The Lion And The Kitsune

Job Details:

Job Sign-Up: Page 20, Post Number 489

-Midi, on the outskirts of the Imperial City, early morning-

Wearing her green, white, and gold outfit with bike shorts underneath the skirt, Leona had Shoki on her left hip and Ses Revanche in her right boot. On her hands were her Argent Gloves and on her back was her backpack of supplies, which included some extra clothing plus the Urban Nights Glowsticks just in case a little extra light was needed. Having geared up for a long journey across Midi, Leona had come here on behalf of a client who wanted an escort across Midi to visit her younger sister, who lived in a village close to Sakae Shrine. Leona had traveled there before on behalf of Midi's emperor to carry an offering to the shrine several months ago. She would be covering familiar ground as she escorted the client to meet her sister.

Leona approached the quiet outskirts of the Imperial City and stopped, taking off her backpack and fishing out the job notice with the client's address on it. She had forgotten where the client lived and was going to take a look at the notice for a reminder. She fished out the notice and gently opened it, finding the address at the bottom.

2642 Homare Street.

Having gotten the reminder she needed, Leona gently folded it back up and put it in her backpack, then slung it back on her shoulders and proceeded into the Imperial City.

-The Imperial City-

Leona strolled through the nearly empty streets of the Imperial City on the way to 2642 Homare Street and saw mostly blue-uniformed members of the Imperial City Police on patrol and a few elderly citizens making their way to restaurants for breakfast. Leona kept walking straight and passing by streets like Nakajima Lane and Tenzan Avenue until she reached a sign at a four-way intersection that read "Homare Street" in both the language of Midi and the language of Fiore. Leona turned left onto Homare Street and proceeded down the sidewalk, being careful not to strike anyone with Shoki's scabbard as she walked past them.

Leona kept to the right and waved whenever someone recognized her and said her name. Leona had learned quite a bit about being a public figure during her travels and was starting to get the hang of it. She was not as fazed by being in the public eye and was confident enough to greet people when they greeted her.

-Fifteen minutes later, 2642 Homare Street-

After a fifteen-minute walk down the street that was occasionally interrupted by a surge of foot traffic in the form of children and teenagers going to school and some of them wanting to take a picture of her, Leona had finally reached the address on the job notice. She was now standing in front of a modest one-story wooden house made in the oriental architectural style of Midi. Taking a breath, Leona approached the house and knocked on the door. It was answered by a brown-haired young woman with intense red eyes and red and white traditional clothing with a black breastplate on her chest.

"Hi there! You must be the Wizard Saint of Courage, Leona Jarnefeldt!" the young woman greeted her. Leona nodded.

"Yes. I understand that you'd like an escort to travel with you to your younger sister's house near Sakae Shrine." Leona stated. The brunette nodded.

"Yes, I'd like that very much. You see, there's a lot of bandit activity at night and I don't want to be caught on the road alone." She explained her reason for hiring the Wizard Saint. Having traveled across Midi before, Leona understood why the young woman wanted an escort.

"I'd be glad to accompany you to your sister's house." Leona accepted the job.

"Excellent! By the way, my name's Kaede!" The brunette introduced herself. She opened the door wider for the Wizard Saint.

"Please, do come in! It'll take a few minutes for me to prepare for our trip and I don't want you to stand outside the whole time! Come on in!" Kaede urged Leona. Leona wiped her boots off at the door, then recalled her visits to Mister Burke's home and took off her boots before entering Kaede's house. The Wizard Saint carried her boots in with her and Kaede shut the door behind Leona.

-Inside Kaede's house-

Having deposited her boots in the area for footwear a short distance from the door, Leona stood inside a single-story house that was clean and sparsely decorated. Small ink paintings of mountains hung on the walls, flanking a modern flatscreen television that was turned to the local weather. On a low table in the middle of the living room sat a hot cup of tea. Kaede must have just poured it when Leona showed up on her doorstep.

"Welcome to my home, Miss Jarnefeldt! It'll take me a few minutes for me to pack my things, so make yourself at home!" Kaede bade Leona. The Wizard Saint looked towards her hostess and noticed something odd about her shadow. Kaede's shadow had pointy ears and what looked like tails, but she could not make out if they were definitely tails or not. At any rate, Leona did not want to be impolite, so she looked away from Kaede and focused on the television instead.

"You can sit at the table if you want. I'll be with you in a few minutes!" Kaede said to Leona. The blonde nodded and took a seat opposite the cup of tea. Leona watched the Midi weather channel and saw little pictures on the screen that indicated that it was supposed to be clear and sunny all week, which was good because the trip across Midi might take a few days. Leona had forgotten to pack a raincoat or umbrella before she left Silver Wolf Guild Hall, so she was hoping that there would not be any rainy weather during the trip. She needed to invest in a good raincoat, umbrella, or at the very least some disposable rain ponchos.

Leona had been used to living in a country that rarely experienced any appreciable rainfall, but she did not live in Desierto anymore and she would need to start packing clothing and supplies accordingly.

Kaede's Appearance:

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-Kaede's House, one hour later-

Leona had spent a little over an hour watching the weather channel and was getting tired of the elevator music that was playing along with the weather updates, but since it was not her TV she did not have permission to change the channel. She would just grin and bear it because she did not want to be a rude house guest. She was starting to wonder where Kaede had went when the red-eyed brunette emerged with a backpack on her back and a sword at her side.

"Sorry about the wait, Miss Jarnefeldt! I had to make sure that I had everything I needed before we left for Sakae Shrine since it's gonna take a few days to get there!" Kaede apologized for the lengthy wait. Leona nodded.

"It's OK, Kaede. I understand making sure that you have everything you need before you go. I do the same thing." Leona assured the brunette that the former was not upset by the lengthy wait. The Wizard Saint tended to take a bit of time to prepare before each and every job she took by trying to select the right weapons, the right amount of drinking water and food to carry, and the right amount of miscellaneous gear to carry, if any. Sometimes the process took long than she would have liked, but it tended to work out since she usually had what she needed when she needed it.

"Are you ready to go, Miss Jarnefeldt?" Kaede asked, making eye contact with Leona. Leona saw the odd shadow cast on the wall and floor and did her best to ignore it as she answered.

"I'm ready when you are, Kaede." Leona replied confidently. Kaede nodded.

"Great. Let's get going!" She said without missing a beat. Leona carefully got up from the low table and Kaede grabbed the remote and turned off the television. She set the remote on the table and walked for the door. Leona followed her and took a few moments to put her boots back on while the client patiently waited. Once her footwear was on Leona left the home and Kaede locked the door behind them. Soon the pair would be traveling on the open road towards the western part of Midi and to Sakae Shrine.

-On the road, thirty minutes later-

After working their way through the city streets and dealing with the occasional person who requested Leona's autograph, Kaede and Leona had left the Imperial City behind and were now on the road to Sakae Shrine. The moment they set foot on the road the brunette had estimated that it would take roughly seven days to travel to the western part of the country if they traveled from sunrise to sunset without pause. If they paused during the day it would take approximately twelve days to reach their destination. Kaede's plan was to travel from sunrise to sunset with minimal interruptions and Leona would do her best to keep to it but could not make any promises.

If she saw anyone in trouble on the road she would help them without concern for Kaede's travel plan.

If bandits attacked them on the road, Leona would fight them without concern for Kaede's travel plan.

"I'm glad you're with me, Miss Jarnefeldt. I'm not particularly worried about the eastern part of the country, even at night. The western part is what I'm most worried about." Kaede again expressed her gratitude that a Wizard Saint was traveling with her and expressed concerns about the western half of Midi.

"The western half of Midi's home to Sakae Shrine and a host of other shrines. Bandits know that religious pilgrims come from far and wide to bring offerings to the shrines, so they lie in wait at the side of the road and wait for the right time to strike. They're not too bad in the daytime, but at night they're much more numerous and aggressive." Kaede explained her concerns a little further as they walked down the road surrounded by a sea of ankle-high grass.

"I've been to Sakae Shrine once before, so I have some idea of what you're talking about. The rice fields of farming country are good hiding places for bandits because the rice tends to grow so high you can't see the bandits until you're almost on top of them. The forests are also prime bandit territory." Leona told of her experience traveling through Western Midi. Kaede nodded in agreement.

"Exactly." Kaede commented succinctly.

"We should be fine in the daytime because there aren't that many bandits out and about. All we have to worry about is passing through the forests." The brunette chimed in. Leona nodded.

"I've traveled through those too. It's not a good feeling to know that every tree and every bush could be hiding a bandit." Leona opined, briefly looking to the left and glancing at the sea of grass that rustled in the wind. Leona had not seen anything like it in Desierto and did not see very much grass in the cold and remote Phoenix Mountains. Here grass was in abundance. The brunette was quick to notice this and ask a question.

"I noticed that you're looking at the grass like you've never seen so much of it in one place before. If I may ask, where are you from?" The client asked. Leona's eyes met Kaede's red eyes before the former gave her response.

"Desierto." Leona answered laconically.

"Desierto?" Kaede asked. Leona nodded.

"Oh, that certainly explains it. From what I've read of that country, the sand stretches on for miles and miles as far as the eye can see." Kaede said to Leona. Leona nodded in confirmation.

"It certainly does, Kaede. I know because I grew up in a desert village. Every time I looked to the horizon I saw nothing but sand and sand dunes." Leona answered with certainty. Kaede stopped in place and blinked.

"I've lived in Midi all my life, Miss Jarnefeldt. I grew up in the Imperial City and have traveled all across Midi, but I've never been outside the country. What's it like living out in the desert?" The brunette asked the Wizard Saint.

"It's a rough life, Kaede. You have to work hard to break even and every day's a struggle for survival. Clean drinking water's hard to come by and if you don't live next to a well you have to travel pretty far to get it. Food's hard to come by too. You live off of what you can hunt or grow, which isn't a whole lot." Leona answered with authority and candor.

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"Ah. So desert life's not as romantic as the movies and novels make it out to be?" Kaede asked Leona. The blonde hoped that that was a rhetorical question. Of course desert life was not romantic. It was nothing like what was shown in the movies and novels. They did not show desert villages being swept by famine because of a bad harvest, being overrun by outlaw raids, or just struggling to see the next sunrise.

"Not at all, Kaede. As if procuring enough food and water wasn't hard enough, there's also the threat of bandit attack at any time. Desierto has a lot of bandits and slavers who regularly raid desert villages for supplies, valuables, and new merchandise for the slave markets. The really nasty bandit gangs raid villages just for the fun of it. They like to terrorize people and run them down on their horses." Leona answered with authority. Kaede winced and looked like she had regretted even asking the question. The brunette took a moment to think over what she was about to say before she said it, then faced Leona.

"How did you cope with all those difficulties?" Kaede asked.

"I took it one day at a time, Kaede. I also learned to fight when I was ten years old. My mother and older brother taught me magic and how to use a sword because I'd have to defend myself. The bandits don't mind killing children and the slavers like to abduct children because they fetch a high price in the slave markets." Leona answered candidly. Kaede flashed another look of regret. She probably felt like she was prying too deeply into Leona's personal life, but the blonde did not mind too much. Anyone who read Sorcerer's Magazine would know some of the details of her life before becoming a Wizard Saint and Guild Mistress of Silver Wolf.

"...I see." Kaede said awkwardly, doubtlessly glad that that awkward conversation was over. She looked towards the road and then looked back at Leona.

"Shall we keep going, Miss Jarnefeldt?" She asked.

"Sure." Leona replied calmly. The pair started walking again and followed a sign that pointed the way to Sakae Shrine many, many kilometers from here and to a village that was roughly 175 kilometers away. The sun was in the sky and the weather was perfect for walking. The grass on both sides of the road was also short enough to foil any attempts at an ambush by bandits, so all the pair had to do was keep an eye out for trouble and they would be good.

-Down the road, two hours later-

Kaede and Leona had been walking for a little over two hours when they finally paused in front of a wooden sign that pointed the way to a small farming village that could serve as a rest stop. It also pointed to another village that was about 300 kilometers from here.

Leona remembered that Kaede had planned to keep traveling as long as they had daylight to cover as much distance as possible before nightfall. It was early afternoon, so they still had about six hours of daylight before they would need to find a place to stay for the night. Leona was game to keep moving if Kaede was. The Wizard Saint had taken plenty of long hikes with her older brother in Desierto, so she was used to traveling long distances on foot.

"Shall we keep going, Miss Jarnefeldt?" Kaede asked the Wizard Saint.

"Sure." Leona answered in the affirmative. Kaede turned her attention to the road sign.

"We'll stop for the night in a village about 300 kilometers from here. We should be able to make it just before nightfall." Kaede said to Leona. Leona looked down at the ground while taking off her backpack to get her canteen and saw Kaede's shadow sporting the same pointy animal ears and tail that she had shown back in the Imperial City. The Wizard Saint could not help but to wonder if there was something that the brunette was not telling her.

"That works for me." Leona announced calmly before fishing out the canteen, twisting off the cap, and drinking from it.

Kaede wordlessly led the way and Leona hurriedly closed the canteen and put it in her backpack before hustling to Kaede's right side. After a brief stop for Kaede to get her bearings the pair was on the road again. They had a long walk ahead of them, but it was nothing they could not do if they kept walking without interruption.

-Six hours later, the village outskirts-

After a lengthy but uneventful hike Kaede and Leona finally arrived in a small farming village named Satsumo just as the sun was beginning to set. The brunette wiped her forehead and turned to Leona.

"We made it just in time, Miss Jarnefeldt. The sun's beginning to set and the bandits are starting to come out of hiding." Kaede informed Leona of the good fortune of arriving when they had. Leona was also glad to have made it when they did. While she was not afraid of the bandits and could see in the dark thanks to natural night vision, the Wizard Saint was fairly certain that Kaede could not see nor fight in the dark. It was safer to stop for the night and resume travel in daylight when bandits were fewer.

"Let's go look for the inn. My feet are tired from all the walking we've done today." Kaede suggested. Leona nodded her approval and together they entered Satsumo to find the inn and get a room to spend the night.

-Fifteen minutes later, Satsumo Inn-

Kaede and Leona walked through a sliding paper door into the lightly populated lobby of Satsumo Inn. There were a few guests seated at low tables sipping tea, eating a light dinner, or gossiping about the day's event, but those activities were not of any interest to the pair. Hey calmly walked through the lobby and approached the wooden counter, which was manned by a young woman with black hair and wearing a plain white kimono. She looked to be slightly older that Leona. She stood up and bowed slightly.

"Welcome to Satsumo Inn! We have plenty of rooms available for the night!" The young woman assured them. Kaede stepped up and fished out a bag of Jewels from her backpack.

"How much for a double room for one night?" Kaede asked, her fingertips hovering over the bag.

"That'll be 1,000 Jewels." The young woman answered. The brunette obligingly fished out the necessary Jewels and handed them to the young proprietor. Kaede was handed a room key with a paper tag on it.

