Solria, Middle District, Irisveil Mansion (Kyle POV)

You know, I’m getting a weird sense of deja vu right now, like I’m back in my natural habitat, but I guess after doing housework for a thousand years, you tend to adapt to it. Either that or slowly go insane. Well, here’s hoping it isn’t the latter.

I ran my mop over the dusty floor as it erased any traces of uncleanliness from wherever it touched, and a strange sense of satisfaction bubbled up inside of me. It kind of felt like I was making a zen garden, and the mop slid across the floor as the clean wooden boards that were originally buried in dust began to reveal themselves to the outside world.

Yes, here I was again, cleaning the floor of someone else’s house, almost like I was back at Eliza’s place except this time, the house I was cleaning was way bigger and, at this point, probably more dust than house.

You see, when Aria and I arrived at the mansion in an excited hurrah, we failed to take into account one very important issue, nobody has lived in this house for a few dozen years. When we saw the state of the mansion from the outside, we didn’t think much of it, but after walking through the house, we realized just how run down it was. The place was alright on the outside, and the lights and water seemed to still be working, but the inside was caked in enough dust to fill a swimming pool, and all the furniture was gone too. It desperately needed a deep clean if we were even going to attempt to live in here, so we had to get down to work. I was currently mopping the second floor, while Aria was using some water magic to lightly flood out the dust on the first floor.

After mopping all the hallways and rooms on the second floor, I opened all the windows and looked outside to see water flowing out from the front door onto the lawn. The sound of gushing water was present the background as I got a wet rag and started wiping down the windows and windowsills.

A while later, I let out a sigh, took off the makeshift mask I was wearing, and leaned out the window as I finally got the chance to breathe some fresh air again. I stared outside at the street and waited for the second floor to air out. The streetlamps outside shone almost as bright as the stars in the sky, and I could even occasionally see a person or two still passing by on the road.

A few minutes later, the wet wooden floor finally dried, the sound of running water from outside died down, and there was finally fresh air circulating throughout the second floor again. I double checked every room one last time to make sure all of them were clean and dry before going downstairs to check on how Aria was doing.

Aria was lying down on the now clean floor of the living room as her arms and legs were spread out like she was trying to make a snow angel. I let out a short laugh as Aria looked over from the floor to see me standing in the doorway.

“Aria, I finished cleaning the second floor, how’s everything going down here?” (Kyle)

“It’s finally all clean again.” (Aria)

“Hey, come on, get off the floor.” (Kyle)

Aria sat up on the floor and stared at the empty room around her with a faint smile.

“So, this is our home from now on, huh?” (Aria)

I looked around with her at the blank walls as I couldn’t help but crack a small smile too. The walls were tinted a little beige, which showed the age of the mansion, but I think that honestly, it gave the mansion a bit of a homely feel.

“Well, it’s a little empty so we’ll have to pick up some furniture soon, but yeah, it is.” (Kyle)

I walked up and extended my right hand out towards Aria.

“So, welcome home, Aria. Now, come on, it’s getting late, so help me move our stuff in. We can make dinner afterward. You said you have somewhere to go tomorrow, right? Let’s finish this early then.” (Kyle)

“Alright.” (Aria)

Aria grabbed my hand and pulled herself up before we went outside together and started unpacking our things from the carriage.

***

I stretched my back lightly as I walked out of the front door to the mansion. It was about 10 in the morning and I just finished cleaning up after breakfast as Aria was waiting for me by the gate. Yesterday, we unpacked our things before we chose which rooms we would be using and moved our stuff in. After that, we went to the kitchen and Aria helped me cook dinner. Luckily, the stove was built into the kitchen counter, so we didn’t have to start a campfire on the lawn to cook dinner, and after eating dinner we went to sleep on the floor in our sleeping bags as I once again had another strange sense of deja vu...

Anyway, today, the plan was that we were supposed to go meet with Aria’s friend, Max, and then go furniture shopping for the rest of the day. I walked over to the gate and followed behind Aria as she began to lead the way with a smile on her face. We walked around the middle district and passed mansion after mansion, until eventually, Aria stopped in front of a gate to one of them and called out to a servant.

