Ryner and Maya walked in the hallway behind a maid that acted as their guide. As the two stayed still for nearly an hour with Maya stubbornly hugging onto Ryner from behind, she had knocked and asked them to follow her since the king had requested their presence. Although she was dutifully doing her task, she kept peeking at them every now and then.

“Don’t cling to me like that. It makes it hard to walk.” [Ryner]

“No way~. I’m not listening to you, Master.” [Maya]

Maya was hugging onto Ryner’s arm and leaning her head on his shoulder. While smiling and wagging her tail, she happily walked with her master as if they were a couple. Noticing the maid’s stare, she winked at her which caused her to blush from embarrassment as she hurriedly looked forward again.

“Why are you messing with the maid?” [Ryner]

“Hmm? I don’t know what you’re talking about~.” [Maya]

“*Sigh* Maid lady, you can ignore her. She’s just giddy because of this and that.” [Ryner]

“You’re right. I’m giddy because we’ll be sleeping together every night… Just the two of us alone in bed…” [Maya]

The maid that was never in a relationship before turned red like a tomato when she heard her as she imagined what the master and slave were doing together in the bedroom. Ryner reproached Maya before trying to soothe the servant.

“Stop making her imagine weird things. Lady, you can ignore her. Nothing’s going to happen, alright?” [Ryner]

“Nothing yet, but once it’s mating season…” [Maya]

“M-mating season…?!” [Maid]

“Maya, really not helping…” [Ryner]

Unfortunately, his efforts only caused her to walk stiffly while steam seemed to be coming out of her head. Eventually, the trio arrived at their destination as the maid knocked on the door with two guards on each side and announced their arrival after calming down.

“I have brought them your highness.” [Maid]

“Good work. You may enter.” [Jillian]

Hearing the queen’s voice giving permission from behind the door, the maid opened it and led the two following her inside before bowing to the royal family and leaving again. As the door closed behind him, Ryner took a good look at the room as Maya separated from him. There was a long table in the middle with King Charles, Queen Jillian, Prince Alex, Princess Lillian and Prince Carl sitting around it. Maids were clearing the empty plates that were in front of them as they had just finished breakfast and were in the middle of drinking tea. This was where the king and his family would dine together in private. There was also another door with servants and guards standing by on the other side. The queen greeted the new arrivals warmly, but the others were rather wary, especially the king who didn’t look at Ryner with much favor. Copying his father, the eight year-old boy didn’t seem to like him much either.

“Good morning you two. I hope you rested well the other night.” [Jillian]

“Good morning your highness, I had pleasant dreams.” [Ryner]

They talked while standing in front of the door and bowing slightly in greeting. Maya raised an eyebrow and looked at her master upon hearing his blatant lie, but he ignored her. As he observed everyone present, he noticed that the king, who was scowling at him, had rope marks on his wrist that he tried to hide with his sleeves. This made him grin a bit as he was glad that he decided to stay at the castle to enact the second part of his revenge.

“I’m glad to hear it. I’m happy that you didn’t reject my offer after what happened.” [Jillian]

The queen said as she glanced at her husband who quickly looked away while sweating a bit.

“Please do not worry about it your highness. I am thankful for your intervention at that time.” [Ryner]

“Well, that was simply how I was raised, so reining it my husband has become my job.” [Jillian]

She jokingly said as she remembered how her father admired knights and taught her to be just and honorable in her ways. His teachings were properly ingrained in her as she always stopped her husband who wasn’t afraid to use his authority. However, there were some parts of her that were less honorable.

“On that topic, your highness, I stayed because I actually wanted to give you some... information that I believe you would find useful.” [Ryner]

“Ohhh… Do tell.” [Jillian]

Curious and interested, the queen urged him to continue as everyone gazed at him with puzzled looks. Taking out a sheet of paper that had been folded twice from his pocket, he raised it in front of his face to show it to everyone as he walked towards the queen with Maya following behind him. He then kneeled and presented it to her much like Cain did with his rifle.

