"An hour." Jyuzou pondered, and the same spoke of Morio's expression. An hour supposedly passed and the words kept chiming in, especially after another flew by with them moving through Westling.

The paths were made of colourful trees, brown leaves flying by with the reds and oranges politely mixing within the still breeze. Mountains stretched before the horizon, and the Dear landscape painted their tops a thin white.

Such meant they were right on the trope, treading back through the thoroughfare Morio earlier marked, right into Taigase. Ponies strung to ropes and with saddles on their backs, they sped the two's journey up, but not necessarily by a long shot.

Most of that was simply due to the time they took conversing about nothing.

"I'd find a good enough reason to spend an hour in that coup. You, though?" Jyuzou turned. "Hehe. No way!"

"Is this another creative way of calling me stupid?" Morio squinted, petting the pony with one hand.

"Even if, seriously, Morio. An hour near the waters without a map to draw or something to ponder over would make you die of boredom." he fixed his glasses.

"I was explicit enough, wasn't I? I have a theory, but you wouldn't want to hear it anyway!"

"Didn't you call it-"

"A dream, or whatever! I still don't know what was real or not."

"Considering you tend to go into stories into your head." Jyuzou sighed, slowing down. "I'll bite."

Morio took a deep breath, turning back, as the sun cascaded over the hilltops. Furrowed brows, he clenched something below his sleeve.

"Ever heard of Frisks?" he asked.

"Your surname? I know what Mor and Rio stand for but-" Jyuzou shook his head.

"Not that, four-eyes!" he turned the pony around. "Well, that's what also caught me off-guard. I felt what I heard was some stupid lie by a demon that tried to deceive me."

"Heard?" Jyuzou's expression eased out.

"This is gonna sound ridiculous. You know the Overgrown Statue that Atomu once mentioned?"

"Surely. Even Rowan had a story to tell about Chyuuichi falling into the rivers."

"Considering the same thing happened to me..."

Jyuzou chuckled.

"DON'T LAUGH!" he pointed, and Jyuzou raised an open palm. "I found it too, and there was some wind coming from whatever cave entrance was hidden inside. I tried to wander in before a hand stuck out from behind and dragged me inside!"

Jyuzou's expression shifted.

"Then, I was suddenly flying against a waterfall, going up into some rainbows before another arm reached from above and pushed me onto the cliff. It told me it was named a Frisk, and..." Morio gulped. "Said I was not ready for something. I was pushed out, and you found me right there."

The white-haired Morian turned, before finding Jyuzou giggling at the side.

"B-Bastard!"

"Y-You sure it wasn't a dream in the end? Going up a waterfall, seriously?" he asked between laughs. "Not physically possible!"

"Damn it, Jyuzou! When I woke up, I had this in my hand!"

Morio triumphantly raised his hand, with the dark twig rolling out from beneath his sleeve.

The other turned open mouth, seemingly in shock.

"I d-don't know the jest of it, but it must be a wand-"

Jyuzou dropped to the ground, with heaps of extremely loud laughter permeating the area. Seemed like he didn't seem to care for the few swallows and alike flying away elsewhere at the moment.

Morio puffed out, fixing his cloak, before advancing further, forcing the pony to stampede a little faster. The rocks below pointed towards a few arches in the road, forming a rather quiet dip between the grasses.

Although the area itself wasn't named, it had a lot of stories to tell, mainly, of any louder noises always being hushed. Although that came from a witchtale, it almost always rang true.

During the Second War, it was here where some of the stronger demons dragged the mayor of Taigase to ensure his scream wasn't heard to alert the groups waiting at the edges of Westling.

Morio wasn't sure, however. Jyuzou's laugh might've been heard, but following this rule, his scream would have been silenced if he decided to choke him for all that, although he promised otherwise.

Alas, he kept silent, perhaps more mature, and it was Jyuzou bending those words again.

"Oi, Morio, wait!" he raised his voice, before eventually catching up.

Eventually, the landscape transformed, shifting the arch-like views into a sight resembling a much smaller version of Oldenklow. A bit of Taigase climbed upon a hill, with a chunk of houses present in the mountains, and while the firsts were coated in browns and alike, the rest of town was composed of oranges, and even crimson in a few cases.

