Chapter 8: Feeling Nice

Four days have passed since the day Larah took her leave, and I have just been talking to Larah through her own hair, which was in a small chest wrapped in a small rope; since rubber bands don’t exist in this world, it was currently the late afternoon, and I was currently sniffing the hair of Larah that was tied together. I set it back in the chest as I was on my knees.

"Sorry I didn’t start by saying good morning first," I said. "So good morning, Master. And if you are wondering how I have been doing, I have been doing well. I still miss you, and it's a little hard to get used to not seeing you around the house anymore, but I gotta get used to it somehow, right? And yes, I have been training myself, and I am still not too sure about going to the Seria University place yet, but who cares?"

I would scratch my head. "Anyways, today is the day I go out on my own, so all I ask from you, Master, is for you to wish me luck. And thank you again for giving me the courage to do this." I took a deep breath with a smile, picked up the chest, and got up while sliding it under my bed.

I got out of the room and walked into the hallway, turned into a corner, and bumped into Seris as she was cleaning one of the end tables.

"Oh!" Seris shouted as she turned around.

"Oh, sorry, Aunt Seris." I said while bowing my head down and coming back up.

She took a deep breath of relief. "You scared me there, Tenshi. It's fine, though. So, what are you up to? Did the rope do well?"

Seris was actually loyal enough to keep the hair fetish a secret. She thought it was weird at first and did say I reminded her a lot of Taren that day. Seris was okay with it since she thought it was just a simple memento to remember Larah.

"Mhm, it did. And thanks for the little chest I could put it in."

Seris chuckled. "Well, it's no problem, and don’t worry, your secret has still been safe with me."

Man, Seris is the best person to keep secrets with. "Oh, and what I'm up to. I actually plan to go out by myself for the first time."

Seris put her hand to her mouth in small shock. "Wow, really? That's quite a big step for your age. Most children would never at your age and be forced to do so by their parents. What a brave boy you are, Tenshi." She would put her hand back down.

I nodded. "Yup, anyways, I'm gonna go ask Mother and Father for permission, so I’ll see you soon, Aunt Seris," I started to walk past her. "Goodbye."

Seris waved, "Goodbye, have fun."

As I walked downstairs, I shouted, "Mother! Father!" I looked around as I got downstairs. I looked to my left to see Ria and Taren, a little flustered. Ria flicked Taren's head.

"Ow," Taren said.

Ria had a pouty look on her face but went back to a smile as she looked at me, but still a little flustered.

"Sorry, sweetie, what are you doing down here? Did you need to ask us something?" Ria said as she looked at me with a smile.

I looked away as I snickered. Yup, Taren definitely almost had fun at the wrong time. "Well, Mother and Father, I have decided to do something today, and I wanted your permission if that’s all right."

Taren scratched his forehead, not from confusion but because it itched from the flick.

"Yeah, sure, go ahead," Taren said.

I cleared my throat. "I plan to go out. You know? Take a nice walk beside the yard."

Ria looked in surprise. "O-out there? Like by yourself!? You're not afraid!?" Ria looked over to Taren. "Did you hear that, Taren? Tenshi wants to go out on his own, and we didn’t have to get him to ourselves!" Ria said with an excited smile on her face.

Taren looked at me with confusion. "Huh, really? I mean, this is great and all, but you really don’t think it's too early?" Taren asked.

I shook my head. "Nope, I'm ready. Besides, I'm officially a saint class lightning mage, so what is there to worry about."

Taren walked over to me and patted my back. "Now that's my brave son. But I will give you something to protect yourself with." Taren walked away and went past me to go upstairs. I tilted my head.

Did he not hear what I said?

Ria cleared her throat, and I looked at her. "Since you're going out for the first time, I think it would be fair if I gave you..." Ria dug through her left pocket and took out a small piece of paper. "This." Ria handed the paper over to me, and I looked at it.

"What's this?"

"Just a shopping list. It shouldn’t be much, and I’ll give you the money for it. So, there is nothing to worry about."

Taren ran back downstairs, carrying a short sword. Ria went past him and also went upstairs.

"Here," Taren said. He handed me the short sword, which was the same one that he had gifted me during the party.

"Come on, Dad, would I really need this?"

Taren nodded with pride. "Trust me, if you get in a bad situation, you can slash them just like that. You never know when you’ll need it more than magic."

"Yeah, the thing is, I don’t think I’ll need this anyways, but sure, thanks, I guess."

Taren gave another nod. "Just one more thing." Taren took off one of the scabbards from his waist and went on one knee to attach it to my left waist.

Ria walked back downstairs with a pouch in her hands. Taren got up and went a step back.

"There, now you should be good." He said.

As Ria walked over to me, she handed the small pouch over to me.

"That should be enough. Now, just make sure you don’t miss a single thing on the list, but it shouldn’t be that hard."

Taren turned his face to Ria. "You're making him go shopping? Are you sure that's a good idea? The sun could go down at any moment unless you are fine with him coming late."

Ria looked over to face Taren. "I would be worried, but Tenshi is too strong to get hurt. How about we wait two hours?" Ria winked and held up the number two with her fingers as she smiled.

Taren shrugged his shoulders. "I don’t care. It really depends on you."

Ria lightly clapped her hands and looked back down at me. "So, you hear that, Tenshi? Just be back in two hours, okay?"

I blinked twice and faked a smile. "Yeah, sure, okay, Mother, I’ll be back before you both know it."

"Good," Ria said with a smile. Ria went over to the door to open it for me. "Good luck, Tenshi, and make sure to always defend yourself in case of anything." Ria started to smell some smoke coming from the kitchen and started to get worried. "Oh my, the food is burning! uh, have fun outside Tenshi." Ria ran over to the kitchen, and I stopped the door from closing.

It was just me and Taren together. "Anyways," Taren said. He picked me up on his back, and he stepped outside. "I wanna talk to you for a bit while we have a short walk."

"Hm? Okay, sure, what is it?" Taren and I started to move very slowly towards the outside of the yard.

