“Every journey will come to its end, with time.” - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.

“Well, here we are at our destination, miladies. I bid two of you adieu, and a good wind on your sails from here onwards!” said captain Arquivaldo da’Hock of Le Faucon Noir as Aideen and Celia came to bid him farewell after this ship had finished docking at the port.

The port itself was clearly a newer structure compared to the more visible aged walls of the capital city of the Jarldom. The buildings were obviously of newer make, reflecting more modern construction styles, and the streets were built with more efficient planning compared to the typically more haphazard way early towns were built in the Jarldom.

It was a relatively busy port, although most of the activity seemed to be from locals, either local fishermen from nearby villages selling their catch, or traders from further north or west of the Jarldom sailing over in search of profits. Aideen only noticed two other foreign ships docked at the port, one flying the Elmaiyan flag, while the other flew a flag Aideen recognized as that of the Port City of Caracan, on the northern coast of Ur-Teros.

Many dock workers wore light clothing despite the cold – the locals were both more used to the cold, and the heavy physical work kept them warm regardless – which gained a raised eyebrow from Celia, a sight that only made Aideen chuckle with amusement. Some of the muscular dock workers even seemed to make a contest out of it and wore as little as they could, with some only wearing open vests over their otherwise exposed upper bodies.

The sight of burly men and women working in the bone-freezing cold while being nearly topless was a rather unique and amusing one, to say the least.

Of course, some of the workers being of therian descent, they had their own natural coat of fur keeping them warm instead.

From the docks towards the city proper was not a long trip, only roughly half an hour by foot, a distance easily covered in a quarter the time with a fast carriage, given the flat, wide road that was present between the city and the dock area. Aideen and Celia took their time and headed to the city on foot though, partly taking in the sights as they went.

They were allowed entry without too much fuss – Aideen’s old identification token from the Lichdom ensured that – and walked halfway to the center of the city before Aideen posed Celia a question.

“So, what are you planning to do during our stay here? We’ll probably stay a day or three before we head further west, so might as well use the time however you like,” she asked to the younger woman.

“I’m not sure. Probably would take my time sightseeing and trying out the local delicacies, I guess,” replied Celia after some thought. “It’s my first time here in the southern continent so I’m curious to see the differences between here and back home. I’m just glad there seems to be a lot of people using Common even here, otherwise I wouldn’t know how to even talk to them.”

“Gestures would always do the trick in a pinch, but yeah, Common’s been spreading more especially in places where traders came often,” said Aideen with a nod. “I’m thinking of going out and getting myself a good lay myself, been a while,” she added all too nonchalantly. “Want to come along?”

“Uh… No, thanks, I’ll pass, I think,” replied Celia with a slight blush on her face. Despite the time that had passed – it has been many decades since the day Aideen rescued the freshly risen unliving girl back then – the events that led to Celia becoming an unliving still left some scars in the girl’s heart. She had worked out and got over a lot of the trauma over the years, but a few hang-ups still remained.

Like how she still somewhat dreaded the act of sexual intimacy itself, having stayed celibate over the past decades instead.

Aideen had hoped that being around her – who was easily the antithesis of being celibate – might have helped the girl loosen up and get over that one last leftover trauma, but there were no results despite the time that had passed. Maybe this was a case that was ill-suited for her abilities and needed more skilled help that was better suited to handle it, she thought.

There were fortunately plenty of those in the Lichdom. Many soulweavers had adapted their skills to helping people deal with their feelings and other mental troubles, furthering a field of study by leaps and bounds with their abilities, and Ptolodecca probably had the most skilled soulweavers around in the world. Chances were there would be some who could help with Celia’s lingering issues there.

“All right, then. Your call,” said Aideen as she gave up on the topic for the time being. “Have you decided on an inn to stay in? Or should we meet up somewhere easy to find around noon tomorrow instead? I likely won’t be coming back tonight anyway.”

“Come to think of it, I hadn’t really paid attention to the inns we passed… How about we meet around that big statue in the square there, noon tomorrow?” asked Celia as she pointed towards a large statue of a burly and bearded human man who was dressed in furs and raised an axe high with his hand. Aideen recognized that statue as one of the ancestors of the current Jarls of the Jarldom, who was supposedly one of the first pioneers that built his home in the frozen lands ages ago.

“That works for me,” replied Aideen with a nod. While Celia had been rather frightful and often clung to her like a chick to a mother bird early on in their acquaintance, the girl had since grown more independent and daring over the decades. It was a good sign of improvement that Aideen had hoped to see, and nowadays the two of them splitting up in a city unless Aideen happened to want to show Celia something was the norm for them. “I’ll see you there tomorrow, then.”