The rain that day was heavy. What made it even worse for Seria was getting scolded by her father for the nth time unprovoked, just because she was the only child and he wanted a male heir.

Unlike other eight-year-olds, Seria didn’t cry; she didn’t show any signs of emotional weakness.

"It’s not my fault that the whores you fucked around with couldn’t give you a son," Seria thought.

"Tsk. Seeing your face irritates me. How I wish you died alongside your useless mother," her father, Duke Migalison, continued to spout hurtful words.

When he became tired, he sent Seria away to her room as always. What was different this time was that she didn’t return to her room; instead, she walked out the front gate.

"I’m done with this hellhole." She ran away into the rain.

Her absence in the mansion was noticed by her caretaker, who quickly alerted Duke Migalison.

"Where has that child gone? Find her!" He stood from his seat and made a hand gesture, telling them to hurry up.

The duke’s guards patrolled around the entire Alise district.

"Can’t allow myself to get caught." Seria hid herself behind a trashcan to avoid the incoming guards. "All clear." They walked past.

A festival was being held. The King was hosting the annual Edmund Festival in the commoner district, which was the only time the Granbell Gate was opened. Seria used the opportunity to her advantage and fled into the commoner district.

To avoid the crowd, she headed into a back alley. That’s where she bumped into Deria, a noble girl who had wandered away from her family at the festival because it happened to be too boring.

"Hey, watch it!" Deria fell flat on her butt. She rubbed her forehead.

"Shouldn’t you be the one watching where you are going?" Seria dusted her gown.

"Huh?!" Deria stood up and closed in on Seria’s face with her mouth wide open and eyes burning with fury. She was raring for a fight.

"Are you really a noble? To resort to such barbaric acts," Seria said boldly to taunt her.

"I’m gonna show you barbaric!" Deria stomped her feet on the ground and growled at Seria.

"Hahahaha." Seria burst into laughter. "You are super funny." She continued to laugh as she rolled on the floor.

"It’s one of my very good talents," Deria gloated.

"So, I’m guessing you left the festival too because it’s boring?" She helped Seria up.

"Nah. I left home unauthorised." She grabbed her hand and stood up.

"More like you ran away from home," Deria grinned.

"Whatever. So what’s your name? I’m Seria, by the way," she asked.

"I’m Deria. So you must be the noble they have been looking for!" she replied.

"You got it, mis—" Seria stuttered.

Deria brought her head towards Seria’s ear. "Don’t worry, I won’t tell. From the rumours about your father, it’s no wonder you ran," she whispered.

"Thanks, Deria," Seria stated.

"Oi, oi, oi, oi. This ain’t a place for young nobles like yourselves to wander about. You might just get caught by some unsavoury group of bandits."

Three highly muscular men with broad builds approached them from behind.

"Thanks for the elaborate description, dumbass." Deria placed a hand in front of Seria.

Seria slowly removed her hand. "What do you intend to do? Kidnap us and then ask for ransom? How predictable." She stared at them with a disgusted look on her face.

"You little brats. Pin them down!" The bandit in the middle pointed a finger forward.

The two other bandits by his side walked slowly towards them with unruly looks on their faces. "Hehehe. Don’t be scared, little girls," they chuckled.

"2nd Tier Spell: Mist."

White-coloured mist sprayed out from the magic circle in front of Seria’s hand.

"What’s going on? I can’t see a thing!" The bandits stumbled around inside the mist.

"Nice going." Deria gave Seria a thumbs up.

"Now it’s my turn." She jammed her knuckles together, and a magic circle formed in front of them.

"2nd Tier Spell: Collapse."

Cracks extended from underneath her feet towards the bandits, then the ground beneath them sank into a ditch and they fell inside.

"Come on, let’s go before they recover."

She grabbed Seria’s arm and ran away.

"Tsk. Don’t allow the goods to escape!"

The bandit leader crawled out of the ditch and chased after them.