"Maybe just a little small talk. Just wondering if you planned anything specific going out there other than doing groceries."

"Well, to be honest, I just wanted to explore a little more for once and maybe see if there are any cuties there," I said as I smirked.

"Heh. Oh, trust me, there are. Don’t tell your mom I said that, of course, but if you are like me, I know you’ll find the one out there or anywhere."

"Yeah, but I plan to get someone soft and not a tsundere like Mom unless the tsundere is a hottie."

Taren nodded. "Yeah... Wait, what's a tsundere?"

I scratched my head. "Oh, nothing."

"Mhm... Anyway, just remember something. Never let your power get over your head, and especially don't! And I mean don’t fight someone if you know they are much stronger than you. We all have our vulnerable side if you remember what I said. Once you are older, I allow you to never back down, but you are still a kid right now. Last thing, always follow good instead of bad whether it's the rules or not."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Be a good kid, don’t let power get over my head, be respectful to others, and be good."

Taren nodded. "That's right, how about some dating advice from your old man?"

"Really!? That would be amazing, Father!" I exclaimed with excitement.

"Ha, I knew you would say yes. Now, if you want someone to love you, I suggest going for the ones in trouble. That way, they would instantly think you are that girl’s hero, and you're the only one for them. Or go for the ones mentally in trouble, and once you make them feel better, it will be a nice slow romantic relationship or fast, too, but no matter how it goes, it will still be a fun experience. And three is the normal way of being friends with someone and seeing how it goes from there. And four is something to use if you're desperate and older, but I suggest not at all, and it's going right there with a random person. It usually works for me, or it did, but that didn’t go too much to my favor at the same time."

I listened carefully and nodded. "Wow, I could definitely do one to three."

"Now." Taren put me down on the ground as we got only a few feet away from the yard. "Go get ‘em, Tenshi, and have fun."

I nodded. "I will. Thank you very much, Father." I started running off. I would look back as I continued running. "Oh, and see you soon, aunt Seris!" I would look in front of me again.

Taren waved. "Hah... Wait, Seris?" Taren looked behind himself.

"So what was that conversation all about?" Seris teasingly said.

"Oh, uh..." Taren would be shocked, "Wait, what the hell did I tell Tenshi!?"

***

As nine minutes went by after going through the small forest, I was nearing the village. I already saw a small number of people around me, and I started greeting each one that passed me, starting off with someone fishing under the small bridge I crossed. "Good afternoon!" I shouted to the man on the left side under the bridge,

"Afternoon, boy!" The man shouted back.

A minute later I started passing by a woman getting some water from a well.

"Good afternoon, ma’am." The woman looked over at me as she was still getting the water.

"Oh, good afternoon." She said.

I looked back ahead of me. As I kept walking, I took a big breath of the fresh air and breathed out, Ha... Nothing better than some pure fresh air. It's not like being out in the state and seeing trash and crazy people on the ground, but don’t jinx yourself, Tenshi. The village might not be as good as I think it will be, but if Larah didn’t complain about it, then maybe I wouldn’t either.

As a minute passed, I entered the village. It was a beautiful village, and I would be impressed as I took the scenery. "Wow, it feels like the perfect amount of people here. This place really is something out of an MMO." "Oh, what if I could trade something valuable like this gold?" I pondered. I would look at the pouch I was carrying in my hand.

"Maybe I can get something better than groceries with this." I looked over to my right to see a sad-looking girl who looked about my age just sitting on a small crate, and it was a little girl with half silver and orange hair, elf ears, fox ears, green eyes, and an orange tail. Oh my god, a sad girl with cat ears! That girl looks like she was from my dreams! Oh yeah, thank you, Taren for this advice if it actually works. I cleared my throat. You got this, Tenshi. No being scared anymore. I'm a man.

I started taking a step, and some woman bumped into me. "Ah!" I yelped as I almost fell.

"Oh, My apologies, boy." the woman who bumped into me said with a smile. She looked down at me, and It was Flurisa. She was carrying a small box with her.

Dumbass should watch where she is going. I would look up at her with a fake smile. "Oh, it's all right—" Before I could continue, I felt goosebumps around me and a random feeling of fear and a heaviness in my chest.

"Is something the matter, sweetie?" She said as she kept her smile.

I looked down and shook my head.

"All right. Well, I’ll be off. Have a good rest of your day." She turned around and walked over to the little girl. "Come now, we can’t be here all day."

The girl nodded and got up. They both walked away and left. after seeing that, I felt confused, fearful, and frustrated. I wanted to say something, but it felt like I couldn’t speak with all this fear.

"Why... Can’t I say anything? My throat feels dry..." I shook my head and slapped my face softly with both of my hands.

"Calm down for a minute..." I mumbled. I looked over to where the two went, but they were already gone. I looked back down. Who the hell was she? Who the hell was she? And that girl. Was that her mother? No, they don’t look alike... And I was... scared? I looked back up. Well, I better get the groceries quickly before Taren comes to find me, and we have our first-ever argument, or would it be a second? never mind."

***

an hour and a half went by, and the sun was going down and right at the edge of turning dark. I had a bag full of stuff in my left hand and looked at the list on my right. "Well, that should be everything."

I put the list back in my pocket. "I should get back. walking alone in the night here feels creepy." And I don’t wanna end up like a character from a horror film. I mean, out of the village is a perfect spot for a killing to take place, I said to myself as I started walking.

As I started walking and nearing the outside of the village, I looked to my left to see Flurisa getting inside a two-story structure that was made of stone bricks. So, this must be where that woman lives, huh? Doesn’t look very... Homey, I shrugged it off and continued walking, but I stopped and thought back to the little girl.

I looked back at the structure and shook my head. "No, I can’t right now. I have to get home."

I made another step but stopped again. A small sweat drop came out the side of my head, and I remembered the advice Taren had given me. I'm always a scared ass, but now I want to be the hero? I looked back at the structure and thought about what I should do. "That girl looked so scared yet empty." Could she actually be kidnapped? I pondered. "Ugh, fine, if things go wrong, then I will blame it on Father since he said what he said."

