Sunday morning, Reed and Sigrun are walking at the shopping district, however, not to buy anything in particular but to put their mind at ease. Having nothing particular to do other than playing video games which they did all night, they both agreed to take a walk.

“...Do you think…Alisa…is angry?” Sigrun asked while looking down. Sigrun’s getup is much simpler than yesterday. He wears a cap on his head and tied his hair in a ponytail. He is wearing Reed’s hands down tracksuit when he was a grade schooler and inside is a tucked shirt.

“Don’t worry, Sig. Alisa…above all knows how to reevaluate her actions. Though she may not look like it, she has a more righteous belief and virtue than I am.” Reed said with a reassuring smile.

“Now that I remembered it, you and Alisa are only friends for a year, right? How did the two of you meet?” Sigrun asked with curiosity painted all over his face.

“Ah, that. Remember that when I told you that Alisa and I fought in the state competition last year as the finalists? To be honest, that wasn’t our initial encounter. Alisa and I met several times before that match. We’ve been having matches through arrangement from our masters in martial arts.” Reed explained as he recalls those memories.

“Looking back, she was really fierce, passionate, and most of all, straightforward. That is much like her fighting style.” Reed added with nostalgia.

“Yeah, when I watched Alisa’s match, she was aggressively attacking at the enemy mercilessly. It’s not like she is enjoying that, right?” Sigrun asked as he recalls how Alisa fought in the mock battle.

“You could say she doesn’t hold back against anyone. For my play, I am tricky. For Amaryl, she is defensive. There are various types of play that can be set in the field. I managed to beat Alisa by the same strategy that I used on Amaryl.” Reed said and added a slightly wry smile.

“Hmm? Can’t you just switch play in the middle of the fight to adjust?” Sigrun asked seemingly a little confused.

“Ahahaha, Sig, for someone like us, focusing solely on a single play is the most efficient, especially for us short-lived humans. Focusing on all type of play out there is also ideal, however, on top of harnessing your Elemental Magic, you also need to come up with various skills to match with your play. Do you not have that kind of concept?” Reed then returned the favor of asking the question.

“No…back then…Offense, Defense, Healing, are all part of one play, no, there wasn’t even an option for that. Against the Vajras, trickery is out of the question too. So, how did your match with Alisa went?” Sigrun immediately shifted the talk.

Reed noticed this slight change of Sigrun’s pace but he chose not to mind it.

“The competition, as I said, is the block for Tier Four, Degree from One to Five. Back then, Alisa and I are both Tier Four Degree Two. I rose in rank when I won against her in a close match. After our match, Alisa seems to frequently visit my master’s place and started asking for pointers. Well, these days, the number of times she challenged me has dwindled.” Reed answered as he counts the times he had fought Alisa.

“That reminds me, what are even Tiers and Degrees? I know they are like rank but I still can’t wrap my head around it.” Sigrun asked another question, whilst, taking out his wallet as he saw a burger stand.

“Yeah, those are standard grading for people’s magical power. Tier Five, the lowest, are for those who are learning Elementary Magic. Those kinds of magic are only learned for practicality in daily life. But administering in a magic-oriented school, you can raise your Degree to move up to a new Tier. Tier Four, as you know, are those train to be adept at magic, mostly students like us who want to pursue greater feats. The Third Degree are professionals whose magic are even used in professional jobs. The Second and First Degrees are those who have already reached the heights of their magic and professed as masters.” Reed gave a long but understandable explanation for Sigrun.

“Oh! So, it’s like adventurer guild after all! I wonder what rank I’ll be getting!” Sigrun said with a fire ignited in his eyes, although right now, there’s a burger on his hand.

“Sir Quarts will probably give you an evaluation tomorrow.” Reed told Sigrun as he is aware too the Sigrun hasn’t yet officially got his Tier and Degree.

After that exchange, even though a little excitement was brought up, Reed and Sigrun became awfully quiet. Even amongst the walking pedestrian, the silent seems to be making an obvious deafening sound for both of them.

Eventually, as they were walking aimlessly, they found themselves back at the residential district and found themselves sitting on a bench in a park with only a few people. That’s where Reed once again pursues a topic.

“Sig…” He casually calls out.

“Yes?” Sigrun casually replied.

“About Alisa…” Reed opened the topic that they left hanging earlier.

“It is as I said, Reed, whether the circumstances are dire or not, as long as I didn’t have any connection with it, I won’t help…That’s how I want to keep my distance from the people of this era.” Sigrun said with a saddened countenance.

