Suta POV

Reaching a quieter section of the hall, Suta and the girl found themselves among individuals whose appearances and demeanor seemed markedly less refined than those around the rest of the hall, their expressions for starters were largely vacant and devoid of care and life for the most part. A clear stark contrast to the more elegant and lively crowd elsewhere. Who were noisy and quick to throw insults at anyone with a low grade.

'Spoilt little brats.'

Suta could handle the chorus of boos and heckling, but above all, fear gripped him tightly as he came to understand more than one glaring truth about all of this.

This world was not his own, and it perplexed him deeply that after awakening again, forgotten memories of another world began to resurface with increasing clarity. In those memories, he had a mother, a father, even a sister, but why didn't he feel it? Their names rested on the tip of his tongue, but his mind could not form pictures or feelings toward them at all. Somehow all the expected emotions and feelings had been sucked out of him.

'Something's been taken away from me, I'm almost sure of it.'

Frustration gnawed at him, trying to grapple with the strange disconnection he felt. Something inexplicable was happening, and he couldn't shake this feeling of unease away that surrounded him because of it. Sitting in the influx of his scattered thoughts, a delicate voice filtered into his mind, swiftly prying him free from the abyss.

"It's alright, Suta," The green-eyed girl reassured him, she must've noticed the strangeness in his scowling silence and gotten worried

"It doesn't matter if you're considered a low rank. W-we don't need the kingdom! We-we can become adventurers on our own."

Suta observed her cute round face puffing up with resolve, a warm smile creased against his own, something about her determination warmed his heart.

"Th-thanks." He replied earnestly

'At least I have one person here who doesn't hate me.' It was a familiar feeling, one that prompted him to instinctively rub the side of her head gently, eliciting an adorable cooing sound from her in response.

"Briallah! Briallah...approach the Goddesses' altar,"

The sharp voice interrupted their moment of affection, causing the small girl's frame to tense up, Suta watched her eyes gradually widening in fear.

"Oh no, it's-it's my turn..." she stammered awkwardly

'So that's her name...Briallah' Unfortunately knowing her name didn't ring any helpful bells Suta might've hoped for. Though it was nice to have a name to place with the cute face.

As he glanced towards the center of the altar, Suta slightly shuddered catching the eyes of the shrewd silver-haired man again, he swiftly placed his hands on Briallah's shoulders and met her gaze directly

"Hey-l-listen. Don't be afraid, okay? The more fear you show, the more they'll think you care about what they think. Remember, whatever happens, it's good enough...alright?"

Suta offered a reassuring smile, though he could tell she was internally feeling awkward about the little speech he gave. Suta cringed inside and very embarrassingly vowed to keep that nonsense to himself next time. Briallah's large eyes filled with life and her tanned cheeks turned slightly pink, with a dazzling smile lighting up against her features she nodded her head a few times. And a playful chuckle escaped her lips whilst she tried using her dainty hands to cover them.

"Idiot Suta, since when were you so good with your words? Hehe, th-thank you anyway. I needed that," she said, balling her hands into tiny fists before lightly prodding his chest.

"Wait for me," she added before straightening her shabby clothes and walking towards the altar with a renewed air of confidence. Along the way, the crowd gathered from the other side began whispering and making snide comments about the girl.

Eventually, Briallah arrived by that accursed-looking fountain, holding one of her dainty hands out before delicately lowering it into the water. With a deep breath, she firmly closed her eyes. Unlike Suta's performance, hers seemed to be moving expectedly.

A small commotion ensued, followed by the emergence of a dazzling light show. Suta stood with both of his arms crossed, observing the three ugly golden heads gently rising away from the fountain. Two of the heads, just like before, shut their eyes, but then one of the two quickly flashed its eyes open.

Now there were two heads with both their eyes ghastly staring into the open air. They opened their maws in unison and declared with a thunderous shout.

"Talent Received... A Rank !"

The announcement brought a chilling silence sweeping through the altar.

'A rank, huh?'

Suta thought smoothing his chin nodding slowly in deep thought.

'I guess that should mean... she's good, right?' He quickly searched for answers among the faces around.

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The silver-haired fellow looked completely gob-smacked, and the crowd around him shared his sentiments it seems.

"Impossible," someone from the other side of the cathedral exclaimed aloud. "How can a commoner have such high talent?" Another protested

"Do it again, maybe it was a mistake... er, why is he staring at me like that?"

The silver-fox, dressed in nice robes stared daggers directly toward those youths who couldn't keep their mouths shut.

Briallah merely stood by the altar, unsure of what to do next, alternating between staring at her dainty hand cutely and taking indifferent looks at the fountain with slightly furrowed brows. The scene was quite cute from where Suta was standing.

'Well -well so the little one is talented, haha-guess that makes one of us.'