I grabbed the bag with my right hand and dug through my left pocket. I pulled out the eyepatch Larah gave me right before she left.

I put it over my head, and it covered my left eye. All right, time to put all that story mode game knowledge to use. I took a deep breath and looked towards the sun, which wasn’t even there anymore. "Sorry, Mother and Father, but I guess I’ll be a little late."

I walked over to the left side of the structure and tried to find an unglazed window that had shutters over it that weren’t locked so I could get inside. Aha, perfect. I made some stone earth magic at the bottom of my feet so I could get in there, and it worked. The drop was loud, but I stood immediately frozen and listened to see if anyone was coming.

"Did you hear something?" Someone said behind the door, and it was a man's voice,

Oh shit, this was a bad idea... I was currently in a bathroom from what it seemed. I heard walking, but it got quieter, so I took a guess that they had left. I exhaled with relief. Phew, now I need to go find that girl. god, I'm gonna be in so much trouble when I get home. Okay, just bring her back home to her family, and done. I slowly opened the door, and it only made a small creek.

No one seemed to be walking up to me or talking about it. As I got out of the bathroom, it was just a few barrels with a hallway to the left and another to the right. "Hmm..." I decided to go left. "Man, this place looks almost like a dungeon and quite dusty as well," I said to myself as I looked a little afraid while walking through the short hall. I saw a room with a table and window, and there were two people sitting on the seats.

I was hiding in the corner and listened to them talking. One was a man with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a short bear. The same one that Larah met. The other one had long black hair and black eyes.

"Listen, we just need to keep doing her task, and then we’ll be done and free," the man with the black hair insisted. "It’s not like we’re stuck here forever," he added, sounding very casual.

The blonde-haired man shook his head, annoyance creeping into his voice. "You’re missing the point, damn it!" He exhaled sharply. "I need a drink. I need something to calm me the hell down with your stupidity."

"Do what you want." the black-haired man replied nonchalantly, using fire magic to ignite a cigarette. The brief flame illuminated his expression before he took a deep drag, letting the smoke curl into the air.

With a resigned shake of the blonde guy’s head, he turned and walked away, leaving the tension lingering in the air.

Now should be my chance, I said to myself. Uh, wait, should I just... Now that I think about it, maybe knocking him out would be more suspicious. I guess this is gonna be harder since these are real people and not NPCs." I made some rocks out of earth magic, and I shot them out the window.

The man with black hair looked at it but shrugged it off and continued smoking his cigarette.

Seriously? Fine. I said to myself. I shot five more rocks out the window.

"Hmph." The man said. He walked over to the window to see if there was anything out there.

I took a chance to walk to the other hall, and I successfully got there without being caught. I took a small break and exhaled with relief. Weird that they only have a few windows, I said to myself as I had my back on the wall.

I looked to my left and noticed the man with blonde hair looking right at me as he was holding a bottle of beer.

We were both just looking at each other for a couple of seconds. Before I had the chance to run, the man grabbed me, covered my mouth with his hand, and took me to a nearby room. I tried to scream for help, but I couldn't. We both got inside a bedroom, and as he let go of me, I started gasping for air as he closed the door.

"Hey, let me—" He closed my mouth again.

"Just relax. I'm not here to put you in any danger." The man slowly took his hand out of my mouth.

I would be stood right in front of him. Shit, I messed up. Now I'm stuck with this shithead. I dropped the bag and quickly took a step back, and summoned lightning magic that sparked around my fingers. With a fierce glare, I said to him, "Is the girl here?"

He looked at me, surprise flashing across his face. "Lightning magic? Please lower that hand. And what girl are you talking about?"

"The one with those cute long cat ears!" I shouted with a hint of frustration.

His confusion deepened, but after a moment's pause, he replied, "The demi-human? If we’re going to talk, I suggest you put that hand down like I said."

I hesitated, caught between my instincts and the escalating tension. I thought would lowering my guard bring a truce or just lead to more trouble? "Okay, but if you try anything on me, or I promise I’ll burn you."

"Such words for a kid, you remind me of an old friend. But you have a deal."

I lowered my guard, and the lightning from my hand would be gone. "Now, answer my question. Please."

The man walked over to grab a cup and put some bear in there, drank it, put the cup back down, and looked back at me. "First, let me ask you, what are you doing here? This isn’t somewhere safe to be in, and where are your parents?"

"...That doesn't matter. I just wanna know where the girl is."

The man looked down into his cup, which was almost finished. "The demi-human is in her room chained up."

I had gritted my teeth as he said that.

"But don’t go pointing fingers at me," the man said, taking one last swig of his beer. "It was Lady Flurisa Melia who set this all in motion. She’s, well... quite a strong one. I still can’t wrap my head around why she decided to kidnap that little girl, but here I am, along with a few others, caught in her web, forced to do her bidding until she’s finished with whatever twisted project she’s concocting." He scoffed, a bitter edge to his voice. "And who knows when that will be? I’m just trying to not have my own blood on the floor. So, is that enough to earn a little sympathy from you?"

I had a surprised expression on my face. "Wait, so let me get this straight. She kidnapped her, and you don’t know why, and you and the others here, except this flower girl, whatever her name is, are doing this for her bidding?"

The man nodded. "That's right. Of course, I feel bad for that girl, and I try to keep her safe as much as possible. She reminded me of..." It went silent as he stopped talking. "Look, we should get you out of here before someone else spots you or even her. Let's get you out this window." The man walked over to the closed shutters.

Holy crap, they are all doing this for her? That is just messed up. This dude makes this crazy chick sound crazy, but... I looked down and started thinking.

The man got the wooden shutters opened that revealed another unglazed window. "There, now get going."

I stood still and looked at the opened shutters and back at him. "I'm sorry, but I don’t think I’ll be doing that. I'm gonna go save that girl."

The man looked at me with a sigh and got in front of me. "Listen, kid. You're too young to understand. She isn’t someone to mess with. So please go."

