"I want to come with you."

The Chance Amulet plopped onto Edris's palm with a dull smack. He stared at her for a few long moments, as if taking time to process her words.

"…Pardon?"

"Take me with you," Doris repeated her words, this time louder.

Edris immediately tried to pass back the coin, only for the girl to tuck her hands behind her back and turn her head sideways.

He didn't know whether to laugh or cry at her reaction.

"Do you even know where we're going?"

"No," Doris admitted. "But I want to come."

The girl seemed to have come prepared for this conversation because the next moment, she was already reaching for something in her pouch. Doris pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and pressed it into Edris's hands.

"I have a guardian's approval as well. Gran agreed to it. I even had her sign an official responsibility transferral form," she stated.

Edris's eyebrows wrinkled at the paper in his hands. He flattened it a few times and skimmed the content. On the end of the form was a signature from Wendy, the owner of Wendy's Bakery Stand.

The handwriting matched the words on the written store menu. Chances were that Doris did somehow manage to get her grandmother to heed her request.

The entire time as Edris scrutinised the piece of paper, he could feel the little girl's gaze boring through his forehead. Then as if fearing his refusal, the girl yanked out another, larger pouch from her pocket.

"My entire savings in here." She shoved it on top of the agreement form. "It's not a lot, but you can subtract it from my residence and meal fees. I don't eat much. I also don't take up much space."

Before Edris could speak, she took a few steps back, creating a small distance between her and the group. Blowing out a long breath, Doris raised both her arms, and a gust bellowed beneath her feet.

Around them, birds began to chirp as they flapped their wings, darting toward the sky. The simultaneous movement caused all heads around them to upturn. The workers in the distance stopped their movements, and so did the nobles from the Orteon household.

Everyone watched as the enormous flock of birds flew into the distance.

"Did you just do that?"

Edris stared at the scrawny, dirt-covered girl in front of him with parted lips. Celio's eyes shook as they darted back and forth between the distant flyers and the little girl. Even the usually disinterested Ace had glanced over as well.

Doris nodded. "The birds are my friends. Through them, I can get information about our surroundings and help scout out any danger. I can also hear the same from insects. And water creatures." She gripped the rims of her shirt and lifted her head.

"I'm still learning, but I will get better."

"You've discovered your Touch already?" Ace asked.

A Touch, as Dolan and Magnus mentioned last night, was equivalent to a specialised pathway, one that'll provide Awakeneds with a great advantage if they tailored to learning skills related to their Touch. For example, the Vyris siblings' Touch were "passage" and "dream," respectively, and Saire Harkness's was "chance."

Seeing her progress in such a short time, the girl obviously had a high aptitude for mana manipulation. It was even possible that she'd already awakened her Touch since the last time they saw her.

Doris spent a few moments thinking about Ace's question, then shook her head. "Not exactly," she said. "But I have a hunch."

"Oh?"

Another surge of gust blew between them, lifting layers of her hair into the air. Doris stared straight at them, and residing in her eyes was a sea of fire. Her dimpled showed as she gave them a faint but confident smile.

"Life."

"Everything's in place! We'll be soon ready to go!" Duke Orteon's voice echoed from afar, pulling a halt to the conversation.

"We'll be there shortly!" Celio yelled back. "Master, what should we do?"

After everything the little girl had thrown out, Edris only stared at her, an indecipherable expression on his face. He cast a look toward Ace, who turned away the next second, signalling indifference.

Breathing out a sigh, Edris tossed the pouch into the air, repeating the process one time after another. The clattering sound of yones reverberated in the space between them, bringing with it a certain suspense.

Under the dark-haired man's abiding gaze, Doris lowered her eyes back down at her feet.

"I don't engage in unfair transactions," Edris finally said. "To be honest, what you gave me is insufficient to fend off everything we'll do on our journey."

At his words, Doris's tiny hands curled into fists, and she shrunk into herself.

However, Edris wasn't finished.

"Which means you'll have to make up for what's missing yourself. Will you be okay with that?"

