After walking down a few streets, I took out my cigar case and lit a stogie.

The breath of smoke I took in washed over my body, dampening the pain of my arm.

After that, Umara paused and looked at her Aerial.

“Tana just texted me. She’s wondering where we are.”

“If she doesn’t want to stay then she can come find us. If she does though just let her be.”

“She says she’s with Mira. They want to join us.”

“Oh. Alright then.”

I shrugged, finding a building to hang around.

A few minutes passed like that, and soon, the two girls found us.”

“Hey guys!”

“Hi Tana.”

“Hey Feiden.”

Mira walked over, cutely taking up a spot beside Feiden. He smiled at her, but noticing my gaze, he got a bit embarrassed.

I laughed as he scratched his head with a red face. He was probably still a bit tipsy.

“So… what happened?”

Tana asked, prompting Vetsmon to explain.

When he finished, she looked at me incredulously.

“Why would you talk back to the President?! That’s suicide!”

“I don’t care. Besides, I’ll be back soon enough.”

“Still! The President is one of the most powerful and respected people in the entire Kingdom, and you brought embarrassment to his mansion. That can’t end well! You’ll become the target of every noble’s ire!”

“I think I already was.”

I let out a breath accompanied by a long plume of smoke. At this point, I honestly didn’t care what happened.

In my mind, I thought about the worst case scenario. If I got expelled from the Magisterium, while I would be left with a bad record, it wasn’t like I couldn’t go and make money. It also wouldn’t stop me from joining the military where I could follow Umara.

And I was pretty sure that the Church was also an avenue from what Maxwell had told me, though I wasn’t sure exactly what they did.

So the Magisterium was really just a way to gain experience and time to advance my Authority. It was in no way my lifeline.

I could always fall back on something, and that put me in the position where I could shove a middle finger in the President’s face and not regret it.

I was quite satisfied with my actions back then. It was fun telling tyrannical authority to go eat a dick.

Tana smiled wryly.

“Alright, so you’re suspended, and we’ve all left the party. What now?”

“The party was boring anyway. How about we find a nightclub?”

“A nightclub? I’ve never been to one.”

“Me neither.”

“First time for everything. Come on. I know a good one.”

“Wait, what about your arm?”

Umara stopped me with an important reminder before I could lead the way, causing me to chuckle a bit.

“Oh, right. Here, I’ll send you all the location. Head over there and I’ll meet up with you guys later. It shouldn’t take me that long to get patched up.”

“I’ll go with you.”

Umara stepped up, and in the moment I just shook my head.

“You can stay, I’ll be right back.”

“No, I want to go with you.”

“...Alright, fine.”

I shrugged and started walking off with her as the others made their way to the nightclub.

Since I didn’t feel like walking the distance, I hailed a carriage and had it take me to the Golden trading post.

That’s where we entered the Founder’s Market, heading to the hospital I frequented since going to the Magisterium to cash in on the Puppet Master’s offer was now off the table. Along the way, we also changed into our regular set of clothes. For me it was easy, and apparently Umara had those special rings as well that let her equip clothes with ease.

So we didn’t attract tons of unwanted attention with our kingly attire, arriving at the hospital smoothly.

“Ah, it’s John! And a girl.”

“Hey Kayla. How’s the night?”

“Going well, can’t complain. So what happened? Another run in with friends?”

“No. Had to deal with an annoying knight. He crushed my arm.”

I pulled back my sleeve, showing off the massive purple bruise that covered my entire forearm.

Her eyes widened.

“Wow, he got you good. If you’re here though, that probably means he’s dead in a ditch. Alright, come on back. I’ll grab the healer.”

“Thanks.”

I smiled and grabbed a room with Umara. And within just a minute, the healer came.

“Hello John. Broken bone, I hear?”

“Hopefully not completely broken.”

I showed him my arm, prompting him to cast a complex spell that lit my arm up like an xray scan.

“I see a few fissures going down both forearm bones, but no complete fractures. There’s also a dislocation that I need to manually slip back into place first.”

