Huff! Puff! Huff!

In a dark alleyway along side the streets of Fiera, a woman was using the walls as a support as she tried to catch her breath. This woman was Herebia/Requa and besides her was Yassi who was examining Hilroy’s wound.

The hit that Hilroy sustained was based on pure impact. The wound at the back of his head was not that huge but it still was not that small. Luckily, the impact didn’t really damage his brain much as most of the impact’s power was absorbed by the sword, which was abandoned in the restaurant.

Blood was not oozing out of his wounds now, as Yassi had already tore off Hilroy’s clothes in order to use as bandage. Although Yassi had a brattish disposition, this will only be evident towards those she hates, those she doesn’t know, and last but not the least, her father.

Although Yassi had only met Hilroy for a day, she considered this ‘unfortunate uncle’ which had once scared her, as an acquaintance. She found out that she could be at ease talking to this guy, so her impression of him improved minute by minute.

Herebia, after resting for a while, shot her gaze at the unconscious Hilroy and then towards the sun. A quarter of the sun was swallowed by the horizon as Herebia estimates that night would come shortly after.

“Little Yassi, How is that guys wound?”

“Big sis, I think that...”

Yassi paused a little and then placed her hand on her chin. Her bloodstained hands touched her snow white skin, which Yassi did not really complain about. This was not the time for things like that.

After thinking for a while, Yassi had already found the appropriate words. “... I think that uncle Hilroy would be unconscious for a long time. Maybe around a month or so. The enemy’s hit had not really damaged his brain but it was shaken by it. Due to this, maybe uncle would enter a coma and sleep for a month or so.”

Hearing the words ‘coma’, Herebia’s eyes darkened a bit. She looked at the little girl and then after staring for a while, threw her answer.

“Will he really awaken after a month?”

“That... that big sis... is the best possible scenario. Worst case is...”

Yassi swallowed her words and didn’t dare to elaborate further. She didn’t know what relationship Hilroy and her big sis Requa had but Yassi thought that, at least, their relationship wound have been of friends.

In fact though, Yassi’s guess was too incorrect. Herebia and Hilroy had only met each other on this day and they could only be classified as acquaintances or adventure buddies. What made Herebia feel worse was that, she let someone working for her almost die.

Herebia, since her birth, didn’t want to see her ‘subordinates’ to die whatsoever.

It was a good thing that the star of misfortune didn’t die, but his awakening was uncertain. Herebia determined that this guy needs to rest under a roof and they had to go inside Ycarus’s house quickly.

Applying the rest of the ointment which Hilroy had used earlier to his head, Yassi looked at Herebia and had the same thought. They needed to go to her house and rest.

“We need to go.”

Yassi proceeded forward as Herebia went back and then used her shoulders to support the unconscious Hilroy. The brat wanted to ask many questions, like who was that opponent? What was that incredible strength? Many questions popped up from this young woman’s mind.

Herebia saw the girl that was in front of her slowly fidget. When Yassi turned around to face Herebia, Herebia saw some thirst for knowledge in the brat’s eyes. Herebia, while supporting Hilroy, shook her head slightly and then spoke.

“We’ll talk later. Let us secure Hilroy first.”

!?

Yassi jolted awake and then her gaze subconsciously landed on the star of misfortune. Her hands slowly tightened as her pace sped up and her direction went for her father’s house.

The shadow of a young girl leading a woman who was carrying an injured soldier lengthened as the sun was slowly being swallowed by the distant horizons...

* * * * *

General Ycarus was holding lint-free cloth as he slowly wiped the dust out of a piece of metal. The piece of metal shone with a blinding brightness and Ycarus was satisfied with this result. He slowly placed the cloth back and held the piece of metal up like a treasure.

In a glass container, he placed the piece of metal at the topmost part. He looked at the glass container for a while and then lightly sighed.

“Blaze, my friend, it seems that we will once again experience war...”

Ycarus tapped the glass container and then turned back as he left the secret room of his house. Looking closely inside, it’s content looked like... not it did not look like one, it is one...

Inside of this container was a metal armor set, namely Blaze!

This armor set was not that big, almost the size of Ycarus, but one could tell that this was not any ordinary armor. This was because... tracing the gold linings of this armor were magic runes!

They exuded the scent of elemental particles, and if Herebia was to see this, she would probably mistake this armor for another armor and scream another name.

Exuding magic, this armor was manipulated using magic. Ycarus, who was a 10th stage Practitioner, was barely able to use this and he had only used this armor in important campaigns.

The design of the armor looked metallic and bushido-styled. It had a overcoat and the emblem of Ignis, which was a dragon coiling around a cross, was inscribed in this armor. It’s dominant colors were red, black and gold.

