Chapter 381 - Departure From A New Friend

Cariel seemed quietly overjoyed with his acceptance of the offer, fiddling with his ash-colored fringes as he continued to wordlessly enjoy his meal. 

Turning his attention back to Iris, his stomach growled as he chuckled with embarrassment, "Should we…?"

"Yeah," She replied quickly, "I've grown a bit of an appetite watching them eat…"

Without much further delay, the two newlywed practitioners of romance made their way to the selection of food presented along the wall, stationed on elegant, velvet plaid. 

"It's a full buffet," he commented in awe, "doesn't look like they held out on anything!"

After an eventful morning and nothing to restrain their stomach's indulgences, the two newly-solidified lovebirds filled their plates--dumping whatever looked appetizing with their stomachs acting as their eyes. 

"That's quite the appetite you possess, Nakamura!" Rengoku laughed. 

As he set his plate down on the table, all eyes from the other three set on the towering dish mixed with an uncountable number of other foods. 

"I call this one "Mt. Fuji", it's the ultimate dish!" He proclaimed. 

He is pretty hungry today, isn't he…? Iris thought. 

Presenting his plate, he caught Cariel eyeing it quite intensely, causing him to smile as he found his chance to return the favor. 

"Want to try?" He offered. 

Cariel softly shook his head, "It's alright." 

Not giving up, Ren grabbed one of the battered pieces of some sort of unknown seafood item with a crimson tail sticking out, extending it towards the gray-haired young man. 

"Come on!" He insisted, "I promise you'll like it."

I don't even know exactly what it is, but if it's anything like tempura--it should be great! I love some tempura, he thought. 

Cariel stared at it for a moment, looking between the snowy-haired adolescent and the piece of battered seafood before gulping. 

"...Alright, then," Cariel accepted. 

Expecting the pale-skinned male to simply retrieve it either with a utensil or his fingers, he found himself flustered as Cariel opted to simply eat it from his grasp. 

...This guy, he thought. 

Sitting back down in his seat, Cariel consumed the golden-crusted seafood for a bit before swallowing. 

"How is it?" He asked. 

Cariel smiled lightly with a small nod, "It was...good." 

"Glad to hear it!" Ren then turned to Iris, "you next!" 

Caught completely off-guard, the azure-haired girl had no time to prepare for the medium-sized piece of battered fish being slid between her lips while Ren chuckled mischievously. 

"...Mmgh!" Iris muffled. 

For once, laughter was spurred from Cariel, sharing between him, Ren, and Rengoku; the drearily dressed vampire remained mostly silent--mostly looking indifferent to human interaction. 

After a rowdy breakfast to start the day, the three newly-acquainted men sat up from the table at Rengoku's call. 

"It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Ren, Iris," Rengoku smiled wide, "but, it's about time we set out." 

Ren was slumped in his seat, feeling the post-binge regrets as his stomach felt as if it were going to burst. 

"Set out? Going back to your rooms or something?" He asked tiredly. 

Though as he looked at the three men, he could tell his assumption was wrong as Rengoku softly shook his head, causing his mane of fiery locks to shift. 

"Duty calls, my friend," Rengoku answered, "it's time to finish our mission." 

"Mission…?" Ren sat up. 

It was too late to drive out any further information as Rengoku and Athan already began marching outside of the tower. 

Only Cariel remained, though it was clear his leave would only be a few moments after as he looked at the snowy-haired young man. 

"You're heading to the third floor, I guess," Ren muttered.

Cariel remained silent, only extending his hand down to him after a couple moments, "Ren Nakamura." 

"...What is it?" He looked at the man's bandage-wrapped hand. 

Silence befell Cariel's black pearl's as he peered down at him before finally speaking, "One day, let's meet each other again--outside of this place." 

Given this agreement, he looked at Cariel's hand for a moment longer before grasping it, shaking it as he accepted with a smile. 

"Yeah. Let's." 

A smile formed across Cariel's lips, allowing him to finally make his leave as he tucked his hands back into the pockets of his dark coat--catching up to his companions as they left the bounds of the tower. 

"Just when we just got to know them," he sighed, leaning back in his chair. 

Iris looked at him with worrisome eyes, causing him to sit in his chair normally as leaned towards her. 

"What's the matter?" He asked. 

"...Ren, those people," She began to answer, "I don't know about the other two...but, Rengoku is part of the Victorious Seven." 

Even in the bustling diner area when surrounded by companions and absent of enemies, she still chose to speak in a whisper. 

"Victorious Seven?" He repeated, putting his hand to his chin, "I feel like I've heard that name before." 

Iris nodded, "...The man at the Champion's Culling, Andraste, he is also one of the Victorious Seven." 

As the name spilled from her lips, his memories were finally able to connect the dots as he snapped his fingers. 

"Yeah! That's right! Now I remember…Makes sense, he and Rengoku are in the same group," He found, "the Victorious Seven...they're a group of elite knights in Mastorn, right?"

"Not just an elite group...they're the strongest force within Mastorn--no, it's more accurate to say they're the strongest group in the world, probably," Iris answered. 

Hearing such words densely packed with a damning reality, he felt his spine run over with a chill at the thought of how close he was to such a figure. 

"...I knew just by looking at him that he was some sort of monster, but I guess it's true. Rengoku, huh? I guess one day he'll be our enemy," Ren sighed, "what about the other two? Athan?...Cariel? Are they--"

Iris quickly denied what he was alluding to by shaking her head, "...They're not part of the Victorious Seven, but that's all I know. The Victorious Seven was drilled into our heads by Beatrice…"at all costs, avoid conflict with them," that was her main advice when it came to them."

His eyebrow twitched at something from her words, though he kept it to himself--only exuding his frustration with a sigh. 

She didn't tell me a damn thing about it...did Beatrice assume I was going to die in Purgatory or something?! He thought. 

Rejoining the Weltwanderers amidst their feast that took up every inch of tablespace, a time of reprieve was found in the tower as stomachs were filled and laughs were had. 

After such an eventful breakfast, they were once more approached by the frail-seeming manager of the tower, who guided them to the one thing they were most interested in. 

The Bazaar....let's see what it's all about, he thought.