After getting off the train, Haru made a beeline towards the Rune Knight quarters. As he walked through the lush town, he noticed that the streets were almost empty, except for the Knights, strong members from guilds all over the country, and a few adventurers of no affiliation. They were all equipped and alert, ready to face the threat they knew was on its way.

Haru had no idea how the higher ups figured out there was going to be a Demonic incursion at this particular town. While he enjoys gathering knowledge, he wasn’t really a bookworm. His old partner would probably know the details, but she has been difficult to get a hold of after her resigning the force. Wherever she was, Haru hoped she was safe. Not that he doubted her capability. He was well aware that young woman could wipe out a city before she goes down, but that was also what scared him.

Stepping into the Rune Knight barracks, Haru opened the door to the armory and entered it. He wanted to make sure the weapons and armours were stocked and ready to go. While they were told the incursion was going to occur in Orchidia, no one knew exactly where. They could be alerted any time and he wanted to ensure the gear was in good condition. The last thing he wanted was to lose good men because of shoddy craftsmanship.

Focused on the task at hand, Haru would be single-mindedly head to the weapon racks and miss anyone who might be inside. If he heard someone, he would be startled and jump out, quickly following it with an apology.

The situations had changed, It seemed the Rune knights had a larger situation to gather together and prepare for, The rush upon everyone to get situated seemed to a lot more noticeable then almost everyone else whom arrived to come deal with the situation, So far everything else seemed quiet.

But that would not last long in terms of it all being quiet, Judina did not seem in a one hundred percent of a rush but she did seem to be a bit quicker then walking about this currently situation, She would make a lot more noise in her metal armor jogging into area looking around not only for information but anyone else she was standing around or who was straying behind, She would not make any assumptions if she did find anyone behind while she was looking around. Opening a few doors so far her guess was right, no one else was around.

So she was walk into the armory her first step into the room would the loudest mostly out of her starting to rush. It seemed so far everyone was on top. She did not need to make sure anyone needed to head out to work, The other knights where on top and on key.

So she would look into preparing herself. Muttering to herself quite noticeably. "I should make a sweep for any other civilians to get them out of there."Judina started to mention while she was walking around, A but slower then when she came in but she saw some one else in there."Oh I see some one else is here."She mentioned to him seeing it would get his attention. She wanted to know what he did and what plan he was going with, So with that she would also see that nothing was taken yet in terms of gear or items.

"No one has gotten gear yet?" Judina wanted if she was assuming everyone was already out on the field was there was something else was going on or everyone was just gathering. "Excuse me, we both have not met yet. Since your in here i could assume how you were looking at gear you are also an Rune knight, Where is everyone else?" She figured now she would get herself updated on what is going on around her at this point she had a feeling she was behind at this point.

"Or are we both a bit too early and still in preparing stage for this demon?" Judina also asked while she was slowly realizing she may not need anything here if she remembered right because she was already in armor and could make stuff from metal if she really need a weapon which she most likely would when she went onto the field with the demon."Only asking because I find it odd we are the only two here currently and i have not really seen anyone else." With that she would started going through just in case she could pick up anything useful.

Upon hearing the woman comment on his presence, the startled Haru dropped the sword he had on his hand but swiftly caught it before it fell to the ground. “Oh! Sorry… I didn’t hear you enter,” he said, giving a nervous chuckle. Apart from the heavy armour the lady donned, the most striking feature that caught Haru’s attention was her striking aqua blue eyes. He had never met her before; but that was not surprising. There were many Knights, and he couldn’t possibly know them all.

When she inquired if no one had gotten their gear yet, Haru simply shook his head in response. Not wishing to waste time, he continued with the inspection as he conversed with Judina. “Last I heard, they are forming up at the ground as we speak and getting ready to gear up. We have our best scouts stationed at the various viewpoints. They should convey the precise location the moment the rift appears,” he said, giving the sword a swing away from both of them to check its balance.