The man grabbed my arm, and I gave him a small shock to his hand with lightning magic. "Ah!" He yelped as he looked back at me.

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I walked back. "You can stop me if you want, but I’ll make that shock much worse if you try anything. I have to go save her," I said with a look of determination.

The man looked at me with a hint of anger, and he scoffed. "Fine, go ahead. I'm not even the one guarding the girl, so it won’t be on my head. But what's your name before you go do your suicidal plan?"

This guy doesn’t know how many story games I played to do the impossible. And I'm a saint class now, for goodness sake. "It's Tenshin. Tenshin Trius. Yours?"

"Herrick Gowell."

I looked back at the door. I walked towards it.

"I hope you’ll have a quick death, and trust me when I say that's a compliment." He said.

I had a hint of worry. Still, I opened the door and got out.

As I got out of the room, Herrick was sitting on the bed, thinking about what had just happened. "Wait, did he just say he was a Trius?"

As I was out of the room, I continued sneaking. I went to the left and then straight since that's where the hallway continued. Shit, that could’ve gone better. If that was someone else, I probably would’ve been dead. I sighed. "I won’t die. I can get her out..." I whispered.

As I continued, I saw another door in front of me, and it was a small hallway I went to that led to the right. As I walked through it, to my left was this room, which seemed to have a few chairs and tables, another door, and another door continuing down the hall. There was just one guy sitting on one of the chairs, asleep.

"Hmm, seems like he's fully out..." I whispered. I started to normally walk past him to get to the door. and as I tried to open it, it was locked. Damn it, I bet that bastard has the keys, I said to myself as I looked back.

I walked back over to the guy who was asleep, and I saw the key just on the table. I casually grabbed it, and he was still asleep. Guess that wasn’t like the movies. Way to easy.

I walked back to the door, and as I shoved the key in the keyhole, it made a small, loud noise. Oh no. Maybe I am playing hard mode." I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and carefully turned the key as it kept making noise, and it was a quarterway turned. I looked behind me, and nobody was there other than the guy who was still asleep. I continued turning it, and I heard a click.

Phew. Okay, this better not lead to someone. Please give me your blessings, Larah. I slowly opened the door, got in it, and closed it.

I laid my hands on the door and took a deep breath out. "Thank god, that felt hard..."

I looked behind me, and I saw the girl sleeping peacefully on the ground with chains around her. I thought it had to have been her since I saw her white hair and orange hair mix, those cat ears, aka fox ears, and orange cat tail, but there was one thing I noticed as I got closer. on the sides of her head were longer ears. Wait a minute, are these elf ears? Wait, is she a half-breed? Didn’t Larah mention this to me?

I remembered back when Larah said: And some of the races you might find could even be rare hybrids like a demon and demi-human hybrid, for example.

The girl slowly opened her eyes and sat up on the wall while rubbing her eyes. I freaked out and waved my hands around the air, not knowing what to do. Oh crap! Okay, what do I do, what do I do? I calmed down and cleared my throat as I settled my hands. "Hi, it’s, uh, nice to meet you. I’m just here to get you out of here, all right?" My tone would sound like I’m nervous.

The girl looked at me with confusion and looked tired. She tried getting close to me, but the chains didn’t reach that far.

"Ah!" She yelped. She stood still and stopped trying.

I looked at her with a saddened expression as I looked at her cuts and bruises and chains around her. Wow, this must’ve felt like one shitty mess for her. I took a deep breath. Okay... As I reached out, gently hovering both my hands on her, she recoiled, fear flickering in her eyes. "Hey, it’s okay," I reassured her softly. "I'm just going to use a little healing magic, all right?"

With deliberate care, I maneuvered my hands closer to her. She stayed still, but the apprehension in her gaze lingered. As I focused, a warm green and blue glow emanated from my palms. In an instant, her bruises and cuts began to be a little healed but still a little shown. I'm only novice class so this is the best I can do.

When she looked down at herself, she looked confused but felt more comfortable with me close to her.

"There, now time to get you out of here before anyone—"

I heard footsteps behind me, and I quickly ran back to lock the door to listen to it. Damn it. Guess my luck is running out. But I can still get her out. I quickly ran back to the girl to figure out how to free her from these chains "Come on, come on. There must be a keyhole..." I looked around at the first chain on her right arm and noticed there was a keyhole "There!"

The man at the door started to bang "Hey! Why is the damn door locked!? Herrick!? Are you in there!? Who is it!?" The man out the door shouted, her and I both started to worry.

I took the key out, and it was slipping out of my hands, "Ah, ah, ah!" I accidentally dropped it under the door. Shit...

As I started to hear the door make a click sound, I quickly used some stone earth magic to block the door.

"Hey!" The man behind the door shouted.

I focused back on freeing the girl. "Okay, just calm down," I said. I grabbed the chain to her right arm and used stone earth magic to break it, and it quickly did it to each chain on her limbs till I got to the last one on her right leg. "There, done!" I exclaimed as I had some sweat come down my head.

The girl got up and was frightened as she looked at the massive stone holding the door, which was starting to break. "Move, please!" I told her. She moved to the left.

As I stood where she was standing earlier. I took a deep breath and aimed both hands at the wall. "Ha!" Sharp stones came out of the ground and broke the wall, showing the outside. "Come on!" I reached my hand to the girl, and she held on, and I carried her on my back.

I jumped out the hole in the wall as she held on tight on my back. There's no way she can run that fast when she is tired and still injured. Okay, I'm not even gonna bother asking where she lives, so for now, I should get us to my home as quickly as possible.

I ran to the right till I got to the pathway that leads outside the village. I kept running on the pathway for four minutes, and I looked back ahead. "Okay, maybe we should be good now. I didn’t even know I could run this fast."

I looked back in front of me and had a small smile but quickly noticed a round sharp looking sword coming right towards me Shit! I dodged to the right but tripped and dropped the girl.

"Ah!" Both me and the girl yelped. The blade made a small cut on my left cheek, and as I got up, the sword flew over my head, returning to the person who had thrown it.

