As night rolled around, the mayor apologized that they only had a single spare bed for someone to use and offered the inn rooms as an alternative. Harton accepted the first one, with Fay accepting the second room.


    “Are you sure?” asked Nobina, feeling weird taking the only bed in the mayor’s house.


    “Don’t worry about it,” smiled Fay. “The adventuring life is one where you take what you can get. I can sleep in an inn as if it’s a second home.”


    “No bother to me either,” nodded Harton. “A bed is a bed, regardless of quality.”


    Nobina could tell neither of them would change their mind, leading to her conceding and accepting she’d sleep there for the night. As she wished the two good night, the mayor gave a smile.


    “You have good companions Nobina,” said Alester.


    Nobina nodded back, having a small smile.


    “You know, if I was alone, I’m not sure how this trip would have gone so far. I feel like I Iean on so many people, not being that strong myself,” said Nobina, finding herself speaking her mind.


    Alester took the time to look over Nobina before shaking his head.


    “I think you might be selling yourself short,” he responded. “You’re a D-rank adventurer, right? Yet you carry yourself as someone who’s comfortable around S-ranks. That alone speaks volumes of how much stronger you are than a D-rank.”


    Nobina couldn’t deny that. She had a lot of tools at her disposal, and she also had her powers. It was one of the things she still wanted to develop. With knowledge of how strong Fay was, she had a part of herself that didn’t want to be outdone.


    “There’s so much I want to do, yet so little time,” she sighed.


    The mayor looked at her curiously, wondering what she meant by that.


    “Do you have some grand goal you’re trying to achieve?” he asked.


    Nobina began talking to the mayor about how she was a writer. Her goal was ultimately to write a book, but so far she’s been so busy that it felt like she didn’t have time. She was aware that there technically was no rush to write, but she was feeling a bit rustier with each consecutive day not writing something.


    “Not sure about writing, but I will say that with long tasks, all you have to do is focus on doing your best to finish what is a priority. At some point, you’ll get the time to do things,” smiled Alester.


    She gave a nod. It felt pointless agonizing over it but even doing it a bit felt a bit liberating. She didn’t like holding anything in and the more she talked, the more comfortable she felt.


    “Thank you for speaking with me Alester. I think I’ll sleep better after this talk,” smiled Nobina.


    “Happy to help,” he nodded back.


    With that, Nobina headed to the guest room of the mayor’s house. It was a clean, minimalistic room with merely a bed, a bedside table, a desk, and a chair. Before lying down to sleep, she found herself sitting at the desk in the room, summarizing her writing utensils and her diary. She began writing about her journey so far, settling with a more simplistic version of it to merely catch up. As she began to write, she felt her desire to write continued to grow.


    To her, writing was still what she loved. A way to express herself without having to say a word. The pen was her instrument, playing the melody of her story to a recorder that may one day be played for others. Of course, it was her diary, so it wasn’t something she’d share with anyone. However, she really wanted for Fay to see it one day. After all, it would allow for them to catch up sooner even faster.


    “I wonder what you’ll think of my journey so far,” smiled Nobina, recalling her diary for the night.


    As she went to bed and blew out the lights for the night, the moonlight presented her with a nice, pleasant view before she eventually let sleep take her.


    The following day, the mayor invited the three of them to enjoy breakfast, which he had prepared early in the morning. It was a simple egg and ham breakfast, but it was something that Nobina and Fay enjoyed in particular. It reminded them a lot of their home cooking, and luckily neither the eggs nor ham was from a monster. They were from traditional animals.


    As they ate, Harton commented on the skill of the mayor.


    “One of the better meals I’ve had in a while,” he smiled. “Thank you for serving us.”


    “You’re welcome,” nodded the mayor back. “I rarely find a chance to share my skills with others given how busy I am, but I’m glad it’s still up to par for a party such as yourselves.”


    “We’d definitely love to have another meal one of these days,” said Fay.


    “I agree,” nodded Nobina.


    As the three finished, Fay told the mayor she was feeling well enough to travel. The plan was to leave as soon as they were done.


    “A shame,” said the mayor. “I’m sure a lot of the townsfolk would love for you to stay. You’d get a lot of gifts and get to tell your travel stories to them. Doesn’t that sound fun?”


    Nobina began thinking about all the gossip they were getting from the villagers, shaking her head immediately upon realizing how bad it might get if they stayed too long.


    “I think we are good to leave as well,” said Nobina, with Harton merely giving a nod.


    “Well, it’s not my place to keep you here longer than necessary,” he smiled back. “Will you be heading towards Arrin or back to Navira after this?”


    “Towards Arrin,” replied Harton. “We have a place in Arrin we need to get to.”


    Alester gave a nod.


