“You’re Finally here. Took ya long enough, Eillim.”

As I walk up to the gateway Akkre calls out to me with Irina standing by his side. All the while not missing his chance to annoy me.

“Well sorry if I’m a bit exhausted. I just get back after eight years and the first thing you do is make me fight Irina. And now just one day later you’re sending me off again.”

“Don’t worry you won’t be alone, I’m going to have Irina go with you.” Akkre says.

I’m no expert on the subject but I don’t know if it’s a good idea to keep Irina around instead of sending her back to the past.

“Are you sure you shouldn’t send her back?”

“What, you don’t want me sticking around or something?” Irina asks.

“No, it’s not that. I actually rather enjoy your company, Irina. However, this isn’t your time. So I’m not quite sure if it’s okay for you to be here.” I say.

“Neither of ya need to worry if it was really a problem the old man would have dealt with it. Now, lets put the complicated time travelling issue aside for now. This time I’ll be sending you off to a world far from here. You’ll be in a nation currently going through a civil war… actually, I think it would be more apt to say a unification war. What was once a single country has been split in two with the death of the former King. Ruling over East Lucia is the youngest child of the late King. He rules his territory with an iron fist and firmly believes that the kingdom would fall without the aristocracy… at least that's what he says in public. His council of advisers are all from well-distinguished families that have long since been loyal to the Crown. On the flip side is the older brother who rules over West Lucia. He is a rather free-spirited individual and he promotes the people of his court based on merit with complete disregard of their social background. I’m sure you can see what initially sparked this war. Question time, why am I sending you two here?”

“Me! Me! Let me answer!” Irina says while jumping excitedly.

“Alright, Irina give it a go.”

“I don’t know!”

Why were you jumping so much if you didn’t even know… I need to think of an answer quickly.

“If you don’t know then… DON’T TRY AND ANSWER! Next! your turn Eillim ”

“Uh… is it because you agree with one of their viewpoints and just want to interfere?”

“… Sure lets go with that. Yep, that’s the reason why.”

That’s a lie. I am almost 100% certain that’s a lie.

“That’s not true Dear, you shouldn’t lie like that.”

After hearing her voice, Tsuki suddenly appears in front of us from thin air.

“…” Akkre says nothing as he looks off in another direction.

“Go on tell them the truth, Akkre.” Tsuki says.

“Funny story… yeah… well… it’s like this, a few years ago when Lucia was still whole I was there passed out on the roadside from hunger. The older brother, Octave, found me and gave me some food, so I owe him a favour. And that’s 'bout it.”

No surprise there since Akkre seems too pass out from hunger a lot, considering it would happen several times a year when we were at the academy. But more importantly, how did Tsuki just appear from nowhere?

“Putting Akkre’s bi-annual hunger collapse aside for a moment, just how did you do that, Tsuki? What kind of magic was that? Can I learn it?” I ask.

“I don’t think I did anything in particular, just what are you talking about?”

“She is talking about how you just show up in front of us. I’m also curious.” Irina says.

“Oh that, it’s nothing special. Akkre can also do it.”

“I wouldn’t really say it’s nothin’ special, we are one of the very few people who can do it. And it’s the only form of long distance instantaneous teleportation in existence. And it’s not magic. If it was, then I wouldn’t even be able to use it. Our teleportation trick is a result of the soul bonding, we are always aware of where the other is and what they are doing. Enough about this, lets get you two moving. The gate finished its calibration a while ago so get a move on. Your goal is to help Octave, King of West Lucia, in his effort to end the war that plagues his lands.”

******

Akkre throws both Irina and me into the gate before we can ask any more questions and quickly shuts it off before we can even stand up. It doesn’t take long for me to see the sea of flames off in the distance with the smoke clouding the rising sun. Not to mention… we are surrounded by about a dozen soldiers with their firearms aimed directly at us. This isn’t good. As they open fire on us, I get my shield out to block the barrage of bullets. Irina and I take cover behind the Schanzild but I can’t block everything at once. Bracing myself for the worst I hear the sound of bullets ricochet off metal coming from behind us. As I look back I see a large man wearing a strange getup with a mask coving his face and is holding… a stop sign? What?

“Are you ladies okay? Hmm… you two look fine. Now get ready, it’s our turn to attack. An opportune time since the enemy must reload before shooting off another volley.” The masked man asks.

“Shit, It’s Stop Sign Man! All units retreat!”

Before we can mount our counter-attack the soldiers who had previously surrounded us retreat and are soon out of site.

“Are you two alright?”

“Thank you for the help umm…”

As I try to thank him for his assistance I realise he hadn’t given us his name yet.

