Ersia: Raven Dawn

"It's for Papa."

"So your papa told you to make some money, even by gambling if you must?! Alright, take me to him! He and I absolutely have a lot to discuss!" the purple lady rolled her silky sleeves and made an aggressive gesture with her fist.

"What?! You're wrong! It was my own idea to chip in for our expenses. Papa himself is a medevist. He can find enough money for us both."

"Oh? A medevist? What's his name?"

"Ran!"

"Ran?"

Silence fills the air for a brief moment. The purple lady wanted Viena to tell her Randa's last name, but it seems that the message didn't get through.

"Ran who?"

"Ran . . . Ran?" Viena looked confused.

"Only Ran? He has no surname?"

"Err . . . No, I guess?"

"That's . . . unique. A mononym, huh? Typically, only commoners have mononyms. But to become a medevist, you need a certain degree of status leverage given its exclusive nature."

Now it's the purple lady's turn to look perplexed. She decided not to push further and take a step back to think behind her fan. Meanwhile, Lisabelle who has been watching the two of them talking with each other, finally feels her voice coming back.

"Alright. So . . . what makes you so confident to participate in the betting?"

"That's none of your business, Mrs. All-questions-but-no-introduction! You too, Vivi! Stop showing your underwear to strangers!" Lisabelle cut in and snapped at both Viena and the purple lady.

"My my! I thought I made it so you won't make any noise for another minute! How come you are already talking?"

"Hmph! Let's get out of here!"

"Oh well, see you soon then!

With the blowing wind, Lisabelle grabbed Viena's hand and led her to walk away from the purple lady. Then, when they were far enough from her, they decided to take a turn to a nearby alleyway. After a few more turns, Lisabelle realized that the road had been confusing her a little. Despite that, she continues to push through.

How surprised they are when they find the purple lady standing at the exact same spot waiting for them after they take the last turn.

"Wha!"

"Well, hello my babies! I know I said soon, but I didn't expect we would meet each other again this soon!" The purple lady hides her coy smile behind her fan.

Lisabelle said nothing but only glared at her. Then she and Viena went past the purple lady again without saying anything. This time she makes sure they go through a different route, only to end up all the same.

"Ah! There you are again! It must be really hard for you to 'miss' me! Pun intended!"

"Grr! Why you-!"

The same thing happened more than three times already, and every time they went back to the central park, the purple lady greeted them with a sneering tone. Viena knows this very well. It has happened before to her, back to the time when she first met Randia. She knows that it was the purple lady's doing.

Lisabelle, however, couldn't comprehend at all why they always ended up back again to where they left off. They have tried everything. They even walk so far away without taking a turn at all until the purple lady vanishes on the horizon, swallowed by the curvature of the earth. Alas, it is all in vain. They returned right to where they were before.

"How many times have we met again today? I thought you kids were going somewhere? Pfft."

"Goddess! Just shut up, will you?! No one wants to see your face!"

"Lily!"

When Lisabelle wants to walk away again, Viena holds her ground. She shook her head, telling her to stay. With an embarrassed face that is red as a beet, Lisabelle complies this time. The platinum-haired girl crosses her hands and leans her back on a wall behind her, looking away.

"Well, well. You act like you dislike me, but you keep coming back again and again! You're that type aren't you, Lily? The warm ice one."

"W-Who are you calling a warm ice?! You disgust me! Period!"

"Fufu! Sounds like an exclamation mark, rather than a period to me, though. But it's alright, I'm growing fond of you kids. Want to get a smooch from this big sister?"

The purple lady mocks Lisabelle by keeping herself in the girl's range of vision, as she keeps avoiding eye contact. Then, Viena suddenly grabbed the purple lady's coat, demanding her attention.

"Hey, lady. You can use the same magic as Papa, don't you?"

"Hm? What is this? You know about this spell?"

"Kind of. Papa used it on me once. Now that I noticed, it's the same people that surround us. That bearded jewel merchant, the three blonde ladies chit-chatting, and the umbrella peddler three hundred meters away from here, they are all the same," Viena pointed at various surrounding people.

"They even keep having the same conversation every time we pass through them, though I can't hear clearly no matter how I insist on focusing on listening to them. So, yeah, it must be that magic taking place!"

Both the purple lady and Lisabelle are taken by surprise. The small girl didn't just look around. She is paying attention. She observes.

"Congratulations! That was spot on! Here's a present for you!"

The purple lady is overjoyed and goes straight to hug Viena and kiss her on her cheeks. Then, she takes out a wrapped sweet treat from her coat pocket and gives it to the little girl.

"A candy!"

"Yes, it is! And it's for you!"