“This is secret information for your eyes only, your highness.” [Ryner]

Jillian slowly took the paper, unfolded it and read the contents while everyone watched her in silence. For some reason, the more she read, the more her cheeks reddened and the wider her smile became. Once she was done, she folded the piece of paper three times and carefully put it on the table in front of her before calmly taking a sip of her tea. Her family was looking at her while wondering what she just read. However, except for Carl, their question was answered when, after putting her cup down, the queen turned her gaze to her husband and a predator’s smile flashed across her face. The three children quickly looked away while their father shivered from fear.

“This… Is quite the valuable information. I understand now why you wanted to stay.” [Jillian]

“I am happy that you like it. Please do with it as you see fit.” [Ryner]

Clearing her throat, Jillian told Ryner with slight admiration to which he respectfully responded while getting back up and taking a few steps back. The queen once more drank from her teacup and Maya took this chance to quietly ask her master what he gave her.

“Master, what kind of information did you just give her?” [Maya]

“Otherworldly information for her preferences that start with ‘S’ and end with ‘M’. The queen is actually THAT kind of queen.” [Ryner]

He whispered back to her while thinking about the kinds of things that she’ll put her husband through tonight. It would seem that she liked doing that sort of play in bed, but the king didn’t since he was trembling even now while glaring at Ryner with an accusing stare. As such, written on the paper was modern world knowledge on how to best have fun with your partner using ropes, candles and whips. In short, it was on how to best torture the king. Satisfied, Ryner patiently waited until they told him why he was called here. Jillian looked at Charles without a predator’s smile, telling him that he should do the talking. Clearing his throat, he managed to speak in a rather normal tone despite being so frightened just a moment ago.

“Ryner, what do you think of the hero after fighting him?” [Charles]

“He sucks.” [Ryner]

“Pfft…!” [Maya]

His immediate response caused the royal family to be at a loss as they stared at him and Maya to laugh as she put a hand to her mouth to restrain herself. Despite his indifferent attitude, he was still annoyed that he got his arm broken to get back something that belonged to him, so he reflexively stated his true thoughts.

“That’s not true! Ryan is much stronger than you!” [Carl]

One person spoke up in anger and that was the youngest of them all, Prince Carl. Wondering why he acted so childishly in front of other people despite being a prince, Ryner told him what he noticed while fighting the strongest hero to convince him that his viewpoint wasn’t so biased. This way, the boy would see that it was an objective judgement and maybe calm down a bit.

“His attacks were monotone, his patterns were simple and he easily lost his cool from a few words. That’s why he sucks.” [Ryner]

“He doesn’t! Ryan could have won easily if he had his holy sword!” [Carl]

His reasons only made Carl angrier as he shouted while pointing at Ryner. It would seem that he greatly looked up to heroes, especially Ryan. With his hero’s enemy in front of him, it was normal that he was acting with such hostility.

“I see. So he can’t do anything without a powerful artifact to help him. What a great hero he is, truly deserving of praise.” [Ryner]

He spoke sarcastically while shrugging his shoulders.

“That’s not what I meant! If he punched you once, then he would have won! You had to run away during the whole fight!” [Carl]

Trying to defend the hero he looked up to, Carl got up and walked towards Ryner while his family was still frozen and simply watched the situation.

“And yet he lost to a guy that could only run away. There’s this saying where I come from: ‘It doesn’t matter how strong you are if you can’t hit’ or something like that. It’s been years since I last read it.” [Ryner]

Forgetting that he was talking in front of royalty, he went back to acting like he always did as he argued with the little kid.

“But he IS faster than you! And he would have-“ [Carl]

“Carl, enough.” [Charles]

The king spoke in a commanding tone after getting back to his senses. His son turned around to complain, but kept quiet when he realized that what he was doing was unbefitting of royalty.

“Please forgive me, father, mother.” [Carl]

Looking down, he weakly apologized before going back to his seat. As all eyes followed him until he sat down, Charles turned his gaze to Ryner and spoke in a colder tone than before after he showed such disrespect. He wanted to punish him, but his fight showed that he was not someone to be trifle with and that it would be better to have him on their side instead of as an enemy. After all, he managed to defeat a hero in a duel without using magic.