After Ycarus opened the secret room, he had opened a floor tile on the corner of a bathroom. This floor tile was the entrance towards his beloved treasure. He stood up and washed his hands and then left the bathroom.

He was walking down the hallway when Ycarus’s stomach grumbled no less quieter than Herebia’s stomach. Patting his stomach, Ycarus went towards the direction of the kitchen as his stomach yearned for dinner. Approaching the dining room, he was able to smell his wife’s cooking.

Ycarus had to admit that his new wife was good at cooking, was beautiful, was virtuous, and was good in bed. Although this was the case, deep in the recesses of Ycarus’s heart remained the shadow of another woman.

Shaking his head, Ycarus silently walked forward. Although he knew that his wife was now gone, and he knew that the princess marrying him was only due to the instruction of his brother, Ycarus could not make a move. He didn’t want to offend the king when the king himself gave away his sister to Ycarus.

“Dear, are you hungry? Come and eat. I have just finished cooking.”

“Yeah, I am. What’s for dinner?”

While the husband-wife duo talked like normal lovers, Ycarus felt that somehow, there was something important that he forgot. He shook his head lightly as he tried to remember what it was and discovered that...

There... there was no additional fork trying to steal his meat!

Where was the additional fork? Eh, additional fork? Additional F*ck! The brat! Where was the brat!? Where was she?!

Ycarus stood up like a rocket from his seat as he sped around the house. His action surprised Faye, as she saw her husband run out of the dining room. Somehow, a vein popped from Faye’s forehead as her eyes continuously twitched.

Tears nearly dropped out of her eyes as she swallowed her depression and anger.

‘Was my cooking really that bad?! You actually need to go into the bathroom and vomit?! What went wrong today... Are you sure that you are my husband? You surely could not be Ycarus right? Ycarus loved my cooking... blah blah’

Faye, who was a quiet person, had a loud and complaining inner monologue. While she ranted on the possibility that the guy who ate her food was absolutely not her husband, Ycarus was opening every room and compartment inside the house.

He checked the cabinets, even the ones that contained his underwear, for the familiar figure of a brat. He also checked the toilet, the sink, and the secret room. His search held no results as Ycarus was not able to find Yassi.

He walked back dejectedly and sat back on his seat. When Faye saw his gloomy figure, she somehow knew that this was her husband and there was nothing wrong about him.

‘If there was nothing wrong about Ycarus then... that must mean... my cooking is really bad? No, it cannot be! His must be a dream! Yes, a dream!~ blah, blah...’

“Um... Faye, have you seen Yassi?”

This question of Ycarus pulled back Faye’s mind out of wonderland. She looked at her husband and then her gaze landed on a big hole in the kitchen’s wall.

“You should know. After all, you two were responsible for that hole.”

Ycarus was dumbfounded for a while and then turned his head and saw the wall’s wreckage. His eyes twitched as he saw the hole that he nearly forgot. ‘Yeah... something like that did happen...’

“Oh, I remember now. She went out for an skirmish. She should be back by now.”

“Speak for yourself. You trust your kid too much. What if she encounters dangerous situation that she could not handle?”

“Thats...”

Just as Faye had cornered her husband in a debate, a knock came from the door.

Tok, Tok, Tok!

The husband-wife duo was stunned for a bit and then both of them sighed. Ycarus’s face sported a big grin with a ‘told you so’ face. Faye shook her head helplessly and then she went for the door. Ycarus followed after his wife, while the rejected food lamented on how they were ignored.

While going up on the door, Faye was in front while Ycarus was following from behind. While they were a meter or so away from the door, the universe’s law kicked in. Like those sh*nen Mc’s of those harem mang*s, Ycarus conveniently ‘tripped’ and...

Literally kissed Faye’s ass.

Like a swagger, bitch.

This was the will of the universe itself. Throughout Ycarus’s life, he had already experienced this scenario many times. At first, he was overjoyed by this erotic events. But... as time goes on, Ycarus felt nothing from it and then finally he was ultimately annoyed by it.

Thud! Thud!

“Aiyah!! Not again!”

Faye felt that something warm connected to her butt and she knew that it was happening again. This was what Ycarus referred to as his ‘Unlucky Luck’, much to Faye’s annoyance. Although she could not see it, she knew that this guy had already kissed many other’s butts as well. She also knew that this guy was slapped many times or punched many times for this.

The group outside of the door, namely Yassi, Herebia, and the unconscious Hilroy, heard the sudden sound and was alarmed. Herebia was prepared to cast a spell as Yassi slowly turned the door’s knob. After being opened, a sight as ridiculous as the ‘flaming butt scene’ was happening in front of Herebia’s vision.

