Seira’s arrival in Era was quiet, unsuspecting and lonely. Night had fallen, the city was asleep. The young woman hushed through the woods with quiet steps and barely made a sound. She did not wish to alert anyone—human or animal—and silently moved through the forest until she arrived in a fairly familiar area of the town; the place where she grew up and spent her entire childhood. Seira’s family home, once a beautiful, white mansion, large and pompous, had almost completely turned to ashes. Little was left of the once so beautiful building and no one had lived here for many years. The new born vampyre rarely sought its presence to rest and indulge in memories. It was one of those days where she wished she still had her mother and her maids to guide her, assist her and take care of her and although she used to be merely a child when she still had those people in her life, Seira could not help but to miss them sometimes. Every so often she thought of them and every memory was a fond one. Era wasn’t a place she visited very often, mostly because of that reason. Seira was weak when she was close to home, even a little sad. She was just a girl after all and even with the change of her race, which she had been struggling with for quite some time now, the female vampire still felt sentimental—which was a good sign, she supposed. She hadn’t lost all of her humanity yet and even in spite of the changes to her body, strange features that became more present over time, she still, in a way, felt like herself.

Seira’s facial features were sharper now, more mature. Her eyes were no longer big and round, but more cat like, the look on her face was stern and serious. She felt more beautiful at least, her body became more feminine and she had even grown a little bit taller. Altogether the change wasn’t too significant, but Seira couldn’t help but notice that her new appearance was far more fitting for a vampyre than her old, doll-like appearance that she used to have. Furthermore, her hair had significantly darkened and the silvery lilac became a beautiful, deep purple. It was gorgeous and she absolutely loved it, but it was beyond her how a transformation like that affected someone’s hair colour. She didn’t mind if, of course, and very much enjoyed her new, more ‘mature’ self. Seira planned on finding a job in Era before moving on, probably to Magnolia Town where she had been heading to in first place. Magnolia was the perfect place to get back into society and start practicing in her new life as a vampyre and most importantly, it could also help her learn more about herself. Magnolia Town was one of the few places where she actually felt at home and knowing that the city had a large library surely did help her with her case.

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She had to study what she was in order to understand how she had to act in front of humans now. It was strange to think that she was no longer a part of them, a “human” but she was going to get used to that eventually. She should be panicking much more, of course, and Seira knew that eventually she would be but for now, while her transformation was still happening, she had time to process and she would use that time as wisely as possible. Era was a great place to spend some time and get involved and in case something went wrong she needed to hoard some money, since money was after all one of the most important things in this world still. Seira went inside the empty, and halfway burned down building and climbed up into the first floor, where she entered a somewhat intact room that had a mattress on the floor, which was covered in plastic, as well as some blankets. It was a poor sight to behold, truly and usually this wasn’t what she did but Seira wanted to spend time at home and even after nearly ten years, this was the only place she could still consider a home. Everything else had just been places she visited and traveled to. Not that she was worried about that, Seira loved traveling, but it still felt good to be home once in awhile. She calmly unpacked everything (Seira fortunately had her ways of keeping her belongings clean) and laid herself down to rest for the night. She decided to sleep now and stroll through the city the next day. Seira fell asleep quickly, just as the sun was rising on the horizon and she slept until afternoon, when the midday’s sun had already past and the weather wasn’t as hot anymore. It was summer after all. When Seira woke up she got ready for the day and visited Era Town. With the sun not all the way up in the sky anymore, during this time of the day, she didn’t feel as uncomfortable as she otherwise did and visiting the city wasn’t really a problem. Era was quite unusual compared to other places. The sheer amount of Rune Knights present made it a ridiculous sight for anyone who wasn’t from here and although Seira was used to this sort of thing, she felt a bit uncomfortable now that she was no longer considered a human—not that she had done anything bad or wrong, but it was an eerie feeling nonetheless. Even though Seira had technically left Era a long time ago, her family was still relatively well known simply due to the fact of what had happened to them almost a decade ago and people were aware that Seira had been the only survivor and was now travelling the world as a mage. With that in mind, it didn’t come to her as a surprise when she was approached by someone while walking down the street.