"I'll show you to your room if you'd like." The young woman offered. Kaede nodded and Leona followed suit. She started down a hall to the left and the two weary travelers followed.

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-Inside Room 027-

"And here we are." The young woman said to Kaede and Leona as she opened the room door for them and showed them their room for the night. It was a small but spotlessly clean room with a folding rice paper screen on wooden legs to serve as a divider, a low wooden table on each side, and a straw mat on the floor to serve as bedding.

Having grown up in humble surroundings and lived in a tent for sixteen years, Leona had no problem with this arrangement. The blonde did not know in what surroundings Kaede had grown up in, but she did not seem to have a problem with this arrangement either. Both young women nodded in approval when the proprietress looked to them for a reaction.

"This will do nicely. Thank you." Kaede thanked the young woman. The young woman handed Kaede the key and bowed to the two young women before leaving them in privacy. The door shut behind them and the pair were left to solve the classic issue of who claimed what side of the room. It did not take long for Leona to make her choice.

"I'll take the side closest to the door." Leona announced, taking off her backpack and setting it next to the low table, then removing her boots and setting them in the left corner of her portion of the room. She kept Shoki at her side for the time being because in her experience trouble tended to arrive late at night and she wanted to be ready for it.

"You seem on edge, Miss Jarnefeldt. Why is that?" Kaede asked as she occupied the left side of the room and set her backpack down. She then pulled the rice paper partition closed.

"Remember when I said that I grew up in a desert village that was attacked by bandits a lot? They tended to attack at night." Leona answered truthfully while keeping her eyes on the door. Kaede went silent for a moment.

"Oh. My apologies." Kaede apologized for the intrusion.

"It's fine, Kaede." Leona calmly accepted the apology. She was not offended by the question because it was a fair one. It was also no big secret that Leona had to keep.

Leona heard the sound of rustling from a bag and casually glanced right. She saw a shadow of Kaede cast by the rice paper screen. Again the blonde saw Kaede with pointed ears on the top of her head and what looked like fox tails behind her. The blonde was not believing what she was seeing.

Suddenly Kaede turned towards Leona and the blonde froze. It felt like eyes were piercing right through the screen. Then she saw a brief flash of red light where Kaede's eyes would be. Leona began to panic.

Was she going to have to fight her traveling partner because the latter was secretly a serial killer whose bloodlust awakened when night fell?

The brunette stood up and advanced towards the screen as Leona tried to figure out what to do. She reached the screen and pulled it aside. Leona put a hand on Shoki's grip and prepared herself for a fight.

Kaede stepped towards the blonde with a smile on her face. A red bubble emanated through the room and filled the room before disappearing. Sound did not seem to carry anymore, suggesting that Kaede could somehow silence a particular area whenever she wanted. Leona was not liking this at all.

"No one else needs to hear what I'm about to say." Kaede said. The hair on the back of Leona's neck stood up. Kaede had nine tails behind her and a magic signature that was rather strong... it would roughly correspond to the Magic Council's classification of H-rank. While that was not a death sentence for Leona, the close quarters and the inability to call for help would make the fight a challenge.

"I haven't been entirely honest with you, Miss Jarnefeldt. As you saw through the screen, I'm not exactly human. I'm actually a kitsune." Kaede told Leona. Leona blinked.

What was a kitsune?

"A kitsune's a special kind of fox, Miss Jarnefeldt. It can take human form and has a host of other wonderful powers. However, there are certain signs of my status that I can't fully conceal, such as my shadow revealing my true nature." Kaede soon explained what a kitsune was to the blonde. Once Leona determined that Kaede meant no harm she eased her hand off of Shoki's grip. Kaede's ears twitched and she turned to see Leona's hand moving away from Shoki's grip.

"Did I frighten you?" Kaede asked, her tails twitching up and down in sequence. Leona looked her in the eyes.

"Yes. I've never encountered a kitsune before." Leona answered truthfully. There was no point in lying to the brunette about her initial reaction to the latter's real nature. Kaede studied Leona for a moment, her red eyes boring into Leona's green eyes.

"I appreciate your honesty, Miss Jarnefeldt. I find it refreshing." Kaede commented with a smile. Leona was a novice when it came to the art of subterfuge. She was not a good deceiver, but she had never wanted to become one. She preferred fair and honest dealings with other people and wanted to be treated fairly and honestly in return, but she was not naive enough to believe that everyone dealt with her in good faith.

"Thanks." Leona commented with an economy of words. The suppressing bubble was still active, so the only people who could hear the conversation were Kaede and Leona. That was fine by the Wizard Saint. The brown-haired kitsune studied Leona before speaking again.

"You are quite young for someone of your stature and power. How old are you?" Kaede inquired.

"Eighteen." Leona gave her age to the kitsune.

"Eighteen?" Kaede asked. Leona nodded.

"I was eighteen once... over a thousand years ago." Kaede remarked. Leona blinked. The brunette looked to be no older than her mid-twenties at best, but she was implying that she was almost a thousand years old, if not older. How did she do that?

Kaede had said that kitsunes had a host of powers, so it stood to reason that halting or concealing physical aging was one of those powers. Perhaps Kaede was willing to tell the mortal Wizard Saint more information about her kind.

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"Yes, Miss Jarnefeldt. I've lived for over a thousand years. I've been part of Midi since long before the emperor came to power and made order out of chaos." Kaede confirmed what Leona had deduced. Leona blinked again. She had no idea that Kaede had been around that long, but what she was having difficulty understanding was just how the kitsune had lived this long. Kaede soon gave an answer to the unspoken question.

"Kitsunes are blessed with long lifespans. Unless we are killed in battle, we can easily live a thousand years or longer. While humans have a "prime" of thirty to forty years, kitsunes have a "prime" that goes on for centuries once we reach maturity at eighteen years of age." Kaede explained how she had lived this long. Leona spent a minute or two what it was like to have a lifespan that was centuries long. She also wondered what it was like to witness so many historical events firsthand instead of having to read about them from books, scrolls, or temple walls.

Once Leona had a little understanding of what it was like to have a centuries-long lifespan, her mind then turned to trying to fathom what it was like to have a prime that lasted long after almost all humans had died from old age. It was a tough idea to wrap her mind around. The Wizard Saint was not the smartest mage, but even she could understand that Kaede would be looking and acting youthful long after the blonde had died of old age... if her adventurous lifestyle did not claim her first. Still, long life had to be a good thing. If Leona had Kaede's lifespan, the blonde could have centuries worth of adventures before she left the world.

"I have a good idea of what you're thinking, Miss Jarnefeldt. You're thinking that having a long lifespan's a good thing. And in a way it is. But there's a big downside to it." Kaede said to Leona. The kitsune walked over and sat down at the opposite end of the table from Leona before speaking to her again. Red eyes met green eyes as the kitsune spoke.

"I've seen a lot of people come and go in my lifetime, Miss Jarnefeldt. It's hard to make friends knowing that you'll remain young while they grow old. It's hard to make friends knowing that barring a freak accident or death from violence you'll easily outlive them without even trying." Kaede said with a twinge of sadness the blonde could feel. Leona recoiled from the emotion that Kaede had put in her voice.

Leona had never thought of it that way.

"I don't have many friends aside from my younger sister and others of my kind, who are getting to be few and far between as they ascend to tenko." Kaede added. Since this was an emotional time for the kitsune Leona thought about her words very carefully before speaking to Kaede.

"Are you looking for mortal friends or have you given up on that?" Leona asked calmly. Kaede looked at the blonde.

"For awhile I gave up on the endeavor as a waste of time, but now... now I'm looking for a mortal friend or two. I was thinking of asking you to become one of them, Miss Jarnefeldt." Kaede replied. The atmosphere in the room shifted from somber to a more positive mood as Kaede began to smile. Leona was not sure how to feel about having a nearly immortal fox friend.

She did not have very many friends, but that was mostly due to personal choice. She had always found it difficult to really open up to other people, even Samira Nassar, the closest person she had to a friend. Leona was socially awkward and felt like she would make an idiot of herself by saying dumb things at the wrong times, so she stayed away from others. However, lately she had been making small strides in interacting with members of Silver Wolf in both official and informal capacities. She had also been interacting with people outside the guild to build up her weak social skills.

Leona had interacted with Dr. Anna and Ada and Clara Jensen. However, three people were not enough. Leona needed more. She was reluctant to befriend Kaede because she had very little to tell someone who had already lived a thousand years. But then she thought about it.

Kaede would be around a very long time.

Leona would have plenty of time to talk to Kaede and practice her social skills.

Why not take a chance on making a friend who would be around for centuries, if not longer?

"I'm not sure how long I'll be around, but if you want to take that chance, I'll be your friend." Leona offered to Kaede. The kitsune's tails moved up and down from left to right as she thought over the offer. They stopped once she reached a conclusion, a conclusion that she quickly shared with Leona.

"I'm willing to take that chance, Miss Jarnefeldt." Kaede accepted the offer with a smile. She then stood up and turned, moving back to the other side of the room as the sound-suppressing bubble dissipated. It seemed that this conversation was officially over.

"We'd better try to sleep soon, Miss Jarnefeldt. We'll be getting up early in the morning to continue our journey." Kaede reminded Leona. Leona did not argue. Kaede closed the rice paper divider and Leona made her way to her bag to fish out her green athletic shirt to sleep in. The blonde quickly changed, lay her outfit top on the low table along with her Argent Gloves, and lay on the straw mat with Shoki's scabbard clutched in both hands.

-Day 2, 6:00 A.M.-

Leona woke up to find Kaede standing over her and looking down at her with those bright red eyes. The blonde yelped and bolted upright.

"Sorry about that, Miss Jarnefeldt." Kaede apologized as Leona tried to come down from the adrenaline rush.

"It's OK, Kaede. I take it you're ready to get going?" Leona asked as she stood up.

"Precisely. Ordinarily I would take a bath before we get going, but the inn's bathing facilities are experiencing difficulties with the heating, so I'll skip it. I hate bathing in cold water." Kaede replied in the affirmative.

"I hate bathing in cold water too, Kaede. I'll pack up my stuff, put on my boots, and we'll get going as soon as you're ready to go." Leona said to her companion. She grabbed her boots and put them on after making sure that Ses Revanche was still there. She then picked up her backpack and gently folded her outfit top, putting it inside her packpack. Finally Leona put on her Argent Gloves, secured Shoki to her left hip, and put her backpack on.

"I'm ready." Leona announced once everything was put away.

"I'll get ready shortly." Kaede said, going to her side of the room. Leona took a deep breath. She could feel her pulse returning to normal and the adrenaline rush slowly fading. She hoped that Kaede would not be standing over her every morning because that was both really awkward and really frightening.

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-Day 2, On the road, 8:00 A.M.-

Kaede and Leona had gotten on the road just as the sun began to rise and it was quiet so far. All they could hear was the rustling grass blown about by the wind and the occasional bird call. There was very little foot traffic and they had not seen a single cart yet. They did not mind, though. The lack of people on the road made it easier for them to keep a watch for bandits who might be morning people instead of night owls.

After checking out of Satsumo's inn the pair had set out around 7:00 A.M. to beat the foot traffic, but there was none of note. The pair's goal for the day was to reach a town that was about 300 kilometers from Satsumo named Anra. It was a medium-sized city that was starting to put itself on the map thanks to its burgeoning tourism industry centered around the hot springs and ancient temples that dotted the town.

"Have you ever been to Anra, Miss Jarnefeldt?" Kaede asked Leona. The blonde shook her head.

"I've been there before, but that was centuries ago. I traveled there back when it was called the "temple city" of Midi because of all the temples built in it." Kaede answered and explained how she knew about the city.

"I've only been on the main road to Sakae Shrine once before, Kaede. I don't remember any of the small towns that line the route." Leona confessed ignorance of anything other than the Imperial City and Sakae Shrine. Kaede smiled.

"Ah yes, Sakae Shrine. I remember how Anra stopped being the terminus of the pilgrimage of the imperial family and Sakae Shrine became the new terminus instead. It all started with a feud among the monks about which temple the emperor favored the most..." Kaede started to tell Leona the story of how Sakae Shrine rose to prominence thanks to the emperor's patronage when she trailed off and looked to the sky as if she was trying to get the details straight. Leona was not sure how many centuries ago the trip was, so she was in no position to call Kaede on inconsistencies in her story. That was another reason Leona needed to learn to do proper academic research... so she could find the truth for herself instead of having to rely on others to tell her the truth.

Then again, the authors of books often had their own agendas. Leona learned that when she was gathering books for research on Ancient Desierto. Dr. Anna had warned her to watch out for the author's bias whenever she read a scholarly work and Leona had been vigilant even when reading the books Dr. Anna had recommended to her. Leona would have to remain vigilant for bias whenever she read anything pertaining to history.

"You seem preoccupied, Miss Jarnefeldt." Kaede commented.

"Oh yeah, I was. You see, I'm doing research on Ancient Desierto, particularly King Saarghon. He was the first king of Desierto and the first Desierto ruler to rule a united country. There's a lot of conflicting views on how his reign was viewed and it's hard work sorting them all out." Leona explained why she had spaced out for a moment. Kaede did not seem to hold it against Leona and actually seemed interested in the blonde's thoughts.

"Really?" Kaede asked as the pair walked down the road, sparing an occasional glance forward to make sure they were not about to run into pedestrians or bandits.

"Yeah. There's a lot of debate as to whether King Saarghon was really as bloodthirsty as he was made out to be. Some historians say that he was a psychopath who enjoyed ordering the slaughter of entire villages for petty reasons or for no real reason at all. Others claim that his reputation was dragged through the dirt by the Muserians who took over after his defeat and disappearance." Leona told Kaede just a little bit of the controversy surrounding the first king of a united Desierto. Kaede looked at Leona a moment. The brunette then uttered four cryptic words.

"Some things never change." Kaede said cryptically. Leona thought about those words for a moment before asking what the kitsune meant.

"Have you ever heard the phrase "History is written by the winners?" Kaede asked Leona. The blonde shook her head.

"My sister taught me that phrase. Basically it means that the winner of a big struggle gets to write the story of how events went... from their point of view. Since they won, their story's right by default. Sometimes it's the only story that ever gets told because the winners make it a point to get rid of all evidence that can contradict them." Kaede explained. Leona nodded in understanding.

"It sounds like what happened with that King Saarghon. The Muserians probably created a lot of exaggerations and falsehoods to justify their overthrow of King Saarghon. Since he disappeared, he wasn't exactly around to tell his side of the story and since his enemies won they could make up any story they wanted." Kaede explained to Leona what it meant and gave an example. Leona found that the phrase made a lot of sense. That skewed storytelling was just the kind of thing that the sultans indulged in whenever they founded the Tri-Council Cities. They painted themselves as the virtuous champions of order and painted their defeated enemies as backwards primitives who had no right to rule anything, not even themselves.

"Now I get it." Leona said to Kaede.