While Faye’s clothing was not described at first, let us describe it right now. It is naked apron. Herebia saw a pervert couple doing s*x to greet their visitors. Herebia was only shocked for a moment while the brat was already used to this sight.

If Hilroy were to be present now, that guy surely would have grown a boner. Young boys were still young boys, please understand. Thank you ladies for your understanding.

“Um, Little Yassi... is this how they normally greet their visitors?”

“... Probably... Possibly... Yeah...”

Yassi went forward and then landed a kick at the side of Ycarus’s stomach. Ycarus, having felt nothing, still lurched on the floor while holding his own stomach. Faye used this opportunity to stand up and then look at their visitors.

Faye found out that the brat had two person in tow, namely the beautiful black clothe woman and the seriously wounded soldier. Surprised, Faye went forward and was about to help Herebia support hilroy when Ycarus stopped her.

Looking questioningly at her husband, Faye pouted in a cute way. Ycarus looked at her seriously with an incomparably stern face and then pointed towards the master’s bedroom.

“Dear... remember that you’re still naked...”

“Oh my!..”

Realizing that she was about to support a man while only wearing an apron, Faye felt her blood rush up on her face as she slightly reddened. She quickly rushed towards the master’s bedroom.

Ycarus was the one who received Hilroy’s hands and then supported him. He looked at the black clothed woman who had supported this soldier and then back at Yassi. “Who are... this friend’s of yours Yassi?”

Herebia’s eyes twitched a little and she couldn’t help but voice out her concerns. “Let’s leave the introductions later. We must first lay him in a bed.”

Ycarus raised both his eyebrows and then looked at the source of the voice. He then considered her words and couldn’t help but look at the soldier’s wound. It was indeed an extremely severe case.

“Right. Dad, please place this man inside an unused room. I know that our house has a lot of those. On dinner, I shall explain everything.”

“Okay sweetheart...”

Ycarus looked at his daughter for a moment and then led this injured soldier towards an empty room. He placed him on a bed as Yassi and Herebia watched him do so.

“There we go, tomorrow I will call for a doctor for your friend sweetheart and get him checked... As for my analysis though, this guy surely suffered a strong impact on the back of his head... And this kind of power is quite abnormal...” Speaking up to this point, Ycarus stopped for a while and then he looked at Yassi with his sharp eyes.

“Don’t tell me you encountered someone as strong as me?”

Yassi shook slightly and then she raised her hand and pretended to scratched her head in annoyance, fully displaying the attitude of a brat girl. “I said that I will talk about it later! Anyway dad, do you think he has a chance to.. Um, wake up again?”

“Wake up you say? I don’t know. What I know is that this guy will enter a very long sleep.”

Herebia shook her head in dismay as the information that this guy spouted was just the same one that Yassi spoke of. Sighing deeply, she turned her back and then walked off into the hallway, musing to herself.

‘It seems that more concise information would only come from a doctor himself...’

While going to this household, Herebia’s primary goal was Ycarus’s information. Now that hilroy was injured, Herebia prioritized this guy’s assurance to awaken again over Ycarus’s info. At first she wanted to at least know some specifics of the impending Ignis-Terra war and what could beat a general on giving info about his things?

Surely it would be the king himself, but Herebia needed to take a the first step in a ladder in order to reach the top. She needed a start, as she first planned to use a noble and find a general. After a general then came a prince. After the prince comes the king himself.

Luckily enough for her, she had obtained the control over the life of a general’s daughter. This boosted Herebia’s progress by a step or so.

While all of this were true, Herebia’s attention was not on Ycarus at the moment. She knew that this guy would not run away but Hilroy’s condition could become worse if she did not focus on it. So, she prioritized her subordinates safety over Ycarus at the moment.

Growl! Growl! Growl!

The call of nature came and Herebia’s stomach howled like a wild beast. She realized that she had not properly eaten at the restaurant before because of the War God’s interruption. She was hungry.

Growl! Growl! Growl!

Herebia looked at her stomach and then realized that it was not her. She looked back and saw Ycarus standing there, looking silently at her. He smiled wryly as he also realized that he had not eaten due to the fact that Yassi was missing.

Growl! Growl! Growl!

Now though, both of their stomachs howled in a sonorous yet beautifully synced sound. It showed the sign of hunger, hunger and hunger. The two of them looked at each other for a while and then like a tacit agreement, Ycarus went ahead and led Herebia towards the dining room.

‘I think that we will get along.’

This was the word that was floating in both of their minds.