Cycelia veers off the straight path she's supposed to walk, requiring Straf to correct her by guiding her left or right by her shoulders. After a minute or two of walking, she manages to trip on something, likely her own leg.

「Wah!」

Her eyes snap open from the sudden sensation of loss of balance, waking her back up from her drunken sleepwalk. Straf swoops in to catch her before she can hit the ground, as if she and Straf were in a dance, just a moment ago.

Straf holds Cycelia up with his arm wrapped behind her back, while she's almost fully horizontal. They lock gazes. Straf stares at her with a concerned face. The out of focus stars on the blurry dusk sky contrast heavily against his streetlight-lit handsome features. Cycelia lifts her dainty hand to his face.

Ba-dump. Ba-dump. Ba-dump.

「Uh. If you can't walk, I guess I'll take you there.」

Straf says, and sweeps his other hand beneath her drooping skirt, and straightens out while lifting Cycelia up into his arms.

「Wah…」

Cycelia once again exclaims, this time much softer, as Straf picks her up and starts carrying her back the way they came. His hold on her is rock steady, not bobbing her up or down even a little as he takes his steps. Shadows stretch on his impossibly attractive visage, underlining the curves and lines on his face even further as he passes the lamps.

Cycelia wraps her arms around Straf's neck, and rests her head on his chest as he carries her. Some people passing by furrow their brows and give them odd looks, but it's not that unusual of a sight for a young woman her age to be carried like that by a young man, and they mostly go by unnoticed.

「Straf…」

Cycelia moans out with her eyes closed.

「Yeah?」

Straf glances down at her, still paying attention to not bump into anyone.

「Don't leave me for another woman…」

Cycelia mumbles out after taking a deep breath, and sighs. Straf straightens his gaze ahead.

「I won't. That's the whole point of a harem. I have the guts and self-control needed to not run off with a single girl.」

「Mhm…」

Cycelia nods weakly, and her voice matches the strength of her nod.

「I don't have anybody else…」

「Yeah, I'd be peeved if halfway to the capital you'd introduce me to some ugly, fat, faceless old guy. Or some tanned blondie with pierced ears-」

Straf's gaze drifts up as he thinks about the cliches every protagonist fears.

「I don't have anybody else left Straf, so please don't leave me…」

Cycelia starts sobbing as she presses her face harder into Straf's chest.

「Tsk. Great, a depressive drinker. This is why I don't go out to drink anymore.」

Straf clicks his tongue and sighs as he stares at Cycelia's head crying into him.

《I'm not a psychologist for the price of a bottle. And I paid for that one myself, damn it.》

Straf sighs again, and his lips stretch across his face into a grimace. Straf continues walking back to the inn, and the stares are intensifying due to Cycelia in his arms…

…

Meanwhile, elsewhere, in an inn far from Kreisfeld…

Greaves and his party take a seat around a table. They order meals and drinks, and begin resting off the quest-induced fatigue.

「Three quests a day is crazy… The guild will run out of things to do at this rate. I feel like I learned a lot on how to be a better mage and an adventurer. It's thanks to you, Lian.」

Will nods and smiles at the spearwoman, she turns her gaze to him with a friendly smirk as she's propping her head up on her hand.

「Well, you're welcome. But if you're that grateful, how about you help me look for my lovely idiot brother tomorrow, when I get my bracers?」

Lian asks, still smirking. Will straightens out in surprise.

「Uh, me? Or us, as in Greaves, me and Alicia?」

Puzzled, Will points to himself and looks to his party members, who glance at him and Lian. She rolls her eyes.

「You, your friends, you and your friends… Either is fine. I'm just asking if you'd like to help. Two boats trawl a wider net.」

She leans back, crosses her long legs and shrugs her shoulders, not breaking eye contact with Will.

「Uh. Sure. I'll help you, Lian. Greaves?」

Will nods, and looks towards Greaves, who's sitting back in his chair with his boots on the table and his hands behind his head.

「Tsk. I suppose you're getting a double bed with Lian tonight, aren't you Will?-」

Greaves clicks his tongue and rolls his eyes. Will slams his hand on the table, startling Alicia.

「Greaves! One more word and I'll bash you over the head with my staff!」

Will shouts, standing up from his chair.

「Greaves, that's a little too much…」

Alicia chimes in with her tired eyes fixed on Greaves. He rolls his eyes and throws his hands up without saying a word, then crosses his arms. Meanwhile, Lian simply has her head lowered with an amused smirk on her face.

「…Sorry you have to put up with this, Lian.」

Will sighs as he sits back down.

「Oh, no, I'm quite amused by the quips and jabs you throw at each other. As a young girl, I had to listen to outright insults.」

Lian crosses her arms with an amused smile as well, but her smile quickly fades as she continues talking.

「Do you mean from your adoptive family?」

Will leans in towards Lian with his elbows on the table, furrowing his brows slightly in sympathy.

「Yes… It didn't matter what I was capable of, or what my wishes were. In their eyes, I was just a tool to swell their numbers. It started with simple derision, and many assumptions that I would be good for nothing but raising children.」

Her eyes grow cold as she stares off into space beside Will, telling her story with her arms crossed and fists clenched.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

「That's…」

Will tries to find words, clenching his fist in anger.

