Henrietta exited Albriar by herself.


    She had told Kamala and the Remnants of Commerce, Chelsea and Kelsea, to wait for the sign of their departure.


    Putting on a bracelet of pure gold with a crimson ruby etched on it around her right wrist, she nodded.


    After telling the guards to ignore her next action, she aimed the palm of her hand toward the sky.


    A tiny spark of fire formed in front of it, before being fired into the air.


    The small flame traveled rapidly upward, overtaking the entirety of Albriar. Once above the city, the flame exploded into a flower of fire.


    *Boom*


    It looked very similar to fireworks, which made the residents of the city look in awe at the beautiful fire.


    Even the soldiers inside the city observed it without showing signs of moving out.


    Illuminating the night sky, five people looked at the fading red flower, and nodded. All of them then made their way toward the southern gate.


    Fifteen minutes later, the first ones to exit the city appeared.


    "Lord Florian?!"


    "Rest easy. I have some matters to attend to for a few days."


    "Is that so? Will you be fine?"


    The Lord of Albriar smiled at the guard and placed his hand on his shoulder.


    "I have the finest companion by my side. There is no way I wouldn''t."


    Kamala blushed slightly at his words, but looked flattered nonetheless.


    "I understand. Please leave the city to us for now."


    Florian nodded.


    "Everything is in my mother''s hands while I am away. Follow her orders if another invasion happens."


    "We will!"


    The two guards saluted as he walked away with Kamala next to him. Then, he joined Henrietta.


    "Miss Henrietta."


    He removed his glasses and bowed his head in a show of respect.


    "Florian, I am relieved to see you are well."


    "That is thanks to Karteira. Without her, I wouldn''t have survived another day."


    "I will have to thank her later too."


    Kamala said it with a serious face. She wasn''t pleased by the idea of losing Florian so early in their relationship.


    As Florian straightened with a wavering smile, other people walked out of the gate.


    "Henrietta!"


    Chelsea and Kelsea ran toward her with sparkles in their eyes.


    "This was incredible!"


    "We''ve never seen so many businesses and commercial opportunities like these before!"


    The look of awe in their eyes showed her that what they had seen in Albriar was enough to satisfy their nature as Remnants of Commerce.


    "I see, those two are the Remnants Kamala spoke about earlier."


    With a nod, Florian looked at the twins.


    "Owner of the Flying Fish Inn, located in Hocride, Chelsea."


    "Owner of the Flying Fish Inn, located in Hocride, Kelsea."


    Both suddenly straightened, adjusted their suits, and turned into business mode.


    "It is a pleasure to meet the Lord of Albriar./ It is a pleasure to meet the Lord of Albriar."


    Showing respect worthy of being the owners of an inn, they bowed forward.


    "Likewise. There is no greater pleasure for a man than to meet a Remnant. I should be the one bowing in front of you."


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Henrietta stepped in at this point.


    "Not all Remnants require others to revere them. Besides a few of us who are capable of fighting, people like Chelsea and Kelsea tend to stay hidden, for good reasons."


    Nodding, Florian looked at Henrietta with a serious expression.


    "I understand. Nonetheless, it is an honor to be in your presence."


    Then, after making his point, he asked the question.


    "I heard from Kamala that you were looking for a Remnant in Albriar. Were you able to find them?"


    Crossing her arms, Henrietta chose not to answer his question.


    "Hahaha~"


    Florian took it pretty well, turning his head to the southern gate.


    "That was a rather stupid question to ask."


    An individual walked out of the gate with a large book in his hands.


    A frail-looking man, with glaring determination in his eyes.


    "Keleanos."


    Chelsea opened her eyes wide.


    "It is really him..."


    Kelsea''s mouth trembled for a moment.


    Both were relieved to see the man alive after all these years without hearing of his situation.


    "Oh. I had no idea the Remnants of Commerce were also in this city. I thought they would be waiting in another area."


    Keleanos stopped in front of the twins, and smiled gently.


    "Are you perhaps unhappy to see us?"


    "Of course not! In fact, I am glad to see that you haven''t changed. In a way, I feel


    relieved."


    He shook his head without hesitation, making sure they knew he wasn''t lying.


    Henrietta smiled, then looked at Florian.


    "This is Keleanos, the Remnant of Agriculture and Craftsmanship."


    "I see. I had no idea someone as important as him was in my city."


    Without a second thought, Florian approached Keleanos.


    "Excuse me."


    Catching the attention of the Remnant, Florian swallowed hard.


    "Yes? Lord Florian of Albriar."


    A faint smile formed on Keleanos''s face.


    "Thank you very much for what you have done for us."


    Bowing even lower than when he had joined Henrietta, Florian continued, while Keleanos looked rather lost.


