>"I think I can live with that."
>"Good."
>You and Kyouko snuggle in silence for another little while until, with great reluctance, you separate just long enough to straighten out the sheets and settle in beneath them. You nestle close to Kyouko again, still feeling sheltered by the warmth of her skin against yours. Your mind is awash in emotions, but your heart so at peace that it is only a few minutes more before sleep claims you. If Kyouko was watching, you're certain you fell asleep with a smile on your face.
>Kyouko is already up and dressed by the time you awaken. You feel a brief pang of melancholy for the empty spot in your bed before chastening yourself; even if you've gone and fallen in love, you still have
some standards. And besides, she did offer you her own for later.... After another lazy minute, you rise, clean, and dress yourself, and then the two of you have a serviceable breakfast before finding a way to pass the time until the riverboat arrives.
>Isir's Cross is, as expected, light on entertainment. You circumnavigate almost the entire settlement in less than an hour, after which Kyouko drags you up the hillside to get a better view of it. The wind is surprisingly chilly today and your vantage offers little shelter from it, but the curve of the valley below allows you to follow the river's course for many miles upstream.
>"How many hours away you do you think that is?" Kyouko asks, pointing to the furthest spot where the river is still visible.
>"Probably just one." As much as the river meanders, a boat can still cover a lot of distance in that length of time.
>"Oh." Kyouko seems slightly disappointed. Maybe she'd hoped you could spot the ferry on its journey downriver, but seems content enough when you point out a smaller vessel on its way to Val Razua, barely more than a speck on the horizon at this distance.
>For the rest of the afternoon, you apply yourself to hunting down any quick jobs that could earn you a few guilders before departure. You don't manage to find any, but somehow walk away richer nonetheless, courtesy of your dowsing rods and a five guilder coin someone lost in a bush. Every little bit counts.
>The ferry back to Val Razua is pleasant in itself, if rather draining of the last of your funds. You eschew a private cabin this time for reasons of economy, though find yourself a little wistful of it now that you have someone you'd like to be private
with. While there are no card sharks to foil or rich ladies to overpay for your services this time, you still make a couple guilders finding someone's lost wallet and win thirty more playing darts with a hawkish man in an atrocious feathered cap.
>"I thought it was kind of jaunty," Kyouko says afterward, and even for her sake, you struggle to keep your eyes from rolling out of their sockets. She'd watched the whole match from the sidelines, cheering every time you scored a bullseye; it was more distracting than helpful, to be honest, but you can't really complain when she's so earnest about it. Plus you think it annoyed your opponant, which you
also can't complain about; anyone who looks like they starch their face in the morning deserves a little comeuppance. And besides, if you hadn't cleaned him out, he'd probably just have spent his winnings on another stupid hat; it was practically a public service!
>The riverboat pulls into Val Razua late the following evening. You feel a sense of finality as you disembark, as if with this last step off the ferry, your ordeal in the wilderness is finally concluded.
>"Hello again, home!" Kyouko announces to no one in particular, unfazed as ever by the looks this attracts. Her ears flutter merrily at the bustle of the waterfront. All around you are shops and storehouses, brick-clad apartments and bridges, and the cobblestone streets which run between them, awash with people. "I've missed the sound of this place."
