Oftentimes, Morians get compared to animals, much like all the other races in Errarion. It might be hard to admit to some, but humans share many similarities with the things they actively turn against, hunt, or rarely, befriend.

One such is the lachu, a small bipedal, with a fluffy goofy-looking face. It's a creature naturally encountered in the forests of Shimori, especially in Dear. They scavenge for food, slowly walking around the terrain or climbing on trees to watch for any smaller prey (which there aren't many) to attack with their sharp nails.

Lachus have never been domesticated by humans since a Morian took one of them home for a night. The lachu ate everything from the unlocked cabinets and then left to sleep outside in the snow. They were not mean to humans at all, they just had priorities that needed to be fulfilled. Food was more important to them than any Morian, fun, or amenities.

This was where the comparisons started. Morians outright denied or got angered when someone mentioned anything about lachus, and because of this harmless stereotype, they avoided the animal altogether, pretending it wasn't there when they saw it. It might be true that its priorities aren't as tremendous as Morians', but they do resemble them in one significant way.

During the other three seasons, lachus hibernate in tree holes, and it's been noted and written down that they don't need to eat any food or gather rations beforehand. Simply, they sleep for three seasons and wake up when they feel like it.

There are words of Morians going to sleep without a warning and waking up the next week, although that rarely happens nowadays, and is more attributed to Tributals.

This all comes back to Bancho, who, one would deem quite the old man, even if his looks didn't match the age he was presumed to be, so when stories were told of his sudden appearance in the caves below Mount Aria, no one seemed that surprised. Of course, I'm talking about Morians. Some Paladians, and especially Eryk couldn't wrap their minds around such a possibility.

***

Zuimu's eyes widened, as she stared at the man. She quickly stepped back, covering her horns, and disappearing into the shadows. Atomu opened his mouth and coughed out a bit, awestruck.

"Who are you?" Chyuuichi asked, pointing at Bancho's face.

"Ah." Bancho blinked twice. "You-" he stopped, taken aback. "You don't know me?"

"No, never seen ya before." Chyuuichi smiled. "Are you one of their friends? They seem more appalled than I am. Hmm!"

"CHYUUICHI!" Atomu grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him to the side, turning around. "Don't you know who's standing in front of you?!" he raised his finger.

Chyuuichi looked down, then up. "Some old guy?"

"Old?" Bancho stuck his head out, smirking. "R-Really?"

"GAH! This is Mister Bancho of the Wise!" he pointed, shaking his head.

"Wise? Ooh... so he's really old." Chyuuichi smirked.

"BDFYUFGDYATUIF!" Atomu made a strange noise, covering his head, and Zuimu started laughing, muffled. "GET YOUR WITS TOGETHER, CHYUUICHI! RESPECT HIM!"

Bancho joined Zuimu in laughter as well, chuckling modestly. "It's okay, I assure you, I don't take this too personally." he stuck his hands out, left and right, and Atomu turned to face him again, frowning.

"I'm sorry for h-his behaviour!" Atomu bowed.

"Hm." Bancho put a hand on his chin, looking at Atomu for a moment, then glancing at the other two.

Zuimu kept eyeing Atomu, signalling something with her hands.

The Mirillian slowly peered at the two weapons in Bancho's hands and then went back to his rather calm, yet curious face. "Listen, Bancho," Chyuuichi said, and Atomu was rather surprised that he didn't mess his name up. "You seem important, at least to him."

"I can tell." Bancho nodded.

"But, you know. Status, kings, queens, Nuils, Demonears, none of that matters to me!" Chyuuichi waved his hand, and Atomu stood, straight as an arrow, furiously staring at him. "You know who I respect the most? Good friends! And good friends, are those who are special, and kind!"

"I swear, Chyuuichi. I swear." Atomu mumbled.

"Ayayaya! Let me speak, Atomu!"

"Special," Bancho muttered. "What people do you deem special?"

"Demonears, for once. At least those who can define this world's silly tricks and stand against them! Like, like all of us!" Chyuuichi smiled. "I mean. Us three. Not you."

"Okay." Bancho chuckled a bit, pressuring a wound on his elbow. "So, Chyuuichi." he put the axe back in the sheath on his back. "I fell down a cliff, somewhere far away from here. I survived a kilometre-long fall, and travelled on my hurting feet, all the way through these caves. Sometimes, this sword's light would even give out, but I didn't stop until I heard you three." he beamed. "How about that?"

"No way. You're lying, ohh!" Chyuuichi got a bit excited, covering his mouth. "Lying!"

