“Wait a second.”

Lily stopped, staring at me for a second before flicking her hand.

“What are you—” I started.

A gust of wind surged towards me, and my eyes widened. What the hell was that? I raised my arms, shielding myself with my eyes closed.

The wind pushed past me harmlessly, and I lowered my arms, opening my eyes slowly to realise that all the blood and dirt on me from the fight was now gone.

“There.” Lily said. “I didn’t want you to get all that dirt on the carriage.”

“R-right…”

Lily walked back to the carriage, waving at me to follow her. “Come on, Kei. We have to get going.”

“Got it.” I called out, quickly running over to join her.

That fight… That book… Everything was still trying to piece itself together in my mind. I couldn’t believe how Lily could just kill all those trolls and not mention another word about it.

I glanced at the two horses toiling the carriage. There didn’t seem to be anything unusual about them, except for the fact that there was no one at the front of the carriage controlling the horses as you would expect from a normal horse carriage.

I pushed past the door of the carriage, returning to my seat in front of Lily, and the carriage started moving again.

Lily was staring outside the window once again, not saying a word. Did she really just not care about all that happened earlier?

“Uh...” I tried to get Lily's attention. “Lily?” I felt like I had to be more careful around her. If she really was the Witch, Lilionel, that I had read about. Then I was probably in a deep load of shit.

“What is it?” Lily flicked a glance at me.

“Uh… that magic earlier…” I didn’t know how I was going to ask her the questions I wanted without causing alarm. “You just killed all those trolls…”

“And?”

“…”

I didn’t know how to proceed. “Was that… necessary?”

“They were going to kill us if we didn’t kill them.” Lily sighed. “I did what was necessary.”

You could had just disarmed them or send them flying away harmlessly if you were that strong! I thought in my mind, but I didn’t say that.

“Right…” I nodded as though I was agreeing with her. “That was some powerful magic.”

“Not really.” Lily said. “I barely casted a single spell, and they all just died.”

I nodded again as though I could relate to what she was saying. What the hell was she on about? She made those trolls explode from the inside out and wiped any trace of their existence straight out of this planet. How was that 'barely a single spell'?

“Don’t worry, Kei.” Lily spoke, taking me out of my thoughts. “I will teach you how to defend yourself soon enough.”

“Ah, yeah. That would be good.” I said, surprised. I doubted that I would ever be as strong as Lily.

“You shouldn’t had just ran at the trolls unarmed.” Lily sighed, she raised a hand to her forehead. “I mean, that was very courageous of you, but…” She glanced down at the side of my seat, and I followed her glance. Leaning by the seat and against the carriage wall was my father’s sword. She had wrapped it with a dark parchment, covering the blade, but still showing the handle. I didn’t even notice it was there.

“You should had at least taken your sword with you.” Lily sighed. “There’s a reason I bought it along for you.”

My father's sword!

I reached out to the sword, grabbing it and pulling it closer to me.

"Thanks, Lily." I said. "That means a lot to—"

“Do you even know how to wield a sword?” Lily asked dubiously, ignoring my gratitude.

“…”

I thought back to a time I had spent with my father. I had told him I wanted him to teach me how to use a sword. He had given me a long stare at that moment, then turned away, refusing to teach me. When I asked why, he had just told me that the sword is a tool that only brings misery to the user and those that you use it against. There was no point in learning how to hurt others. Or so he said.

“Forget it, you don’t have to answer that.” Lily said. “You'll just have to learn.”

“Are you... are you going to teach me how to use a sword?”

“I’m not a sword wielder.” Lily shook her head. “I won’t be able to help you with that, Kei.”

“What about magic?” I asked. If Lily taught me how to use her magic, then I doubt that I would ever even need a sword. “You could teach me that, right?”

Lily glanced at me again, but this time, she was staring at me for a long time. It felt unnerving, as though she was peering deep inside me. I tried to stay still, allowing her to judge me.

“You don’t have much affinity for magic.” Lily said flatly, closing her eyes after being satisfied with what she saw.

“That’s…”

“But, you will be able to use it. There is, at the very least, something there.” Lily continued. “I will teach you when we have time.”

“Ah," I relaxed, hearing that. "That’s good to know.”

“I don't understand how you survived after Balzard attacked your village…” Lily muttered, thinking to herself as she looked out the window. “It shouldn’t be possible…”

I nodded my head.

“That attack should have killed you…” Lily glanced at me with her lapis lazuli eyes. “Hmm…”

“W-what are you thinking?” I was put off by her stare.

