Sarah
*The fox would use all of his contracts to summon useful maid and butlers, and commanded them to take over all the work in the tavern. Himself, though, would follow Catherine and try to learn the work himself - though his summon knew how to do most of those work given a bit of instructions, Arlean himself knew nothing about how a tavern worked.* 

*And he worked hard until the night, when he became visibly fatigued - though his summon not so, hoping he has earned his keep.* 

*Arlean then went upstairs to his room, quickly closing the door - without locking it, and then faceplanted into the bed, burying himself in the comfortable linen - or straw mattress and pillow. It took only a few minutes before he fell asleep, exhausted from being exposed to the element.* 

*Though Arlean fell asleep early, he'd still be fully asleep late into the next morning - maybe into eleven, until someone rudely wake him up. The fox was splayed over the bed, the blanket thrown onto the floor, and drooling onto his pillow.* 

*Must be sleeping well.*
Michelle
*Akasha herself had returned to her home a little bit later that night. She put her armour away and wore her nightgown, then went to wash her face. She sighed on the warm comfort of fur sandals, slightly relieving her weary and sore feet, after walking all day. In front of the mirror, her hands run a comb through her hair.*

*Staring at her own clear reflection, her thoughts drifted towards the events that transpired this day. It was quite noisy earlier, but she managed to coerce the original owner of that tavern's room to just sleep on the hq. She imagined that Arlean might already be asleep by now. In her canvas of mind, a picture of the fox kemonomimi appeared. He is snuggling on his blanket, ears twitching as he is deep in dreams.*

"Fufu.."

*Akasha giggled at the fleeting picture. The shine of moonlight seeps through the crevice of the window of her room. Alluring her attention towards it, she pondered the silent night. Let tomorrow be a good day.*

- -

_ _
"That boy sure sleeps like a log." *Catherine said, as she walked downstairs.*

"Since his summons had already helped a lot, I told him not to, but he still insists on helping me. What a diligent kid."

"He must be tired..."

*From one of the tables of the tavern, the priestess replied. As usual, she is clad in her armour. The remains of breakfast eaten late in the morning can be seen in front of her. Though, Akasha had actually already woken up early this morning. She went to check on Arlean earlier, but seeing that he was still asleep, she decided to finish some business in the city first, then went back again.*

"It can't be helped. He has been sleeping on the street for days. Under his circumstances, anyone would also be exhausted physically and mentally."

_ _
*She remarked with a sympathetic smile. But hearing how the madam praised his hard work, a hint of happiness can also be found in that smile. Though, just as she raised her cup to take a sip from the served tea, it almost spilled– a sudden thudding sound startled her. She blinked, her vision darted upwards. It was from upstairs.*

"Oh, looks like he woke up after all."

*The madam sat on her usual chair. With one hand on her cheek, she also leered towards the stairs with a playful grin. She had knocked on Arlean's room door a few times.*
George
*Arlean was deep in the land of dream, fantasizing about sleep and rest, and delicious food of all kind that does not even exists in Mentia. 

Suddenly, an enormous Akasha kicked in the door of his room, and screamed at him to wake up. He struggled to control his body, and as he panicked, he woke up for real - with his body falling off the edge of the bed.

The fox fell onto the floor with a loud thud, hitting his hip and squishing his tails between himself and the floorboard.* 

"Owww..." *The fox moaned, loud enough to hear from outside if anyone was paying attention.* 

*The fox quickly stood up and tidied his clothes, catching his breath from an unexpected awakening. Part of his brain was still groggy - just a night of sleep wasn't enough to recover all of the energy lost prior, but it was a good start.* 

*Then he walked downstairs, looking at the Madame and Akasha. The tavern looked... Remarkably cleaner than last night, it looked like the summons have done their job well.* 

"Good morning Madam! And Akasha!" *He turned toward Catherine,*"How should I refer to you?" *He wondered - calling her Madam may make her feel older than she like to be, after all.*
Michelle
"Good morning." *Akasha gives off a warm smile as usual.*

"Morning~ Looks like you had a rough tumble there hm?" *Catherine said almost simultaneously. She then raised her eyebrows at what Arlean said afterwards.*

"Oh? How considerate of you~ Then you can call me big sis. Hm hm, if only anyone else **Nearby** Would call me like that, Catherine will be happy~" *The corner of her mouth curved into a smirk. It was clear who those words are intended to, but the person in question simply ignored it and focused on her tea.*

"Have you had a nice rest?" 

*Akasha asked, turning towards the fox kemonomimi. Putting aside her cup on the table, she motioned with her hand for him to come over. The image is almost like an owner who called for her puppy.*
Sarah
"Good morning!" *Arlean said, giving off a bright smile.* 

*Arlean blushed at Catherine's mention of a rough tumble,*"I didn't expect to fall off the bed..." *He cleared his throat,*"I'm clearly too tired." 

*Then he looked at Catherine and nodded, and then took in a deep breath,*"Alright, Big Sis!" *He grinned - now he has an older sister of some sort in Mentia, a family. He wondered if Akasha will be his little sis - still unaware of Akasha's nefarious intentions toward him.* 

"Mhm. I am feeling a lot better." *Arlean said as he obediently walked over to her table, sitting opposite of her,*"So, what we will be doing this morning?"
Michelle
"My my.."

*Catherine puts her hand on her mouth, hiding her smile of satisfaction. Akasha rolled her eyes and exhaled on her acquaintance's antics. From that, and looking at him as he approached the table, she realised just how pure and obedient he is even by her standard (which is very low, considering Akasha's personality). *

*"I'm worried that some bad people will deceive him in the future.." A passing thoughts like that echoed inside her mind. "Nevermind, the very reason he is here is because he was deceived by those businessmen."*

"Humm, it's almost noon already. Yesterday, I was planning to take you on a tour around the city first, but looking at the time.." *She crossed her arms and pondered for a few seconds.*

"Maybe we can cover the main district and the city hall. Just near the bridge from Alioth tower."

_ _
*Akasha pointed with her index finger towards the open window. From there, they can see rows of massive stone pillars. It forms a line, extending from the outer gate, cutting through the city districts, and ending up on the high wall which encircles the plaza. Each pillar must be at least 50 metres tall, supporting a gigantic bridge above which connects the Alioth tower and the military district inside the plaza.*

"That's one of the three bridges of Trias Gladius. The bridge itself can only be used for military personnel and nobles, so we'll take the ground route. From the main district nearby, we'll stop a little to see the city hall. That place had become an impromptu rallying ground for mercenaries and recruiters recently, so there should be a lot of people there." *Akasha paused to take a sip from her tea with a graceful table manner.*

"From there, we can enter the lower gate to the plaza, then the military district, where the Knights headquarters is located to receive our preparation drill... I.. But I wanted to know, you are feeling well already right?"

_ _
*A sign of worry can be traced on her gentle face. She put her cup aside, and without any warning, she extended her hand forward, grabbing one of Arlean's hands. It is noticeably daintier in size than his, and slightly colder. Maybe this gesture was intended so he can be more at ease in being honest with her.*

"I know that yesterday we talked about this, but it's okay to not push yourself in accepting this job."