"No, no!" Bancho grinned. "Look at the state I'm in!" he felt a bit silly as well.

"Hmm." Zuimu turned to Atomu. "Mmh mmhghm."

"Yeah." Atomu looked disappointed.

***

After talking back and forth about pretty much nothing, the four sat down in a circle, as Zuimu begged for the others to take a moment's rest after she had to carry them down into these caves.

"Mr Bancho," Atomu said, covering his face, and playing with his hair. "Everyone was worried about you."

"Presumably. I don't get it, though." Bancho uttered. "I tend to disappear for months for my travels, and they always get surprised. I thought people might've gotten used to my absence, but I guess when you give someone a stick, and then take it after a while, they'll live for the rest of their lives in disappointment."

Zuimu slowly blinked, tilting her head. "Hmmh mhm hmuk?"

"Okay." Bancho chortled. "That was a bad comparison."

"Oh!" Chyuuichi opened his mouth after a while. "That's who you are!"

"Y-Yeah." Atomu continued. "During the Demonear test, some questioned why neither of the Wise showed up when they usually do."

"I'm assuming you must be Demonears, then. No sane person would willingly go down into the underground, and well..." he scratched his cheek. "Demonears are far from that."

"Mhm." Zuimu nodded.

"Great. Good to see more of you." Bancho nodded.

"There were only six new Demonears after this year's test, though." Atomu continued. "It's..." he sighed. "Oh my, It was difficult."

"Expected. After Jakob's passing, it was bound to change." Bancho looked up. "Actually, why are you here in the first place?"

"We-" Atomu started, but something immediately interrupted him.

"We can talk about that later, okay?" Chyuuichi raised his hand. "I'm invested. What happened to ya, Bancho? Why'd ya tumble off a cliff?"

"Hm." Bancho stopped, folding his arms. "I went to visit an old friend of mine, to discuss anything surrounding what's been happening lately. Turns out, through thick and thin, he signed a pact that no one ever told me about. To save the town of Hakh-Nivena from being erased, he trusted demons and exchanged his position for defence, expecting them to rule over humanity."

"Oh, jeepers!" Chyuuichi added.

"...and with that intel, I was informed about a coming attack on Magna. It would take place right after the Demonear exam, perhaps on the first day of Herbes or earlier. What day is it?" he asked, signalling with his fingers.

"The sun had already set. 4th of Herbes." Atomu mentioned. "And..."

"It happened, right?" Bancho looked down, and the other three slowly nodded. "I wasn't there to help."

"Hey, it's okay, though! Except for major losses, everything's fine now!" Chyuuichi reassured, and Atomu looked blank.

"What... major... losses..?"

"The statue's face was cut off!" Chyuuichi added.

Bancho sank his face into his hands, breathing out.

"Chyuuichi!" Atomu smacked his shoulder.

"What?!"

"I tried to reach Magna with a shortcut through different caves that I didn't map out. It was my fault. I should've never touched a demon's temple in the first place."

"Are there any active a-around here?" Atomu asked, fidgeting with his coat.

"You'd be surprised," Bancho answered. "The deeper you go, the more likely you're to encounter them. I picked a fight that I couldn't possibly win."

"E-Even though..." Atomu pointed.

"My strength is nowhere near where it once was. I realised that the hard way. This shouldn't have been a problem in the first place. Even with two weapons, one that belonged to me, and the other, to the other Wise, Axel, there was nothing I could've possibly done." Bancho closed his eyes. "I cast a spell for someone, and threw myself down, fleeing. It must've been more than a miracle that I survived the fall, but that thing..." he turned left and then right. "It's still walking around the caves, and Shin knows where it wandered now."

Atomu gulped loudly, while Chyuuichi seemed confused. Zuimu was intrigued.

"If we were to be warned," Atomu said. "Maybe, things wouldn't have turned out this badly," he mumbled.

"You were." Bancho suddenly spoke up. "I wasn't planning on just giving up, there and now. I knew that if there wasn't a way to leave those caves, I still somehow had to get my message across. The spell was meant to keep an object under a witch's careful eye."

"Witch?" Chyuuichi inched closer and Zuimu raised an eyebrow.

"She's one of the few people who have been there from the very beginning of my days." he looked at the others. "I saved her from a tight squeeze spot with a few of those deadly sirens deep in Cirim. Since then, she was to grant me one wish upon casting my magic. One thing led to the other, I hesitated for a while, but decided to spend this last coin on a more important task."

Atomu raised a brow.

"She promised that she'd deliver a message to a young Morian." Bancho smiled a bit. "Gosh, I wonder what he's up to now. He said he headed out to the Demonear exam. Wonder if he passed?" Bancho asked himself.

