They bought some food from their favorite stalls and sat down. As they did, they spotted a familiar person eating a roasted chicken. Freon chuckled, "Is it really that tasty? You're making a mess."
"Huh?" Shirley glanced at him with half a mouthful. "Freon! And little Nassandra! I thought you'd be at the university still. We were going to visit later."
He shrugged. "I snuck out. It's not very exciting."
"Hmm… I never went to school, so I wouldn't know."
"Interested in going?"
Shirley pondered. "A bit. A peaceful life, where I could focus on learning new things and making new friends… sounds almost like a dream to me. I am slightly jealous. That's your school uniform, right?"
Freon nodded. "It's the boy's version, obviously. Yours would have a short skirt."
"I saw it before, and it looked pretty cute. I wanted to try wearing it at least once."
"You don't like your big suit of armor?" He was referring to her Royal Guard's uniform.
"Don't get me started," she grimaced. "I will admit that it's made well; however, it's too tacky and ugly. It's not cute at all."
"Being cute won't save your life," Freon stated. "That said, you were smart to change out of your armor, and into something inconspicuous. Otherwise, we would have been swarmed by people already."
"Is that why you're not wearing your robe?" Shirley tilted her head at Nassandra.
Nassandra smiled wryly. "It's like what my brother said. Once I came with my robe on, and everyone recognized me. It turned into a big problem. I had to call the local guards for help."
"That bad?" Shirley was stunned.
"Well, my sister is somewhat of an exception, since she's the youngest Ten Dawn. It'd be hard to miss a little girl wearing a Ten Dawn's robe."
"That makes sense."
"Are you by yourself, or did Elizabeth and Benedict come too?"
"They're here as well, but it's their first time coming here, so they wanted to explore the market."
Freon chuckled. "I can understand. Although Yongtein was grand and vast, there is still a special charm in Firecast. It's hard to find anything like it in the world."
"There's no place like home, right?"
"Something like that."
"Hmm…"
"I meant to say this earlier, but… congratulations on being promoted to a Royal Guard, Lady Shirley!" Nassandra added.
"Thank you; however, it still feels awkward being called a 'lady'. Please call me Shirley like before."
"Isn't that inappropriate?"
"I said the same thing to the Second Sage, and she gave me a weird look. To be honest, I don't feel like I deserve to be a Royal Guard. I'm not even a knight. It's an insult to those who worked hard for it."
"You were personally appointed by the queen. I don't think you could quit even if you wanted to," Freon stated.
"I know. It's just… frustrating," she sighed. "I'm happy I can stay with my friends, but… this wasn't what I wanted. It feels wrong."
"What did you want to do?" Nassandra wondered.
Shirley scratched her head. "I never really thought about it. Originally, I wanted to take revenge on the Xingyuu Empire for what they did to my family and me. That was why I volunteered for the army. However, the war is over now, and I don't feel any different. I don't feel better or worse. It's strange. I'm not sure what I want to do in the future."
The young girl thought briefly. "Since you're a Royal Guard, you should be able to enroll into any school you want. If you don't want to be a student, you can be a teacher or a researcher."
"Shirley as a researcher? That's a scary thought!" Freon humored.
"Brother, don't be rude!" She shot him a nasty look.
"Haha…"
"I'm sure you would be a lovely researcher, Shirley," Nassandra retorted.
"I don't know… What about you two? Is there anything you want to be?"
Nassandra fell silent, and Freon spread his hands. He said, "You could say my goals are half-fulfilled. I wanted to be a Ten Dawn, so I could share my sister's burden. Although my promotion isn't officially recognized yet, it's basically guaranteed."
"I thought the Conquestian made you a Ten Dawn in Yongtein." Shirley was confused.
"That… was more of a recommendation, than a formal promotion. The Conquestian doesn't have that much authority. I still need to pass an examination and get the sages' approval."
"What about reviving the Arcellius Family? Wasn't that what you wanted to do?"
The siblings wore a sour face. Freon sighed. "That's what my uncle wants, but… we don't really care. The Arcellius Family collapsed over fifty years ago, and everyone died except for us and our uncle. So, I don't see the point in digging things up. Let history rest."
"My brother is right. How can we rebuild the Arcellius Family with three people? Not to mention, the Arcellius Family was an Engelsheft Family. It isn't logical to try. That's why I don't understand our uncle's unhealthy obsession."
"Maybe an unhealthy obsession is what we need to become strong like him," Freon joked.
"No way." Nassandra paled.
"…Now that you mention it, you might have a point," Shirley wondered. "The Sword King is obsessed about swords, while your uncle is obsessed about the Arcellius Family. Is that the secret to becoming strong?"
"What are you talking about?" someone asked, startling Shirley. They turned to see Elizabeth and Benedict returning with food in their hands.
Freon gave Shirley a weird look. "I didn't notice them, but aren't you a Half-Perception Realm? Shouldn't it be very hard for someone to sneak up on you?"
"You're wrong about that, Freon," Benedict stated. "Unless we're actively using our Martial Perception, we're the same as everyone else. We can be surprised or ambushed. I think only Perception Realm Masters or Instinct Realms can afford to keep their Martial Perceptions permanently active."
"We were talking about our dreams," Shirley explained to Elizabeth.
"Hmm… And what did you say?"
"I said I didn't know. I never really thought about it. What about you?"
"Me? I…" Elizabeth was pensive. "I wanted to be the queen, but as you can tell… that didn't work out as planned," she chuckled. "Which is fine. I realized I didn't want to be the queen. I'll happily let other people do it instead." Glancing at the clouds overhead, she continued, "You know… my dream when I lived on New Havens was to explore the world below the clouds, and have a true adventure, like the ones in fairy tales and story books. I wanted to travel distant lands, to fight treacherous foes, to meet glorious heroes, to fall in love, and eventually to create my epic legend. I know it sounds silly, but that's what I wanted to do. Sorry, I didn't mean to ramble on." Elizabeth blushed awkwardly.
"No, it's fine! You don't have to apologize!" Shirley laughed. "I never thought our princess would have such an adorable little dream."
Freon raised an eyebrow. "Did our 'adventures' in the Xingyuu Empire not count? We travelled across the empire, fought against talking birds and entire armies, met princesses and lords… There wasn't any love involved, but we became fairly famous. Almost everyone knows who we are now. There are probably legends being written about us as we speak."
Elizabeth froze then looked away. Her tone was sad. "There was nothing 'adventurous' about it. It was violence, nothing more." Everyone became silent, and even their food lost their appeal. Elizabeth shook her head and wore a smile. "What about you, Benedict? Do you have any dreams?"
Benedict thought for a moment. "I guess… I wanted to be a Royal Guard, but that's done already."
"What about beating the Sword King and becoming the world's greatest swordsman?" she teased.
"I don't think I'll ever beat my master." He was bitter. The memory of his master's battle above the skies of Guanhuang flashed through his mind. The idea was absurd, a human traversing the sky to fight against five talking birds, yet the battle was intense enough to terrify two armies, obliterate a capital city, and shake the entire province. That level of strength surpassed reason.
"You can't say that. You became a Perception Realm in less than a year. This speed is already unprecedented."
"That's right! Didn't your master need over fifty years to break into Instinct Realm? He's not that impressive!" Shirley comforted.
"Have more confidence in yourself," Elizabeth said.