    “Then we’ll send someone to report the status of the raid to Navira then. For now, we wish you safe travels.”


    With that, the party prepared to depart from Dega. The four of them headed to the general store, where the mayor organized supplies for their trip. During that time, a lot of the villagers went to Fay to discuss the culling of the goblin nest. Part of Nobina was relieved that most of the focus was on Fay, but there were people who had questions for them as well. Harton easily deflected people away, yet Nobina was having trouble doing so.


    Eventually, the supplies were ready, and they departed immediately. It felt as if the whole town was wishing them goodbye, with only Fay being the one to wave goodbye back. As soon as they were out of range, Fay gave a sigh, relaxing herself.


    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    “I haven’t delt with a crowd like that in a while,” said Fay. “I guess people here are really bored.”


    “Well, I’m sure we’ll have a smoother time on the trip,” smiled Nobina.


    The next few days were once again uneventful. It was a lot of Nobina, Fay, and Harton talking about their own personal stories. This time around, Nobina was fascinated by the tales that Harton had. Much of his journey was through the Federation of the Great Gar Gar, one of the three great nations of the world and the location of the demon remnants.


    The Federation itself was a nation focused on profits and power above all else. If you had money, you easily had status. Many people went to the Federation in the hopes of making it big and living an easy life. Some merely sought power, but it was hard to obtain any meaningful position in the nation. Most of the power was consolidated amongst the big groups, one including the Adventuring Guild of the Great Gar Gar, the branch that many S-Ranks found themselves visiting to make it big.


    “At some point, do you think you’d go there Fay?” asked Nobina.


    “Nope,” she smiled. “All I desire is right here, and if I really needed power, I rather do it either here or in Arrin. Being involved with the Federation is only asking for trouble.”


    “She’s right,” responded Harton. “I visit the Federation because it has what I need, but its otherwise a place you want to avoid at all costs. It’s a cutthroat place and being involved with any power there will only hurt you eventually.


    Nobina didn’t need any more reason to not visit that place. While she had a strong desire to see some of the world, she already realized how much more complicated her life was because she decided to leave Agora. If she had stayed there, she was confident her book would have been done by now. She might have even progressed her own Path or gotten strong enough to be a C-rank by now. However, that was merely a possibility. The worst case would have been getting the town involved in even more trouble. For now, she merely wanted to count herself lucky that she was coming out on top. She found Fay, and that was one of the only things that mattered to her.


    The trip continued on, with Nobina enjoying taking all the sights in. Eventually, by the end of the week, the group reached the village of Tugan, their first major stop.


    “Ah Tugan,” said Fay. “It’s one of the border villages to Arrin. From what I remember, this place has its own adventuring guild that we can stop by to resupply in. Not only that, but we can get information regarding what’s happening with Arrin. Any news would travel through here, even if it doesn’t go all the way to Navira.”


    Nobina gave a nod, letting Fay take the lead as both she and Harton followed suit. At the entrance, they were once again stopped by guards who checked their adventuring identifications. Seeing Fay as an S-Rank didn’t prompt them to escort them to the guild. However, they advised stopping by and checking if their services were needed. S-Ranks were hard to come by, and it was likely that the guild master would want to meet with her.


    “Sounds good,” nodded Fay, with Nobina and Harton following right after. The village itself was beautiful, being similar in size to Agora. Of course, the stores and houses themselves had their differences. A lot of the architecture was similar to Arrin’s building style, according to Fay.


    “It does make sense,” nodded Nobina. “I bet there are a lot of people from Arrin who visit this place from time to time.”


    Fay shook her head.


    “Unfortunately, Arrin is very strict with its boarder. Only traders are allowed an easier time moving between the borders. Civilians and adventurers of Arrin have a strict process on traveling back and forth. Only A and S-Ranks would be the exception, having an easier degree of movement with the right authorizations.”


    Nobina gave a nod. She eventually did want to see all of Arrin and understand what the nation was about. However, they had a task to do first, which was speaking with the dragons.


    Eventually, the group reached the adventuring guild. It was about the same size as the guild back in Agora, giving Nobina a sense of nostalgia. It hadn’t been that long, yet it felt like it had been forever since she left Agora.


    “I can’t wait to go back,” she told herself as Fay entered the guild first.


    Once they were inside, Nobina attached her guild pin to her shirt, displaying her status as an officer. Their presence drew some attention, but many noticed Nobina’s pin immediately and went back to what they were doing. It didn’t take long before one of the guild officers motioned Nobina to come over.


    “Excuse me,” said the receptionist. “Are you perhaps a guild officer of another guild branch?”


    “Yes I am,” she nodded. “My name is Nobina. I’m the financial officer of the Agora branch.”