“By my strongest knight’s suggestion, we wish for you to help in training the heroes. Will you accept?” [Charles]

Cain had asked him to get Ryner to train the high schoolers because of the skills he showed in the duel with Ryan. The knight commander didn’t think that he could possibly do the same thing and marveled at his talents in battle. The king declared and waited for Ryner’s response. The sleepy-looking man that caused him great suffering last night, and possibly tonight as well, raised his eyebrows slightly upon hearing why he was called here. By reflex, he planned on rejecting his request, but just as he opened his mouth, he closed it again and put a hand to his chin to think for a minute. As everyone waited quietly, he came to a conclusion and made a small smile.

“I accept.” [Ryner]

There were various reactions when they heard his answer. Maya looked astonished, Charles frowned a bit, Jillian let out a sigh of relief, Alex had an amused smile on his face, Lillian looked interestedly at Ryner and Carl seemed unhappy.

“However, I have a condition. No, I request a reward.” [Ryner]

His next words caused the royal family to be unanimously shocked into silence.

“Come on people! Only four more laps to go!” [Ryner]

In the training grounds, Ryner was sitting in the middle while he shouted at the heroes who were desperately running alongside the wall. Maya was sitting by his side and drinking some alcohol that she swiped from the kitchen. Cain and a few of his knights were watching them train from further away. After he had finished negotiating with an angry king for his reward, he was guided by another maid to a large dining room with long tables where the heroes were gathered at. A few knights were there along with Cain as all eyes gathered on them when they arrived. Although some of them weren’t too happy seeing Ryner, most of them didn’t really care about him or just focused their gaze on the hot woman with animal ears and tail.

The maid walked to the old knight and whispered some words to him, making him understand the situation. A small smile flashed across his face since he believed that the heroes would be able to grow stronger under his guidance if he taught them the techniques that he used to easily parry Ryan’s attacks. He got up from his seat and explained to everyone that from now on, Ryner would be training them. After talking down some complaints, the whole group moved to the training grounds were their new instructor told them one thing.

“For starters, run ten laps without using body strengthening.” [Ryner]

Everyone was now sweating and panting as their forced their tired legs to move. The perpetrator for their suffering was relaxingly watching them with two beauties on each side.

“Master, why did you agree to train them?” [Maya]

Taking a swig from a bottle of alcohol, Maya finally asked the question that was puzzling her ever since they left the royal family and came here.

“For the reward. I still can’t believe they accepted.” [Ryner]

He answered as he sat cross-legged while supporting his chin with his hand. He had asked for the same thing then with the royalties in Sakael city which was to basically have the right to act disrespectfully around them. The king finally lost it and hurled abuses at him while his family glared at him. Even the queen didn’t come to his defense for his insolence and kept quiet, though she glared at her husband when he started blaming Ryner for the horrible treatment he went through at the hands of his wife last night. Eventually, they reluctantly agreed after Ryner fed them some convenient lies he thought on the spot such as ‘I can make them much stronger’, ‘the hero, Ryan Mayer, will never lose again’ and ‘they’ll be invincible’.

“So you don’t need to bow down every time you see them, but was it really worth it?” [Maya]

The slave asked after she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

“Not really. That was just a bonus. I actually wanted to train the heroes to have my revenge.” [Ryner]

Her master said before letting out a big yawn. She looked at him with a question mark over her head, urging him to continue. Gesturing at the high schoolers that were running nonstop while sweating and panting, he told her his reason with a small grin.

“If you push gym class far enough, then it will become even worse than math class for most students.” [Ryner]

A young man with black hair, brown eyes and glasses collapsed on the ground and stopped moving. His chest heaving up and down as he desperately sucked in air was the only proof that he didn’t die from exhaustion.

“I see! You’re using training as an excuse to torture them. You like to hold grudges, huh Master~?” [Maya]

Shaking the bottle to check how much alcohol was left, she amusingly said as she stared at him while smiling at his childish vengeance.

