Lakeside Town.
The cicadas should have long gone quiet at this hour, but around Blue Lake you could still hear a few shrill, lingering calls now and then.
Alia stretched lazily.
Gauss had said they weren't taking any commissions this morning, and with no training schedule plus Shadow back with them, she'd decided to rope everyone into a little sightseeing around town.
"Haa—"
She yawned.
She was still a bit sleepy, honestly.
But things had been nonstop lately—jobs, training, traveling. So many days had flown by without a proper chance to relax.
She wasn't planning to waste this precious free time on more sleep.
Knock knock.
She started with the room next door—Shadow's.
"Come in, it's not locked."
"Faithful hound" Ulfen raised a paw and pressed down on the latch, politely opening the door for Alia.
"I'm coming in."
Alia stepped inside and saw Shadow "practicing calligraphy." Or rather, her two shadow-clones were doing the writing while she controlled them.
"Did I interrupt?" Alia snuck a couple of looks.
It… was nicer than her own handwriting.
Rude. That stung a little.
She wasn't even as good as a shadow.
"No, I'm just working on close-range control over the shadows." Shadow explained.
Her shadows had two modes.
One was letting them act autonomously; the other was her controlling them directly at close range, like a puppeteer.
Each style had its own pros and cons.
"Alia, did you need something?"
Shadow glanced at Alia, who was fidgeting in the doorway, and took the initiative to ask.
She didn't feel bothered, but she was curious what brought Alia to her room so early.
"Do you want to go out for a walk?"
Seeing her "grinding" so hard—practicing even in the room—made Alia feel a bit guilty.
But since Shadow had asked straight out, she could only be honest about why she'd come.
The atmosphere in the party was already very much like family.
And family didn't need to hide most things from each other.
"A walk, huh…"
"If you're busy, it's okay. I can ask someone else," Alia said quickly, worried about putting her on the spot.
"No, I was just thinking about what I should wear." Shadow propped her chin on her hand at the desk, pondering. "Oh, right. Who else were you planning to ask?"
"Gauss, Serandur, and Big Sis Albena. I was going to see if they wanted to come too."
"Then go ask them first. I'll think about my outfit."
"Okay, take your time." Alia flashed an "OK" gesture.
Out in the hall, she shook her head.
Shadow really had changed since she came back. She talked more now.
Alia was curious what exactly had happened during that breakthrough, but since Shadow hadn't brought it up herself, she wasn't about to poke.
She could read the room… a little.
Next up…
Alia thought for a moment, then knocked on Gauss's door.
Knock knock.
"Come in."
This time Ulfen didn't open the door by himself.
He hid obediently behind Alia until Gauss got up to open it, then trotted in after her.
Gauss squatted down and ruffled his silvery head kindly.
Ulfen did his part, flashing a goofy doggy grin, tongue lolling out.
Social skills: also maxed.
"Ulfen looks like he's put on weight."
Gauss patted his increasingly solid body. His hand bounced a little when it landed—duang, duang.
He was a very dense wolf now.
Ulfen had been around since Grayrock—one of the true old-timers in the team, even more veteran than their third member, Serandur.
"Maybe he's just been eating too well? Not enough exercise?"
Alia squatted down and eyed him critically.
"Hah-chi, hah-chi—" Ulfen panted, tongue lolling.
"Looks like we need to get him out moving more." Alia concluded. "He's been living the good life—eat, sleep, repeat. Way too cushy."
"Hah-chi…"
Ulfen's pupils shrank a little, but he kept that foolish smile plastered on.
"Don't play dumb. You understand the basics of what we're saying, don't you?"
Alia, as his owner, knew exactly what her silver wolf was capable of.
As its strength grew, so did its wits. Coupled with her training, Ulfen could understand a good chunk of human speech by now.
This "illiterate" act wasn't fooling anyone. She had to call him out.
"Hah… chi…"
Ulfen flopped bonelessly to the floor, as if his soul had been yanked out.
His good days were over…
"Anyway, what brings you here?" Gauss asked Alia.
…
Alia repeated her invitation.
"Sure," Gauss agreed without hesitation. "We heading out now? Want to check with Shadow and the others?"
"I already asked Shadow. She's coming," Alia said. "As for Albena and Serandur—trust me. If you're going, they'll go."
"Alright."
A group outing actually sounded pretty nice after the grind they'd been on—especially with Shadow newly returned. He was curious about her changes and could use the chance to talk more.
If she had any trouble, he wanted to be in a position to help.
"I'll go let Serandur and the others know then."
"Go ahead."
…
Before long, the five of them were gathered downstairs in the morning light.
"Shadow, you own white clothes?"
Alia blinked in surprise at Shadow's outfit.
She was so used to seeing Shadow in all black that this sudden all-white look felt… disorienting. Like she was looking at a different person.
"Does it not look good?"
Shadow lowered her head and turned twice on the spot.
"N-no, that's not it…" Alia stammered.
Shadow looked great, honestly—like a pure white lily blooming on open ground. Even as a fellow woman, Alia had to admit she was stunning.
"I actually like white a lot. It's just that black's more practical for what I do most days." Shadow explained softly.
Gauss gave her an extra glance or two, but didn't comment.
"Then let's go. Lake first."
"If I remember right, there are still some water events on today."
They headed lakeside under the gaze of half the town.