“Excuse me.” (Aria)

There was a gardener clipping the hedges on the lawn who stopped his work and walked over to greet us.

“Good morning, miss. Are you here to see Master Almus?” (Gardener)

“Yes, could you please tell him that Marchioness Irisveil is here to visit?” (Aria)

“I’ll let Master Almus know right away.” (Gardener)

The gardener left and we waited outside for a few minutes before the front door to the mansion burst open and a young man with short brown hair and a pair of similarly colored eyes rushed towards us chaotically.

“Aria, is it really you!?”

He ran over as fast as he could before shoving the gate open and grabbing Aria by the shoulders.

“Yeah, I’m back, Max. How have you been?” (Aria)

Max stared at Aria, who smiled back for a moment.

“Thank god, you’re ok. I was always worried that something had happened to you, that you wouldn’t make it back.” (Max)

“Hey, I’m right in front of you, aren’t I?” (Aria)

“Yeah, you are.” (Max)

Max took a deep breath as he wiped away the faint tears from his eyes before putting a smile on his face. Max let go of Aria’s shoulders and finally noticed me after his emotional outburst.

“By the way, Aria, who’s this?” (Max)

“Oh, this is Kyle, my adventuring partner from back in Delhurst. He helped me out a lot, and I couldn’t have made it back without him.” (Aria)

Max turned to me with a friendly grin and extended his hand out for a handshake.

“Nice to meet you then, Kyle, I’m Max Almus. Thanks for helping out Aria.” (Max)

I grabbed his hand and we shared a firm handshake as I smiled back at him.

“Nice to meet you too, Max. You can just call me Ky.” (Kyle)

“Alright then, Ky. Anyway, you two should come in, we have tons to catch up on, so we can talk inside. Just let me change out of my training clothes first.” (Max)

Max led us into the mansion, and one of the servants led us to a guest room on the second floor which had two sofas and a coffee table. There was a painting on the wall next to an armor stand with a suit of full plate armor on display, and a few expensive looking vases on small tables lined the walls. Aria and I took a seat next to each other on one of the sofas and we waited in silence for a while as I stared out the window right next to my side of the sofa at the sunny skyline outside.

You could see the castle and the other mansions lined against the vast blue sky as a background, and hordes of people scattered about here and there in the far distance where the shopping district seemed to be.

“So, that was Max, huh? Seemed like a pretty nice guy. He’s pretty well off, and good-looking too. Looks like you’re pretty lucky that someone like him likes you, Aria.” (Kyle)

Aria whacked me on the back of my head before angrily staring at me.

“Oi, what’s that supposed to mean?” (Aria)

“Well, I hope he at least has a thick skull too, otherwise you’ll crack it in a week if your constant physical abuse of me is any indication.” (Kyle)

I laughed a bit as Aria grumbled cutely behind me while pouting and turning away from me, but after a moment, both of us quieted down and silence pervaded the room again before Aria’s soft voice sounded out behind me.

“... Hey, Ky... what do you think about me marrying Max?...” (Aria)

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for a moment before holding my right hand open against the window. For a moment, it covered the endless blue sky in front of me, and I grasped at seemingly nothing before replying in a soft tone while a melancholic nostalgia bubbled up inside me.

“... A long time ago, I once tried to hold everything together as it was. I was happy in my static little world, and I was scared that one day, it would all eventually change, which of course, it did. The only thing I could do was endlessly struggle as I desperately tried to put everything back together, but, in the end... I couldn’t even stop a single thing from slipping through my fingers. All I did was end up hurting everyone around me that I cared about in my vain attempt to try and relive a distant past... I would be lying to you if I said that I didn’t have mixed feelings, but, where I’m from, there’s a saying, ‘if you love something, set it free.’ It means that you can’t force something you love to stay around forever, and the truth is, these days won’t last forever. Neither you nor I can force things to stay as they are.” (Kyle)

I retracted my hand and turned around to Aria with a gentle smile.