“I only hold on to the annoying ones. Besides, most teachers use the excuse of teaching to torture their students and turn their brains into mush. What I’m doing is basically the norm in other worlds, so there’s actually no problem.” [Ryner]

“There is one! Don’t give us teachers a bad name!” [???]

The young woman sitting next to him finally spoke up and stopped looking at her students worriedly. With her long brown hair tied up and resting on her left shoulder, blue eyes and glasses, she rebutted the words of the man that forced her students to run around until they dropped. She worked as an intern when the whole class was inexplicably summoned to this other world and had been moving separately from her students who possessed combat abilities unlike her. Apparently, there was a summoning magic to bring them to this world, but no magic to send them back. So, while her students were training, she was learning about magic and reading as many books as she could in their library, trying to find a way to return them back home.

“Just what do you think you’re saying?! If you hurt my students, I won’t forgive you!” [Teacher]

She stood up and bended forward with her hands on her hips, looking down on Ryner and trying to glare menacingly at him. Unfortunately, her soft features didn’t make her look scary at all.

“Look businesswoman, this is training that people thought up, not me. Break and rebuild them just like muscles. I’m not at fault here, society is.” [Ryner]

“I’m their teacher and my name is Kelly! And what kind of excuse is that?! You sound like a useless bum!” [Kelly]

She shouted, mad at the joke he sleepily said as he waved his hand at her. Ryner called her as such because, unlike the high schoolers who wore clothes from this world, Kelly stuck with her original outfit: white blouse, black skirt, stockings and high heels. When they asked her if she wanted something easier to move in, she refused, saying that this was her teacher uniform and that she had to wear it at all times.

“I heard what happened with Ryan. I’ll tell him to apologize for picking a fight with you, but he’s a good kid! You shouldn’t hold a grudge! Aren’t you an adult?!” [Kelly]

“Ha! I might be twenty years old, hell, I might be eight hundred thousand years old, but I am no adult! I’m a top-class monster, one of the strongest beings you’ll ever meet, brat.” [Ryner]

“Brat?! You’re only twenty! I’m twenty-six years old!” [Kelly]

Standing straight up again, she angrily looked at the idiot that said something ridiculous with a cool voice. Although she wasn’t short, her baby face made her look younger than she really was and she always had to show her driving license whenever she asked for a drink at a bar. This made her conscious of her looks and Ryner just hit where it hurt.

“Twenty? So I’m five years older than you Master. Shouldn’t you listen to your elder~?” [Maya]

Maya who was quietly listening to their conversation while drinking spoke up when she heard her master’s exact age. She playfully asked him while scooting over closer and wrapped her tail around his waist as she leaned on him.

“No way, you’re going to make me do something impossible. And I’m eight hundred thousand years old. So, basically, you should listen to me since I’m your… great-great-great-great-great elder, or something.” [Ryner]

“Oh, it’s well within your capabilities. In fact, I think you’ll enjoy it. I know I will…” [Maya]

For some reason, the two of them started flirting in front of her while they were having a serious conversation. With her cheeks red because of anger and embarrassment, she was about to lecture them on proper behavior with the opposite gender when Ryner raised his hand to stop her.

“Leave it at that teacher. My vict… disciples are done running.” [Ryner]

He tapped Maya on the head which made her giggle a bit and stood up after she let him go. He walked towards the heroes that were gasping for breath on the ground with his slave following behind him. Kelly closed her opened mouth and reluctantly followed too with a frown on her face, planning to tell him a thing or two later on.

“Alright people, now that you’re done with your warm up, we’ll start the next lesson!” [Ryner]

He clapped his hands twice to get everyone attention and declared in a loud voice which got him more complaints.

“Wait! Shouldn’t you let us rest first!?” [Ryan]

Panting while sitting on the ground, Ryan said in defense to his classmates that were down for the count, but Ryner was expecting this and already prepared an answer for him.

