Arte and his comrades, the four roommates of Chamber 203 of the fortress, were sitting inside a carriage on their way to the Holy Capital.

"So, Attendant, what will be the first thing you do upon reaching the Holy City?"

"I don’t know yet, but I think the first thing I will do will be to meet up with my little brother, it’s been a while since I’ve last seen him."

"Oh, come on, seriously?"

"What ?"

"Just leave him alone, Edouard."

"Yeah, don't pay attention to him, Arte. The concept of being a caring and responsible brother is just beyond him.

"I see..." simply replied Arte, not making a big deal of it as he was already used to it; instead he asked, "And you, what will you do?"

The one to jump in to answer was Edouard: "I will visit the lower district and rent the finest flo— what?" but he was interrupted mid-sentence by a kick from Samh, who was seated right beside him.

"What was that for?"

"One should know when to shut up. But that seems not to be the case for you. As such, it is upon me to remind you."

"What are you guys talking about? I don’t understand."

"It’s nothing. Don’t mind it."

"I see… "

Glancing out the windows of the carriage, Arte beheld the immense wasteland through which the carriage was riding.

They were currently in the Meilen Empire on their way to the Holy City, a city of the ErsteMensch Theocracy.

The North Fortress, where Arte and the boys served as Paladins for three months, was on the northern border of the Meillen Empire, and thus the human continent's northern stronghold.

Though he had spent the majority of his life in a remote rural area of the ErsteMensch Theocracy, Arte knew for a fact that the wasteland they were traveling across was once a verdant place rather than the ashen and barren land it is now.

This place has changed very much during and after the events of the Seven Calamities that have terrorized the entire human continent. In the present case, this land barrenness was the doing of the light calamity, a gigantic, unstoppable, and chaotic light dragon that, in his mere passage, set ablaze everything standing in its path.

Two years have passed since Arte and his younger brother witnessed with their own eyes the destruction wrought by one of these seven calamities, and though they, just like everyone else, were recovering from these calamities, he will never forget that sight.

***

It took Arte and his fellow apprentice Paladin roughly one week and a half for their carriage to reach the Holy Capital.

Having reached and entered the holy city walls, they were now traversing the immense bridge leading to the noble district, which overlooked the holy city's common districts.

The Holy Capital is the largest, richest, and most populated city on the human continent, and it is truly the jewel of humanity, with its massive wall and massive structures towering toward the heavens.

Two main factors contributed to making this city the beauty that it currently is:

First is the presence of the church. Despite being in the Etstmensh theocracy, the Holy Capital is fully administered through and through by the Church. A very large majority of the active members of the church live here in the Holy City.

And second is the presence of the Aurora Academy.

Before becoming an Apprentice Paladin, Arte was first and foremost a student of the Aurora Academy, which, in fact, he still is, as when he got enrolled in the Paladin Order, he took a pause from being a student.

The second factor is the presence of Aurora Academy. With the presence of young nobles from each corner of the human continent applying to the Academia and the presence of the nobles who are active members of the church stationed at this place, the city has every reason to be this successful.

Naturally, the presence of so many nobles in one single city drew a large number of commoners working in fields such as smithing, clothing, and jewelry to move into the holy city.

Though the noble population was said to be impressive in the holy city, it was, just like most cities on the continent, still a small minority in comparison to the commoner population; nobles accounted for only ten percent, if not less, of the holy city's total population.

The Holy City was surrounded by a large circular wall, for which there were only four main entrances, one at each cardinal point. Upon entering the city, one would find himself given two distinct choices: the first was to head down to the lower district, and the second was to take the bridge to the noble district in the middle.

To go to the noble district, one would have to take the long bridge, which was the one that Arte and the others were crossing. The aforementioned bridge provided a looming view of the lower district that the bridge crossed above.

