Petrified, I couldn’t move. A giant monster stared at me from above with his glaring, red eyes. As he lifted up his claw, I knew, it was my end.

“Ahhh...” Sitting, I found myself in a bed. “It’s been so long since I last saw that dream.”

What does it even mean?

Turning to my left, I saw Emily in the other bed, still sleeping.

“Emily…”

In front of me, the rays coming from the sun hit the floor; it was already morning. I then went to the veranda.

“Emily and Aria were amazing in the trial.”

Their strength were incredible.

“Meanwhile me...” Thinking, I placed my two hands on my forehead, while my elbows rested in the guardrail of the veranda. “I’m… too powerless.”

I can’t even win a fight.

To stand straight, I put my hand down, and looked at the sky.

How am I supposed to protect her?

“How am I supposed to fulfill my promise?”

I’m… I’m just... too weak...

My right hand then made a fist. “ I need to be stronger.”

I need to learn more magic.

“I don’t want to be a burden to her.”

I don’t want to weigh her down.

“I need to train more.”

Emily then woke up. ‘Hiiro?’ she asked. “Why are you outside?”

“Oh. Nothing. I’m just thinking,” I replied. “Good morning, Emily.”

“Good morning, Hiiro.”

Suddenly, we heard someone knocking the door. “You may enter,” Emily spoke.

It was one of the guards. “My apologies for waking you up, master Hiiro, lady Emily.”

The guard told us that Dullahan had organized a party as a commemoration of our acceptance in the castle; it was scheduled at lunch. He then gave Emily a gift, and told us to prepare for the upcoming feast.

“There is a dress inside, lady Emily,” the guard addressed. “The king requested that you should wear it for the party.”

“T-thank you,” Emily replied.

“If you don’t have any question I’ll excuse myself now.”

After that, I went outside, so that Emily could change.

Moments later...

“H-Hiiro, I’m done changing.”

When I opened the door, time froze as a beautiful princess stood bashfully in front of me. Her long, blue dress gracefully complemented her short, red hair. Staring at the masterpiece in front of me, it was the first time I saw someone this pretty. Her allure blocked all the voice that would come out from my mouth; I was speechless.

“H-Hiiro, d-don’t stare that much.” Emily blushed as she covered her body with her hands..

“I-I’m sorry…” I apologized. “Emily, you're so beautiful.”

“R-really?” She looked down, and covered her face with her hands.

“Yes.”

After that, we went to the great hall.

In the forefront of the great hall, Dullahan was having a speech, welcoming us as the new members of the castle. Emily and I were seated at the front facing dullahan with a vacant seat beside me. Satrillo explained that it was for Aria, and she would catch up later from the recovery room.

After Dullahan’s talk, the great hall was filled with laughters and screams coming from everyone. One by one, each of them walked towards me and Emily, offered a handshake and congratulated us. The shouts grew louder as Dullahan announced the arrival of the food; the feast had begun. Different monsters and demons happily chatting with each other, some dancing with the music produced using musical instruments present in the hall.

The melody turned serene; I looked at Emily who seemed to be thinking about something. Placing myself in front of her, I bowed down like a knight in front of her.

“Shall we dance?” She then held her hands and placed it in her chest.

“H-Hiiro? But, I… I don’t know how to dance,” she replied.

“Shall I teach you then?”

She hesitated for a bit, then agreed, “y-yes.” She slowly grabbed my hands, and we walked towards the middle.

“Just follow my lead.” I smiled at her.

“O-okay,” she responded..

Holding her left hand with my right hand, I placed the other to her waist. We danced through the melody of the song. Each of our steps swayed with the notes as Emily carefully followed everything I said to her.

“You’re doing good.”

“T-thank you,” she replied.

However, when I gazed at her face again, I became captivated by the beauty of the girl I was dancing with.

A strange warmth erupted from deep within me as we moved around. However, it was not bad, but a pleasant feeling slowly engulfed my body.

What... is this?

Everything around me blurred, my senses concentrated on one spot; time stopped. Something paranormal, rather, something magical happened, but I knew that it was not caused by magic. It was different from the time I was seduced by a succubus. Right now, everything is real.

Seconds passed, I felt my heartbeat increasing even if it was not there. Slowly, I raised my hands and attempted to touch her face. But, I was interrupted by the sudden stop of the music.

“Hi...iro?” she asked as she looked at me.

“I-I’m sorry.”

The song was finished. Everybody stopped dancing. We then walked towards the tables.

“I’m sorry, Emily. I’m not feeling well right now.”

“Hiiro? Are you okay?” she asked.

“Yes. I think I need go to back to our room and rest.”

“I’ll go with you.” she replied.

“It’s okay. You should wait for Aria,” I told her with a fake smile.

“O-okay,” she agreed.

After I asked permission from Dullahan, I went to my room. The party continued.

Meanwhile Emily...

“Hiiro...” Moments after Hiiro left, I was sitting beside a table when Aria arrived.

“Emily?” she asked. “Where is Hiiro?”

“He… He’s resting in our room.” Looking down, I couldn't’ look at her.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay? Did something happened?”

Aria and I had a conversation. I told her everything that happened; from the dress scene in the room unto the moment Hiiro almost touched my face while we were dancing.

