Catch Rose in the alley.

Away from prying eyes, you loom in the darkness of a narrow alleyway. The buildings are a little too closely built. There's only enough room for a couple bodies to walk through, and it's made worse by debris and junk laying about, likely from the attack, and not yet cleaned as anybody would hardly see it. Rose stops with her arms crossed, and leans against the wall--eyes flashing past you to make sure nobody followed.

"I'm surprised they aren't tracking you down for more," Rose says. "They'd probably have gotten you to sign their asses next."

"Glad I ran into you before we left," you say. "I was hoping for it."

"Aw shucks. That's sweet."

"We're heading back to Castle Phoenix, but we'll definitely meet up with you, Mina, and the rest soon. And you know you're always free to visit us too. I've actually got something for you. It'll make this way easier."

While you rummage in your bag, she watches with an eyebrow raised. "Let me guess. Sending Stone?"

"Close, but better. Good guess though." You then hand her another one of the metal slabs.

"Hm." She takes it between her fingers and looks it over. "Did your crew invent an improved Sending Stone? Your name is written here. I imagine I can use this to contact you, but how does that make it any different?"

"If somebody else has one, you can write each other's names down, meaning one can link to dozens of others, maybe even more."

"Oh. That's incredible. Who made these things?"

"They're called FONEs, and Fava mainly, but it was a group effort between a few different people, experimentation, and sharing knowledge. You can ask her the next time we meet up."

"I mainly want to ask if she's selling. Shadow Garden would absolutely love to have a collection of these."

"We can talk about that sometime."

Contact List
Captain Silver
Xue (Xiaoqing)
Queen Catherine II
Rose

With another added to your collection, you stow your own FONE away.

"I know you're a bit of a hero, but is there some kinda catch I should know about? I don't like being indebted to somebody," she says.

"No. We're friends. Though if you do hear anything about any sightings of etherites, can you let me know?"

"Oh yeah. Like that one girl?"

"Aris."

"I've only known a few. Elusive bunch. Sure, I can let you know."

"Thanks, Rose."

"You did good the other day." She gives you a light smack on the chest. "Things could have gotten a lot uglier, but I admit, I didn't expect you to summon a pair of demigods to diffuse the situation. That's impressive. I'll be heading out soon too, so either we'll meet in Tolis, or I'll call you up on this FONE thing, and you can carry me home yourself."

"Sounds good to me."

"Hey, Kyle... You've done a lot. Just don't let the ego go to your head. Not saying you'll let that happen, but you know what they say about power."

"They have that saying on this world too, huh?"

She shakes her head. "Every time you bring up this other world, my head spins. I've heard of Isekai Theory. Of course I have. But that's a whole other can of worms I don't have the energy to open. I deal in information. Without it, I die. But that's something else entirely."

"Well, I won't end up like Elok Daven, if that's your concern. Plus, I've got my own stuff to deal with. Again."

"A Hero King's work is never done."

"Guess not."

"Be safe out there, Kyle. Better warp out before you got more tits to sign. Same to you three. Though I don't expect anybody to ask such a thing from the pure and righteous Lady Tesgella. And for you, vampire, I think they'd be more wanting to sign yours."

Nyllia chuckles. "It has happened a few times before."

"They can certainly try," says Cat beneath her breath.

You hold your companions close. "All right. Back home we go. Big speech is over. Got gifts for everybody. Then we can deal with everything later. Brace yourselves."

With a mighty Bunny Hop, you, Xiaoqing, Nyllia, and Cat warp across space to a firm landing directly through the front gates into the town known as Castle Phoenix.