“Maybe, I should try killing you myself.” Lily replied. “To see if you live again.”

“L-Lily?!” All my muscles tensed.

She laughed at my reaction, waving her hand at me. “Just kidding.” She had a very childish laugh, in that it was completely pure and genuine. I had never saw someone laugh the way that she did.

I felt myself blushing, seeing her laugh. “That wasn’t funny…” I said. But I was actually happy inside to see Lily laugh.

Eventually, the carriage reached the outskirts of the Rize kingdom, and I was standing by the window, staring intently out at the sight. I had heard stories of how great a sight the kingdom was, and seen pictures drawn in books, but the real sight blew everything out of the waters. The Rize kingdom was a giant city filled with pillars that towered into the sky, and at the centre of it all was the actual palace where the royal family lived, along with the King of Rize.

Surrounding the palace and filling up most of the city, was the many shops, houses, buildings that lined up endlessly in a magnificent architectural design.

There was activity going on everywhere that I looked, shops opened, people walking around, dressed in fancy clothing, children running around, cries of joy and chatter. I was beyond amazed, having never witnessed something like this.

On the other hand, Lily was sitting quietly in her seat, reading a parchment in her hands. She glanced up at me, watching my reaction.

“You seem amazed.” Lily commented.

“Yeah, of course!” I replied. “Come, have a look at this, Lily!”

“No thanks.” Lily replied, returning to her parchment. “People disgust me.”

“Huh?” I gave her a confused look, then shrugged, turning back to the window.

Knights, cladded in heavy armour, walked past the streets, surveying the area. I stared at them, amazed. This was the first time I was seeing a knight before. You had to undergo rigorous training for years to become a knight. They were the foundation that supported any army, and were highly respected by normal citizens.

My father used to be a knight, fighting for the Rize Kingdom. He had never mentioned much about the stories of his time as a knight.

Although, the streets seemed festive and joyful, I noticed a number of homeless people scattered along the streets. People were walking by them, ignoring the homeless as they begged for scraps. It kind of put a bad taste in my mouth. In my village, we didn’t have any homeless people. Everyone just helped each other out.

I sat back down on my seat, feeling put off. Lily was still reading her parchment.

“What are you reading anyways?” I asked Lily, trying to forget about the homeless people I saw. “You’ve been staring at it for a while now.”

“It’s a request from the King of Rize.” Lily said. “Apparently, there’s a demon that has infiltrated the city. He wants me to find the demon and kill it.”

"A demon?" I stared at her, alert.

This was it... my chance to practice fighting a real demon...

Lily glanced in my direction, seeing the expression on my face. "Don't be so excited, Kei. Or you're going to end up making a fool of yourself again."

"I-I'm not..." I lied.

"Listen, Kei." Lily said, placing the parchment down on her side. "I don't want you to fight anything until you get some proper training first."

I nodded. What she said sounded reasonable. But there was a part of me that just wanted to find something to unleash my anger at.

"By the way, did you say you got a personal request from the King of Rize?" I tried to change the topic, chuckling. "That's a good one, Lily." Then I stared at her for a few seconds. She stared back at me blankly. She wasn't joking.

“Normally, I wouldn’t do these types of requests unless it’s something interesting.” Lily continued, glaring at me. “However, I thought we could get some useful information from the demon about Balzard. Not to mention, we’re going to at least get paid handsomely even if we don’t get any useful information. The king has attached a heavy reward to this request, moreso than any other request he’s asked from me in the past. Probably because he’s getting desperate.”

“I see…” I couldn’t believe that Lily was actually getting personal requests from the King of Rize. You would have to be someone extremely important to get a direct request from the king. Could she really be the Lilionel that I read about? I mean, everything seemed to be pointing at that conclusion at the moment…

I stared at Lily, watching her carefully. There was no way anyone could tell she was powerful enough to slay six trolls in the blink of an eye just from her appearance. She was short-statured and had a body that almost resembled a child. Her chest was undeveloped, but her face was extremely pretty. She was no doubt… cute…

There was also that strange symbol underneath her right eye that I never asked her about. It was a black imprint that didn’t detract away from her beauty.

If you had to ask me, I would say that she looked entirely harmless. But the truth was far from that.

I sighed. Maybe I should just straight up ask her… but it wasn’t like she was going to tell me the truth anyway…

…

Well, I guess it was worth a try.

“Hey, Lily…” I started.

“Yes, Kei?”

“I just wanted to ask y—”

The carriage halted, coming to a peaceful stop. She glanced away from me and at the door, getting up from her seat.