Under any other circumstance, Haru would have paused for a proper introduction. But given that they were pressed for time, he quickly turned towards Judina and asked for a favour rather bluntly. “Would you mind helping me check for any faults in these weapons? I know there is a platoon on its way from down south and they could use the spare we have here,” he said, handing the sword he held on his hand to Judina and picking up another one from the rack. After spending almost a year with Zade, Haru had become quite the expert at finding out if a sword was of decent quality. With a few swings and the clangs from the clashes, he should be able to sort the faulty ones out.

“Whenever you are ready, just swing at me,” he said, getting ready to deflect the incoming attack with his sword. “I’m Hatsuharu, by the way. Nice to meet you,” he finally introduced himself, as they delved into the monotonous chore of checking the equipment.

Yes the times were dire and they both so far seemed to be ahead of the wave they would be the starting spark to get everyone for the situation to go and just control what they could."I am sorry as well I did not mean to scare you." Judina said while she was looking at the things as well. So far it all seemed to be good and ready but then again maybe it was a good to double check but a few other things would be on the to do list as well first which they would get to.

"Then we a lot farther than i first assumed we where."Judina mentioned politely. She thought they were behind for the moment but it might "I assumed action was already going on." She also mentioned it felt like a relief for her about this situation and where they seemed to be ready and prepared.

"Most certainly, It is better to check." Judina mentioned right away. Judina took the sword by the handle and Judina seemed to look it over slightly. It had been a while since she had held an actual sword since she made her weapons from her own magic."I am Judina Karlinius."

Judina took one step back and swung the sword given to her swinging from the right to the left it would be a bit of a light swing Judina did not seem to put a much of an effort into the swing but she had no reason too. But this left her curious to see what would happen here. Since they where not doing anything too fancy and he did not mention how many swings she would do the opposite shortly after her first swing going from left to right. it seemed like it was the calm before the storm.

Haru gave a casual wave of dismissal at her apology; a gesture to let her know she needn’t worry about it. He was in fact glad that there was someone else there who can help him. Checking the equipment was a far faster and easier chore when done as partners than alone. The lady seemed to have assumed the demon incursion had already begun and that was why there was no one around in the armoury. Haru doubted it would be this calm if there was a war going on outside. Besides, the tension was in the air and that was enough to stifle them into uneasiness.

“I hope they are wrong with their predictions, but I know that’s wishful thinking,” he said, his tone expressing his sadness. The Kingdom wouldn’t have issued the warning if they weren’t sure. Of course, he would take a false alarm any day over a real massacre. But a false alarm of this scale would also mean the subsequent warnings, even if they were real, would not be taken seriously. Haru heard there were already a few citizens who didn’t believe the Knights and refused to abandon the town. He simply hoped they would stop being so foolish and take shelter somewhere.

After Judina took the sword from him, he picked up another and got ready for her to swing the one she held. When she did, it was a weak swing; the kind that one would expect from a comrade. Haru gently blocked both the swings with his sword. He only needed to hear to clang of the metal, and these two seemed to be in perfect condition. Putting the two away in one corner of the weapon rack, he picked up the next two to inspect those. And as such, they would have to inspect the two dozen or so swords and axes before moving on to the armours.

It was a boring chore and the imminent demon threat was not making the atmosphere any lighter. So, to frizzle the tension, Haru attempted making small talk. “Ms. Karlinius! I truly appreciate your bravery in being here at this time. How long have you been serving as a Knight?” he asked. Haru felt words of encouragement and appreciation from each other was all that was left for those who had come to protect the town. For all he knew, this could very well be their last day on the realm.

They both could safely have that equally in mind so Judina would simply ask."Has anyone gone around to evacuate people yet?"Judina asked her casualness was now work mode if anything."Or is that going to be done later in some manner if at all?"Then again, Judina was also just learning all of the pieces of what was going on too so if some one else had then it was one less thing on her list of to do.

"Anyone who refuses, We may not have the time to deal with unless you get people to actually try and move them."She also mentioned, But in mind the demons were more important still to have the battle happen. Hopefully this was dealt with quickly. Hiding in her mind Judina did not actually know much about how to face demons she had ever faced one yet.

