Why would Ujit lie? Or rather, omit all this information? She must have something to gain by hiding her past. When Kanae lifted her gaze to meet Toro's, the bald elven man was unmoving. He could very well be lying. The Dervish Five were loyal to the Harpy King, and they had every reason to make those who threatened his rule fight amongst themselves.

However, if Ujit knew more than she let on, maybe the Harpy King was afraid of what she might tell them.

"Hey, uh…" Edina leaned in and whispered. "The crone's already dead anyway. Why don't we give her up, and I snip the strings to her life? It'll look like she passed away after going with them."

"I… Why does this feel like the evil choice though?" Kanae sighed.

"Then how about we have baldie sweeten the pot? No deal. Not unless you add Theena and the Knight of Red to mix," Renya jumped in to add.

Toro scoffed. "What an unfair exchange, and I thought you had a better business acumen than that, Chairman of Rown Company. I regret to inform you, Theena chooses to side with the Harpy King of her own accord. As for your colleague…" He returned his attention back to Kanae. "I'm afraid that is not possible."

"Kanae, please! At the very least we can have Seven back safe and sound!" Kara exclaimed, grabbing her by the arm.

Worry showed like a curse on the feline girl's face. Kanae wanted to bring Seven back, too, but to give up Ujit in return…

"I'm sorry, Kara. Seven is just going to have to hang in there for a while longer," Kanae said.

"But…" Kara bit her lower lip.

"Ujit stays with us," she answered firmly. "But maybe you can find it in your heart to tell us this: is Seven doing alright?"

"The son of the Harpy King is well, I assure you. I saw him last night. Of course, the family is a bit disoriented, and he is unruly at times. But he is in no danger," Toro explained.

Again, it was hard to tell if the Scorching Dervish was being truthful. Edina had been staring at him with a glare hot enough to burn a hole through. He might give her a run for having the better poker face.

But one obvious thing had been left unspoken between them. If Ujit is the Harpy King's mother, that also makes her Seven's grandmother. Did she know her grandson had returned to Elusis?

"Looks like we're in a bit of a kerfuffle. How's this gonna end?" Renya asked, her guns still pointed at the elf.

"Why, do you expect a fight?" Toro braced a hand against his chest. "I had a glimpse of your strengths in Bravost. Grahib, Sofisa, and Nasiri also spoke well of how strong you are, and Praijya would throw fits of rage whenever you're brought up. I know I would fall here, but the subsequent battle will draw too much attention for any of you to handle."

"Oh, yeah? Wanna test that?" Edina smirked and ignited the brazier atop the Pillar of the Damned.

"No. If Toro is giving us a chance to avoid a fight, then we're taking it," Kanae said.

Renya and Edina groaned aloud. Fortunately, they stowed their weapons away. The Dervish, too, his posture shifted to a more relaxed one.

"The offer still stands. If you want to see Seven, I will gladly arrange to have him return to you. Only if you hand Ujit over to us. As well, please do not get in our way. We have no quarrel with Radevic or the Commonwealth, but the Harpy King will not hesitate to retaliate. Now, if you will excuse me, we never saw each other," Toro added before turning away.

"Thanks for the warning. Think we can still use the adventurers hall?" Kanae called back.

"I would caution that you don't, but that is your prerogative," he said and disappeared up the stairs.

They hung around long enough that people gradually began to return. The receptionists came back first, taking their places behind the counter around the petrified tree. Next came the adventurers, with a look of inconvenience as they lined up holding quest notices in hand. Peeved couriers raced up and down the stairs with stacks of mail.

The Roost had returned to its usual busy operation of servicing adventurers. It was like Kanae and the others didn't even exist. A group pushed past them, accidentally bumping Kara and making her stumble.

"Are you okay?" Kanae asked, shooting a glare at the adventurers.

"I'm fine." Kara shrugged her off.

Definitely angry. Kanae heaved a sigh.

