The Plan In Motion: To The Beginning
We stepped out into the morning air in our new outfits—well, three new outfits. Tessa still wore her crimson‑patterned kimono like she was daring the day to blink first.
For a place cut off from the world, The Mist Country had an absurd wardrobe. My clothes looked… noble. Not just “nice” noble—parade noble. Asahi’s set made him look like a refined priest without a cloak: clean lines, white and gold accents, annoyingly elegant. Reina’s was the most subdued of us all: practical, tailored, ready to fight—a general more than a lady.
“Wow, I can’t believe you had clothes like these lying around,” I said, turning my arms to watch the fabric catch the dew‑soft light. "But, Tessa..."
"Yes?" She said.
"You know I'm going to battle, right?"
"Yes," She said sharply.
"Right...Hehe."
I nervously agreed and laughed. I knew she dressed me as a lord, but now was not the time to dress like a lord.
Tessa watched us from a short distance, the forest’s dimness and morning mist making her expression seem heavier than usual.
“It saddens me to let you go on your own,” she said, voice softer than expected, “but I trust you will return without trouble.”
There it was. The warmth she tried to hide.
“Hey! Ice grandma,” she snapped a heartbeat later, snapping back to usual herself. “Protect the young lord with your life. I don’t care if you come back or not—actually, don’t.”
“You’d better believe I protect my family,” Reina fired back, unflinching. “Try not to set the place on fire while we’re gone.”
“…”
“Asahi, Krai,” Tessa said, eyes flicking to us. “Go anc succeed. This is your first task as a new lord—no, as a new man.”
“R‑Right…” My mouth said it. My heart still stumbled over lord.
Asahi also nodded confidently.
We were back at the place where this new life had truly begun: the old stone platform near the wall of mist—the spot where Mary once opened a path home with nothing but will and words.
We stepped onto the platform together. Reina lifted her hand, breath steady, and spoke the incantation Mary had taught her:
“Open space and time to the path already carved. Guide this lost soul to its home.
Teleportation Magic.”
The runes woke with light. A circle bloomed underfoot. A thin wall of radiance rose around us like a breath held in the lungs of the world.
We could have crossed the fog by carriage—Zeraff and Tessa had granted us permission. But travel by carriage meant days. We didn’t have days.
I lifted a hand and waved. Tessa didn’t wave back. She only watched, eyes fierce and proud, until the light swallowed us whole.
☆☆☆
We reappeared on the twin platform at the mansion.
Morning glazed the ruin in gold like a cruel blessing. The courtyard where I’d trained with Marcus was a field of shattered stone and scorched soil. Even the transport circle here wore a veil of dust and ash.
“Look at this place,” I whispered. “The courtyard where I practiced with old man Marcus…” A memory of his blade colliding with mine flashed, clean as a bell. “The kitchen where Miss Mary fed me like I mattered. The library where I pretended to study and actually… didn’t.”
I swallowed. “It’s all gone. And so are the people who took care of me. All gone.”
Reina crouched and pinched a fragment of wall between her fingers. It collapsed into powder the moment she touched it.
“They really did a number on this place,” she said—too calm, too even.
“Such cruelty,” Asahi murmured, before tilting his head back to the sky. “So this is the outside world… It feels huge.”
“It’s always been the same, idiot,” I said.
“No. I mean it feels huge. Like I could fly forever and never hit a barrier.”
I stared at him, not sure whether to laugh or agree. He lifted his arms, taking in the clean wind, the shy sun, the glitter of dew. He looked… happy. For him, even “normal” was new.
“I’m sorry,” Reina said, straightening. “We don’t have time to sightsee. You’ll enjoy the outside as we move.”
“I know. Sorry about that."
It felt wrong to stomp on that kind of joy. But every moment we wasted here was a moment the Count could use.
“First, we need cloaks,” I said. “We don’t want the whole town noticing us.”
“Actually, we don’t,” Reina replied.
“We have to. If the Count gets wind of—”
“No,” she said, firm. “Look at yourself. Your hair is crimson now. Your friend Asahi is new in town. And me? I’ve lost an arm and cut my hair. No one will recognize us. Besides—” she smiled faintly “—the best place to hide an apple is in a basket full of apples.”
“…Fine. Then let’s move. We’re wasting daylight.”
We left the courtyard behind. The grounds had been scrubbed of evidence—the Count’s people had made sure of that. Any answers we needed were going to be inside people, not stones.
☆☆☆
The Adventurers’ Guild in Vismagia bustled as if the world hadn’t tilted. Swords rang in their sheaths; contracts slid across desks; laughter rose and fell like waves on stone. Even disasters become “last week” faster than anyone wants to admit.
Upstairs, behind a door that had seen too many hard knocks, Shugal sat at his desk with too many papers and not enough patience. Kierra stood before him, a taut string waiting to snap.
“Has the Count made any rash moves?” Shugal asked.
“The Count has been lying low ever since your visit,” Kierra said. “No public movements have been made.”
Shugal kept signing, but his eyes weren’t on the ink. The Guild’s credibility was a rope around his neck; tug too soon, and the whole guild could be branded mutineers.
