Twenty minutes in Triazils is equal to twenty hours in Horizon.


    In the twenty minutes after returning to Hocride, Kamala found a letter on her desk.


    The moment she read it, she knew Orion had to learn about it.


    So she without hesitation stepped into the portal that led to him.


    ''I hope I don''t bother him.''


    Was what she thought.


    She found herself a little ways away from the house. With light steps, she arrived at the house and knocked on the door.


    *Knock* *Knock*


    She heard a woman talk, and then a man.


    "Wait, could this be?"


    "Yes, that can only be Kamala. I''ll go open the door."


    Their voices was faint, but she managed to hear them.


    Orion opened the door for her and welcomed her in.


    "Hello, Kamala. Come inside."


    "Hello, Orion."


    She felt weird because it was only twenty minutes for her since she saw him, while it was a day for him.


    They greeted each other, before Orion led her to the living room.


    The three girls greeted each other too, and Kamala sat on a confortable armchair.


    "Why did you visit? It''s only been twenty minutes on the other side isn''t?"


    Orion always looked at the hourglass on his bedside when he woke up. The gift he received from the woman merchant was really important to him, for many purpose.


    One of them was to know how much time passed in Triazils while being in Horizon.


    "Yes, I didn''t expected to see you so soon either, but something was on my desk when I came back. Timothy said that it arrived an hour after attacking Kaios."


    Kamala showed the letter she was holding.


    "A letter? Does it have something to do with me?"


    She closed her eyes.


    ''His cautiousness is always working.''


    With a smile on her face, she explained.


    "It may be something you have to know. Read it, and see for yourself."


    She handed over the letter to Karteira, who passed it to Orion.


    He took out the letter out and opened it.


    ''It''s from Florian?''


    He began to read it.


    -


    "Dear Kamala,


    I hope you are well.


    This letter was written in a hurry, so please forgive how short it is.


    A major incident is happening in Lahro currently, and I am taking care of it at the moment.


    Recently, there has been murders in the city, focusing on the rare and protected male of the Lamia faction.


    I''ve managed to pinpoint the criminals with careful observations and deductions, and am going to attack them, while protecting the remaining males.


    Let me say this, I never expected the situation to turn this bad.


    The ones doing this are two of our ranks, friends of the now dead Kiel. Julian and Leonis both has been targeting this city in the shadows after I''ve recovered the rights to rule over Lahro.


    I don''t think I''ll be able to kill both of them, but I''ll at least get one of them.


    This letter was not a request for help, in any shape or form.


    I''ve simply written a letter to each of you in case something happened to me, but that shouldn''t happen.


    Anyway, I hope to see you in the future.


    P.S. Could you send more news from you? We''re all getting worried hearing from you.


    Your friend, Florian Delur."


    -


    "Hmm. Murders in Lahro. And from two Apostles at that."


    "What?!"


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Amelia exclaimed after hearing Orion''s words.


    "Here."


    He handed over the letter to Amelia, who immediately began to read it.


    Karteira wasn''t really interested. She would follow him anywhere at this point.


    "What do you think about it?"


    Kamala asked him, worried about his response.


    "This might be the lead I was looking for. I tried to use the ring for new apparitions of corruption, but there was no reaction at all, which means that the world is safe from corruption. Ivan was the source of it to begin with."


    "Until another large source of corruption appear, I can''t rely on the ring''s ability."


    He crossed his arms, thinking of his options.


    ''We have to go to Bandir at some point, but now that we learned about that situation in Lahro, it might be best to move there first.''


    Amelia finished reading the letter, and closed it.


    "Why didn''t you ever told them you were being attacked by another Apostle too?"


    Taken by surprise, Kamala remained silent.


    "I''m sorry, I didn''t mean to pressure you into answering. It was a random thought of mine, pay it no mind."


    Amelia apologized gracefully, to which Kamala finally answered.


    "You don''t have to apologize. You know how I am, I didn''t want to depend on my newly made friends for something like this."


    Orion finished her sentence.


    "And you felt that it was unfair to ask them anything at this point?"


    She silently nodded.


    "..."


    Having her answer, Amelia pondered on that.


    ''I kind of know this feeling. Not wanting to depend on them when you don''t know about their own situations.''


    ''Also, with the distance between the cities, it might have been too late at that point.''


    ''Noctelagia is on the other side of the continent, Turric is way to far south, and Albriar is currently at war with two Apostles. She would have remained alone to deal with this anyway.''


    Seemingly reading her mind, Kamala spoke a truth that froze everyone''s blood on the spot.


    "Yes, without you three, I would be dead before our first meeting. I would have died during our fight against Ivan if not for Orion too."


    "If not for you, my future would have been reduced to nothing, and my city and citizens trampled."


    "For that, I will always be grateful."


    She bowed as much as she could, to show her sincerity, to which Orion answered with his own honesty.


    "I don''t regret saving you, and I think they will be pretty happy to learn about your well-being now?"


