Ok, this story is turning into a shoujo manga...I mean shoujo fiction. I am a bit busy so I don't know if I can upload another chapter today, not that you want another chapter anyway.

So we finally went to the adventurer’s guild to get a quest, only to go back without getting any. It’s not that there isn’t any silver or gold quest available, it’s just that all of them are 3 or more months away. Most of the nearby quest was taken by the participants of the tournament to practice. The thing that surprised me is the rewards of the quest, the highest reward I saw on the silver ranked quest was 80 silver coins...and you have to travel for 5 months to the quest zone and another 5 months to get back.

If you think about it, some will work for almost a year, and only get 80 coins when we are here casually spending more than 10 silver coins a day. Feric told us that most of the adventurers get their food on the wild, and camp outside to save money. There were also cheap inns that were quite good, 15-20 copper coins for one day., and if you add 5-10 more copper coins then you will also be given lunch and dinner by the owner of the inn. Sigh...I actually gave out a large amount of money without me noticing, I thought that since gold coins were a lot lower than reis coins, it was just a small amount...

As of now I still have 27 gold coins, there is no need to ask why my money depleted this much. Nero & Ciera didn’t really have their own savings, Feric showed me his stash, and there were 34 gold coins inside...I didn’t think we are actually rich, well, Feric is a different story since he is the son of a duke. WAIT! The winner of the tournament gets 20 reis coins, that large sum of money is being given away just like that? no wonder everyone in the continent wants to participate...money is scary.

After the adventurer’s guild, we went to the dome, and registered for the party battle. Nero said it was time for celebration, and went to buy some ingredients, he said that we should be back before dinner. Ciela was fired up and went straight to an open space, to train. She wanted to catch up, and be helpful on the party battle. Feric and I didn’t have anything to do so we walked around city. Guess where pooch is...he said he wanted to have a vacation, and he is now sleeping inside the coach.

Feric silently followed me as I walk, feels like I am actually alone...While walking we found a park, and entered. I found a playground and a few kids playing on it, there were benches around for the parents. There was white sand on the floor of the playground to cushion the kids, when I saw the a vacant swing, my body moved on its own, and took it...not like I’m playing, I am just gonna sit on a moving chair.

“...I’ll be on the bench, I’ll go to you after you have finished playing.” Feric said that, and slowly walked to the bench.

“I AM NOT PLAYING! I AM JUST SITTING!”(Shera)

I saw Feric’s expressionless face, turn in to a smile. While repeatedly telling myself that I should stay for a few more minutes, the sky darkened, and before I noticed it, an hour already passed. The kids were already gone, and only Feric and I were in the park. Since the slide was wide, and 12 ft tall, so it’s obviously for the grown ups. Before leaving, I wanted to use the slide once, Feric was simply watching me from the bench...his blank expression returned. After wasting time, I walked to where Feric was. Seeing that I am finished playin...wasting time, he stood up, and took something out of his bag.

I looked at what he held in his hand as I walk. It was a thin book, and had a colorful cover. He gave it to me and started speaking.

“Unlike Nero, I don’t know how to make you happy...so I bought something that I thought you would like.”(Feric)

“T...this is for kids.” I pushed the book back to him.

H...how did he know? Only the duke knows about my hobby...

“A...is that so, sorry.” Feric took the book from my hand, and slowly put it back to his bag, but I stopped him by holding his hand.

“...Since you bought it, it would be a waste to let it stay on your bag without being used.”(Shera)

“...” Feric stared at me.

“...” And I also stared at him.

“Don’t worry, I’ll read it before throwing it away.”(Feric)

It’s kinda hard to say I want the book when I rejected it earlier...wait, a group of people is headed to the park. If the see the picture book...

I quickly took the book, and put it inside my bag. I held his hand, and went out of the park, only to be blocked by a group of people. There were 6 herans, 4 gairns, and 1 talar.

“Would you look at that, a young couple alone in the park. Don’t tell me you did it outdoors?”(Heran 1)

“We are not a couple!”(Shera)

And what are we supposed to do outdoors?

“...”(Feric)

“I see, so it means you are single right? Want to hang out with us?”(Heran 2)

“Sorry, we have to go back to the inn. Someone will get angry, if we go back late.”(Shera)

“Hahahaha don’t worry, it will just be for a bit, and I am sure you will want more.”(Gairn)

Stubborn people, should I kill them now...NO! I am not the same as before, I should act like a normal person.

“Sigh...would you please let us pass?”(Shera)

“What if we say no?”(Heran 1)

“Then I’ll Ki...” Before I finished talking, Feric pushed me back.