"You sound like a potential scholar, Miss Jarnefeldt. If you keep going with your studies, always remember that phrase. Always." Kaede counseled the Wizard Saint. She then thought of something.

"Say, do you know how to read the language of Midi?" Kaede asked Leona.

"Not at all. The only foreign language I know is a language from Ancient Desierto. Why?" Leona asked.

"My younger sister's something of an amateur historian and a major bibliophile. She's collected a lot of scrolls and books over the centuries and a lot of them pertain to the history of Midi. Many of them are originals written in the author's own hand instead of second-rate copies produced by someone else. If you help her out with some errands I'm sure that she'll let you read some of them." Kaede answered with a tempting possibility. Leona was interested, but she was not sure what kind of "errands" Kaede's sister needed to be done. Leona did not expect a free ride to the resources, but she was not sure what she could possibly do to help a kitsune with a thousand-year lifespan and a lot of magical powers. If Kaede's sister was as powerful as the brunette, then Leona was not sure what use she could be to her.

The possibility was still worth looking into, though. Leona was being given a way to access historical resources that few other people even knew about. The resources offered were touted to be original materials from the time period instead of modern copies found in bookstores. As the Guild Mistress of Silver Wolf there was no way she could turn such an opportunity down... just as long as the "errands" were all above board.

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-Down the road to Anra, four hours later-

Leona and Kaede had traveled down the road for four hours with few breaks and were still about 50 kilometers from Anra, but they still had about an hour of travel to go before they reached the "Temple City" of Midi. So far they had not encountered any bandits along the pilgrimage trail, but Leona was not sure how much farther they would get before their luck ran out. They were walking next to a field of grass that had a small group of men crossing it about ten meters ahead of them. Leona initially did not think much of it because people frequently took shortcuts like that and they did not set off any alarms. However, as they got closer she noticed something strange.

The five men stood in the middle of the road and barred the path. They were paying a lot of attention to Leona and Kaede, most likely because they were fairly attractive young women and no one was around to protect them. Leona did not need anyone to protect her and neither did Kaede. The pair calmly walked up to the men and the quintet stood their ground, refusing to let them pass.

"Hey, don't you two understand? This is a toll road now!" One of them bellowed, brusquely shoving Leona back. The blonde frowned. Another guy reached out to touch her chest and she stepped back while frowning in disgust at the offensive gesture. The men responded by laughing at her.

"I don't remember it being a toll road." Kaede replied innocently.

"Well, it is now!" Another man, one wearing a brown vest with black pants and sandals, replied. Leona was not liking this. One of the men noticed the sword at Leona's side.

"Hey, that blonde's got a pretty nice weapon!" The man pointed out to his fellows.

"I say we take it from her! There's five of us and one of her!" A second chimed in as he approached her.

"Be careful what you wish for." Leona warned the man. He laughed in her face and was so close when he did it that she could smell his awful breath. Leona was glad she had not eaten yet because in between his breath and the awful state of his teeth she might have lost her lunch.

"Or what?" He asked while reaching for her sword and "accidentally" brushing his arm against her chest. Leona recalled the anger she felt at Joshua Hamlin for what he did to her at the banquet two years ago and reacted swiftly and violently. She slammed the man in the face with a Swift Palm and followed up with a Mach Straight to the chest that sent him flying backwards, causing the other men to draw their swords.

"You wanna do this the hard way? FINE!" The leader, a shirtless man with short black hair, brown pants, and sandals, exclaimed. Leona turned to Kaede and used a Wind Blast to blast the two men who were standing in front of her so that her client could not be used as a human shield, then quickly ducked under a sword swing and hit back with a quickly executed Tornado Kick to the man's head. He staggered back and the leader rushed in with his sword held high in both hands. Leona retreated a meter and drew Shoki as the man continued to charge. Once he reached her he brought down his sword in a two-handed power chop that Leona blocked with Shoki's blade held parallel to her.

While Leona was engaged in the bladelock with the leader the bandit she had kicked in the head recovered and was going to take advantage of the opportunity to stab Leona in the stomach. He ran towards Leona with his sword held out and was only about two meters away from her when Kaede blinked into existence and drew her own sword, then parried the attack. The man staggered away and Leona kicked the leader in the stomach to end the stalemate, then followed up with a stab through the torso. The man yelled in pain and Leona cleanly withdrew the blade; he fell to the ground and bled out.

"Th-th-the boss is dead!" The man who had tried to stab Leona cried out. The remaining four men took notice of the cry and looked at Leona and Kaede. Three of them backed away, but the man whose attack Kaede had parried raised his sword in defiance and rushed at Leona to get revenge for her killing his boss. Kaede sighed and blinked out of existence as the man continued to run at Leona. Moments later a red flash appeared across his abdomen and Kaede blinked back into existence behind him. The man paused, fell apart, and both halves fell to the ground while Kaede's katana was glowing red.

Kaede's sword was burning so hot that it had cauterized the wound instantly.

Now the bandit gang was down to three members.

"WE CAN'T BEAT THEM! RUN!" One of them bellowed and ran back towards the grass field without waiting for his fellows. The other two looked at each other, then at Leona and Kaede. They immediately joined their fellow bandit in flight, leaving Leona and Kaede in control of the road.

"I think we'd better get moving, Leona. They're running for now, but they'll recover their courage and be back in greater numbers." Kaede counseled the Wizard Saint before extinguishing her sword and putting it back into its scabbard.

"Do you think they'll track us to Anra?" Leona asked Kaede. Leona was not worried so much about herself as she was Kaede and anyone else who took the road after Leona and Kaede had left. She shuddered to think what would happen to the poor people who had the misfortune of being on the road once the bandit gang came back with more members and a lust for blood.

Part of Leona wanted to pursue the bandits and end the threat they posed so that no one else would suffer their wrath for Leona and Kaede standing up to them. The other half wanted to take Kaede's advice and get out of the area before they returned. She was not sure what to do, but her job was to ensure that Kaede safely got to her sister's home near Sakae Shrine.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they followed us, Miss Jarnefeldt. However, Anra has a sizable city guard. They won't attack such a well-defended target without overwhelming numbers on their side." Kaede assured her. Leona was comforted to know that Anra would be safe, but what about the innocent people on the road between Satsumo and Anra?

"I know that you don't want to leave the innocent at the mercy of the bandits. I can tell by the look on your face that you're conflicted." Kaede said to her. Leona did not even bother to hide her facial expression while she watched the green horizon for signs that the bandits were returning for a second round. Leona did not want to leave until the bandits were no longer a threat to anyone, but Kaede's safety should be her first priority.

Still, she could not leave people to suffer for her getting the bandits angry by resisting their demands.

"Yes, I'm conflicted." Leona succinctly announced, refusing to mince words.

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Leona stood facing the green horizon and wondered what she should do to resolve this conundrum. She and Kaede had successfully fended off a five-man bandit team, but they had let three of them escape after killing their leader and a bandit who would not back down. Kaede had informed Leona while the surviving bandits had retreated, they would soon be back in greater numbers looking for revenge. Leona was now faced with a choice.

If they left now, they would most likely make it to Anra before the bandit gang returned with reinforcements. However, anyone who was on the road when they got here would be a target for their wrath if they could not find Leona and Kaede. That led into the next problem.

Kaede's safety was Leona's highest priority. While Kaede was a kitsune with a lot of powers and had a katana with which to defend herself, she could still die in battle if the enemy got lucky. Leona did not want that.

However, the Wizard Saint could not in good conscience leave innocent travelers to suffer at the hands of bandits she had resisted but failed to completely eliminate.

Did she leave with Kaede while the going was good?

Did she risk following the bandits back to their camp and eliminating them before they could threaten other travelers on the road to Anra?

Leona took a deep breath. They did not have all day to stand around here while she slowly reached a decision. She would have to make a choice and make it quickly.

"What are you thinking, Miss Jarnefeldt? Should I set out for Anra on my own while you deal with the bandits? Or do we set out for Anra together?" Kaede asked Leona. Leona had just about reached a decision. Now all she needed to do was act on it.

Leona raised her left hand and summoned Ramses.

"PHARAOH OWL SUMMON!" Leona called out. A few seconds later Ramses appeared and landed on her left forearm, which was protected from his talons by the Argent Glove. Ramses turned his head and looked at the Wizard Saint as she held her arm outstretched.

"I need you to fly above us and keep an eye out for any suspicious activity in the grass field to our left." Leona requested of Ramses. He turned his head almost upside down and then stretched his wings.

"Consider it done." He said before taking off into the air and gaining altitude. Kaede looked at Leona, who turned to the brunette to explain the reason behind her action.

"He's Ramses. He'll be our eye in the sky and let us know if anyone approaches from the grass field." Leona explained to Kaede why she had summoned Ramses. Kaede nodded.

"So I take it we're going to Anra together?" She asked. Leona nodded.

"Yes, we're going to Anra. Together." Leona answered. She cleaned off Shoki's blade on the body of the dead leader, then sheathed the sword and turned to face the road. Kaede put away her sword and together the pair continued on their way to the next major rest stop on the road to Sakae Shrine.

-Down the road, fifty minutes later-

Ramses had been keeping watch while Leona and Kaede continued on the road to Anra. They had met a few passing wagons and Kaede had warned the drivers of the possible bandit danger approximately 15 kilometers from where they had left almost an hour ago. The people were appreciative of the warning and picked up their pace in an effort to get past that section of road before the bandits returned. Leona and Kaede still had 35 kilometers to go, but they were making good time and Ramses had not yet spotted trouble.

"I know that you didn't want to leave the bandits to cause trouble, Miss Jarnefeldt. It must have been a difficult decision to make." Kaede said to Leona.

"It was a tough choice. I'm the Wizard Saint of Courage, Kaede. I'm not supposed to run from fights. But your safety's the top priority." Leona said to the brunette. She probably made it sound worse than she had intended for her statement to sound, but it was the truth. She was not going to lie when she said that leaving the area was a tough choice, especially when the lives of innocent people were at stake.

"I appreciate your honesty, Miss Jarnefeldt. Like I said earlier, I find it refreshing." Kaede complimented the Wizard Saint a second time on her honesty.

"Why's that?" Leona asked Kaede. Kaede turned to her.

"I've lived for over a thousand years and I've met so many people that I can't even remember their names. What I do remember is that so many of them put on a front to look tougher, smarter, or more courageous than they really were. Sometimes it led them to trouble when they bit off more than they could chew by trying to impress someone. Sometimes they succeeded despite themselves and they got the wrong lesson from it." Kaede started. Leona listened intently as they continued down the road.

"I've also encountered a lot of people who told lies to get ahead of others. Either they overstated their abilities or they promised something they had no intention of delivering to get something from someone. Again, sometimes they got away with that behavior while other times their lies caught up to them." Kaede continued. Leona continued to listen.

"You're not like most people, Miss Jarnefeldt. You're honest with yourself and with others about what you can do and what you can't do. I appreciate your lack of pretension." Kaede concluded with a smile. Leona was perfectly aware of her weaknesses, especially in social skills and intellectual skills. She forgot a lot of things, occasionally did not pay attention to what people were saying, and sometimes lived up to the worst aspects of her hair color. Despite all that she was not afraid to admit those shortcomings to people.

Leona was working on fixing those problems by interacting with more people than those in her small social circle and she also began studying Ancient Desierto's history in her free time. She was also working on learning how to use computers so that she could bring herself into the modern era. Leona had a lot of self-improvement to go before she could become a better person, Guild Mistress, and Wizard Saint, but with enough time and effort she would get there.

"Thanks." Leona replied to the compliment with sincere gratitude. She was not a well-rounded individual like the other Wizard Saints, who were at home on both the battlefield and the social scene, but she would get there one day. She would just have to keep working at it and not let setbacks get her down too much.

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-Three hours later, outskirts of Anra-

After a lengthy walk punctuated by the occasional break Leona and Kaede finally reached the outskirts of Anra, the "Temple City" of Midi. Leona saw numerous temples with pagodas reaching for the sky from one section of the city and noted the white exteriors and slanting red roofs. The pagodas were so numerous and so tall that one could not help but to be amazed at them and to see how Anra had earned its nickname. Kaede noticed Leona's sense of wonder and commented.

"If you think that the temples are impressive now, you should have seen them back when they were first built, Miss Jarnefeldt. They were truly something to behold, especially those owned by the wealthier monasteries. The gilded dragons placed on the top of the pagodas were beautiful and made by the finest artisans in Midi." Kaede said to Leona, hinting that several centuries ago the temples were even more magnificent than they were now... as if that were somehow possible. Leona was not educated in the field of architecture, but she was still impressed by how study and beautiful the pagodas were.

"What happened to the gilded dragons?" Leona asked.

"The temples took them down and either melted them down for money to repair the temples or put them in storage because Anra was constantly being attacked by bandits and thieves who wanted to steal them. My sister has some historical records on the subject... if you ever want to find out the whole story." Kaede answered.

"I see. Anyway, how long did you want to stay here?" Leona asked Kaede, moving on from the subject of the temples to the subject of how long the brunette wanted to stay in Anra. She knew that Kaede did not want to risk a nighttime run-in with bandits, but they still had a few more hours of daylight before night fell. If they kept going and did not stop for anything they just might make it before nightfall.

"It's about 200 kilometers to the next town and I'm not sure that we can cover that distance before nightfall. I don't want to risk it, especially after not today's skirmish with the bandits. I say that we spend the rest of the day in Anra and get an early start tomorrow morning." Kaede voiced her opinion and explained why she felt the way she did. Leona focused on the fact that the distance to the next town was about 200 kilometers away. If they kept going they could make it, but only if they moved at high speed and did not stop for anything, not even to eat or to fight bandits.

"That's a good point, Kaede. I don't think we should risk it either. We'll just stay in Anra for the rest of the day and get going early tomorrow." Leona agreed with Kaede's idea. Kaede nodded and together the pair walked down the central cobblestone path that led into Anra. It was lined with sakura trees like the ones in Shirotsume and gave the path an aesthetic that was both pleasing and calming. While they walked towards the city limits Ramses rejoined his mistress by landing on her left arm; once he had landed the owl gave news of what he had seen while on duty.

"I did not see any unusual activity in the grassy fields during the journey here." Ramses reported to Leona.

"Nice work, Ramses. Thanks for watching out for us." Leona thanked the owl for his work over the past few hours. She then dispelled him and the pair continued to walk towards their destination.

-In Anra, just inside the city limits-

Leona and Kaede continued into Anra proper and located a kiosk just inside the city that was full of informative brochures written in both the common language of Earthland and the language of Midi. On one brochure she had picked up the Wizard Saint saw that the ancient temples were located in a section of Anra called the "Temple Quarter," which was in the northwestern portion of the city. She also noted how Anra had mixed ancient temples with modern buildings to make an aesthetic all its own. That choice made it clear that while Anra was a modern city, it had not forsaken its past and still took pride in its name of the "Temple City."

"Are there any good inns or hotels here?" Leona asked Kaede. The brunette smiled.