He watched as Doris's head bounced back up at his words. She stared at him wide-eyed for the longest time, and Edris gave a casual shrug of his shoulders.

"After all, business transactions must at least be equal in value. But what I look for in my transactions is a surplus. A gain." A glint flashed across his pale eyes. "Do you think you'll be able to produce this surplus?"

Doris fell contemplative at this question. The little girl bore a stern expression on her face as she entered a trance. It appeared like some gears in her head were working away at an intense arithmetic function.

Finally, she gave him a serious, affirmative nod. Edris smiled.

"Great doing business with you, Miss Doris."

"Not Doris. I want to be called something else," she said. "Darcie is still sick, so she'll be sad if she finds out I've gone far away without telling her. So I will leave behind my name. 'Doris' will be the one to stay, to remain as her sister and only as her sister. Plus—" Doris snuck a glance at the three of them. "—she'd be distraught hearing about me doing dangerous things with strangers."

"Dangerous?" Edris let out a laugh. "Who told you we'll be doing dangerous things?"

He crouched down to her level.

"Perhaps I should clarify this, but…" Lifting an index finger, he pointed it toward the beast tamer, then the white-haired man. "I can't say about them, but I'm a seeker of peace. Through and through."

Edris smiled.

"Here, we do things in a civilized manner."

Celio entered a coughing fit while Ace scoffed out loud. Eyeing their reactions, Doris professionally withdrew her gaze.

"…If you say so."

"In any case, I respect your decision," Edris said. "I will update it on your contract. What would you like to be called from now on?"

The silence was shorter this time, as the girl had thought of a response in advance.

"Ives."

Edris blinked.

Ives was the main character and title of a fable, familiar to many in the Eastern Continent. If he remembered correctly, the story went something like this:

Ives was an orphan who grew up in the poverty-stricken part of an unnamed kingdom. When she was sixteen, she discovered that a prophet had given her their blessings through a prophecy.

Under the power of the prophecy, she was blessed with powers strong enough to demolish an entire continent. To repay this blessing, she must use them solely to help others and bring prosperity to the world.

And so, in a single night, the entire world seemed to have fallen in her favour. Scholars, merchants, townspeople—countless worshippers stormed her house. Even people from the palace came over, inviting her to become the princess of their kingdom, a symbol of prosperity and fortune.

However, where were they before? Where were they when Ives was sleeping on trees and feeding off leaves?

Ives refused all their offers and decided to become a wizard in recluse. With her powers, she created a forest all for herself and killed off any who dared to approach. As time passed, Ives turned from the worshipped wizard to the figure of despair.

She was mysterious, she was feared, she was strong.

The fable ended in a tragedy. The kingdom fell apart due to a civil war, and Ives died alone in her forest from the overuse of her powers. On the day of her death, some runaway citizens tried to sneak into her house to steal her food and belongings, but they ended up causing a fire and burning to death, taking the entire forest with them.

There was a reason why Edris recalled this fable with such lucidity. On the one hand, it was due to it being a tragedy, an extremely rare occurrence in a sea of happily-ever-afters. But more importantly, it was because of the fable's moral.

As with all fables in the kingdom, the story Ives was also assigned a moral:

Be a selfless person and give back to the world.

When Edris read the moral for the first time, he recalled feeling so speechless by it that he tossed the entire book in the trash. Thanks to its absurdity, he remembered the entire fable even until this day.

Despite his mixed sentiments, Edris didn't ask for an elaboration. He stretched out his hand, eyes creasing in a gentle smile.

"Miss Ives, I look forward to working with you."

The girl, now Ives, received his handshake with reciprocating firmness. Even though her hand was much smaller than his, at this moment, they weighed equal as two parties of a pact.

***

The Signa Gate looked closer to a portal rather than a gate.

Centered on a marbled platform by the foot of Felicity Hills, the giant ring-shaped structure stood as a guardian of valour and a bridge between nations. A spiralling force rumbled and furled in the centre of the ring, which bathed in an ocean-like glow.

"Perfect timing! We're just about to activate the gate." Duke Orteon said as he saw Edris approaching. His eyes landed on the new face in his group. "Who's this little one?"

