„And what are you up to do next?" Eaden asked. "Are you gonna go on another mission now?" Ichiro shook his head. "No, I think I'll take a time out. I want to stay at home for a while now, I guess." Eaden nodded. "Well, I think Homura will appreciate that.", "Sure she will." Ichiro smiled. "By the way... I didn't knew you passed the S- Class- Trial, Eaden." Eaden laughed. "Yeah... I did it one month ago. It wasn't easy, I can say." Ichiro gave her a bride smile. "Congrats." Then he folded his arms behind his head. "By the way.... On my way back, I blew up some Shiver Dragon guys.", "You've seen them too?" Raze asked. "Yeah... Do they hang around Nohana more often now?", "Yeah, seems like that... Tomoko has seen them as well and she got attacked by them." Eaden said. "That's infuriating. They are a great danger for dealer and tourists... I guess someone should keep an eye on them." Ichiro recommended. "Alright, I'm going to do that." Eaden decided. "As Nohana's guild, we are supposed to protect the town's people and visitors.", "Good." Ichiro nodded. "Well... then, I'm going to rest. Have a nice day further." Ichiro went off. Eaden looked at Raze. "I'm going as well. Tell Homura about it, okay?", "Sure. Come back alive." She boxed Eaden on her shoulder with a bride smile. Eaden giggled. "I'll do my best, don't worry. Well then, I'm off!" Eaden turned around and left the guild hall. Raze looked at Tomoko. "Well... seems like we have to tell Homura much more than just the result of our mission. Are you coming?", "Eh.... Yes, I'm coming." Tomoko nodded and followed Raze upstairs to the room of master Homura.
When Homura called them in, her hair was red. Tomoko's face was confused. "Wasn't her hair blonde when I saw her the first time?" she whispered to Raze. "Yeah, that's correct. Homura's hair- and eye colour changes sometimes, that's a consequence of her magic." she murmured back. Then, she looked into Homura's face. "Hello, master Homura.", "Raze, I think you want to tell me about your mission?" she asked. Raze nodded. "Japp! It went very well, the Summoner Spirit was banned and little Tomoko here did her very best!" She patted on Tomoko's back. Tomoko turned red and looked into another direction. "So, no further accidents with your magic, Tomoko?" Homura demanded. "W- well... It went out of control, but Raze helped me holding it back..." She stuttered. "Well, that sounds good, doesn't it?" Homura asked. "Y- yeah, but..." Tomoko started to play with her fingers. "You have to learn how to get your magic under control without help." Homura said. "Sure, you can rely on your comrades, but there sometimes comes a time when they all are knocked down. Then, no one could lend you his or her power. So, Tomoko, I'll teach you that tomorrow, is that okay?", "Eh... s-sure." She nodded. "Fine." Homura nodded. "Homura, there are more things I have to tell you." Raze look became serious. "Eaden went off to keep an eye on Shiver Dragon. Their members get closer to Nohana. Ichiro came back today and told us he also saw them." Homura nodded again. "That's no good news." She stood up. "We're worried about that those thieves start to attack the town's people." Raze explained. "I can totally understand that. Well, seems I have to send a message to Shiver Dragon's master to keep his thugs away from Nohana, or he gets in serious trouble." Her look was deadly. "Thanks for informing me, Raze, I'll take care about this now. I'm not willed to let a Dark Guild stretching its fingers out to our villagers." With those words, she left the room. "She really cares for the villager's safety." Raze said. "Tomoko, I'll show you your room now.", "Room?" Tomoko looked at her confused. "Yes. Come, follow me." Raze leaded her downstairs. She walked straight towards the bar. Next to it, Tomoko saw a door. "That door... Is it a side entrance?", "Jup." Raze opened the door and left the guild hall. Tomoko followed her quickly. Next to the door, there was a big grass field, as big as a football pitch. "What is that?" Tomoko asked while going past it. "That's our training field. At the weekend, we often hold little tournaments." She smiled. Then, they walked around the corner of the guild, straight towards another building. "What you can see there is the home of the guild members. There are many rooms inside, for every guild member one." She opened the door of the building and went inside of it. The ground was carpeted by a red carpet. A big chandelier hung down the ceiling. On the left and the right of the hallway, there were wooden doors. Signs stuck on those doors. The name of the room's owner was written on the sign.
Finally, Raze and Tomoko arrived at a door were no sign was on yet. "This is your room. Feel like home. I'll bring your sign soon, don't worry. The rooms are pretty comfortable, so yeah..." She smiled. "Our evening dinner starts in half an hour. I'll recommend you to come because Homura wants everybody to participate. So don't fall asleep!" She smiled. "Understood. Thank you, Raze. Eh... do we have to hire those rooms?", "Are you silly? Of course not." She laughed. "You get this room for free. Sounds nice, doesn't it?", "Yeah, that's really fine!", "Well, then, I'll leave you for now. Don't worry, those doors are imposed by a Scanner Spell, so no one without the Dark Rose Emblem can enter it." Then, she turned around and left. Tomoko opened the wooden door to her room. She was surprised. Inside of the room, there was a soft carpet. Two cupboards were inside of it. One was filled with books. The room had a chimney, a big window and a bed. As well, there was a table and an armchair. "This looks so nice....!" She said. "Never expected something like this..." A clock was hanging on the wall. Tomoko walked to the window and looked out on the guild's beautiful rose garden. The wind was shaking them slightly. Her heart was beating faster. "This... I already love it to be in this guild, although it has a sad background story..." Then, she looked up into the blue sky. "If you would see me now, Zyaqua... Would you be proud of me?"
Half an hour later, Tomoko went back into the guild hall. Nearly all members were already there. The only ones Tomoko didn't see yet were Eaden and Ichiro. Tomoko discovered Raze at a table, together with Annika. She went to them. "Hey!", "Tomoko, you're in time." Raze smiled. "Come, sit down." Tomoko nodded and sat down next to her. "Raze... I have a question. You're a Dragon Slayer, so you may not laugh at me." She said. "Do you believe in dragons?", "What?" Raze looked at her. "Whether I believe in dragons? Sure I do..." She smiled. "I was raised by one, named Garuga. He taught me how to use Ice Dragon Slayer Magic.", "You met a dragon too?" Tomoko stared at her. "Why "too"?" Raze demanded. "My teacher... I told you about him... was a dragon, called Zyaqua. But... she suddenly disappeared..." Raze said nothing for a while. She just stared at Tomoko's face. "Did she disappear on the 7.7.77?" she asked. "Y- yeah, that's correct." Tomoko nodded. "So... That dragon you're talking about... is one of the others..." Raze look suddenly was serious. "Garuga disappeared on that date as well." She explained. "And so did the ones of the other Dragon Slayers.", "So... there were more dragons?" Tomoko asked. "Yes, there were. But no one knows where they've gone too. That's discouraging..." She put her hands on the table top. "I just don't understand that one fact. Normally, dragons teach us to use their magic. But so far as I remember, you don't possess Dragon Slayer Magic.", "That's right." Tomoko answered. "But... there is something weird. Something that Zyaqua said back then." She tried to remember. "She said something like: "Gemstone Make is not the only power you possess. There's another, more powerful force inside your heart that will awake someday." I don't know what she wanted to say with that..."