“One day, you’ll leave my side, or maybe I’ll leave your side, but for now, I’m still here. So as long as you’re happy, then I could care less about some minor changes. If marrying Max is what you really want, then I’ll support you no matter what, until the day that we have to separate... And in the end, if one day, we ever meet up again, I would prefer to see you happy.” (Kyle)

I caught a glimpse of redness on Aria’s face as she turned away from me again and meekly replied.

“...Ok...” (Aria)

We sat there for a few more moments with a warm atmosphere in the air before the door opened and Max entered, this time dressed in typical nobleman’s attire. He greeted us and handed both of us a cup of tea before he sat down on the couch across the table.

The next two hours consisted of a chat between Aria and Max, and by chat, I really mean that Aria basically started narrating her time at Delhurst as I chimed in occasionally to make sarcastic remarks while we laughed together at Aria’s reimagining of her grand adventure. Honestly, Max was starting to grow on me too, after all, it was fun being able to talk to a friend who was a guy after being stuck around women for so long.

And everything was going great, we were all happy, until someone showed up who was very important to our relationship dynamic...

We were in the middle of another one of Aria’s stories about the time we cleared out a giant monster turtle from one of the big lakes near Delhurst when the door opened, and a pretty woman with long dark blue hair entered the room. She looked like she was around her early to mid-twenties, and her dress was a similar color to her hair, but the most notable thing about her was her swollen belly that indicated she was late into her pregnancy.

She had a surprised look on her face before walking over to Max’s side and greeting us.

“Oh, I didn’t know we had guests over, why didn’t you tell me, dear? I was looking all over for you. Nice to meet you two, my name is Karen Almus, Max’s wife. What are your names?” (Karen)

The woman waved at us with a kind smile on her face as Aria and I froze up. There was an awkward silence for a moment before Max introduced us to Karen with an awkward smile.

“This is Aria and that’s Kyle, they’re my friends who just returned to the capital recently, and... I have some important things to discuss with them right now, so could you please give us some privacy for now, honey?” (Max)

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know I was interrupting. I’ll see myself out then, it was nice to meet you two.” (Karen)

Karen walked out and closed the door lightly before silence spread through the room again. Max had a heavy face as I looked over at him and he took a deep breath. He stood up and lowered his head in a deep bow to Aria as we stared at him waiting for an answer.

“... I was thinking about how to tell you later on, but I guess that’s been ruined now. I know it probably doesn’t mean much to you, but I truly did love you Aria, and I’m still unbelievably glad that you’re safe and sound. It was just that while you were gone… I couldn’t take it anymore. I was worried about you every day. There were nights when I stayed up thinking about whether you were ok or if you would ever make it back, and as the days went on, my parents kept pushing me to marry soon. Initially, I decided to wait, and the agony tore me apart as I sat there not knowing if you were even alive, until one day, Karen came into my life. Just being around her eased my anxiety. It made me happy and filled up the emptiness in my heart. And eventually, I realized that I fell in love with her. So, I’m sorry, Aria, but I can’t marry you...” (Max)

There wasn’t a single sound in the room as I looked over at Aria. She just sat there frozen with her head down as her hair covered her face. I could hear my heart beating as an indescribable feeling rose up in me. Countless scenes of Aria struggling towards her goal ran through my head, and anger filled my head as I turned back to Max before speaking in a low voice.

“Hey, Max... you said you couldn’t take it anymore?... Well, let me ask you something, do you have any idea how hard Aria was trying? Any idea how many times she put herself in danger? All the pain, all the fighting, all of the killing... all of it just to get back to you, and now this is all she gets? Just a sorry?... I heard from her, all about your promise, you promised you would wait for her, didn’t you?” (Kyle)

I got up and grabbed Max by the collar with my right hand.

“I did… I’m not proud of my lies, but... I can’t lie to my heart, so, all I can say is... I’m sorry.” (Max)

“Sorry? If you’re so sorry, then don’t make promises that you can’t keep in the first place!” (Kyle)

I raised my left arm cast and was about to hit Max with it when suddenly, I felt someone hold me back. I turned around to see Aria with an expressionless face. She pulled my arm back down and separated my hand from Max’s collar before turning to me.

