"Wow, I didn't think your world was so amazing," the noble girl said as she listened to the stories of Austin and the others.

"That's nothing, you should know that when I was on the street, once-" Motivated by the young lady's words, he began to recount another of his exaggerated adventures.

The girl in front of them was Emily. The lady of the palace that Amy, the servant who guided them for the first time to the room where Albert would meet them, told them about.

Austin, Shun, and Miyu were somewhat nervous, it was the first time that someone from the palace had spoken to them.

Upon learning that they had a mutual acquaintance, Austin, and the others gradually lost their tension and began to relax.

In the middle of the palace gardens, sitting on a bench, Zack's companions told stories from their world to Emily, who listened to them fascinated and with a smile.

When Austin finished his story, Shun and Miyu were looking at him with mockery. Half the stuff in that story was exaggerated, and the other half was just plain nonsense.

They were impressed that Austin could lie like that without changing his expression.

Still, the three of them were having a good time. It had been a long time since they had managed to relax like that. They needed it.

“You have wonderful lives. I'm very envious of you" Emily said when she finished listening to Austin.

Emily's eyes had a wistful streak when they said this.

“I wish I could live such incredible adventures. My father doesn't allow me to go out and see the world, he doesn't even allow me to walk down the street on my own like yours,” Emily sighed.

The others looked at Emily with pitying eyes.

"Everything will be fine. I'm sure one day you'll be able to do whatever you want,” Miyu said as he comforted her.

Emily nodded slowly.

“Thank you for your support, it means a lot to me” she said as she smiled sadly.

“If only I had a class as amazing as yours and the heroes, I could go out wherever I wanted”

"It's true that my class is amazing, not everyone has a magical class!" Austin said proudly.

"We all have magical classes" Shun said as he looked at Austin with dead eyes.

"That's right?" Emily asked surprised.

Miyu nodded “It's true. We were one of the four heroes who have magic classes”

"Four?" Emily asked as she looked at Austin and the others.

"Yes, besides us there is another person with a magical class, but he decided not to accompany us when we invited him to come with us" Austin said with certainty from Zack.

"Oh, that's a shame. Hopefully, next time I can meet him,” Emily said as she smiled.

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If Zack had seen this scene he would have turned and run. Not considering the dubious reputation that Amy's story gave Emily, Zack would have had a few questions the moment he saw her.

Why did she appear right in the middle of the gardens if so far Austin and the others hadn't met anyone else? Why has she spoken to them? How come her classmates have told you about her world, but haven't heard from Emily?

It is a pity that the rest did not find this situation too strange.

"You don't have to worry about Zack, there's nothing special about someone like him," Austin told him.

"Austin!" Miyu yelled at him.

"I'm just telling the truth. That guy prefers to be alone all the time, and he just ignores us like he's superior to us” Austin criticized Zack mercilessly.

"That's no reason for you to insult him like that" Miyu reproached him.

"You .." Austin began to say with a wounded look on his face when he saw that his classmates did not support him.

Shun also seemed to want to say something about it.

"Please, stop. I'm sure your friend doesn't think so. There's no need to get upset,” Emily said, seeing that she was going to start an argument.

Hearing Emily's words, Austin stopped and didn't continue what he was going to say.

For a moment no one said anything else, and a tense atmosphere filled the gardens.

Seeing that it was getting late, Austin and the others decided to return to the magic tower.

As they left, Emily stayed in the gardens, watching them go, a smile on her face.

"Austin, Shun, Miyu, and... Zack" Emily said the names of the four in a low voice as she got up and prepared to leave without haste.

...

After saying goodbye to Emily and promising to meet again right here in a couple of days, the group parted company with her, making the return trip in silence.

“You shouldn't have said that” Shun said to Austin as they were far enough.

"Why not? I haven't said anything that wasn't true” Austin answered, with every intention of continuing the discussion they had interrupted earlier.

Shun looked at Austin for a moment and sighed, exhausted.

“We have all suffered the same, there is no need to fight among ourselves” Shun said without stopping walking.

“Zack may not want to associate with us, but he hasn't done anything to us that deserved what you said. The four of us have lost everything, our families, our friends, our homes. Maybe cutting himself off from everyone else is Zack's way of trying to get over it."

Austin opened his mouth to say something, but before he could Shun cut him off.

"Tell me Austin. Is there any reason you don't like Zack besides rejecting you earlier? Anything. Something that justifies what you said before” asked Shun.

Austin was going to answer the question, but as he searched his memory he discovered that he really had no reason.

If they were still in his world, Austin would reply that he doesn't need a reason and that he can do whatever he wants, but they weren't in his world, and saying that would just be childish.

Shun didn't continue speaking. Austin tried to find the words to say, but nothing came to mind, and for a while, there was only the sound of his footsteps as they walked.

"Hey. Do either of you know anything about Zack outside of school?”

Just as they were reaching their destination, Miyu asked Austin and Shun a question.

The two looked at each other for a moment and Shun said:

“No, our social circles were different. I think I saw him at a party, but that's all."

"Me neither," Austin said.

“My memories of him are from school. Even there he hardly ever spoke to anyone” Miyu said quietly.

"What do we really know about Zack?"

After thinking for a while, they realized that they didn't know anything about him. In fact, the first time any of them spoke to him was after he came here.

"None of us really know Zack, we're almost strangers" Miyu said "Is it really so weird that he doesn't want to come with us?"

Hearing the question, Shun and Austin fell silent. Austin seemed a bit uncomfortable.

When they entered the building, a tense atmosphere surrounded them. They each went to their respective rooms to practice for the rest of the day.

When the sky darkened, the three met for dinner. As always Zack was not with them.

The meal consisted of a vegetable stew and some bread. The three of them sat and ate in silence.

As dinner progressed, Austin and the others gradually forgot about the previous conversation. By the end of the meal, they were talking and laughing together.

For them, this was just another strange day in the other world. Even so, when they went to their respective bedrooms, none of them found an answer to Miyu's question.

What do we really know about Zack?