Behold, Hope

Chapter 6: The Mura

The next day, I woke up quite early and after hugging Rovan and Alysa goodbye, I set off to meet up with more of Lycia's coworkers: Ian and Evril. Two Mura adventurers who now serve as the Mura liasons in the Saskia Alliance. Lycia used to work with them often on missions when numerous people were needed. I guess you could say she was their role model since they are a few years younger than her. We decided to meet for breakfast at a restaurant before stocking up on rations for the journey and ultimately leaving on the three day expedition. Technically, I could've transported myself, but because of how far away the city was, the mai needed for the journey would exceed my limit and I would likely be killed upon arrival. Not very efficient.

I approached the restaurant casually as I pulled off my cloak before hearing a squeal. I turned to find Evril and Ian sprinting towards me, tears running down their faces as they tackled me in a hug. I was so awestruck that I just took the hit as they pushed me to the ground, laughing. I hugged them back as they sobbed. Evril is around nineteen years old now, short with light brown hair and a cute freckled face. She was always a bundle of joy and energy in Lycia's memories. And Ian, I believe he's twenty now, Evril's brother with equally as much energy. An incredibly smart guy with amazing bow skills. Evril is an amazing sorcerer like I once was. The two are quite a formidable duo, very skilled adventurers.

"Liaaaa, I missed you so much? What happened to you?" Evril cried as she continued to hug me. Ian released me from his embrace and nodded expectantly at me.

I smiled warmly, "Let's get breakfast first and then we can catch up, alright?".

They both jumped up and followed me into the building. We were seated quite fast and quickly decided on our breakfast order so we could catch up immediately.

"So Lia, how are you alive?" Ian asked bluntly. Evril elbowed him harshly.

"It's fine, Evril. You both haven't changed much at all" I exclaimed laughing at them. I then cleared my throat and tried to compose myself. It's always hard to explain the situation, especially when I have to leave out such an important aspect. Me.

"To keep this short, I cast a spell from the Ancients that basically took my life in exchange for transporting all those on the expedition back outside the Bellum. However, God allowed me to live to fulfill my last wish, that the Kingdom and our people would have a bright future. That is why I contacted you two. I want to fulfill my wish so I need to visit the border and my home village. However, a lot has changed. Not just time passing, but me. I apologize, but I am no longer the same Lycia you knew. I hope you can understand, I have no intention of returning to the ranks or adventuring again"

The two stared at me, processing the information.

"So, you've changed? That makes sense. The Bellum is not a fun place, especially by yourself. I hope we can both get to know the new Lycia, more than before" Ian said, smiling down at his sister before looking back at me. Evril nodded her head enthusiastically as she beamed at me. I couldn't help but smile back. I'm grateful they don't seem to be discouraged. Lycia didn't know them too well anyways so getting to know them doesn't give me as much guilt.

Our food arrived quickly and we ate happily as Evril continued to ask me various questions about the whole thing. I tried to explain as best I could about the servant, 101st floor and the monsters I encountered. They were both particularly interested in my sword skills and wanted to see me fight, which I tried my best to refuse, but they looked so eager that I agreed only on one occasion when necessary. I learned a lot about what the two had been up to, mostly dealing with Halian and his awkward nature as they became a part of the Mura representatives in Bellachay. It was probably for the best that these two were part of the Mura representatives in the Alliance because they had each other to rely on and were friendly enough to befriend Halian...forcefully and likely pointed out his awkwardness quite often...haha