He felt perhaps he should join her and tell her good job. But just when his body was poised to move, he saw that mature-faced woman from before racing to Briallah's side. She wrapped her arms around the girl and held her tightly in one fell swoop.

"Thank the Goddess! Your talent... amazing, my daughter, amazing! I'm so proud!"

She held Briallah's face between her two hands, tears of joy streaming down her cheeks. Suta observed this from nearby with an odd curiosity in his gaze. This confirmed his earlier thoughts in regards to their relationship

Briallah looked visibly confused, slightly alarmed, but more so irritated. Her eyes finally landed in Suta's direction, and he saw a wave of happiness suddenly bloom from her freckled cheeks. She rather rudely pried herself free from the mature woman's hold and began to walk back towards him with a high raised chin. She made it a few steps only to have her body held in place by the stern arm of the silver-haired annoyance again.

"Aht-aht not so fast!" The old fellow spoke, clearing his throat before delicately releasing Briallahs arm slightly.

"Ahem, despite my reservations and strong doubts. It seems you are eligible for direct training beneath one of Her Majesty's famous top Guilds. You will be taken to the capital tonight to continue your training. Your family will be taken care of and receive a substantial amount of payment whilst you're away," the man spoke with a seemingly warm smile.

'Heh, so all of a sudden he knows how to form warm smiles now, eh, typical.' Suta snorted, observing Briallah's skepticism mirrored in her furrowed brows as well.

"Let me go, you-you old man! I'm going to S-suta. H-hey woman, tell him to unhand me?" Briallah demanded.

"It's alright, my dear. Listen, these are the rules of the kingdom. If you're deemed as having enough talent, you'll be taken to the capital to train. It's a great opportunity that many kids won't be able to—" the woman tried to explain to deaf and defiant ears.

"Who cares about that stuff! L-let me go you scoundrel" Briallah snapped, her eyes scanning the hall until they finally landed on Suta's own again.

"SUTA! H-help me—they're trying to take me away! THEY'RE TRYING TO SPLIT US APART SUTA!" Briallah's cry suddenly put Suta back into the firing line, feeling all eyes lock onto his position, instantly made him tense up.

On one hand, he felt genuine warmth towards the girl's bashfulness, especially where he could see it was mainly because of him. But on the other hand, he needed her to stop bringing so much attention to him.

' Sigh ...why is she making it look like we're long-lost lovers.' He could see people whispering and pointing, and could only imagine the tales they were all spinning at this point.

Briallah continued to refuse to obey anyone, her scowl deepening the more Suta watched the situation escalate with each passing minute. Something about this scene stirred an uncomfortable feeling inside of him. He felt tethered to protecting something, though he couldn't quite place what it was.

As Briallah continued to scream his name, Suta finally decided to take action, he took a step forward unsure how he was going to save her from their clutches, but he needed to try something. He took another foot forward and felt an icy cold presence invading his body. Then, he heard something as clear as day close to his ears.

"Suta, right? This is Priestess Claudia. Don't be alarmed. I am Briallah's mother, the one who helped you."

Suta's shaking eyes immediately moved towards the woman crouched beside Briallah by the altar. He felt strange seeing her worried gaze focused on him. Though her mouth was clearly shut, he could hear her words flowing into his ears.

And that question floated through his thoughts once again—where the hell was he right now?

"Suta, I need your help. Briallah must obey me. This is the only way she can save herself. She doesn't understand it yet, but there is no other way she can go back to the life she used to live with you. Please, Suta, if you truly care about my daughter, please tell her to go. Please, as her mother, th-this is the only thing I can do for her."

A single tear gently rolled down Priestess Claudia's left eye. Seeing that made him feel uncomfortable and annoyingly guilty.

'Why is she making it look like I've done something wrong.'

She looked genuinely in pain about the whole matter, and though Suta had no idea what had transpired between the two, it was evident their relationship wasn't simple. Slowly piecing together what possibly was going on, he realized this likely showed just how close he and Briallah were.

It was becoming frustrating not knowing anything, yet feeling these emotions during random situations like this one felt even more daunting.

He knew he shouldn't agree to it.

But looking at the situation objectively, why shouldn't Briallah go? Rank A sounded a lot better than Rank E, especially where the E rank he was given sent everyone into hysterics.

Perhaps Briallah was destined for an easier life than his own.

With little understanding about this place, but knowing Briallah recognized him, it meant either he had forgotten everything up until this point, or this body... wasn't his own.

But that girl... the more he looked at her, the more she reminded him of someone.

'Sigh ...why is nothing ever easy, I'm already forced to make decisions I don't really have confidence in making'

Exhaling a warm breath, Suta rubbed his temple gently for a few moments, untangling the knots in his head, once he was composed he steadily opened his mouth.