At the very least, they could count their lucky stars Toro was a lot less interested in battle than his peers. Running into Sofisa here would have turned bad real quickly.

For now, Kanae wanted to return to the association outpost and question Ujit. The crone had a lot to answer. They were about to leave when Kara halted in her tracks. She spotted a harpy boy sitting on a bench against the wall, quest notice pinched in both hands and frowning. Kanae thought Kara must have mistaken him for Seven, but this harpy was clearly a different species. Dark brown feathers, shorter wingspan, and a little younger, possibly around late teens. Without saying anything, Kara split off from the group.

"What's up with her ?" Edina asked.

"Not sure. Let's find out," Kanae said.

The three caught up to Kara just as she was working up the courage to approach the harpy. She sucked in a few quivering breaths, squeezed her fists, and walked forward. Kanae motioned her other two companions to linger back.

"Is… something wrong?" Kara stammered.

"Huh? Oh!" The harpy looked up and stumbled over his own words. "Yeah, everything's okay. I'm just getting ready to go on my first quest. I tried to find some people to party up with, but no one wants to go with a Rookie."

"I'm a Rookie, too. I'll go with you," she insisted.

The harpy teen lit up with emotion.

Kara spun around to Kanae, her eyes asking if it was okay to go.

"Heck, we'll go with you two." Kanae smiled.

"Thank goodness. I was so close to just going home instead. My name's Micas. Nice to meet you all!" Micas beamed.

Everyone introduced themselves, and Micas was practically jumping with delight. The party of five set off to do his quest together. Kanae was surprised to find out that The Roost contained a large lift a few floors down. Operated by giant gears and ropes, the circular platform descended the length of the spire all the way to the bottom. It was probably one of the only few official paths up and down Elusis' dual cities.

They joined other adventuring parties to the surface, finally emerging in the under-city. Harpy guards manned the entrance into and out of the spire. Fortunately, none of them paid Kanae's group any mind while hidden among the crowds.

Outside, adventurers hailed parked carriages and shaded wagons. Vehicles came and left by the dozens.

"I-I don't know if I have any money for a wagon…" Micas glanced around nervously.

"Leave it to me." Renya walked over to a nicer wagon to speak with the driver.

Kanae thought it was taking a while, so she went to investigate. She found Renya on the other side, pinning a harpy man against his own vehicle and holding a gun underneath his chin.

"What are you doing?!" Kanae gasped.

"What? I'm getting us a ride. What does it look like?" Renya asked.

"Like you're about to rob the guy. I thought you were going to pay him or something!"

"I offered him a nice sum of gold, and he refused. Said he didn't take outsiders and Rookies no matter how much we had. Where do you get off telling me no? Huh?" She fingered the trigger and grinned.

"H-Help me… This bitch is nuts!" he cried.

Kanae had enough. She charmed Renya to let the man go and put her weapon away. The dark elf clicked her tongue. Not wasting any time to get out of here, he hopped onto his wagon and whipped the ronoas into leaving.

"What's wrong with you?" Kanae ended the spell's effect to free her. "If the guy said no, just go ask someone else. Why threaten him?"

"Nice, nice. Charm me and not him. Fine, you don't like the way I do it? You go get us a ride." Renya waved a dismissive hand.

"Is she a little catty, or just me?" Edina came up from behind and asked as Renya wandered off.

They eventually found a more generous driver, a human with a shaded wagon. The party made themselves comfortable. Kara and Micas sat on a crate getting to know each other. Renya was in the back, pipe in her mouth and absentmindedly flipping a coin.

Edina handed Kanae the quest notice Micas passed around. It was an on-going monster slaying quest, asking to thin out a population of torpedogrines. On-going quests normally had many groups tackling them at once over a period of time. Kanae had a few back home in the Commonwealth for adventurers to regularly busy themselves with. According to Micas, torpedogrines were a species of flightless falcons. They hopped about the desert looking for insects to eat.

