Morning sunlight filtered through the gaps between the buildings of Millhaven, glancing off the crowded streets below. The rumble of small steam trains and iron-wheeled vehicles blended with the cries of merchants hawking their wares. The city brimmed with life, yet in the middle of it all, Dex walked alone with his hands in his pockets, a slight frown on his face.
"Haa... wandering around by yourself is actually pretty boring" he muttered.
He had invited Van to breakfast outside, but Van had declined, saying he had something to take care of this morning. What exactly, Dex hadn't bothered to ask.
He kept walking, passing several food stalls lined up along the road, none of them catching his interest.
*Why is there nothing decent to eat around here. If the food is actually good it'll cost a fortune, and I'm nearly broke as it is.* Dex grumbled inwardly.
Millhaven was a long way from his hometown. The difference in culture and ingredients was unmistakable. Eventually, after wandering quite far from the inn, Dex came upon a shop that looked old and barely tended to. The signboard was cracked, the paint peeling from the walls, the glass windows clouded with grime. And yet something nudged him inside.
When the door creaked open, his eyes widened.
The interior was nothing like the outside. The walls were lined with polished wood, simple crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, and round tables were neatly arranged with clean tablecloths. The scent of warm broth greeted him at the door.
"Excuse me" Dex said, stepping in.
There were only three other people inside. Two women in hooded robes sat in the corner of the room, deep in conversation. Through the gap in their hoods, Dex caught a glimpse of blue and white hair.
Behind the kitchen counter, a middle-aged man in a worn apron was busy cooking. He appeared to be the sole worker and owner of the place.
Dex approached. "Excuse me"
The owner glanced over briefly. "Welcome." His voice was warm, even as his hands kept moving without pause over the pan.
Dex was too hungry to mind the brevity. After placing his order, he chose a seat away from the other customers, somewhere quiet enough to eat in peace.
He glanced over at the two women once or twice. *Strange. Why are they still wearing robes in a quiet place like this?*
Before long, the owner arrived with two steaming dishes.
"Thank you" Dex said shortly.
He stared at the first bowl, eyes lighting up. "Haa, I didn't expect to find chicken noodle soup here. Thought I'd never get to eat this again"
He had ordered two dishes on purpose. His favorite chicken noodle soup, and one unfamiliar dish he had never tried before.
"Bon appétit" he said to himself, and lifted a spoonful of the warm broth.
"Just as good as I remembered" he murmured, a satisfied smile settling across his face.
On the other side of the room.
The two robed women sat with their backs angled away from the other customers, keeping their distance. The room felt calm, but their conversation was laced with unease.
"Liana" a soft voice came from beneath a dark-colored hood, belonging to the woman with blonde hair. "How much longer do we have to live like this? Always hiding, moving from city to city, pretending to be someone else. I'm exhausted"
The blue-haired woman called Liana turned. Her expression was composed, but her eyes held quiet concern. "Your Highness, please hold on a little longer. If we stop now, they will capture you. And if that happens..." she paused, her tone sharpening, "your life will be in danger"
Anna tightened her grip on the teacup, her fingers trembling faintly. "I never had any intention of taking the throne. I only wanted to live in peace. Why can't they understand that?"
Liana exhaled slowly. "To them, royal blood is not merely a symbol. It is a threat. As long as you are alive, there will always be those who fear you could become the center of a rebellion. The factions don't care about your intentions. All they care about is the possibility of danger, no matter how small"
Anna clenched her teeth. "All of this because of that foolish struggle for power. I'm sick of even hearing the word 'Throne'"
"Your Highness" Liana cut in, her voice firm but gentle. "I know you're tired of it. But if you give up now, everyone who has died to protect you will have died for nothing"
A brief silence fell over their table.
Anna looked down, staring at the reflection of her face in the surface of her tea. "I just want to be free, Liana. Without a blade hanging over my shoulder. Without having to run every time I hear footsteps approaching"
Liana held her gaze for a long moment, then reached across and took the princess's hand in hers. "I promise you, Your Highness. There will be a day when you can live like that. But today, we have to survive."
Anna looked back at her, eyes flickering with fear and exhaustion, but also the faintest thread of hope.
And then, as though fate had decided to make its point forcefully, the door of the shop burst open with a sharp creak.
Liana turned immediately, her instincts tightening. A cold, cutting aura seeped into the room.
"Damn. How did they find us" she whispered, eyes narrowing.
Anna stiffened. Her face went pale as she recognized the emblem on the armored figure's chest. A black horse. The insignia of the Kingdom of Zanes.
BOOM.
