Chapter 113: Ashenfall

What was going on?

The pharmacy door had closed behind us. Rose kept walking cheerfully, her fingers intertwined with mine, as though we’d arranged to meet.

I looked at our interlaced fingers, then at her face.

Rose turned toward me.

"Did you hurt yourself again?"

"No."

Her gaze briefly dropped to our hands. Then the corners of her lips lifted.

"Hmm... Then did you really come because you missed me?"

She leaned a little closer.

As the streetlight caught her black eyes, I tried to think of something to say. None of the lines I’d prepared involved us holding hands or her looking at me from this close.

I cleared my throat.

Getting straight to the point made the most sense.

"Actually, I wanted to ask you a favor."

Rose was quiet for a few seconds.

Then she slowed her steps.

"A favor?"

I nodded.

When she leaned toward me, I thought she was going to ask me to lower my voice.

Her lips drew close to my ear.

"Is it my body you want?"

"Uwah!"

I stumbled back a few steps, pulling my hand free and covering my ear.

Rose’s laughter rang out along the sidewalk.

I could feel my face burning.

This demon!

She manages to mess with me every time.

"I don’t want anything like that!"

"Is that so?"

She still wore that irritating smile.

I lowered the hand covering my ear and spoke a little louder.

"I wanted to ask you to buy me a potion!"

Rose’s smile changed slightly.

I noticed, but kept going.

"You’re officially registered as having a Nexus, right? It should be easier for you to get things like that than it is for me. I’ll cover the cost. I’ll pay you for your help too."

This time, Rose didn’t answer immediately.

After looking at my face, she briefly glanced elsewhere.

Then she turned back to me.

"I can’t."

My shoulders sagged.

I’d considered that possibility, but hearing her answer still made my heart sink.

All the preparations I’d planned had been cut short by a single word.

"I see..."

I lowered my gaze to the sidewalk.

I guess I’ll have to fight without potions.

I pressed my fingers into my palm. I’d have to find another way. Or trust that what I already had would be enough and—

"Hey."

I looked up.

Rose was leaning down slightly, looking at my face.

"Don’t look so sad. I said I couldn’t do it. I didn’t say I wouldn’t help."

My eyebrows drew together.

"What? What do you mean?"

Instead of answering, Rose looked at the store across the street.

"Buy me an ice cream."

"What?"

"If you want help, you should do something for me in return."

I stared at her for a few seconds.

The serious expression from a moment ago was gone. Now a very pleased girl stood in front of me, waiting to see whether I’d buy her ice cream.

I sighed.

"All right..."

---

I stood in front of the store’s ice cream freezer with my hands on my hips.

"Pick whatever you want."

Rose opened the lid. After looking over a few packages, she took out an ice cream bar with two sticks.

"I want this one."

I nodded.

While she closed the freezer, I headed toward the drinks. Out of habit, I reached for the lemon-flavored ones, but stopped before taking a bottle.

Lately, it felt as though I hadn’t been drinking anything else.

A little change might be good.

I picked up one of the small cartons of strawberry milk on the other side of the shelf.

When Rose came over, she looked at what I was holding.

"Strawberry?"

She pressed her lips together.

"How masculine."

As she started giggling, I took the ice cream from her hand.

Without answering, I walked to the checkout.

I could hear her following me.

She was still laughing.

---

After we left the store, I put my drink in the bag. Rose opened the ice cream wrapper.

Taking a stick in each hand, she snapped the bar down the middle.

Then she held one half out to me.

I looked at her.

Then at the ice cream in her hand.

"This..."

"Take it."

The girl who’d leaned close to my ear and made my face turn bright red was now looking slightly to the side.

Beneath the streetlight, I noticed a faint blush on her cheeks.

After standing there for a few more seconds, I took the ice cream.

"Thank you."

Rose took a small bite of her half. For a while, she walked while looking at its edge.

Then she spoke.

"You know, back in high school, I always envied couples who did things like this."

