Chapter 306 - Out and About (Patreon)

A/N - Makeup chapter for Thursday. When I said Saturday I should have said Weekend. My bad.

Reivyn hadn’t really known what to expect during the little history lesson - more like national myth - but the ancestral founder just being a normal Adventurer wasn’t quite what he had thought. He would have thought he grew up in a more structured environment, considering he founded an empire. Adventurers don’t usually give off the government-type vibe.

He was sure he would learn about the extenuating circumstances in their next lesson. After all, his mother had said it was just the prologue. His time as an Adventurer was just the intro to his life, and he was apparently some important general in a Realms-spanning war? There were lots of interesting stories to delve into, for sure.

Kailey and Riley didn’t take too long to solidify their inspiration from the story. Reivyn had no idea which direction they were going with their project, just that it was for his Mercenary Corps, so he didn’t know exactly what the girls had taken for their inspiration. The tale told by their mother had been a little bit scarce on specifics.

I mean, that makes sense, Reivyn thought. According to mom, it was over a million years ago.

Reivyn put thoughts about his familial history to the back of his mind as his sisters joined him and Kefira. Reivyn turned to his mother as they got up from the table.

“Thanks for the story, mom,” Reivyn said, bending down to give his mom a quick goodbye hug. “We’ll be back before you know it.”

“Have you thought about what you’re going to be doing?” Ameliyn asked.

Reivyn glanced at his sisters who looked back at him with blank stares.

“No idea,” Reivyn said with a smile. “We’ll just go hang out and do whatever pops up that looks interesting.”

Kailey and Riley shared a look before shrugging. Reivyn grasped Kefira’s hand and led the four of them out the door. Serilla was seated on a bench in the courtyard, and she got up to join the group as soon as they emerged without a word.

Before they could leave the courtyard, though, Kailey and Riley stepped in front of Serilla, blocking her path. Kailey held her hand out to the slightly older girl.

“Give me your sword,” Kailey demanded without preamble.

Serilla quirked an eyebrow, glancing at Kefira. Kefira just nodded her head with a smile. Serilla unsheathed her sword and handed it over to Reivyn’s sister.

Kailey held it up in front of her face, inspecting it in great detail. She made humming sounds at whatever it was she discovered before handing it to Riley. The other twin mirrored her sister’s actions, making her own humming sounds that Reivyn recognized would have harmonized if they had hummed together.

Riley handed the sword back and the two girls faced forward like nothing had happened. Serilla slowly sheathed her sword as she glanced back and forth between the girls, but she finally resigned herself to not understanding right away. They all had an inkling for their actions, but they didn’t know exactly how it would manifest in the future.

They’re obviously going to forge a sword for Serilla, Reivyn mentally confirmed to himself. We’ll just have to wait and see how it turns out.

With no further setbacks, the group headed out. Reivyn expected the twins to drag them toward more blacksmiths, tailors, or leatherworkers like they had done to their mother. That wasn’t the case, though.

“So what did the Tier 5 Region and the Wilderness look like?” Kaiely asked Reivyn as they walked along the street.

The pedestrian traffic wasn’t too cramped in the inner city, but there were still plenty of people walking about. They wouldn’t have to worry about crowds until and unless they headed to the other city. As it was, Reivyn was perfectly happy to be completely casual in their walking down the roads. He had his Divine Sense turned back on, too.

“Didn’t you already ask mom the same thing?” Reivyn asked, glancing at his sister. “What did she say?”

“Sure, but we need to understand your perspective,” Riley replied. “So we’re not going to tell you what she said. We want to hear your thoughts.”

Reivyn pondered the question for a moment.

“For the most part, it wasn’t much different than Wispan, or any other temperate Region for that matter. I don’t know what kinds of terrain were in the Regions you guys traveled through in my absence, but it was just plains, forests, rolling hills, and mountains.

“That being said, it was more pure. Yeah, that’s the word I would use,” Reivyn nodded to himself.

“More pure?” Kailey asked. “What do you mean by that?”

“There was no artificial human presence for the most part. There was just the Outpost, the camp by the Dungeon we delved, and the…” he glanced at the two younger girls, “... hut.

“Other than that, it was completely the world of the monsters, beasts, and wild animals. The forests were thick but not overgrown like you would find in younger wooded areas. The plains were peaceful in a way, and the mountains lacked any kind of mining operations marring their beauty.

“Then there was the ambient Mana. Picture an atmosphere that is simultaneously thicker and easier to move through. I know it’s paradoxical, but that’s what the ambient Mana was like. It was considerably denser than the Mana here, but at the same time, it was more clear, more pure. It was like a fresh breeze compared to stale air.”

Reivyn watched the two girls take in the information he was giving them. He could see the wheels spinning in their heads. He didn’t know what they would do with the information, but he was sure it was building towards something rather than casual curiosity. If they had just been curious, they wouldn’t have emphasized how they needed his perspective alongside their mother’s.

“It had a sense of freedom,” Kefira spoke up. “I don’t know how to explain it other than that. It’s like the Tier 4 Region is constricting me, and as we moved to a higher Tier Region, I felt a bit of that restriction loosen. It colored my impression of everything I saw.”