    She straightened and agreed to his words.


    "I''ll write a letter to each of them after this."


    She broke away from her past, thanks to Orion. Now was the time to take care of present, and think of the future.


    "But Orion, are you going to do something about this?"


    Amelia flapped the letter in her hand, catching his attention.


    "I don''t think he will need help, but I''m thinking about going to see him. We have to avoid any damage made to the remaining factions as much as possible, and these murders are a sign that someone want the Lamia faction to be decimated."


    Karteira, who didn''t read the letter, had to ask because she couldn''t understand.


    "Why are they being decimated? You talked about murders, but what does it have to do with a few people and a whole faction?"


    Orion looked at her, a darkness in his eyes that took her by surprise.


    "They are killing the males of the Lamias, who are rare to begin with. They are already on the brink of extinction with their low male birth rate, so killing them is like sending them to a slow extinction process, where they will slowly watch each other die until the last one finally die too."


    She understood what that meant, because of the fairies'' past. They went almost extinct from being hunted down for their materials.


    "And you can''t let that happen, right?"


    Orion nodded.


    "Until I''ve found the Remnant that created the Lamias, they have to be protected."


    The one who created the Lamia faction was Velridar, unknowing to Orion and the girls. Only Tiohr-nam, Dramia, and Drania knew about that fact. Other Remnants knew of course, but they weren''t currently known by anyone at this point.


    "I see. Then I''ll follow you."


    Karteira approved of their next stop, feeling a sense of familiarity with the Lamias.


    "Then it''s decided, we''ll go to Lahro next."


    And just like that, thanks to Kamala, their next path was ready for them.


    "When do we depart?"


    Great surprise and sadness appeared on Kamala''s face when she heard those words.


    ''I knew they would leave at some point, but that''s quite sudden.''


    ''That''s how it is for them, moving from places to places, to accomplish their goals.''


    She shared many good memories this them from her month of training.


    In Triazils, only three days happened between Orion arriving to Hocride, and him killing Ivan for good. But she happened to know him for more than that.


    They helped her so much, yet she felt that she herself help them so little.


    "Not yet. We''ll take our time in here for a few days, before moving toward Lahro. Let''s buy supplies today, before moving tomorrow."


    This eased her emotions slightly, knowing that she would be able to share time with they a bit longer with them.


    ''I never expected to get so friendly with someone else. I thought I wasn''t worth it, that it wasn''t authorized for me to be friendly, because of what happened.''


    Kamala was thinking a lot, while the three in front of her were happily making plans on what to buy and were to go.


    ''But they made me think otherwise.''


    ''Orion, he single-handedly made me accept my past, something that followed me constantly in every choices I made so far.''


    ''Amelia, who always knew what to say and what not to. She is honest, but pretty reserved, reading the mood to not affect others with her sharp words.''


    ''And Karteira. Even though I don''t know much about her because all she loves is food and battles, I learned a lot from her concerning the fairies.''


    ''They were all incredibly powerful, and without them, things would have been completely different.''


    Her mind was moving fast, so fast that there was something she had to ask.


    "I-Is it going to be the last time we''re seeing each other?"


    She looked at her hands on her knees, avoiding the gazes of the people in front of her.


    "Why do you think that?"


    The one that answered first was Amelia.


    "Because I don''t know what will happen next. And I don''t want this friendship to end so suddenly."


    "..."


    Orion, Amelia, and Karteira all exchanged a glance, before he decided to tell her.


    "It''s not going to be the last time, or it''s what I planned to begin with."


    He explained to her his plan on building a separate house for guests, because he felt that would be better than having them in his house.


    Telling her about the portal that will stay in her house made her smile brightly.


    "It''s like that, so you don''t have to worry. When we''re inside Horizon, you''ll notice the portal being open. That''s the moment you will be able to join us."


    Karteira added something right after that.


    "But be ready, if you enter, you can expect to join us on training."


    Kamala gulped, remembering the tough training session.


    But she also wanted to become stronger. She had to work on her elements, and recover her lost mastery.


    "I''ll be glad to do that."


    The grin on Karteira''s face was hard to ignore.


    ''Another sparring partner, great!''


    Orion could read her mind like a book. Well, anyone could.


    "Anyway, let''s get out of Horizon. There''s places we have to go right now."


    "Can''t I accompany you?"


    Kamala asked, fearing a rejection.


    "Of course, you know the city better than us, so it''s good to have you with us."


    She smiled and nodded, happy.


    "Oh, but I have to check on the new citizens later on."


    Remembering the rescued people from Kaios, this was her duty to do that.


    "Then we''ll come with you, we have that responsibility too, right Orion?"


    Karteira said, thinking of the baby Orion saved. Unexpectedly, he nodded.


    They chatted a bit more, and finally left their seat.


    Following close to Orion, they walked out of the house, and toward the portal leading to Kamala''s house.


    Once back in Triazils, they began their shopping with Kamala.