“People call me Stop Sign Man. And you are?”

“I’m called Eillim and over here is my friend Irina.”

“What wonderful names. By the way, that shield-like thing you have… is it supposed to be covered in ice like that?”

I was so absorbed in the situation I didn’t even realise that the Schanzild was still frozen from the fight with Irina. I can’t believe I forgot to get this fixed.

“No, it’s not supposed to be frozen like this. Irina your gonna have to help me with this later, the only people who can remove pure ice are you and Akkre.”

“Hold up young lady, did you say Akkre?” Stop Sign Man asks.

“Yeah, he is the one who sent us here, something about owing someone a favour. Do you know him or something?” I ask.

“I… uh… I don’t know him personally but I have heard his name. Do you see the river over there, follow it and you will come to the Capital of West Lucia within six hours on foot. I suggest you go there. Now, I have some business to take care of, so farewell.”

Stop Sign Man puts his stop sign on the ground and sits down on it. Unbelievably the stop sign starts flying and he takes off in the most ridiculous way he possibly could.

“Hey Irina, what the hell did we just watch?”

Irina puts her hand on my shoulder and just shakes her head, “Don’t question it. Lets just get moving and head to the Capital.”

******

Just as Stop Sign Man said, all it took was six hours to reach our destination. But it looks like actually entering the city will be troublesome. Most likely due to the ongoing war, all non-residents have to go through a screening.

As she looks closely at the pamphlet describing the screening process Irina asks, “so Eillim, how are we going to get through this?”

“For starters, how about you actually hold the pamphlet correctly. It’s upside down. And why don’t you think of something yourself?”

“You're the smart one, so you can do the thinking. But if you really want me to think of something I can. Hmm… I know, we can try digging a tunnel to get in.”

“I’d rather just take my chances with the screening.”

“Suit yourself, I’m gonna start digging over here.”

Leaving Irina to her own devices I head over the checkpoint and wait around in the queue for the screening.

******

Well… both Irina and I got into the city, but it certainly isn’t the way I wanted to do so. After a few moments a man wearing a similar uniform to the officer watching over us shows up, although his uniform has more decorations, I think it’s safe to assume this is the commanding officer here.

“So officer, what brought these two here?” The man says as he points towards us.

“Oh, Captain you’re here at last. We took these two into custody since they were clearly suspicious. This one here, I believe she said her name is Eillim. She couldn’t give us any background information at all during her screening so we took her in on the possibility of being a spy. The other one never gave us her name but we found her digging up the ground right outside the city walls… to be honest I’m not sure what I was supposed to do in that situation so I placed her under arrest as well just to be safe. What should we do with them, Captain?” The prison guard asks.

“Nothing, they are free to go. And they have a free pass into the city.”

“I apologise ahead of time for my rudeness sir, but what? These two are clearly suspicious and you mean to have them freely walk around the city?”

“If it were my choice I would just keep them locked up here but they are being released on orders from a member of the council. And not just any councilman but it was King Octave himself that gave the order. Now let them out of their cells and take them into the city.” The Captain says.

With a clearly displeased look, the officer opens our cells and takes us outside the police station.

“There you two are free to go, now don’t be causing any trouble. If you do, I’m hauling both of you back down here. Now get a move on.” The guard says as he returns to the prison.

“Quite the rude man isn’t he, right Eillim?”

“Your not wrong, but I can’t blame him for being on edge. His country is in the middle of a war. One of their towns was just burned to the ground not too long ago, you saw the flames. The real question here is why were we released, and by the King’s order no less. We haven’t met many people here yet and we get pardoned by the King.”

“Well sure that’s important, but more importantly where are we going to stay? It’s not like we have any money for an inn.”

“Well shit, I didn’t think of that one. Huh… Irina, did you notice?”

“Yeah, we’re being followed. Lets turn into this alley over here and ambush our pursuer.”

On Irina’s suggestion, we take a turn into a nearby alley and hide. Just as predicted he shows himself.

“Now, Irina!” on my orders we come out from hiding and traps our pursuer between us.

Drawing a dagger to his throat, Irina whispers, “Who are you and what do you want with us.”

“I mean you no harm, I am but a messenger. The council requests your presence at the palace.”

“Irina put your blade down. And you messenger, take us to the palace.”

“Hey Eillim, are you sure it’s a good idea to just blindly trust what he is saying.”

“No, as a matter of fact, I don’t. However, we aren’t doing anything else right now and if he is telling the truth then we are one step closer to finishing Akkre’s errand. Of course, if he is lying, you are free to do with him as you please.”