"There are a lot of them here that cater to all tastes and budgets. If you want to go budget without compromising too much, there's The Sleeping Dragon Inn in the southeastern portion of town. If you want to stay in luxury, there's The Imperial Resort in the Temple Quarter. Then there's hostels, but I wouldn't recommend those because they vary far too much in quality. You've got a mix of good ones, fair ones, and the really cheap ones where you shouldn't stay unless you've got no other choice." Kaede laid out the options they had for lodging. Leona was not sure what kind of taste her traveling companion had. Leona was fine with almost any lodging as long as there was a decent roof over her head and a decent bed or a decent straw mat to sleep on, but tonight Kaede might want to stay in a place with a little more substance to it.

"Where do you want to stay, Kaede?" Leona asked her companion. Kaede h'mmed and absentmindedly stared at a brochure before facing Leona.

"That's a good question, Miss Jarnefeldt. Where do you feel up to staying?" Kaede turned the question back on the Wizard Saint. Leona looked at a brochure to find a decent place and thought of something.

"I don't want to walk into a luxury hotel and get half the town guard after me because I have a weapon. How many places around here allow the patrons to have weapons?" Leona asked Kaede another question. Kaede smiled.

"A good deal of them, really. Only the really upscale ones ban weapons. However, the ones that allow weapons on the premises either require that you store them in the hotel weapon storage room or keep them in your room. If you allow the hotel to store it and it gets lost or stolen the responsibility's on them to offer financial compensation sufficient to replace it, but if you keep it in your room and it gets stolen then you're out of luck." Kaede explained. Leona frowned. She was reticent to part with her weapons even for a moment, let alone an entire night.

"I doubt that any hotel in the city has the money to replace a centuries-old holy sword that can kill demons. And if they can afford to replace it I can't even bring it in to start with." Leona lamented. She did not want to entrust either Shoki or Ses Revanche to hotel staff because even if they were all honest and vigilant someone would want to steal a weapon that belonged to the Wizard Saint of Courage. Besides, Shoki was not her weapon to begin with. It belonged to Priestess Sumika of Okyto.

"I can understand where you're coming from, Miss Jarnefeldt. My weapon's a centuries-old blade forged by the finest blacksmiths and passed down to me from my mother. It would cost all the money in Midi to replace." Kaede sympathized with Leona and explained the value of the sword on her side.

"Well, looks like we're back to square one, Kaede. Where do we want to stay?" Leona asked the brunette. Kaede shrugged. The pair found a nearby bench and sat down, then began perusing brochures to find lodging that was weapon-friendly. Choosing a suitable place for the evening was going to take a good amount of time, but they would not have all day to decide. Other travelers were streaming into the city and they stood to fill all the available rooms before Leona and Kaede could get one for the night.

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-The Sleeping Dragon Inn, one hour later-

Having finally made up their mind after giving the matter a lot of thought, the pair traveled to The Sleeping Dragon Inn and strode through the lobby to the check-in counter, which had a young woman in a navy blue uniform much like a stewardess' standing behind a computer monitor on the far left side. There were six stations behind the desk, but five of them were unmanned. Leona looked up and saw that three of them were marked for check-ins and three were marked for check-outs.

The lobby had beige decor that was about ten years behind the times, but it was clean and well-lit. It also featured a wall-mounted television tuned to the weather channel plus a few coffee tables with neat stacks of magazines and folded newspapers left for guests to read. There was also a water cooler in the far left corner that had just been replaced with a full container of water. To the right of the lobby was a pair of elevators kind of like the ones at the Crescent Island resort. Leona turned her attention to the clerk and Kaede stepped forward to speak to the young woman.

"Hi, we'd like a room for the night." Kaede spoke for the two of them. The young woman looked at the brunette with a smile and began tapping on a keyboard to check how many open rooms there were. She looked back at Kaede and spoke.

"You're in luck, Miss. We have twenty-three vacancies. What kind of room would you like?" The employee asked Kaede. Kaede looked back to Leona and then back to the employee.

"We'd like a room with two separate beds, please." Kaede requested. The employee looked down again and tapped some keys on the keyboard, then looked at the screen. A few moments later later she turned to Kaede and smiled.

"There's only three of those left and you just got one of them. That'll be 3,000 Jewels, please." The price was given. Kaede started to pay for it when Leona intervened, paying the fee for Kaede. A stunned Kaede reached to take back the Jewels when the Wizard Saint grabbed Kaede's wrist and stopped her.

"You paid last night. I'll get this one." Leona said. Kaede relented and the employee took the Jewels, then looked down at the monitor and typed out something on the keyboard before running two white cards with magnetic strips through an electronic device to the left of the keyboard, then placing them both in small white paper card holders. The cards were then handed to Kaede and Leona.

"Your room number is 357 and is on the third floor. If you need anything at any time, don't hesitate to call Room Service. If you can't get Room Service, feel free to come down here and speak to an employee and we'll see what we can do to help!" The employee told them. Kaede and Leona nodded and took their key cards, then walked to the elevator and pressed the UP button. Leona waited patiently to Kaede's right and watched the elevator door open, allowing the pair to enter. Kaede went in first followed by Leona.

-On the elevator-

The pair entered a silver elevator that had a faux marble tile floor and faux wood wall panels. It had a maximum capacity of twenty-five people; the pair waited to see if any other guests were hurrying to board it, but no one else had approached, so Kaede's finger hovered over the buttons until she located the one for the third floor and pressed it. The elevator doors closed with a DING and soft elevator music with prominent stringed instruments and a backing deep drum began to play over the overhead speaker. The elevator lifted smoothly and after about two minutes the pair arrived on the third floor.

-On the third floor-

Kaede and Leona stepped off the elevator and walked down a hall with doors to the left and to the right. Leona began to look for a small map of the floor to get an idea of where their room was, but Kaede immediately made a beeline down the hallway. Leona quickly followed her to avoid getting left behind.

They walked on old but fairly clean dark green carpet and looked at the room numbers on each door. They continued down the hallway until they reached slightly past the halfway point and found Room 357 on the left side. Kaede pulled her keycard out of its small protective paper card holder, placed it in the slot, and pulled it out once the light flashed green. Kaede then pushed the door lever down and pushed the door open. The pair went inside the room to get a look at their lodgings for the night, drop off their bags, and figure out what they wanted to do from here.

-Inside Room 357-

Kaede and Leona entered their room and looked around to find a small but serviceable room with two separate beds and a small bathroom. The decor was much like the hotel lobby with beige walls, but the carpet was a light brown. There was a wall-mounted flatscreen TV with the remote on top of a coffee table and a brown cloth sofa. On the right side of the room was a window covered by a burgundy curtain. This was not bad for a "budget" inn room.

"I like this." Leona said simply. Kaede did not seem to have as favorable an opinion as Leona did, but she seemed to at least be content.

"For 3,000 Jewels you'd think the room would be a little bigger and better furnished. This place was better about 100 years ago." Kaede commented with a mild trace of disappointment. Leona kept her mouth shut and looked towards the beds.

"Which bed do you want, Kaede?" Leona asked her companion. Kaede looked towards the beds and looked at them both for a moment before making her selection.

"I'll take the one on the right." Kaede answered, walking over to the bed closest to the window and setting her backpack on top of the right bed.

"Looks like I've got the one on the left." Leona said to no one in particular as she took off her backpack and set it on top of the left bed. Both young women sat down and removed their footwear for a few minutes. They both eyed the bathroom. They would both need showers before they went to a restaurant to eat, which raised a very important question.

What on Earthland were they going to eat for dinner?

Leona did not look forward to another hour of awkward browsing of the brochures and trying to reach a decision that both of them could live with. However, she liked traveling through Midi and she liked traveling with Kaede. Traveling through Midi while in the company of a friendly kitsune with a little over a thousand years of life experience was a welcome change of pace from fighting her way through a zombie-infested town or fighting her way through the desert on some errand for the sultans. Kaede made for an interesting conversation partner with her view on life, people, and history. Leona wondered what kind of perspective on life, people, and history Kaede's younger sister had developed over her lifetime.

Maybe Leona would get to talk to her at the end of this trip.

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Job Details:

Job Sign-Up: Page 24, Post Number 593

-One hour later, in the Temple Quarter, Anra-

Leona and Kaede, having showered and changed clothing, were now roaming the streets of Anra's "Temple Quarter" in search of a good ramen restaurant. Leona was wearing her blue athletic shirt with khaki cargo shorts and brown hiking boots while Kaede had opted for a simple red kimono with white accents and sandals. Kaede wanted ramen and Leona, not wanting to get bogged down in yet another lengthy discussion of the matter, agreed to the idea of ramen. Having hidden their weapons in the hotel room via a special magic that Kaede had used to hide them in plain sight, Leona only had Ses Revanche in her right boot if trouble came calling. It was not like Leona really needed a weapon at this point in her career, but having one within reach was never a bad idea.

The pair were in the Temple Quarter looking for "authentic" ramen because Kaede insisted on having the real thing and not the mass-produced version that passed for ramen nowadays. The brunette went on a bit of a rant about how modern ramen was inferior to the ramen of almost one hundred years ago and had little taste. Leona had never had it before, so she would not know the difference between "authentic" ramen and the modern version. They passed by a wooden temple with a towering pagoda and monks clad in saffron robes soliciting monetary donations from passersby. Kaede looked around the area and appeared to have spotted something because her eyes fixed on a food cart placed between two temples that was about 50 meters away from their current position.

Kaede wordlessly made a beeline for the food cart, leaving Leona to hurriedly follow her in order to keep from being left behind. The Wizard Saint was a Wind mage and was supposed to be the faster of the two, but the kitsune was faster still and was threatening to leave the blonde behind unless she caught up quickly. Leona quickened her pace and caught up with the disguised kitsune talking excitedly to an older man wearing a white shirt and brown pants under an apron who was manning the food cart. The food cart was white with a small serving area and had white bowls stacked neatly to the left of the serving area.

"This gentleman owns a ramen cart!" Kaede said to Leona excitedly. She began to speak with the man in the language of Midi and he replied in a soft voice that was hard to hear. Leona could not understand a single word of what was being said, but the conversation seemed to be going well so far. Kaede then held up two fingers to indicate how many bowls of ramen were to be prepared. The brunette turned back to Leona.

"What flavor of ramen would you like, Miss Jarnefeldt?" Kaede asked. The blonde drew a blank.

"I've never had ramen before, Kaede." Leona admitted. The brunette smiled.

"I'll just get it as-is. I think you'll like it." Kaede said before turning back to the owner and speaking to him. The man nodded and began serving up two bowls of ramen in the style that Kaede preferred. Kaede took the first one and Leona took the second bowl. Kaede set the bowl down on the stand and paid for the meal before the Wizard Saint could.

"I've got this one." Kaede assured Leona. The blonde had been confronted with a fait accompli and did not want to fight over it, so Leona let the matter drop and blinked when she was handed a pair of small wooden sticks. What were those?

"You've never seen or used chopsticks before, have you?" Kaede asked Leona. Leona shook her head. Kaede took her pair of chopsticks and held them in her left hand, dexterously manipulating them to grab some of the noodles and raised them to her mouth. Leona tried to copy how Kaede was using her chopsticks; Leona took them into her right hand and tried to manipulate them, but she was not getting anywhere.

Leona tried a second time and sort of succeeded in gripping some of the noodles before dropping them when she tried to raise them to her mouth, splashing a bit of soup on the front of her shirt. Leona tried a third time hoping that she could succeed, but again she failed. The Wizard Saint frowned a little and tried yet again.

"It's not easy to use chopsticks, Miss Jarnefeldt. It takes quite a bit of practice." Kaede assured her that everything would be OK. Leona took a breath and tried a fifth time. Copying Kaede's motions as faithfully as she could, Leona eventually grabbed a few noodles with the chopsticks and moved them to her mouth without dropping them. It was a small victory for the Wizard Saint.

-Fifteen minutes later-

After finishing the bowls of ramen and thanking the ramen cart owner for his hard work the pair decided to go back to the hotel in order to get ready to travel early in the morning. While Leona would have preferred to tour some of Anra while there was still daylight, Kaede had promised to take Leona on a tour of it one day in the future. Leona decided to just take the kitsune at her word and let the matter go. Besides, she needed to do some laundry since she did not pack a whole lot of clothing. She had packed her regenerating blue, white and gold outfit, her green, white, and gold outfit, all three athletic shirts, and khaki cargo shorts.

She had burned through half her wardrobe in two days. At the pace they were going there was a little over a week left on the trip, if not more. Leona needed to get more clothing.

Leona also needed to invest in a bigger, tougher backpack in which to carry all of her supplies. Maybe she should check out some military surplus stores or sporting goods stores and see what she could find. It was a shame that The Athlete's Edge in Capital Crocus Mall did not have any good backpacks. It was no big deal... she could use her Daggerbook to find some options online and then go to the store to check it out in person.

Leona would deal with that matter after she had gotten Kaede safely across Midi and returned home to Silver Wolf Guild Hall.

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[Total Word Count: 1,079/11,000]

-Day 3, 6:00 A.M., on the road to Sakae Shrine-

Having left Anra behind an hour and roughly fifteen kilometers ago, Leona and Kaede were back on the road with their backpacks full of freshly laundered clothing. Leona was wearing her blue, white, and gold outfit that regenerated along with bike shorts underneath the skirt, white boots and her other accoutrements. Kaede was wearing her red kimono with gold highlights and sandals like she had yesterday. The Wizard Saint and the kitsune were traveling along the road and making way for the occasional cart that rumbled by on the pilgrimage trail when a horse-drawn cart full of older pilgrims dressed in white clothing passed by.

Leona and Kaede stopped on the right side of the road and let the cart pass by. It had passed about three meters in front of them when the rear right wheel shattered on the spot, causing the passengers to scream as the cart's balance suddenly and violently shifted. Leona and Kaede hurried over to the cart as it shuddered to an awkward halt and a middle-aged man in simple white clothing jumped off the side and examined the wheel.

"The wheel broke. This isn't good." He muttered to himself. Leona and Kaede reached his side and the Wizard Saint looked towards Kaede in a silent request for permission to help the pilgrims. Kaede nodded her consent and Leona spoke to the man.

"Hi mister. We saw what just happened. Is there anything we can do to help?" Leona asked him. He turned to her and shrugged his shoulders.

"Unless you can lift a whole lot of weight and hold it while I change the wheel, there's not a whole lot you can do for me." He said to her. Leona was wearing her Argent Gloves, which could lift up to twenty tons without trouble. A wooden cart should be well within her ability to lift. The pilgrims slowly piled off of the wagon and muttered to themselves about their misfortune.

"You get the wheel and I'll lift the cart for you." Leona said to the man. He looked at her with skepticism. Leona sidled up to the cart and lifted it with both hands; she lifted it so high that she nearly turned it over by accident. The man looked at her with surprise because she had conclusively proven that she could keep her word. He then smiled at her.