“That’s enough, Ky... Don’t hurt yourself anymore for my sake.” (Aria)

“Aria…” (Kyle)

Aria turned back to Max and I took a step back as the emotions from my outburst began to die down.

“Just tell me honestly, Max, how long have you been married?” (Aria)

“Almost a year...” (Max)

“I see.” (Aria)

Aria stood there for a moment before she lifted her right hand up in the air. The crisp sound of a slap broke the silence and echoed through the room as Aria’s hand left a mark on Max’s face.

“Goodbye, Max.” (Aria)

Aria turned around, grabbed my hand, and pulled me along as we left Max’s mansion.

We walked through the streets silently until we returned to the front of our house again. Aria opened the gate and walked up to the front door as I followed behind her.

She entered, and a moment passed before suddenly, she stopped and stood still in the middle of the mostly empty living room with her back to me.

“...Ari-” (Kyle)

“Sorry, Ky, I completely forgot about the furniture... but is it ok if we go tomorrow? I kind of want to just sit down for a little bit and sort out my feelings right now.” (Aria)

“...Yeah, take your time.” (Kyle)

Aria walked up to the second floor as I entered the living room, and after a few moments, I heard the sound of a door being slammed shut. I stood there a little lost for what to do before I looked at the clock and saw that it was a little past noon.

“I should at least make lunch for her or something...” (Kyle)

***

A few hours have passed since Aria and I returned to the mansion. It’s evening now, and I’m sitting on the living room floor surrounded by luggage cases. Earlier, when I went upstairs and tried to give Aria the sandwiches I made for lunch, she told me to just leave them there. So I left them outside her door before I came back down to the living room to wait for her. The sound of people outside was beginning to die down and I closed the book I’ve been reading this whole time before I got up and stretched a bit.

Man, the writing level really has improved over the last millennium, hasn’t it? That novel was actually a pretty fun read, way better than what I was expecting. Back then, it was just generic heroic myth after generic heroic myth about god X or god Y’s exploits and they all felt the same, but now we have actual variety in genre and well thought out plot. No wonder Eliza got hooked to reading so many romance novels.

I looked out the window and saw that it was dark outside before throwing the book back into one of the luggage cases.

“Hmm, it’s getting late. I should probably make dinner soon.” (Kyle)

I was about to walk to the kitchen as I thought about what to make for dinner when I heard the sound of footsteps from the stairs. I turned toward the stairs and saw Aria coming back down holding a plate with a faint smile on her face.

“Alright, Ky, what do we have for dinner?” (Aria)

I stared at Aria with a puzzled look on my face as she walked downstairs like nothing happened today.

“Aria, are you ok? I thought you would be a bit more, well, depressed after what happened with Max.” (Kyle)

“It’s ok. I’ve gotten over it.” (Aria)

“You don’t have to put up an act. I’m the only one here, so just let it all out.” (Kyle)

“I’m fine. I was sad and angry at first, but after thinking about it for a while, I realized that I can’t blame Max for what he did. After all, I did the same thing. When we came back to the capital, I was just happy to be back in the city I grew up in, but when I saw Max again, I didn’t have that same sense of pure joy, it was more... bittersweet. I didn’t know why at first. I told myself that I should be happy. I finally accomplished the dream I inherited from my father, and I was about to get married to the man I loved, I should’ve been all smiles, but after what happened with Max, I finally realized why it felt bittersweet. It’s because somewhere along the way, I’ve fallen for someone else too. I’m the same as Max, just being around him makes me happy, and, honestly, I’m a little relieved right now. I’m finally free, there’s nothing holding me back anymore, there’s no more waiting, no more promises, and I can finally be with the person I really love... Max was right, I can’t lie to my heart.” (Aria)

The edges of my mouth curved up into a smile as Aria walked over to me with a happy smile.

I feel like a father watching his daughter grow up. I can’t deny that I’m proud, but it’s leaving a bittersweet taste in my mouth. Well, I guess this isn’t too bad sometimes, after all, life isn’t always just sweet or bitter. Ah, but before I forget, there’s one more thing I have to do as a self-proclaimed overbearing father figure.

