If Anna was forced to describe the meal she just finished with one word it would be sublime. South would have agreed with her without hesitating for a moment, if it weren’t for the fact that he was snoring drunkenly. From time to time he would mutter things like “It’s for your own good little brother,” and “Women will betray you.”

As soon as he saw South fall into drunken stupor, Wolf canceled Silence. He thought that at worst they would listen to some loud snoring, but they still ended up listening to these awkward statements. Anna wondered what the vagrant had gone through to talk like that even in his sleep.

Maybe he really is looking out for Wolf in his own weird way? the girl thought.

“Whores are the best,” South mumbled with a grin.

Drool ran down his mouth as he hugged and squeezed a torn pillow. With those words and that lecherous face, whatever good impression Anna had had melted away like snow in spring.

He’s just a pervert! she cursed inwardly, wanting to slap the drunkard.

“Wolf, you really are an excellent cook!” Anna exclaimed. She complimented Wolf, while pointedly ignoring South’s ramblings. “Why don’t you find a job as a chef in a noble’s household? You would definitely live a lot better than you do on the streets.”

Wolf knew that Anna had best intentions in mind, but he still shook his head. Why would he want to live as a servant, when he was nearly a Ninth Order Mage? Once he broke through his social standing would be more or less on the same level as a Baron. But that was not something he could say to Anna right now.

“Who wants to be a cook for other people? I cook for those I care about whenever I feel like it. Besides, what’s so good about working for a noble?” he asked seriously.

“Well–” Anna started, but Wolf didn’t let her finish.

“And, weren’t you the one talking about living free?” Wolf hammered in his final argument.

That was before I knew I could only live for a short while with the money I had, and before you told me how difficult it was to get money. Anna thought bitterly.

Anna realized how poor she was as soon as she found out how expensive living on your own really was. The girl could only laugh awkwardly before speaking, “Haha, you are right. I don’t know what came over me. Haha.”

Wolf shot Anna with a flat look, seemingly asking What’s wrong with you?

Embarrassed, the girl tried to change the subject.

“Anyway, why don’t you cook more often?” she asked.

“South said that if I were to cook every day for him it wouldn’t feel special,” Wolf began explaining. “He also enjoys the fact that he has this weekly lunch and has something to look forward to. To be honest I didn’t understand it at first, but now I kind of think I get it now.

“I also look forward to our Sunday lunch. I sometimes find myself thinking about it as early as Monday. You know, considering what to prepare for the next meal and wondering what kind of ingredients I’ll be able to find...” Wolf trailed off when he realized he was speaking nonsense.

“Well, if you ask me, I’d love to eat your cooking every day.” Anna also thought that Wolf was talking gibberish.

“If that’s how you feel,” Wolf began. “Then whenever you buy ingredients for me to cook, I'll make something nice for us to eat. Otherwise you can just join our Sunday meal.”

“I’ll go buy the ingredients for tomorrow’s lunch, but I’m not paying for that hoodlum! How much money did today’s dinner cost?” Anna asked in elation. All she had to do was buy some ingredients, and she would get to eat such delicious food.

“Around thirty silver pieces,” Wolf answered truthfully without thinking.

“Thirty silver pieces? I can’t afford that!” the girl exclaimed with shock.

“Maybe you could find a job?” Wolf offered a suggestion. Surprisingly, Anna actually considered it for a moment before shaking her head.

“If I were to do that they would probably easily find me,” she said absentmindedly.

“Is someone after you?” Wolf asked with worry that had nothing to do with his play-pretend role of Anna’s brave knight.

Anna hesitated for a moment before nodding.

“In that case I’ll protect you!” Wolf offered bravely while thumping his chest.

Anna was touched, and at the same time worried about Wolf. “I appreciate it, but I don’t want you to get hurt. When they come for me our playtime will be over and you won’t be my knight anymore. Deal?”

“No! You are my friend, and I won’t let anyone take you!” Wolf refused stubbornly and vehemently.

Anna bit her lip nervously before speaking, “How about this? If the people that come for me act in a friendly manner you let them take me. How does that sound to you?”

Wolf mulled over her suggestion for a moment before finally nodding. “That should be fine. If they don’t mean any harm, and you want to go with them, then it’s not my place to butt in. But remember, as your knight I can’t let anything bad happen to you.”

Anna looked at Wolf, trying to figure out whether he was being serious or still playing. She dearly hoped that he wasn’t serious.

Yes, he’s still just playing. That’s what Anna decided and that was for the best.

For the first time in her life she’d found a real friend. It was refreshing, Wolf didn’t suck up to her and she didn’t need to suck up to him. It was obvious to Anna that Wolf wanted to look out for her of his own volition. If not for his honesty and naivety, Anna would’ve suspected that her father had planted him here to keep an eye on her. Wolf was way too competent to be some random urchin you stumbled across.

“Do you mind telling me who’s chasing after you and why?” Wolf asked. From his point of view it was a sensible question. You had to know who your enemies are if you want to protect your friends from them.

Anna hesitated for a moment before answering, “My parents. They want me to go to school.”

“Huh?” Wolf blinked stupidly.

What?! You have parents that are perfectly fine. Not only that, they want to educate you, and send you to school, and yet you ran away? Your poor parents! Wolf couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He felt like slapping the spoiled girl silly.

“They want me to go to school so that they can marry me off into a better family,” Anna hurriedly explained.

That still doesn’t sound like they are doing anything bad. They are just thinking about your future. How can you be so unreasonable? Wolf still felt like shouting at her, but kept his mouth shut since Anna still wasn’t done talking.

The girl sighed sadly. “Look, my father just wants to sell me off for the greatest benefit possible. Times are hard and, despite us being relaxed on the surface, Father is struggling. I have a decent talent for magic, so they want to send me to the Silver City’s Mage Academy. There they hope that a powerful Mage will take a liking to me and marry me. That way my family would have the support of a powerful Mage. Father hopes that this would help us through these troubled times.”