A violent explosion struck the floor just a few steps from the other table, directly in front of a dark-haired young man who had been lifting his second spoonful. His bowl flipped over. Hot broth spread across the floor.
Dex stared at the wreckage of his meal.
The satisfied smile that had only just found its way to his face was gone. In its place was a blank, hollow stare, the kind that ran much colder than any shout.
"...seriously?" he said under his breath, his voice quieter and far more dangerous than a yell.
Anna glanced over briefly, registering that the young man was not one of her pursuers. Liana noticed too, slightly taken aback by the expression on the stranger's face, cold and utterly desolate at the same time.
Dozens of mages and swordsmen crowded the entrance, their combined aura pressing down on the air. Dex paid none of them any attention. All that mattered was that someone had just destroyed his breakfast.
The air around his body began to shift, slowly curling into a gentle but unmistakable vortex, enough to make the tablecloths ripple.
Liana's eyes narrowed. *A wind mage?*
Dex rose from his seat without hurry, his gaze fixed straight ahead. "Whoever just ruined my breakfast. Step forward. Now"
He looked directly at them. They exchanged glances, visibly confused.
"Annoying"
The vortex tightened around him. Wooden chairs groaned, loose paper and scattered spices lifted into the air. The pursuing mages, most of whom had been focused on Anna and Liana, now turned in unison toward the young man standing perfectly relaxed and radiating something that made every one of them pause.
"Who is this kid?" one of the black-armored soldiers growled.
"Doesn't matter. Remove him before he—"
The sentence never finished. Dex raised one hand slightly. The air in the room pulsed. A burst of wind slammed into the two nearest mages and sent them crashing into the wall like cloth caught in a gale.
"There are three things in this world you should never disturb" Dex stepped forward, his voice calm and precise. "The first is someone who is sleeping"
A swordsman charged at him, blade lit with a thin thread of aura, movements quick and deliberate. Dex only exhaled. With a snap of his fingers, a spinning current wrapped around the swordsman's feet. The floor might as well have been made of ice. "The second is someone who is in the middle of speaking." The soldier lost his footing completely and tumbled into a cluster of mages who were already mid-incantation.
Two other mages raised their hands. Dozens of fireballs bloomed in the air and came screaming toward Dex.
He lifted his palm. The air condensed into a transparent barrier. The fireballs detonated against it, sparks scattering in every direction before being swallowed by the surrounding vortex. "And the third is someone who is eating. You absolute idiots." The residual heat reversed direction and swept back toward its casters, scorching robes and skin alike.
Dex released a volley of wind arrows, sending them cutting through the room. Several soldiers deflected them cleanly, but before they could regroup, a concussive wind blast erupted from the center of the room, dropping several of them where they stood and hurling the rest backward.
"Who is he?" one of the soldiers gasped, staggering.
Liana didn't fully understand what had just happened, but she drew her sword without hesitation and moved to fight alongside him.
Dex stepped lightly onto a table, his hair lifting in the currents around him. He swept his gaze across every remaining pursuer in the room and offered a thin smile. "People with absolutely no manners"
Three swordsmen rushed him at once, blades flashing, steel cutting the air. But before they could close the distance, Dex drove his arm downward.
The pressure struck the floor and detonated outward, launching tables and chairs into the enemy like projectiles. Wood splintered and flew, fragments driving into faces and shoulders.
One mage tried again with an earth technique, driving a stone pillar up through the floor directly beneath Dex. Dex simply bent his knees, pushed off with a burst of wind beneath him, and launched himself upward like a fired round. His foot connected squarely with the mage's face. The man crumpled and did not get up.
The restaurant was in ruins. Tables overturned, glass shattered, the air thick with dust and smoke.
Dex stood in the middle of it all. His breathing was steady. His eyes were cold. "Damn. I'm absolutely starving"
A brief silence.
One mage leaned toward another and whispered, "Since when did Princess Anna have someone like him protecting her?"
The two who remained tried to run. But their feet found no ground. A wind vortex had risen beneath them, lifting them just enough that every step carried them nowhere.
"None of you are walking out of here" Dex raised his hand. The pressure closed in around them from all sides. Blood began to run from the corners of both their eyes as he crushed them with compressed air.
Anna and Liana stood on guard, fully alert. They understood now that the person standing before them was extraordinarily powerful, someone who had just held off dozens of Adept and Practitioner-level mages and warriors alone.
Even so, Anna felt something closer to unease than relief. It was a reasonable thing to feel. A stranger had appeared from nowhere and stepped into the middle of their lives, and neither of them had the slightest idea who he was.