“There was a hint of danger in every step,” Serilla supplied. All four of the others turned and looked at the other girl with surprise. “What? I have opinions, and the girls were asking.”

“You don’t have to explain yourself,” Kefira said with a smile.

“You were all looking at me like I grew a second head,” Serilla rolled her eyes.

“Well, you’re usually pretty quiet without being addressed,” Reivyn shrugged. “Don’t get me wrong, I don’t care either way. It was just unexpected.”

“Yeah, well, we’re in a casual setting, and I have a feeling this has something to do with why they were so interested in my sword earlier. Anyway, back to my point, if I may.” She glared at Reivyn and Kefira for a second before turning back to the twins. “I never felt in danger, if that makes sense. There was just this underlying feeling of uncertainty.

“I would say it gave the overall experience the quintessential ‘Adventure’ vibe.”

“I agree with that,” Reivyn nodded. “There were many different, intangible feelings associated with exploring the Wilderness and the Tier 5 Region, and it felt like we were on a real Adventure, if that makes sense. Like all of the ‘questing’ and Dungeon delving up until that point had been practice, and our time in the Upper Region was the real thing.”

“Hmm, that helps, thanks,” Kailey replied to them, looking them each in the eye in turn to indicate she was thanking all three of them.

“And one more thing, brother,” Riley said, looking at Reivyn with a serious expression. “It’s ‘clearer,’ not ‘more clear.’” She stuck her tongue out at her brother.

Reivyn had to think back to what he had said for a second to recall what she was getting at. He rolled his eyes and reached out to flick Riley’s ear, but she danced away with a giggle.

“Who are you, our mother?” Reivyn smirked. “They’re both right, actually, and that was my word choice, so there.” He stuck his own tongue out at the younger sibling.

The two sisters continued to banter with their brother and Kefira, including Serilla every now and then. The three siblings just enjoyed each other's company as they strolled through the streets of the inner city. They had no clear destination in mind. They were just spending time with each other.

Eventually, Reivyn heard the sounds of hammering as they got closer to a corner of the inner city holding various craftsmen. Reivyn expected his sisters to perk up upon realizing where they were, but they didn’t show any outward signs that they were interested in visiting any of the crafters.

Reivyn raised an eyebrow as he glanced at the two.

“You two don’t want to visit any of the crafters?” He asked.

The two girls shared a look before shaking their heads in unison.

“Nah, we’re not here for business,” Kailey replied.

“Mom wanted to take us shopping, specifically, and we just chose where to shop,” Riley shrugged.

“Since that’s not the point of this outing, we’re in no hurry to check out more crafters.”

“I do see a shop I would like to step in, though,” Riley said, looking off to the side and pointing.

Kailey followed her gaze and her expression brightened up.

“Oh, yeah, that’s a good idea!” She exclaimed.

Reivyn looked to where the two were glancing and noticed a shop selling various paints. He had a brief flashback to the time they had spent painting all those months ago, and an involuntary shiver ran down his spine. He dismissed the thought and returned his sight to his sisters.

“Sure, we can check it out,” he said.

Before he had even finished speaking, the two girls had taken off with a squeal. Reivyn and Kefira shared a smile as they quickly followed the pair across the street and into the store.

The inside was packed with various painting tools, different types of canvasses, and, of course, paint. There were watercolors, oils, acrylic, pastel, and even just ink and dyes among the various mediums. There were also various implements for writing, shading, and stencil work.

Reivyn had to admit that the little store had everything his sisters would need for their painting projects. The two girls were already inspecting all kinds of different things in a whirlwind of motion, heads together to examine and compare. Reivyn left them to their own devices. He didn’t know if they had their own money or not, but he would cover the cost of anything they wanted regardless.

Reivyn let his sisters do their own thing and walked around casually with Kefira. There were several other customers perusing the wares in the store with a couple of attendants seeing to them. After a few minutes just casually glancing through different things, one of the attendants approached Reivyn and Kefira.

“Is there anything we can help you with today,” the young lady asked, a bright smile on her face.

Reivyn shook his head and nodded toward his sisters.

“We’re here for them,” he replied with his own smile. “They’re the creative ones. If you want to help us, you can help them.”

“I see,” the attendant nodded her head. “Well then, if you’ll excuse me.”

She bowed her head to Reivyn and Kefira before walking over to the two girls. Reivyn could have easily eavesdropped on their conversation, but he let the specifics wash through his Divine Sense without paying attention to it, just like he had been doing when the girls were just looking together.

Kailey and Riley quickly incorporated the young attendant in their conversation, pointing to various things and asking for her opinion. They started acquiring different things, a canvass bag retrieved by the attendant to hold them while they continued to shop. Reivyn left them to it.

After several minutes of tearing through the shop from front to back, side to side, the girls approached Reivyn with a bag full of goodies and bright smiles on their faces. Reivyn just smiled back and indicated to head to the counter to make the purchase.