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It was a youthful and shy looking man, most likely around Seira’s age, give or take a few, and by his wardrobe she could tell that he was a messenger. Being a messenger was an awkward job indeed since you had to approach random people, make sure they were the right ones and address them by their proper name and all that. Most messengers didn’t know all of their clients and targets personally, so Seira could understand when he spoke to her in a very meekly manner, almost appearing a bit unsure about whether or not he was with the right person. “Excuse me, is this Miss Seira Navillera?” She gave him a smile and nodded. “Yes,” Seira responded softly, “How may I help you?” The man’s face displayed relief. “Ah, thank goodness. I wasn’t sure, you looked different on the picture I was given. Younger.. and did you dye your hair?” The girl laughed. “Yes, I used magic. I will be keeping it this way from now on, permanently. You may change your information to reflect these changes.” Fortunately she didn’t have to explain to him that people did, in fact, grew up and more mature. “Either way,” he waved his hand in a dismissive manner, “I am a messenger of the Magic Council, but I’m sure you knew that already. You were spotted entering Era last night by the Rune Knights and Lieutenant Awadin requires your immediate assistance with a pressing matter! He asks you to meet him at the 8-Season restaurant, which is just down the street. It’s a job, Miss Navillera. Do you wish to accept?”

A sigh escaped her lips and Seira nodded slowly. That name was all too familiar to her. Marin Awadin was an older Rune Knight who was respected by his fellow Rune Knights. He was known to seek out mages among the city to help him with quests and he was, generally speaking, a good person. Justice and peace were constantly on his mind and Seira knew that she had nothing to fear from him. The girl was most likely listed as a citizen and a mage of Era Town and her being born here implied that she knew the place well, which made her an even more suitable fit when it came to missions. Seira, who was on the lookout for money anyways, accept the job of course and walked down to the 8-Season restaurant where Lieutenant Awadin was already waiting for her. He wasn’t alone, but instead with a few other Rune Knights and 5 other people were sitting with him as well. He seemed impatient and relieved when he saw that Seira had finally arrived. “Lieutenant Awadin,” she greeted him politely and bowed to the man who immediately stood up to return the greeting. “Miss Navillera, it is good to see you. Thank you so much for coming here so quickly, I am in desperate need of the help of a mage who is somewhat familiar with Era. Please take a seat.”

[1508/3000]

He leaned over the table and Seira noticed that the five other people present, who weren’t part of the Rune Knights (she could tell so by their lack of uniform), were in the back and most likely neither of them was able to listen to what they were discussing. “There is concern that a young child, a girl named Lisa, has been kidnapped. As you can probably tell, something outrageous and awful like that rarely happens in a place that is filled with justice and military, just like Era, and I need to find out more to potentially safe her life. This has the highest priority right now! Those five people are my current suspects but it seems that my Rune Knight can’t get much out of them. They seem to be frightened by their sheer presence, but I do need the information. Perhaps you, a young lady, could help.” Seira could totally understand where he was coming from. Not only did she look much more trustworthy and inviting than those armoured men, she was also not part of his unit and basically on neutral ground. “Of course you will be rewarded graciously,” he added, but Seira already knew that the reward would be good. Working for and with the Rune Knights always worked out for her on way or another.

Seira then moved over to another table and the Rune Knights brought the first person along. He was a somewhat old man who looked absolutely clueless. Seira knew that he fit the typical description of a child predator, but after talking to him for awhile it seemed that he was absolutely, and genuinely clueless as to what was going on. He seemed senile at first but once the accusations were clarified, he blatantly made a point by saying that he had absolutely nothing to do with it and that he was not the kidnapper of some young, innocent child. He was merely a pensioner whose wife had passed away 5 years ago and now he was enjoying a quiet life in his small house, where he would occasionally have a barbecue with his family and grandchildren. “So you are saying you don’t know who Lisa is, perhaps a friend of one of your grandkids?” The man shook his head. “I have 5 grandchildren, they never bring any friends with them, they simply play with each other. Please, I did not kidnap this poor girl! Let me leave already.” Seira made some notes and send him away, deciding that it was time for the next person. The second one, a young woman, didn’t fit the typical description of a child predator at all. Especially considering that she was young enough to have her own kids if she wanted to. Maria, that was her name, was well aware of that and visibly upset at the fact that she was basically being held captive. She denied all accusations of having anything to do with the kidnapping and repeatedly stated that she had no interest or use for small girls like Lisa.