“Glad to see you’re ok, Aria.” (Kyle)

I smiled at Aria for a moment as she entered the living room.

“But, I’ve learned from my mistake, so let me actually do something for you this time. Who is it? I’ll go scout them out for you first, and maybe some ‘interrogation’ might even be in order depending on their personality. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure it works out for you this time.” (Kyle)

I held up my fist threateningly as Aria froze for a moment before bursting out in laughter.

“What? What’s so funny?” (Kyle)

“Nothing, it’s just that... Sorry Ky, but you’re the only person in the world who can’t investigate him.” (Aria)

“What? Is that a challenge? Trust me, all I need is his name, just tell me his name, and I’ll have every last detail about him in a week.” (Kyle)

“His name? Well...” (Aria)

Aria walked past me and flicked me on the forehead before going to the kitchen entrance, twirling around, and giving me a grin.

“It’s a secret! Now, come on, let’s make dinner, I’m getting hungry.” (Aria)

I stood there flabbergasted as Aria giggled at me.

“...Look, how am I supposed to help you if you won’t even give me a place to start?” (Kyle)

I sighed as I realized Aria was going to be stubborn and walked over to the kitchen to make dinner.

***

The moon and the stars outside lit up the night sky while I laid there on the floor, surrounded by darkness. Faint, ethereal moonlight shone in through the window, dimly illuminating the walls of the room as I stared at the ceiling in silence. A strange sense of melancholy overtook me as I thought about what happened with Aria before and held my right hand out in front of me. I gazed at the outline of my hand as the moonlight washed over it while the sound of my soft breaths echoed through the room.

...Love, huh? Well, I’m not a complete idiot yet, am I?...

I might be dense, but after thinking through everything again, even I can tell that the person you love is me, Aria. And the truth is, deep inside, there’s a part of me that loves you too.

It looks like a small fragment of light, glowing softly, yet bright enough to illuminate my world. Around it, there are a few more fragments too. And it’s only when I hold these small fragments, when I can feel the warmth radiating from them, that I’ll feel human again. But as tempting as it might be to touch them, I never can, because surrounding these precious fragments is a sea of darkness, and should the day come when I wade through the darkness to reach for that warm light, I know that the weight of my sins will drag me down to the depths.

So, I’m sorry, Aria. I’m just a coward who can only stand alone by the edge of that darkness and lie to himself about being content with the faint light that pierces through, but the one thing that I can do right now is stay by your side, just like I did for everyone else… even her…

I stared at the hand in front of me. Four slender fingers and a thumb spread out, illuminated by the somber moonlight. And I could faintly make out the tendons that moved those fingers. There wasn’t even a single sign of a callus or scar on the smooth skin that covered that hand. It just looked like the hand of a young man who hadn’t done a day of work in his life, much less held a sword. It was the hand of a man who enjoyed cooking, the hand of a man who didn’t mind helping those he cared about, even at his own expense, and most importantly, the hand of Aria’s partner. Yet, I knew better than anyone just how many times that hand had swung a sword, just how much destruction that hand had caused, and just how many lives that hand had taken. It wasn’t the hand of a young man I was looking at, it was the blood-soaked hand of a thousand-year-old monster wreathed in an aura of massacre.

And attached to that blood-soaked hand was the thousand-year-old monster himself, a man who was afraid of drowning in the darkness, a man who was desperately trying to atone for his sins, a man who didn’t deserve love.

… But you know what, Aria? I’m just glad that you seem happier now. I don’t see the same loneliness in your shadow that I saw when I first met you, so, at the very least, I can say that I’ve helped someone else now. It might not be much, but I’ve done a lot of bad things already, so if I ever want to atone, I’ve gotta start somewhere, right?

They say everything that happens is fate, but honestly, I don’t like the idea that everything is predetermined. I believe in karma a lot more than I do in fate. Today I might be the one dragging you out of your darkness, but one day… maybe you’ll be the one who gives me the courage to face mine.

So until then, I think I'll lock these feelings of mine away.

... I'll forget it all... just like I always have...