Sometimes, their populations exploded and required hunting. The insect population would be devastated otherwise. Their task was to kill ten at minimum and bring them back to the hall as proof. Every ten additional kills increased the reward bonus, up to a maximum of 50.

"Why do they have the word 'torpedo' in their names… I don't like that," Kanae muttered.

"I don't know either." Micas shrugged. "I only know that some places in Elusis sell fried torpedogrines, and they're really tasty!"

"What… Are we just doing someone else's hunting for them?" Edina groaned.

"We're here!" the driver announced.

The wagon had stopped behind a rocky outcrop overlooking a dry basin. Cracked surface patterns stretched from end to end, with a few shallow bubbling ponds in the distance. They jumped down from the wagon to get a gander of what they were dealing with.

Hundreds, possibly thousands of torpedogrines hopped about below the basin. They looked stupid. They had big bug-eyes that bulged out from their sockets, serrated beaks with tongues hanging out from one side, and skipped around on two little feet. Just as Micas described, the falcons didn't have wings and looked similar almost like kiwi birds back on Earth, except dumber and less cute in appearance.

"Are they dangerous?" Kanae asked.

"Not sure. I haven't fought them before," Micas said.

"Alrighty. Let's get this party started!" Renya found her enthusiasm again, pipe still clenched between her teeth, and slid down into the basin with both guns in hand.

Within seconds, arcane blasts snapped through the air. Micas tensed up and threw his arms around Kanae in fright. She chewed on her finger, biting back temptation. Damn it. Micas was kind of cute. But she didn't want to go banging Kara's new friend.

"This is… scarier than I thought." Micas trembled.

"You're not going to let Renya take all the glory, are you?" Kanae asked.

"Come on, Micas! Everyone's around to help!" Kara beckoned from below.

When Micas didn't move, Kanae unfurled her wings and flew down with him still attached to her back. Renya had already killed four torpedogrines. They were fast critters, darting in every direction before grouping again like schools of fish in water.

"Huu… I can do this…" Micas psyched himself up and pulled out an iron shortsword.

Edina was in the process of opening an abyssal portal until Kanae glared her down.

"Man, you suck. Fine! I'll stick to other spells." The necromancer threw her hands up.

Meanwhile, Kara and Micas paired up. They worked together to chase a lone torpedogrine separated from its flock. The two managed to corner it against a low cliff wall. As they drew closer, the bird braced its back legs and launched forward. The Rookies barely parted away in time as it whistled through the air like a javelin.

Kanae reared back to avoid getting hit. But someone wasn't so lucky. The torpedogrine's sharp peak plunged into the side of Edina's head. She staggered sideways a few steps and caught herself.

"What the… Ow?!" Edina yanked the bird out of her head, and a spout of blood spewed out from the hole.

"Oh, shit. Renya, they fight back when cornered!" Kanae yelled.

"They what?" Renya had circled a flock with her clones.

All at once, they launched everywhere like arrows. All of Renya's clones fell in the first volley. She blinked into cover behind a rock in the next and fired over it.

Kanae incanted the spell Sleep into her enchanted earrings. Doom and Gloom stored the spell, then casted it over a wide area. Numerous torpedogrines passed right out, falling harmlessly to the ground.

"Edina, are you goo— EDINA?!" Kanae gasped.

The squirreling had been porcupined by a dozen torpedogrines. One was stuck firmly in her right eye.

"Whaddya think? I'm hurting something fierce here! This is what happens if you tell me not to summon undeads. Hello~ you know, the bread and butter skills of a necromancer?" Edina complained.

"Okay, already. We're away from the city anyway. Summon away," Kanae said.

"That's what I'm talking about! Death knights, to me!" She called forth two hulking undead monstrosities that started swatting birds like flies. "I'll help Renya. You take care of the kids!"

Kara and Micas were back to back as torpedogrines flew across the air. One nicked Kara in the arm. Another caught Micas in the left thigh. He fell to his knees, wincing in pain.