In the distance, someone caught it effortlessly. I looked in front of me to see a woman in a black dress with red eyes and blonde hair.

"My, what a captivating scene," the woman remarked, her eyes gleaming with intrigue. It was none other than Flurisa Melia.

"My, A young boy rescuing another child? How brave of you, dear. I must admit, I envy your courage," she said, a chilling smile while licking her lips and her two swords held right beside her.

I felt fear but kept a straight face. Guess that's her. Okay, right now, I need to think of a plan. I just need to get me and her out safely somehow... Wait, Now that I think about it, what's scarier is that If I die, then once I go back, I could go to hell, and... My face started to show fear. Holy shit, I’ve been playing my second chance at life like fire!

Flurisa spoke and said, "Wait a second, you're that boy I met earlier today. What could you be doing here late at night, hm?"

I looked at the girl, who trembled on the ground, her eyes wide with fear. I turned my gaze to Flurisa. I hardened my expression. "What do you want with her?" I asked, my voice steady.

Flurisa chuckled, a cold, mocking sound that sent shivers down my spine. "Oh, it's nothing you need to concern yourself with," she replied, a sly smile tugging at her lips. "You’re just not old enough to understand yet, unfortunately."

I stepped forward, "Come on! Just tell me!" I insisted, urgency lacing my words. "Why would you kidnap her and drive innocent people from their homes just to bend them to your will? It makes no sense!"

Flurisa looked a little surprised at what she heard me say. "Oh? And who told you that?"

I smirked. "Oh, no one. You're too stupid to understand. Plus, I’m not a snitch."

Flurisa chuckled. "My, such a sassy one. You're smarter than you look. I bet your family thinks of you as a prodigy, but unfortunately, they won’t be happy to see you in a few eaten-up pieces." Flurisa ran towards me at a high speed, and I barely had time to react, but since my hand was already touching the handle of the short sword in my waist, I quickly took it out to block myself, and so both of our blades collided.

her strength was so strong it pushed me backward and fell on my head. "Kah!" I got up, but it started to bleed a little.

"Quick one. I'm sure you’ll taste exquisite," she said while still standing perfectly straight.

Man, this chick is weird as hell! I got up from the ground, and I aimed my hand at her to shoot some lightning strings, but she kept moving while running to me, and as she got to me, I used air magic to dodge since my small body was too weak for this type of fight.

As she got to me again, I went under her and shot stone-type earth magic at her arm, and as I did, her left arm flew out of her shoulder and onto the ground.

"Nice!" I looked over to her as I slid ten feet away from her. "Hah, how was that!"

Flurisa stood still and then turned around to look towards me. She didn’t seem to look in pain even though her arm was gushing out blood. "My, so much blood you made come out of me." She wiped her finger on the blood coming out of her shoulder, and she licked the blood off her finger. I was in complete disgust and shock. "Now then..." She would start coming at me at full speed and punch me in the gut.

"Gah!" I shouted as saliva flew right out my mouth. The sword flew out of my hand, and she punched me on the back, and I fell right next to the little girl.

Flurisa would walk up to us.

Damn it, now I'm starting to get how much I messed up and how shitty she is. I coughed up a bit of blood and looked at her from the distance. I then looked over at the little girl and reached my hand out to her. "Just... Run..."

She looked right at me as I spoke, and Flurisa looked right down at her. "Nuh-uh, uh, you’re not going anywhere. You know what happens if you do, don’t you remember?"

She was shaking in fear, but she nodded.

I aimed my eyes at her as my body was weak. "You sick... Bastard..."

Flurisa looked back down at me. "Be proud that you've come this far. You have great potential, and you could have become an amazing person, but this is where your time ends." Flurisa aimed her sword to the sky.

I closed my eyes completely, giving up. I'm sorry to myself, I'm sorry to the family I just made, I'm sorry to the girl I was supposed to bring home safe, and I'm sorry to you for the promise I made to Larah. I guess I’ll be seeing Maria again. As I said my final words to myself, Flurisa slashed her sword down.

I was there just lying there, but nothing happened. ...Am I dead?

I heard a man grunt in front of me I opened my eyes and saw familiar brown boots and beige lace-up shirt. It was Herrick with his sword clashed with Flurisa’s sword.

"Hey, kid," he said, a hint of relief in his tone. "Looks like I made it just in time." With a swift motion, he pushed Flurisa aside, the blade of his sword gleaming ominously.

"Herrick," Flurisa said with a smile while her eye twitched.

"Listen, you and the girl need to get out of here. Once you’re safe home, get to Taren and ask him about a guy he might know who's in trouble."

I got up with my arms and had a surprised reaction. "Wait, slow down for a minute. Herrick, you said she was not someone to mess with. Why are you here now!? Wait, my dad!?"

"Because I see a good kid in you, and I want to help put an end to this for me and the others. I have important people to be with again later, but right now, I need you to trust me and take action. So go now!"

I hesitated for a moment but quickly grabbed the girl. "Come on," I said to her.

She looked at me, still confused and frightened, but she listened and got on my back again.

I quickly ran left so I could get far from the fight. It was just Herrick and Flurisa glaring at each other.

"So, Herrick," Flurisa said. "You decided to betray me, I suppose? Fine. I was gonna eat you anyways."

Herrick looked at her with a grin. "They didn’t listen, but I suppose I was right. I knew that was your plan all along, and I know I may die, but I’ll die trying, even if I might not see the ones I love again. As long as I saved those two, I'm happy to realize my death will mean something."

The two stood in silence, but Herrick spoke again as held his sword right in front of his face, "So come at me, Flurisa Melia. I am the advanced class swordsman Herrick Gowell, and I will fight for the ones you have put to suffer, ones that you have killed, and to return to my family!" Herrick ran to her with a battle cry.

"Oh, I love your confidence just as much as the boy! You're gonna taste absolutely wonderful!" The two clashed and began the fight.