“We’re here.” She announced, unlocking the carriage door and opening it. “Let’s go.”

“Right…” Dammit. I didn’t get to ask her. Oh well. I will just ask her later.

I followed her out the carriage, squinting as the sunlight hit my face. The carriage window deflected much of the light, so it was a while since I had faced direct sunlight.

We were standing in front of an inn, that was quite poor in quality. In contrast to the other inns I saw along the way, this was probably the worse. There was very little people around the inn, and this part of the city was also less extravagant than the other sections.

“We’re going to be staying here tonight.” Lily said, confirming my suspicion.

“Uh… it’s great.” I said, trying to be enthusiastic.

“No need to put up an act.” Lily sighed. “I don’t like it too. I’m used to living back at my castle.”

I almost forgot that Lily owned and lived in a castle all by herself. Compared to me, who lived in a village house with a fireplace as a luxury, this must be a lot worse for her.

I started heading inside the inn, but Lily stopped me.

“Where are you going?” She asked, grabbing onto my shoulder.

“Uh, inside?” I replied.

She indicated at the back of the carriage with her head. “You need to carry your master’s stuff into the room first. There isn’t going to be anyone at this inn that will help us carry it.”

"Ugh..."

I guess this was the price of the Blood Pact.

I tried to make another joke.

"Lily, what if we took turns carrying your stuff?"

"Took turns?"

There were two large visible bumps on the top of my head due to the ass kicking I received from Lily. Fortunately, she didn’t use any of her magic on me, otherwise I would had probably been dead.

I was now carrying her stuff inside the inn. This was probably the fourth trip I’ve taken, due to the amount of stuff she was carrying. It was also the last of her stuff, so I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that I wouldn’t have to do the trip again.

Our room was located at the third floor of the inn, and the stairs were making this into quite a heavy workout. Luckily, I was used to carrying heavy things at the village.

I pushed the door to our room open and saw Lily lying on her stomach atop of the bed, her feet resting comfortably in the air. She was eating some snacks she had in her bags, and was still reading the parchment, which I now realised contained a map of the city, with certain parts highlighted. Probably where the demon was rumoured to be.

I dropped her bags onto the ground. “Your bags are here…” I said. Lily glanced at me, waiting. “Master…” I finished reluctantly.

That was what she made me call her when she was beating the crap out of me.

“Good.” Lily said, closing her parchment and wrapping it up in a roll. “Let’s get going now.”

“Huh?” I said, surprised. “Where are you going?”

“I told you that we had some errands to run.” Lily got off the bed, placing the parchment inside her cloak. “We still have time left in the day.”

"Sure, no problem."

I was about to follow her lead and leave the room, when she stopped me.

“Hey, aren’t you forgetting something?” Lily asked.

“What is it?” I asked.

Lily sighed, resting her forehead on her fingers. “Kei… you need to carry your sword, wherever you go…”

“Oh, right...”

I rubbed the back of my head, feeling embarrassed.

I was not used to Lily’s style of thinking. Back at the village, we never ran into any threat or harm so there was no need to carry a weapon. I guess I had to get used to it now.

I turned around, running to a stack of bags where I had dropped Lily’s stuff. I pulled the sword out of the mess, almost falling into the pile as I did so.

S-shit.

I underestimated the weight of the sword.

I could hear Lily sighing behind me.

Quickly, I strapped the sword to my back, then joined Lily by her side at the door. I was making myself look like such an idiot in front of her. I felt my cheeks flushing at my side.

“Are you sure you can even carry your sword?” Lily asked suspiciously.

"O-of course!"

I hated looking like an idiot. Especially, in front of Lily.

“Let’s go then.” Lily turned around, leaving the room and I followed her, trailing behind her back as we headed down the stairs and out of the inn. The innkeeper, a strange old man, gave us a nod as we walked out. Lily ignored him, but I gave the innkeeper a short nod back. I was used to acknowledging everyone I passed, as a habit from my life at the village.

We joined the handful of people out on the street as we walked along a path. Where to, I did not know.

“Hey, Lily, when do you think I'll be ready to fight a demon?” I asked her from behind.

"It depends."

"On what?"

"When you can learn to carry a sword without falling over."

"H-hey, I can carry the sword fine." My face was getting red again. I raised the sword up slightly from my back to show her that I could carry it with one hand. "I just wasn't used to the weight! It surprised me, that's all!"

Lily wasn't looking, she was looking straight ahead as she walked.

"Hey, Lily! You're not looking! See, I can carry the sword!"

She still didn't look. It seemed as though she was purposely not looking to get me riled up.

