[center][h2]Mordred[/h2][/center]
The tension in the air was greater than one of Tristan’s “bow” strings. Mordred felt as if she could just extend her hand and slice it apart, disturbing the thin peace just like mirror-like waters of the lake before them.

She had only felt like this once before in her whole life and, just like that time back then, it was right when she came face to face with her father.

“He-- hey there, Father. It has been sometime, hasn’t it?” Mordred said as she took a step to the side coming right into her father’s line of sight. Since it looked like everyone was frozen in place -- except for the tall woman accompanying her father -- Mordred had no options other than being the one to break the silence.

Now she could only hope for the best.

[center][h2]Othis[/h2][/center]
“We shall leave you to your own devices for the time being, then. I believe that now that we agreed on an alliance, there’s no reason for you to be apprehensive about whether or not Holmes is stalking you, right?” Othis said to Nanako and Meltryllis -- but looking at Holmes -- as she finished her coffee and got back to her feet.

“I do have a phone like your, cut you can contact us through this at any time if you need,” she added as she placed a considerably pure piece of a photonic crystal, cut in the shape of a small slab, not unlike a smartphone at all, on the table. “It’s a simple mystic code to assist with instant calculations. It also has additional function like long range Spiritron wave-based communications.”

“Now, if you excuse me, it’s about time for me to go back to work,” Othis said to the duo before turning to Holmes and asking, “Are you coming along or do you have other mysteries in your mind, Holmes?”

[center][h2]Hinami Asakura[/h2][/center]
“Don’t worry about that, then. It’s just that, when you get old enough, you begin to pay a lot more attention to things like how a place’s alcohol tastes,” Hinami said, dismissing Gray’s comment about not being one to drink.

Once they got into the restaurant and were directed to their table by some members of the eager, yet overworked staff, she said, replying to her companion’s question, “I wouldn’t say that places are any more common here than anywhere else in the world. While Fusang has its fair share of fancy establishments, if there’s one thing I learned in the whole time I’ve been alive is that cheap food made with heart will always taste better than the most slovenly banquet wrought by lifeless hands. I guess that’s just the reason why this kind of place is so common. Especially in a city as diverse as this one.”