She would seem to pick up on the chain of how it word politely taking a sword and the still weak and light swing at the person before her. The sword was a mighty weapon much like the human will. These were find weapons so far they would be put to good use.

Judina did not realize how long it had been since she was called miss and even by her last name, She almost felt like some one was mentioning her mother over her."I can be honest, It has not been that long. This would be year three."Judina mentioned she did not realize how short the total amount of years, It had felt longer then three years for her but maybe that is just how life works for some and different for others and she just had not caught up with the amount of time that has passed for her.

Judina’s question about evacuating the townsfolk made Haru sigh. Last he heard, all were warned and requested to leave the town as soon as possible. But not everyone had heeded the warning, and the Knights had no way of forcing them to leave. They couldn’t just drag them out and throw them into the train. That would be brutal, and it would come back to bite the faction at a later time. “Most have left. But some are stubborn, and our Knights have been trying to convince them to leave,” he said, shaking his head slightly. He was mentally cursing at their foolishness and hoped that they saw reason.

When she mentioned how they would have no time to deal with those who refuses, Haru’s face lit up slightly, happy that she gets his sentiment. “I know, right? Well… I believe some of them were convinced to at least take shelter in the town hall, which has its own defences. It is those who are extremely untrusting of the Knights and refuses to believe the warning that I’m most worried about,” he said, as they finished with the weapons section and moved onto the armours.

Checking the armour was a lot more tedious process, which they didn’t have time for. He hoped those who were in charge of the armoury had done their regular maintenance, and decided to give them a random cursory glance for now. The most important thing was ensuring that the plating was held together firmly by the inner leather lining. He began to test how sturdy those links were for all of them. “Third year, huh? I’m on my fourth,” he said, smiling. “Long enough to have seen your share of action, I presume,” he added. Haru always enjoyed hearing stories of fellow Knights and the interesting cases that they had solved over their time at the force.

With weapons in order the casual conversation was a bit more but not so annoying topic about work and people, It seemed to happen to anyone who works in the public."Yet i have been raised to believe and trust law enforcement...did something happen to chance that view or is that just my small town life style sticking in?"She asked more curious or not if she missed something after so many years, Every rune knight she had met so far all just wanted to help, wanted to keep people safe and do no harm to anyone else.

"Maybe i am just getting annoyed easily about these situations when it is dangerous for them." Judina had the right intentions in this line of work."But I guess I should settle down we have hack up plans to help, I can just wait to see what happens and do what I need to do."She was trying to keep her mind in logically a single place because she knew she would get off track easily or well her temper would start getting shorter, More often then not she could control better now days but sometimes a fuse is short...but it was rare.

Looking it over the armor with him."Let me know if any of them need patching, I am a Metal Make mage so i could fix it in some manner." Judina mention to start with, She would wonder his question but they were checking gear so maybe her magic could do a lot more good here just in case."A fair enough, enough to make my mind numb to various things already, You can only empathize with some many people but sometimes being jaded hits quicker." That could also just be her as well but she was being honest about it.

Hearing Judina’s comment about how she was raised, Haru couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh. “It’s not like we have much of a choice. Believing, trusting, and upholding the law is the only way to ensure our civilization doesn’t implode into chaos,” he replied in a rather philosophical sense. But practically, he knew the troubles of being a law enforcer and the Lieutenant didn’t wish to sugar coat things. “But of course… Nothing is perfect, including our faction. So, those who have seen or experienced the bad apples are wary, and for good reason,” he added. Haru loved the Rune Knights. But he wasn’t going to let that love blind him and defend the faction against allegations that were true. Instead, he wished to channel his energy at making it a cleaner organization from within. After all, he had served under a corrupt Captain himself.

Haru understood her impatience when it came to the safety of the citizens. The passion to save people’s lives and deliver justice were the primary prerequisites for a Knight, and he was glad to see this lady possessed both. While it was apparent that some of these things annoyed her, she seemed to have some control over it, which was a bonus. It was an enviable trait that Haru hadn’t fully mastered yet. So, he had no words for that. Only silent admiration.

