Owari rushed the rabbit this time and swung his sword as it prepared to recover. It barely created a barrier in time, hoping to use the split second of delay to jump away. However it miscalculated, Owari’s blade sliced through the barrier like it was butter and cut the rabbit's head clean off. His mana blade was higher in quality than any man-made blade could ever be. It was a sublimation of his understanding of both the metal affinity and swords in general. There was no way an average blade like his previous one could compare.

After taking out the rabbit Owari didn’t cancel his spirit art right away and instead inspected it. As the phantom mana and metal mana mixed something interesting happened to his sword. Normally it was a guardless katana, however at the moment a grey point like that of a star formed that was made of phantom mana. As it did the phantom mana surrounding his sword grew in power. It was like the sword was amplifying the power of his phantom mana.

He decided to name this spirit art as spirit blade. Because it was simple and it would be hard to make fun of it. He swung the blade around a bit and considered a few things. He wondered what was allowing it to enhance his phantom mana. Was it isolated to just the phantom cloak? Was it all phantom affinity techniques? Was it only phantom affinity techniques? He had lots of questions and no answers for now. He canceled the technique and went back to get Draco to go home.

When he got home he showed the rabbit to Noel. “Looks like we have dinner.” Was her immediate response.

“There isn’t a lot of fur so it won’t sell well. Might as well send it to my mother to make herself something out of it. Maybe she can make herself a coat.” Owari shrugged.

“You hunted it. No need to tell me.” Noel grabbed the meat and immediately set a stew to boil. It would take a little while for it to be ready.

“I figured you’d say that. But I wanted to let you know that I’m basically spending a bunch of our money to send my mother a gift.” He smiled.

“That’s fair. But I don’t mind as long as we have the money to survive.” She replied unbothered.

“This is one of the reasons I love you. You think a lot like me.” He leaned down and kissed her.

“Flattery will get you everywhere.” She kissed him back. “Now go find something to do, I’ll be busy preparing the stew.”

Owari did as he was told and laid down on the couch to think. He had been very active lately and rarely rested these days. He didn’t like just sitting around, but sometimes it was nice to relax. Soon enough Noel finished the preparations and came to sit down. When she saw Owari lying across the couch lazily she shrugged and laid down on top of him. He didn’t fight with her and just enjoyed his time with her. She wasn’t heavy or anything.

“So how has hunting been? Find any beasts for me?” She asked casually.

“The next mid platinum is yours. I’ll track it back to it’s home and bring you out.” Owari promised.

“Alright. I’m getting bored around here without you. Especially at night.” She smiled ‘innocently’ at him. She was getting much better at that as time went by.

“Okay, I’ll come back more for you.” Owari had found he was rather weak to this coy side of hers.

“Hehe. I knew it. You’re interested in the naive type.” Noel chuckled.

“I did fall in love with you back when we were both naive kids after all.” He laughed.

“You call us kids, but we were adults you know.” Noel denied him.

“Anyone younger than me is a kid. Including myself.” Owari argued back.

“I’ll pretend that makes sense.” Noel didn’t bother arguing, she agreed with him after all.

The two of them continued this for a while before going to eat. After that Owari went into town quickly and sent the package to his mother with a note before returning home and sleeping for the night. After that not much different happened until appreciation day started to come around. Noel and Owari packed up and made their way to his mother’s place. It was already decided they would take turns going back and forth for the holiday.

They took a train there, going on a slow one for the sake of reminiscing. After all it was the reverse of the trip they met on. When they got into town it was pretty early so they made their way over to his mother’s house. When they knocked on the door the one who answered was not Owari’s mother. Standing in the doorway to nobody's surprise, was Milly. When she saw who it was she couldn’t help but stare blankly.

“May we come in.” Noel asked politely.

“Oh, yes. I’m sorry.” Milly apologized and let them through.

The two of them, plus the maid who decided to come with them this time, went inside the house. When they saw Owari’s mother at the table both Owari and Noel smiled. “Hey there mom.” Owari said casually.

“Well if it isn’t my son and his wife. And who is that behind you? She seems familiar.” His mother looked at Morgana curiously.

“You haven’t formally met. This is Morgana, our maid.” Noel stepped aside t present her.

“Ah, she was one of the people working at your wedding. It was a lovely event.” She praised.

“That had a lot to do with Morgana. She is a very strict leader, she made sure to teach those Luna household servants a thing or two.” Noel smiled proudly.

“I simply do what is expected of me.” She said humbly.

“I’ve never seen a real maid. Well I suppose I have, but I never met one. What’s it like being a maid?” She asked curiously.

“It’s rather easy, the young sir and young miss are very capable and do a lot of things personally leaving me to merely watch over them and ensure nothing goes wrong.” Morgana smiled as she thought about this.