I turned toward her.

She lifted the ice cream slightly.

"Buying something together after school... Splitting it in two and sharing it."

A small smile rested on her lips.

"I always thought it was so sweet."

I looked down at my half.

I’d thought she was going to eat the whole thing by herself while I paid for it.

There was no teasing in Rose’s voice. She wasn’t watching me, waiting for my face to turn red, either.

I’d never imagined sharing some ice cream could make her this happy.

"Thank you, Noctis."

I looked up.

This time, she was looking straight at me.

"You’re welcome."

I couldn’t think of anything else to say.

I took a small bite and kept walking beside her. Every so often, Rose’s shoulder brushed mine.

For a while, we simply walked side by side.

Then Rose cleared her throat.

"As for the potion..."

I immediately turned toward her.

"Yes?"

"I’d buy it for you if I could. But for certain reasons, I’m not allowed access to things like weapons and potions."

My steps slowed a little.

"Most things related to Nexus powers, actually."

I opened my mouth.

Before I could say a single word, she pressed her free hand against my lips.

"Please don’t ask why."

Her eyes held mine.

Her smile hadn’t completely disappeared, but I could tell she wasn’t joking this time.

After a brief pause, I nodded slightly.

Rose withdrew her hand.

"Thank you."

I pressed my lips together before replying. I was curious. Very curious.

But just because she was trying to help me, that didn’t mean she had to explain something she didn’t want to talk about yet.

Rose gave a small cough and continued.

"There’s another way you can get potions."

"How?"

"Ashenfall."

"..."

I waited a few seconds.

The name meant nothing to me.

"Ashenfall?"

I frowned.

I searched through the memories left behind by Noctis. A news report, a conversation, a name one of his family members had mentioned...

I found nothing.

Maybe he’d never heard of it. Or maybe he’d thought it had nothing to do with his life and hadn’t paid it much attention.

"When you say underground city..."

Rose took another bite of her ice cream.

"Smuggled potions. Monster remains. Living weapons. Plenty of other things you won’t find in a legitimate shop."

My attention lingered on the last things she’d mentioned.

"And they sell all that there?"

"Yes."

"Without a Guardian ID?"

Rose smiled.

"They don’t ask whether you’re authorized to buy something there, Noctis. They care whether you can pay for it."

For a while, I forgot about the ice cream in my hand.

An underground city.

Those two words alone didn’t exactly bring a pleasant place to mind. With the things Rose had listed, the picture grew even darker.

Still, I might find what I needed there.

"Well..." I said. "How does a place that big stay hidden from the government?"

Rose turned toward me.

"Hidden?"

The faint amusement in her voice made me pause.

"Do you think that’s possible?"

I kept looking at her.

"You mean they know about it?"

"Of course they do."

Her voice was completely relaxed.

"Ashenfall is a lawless place. But it’s also a way to keep criminals, contraband, and shady business in one place."

"Are you saying the government turns a blind eye to it?"

"Having them all in one place can be more useful than having them scattered everywhere."

She ate the last of her ice cream.

"Who’s doing business with whom, where the goods are coming from, who suddenly gets a lot stronger... Those things become easier to track when you know where to look."

I took a slow breath.

Rose twirled the empty stick between her fingers.

"You know what they say. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."

Her eyes returned to me.

"And there’s also the matter of making people feel free."

A faint chill ran down the back of my neck.

People who thought they were living by their own rules.

A government that knew where they were.

And Rose, telling me all of this while eating ice cream.

How did she know all this?

She wasn’t guessing. She didn’t search for words or pause to wonder whether she was remembering something wrong.

She knew the place.

Something told me the things she was describing were familiar to her.

I looked at her face as I ate the last of my ice cream.

Rose tossed her empty stick into a trash can by the road. I dropped mine into the same bin.

Then she came back to my side.

She took my hand.

As her fingers curled against my palm, I turned toward her.

Rose smiled.

"It’s evening now. The perfect time to go."