Date: Three Days After the Goblin Mission
Location: Accordum Academy Dormitory
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We had three days of quiet.
No ambushes. No screaming. No explosions.
A miracle.
Elric spent it restocking potions. Riya wrote a letter home. Gideon fixed the front gate hinge — again. Leander tried teaching a squirrel sword techniques.
Then David showed up.
---
He didn't knock. Just walked in like always — coat swaying, expression unreadable.
> "Orders," he said, handing me a sealed envelope with the Academy crest.
The briefing was simple, but nothing ever really is.
> A runaway noble girl — daughter of Count Narshia.
Found and retrieved quietly by one of the Academy's professors.
She must be returned to her home in the Narshian territory.
Discretion, protection, success.
The kicker?
> "You're the only squad left in central town with a clean record and actual brains."
Leander: "Wow. That's… suspiciously flattering."
David ignored him.
> "This is political. You'll be watched. And she's important. You leave in two days."
And with that, he left.
Alice: "Of course it's political. We're in it, aren't we?"
---
The room went quiet for a while.
Then Lily broke the silence.
> "We're really doing this."
I nodded. "We are."
No one objected. Even Gideon just grunted in acceptance.
---
We'll be gone for three weeks — maybe more depending on terrain and trouble.
A noble escort mission. In the middle of summer. Through contested territory.
I already know it won't go as planned.
But we'll go prepared.
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That Evening
To mark our first long-range mission together — and maybe as a last breath before travel — we held a small party in the dorm.
Nothing fancy. Just food, mismatched chairs, stolen snacks, and Leander playing the flute badly enough to kill a plant.
Anna started dancing with Riya.
Elric made tea.
Gideon was... trying not to smile.
Then Leander grabbed my journal.
> "Let's see what our lovely commander's been scribbling!"
Alice and Lily snatched it before he could read it aloud.
They both sat cross-legged near the fireplace and flipped pages like bloodhounds on a scent.
> Lily: "You skipped our moonlight battle."
> Alice: "And the time I saved your neck with six drops of blood."
> Leander: "He probably edited out the part where I made that goblin cry."
Anna, laughing: "The one that begged for a therapist mid-fight?"
Riya: "That poor goblin…"
They kept teasing. I tried to take it back — I failed.
But I didn't mind.
For a moment, everything was quiet laughter and warm light.
For a moment, it felt like the world wasn't waiting to break us.
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End of Entry
Tomorrow, we pack.
The next day, we leave.
> "A new road. A noble runaway. A quiet storm."
Let's see what waits in Narshia.