"It's very nice to meet you, Mars," Kath replied, keeping up her polite, yet not completely formal facade. Once the adventurer had taken his leave and left the two girls to their own devices, the dragonoid would take her own leave of Ashara to perform her own bit of research. Unless the kitsune enjoyed pouring over near illegible books with her, there wouldn't be much for her to contribute with, so she was happy to hear her suggestion to separate momentarily and reconvene later.

Unable to read any of the signs that may have directed her to a library, Kath would use a combination of poking her head into stores to see if any had a large supply of books and asking for directions to find herself inside the local general store. There, the owner would be kind enough to let the girl have a look at his collection of literature and give her the chance to reveal what the purpose of the second large book she brought was. Having suspected that the difference in language would come up, she had brought a lexicon of all the various languages she had translated back in the old world of YGGDRASIL, in the hopes that she might find one similar to this region's primary language. It was no Rosetta Stone, but it was far better than starting her research from scratch.

[hr]

Time would pass. Much more time than Kath would think if anyone had asked her how long she had been at her research, but even she knew it was time for a break. Significant progress had been made though, and she knew that when she left the general store finally and had a basic understanding of what the buildings around her were for based solely on the sign posts outside them. She wouldn't be writing any academic papers in this language, but she could help any possible spies Lord Rodias might send into towns and villages in passing off as any normal citizen.

Speaking of spies though, Kath couldn't shake the feeling that one was on her tail at that very moment. In the corner of her eye, she had seen them, staring at her from across the street just before someone had passed between them and allowed her pursuer to fade out of sight. Just because she couldn't see them though, didn't mean she didn't still feel their aura lingering in the area. It was quite a powerful aura as well. Possibly even as powerful as herself. If not for the safety that Ashara's presence provided, Kath would be feeling extremely cornered at the moment.

And then a voice in her head caused her to jump. She had been so focused on her surroundings, Graft's message had taken her completely by surprise. "Er, yes Graft? I don't have access to my library, but if I cannot answer your question myself, I should be able to direct you to the text you might need," Kath would reply. While she kept her polite tone, her draconic eyes would continue to search for that small, cloaked figure she had spotted earlier.