When they got to the armour section, Judina revealed that she was a metal mage and could assist with any faults in the equipment. Haru was overjoyed with that information and began to shamelessly ask her to fix a few of the armours so that they were all uniform and flawless. “And this is the last one, I promise,” he said sheepishly, after handing her the eighth one that seemed to have a small dent and a minor crack. When she was done fixing it, he would thank her profusely. “Thank you so much! You should be proud. Because of your work, there are going to be fewer injuries in the upcoming fight,” he said, appreciating her sincerely.

As annoying as it was to her."It is like trying to balance a short temper." Sounding like she was mentioning from personal experience. Which it was since true she often had to control her own temper which was sometimes harder for her then most other days."I am glad I at least now know how to control my temper I guess the meaning of Balance is something to remember much like fate." These were still carry overs. "Long before I arrived back here, I went to somewhere in a different place entirely that isn't fiore, Took up training with monks. There teaching and everything...helped shape my temper from exploding to more controlled. Fate and its other teaching are in my mind most of the time." it seemed simply to explain maybe he would understand more then most people would now days, often explaining it felt odd sometimes.

it seemed the parts that would happen now would be more work  for her. But as she would explain."Even if I am not some how in the fight, I always make myself useful, It is something my father at least manage to teach a stubborn daughter like me." She mentioned to him when she started to work on the armor.

It seemed almost effortlessly for Judina to started fixing the pointed out flaws of the armor or what was needed to be fixed."I can take pride that in the end these were not thrown away or left behind now."It seemed slowly when she touched it, to almost seemed like the metal turned into liquid and slowly patched it's self together and slowly settled into shape. It would not be that long for Judina to fix the armor. But mentioned."Feel free to test the armor if you need too."

Haru listened attentively as Judina spoke of her temper and how she had learned to control it. His eyes widened in surprise when she mentioned training under monks in a land far from Fiore before joining the Knights. This was a topic of great interest to him. As someone who enjoyed travelling, he hoped to one day cross seas and borders to witness other countries and experience their language and culture. While he had no idea where his family was exactly or if they even existed, he was certain that he wasn’t from Fiore and his ethnic roots went back to Joya. So, if and when he did leave Fiore, that was probably where he would go first.

“Instilling a sense of justice and work ethic. Your father sounds like a great man,” he said with a smile. There was a small tinge of sadness and envy in his voice as he spoke those words. It was in moments like these that he wished he knew who his parents were, how they raised him, and with what values. When he first came to his senses in a Fiorian hospital—which is the farthest he could remember from his past—he was inclined to be a pacifist and studied the art of healing. Maybe he was that way because that was what his family raised him to be. But in the few years since, he had changed quite a lot and couldn’t help but wonder if he was dishonouring them by choosing violence. It was a far-fetched theory and he had taught himself to not fret over uncertain things.

Haru was brought back from his reverie when he watched Judina fix the armours. The process was mesmerizing, as the scratched and dented solid metal suddenly ebbed and flowed to smooth perfection. The speed at which she fixed all of them was quite impressive as well. He picked a random one from the batch and wore it over his cloak. Haru was not used to heavy armour and it felt clunky on him at first, but once he tied the straps, they fit snugly. It slowed his moves significantly, but there were no hitches when he moved his joints. “That’s perfect!” he said, as he removed the set. He was certain Judina had done her best with the rest as well and saw no reason to test them all.

“Your magic is quite interesting. You would be a formidable ally with that ability to fix and potentially make weapons and armours on the go,” he said, as he put the armour sets back onto the shelf.

Maybe it was just the conversation."It was not justice more then, Pride and a sense of belonging...But that is just who it is seen from my view." She mentioned But also added."My father is a hard man to read with his intentions and meanings with his lessons." That was the point of it in the end of the idea of it anyway. "The always do what you can, You can never fell like a fail if done right." She started like she had many saying from them going often in her mind.

