“Aliza, huh? That’s a nice name.”

“But you didn’t say anything about yourself. Whatever, it’s fine, I’ll start.”

“I’m Ace Bracker, a 16-year-old who can’t fight but is supposed to grow in skill really fast.”

“I don’t have any friends or family in this world, and I’m in a really weird situation right now that I can’t explain.”

“I also have no information about this world, so if you could enlighten me, that would be helpful.”

Aliza tilted her head at Ace’s response, questioning if he was joking or not.

“—? Whatever, I won’t question what you said because it doesn’t seem to me that you’re lying, but you better explain some time.”

“Ok ok, what about you? Tell me a little about yourself.”

“Ok, hmmm.. how do I start?”

“I’m a 16-year-old girl who has been adventuring for about 2 years now.”

“I’ve always loved to travel and go on adventures, but monsters would always get in the way, so I started to work on my swordsmanship. I’ve gotten pretty good at it over the past few years so if you would like, I could help you out a little.”

“That would be much appreciated, as I’m a little short on time.”

“One question, do you know of any “enemy of the kingdom”?”

“—?!”

“I’ve been told to defeat this enemy in exactly a year or this world would be destroyed.”

Aliza’s expression turned a little more serious and her tone of voice dropped as she began to speak.

“Whoever put you up to this task is crazy.”

“You couldn’t beat one Toriel, and they’re expecting you to beat that...”

“I believe you said your growth is fast, but I doubt anyone could do it in one year, that’s impossible.”

After hearing her words, Ace matched her tone.

“I don’t really know how strong this enemy is but...”

“I have to do it.”

“You were the first person to help me, and you seem pretty trustworthy so I will explain my situation to you later but, right now, I need basic information on this world and what the situation is.. please.”

“You are being completely serious. Who could put you up to such an unbelievable task?”

She looked at Ace to see him staring at her, his eyes not wavering.

She started to blush a little from being stared at, Ace still caught up in the heat of the moment, not letting his eyes move from their target.

“Ok ok, I will help you out... just stop... staring at me please.”

“Oh! I’m sorry, that was rude of me.”

“It’s fine...”

“Hmm... where should I start...? Do you know anything about this country?”

“I know the names of all the cities, villages, and forests. That’s about it.”

Ace had his map to get that information, but he didn’t know anything about the places specifically, only their names.

Aliza tilted her head once again, questioning if he was joking.

“Do you have amnesia? What’s up with that?”

“Whatever, we’ll start with the country itself.”

“You are currently in the country Felona, a kingdom with a capital city in its center and a lot of smaller villages surrounding it. You are at Furio Village, a village right on the south border of Felona.”

“I won’t go into detail about the other countries because it seems like you only have one goal and, your goal doesn’t relate to the other countries, except one.”

“Let’s talk a little more about Felona. It’s current king and queen are demihumans and most of the villages are populated by demihumans.”

“Notice how I’ve had my hood on the whole time... humans and anything that looks human, is hated in this country.”

“It happened a few years before I was born but there was a major war between the country of Felona and the country of Zineen, resulting in the current discrimination you are facing.”

“Zineen is a country of humans, so naturally, humans would be hated by Felona, the country that lost the war.”

“The demihumans are normally kind people but, when it comes to humans, pure hatred fills them up. To be honest, I’m surprised they didn’t kill you on the spot last night. They must’ve left you because you were going to die anyways.”

“That’s the situation between the humans and the demihumans.”

“Now, about this “enemy” that you need to face.”

Aliza paused for a second before beginning to speak again.

“The enemy you need to face is…”

“…”

“the country of Zineen themselves.”

“Specifically the head of the knights.”

“I’ve only heard rumours but, I’ve heard he’s a monster… a Cirto in human form.”

“He was the main force in the war, wiping out half of Felona’s army by himself.”

Ace stopped her before she could continue.

“Wait, wait, what’s a Cirto?”

“You don’t even know that?! You really are uninformed…”

“A Cirto is a species of monster that have gone extinct but, in the legends, it is said that they would kill everything in their path, wiping out entire countries just for enjoyment.”

“They wouldn’t spare anything or anyone. They would flatten forests, evaporate lakes, wipe out other species, and be laughing at the end of it.”

“I heard they went extinct when the snow started to fall. They had no resistance to the cold, wiping out the entire Cirto population.”

After hearing about this world-ending species, Ace could only wonder how difficult his task was.

“And this “head of the knights”, he’s just as strong as them?”

“Most likely, I haven’t encountered him, as I’ve never been to Zineen.”

“—? You’re not from Zineen? Is there other human countries?”

Aliza tilted her head.

“I’m not human, where’d you get that idea?”

“—?”

Ace jumped back from his position, shocked at what she just said.

“What do you mean you’re not human?! You look exactly like one!”

“How rude! It’s a common mistake but still, you should confirm before assuming.”

Folding her arms and turning away from Ace in response to the words that came out his mouth.

“So.. what are you?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m a Shuna, a species that populates the country of Gorto in the north.”

“Zineen is in the south and Felona is to the west.”

“How can I tell the difference between you and a human?”

“Look here.”

Aliza lifted her chin, revealing a small, light blue gem attached to the skin underneath her chin.

“I cover my face because my gem is harder to see than others, but you still shouldn’t assume!

She said, as she pouted her face.

“So not everyone’s gem is underneath their chin?”

“Most of the Shuna’s gems are somewhere on their face, my case is a little rarer than others.”

“Other than that, Shuna are very similar to human, the gem is really the only thing that separates us.”

“We have the same lifespans, the same number of fingers, toes, eyes, anything you could think of.”

“Ok, anything else I need to know?”

“Of course there is, but I can’t explain it all right now, so I’ll just explain it while we’re travelling.”

“—? You’re coming with me?”

“I'm a traveler and I said I would help you work on your swordsmanship so might as well stick with you until the end.”

“Plus, even though it’s only been a few hours together, we’ve already been through quite a lot. I saved you from a sticky situation, you got mad at me, and you cried in front of me. That’s quite a lot if you ask me.”

“Ok but, promise me one thing.”

“Hm?”

“…”

“I will tell you something important later, promise to believe what I have to say.”

“That’s it?”

“You’re going to believe me?”

“You don’t seem to have any reason to lie. You need my help so why would you lie?”

“Thank you, I will explain later.”

Aliza stood up, held out her hand, and smiled.

“Glad to be working with you.”

Ace smiled back, grabbing her hand and lifting himself up.

“Me too.”