Yashin & Jiyu's Ultimate Adventure!

A Withered-Away City [20]

Another sunny day in Cloverton, as the sun shined through the palace windows. Shelves of books, papers and stationery supplies decorated the walls of the palace's library.

In the middle of the library was a large table, surrounded by cushions. On those cushions, sat a familiar group of people, looking at a large map of this galactic region. On the top left corner of the map was the words ''Region of Ro'lyn'' in a fancy font. As expected, the map showed every planet in Ro'lyn, starting with Cloakskyne in the bottom right corner, and Kwamslak in the middle.

''Okay, so the nearest planet from Cloverton is indeed Wytherspear.'' Linette pointed to Wytherspear on the map as Akarui pointed to the area around Wytherspear, which was nothing but a blurry grey border. Then she asked, ''Hey, what is this?'' as Jiyu suggested, ''Maybe it's a wall...?'' and Yashin added, ''I think it's fog...''. That's when Pico looked it up on one of the library computers and confirmed, ''Actually, You're right. Looks like there's a wall of fog all around Wytherspear. It'll be hard to navigate the GalacticArc around it but of course, you can't count your loot if you don't start the journey.'' Pico's metaphor confused Seiko slightly as he blurted out a ''Huh?''. Linette explained the metaphor as Yashin moved nearer to Pico, confirming their next trip, ''So Pico, Wytherspear's our next stop?'' Pico cleared his throat as he turns to her and smiled. ''Yep! When we get to the fog though, let me handle the driving upfront. I've trained for driving in dangerous weather multiple times! Unfortunately, I don't yet have the license to prove it...'' Pico scratched the back of his neck and chuckled. ''Hey, don't worry! This adventure is like the ultimate test! Driving your ship from planet to planet, while we've had stowaways, you've fixed it, and through a fog! You're driving Instructor will be beyond impressed!'' Yashin exclaimed excitedly as Pico laughed at her joyous tone. 

Just then, Jiyu interrupted the conversation as she got up from her seat and suggested, ''Well if it's going to be a long trip, we may as well buy some entertainment! Don't worry, I volunteer. It's also an excuse for me to check out that adorable book shop I saw the other day!'' Jiyu jumped up, in a happy mood, as Linette got up and spoke, ''Of course, Let me come with you!''. Seiko then got up, ''Oh! If you're going to a bookstore, could you pick me up a horror novel? I'll pay you back!'' Seiko cheered as Jiyu nodded and Linette waved to her friends as the two strolled out of the library doors. 

''Speaking of horror novels, look at this...'' Pico said as Yashin, Seiko and Akarui gathered around the computer Pico was sitting at. It showed an article about the Wytherspearian Royale Family along with what looked like a burnt down mansion in the cover photo. It looked innocent at first, but then Pico started reading...

''A year ago, Wytherspear's Royale Family had been attacked by an escaped convict, who went to prison for arson. This escapee was recently caught putting gasoline all over the Royale's Mansion. Unfortunately, both the police and firefighters were too late. Luckily, the king and queen plus two of their sons made it outside before the entire mansion caught up in the flames. On a more negative note, the third of the three prince's of Wytherspear didn't make it out in time and has been presumed dead despite the firefighters not finding the body.''

''Oh god...'' Seiko mumbled under his breath after Pico finished reading. ''Hold on... 'presumed'? So he could still be out there!'' Akarui jumped up excitedly as she always tends to find something positive in every negative situation. Pico kept searching various things about Wytherspear as Yashin spoke up, ''Wait, Yknow how Cloverton is known as the city of Luck and Deception? What's Wytherspear known for?'', ''Looks like it's known as the city of Crime and Discrimination... Eh? That doesn't sound good...'' Pico answered as he had googled it. ''Crime and Discrimination, huh... We better be careful when we get there.'' Seiko said as he leaned on the table.

As the four were discussing Wytherspear, its history, rules and various other questions they had, they hadn't noticed that Princess Alexandra walked in to check on them. 

''Hello there, adventure team. How are you four doing? And may I ask where the other two are?'' the Princess spoke casually for the first time in a while as Akarui jumped up to greet Princess Alexandra. ''Hi, Your Majesty! We're doing research on our next stop and-and-and! Linette and Jiyu are out getting some games, books and stuff for the trip!'' Pico chuckled at Akarui's excitement as Seiko got up from his seat and wanted to confirm something that the Princess had recently told him. ''Princess? Are you sure I'm allowed to keep taking the Knight's Entrance Exam even though I'll be travelling with these guys to other nations?'' Seiko looked up at the Princess with upturned eyebrows, hinting at his doubt. The Princess giggled at this sudden shyness and spoke elegantly once again, ''Seiko Knight. You are hereby relieved from being limited to Cloverton for your training. Instead, You may travel with you're friends and prove you're well-deserved spot as a Cloverton Knight by protecting them, stopping Itazura and saving Ro'lyn. As your friend and ruler of Cloverton, I am 100% sure that you are allowed to do this.'' Princess Alexandra finished speaking as Seiko's eyes were filled with joy and admiration. ''Thank you, Princess Alexandra! I'll do the Cloverton Knights proud.'' Seiko rejoiced before sitting back down and letting the others speak. 

After a few minutes of chatting, the Princess left the room. Of course, she still had her duties to attend to.

About an hour had passed since Jiyu and Linette headed out, as they came back right on time before dinner. Linette held a bag of games, a large notepad filled with paper along with some pens and pencils, and a couple of books. Jiyu held a bag filled half with books, half with bagged snacks and bottled beverages. Yashin noticed the mass of both their bags as she inquired, ''I'm guessing most of those are extra supplies?'', Linette was about to reply but instead was interrupted by an excited and adventure-ready Jiyu, ''Yep! And~ I got a couple of really interesting stories we can read on the GalacticArc! Including a horror novel for Seiko!'' She excitedly got out the horror novel she mentioned as Seiko thanked her. 

''Y'never know. This trip might not be as bad as we think it could be...'' Linette said to the others as they were all hyped up. The only problem is when they get there...

''Meh, We'll cross that bridge when it comes to it.'' Yashin smiles as they wrap up their research and head down to dinner.