One would never expect that a renowned mage like her would be on the role of the most mundane jobs of the society; not as a mage, but working in a small café as a waitress. Much to everyone else’s surprise, it had been one of her few aspirations of owning a café, and as her hobby, so what’s better than starting from the bottom herself to get accustomed to the ropes of this industry. If this were to be told to her acquaintances and ’friends’, they would be completely shocked out of their wits and laugh as if it were a joke, because the ‘Snowflake’ they know didn’t seem to be one to partake in these sort of activities. Rather, she was a woman incapable of expressing herself, terrible with words and emotions. Such elements of her personality tend to give off a demeanor that she was unapproachable, frightful even, to some people.

Perhaps, this could be considered as another one of her attempts to extend her research on a thing called emotions and her study on humans.

It was early afternoon when the café was starting to collect a good number of customers, consisting mostly of work groups treating each other for a lunch break before they resume their work. Most of them were mages dropping by for lunch, or simply just nearby folks who wanted take a bit of leisure time as they sipped on their tea and nibbled on some pastries.

”Lasagna for Table 5!” the cook bellowed from the kitchen, followed by a ring of a bell to beckon her to the counter.

”On it.” An blue-eyed girl barked at her boss as he slid a plate filled with freshly baked goods onto the counter. Snowflake, clad in an attire completely unlike her set her gaze on a table of two mages, each of them laughing heartily as they regaled each other with old stories of glory days. She breathed in, mustered what effort she could to put on her best friendly smile. Snowflake didn’t do smiles or anything of the corny sort, the result was more of a grimace and an icy gaze if anything, causing the merchants to give her a somewhat confused look as she set down their plates.  

The youth walked away from the table, internally cursing at herself for taking up this job. She’d thought the task would be much easier, but it seemed that dealing with humans of such were more dreadful than she’d expected and it was no surprise to her that her social skills were just as appalling as ever.

It truly was a busy day for her. The wooden doors of the restaurant wouldn’t stay closed for no more than a few minutes, seeing how customers came and went out of the place and she reckoned that the manage must’ve been so delighted to witness the booming business right in front of his eyes. Nevertheless, she was still stuck in this day job, carrying plates of dirty dishes once they’ve had their meals. Despite her great distaste in getting socially involved with others, there wasn’t much she could complain. One, she was also here to learn and do a little research of her own and second, the pay was actually rather good, much higher than average if she had to admit, for a mundane job like this and she wanted to collect every bit of jewels she could get her hands on.

Washed out under the overcast sky, it hunched in itself, fighting against the drizzle. People rushed by it, outside on the crowded street and half a dozen customers glanced up as the door swung open, heralded by a blast of chilly wind before they returned to their conversations as the door swung closed behind the new entrant. While delivering another plate of lasagna, the café’s most popular dish, Snowflake caught a glimpse of the new entrant seated at an empty table without a menu. Sapphire eyes shot towards the customer, and a quick look at her co-workers told Snowflake that no one else had noticed the young man’s entrance, and so she gave in to her curiosity and decided it her responsibility.

”Oh, sorry about that. I should’ve cleaned that for you earlier,” spoke the female, feeling slightly guilty of the soiled tables before him. Fortunately, he wasn’t like those annoyingly obnoxious customers who complain constantly and keeps badgering for the manager to get the workers fired. If it had been the case, then it would have been on her head for not being responsible. ”Here’s the menu,” she drew the cheap leather binder from underneath her arm and placed it in front of the man.

”I’ll be over there just cleaning up some tables, call me when you’re ready.” She pointed randomly over to the section which had a few empty tables and quickly set off to work before the manager makes a fuss about how she’s wasting too much time and reducing the flow of customers, precisely his income.