"I'll get the wheel for you, lady. Just hold on!" He said as she gently set the cart down and he clambered onto the back to find a replacement wheel. Within three minutes he had climbed off of the back and was standing at the side.

"Just lift it up for me and hold it for a few minutes and I'll replace the wheel as quick as I can." He said. Leona nodded, bellied up to the cart, and lifted it to the point that he could safely access what he needed to without fear of it falling on him. True to his word he went to work on replacing the wheel as fast as he could.

-Twenty-five minutes later-

"That should do it. Set the cart down gently and we'll be good to go." The man said to her. Leona wordlessly obeyed and gently set the cart down on the dirt road. The broken wheel had been replaced without undue difficulty. Her arms had hurt from holding up the wooden cart for twenty-five minutes, but it was well worth the effort to help people who could not help themselves.

"Thanks, lady. You're a blessing from the dragon!" He said to her. The older pilgrims murmured their agreement with that statement. Leona felt embarrassed by the praise being heaped upon her, especially when one or two of them had called her a blessing from above sent to help them in their time of need.

"It's no big deal. I'm just glad that I could help." Leona replied. She was glad that she could help the pilgrims get back on the trail before the bandits came out at sundown. She and Kaede then began helping the older pilgrims get back onto the cart so that they could be on their way. Once everyone was on board the middle-aged man spoke to Leona and Kaede.

"Thanks for the help, both of you. Without your help we'd be stuck out here for hours!" He thanked them for their help.

"No problem, mister. Good luck getting to your destination!" Leona said to them. He waved back and the cart began to rumble down the road again. The sound of the cart eventually faded and Kaede turned to face Leona.

"Ready to continue our journey, Miss Jarnefeldt?" Kaede asked without the slightest hint of anger at the delay caused by Leona helping the pilgrims.

"I'm ready to continue our journey, Kaede. I just hope that I didn't cause too much of a delay." Leona said to Kaede. The kitsune smiled.

"It's no problem, Miss Jarnefeldt. It was for a good cause." Kaede assured Leona that she was not angry about the delay. With that issue being settled, the pair continued down the road with the intent of reaching the next town, which was about 75 kilometers away. It would be a long hike, but since they had left so early in the day they were sure that they could make it before sundown.

-Six hours later, on the road-

Thirty minutes ago the pair had passed by Kuma, a small farming village that had nothing notable about it other than the rice fields and small huts that the villagers called home. Kaede had wanted to press onto the next village that was about 75 more kilometers down the road. Leona felt that that would be pushing their luck, but since Kaede had let her help the pilgrims hours ago, the Wizard Saint felt obligated to return the favor by not complaining about how close they would be cutting it when they reached the next village and their stop for the night.

They walked by a sea of grass on their left that was broken up by a forest roughly one hundred meters away. The verdant scenery was as calming as it had been at the start of the journey, but Leona was wary of encountering bandits who had decided to get an early start on the night's ambushing of travelers. They had traveled 75 kilometers in six hours by maintaining a breakneck pace that did not allow for very many stops except to stretch one's legs and take a drink of water before continuing. The pair could make it to the next village before nightfall, but they would have to keep moving and not stop for anything.

Leona did not plan on making any more stops, but if someone was in trouble and needed her help the Wizard Saint was obligated to stop and help. She would just have to hope that Kaede would forgive her for putting them further behind on their journey.

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[Total Word Count: 2,254/11,000]

-Six hours later, Myoko-

By walking with minimal pauses to stretch their legs and get a drink of water the pair had made it to the outskirts of a medium-sized village named Myoko. There the pair decided to stop for the night because the sun was starting to set and they were in no shape to keep going. It was best to quit while they were ahead and stop for the evening so that they could get an early start and keep moving towards Sakae Shrine. Leona and Kaede entered the village of Myoko and immediately began searching for the local inn for a room for the night.

-Myoko Inn, seven minutes later-

The pair had done a lot of walking and their feet and legs were killing them. They had been going virtually nonstop for the past six hours and needed a place to stay for the night. A kind farmer had guided them to the inn before heading to his home... Leona was glad that Kaede spoke the language of Midi because the blonde would have been hopelessly lost without the brunette to speak for them. Now they were standing in the lobby of Myoko Inn.

The lobby was a small one with inn patrons chatting at four low tables set up in the left corner of the lobby. There were ink paintings of rustic scenery like a farmer sewing seeds and a group of farmers ankle-deep in water harvesting rice plants. Leona stood back as Kaede spoke to a middle-aged woman in a simple black kimono with white accents and asked if a room was available. The woman nodded.

Kaede then paid a sum of Jewels to the woman, who then handed over a room key. Kaede bowed in appreciation and turned back to Leona.

"OK, we've got a room for the night. It's kinda small, but it's all she had on such short notice." Kaede said to the blonde. Leona was not too upset by that. She had slept in a tent with her mother and older brother with minimal privacy back home in Desierto, so she could live with it. The Wizard Saint's only concern was how small the "kinda small" room actually was.

"I won't complain." Leona said to Kaede. Kaede then walked out of the lobby while Leona followed close behind her. Leona could not wait to sit down and quit walking for awhile.

-Room Number 56, three minutes later-

Kaede opened the door to Room Number 56 and glanced inside. Leona was behind her and could not get a good look at the room, so she was counting on Kaede to tell her how it was.

"Well, here we are- oh." Kaede started off happily but soon shifted to a tone of disappointment. Leona peered over the brunette's shoulder and peered into the room. She too was not terribly impressed with their lodging for the night.

It was half the size of the room they had stayed in at Satsumo Inn and had well-worn low tables and straw mats. Leona could throw a rock and hit Kaede and vice-versa. At least one of those paper divider things was available to partition the room for some privacy. A glass lantern hanging on the wall in the center of the room provided lighting.

"Which side do you want, Miss Jarnefeldt?" Kaede asked Leona.

"I'll take the side closest to the door." Leona replied. She walked over to the corner, set her bag down to the right of the table and took off her boots, then took off her Argent Gloves and set them on the low table. Leona finally took Shoki off of her left hip and propped it in the corner, then sat down on the straw mat in front of the low table and experienced the joy of getting off of her feet after a little over twelve hours of constant walking.

"Looks like I have the left side of the room then." Kaede announced with a smile. She closed the room door behind them and walked to the left side of the room, then set down her backpack, took off her sandals, and took her sword off. Leona and Kaede had made it to the end of another day of travel. Tomorrow they would get up and do it again for the fourth day in a row. They had three more days of travel before they would reach Sakae Shrine and Kaede's sister's house.

Kaede closed the paper partition and Leona took off her outfit top, putting on her white athletic shirt since it was more comfortable to sleep in. She set her blue outfit top on the low table to the left of her Argent Gloves. Kaede soon opened the paper partition and left her side of the room to dim the lantern enough so that they could sleep. Once that was done Kaede went back to her side of the room and closed the partition. Leona's natural night vision took effect and she could clearly see everything in the room, but she felt that she had nothing to fear.

After a few minutes of staring at the door Leona laid on her right side on the straw mat and went to sleep for the night. Soon she and Kaede would be awake and back on the road for another twelve hours of traveling at high speed.

-Day 4, 6:00 A.M., on the road to Sakae Shrine-

Having woken up around 4:00 A.M. and having checked out of Myoko Inn at 5:00 A.M., the pair had left Myoko behind an hour ago and were now twenty kilometers down the road to Nachi, the next village on the road to Sakae Shrine. Nachi was another fifty-five kilometers away, which meant a few hours of travel before they decided whether to press on to Ashigara or just stay in Nachi for the night. Chances were high that they would just press on to Ashigara, but that depended on how many delays they encountered on the road.

The pair were moving at a steady clip and felt the early morning sun beat down on them. The wind blew through the area on occasion and provided a measure of comfort with a breeze, but the sun was relentless.Leona was wearing her white athletic shirt, blue and white skirt, bike shorts, and boots plus her other accoutrements and was starting to sweat a little. Leona did not know how Kaede could stand wearing her red kimono in this kind of heat, but the kitsune had several centuries in which to get accustomed to wearing the garment.

Leona did not have much time to think about that because a medium-sized group of armed men barred the way. Leona looked at them and saw from their well-worn attire, numerous bodily scars, bad body odor, and smug attitudes that these men were local bandits. The blonde sighed.

"Sorry about this, Kaede." Leona apologized for the delay that was about to eat up precious travel time. She reached for Shoki's grip.

"It can't be helped, Miss Jarnefeldt. Removing these vermin from the road will be doing everyone between Myoko and Nachi a favor." Kaede gave her blessing to the fight-induced delay that was about to happen, if only because there was no real way around the bandits except through them. The kitsune reached for the grip of her own sword.

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[Total Word Count: 3,486/11,000]

The leader of the bandits, a bald and lanky man with an X-shaped scar on his torso and brown pants, saw the two young women reach for their swords and laughed. Leona counted fifteen bandits. She was not sure if any of them were survivors of the skirmish between Satsumo and Anra, but there was a chance that the trio from that fight had joined forces with the new bandit gang just for a shot at killing Leona and Kaede. However, the Wizard Saint could not tell the bandits who had survived that skirmish apart from the new bandits... not that it really mattered.

"Hey guys, looks like these two ladies think that they're part of the Emperor's samurai or something!" The leader pointed out. Derisive laughter sounded in their direction. Leona and Kaede kept their composure as the bandits laughed at them.

"I don't know about their swordsmanship, but maybe their swords will be worth something!" One of the bandits, a slender man with an eyepatch over his left eye and a brown vest with brown pants, joked. Again the bandits laughed at Leona and Kaede. The Wizard Saint stayed cool and let the men make their jokes. When it was all said and done Leona would get the last laugh.

"If you give us the swords we might let you pass!" The bandit leader "offered." Kaede frowned. Leona had the perfect response for that offer.

"You want us to give you our swords?" Leona asked. The man nodded.

"Be careful what you wish for." Leona warned him. The man laughed again.

"You, hurt me? That's a laugh!" He exclaimed. He was not taking her seriously and neither was a burly man in brown pants who was advancing on Leona with his sword drawn. Apparently the burly man thought that the blonde was easy prey because he was not bothering with any sort of footwork to avoid potential counterattacks.

Leona watched him and waited until the man was within Shoki's reach. The burly bandit, sensing an opportunity for a free kill and easy loot, drew his sword back above his head in a two-handed grip. Leona waited until his was committed to the power blow, then quickly drew Shoki and lashed out with the Blue Flash technique and cut him in half at the hip with one powerful swing of Shoki. The bandit fell in half before he could even swing his sword and the bandit leader suddenly stopped joking once he realized the magnitude of the threat that the blonde posed.

"GET THEM! GET THEM BOTH!" He yelled while stepping back. The bandits charged at Leona and Kaede with the intent of killing them and taking their belongings. The two of them were not intimidated and stood their ground. Leona was a veteran of numerous battles against bandits all across Earthland and knew exactly how to deal with them. Her magic, Shoki, and some clear thinking would be more than enough to deal with these hoodlums.

Leona stood her ground and waited for them to approach before using her magic. A trio of them obliged and Leona raised her left hand, firing a Wind Blast that scattered them like bowling pins. Two of the bandits who had had the good sense to keep their distance instead of rushing in engaged Leona while Kaede dealt with her attackers. Kaede drew her sword, vanished in a blur of red light, and reappeared behind the three men who had attacked her. They all fell apart at the hips and Kaede took advantage of the shock her sudden attack caused to decapitate another bandit who took just a bit too long to react to the kitsune's sudden appearance in front of him.

Leona's attackers showed a little more intelligence than the men who had gotten bowled over by Wind Blast and attack from two different sides; one engaged her from the front while another maneuvered to try and stab her in the back. The Wizard Saint hit the bandit in front of her with a Mach Straight to the face with her left hand, quickly turned and used a Spinning Backfist with her left hand to stagger the second bandit, then turned her attention back to the first bandit and stabbed him through the chest when he attempted to do the same to her. He dropped his sword and collapsed to the ground, leaving her without Shoki because it was lodged in his chest.

Undeterred, Leona quickly drew Ses Revanche and spun around to face the second bandit, who was trying to grab her so that his three friends who had recovered from the Wind Blast could attack her. Leona hit the first bandit with a Mach Jab to the face before stabbing him in the chest five times with Ses Revanche, then turned to face the newly arrived trio. All three of them rushed Leona at once and she responded with a Storm Impact that staggered them.

Rather than trying to take them on with a knife, the Wizard Saint took advantage of the time she had bought to retrieve Shoki from the dead bandit's chest and wipe off Ses Revanche before putting it away. The bandits quickly recovered from Storm Impact and moved to the attack. Leona stood her ground and tried to think of a way to level the playing field when they attacked all at once. forcing her to think on her feet.

Kaede was busy fending off a few bandits of her own, so she was unavailable to help. Leona's thinking took a turn for the worse when the adrenaline surged. The old thoughts came back, the old thoughts that had gotten her in trouble before.

Leona had only gotten to where she was by being in the right place at the right time.

The other Wizard Saints knew that and did not view Leona as an equal, instead only tolerating her because she was good for providing extra muscle when they needed it.

Leona had to prove that she had earned her titles.

Leona was the Wizard Saint of Courage, so she needed to start acting like it instead of always relying on someone else to bail her out of trouble.

Despite what her detractors thought, Leona was no paper tiger. She had triumphed over worse odds before. She just needed to think before acting. Taking a deep breath to focus again, she blocked the downward descent of all three bandit swords at once.

Leona quickly broke the blade lock by removing her left hand from Shoki's grip and blasting the bandits with a second Wind Blast to stagger them, then took advantage of the breathing space to press the attack by using a Zephyr Dash to close the distance, then cutting one of them from the left shoulder to the right hip with Shoki. She followed up by stabbing the second through the chest just as he recovered and tried to move his sword into a guard position. The third bandit recovered in time to be ready for her and attacked with a diagonal swing; Leona blocked the swing with Shoki and the combatants were engaged in a bladelock.

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[Total Word Count: 4,680/11,000]

Leona and the bandit were standing toe-to-toe in a bladelock and both combatants were struggling for position. The bandit tried for a stomp to Leona's right foot and the Wizard Saint moved it out of the way just in time. She tried to retaliate with a kick to the right shin and the bandit took the force out of the kick by moving his shin to block it before Leona's foot had enough force behind it to hurt. Both were evenly matched and were not gaining a decisive advantage, so they spun away from each other and got the distance necessary to line up for another attack. At least that was what would have happened had Leona not had a burst of logical thinking.

Why engage in a clash of swords when she could use magic instead?

Leona pointed her left index finger at the target, channeled silver magic into the tip until a silver ball the size of a marble formed, and fired a Wind Bullet at the bandit's chest as he was running at her. It hit him in center mass and sent him flying past the stunned bandit leader, who looked towards Leona with surprise. His earlier bravado had been replaced with a growing fear that he might have gotten in over his head when he picked the blonde as a target.

