Gloria shook her head, fixing her coat and stepping towards the door, listening to Morio's muffled yells of either fear or excitement for another task. She couldn't tell.

"I'm surprised you're not complaining about the lack of tea. I'm gonna ask Bancho for some later in the e-evening." Gloria shook her head before putting the empty wooden cups into a small bowl filled with water.

Victoria sighed, putting her hand on her forehead. "Avoiding the topic again?"

Gloria ground her teeth, looking to the side. "Morio's doing well enough by himself. He doesn't need those other stories."

"You're saying all that as if you ever told me of them. All I know is that you became a Demonear, something happened, and you gave up. I'm starting to think that someone forced you to become one."

"Huh? Why would they?"

"I don't know. Okay, I'm rambling. Never mind." Victoria sighed. "Consider it as a thought. Morio desperately wants you to be the hero, and I'm sure he'll search for a way to prove his claims."

Gloria sighed before turning away from the weapon.

As their words implied, Jyuzou was the opposite. He spent most of his days wandering around town or the nearby forests, valleys or even hills searching for any interesting flora to analyse bit by bit. He seemed to be way more mature than Morio, but you could easily tell he was still young from the way he spoke to people who weren't as educated on the obscure flowers he found in that red book of his, even though he had trouble with the letter 'r' and often stuttered on a few harder words such as 'development' or 'purple'.

Besides that, he also knew some things Morio didn't. He could cook very well, and Morio tended to burn his fingers if he put them anywhere near an open fire. Jyuzou knew how to mix seeds and plant-based food to make the greatest of meals, courtesy of Victoria's words, while Morio had hands-on experience with hunting animals, joining Bancho's missions once or twice.

Through the most challenging of such, he hunted... one bunny, and asked Jyuzou to cook it for him with a side of that delicious stew.

Despite their differences, one wouldn't let go of the other, and this wasn't something you'd choose sides on. It was always Morio and Jyuzou, two of the many, quieter kids in Mistwick.

Morio hummed a song while strolling through a small copse, not too far from his house. He picked up a twig, and then another, putting down a basket he carried on his back and stuffing them in.

The area he ventured in was, curiously, one without much of the juniper trees, and instead, most of the twigs were carried here by the surrounding winds. The path he trod was a wooden road with smaller torches, and houses here and there bore triangular ends on their rooftops, casting a shadow over the footpath to the hamlets.

After about twenty minutes and seventeen more pieces, Morio calmly looked for more between the tree houses. However, he spotted something else.

"Jyuzou!" Morio raised his voice as he gazed at the brown-haired boy, fixing his glasses. Jyuzou turned around and sighed as Morio ran down from the hill and almost tripped into the snow.

"Please don't interrupt my work today." Jyuzou shook his head.

"You're collecting wood too?" Morio asked, as Jyuzou's basket was filled to the brim with sticks.

"I always have, Morio. Why would it be any different now?"

"I've never seen you do it beforehand!"

Jyuzou smirked. "Did you think half of that Jile-wood appeared out of nowhere?"

"We could've done this together, hand in hand!"

"With you? You're way too l-level-headed for any cooperation!"

Morio frowned angrily. "I think I know what that word means, and that's not true!"

"I can't keep up with your pace, that's all!"

"Then, you have to learn to run! To reserve that stamina!" Morio clenched his fists, clapping twice. "You call yourself a morian if you're running out of energy so quickly?!"

"I don't run out of energy. I just don't want this to be some s-sort of competition." Jyuzou muttered and sucked in air through his teeth.

"How much Jile-wood have you collected?!" Morio pointed.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Jyuzou raised his voice.

"FORTY-THREE!"

"FIFTY-TWO!"

"Oh." Morio stepped back as his eyes shrank. "Darn!" he turned on his heel and ran elsewhere.

Jyuzou growled as he turned to what dropped out of the other boy's pants. He picked up a shrivelled piece of paper and analysed its contents.

Morio jolted back, breathing heavily. "It fell out of my pocket!"

"A map of Mistwick? I thought you were working on Shimori."

"Already finished that! Why did you think I was so joyous and almost killed that stupid flower?" Morio asked. "The answer was obvious, and yet the smartypants Jyuzou failed to connect the dots.

"It's not stupid!" Jyuzou raised his voice before looking back at the map. "Phew, though. A-all the routes, the houses, they're all marked. Even the shapes."

"It's not finished!" Morio snatched it from his hands. "Even if it was, you weren't going to be the first person to see it in its full glory."

Jyuzou crossed his arms. "Mama, then?"

"Heck yeah! She will be yelling out at the top of her lungs in joy!"

"That's totally how adults work," Jyuzou grinned, and Morio sighed, with almost all of his twigs and branches pouring out from the side.

Jyuzou stared for a moment, concerned, before clearing his throat.

"By the way, um." he blinked. "Do you want to... work together, maybe?"

"Huh?"

"You make the maps, I can tell you where certain plants grow. We can make something cool together, like in the tale of Karin and Anders, where-"

"-They created a bridge over the lakes of Lignoria!" Morio opened his mouth, shocked. He jumped up twice. "How would that work with plants, though?"

"No clue, but we'd be the ones writing the story, this time...!"

Morio gasped before clenching his fists. "Then it's set!" Morio raised a finger. "We're creating something for the world to remember! A new goal!"

Jyuzou fixed his glasses. "We could start working on it after the ceremony. I remember all the Callothia spots by heart," he added, enthusiastically.

