Dante shakes his head. "Are you serious Rika?!" He yells.
Rika stammers back. "You don't ask a thief to leave behind possible treasure!" She throws her hands up.
Nanami sighs, "but now we have a group trying to kill us." Shaking her head with a deep sigh, "just great."
Toni looks around clearly seeing tension is high. "So fellas... yall mind catchin me up?"
They explain to him where they got the crown and what happened. "Ohhhhh," he finally understands, "not cool, Rika." He says and she bows her head.
"I will not be shamed!" She shouts.
Dante furrows his brow, before just sighing. "And then you ran away."
Rika looks away nervously. "I was just calculating the escape, i've been on both sides of an ambush." She says.
Kaito breaks the tension between everyone, "listen, I know we're all mad at Rika," he says and the little bang on her head droops low. "But she did come back and save us, we almost died." He says with a smile.
The others look back at him and sigh. "Still so carefree." Dante mentions.
Toni then thinks. "Wait them fellas, they mentioned Studen right, don't they have a monster festival going on this time of year?" He asks.
Kaito springs up immediately. "Monster festival?! We gotta go check it out!"
Nanami chops him in the head. "Genius, did you forget the group trying to kill us just went there?!"
Kaito then sits back down, his head throbbing a bit, "right, didn't think of that." He then snaps his fingers. "I know, why don't we just give them back this crown, then they'll leave us alone."
He thinks to himself again. "Actually they attacked me, now I kinda wanna beat them up."
Dante pushes him over. "No, you were right the first time, Let's just give it to them."
Rika scoffs, "give my treasure up?! Are you crazy." She started but everyone gave her a death glare. "Right, so we giving this back Now or...?"
Nanami found a cart in decent Condition nearby and she pulled out her bulb, "we can use this here to build another cart."
The wheels were half-splintered.
The axles bent.
Nanami crouched beside the wreckage and whispered, "I built you once… and I'll build you again…"
Kaito perked up. "So you can fix it?"
Nanami shot him a look so sharp it could cut wood.
"Yes. But no one touches anything until I tell them to."
Dante nodded immediately and pulled Kaito backward by the collar.
Rika sat cross-legged, tapping the stolen crown on her knee. "Hey, look on the bright side, since we're following those mercs, we're basically doing a good deed! Kinda."
"That does not cancel out stealing cursed royalty artifacts," Nanami muttered without looking up.
Toni crouched beside her, watching with wide, fascinated eyes. "You sure do work fast for a lil lady. Want me to fetch something? A tool? A snack? A man who knows how to pray?"
"No. Just… don't touch anything," Nanami pleaded.
Within moments she had slipped into her hyperfocused engineer mode, sorting planks, aligning parts, tightening bolts with makeshift tools she assembled on the spot.
Dante and Kaito ended up being her muscle.
"Kaito, hold the axle steady."
"I AM holding it steady!"
"You're holding it passionately. That is not steady!"
"Passionately is how I hold EVERYTHING!"
Dante snorted. "Just let me do it."
"You have the brain," Nanami said, "but Kaito has the enthusiasm. I need both."
Kaito lit up like she'd handed him a trophy. Even Dante couldn't argue after that.
Rika eventually wandered over and plopped down beside Nanami. "So. You mad I stole the crown or mad that I didn't sell it yet?"
"Yes," Nanami said simply.
Toni whispered to Kaito, "That means both."
After a good two hours of chaos, manual labor, and Nanami lightly threatening everyone with "scientific consequences," the cart stood proudly upright once more.
She dusted her hands off. "Okay. It's functional. Not perfect, but functional."
Dante grinned. "Good enough to chase mercenaries?"
Nanami sighed. "Regrettably… yes."
Rika hopped onto the seat. "Then onward! To return this stupid thing before it curses me or tries to bite me or something."
Kaito laughed. "Right! And hey, maybe they'll thank us!"
Nanami blinked. "Or kill us."
"Let's not manifest that friend," Toni said cheerfully.
And so the group set off, following the faint trail east toward Studen.
They set up camp by a quiet stream just off the road.
Dante gathered wood.
Kaito made a fire.
Nanami assembled a tiny glass lens contraption to track the stars and determine distance. Due to their lack of a map, she had to improvise.
Toni tuned his faithful guitar.
Rika lounged on a blanket, staring at the crown suspiciously, as if it might sprout legs and run.
Kaito threw his hands up. "Okay! Dinner's done! Everyone come get some before I eat it all."
Nanami took hers gratefully, murmuring, "Thank you… and also more vegetables next time."
"We're low on food, we lost most of it in the old cart."
As they ate, Toni propped his guitar on his knee.
"Alright now," he announced, "since y'all brought me along for a life-or-death chase, least I can do is play somethin'. Anyone got requests?"
Dante pointed. "Something calm."
Nanami hesitated. "…something with quiet instrumentation… maybe in 3/4 time…"
Rika waved her hand. "Play something about treasure!"