“I’ll take care of it, just stay there and watch.”(Feric)

“I can take care of them myself.”(Shera)

“See, she said she would take care of us all night.”(Heran 2)

I told you I will go back to the inn. Why would I stay with you all night? I don’t even want to go with you.

Feric’s blank expression turned in to pure rage. He quickly took out a scroll, and 3 crystals from his bag. He crushed the crystal with his hands, and his body started to glow.

“Ifrit”(Feric)

The ground vibrated, and a huge orange circle appeared in the sky. A giant covered in flames, descended from the circle, and appeared in front of Feric.

“A...a summoner?”(Talar)

“Burn them all, people that dared to look at her with indecent eyes are not allowed to live in this world.”(Feric)

At his word, flames started to rise from the ground and burn the group, while pushing them upwards. When all of them were at the sky, the giant raised its hand, created a giant fireball, and threw it at the people in the sky. There was a large explosion at the sky, and not even an ash was left from them. The giant slowly faded, and the scroll burned on its own.The glow from Feric's body disappeared.

“...what was that? Can I also do it? It looked cool.”(Shera)

“It was a summoning spell from the scrolls I made, and the crystal was my reserve mana which I stored before. I don’t think you will need it since you already stronger than the one I summoned.”(Feric)

“Ah, that’s so cool, can you do it again?”(Shera)

“No, it takes a lot of my mana, and I have to use an important scroll to do that.”(Feric)

“Wait, why did you do that? I said I could handle it myself. You didn’t have to wasted a precious scroll on them.”(Shera)

“It doesn’t matter if you are stronger, It is a man’s job to protect the one he loves.” He didn’t smile, yet he had a gentle expression.

“L...love?”(Shera)

“I think, dinner is almost ready. We better get back before Nero gets angry.”(Feric)

Ah, I forgot...we need to hurry!

We ran back to the inn, and we made it back in time. We spent the rest of the day normally, and when everyone was asleep, I stealthly went out of the room, to read the book. I didn’t really go that far, In fact, I was sitting in front of our room’s door. As I opened the book, I felt someone move inside, and was walking to where I was. I quickly hid the book, and stood up. When the door opened, Feric was the one I saw.

“W...why are you still awake?”(Shera)

“Sorry, I also felt like reading with you. I got a bit interested, since you wanted it.”(Feric)

A comrade!

“Ah, you won’t regret you decision. Picture books might not look that appealing to adults, but I assure you, you will enjoy it.” I proudly stated it while crossing my arms.

___

(Feric’s POV)

I am sitting in front of the room, with Shera. We were reading the picture book I bought yesterday, and I am happy.

___

I was born with talents, and with the help of my parents, I was able to enhance my skills. My parents only asked my to necessary skills for the time I replace my father as a duke, other than that, they supported me in everything that I wanted. I was an attention seeker, I simply became the best at one thing, to get praise from others. Before I noticed it, everyone around me was treating me differently, it felt like I was above them, which was fine. As I grew older, female from different races, started to seduce me, too bad for them, but I can read them like a book.

At first I wanted attention, but what I got was something else. Female flock at me without end, and none of them had a decent reason for doing it. There were people that respected me, and people that hated me for what I became. I had friends...only in name. Nobles that are close to the duke, forced their child to be friends with me, and some even forced their daughters to marry me. In the end, instead of gathering everyone's attention, and having a lot of friends. I became isolated, and my only joy, was practicing, and researching about magic. With my successful experiments, and increase in magical power, I was able to slowly raise my adventurer’s rank. A few of the things I have created was a fully working spell scroll with reduced mana requirement, and a mana crystal that can store mana, which I hid for myself. I was the one who created it, there is no reason to let others know.

My life continued, and I lived my life as an adventurer, I would visit the city from time to time to check on my parents. One day I decided to venture to the mirage desert, in search of something new, something different, most of all, someone that could look directly into my eyes without hiding anything. My father was worried, and sent a ton of soldiers to act as my bodyguard in the mirage desert.

While I was on my way to the mirage desert, I met Shera. One time, the guards suddenly spotted an odd coach. I told them to bring the owner, and the one I saw was a Lein, who has a beauty I couldn’t explain. I made my own hypothesis based on what the guards told me, and thought she was heading to the city, to marry into a rich family, but I got irritated at the thought of others marrying her. I asked her how much money she needed and tried to make myself sound like I would accept her even if she was the lowest type of human...which I think backfired. Instead being seen as a kind person, I probably looked like someone that just balantly insulted her...If only I interacted more with others, then I would know the right words to say to her.

