The Heller trio had been wandering the Abros city looking for a place through the map drawn by the fellow city guards.

Sebastian carried their enormous luggage backpack on his pack that almost occupied a lot of space while walking. Although the road was wide enough, it still managed to grab a lot of attention from the people passing by.

Sebastian in one hand stared at the small map with a rigorous concentration and with the other hand, he held little Ivan’s hand. Meanwhile, Martha was holding Ivan’s other hand. Knowing Ivan, he would surely start running and get lost in this huge city. Not to mention the trafficking of kids was still going on in the city.

After walking for a long time, Ivan started throwing tantrums once again.

“I am tired! Please carry me.” cried out Ivan as he tugged Sebastian’s legs.

“Just a little while longer. We are almost there… probably.” replied Sebastian.

Although, Martha also seemed tired and irritated.

She snatched the piece of paper that Sebastian was reading,

“Lemme have a look.”

“Hey! Be careful, you might tear that page.” shrieked out Sebastian.

Although, Martha’s eyes widened,

“What the hell is this? This is just scribble and lines. You can’t even make out anything? What language is it even written?” questioned Martha.

“Umm… That’s actually a tree.”

Martha just gazed in Sebastian in his eyes and started tearing the paper.

“We are better off, without that crappy map.”

Sebastian quickly ducked and grabbed the bits of paper,

“Come on! Their diagrams were a bit bad but at least they tried to help us. Tearing that map was just rude.”

“They were also the ones who attacked if you remember? Anyway, little information is more dangerous than no information,” replied Martha smugly while looking the other way.

Sebastian let out a sigh,

“This is why you don’t have any friends. You should be a little kind to other people and their sentiments.”

Martha looked the other way,

“And you should act a bit mature and smart. Acting all kindly and friendly would get you killed, one day.”

“Killed?” muttered confused Ivan.

Sebastian sat on his knees and patted both Ivan and Ivan,

“Stop worrying, you should trust your big brother more than that. Once I pass this exam and become a full-fledged knight. We will get a big house, with a big bed! A big bathtub and lots and lots of tasty food!”

Ivan cheered up and raised his hand,

“Also meat!?”

“Yes, lots and lots of meat!” replied Sebastian with a smile as he patted Ivan’s head.

Although Martha was not convinced.

“And what if you get killed?! What then?” Martha questioned while glaring at Sebastian in the eye.

She continued,

“Will you too leave us alone? Like mother did…” she replied with a teary eye.

Ivan also started crying while remembering their mother.

The Heller trio’s mother was a kind woman. Although she had a frail body, she still worked hard to raise her three children doing menial chores in the village. But soon her health worsened and Sebastian had to leave his school. He then worked as a chore boy at the northern military camp to make their needs end.

There he met Sir Knight Darian who later took him as his pupil and trained to be a soldier. But soon after year, their mother passed away.

Back to the present, there was a crowd gathering around to watch the family bonding. Sebastian has already piqued a lot of attention while carrying that huge luggage on his back but now even more people were watching it in a surprise.

“She didn’t leave us” replied Sebastian as he gave tight hug, “She’s still watching over us from above. So let the adults do the worrying okay? If I could survive Sir Knight Darian’s thrashing, so no way I can die from this exam! Also, I have a promise to keep with Patrick, so there’s no way I can die without keeping my promise.”

“Stop it, you’re choking us,” replied Martha.

“Oops, sorry. I just got too riled up.” apologized Sebastian.

Just all of a sudden,

“Sebastian?!” a voice shrieked out from the crowd watching from the sidelines.

Sebastian raised his head to look for the owner of that voice.

There a woman emerged out from the crowd. She was dressed in a lovely frock with an apron and her hands were full of grocery bags.

His eyes suddenly brighten up,

“Aunt Beatrice!”

“Oh, it’s really you Sebastian?” asked the lady, “I could hardly recognize you. Look at you, grown up so much…”

The lady then kept aside her bags and hugged Sebastian.

“And you have changed much, Aunty. You still look young and beautiful as the last time I saw you,”

“Thank you, I see you become quite the lady killer with those flatteries. You really have grown up, hehe,” replied Aunt Beatrice.

Sebastian got a bit embarrassed with the compliments and his wide grin surfaced once again.

“Oh, you still have that habit of smiling, huh.” she taunted.

“I..uhh, well. I am still working on it,” replied Sebastian.

Aunt Beatrice stretched her hand and patted on Sebastian’s head.

“You don’t need to worry. Once people get to know you, surely they will understand, like back in the villagers in Kald.”

Sebastian was getting a lot of glances from people passing by.

“Stop with the head pats, Aunt Beatrice. I am not a kid anymore.”

“Oh my! Back when you were a child, you would help other people for the sake of head pats. Now you don’t like it?”

Sebastian’s face turned red,

“I don’t know what you are talking about!”

“Don’t need to be embarrassed.”

Meanwhile, Ivan and Martha were watching from the side.

“Oh, so you used to like head pats. That’s news to me,” said Martha while observing the drama.

“I also like head pats!” squealed Ivan with joy as he rushed towards Aunt Beatrice.

Aunt Beatrice was surprised,

“Oh, this must be your siblings, that I heard a lot about.” she picked Ivan in her arms, “So what’s you name little one.”

Ivan cheerfully,

“My name’s Ivan Heller! And I like head pats too.”

Beatrice patted his head,

“Oh, so you’re Ivan. This is our first time meeting but you surely are as a cheerful boy as your mother’s letter had told me.”

Ivan giggled happily.

Finally, her eyes fell on Martha who was standing at the side.

“You must be Martha?” asked Aunt Beatrice.

Martha nervously,

“Uh.. yes. Hello-”

Aunt Beatrice hugged Martha,

“You were just a little baby when I had last seen you. Now, look at you grow into such a beautiful girl. You resemble so much like your mother.”

Martha averted her eyes while her face was flushed in red with embarrassment.

Aunt Beatrice suddenly had a glum look,

“I am sorry for your mother’s loss. I always regret not being there. She helped me a lot that I had lost count, but when she needed me the most, I wasn’t there.”

“It’s not your fault” replied Martha.

Sebastian patted Aunt Beatrice’s back,

“Aunty, mother had frail body. But you know her, she would not sit down in place. Always worked herself. But still, she was really happy for you when you moved into the capital with your husband. Until her last moments, she never blamed you for your absence. Actually she insisted on not informing you about her health when I wrote letters on behalf of her. So you shouldn’t blame yourself. She maybe not with us anymore but she surely is watching over us from above.”

Aunt Beatrice cheered up a bit,

“That just sounds like her. Despite having a delicate body, she was stubborn as a rock.”

Sebastian nodded his head in agreement,

“That’s why if she saw you sulking from above, she will surely be angry. So just cheer up.”

Beatrice wiped up teary eyes,

“Thanks, Sebastian. You really grown up to be a good man.”

Sebastian grin resurfaced,

“Thank you.”

“I can never replace your mother, but now you can depend on me for taking care of you three. I will feed you with love and care that you will start getting sick of it. Hehe!” said Beatrice with a smile.

Sebastian quickly stood up and grabbed hold of Aunt Beatrice’s bags,

“I’ll lend you a hand.”

The aunt was rather surprised,

“But you already have huge luggage on your back. Let me at least hold-”

But Sebastian interrupts,

“No need. I can manage this much weight with ease,” he replied with a bright smile.

“You grew up to be quite a strong boy.”

She carried Ivan in her arms and held Martha’s hand,

“Well, then I shall take up on your offer. Now follow me to your new home.