Kaito bounced. "Play something fast!"
Toni grinned. "I'll do all of it."
He began with a gentle southern ballad, soft strings, melodic hum, a little rough at the edges but warm in a way that made the entire world feel smaller and safer.
Nanami sat very still, listening like she was analyzing every note… and memorizing them.
The next song was upbeat, quick, chaotic, Kaito tapped his foot in the dirt like he couldn't stay still.
Then Toni sang a final tune, a playful little number about a thief who stole something she absolutely should not have stolen.
Rika threw a pebble at him.
Toni dodged without missing a chord. "Hey now, art imitates life!"
By the time the fire burned low, even Rika had settled, leaning against a tree without realizing it.
Nanami tucked her notes away.
Kaito stretched his arms behind his head.
Toni hummed the last few notes into the night.
Dante sat unsure about the entire thing, but he too eventually went to sleep.
They awoke the next day, fire smoldering quietly. Nanami packed her tools. Dante stretched with a groan. Rika shoved the crown deeper into her bag like she was hiding a guilty snack. Toni hummed while strapping his guitar onto his back. Kaito leading the way on top of the cart.
They set off toward Studen, only to stop dead in the road an hour later.
A massive line of wagons, travelers, and tired-looking merchants stretched so far from the town's gates that it wrapped around a hill and vanished.
Rika blinked. "Oh. Gross."
Nanami adjusted her glasses. "This is… a two-hour queue at minimum. Possibly longer if the city is doing inspections."
Dante sighed. "Perfect. Exactly what we needed."
Kaito squinted. "Doesn't seem that long."
"It absolutely does," all three of them said.
As they rolled forward inch by inch, a familiar voice called out:
"Well look who it is!"
They turned to the wagon beside them, and there she was, waving cheerfully.
Klover.
And her group of merchants, all in good spirits and apparently much better off than when they last parted.
"Klover?" Dante grinned. "What are you doing out here?"
"Trying to get in like everyone else," she laughed. "Studen decided they're checking every cart coming through. Something about security, trade regulations, blah blah." She leaned out and patted Nanami's cart. "You all holding up?"
"Barely," Nanami admitted.
Klover's eyes flicked to the group, and their brand new cart, which earned a whistle from her, then landed on Toni, who tipped his hat with a charming, practiced flourish.
"Ma'am," he said smoothly. "Toni. Bard. Local romantic. Professional danger magnet."
Rika looked confused by that, "where did he get a hat from?"
Klover lifted one brow. "Oh? A bard? Running with these three troublemakers and one brainiac?"
"Hey!" Rika objected.
Toni placed a hand on his chest. "I go where the wind calls me… and occasionally where explosions force me."
Klover chuckled. "Well, nice to meet you, stranger."
Then she turned to Kaito, eyes softening. "And you. How've you been? I see you guys have five now, means you're officially a band!"
Kaito stiffened. "Yep! Absolutely! Totally normal things happened. We're doing lots of normal traveling. Because that's what we're doing. Traveling."
Dante immediately facepalmed.
Nanami whispered, "Kaito… that sounds incredibly suspicious."
Klover squinted. "Normal traveling, huh? Then why do you look like you haven't slept in a week?"
"Restless leg syndrome," he said confidently.
"You're sitting down."
Kaito froze. "…restless soul syndrome."
Toni choked on air from laughing too hard.
Klover placed her hands on her hips. "Okay, Kaito. One more time. What are you doing here?"
Kaito leaned forward and whispered, "We're here for… cart stuff."
"Cart stuff?" she repeated.
"Yup. Lots of carting. We love carts."
Rika muttered, "Wow. Truly a master of deception."
The merchants behind Klover started chiming in.
"We thought you were going north!"
"Did you get into trouble again?"
"Why's that bard coughing like he's dying?"
Toni waved them off, still wheezing. "Sorry, he's just real bad at lying, caught me off guard."
Klover exhaled slowly through her nose. "Kaito… you know I like you, but you are terrible at keeping secrets."
He puffed out his cheeks. "I keep LOTS of secrets!"
"What's one secret you've kept?" Rika challenged.
Kaito opened his mouth.
Nanami grabbed his arm. "Don't answer that."
He closed his mouth.
Klover laughed, shaking her head. "Well, whatever you're doing, I hope it's not too dangerous. You four, five now have a habit of falling into danger like it's a hobby."
"It's not a hobby," Dante said.
"It's definitely a hobby," Rika countered.
Nanami sighed. "It's statistically consistent behavior for them."
Toni grinned. "And I'm thrilled to be here for it."
The line inched forward again, wagons creaking.
Klover gave them one last warm smile. "Stay out of trouble, alright? Or at least… stay alive."
Dante nodded. Nanami bowed slightly. Rika gave a thumbs-up. Toni winked.
Kaito saluted proudly. "Yes, ma'am! We will absolutely not do anything suspicious or dangerous in Studen!"
Everyone around him groaned.