"But keep in mind, Everyone's teachings for the most part may have there own values." Maybe she was getting carried and did not know it."Information in any manner can be used for something."That one would sound more like she either came up with herself in manner, But she did ponder over her work.

"So keep in mind, I can adjust anything still what is needed for the armor."She mentioned focusing back on work again, She seemed to personally really wanted to be sure, faults were most likely not to happen but she was almost a very picky woman."Do you need the strap placement adjusted?" She was more seeing what could be changed now since they had the time.

Even walking over to the whatever pieces of gear would be next even to start looking at them as well because she was back into the work mode now.

It would be always the behind the scenes people who put the most effort into things that sometimes people do not know or even remember these moments, But it seems maybe these people were more worried about work then frame or being known, being modest and content seemed to be more of Judina's mind.

With the way Judina spoke of the lessons she learnt from her father and how his true intentions were hard to judge, Haru didn’t get a clear picture of her relationship with her father. He didn’t wish to pry further into her personal life and decided to leave it at that. Besides, the poor young man was also insecure when it came the particular topic of family. He wondered if what she said was very normal and he doesn’t entirely understand it only because he does not remember his experience with his parents.

“He sounds like an interesting man,” Haru said, referring to Judina’s father. “Do you see him often?” he asked, unable to resist the urge to know if other Knights around him had a close-knit family.

Haru was impressed with her eagerness to help fix the armour. When she offered to fix the strap placements as well on all of them, he paused for a moment to wonder if they will have the time to do so. But he remembered how swift and proficient she was with her magic and figured while it would have taken forever if he chose to do it manually, it would be a rather easy task for the metal make mage next to him. “Reinforcing the strap joints and ensuring they are positioned symmetrically would be most ideal, indeed,” he said. But he was also afraid that Judina was going to exert herself too much in this process that she would be at a disadvantage should they have to get into a fight almost immediately. “Are you sure you won’t be tiring yourself too much?” he asked, concernedly.

She seemed to sigh slightly."I do not see my mother and father often, They are in Marigold and often avoid large populated areas." She started off with, But did sounds overly depressed about it for the moment."I do not see my two brother or my parents often, Work distracts my thoughts from that." Which was true, But she did not seem to mind either."So maybe I just need to visit some time soon but, For the moment i am not worried about it." She was truthfully mentioning it work was important for her to get the work done.

"That will not take long to do." Judina seemed to mention quietly about it and would slowly take the pieces of armor and started to change it into the way it needed too mentioned by him feed back was either her greatest savior or worst enemy she knew as long as it was good enough and equal parts of it Judina would be as helpful as she could be. Even if it did take a lot would rest later.

But it was good to mention it at least he did. This would be her stubborness taking effect, For the moment she did not think she was feeling tiring herself out yet, maybe she was just not feeling it yet."I do not know, Even then I would not stop until i am done." Judina said slightly in defiance and to make sure her mind was not thinking that either, maybe she was showing signs of it yet maybe even exhausting herself as well and it just did not catch up with her yet, it would most likely later."I am fine, I can manage what we need to do" Unless He mentioned how much it was maybe effecting her Judina would not stop unless order to 100% stop.

The sadness in her tone was quite obvious. So much that it made Haru sad; not just because she was missing her family, but also because he wondered how good it must be to spend time with one’s family if it made the person so sad in its absence. Judina’s eagerness to continue helping with armour showed that she put her work above everything else, even her own self. She didn’t seem to care about how tiring the ordeal could become, but only focused on how well she could help. He didn’t wish to quench that desire to do her best. So, he let her go on with fixing even the smallest of imperfections in the gear. He decided he would ask her to stop eventually if he finds her exhausting herself way too much.

