The twin suns began their descent toward the horizon, and sunlight began to stream into the carriage.

The rays slanted in through the holes in the canopy roof, creating a shifting pattern on the floorboards as the carriage wheels rolled over the irregularities of the road surface.

Trees began appearing outside, less scattered this time and closer, as if forming actual groupings rather than being lone trees. This was where the field gave way to treeline.

Ash continued watching the passing scenery.

"Like I said," he responded calmly. "I don’t remember anything but my name." He paused for emphasis. "I don’t know why."

Ash told her the same old story with the same old calm delivery. Most convincing lies sounded completely natural, he had learned from reading fiction.

The best lies weren’t overly dramatic or exaggerated. It was as simple as that.

"That must have been really frightening." Rinna’s voice was genuinely concerned. "To wake up in a place like that and to be unable to remember anything about yourself."

Ash looked into her face again, considering how to respond to that.

Instead, he smiled. Barely.

Rinna seemed to accept that as a reply.

Lissa had said nothing the whole time the carriage was moving.

She had been sitting with crossed arms and facing partially sideways towards the open space on the side where they could see the passing trees, her blue eyes watching the tree-line intently. Her fox ears tilted in the direction of the conversation slightly. She was listening.

Ash filed that away.

"You said your name was Ash, right?" Rinna asked suddenly.

"Yeah," Ash replied. "Ash Vulkan."

"Ash."

Rinna repeated the name softly, as if trying out her new acquaintance’s name and getting used to pronouncing it correctly. After that, she smiled, easily and naturally.

"I am Rinna Weldis." She turned her head towards Lissa and added: "And this grumpy girl here is my little sister, Lissa Weldis."

Lissa’s head turned sharply in Rinna’s direction.

"I am not grumpy," she declared firmly. There was an almost perfect precision in her words. Lissa spoke as if she felt it necessary to correct an injustice and make it known.

Then she turned her gaze back to the passing tree-line, repeating the statement in a softer, barely audible tone.

"...I’m not grumpy."

"A little bit grumpy," Rinna whispered to Ash, not moving the smile off her face.

Ash kept silent. Sister, he thought. The word was somehow stuck in his chest and wouldn’t leave there until it decided to leave on its own.

It was surprising for Ash to learn that Rinna was the older sister. She had the look of someone younger - softer, more open, less guarded.

Lissa definitely had the manner of a firstborn child - the vigilance, the protective attitude, the kind of authority that never needed explicit consent or recognition. Rinna carried herself like she knew that someone was always paving the way for her.

He brushed the thought away.

"Can I ask you something?" he said.

"Sure," Rinna answered. "Anything."

He kept calm and even, speaking in the same measured tone from the moment he got in the carriage.

"Is there a demon lord in this world?" he asked.

Both girls turned their heads towards him. Their expressions genuinely puzzled.

"What’s a demon lord?" Rinna asked, confused.

Ash looked at her for a moment.

’So there are no demon lords in this world,’ he thought.

Then, after letting the silence grow in the carriage for as long as it should have, he asked another question.

"Is there any war happening in this world?" he asked lightly, as casually as someone with no memory of the world would. "Or something threatening the world? Something people are worried about?"

Rinna thought for a moment.

"No war," she said. "There may be some conflict here and there – territorial fights, trade disputes and such. Nothing that big-scale, though. And no threats to the world, either. It’s quite peaceful around here."

"Okay. Thanks."

He leaned back, looking at the dusty path winding out behind the carriage wheels.

’So what, exactly, is the problem here?’ he thought. ’What could that old man send me here to fix?’

"Hey!"

A cold voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Why are you asking us all these weird questions?"