It was another hot blazing day. The daily drill was dreadful as always, the 37th platoon was running aimlessly in laps, with sweat dripping like they just took a bath.

Same goes for private Owen, who always has a penalty of running extra laps than the other privates.

What made today different was that the private Jake was not here with them, as he was ordered by lieutenant Carl to attend some briefing for him.

Lieutenant Carl was accompanying the platoon in the morning. And he's gone after the training started.

Seems like no one noticed lieutenant Carl's absence, no one except Xiao.

Xiao knows where lieutenant Carl was at, either the women platoon training ground or his bed, sleeping like a log from his hangover.

Xiao overheard someone from his platoon say that Lieutenant Carl usually hangs out with his friends till late night at some shady tavern, drinking ale and messing around with the hostess.

But that is none of Xiao's business, for he is a free man now, temporary, for now.

(Woohoo! Time to slip away from the training!)

Xiao quietly slips out from the training ground as soon as he notices Lieutenant Carl was gone.

Xiao knew that lieutenant Carl wouldn't be back until the end of the daily drill, which means no one's going to monitor the training throughout the end of the day.

Xiao tried to call Owen to join him. Still, Owen declined, saying that he needs more training to be stronger, for the sake of his goal, which is to become the strongest swordsmen in the Julian Empire.

(Don't know if he is a diligent hard worker working towards his dream or purely an idiot.)

Xiao was now casually strolling in some fancy garden, thinking about Owen's tendency on becoming the strongest swordsmen in the Julian Empire.

Xiao never did ask Owen about the reason for his goal as Owen never told him. Xiao was a guy who would not force people to talk about something they did not wish to speak unless the person was willing to say something to him.

(Enough with Owen, where should I go next? Maybe I should just lay down somewhere and catch a nap.)

This was not the first time Xiao slipped out from training. Even though he did it around 10 times, he had already explored all the places around his training ground.

Xiao also learned how to hide from the soldiers patrolling the area after a few trial and error.

Though the castle was huge, there were places Xiao couldn't get through because of the guard station at those places, which is the west end of the court. It was the entrance of the military ground, which is also the exit. That place is heavily patrolled by guards to prevent anyone from escaping. All soldiers under private rank are restricted to travel out from the military ground unless it was under an order.

(So where should I go? The weapon storage room? That's a perfect place to take a nap since there won't be people around there, I did remember there are a few cushions inside there.)

Xiao had already made up his mind and was on the way to the weapon storage room until something caught his attention.

"Hmm? What's that?" Xiao saw something at the far end from where he was.

There was a forest not far from where Xiao was, and behind the forest stood a tall tower. The tower was built with bricks. Its gray color gave out a lonely feeling.

(That's strange, why didn't I notice this tower before? It looks somewhat mysterious to me, let's take a closer look, I will head back if it is a restricted area.)

Seeing as there was nothing else to do, and Xiao's curiosity gets the better of him, he walks towards the forest. He enters it and heads towards the direction of the tall tower.

The forest may seem packed with trees and tall grasses, but there was a visible path for people to walk on it, it was as if people were going in and out the forest using this path.

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Xiao heard chirping sounds from birds and the galloping sound of deers. Surprisingly, it was quite a long walk. The tower appears to be reachable with only a few minutes of walking. However, Xiao still can't see the bottom of it after walking for so long.

Thanks to Xiao's daily training, at least the pointless running has now served its purpose, for Xiao hasn't broken a sweat from the prolonged walking.

(Looking at how this tower was built so far away from the other building, I would say that the tower must be hiding something, could it be a dungeon? or a high-level prison?)

And after the long walk, Xiao finally exits the forest.

The next scene that entered Xiao's eye was something that Xiao never expected to be.

There was a small garden that appeared to be maintained in good condition, a small fountain, few chairs and tables with luxury design and other expensive looking stuff.

"What...what the hell is this place?"

Xiao was shocked, and he never expected that he would find something like this, it was the scenery of any children's storybook.

"Could it be...some royal member lives here? a princess, maybe?" Xiao murmured to himself as he started to look around the place while wholly forgetting the fact that someone at here might be alerted by his presence.

And it didn't take long before Xiao's carelessness got him caught by someone else.

"Umm...Hello...Xiao."

A person had called on Xiao while Xiao was looking at the design of a wooden chair.

(Shit! I've been caught. I should be more careful and aware of my surroundings. And they even know my name, guess I'll get dragged back to the training ground and receive punishment. Not like it did not happen to me on my third time of slipping out of the training.)

Thinking about the punishment Xiao will receive, he lets out a sigh as he slowly turns around and faces the one who called him. Still, as he was turning, he noticed something about the voice of that person.

(But wait, this voice, don't tell me...)

Xiao recognizes this voice. This is the sweet and soft voice that used to bring comfort to him ever since he first arrived in this world.

"Lily?!"

Shocked by the appearance of long silky scarlet red hair, blue sapphire eyes and a model-like figure girl standing in front of Xiao. It was Lily, the red hair merchant who helped Xiao and became his first friend in this world.

Though Lily was wearing the same clothes as the first Xiao to meet him, her hoody was off this time, showing her face clearly.

"Wh....what are you doing here?!" Xiao expresses shock as he asks Lily.

"Well...I was...business, yes, I have some business here," Lily answered, showing hesitation while answering.

"What were you doing here?" Lily asked Xiao back.

"Oh! I was...you know, run...I mean, taking a stroll. Yes, I'm taking a stroll," Xiao replied, also showing hesitation as he answered because he was lying about slipping out from his daily drill.

"Ahem, so business, eh? how's the business so far?" Xiao quickly changes the topic. He tried to ask something that can continue the conversation.

"It was....good? Hahaha..." and again, Lily gave out a confusing answer, her eyes looking left and right as she answered.

And then, silence. Things have become awkward for both of them as they were shuttering their words when they spoke.

"Hahahaha!" Xiao laughs out loud suddenly, which catches Lily off guard.

"Xiao?" Lily called out to Xiao curiously, wondering why he laughed all the sudden.

"We REALLY need to chill. I guess we miss each other so much that we're speechless when we get to meet again, that explains our awkwardness," Xiao explained.

"Hehe! You're right. I never knew I would get to see you again, and so sorry I startled you earlier, it's just... I am so excited to see you again!" Lily smiled bashfully as she answered, looking straight into Xiao's eye.

"Nah, it's fine," Xiao looked away almost instantly while answering.

(Damn she's cute!)

Looking at how Lily was confused upon Xiao's reaction, he quickly put up a smile and says:

"Anyway, let's do this right this time."

Xiao clears his throat before continuing his next statement.

"Nice to meet you again, Lily," said Xiao politely.

"Me too, I'm so glad to see you again, it was like a miracle happening now," Lily said happily, her expression sparkling with joy.

"Miracle? Hahaha! Now you are exaggerating..." Xiao was laughing lightly at Lily's answer, but before he finished his sentences, he got cut off.

"It's true! I'm delighted we can talk to each other again!" Lily immediately cuts off Xiao's words with her hype reply as she leans forward to Xiao.

Lily didn't realize this, but she was already holding Xiao's hand tightly while replying to him, smiling beautifully as if she was the luckiest person in the world.

Lily's innocent smile touches Xiao's heart as he feels her straight-forward and genuine feeling through her smile.

Maybe it has been too long since Xiao experienced something so genuine and beautiful. His eyes tear up without warning. Xiao quickly rubs it off with his hand.

With Lily's honest replied, for the first time after so long, Xiao smile genuinely from the bottom of his heart and answer:

"Yeah, me too!"