"He did not elaborate on the reason why but with Alastor not many are willing to question." Mr. Hall says.
Dimas scoffs. Alastor. Why can't he just screw off and leave them alone? Not only is Alastor getting fighters to target them but now judges are forbidden to sponsor them.
"Do we even need a sponsor?" Dimas pulls on his blanket bracelet.
"It would've been nice. Our Crild is basically gone." Lilee weighs her Crild pouch. Her concern is clearly visible on her face.
"Very unfortunate. As much as I want to help, even I need to respect Alastor's request." Mr. Hall walks over to one of the bookshelves.
Figures. Mr. Hall won't sponsor them to protect his image. Dimas would've done the same but he still curses under his breath.
"Lilee, I heard you are knowledgeable in natural medicine." Mr. Hall continues to scan his books. "Do you happen to have any books on the practice?" He takes a book from his shelf.
"Yes, I do." Lilee is puzzled by the random change of topic. She pulls out her herbal medicine books.
"Well, will you look at that, I have been looking for those very books for a very long time!" Mr. Hall doesn't even glance at the books in Lilee's hand. "I need to have those books."
"Really?" Lilee looks the books over. "You can have them, I have everything I need from them." She offers him the books.
Mr. Hall pushes her hands back. "No, no. I can't accept this, you must let me pay you for them. How does 50,000 Crild sound? 25,000 for each book." He struggles to lift a hefty looking satchel from behind the sofa he was sitting at, ultimately giving up on lifting it and drags it over to the duo's feet.
Lilee's mouth hangs open. "But I barely paid-"
Dimas swipes the books away from Lilee. He gets what Mr. Hall is trying to do. Lilee is too naive.
"You have a deal." Dimas hands Mr. Hall the books and picks up the satchel. He'll admit he was wrong, Mr. Hall does want to help, just another idiot to take advantage of.
"Such a shame I can't help you as a sponsor." Mr. Hall lets out a dramatic sigh. "Please take this," He hands Dimas the book he took from the shelf earlier. "It's the least I can do."
Dimas reads the title of the book, "K. Reeves' sup-herb medicine guide", then hands it over to Lilee. "I'm sure we'll make do somehow."
Mr. Hall escorts them to the main door. "I'm sure it goes without saying but can we keep my book spending habits to ourselves?"
Dimas nods. "Sounds good."
Mr. Hall opens the door and the duo step out into the afternoon sun. "I wish you both luck on your journey. Almost forgot," Mr. Hall looks around. "If you're planning on buying a C-orb, head to the store and ask for Adam, tell him I sent you and he should provide you with a reasonable discount." He says in a hushed voice before closing the door.
"Did he sponsor us?" Lilee asks as the duo are making their way off the property. Took her long enough to realize.
"Not so loud." Dimas whispers. He looks around to make sure no one can hear them. "Not officially but yeah. This is all under the table. That way if anyone questions him, he has deniability." Dimas shifts the satchel. The Crild may have eased their money worries but it's going to do hell on Dimas's shoulder if he has to lug it around the entire time.
Lilee eyes the satchel. "That satchel looks heavy, let's head over to the bank."
Dimas raises his eyebrows. He didn't know banks were a thing in this world. Then again, this world's magic tends to make up for their lack of technology.
Their first stop takes them to the bank where they receive a Crild card under the team's name then on to the only C-orb store in Onaq. Lilee explains that C-orbs make long distance communication possible depending on the orb types, the older models like the one her family has can only reach a nearby town, while the newer models can reach practically anywhere. Luckily for the duo, the newest model is provided to them by Mr. Hall's associate. The C-orb is the size of an apple, the color is a deep red, making it seem as if it was filled with blood. The duo spend the following couple of hours preparing for their journey. Lilee makes most of the decisions since she knows what'll be useful. They buy a Journey satchel. Apparently it's made using Brío Arts allowing it to hold a large amount of items inside, more than physically possible, while also keeping its weight to almost nothing. The Journey satchel actually manages to hold all of their stuff and supplies, a magician would kill for this kind of thing. They also buy cooking ware for the food they got from Nicole, most of it was meat and they lacked a pan to cook it on. Their final destination is a local herbalist, Lilee is thrilled to try out new recipes mentioned in the book Mr. Hall gave them.
"We leave tonight." Dimas says on their way back to their motel.
"What?! Why?" Lilee asks, she stops reading from her new book.
"Alastor might try to stop us from leaving. The sooner we leave, the better." Dimas looks up at the darkening orange sky. "It'll be a few hours until it's dark, we'll leave when everyone is asleep. Get some sleep while you can."
Dimas fights hard against the current. Getting to the pier is his only chance of survival. Dimas cries out for help but everyone else is too busy running away, saving themselves, to pay him any mind. Dimas tries screaming out once more only to have the ocean silence him, nearly filling his lungs with water. He struggles with all his might to reach the pier. The progress is slow, too slow, it feels as if his body might just give out at any time but he keeps going anyway. Like always.
He feels his fingers make contact with the pier. Dimas laughs with triumph and is about to hoist himself up when a large wave comes crashing down at him. He reaches for the pier but he's too far down. Suddenly, he feels a hand grab his and it pulls him back to the surface. He looks up to see his savior, it's Lilee. She gives him a big smile.
"Come on sleepy head, get up." Lilee is standing over Dimas's bed. She's smiling. "You're the one who wanted to leave this late/early."
Dimas sits up. His dream is still fresh in his mind.
"I already packed your things while you were sleeping." Lilee taps the Journey satchel. "All you have to do is get dressed and we're ready to go."
"Hey, Lilee." Dimas scratches his head. "Thanks."
"You're welcome!" Lilee steps outside his room. "I'll let the owner know we're going to be leaving."
Dimas wasn't thanking her for packing everything up. He ties his blanket bracelet to his wrist and takes a deep breath. The guilt is still there.
[Just don't think about it.]
Dimas takes the D20 from his back pocket and rolls it around his hand. He'll have to keep going, it's all he can do anyway. He places the D20 back in his pocket and heads downstairs to Lilee.