I released all the tension from my hand and it fell limply to my side as I closed my eyes again with a faint smile. I took a deep breath and cleared away all the depressing thoughts in my head before thinking about what to make for breakfast tomorrow.

Solria, Edge of Middle District, 7th Squad Barracks (Kyle POV)

Today was a particularly warm day, and the sun shining intensely in the sky was as good of an indication as you could get. Aria and I walked along the street until finally, we stopped at the front gate of a large, dojo-style building with a plaque on the front that was labeled ‘7th Squad.’ It’s been three days since the whole incident with Max, and yesterday, the official ceremony for bestowing Aria’s title was held. She was awarded the open position of the, recently retired, former 7th knight captain along with her title of Marchioness, and apparently, she was supposed to take over the role of supervising a few members of the new generation of knights while they all trained and helped out the city guard.

And so, today we came to the former 7th squad barracks to check out the state of things and tidy up as well as move into the office. Aria was holding a box of miscellaneous office supplies and I was right behind her with a pile of paperwork in my arm. We entered the building using the key that Aria received from the Emperor and walked along the halls inside until we reached a door labeled ‘Captain’s Office.’ The door was open, and when we entered, we were surprised at how clean the office was. For some reason, there was barely any dust and all the furniture was still neat and tidy.

Aria plopped the box of supplies down and opened the window to the courtyard. Light shone through the curtains as the picturesque scene of sunlight illuminating the well maintained small garden and pond outside met our sight. I plopped down the stack of papers next to the box of office supplies and turned to Aria.

“Alright, nice, looks like we don’t need to clean.” (Kyle)

“Yeah, just leave everything here for now, we can check out the other rooms first.” (Aria)

“Ok.” (Kyle)

We left the office and went down the hall, checking the rest of the rooms, which were all basically in the same state as the office. The dorm-style bedrooms were all spotless, albeit a little empty, the main lounge was the same, and there was even a cafeteria on the left side of the building.

Aria and I were walking through the outdoor hallway that surrounded the courtyard and the sunlight shone through the pillars and warmed up our bodies while we made our way towards the entrance to the training room on the right side of the building.

“All, that’s left is the training room. We can wipe down all the dust later on and air everything out.” (Aria)

“Yeah, hopefully it’s as clean as everywhere else, otherwise my sealed left arm will have to descend upon this world and activate its mop truth again.” (Kyle)

We walked briskly for a bit before we reached the large door to the training room, and Aria was about to push it open. However, instead of Aria opening the door to an empty training hall, the door slowly opened by itself from the inside. White smoke floated out, and three voices sounded out to us one after the other from the inside, but what greeted my eyes was the last thing I ever thought I would see here, it was a power this world was not made to withstand.

“Marchioness Irisveil, correct?”

“We’ve been eagerly awaiting your arrival.”

“We heard that you were coming over today, so we decided that we would come over to greet you.”

From the darkness of the training hall emerged three men, one from behind the left side of the door, one from behind the right side of the door, and one from the middle of the room. All of them were extremely muscular, at least a full head taller than me, and wearing clothes that clearly outlined the musculature of their upper bodies.

The one that emerged from the middle had blue hair in a short crew cut and the one on his left had long blonde hair in a braid while the one on his right had short spiky black colored hair. They walked up and stood next to each other before flexing their muscles and simultaneously posing together menacingly as intense music echoed from behind them.

Yes, that’s right, actual music was playing. If you looked into the training hall behind them, you could faintly see an orchestra inside the training hall. The light from outside barely illuminated the first row of musicians, but just judging by what looked like rows of silhouettes behind them there were definitely more people in the back.

The black haired man talked first.

“Greetings, I am Reginald Balmar, First Lieutenant of the 5th Squad.” (Lieutenant Balmar)

After him was the blonde one.

“I am Morden Polum, Vice-Captain of the 5th Squad.” (Vice-Captain Polum)

And finally, it was the blue haired one in the middle.

“And I am Ozwald Gyffard, Captain of the 5th Squad. Nice to meet you, Marchioness, or should I say, Captain Irisveil.” (Captain Gyffard)

That’s impossible. I never expected to meet them here, they shouldn’t even exist in this world. Could it be? Does their power transcend even worlds, or is it just that it’s universal.

