It was night time, on a weekday, but specific districts within the city of Astalan was thriving with activity. On the normal streets, illuminated by the magic street lamps, people occasionally walked by. However, if you cast your eyes over to the red light district, it was loud and lively. Next to that district was where the restaurants and pubs were still open.

Inside a noisy pub was filled with people such as adventurers and laborers within the city who had came there to enjoy a night of drinking. However, it was mostly the adventurers who visited this place. They drank and ate with their group of friends, chattering and laughing their day's stress away. They had visited the place to relax, but Loganel visited to free himself of his troubles.

He sat on a stool by the bar with a glass of alcohol in front of him. He had never visited a place like this before, but he felt that here was the only place where he could possibly eliminate his mind of his worries.

Unfamiliar with any liquor, Loganel randomly ordered something from the bar. The result is a mead that was sweet and had a soft kick to it. He had been drinking for about an hour now, and has already lost control of himself. His brain felt hazy due to the intoxication effect of the alcohol. However, he still felt bad.

"Bunch of lies," Loganel muttered, resting his left palm as he leaned on the counter top. "Isn't this thing supposed to make me feel better?" After finishing his sentence, he gulped down the entire cup of mead that was before him. He could feel the cold liquor making its way down his throat and into his stomach.

"Drinking won't make your problems go away," Lori's voice approached Loganel.

Loganel looked over lazily, and saw the woman sit down on the empty seat beside him at the bar.

"I take the usual," she said to the bartender. "Can't you see the boy's feeling down? Get him something better that'll make him feel better. And put it on my tab."

After a while, the bartender returned with two drinks and set them down before Loganel and Lori. Lori then took hers and took a small sip from it.

"I've talked to her," she said, "didn't say anything. All she did was cried."

"...I don't know what to do anymore," Loganel sighed and buried his head underneath his arms.

"Are you stupid or what?" Lori asked. She then exhaled deeply and eyed the wavering liquid in her glass as she twirled it around. "The deal is still on. Ten Gold."

"But she told me that she doesn't want us to see each other anymore..."

"So what? Buy her and ask her yourself. She won't be able to run from you if you own her."

"..." Loganel sat up straight, and pulled the cup of liquor that Lori had ordered for her close to him. He stared into the cup and eyed the frail face that reflected in the solution.

"Get a hold of yourself, and don't stay out till to late," Lori said. She placed some coins on the counter and then stood up before she started walking away. Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks. "If you're still a man then I'll be seeing you. If not, then don't show up to my place ever again."

Loganel watched on as she exited. Then, he slowly turned his head so that he eyed the cup of liquor before him. He sighed, and then, a small smirk appeared on his face. He grabbed the cup and drank the liquid inside in one straight go. He ignored the strong burn as it scorched his mouth and throat. Instead, he continued drinking, gulping down mouthful after mouthful without setting the cup down. Finally, the cup was empty.

"Damn," Loganel muttered. "That wasn't sweet at all."

***

The sun shined onto a world that was stepping into autumn. The leaves had just started to change color and was hardly noticeable. However, the slight drop in temperature was. Even in the colder weather, inside the courtyard of the large cathedral located near the castle, Testuya swung his blade. Nearby observing him was Paladin Grant.

"You seem kinda happy," Grant observed.

"Do I?" Tetsuya used his forearm to wipe away the sweat on his forehead.

"What happened?"

"Just one of my party members finally decided to work with us again."

Tetsuya paused his training for a quick breather. He walked over to the shade underneath the roof of the overhang and sat down on the stone bench there. He grabbed his canteen that was resting on the bench and drank some of the water contained inside to quench his thirst.

"That kid you talked about before?" Grant frowned. "The one that survived the encounter with the Succubus?"

"That's him." Tetsuya lowered his canteen and looked at his mentor. "Is something wrong?"

"No," Grant exhaled deeply. "But I advise you keep an eye on him."

"Why?"

"If it was a Succubus of the Demon Army, then her powers are way above what people around your level could handle. And you said when you found him, you didn't see a body of the Succubus right?"

"Right, all I saw was a bunch of orcs that were missing limbs."

"How many orcs?"

"About ten."

"Let me ask you this," Grant said in a serious tone. "Do you really think, that a normal student at the Academy could take on a Succubus and ten orcs at the same time?"

"No..." Tetsuya's face suddenly tensed up as he understood what his mentor was saying to him.

"He might be a pawn of that Succubus, a spy for the Demon King."

"But--"

"I'm not saying that is necessarily true," Grant explained. "But it would be best if you be cautious of him."

"..." Tetsuya appeared troubled. "Alright."