She showed me her rank, but the first thing I noticed was her name instead of the obvious color of the plate. Her name echoed inside my head, like it was making sure that I would never forget her name. Before she went out, a certain word made me skip a beat. ‘it doesn’t matter what rank your father has’ that’s what she said, I couldn’t explain why, but those words made me remember her more. Maybe I am just insane, maybe I simply got attracted by her beauty, but I like her...I don’t know if I Iove her, but I definitely want to be with her. I quickly sent a letter to my father, which said that they should try and get close to Shera, and somehow persuade her into marrying me. My family always supported me, maybe this time they can also help me with this. When I got back to the city, Shera was still in the mansion, and it only meant one thing, she accepted the marriage, and was now staying at the mansion to wait for me.

I ran with all my strength to her room, before I got there, the door opened. Just when I thought everything was ok, she said she was only waiting for me because of a contract with my father. I asked my father, and he told me everything about Shera that he knew. Everything I heard from my father was great, Shera didn’t care about noble ranks, and simply acted the way she wanted. As father told me about Shera, my interest in her grew more and more. My father also pointed out what I did wrong when I first met Shera, and yes, it just looked like I was shoving my money to her so that she will go to me, while insulting her. I still had a chance, I could change the way she thinks of me. With father’s contract, I can be with her, and with time, she will fall in love with me.

When we went to the dining hall, I sat near her, I was happy that I could eat with her, until father did something outrageous. He ripped the contract in to shreds, and knelt in front of Shera. He destroyed the one thing that could make me stay with her, but he quickly fixed it by saying that all of our family’s force will back her up. This time, I will walk on thin ice, unlike before were she is forced to be with me, this time, she can throw me away anytime she wants, if I do something that she wouldn’t like. Since it would be like that, I took everything that could help me teach her magic, if she sees value in having me in her party, then I could be with her. I wanted to buy something for her as an apology before starting our travel, but didn’t got the chance.

She has other companions, so I need to act in away that won’t anger them. If I don’t know how to interact, then I won’t interact, I also helped in thing that I could. On Shera’s first lesson, she used a void spell which drained her life force...which traumatized me. She was next to me, yet she was hurt. I started to act more carefully around her, and simply watched her growth. The other members were also great people, even the cursed vallar was a good guy. At first he obviously hated me, but he slowly got used to me being in the party. As I traveled with them, I noticed one thing, I am happy. At some point they all accepted me, and I could see their true personality. I realized something, and asked myself, if Shera was forced to have me in her party, would she still show me her smile? Would everyone accept me? Would I see their true emotions? The answer was no.

If I wanted to make her love me, then I should work hard for it. If she was just being forced then there was no point, I finally understand why father ripped the contract. After a few days, I noticed that Shera was glancing at Nero more and more. It was obvious that she liked him, but since Nero was a good guy, and it was obvious that he also liked Shera. There was no reason to foil a budding relationship, if they both loved each other then it is for the best. If I really loved her then seeing her happy should be enough...but something inside of me started to hurt. My mind was conflicting, should I help them? or should I also fight for my own feelings?

Weeks passed, and they were still the same, they both loved each other, yet they never entered a relationship. The question appeared inside my head again, If I notice that they love each other, then I should help them...but a part of me told me not to. I got stressed about it, and finally asked someone for help. The most knowledgeable person, the animal god pooch, and he told me this:

“I can’t really give you the perfect advice, all I could say is that you still have a chance. You are telling me that you could help both of them, but could you endure that? Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. But don’t use what I just said to ruin the possibility of their relationship, just try and make her look at you, make her like you, make her fall for you. In the end she is the one who will choose, and if she chooses the other one, then that is the time to stop. If she has already chosen someone then you should just support her, if you really love her...that’s what Hellion Certz told me, so I am not sure.”(Pooch)

With his words, I slowly got the confidence to try...but how? I don’t know what to do. When we got to Kanaria city, I have resolved myself to take the first step. When I got free time, I went to a bookstore, and searched for all picture books. I remembered all the titles of the books she have read before. So I asked the store head, which of the books that she haven’t read before, was good. On the next day, aside from the bad start of the day because of a certain guild, Shera and I were alone, not even pooch was with us. When we found a park, she suddenly got excited, and suddenly took a seat on the swing. I sat on a bench and watched as she enjoyed herself, she even used the slide...cute.

When we started walking out of the park, pieces of trash appeared and stared at her with lustful expressions. I tried to calm down, but a certain comment from the trash, made me snap. I used the rare mana crystals, and a summoning scroll, and burned the insects that dared to look at her. After that, I suddenly blurted out that I loved her, but was able to change the subject...thank god.