"We can’t take them by ourselves. As much as I hate the idea, we have to get

help from the guards," Seria mentioned.

"Nice idea." Deria tried to catch her breath.

"Hey, you! Stop there!" The bandits’ voices echoed from behind them.

"Tsk. These bastards don’t know when to quit," Deria grunted.

They ran even faster. They dashed out of the back alley and entered into a park, which was the easiest route to get to a guard checkpoint.

A girl sat on top of a bench reading a book. Deria shouted from behind so they could avoid hitting her, but the girl was fully immersed in her book, so they all crashed into each other and fell flat on the floor.

"Hey, you didn’t hear my warnings?" Deria grunted.

"How does it logically seem better to jump across a bench instead of walking by it?" The girl stood and dusted off her beret that had fallen beside her.

"You!" Deria clenched her teeth. Seria held her by the shoulder. "Well, it’s our fault though. We did jump her from behind."

"At least one of you has the capacity to think logically," the girl said.

"You. It seems like you wanna go. Then let’s go!" Deria’s eyes widened in fury as she clenched her teeth.

Seria spotted the bandits coming towards them. "We need to go now!" She dragged both of them on instinct.

"Hey! What have you gotten me into?

Don’t tell me you are fugitives or maybe thieves." The girl shook her head. "Does that mean I am now an accomplice?!" She screamed in distress.

"I don’t know them!" She turned around and shouted. "Wait a minute, they don’t look like knights or guards," she said upon seeing the bandits.

"You dimwit. They are bandits!" Deria stated.

"Bandits?!" She dragged both of them forward, moving at a faster pace. "Why didn’t you say that earlier?" she lamented.

"2nd Tier Spell: Bind."

A magic circle formed behind her, and vines emerged and wrapped around the bodies of the bandits as they fell to the ground.

"So you do have some spunk," Deria reacted.

"Thanks for the save," Seria said.

"I’m Edith. You both are?" she asked while they continued to run.

"Seria. Nice to meet you," she stated.

"Deria. It’s your humble pleasure." She grinned.

They finally arrived at the guard checkpoint and reported the situation to the guards. They hurriedly left for the park to apprehend the bandits.

"You little twits. This isn’t over!" The bandits cursed them after they were captured and put into a carriage responsible for carrying criminals to Granbell Prison to serve time.

The girls spotted Mr. J’s cart and decided to try his crepes.

"Mister, we would like three crepes please!" Deria lunged her head upwards so he could see her since she was a bit short.

"Here you go, young ladies." He handed them the crepes.

"Here’s the money, mister." Edith stretched forth her hand. He pushed her hand back with a smile on his face. "Don’t worry, it’s on the house."

"Thank you." They walked and sat on the bench beside the cart.

"This was a really fun day," Deria smiled.

"I agree. It was quite eventful and entertaining. Way better than that boring festival."

"We can all agree on that," Seria laughed.

"Yum! This is so delicious." Edith bit into her crepe.

"I’m really glad I left home unauthorised today. Mainly because I got to meet you guys." Seria smiled brightly.

"I never thought you could smile like that," Deria teased her.

"Unauthorised?" Edith asked.

"That’s just how she likes to put running away from her house." Deria laughed.

"Hey!" Seria pursed her lips.

"Hahaha. I see," Edith laughed.

After finishing their crepes over lots of laughs and discussions, it was time to head back to their families.

"See you guys next time." Seria stood up.

"Wait a minute. Don’t we all live in the Alise district?" Deria said.

"That’s true," Edith replied.

"Then we could see each other all the time. My house is Peronaz," Deria mentioned.

"My house is Cloklein," Edith added.

"And my house is—"

"Migalison. We know. You’re literally missing; there are posters everywhere." They laughed.

And so, the story of how Seria, Deria, and Edith met came to an end.

"Wow. It was really interesting. Thank you," Elliot stated with a smile on his face.