Kaede had just finished her last opponent with a stab through the chest, leaving only five bandits still standing. Leona spared a glance towards the brunette and saw that not only had she managed to hold her own while the Wizard Saint was busy, but she had killed six bandits by herself. In contrast Leona had killed four and possibly knocked out another. The bandit leader was now considering the possibility of retreat.

Leona and Kaede advanced towards him and his men and the leader's fighting spirit broke.

"Let's get outta here!" The bandit leader ordered. He and his followers immediately turned and run from the fight. While his men kept running he paused ten meters away and shouted at the pair.

"This isn't over! I'll gather the rest of my men and make you regret this! We'll meet again very soon!" He vowed before joining his fellows in flight, leaving Leona and Kaede in command of the road. Leona exhaled and wiped the blood off of Shoki before putting it back in its scabbard. Kaede calmly wiped the blood off of her sword and put it back in its scabbard. The pair took a moment to get themselves together before continuing down the road towards Nachi.

"We didn't wipe all the bandits out, but we've forced them back... for now." Leona told Kaede, who calmly nodded.

"That is true, but their leader vowed to return with more men to settle the score. What will you do, Miss Jarnefeldt?" Kaede asked the Wizard Saint. For a brief moment Leona was not entirely sure what to do. She did not want to leave the innocent travelers on the road at the mercy of the bandits, but she did not want to linger here all day and risk being caught on the road at night in case the threat of revenge was just a bluff to get her to wait for their return. Then she had an idea. This time she did not vacillate nearly as long and called upon Ramses.

The owl landed on Leona's left Argent Glove and looked at her.

"Ramses, I need you to watch the grass fields for us while we go down the road. We're expecting company some time today." Leona requested of the owl. He twisted his head and looked at her.

"I can do that. I will let you know if I see anything out of the ordinary." He said before taking flight and gaining altitude before circling overhead to survey the field to the left of the road. Leona then looked at Kaede.

"Just like last time, we'll get going and warn any travelers headed for Myoko to watch out for bandits. If they really do come after us, we'll deal with it then." Leona announced her plan of action to the brunette. Kaede nodded.

"That's a good idea, Miss Jarnefeldt. Let's keep going towards Nachi." Kaede said to the Wizard Saint. With that settled the pair left the dead bandits behind and continued down the road looking to make up for lost time. If the bandit leader's vow was just a bluff to save face, then they would not have wasted valuable travel time waiting for him and his gang to return. If the bandit leader's vow was real and he did track them down later down the road, then the Wizard Saint would deal with it then.

-Three hours and forty-five minutes later-

The initial fight had taken about fifteen minutes to finish and had not eaten up too much time, but if they wanted to get to Ashigara before nightfall they could not afford any more stops. Leona and Kaede were walking at a brisk pace and warning any travelers they encountered about a possible bandit threat. Some of the grateful travelers immediately decided to seek out longer but safer alternate routes to their destinations while a few brave souls decided to risk the danger to take a shortcut to where they needed to go. As they were walking Kaede turned her head to speak to Leona.

"I couldn't help but to notice that your opening move against the first bandit to try and fight you was a quick draw. Do you know Iajutsu?" Kaede asked about Shoki's Blue Flash technique. Leona blinked. What was Iajutsu?

"I don't know what Iajutsu is." Leona answered truthfully.

"It's a style of swordsmanship where one uses a quick draw and a powerful slash aimed precisely at an opponent's weak point. It's meant to catch opponents off guard with a combination of speed, power, and precision. Judging from the way you used your sword in the opening of the battle, I thought that you'd be familiar with that style." Kaede explained what Iajutsu was. Leona blushed in embarrassment. Kaede had probably gotten the impression that the blonde was some kind of amazing swordswoman who knew many styles and was using Iajutsu for an opening move since it was the best option.

"To tell the truth, I don't have formal training in any particular style of swordsmanship, Kaede. I was trained with a sword, but that was with a scimitar back in my home village and my mother instructed me. I feel that my mother deliberately sabotaged my training because she didn't want me to be a fighter." Leona admitted to the kitsune. Kaede's facial expression showed curiosity. The Wizard Saint had just put her foot in her mouth with that admission. It was time to go into damage control mode and do what she could to save her reputation.

"My mother taught me the basics of using a sword. She taught me how to attack and defend and a little basic footwork, but she didn't go into very much detail like she did with my older brother. He got the full course while I only got just enough training to avoid hurting myself whenever I picked up a sword." Leona explained a little further while letting bitterness seep through. Her mother meant well, but the older Jarnefeldt had not done Leona any favors in deliberately sabotaging the swordsmanship lessons. Leona's self-admitted lack of formal training made her look like a paper tiger who had built her formidable reputation off of relying on her skill with magic, high-quality equipment, and uncanny knack for encountering weak opponents to look much stronger than she really was. She was sure that Kaede's opinion of her was plummeting by the second.

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"Interesting." Kaede noted as the pair continued down the road towards Nachi. Leona was not sure what she had meant by that and part of her was afraid to ask. She was afraid that the kitsune was having second thoughts about requesting Leona's aid to get to Sakae Shrine.

"I wouldn't go around advertising that sort of weakness to everyone you meet." Kaede admonished the blonde. Leona blushed in embarrassment. She had done everything right up until the point that she admitted that she had not had formal swordsmanship training in a particular style or at a particular school. She had not said anything especially dumb and she had not done anything especially dumb. The Wizard Saint had even managed to slow down and think enough to avoid chasing the bandits and running right into a trap that they might have set to cover their retreat from the skirmish.

Leona had been doing things right and then she had to go and do something stupid at the last possible moment.

This kind of thing was why she tended to work alone.

No one could disparage her poor social skills and lack of guile if there was no one around her when she worked.

"On the other hand, I appreciate your honesty, Miss Jarnefeldt." Kaede said to the blonde with a smile. Leona blinked. Why was Kaede saying that to her? Was the brunette trying to make her feel better after the huge mistake she had made?

"You're not afraid to admit that you don't know something, which means that you have a mind open to learning what you don't know. I'm no expert swordswoman myself, but I may be able to help you get formal training in a sword style." Kaede said to Leona. The blonde felt excitement at that idea. However, she tempered her enthusiasm because she would need to get through this job before she could entertain the idea of taking swordsmanship classes. Still, getting formal training with a style would be a big help.

"There's a lot I don't know, Kaede. I've been getting by with what little swordsmanship I know and my magic. It's been enough up to this point, but I'm not sure how much longer I can get by with just basic knowledge." Leona admitted. Kaede's smile did not drop.

"You seem to have a very good grasp on how to use your magic, Miss Jarnefeldt." Kaede opined. Leona smiled a little.

"Yeah, I've had over two years to learn how to use it. My older brother made sure that my mother didn't take any shortcuts when teaching me to use my magic. And when she didn't have time to teach me he stepped in to help." Leona replied without giving away any secrets of the magic. It was not like Kaede could not see how it operated anyway, but Leona was trying not to give away how Wind Strike Magic worked.

Then she realized it was way too late for that. She had already given it away in Sorcerer's Magazine a little over a year ago and had already told Silver Wolf guild member Jaesa Fenrir the basics behind it. Leona blushed a little in embarrassment, but thanks to Kaede's encouragement her bad mood was beginning to lift little by little. Now Leona did not feel quite as bad as she had minutes ago.

Instead of feeling like a fraud and a waste of space like she had minutes ago she now felt just very awkward for making the mistake that she had. Going from self-loathing to very awkward was a big step up the self-esteem ladder. Now Leona had to look on the bright side and rebuild her self-esteem by realizing that despite her flaws there were good things about her too.

"You're also good at alternating between using your magic and your sword." Kaede offered further praise to the Wizard Saint. Leona cheered up a little more when she realized that Kaede was offering that compliment as more than just idle flattery. The kitsune was trying to show the blonde that the latter did not rely on raw strength alone to get by.

"It's not easy, Kaede. Sometimes it takes focus to use both at once because there's always the temptation to forget about magic and rely on just the sword. There's also the problem that by using both I'm not a master of either. I can lose a swordfight against an expert swordsman who's trained for years and I can lose a spell battle to a mage who uses nothing but magic." Leona admitted to Kaede. Alternating between spell and sword had the pitfall of making her more of a middle-of-the-road type of mage. While she could use a sword with passable competence and sling spells with above-average skill, she was not quite as good as someone who specialized in either field.

"That is true, but I believe that there's something to be said for versatility, Miss Jarnefeldt. When you temporarily lost your sword and had to switch to your knife you didn't skip a beat in making up for the very short reach of your knife by staggering those men with your magic until you could retrieve your sword. You didn't panic when you lost your main weapon, you thought on your feet and found a way to make up for that loss." Kaede agreed with Leona's point about not having complete mastery of either sword or magic before offering the counterpoint that not being a master of either allowed Leona to be versatile. Leona had already gone down the path of "jack-of-all-trades" when she had learned Wind Strike Magic. While she was not as good at martial arts as a fully trained martial artist nor as good at slinging spells as a devoted magician, the flexibility offered by Wind Strike Magic allowed Leona to switch between close-range and long-range combat at will and give many an opponent an unpleasant surprise.

"I agree, Kaede. Many opponents don't expect a mage to be able to defend themselves at close range with a fist that packs the same wallop as a spell." Leona agreed with Kaede's assessment of how versatility was a good thing. Thanks to Kaede's talk the Wizard Saint was starting to pull herself out of the doldrums. Without missing a beat the brunette shifted gears to another topic.

"Based on what sword you use and how I've seen you fight so far, I'd say that you could benefit from Iajutsu lessons." Kaede opined. Her curiosity piqued, Leona all but forgot about her melancholy and dove into the subject of Iajutsu.

"I normally use a broadsword, but whenever I go to Midi I use Shoki." Leona chimed in. That statement made Kaede curious.

"Shoki?" Kaede asked Leona. The Wizard Saint nodded.

"That's the name of my katana." Leona answered.

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"It's a special sword made of blessed metal." Leona explained a little more about her sword. Kaede nodded in understanding.

"So's my katana, Miss Jarnefeldt. It allows me to fight humans, spirits, demons, and anything else you can imagine." Kaede stated that the sword she carried was not very different from Shoki. Leona thought back to the subject of Iajutsu and wondered if it could work with a longsword. She was not sure that her Silver Longsword would work very well with a style designed for use with katanas, but she did not discount the idea either.

"Say, does Iajutsu work with longswords?" Leona asked Kaede. The brunette turned forward for a moment and seemed to be trying to recall any examples of someone using a longsword with the style. Kaede then turned back to Leona.

"I can't recall any examples of that right away, but that's a question for my younger sister Kaname. I'm sure that she has some book or manual hidden away in that personal library of hers that can tell if a longsword's compatible with Iajutsu." Kaede replied that while she did not know the answer to that question, her younger sister might have the answer to the question hidden somewhere in her vast personal library. Leona was satisfied with that. She did not mind waiting to get the answer from someone who knew.

"It's no problem, Kaede." Leona assured the kitsune that the former did not need to know the answer right this instant. Kaede smiled again.

"We'll find out when we get to my sister's, which we should reach in about three more days of travel. I'm thinking that we should bypass Nachi and continue to Ashigara." Kaede said to Leona and added an update to her travel plan. Ramses continued to circle overhead and watch for the bandits coming back for a rematch, but none of the hoodlums had appeared so far and Leona did not think that they had invisibility magic at their disposal. Even if they did Ramses would spot the tracks they made in the grass as they made their way through the field and towards the road. When she fought them earlier she did not detect a magic signature from any of them, so unless they had all suppressed their magic signatures she had concluded that the bandits she had fought hours ago were all mundane bandits whose greatest asset was sheer numbers.

"I agree, Kaede. If you think we can make it to Ashigara, I say we keep going to Ashigara." Leona chimed in. There was still plenty of daylight and Ramses was keeping watch over them, so why not keep going? If they could make it to Ashigara before nightfall they would have a good chance of finishing the trek to Sakae Shrine in a week's time.

-Ashigara, nine-and-a-quarter hours later-

After a little over nine hours of non-stop walking without contact with the bandits Leona and Kaede had finally reached Ashigara, a medium-sized village of neatly arranged wooden houses that was home to merchants who were rumored to be as hungry for money as wolves were for meat. They had been warned of the village's reputation by a passing traveler they had warned about the bandit threat between Nachi and Myoko. Based on that warning Leona and Kaede were a bit wary of being overcharged for essential goods and services, but there was a possibility that the rumors were just rumors. After passing through the so-called "Market District" with open-air stalls reminiscent of the Tri-Council City they made their way to Ashigara Inn thanks to the help of a kind old woman. While on the doorstep Leona dispelled Ramses and went inside to see if a room was available.

-Inside Ashigara Inn-

Leona and Kaede walked into the inn to find a clean and welcoming lobby with a few guests sitting at low tables discussing the daily news or playing some sort of board game that the blonde did not recognize. She looked around and saw ink paintings hanging on the walls, ink paintings of busy markets and a merchant counting the day's profit while sitting at a table. The weary travelers drug themselves to the front counter and met a well-dressed middle-aged man wearing a black kimono with white accents.

"Hello and welcome to Ashigara Inn!" He greeted them warmly in the language Leona was familiar with. Again Kaede took over the talking and Leona was content to let her do that since she was a native of Midi and knew far more about the local customs than the Wizard Saint. After a bit of talking the proprietor managed to find a room for them at the exorbitant sum of 10,000 Jewels. Upon hearing the amount for the room Leona felt like she had just been attacked and bowled over by a hungry wolf, but they were too tired to go and look for a cheaper place, so the pair would just have to pay up. Kaede handed over the money and the man smiled a wolfish smile as he handed a room key to Kaede.

"Thank you for your patronage! I do hope you enjoy your stay!" The man thanked them for their patronage. Kaede bowed to the man and Leona followed suit. They then headed to their room so that they could sleep a little before getting up early.

-Room Number 46-

Kaede unlocked the room door and opened the door to a room that was half the size of the one they had rented in Myoko. Both young women suddenly felt like they had been pounced on by a hungry wolf, a wolf that had just taken a big bite out of their wallets. Leona did not think that the rooms they rented could get much smaller, but here she was standing outside a room that was about as big as the average walk-in closet. There were the usual low tables, straw mats for sitting on and sleeping, a paper divider for a modicum of privacy, and a glass lantern for lighting. At least the room had that much... it could have been a lot worse.

"I'll take the side closest to the door." Leona announced without Kaede having to ask the question. Kaede nodded and took the left side of the room as her own after dimming the lamp to an acceptable brightness. She then drew the paper divider closed. Leona began to take off her boots, her Argent Gloves, her backpack, and Shoki as Kaede took off her sandals and sword. The room was bare-bones, but it was a relatively safe place to sleep for the night.

"Thanks for taking this job, Miss Jarnefeldt. I appreciate your help... and your company." Kaede said from the other side of the room. Leona had just finished drinking from her canteen when the expression of gratitude came. She set the canteen down on the counter and spoke to the brunette, whose true nature was showing through the paper screen now that it was night.