“Aria... what should I do?” I asked, blushing.

“I can’t help but be happy every time I see him. But, everytime he comes near me. I always feel overly conscious of myself. I… I don’t know what to do. I want to see him, talk to him. But at the same time; I want to hide, I want to go away. Aria... please, help me.”

“It’s love.” Lucie entered the conversation.

“L...ove?” I asked.

“Yes,” Lucie replied. “It seems you’re in love with the boy~”

“Emily, is this true?” Aria asked.

“I… I don’t know.”

I’m… in love Hiiro? I don’t know. I want to know. What is love? What does it means by falling in love to someone.

“Well, that’s just me saying what I think,” Lucie spoke. “I could be wrong though. I know you’re confused right now, but you’re the only one who can I answer your question.”

“Me?”

“However...” Lucie paused. “Nevermind that part. Anyway, I advise you to properly sort out your feelings or both you and Hiiro will get hurt.”

“Thank you… Lucie.”

Meanwhile, Hiiro...

Time passed, I was lying on the bed, staring deeply at the ceiling.

“I can’t sleep...”

After I stood, I went out of the room. There, I saw Satrillo walking.

“Satrillo-san?”

“Hiiro? Why are you here?” he asked. “The party is not yet finished.”

“I...”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Sorry Satrillo-san, it’s just that… there’s a lot of things going on right now.”

“I can listen if you want,” he replied. “Maybe I can help you.” He smiled.

“It’s okay. It seems you’re busy at the moment.”

“It’s okay. I’m actually done patrolling the area. I also want to help you for being always there for lady Emily.”

We then went inside the room, sat on the bed and had a discussion.

“Suppose… there was a boy who confessed to the girl he loves for seven years, but when he waited for her reply, she never came. Suddenly, he met another girl, became friends until he noticed his feelings suddenly changing. How… How can you tell if the feelings are real or not?”

“Real?” he asked. “What do you mean?”

“It’s because... the boy doesn't know if he really loves her or he just loves her so he can forget the previous girl.”

There was a bit of silence.

“Well Hiiro, the boy is only one who can answer that since he’s the only one who can feel those emotions. ”

“His emotions?”

“Yes. To me, it seems the boy is unsure if he still have some lingering emotions on the previous girl.” Satrillo added. “Since, he wouldn’t have problems like this if he does.”

My emotions.

“Well, Hiiro, here is my advice for the boy. Properly sort out your feelings so none of you gets hurt someday.”

“Satrillo-san… Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. It’s the least I can do for you,” he replied. “But, is that the only thing you want to ask?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, to me, it seems that’s not the only thing in your mind,” he answered.

Satrillo-san, your perception is really good.

“Don’t be shy. You can tell it to me. Maybe I can also help,” he added.

After that, I told him about how I was so powerless in the trial and how I felt like a failure.

“Hiiro, you don’t need to think too much about that. Lucie is a very powerful succubus.” Satrillo spoke. “Normally, a mage with a few months of experience is not enough to beat her. It’s actually impressive that you can even damage her.”

“I... I already know that. It’s just that, I can’t shake this bad feeling.”

“Hmm. Hiiro, I don’t know if you know this but I can somehow feel a very strong magic in you.”

“Strong magic? What do you mean?”

“It’s like your mana is being suppressed by something, but I don’t know the reason.” he replied. “Hiiro, can you remember anything relating to this manner?”

“I... don’t. This is the first time I heard this.”

“I see,” he replied. “Anyway, let’s put that aside for now. I think I can help you become stronger.”

He then told me that the time for me to cast magic was too slow. Usually, a mage would use a magic tool to reduce the cast time. Since I was not using anything, he suggested that by having one, it could greatly help me both in practice and an actual fight. This would also solve my problem on drawing a rune.

“But Satrillo-san, I don’t have a magic tool.”

“Well, I did say I can help you,” he replied. “Follow me..”

Satrillo took me to an underground passage, the way looked very similar to a pathway to a dungeon.

“Satrillo-san, where are you taking me?”

Silence filled the area as we walked down. “Just follow me,” he replied. Chills touched my bones; I could feel the cold air coming from below. Mices running on the floor, and a bunch of spider webs were scattered everywhere.

Where are we going?

After long walks, we arrived in front of a wooden door. He opened it, and a large room appeared in front of me. It was filled with weaponry; swords, wands, bows and many more.

“This room is an underground storage for weapons used on the last war,” Satrillo spoke. “There was actually a lot of mages who fought in that war so this place is filled with magic tools. Maybe you can find something useful here.”

This is amazing.

Mesmerized by what I saw, I looked around examining the stored weapons.

There’s so many of them.

However, I paused when I saw a drawing of a familiar object fixed onto the wall.

No, this can’t be possible.

“Did the portrait caught your attention?” Satrillo spoke. “This was one of those weird weapons the humans used in the war 70 years ago. If I remembered correctly they called this a tank.”

No. This is not just an ordinary tank.

Back when I was still alive, I played a lot of tank battle simulation, and there was this one tank which I loved the most.

“E 50 Ausf. M”

It was a German tank designed in world war II.