White long shirt with an opening upper arm, thick plate armor covering her ample chest, and a short skirt. All white, with a star-red emblem on her waist. Like always, her hair was in a ponytail. Today it was a red butterfly ribbon. Her bangs covered a small piece of her forehead.
"Good morning. You look lovely today, Ji Sung." Her hand hid behind a slim figure. A bright smile dashing on a cute face makes Rinoa Karsak cuter than the last time they met.
Something pops into Ji Sung's head, and he turns back to Yuki. "Let us go. We didn't need that crazy girl's help. We got Rinoa with us."
"Crazy girl?" Rinoa fabblegisted with her sweet eyes widened and winked fast.
"Yes, crazy, Crazy girl who will do anything. Yuki asked her to join us today. But no, I would rather do the quest alone than join her."
Yuki said, "Ji Sung, the girl is—"
"You need a party member, right?" Ji Sung grabbed Rinoa's hand and pulled her closer. "Here, I found the most beautiful girl. Not only is she beautiful, but she is also good at cooking and almost perfect at sword fighting. We don't need that Crazy girl."
Ji Sung continued as his face was so close to hers. "Rinoa, you had no appointment, right? You have free time, right?"
Rinoa blushed while nodding slowly. "Y–yes, but—"
"Good. Come, Yuki, we leave."
Fasted his pace, they trusted the crowd. Ji Sung didn't let her hand go. He dragged her along. "Sorry, Rinoa. I dragged you on a quest. Yuki made a bad judgment by asking that crazy girl to join our party. You may go after we hit the Moon Line Bridge if you don't want to join us."
"Go where." Rinoa giggled, keeping up with Ji Sung's pace. "Who is this crazy girl that makes you sweat?"
"That petite girl. She's crazy."
"Who?"
Ji Sung didn't want to bad mouth her. Even if Ha Un was strange, he kept her name in his mouth.
"Well, I could become a bit crazy, and I am not Crazy," Rinoa said.
Ji Sung, dumbfounded, slowed his gait as he kept rubbernecking on the girl that kept her diminutive small. Why does Rinoa talk like that?
Innocently she asked as she hid both hands behind her body. "Why do we stop? Kar Mountain is still far away, you know.?"
"Hey, you two!" Yuki darted at the crowd, reaching them on time with a heavy breath. "I know you have good chemistry, but don't leave me there."
"Good chemistry…." Ji Sung's brain worked hard and digested that word, the word Yuki had spoken before, but nothing came to his head. "Yuki, tell that crazy girl we don't need her help. Don't make her waste time there any longer."
"Why not tell her directly? She is right here."
"Wha—where?" Ji Sung was panicky and twisted his head left and right. No, he can't find Ha Un anywhere.
Rinoa coughed. "Well, Yuki asked me yesterday to accompany him on a quest. He had a plan ahead of you. Sorry, Yuki, I am late because I have something to do early."
Ji Sung had not yet recovered from his dumbfounded, yet he got another strike. "Wha–what do you mean?"
"The crazy girl you mentioned earlier is me." She, on tiptoe, smacked Ji Sung's forehead. "I don't know why and where you got that sweet name for me." But she smiled anyway.
"Sorry, I–I didn't know if that girl was you."
"If you know, what would happen?"
"Uhm, I would gladly have you at our party. Who would refuse to go out with pretty girls, right?" He said that to win Rinoa's heart after what he did early. And it makes her blush like a strawberry pancake, adorable.
She turned herself, showing Ji Sung her back. "Anyway, let us go. Our journey was long." She marched alone, leaving two men behind.
Ji Sung strode closely with Yuki and kept an eye on Rinoa as he whispered, "Why not you tell me if she would be Rinoa."
"Well, I thought you would know if I said chemistry. You two were close, weren't you? Wait, is there anyone else that is close to you? It's another girl, right? You call it a crazy girl." His mischievous smile came as he pointed a wiggle at Ji Sung's cheek. "Damn boy, you are fast with girls, aren't you?"
"You had many conspiracy theories."
"Who she is. Tell me, tell me. Do I know her? Wait, don't tell me, she—"
"Shut it. Focus on our quest." Don't want to feed Yuki's intrigue more, Ji Sung fasted his step and repositioned himself beside Rinoa.
"So, how do you know if we want to go to Kar?" Not a good opening line, but that was what Ji Sung had.
"It was me planning that all along. Yuki said you ask for help to make a lot of money. Then I remember that quest recently being placed there, so I ask him to grab that one."
"Ah, is that so? Why choose Kar Mountain?"
"You may know the latter when we come there, Hero."
The mysterious smile came, pulling a question mark on Ji Sung's head. But he let it go while taking it. He was sure what reason Rinoa had must be a good one.
Rode two Wingses, Ji Sung decided to go with Yuki while Rinoa had her own Wingse.
Their journey was long, far from Moonlake, further away from Ormit Cave. Luckily, the next day was Sunday, and Ji Sung already took a day off on Monday. They stayed in an Inn in Kar Village, close to Kar Hill Foot.
Then while the yellow straw roof of the village shone in the sun, they strode away toward the Kar cave.
It is different from Ormit. The nature path was bumpy, uphill, surrounded by pine, and cold here, even without snow.
As they came to Kar site, the sun was already in its prime. They were welcomed by a ruined post and wire wall that was supposed to be a checkpoint toward Kar Cave.
They could hear a strange voice. Like
"Gobbledygook," Rin whispered as he hid behind the post ruin. "Language of goblins. Beware. They're close."