"I finally know what the weekend means! And why it's such a big deal!" Arthur woke up later than usual since on the seventh day of the week, they got a rest day.

Arthur found that the room was empty. From the previous night's conversation, he knew that Tamara was going to visit home, while the others were going to train since their deadline was in two days.

“Arthur?” a familiar voice called him from behind the partition.

“Yeah, I’m awake, what's up?” He asked as he got off from the bed.

Athena popped out from behind the partition, fully clothed in her uniform. “You want to train?” She asked with her usual poker face.

After their encounter on the roof, Athena sometimes started their conversation first when the others were not with them.

“No, I have an appointment today. Maybe I will train alone tonight after I’m back from my appointment,” he shrugged.

“I see,” she nodded.

With the morning encounter with Athena finished, he left the dorm, going through some complicated paths before arriving at the Colonel's office.

“You may enter,” Colonel Samson told him to enter before he could even knock at the door.

“Colonel,” Arthur saluted the man as he entered the room.

“Sergeant,” he also greeted the other person who arrived earlier than him.

“Good morning, Arthur. You seem to already be quite close with your squadmates. Anything you can report about the spy?” The colonel casually asked.

“Nothing so far, colonel. No one has acted suspiciously...” Arthur deliberated.

“Except?” the colonel asked, his eyes squinting.

“There was one night when Athena Lance went missing at night. But after looking for her, I found her on the dorm roof, and after some dialogue, she seems not to be the spy,” he explained after thinking about how to report it without making a misunderstanding.

“Tell us more about what you talked about on the roof,” Samson ordered.

“Uh... I don’t think that's appropriate,” He hesitated.

“Private, this relates to the safety of our city. Don't let your feelings affect you,” Layla reprimanded him before Samson could say anything.

“Sergeant Hawkins, I believe I’m still talking to your subordinate, or do you believe I can't handle him on my own?” The colonel addressed Layla.

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The sergeant took a step back after apologizing for her lapse in judgment.

“Now, Arthur. If you think she is not the spy from your encounter that night, you will need to tell us about it. Since between when she went missing and the time you found her, she might have gone somewhere else, which makes her a suspect. In other words, you need to convince us that she is not a spy.” Samson persuaded him.

With a sigh, Arthur conceded, “Athena Lance was on the roof looking at the moon at night, grieving about her parents.”

“Doesn’t that give her motive to betray us?” Samson pointed out.

“I thought so as well, but after talking to her, she indeed hates the people who took her parents away from her. But she does not hate humanity as a whole. Since she was not from this city, I believe she has no reason to threaten our city because we didn’t take part in her parent's demise,” Arthur explained.

“And she was crying when she said it, and I'm sure she was not lying,” he added.

Samson took his time, thinking about the information.

“Alright, for now, we put her in the clear, but you should not disregard her completely. If she ever shows indications of betrayal, immediately report to me or to Sergeant Hawkins,” Samson told him before sipping his tea.

“Anything else I should know about?” The colonel asked.

“Private Tamara is going home for today. I already have people following her, sir. If she leaks anything, we will know,” Layla reported.

“Alright, if there is nothing more, you are dismissed. Sergeant Hawkins, don’t forget to help Private Arthur with his lack of knowledge,” the colonel dismissed them.

Outside the colonel’s room, Layla told Arthur to follow her.

“Where are we going?” he asked.

“I have something to do. You will follow me so I can do what the colonel told me to do while at it,” Layla needed to help Arthur fix his lack of general knowledge.

As they got out of the Military compound, Layla began explaining things to Arthur.

“Are you an idiot? How can you not know the name of this city and the sect ruling it!?” Sometimes his lack of knowledge baffled her.

Arthur finally found out that the city is called Ironwill City, and the sect ruling the city is called Seven Iron Sect. There are three big families in the city: Ives family, Dusk family, and Turner family. The city lord is the sect leader and patriarch of the Turner family at the same time, one of the only two Transformation realm cultivators in the city.

Arthur was about to ask who the other one was when Layla stopped walking. “We are here,” She said.

“Huh? Isn’t this your apartment?” Arthur got confused.

‘Don’t tell me she just wants to go home,’ he suspected her.

“My neighbor is going to move; I need to help her pack her belongings,” She casually said.

“Can’t she do it herself?”

“Mrs. Sandra is too old, and she doesn’t have any relatives, so I’m helping her,” the sergeant shrugged at him.

When the door opened, Arthur found a wrinkled old woman; she needed a walking stick to help her walk.

“Oh... Little Layla, you are here. Come in. Do you want tea or coffee? And who is here with you?” the old woman asked when she spotted Arthur.

“He is a friend from work. Anyway, you don’t need to bother preparing drinks; we are here to help with packing.”

“Oh, how lovely of you. I’m going to miss you, little Layla,” the old woman hugged her, to which she hugged her back very gently.

“and how should I call your friend?” old Sandra asked as she was about to address Arthur but did not know his name.

“My name is Arthur, Ma’am. Nice to meet you,” he smiled at the old lady.

“Aww... you are so sweet, but you need to eat more. How can you be so skinny?” she pinched his arm.

Arthur talked with the old lady while they helped her pack her stuff; she had a lot of belongings with sentimental value.

“Ma’am, why don’t you cultivate?” Arthur asked.

“I did cultivate, child. But when my bond died, I didn’t look for a replacement. I have lived long enough anyway. My family is waiting for me on the other side, so I’m waiting for my time,” She smiled.

Arthur got stunned; people would kill to live another year, and here he finds a person who is at peace with her end.