******

As we follow the messenger through the city we finally get a good chance to take a look at the city. Judging from the metallic structure of the buildings I’d say this world is pretty far ahead in terms of technology when compared to back home, but it still pales in comparison to Spirit World. Then again this place seems devoid of magic which makes a big difference. After a short while, we reach the palace. This place is rather large but is nothing compared to the buildings in Spirit World. After a few minutes, we arrive at the throne room.

“I see our guest has arrived. I heard that you two are here on the behalf of my t— friend Akkre. I apologise for the incident you had entering the city. I hope it didn’t cause you, two ladies, too much trouble.”

As we enter the room, the man who I assume is the King is sitting in the throne. He stands up tall and speaks in a loud voice. In contrast to the grand design of the palace, he looks rather plain looking with a face that shows signs of ageing. Outside of his muscular body, he doesn’t have much to write home about.

“It was a little of an inconvenience but we made it into the city and in the end, that’s what matters. Now excuse me for asking but you don’t really look the part, so are you really the King?” I ask.

“Indeed, I am King Octave Dieudonné of West Lucia. I am well aware I don’t make an effort to distinguish myself as a King with my appearance. The reason for this is because Akkre once told me that what makes a person a King is not their appearance, not their lineage, but their actions. A King must strive to be the best he can for his people and for his country. For a man isn’t born a King, he must become one. I don't waste our nation's wealth on making myself look better, there are plenty of other things that need my attention before that. While I am familiar with your names the others here are not, so go ahead and introduce yourselves to the rest of my court.”

“Of course, I am Eillim Concordia. The champion of the Keepers, although I suppose I am still training to fully take that title. And this is…”

“I’m Irina. Irina Icrwl, Second Lieutenant of the Imperial Army of the Empire.”

“Excuse the interruption, King Octave, but how are you already familiar with us? We only recently arrive in your kingdom after all.”

“Oh, right, umm… it was none other than Stop Sign Man who told me. He has done much for the kingdom. He told me how you were familiar with Akkre, and that isn’t something I can just ignore. Knowing Akkre I’m sure he had something in mind when he sent you here, so do tell. What is your objective?” The King says.

“Hmm… we were sent here to assist you in an effort to end the ongoing conflict.” I say.

“I for one fully welcome your help… however, some people here aren’t as readily accepting.”

“That is correct. A good day to you ladies, I’m Geoffroy the Grand General in the West Lucian military and a member of the council. I speak for a majority of us on the council when I say that we can’t fully trust you two. It’s not that we don’t like you, we just haven’t seen anything that proves your worth. We will administer a few tests to see what you are capable of. Just to reiterate, we don’t mean any harm. We just don’t want to send ill-prepared people off to a battlefield.”

“That sounds fair. I too would be sceptical about sending someone I just met to fight a war for me. Is this okay with you Irina?”

“I don’t mind, just tell us what we need to do.” Irina says.

“Very well. The first test will be a simple test of strength. Tomorrow we will have an opponent prepared for this test, so make sure you're ready by noon. We will make it a little easier for you and assume that you two are about as strong as each other so only one of you will have to fight. Now then, after that, we will have you visit the Golden Summit, a mountain that's south-east of here that defines the border between the west and the east. Several large orichalcum deposits exist there, but we have not yet been able to get our hand on it, since in the past anytime we go with a large group the east responds by doing the same. At the same time, we can’t proceed with a smaller group that won’t attract the attention of the east because of the mountain’s guardian, a large dragon. A long time ago in my grandfather's generation when our nation was whole, he pushed forward on a military expedition to slay the dragon but was repelled. Since then we have forgone using military force to claim the mountain. Although in the recent past both us and the east have tried to subdue the dragon once more and we still failed. But we have recently learned that the dragon could speak our tongue and we tried to open negotiations with it. The result was losing several of our diplomats and their guards. We want you two to deal with the dragon, Hiquahazull. Of course, we don’t have any actual expectations for this, so should you fail it we will have a few more tests prepared, assuming you make it back alive. But on the rare chance that you actually succeed then we will end your test and have you two help us directly on the field.” The King says.

A dragon huh… even in spirit world dragons are very rare and hardly show themselves to others. Although, Akkre seems to be on very good terms with the dragon tribes of Artikkuus. I’m not sure how the second test will go but the first one should be no problem at all. Irina is pretty strong after all and I didn’t spend the last eight years fooling around… wait, that's not true, I spent a lot of time fooling around. But I should still be strong enough to beat most people here in a fight.

As our discussion with the King and his council was wrapping up we were invited to stay in the guest rooms while we are here. With having no money for an inn, both Irina and I jump at the opportunity for free lodging. We end up spending the last bit of time in the day just resting in our room as we await the first test.