Suddenly, Viena remembered the last candy she had eaten. It was the sourest thing she ever put in her mouth next to Baronberries. She put on a worried face, and it caught the purple lady's attention.

"Hm? What's wrong, you don't like candy?"

"Is it sour?"

"Sour? Aye, no! It's sweet as heck!"

The girl is hesitant. Hence, she handed it out to Lisabelle.

"Lily, try it for me!"

"Huh?"

"If it's sour, you can have it. If it's sweet, give it back."

Lisabelle is a little puzzled at first, but she agrees to it anyway. When she put it in her mouth, it was a door to another world unlocked to her. It's sweet and has a soft hint of sourness. Also, it has a milkiness in it somehow.

"Lily, how was it?"

". . . ."

As Lisabelle keeps it in her mouth, Viena is growing impatient.

"Lily! It's sweet, isn't it?! Give it back! Give me my candy!"

At first, Lisabelle is playing cheap by holding the candy for herself for a little longer, but when Viena starts to seriously crawl up on her face and squeeze her cheeks to spit it out, she has no choice but to give it back to her. She took out the candy with her fingers and put it inside Viena's mouth which had been opened all the time.

"Mmhm!"

"Tasty, isn't it?"

"Yes! Very much so!"

The purple lady laughed and tussled Viena's hair. She immediately recognized the talent the little girl possessed. It's there, gleaming like crazy, waiting to be noticed and polished. She might have found someone interesting.

"The magic I used on both of you is Replica Reminisca. It toys with your senses and perception by utilizing your most recent memory."

"I've read about it before. You need to wash your face in purified water to dispel the magic," Lisabelle responded.

"Yes, that's true! Well done!"

". . . Do I get a candy also?" Lisabelle couldn't stop drolling although embarrassed.

"If you let me smooch your cheek like I did your sister, then yes!"

"Kuh! Forget about it!"

The purple lady laughed again and tussled Lisabelle's hair, and oddly, she let her do it. The lady smiles as she takes it as a gesture of trust and acceptance.

"This magic spell is quite of a high tier. Your Papa must be great at magic also, I'm surprised that I haven't heard of his name at all."

"Yes! He is really good! Although he is often angry when working."

"Hey, lady. The way you talk shows as if you know quite a great deal of the better people, isn't it about time you introduce yourself already?"

The purple lady immediately realizes that it's not just Viena, Lisabelle herself is also a sharp one. She is listening carefully and reading between the lines. It takes only the slightest slip of the tongue by the lady, and she quickly catches on.

"That's true."

The purple lady stands straight and widens her stance a little. Then, she unfolds her fan and hides her face behind it before folding it again as if to reset her expression. She put her hand on her waist, slightly bending it like a true lady she is.

However, before she even had the chance to introduce herself, a short burly man carrying a lot of boxes in a man-drawn cart ran towards them.

"Lady Laura! My lady! Thank God, I found you!"

"Goldun, you big oaf! Where have you been all this time?!"

"What? I should've been the one asking that question! What were you thinking suddenly leaving me all alone in the market?!"

"Silence, pig! I go where I please, and you must always be there to meet my needs regardless of how! Else I'm docking your pay!"

"Sigh. Sure, whatever you say . . . So, who are these girls? Your illegitimate daughters?"

As soon as the words came out, the lady lost her temper and cast the exact same spell she had cast on Lisabelle, plus another one to lift her lackey's pants into the air and put him in a barrel. Then, she kicked the barrel until it rolled down the road and eventually lost in the crowd where Lisabelle and Viena had previously been.

Viena spontaneously laughed hard, meanwhile, Lisabelle looked a little concerned.

"H-Hey, I think you're going too far. Is he going to be okay?"

"Bah. You waste your worry on him, Lily. He's a half-dwarf, so he's basically as sturdy as this city's wall. He was made to be beaten up."

"O-Okay, if you say so."

After calming herself, the purple lady clears her throat and tidies her clothes once more.

"Back to the matter at hand, let me introduce myself. My name is Laura Clarentine. You kids can call me Laura. Oh, Big Sis Laura is also acceptable."

"Clarentine?!" Lisabelle gasped.

Laura chuckled upon seeing Lisabelle's reaction. However, to see that Viena doesn't even move a single muscle is a fact that she found pretty strange. Usually, only by the mention of her surname, people would immediately smile awkwardly and question the properness of their etiquette towards her.

"(What's a Clarentine?)" Vienna whispered to Lisabelle.

"(That means she is the daughter of the minister of foreign affairs! She is a super royalty!)"

"That's right! I'm the biggest and baddest royalty there is! Fufufu!" said Laura who overheard their conversation.