Braydon walked back to his bed as he observed the letter. As he sat down, he searched his bag to see if he had a letter opener. After a few moments, he gave up on the search and broke the wax seal, dumping the loose wax onto the nightstand.
He opened the envelope and took out the letter. A small slip of paper with only a small amount of writing. Braydon read the letter.
'Dear great adventurers,
I have heard of your party, to rise up in the ranks as quickly as you have is quite the feat, especially for your age. It would be a great honor if your party would come to a banquet which will be held at my manor. It will be held in three days, a carriage will arrive to drive you to my estate.
-Earl Gray Herms of Kyrak city.'
'Well, it looks like we have garnered the attention of a noble at the least.' Braydon thought as he stood up with a sigh. He walked over to Alice's bed and woke her up. After a few minutes, she drowsily opened her eyes and looked around.
"Why are you waking me up? It's so dark out." Alice said as she sat up and rubbed her eyes.
"We got a letter from an earl, also, why is it easier to wake you up at night?" Braydon asked as Alice stretched and yawned.
"I figured it was important." She said drowsily. "Anyway, what did it say?" Alice asked. Braydon handed her the letter.
"Are we going?" He asked.
"We have to." Alice said.
"I don't think so, it seems like he was putting out an offer." Braydon said. Alice sighed and stood up, attempting to wake up a bit more to more easily articulate what is going on.
"He said he would be sending a carriage. That means he already decided we are going. We are lowborn individuals with no real standing. We have to go." Alice said bluntly.
"But he did mention our accomplishments." Braydon said.
"Accomplishment." Alice corrected. Braydon tilted his head in confusion. "Look, it's rare for someone to be famous for just one thing. Sure, we accomplished the challenge that no one was able to complete in centuries, but if we don't go any further, it wouldn't matter." Alice said blandly as she walked over to the door.
"So what you're saying is, it doesn't matter how well received we are if it's just for one accomplishment?" Braydon asked. Alice sighed.
"Sort of." She said as she opened the door. "I'm going for a walk, you can go back to sleep if you want." She said as she put the letter in her bag.
"Wait, why are you going on a walk?" Braydon asked.
"I'm scouting. We need formal wear, so I'm going to find a shop to see if we can get something cheap or if it would be easier to use magic." Alice said as she looked at Braydon. "Anyway, see you later." Alice said as she left, waving her hand as a goodbye.
She closed the door behind her and passed a blushing girl who was sitting on the floor on the way out. "W-wait!" The girl said. Alice looked back with a curious expression.
"Hm?" She asked.
"What's your relation to the boy in that room?" She asked. Alice smiled as she realized why the girl is asking. She walked over to her and put her arm around her.
"Now, why would you want to know that?" She asked with a devious smile. The girl began to blush more deeply.
"Wh-what are y-you insinuating?" She asked. Alice giggled as she brought her arm back.
"Don't worry, I'm his sister. But I won't give you false hope, he probably isn't interested in you." Alice said as she began walking away. After a few moments, she heard sobbing. She glanced back and saw the girl crying slightly. 'Eh? She's crying? Why?' She wondered as she went back. "Why are you crying?" She asked.
The girl attempted to choke back the tears to answer. "I... I like him.. But..." She said. Alice sighed.
'Fuck. I was thinking about how I would react to that, not others...' She thought. She put her hand on the girl's shoulder. "I didn't say give up. I just said that, as of now, he probably isn't interested in you. If you keep trying, then maybe he'll accept at some point." Alice said.
"A.. Are you sure...?" She asked.
'Well, no. He's not a lolicon, so...' Alice thought. "It's entirely possible to occur. No one can say for sure what will happen in the future." Alice said.
"W-what about fortune tellers?" She asked as her tears began to stop.
"Well, what they do is look at possible events. They find the one that is most likely to occur and give that as a fortune. There is no one hundred percent accuracy rate. You see, time is fickle. You can mold it like damp sand, changing it to how you want it, but only if you take initiative." Alice explained.
"R-really!?" She asked as her mood began to brighten up. "If I try, then it might work?" She asked. Alice nodded.
"That is the takeaway I was hoping you would get, yes." She said as she began to walk away. 'In the end, I gave her false hope...' She thought to herself. She walked into the entrance of the inn and saw an older woman with similar features to the girl behind the desk.
"Oh, hey missy, where you heading?" She asked.
"I was going on a walk." Alice responded.
"It gets dangerous at night. Sometimes there are illegal bands of slavers looking to kidnap girls around your age." She said.
"I'll be fine." Alice said. The woman sighed.
"Alright." She said. "Have you seen my daughter? She has long brown hair and was down here when you and that boy checked in." the woman asked.
"I think she's upstairs, I spoke to her a moment ago. I think she likes my brother." Alice said. The woman chuckled slightly.
"You know, you shouldn't give out a girl's secret like that. But thank you for letting me know." The woman said. Alice nodded dismissively as she walked to the door.
"She seems like a good girl. She's likely to get hurt if she sticks with us for too long." Alice said as she left.
"Now why would a young girl like her say that?" The woman mumbled to herself.
Alice walked along the road, looking around at the buildings, and decided to heed the woman's warning and spread an anchored detection zone around her as she walked.
After a bit of looking around, she noticed that she is being trailed. She noted the shops that seemed to have good prices and began heading back. Once in the plaza, she stopped and incapacitated what she assumed is an ambush group.
"You guys aren't good at hiding." She said. No one did anything. She turned around swiftly. "I can literally see you all in that alley!" She yelled angrily. A man began laughing as he exited the alley with a small group.
"And you don't seem to be good at detecting things, it took you so-" The man began speaking.
"I noticed you immediately, I was just doing something, so I ignored you." She said. The man seemed a little offended by this. He cleared his throat.
"Even so, to have not prepared anything, you must be confident in your-" The man was interrupted again.
"Can you guys just leave? It would be rather bothersome to deal with you." She said.
"Will you stop with that!?" the man yelled angrily.
"Oh, right, sorry, I guess I shouldn't interrupt the stalkers who are creeping on little girls." Alice said sarcastically. The man sighed. He cleared his throat again.
"Where was I...?" He mumbled. "Oh, right." He said as he remembered. "Now that you have seen my face, you have to die." He said. After a few moments, nothing happened. "I said, now that you have seen my face you have to die!" The man yelled again.
"Oh yeah, that other group is unconscious." Alice said lightly.
"Right... Well..." He said as he fumbled around and grabbed something from his bag. "Strategic retreat!" He yelled as he threw a small sphere at the ground, causing a cloud of smoke to appear.
The man ran in the opposite direction and turned at an alley. Alice sighed. 'What an idiot.' She thought as she went back to the inn.
"Welcome back, dear. Did you have a nice walk?" The woman asked.
"Could have been better. I was interrupted by some insects that wouldn't leave. Thanks for asking." She said.
"Insects?" The woman asked.
"Yes." Alice said as she walked upstairs. When she got back to the room, Braydon was asleep. 'Go easy on that girl.' She thought as she went to her bed and went to sleep.