"There were many p-participants," Atomu said. "Paladians, Morians, even a few Erans."

"Mirilians!" Chyuuichi raised a finger. "Some died," Chyuuichi added, this time smacking himself on the head.

"His name is Morio. Morio Frisks." Bancho's eyes gleamed. "You heard? We lived in the same village for years."

"Morio?!" Atomu raised his voice. "O-Of course!" he added, alerted. "He's actually... t-the entire reason why we're here in the first place."

"I'm sorry?" Bancho moved back.

"After the attack on Magna, Morio and the other Morian, Jyuzou-" Atomu stopped for a moment, hesitating. "They went to the shore and set out towards the eastern land."

Bancho's eyes shrunk. "Jyuzou's in this too? W-Why did you let them go to Morta?" he straightened up.

Atomu closed his eyes. "It was their choice! I had no say in their path. I didn't know the dangers either. I thought they were going to Lignoria, but Rowan told us that if we weren't to chase them, hope would die."

Bancho gulped, backing out, thinking about something for a hot minute.

"At least, I'm thankful you're not going to abandon your friends to torment and the pitiful mercy of the eastern land. They're Demonears too, right?"

"Yes." Atomu quickly nodded.

"They should be able to handle things at first, but pray to Shin that they're lucky enough to still be alive and treading over unknown roads." Bancho put his hand on his chin again, collecting his thoughts. "Morta, Shin, why Morta?" he asked himself, scratching his moustache and backing out.

"I'm sorry." the Paladian bowed.

"I'm not going to blame anyone. I have no other choice, but to join you in your travels."

Atomu blinked stressfully, Chyuuichi shot up in mild happiness and Zuimu remained calm.

"Save hope, that's what Rowan said." Bancho stepped forward. "I met three people I've never seen before, but would you look at all the names I'm recognizing? The world is truly, too small to contain me, yet, it finds a way to surprise you," he smirked. "Come on. I can lead the way."

***

The first idea that came to all of their minds, simultaneously, was looking around for any corridor or tight squeeze they could fit through, in the direction of Mount Aria. Bancho said that there was nothing of interest from the way he came, and after going through countless possibilities, the Wise, without hesitating further, slid down the slope, much to Atomu's fearful dismay.

Chyuuichi and Zuimu soon followed, dragging the Paladian along, and they found themselves on a lower level, which led to an open, crystal blue lake, with stalactites guarding different paths. At first, it was shallow, and even then Atomu started complaining about putting his clothes or boots into cold water, with Chyuuichi shushing him, mentioning something about the beauty of nature, which Bancho agreed with

After a while though, they had to start swimming, as there was no ground beneath they could easily step on. The ceiling too, moved down, and through Atomu's cries, they kept treading forwards, eventually forced to put their heads underwater, even if for a short time.

Zuimu refused to step in the water, and actively jumped from one stalactite to the other, barely hanging on.

"Miss Queen Princess doesn't want to damp her clothes!" Chyuuichi yelled out, and Zuimu threw a rock in his direction.

Afterwards, they continued their journey under cliffs stacked atop one another, with specks of light shining through very narrow cracks, illuminating the colourful stones below and bigger, mossy rocks. Bancho mentioned, that many of Aria's caves were once inhabited by humans, and more likely, the early Mirillians, (dwarves) which surprised Chyuuichi.

He explained that he heard, here and there, that some connecting corridors go under the mountain, but was never sure as to whether people went out to explore and see things firsthand. Bancho managed to find a small Silver coin, that found itself stuck in between a tiny river and a large boulder. It didn't seem to resemble the coins they usually paid with. There were Old Manjuno numbers visible, and a picture of a person they didn't recognize was carved into the mint.

Bancho mentioned the story of Osmania, and its duke, Norbert Kris. He deduced that the coin must've been shapen out somewhere between the years 180 to 210 A.F.W.

They found lots more remnants and evidence of people or creatures living and thriving in the tunnels, such as left-over goblin goods, ripped-out horns, corpses of bats and writing on walls that even Bancho couldn't make out. It wasn't Old Manjuno, but he likely suspected this to be a demon's speech, something that would be indecipherable to humans.

Continuing their journey, whenever Bancho got a chance to speak, he talked all about the history of Errarion or told some of the stories that Morio once heard, whenever he'd find something that'd remind him of their existence.

Upon encountering a hole in the wall, which led to something that looked like a small canyon, he reminisced of his time spent in Harabara, talked all about the Haran traditions, and mentioned that he once got lost in its winding paths.