our target destination was an abandoned castle from a thousand years ago. The four of us met near the fast-travel station and left Ebrilyon towards the southwest. Going too far west would get us into the Forest of Illusion, but the castle wasn’t that far west.

  The path to get there took us through some very dispersed woods, with many cliffs, tiny waterfalls, and unusual bridges. Unusual, because we would be lucky to find pces with logs over these creeks. Most of the time, we’d have to cross by jumping on rocks.

  “Hey hey, Iroha, can you handle this one?” Sarasa was enjoying the journey and running all over the pce. Instead of crossing a log with us where the water was shallower, she went to where the stream was much faster. She pointed at a set of small rocks and challenged me to cross there with her. How pointless.

  “Let’s see… These are really tiny… One misstep and you’re taking a dive…” I… ended up joining her.

  “*Sigh…* Come on, Ririna. We’ll meet them on the other side.” Ririna looked at us from afar, and Carol rushed her from behind. She thought we were idiots and chose to stick to the safer crossings.

  “But you’re really underestimating me.” I crossed my arms cockily as I accepted Sarasa’s challenge. “You really think this is gonna get me?” The parts sticking out of the water were tiny. It’d take around five leaps to get across, but I could easily do it. I have the Parkour skill now.

  “Nyahahahahaha! You’re all talk! I can do it because I’m awesome, but even a feline beastman would have trouble with this, you know?” She grinned as she looked at me. She thought she was cleverly baiting me and that she was gonna see something funny very soon.

  “I’m telling you I can do it. And you’d think so too if you thought about it for a bit longer.”

  “What’s there to think about? You’re just a human. These kinds of jumps are too much for you. But hey, I’m waiting to be impressed. I’ll go first, then I wanna see you do it, okay? Here it goes!”

  After leaning forward, Sarasa jumped, nding on the tiny rock with one foot. Her arms were stretched, and no matter how much she wobbled, she wasn’t going to fall. Then she hopped to the next. The wobbling was fake and just for fun. She jumped again. And again. Then she jumped for nd and got safely to the other side.

  “See? Easy, right? It’s your turn! Don’t get cold feet now. Nyahahaha!” She pced her hands on her hips as she ughed.

  “Alright… Here’s what you overlooked.” Next to the smaller rocks was a bigger, taller rock. Normal people couldn’t do it, but I jumped for that instead and clung to it with Wall Artist. I could jump to the other side from here with ease.

  “Huh?! No no no! You can’t do that! That’s cheating!” And because I knew she’d say that, I jumped from the tall rock to one of the tiny ones. Parkour makes jumps to tiny pces like this easier, so I hopped from one to the other with my hands behind my back.

  Sarasa was shocked as I jumped right in front of her with a grin. “Did you catch that? Want me to do it again?”

  She took a few nervous steps back and nodded reluctantly. “I see… You did better than I expected… I have to admit it… You’re good!” She suddenly smiled and spped my back. “You got guts! I knew I wasn’t wrong about you!” She wrapped her arm around my shoulder.

  “Thank-”

  “Are you two done with your silly games? Let’s keep moving! I don’t wanna be here all day!” Carol arrived with Ririna, looking annoyed.

  “Nyahaha! Let’s keep going!” She let go of my shoulder and ran to the front, marching ahead of us.

  Sigh… I don’t mind messing around with her, but I don’t know how much longer I can keep up. She’s a really chaotic girl, but at least she’s not disappearing on us this time. I wonder if it’s because I’m keeping her entertained.

  Bam100