I stood in front of Aria before facing the three men with a distressed look on my face.

“Their builds that resemble bricks of pure muscle, the hyper-defined jawlines, the way too tight clothing, the synchronized posing, the theme music in the background, the borderline homosexual tension in the air, Aria, there’s no doubt in my mind, I’m 100% sure that these guys... are stand users!” (Kyle)

“Wait, what? What are you talking about?” (Aria)

Aria stood there with a confused face as I pulled out a purple colored alchemy stone with a formation carved into it and held it in the palm of my hand.

“Run away, I’ll keep them busy!【Lightning Ball】, single cast, activate!” (Kyle)

The stone shone with purple light as a ball of purple lightning spread out with the stone at the center and enveloped the area around the stone along with most of my right hand while small bolts of lightning shot off it occasionally. I felt a tingly feeling in my right hand as I was about to shove it towards the stand users when I felt a heavy impact on the back of my head.

Aria punched me in the back of the head and I fell over as the lightning in my hand died out.

“Argh, no! My Chidori!” (Kyle)

“Ky, what the hell are you doing!? They’re knights from the 5th squad! That’s Captain Gyffard!” (Aria)

Aria turned towards Captain Gyffard as she stomped on me while I was on the floor.

“Sorry about that Captain Gyffard, it seems that my companion has some brain damage.” (Aria)

“Haha, no problem Captain Irisveil. Don’t be too hard on him, he was just playing along, wasn’t he? It was just a practical joke for a little bit of fun. Anyway, you’re gonna be taking over the 7th Squad tomorrow, so as the fill-ins for the old 7th Squad, we at the 5th Squad took it upon ourselves to help you out by cleaning the place a bit as a welcoming gift. But we should probably be getting back to the 5th Squad barracks soon, we’ve been gone for a while after all.” (Captain Gyffard)

The orchestra in the back stopped their music as Aria finally let up with the kicks and I got up off the ground as I turned towards the 5th squad members.

“Eh, how long have you been in there?” (Kyle)

“Hmm, since about 5 AM. We didn’t know what time you were coming over, so we’ve been waiting here since dawn.” (Captain Gyffard)

“Wait, you guys are the top three members of the 5th Squad, aren’t you? Don’t you have important duties that you should be attending to or something?” (Kyle)

“Not really, it’s been pretty peaceful these last few years, and if anything, these days we’re just patrolling around the city doing nothing most of the time.” (Captain Gyffard)

“Well, at least spend it doing something else then instead of forcing a whole orchestra into a room for several hours just for the sake of a practical joke! Didn’t you get bored?” (Kyle)

“The wait wasn’t too bad, we just talked with the orchestra members for a few hours, and we even had a deck of cards to pass the time afterward.” (Captain Gyffard)

“I mean, your dedication was respectable, but don’t you think that this was kind of a waste of time? What were you going to do if we decided not to show up today, wait until tomorrow? If you just wanted to pull a practical joke on us you could’ve done this way more efficiently! Just show up outside our house next time, it saves both of us time!” (Kyle)

“Hahaha! You’re right, I never thought about that. I like your spirit kid! What’s your name?” (Captain Gyffard)

“Kyle.” (Kyle)

“Sir Kyle is it? Well, I’ll remember it! You’ve got a clever subordinate here Captain Irisveil! Anyway, the new 7th Squad members should be arriving tomorrow to move in. Good luck!” (Captain Gyffard)

I stood there facepalming as the 5th Squad members walked past us and left the 7th Squad barracks while the entire orchestra got up and shuffled out into the street behind them. I walked into the room and switched the lights on as the training room lit up before turning to Aria and sighing.

“Well, at least the place is clean. Actually, you know what? It’s clean enough, let’s just go home for the day so I can wait in the closet for five hours with a trombone or something.” (Kyle)

“Look, I’m tired too, but we have to at least sort out the office first. Come on, we can go home after, and I swear, if you actually pop out of the closet with a trombone, I’ll break your other arm too.” (Aria)

“Alright, alright.” (Kyle)

I gave another sigh as Aria dragged me back to the office and we began sorting out the supplies.