"Hailstorm!" Kanae pummeled their surroundings and knocked away scores of birds, but there were still too many.

A group of torpedogrines launched towards the pair at the same time. Kara stepped in front of Micas, rapier levelled in front of herself. She steadied her breathing and thrusted into the empty space. Echoes of her attack followed suit. The enchanted rapier that Camilla gifted to Kara repeated the thrusts, nailing all seven birds dead. They dropped to the ground twitching, a stab wound to the heart in each.

As soon as Kanae joined them, the rest of the torpedogrines made a break to escape deeper into the basin.

"That was a lot more chaotic than I expected. Sit still Micas. I can help you," Kanae said, kneeling down to cast Flash Heal.

"What about me? I've been poked full of holes!" Edina shouted from afar as her death knights carefully plucked the birds out like splinters.

"I know you have a necromancer spell that can heal you." She rolled her eyes.

A couple of Flash Heals closed the wound on Micas' thigh, and it only took one spell for Kara's arm. Kanae stepped away as Kara extended a hand to help him up. He gladly took it and rose to his feet.

"That was amazing, Kara! Your rapier killed them all in a blink of an eye. I couldn't believe it!" Micas exclaimed.

"It's… nothing. This is originally my sister's anyway." Kara rubbed the back of her head.

Kanae smiled at both of them. She turned to go heal Renya and Edina in case they needed it. Something moved in her peripheral. A torpedogrine had survived and launched right for Kara's back. She would be too late to stop it.

"Kara, watch out!" Kanae yelled.

As Kara glanced behind too late, Micas pushed her aside. The harpy fell backwards with a loud thud. Kanae raced back in a panic. She and Kara stood over him worriedly, but he had the shortsword out in his hands. The torpedogrine had plunged itself down the length of the blade.

"Ugh… adventuring might not be for me, guys…" Micas groaned.

"You just saved me, so maybe it is." Kara sighed, helping him up a second time.

With the help of Edina's two death knights and Renya's clones, they gathered a total of 47 torpedogrines. Three short to reach 50 for the maximum bonus. But everyone had enough of flying spear birds for one day.

They traveled back to Elusis with a few bloody sacks of torpedogrines. It was five gold coins per bird and an additional ten per bonus, totalling 265 gold. Micas wanted to split the reward, but they insisted that he keep them all. The boy was grateful. After all, it meant he could bring the money back to his folks.

"Thanks for coming with me today. Really. I couldn't have done it without you all. You guys did all the work, and I only killed one. I still had fun though!" Micas exclaimed.

Kanae nudged Kara, who was fiddling her thumbs, forward.

"Micas, would you… would you like to go on another quest again sometime?" Kara asked nervously.

"I'd like that!" Micas smiled, only for his smile to fade just as quickly. "But… not anytime soon."

"Oh. Why not?" The girl deflated.

He wrung his hands together, frowning. "Elusis started conscripting a month ago. They finally came for me last night and said I have until the end of this week to report to the garrison spire. Or they come for my parents instead. I… wanted to go on a monster slaying quest to work on getting braver. The idea of going to war is still scary, but thanks to you all, I think… I'm feeling better. I hope we can see each other one day again. Maybe we can eat fried torpedogrines when this is all over. Bye, everyone! I won't forget you!"

Shortsword sheathed on his back and a bag of gold in hand, Micas flew from The Roost for home.

"Even if we don't see Micas again, you made his day." Kanae patted Kara on the back.

"I don't even know the Harpy King, but he's been taking everything from me. Kanae, promise me that we'll stop him. I want to bring Seven and Theena back. I want to stop the war. I also want to introduce Micas to them and be a real adventuring party," Kara said full of resolve.

"I promise we will. And you will." She pressed a finger to her chest, right above the heart. "If you ever feel anxious, just remember what it means to fight for something you care about."

Kara's ears twitched as she nodded.