“Pretty much. But, the police said that the fugitives took advantage of the false alarm that happened yesterday morning. The one who triggered the false alarm letting the fugitives do their dirty work is none other than…” Reed, after thinking hard about it, said to Sigrun. He contemplated whether to tell or not, however, he wants to let Sigrun knows that there’s an unstated fact.

“Ueeehh…” Sigrun stares at Reed with glassy eyes, seemingly on the verge of tears. His lips are trembling, probably guilt invading his conscience. “Then…then…about what Alisa is mad about…!” Sigrun hops closer to Reed’s face while he clings to his clothes.

“H-Hey…don’t do that! I don’t intend to chastise you for it! It’s probably an error to your judgment. And we did manage to disperse the situation.” Reed panics as he pulls his head away from Sigrun.

“Yeah…apparently…I’m not the brightest tool in the shed…” Sigrun said dejectedly.

“Ahaha…I kind of noticed that a few days ago. Being a hero doesn’t mean you are potentially good at everything it seems.” Reed tried his best to comfort Sigrun.

“ Ah, sorry…I am really not that kind of person you were hoping for…” Sigrun apologizes as he let go of Reed’s clothes.

“No…but…Seeing that you, Sigrun, Hero of Aldieas, was not perfect as the book stated, I feel proud knowing that you are much more of a person than anyone else. I was really relieved to know that you are flawed, just like everyone.” Reed said tenderly as he places his hand on Sigrun’s head.

Sigrun just stared at Reed with flabbergasted expression. His eyes are wide open from Reed’s words alone.

“Ah….Hahaha….Hahaha!” What the hell!? Are you trying to make me fall for you?! Totally doesn’t work for me!” Sigrun jokingly said as he patted Reed’s shoulder.

“Ah, no! I’m certainly not! I’ll admit it! True, I find your appearance really alluring! Even knowing that you are a man, probably manlier than me, I can’t help but notice your appearance, however, what I wanted from you is a long-lasting friendship.” Reed said in a haste as he gets flustered from Sigrun’s teasing.

“Ahaha…really now…Alisa is probably the voice of reason with a good head for decision making, but you, Reed, is good at handling emotions with your recklessness as an exception.” Sigrun said as he looks up to the sky. “I’ll apologize to Alisa…” Sigrun uttered.

“That’s one way to put it…” Reed couldn’t help but agree with those words.

“Say…what do you think Alisa would like as a gift? As a token of my apology, I’ll buy something for her.” Sigrun said as she jolted from the bench and asked such question.

“I don’t know. She is rich, she can probably buy pretty much anything she wants. Why not handcraft something?” Reed gave a lazy suggestion.

“Oh, that’s it! Reed, come with me! I think I have an idea!” Sigrun then pulls Reed out of the bench and they make their way to the shopping district again.

Meanwhile, as the night falls, in Meld’s office where this diligent man is working because of Sigrun activating the alarm.

“Haaa…Finally, it’s over…call this..call that…my whole weekend is packed with calls. I’ll have a word with Sigrun tomorrow.” Meld said as he stands up from his chair and started walking towards the couch.

“Hey, Quarts…have you called the paladins?” Meld asked as he threw a pillow at Quarts' face.

“Hmm? Nah…I haven’t…why don’t you call them yourself?” Quarts simply replied as he once again yawned and proceed to sleep.

“Tsk…you…!” Meld could only click his tongue as he massages the bridge of his nose. With tired eyes, Meld reaches out for his phone and started dialing Emeralda’s number.

Not even two seconds have passed when the phone was answered.

“Hello!~ It’ rare for you to call me on your own, Meld!” Emeralda’s lively voice made Meld’s cheek twitch.

However, before he could say anything back to her, Meld notices that sound of the engine of an airplane. Confused, he immediately inquired about it.

“Emeralda! Are you on a plane right now? There’s no schedule for any flights to Brent City at this hour…” Meld exclaimed.

“Hmm? I know that dummy! Wait, are you watching the flight schedules?! Hey, you are seriously trying to predict when I will arrive?!” Emeralda roared with a furious tone.

“Of course! So I can set up all my defenses just to take you on, moron!” In response, Meld shouted with veins popping out on his forehead.

“Well, fret not. We used a private jet. And no, we are not departing, we’ve just arrived at the Brent City Airport!” Emeralda replied cheerfully.

“Arrive…we?” Meld’s face is painted with white from those words alone. A foreboding crisis triggers all the goosebump all over his body.

“That’s right! We Ten Paladins will have a reunion!” Emeralda replied.

THUD

Meld’s eyes showed nothing but its white as he dropped his phone.