"It's no problem, Kaede. It's my job as a Wizard Saint to travel far and wide to help people in need." Leona replied. Leona did not mind the travel because she did not care for being stuck behind a desk stamping and sorting papers all day. She was a fighter, not an administrator. She had learned a few administrative skills during her time as Guild Mistress of Silver Wolf, but she would never be a master of bureaucracy who could sort papers with her eyes closed and produce needed forms from out of thin air.

"We'll get going early tomorrow morning so that we can at least reach the village of Haguro before we make up our minds whether to press on to the city of Mogami." Kaede announced their travel plan.

"Works for me." Leona said before things went silent. Kaede reclined on the straw mat and Leona followed suit. It was time to sleep awhile before getting up for another twelve-hour travel day.

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-Day 5, 6:00 A.M., on the road to Haguro-

Leona and Kaede had left Ashigara Inn early to get started on the way to Haguro and were ten kilometers away from that town and ninety more from Haguro. They had also started early so that if the bandits from yesterday showed up looking for a rematch they would not have the advantage of darkness on their side. Leona was prepared for the rematch.

Wearing her blue, white, and gold regenerating outfit and other accoutrements, Leona was dressed and ready to fight should they appear. She had also taken the liberty of sending up Ramses as an eye in the sky to look for the bandits. Bandit ambushes tended to be a lot less effective when their intended victims knew they were waiting for them, which was a luxury a lot of Midi's people did not have. Speaking of which, a horse-drawn cart full of distraught people in white clothing came thundering by on the left side of the road without even slowing down, but they were shouting something that Leona could not understand.

"I wonder why they were going so fast." Leona said to Kaede. The brunette's red eyes narrowed.

"Bandits." Kaede replied laconically. Leona took a deep breath. She hoped that she would not be too late to rescue anyone caught in the path of the bandits. Suddenly Ramses swooped down and landed on her left Argent Glove to report what he had seen.

"Up ahead are around thirty bandits attacking a cart of people. I estimate the distance between them and us is 500 meters." Ramses reported.

Just up ahead a second cart was thundering towards them and behind they could see a third one being attacked by a bunch of men in well-worn outfits. Fueled by adrenaline, the Wizard Saint began running as fast as she could go and Kaede followed close behind.

-500 meters later-

Leona arrived at the site of the attack to find it still in progress. A group of people were doing their best to defend themselves with simple staves and the occasional katana that was so dull it was not much of a weapon. The people were doing poorly because wooden staves and dull swords were little match for sharpened katanas wielded by at least thirty bandits who were out for blood. The bandits were making headway against their victims and had already killed eight out of the twenty-three people when Leona made her presence felt.

One bandit standing in the road had just killed an old man and was looking for more victims when Leona appeared in front of him with Shoki's Blade Rush technique and cut the bandit in half at the waist, his dying scream alerting the rest of the bandits that trouble had arrived. Leona saw the man with the X-shaped scar on his torso standing with his foot on the back of the corpse of an old woman he had just killed. He looked towards her and smiled.

"Well, well, if it isn't the blonde foreigner who thinks she's a samurai!" He exclaimed. The bandits who were not busy fighting or looting began to converge on Leona; about fifteen in all. Those people who were able to run for their lives ran down the road in search of safety. While the bandits were heading towards her she was busy calling in a summon or two to even the odds.

"Sky Champion Rafale!" Leona telepathically summoned one of her strongest summons. He appeared before Leona and brandished his purple energy swords.

"See those bandits? Get them!" Leona commanded, jabbing at them with her left index finger.

"It will be done." He responded before flying to the attack. Sky Champion Rafale flew forward and decapitated two bandits who did not get out his way in time, but eight of them continued to push towards Leona, who began to summon Tempest Avian.

"Tempest Avian!" Leona telepathically summoned the rotund metal owl whose looks concealed his power. Tempest Avian descended in the middle of a tornado and landed on his feet in front of the Wizard Saint.

"Tempest Avian, use Steel Flechettes on the men in front of you!" Leona telepathically commanded. Tempest Avian wordlessly obliged, drawing back his wings and then flapping them forward to fire a spread of metallic feathers that landed point-first into the bodies of the bandits. Tempest Avian's attack had killed three men outright with flechettes to the head and had badly wounded two more with flechettes to the torso and midsection, leaving three unharmed men to attack Leona.

"Go airborne and help those people the bandits are attacking! If you see a brown-haired woman in a red kimono, don't attack her! She's on my side!" Leona ordered. Tempest Avian took off and went to the aid of the people still fighting for their lives. Meanwhile the three men swung their swords at Tempest Avian as he took off, giving Leona an opening to attack without fear of retaliation.

She quickly sprinted the three meters needed to close the gap, then used Shoki's Blue Flash technique to cut all three in half at the waist in one stroke. The bandit leader saw this and issued a new command.

"FORGET THE WAGON! FORGET THE PEOPLE! KILL HER! KILL THAT DAMN BLONDE! I WANT HER HEAD!" He yelled at his men. They instantly disengaged from looting and fighting the few refugees still on their feet to go after Leona. The surviving people did not waste this chance to escape and fled away from the wagon as fast as they could go. Leona counted a new wave of around thirteen more bandits rushing to attack her.

"Leona, there is a brown-haired woman in a red kimono approaching you from the road! Actually, there are nine of them!" Tempest Avian reported. Leona blinked.

There were nine Kaedes?

Leona saw that Sky Champion Rafale kept some of the men busy with diving attacks, but he would need help soon. The thirteen men were almost here, so Leona called in Guardian Lion for a powerful ground-based attacker.

"GUARDIAN LION!" Leona summoned the metallic lion who was always up for a fight. He appeared in front of her and gave some of the attacking men pause.

"What do you need?" He asked Leona.

"See those bandits?" Get them!" Leona commanded. Guardian Lion laughed.

"Gladly!" He said before bounding to the attack on all fours. Some of the men fled from him while a few stood their ground and tried to fight him. They regretted it the instant he stood up and began slashing with his claws. Two of the men died in a single slash across the torso apiece and a third turned and ran from Guardian Lion, but he did not get far before he was killed with a slash across the back.

While Guardian Lion was busy being death on four legs Leona turned to face the bandits who had circled around the wagon and rushed around the right to make a second attack on her. Seven of them had retained enough courage to come after her despite what she could do. Leona would not give way to these goons. She stood her ground and awaited the rushing bandits.

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Leona's adrenaline was flowing freely as the seven bandits continued to run towards her. She waited until they were within ten meters of her, then raised her left hand and cast a Wind Blast spell that knocked three of them down, leaving four to continue their approach. They reached her and one of them foolishly leapt at her with a downward chop, but she sidestepped it and stabbed the man through the side as he recovered from missing the attack. She quickly withdrew Shoki and he yelled and staggered away with a bleeding wound while she faced the three men who had hung back.

They attacked in a staggered pattern, attacking her one at a time and forcing her to block each attack. She barely had enough time to recover from one block before she was forced to block again. They were smarter than the average bandit... it was possible that they were the survivors of the skirmish between Myoko and Nachi and had learned something from the first encounter with the Wizard Saint. Leona could not get an attack in before she had to block the next one, leaving her on the defensive.

The three men had just completed their second series of closely timed consecutive attacks when they shifted gears and went for a simultaneous thrust from three sides. Leona spun to the side to avoid it and accidentally slammed into the wounded man, who had rejoined the fray without her knowing and punched Leona in the left cheek. The blindsided Wizard Saint stumbled and was nearly grabbed by one of the bandits, but she ducked the grapple and used a Zephyr Dash to put some distance between her and the four bandits, dashing towards Sky Champion Rafale.

The green-clad summon saw that his mistress was in danger of being overwhelmed and flew to the rescue, parting the four men and decapitating the wounded man who had punched Leona before zooming up and coming around for a second pass. While he prepared for a second pass Guardian Lion leapt over the wagon and landed behind the bandits, giving them a nasty surprise before tearing into them with his claws. The three men she had knocked over with Wind Blast had gotten to their feet and were now after the Wizard Saint. The men that Sky Champion Rafale had kept busy were now coming after Leona as well... faced with over ten opponents, the Wizard Saint needed help.

It was at that moment that Kaede arrived... or nine of her. The nine kitsunes went on the attack and dashed towards a bandit, cutting them with a single stroke in mid-dash before disappearing when they came to a stop. Leona blinked as nine of the bandits fell to the ground with their heads rolling off their bodies. One of the Kaedes stopped beside Leona and did not disappear, indicating that she was talking to the real Kaede.

"Sorry that I was late, Miss Jarnefeldt. I had to make sure that the survivors of the attack being chased by that metallic owl weren't under attack. That metallic owl told me that he had been sent by you to get the survivors to safety." The real Kaede said to the beleaguered Leona. The tenth man, unwilling to take on both women by himself, fled the scene, leaving the boss and his surviving underlings to deal with the Wizard Saint and the kitsune.

"DAMN IT! USELESS WASTE OF SPACE!" The boss yelled in anger at the fleeing bandit while those with the courage to fight rallied around him. He turned towards Leona and Kaede and smiled.

"I see that you two have quite a few tricks up your sleeve. Well, I've got a trick of my own!" He bellowed. He drew a flare pistol tucked away behind his back and aimed it skyward, then fired a single red flare into the sky. Moments later a large group of bandits popped up from the grassy field as if they had materialized out of thin air. Leona looked towards the newly arrived bandit group standing about fifty meters away and felt her stomach turn a flip.

Had they been hiding there the whole time?

They had to have been hiding in the field in order to get here so quickly.

"I count around forty of them." Kaede calmly announced to Leona. The blindsided Wizard Saint looked towards the group and did a quick eyeball count. Kaede was right on the money with her tally. The surprised Wizard Saint quickly calmed down and focused on the task at hand.

While the reinforced bandits were over fifty strong, Leona still had her summons and still had Kaede. It would be a tough fight, but if they played their cards right they could still pull this off. Leona took a few deep breaths and then wordlessly activated her special adrenaline rush for a boost in strength. The bandit leader yelled a command and the forty men charged from the field while those around the boss joined the fray. The leader was trying to crush Leona and Kaede with sheer weight of numbers.

Leona's adrenaline began pumping in full as the bandits surged towards the pair, certain of victory. One of the survivors of the first stage of the fight rushed at Leona and she cut him in half at the waist with a single horizontal swing from Shoki. Meanwhile Kaede glowed red and faced the forty-strong attack group, which was a sign that something big was about to happen.

"Guardian Lion, get clear of the lady in the red kimono!" Leona telepathically ordered. She also wanted to recall Tempest Avian, but he was escorting the survivors of the bandit attack to safety and his task was too important to abandon now. She would just have to make do with the summons she already had.

Guardian Lion leapt clear of the kitsune and landed on Leona's right side as the bandits pressed their attack. Six of them streamed around Guardian Lion while he engaged the other three; the six men encircled her and went for a simultaneous attack, but Leona quickly used Storm Impact to stagger them with an expanding dome of wind. While they were staggered she worked quickly to kill them.

Leona cut one diagonally in half, then turned to the second and did the same. A third man lost his sword arm to Leona's blade and she spun to face a fourth. She cut him in half across the waist and targeted a fifth, who raised his blade to block Shoki. The adrenaline-fueled blonde attacked with a two-handed power chop that cut through the sword and cut the man vertically down the middle of his face and torso, causing him to scream as he fell backwards and bled out.

The sixth man tried to stand up to the whirlwind of destruction but faltered; his knees buckled and he sweated profusely as he tried to maintain a guard stance. Leona simply cut his sword in half with the first swing and decapitated the man in a second swing. Now that those bandits were dead or dying she started to hurry to Kaede's side just as she unleashed a spell.

Kaede jumped into the air and vanished in a red blur to the surprise of Leona and the bandits. A red blur zoomed in front of the front rank of bandits and moments later a series of red gashes began to appear on the front line of bandits, who paused in place and felt their wounds. They screamed as they fell apart like jigsaw puzzles, causing Leona's blood to run cold. Kaede reappeared behind Leona and the blonde heard a metallic CLINK as a sword was sheathed.

The adrenaline-fueled Leona shuddered when she heard that sound. Kaede had just killed ten men with that one attack. That had evened the odds quite a bit, but then the men recovered and renewed their attack. Sky Champion Rafale dove to the attack and Guardian Lion thundered into battle, giving the pair a bit of breathing room. Leona was about to join the attack when she felt a powerful magic signature about 450 meters to the right and paused.

Had the bandit leader called in a Y-Rank mage as his ace in the hole?

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Leona did not have time to ponder that question because the battle renewed as quickly as it had paused. Guardian Lion was wading through the men killing as he went while Sky Champion Rafale dove down and picked off an unwary bandit with a decapitating slice, but twenty-something men surged towards the pair. Meanwhile the powerful magic signature continued to approach from the right and was now at 400 meters and closing, but Leona could not spare a glance at the source because five men ran towards her with weapons at the ready.

Leona's special adrenaline rush had worn off, leaving her with normal adrenaline in its place. While she could no longer cut swords and men in half with a single stroke, she was still in the fight and so was Kaede, who was busy dealing with her own wave of attackers. Leona focused on the men in front of her and cast a Wind Blast spell, knocking all five down and allowing her to deal with a sixth who had used the movements of his colleagues to sneak around to her left.

Leona faced him and performed a lunging stab with Shoki, stabbing him through the torso and causing him to drop his sword. She kicked his chest and pulled Shoki out in time to face another lone bandit, who jumped and performed a two-handed downward chop. Leona sidestepped it and circled behind him as he recovered, stabbing him through the back and killing him. She pulled out Shoki and the five men who had been knocked over had recovered and regrouped, attacking Leona as a team.

The Wizard Saint parried the thrust of the first man and stabbed him through the torso, dropping him to the dirt and pulling out her sword just in time to block the attack of the second bandit. She blocked the diagonal chop but had left herself open to a third man, who went for a lunging stab aimed at her midsection. Leona dodged that with a sidestep and saw a man swinging at her with a downward chop. Leona spun out of the blade's path and was nearly grabbed by the fifth man, who Leona stabbed in the torso with a backwards stab from Shoki.

He yelled and fell backwards, dragging Shoki down with him. Leona was left without her sword and the magic signature was now 350 meters away... its owner was closing in faster, but she could not spare a glance because the remaining four men were busy doing their best to murder her. Leona quickly knelt and pulled Ses Revanche from her right boot, arming herself the best she could.

Leona grabbed the wrist of the first man to attack her and stopped his one-handed chop, then cut his throat with Ses Revanche. She kicked him away and spun left and around a lunging stab from a second bandit, then punched a third bandit in the face with a Mach Straight from her left hand. A fourth bandit ran and tackled her, impaling himself on Ses Revanche in the process.