The white-haired Morian's thoughts tried to escape the situation and speed up even faster than he was already straining the pony to do so. One glance at Jyuzou revealed yet another poor attempt at holding back a massive choke of laughter, and with a few sighs later, the other Morian finally spoke up.

"Okay, I'm sorry." he shook his hands around. "But... a wand? I-It's just another twig. Probably fell on your head."

"Can we move on...?" Morio quietly proposed.

"Right..." Jyuzou breathed in, still chuckling a bit. "Sorry. I admit though, the hour you spent gave me enough time to seek my answer." he fixed his glasses.

"Think through if I wanna listen to it." Morio raised a finger.

"Of course, since it benefits you! Ever heard of how people in Outer Errarion move around the few cities near the Mygoss island?"

"Mygoss. Bancho mentioned something once. Snake-like fish?"

"Snishes, to be precise!" he raised a finger. Morio groaned, slowing down from pure exhaustion. "Did you know that besides that place it also appears in the Mainland? Sights were spotted of a few migrating families in the Long Path of Silva Tops."

Morio scratched his tired head. One reached into the bag at his side, and he dug out the map of Orawood, with the few paths marked in search of the enkelis. The Overgrown Statue's whereabouts were near where the Long Path started or ended.

"I thought about it thoroughly! Why not search for one to take us through the rivers instead of spending all our money on these same ponies from Taigase? I found a much better thing to pour our Silver into!"

"What does that mean?" Morio immediately turned.

"Now, before you jump to any conclusions, this item right here..." Jyuzou pulled a big, silver compass out of his basket, with an arrow pointing towards Morio. "Cost me only four hundred of the five hundred Silver we had."

Morio's eye twitched.

"...and considering it'll help us find the snishes, we'll no longer need these ponies! Isn't that great, Morio?"

"You... you spent almost all of our money on a compass?!"

Jyuzou cleared his throat. "It was a necessary expense for the future."

Morio jumped forward, and it was now the two of them who broke the unspoken rule of silence.

...and after that, they eventually reached the town in the evening.

If it wasn't for the towers growing left and right, sticking their grey pointy rooftops, most of Taigase resembled Prope Portam. Only without the tents, and... essentially everything that made the other unique but very Paladian in nature. Morio scoffed a day ago, that again, it was nothing interesting to gawk at, and Jyuzou couldn't help but compare the sights to Wendigo.

Instead of drunken Morians, a few Erans and Paladians stumbled, especially near the night. Bars were a given, five minutes away from the main roads and about seven from literally anywhere you'd look. Besides, the usual bunch of entertainment, there were restaurants mixed with houses atop and square, acute roofs in the colour of Lignoria.

Taigase was a port town, strangely enough. It connected to a massive river that Jyuzou thought about when mentioning the snishes, and such eventually spiralled into either Visula or the big gap between Malikan and the Orange Mountains.

As for differences, most houses had rock-like slides going from the top to the bottom, and such was an invention of the first Erans, taking another route from Orawood to find an easier way to tread towards the focal point of, then, Osmania.

Most strange choices came from Erans, unsurprisingly, and that too, stemmed from desperately wanting to be original. Paladians had tents, and even though they were the ones who proposed the idea, everyone clapped. Of course, that meant jealousy, and the leader, Thomas Sailmouth, being the childish fool he was, declared that everything was to be built to house shortcuts.

At first, such didn't seem that bad, but most of these were a convenient way to reach the basement. Alas, Jyuzou concluded that Morio and Thomas would've been great friends since the Morian snuck into a few houses, listening to a few drunken Paladian cheers to the sight of him going up and down, constantly.

Jyuzou sweated, but this time, it seemed the two were too exhausted from their argument to focus on anything other than rest, and potential food beforehand. The beige roads, coated with oaks and birches slaloming against one another led to a big fountain, right next to a wooden arch housing the Pepper Sweater Inn.

Mostly known for its prices and curious conditions, but the food there was something all the other bars could've been jealous of. Morio made the decision, in the end, even though Jyuzou spoke of the poor Paprikan Delights owner desperately trying to get in a few more people than ten for cheaper prices.