“That doesn’t sound as bad as you’re trying to paint it,” Wolf said carefully. This seemed like a sensitive topic, but to Wolf it looked like Anna’s parents were just watching out for their daughter’s best interest. As far as he could see there was no drawback to her marrying a powerful Mage.

“Hmph! What do you know? You’ve never met my parents! Why do I have to marry a shriveled up old Mage when I can just become one? Then I can really live freely!” Anna grumbled about the unfairness of her life, but Wolf was just getting more and more confused.

If that’s the case, then why did you want to play a noble lady and a knight then? We could have played a Mage and a knight? Wolf thought, but there was something that interested him even more.

“Does that mean you can perform magic?” he asked after a moment.

Anna nodded proudly and raised her nose high. “Of course I can! Behold and be amazed!”

Anna started chanting loudly and waving her hands in an overly dramatic way. Seeing how she acted, Wolf's eyes went wide with disbelief.

She’s causing this much ruckus when casting Light? At least half of that incantation’s random gibberish in Arcana!

Anna finished casting the spell and her palm started glowing. Seeing Wolf’s shocked expression the girl felt very smug about herself.

“There! What do you think?” she asked, beaming with pride.

“Um, nice?” Wolf offered weakly.

The shocked expression on his face was replaced by a dubious one, much to Anna’s displeasure.

“Hey!” she exclaimed crankily. “I know what you’re thinking, but don’t compare me with that old drunkard! I know he cast that Silence spell. But I’m only ten years old and pretty, while he’s an ugly old man! I’ll soon be able to cast Second Order spells, and I’ll be able to cast Silence before I’m thirteen!”

As if to answer Anna’s accusation, South mumbled another “Whores are best.”

Anna ignored him. She was too annoyed with the way Wolf was looking at her. She’d put in a lot of time and effort studying under a tutor just to be able to cast this First Order spell, and she’s even learning how to cast Mage Armor now!

Um, is it really that impressive to be able to cast Light when you’re ten years old? Wolf wondered. I think I was able to cast it when I was five. Maybe even younger? I can cast Repulsion, without frowning and looking as strained as you did just now. But maybe I shouldn’t burst your bubble.

“Wow! That is awesome!” Wolf exclaimed, but his faking was too obvious, especially for someone that grew up like Anna. The girl turned around with an offended hmph and left the alley. She walked in an overly exaggerated manner to show her anger.

“Hey! Anna! Wait!” Wolf started running after her, but then suddenly stopped. He turned around and waved his hand. “See you in a week Big Brother!”

In response South snored extra loudly and rather disgustingly.

After some sweet-talking, Wolf talked Anna into coming over to his lair.

He dashed off, and changed the defensive Spell Formations so that it ignored her, before coming back for her and leading the way over.

Unexpectedly the girl was quite taken with the place. When she looked at it from the roof where Wolf had left her, the boy’s home looked dark and creepy. However, after watching it for a while the feeling faded, and once inside the place was actually quite warm and comfortable.

She was surprised to find what appeared to be a brand new expensive looking armchair with plush upholstery.

Wolf loved reading books in that chair. He had found it heavily damaged in one of the back alleys, but after applying enough Repair spells the armchair looked brand new, and it was very comfortable.

Yet, just as South had mentioned, no matter how good Wolf’s home was, Anna found room for improvement.

For instance, he could apply a fresh layer of mortar on the bottom of the bridge and then whitewash it. That way he wouldn’t have those ugly rough stones above his head, but a real ceiling. Then he could add a wall on the river side, blocking the view of all the junk and filth that floated in the water. Naturally, that wall would also need whitewashing.

Then things escalated a bit.

“And, and, you could then close off the two remaining sides with walls and a door. Oh, oh, and, you would need to have large glass windows to let in plenty of sunshine. And maybe plant some flowers…”

Wolf listened to her suggestions calmly, and then asked a typical Wolf question, as Anna thought of them. “And you’re going to be the one to pay for all of that, right?”

All it took was that one question and his home once again became beautiful, comfy and flawless. Just like it was when Anna had first walked inside.

That evening Anna slept on the armchair, while Wolf took the floor, like a proper gentleman. He seated himself comfortably, and entered his Mind Hall for the night, struggling with refining the sixth column.

The next morning Wolf prepared breakfast using the leftover ingredients he had, giving Anna a wonderful surprise. Once the breakfast was over, Wolf gave her his favorite novel to read.

“I have to run some errands today, and I’ll be away for a couple of hours,” he explained while handing over the book.

“But I want to go with you!” Anna whined.

For a moment Wolf seemed to be in a tight spot, but then found an excuse. “It’s a man’s thing.”

He thought that he was being smart, but Anna then argued that there was nothing men could do that women couldn’t.

Eventually Wolf managed to extricate himself and go trade food for cheap trinkets with the local beggar community.

The number of people coming over kept increasing as rumors about Wolf spread. He also noticed a number of shady people, but since they didn’t cause any problems, Wolf didn’t want to go looking for trouble with them either. He had long since decided to help those he could, and not try to fix the world. He was just a child, and he had to make his safety a priority. Doing otherwise meant disrespecting his father’s will.

Several hours later, when Wolf got back home, he saw that Anna was immersed in the novel. She was sitting in the comfy armchair, oblivious to the world. He snuck up on her, wanting to startle her when he suddenly felt that something was wrong.

He was being watched. Wolf looked around, but there was nobody there. Finally he looked up towards the bridge and saw a nearly translucent purple eye, roughly the size of an apple. The eye was looking straight at him.

No, that wasn’t quite true. It was looking straight at Anna.