Just like most noble districts tend to be, standing at a higher altitude compared to the common district, here in the holy city, the noble district was distinctly separated from its common counterparts by an inner wall. As such, to reach either district, one had to take one of the four bridges. And as for Arte and his carriage, today their destination was the noble district, where their homes were.

***

The carriage that had brought Arte had come to a halt in front of the large mansion's entrance doorway, which was surrounded by metallic fences.

Home… Arte's home.

"It’s been a long time since I've seen this place," Arte sighed at the sight of it.

"On this… Attendant, Goodbye."

"Good bye."

"Yeah, good bye, Arte."

"Good bye, guys. See you all at the Academia."

After the former roommates had bid each other farewell, their carriage departed for their quartier.

Arte was left on his own with his little pile of baggage.

Though his personal belongings could fit in one small suitcase, Arte still had to, as his monster has explained, register the existence of this monster with the local clerical church. As such, he was stuck carrying the monster's beheaded head, parading around with a big rectangular box.

Using magic, Arte levitated the box and walked past through the entrance doorway to ring the house's bell at the mansion entrance.

Before Arte could ring for a second time, the door opened, revealing a woman's figure.

"Good morning, Martha."

"Ah~maa~ Good morning, Lord Arte. Was it today? You should have notified us, I would've prepared a decent homecoming for Lord Arte."

"Sorry," apologized Arte for having kept a secret about when exactly he would return. "I just arrived. Besides, I didn’t want to bother you all with that."

The lady's name was Martha, and she was both a landlord and a governess for this place.

"What are you talking about... it obviously wouldn't have bothered anyone."

Noticing Arte's wandering glance, Martha said, "Lord Uriel went out early this morning, I think he is in academia right now."

Arte's little brother’s name was Uriel. He was just two years younger than Arte, which meant that if it weren’t for me being engaged with my Paladin service, he should have celebrated his brother's fifteenth birthday two months ago.

"How is he doing at the Academia?"

Though Arte wasn't there to witness it, since he had reached fifteen, it was also natural for Uriel to become a scholar of the Aurora academy.

"I believe he's doing fantastically well," Martha declared proudly.

"Well, that doesn't even surprise me..." mumbled Arte. As he always believed that his little brother was far more talented and smarter than he was, it went without a doubt that he would have no difficulty with school.

"Oya, if it isn’t Arte?" A young man exclaimed from the staircase behind Martha.

Walking down the stairs, wearing a grey artist's smock with paint stains all over him, was a young man of around seventeen, the same age as Arte.

Behind him was a woman dressed in a long, frilly red dress.

"Arte!!" The boy dashed up to Arte and hugged him."I missed you. Why did you leave so abruptly? Didn't you consider how I would feel? Do you have any idea how devastated I was?"

"Nn… sorry for that, Xavier," Arte apologized, while trying to get free of the boy's embrace.

This young man's name was Xavier Dubosc, a fellow noble with whom Arte and his little brother shared the mansion.

"And... what have you done with your hair?" Xavier lamented. "I almost didn’t recognize you."

"Ah, this. I cut them." Arte simply explained.

He did it right after joining the Paladin Order. As such, the last time Arte was seen by Xavier, he still had long, deep blue hair. Though the excuse he gave at the time was that long hair was impractical, the real reason he did it, as Arte realized looking back, was quite stupid.

He did it to appear more manly. Arte was born with an androgynous physique, or more accurately, a straight up very feminine appearance. With his very slender body, blue jewel eyes, and hairless face, coupled with his long hair, which Arte and his brother inherited from their mother, Arte, back then at his lowest after his first heartbreak, felt as though he looked like your average pretty princess.

At the time, Arte thought that cutting his long hair short would help him gain manliness, but as time passed, he, by himself, came to realize how stupid his decision was, as in truth, his appearance had nothing to do with his heartbreak.

It has been some time since Arte allowed his hair to grow back to the point of reaching a decently long length, but it was still far from the length it used to be.

"Why would you do that ?!"

"They bothered me." Arte lied.