「Ridiculous, isn't it? And yet they believed it. They believed it, regardless of how much proof for the contrary I gave them. I beat their strongest, and they still believed it. Said things like 「She should stop wasting her time, and learn how to handle the other shaft.」 and such…」

Lian glares murder at someone not there, who would be standing behind Will. Her expression makes Alicia too nervous to look at her face for longer than two consecutive seconds before looking away.

「Those sons of bitches!」

Alicia gets startled again, when Will slams his fist on the table from a low height and utters in total disbelief in his voice, and on his face. Will's sudden outburst make the spearwoman's eyes regain some warmth in them as they snap to the mage's.

「You're getting a little too irate for my sake, Will.」

Lian says with a smile, although it resembles a sneer while paired with her tone.

「B- But… It's not fair they mistreated you like this. You're incredibly powerful. We're basically just tagging along you on our quests…」

Will gets a little flustered and breaks eye contact, then adjusts his glasses. A mild blush appears on his face, and Greaves immediately grins when he sees his reaction. Greaves and Will lock eyes, and Will scowls at him. Greaves simply smugly grins back with his eyes narrow, and arms crossed.

「Sorry for the wait! The food is still being prepared!」

The barmaid appears when they least expect her to, and she puts down the drinks they ordered on the table. She bows, and rushes off elsewhere. Lian leans forward, and takes her tankard in hand.

「Regardless… Old story, Will. Old story. The funniest part is, had they not treated my brother the way they did, I would have put up with it. It's the duty of every clanswoman to find a strong man to continue the clan with. But, with my brother gone, I had, and wanted, no more connection to that band of filthy dirt-tillers.」

Lian smirks at Will, and takes a gulp from her tankard.

「Um… We till… Dirt, too…」

Alicia meekly chimes in. Mildly surprised, the spearwoman's brows rise.

「My, culturally insensitive, am I?」

Lian says, holding her tankard up with a smug smirk…

…

Meanwhile, in a Kreisfeld inn…

Straf walks into the inn with Cycelia in his arms. The fired barmaid is leaning on the innkeeper's table, speaking to him while he grimaces in anger. His eyes snap to Straf, and her attention follows the bald innkeeper's. She quickly runs up to Straf.

「Hello again! …Is she alright?」

The barmaid greets Straf, and looks with concern at Cycelia, who's asleep in his arms. Her hands rest on her chest, having dropped from his neck sometime before, and she sleeps hugged onto Straf as if he was a pillow.

「Yeah, she just had too much to drink. Can you get the door to her room for me?」

Straf asks and walks to the stairs.

「Of course!」

The barmaid nods and happily runs ahead in front of Straf up the stairs. She unlocks the door, and swings it open. Straf carefully threads Cycelia through the doorframe, and walks to her bed. The barmaid pulls the bed covers away, and walks outside of the room.

「…Straf?」

Cycelia opens her emerald eyes as Straf lowers her into the bed, and softly mumbles out his name.

「Yeah, you're back at the inn. Go back to sleep, I bet you'll have too big of a hangover tomorrow to watch the match-」

Straf explains her whereabouts, and starts to straighten out once Cycelia is on her bed. She grabs his hand before he can pull away, and looks into his eyes.

「…Come sleep with me.」

Straf freezes, and his eyebrows rise. They stay locked in a position, where Straf is slightly hunched forward and Cycelia is laying on her bed for quite a long moment. Straf then blinks.

「You know, I had half a mind to ask you which version of sleep you meant, but then I realized neither of them is a good idea right now.」

Straf straightens out and pulls away, and Cycelia's hand drops limp onto her stomach. Straf unties her boots and pulls them off, dropping them haphazardly on the floor with a thud. He then pulls the blanket over her, and tucks it in.

「Remember, princesses don't vomit. And if you do, make sure it's a rainbow that evaporates into the thin air. Goodnight, Lia.」

Straf says in the threshold of her room, and swings the door to close slowly. The sleepy princess appears sad, but she drifts off to sleep before the door even properly closes.

「Did you have a good day, um…」

The barmaid tries to ask, but then lowers her head in shame.

「Again?」

Straf asks with a cocked head, fists on his hips and an incredulous tone.

「…I'm sorry. I really tried.」

The barmaid bows in apology.

「Straf. Straf. Katastrof. Vindict.」

Straf introduces himself to the forgetful barmaid. Again.

「Did you have a good day, Straf? You seem a little different.」

She asks with her hand on her chest, tilting her head a little out of curiosity.

「Meh. I had spaghetti. Could have been worse, honestly. I've had my days end with a manhole.」

「…Eh? Like, from a sewer?」

「Yup.」

Straf nods, and the barmaid's gaze drifts away as she narrows her eyes, perplexed.

「…How?」

「I'm not even sure, I didn't see it coming.」

「…What?」

「Anyway, goodnight to you too. I'm off to cultivate.」

Straf lifts one of his hands, and enters his room, leaving the utterly puzzled barmaid behind…