From what she studied within the few minutes of their interaction, she could tell that the young man had a kind-hearted soul, even going out of his way to clean up the tables and piled up the plates for her to collect. If only half the customers were as sensible as him, it would make her job less harder than it already was, but it wasn’t as though she was complaining. Undoubtedly, it wasn’t as much of a difficult task, compared to slaying demons or some unworldly creature albeit, waitressing was a rather demanding and exhausting occupation, where she was required to be agile on her feet at all times and alert to everything that was occurring inside the shop. Luckily, she was quite the multitasker so it took her no more than a few hours to adapt to the environment. Even then, she was still human – for the moment – and she does indeed suffer from muscle pains as well, so there is that.

No longer than a few seconds later, she was beckoned over to the table of the young man whom she’d met just earlier. Quickly returning the plates back into the kitchen, she edged a hand into her pocket to retrieve her tiny notepad to get the orders ready. The tasks were all the same; jotting down orders, collecting dirty plates, returning from the kitchen with fresh plates and repeating all of it again that it was already starting to bore her – not to mention the false impression of her being a saint to all these undeserving customers was the worst part of all.

Upon hearing his question, the woman simply gazed at him for a good moment, with the notepad in hand. Snowflake has been working at this café for a week now, and not once had she encountered a customer or even a co-worker who appeared to be curious about her intentions of working at such a place. ”Interesting,” she raised an inquisitive brow as she swiveled the pen between her fingers. ”I just like to study … people,” a pregnant pause stopping the flow of the conversation, with nothing but the chatter of people in the backdrop. She wasn’t sure if the man would understand her explanation and if it wasn’t obvious enough, she was terrible with words, though her straightforwardness might get her somewhere. ”I get the money as well, so there’s not really much for me to lose.” The woman shrugged, sliding the menu back underneath her arm.

”You’re not from here, are you?” The café was a popular one, and by popular, she meant nearly everyone from the town drops by the place at least once in a while, and she was good at remembering faces. But, not once had she seen him before. ”Don’t think I’ve seen you around here. I’m Snow, by the way,” she added, her voice drowned out by the bustle of the café behind.

The reason she was so interested in these mundane activities was not only because of her unusual habit of studying humans, but also because she used to be different – she used to be not human. A cyborg, a demon: she was many other things, except human. Fleeting was the process of remembering strangers faces in this building, which Snowflake would easily compare to the fickleness of her identity and the deterioration of her memories, bit by bit, as she continued to wonder. Tragedy came in many forms, she’d assume, and when the ebb and throb of its essence overwhelmed someone, there wasn’t much means of escaping what was bound to come. Snowflake, as an example, so deeply snared by the loss of her memory – though not completely – she couldn’t quite figure out her own identity until now. Hell, her soul was inside a human vessel that didn’t even belong to her.

The voice of the man, whom he’d introduced himself earlier as Kazimir, finally registered in her crowded mind of hers and brought her out of her reverie as her thoughts almost wandered off immediately. The dark-haired male did make his order, though what he requested was clearly not off the menu and something that was unexpected. She did spend a good minute contemplating whether it was a good idea to share her thoughts with someone whom she’d just met, as she not so much of the type to express herself, until he mentioned that he’d take her recommendation instead. ”One lasagna, it is then. It’s the most popular dish here, so I do hope you genuinely enjoy it,” she quickly jotted down on the notepad, before whisking it away back into her pocket.

”Rune Knights, huh? Not so much of a fan of them myself,” the woman frowned deeply, recalling the unpleasant experiences she had with the bunch lately. The ones that she’d meet were corrupted, often bribed and performing illegal activities behind the scenes while the others did not live up to the duties of their job. Nonetheless, there were definitely the good ones that she’d encountered as well.

The frothy haired woman couldn’t help but roll her eyes exaggeratedly, regarding to the loudness of their backdrop. ”It truly is, and I loathe loud places.” The restaurant was the complete opposite of what she desired, and how ironic is it that despite her very apparent distaste, she was here, doing the job that she would rather not do, especially with how boisterous the place was.

Snowflake wouldn’t be surprised if the man had heard of her name before. Though it wasn’t often, she would encounter random townsfolk coming up to her, asking if she was the so-called mage from Blue Pegasus and being a person with a cold demeanor, she couldn’t quite reciprocate their bubbles of joy upon meeting her. It wasn’t as though she was a celebrity, but simply just that she gained some recognition as she rose up the ranks. ”Well, I’ll quickly go get your order and return shortly.”

