"The Lord who received the message from the Goddess was Baron Reginald Ruthergett." Ayla revealed as she continued walking. "It is said that on that day, there was a golden light surrounding the castle..." She said somewhat dreamily.

She coughed and continued.

"I don't know the details really, but from that day on, my great-grandfather, Reginald Ruthergett, completely changed, or so many people say. It wasn't like he was incompetent before that, but people say that he became almost a different person. He recruited various talanted people, developed the territory and made many achievements for the Empire and elevated the Ruthergett Noble House to the status of a Margrave in just 14 years."

"Wow. That sounds almost like a fairy tale." Ubel chuckled as he followed behind Ayla.

"Right? For me that is especially so, since I've heard this story at least a thousand times since I was a child." She said jokingly.

"It seems you believe in that fairy tale, though." The black-haired young man said.

"Yes, I do. After all, I have the fairy tale-like ability to see the in future." Ayla responded while smiling.

"I see."

After that, she asked him various questions about his "life in the village" and Ubel carefully answered her, taking care not to mess up.

When they passed the gate around the castle and entered the streets, a lot of people recognized her and greeted her while she responded to them with a smile on her face.

"It seems that you are very loved by the population, Lady Ayla. Though I can see why."

"Haha, thank you, Allen. I'd like to think that this is the result of the hard work of my family." Ayla proudly responded to Ubel's compliment. "Are you hungry?" She continued with a question.

"Yes, I would say so. I haven't eaten in quite a bit." He responded to her.

"Then, let me show you my favorite restaurant before anything else! This way." The young woman said with excitement.

***

They arrived in front of the restaurant Ayla was talking about.

It was a restaurant that didn't look too fancy, but rather ordinary. Certainly, nothing that would be associated with the favorite of a rich noble's daughter. Still, Ubel wasn't surprised. From his understanding of Ayla, she didn't seem the type to indulge in luxuries.

However, Ubel changed his mind after they entered the restaurant. Although the restaurant wasn't fine-dining, it definitely could be considered quite high-end. It had a rather unique atmosphere, maybe because of the darker colors of the interior.

A waiter in an uniform bowed towards them as he greeted Ayla familiarly. It seems like she indeed did come here often.

They were led to a table near a window. After they sat down, she gave the menu to Ubel.

"Here, choose what you want. I assure you that everything here is delicious!" She beamed.

Ubel looked towards the menu, pretending to look confused. After all, even if this wasn't a luxurious restaurant, it still had dishes that a mere country bumpkin like him, who lived in a village basically in the middle of nowhere, shouldn't be able to recognize.

On a side note, he was able to read the menu, so he was glad to see the language was the same as the one he remembered.

Ayla seemed to realize his "predicament" and she recommended him a dish.

"Here, you can try this one - the Cassoulet. It's a very tasty dish." She gestured to the name of the meal on the menu.

It was one of the most expensive dishes at the restaurant with a price of 1 Malarion coin.

A Malarion coin is the highest kind of currency in the Gredia Empire. It's a currency primarily used by mages, because it was made by a metal containing mana. It was made in the shape of a coin.

The mana in the coins was useless to mages. They were used purely because of symbolism.

Ordinary citizens in the empire used gold coins, as far as Ubel knew. Those coins were heavily outdated and very few countries used them anymore because the inefficient system that came with them, but the Gredia Empire didn't have the intention to change that for now.

Or so he thought, until he saw that most of the dishes less expensive from the one Ayla recommended were payed by something called Denarcy.

Another thing he didn't recognize, but he brushed it off for now.

Seeing Ubel make a hesitant expression, Ayla reassured him.

"Don't worry about the cost, I am rich!" She winked towards Ubel as she jokingly said.

He laughed at her words and nodded. She ordered the food for both of them.

As they waited for the dishes to arrive, they talked about various things as Ubel asked her questions this time. There was something he wanted to know the most, so he asked her.

"Lady Ayla, are you a magician?"

"Yes, currently I am in the 3rd rank."

"Wow. That is very impressive!"

Ubel was genuinely surprised. He recalled that she had said that she was 21 years old before. According to the Institute of the Arcane, the average age at which one would reach the 3rd rank, complied from the information of the official Magicians, was 34 years. Ayla was definitely very talented. Furthermore, she probably reached the 3rd rank at an earlier age than 21.

"Thank you. For some reason, I feel like you are very talented too. Allen, have you ever thought about becoming a Magician or a Knight?" She asked him.

"Well, who hasn't dreamed of that? Of course I do. Maybe now that I am in this big city, I will have the opportunity to do so. " He answered her question looking slightly excited.

She smiled at him with folded hands below her chin.

"Hey, Allen. I want to ask you something. You don't have to think deeply about it and just answer me honestly." Ayla said seriously all of a sudden.

"...Okay." Ubel was genuinely confused by her sudden change.

She looked him in the eye as she said:

"Do you derive pleasure from the suffering of others?"

"...Huh?"