Ernest strolled through the alabaster streets of Mamlak, watching the vendors try to sell their wares to those who looked rich and important. She herself was definitely not on that list, although that didn't bother her. It was better, she thought, to remain unnoticed and watch from a distance. 

It had been a long time since she had last been in a city, she realized. She was spending more and more time away from civilization, wandering in the wilds. The oddest thing was that she hadn't even noticed. It hadn't occurred to her how long it had been. Nor how strange it would be to once again be in the middle of a crowded street with people pushing to and fro. She remembered how comfortable she had once been in the middle of a crowd, glad to be hidden by the people. Now she felt odd, trapped. How much she had changed in such a short while.

Another fact suddenly struck her - she no longer watched people. She was not watching faces as they walked past, checking them to see if she knew them. She shook her head to clear it. Where had all of her habits gone? So little time, so much changed.

She continued to walk through the streets, trying to remain alert and yet not uncomfortable in the shoving crowds. Privately, she hoped that no one here knew her, because she doubted she would have time to recognize them before they recognized her.

There he was, Tacitus Silanus, leader of the Fratian cult, simply walking in the city, walking and observing the junk that these so-called vendors were selling. Accompained by two men dressed as elegant as him; shiny, antique-fashioned armours made of black steel, purple wool cloth made of some expensive, luxurious fabric underneath their armors, long purple crests and a fancy, fine cloak, that covered their firmly placed right arms. 

Living in their encampment was hard… Supplies and materials ran out quickly, therefore Silanus and his people had to occasionally acquire the great city of Mamlak… A city ironically detested by Silanus and the Fratians. If they had the power, Mamlak would be their first goal… However, this realm had a mighty land army that would crush the Fratian clan militia in two days. Why did they buy in the city they hated so much then? Because among the substandard merchants, there were some artists with the best merchandise, just as diamonds hide among rocks, and they were looking for them.

That's when Silanus accidentally bumped into the way of some stranger youngster that oddly enough, seemed familiar to him. As he stopped before the young girl, his two henchmen did the same. Silanus observer the girl… Rough, shoddy garbs, slightly dirty skin, worn-out boots… She lived to the very definition of a plebeian! "What's such a juvenile, young girl doing in this place alone…? Are you not accompained, kid?" Asked the slightly annoyed general. Her very prescence interceded in his affairs, however… It was just as if he already knew this vandal-looking girl. "Do I know you? …..Ugh, why would I, heir of the Tacitus family, know such a brigand like you? Unless you have a reason to be before me, Tacitus Silanus… Begone!"