Such weren't always the better choice as Morio said, since they could hide something behind their reasoning. Unlike in Wendigo, the main bar was the call, and as Morio added, again, food didn't hide anything he wouldn't like.

Of course, Jyuzou could've mentioned a plethora of stories, but it was already too late to change anything. One came to mind, which the two found mentioning within a few other words spread around town.

Taigase was meant to be a simple checkpoint for the few nights they had to spend here, but that brought an unspoken tension to the mix. Paladians told stories of the Wakon cult gathering right around these parts, and some even spoke of their remnants still present in the shadows.

However, such didn't seem to concern most residents, especially by nightfall, and Morio could've been easily added to the count.

The same thing occurred. A plate of good chunks of meat, since his appetite only increased with age, and Jyuzou ate some Eran vegetables, which weren't good, but cheap.

The argument of snishes and the compass seemed to move elsewhere. If dinners like these continued, they wouldn't have enough money for seeds in Wendigo.

"Twenty Silver left." Jyuzou counted.

"That means we can still order today!" Morio added. "Despite your idiotic decision! Sir, sir!"

"Morio!" Jyuzou shouted, bringing down his raised hand, as he furrowed his brows. Nevertheless, some good grub seemed to force most of the energy back into his body, in turn sucking out what Jyuzou gained from his hearty laughs back then. It always worked like that, strangely enough.

Sighing out, he stared around the tavern. Stairs grew towards the rooms upstairs, and most Paladians took their seats with bowls of meat stuffed into some broth, earlier offered by the Sirs running towards every whim and whatnot, with beers at the sides.

Tables were strung without much of a rule since anything went along. The two found a nice spot in the back, with the window nearby extending towards the landscape of the distant river. Jyuzou stared at that, then, and eventually met Morio's gaze, as he already seemed to have calmed down.

Swallowing another bite, he pushed the now empty plate forward. "You gonna eat your bowl?"

"Yes," Jyuzou answered.

"Shucks." Morio pointed down, sighing. "I may have said a few things about Lignoria but I gotta admit, the food fills you up!" he patted his stomach, with a smile. "Great idea, wasn't it?"

"I'm still more fond of what I proposed earlier. Orawood is full of plenty of nutritional-"

Morio slammed his head onto the table.

"What's the point of asking, then?" Jyuzou shrugged before his eyes locked with something, or rather, someone on the other end of the inn.

"Fruits can never make up for meat. The same goes with your snishes and our reliable ponies!" Morio nodded. "Five hundred Silver we had... and you spent it on some compass!"

The other didn't answer, and the Morian eventually turned towards him.

Jyuzou put a hand on his shoulder, forcing him to turn.

A person coated in a black cloak shifted, pulling their beer over and something else hidden behind the extending darkness.

"Who's that?" Morio asked.

"I'd answer if I knew. His presence doesn't fit here."

Morio squinted, moving a little closer, nonchalantly. "Man, he hasn't even had a sip of that beer! What a waste of Silver that we're never getting back..."

"Are you talking about him or me?"

Morio stared for a while longer before his eyes widened. He gasped, quietly.

Jyuzou tilted his head, curious.

The white-haired Morian turned, before forcing his eyes onto the window. Everything could've happened outside, but much like with his earlier claims, he only stared at what he knew.

His reflection.

Morio slowly pulled Gloria out of its sheath, and as Jyuzou's eyes drifted, the hooded figure moved, almost standing up.

"Knew it," Morio muttered, before standing up.

"M-Morio!" Jyuzou reached his hand out, as the other Morian trod over. Palm pulled on the full pint of beer, as his childlike expression suggested both curiosity and some caution.

"Nice catch, kid," he spoke, moving back a little. "Thought you'd never notice."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Morio accented, loudly, as the other Morian ran over, grabbing his hand.

"W-We're sorry to interrupt you!" he bowed. "Morio!" he smacked the other's head.

"It's my pleasure, in all honesty." he shook his head. "Rare seeing another Demonear strung about."

The two glanced at each other before their gazes focused on the candle atop.