He was very glad he hadn't provoked this woman, who now seemed much more dangerous than her looks would suggest, it was more than time to get back to the inn.

He walked fast and returned safely, climbing the stairs and trying to make as little noise as possible so as not to wake Era, the door made a slight creaking noise when he entered the room, he paused but did not hear anything in response so he kept going in with the full intention to faceplant into the corner of the room to get a much needed rest.

However a voice came to him:

"Where were you?"

He froze, Era was awake, she sat on the edge of the bed and stared at him.

"Did you wait for me? Sorry about this, sleep, tomorrow will be a hard day.”

“Where were you?...” She asked again.

“Nothing important, just...securing some additional funds, that's all”

‘And hopefully not start a war with the underbelly of this city’

“When I realized you left I was afraid, I thought you were gone...That I was alone again..." Her voice didn’t contain any venom, she just looked downwards as shadows passed on her face.

Ran felt a lump form in her throat, Era was again showing that sad face, did she spend the day feigning relief and happiness ? So even their discussion the day before had not been enough to dispel all of her fears.

Ran got up and went to sit on the edge of the bed behind Era's back.

"I won't tell you again what I said yesterday, nothing has changed since then and my feelings are still the same. I’m sorry for leaving without telling you.”

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Era turned to face him, her face looked like she was on the verge of tears.

“ If you were really gone I....”

Ran flicked her on the forehead before she had time to finish.

“ That's for thinking I could go and leave you like that. You should know that I would not do something like that, shouldn't you? "

He moved a little closer to her.

"I like you Era. I like the village too and I’m not going anywhere, you won't get rid of me that easily."

She was in a daze at his words but soon smiled warmly at him, probably the only honest smile he has seen in this city.

“Sounds good Ran”

...

Far away from them, in a cold fortress in the middle of the forest, a man was thinking deeply, sitting at his desk, simply lit by a candlestick whose light was casting large shadows on the walls. He was reading over and over again the reports he had been given earlier, checking every detail of his plan. He couldn't afford to fail, if they traced it back to him, he was finished.

A visitor knocked on the door, he wore a mask and was dressed in a long hooded coat that covered him from head to toe. He knelt down and spoke.

"My lord, all the preparations are complete, 5 men have just left for Hua.”

The man snarled.

“They know what to do if they are caught, right?”

“Each of them has already written their wills.”

“I'll leave the rest to you then. This time tomorrow, that bitch will be dead."

...

When the day broke, Era and Ran woke up side by side, enjoying the few moments of blissful peace before their day finally began.

Then Era got up and time started to move again, they had a lot to do today, continuing the shopping they had started the day before, going to the town hall to revoke the serfdom contract, getting Ran's guild card and attending the princess parade which Era desperately wanted to attend.

Ran sighed in anticipation of the busy schedule, but his heart was light and he followed Era, who was brimming with new enthusiasm.

While they were shopping, Ran noticed a store that particularly interested him. It had no windows and the heavy wooden door gave it a massive appearance. Ran left Era to negotiate with one of the street vendors and entered the premises, the door opened slowly with a loud creak.

The interior was modest and quite dark, lit only by the light of a forge in the back room, weapons of all kinds hung on the walls, swords, spears, axes, clubs, etc... Numerous pieces of armor were also displayed, arranged neatly on racks, metal filled the whole room and the smell of iron was permeating the place.

If Ran had come here it was because he had realized during his last fights that his power in hand-to-hand combat was extremely limited, with only a fighting knife as a weapon, he wouldn't go far.

The main problem was of course the range, but also the sheer power of his weapon, according to Era, many monsters much more dangerous and much bigger than the tetra bear lived on this continent, and even if his knife was plunged in up to the guard, the weapon would not cause any decisive damage.

So if the monsters decided to go bigger then so would he.