Before she pivoted swiftly on her feet, she added, ”My shift ends in a few minutes, so if you’d like some company, I’d be happy to keep you entertained.” There was a hint of a smile on her lips, or perhaps a mischievous smirk, but not quite visible, as she returned to her duties before her manager begins to bark at her. Perhaps her little new encounter might turn out more interesting than she had expected.

Before Snowflake could answer another word to his question, she was summoned once again and wordlessly, the young woman strode over to the kitchen to finish her final duties before her shift was over. She was getting paid after all, so at the very least, she should perform her chores properly. Eventually, Snowflake came out of the kitchen, dressed out of her work attire; loose white buttoned-up shirt tucked inside her dark jeans that hugged her feminine figure ever so gently. Her platform heels thudded against the hard ground and in her hand was a large roll of sandwich–her free lunch–that was given to her by the chef her a reward of the day, aside from her regular wage of course.

Her eyes glossed over the vicinity of the café, and over to the table where Kazimir was seated. Since he agreed on having her as a company—and she could use something to kill her time—she walked over to his aisle to continue their previous conversation that was quickly cut short. Watching him sitting alone at the table suddenly made her wonder why he would be spending such a joyous day by himself.

”How’s the food?” she slid onto the vacant seat across him, her slender legs crossing over another as she took a quick bite out of the sandwich that she’d received. It was not the best that she’d eaten, but it definitely wasn’t the worst either. She’d rather have her fair share of alcoholic beverages but, for now, she could use this to keep her tummy filled. Besides, it would have rather awkward for her to order food at the place where she usually works.

”So, speaking of the Rune Knights, how’re you finding it so far?” Despite this being their first encounter, it seemed that Kazimir was rather different from the Rune Knights that she’d met; he seemed genuine, selfless even. So far, of the Rune Knights that she had worked with or had been assigned to, all of them were corrupted, but he could just be a diamond in the rough.

Almost regretting her choice of suggestion, the woman blurted, ”Oh, I should’ve just gotten pancakes for you instead. Well, just put it on my tab for your meal.” She leaned back into her chair, waving a hand nonchalantly into the air as she took another bite out of her sandwich. After having a long shift at work, she was famished—too hungry to even bother about whether the food tasted good or not. As a perfectionist, she was usually picky with her choices, whether it was food or fashion: she mostly preferred it if things were just the way she wanted.

Starved as she was, Snowflake opted to not hesitate to accept his offer of sharing his portion of food. She was hungry, so she might as well take upon the choice when she was given free food—not to mention she was also one with a rather large appetite. But, at the same time, she didn’t want to seem like someone who hasn’t eaten for days either, so naturally she remained composed about it albeit, her eyes glinted ever so slightly as she asked, ”Really? Do you mind?” Taking the cutlery from him in gratitude, she began to dig into the piece of goodness with her fork before placing it into her mouth where she savoured the scrumptious flavour of the lasagna. No doubt, it tasted better than her sandwich and she couldn’t help but admit that it probably was the best lasagne she’d tasted before—not that she’s even had that many.

”Mmm, pretty good.” The woman nodded in approval, whispering to none other than herself admist licking the juice from her plump lips. In the meantime, Kazimir shared his own story with the Rune Knights and the ice maiden patiently listened, nodding in acknowledgement at certain times in between sentences to display that she had her attention on him. When Kazimir questioned her about her thoughts on the Rune Knights, she attempted wording her sentences in her head beforehand, not wanting to sound like a complete douche. ”Well, out of all those I’ve met, the majority of them were corrupted—greedy and easily bribed. So, I don’t personally have that much high expectations of them.” In the era where war was frequent and power was sought heavily, greed and corruption often followed and it never surprised her.