"No, no, Jyuzou. I'm talking about a faraway future, here." Morio grinned as the two marched through town, passing people preparing for the night's celebration. "After this map's done, I'm training at least three hours each day!"

"Why?" Jyuzou muttered.

Morio stopped in disappointment. "To become a Demonear, Jyuzou! Strongest there is!"

Jyuzou gulped. "Right. That."

"Think about the opportunities, though!" he put the basket down, signalling with his hands as if he was creating a story. "No matter where I go, I have my trusted weapon with me, so nothing gets between me and my map-making! Then, when I'm finished with all that, we can work together to mark their... flowers." Morio looked to the side, rolling his eyes. "So yes, faraway future!"

"You'll be leaving Mistwick in a year, then," Jyuzou uttered.

"Precisely!" Morio replied. "I can't let Mama down! She'll see her son as a successful warrior!" he laughed, snorting. "...and now that I have a map of Shimori, I can go to Magna all by myself as well!" he strutted forward. "I guess I could tell you all about it once I'm done with all my travels!"

Jyuzou put a hand on his forehead.

"There you two are." An older man said as Morio and Jyuzou put the baskets in front of a massive wooden box, with some ash lying inside. "How much wood have you collected?"

"Fifty-two!" Morio raised his voice, quickly snatching five little branches from Jyuzou's basket. The other turned, but barely paid as much attention. The sight of the circle as more of something Jyuzou wound up admiring.

The river clashed with the erected footpath, and soared towards the rocky peaks of the nearby hills, stretching over the bridge towards the other huts, and where trees grew as small as those seeds they dropped.

He squinted, imagining the nightlights shining from the sharpest peak up there, and saw himself sitting in that bigger wooden house along the road, staring through the ceiling windows and admiring the sights.

"Great work, as always," The old man nodded, before sitting down on a big, wooden chair. "Tonight's gonna be great," he said, looking at the sky, which began dimming, with the sun already setting in the distance. "The lights above will shine the brightest, with the most vivid of colours. I expect lots of morians to dance around the fire."

"Mr Bancho, do you have that thaduk with you?" Jyuzou asked as Morio put the wood into the box, eyeing Jyuzou for not doing the same.

"I almost forgot. You wanted to learn a song or two, right?"

"Might be fun." Jyuzou beamed.

"Stealing my idea, huh?" Morio asked.

"I'll try and ignore the wood you took from my basket." Jyuzou continued, and the two passed smacks from one another, but stopped when Bancho turned around.

"I left it at my house." Bancho put his hand into the pocket of his pants, made out of square cotton patches. "Why don't you bring it for me, Jyuzou? It should be right by my bed. I've been practising," he passed a red key to Jyuzou, smiling.

The boy took it from his hand and walked up a flight of brown stairs, right behind the carved-out space for the ceremony.

Meanwhile, Morio seemed to be annoyed by something.

"Is everything okay?"

"I hate that the inside of the Jile-wood's yellow," Morio muttered. "I hate that colour,"

Bancho laughed, putting his other hand on his rather short beard.

After a quick walk, comprised of passing by other houses, trees stretching on the small hill towards the Camp Forest and another bridge separating the riverside from newer copses, Jyuzou made it to a big, leafless tree, with branches extending left and right, and the main log bending to the side at the halfway point, carving the way for a small balcony facing the Uvo Forest.

Unlocking the strangely-shaped door, he stepped inside, looking around at the tree's massive crown, hollow on the inside and basked in a warm orange. On many shelves, or hanging from wooden racks, were items which Bancho collected from the many adventures he's been on. During the ceremonies, the youngest of Morians always gathered and listened to one of the many tales he never seemed to run out of.

Jyuzou looked at a dark, torn-apart coat. He recalled Bancho's story, something with him setting out for Malikan with a trusted friend and exploring its grassy terrains, finding a hidden stash of Silver behind a waterfall in Prope Portam. Not wanting to take too long, though, he fixed his glasses.

He turned the corner and eventually found the instrument, sitting on a small shelf near the bed.

***

The day changed into night, and fires were lit all around Mistwick, closed within sheets of thin cotton cloth. The ones shining the brightest cleared a path towards the ceremony.

Older morians played the guitars, while women danced with their newfound partners. The kids tried jumping in on the fun, but some were scolded by an adult, telling them to wait for their turn.

Others enjoyed a nice meal, consisting of Metho and Shato seeds combined with vegetables preserved from the last Gorro. Some focused on big clumps of meat from the animals hunted the day before.

After the dances, a newlywed couple stepped in, and the song shifted to a different tune. They jumped in their decorated robes, with a coat of paint smeared beneath their eyes. As someone added a log to the fire, the two kissed, against its fiery backdrop.

The morians clapped in joy, signalling for them to come over and enjoy the food.

Gloria stared out of a window in her house. Her hands landed on a small plate, and when the burnt Metho Seed tumbled to the floor, she seemingly ignored it. She turned to the weapon on the wall once more before finding something wrapped around her neck.

She squeezed it for a little while before averting her gaze towards the door. She waited for a few more seconds before setting out towards the ceremony.

"Clavis Crystal." Bancho rubbed a white stone in his hands. "We travelled by boats to defeat the vengeful and powerful dragons. On the last few days of our adventure, when the waters began creating massive waves, I found multiple of these, hidden in between stashes of-"

"Lapuna flowers," Jyuzou muttered.

"How did you know?" Bancho asked.

"You told us this once already!" Morio raised his voice.