He exited the Inn, replacing the vibrant and lively atmosphere with a quiet and oddly tranquil one.

The night was beautiful, with the stars gleaming up above, flashing a dazzling sight that seemed to take ones worries away for some reason, almost making him lose his purpose for coming out simply because of being captivated.

"It's been a while since I've seen it under a peaceful night. I'm usually being chased by monsters or angry people. *sigh* What I'd give to make this last," his face looked up longingly, sighing as he remembered a piece of his past, one that he was fond of, and one that he etched into his mind forever.

He continued walking, looking around him as he was unable to fully view the city they took refuge in, rushing to find a place to rest.

The pavements were empty, save for benches here and there, other establishments that were closed, lit up street lamps.

The houses were built rather tall and clumped together with the other houses, some of which still had light coming from out of it.

He came to a part of the city that looked like the heart of it, the square, where stands and other businesses would usually be present, selling their wares and other things.

In the middle was a fountain where a statue of a man holding a scale with one hand, and a book with the other, stood in the middle, looking over the city as it faced his direction.

However, what truly caught his attention was the person wearing a white tunic, sitting by the fountain alone, looking at the sky as well from the looks of it.

He made sure, slowly walking towards her, making her image more and more apparent to Laruse, who started to recognize the person.

As he got closer, she noticed his presence as well, surprising her as she slightly backed away, but realizing that he was someone that she knew, or was acquainted with in a way.

"The night was simply splendid, and I could not seem to hold myself back from enjoying it. Are you here for the same reason?" she spoke softly whilst continuing to look at the sky.

"I came to find you, but eventually, it seems that I nearly ended up like you. I'll agree, it's something else, isn't it?" he replied to her, producing a sincere smile which the girl saw.

"It seems that you do smile after all."

"What does that mean? Of course I do."

"Oh, no, what I mean was, when I first saw you. You were angry about something, and I somehow felt your feelings. I can't explain it clearly, but I thought that you'd be a rather ruthless person as well, but less compared to... him," she looked down, unable to find it in herself to say the name of the man that nearly violated and took her life.

"I'm not that bad of a person. I mean, I can laugh if that's what you're asking. Just not in those kinds of situations. It's just natural that I'd be mad because of what he did. I'm just disappointed because of one thing..." he became downcast, the irritated, scratching the back of his head as to try and forget something.

"And that is?"

"That I wasn't strong enough to defeat him by myself. Just goes to show that I've neglected what I was... Forget what I was saying. It's mindless rambling."

"Is that so? Well, then, I shall refrain from asking. How about you take a seat," she patted the spot beside her.

He reluctantly accepted, sitting beside her as he twiddled his thumbs.

"By the way, I never got the chance to thank you. I waited for you to awaken, but I thought that it might have not been the best time while we were running away from monsters. So, I'd like to thank you for saving me. I heard all about it from Julia. You were like a hero when you walked in," she smiled at him beatifically.

"A hero, huh? That's the first time I've been called one. Don't think the continent needs another hero right now. And don't worry about the saving part. I would've done it if I knew what was happening myself. Guess I just needed more motivation to push me, though. More importantly, are you alright now? I didn't see any scars on your body that time, but I wanted to make sure... huh?" realizing what he said, his mind traveled back in time to when he beheld her body in all its splendor, unable to forget in the heat of the moment.

Suddenly, she avoided eye contact with him, facing the other direction as she began turning red, also realizing that he had seen her bare skin, pure and without flaw.

"Oh, uh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring back those kinds of memories."

"It's fine. It couldn't be avoided."

"... What's your name anyway?"

Her mind traveled elsewhere, immediately forgetting her embarrassment, and changing to a minor conflict happening within her mind.

Unable to find it in her heart to lie to her savior, she decided to give him her true name, which Julia had told her to keep secret from anyone as she deemed it unsafe for anyone to know.

"My name is Beatrice Farron. If I'm not mistaken, you are Laruse, right?"

"That's what I've been given, so yes. Nice to meet you, Beatrice... It's getting pretty late, isn't it? Why don't we head back? Your sister might already be worried about you." he wondered why their last names were different, but he decided not to pry into matters that seemed too sensitive to touch, so he refrained and simply spared her the awkward conversation.

"Yes, that seems to be the case. But, how about we enjoy the sight of the night sky for a bit longer?" she asked as Laruse stood up, agreeing with her as he thought about his future.

They continued looking up, then returning as the clouds came by to block the view, signaling that it is time to leave.

He stood up and extended his hand towards her, where she took his.

"How many casualties?!" Spencer slammed both hands on the table, outraged as he is unable to believe the cost of lives that were lost in a single battle against the city of Zeal.

The people present in the court shuddered in fear as they saw their leader's anger firsthand.

"A-at least three hundred or more, my lord," one of the officials responded cautiously.