***

I kept running, and I was starting to get closer to the house. I felt dizzy from the amount of bleeding from my head, and I felt weak from the cuts and bruises. I kept breathing heavily and running as fast as possible. "I... I'm just right... There..." I stopped and went on my knees.

the girl looked concerned and got off me, and she just looked at me with confusion and worry. The house was just a few feet away from us, but then I saw someone walking right to me.

"There you are," said Taren, who was right in front of me wearing his red cape, iron chest plate, and iron gauntlets. "I just got back from hunting beast and was just going to go find—" Before Taren could finish his sentence, he looked at the state I was in and back at the girl, but he kept his focus on me and quickly kneeled down and held me so I didn’t fall. He looked back at the house. "Ria! Seris! Get over here quickly!" He shouted.

My vision was fading, darkness creeping in, but I fought to keep my focus. I knew what I had to say.

"D-Dad..."

Taren turned his head to face me. "Tenshi, stay up for a little longer. What happened?" Worry etched across his face, concern deepening his brow.

"He's fighting her... Please... help him..." I said with a shaking tone.

Confusion flickered in Taren's eyes. "Tenshi, who!?" Taren asked urgently.

With a shaky finger, I pointed down the pathway, my heart pounding as I struggled to make him understand the urgency of my words. Ria and Seris quickly ran outside.

"Please save him!" I shouted. I started tearing up as blood was still dripping down my head.

"Taren, what happened?" Ria asked, As she was the first to notice me before Seris. She quickly ran to me with concern, "Tenshi!" Ria cried out, dropping to her knees as she gathered me in her arms.

Luckily, I was still breathing.

Seris was also visibly anxious, glancing to her left where a worried demi-human girl, resembling an elf, stood.

"That girl..." Seris mumbled, her brow furrowed in concern. She looked back at me.

Taren, alert and determined, focused on the path ahead. A cacophony of sounds erupted in the distance, urging him to spring into action. He stood tall and turned around with a steely gaze. "Seris, Ria," he commanded. "Get Tenshi home and heal him. I need you to bring that girl with you, too."

"But where are you going!? Tenshi is injured!" Ria exclaimed, panic creeping into her voice.

"I’m going to find whoever did this to him," Taren replied firmly, setting his sights on the darkening path ahead as he took his sword out of his waist. "And kill them." With a mixture of anger and determination, he stepped forward, leaving Ria, Seris, and the girl to grapple with worry for me.

***

A couple more minutes went by, and Herrick fell to the ground with a few stab wounds on his chest and stomach and was also bleeding profusely on his head, much more than me. He was coughing up a huge amount of blood and was bleeding all around his body.

His sword was still in his hand, but he was too weak to get up.

"You fought well," Flurisa said as she stood right in front of Herrick. "But don’t worry, since you were my most polite subordinate, I’ll do the honors of making your death quick by starting off with my favorite part to eat. Your brain." Flurisa licked her lips.

Herrick had his eye turned right towards her since he now felt too paralyzed to move. "You... Dumb bitch... Go to hell with Desratch..."

"Oh my, that's not so kind of you. But I thank you for quenching my hunger, and once I'm done, I'm going to go back to find that boy and girl and understand that your death will mean nothing."

Flurisa laughed manically and held her sword up, getting ready to chop his head in half, but before she could, a gust of wind hit her head and cut the top left of her head, even reaching a bit of her brain.

It was Taren who used his ability called wind slash against her. He quickly kicked her in the gut, sending her flying.

Taren stood there where Flurisa was just standing. He looked back to see Herrick out cold, not even sure if he was dead or alive. "Seems like Tenshi made it out because of him... Herrick..." Taren looked a little saddened because he felt like it was too late.

He looked back in front of him to see Flurisa still standing but also covering the flesh wound on the top left of her head, just spewing out blood.

"My, an uninvited guest," Flurisa said.

An arrow was shot right at her neck, but it wasn’t by Taren. Taren heard footsteps behind him, and it was Seris still in her maid outfit and carrying a bow.

"So, was that who I thought it was?" Seris said, referring to Herrick on the ground. Taren looked shocked to see Seris.

"Didn’t I tell you to stay at home!" Taren shouted.

Seris turned her head to look at him. "Ria is fine on her own for now, and she allowed it. We will be back soon enough when we finish this and get Herrick to an infirmary." Seris looked back at Flurisa, who was still trying to get the arrow out of her neck.

Taren was still a little mad but calmed down and took a deep breath. He looked back in front of him towards Flurisa.

"I’ll handle it from here," Taren insisted, his tone leaving no room for debate. He turned his gaze back to Flurisa, a sense of urgency in his eyes.

Seris hesitated, uncertainty flickering across her face. "Are you really sure you can manage this on your own?"

With a confident nod, Taren flashed a reassuring smile. "I promise, I’ve got this. You need to concentrate on our friend who’s in dire need. Please."

Seris was still hesitant, but she nodded and had a look of determination in her eyes. "Okay."

Seris put the bow back on her back and quickly grabbed Herrick in her arms with a bit of struggle, but she ran as quickly as possible to get to the village.

Taren watched Seris leave and looked back at Flurisa, who had finally gotten the arrow out of her neck. "My, that wasn’t a pleasant feeling," Flurisa said while clearing her throat.

"Now, it's our turn," Taren said with determination.

Taren rushed at full speed to clash his sword with her, and somehow, Flurisa still kept up as she blocked with her sword. Taren quickly grabbed her neck, threw her right on the ground, and kicked her right up in the air.

Flurisa kept her composure as she was in the air.

"My, you're such a strong individual. Your face, too, resembles that child."

"That's because he is my son that you nearly killed, and for that, you will suffer a painful death as the cost!" Taren shouted as jumped high up to her and kicked her to the ground.

As Taren landed, her left room for another punch right to her stomach, showing the bump of the punch right behind her back. He stood there thinking Flurisa was finally defeated but just in case, he stood there waiting for the dust to clear up.

Flurisa, shown as the dust cleared out, put her hand right in front as if she were holding a ball, and in that empty space in her hand, something glowed blue.

"Unfortunately, this is where I fall out," Flurisa said. The two swords were also back on her waist.