“You stupid idiot! This training was designed to mimic real life situations! You can’t expect to be at your best before every fight. Sometimes you’ll be out of breath and too tire to move. Does that mean you can just rest? No you lazy bum! If you have to fight, then stand up and fight! Your enemies won’t just say ‘ok, go ahead and take a nap before I kill you’, brat! A real hero will stand and fight no matter the situation! He will protect his comrades to the end, fool!” [Ryner]

His passionate speech was peppered with insults, but Ryan didn’t notice them as he got inspired and slowly stood back up while making a determined expression. Ryner manipulated his desire to be a great hero and got him ready for another lesson.

“(So gullible. This kid is definitely going to get stab in the back someday.)” [Ryner]

As the others started to get back up on their feet, he walked towards one of them, a young man that always lecherously stared at Maya’s body, and swept him off his feet with a kick.

“Here are some ground rules. Rule number 1: always listen to me.” [Ryner]

He lightly pushed another one down that invited her to fight barehanded as they all froze from his sudden action.

“Rule number two: never let your guard down.” [Ryner]

His next target, who tried to touch her tail once, jumped back, but Ryner quickly caught up, grabbed his leg and pulled it upwards, making him fall down on his back.

“Rule number three: do your best to survive.” [Ryner]

His voice became heavy and his eyes turned sharp to convey to them that his training won’t be a walk in the park. While everyone was silenced from the pressure that he was emitting, he stared at all of their faces to make sure that they understood their place. When he looked at Elena and Aria in the eyes, the two of them, startled, quickly turned their head away. Puzzled, he kept staring at them and noticed that they had dark circles under their eyes and looked sad for some reason.

“Tha-that’s not training! You’re just bullying them!” [Kelly]

Kelly’s shout interrupted his thoughts and he looked at her while scratching the back of his head.

“Listen teacher, I didn’t do anything yet. Maya kept training even when her bones broke and she coughed up blood.” [Ryner]

He gestured at Maya that was sadly looking at her empty bottle.

“That really was difficult. I thought I would die from Master’s attacks.” [Maya]

Sher looked inside the bottle with one eye closed as her words only made those around her uneasy. The heroes were starting to get scared as they imagined what this man would do to them in the name of training.

“Anyway, enough chitchat. I want to see you guys in action, so pair up and start fighting. No magic.” [Ryner]

Everyone moved on his words while grumbling as they found a sparring partner and spread out. They fought using wooden swords and spears with no blades. Kelly kept complaining to Ryner, but he offhandedly answered her while observing everyone’s fight. From what he could see, all of them learned some basic combat stances and techniques, but nothing really amazing. From the way they shifted their weight and the force they exerted in their attacks, they were too reliant on their overwhelming power with body strengthening magic. Some of them tried to blast off towards their opponent, but they didn’t put enough strength in their legs and others tried to block, but they staggered from the blow.

“How is it?” [Cain]

At that moment, someone respectfully spoke to him. It was Cain who had walked up to him and stood by his side as he also watched the young heroes sparring with each other, which caused Kelly to reluctantly keep quiet.

“They were taught how to use magic and fight with magic first. It’s the best and most logical thing to do.” [Ryner]

He answered without looking at him as he intently observed every fight. All of the high schoolers had enough mana to punch through steel armor as if it was paper. With that kind of power, there was no need to learn how to throw a proper punch. So long as they learned how to control their mana and strengthened their body, they could easily win even against a seasoned warrior. Ryner was no exception. If Ryan used his full power, he would have turned him into paste after a mad dash.

“Correct. I don’t know about your world, but here, a person’s power is decided by his mana pool. You need to learn how to control your mana and be careful with how you use it. You need to know how much mana you’re using to strengthen yourself as well as how much you’ll use for your spells. That’s why there are magic users who only use body strengthening and magicians who only attack with spells.” [Cain]

The old man said as he stared at Ryner from the corner of his eye, mentally praising his analytical abilities. As a knight, he deeply respected this sleepy-looking man who went toe-to-toe with the best hero and came out without a scratch. Although he didn’t seem to be able to use magic, he clearly surpassed him in terms of combat skills. The teacher who was quietly listening to them was furrowing her brows since she didn’t like the fact that her students were learning to fight. As for Maya, she was drinking another bottle that she pulled out of nowhere.