Noticing the girl approaching from behind, Arte was about to make his formal introduction when I was interrupted by Xavier, "Needless for that. She’s not a noble."

The girl approached me and respectfully bowed her head.

With a head motion, Arte simply greeted her.

Then, once again, coming from the stairs, Arte heard the footsteps approaching, then saw a figure emerge.

If Arte saw himself as very androgynous, on the verge of being a straight-up feminine person, he would describe this person as being similar but different.

"Arte, by the Seven, you're back!"

Down the stairs appeared a girl, with blue and short hair, but she, as a girl, in retrospect of Arte's appearance, was leaning on the boyish side.

She, like Xavier, dashed at Arte, pushing Xavier and the girl aside and not bothering to give him a hug.

"Welcome back."

"Thanks, Ana."

Analise Breslauer was the girl's name. She was, aside from Arte, his brother, and Xavier, the fourth resident of the mansion.

"Oh, what do I feel here? Oh, my God, my little Arte gained some muscle; you’ve changed so much," she half-lamented and half-rejoiced.

"I see, I’m not the only one," Arte remarked, eyeing her outfit.

She was wearing a long-sleeved, untucked blue shirt that she rolled to the elbows, and blue pants. From here, nothing was different from usual; the difference was on her face, where she was wearing a thin, almost unnoticeable transparent lipstick and a lovely yet modest earring.

"As expected of Arte, you noticed..." She said, jumping around like a child.

"Where are you going, dressed as you are?" Xavier asked.

"Oh, you're curious, aren't you?"She said teasingly, "… I have a date."

"With whom!?" both Arte and Xavier exclaimed, as the revelation truly struck Arte like lightning.

"It’s a secret," she said with a big smile.

"Could it be that?" Xavier started, only to be interrupted by Ana taking her finger to his mouth.

"Not a word." She ordered Xavier.

"All right," Xavier said, nodding.

Arte couldn't help but wonder who that person was, but from this brief interaction, Arte deduced that Xavier knew who the chosen one was, but Ana didn't seem to want his identity to be revealed, so he didn't insist on knowing. As long as she was happy with it, Arte was fine with it.

"Lord Xavier, Lady Analise … Lord Arte must be exhausted after his long journey; I think it would be best if he were given the time to take some rest," Martha suggested.

Though commentlessly, they agreed to Martha's suggestion, allowing Arte to stroll toward his room.

But just as he took the stairs, Arte suddenly turned back to ask Xavier and Ana, who were both about to leave the mansion, one to their date and the other to accompany the young girl in red outside, "Wait, Xavier, Ana, I have something to ask you."

"What is it?" they both asked.

"I heard that you two often visit the lower district, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, not so often, but yes. What of it?"

"Do you happen to know any establishment with a white flower emblem in the lower district?"

The moment Arte spoke these words, they both looked at him like he had said something he shouldn’t have. Glancing at them, even Martha and the girl in red displayed similar reactions.

"I think it's an establishment called "La Ros-"

"Arte, do you really not know that place, or are you messing up with us?" Xavier interrupted

"I don't know, what--"

"What do you want to do with that establishment?" Ana cautiously asked.

"I have something to do there, why—"

"Ah," Ana dramatically lamented.

"What is it?"

"I got you, Arte, my brother from a different mother and father...It must have been hard, all this time in this remote fortress. Come with me; let’s get you changed for the Rose Blanche." Xavier proposed, pushing Arte into his room.

"Hein?"

"Xavier, what do you plan to do with him?!"

"Ana! Didn't you have a date for yourself? Arte him,… He’s been four months in the Paladin Order, don’t you think he deserves it?" In a passionate voice, Xavier asserted.

"I guess it can't be helped then," she says, hesitantly at first. "I will miss you, Arte," she said, wiping tears from her eyes.

"What are you two talking about?"

"Let’s hurry, we’ll get you ready for that trip."

"What… right now?!"

"Yes!"