***

I sat out on the backyard porch and yawned as the sound of birds chirping in the background faintly filled my ears. I heard the front door open and Aria’s voice sounded out from inside the house as I leaned back to lay down on the wooden porch.

“Hey, Ky, I left my plates in the sink and cleaned the table. I’m going to work now. By the way, the 5th Squad’s taking over patrol later today so I’ll be back early.” (Aria)

“Did you remember to grab your lunchbox.” (Kyle)

“Yeah.” (Aria)

The sound of the door closing sounded out a moment later as I held up my now fully healed left hand to block the sunlight shining into my eyes. The doctor said my left arm would take years of physical therapy to heal and regain the former function it had before getting mangled, but looks like it didn’t take too long with my freakish body. I didn’t even need any physical therapy, but honestly, I’m not surprised. After all, I’ve come back perfectly fine from way worse injuries before.

Well, moving on, it’s been a few months, summer has finally come around again, and the lethargy has been getting to me recently. After the grand reopening, the 7th Squad has been up and running for about six months, and Aria’s been taking care of everything. Apparently, they even made her start training some kid recently as her apprentice, while I’ve basically been a housewife, err, I guess househusband would be a more apt description.

Honestly, it kind of feels like I’m right back in prison, doing nothing all day except cooking and taking care of the house, but if anything, at least this time I’ve got a lot more freedom. I don’t have a collar attached to me at all times anymore, and Aria is also a lot tidier than Eliza, so I’ve had a lot more free time. I’ve taken up reading to pass the time, and I even recently got a library card so I can borrow books. Ah, but I guess I’m gonna have to give it all up soon, huh?

I reached over to my right side and grabbed the sheet of paper next to me before holding it up and staring at the numbers to do some mental calculations.

Honestly, this is probably the first time I wished I was too stupid to do math. The sheet of paper in my hands was a bill, in fact, it was our tax report for this month, and by the looks of it, we were about to go into debt. Yep, that’s right, debt. You see, when the Emperor gave Aria this old mansion, he failed to mention how goddamn high the property tax was. I mean I knew it was gonna be pricey to live here since it was in the middle district where all the nobles live, but Aria’s entire income as a Knight Captain is barely enough to keep us afloat, and we spent most of her initial promotion reward buying new furniture and daily supplies for the mansion.

I held the paper in my hand and dropped my arm to my side again before sighing. Yeah, looks like I’m gonna have to get a job.

“Ugh, someone kill me.” (Kyle)

Should I go for the best paying job? Or should I prioritize free time? Well, I mean preferably both, but I doubt there’s any dream job like that. Wait, first of all, what skills do I even have?

Swordsmanship? Nah, I’ve had enough of adventuring back in Delhurst, the city doesn’t lack guards, and nobody would want to learn my swordsmanship comprised of literally only the absolute basics no matter how streamlined or efficient it is.

Cooking? Nah, being a chef would probably mean being trapped in a kitchen 24/7 and no matter how much I love cooking, I’d probably run out of passion real quick.

Housework? Well, that probably wouldn’t amount to much pay, and I don’t think I can pass off as a very good maid.

What else do I have? Well, there’s alchemy, but I barely understand a thing about modern alchemy, and even beginners can pump out generic alchemical materials.

Hmm, actually, wait, if I don’t understand modern alchemy, then... can’t I just teach ancient alchemy? Yeah, that’s perfect, if I teach at some prestigious university or something, the pay probably won’t be that bad, and I’ll even get the whole summer off! The school year’s about to start too, so this is the perfect time to apply!

I sat back up as I stared at the sky and began to think about where to apply as a professor, but as far as I knew, there were only two well-known places that taught alchemy in the capital, the High Institute of Alchemy, which was run by the Alchemy Guild, and the Raidion Royal Academy, which was funded by the Imperial family.

“Eh, well the Academy’s two blocks closer, so Academy it is I guess.” (Kyle)

End of Prologue Arc