Daytime.

There was a small group in front of the infamous alleyway.

"So this is the place Captain asked us to look into?"

"...Looks like it, I don't know, seems average to me." -

"Door's locked. Reinforced with decent level magic too. My hands are tied." - one man said while fiddling with the door of Unlikely Haven.

"Not quite so average then, people around here can't afford magic locks."

"Do we have permission to break down the place?"

"...Not specified. I'll contact Hank."

Suddenly a voice interrupt them.

"...What are you doing in front of my bar?" - Ray said, while carrying groceries.

"...Here comes the big man...or not. The guy looks weak, you sure the Captain said to be careful around him?" - someone whispered.

"Hey, you bunch of knights, I'm asking you. Do you have permission to be here?" - Ray, looking very annoyed.

"...Our mistake, we seems to have gotten the wrong address. Boys, we're done here." - the seemingly leader said and moves out the alleyway.

"Tch. We could've just beat him up and force him to open up the shoddy place himself..." - a bald and burly looking knight in the group said.

"...Stop." - Ray said, his back turned to them - "Repeat what you said. One more time. One with the bald head."

His voices sounds infinitely colder than before.

"What? I said we could've beat you up and open the door to your shoddy little bar yourselves. You have any issues-"

His words was interrupted by a punch in the gut. It made a fist-shaped dent in the armor he was wearing.

They didn't even see him move. Next moment they saw him standing at the door with his back turned again. The only reason they didn't think it was an illusion was because the burly looking man earlier is now kneeling on the ground and throwing up.

"...You can insult me, but never insult my place. You'd better learn that if you want to live."

"...Clean up that pathetic mess before you leave. Is there any other unsatisfied customers?" - Ray said to the men with a voice from hell.

"...No, sorry for interrupting your schedule. We'll be leaving now." - as they said, they pick up the bald guy and swiftly left.

There was no one left in the alleyway except for Ray. And as he walks in the bar, he frowned.

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"The guy is stronger than we expected, huh?" - Hank, looking very interested in this new development.

"...That's an understatement. He dented the armor." - Will, scratching his head.

"...We may have to return to that bar soon. But first, the Chosen's return."

"...I'm not ordering something new again." - Will, still traumatized about last time.

"You're no fun. Back on topic, apperently Valframe is REALLY annoyed that their Chosen hitched a ride with ours."

"...Excuse me. Did Valframe's Chosen tag along?"

"Apperently so, I didn't believe it either."

"...Okay, this is getting out of hand. We just need Bale's to show up and then hell can break loose."

"Still, it's our job, we can ask for a promotion if we survive this."

"That's a pretty big if..."

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Somewhere in Extas.

"That little girl...Unpredictable...Annoying..." - the "Genius Tactician" laments.

"...What do we do now, sir?"

"...No, this might be the perfect time to put the blame onto them instead...Send out another assassination squad, this time aimed at the knights surrounding them, do not kill them..."

"Yes, sir."

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"Princess...What's gotten into you? You rarely invest this much effort into anything despite your talent...Is this about the Hero again?" - Alfred, dismayed.

"If you know the answer why ask?" - she hurriedly answer while flipping through books and records at blinding speed - "It's the first time Father tried to hide something from me. Of course I'm curious."

"...The king told you about it? Oh dear..." - Alfred shaking his head in resignation.

"You know, they're really thorough with this Hero deal. I can barely find any records that says anything about it. The best I can find it's that the Hero was a prominent figure during the Great War."

"...That much is true, I can affirm that. Don't expect me to answer anything else though. If you somehow have permission from the King, I will tell you all that I know."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"Thanks, Gramps." - she hurriedly ran out the room

End of Chapter 9.