“I see. Since it’s bad if you run out of juice during a fight, there are magic users who specialized in close-range and magicians who specialized in long-range.” [Ryner]

“Of course, those are just how we call the two main fighting styles. A magic user could shoot a fireball at you when you least expect it or a magician could punch you through the head once you get close enough. So, you shouldn’t think that it is as simple as a ‘close-range and long-range enemy’.” [Cain]

Cain warned him when Ryner nodded as he understood the two different categories. They were not precise classes, but the general styles of fighting only. The old knight was a swordsman that mainly used body strengthening, but he also learned a few ranged spells just in case. He could handle enemies up close and from a distance. The same could be said of the heroes. They all had enough mana to spare to kick down walls while shooting fireballs everywhere, not to mention that some of them were given unique abilities that very few people in the world possessed.

“So basically, fighting is about managing your mana. Nothing new there I guess. Do you take them to go monster hunting to gain battle experience?” [Ryner]

“Sometimes. We usually go to the ruins outside the city and fight the monsters there.” [Cain]

“Ruins? Are they actually nests of monsters?” [Ryner]

Ryner asked while tilting his head to which the knight commander answered as he remembered that he too was a person from another world, so it was normal that he didn’t know.

“Yes, though we don’t know what they are exactly, but there are creatures living in there that attack anyone who comes in. It’s as if they are the guardians of the ruins.” [Cain]

“Ohhh, weird creatures huh? Maybe I’ll take a look later.” [Ryner]

Ryner said as he kept watching the heroes. Although he couldn’t use his powers, he thought that it would be fine for him to take a small peek. If they were too strong for him, then he was confident he could escape. He was a battle maniac and he couldn’t help himself. That was how he was raised.

After beating up the heroes under the name of training all day long, Ryner and Maya returned to their rooms to retire for the night. Of course, just like Ryner said, they were sleeping together. It was now midnight and the beastman slept while hugging onto her master’s right arm in the dark room, but she opened her eyes to deal with the problem before her.

“Master, why aren’t you sleeping?” [Maya]

She looked at the side of his face as he kept pretending to sleep.

“It’s hard for me to fall asleep around other people. Don’t mind it and sleep.” [Ryner]

He answered while keeping his eyes closed. Guessing that he still couldn’t trust her enough to leave himself defenseless around her, Maya got up and forced herself to smile at him so that he wouldn’t see her sad. She thought that it was better to let him rest than to have him accommodate her.

“On second thought, I think I’ll go sleep in my room tonight.” [Maya]

She turned around and faced the door, but Ryner grabbed her arm before she could get off the bed which made her look at him with surprise. Without saying anything, he moved the pillows and sat at where they were before pulling Maya towards him. He got her to lie down with her head on his lap and covered her with the blanket.

“Like I said, you don’t need to mind it. Just sleep.” [Ryner]

While she was still at a loss, Ryner told her so while gently patting her head. She blushed from his sudden action, but the pleasant feeling made her close her eyes and smile in delight as a warm feeling spread throughout her body.

“Will you really not sleep Master?” [Maya]

She asked while wagging her tail, still concerned about his lack of sleep. Her master shrugged his shoulders and answered her question after some hesitation.

“Don’t worry, I’m used to all-nighters… And I used to do this quite often to my daughter.” [Ryner]

He said in a nostalgic voice that was slightly tinged with sadness as he recalled his days with her. Hearing that he was a parent caused Maya’s tail to freeze in place from shock as she opened her eyes. Although she thought that it was possible he was married, but from what she saw while travelling with him, she figured that he didn’t have any good relationships with women.

“… You have a daughter?” [Maya]

She asked in an uneasy voice, wondering if his family accepted slaves and would let her stay with him. Because she couldn’t see him, she didn’t know that he had a pained expression on his face as he talked in a soft voice.