    The receptionist’s mouth widened upon hearing that.


    “A financial officer… Wow. Your guild must have expanded recently, considering I remember your branch was about the same size as ours. How many are you now?” asked the receptionist.


    “About five including Guild Master Eric,” she smiled.


    The receptionist gave a nod.


    “We are about six here, but we are nothing too special unfortunately,” she said. “The name is Tia by the way. Great meeting you Nobina and…”


    “Fay,” smiled Fay.


    “Harton,” said Harton, giving a short bow.


    “Fay and Harton,” nodded Tia. “Now then. Is there anything we can help you with?”


    “Actually yeah,” said Fay. “Can you tell us the status of the border?”


    Hearing that, Tia’s frown was only a sign of bad news.


    “Unfortunately, the border has been closed. An incident occurred in Arrin recently that forced them to relocate their adventuring groups. As a result, we are unable to request assistance for a serious matter that’s developing,” said Tia, looking a bit sad.


    “Perhaps we can help,” said Nobina, feeling a sense of kinship with Tia. “Fay is an S-Rank adventurer, and we can help resolve any issues you have. We will probably want assistance crossing the border though for the help.”


    “Hm,” said Tia, holding a hand to her chin. “I’m not really authorized to make such a decision, but you can speak to Guild Master Ina. She’ll be able to negotiate deals like this.”


    “That works with me,” said Nobina.


    With that, the group was escorted up to the second floor. Tia gave a knock, with a female voice inviting them inside.


    Once they were inside, Nobina felt impressed by what she saw. Sitting behind the desk was a woman in her forties. She had long, brown hair and glasses like hers. Besides that, she wore a leather outfit similar to Mimiki’s adventuring one, but it was simpler. Mixed with that was a set of white clothing that flowed easily with each movement.


    “How may I help you?” asked Ina with a smile.


    “Hello there,” said Nobina, giving a bow. “My name is Nobina and this is my party, Fay and Harton. We are trying to cross the border, but we are aware that is closed. However, we are willing to offer Fay’s services as an S-Rank in order for passage through the border.”


    Ina gave it some thought before shaking her head.


    “Unfortunately, I don’t have the pull required to get you through. However, we would greatly appreciate the help dealing with our monster problem. In exchange, we’ll do what we can to keep you informed of the border stats and get you through immediately once it’s open. Not only that, but we’ll make sure your well accommodated for the duration,” said Ina.


    Nobina could tell there was a sense of desperation in Ina’s face. She really needed their help, and Nobina felt obligated to do something.


    Looking at Fay and Harton, Nobina saw it was her decision to make.


    “We’ll do what we can,” said Nobina.


    “Excellent,” smiled Ina, looking far happier. “I might be an A-rank, but even I am not good enough to deal with this problem.”


    “A-Rank?” asked Fay. “Normally its former or current S-Ranks for guild masters, especially the border ones.”


    Ina sighed, shaking her head.


    “My father, Guild Master Donell, passed away a few years ago. Due to my relationship with Arrin, they requested I take over as guild master and be trained to become an S-Rank within ten years. Otherwise, they would have me lead alongside one of their retired S-Ranks.


    “I didn’t think this nation would ever accept allowing an adventurer of Arrin to lead one of the organizations,” said Harton. “History has shown how much of a bad idea that can be.”


    Ina gave a shrug.


    “Navira approved of this without issue. So long as they get to vet the co-leader, then they would accept whoever has both of their approvals. Anyway, if you really doubt my capabilities of leading this guild, please note your concern is noted.”


    Nobina could tell Ina wanted them to drop the topic, so she decided to change it to something more lighthearted.


    “I believe I didn’t introduce myself fully,” said Nobina. “I’m the financial officer of the Agora guild. It is nice to meet you Guild Master Ina.”


    Hearing her introduction put Ina at ease.


    “Ah… a fellow officer. Right, you had that pin on you. Forgive me for being a bit defensive. So many people question my qualifications and honestly, it eats at me. However, I do my best and that’s all that matters.”


    Nobina could understand how Ina felt. Remembering her own qualifications being questioned, Nobina would also get defensive and feel obligated to prove herself. If it happened too often, it would be understandable to be frustrated as well.


    “Hopefully we can relieve the burden even a bit,” said Nobina. “For now, can you help us get accommodated for the day?”


    “Of course,” nodded Ina. “Please let Tia know that you are high profile guests, and she’ll do the rest.”


    The three of them gave a nod, leaving Ina to relax back in her chair.


    “Hm,” she spoke out loud. “I might not be strong, but my sensitivity to divine energy is second to none. I can see you watching me you know.”


    Ina’s eyes turned to the spot the Gaze was, keeping her eye on it as she waited for a response.