"I can't believe this... Three hundred, felled by a city that had less? Where did I go wrong?" he questioned himself, pointing the source of his anger to no one but himself for sending men to their doom.

"My lord, there was indeed a chance of this happening. After all, they have Marco of the legendary group of adventurers. It seems that he took command of the units, including some warriors that have made names for themselves, or rather, those we wished to recruit into our ranks. Apparently they are part of Marco's guild," the official spoke begrudgingly of the last part, torn that two of their objectives have been reduced to nothing.

Hendrick sat to Spencer's side, listening with a deadpan expression and demeanor, staying silent amidst the chaos ensuing.

General Vista of the first army was also present, overseeing the security of the capital as usual, but this time she felt affected by this as well, seeing as how different he has become now than compared to how he acted that night that they spoke with each other.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Just as the meeting was underway, a knock could be heard behind the doors, presenting a man who introduced himself as a messenger with something to give to one Spencer Olfrin.

General Vista, who had a rather bad feeling about its contents, took the letter and presented it to Spencer, who eyed the letter rather pessimistically.

Opening it, he read the letter word for word, not stopping until the end.

He closed his eye and neatly folded the message, placing it on the desk before him, passing it to the side, where it is picked up by Hendrick, who also read its contents, seemingly unsurprised by what he read, giving off a generic response.

"Oh my, what a tragedy."

"What does it say, Hendrick? Something good I hope."

"Quite the opposite. General Ruslan of the fourth army has been slain by an unknown assailant after successfully liberating Civil. It seems that we found the reason as to why the attack on Zeal was an utter failure," he inscrutably announced, appalling the court as they voiced their minds, murmuring to one another.

"What a disaster. One after another. I have heard of General Ruslan and his feats, so this strikes me a great deal. We have lost a valuable general," one of them said.

From a distance, General Vista jeered at the official's remark at Ruslan from under her breath, much more relieved than affected by his death.

"If only General Ruslan had been at Zeal, then we might have taken the city successfully."

Meanwhile, as the discussion of an alternate outcome continued, Spencer listened, closely to them, thinking silently in his mind as to how he might move forward from this. What would be his next step?

"Calm down, Spencer. You can work this out still. This is not the end, just the beginning," he whispered to himself, suppressing his anger and ultimately discarding it.

"Order! I desire order in this court!" all eyes were on him as the bantering ceased. Even if their minds still had thoughts on an alternate reality, they could not do anything other than to believe in their leader, who now had a look on his face that he would indeed bring peace and order.

"In response to these losses, I will be taking direct command of a unit and taking the cities to the west. I shall succeed in unifying this land! There is no other way to save the people and bring them salvation other than uniting everyone," his voice beckoned for the aide of many, yet it was backed by his strong resolve to continue with this arduous task.

One by one, the officials agreed to this, raising a toast to him as they pledged to giving their lord more soldiers to lead the attack, convinced that he will come through.

"I believe in you, my lord! There are still people out there who do not understand what we stand for. We shall show them that we are necessary, and that we are needed!"

Listening to this, Hendrick crossed his arms, still wearing his normal, intimidatingly normal face, thinking of something as he looked at Spencer, who got up when he was knocked down, refusing to back down from a setback that would usually demoralize a leader for a great deal.

"How resilient for a human. However, you still lack resolve. You have the will to go on, but how long will it last? he muttered from under his breath, preventing anyone from hearing it but himself.

He then laughed to himself silently, trying to contain it as he muttered once more, unable to keep his thoughts to himself.

"However, this is what I wanted from you. I shall help you with that. And soon, you with be the catalyst for the king."

The meeting went on, and the ministers and officials were dismissed after they were convinced that their lord could overcome such odds and stand tall through it all.

Some knew his capabilities and believed his words without hesitation, while others doubted, but could not fully disagree seeing as one flaw couldn't possibly spell the end for their reign.

Hendrick had left the palace, saying that he had some matters to work upon, and that some of those will indeed help him with his plans for conquest.

General Vista approached Spencer, in the midst of arranging the scattered of papers on his desk with a face of utter determination, as if what he had said stuck to him.

Noticing the general, that face of his disappeared and was replaced by a friendly, welcoming one.

"You did well to handle such matters, My Lord. I also believe that you have what it takes to rise on top," she encouraged him sincerely with her words.

"Thank you. But, I will have to show everyone that my resolve is as serious as one could be," he resumed his work.

She looked at him with a face that wanted to say something but could not, holding herself back for some reason.

"I would very much like it if we could speak to each other once more, just like last night. I don't know how to explain this, but I feel peaceful when speaking with you. Different from others. I've never had close friends in my childhood, so I was thinking if you could be one. Of course that goes without saying that formalities must go at times," he smiled at her, speaking before she could even offer the same thing after seeing his pained face from earlier.

Instead, she kept her dignified look, hiding the surprise in her face, and responded.

