"So you're telling me that, this whole time, you and your girlfriend worked as mercenaries for the swordsman?"
"N-no…"
Quies took a sip of the mushroom bisque and glared at Wally, who asked: "So what are you saying?"
Quies quickly swallowed the portion of soup to not let any more ideas brew in Wally's mind. He got the main idea, but his interpretation of the whole thing was completely off! Quies didn't know whether Wally was joking or not, either.
"First off, she's not my girlfriend! In fact, she's the last person I would think of when you say that."
"You sure about that?"
"Wally, she's almost double my age…"
"So what if she's double your age? Depths, triple! I myself wouldn't mind being dominated by a petite thunder-manipulating felinor cougar baddie. Shoot, that would be a dream!"
Quies stared at him with flat eyes of judgement. The silence was deafening.
'I didn't know this guy was spouting the wise words of a shut-in. Then again, I haven't seen him even step outside this pagoda of his… What does he get up to on the second floor of this place?'
Wally waved a hand in front of his face, batting the air.
"I'm kidding… half-kidding. Uhm- go on."
Quies placed the bowl back down on a wooden table Wally had brought out from a dusty storage container. He had taken the courtesy to clean it with one of those barber towel thingies, so it wasn't like the table was filthy or anything…
"So… she was originally the one carrying out the swordsman's objectives. But, stuff went down, she's inactive, so now he wants me to do them. Because of that, I'm leaving tomorrow."
"Damn."
Wally picked up a spoon on the side of the table and scooped a portion of bisque into his mouth.
"How much is he paying you?"
"I still have to ask him."
"Why'd you accept the deal, then?!"
The blue-skinned fade-trimmer threw his hands up in a half-sarcastic manner. Quies hadn't really thought about how much he would be paid to carry out Evengarde's objective in the first place. He mainly agreed because of their mutual hatred for the Lord Regent. Didn't Evengarde say that he was a witness of the civil war caused by that man?
'Wait, did he say that so I wouldn't ask how much he'll pay me? …What a cheat!'
"You know what, I'll ask him later. I can still refuse the deal if I want to—nothing's written in ink."
"Well you better ask for a hefty sum then! Upper Erisia's dangerous as depths."
"What, you've been there?"
"Accidentally on a glider, yeah."
Quies didn't want to inquire further. Plus, the mushroom bisque was practically finished. The two would be scraping away at the walls of the bowl with the spoon at this point.
"Hey, did I tell you I can fly now?"
He looked at Wally with eyes of skepticism, but also scalding curiosity. Since when did this barber learn how to fly? Is it the fact that he's a fade-trimmer which makes him able to fly or something else completely? Quies was bewildered at the sudden statement.
"What do you mean you can fly?"
"You know, like… flying. In the air. Turns out I just need two pairs of scissors instead of one."
'He keeps surprising me with every word he says…'
Despite the explanation, Quies was still confused. I mean, how can a simple barber figure out how to fly, with his scissors at that! It was an absolutely preposterous idea to think about in one's mind that seemed naturally impossible. Yet, somehow, Quies found himself believing the blue-skinned fade-trimmer.
"I thought you said being a fade-trimmer was a passive oath…"
Quies and Wally had been talking for so long that the cloudy skies outside had cleared, letting sunlight shine onto the Isle of Vigil. He could see it from the open doorway.
"When did I say that? I just said I didn't like fighting much, not that I couldn't fight… But one thing's for sure, I definitely couldn't fly before, like, a day ago."
Quies turned his head to the open entrance.
"I- should probably go. Gotta talk with a few people, I just realized."
"Sure. It was nice talking."
With that, Quies picked up the empty bowl of mushroom bisque and cradled it between his hands. Once he got outside, he'd sip the rest of the leftover soup straight from the bowl.
"Oh, and next time you come, could you bring your girlfriend over? I wanna meet her!"
Quies had a subtle feeling that he should not, in fact, bring Valerie to meet Wally—not for her safety, but for Wally's.
"Sure, sure…"
The two waved each other goodbye as Quies basked in the early noon sunlight.
'Speaking of Valerie, I need a ship to be able to get to Erisia…'
***
Garrett the shipwright sat watching the horizon, as usual. A cold chill blew across the surface of the dock. He really should've brought his coat. The winds steadily blew with ample strength, a perfect condition to sail across the luminant.
Changing topics, he had struck up several deals with resource and mining companies across the Eastern Luminant, some hailing from its western edges. A merchant schooner had arrived just before daybreak, and had left just a couple of minutes ago. Currently, he was storing all of the materials outside and in the open, which wasn't a really great idea. However, considering the small land area of the island, he couldn't really store the materials anywhere else. He simply covered them with a tarp which he used to cover wood for traditional ships.
However, what he was about to build was not, in fact, a traditional ship.
If only he had the means and might of the Authority farther west. Sure, he had an oath which made shipbuilding much easier and a depths-of-a-lot faster, but still, the ship building process would be much easier if he had an actual dry-dock rather than a measly field of grass with a ramp into the ocean. However…
"Excuse me, shipwright Garrett."
'Who-'
He turned and looked at Quies from behind his intricate mask. He seemed to have been gazing at the growing pile of sheet metal, steel, and other materials which Garrett had been building up.
"Sorry to bother you, but… could you, by chance, teach me how to sail?"