"Her name's Ives. She'll be coming with us to Adalan." Edris smiled.

Since Signa Gate transportations were strict on quantity, the duke didn't question further on the issue. Including Edris's group, around thirty people were going to be teleported at once. Duke Orteon wasn't a part of the travel group; he was only here to oversee the transportation.

"Make sure to watch over the child. Since it's likely her first time using the Gates, the ride may be bumpy," he said to the group from below the platform.

"That's true…" Celio said, glancing over to Ives. He offered his hand with a grin. "You should hold on so you don't fall!"

Ives stared at his outstretched hand, hesitancy crossing her gaze. She breathed out, then carefully tugged onto three of his fingers.

"Make sure you hold on tightly!" Duke Orteon said again. "Maybe carrying her would be better?"

"It's fine." At his suggestion, Ives firmly shook her head. She looked toward Edris for support, and the latter tapped his lips in contemplation.

"I suppose it would be better," he mumbled, then turned to the white-haired man with a gentle smile. "Ace, go ahead."

"…"

Ace reacted to the dark-haired man's unconcealed cheekiness with the usual stoicism. He glanced down, making eye contact with the girl half his size, and the next second, Ives was hauled over her shoulders like a sack of sand.

His action took Ives by surprise. She stiffened, breath hitched and eyes unblinking. She moved her gaze toward Edris, signalling help.

"Ives," Ace spoke slowly. "If you really want to travel with this man, look over the contract carefully."

Ives blinked at his words, and so did Edris.

"A contract is a two-sided agreement. He can list his conditions. You can too." He continued without a care for their puzzlement. "List your requirements clearly. For people like him, finding loopholes for exploitations is like second nature."

"Hey, do I look like such an immoral person to you?" Edris arched a brow.

"From experience, an affirmative."

"I didn't know you were the type to bear grudges."

"Did you really just say that with your own mouth?"

"Got it," Ives responded seriously, cutting through their banter. "I will keep it in mind."

"Master, how come we don't have a contract?" As usual, the beast tamer seemed to be on a whole other channel from the rest. "Can we enter one as well?"

"All of you…" With a hand stacked on his hip, Edris let out a sigh. He shot Ace a dirty look. "Are you trying to get her to vomit in a position like that? Just give her to me."

He heaved the girl off the white-haired man and plopped her onto his back in a piggy-back position.

"Ready?"

Ives nodded as she clung to his neck like a sloth. After she steadied herself, Edris exchanged glances with Celio and Ace, then turned toward the Signa Gate. The travelling team from the Orteon household had already entered the portal, so the four of them were the last ones on the platform.

"Go on whenever you're ready!" Duke Orteon called from beneath. "Have a safe trip to Adalan!"

Edris waved back, and Ace gave a curt nod.

Streaks of light seeped out of the gates, as though inviting them in. On the other side of this barrier laid the Adalan Kingdom, the land of thrills and stories.

"Bye, Uncle Dominic!" Celio waved his arms widely, then looked up to the sky. "Ah…I can't believe we're going back home after so long. Time sure flies fast. Right, Master?"

Edris merely smiled.

Home?

He held no such sentiments toward the Adalan Kingdom.

Even though he'd worked there for some time, the kingdom to him was no different from any other region he'd been to in the world. It was just another stop in his journey as a traveller, another location with missions to overcome.

Be it Nest, dark magic, or even war, all of these were simply obstacles between him and his peaceful, carefree life. All he needed to do was surmount them.

Indeed, things would only get better from here.

With these thoughts in mind, the dark-haired man watched as his companions stepped into the Signa Gates one after the next. Eventually, only he and Ives were left on the platform. He glanced behind at the girl on his back, assuring her with a smile, and the latter nodded.

The next second, Edris took a step forward. Only then did it occur to him that it was also his first time using the gate. The suction force was much stronger than he'd anticipated, and a surge of light devoured his body almost instantly. The traveller inhaled sharply as his waist was yanked forward, head following behind.

Edris tumbled through the gate.

[ END OF PART ONE ]