"Of course. It would be an honor! Or rather, I wouldn't have it any other way," his face looked astonished as the general said the latter part of her words, smiling and dropping the formalities for a moment, showing her face not as a soldier and a general, but of a lady, one that captivated his attention as he saw it for the first time.

He shook his head, trying to make sure that he wasn't seeing any hallucinations, but by that time, her face of pure solemnity had disappeared, and had returned to her dignified expression.

"Is there something on my face, My Lord?"

He smiled, simply looking forward for tonight, and possibly, that same face of blithe, "It's nothing at all."

The streets were filled with people going about their lives, cluttering the various establishments that sold off food those of which attracted them with a certain alluring, baked aroma.

Each one of them were selling their wares, shouting jovially here and there as to attract customers at their stands, where some stood on the side of the city square.

The city looked awake as the morning continued on. With smiles on their faces, completely oblivious of what had been happening to the neighboring cities.

The group had just awoken and were on their way to go back to Zeal, seeing how they've already completed their mission, and had nothing else to do.

"I must say, compared to the other cities, it's different from Civil. It's as if they don't know what going on just a few miles away from their town," Claire remarked, looking far and near at the townspeople, where some children were seen running happily, chasing one another as their parents tried their best to catch up to them.

"You're right. But still, I could get used to this, right Cecil?" she nodded as a response, both looking around as well, admiring how clean and peaceful it was, as if the city existed in another place, which would be farfetched.

"Well then, let's go. We can't keep the guild master waiting," Remuil stated, briskly walking off towards the gate where they first entered to.

They followed him, but before leaving, there were a group of ragged, bulky and build men who walked the opposite way, towards the Inn.

Beatrice bumped into one of them, almost falling to the ground, unable to avoid their large body as the man reacted in a sensitive, but angered way, "Watch where you're going," they continued, not batting an eyelash, entering the Inn.

"What was their problem? In any case, you, alright?" Laruse responded, having saved her the trouble of falling on the hard stone pavement as he caught her hand in the nick of time.

"Thank you, Laruse," she bowed curtly, then was approached by Julia, after cursing the men, who then walked closer to her as to avoid any more mishaps from happening.

Cecil stared teasingly at Laruse, having something to say as she poked him from the side while laughing obnoxiously.

"Hey, what are you doing? Cut that out, Cecil," he responded in a playful tone, going along with her act.

"He he he, it looks like you two are getting real familiar with each other, aren't you?" she crept up closer to him, whispering so that only he could hear her.

"What are you going on about now? There's nothing going on, alright?"

"Sure, sure, I'll believe you," she said, turning away from him as he chuckled.

"Cut it out or you won't get any snack money from me later," Laruse walked away, leaving Cecil, who then realized the severity of her actions.

"Please! Don't be like that!" she frantically chased after him, clinging like a child who had her toy taken away.

"Just calm down will you. I was just joking. I can't believe someone gets this worked up about snacks."

They continued on, playfully taunting each other.

"What do you mean closed off?" Laruse said, outraged as he looked off into the distance, seeing nothing coming up from the road.

"Like I've said five times already, the road's closed. There's a strange infestation of high ranking monsters, plus there's news of something that happened in Civil. The governor declared that it was too dangerous, and will be investigated. Meanwhile, how about you all stay here for a while. It's not too bad," the guard said, standing firmly.

"Monster infestation? does it have something to do with how we were attacked on the way here yesterday?" inquired Julia, who took a step forward.

"Yes. A couple of merchants have already been attacked, and casualties are spiking because of this. We've already sent in a squad to try and neutralize that threat, but it'll take a while, maybe a week?"

"We can't wait that long," Remuil pleaded.

"I can't really let anyone through, sorry."

They left, dejected as they thought of where to go next.

"How about we ask the Inn keeper at the Sleeping Lion. Reynald might know some way to getting back," Andersen suggested, drawing nods of agreement as they all went that direction.

Going back to the Inn, they heard loud sobs coming from inside.

Upon entering, they found Reynald, crying loudly as he faced the counter.

Quickly, Laruse approached him, asking," Hey, Reynald, what's wrong?"

He looked up after hearing a voice he's familiar with.

"LARUSE! PLEASE HELP ME!" Reynald took his shoulder with his large hands and commenced shaking him back and forth, making his meals surface from his stomach.

The rest of the group frantically tried to separate the two, struggling as Reynald possessed a rather unusual strength, one that needed augmentations and enhancements from Andersen to work.

Struggling, he still continued to ask despite being shook rapidly.

"W-what's the problem, Reynald?"

"Please, rescue my daughter! She's been kidnapped! I tried to fight them back, but there were just too many of them," he looked downward, dejected and showing a mark on his cheek that gave proof of him having fought back.

"I'll pay you anything! Please!"

"Why didn't you say so already? Sure, we'll save her. Just tell us where to go."

His allies didn't show any signs of disagreement, looking rather serious as they listened to Reynald about his daughter.