He didn't want to be the one doubting his party members, even if it was Loganel. Out of everyone in the party, Tetsuya find that it was the most difficult to believe that Loganel could possibly be a spy for the Demon King. He just can't believe it, whether factual or just a speculation. In Tetsuya's eyes, Loganel is so worthy of admiration. His willingness to sacrifice himself painted him a hero in Tetsuya's eyes. That was why Tetsuya could not just so easily accept Grant's speculation, even if Grant was his mentor.

***

Loganel laid on the ground, limp with fatigue and stared at the purplish orange sky above. Standing over him was Avelin, who had her long dark purple hair tied into a ponytail. That day, Loganel had forced to break a sweat.

"You're getting better," Avelin remarked. "You could almost last longer than five minutes. You really worked it hard today. Even I can't stay calm when you do it that hard."

"Can you not say things in such a way that it could be considered lewd?" Loganel said in a fatigued and emotionless voice.

He laid on the ground, gasping for air, and felt the cool wind blow by his face as if it was wiping his sweat off his face.

"Got an expedition coming up soon," Avelin casually mentioned. "You should be fine. Just don't do anything reckless and just let Marsha handle the heavy lifting."

"Marsha..." Loganel searched his memories for that name. "The Flora?"

Avelin crossed her arms before her chest, which wasn't heaving as heavy as it was before. Therefore, Loganel concluded that she had already recovered from the sparring that they had engaged in.

"In a way, you can consider her your senior," Avelin said with a nostalgic look in her eyes. "My relationship with her is like mine with yours."

"So your her second mother?"

"I don't remember ever becoming your mom, Loganel."

"I'm just kidding," Loganel said in a cold emotionless voice.

"Really? I can't really tell from your corpse like voice."

"Maybe not," Loganel continued. "Cause you are kinda like my mother, always taking care of me and everything."

Avelin blushed slightly. "I-is that so?" However, that blush only lasted for less than a second before she returned to normal. "Anyways, I was her mentor about three years ago. She wasn't necessarily more talented than you, but she was better than you."

"Wow," Loganel exclaimed in his usual emotionless voice. "Thanks."

"Anyways, she would complain a lot," Avelin chuckled. "And now thinking back at how someone like her has become a Knight in the Knights Corp..." Avelin tried to contain her laughter. However, it was of no use. "If you'd knew what she was like, all your fantasies about her would straight up evaporate."

"I've never fantasized about her," Loganel responded as he slowly got up into a sitting position on the ground.

"She acts so noble and authoritative nowadays, but if you would've been there when she was my student," Avelin closed her eyes and nodded her head.

"Goes to show how old you are now," Loganel softly muttered. However, his voice could not escape Avelin's acute hearing and what awaited him for his comment was a blow to his head.

"I'm still quite young, only twenty five."

"I'm just kidding," Loganel repeated what he had said earlier.

"Didn't I tell you that your voice is unsuited for kidding?" Avelin sighed. She then looked downwards at Loganel with a somewhat worried look in her eyes."How's life been for you lately?"

"Why?"

"You can't hide anything from me you know," Avelin said to him, "I've been your teacher for four years straight right after your first year teacher retired you know."

And you said you weren't like my second mother, Loganel thought in his mind.

"Don't worry," Loganel stood up and stretched, smiling as he did so. "I've got it all figured out."

"You sure?" Avelin frowned.

"Of course I am, mother."

"M-mother? How dare you call your teacher mother," Avelin appeared to be flustered since she began to blush and stutter a bit.

Loganel was amused by his sudden discovery of Avelin's weakness. He smiled as he watched Avelin rant about how young people nowadays have no respect for their elders. This was one of the few times that he was able to smile so freely.

In this world, there are just certain things that one would feel uncomfortable talking about with family. That is why humans would socialize and seek out companions that aren't family, but is someone that they would share a special bond with. To Loganel, those people included Iry, Avelin, and maybe Juliana.

"Anyways," Avelin cleared her throat. "You don't have to come tomorrow. The expeditions in the day after tomorrow. Get some rest."

"Are you sure it's just not you being lazy?" Loganel blurted out.

"What? How dare you even doubt me. Then show up tomorrow then, I dare you to."

"Fine then," Loganel answered back. "You better show up as well."

Author's Note:

Hello everybody. As of January 20, 2018, I've officially changed the cover picture of this book. And if you've guessed correctly, it is of my interpretation of what Juliana looks like. Do you like it? Do you prefer this one or the old one? (Even if you did prefer the old one I won't change it back.)

Please vote if you've enjoyed and comment what you think. Also, add this book to your reading list if you haven't done so and give me a follow. Thank you everyone.