    "Learning that the Remnant was staying in our city is an honor I am far beyond worth receiving."


    "If I am not mistaken, the famine being a subject of the past is most likely thanks to your actions; am I wrong in believing so?"


    Keleanos scratched the back of his head bashfully.


    "N-No. You are not wrong."


    Florian straightened, placed his glasses back on his face, and carefully stepped toward him.


    After getting close enough, Florian extended his hand in front of him.


    "Then, please accept my heartfelt thanks. What you have done is greater than all the actions I have taken since becoming Lord of these lands."


    Weirdly, Keleanos was unable to ignore the man in front of him. There was no way such a humble person could be ignored.


    What''s more, Florian seemed to be genuinely glad to have met him.


    With Keleanos'' mind refusing to disrespect Florian, he grabbed the hand offered to him.


    "T-Thank you. Now I understand why everyone speaks of you so enthusiastically."


    The two men shared a moment of silence, while the surrounding women smiled warmly.


    "Alright, before the sun rises, we have to find someone else."


    Henrietta waited for their hands to break away, before returning to the business she had with them.


    "Wait, Henrietta! First, I want to ask something."


    "What is it, Kelsea?"


    "Where are the other Remnants? If it''s you, you probably know."


    All Chelsea and Kelsea knew was that they were looking for Keleanos. Nothing else.


    "Right, I was wondering that also."


    Keleanos stepped forward and joined the twins.


    "..."


    She pondered for a moment, but rapidly made a point of not keeping it secret from them.


    "First, you know that Tetra is out of the picture."


    "Yes."


    The three nodded.


    "Silka is dead. Corruption destroyed his body, with his source being in Tiohr-nam''s hands."


    "!"


    Shock settled on their faces, showing how unprepared they were.


    "Who else... is dead?"


    "Kagalkan."


    "Oh..."


    They really weren''t expecting so many of their old acquaintances to be gone.


    "Still, there is a possibility we''ll get help from his successor."


    "So his source wasn''t lost?"


    "No. It''s in the hands of Elliott."


    "I see."


    Keleanos and the twins showed very little reaction to his name. Since Henrietta explained what had happened during their battle against Miasma to them, they already knew that he was somehow trustworthy nowadays.


    "Also... Valeria."


    "She''s gone?!/ No way!"


    Chelsea and Kelsea both spoke together, this time in wholly different sentences, indicating how troubling that news was to them.


    "Valeria... This is troublesome."


    Keleanos frowned heavily.


    "You should know that she has a daughter, whom Orion adopted recently."


    "A daughter? Did she inherit her source?"


    Henrietta nodded at his question.


    "Then-"


    "I wouldn''t count on asking for her support. Stella is far too young to be teaching anyone, and, she doesn''t possess the knowledge of the Valkyrie."


    She also frowned seriously.


    "There''s also the fact that the elementals dragged her into their realms. We have no way to get her back."


    "This is a frustrating matter."


    Sighing in frustration, Henrietta recalled what Olivia said. Her sketchbook was left behind, with no trace of the young girl anywhere in the area.


    "..."


    They all kept quiet, feeling that Henrietta''s emotions were rather unusual for her. They were persuaded that she had grown attached to the girl, and they weren''t wrong.


    "You''ve said Tiohr-nam, but is she fine?"


    "She is. In fact, we''re going to bring her along."


    Saying that, Henrietta quickly finished with the most important individual.


    "Then, we''ll have to ask her where to find..."


    "Heto."


    A heavy mood fell on the group.


    "Heto... are you sure?"


    "Who knows what could happen around him?"


    The twins frowned.


    "Yes, I am sure. We need him."


    Henrietta turned around, and looked at Kamala and Florian.


    "Would you please bring Eric to Horizon later? We''re going to look for someone... dangerous."


    "Sure."


    Kamala agreed without hesitation.


    "Then, let us return to Horizon. You three, follow me."


    ...


    Six people walked out of the portal leading to Albriar.


    Inside the portal hub building, Keleanos quietly looked around him.


    "Gateways to other places on the continent. This is incredible."


    The room had arches etched into the wall, where portals were placed to represent doors.


    The wooden floor and roofing suggested that they were inside a building, but they were unable to see outside of it.


    "This place is not on Triazils. It is another plane of existence, created by Orion after discovering void magic."


    After adding to his remark, Henrietta turned to the two humans.


    "I leave the rest to you. I''ll speak to you at his house later."


    "Be careful."


    Florian said this before Kamala, and he walked toward the portal leading to Turric.


    After watching them be swallowed by the rift in the wall, Henrietta turned around.


    "Let''s go talk to Tiohr-nam..."


    With a resolute face, she led the way out of the building, while the other three silently followed.