”I used to have a very good acquaintance from the Rune Knights, who was then later dispatched to the Holy Knights,” she breathed a hesitant pause, reminiscing the memories that were made so long ago that it was already beginning to fade away and as her eyes turned to glance at the man before her, she added, ”She was probably the only one who convinced me otherwise about the Rune Knights.” She finally shifted her gaze and took another bite of the lasagna to divert her attention. ”Seems like you could be different from the rest.”

”I agree, and I doubt it’s only the Rune Knights that’s corrupted.” She took another spoonful of lasagne, her chin propped up onto her palm before she continued, ”No shade, but it could be the same for some guilds even.” Although that could’ve been true, it wouldn’t be as drastic as the Rune Knights since the numbers of mages from guilds were far less compared to the knights. That was what she thought at least. Out of all the topics they could have discussed, it was strange—almost ridiculous—that Snowflake was discussing about politics; the topic she enjoyed talking the least, with a stranger whom she’d just met half an hour ago.

”Well, the last time I heard from her was two years ago. God knows where she’s been what she’s been doing. Her life was all settled—a husband, twin children…” she trailed off, recalling the memories that she’d spent together with her. Alice had been one of her closest acquaintances: one that she’d known for the longest time, aside from Alisa. Though her sudden disappearance worries her, she could hope that her fellow comrade was safe and well in all of her travels.

”Hm, interesting.” Curious, the young woman raised her eyebrows upon Kazimir’s story, wondering if they were actually mutual friends through the same person. ”May I know who the name of your friend was?” It wasn’t as though it would do her any good, but her curiosity never killed anyone and their meeting would have been a rather amusing coincidence if Kazimir was actually talking about the same person.

At his statement, her lips bore a light smile to herself, as if she was happy to know that there were people out there who cared for one another. ”I wish all the other Rune Knights have the same intentions as you and I hope you stay true to your word.” She uncrossed her legs only to uncross them again. By this time, she had already eaten nearly half the lasagna without even noticing herself and within, she almost felt bad for having someone else’s food.

The woman scoffed. ”It’s a long story to how I got here, but I’m not from this country either. Iceberg was where I called home. I suppose I somehow ended up in this country without any intentions during my travels. I was really young, and desperately needed money to make a living for myself.” It almost pains her to recollect pieces of flashbacks—a reminiscence of her journey to how she got until who she was now. Her childhood wasn’t the best, she had to grow up faster than others since she had no one else to rely on and all she had that time was herself and her backpack. That was until she met an old man who was kind enough to take her in. The hunter forced herself out of her reverie, not wanting to get emotional with her own wandering thoughts.

She wasn’t one to share information about herself, she was more of a listener instead and she was a good one at that. She was grown to be cautious of others, so it took her more effort that average to talk about herself and commit to others. ”I’ve been here for probably over half my life now. I suppose I’m a proud citizen of this country.” She might have done things that she wasn’t completely proud of in the past, but she’d gotten over that and she was very content with who she had become.

Blue Pegasus had been her home thoroughly for the longest time she could remember. She didn’t need to return to Hargeon back to the guild castle to remind herself of how home felt like, knowing that her closest guild mates were somewhere, standing on the same ground as her—she was fine with that. ”As a member of a guild, yes. We tend to act very independently.” If that weren’t true, she would be meeting her guild mates every now and then, but now, she had no idea where in God’s name they were, what they were doing or whether they were even alive or not. It was hard to get into contact with them, with sending letters as the only means of communication with them, and it took months for them to get delivered if the recipient was in another location.

To be honest, it was rather lonesome for her—not that it bothered her, in fact, she had been living her entire life in solitude. She had begun to notice how her friends have slowly started disappearing, a few whom she’d never heard back and it worried her to an extent. But, for someone strong like Alisa and Finn, she knew they would be fine wherever they went, even in the depths of hell, for she was highly aware that they were capable of handling anything on their own.

”Indeed…” she trailed off, her eyes growing distant as she nibbled onto the remaining pieces of lasagna on her fork. Reminiscing her old memories only made her wonder about their whereabouts, until she jolted out of her own thoughts upon the mentioning of the name ’Akira’.