[2017/3000]

Maria clarified that she had far worse things to worry about, such as her boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend and paying rent, of course. Seira eventually made some notes, dismissed her and asked for the third person to be brought to her table. The third person was a young man, who was in his own way, stranger than the people before him. Seira could tell immediately that he was absolutely smitten with the Rune Knights and clearly and desperately wanted to be one himself. So much, actually, that he tried his hardest on shifting the suspicion over to the other four people, trying his best to solve the mystery himself. Even though that could all have been an act, his love for the Rune Knights seemed genuine and Seira wouldn’t know why someone who adored the military would commit such an obvious and awful act of crime. His behavior quickly got annoying and his attitude, albeit he meant no harm, was hard to deal with. Seira couldn’t help but feel like he was enjoying the attention he was getting from the knights and was offended when he was forced to talk to her, a neutral person, instead. She eventually send him away after making some notes and asked for the fourth person to be brought to her table. This one was an elderly woman who also didn’t exactly seem to be what they were looking for. Seira seriously began to wonder why she was a suspect in first place, seeing how she seemed more suspicious of the Rune Knights themselves than anything else. Turns out that she wasn’t from Era, not interested in any children and lived with her husband in the outskirts. She sold jam and flowers in a small shop and even went as far as accusing the Rune Knights of the kidnapping and stating that all of this was merely a cover up. While she had a point, Seira didn’t believe that they would have asked a person from the outside to help with the investigation if that was the case and even in spite of all of that, Lieutenant Awadin was a genuine and honest person. He was good at heart, he wouldn’t do such a thing. Seira made notes and asked for the fifth and last person to join her at her table. This one was a shifty looking young man and everything about him screamed “suspicious”. He could not answer a single question clearly, he seemed nervous for no apparent reason and even though they had chosen a public place on purpose to make it easier for these people, he seemed uncomfortable. He denied all accusations, says he had absolutely nothing to do with any kids named Lisa and demanded to be released immediately, or at least as soon as possible. Seira sent him away and since he was the last one she started looking through her notes to see who had the potential to be a kidnapper and who had been the least suspicious of them all.

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Seira returned to Lieutenant Awadin’s table and started explaining the situation to them. She showed him her notes and said something about every single person, finally coming to the conclusion that she was sure that Maria and the elderly lady didn’t do it and that the last person was the most suspicious one, alongside the Rune Knight lover, since he could very well be an actor to mess with them. “Unfortunately, this is all the information I can give you,” she said and he thanked her profoundly. “Thank you, Miss Navillera. We will continue our investigation, but you may leave now. Here is your reward, as promised,” now that that was finished, Seira left the restaurant as fast as she could and stepped outside. She walked around the corner to continue her shopping trip when she suddenly heard the faint sound of a female voice crying. Seira immediately started exploring the alleys behind the restaurant until the crying got louder and louder and she was able to perfectly locate where it was coming from. She already had an idea of what it could be, but that was too good to be true, now was it? Seira saw a young girl, blonde hair, no older than 7, sitting between a few garbage backs. She seemed upset and she was crying a lot and only stopped when Seira approached her carefully. “Lisa? Are you Lisa?” She certainly fit the description and once her name had been called she looked up and was able to confirm her identity along with her age. Seira almost laughed. Turns out no girl had been kidnapped, but this poor little one had gotten lost instead. No surprise, really, Era was a large town after all. She took the girl by the hand and brought her back to the restaurant immediately, where Lieutenant Awadin was more than surprised to see her returning with the missing girl like that. “She has never been kidnapped,” Seira explained politely. “She simply got lost while playing with her friends. She told me that she was chasing a stray kitten and got separated from her parents.” The man was visibly humiliated and very sorry. He got one of his Rune Knights to take care of the girl while he stood up and politely apologized to all five people for suspecting them of such an awful crime and taking time off their day to investigate them. Most of them were glad that the girl had been found and were surprisingly understanding. After all, he only did his job and finding a missing child was very important and urgent. Lastly, he returned to Seira. “Miss Navillera, I don’t even know where to begin. You made this a whole lot easier for us. I am very embarrassed by my mistakes, please take this as an extra reward for finding her and handing her over safe and unharmed.” Naturally he offered Seira double the amount of what he had given her earlier and she gladly accepted the money and left.

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