"Lily!"

“We’re here.” Lily announced, stopping in front of a shop.

I peered into the shop, there were displays of armoury at the window. All of which were made in different shapes and colours. Some didn’t even seem like it could fit a human.

Lily had already walked inside the shop, so I quickly entered as well, pushing past the door as it rang a bell announcing our entry.

Surprisingly, the shop was empty, and we were immediately greeted by whom I can only presume to be the shopkeeper.

“Welcome!” A voice that seemed way too high-pitched for a guy greeted us, then appeared a befitting owner of the voice from behind the counter. A muscular yet androgynous guy, with feminine mannerisms. “How are you lovely darlings doing on this fine evening?” He asked, feverishly approaching us.

“Uh…” I wanted to grab Lily and get the hell out of here, but Lily didn’t seem to mind the shopkeeper.

“We’re here to get some armour for my partner here.” Lily said, indicating at me to the shopkeeper.

I was surprised she called me partner. I would had definitely thought she would call me ‘servant’ or ‘slave’.

“Oh, is that right?” The shopkeeper said, squeezing his palms together. He must had thought that it would make him seem feminine, but it only seemed to flex his bulging muscles. “I will see what I can do for this young gentlemen.”

He walked over to me, much to my dismay, and I inched away as best as I could without seeming impolite but it was futile. Without any sense of personal space, the shopkeeper grabbed me by my shoulders, pulling me towards him, as he took my measurements with just his eye.

It was impressive, but I was too distracted by the horrible feeling of being touched by him to care.

“Oh my, you have very lovely arms.” The shopkeeper said, lifting my arm up against my will. “Sturdy, solid. You have indeed not lived an easy life.”

I laughed queasily. Please. Just let me go.

I glanced at Lily, praying to her for help, but she didn’t seem to notice my discomfort. She was staring at the shopkeeper with a serious expression, waiting for him to finish his measurements.

Finally, the shopkeeper set me free, and I breathed out in joy, despite my body feeling dirty and tainted. “S-so, what’s the verdict?” I asked.

“You’re slightly smaller than the guests that normally come to our shop, but I think I have just the thing!” The shopkeeper said cheerfully as he hopped to the back of the store, from where we saw him come out from earlier.

It didn’t take long before he came back out, holding onto a set of golden armoury. The design was intricate, and I could even see my own reflection off the surface of the armour. I looked at the armour in awe.

“Try it on!” The shopkeeper urged.

I picked up the chest piece, letting it slide down on top of me, until it fit perfectly. The armour shielded everything completely, leaving not a single space unprotected.

“We should get this!” I turned to Lily, while looking down at the armour, impressed.

Lily didn’t seem convinced, her eyes staring at the armour skeptically. She walked up to me, tapping onto the armour softly with her knuckles. It made a clanging noise, reflecting the sturdiness of the armour.

“How much is this?” Lily asked.

“Hmm…” The shopkeeper picked up a book from his counter, staring at the contents. “It usually sells for $1,500,000, but I’ll give it to you for $1,350,000.”

“Ugh…” Lily made a face that said it was too much for her, shocking me.

Isn’t she supposed to be rich or something? She lived in a freaking castle! And she gets personal requests from the King of Rize all the time!

“Do you have another set of armour?” Lily asked, glancing around the store. “Something less expensive?”

“H-hey, Lily,” I tried to stop her, “I need something good, you know...? To protect myself…”

“I-I can’t afford that.” Lily whispered to me, her face reddening. “I’ll get you something else, okay? And I’ll make sure it’s good!”

I gave her a doubtful look, then sighed, taking the armour off my chest. Farewell, expensive golden armour. It was good while it lasted. I returned the armour to the shopkeeper, and he went back to the back of the shop to look for something else.

“Hmm… how about this one?” The shopkeeper emerged holding onto a full-suited silver armour. It was similar to the one worn by the knights I saw. “It goes for $800,000.”

“Something else!” Lily immediately replied, hearing the price.

The shopkeeper went back to the storeroom, and this process repeated for a few more times, until finally…

“Well, I guess the only other thing I have is this second-hand piece of armoury here.” The shopkeeper didn’t seem tired, despite Lily’s continued insistence of a different armour. Even, I was getting tired and I wasn’t the one having to carry out a different armour each time. “It might not be the best-looking thing, but… it will probably get the job done… I think…”

The shopkeeper held a dusty set of bronze armoury. The colour seemed to be fading on the edges of the armour. I gave the armour a distasteful look.