It sounded familiar to her. ”Oh, I think I’ve heard of her.” She hadn’t personally talked to the named person before, but if she recalled correctly she’d met her once at a fishing contest alongside Alisa and Esperia. If she wasn’t wrong, Akira was comrades with them and she didn’t doubt that they were good friends. ”I suppose she’s the one that recruited you into the Rune Knights.” From the sound of it, it seemed that this Akira person may have been quite an inspirational one.

”You’re from Sin,” her eyebrows rose slightly in surprise. Snowflake didn’t mean to be judgemental, but he certainly didn’t look like a citizen from the country. On the other hand, it would’ve been easy for people to guess where she was from. Silver hair in the colour of snow, named after the winter season and with a gaze of ice, there wouldn’t have been any other place that fitted her character. But then, appearances can be deceiving. ”Very interesting.” She mused to herself, playing with her fork within her fingers.

”You’ve made it this far in just three years, that’s quite impressive.” Her early years in Fiore mostly just consisted of struggling to live, finding anything she could just to feed herself. When she fled, she was aged less than a teen and as gullible as she was back then, she was taken advantage quite often by her employers or just people she worked with. ”I didn’t even know guilds existed when I came here. I was struggling to make a living in a foreign country so basically, I did about anything I could find; a merchant, a barbarian, a thief and some other roles I’m not really proud of mentioning, at least not to a knight.” Snowflake’s composure festered slightly in embarrassment, hesitating for a brief moment before she continued the conversation.

”It was pretty miserable until I met Lance, the first guildmaster…”

”Hm,” the woman took her time to ponder her response to his question as her eyes glided over to a distance. ”Not necessarily. Lance was the one who took me in, so I thought I could repay him by putting myself good use to the guild.” She almost chuckled to herself at the nostalgia—oh, how gullible and naïve she was back then. She didn’t care about the citizens, the royalty, power and wealth; the people in this country had done nothing for her, so why should she do anything for them?

Albeit, Lance understood her and introduced her to a new beginning—to become a member of Blue Pegasus and she couldn’t deny that it was the best thing that happened to her during the time. Recalling her memories, her fingers grazed over the guild tattoo that was imprinted on the back of her hand, white in colour just like her hair. Despite her desire to close her eyes and walk through her memory lane, it was inappropriate to have her drifting in and out of her thoughts, especially with someone keeping her company.

”I’ve met her just once, not her partner though. But, we’ve never officially met.” The snow haired maiden propped her chin up onto her palm as she played her fork with the remaining bits of food. ”I see. It seems like everyone had gone separate ways, even for me...” The words trailed off as she wondered about the whereabouts of her close friends; Evangeline, Alisa, Finn—she hadn’t heard from them in ages.

A small smile crept up onto the line of her rosy lips. ”I get that often.” She wasn’t sure if she should be proud of how everything about her screamed Iceberg, but Kazimir on the other hand, she wouldn’t have expected that he was from Sin, but that she’s hardly ever met any citizens from the country. ”Sin, huh? If you didn’t tell me, I would’ve never been able to guess. I heard it’s a beautiful place with lots of geographical features.” The stories from travelers was always something she loved listening to when she was working as a merchant, it was as if they were telling her a bedtime story; their voices full of enthusiasm and excitement describing the places, sharing their tales and the people they met during their adventures. ”I would love to travel there one day. Did you like staying there?”

She was pleased with how understanding Kazimir was despite her awkward manners upon sharing her history. She doesn’t do it often—in fact, hardly at all—due to how cautious she was and how little she trusted people but she didn’t sense any ill intentions from him whatsoever, and it never hurt spilling her emotions sometimes, considering how often she bottled them up—it made her feel better.

”It definitely was an adventure. I suppose I was lucky enough to get an insight on all these jobs, but picking out one I preferred most, that would certainly be difficult. But, if I have to pick one, being a trader was probably the most profitable.” When Kazimir brought Lance into discussion once again, there was a bit of hesitation within her, perhaps sadness. ”…He passed away in battle. After him, I took up the title of a new guild master for a while to look after our home. War was very cruel on us, and shortly after everything was settled, I stepped down.”