“I adopted her so we’re not blood-related… But we were a family, just like any other.” [Ryner]

“… Were?” [Maya]

“A lot of things happened you see… Maybe I’ll tell you about it some other time. For now, go to sleep. That’s an order.” [Ryner]

She noticed his choice of words and brought it up, but Ryner simply dismissed the subject in a casual tone. Not wanting to pry any further, she listened to him and closed her eyes again as she was relieved that it didn’t seem like his family would be kicking her out. Under the covers of a warm blanket, her head resting on his lap and his hand gently brushing through her hair, she indulged in the warm and safe feeling this situation brought her and let sleep overtake her.

“I refuse~… But just this once… I’ll listen to your order… Master…” [Maya]

The slave soon fell asleep as her master kept patting her head.

Inside another bedroom with two beds, two girls were sitting on one of them as they silently watched an orb of light that was floating between them. Inside of the orb was the figure of Ryner giving a lap pillow to Maya who was sound asleep on top of the bed.

“… I think we should stop here.” [Elena]

One of the girls, Elena, said as she looked at her best friend and waved her hand at the orb which made it vanish.

“… You’re right. We need to sleep too. My body’s hurting all over from his training.” [Aria]

Aria replied as she rotated her sore shoulders while frowning in pain. Last night and until morning, the two of them were spying on Ryner using Elena’s unique ability that allowed her to see real-time images of anyone that was within three kilometers. The glowing orb was like a security camera and it was a dangerous ability since it could spy on even the king so long as she was close enough. However, the person who possessed it was Elena, so none of her classmates really minded it since they knew of her gentle and just personality. They convinced the king and nobles that it was safe to be around her.

Yesterday, after Ryner went to his room, Charles had ordered Elena to spy on him and his slave and to report anything unusual right away since there was the possibility that he would try to harm them. Otherworlders were and odd bunch that didn’t abide to common sense, so it was better to be ready for anything. She unwillingly accepted because she understood his reasoning and kept watching him along with Aria who accompanied her the entire time. Ryan and Jayce, hearing of her duty, offered to join her as well, but Aria told them to get lost instead since it meant that they would be spending the entire night in their room.

At first, all they could see was him meditating for hours before he finally went to sleep. Then, just as they were about to fall asleep themselves, he started squirming in his bed while sleep talking. Soon, tears fell from his eyes and he started screaming just as Maya entered the room. Completely awake, they watched as she made her shocking confession while hugging onto his back. After Elena cancelled her ability, the two high school girls stared at each other in shock, neither saying anything at all. They had seen something that nobody should have seen.

Feeling great guilt, they lied to their friends and told them that nothing unusual happened last night. Not knowing how to face those two again, their hearts nearly leaped out of their mouths when they stared at Ryner in the eyes during training.

“… Maybe we shouldn’t do this anymore. We can tell the king that he won’t attack us.” [Aria]

Aria broke the silence as she dove into her bed. Elena slipped under the covers of her own bed and looked at the ceiling for a bit.

“But, I don’t think he’ll believe us. He doesn’t seem to like Ryner very much either.” [Elena]

“You’re… right. *Sigh* Well, it is true that he seems rather suspicious since he’s another otherworlder that just popped out of nowhere. But, he’s not a bad guy, is he?” [Aria]

Aria spoke as she put the blanket over her body and looked at her best friend with a smile.

“You’re right. He’s a really kind person.” [Elena]

She answered as she remembered how he was gently patting Maya’s head while giving her a lap pillow. She pulled the blanket over her mouth and giggled as she secretly thought that he looked like a mother taking care of her child. However, her smiling face was replaced by a sad expression as she thought about what she saw the other night.

“But… He’s in so much pain… The two of them are…” [Elena]

Her roommate didn’t answer her as the two waited until sleep visited them. They had learned that despite their carefree exterior, the master and slave had scars of their own, and they didn’t know what to do with this knowledge.

*Author* I've got some stuff to do, so the updates will be slower for a while.