At this point, Gauss's name in Lakeside Town rang about as loud as a church bell.
Of course, the bigger your name is, the more embarrassed normal people get about bothering you. That suited Gauss just fine—less small talk to deal with.
"There are so many people!"
Everywhere Alia looked, there were crowds.
A lot of families had spread cloths on the hillside for picnics.
It was the perfect time of year to be outside: the brightness of summer, the dryness of early autumn. Sunny but not scorching.
The breeze felt cool and clean.
The view of the lake from here was wide and beautiful.
"What are they doing over there?"
It wasn't just water games.
"Looks like… a slapping contest," Alia said after standing on tiptoe to read the rules. "Only commoners allowed, though…"
Gauss nodded.
That restriction made sense.
The gap between professionals and non-professionals was huge. Even between pros, class and level made a massive difference.
What was a light slap between two villagers could become decapitation if a warrior got serious.
"The prize is… a fishing boat?"
He gave the prize list a glance. For an ordinary person, that was pretty hefty. No wonder the competitors looked like they were slapping each other for their lives.
They wandered around the lakeside area a bit more.
"There's a mount sprint over there. Let's sign Ulfen up."
Gauss had spotted a straight track with animals lined up to run.
Ulfen shot him a wounded look, but didn't dare object.
He turned to his only hope, his owner.
"I think it's a great idea," Alia said. "But Ulfen, you'd better not embarrass us. You need to at least place. Or else… humph."
Her tone sent a chill down the wolf's spine.
So Gauss went to the registrar under the curious stares of the crowd and signed Ulfen up.
The rules were simple: sprint across open ground. No magic, no rider interference. That was about it.
Ulfen sighed and took his mark. Alia and the others cheered from the sidelines as he stepped into his lane.
He glanced at his "opponents."
Aside from a leopard, the rest were standard mounts—including a… goose.
What kind of mismatched race was this?
Boom!
The starter's drum sounded. The gates lifted.
Ulfen bolted out first.
The leopard, a horse, and a raccoon-cat followed behind.
The goose… stood there, dazed, until its owner kicked it, sending it honking clumsily forward.
Ulfen pounded down the track, all four legs a blur.
He didn't like any of this, but a wolf had pride. As long as he was on this track, he was going to run in front.
Besides, he figured this heat was a joke. There wasn't a real rival in sight—
"??"
A sleek shape shot up beside him.
Ulfen flicked his gaze over. The leopard.
Not good.
Alia's earlier "threat" stabbed his brain like an icicle.
"Awwooo!"
He tried to intimidate his opponent with a howl.
Instead, the spooked leopard accelerated, shooting ahead to take the lead.
…
"Count it!"
In the end, Ulfen, like a streak of silver lightning, crossed the finish line first.
His plan had been good; the middle got messy; the outcome was fine.
The leopard's stamina was lacking. It had blown too much energy on that mid-race sprint and fell off hard in the second half, letting Ulfen reel it in and then some.
"Nice work."
Alia crouched down and hugged him.
Because Gauss and the others weren't going to compete in the later rounds, they only got the prize for this single heat—a set of harness tools for hauling logs.
Not especially useful, but Gauss kept it anyway as a memento… and as a potential workout rig for Ulfen.
For fun, the group each picked a couple of contests to try.
Sometimes they won; sometimes they just enjoyed themselves.
Gauss signed up for a flying race over the lake.
Given how few low-level professionals could even cast Fly, much less use it well, his only real competition was a winged beastman.
Even with natural wings, the beastman wasn't as fast in the air as Gauss was now.
Gauss cast Fly and easily left him behind, taking first place in that heat and qualifying for the finals.
The final would be held elsewhere later with winners from all five towns, but Gauss chose to withdraw, giving his slot to the beastman.
By noon, the group had collected a pile of trinkets and prizes.
"Jackpot today," Alia said, stretching. "That team rowing contest was fun."
They'd also taken first in a team rowing event.
With Albena and Gauss onboard, it had been a foregone conclusion.
That one was purely for fun—no prize, just applause and laughs.
"The opponents were too weak," Albena grumbled. "I hadn't even started rowing seriously and they were already gone."
She'd hoped to use the chance to show off a warrior's strength in front of Gauss, but her plans fell flat.
"Let's get lunch," Gauss said, glancing at the sun.
After a whole morning of games, everyone was getting hungry.
On the way back into town, Alia still lingered in that light, happy mood.
She was studying the picture in her hands with great interest.
It was a sketch they'd bought from a street artist, capturing the five of them posing together by the lake.
"Looks so nice…"
"Gauss!"
"Yeah?"
"When we're all old and we look at this again… do you think we'll want to come back to this day?"
"Maybe? I don't really know…" Gauss answered with a small smile.
He was still young—at his peak. It was hard to imagine the mindset of being old and frail.
And that should be a long… long… long time from now.
"Siiigh, you're no fun at all," Alia pouted.
"If there were a spell to jump back in time whenever we wanted, I'd keep coming back to today to see everyone again."
Gauss didn't say anything to that.
He just quietly slowed his steps, letting his gaze rest on each of his companions in turn as they walked ahead.
The breeze carried a hint of early autumn chill.
The sky was very blue today—clear like pane of glass.
But summer… this year's summer… was already at its very end.
~~~
Patreon.com/NotEvenMyFinalForm
– Thank you for reading! More Chapters in my Page!