Taren didn’t know what she was doing, but he quickly ran to her before she could do anything. "Oh, no you don’t!" Taren shouted.

"Farewell." The glow that was in her hands blew up to create steam all around her and Taren.

Taren couldn’t see where she was at, but he quickly used wind slash and slashed his sword all around the steam so it could clear up. However, as it cleared up, Flurisa was gone.

Taren went to the ground and punched it. "Damn it! How could I let her get away!?" Taren was angry and tried to calm himself down. He got up from the ground and looked ahead of him to where Flurisa was earlier. Well. She’ll probably die in a few minutes anyway. There's no way you can heal from that type of wound.

Taren started to walk back home. Please, Tenshi and Herrick, please be okay... Taren said with a look of worry.

***

A day had passed since the whole Flurisa incident, and I was starting to wake up. My eyelids were closed, and I could hear the sounds of birds chirping and the sunlight streaming into my room.

When I finally opened my eyes, I noticed that my vest and shirt were missing, but I felt healed and looked normal again, aside from having upper clothing.

I sat up in bed, feeling confused as I glanced around. "What happened...?" I mumbled to myself.

I got out of bed and did a quick arm stretch. Okay, wait a second. Let me think for a minute... I focused on my thoughts, recalling the events of saving the girl, confronting Flurisa, and being saved by Herrick.

"Oh, that's right... But wait, if all of that happened, then..."

I began to worry about what happened to the little girl. I hadn’t even explained to my family who she was. I dashed toward the door just as it swung open, revealing Taren.

He looked intently at me, and I met his gaze. It was silent as we both looked at each other in the eyes.

"Oh, uh, hey... Father..." I started, but Taren didn’t respond; he appeared disappointed as he had his arms crossed. "Uh, how is—"

"The girl is being taken back home to her family by Seris. If it is them..." Taren interrupted, his tone serious. "And Herrick is in the infirmary getting treatment. He’s currently unconscious or possibly in a coma."

I was shocked to hear this, and I looked down, recalling what happened again. "Oh... Wow..." I felt guilt wash over me. I recalled back to the time he mentioned Taren's name. I looked back up at Taren and started talking,

"Wait, Father, he mentioned you when he told me to run to you. Do you know him?"

Taren slammed his hand against the wall. "Enough about that!" he shouted, his tone serious.

I was taken aback by his sudden outburst of anger.

"What were you thinking that night, Tenshi? You didn’t listen to almost anything I said and nearly got yourself killed again!"

My heart felt heavy with a mix of anger and guilt for what I had done, even though it also felt right. I still had a reason, so I wanted to explain everything to Taren.

"I was trying to—" Before I could finish my sentence, Taren interrupted me again.

"No Excuses! All I ask is that my son doesn’t get himself killed and that he listens to his Father when he gives him instructions! You didn’t run from someone who could’ve most definitely killed you, and you came home late, and yet again, you nearly died!"

I looked at him with no reaction. So, this is what my douche of a father is really doing? The stupid excuses trick...

"Don’t give me that look. Say something!" Taren shouted.

I wanted to express my anger, but I knew that if I did, I would most likely lose like I always had in my old life. But unfortunately, I couldn’t hold it in.

"You know what? I did do what you said. Unless I heard you wrong about what you said at the end of our conversation, but if I didn’t, then I’d rather do what is good than listen to you, damn it!" I shouted.

Taren slapped me across the face, and I fell back.

Just... Hold it in and keep going... I said to myself.

Taren was shocked to see himself slap me. He felt guilty, but he stood his ground to try and teach me a lesson.

I got back up with a small red mark on my left cheek. "If you want me to talk, Father, I need you to stop thinking I'm making excuses."

"But it is an excuse! You know what you did! Now, later, we are going to that family's home to apologize for bringing that little girl into your mess. So be ready, and after that, you are grounded."

I wanted to let out more anger, but I took a deep breath and looked back at him. Taren then left and closed the door, and I was just standing there with anger and sadness as I was looking down and clenching my fist. Why, why is he like everyone else... Back then...

***

A few minutes went by, and Taren would have his armor pieces back off and his red vest. He went to get a mug of beer and drank it alone at the dining table. He looked at the palms of his left hand, and he couldn’t stop thinking if it was right that he slapped me.

Did I go too far? No, my father did way worse. I went on the right level, right? Taren sighed. I just don’t want Tenshi to do stupid things and lie. I mean, I lived with my own father longer than how long Tenshi has lived. If he dies this early, I’ll... Taren continued looking at his palms as they started to shake. I’ll be worse than him... Taren looked behind himself as he heard the door outside open.

It was Seris coming back with this basket covered in a cloth. She came back after getting the little girl home. She put the basket down on the random chair beside the door.

Taren looked up at her, and when she came back, Seris noticed him. "Is Ria not back yet?" She asked.

Taren shook his head and looked at his halfway-drunk mug. "She is still at the village checking on Herrick. I'm worried if the guy has anything to get back to."

Taren looked back up at her. "So, was that child theirs?" Taren asked.

Seris tilted her head in confusion before realizing he was referring to the little demi-human elf girl.

"Oh, yes, she was," Seris answered.

"That's great because Tenshi and I will be going there tonight to apologize to them."

Seris was puzzled. "Apologize? What does Tenshi need to apologize for?"

Taren got up.

"For putting her in danger by bringing her into that mess. I have to get him to apologize for that."

Seris chuckled at what Taren said. "In danger? Well, I don’t think she was in danger; at least, that's what I thought from the parent's reaction and what they said."

Taren would look confused, "Huh?"

"When I got her home, they were in tears and said she had been lost for half a year. I was surprised since it had been so long. So, I would say that Tenshi saved her instead of putting her in danger."

Taren would be completely flabbergasted. "P-please tell me you’re joking, right?"

Seris shook her head

Taren's eyes widened at her words. He recalled when he had interrupted me, and his heart grew heavy.

