Meanwhile, in the Library of Nowhere...

"Teacher Logos, when are big brother and I going to go on one of these expeditions?" Janice asked as she watched the scene from Zhen Liu's eyes through the observation screen. "I am bored with just training, and I want to fight something for realsies."

To emphasize her point, Janice concentrated her [Chaos] into the forms of a pair of plush warriors that proceeded to beat the stuffing out of each other. Once one plush warrior proved itself stronger than the other, it proceeded to consume the defeated foe and transform into an amalgamation of the two. With another snap of the finger, the plush monstrosity divided back into its original components.

While Janice's little toy fight was an impressive display of [Chaos] shaping, neither of the curator spirits was paying full attention to it. They were too busy parsing through their historical records. However, they were cognizant enough to provide an answer to the bored little girl.

=The short answer is no.=

The long answer is that you two are way too young to travel around the world and murder people in the process of pursuing fortune and glory, Pathos added. Wait until you two have an age value that is at least in the double digits.

"Boo."

Bored out of her skull without having anything to do, Janice brought her attention back to the screen displaying Zhen Liu's point of view.

"Oh, there's big sister Alicia. I haven't seen her in ages."

…Now back to Rainbowden…

"On the one hand, I should probably send out the Kaijin to go and explore the city now. On the other, I have no idea if doing so will attract unwanted—"

"Xiao Liu!"

"Huh?"

As Zhen Liu entertained the idea of finally putting the head of Smoking Mirror on a pike somewhere, a familiarly melodic voice called out to him.

"Wait, isn't that..."

Turning to confirm his suspicions, a smile formed on his face once he saw the source of the voice walking towards him.

"Alicia!"

Dressed in an artisan's clothes, hair done up in a ponytail, and carrying an arm full of materials, the merchant girl from Stampeding Bison looked more native to Rainbowden than the natives themselves.

From this look, Zhen Liu could assume that she had either been in Rainbowden for quite some time or she was just surprisingly quick to adapt to the place.

Either way, seeing made for a pleasant surprise.

Especially since she was one of the girls who wouldn't immediately attack him for being reckless.

"I heard from Sprocket you had managed to repair your connection and that you were on your way here," Alicia told Zhen Liu as she hugged him. "Little guy didn't tell me when you would arrive though, otherwise, I would've shown up in a better looking set of clothes."

"Nah, I think you look cute when you're in artisan mode like this."

"Heh. Shameless flirt."

While it had only been several months since he had last seen her, Bellona, Alice, and Harriet, that time in-between was mentally gruelling to Zhen Liu to the point that those several months felt like several years.

If he ever cooked up a plan that required him to pretend to be the bosom buddy of someone even more sociopathic than himself, Zhen Liu would probably lose his mind.

Due to this feeling of stretched time, though, Zhen Liu was able to put even more of his heart on his sleeve than usual and reciprocate the positive feelings he was getting from Alicia.

"Ahem?"

"Ah."

To the point that he forgot about the fact that he had arrived to Rainbowden in a group as opposed to his lonesome.

While in the midst of catching Alicia up with everything that has happened up to the present, Jinju Ren has snuck up behind him and cleared her throat in a manner that caused him to pause and slightly stiffen.

This pause was long enough that Jinju Ren could wrap her arms around his neck and began leaning over his shoulder like a cat wanting attention.

"Hey, I thought this trip to Rainbowden was going to be our special adventure through a foreign continent," Jinju Ren teased in a playful voice. "And yet here you are, chatting up with an adorable artisan hussy."

"Good to see you too, Jinju Ren," Alicia greeted in a friendly yet proper tone. "I'm not entirely sure if I should be offended at being called a hussy given our shared partner here, or simply be complimented at you calling me adorable in the same breath. Either way, your outfit looks quite different from your usual look."

"Why thank you, I was going for a 'Fallen Royal in Foreign Lands' look."

"I'm assuming it had to do with..."

"Indeed, but this particular detail was my doing."

"Nice."

"Huh? What are you—oh, hey Alicia."

"Lythero, good to see you again."

Eventually noticing that Zhen Liu and Jinju Ren were talking with someone, the rest of their entourage gathered to see what was going on.

This led to additional introductions being made.

"Heh, I see your group has gotten bigger again," Alicia commented as she met Taurna and Leona, while noticing the look in the eyes of the latter. "Wish, Jin Fang was right, you do seem to have a bad habit of meeting girls wherever you go."

"Hey, don't look at me like that, I don't get either."

"Right..."

It took a few minutes for all of the introductions and general information about each other to get exchanged, but once all of these pleasantries were dealt with, they could finally get to the meat of the matter. Namely, the reason why Zhen Liu and company was here and to see if it had any overlap with why Alicia was here, alongside Bellona, Alice and Harriet.

Of course, before they could have that discussion, it was probably better to loop in those aformentioned young ladies.

"If none of y'all figured out accomodations yet,just follow me. Axer's workshop should still have plenty of room, and it's always better to stay at a friend's place than spending money on a cheap ass room," Alicia proclaimed. "Which is why papa always seem to make friends with someone wherever he goes."

"That...makes a lot of sense actually."

And with that piece of personal wisdom shared, the group proceeded to follow Alicia to yhe workshop she was staying at.

...One short walk later...

"This is where you guys are staying? It looks like someone tried to burn it down!"

"That is exactly what happened, actually."

"Wait, really?"

"Protection rackets are no joke."

"Ah."

"Either way, make yourselves at home."

The workshop in question was one of those facilities that Zhen Liu could categorize as being similar to one of those shops where an apartment was directly connected to it via a stairway in the back.

In this case, though, the workshop portion was connected to the residential portion via a doorway.

'Damn, I'm surprised that this building is still intact,' Zhen Liu mentally commented on the sight.

The building overall reminded Zhen Liu of a loaf of bread that was split in half, then stitched back together after one of those halves was burnt into charcoal.

Either way, they weren't going to be dealing the charcoal portion (yet), only the residential portion for now.

And surprisingly, it was rather roomy.

As the group settled in to their new environment, they were able to perform two more social-based events.

First, they reunited with the rest of the group from the Rainbow Phoenix Academy.

"Bellona! It's good to see you again!"

"Heh. Your thoughts are as honest as your words. Wasn't aware how much I missed this until it was gone."

"Awww, how sweet!"

"Bah, save for the flirting for the bedroom."

"Harriet. Alice. Good to see you two again as well."

"Oh? It's just good?"

Second, they got to meet with the weaponsmith/owner of the workshop and house, a young man named Axer.

Axer, as far as Zhen Liu could tell, was probably several years younger than himself but also seemed to have immense talent when it came to the art of the forge.

At least, that's what he guessed the moment the man clocked in that the hammer on Zhen Liu's hip was a cursed treasure related to smithing as well.

"That hammer...how did you get your hands on it?"

"I got it from my family's treasure vault. Well, extended family's treasure vault. Why? Does it belong to someone you know?"

"No, but any blacksmith worth a damn recognized the craftsmanship of the Damned Forge King. I'm surprised that one of his works hasn't turned you into a drooling monster of blood and death. Did the curse on it get broken or something?"

"Uh...no? The curse is still a key part of this hammer."

"Then how the hell haven't you gone crazy yet?"

"Honestly, I have a million other reasons to go crazy over. A cursed hammer is like the least of my concerns"

"Huh."