“This one… heck, I will give it to you for $1,000.” The shopkeeper said, shaking his head. Even he felt ashamed selling us the junk he was holding.

“Try it on.” Lily said to me.

“Lily…”

“Try it on, Kei.” Lily turned to me, crossing her arms, pouting.

I gave a defeated sigh, then took the armour off the shopkeeper, trying my best to wipe the dust off before putting it on.

The armour came in several pieces, covering the body, elbows and shins. Somehow, even though I was covered, it didn’t feel like I was protected at all. The armour wasn’t the right size, and hung slightly forward off my chest, clanging around as I moved. There were unprotected spaces in various places on the armour, which I guess was the places that were seldom hit… or the designer probably just wanted to save money on construction.

“Hmm…” Lily stared at me, as I turned around in a circle unwillingly to show her the armour. “I guess this will have to do.”

The shopkeeper seemed as shocked as me by her statement. “A-are you sure?” The shopkeeper asked. “Perhaps you could think about it for a day…?”

“No,” Lily shook her head, “this one will do. We don’t have much time. We’re only staying at the kingdom for a night.”

The shopkeeper opened his mouth to protest, but decided against it. Instead, he turned to me, resting a hand on my shoulder. “Goodluck… for whatever it is, that you guys are planning to do…” The shopkeeper said to me, then muttered a quick prayer for the dead.

I’m not even dead yet, you bastard!

Lily paid for the armour, and we left the store in silence, heading back to our inn. The streets were mostly clear now as shops closed up and people returned home for dinner.

When we got back to our room, I threw the armour off quickly as it was hurting my shoulder to wear it. It was heavy and didn’t fit me at all. I placed my sword next to the bed, sighing.

Lily closed the door behind us, locking it, and glanced at me with a frown. “What’s wrong, Kei?”

“The armour… it’s annoying to wear…” I complained, crouching next to the bed and resting my head and arm on the surface.

“…”

Lily didn’t say anything, so I didn’t say anything either. She walked up to the bed, placing her robe down on the bed, before heading to the bathroom. The door to the bathroom closed, and I was left by myself.

I glanced at Lily’s robe. How much money did she even have? I couldn’t believe that all she had was $1,000 to spend when she was that powerful.

With that thought in mind, I searched her robe for her wallet, eventually finding the pouch that I saw she used to pay for the armour earlier. Opening the pouch, I found…

…

She had $100.

Really? Was that all she had left? I couldn’t believe it. I searched her robe some more, but couldn’t find anything else besides the parchment for the king’s request.

Lily had spent all her money on my armour…

…

Now, I felt bad for complaining about the armour.

I placed everything back where I found them, before going back into my thoughts.

The door to the bathroom opened again when she was done, and she was wearing the negligee I saw her in when I first woke up.

“I’m done with the bathroom, you can use it now.” Lily said, her voice monotone.

“Hey, Lily.” I said. “Listen… I’m sorry about complaining about the armour earlier…”

She listened to me quietly.

“I didn’t mean to make you feel bad…” I gave her a sincere look. “Sorry…”

The silence went on for a while more, before Lily spoke.

“It’s okay, Kei.” She lifted her head up, smiling at me. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Right…” I shook my head. “Thanks, Lily…”

After I was done with the showers, Lily was already lying in the covers of the bed, her back facing towards me.

Hang on… I glanced around the small room. There was only one bed here…

Does this mean we have to sleep together?!

I stared at Lily’s back, the thin straps of her negligee clutching loosely to her shoulders. One side had fallen further to the side, revealing more of her neck, which made me dizzy.

Calm down, Kei! Just lie on the bed and pretend everything is normal. Don’t overthink it.

I stumbled light-headedly to the bed, before sliding into the covers. Lily was on one side of the bed and I was on the other. However, the bed wasn’t that big, and I could feel the warmth of her back next to me.

She was so close! I could touch her if I just stretched a finger out to her.

“Candle.” Lily said.

“Huh?” I said, breaking out of my thoughts.

“Turn off the candle.” Lily turned to me with an annoyed face. “Do you sleep with the lights on?”

“Oh right…” I said, then got up from the bed, walking in a zombie-like fashion to the candle and blowing it out, before returning back to the bed.

It was completely dark now, and I could hear my heart beating like a drum. I wonder if Lily could hear my heart beating. I was staring up at the ceiling, my face red, and my body frozen.

This was the first time I was sleeping with a girl.

“If you touch me, I will kill you.” Lily said.

I continued staring at the ceiling, not replying, but I could tell she knew that I heard her and understood. Was this what sleeping with a girl was like?