"But I did tell them that my nephew saved her, and they were so grateful that the basket here," she said as she patted the top of the basket, which was really the cloth cover. "Is actually some beast. The man told me it was a hogfa. We should eat this for dinner tonight when Ria gets back." Seris said with a smile on her face.

Taren began to feel guilty about the false accusations he had made against me. "Sure, Seris. I'm going to go upstairs and take care of something," he replied.

Taren walked out of the room, passed by Seris, and quickly made his way upstairs. "Tenshi!" He shouted as he barged into my room. Taren called out as he looked around, but I wasn't there.

Taren looked around and noticed the half-opened-up wooden shutters and window. He walked towards it, hoping I didn’t run away, and as he got to the opened shutters, I was there lying on the branch of the tree as I had a white shirt on, just holding up a fireball and looking at it.

Taren sighed with relief and got close to the shutters and didn’t know what to say. He knew he had to apologize, but he didn’t know the right way.

I already noticed him, yet I didn’t take my eyes off the fireball on my hand

"Tenshi," Taren said

I stayed looking at the fireball but answered back, "Are we gonna go to that family now? Or are you gonna keep abusing the power of a father and say what else I have done wrong without me explaining?" I chuckled. "Bet that felt really nice earlier, right?"

Taren didn’t answer back but kept feeling even more guilt the more he stayed quiet for a bit and then spoke. "Tenshi... I..."

"I'm ready anyway. I just thought it would be more in the evening."

"No, Tenshi, just... Just say whatever you need to say."

I clenched my hand, and the fireball blew out. I turned myself to face Taren, and I was now sitting on the branch. "What should I say? They are all excuses anyway. Or maybe I just thought wrong. Maybe it's fine not to be a good person. Maybe I should follow the rules more than being good, right? Guess that's the Trius family, right? Just being a bunch of rude people, and maybe when I grow up, I should also abuse the power of a father, and no matter what my child says, it will always be an excuse. Won’t give him or her one chance; I will just shut 'em up. Isn’t that right, father? You understand."

Taren looked down and had nothing to say. He knew I wasn’t being serious, but he knew that that's what he was showing.

"Just... Tell me what happened. I wanna hear everything, and I promise on this whole family I won’t shut you up or interrupt you."

"...All right then."

***

hours passed, and it was now late in the evening. After Taren heard the whole truth about the story, I was downstairs with Ria, so she knew I was fine. Taren was currently up in his and Ria’s bedroom, just sitting on the bed and drinking the rest of his beer as the candle was lit on top of the bedside drawer.

Tenshi did something that even I wouldn't have done at his age. Maybe I am becoming just like my old man. Tenshi doing something foolish made me a little happy, and it seemed like he was finally acting his age, and for once, it felt normal. But once again, he didn’t. But it amazed me. I'm out here trying to provide him with a good childhood and teach him to be a decent person at least, yet here I am, being a foolish dumbass. It really highlights how incredible of a Father I am. Taren took the last sip of his beer, looked at the door, and felt too embarrassed to encounter me again if he stepped out.

Ria opened the door and saw Taren on the bed. "There you are," Ria said."I was looking for you."

Taren looked up at her "Oh, sorry. It's good to see you again."

Ria walked over to him as she noticed something off with his mood. She sat down next to him with her hand on his shoulder "Is it about Herrick? If it makes you feel better, he's not for sure dead. He's just in a small coma."

Taren hearing the news made him sigh. "But no, it was... I just had my first argument with Tenshi and... I was wrong..."

Ria went quiet for a bit after hearing that, but she gave Taren a chance to explain. "About what?" She asked.

"...About him disobeying what I said about being safe and about bringing that little girl into it. Remember yesterday?"

Ria nodded. "And you thought it was wrong to be mad at him?"

"Look, he did disobey what I said but also obeyed. He didn’t follow my rules but he also did something good like I taught him. Some good I wouldn’t have done at his age."

Taren looked down to the ground as he continued, "He saved that little girl, and if he didn’t, maybe she wouldn’t have seen her parents again. I feel like a bad father for being wrong on the first one. I don’t even know how he will look at me now."

Ria wrapped the rest of her arms around him and laid her head on his shoulder.

"It's okay," she said. "You might’ve been wrong, and I won’t lie to make you feel better, but I know Tenshi will forgive you; just be a little softer towards him and give him time to talk. I know you will learn from this. That's what being a parent is about, correct?" Ria would give a soft smile.

"Sure, but—" Taren was about to speak, but Ria shushed him with her finger on his lip.

"Trust me on that. The whole point of being a parent is to learn from your mistakes, so from now on, you'll learn from this and any other mistakes you make along the way. You understand?" She would set her hand back down.

Taren nodded with a small smile. He then cleared his throat. "And about Herrick, you said he was in a coma?"

Ria nodded as she backed away from the hug.

Taren sighed and didn’t say anything.

"Have you ever thought about whether the rest of our party is okay?" Ria asked as she looked ahead.

Taren looked at her. "Well," Taren said as he pondered, "no, not much, really. I mean, so much time has passed. Most of them probably have settled down like us or on their own continuing going on as adventurers or other stuff."

Ria let out a small internal chuckle. "Fun times. It’s almost been a decade since we all disbanded." Ria side-eyed Taren. "You were one wild beast who couldn’t contain himself when it came to a specific few women..."

Taren turned his head to face her. "Oh, come on, don’t be like that. We weren’t so into each other at those days anyway, Ria. I’ve said it more than once, and I’ll say it again. I love you and only you."

Ria blushed and cleared her throat as she stood up. "Good. Now, we should get downstairs. Seris apparently brought some beast meat, and it’s almost done. I made sure to save the other half for another day."

"...All right," Taren said with a smile.

***

We were all sitting at the dinner table, and I was thinking to myself as I was enjoying the food. I'm just happy that all went well, yet could’ve gone better, I said to myself. I'm happy I did something good for once, but was it worth it? Man, I did shit that could’ve killed me. I'm honestly hoping I see that girl again; she was kinda pretty, but other than that, I'm just glad to be alive and continue my second chance. Man, I’m still shaken by her. I said to myself.