“She is very reassuring to have around.” Noel threw in.

“And she helps feed our beasts.” Owari also threw in.

‘So how long will you be here?” Owari’s mother asked.

“A few days. Definitely until after appreciation day.” Owari answered.

“That’s good. Do you have your presents picked out? I know I do.” His mother smiled calmly. She had clearly prepared.

“We do.” Noel answered for them.

“That’s good. So how has married life been?” She asked curiously.

“Same as before.” Owari answered.

“No changes?” She asked with disappointment.

“Well there is one.” Noel suddenly had a sparkle in her eye.

“There is?” His mother looked at her with interest.

“I think this is where I leave you.” Owari turned and fled out the door.

“How boring.” Noel looked at him leaving with a smile.

Owari escaped out the door and made his way towards the blacksmith. As he arrived he knocked on the door, and a call to come in came out. When he entered he found his old teacher Francis standing there wiping his hands with a cloth. When he saw Owari he chuckled.

“Nice to see you again. It’s been a while.” He smiled widely.

“You seem to be in a good mood.” Owari noted. Francis was usually more emotionally muted.

“Of course! My wife is pregnant again. Just found out a few days ago.” He seemed to enjoy the thought of a second child. His first one was a little girl and he hoped to have a boy to pass his trade onto. His daughter already passed it up and learned all kinds of skills to be a housewife. It was apparently her dream to be like her mother.

“Good to hear. I got married.” Owari said offhandedly.

“I know, everyone in town does. Your mother has been bragging this whole time. Every time someone goes to get something fixed she stops them as long as she can to tell them all about it.” Francis smiled forcefully. He himself had been a victim of this a few times. In his line of work ripped clothes are a dime a dozen.

“That’s not surprising. So how has work been?” Owari asked curiously.

“Good. Lotta people need things fixed. All of them seem to come to me even if it isn’t metal.” He laughed heartily, he was more like a handyman than a blacksmith.

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“That’s good. I have something to show you. It’ll probably piss you off.” Owari smiled.

“What’s that?” Francis couldn’t help but be curious. It was hard to make him mad after all.

Owari held out his hand and summoned his spirit blade and surrounded it with phantom mana. “Now watch this.” He pulled out his average sword and casually touched the two together. The average sword was split like butter, a perfectly even cut.

“How did you do that?” Francis stared at Owari’s spirit blade with shock.

“It’s a special mystic art of sorts. It lets me create this blade based on my understanding of metal and swords.” He kindly explained.

“Doesn’t that make smiths pointless for you?” Francis stared at the sword like he would kill it if it was alive.

“See? I told you it would make you mad. Luckily for your smithing pals it isn’t exactly easy or free to use this ability. I still need normal swords.” Owari reassured him.

“Good. Whatever happened to that sword I made for you way back when? Did it bite the dust like that one?” He asked curiously.

“Nah, I have it hanging in my room at home. It’s an important piece to me. It helped me to learn when I was weak and had no choice but to rely on the material to make up for my own lack of skill. Plus you made it out of one of the few things my father left behind.” Owari explained.

“That’s good to hear. It was my best work and I’d hate if it had been split in half or shattered to pieces. Though I’m a bit torn about how it is nothing more than a decoration now.” He still smiled when he said this so it was clear which side of that augment he favored.

The two caught up for a bit longer before Owari went home as the sunset. Owari entered the house calmly to see everyone at the table, including Morgana and Milly. They were all sitting casually and all of them seemed to be talking to one another. When Owari came in they all stopped talking and looked over at him curiously. Owari squinted his eyes, he felt there was some deeper meaning to those stares but he ignored them.

“I’m home.” He said to dispel the silence.

“Welcome home.” Both his mother and Noel said at the same time. When they did they looked at one another and smiled. It was a greeting they were both familiar with.

“Thanks. So what’s for dinner?” Owari didn’t have anywhere to sit so he stood behind Noel’s chair while leaning over the back.

“If you need a seat young sir you may take mine.” Morgana prepared to stand.

“No need.” He waved for her to sit down. Noel stood up for a moment and Owari casually slipped under her before she sat down on his lap.

“You two sure are in sync.” His mother noted.

“We’re just used to reading one another. Having lived and fought alongside for so long it has become natural.” Noel replied.

“Plus this is how we usually sit at home so there’s that.” Owari added in.

“You two seem very close.” Milly spoke up, seemingly more confident than earlier where she was basically like air.

“Inseparable.” Noel turned and wrapped her arms around Owari’s neck.

“I see that.” Milly’s eyes widened for a moment. She hadn’t expected such a blatant display of affection in front of others. It had to be said that she was quite shy and with how Lucas had been she had no experience in public displays of affection. He never wanted to come off as unavailable after all.