The attendant lugged the sack and expertly tallied up the total from memory. There were no objections or corrections made by the twins, so Reivyn happily paid the price. He hadn’t been spending a lot of his money over the years. It was just a drop in the bucket to his material wealth, and he was already considering Skill Shards to be his new currency. Sooner rather than later, there wouldn’t be much need for gold and silver coins for him anymore.

After the purchase was complete, Kailey stuffed the whole sack into her own storage pouch. Reivyn had noticed it before, but he hadn’t inspected it too closely until Kailey used it. He put his focus on it through his Divine Sense and noticed it was slightly different from most of the other storage pouches he had seen before. He wasn’t an expert in their craft, so he wouldn’t be able to tell the specifics or gauge the effectiveness in the differences, but the overall design had a certain flavor to it.

“Did you guys craft your own storage pouches?” Reivyn asked with a bit of surprise.

Everyone in hearing distance turned to the two girls with varying levels of shock on their faces. Storage pouches and their manufacturing weren’t anything out of the ordinary in a Tier 4 Region capital city, but seeing two girls as young as Kailey and Riley able to make their own was definitely rare.

“That’s right,” Kailey confirmed, beaming with pride and happiness.

“They’re not that difficult to make,” Riley said with a bit of smugness.

Reivyn heard a couple of sounds of incredulity from the surroundings, some quickly covered by coughs. Reivyn smirked and rolled his eyes.

“I’ll take your word for it,” he simply said. Reivyn turned to the attendant that had helped his sisters. “Thank you.”

“No problem,” she replied. “Have a nice day, and be sure to visit us again in the future for all of your creative needs.”

The two girls waved as the rest trudged out of the store.

“So what shenanigans are you going to get up to with your new acquisitions?” Reivyn asked his sisters.

“You’ll just have to wait,” Kailey said.

“It’s no fun if it’s not a surprise,” Riley added.

“Sure, sure. Keep me in suspense. I’ll be looking forward to it.”

“Of course you will,” Riley smiled.

“When have we ever disappointed?” Kailey asked.

“We~ll…” Reivyn began.

“The answer is never,” Kailey said, a deadpan expression on her face as she stared at Reivyn, daring him to contradict her.

“Okay, we’ll go with that,” Reivyn agreed, nodding his head.

“We always knew you were reasonable,” Riley said.

Reivyn rolled his eyes.

The rest of the afternoon was spent just wandering around the various streets, taking in the city. Reivyn hadn’t really ever just meandered about the city without an actual goal in mind before. He marveled at the beauty of the capital city. The buildings and lots in the inner city were luxurious to say the least, though none of them held a candle to the Imperial Palace itself.

The palace could be seen from the majority of the inner city, sitting on a bit of a little hill to overlook the rest of the populace. Those in the outer city didn’t get much of a view of the palace as there was an inner wall in the way, but Reivyn was sure the outer city held its own charm, as well.

Kefira was occasionally recognized by the citizens, but far less often than Reivyn would have expected. Each time someone noticed her, Reivyn noticed that they were dressed with a certain level of fashion compared to most of the commoners. Reivyn didn’t think they were all nobles, but he would bet most of them were. The others would be members of prominent clans just below the noble ranks.

Nobody approached them, though, and it was quite peaceful. Reivyn was happy that their outing was able to stay private, though he made a note to learn more about the nobility of the empire. He had mostly been focused only on Kefira’s extended family and the few who were friendly with Kefira.

As it wasn’t interfering with their outing, though, Reivyn put it to the back of his mind and continued enjoying his time with his sisters.

As all good things must, though, their time walking about the city came to an end. The sun was starting to dip in the sky, turning the sky from blue to orange, and Reivyn shifted their meandering route to lead them back to the Imperial Palace.

Once they reached the walls of the palace, Kefira gave Reivyn a hug.

“I’m going to be spending the evening with my family tonight,” Kefira said. “I’ll see you in the morning. I love you.”

Reivyn felt a bolt of lightning course through his body. That was the first time Kefira had actually said she loved him. He could definitely get used to it.

“Sure,” Reivyn said, bending down to give her a sweet parting kiss. “I love you, too. See you tomorrow.”

Kefira grinned from ear to ear as she turned and practically skipped away. Serilla nodded to the three siblings and followed suit.

“Aww, wasn’t that syrupy sweet,” Kailey poked Reivyn in the ribs.

“Our brother, a regular ladies’ man,” Riley said in a sing-song tone.

“Lady’s man,” Reivyn corrected, glancing at Riley.

“That’s what I said,” she countered, a confused expression on her face.

“There was a certain inflection to your tone that implied ‘man to ladies,’ plural,” Reivyn shook his head. “There’s only one lady I’m man to.”

The two sisters snorted but let it lie. They each linked arms with Reivyn on either side, something they hadn’t been able to do when he had been holding Kefira’s hand. They marched him through the palace grounds to the back where the separate living quarters were located.

“Come on, I’m sure mom’s made something delicious for dinner,” Kailey said.

“A perfect ending to a perfect day,” Riley agreed.

Reivyn smiled as he let his sisters “drag” him back to their house.