When Judina mentioned Marigold, it brought back bittersweet memories for Haru. His ex-partner was from the same town, and he was there searching for her not too long ago. “I was at Marigold just last week. Such a peaceful town. I’m not surprised your parents chose to stay there,” he said, smiling. “You should visit your family as often as possible. When you are fighting those demons out there later today, you will need some fond memories to keep you going,” he added quickly. While the faction was surely going to appreciate her putting her duty above everything else, there was surely more to one’s life than just selfless social service. The orphan Lieutenant didn’t have anyone to call his kin, but he felt those who do should definitely seek that support. Life as a Knight needn’t—or rather shouldn’t—be a lonely one.

That was just the core of How Judina worked, She did not take breaks until she knew she needed to stop. She was just only showing signs of that being the case as of right now. She was not hiding it but you could tell it was just starting and she was more of less resisting her feeling, She could be able to because it was just the starting stage of it and she was yet again very very stubborn sometimes for her own good."It is all...find now..."The pause were just her being content. She seemed to finally be able to just let it all be.

She stopped, the hard headed lady just finally stopped and could manage that or she was speaking to herself to let her mind she could stop as well. Both were options that hopefully did not level people to think she was insane. But being called in sane could most likely help as well so she could try and not seem as such she did value feed back sometimes so maybe she was a bit more open minded too and did not realize it right away when she was working or doing something.

Judina let out a sigh and said."After these demons are dealt with, I do plan on seeing them...I will either go to marigold or have them come over here." But as many people's safety were more important then her feeling a bit more happy and having a break for the moment.

But it showed she was either tired or the stress was getting to her, she would seemed to just walk slightly slower from doing so much not noticing she was dragging her feet slightly, but seemingly felt like it was normal for her still in the moment.

Judina’s dedication impressed Haru very much, but he could see that the young lady was pushing it too far. His healing years helped him notice the subtle sluggishness in her movements and he decided to stop with the perfectionist moves on the armours. “I think that’ll do,” he said, gently pulling the armour she was working on, putting it on the shelf and not giving her the next one. If she insisted that she continues, Haru would shake his head and not let her go on. “You shouldn’t exert yourself too much. The fight hasn’t even begun. We can’t have anyone too tired to fight,” he said sternly. Haru would never forgive himself if something happened to a fellow Knight because they overworked themselves under his watch right before the fight.

Pulling up a chair, the Lieutenant would place it next to Judina and ask her to sit. If she sat, he would then walk to the refrigerator and bring her something to drink. “Drink up! And go get some rest. I—no—the town needs you at your full strength when it is time to defend it,” he said, smiling.

Just then he noticed the time at the wall clock and realized he was late for the spar he had planned with Kazimir. “Oh drat! Look at the time,” he muttered. “I have to be somewhere. It was lovely to meet you, Judina. I hope we run into each other again sometime,” he said, taking a step towards the door. “And… You better have caught up with your family the next time I see you,” he added with a wink and a grin. With that, the Lieutenant jogged out of the armoury and towards the clearing where he said he would meet Kazimir.

She was again being to stubborn about everything again, This was her just being her far beyond something she in reality she really needed to do, but in the end it is fine but has not reached her mind at all yet, This lady was just one thing after another.

it just was starting to hit her, She would actually keep it in mind to sit down and think about it for the moment. But the armor part was done, It was all settled and over with so maybe she was settled with it now, But the way she was.


She did not want to stop yet, but for some reason she just sat down slowly, after he offered. Why she did not know but it happen and it was not of her own will at that moment but she did sit. She felt like she was giving up and hated it, She did knew there could be more to do, She wanted to do achieve more but could not do more because of everything else she had already done, so sitting in the character she would, slowly just letting herself stay mentally, coming to terms she was done now.

She did take the drink from him and slowly, Realizing that he was going away as well. She had a feeling the would see one another again when that was, Up in the air but hey she would piece that together when she could. It did not seem that much of a hurry right now.

She took a few sips of the drink he was given, Got up to continue on something else she would try to do, After all she still wanted to do more, She was not giving up on that, She would finish at least one more things.

But she feel over after a few steps, She would wake up later after she had napped on the floor and left alone for that bit of time, Yes being too stubborn was just how she worked, it would be some what of a trouble for other people sometime.

[End]