Owari leaned down and gave Noel a peck on the lips. “She and I are used to the stares of others. When you call attention to yourself like we do then this is nothing. We even kiss out in public. If you don’t want to see then don’t look, is how we feel.” He explained.

“I can see that.” Owari’s mother smiled as she saw this.

Soon after the conversation devolved into Noel and Owari being bombarded with questions about their relationship until Milly went home. When the time came for bed Noel and Owari naturally went into Owari’s old room together. Morgana was given a place on the couch which was surprisingly comfortable. Owari’s mother had upholstered it herself with her best materials.

The next few days came and went quickly. There was a lot of reminiscing and talking about the future. That was when an interesting topic came up. “When do you two plan to have kids?” His mother asked with amusement. As any mother should be she was eager for grandchildren.

“When?” Noel and Owari looked at one another seriously. They never considered it before.

“Personally I’m willing to just let whatever happens happen.” Owari shrugged.

“Same here. No need to rush or delay.” Noel smiled calmly.

“Then does that mean…” His mother seemed to grow silent as she considered the meaning of their words. That would mean the two of them had never bothered to use avoidance measures.

“Anyway.” Owari interrupted her thoughts. “There’s no reason to talk about it until it happens.”

“Indeed.” Noel finished putting a close to this line of questioning.

“Speaking of the future.” Owari suddenly said. “Have you still not heard anything about the Osiris family?” He asked Noel.

“Why bring that up now?” She was surprised. It was rare for Owari to bring them up let alone while here visiting his mother.

“It feels like things are coming to a head. The Osiris family are squeezed thin and a bunch of them have been arrested by this point. They still don’t know I’m behind it, but it feels like something is going to happen.” Owari felt a bit on edge about the whole thing. He had for the past few weeks in fact.

“Why’s that?” She asked curiously.

“I’ve been keeping an eye on their situation and they’ve stopped fighting back. Like a calm before the storm they’re gathering up their strength for a big push.” Owari looked over at his mom. “Would you be willing to come vacation at our place for a little while while some stuff is dealt with?”

“Not in a million years.” She said fearlessly. “I was never one to back down.”

“I knew it.” Owari sighed. “Just be careful.”

“I will.” She reassured him.

With that they went back to more normal conversation. Soon enough the holiday came and everyone was in the living room preparing to give their gifts. Owari’s mother decided to go first. She reached to the side of her chair and grabbed a bag. She reached her hand inside and after a moment pulled out a fur coat which was folded neatly. Then she handed it over to Noel.

“I made this from that fur you guys sent me a while back. It seemed a bit too high quality for my taste and I hear you dislike the cold. So I thought it would fit you more.” She explained.

“It’s lovely.” Noel smiled and happily took it over and inspected it.

“Now for Owari.” She was happy to see Noel liked it. She reached into the bag once again and pulled out a pair of boots and placed them on the table in front of Owari. “And for you I made some boots. Because you need to stop wearing sneakers out in the cold weather.” She scolded him as mothers do.

“No promises. I like my sneakers. But I’ll try if I remember.” He still took the boots gratefully. If only because he appreciated her care.

“I’ll remind him.” Noel said with confidence. Though Owari knew she’d probably forget too.

“That’s reassuring.” Though his mother wasn’t aware of that.

“I’ll go next.” Noel decided. She grabbed a long box out from behind the couch and handed it to Owari’s mother. When she opened it she pulled out a few different textiles including silk, cotton, and linen. All of them were fairly high. “For personal use of course.”

“I’ll make a few good outfits from this, and some new bedsheets.” She looked at the material switch interest.

“Next is you.” Noel looked over at Owari. She reached into her travel bag and pulled out a pair of books. She handed him one first, based on the title she was clearly messing with him.

“How to raise a baby? I already have that one.” Owari smiled as he grabbed the book.

“Why?” Noel was shocked.

“I like to be prepared.” He shrugged.

“Fine. Take the real gift.” She handed over the other book.

“A compendium of rare beasts? It seems there are a few niche ones in here. How interesting.” He chuckled. It was really a good gift.

“Next is you.” Noel said.

Owari reached behind the couch and pulled out a box similar to the one Noel had and handed it over to his mother. “This is for you.”

She opened the box and gasped. Within it were sheets of colored silk ranging all colors of the rainbow. The colors were so perfectly dyed in that it looked as if they were naturally made that way. “I can certainly make something good out of these.” Her eyes sparkled as she looked at all her new materials to work with.

Owari reached into his travel bag exactly like Noel had, but he only pulled out one book and handed it over. “I wrote it myself.” He added.

Noel read a little ways in and her eyes shined. “A novel just for me? How sweet.”