The Wizard Saint got to her feet and recovered her knife in time to see the bandit leader himself come after her. He ran in and kicked the Wizard Saint in the left knee and Leona struck back with a quickly executed Tornado Kick that nailed him in the face and sent him staggering back. She turned away from him and had to give ground as the three regrouped and rushed at her. The magic signature was now around 275 meters away... Leona had better finish this fight quickly.

Leona jumped back to avoid the simultaneous attack of the three bandits and saw Kaede dash in front of her, cutting one of them in half before having to evade the bandit leader and another group of bandits who were chasing her. Kaede fled down the road in the direction of the magic signature and Leona tried to warn her but was interrupted by the leader stabbing for her throat. She counted eight men chasing her while another two peeled off to help their boss with the Wizard Saint.

"Your friend's deserted you! You're gonna die alone!" He yelled. Leona ducked under the attack just in time, then popped up and hit back with a Mach Uppercut to the chin before receiving two kicks to the stomach from his helpers, causing her to stagger backwards. Leona faced them and cut the throat of the first as he tried to grab her and knocked the second back with a Mach Jab before being slammed in the chest with a jumping kick from the bandit leader.

"Not so tough without your friend or your sword, are you?" The bandit leader mockingly asked Leona. He approached her and knocked Ses Revanche out of her right hand with his sword, then lunged for the kill with a stab directed at her chest. Leona spun around that attack and hit the off-balance man with a simple kick to the back, causing him to fall onto his face and narrowly avoid impaling himself with his own sword.

The bandits who rushed to his aid circled the boss and kept Leona from getting to him while the surviving bandits boxed Leona in and blocked her escape. She scooped up Ses Revanche to prepare for a last fight and felt a chill in the air. Then it hit her.

The magic signature was only 50 meters away!

Leona felt the air grow colder and colder until she could see her own breath in the air. It was early morning with the sun out and it felt like was like she was back in the Phoenix Mountains. Leona was more than a little concerned that the bandit leader's ace in the hole was about to make their move.

The bandit leader recovered and noticed the chill in the air, then turned to face Leona.

"It's over for you, Blondie! You should have never fought me!" He said. He snapped his fingers as a signal for the men to attack the Wizard Saint for what promised to be the last time. The men had barely taken three steps forward when thin objects fell out of the sky at a diagonal angle. The men yelled and fell to the ground with javelins of ice sticking out of their backs. Leona blinked.

"DAMN IT! WHAT THE HELL'S GOING ON HERE?!" The bandit leader shouted. Leona turned to face the magic signature and saw a white-haired young woman with blue eyes and white kimono with a blue skirt walk past her like she was not even there. The young woman approached the bandit leader and paused.

"I'LL GET YOU!" He shouted, leaping at her with sword held in both hands. The young woman snapped her fingers and the man was encased in pale blue magic. She stepped aside and a second later the man landed where she was standing... and shattered on impact. She had frozen him in mid-air!

Leona was suddenly alone with the powerful young woman, who turned to face her. Blue eyes met green. Leona felt like that this might be the end for her. She had held her own against the bandits, but fighting a Y-Rank mage was something that she had not been prepared to do.

"So you're Kaede's friend, huh?" She asked Leona in a friendly tone. Leona blinked. She was at a loss for words. One moment she was staring death in the face and the next she was having a friendly chat.

"I'm Kaname, Kaede's younger sister!" The young woman introduced herself with a smile.

Kaname's Appearance:

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Job Details:

Job Sign-Up: Page 26, Post Number 635

Leona was so taken aback by the mood whiplash of Kaname impaling over twenty bandits with ice javelins conjured from thin air and freezing the bandit leader in midair with a snap of her fingers and the friendly introduction that she could not find the words to reply to Kaede's younger sister. Kaname laughed.

"Big cat got your tongue?" Kaname asked playfully, most likely making a reference to the blonde's name. Leona blinked. Then she smiled a little.

"I'm Leona Jarnefeldt." Leona started while wiping the blood off of Ses Revanche on the body of a nearby bandit and putting the knife back in her right boot. She was going to say more, but she was starting to slow down now that the fighting was over. The adrenaline that had kept her upright and fighting when she was badly outnumbered even with her summons was wearing off. That physical and mental slowness put a damper on her already weak social skills.

"And the Wizard Saint of Courage. And the Guild Mistress of the Independent Guild Silver Wolf. I've read about you. The girl from the desert country who's made it big in just two years." Kaname finished the introduction for Leona. Leona could not argue with that assessment partly because it was accurate and partly because coming down from the adrenaline rush had dulled her ability to think.

"Thanks for the helping hand. With those bandits." Leona said to Kaname in accidentally clipped sentences. The Wizard Saint realized that speaking that way was not making her look very good to the person who had just saved her life nor her older sister. Kaname seemed to take it in stride.

"No problem." The white-haired kitsune replied calmly. Kaede watched the proceedings from a short distance away while Sky Champion Rafale and Guardian Lion returned to Leona's side. Those two summons had kept Leona alive long enough for help to arrive by drawing the attention of some of the bandits so that the Wizard Saint was only badly outnumbered instead of hopelessly outnumbered. Kaname noticed them with an expression of curiosity and spoke again.

"My older sister said that you could summon creatures to help you in battle. She told me about a giant metallic owl you had sent to escort the survivors of the bandit attack to safety. She didn't say anything about these two." Kaname said to Leona.

"Their names are Sky Champion Rafale and Guardian Lion. They're two of my go-to summons for combat. The giant metallic owl is Tempest Avian. He's another go-to summon. I wouldn't have made it this far in my career without their help." Leona praised them in front of Kaname. The Wizard Saint had a lot of creatures to call upon for help, but those three tended to be her go-to summons for their strength and versatility.

Sky Champion Rafale was the knight in green armor who flew in to save the day. Guardian Lion was the proud fighter who longed for battle and never hesitated to jump into the fray no matter how outnumbered he was. Tempest Avian was the metallic owl who was sometimes fussy about Leona's well-being but nevertheless went into action when he was ordered to and whose Steel Flechettes seldom failed to turn the tide whenever Leona needed to whittle down crowds of enemies.

"You're full of surprises, Miss Jarnefeldt." Kaede said to the blonde.

"So are you, Kaede. I haven't seen someone move so fast and strike so quickly with a sword." Leona complimented Kaede, recalling the speedy technique she had used to kill ten men out of the second wave of bandits with about as much effort as it took Leona to breathe. Leona also recalled watching the men showing numerous red gashes on their bodies moments before falling apart and shuddered.

"I'm not nearly as good with magic as my younger sister, Miss Jarnefeldt. Like you, I make do with what skills I have." Kaede said in a good-natured way. Leona felt that while Kaede might not be a skilled mage, her skill with a sword was so extensive that she did not need to be a masterful mage to kick some ass.

"I can respect that." Leona chimed in. Then she paused. Thinking about swords made her realize that she still needed to reclaim Shoki from the body of the dead bandit before moving on to Haguro!

Leona quickly searched the battlefield for Shoki and managed to find the bandit it had been lodged in while Kaede, Kaname, Sky Champion Rafale, and Guardian Lion watched her. Leona put both hands on the grip, planted her right foot on the body, and pulled the sword out. She then wiped it off and put it away in its scabbard.

"If I may ask, what sword was that?" Kaname asked Leona.

"It's a katana made out of blessed metal named Shoki. Why?" Leona answered the question posed to her before she asked the white-haired kitsune why she wanted to know about the sword.

"I've heard of that sword before, Miss Jarnefeldt. It's been mentioned in a book I have in my personal library. It's a weapon of some repute." Kaname replied. Leona was somewhat surprised to hear that. She knew that Shoki was very old and was forged by a monk, but she did not know that it had any special significance aside from being a weapon meant to fight mundane and supernatural evil.

"Kaede, Miss Jarnefeldt, are you ready to go to my home?" Kaname asked them.

"Yes." Kaede answered.

"I'm ready too. Just let me dispel Sky Champion Rafale and Guardian Lion, then check on Tempest Avian. I haven't heard back from him for awhile." Leona replied. She dispelled the two summons in front of her and then started a telepathic conversation with Tempest Avian.

"Tempest Avian, are you OK? How are the survivors?" Leona asked him.

"The survivors are OK. They are on the way to Ashigara and the road is clear. I am not detecting any bandit activity." He answered. Leona was relieved to hear that.

"Keep following them until they reach Ashigara. Let me know once they get there." Leona ordered.

"I will do so." Tempest Avian assured her. Leona then turned to Kaname.

"I'm ready to go, but how are we gonna get there? We've still got two days of travel ahead of us." Leona asked Kaname. Kaname simply smiled. She turned to the right and made a circle in the air with glowing blue hands, seeming to cut a section of the world out and replace it with an image of a wooden house in a patch of woods. The glowing blue circle hovered in the air and the image of the wooden house shimmered. Leona looked at the magical construct with unconcealed curiosity and wonder.

"It's a portal, Miss Jarnefeldt. With this we can cross vast distances quickly. Getting from here to my home will take about as long as it does for you to blink." Kaname answered with a smile.

"OK then, let's go." Leona said. Kaede smiled and walked through the portal first. Leona followed seconds behind the brunette. Finally Kaname herself stepped through.

-Seconds later, in Western Midi-

Seconds after stepping through the portal Kaname had made Leona found herself standing outside the wooden house pictured in the portal. Kaede was standing to Leona's left and Kaname was standing to Leona's right. Kaname snapped her fingers and the portal closed like it was never there.

"Welcome to my home, Miss Jarnefeldt." Kaname said to the Wizard Saint.

[Post Word Count: 1,260]
[Total Word Count: 1,260/11,000]

-Inside Kaname's House-

The trio stepped past the front door of Kaname's house to find that it was a neat, modern house with a living room designed much like the one in Kaede's house back in the Imperial City. The trio took off their footwear just inside the door and placed their shoes and boots on a special mat before proceeding further into the house. Once they reached the threshold of the living room Kaname took the lead and stepped in front of them.

"Welcome to my home, Miss Jarnefeldt." Kaname welcomed her a second time. Leona examined the living room and saw a low table with four straw mats placed for guests to sit on, but other than that there was not much furniture to mark it as a living room. It was austere in the extreme. There was not even a television set on the wall.

"Thanks, Kaname." Leona thanked Kaname for her hospitality.

"Please, sit down, Miss Jarnefeldt. I'll prepare tea for us. You two must be tired after the traveling and fighting from earlier today." The white-haired kitsune bade Leona.

"Thanks." Leona said appreciatively before taking a seat at the right side of the low table. Kaede joined Leona and sat at the side of the table opposite the Wizard Saint. Meanwhile the sound of cabinets opening sounded and a metallic object was set on what sounded like a modern stovetop. While Kaname prepared the tea the brunette faced Leona and began to speak.

"You did well for someone with a lack of formal training in swordsmanship. I'm impressed with how you handled yourself despite the unexpected arrival of bandit reinforcements." Kaede complimented the Wizard Saint.

"I've learned a few things over the years, Kaede. It helps that I have my magic to compensate for that lack of training." Leona downplayed the compliment. Leona had her summons to take some of the attention from the bandits off of her and she had her special adrenaline rush. There was not much need for technique if she could use her special adrenaline rush to give her enough strength to cut through other swords in one slash.

"I see now why you've earned your title of Wizard Saint of Courage, Miss Jarnefeldt. It takes a lot of courage to run to the aid of people who are under attack by thirty bandits. It also takes a lot of courage to stand your ground when you're badly outnumbered by enemy reinforcements and you can't count on help to get there in time, if at all." Kaede complimented Leona a second time. Again the blonde downplayed the compliment.

"My title obligates me to fight no matter how long the odds are, Kaede. If I ran away every time things looked a little bad I wouldn't be the Wizard Saint of Courage for very long." Leona informed Kaede. Kaede smiled a little.

"While that may be true, what I saw today proved to me that you've more than earned the title, Miss Jarnefeldt. Even before my sister got there I saw that you weren't going to back down and let the bandits get past you without one last fight to the finish. Even if all you had was a knife, you were still going to fight. Even if you didn't have a weapon at all, you were still going to fight." Kaede said to the blonde. The aroma of tea filled the room and Kaname walked into the living room to give them an update on the state of the tea.

"Tea will be ready in a few more minutes." Kaname reported before turning to go back to the kitchen without waiting for a response from her sister or her esteemed guest. Kaede paused for a few moments and allowed Leona a chance to speak, a chance which she took.

"Thanks, Kaede." Leona finally decided to accept the compliments that had been offered to her, if only to avoid offending a kitsune. Even though the brunette claimed to be not as good of a mage as her younger sister, Kaede still had a considerable degree of magic power. She had spells that the blonde did not know about, spells that could be used to make the Wizard Saint's life miserable if Kaede ever had cause to use them.

"It's no problem, Miss Jarnefeldt. There's something I'd like to discuss with you after we've had tea." Kaede said to Leona. That statement piqued her curiosity, but she would have to wait until after they had tea to find out what that "something" was. Since Leona was tired from traveling and fighting, she was not in any hurry to find out what Kaede wanted to discuss. She could wait to ask until after they had had tea.

"I would like to see this sword named Shoki, Miss Jarnefeldt. If your sword is really Shoki and not a knockoff, I would like to see the famous sword for myself." Kaname announced from the kitchen. Leona heard the CLACK of a knob being turned and heard liquid being poured into cups. Moments later Kaname carefully walked into the living room with a single cup of tea held in both hands. She gave the first to Kaede, then returned to the kitchen and brought out the second cup, which she handed to Leona. The last cup was saved for Kaname herself, who walked into the living room and sat down in the seat to the right of Leona.

"Tell me, Miss Jarnefeldt. How did you come across this sword you call Shoki?" Kaname asked without preamble.

"I found it in a temple in Okyto. I was called by Priestess Sumika to help cleanse her temple of the taint of necromancer activity. When I asked her if there was anything that could help me, she mentioned that the statues of previous monks held enough holy energy to keep the undead at bay if I stood near them. She also mentioned a special sword hidden within the temple itself, a sword that was made to combat the supernatural and humans who had sworn to serve dark entities." Leona began explaining the story behind her discovery of the demon-quelling katana at her side.

"Interesting." Kaname replied succinctly with a tone of obvious doubt. Leona did not quite understand what made the white-haired kitsune think that Shoki was a fake or a second-rate knockoff patterned after the real thing, but she refrained from making any accusations. She would have to be patient to find out what Kaname was getting at.

"While the location you told me matches up with where Shoki was last seen, your sword was in much better shape than the original weapon. The original weapon was dull and rusted from centuries of sitting in storage." Kaname explained part of why she thought that Leona's weapon was not the genuine article. Leona was not sure how Kaname had known that if the blonde was the first person to find it in centuries. Then again, kitsunes had mysterious powers that were far beyond the comprehension of man... or at least far beyond the comprehension of Leona.

"I had it repaired." Leona explained. Kaname set down her tea cup when she heard that.

[Post Word Count: 1,202]
[Total Word Count: 2,462/11,000]