Chapter 214 - Tears of a lost child

After Sofia’s little panic-like revelation episode, the group headed to a restaurant to have a long chat in a VIP room. The first topic was the circumstances of Sofia’s sudden and late arrival, and Mornn was the one trying the hardest to piece things together because she knew the least.

“So, let me get this straight. Your long lost sister that you thought dead is alive, because you saw her name on one of the Spire’s scoreboard. And that was on the last floor, where she finished second or third overall, AND you finished at rank 1 and won an actual crown?”

“That’s… about it, yeah.”

“Maaaaan, I knew this quest was rigged, Sun is always like this! What am I supposed to do? Get rank zero?” the tall elf complained, she looked deflated and defeated on her seat, “Congratulations on the win and the good news then. Do you know how to look for your Sister already?”

Sofia had a bitter expression as she shook her head. Certainly there were many ways to search, but search for what, how, where? How many girls named Saria were there? And if she kept a low profile, who exactly would have even heard of her?

And it had been so long, it was possible that even if they passed by each other in the street Sofia and Saria wouldn’t recognize each other.

Astelia found an opportunity to stop stuffing her face with ice cream and try to help, “Maybe we can find her fast, actually? We have embassies everywhere on the human continent, someone has to know something. We could also offer a bounty? I can try asking Moon too but I would not count on that…”

“You could also put up a request for information at the adventurers’ guild? You have that citizenship now, might as well use it. I wouldn’t mind going back to Drakron too, it’s been a while,” Alith added.

“I don’t know where to even start… But I appreciate the help. She probably believes me dead too…”

Mornn fixed her posture, grabbing a roasted chicken leg, she lightly waved it around as she spoke, “you know, Sofia, I don’t know you that well, but. If you’re strong enough to finish as the all-time first in the trial, finding one lost sister shouldn’t be too hard.” She bit into the chicken, and kept talking with her mouth half full, “I can hook you up with an old diviner if you want, his prices are high but he’s very good at finding lost things. You’d have to come to our city in the desert though, bit of a long trip.”

“Yeah… I- I’m not even sad or discouraged or… If anything, I’m too happy to explain how I’m feeling right now, but it’s so sudden. It makes it… Hard to focus on anything. I just need some time to get my thoughts together I guess. A diviner uh…”

[You have been affected by : confusion. But your skills negated the status]

Sofia jumped on her chair as if she had just gotten shocked by electricity.

Astelia and Alith asked if Sofia was alright.

“Yes! Yes, I . Woah. Sorry, one of my skills just activated on its own.”

“That’s all it took for you to stop acting like a wet mop? What’s this skill? I need it too.”

Everyone stared at Mornn.

“What?”

Pareth chose this second of silence to appear in the room, leaving a small envelope on the table and disappearing again.

Everyone urged Sofia to open it, was this a message from her lost sister? Was Pareth trying to communicate? Inside the envelope was a single sheet of paper, on one side was a pencil drawing of a Dragon mask, on the other was a very short message:

‘Quickly seek the wind fox, good luck - Sen’

Valeure?

“Hey, looks like we know where your next destination is. Do you know the wind saintess or want me to guide you?”

“No need, thanks I met her once already.”

“That so?”

Sofia having regained a bit of composure and with a clear goal, the subject matter moved to everyone’s results in the trial. The others had not yet shared their ranks as they had decided to wait for Sofia to be there as well.

Alith had the worst performance, failing at floor 89. Both Astelia and Mornn expressed that they also found it particularly hard, though they couldn’t discuss the details without being censored.

“I couldn’t use my ghost form so I really didn’t have a chance. But that’s not a problem anymore with my race evolution so it’s fine, I’ll perform better on the next one. My exact rank isn’t even worth talking about, I’m in the four thousands…”

“You were so close to the main rewards…”

“Eh, no point worrying about it now. I did the best I could.”

“You did good for someone who’s not even alive, shorty. You were just unlucky that floor 89 was a bad matchup. What about you, Astelia?”

“Rank twelve.”

Mornn stared glassy eyed at the small vampire who was somehow still eating when everyone else was stuffed.

“You managed to pass 97!? Ugh. It was too much…”

Astelia failed against the Master and Mornn failed at the orbs? Woah. Astelia was the one who started from the lowest spot as well. “So you failed on 97?” Sofia asked Mornn.

“Yeah… I just couldn’t… Too much too fast…”

She’s so tall, I can see how that would be an issue with the orbs, and her skills for the most part don’t look like they would help much. But Astelia found the black orb? It’s too bad that there’s this damn censor…

Astelia explained more, taking her time to find the right way to avoid being censored, “It was a floor very well suited for me. It was not easy but I managed without being hurt too much. But floor 98 was impossible. I had to give up. Were you close to finishing 97?”

“Not at all. During it I went from rank 433 to 348, when completing the floor gives rank 62. So mine was among the worst attempts even. Well, I’ll say it though, 300 out of who knows how many, not too bad. Sun might beat me up later, but I’m okay with my score.”

“97 and 98 were both very close calls for me too…”

Alith pointed at Sofia’s crown, “How was floor 100?”

“Uh… How do I explain that in a way that won’t get it censored… Whatever you may be thinking of, it’s worse than that, and then worse again. And if you still think ‘there could be a way’ then you’re not there yet.”

“You’re saying that… But you still won?”

“... I can’t say anything more it seems.”

The friendly discussions lasted through the night.

Alith had explained to Sofia that Zerei had left ahead to start building her school, which she had explained in a letter passed down to them by a city guard. After that, it was decided that after a quick teleportation to the goatkin city-state, Mornn would take everyone back to the human continent on her giant sword as it was by far the fastest way they had to cross the sea.

When they arrived in Hooasow, the group split up, Agran picked up Astelia, promising they would be on the lookout for any trace of Sofia’s sister. Mornn also left, explaining that she had to return and report to her Oracle quickly before he came to fetch her himself. Before that, she gave them an explanation on how to reach Herzal, the elven capital in the desert, and the name of the Diviner she had mentioned before. That left Sofia alone with Alith in the city, on a random bench in the middle of the night.

“So, we’re going to find your sister or what?”

“I can’t believe I’m saying that, but that is the plan. You’re going to come with me?”

“Uh? Yeah. What else am I gonna do? Let you chase after your past alone again? Last time I did that you started murdering the whole church. What kind of a friend am I if I leave right now?”

“Let’s go to Valeure’s place then.”

“Alright! I want to see the immortal fox lady too!”

Sofia stood up and started walking through the street, “she might not even be there again though…”

Alith jumped off of the bench, trailing behind Sofia, “Then we can wait for her to show up. You won’t be able to focus on anything else anyway, might as well follow this clue for now. If it’s from Sen, it should be reliable. Also Saria is probably stronger than you by now, I reckon she can survive a bit more until we find her, right?”

Sofia’s gait as she walked regained a bit of energy. After a few steps along the unlit homes of the city, she turned around.

“Hey, Alith.”

“Uh?”

“Thank you.”

“Wh-... Sofia, are you crying?”