Kierra’s jaw flexed. “But there is something.”
Shugal stopped. “What is it?”
“The lookouts couldn’t get close,” Kierra said, voice tight, “but they did hear something. The Count plans to sell every woman he took from Reina’s mansion at the slave market.”
“When?”
“Tonight.”
“So soon,” Shugal muttered. “He must be spooked by the possibility that Reina’s still—”
“Shugal,” Kierra snapped, “we have enough to raid the mansion. What are we waiting for?”
“Proof,” he said sharply. “If we act now, we’ll be accused of mutiny. The Guild will be cut off from the capital. And then all of us—executed.”
“Coward.”
“Think what you like,” he said evenly. “But keep in mind that the decisions we take here, affect every adventurer in this town.” Then he looked Kierra in the eye, unflinching. "I'm not about to risk their livelihoods over insufficient evidence."
"..."
Kierra shifted her gaze to the right with disappointment over the truth he just said.
Their argument was cut by a commotion outside. Footsteps. An exasperated young receptionist voice pleading, “Please—wait!”
The door swung open—not kicked, not slammed, just swung, like the hinge knew who deserved to pass.
Reina stepped through.
She stood, took in the room, then strolled forward. The receptionist bent over her knees behind her, panting and mortified.
“Sorry, Guild Master,” the girl gasped. “She wouldn’t stop.”
Shugal looked from the girl to Reina—the short hair, the empty sleeve, the power held tight behind her eyes—and frowned.
“Who are you to barge in here?”
Kierra didn’t blink. She stared. Her eyes flicked from face to stance to the quiet flow of mana around the woman who had just entered.
Reina’s lips tilted. “I guess I was right. Not even old friends recognized me right away.”
Kierra’s breath hitched. “Reina…? Reina!”
She crossed the room in a heartbeat, arms wide, tears hot. A minute ago she had been ready to set fire to bureaucrats; now she was like a child finally handed her lost toy. Reina hugged back with her one remaining arm, patting Kierra’s head the same way she had patted Krai’s.
Shugal stood, stepped around the desk, and studied her—hair cropped, left sleeve empty, travel clothes too practical to be noble, eyes older than they should be.
“Where have you been?” Kierra choked, finally pulling back.
“I’m back,” Reina said simply. “It’s good to see you, Kierra.”
Shugal cleared his throat. “Reina, is that truly you? We assumed the worst when we didn’t hear from you.”
“Well, a lot happened,” she said, voice flat. “The quest was a setup. I lost my arm to a friend who’s whereabouts are unknown. Then I come home and find my people—gone.”
Her fingers smoothed the empty sleeve—once, twice. Anger flickered through the calm like light under ice.
Shugal’s brows drew together. “I was afraid as much. Your story is… missing pieces. I'll like to know more if—”
Kierra elbowed him. “Shugal.”
He exhaled. “Right. I’m glad you’re alive. But we have bad news.”
“I know,” Reina said. “That’s why I’m here. I need everything you have—now. Three days is already too long. It’s time to bring Mary and the others home.”
Shugal hesitated. “Reina… going against the Count will invite trouble from the capital. Don’t forget—you are a noble from The Empire.”
Reina’s eyes thinned. For a heartbeat she was very, very still.
“Was a noble,” she said at last.
Silence settled like dust.
Kierra folded her arms. “Security at the mansion is tight—triple what it usually is. He’s prepared for you.”
Reina nodded once. “As he should. Is there anything else?"
"Well," Kierra hissed.
"Captain of the guard Zrek and his butler are part of the defense." Shuga said. "And other nobles might be on his side."
Shugal said that as if that would detour Reina, but she only lowered her head eyes closed and said.
"Thank you for the intel. I’ll take it from here.”
She turned for the door.
“Wait,” Shugal said. “You’re really going alone?”
Reina’s smile was all confidence and teeth. “Relax and enjoy the show, Shugal. I’m not alone.”
Kierra said, eyes brightening despite herself. “You brought help.”
“Two very capable students,” Reina said. “By tomorrow, this will all be over.”
She lifted a hand. “See you later, Kierra.”
Kierra, Shugal, and the poor receptionist watched her leave—the Guild Master with worry, his secretary with tears and fire, the receptionist with a story she’d try to retell and never quite get right.
☆
By the time Reina reached the hall, Asahi and I had already cleared the path. A few rowdy adventurers had mistaken confidence for weakness. They were now sleeping on the cold floor.
“What happened here?” Reina asked, eyeing the sprawled bodies.
“They wanted to start trouble,” Asahi said. “So I put them to sleep.”
"Is that right?"
“Did you get what you needed?” I asked her.
“Yes,” Reina said. “We’ll iron out the details at the inn.”
We stepped into the daylight. The door swung shut behind us, and the guild erupted into whispers.
Did you see that?
Who were they?
Did you see their clothes—
That hair’s crimson—
No way—
…Reina?
Maybe it would reach the Count’s ears. Maybe not. Either way, we didn’t have time to worry about it.
Tonight, the Count planned to sell our family.
And tonight, we planned to break his door down.