“I had some free time.” He shrugged with a smile.

“You had free time? As if.” She scoffed. He spent all his time doing something. If he had written this then obviously he had purposefully taken time out of his normal routine to do so.

After that they made some small talk and soon it was time for dinner. Noel and Owari’s mother worked together, refusing to let Owari help due to his terrible cooking. The meal was delicious and they all enjoyed it quite thoroughly. After the day was over Noel and Owari spent a few more days in town. They did some looking around and checked up on some of the local shops which were all relatively boring. However it was still interesting because it was fresh. For Owari it was a reminder of his younger days which was an interesting experience.

Soon enough they were back home and preparing for the genius party. This time it would be held in Phoenix city where Kent lived. It was going to be held by the Aquila family. This would also be their last time participating. They would likely shock everyone with their ranks. It was going to be quite fun.

Owari went to the bank before leaving and picked up his yearly salary. Then he and Noel talked with some contractors and had them start building a secondary house near theirs for Morgana to live at. This would give her and them more privacy. Other than that they also contracted out another even smaller building. They wanted to hire someone to take care of their tamed beasts. They put out a request to the Orion Tradecenter to help them in this regard. They happily agreed. They still needed another loan to pay for the two buildings. But it only cost a little less than the original home due to their smaller size. It would be done in about two months.

Time passed by quickly and soon Owari and Noel found themselves in Phoenix city. The first thing they did when they got there was head over to the Aquila estate to go meet Kent. They easily got through the front gate and got Kent’s address and made their way over. When they arrived they knocked on the door. The one who answered wasn’t Kent.

A small young looking blonde girl stood at the door. She blinked her big round eyes at the two of them and spoke slowly but confidently. “It’s been a while. Are you looking for Kent?”

“That sounds about right. Your name is Maribelle right?” Owari had already met her but it had been a long time.

Her eyes widened a bit. “You remembered! We didn’t even meet one another for very long. I wanted to thank you back then but didn’t have time. If it weren’t for your training I would have never met Kent.” She smiled widely.

“That’s not fully the case. If not for his own efforts it wouldn’t matter no matter what we did for him.” Noel didn’t want to take away from Kent’s achievement in front of his own fiancee.

“Oh, how kind of you to say.” Of course Maribelle could see through that. She didn’t seem to be as naive as she looked.

“It is true though, he has some talent.” Owari was being quite sincere when he said that.

“I’m glad he has such kind teachers. I don’t know what he was talking about when he called you cruel.” She said with some confusion.

“No, we are quite merciless. If he were here listening we would never say something like that.” Noel denied her.

“Oh.” Maribelle was stunned.

“So are you two already living together?” Noel asked curiously. She was in Kent’s house after all and it was fairly early.

“In separate rooms yes.” She nodded.

“Interesting. How has that been?” Owari asked curiously.

Maribelle blushed a little. “Well he is far kinder than I expected. And he is good around the house. I feel a little useless honestly.”

“I can help with that while we’re visiting.” Noel spoke up. “Owari is very neatly kempt so he never makes a mess, but I still do all the cooking around the house. Morgana here can help teach with house chores. Go easy on her Morgana.” It wasn’t until Noel mentioned the maid that Maribelle noticed.

“A maid?” She was surprised. There were still maidservants around these days, but something about Morgana seemed different. She seemed more professional.

“Yes, she’s our personal maid. She can teach you how to tidy up quite well.” Owari answered.

“I’ll happily teach her if that is your wish.” Morgana of course accepted this responsibility seriously.

“That’s great! I hope I’m able to learn well. How long will you be staying here?” Maribelle seemed excited at the prospect.

“We’re not sure yet, it depends on what happens at the party I guess.” Owari replied.

“Um, hello.” Kent’s voice came from further back in the house. He had just rounded a corner and saw everyone talking.

“Hello there. You have a lovely fiancee.” Noel said with a wide smile.

“Thank you?” Kent wasn’t sure exactly what to say to that.

“Of course.” Noel confirmed.

“So how have you been?” Owari asked curiously. They did write, but that was different from asking in person.

“Pretty good. I’ve gotten used to my new life at least.” He shrugged. He seemed a bit more mature and calm now.

“You’ve certainly grown.” Owari replied. He meant it both figuratively and literally. Kent had gotten about half a foot taller.

“It’s weird to hear that from someone only a year older than me.” Kent wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

“Well we are your teachers.” Noel reminded him.

“There’s no arguing with that. So did you stop by just to say hello, or is there something you’d like to talk about?” He asked.

“Nothing in particular. How about we all have a little chat? It would be good to catch up.” Owari suggested.

“Sure, come on in.” Kent waved them in. Soon enough they all entered the home and prepared to have a nice chat.