“First?”

“Yes, it’s going to hurt since moving a cracked bone usually isn’t painless.”

“Alright, just get it over with.”

I handed him my arm, which he took in both his hands, smiling.

“I’ll count to three. Ready?”

“Sure.”

“One-”

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*POP*

“AGH!”

I grunted in shock as he jerked my bone back into place. My arm trembled for a while, the pain a bit overwhelming.

“Y-You said three!”

“Haha, it’s better if it's a surprise since you don’t tense up. Alright, I’ll start the healing now. Take this pill.”

He handed me a large pill that dissolved the moment I put it into my mouth.

After that, he cast some more spells that healed my bones, fusing them back together along with repairing a few ligaments.

After about 5 minutes, the spell stopped.

“Alright, you’re all done. Give it a few days to rest and you’ll heal without issue.”

“Thanks doc. How much do I owe you?”

“Give me a coin and we’ll be good.”

“Mm.”

I nodded and retrieved a gold bullion, flicking it to him. Getting the services of a healer who could fuse bones in a matter of minutes actually cost more, but because I frequented this place so much and treated them nice, I was a valued customer who got discounts occasionally.

*Ting!*

“Got it. Have a nice night, John.”

“You too, doc.”

With that, Umara and I walked out of the hospital.

We went straight out of the Founder’s Market, but instead of heading to the nightclub, Umara pulled me somewhere else.

“Where are we-”

“Just come.”

She didn’t answer me as she linked with my arm and pulled.

Eventually, we happened upon the Black Spider Hotel, which she pushed me into.

“Oh, it’s John. How unexpected.”

“You’re as surprised as I am.”

“Hi Key Master! Excuse us.”

Umara didn’t give us the opportunity to talk as she pushed me straight into an elevator.

“Your room.”

“Hm.”

I gave her a side eye before inserting my key and punching in the numbers.

Before long, we arrived in front of my room, which when opened, was slammed shut as soon as we walked in.

And the moment the door closed, Umara jumped on me, wrapping her legs around my waist and planting her lips on mine.

We kissed for several seconds before I barely managed to separate and spit some words out.

“Damn. What’s got you going?”

“Just shut up and kiss me.”

“Mmph.”

She jumped back on me, the two of us tumbling to the bed.

After that I wasn’t allowed to talk. And needless to say, we didn’t end up making it to the nightclub.

……

…

“He’s not answering.”

“They ditched us.”

“Well, maybe John’s injury was pretty bad.”

“It’s been two hours.”

“...I said maybe.”

Feiden scratched his head with a wry smile.

Vetsmon could only grumble, crossing his arms.

They had arrived and entered the nightclub. It was a loud and dark place filled with alcohol and fast music.

After being seated in a more private booth, they got several bottles of alcohol and started the party. Along with all the other people in the club, they danced, sang along to some popular songs, and drank. The place was new but they quickly blended right in, enjoying themselves.

But two hours later, everyone but Vetsmon was half drunk and John and Umara had yet to show. It was obvious what they were doing, but Vetsmon still wasn’t happy.

Not only that, but he was beginning to feel a bit out of place.

After some moments of silence, in the corner of his eye, he could see Mira and Feiden subtly kissing in the corner.

It made him scoff inwardly. It was like they were trying to hide it, but because they were drunk, they did a very poor job.

The first few times it happened, Tana had spoken up and interrupted them. But after she had a few more drinks, she didn’t even care.

From the side, Vetsmon saw her stealing glances with a flushed face.

He watched her, finding it curious how she could stare at something like that so easily.

But then, he suddenly saw her look at him.

“Uh…”

He whipped his head away far harder than he should have, his ears burning.

In his mind, he reminded himself about how irresponsible it would be to engage in a relationship, especially during this phase in his life. They were fighting the Scourge and there was no room for distractions, only training to make sure they could keep their lives.

But then, a voice came that seemed to shatter those thoughts as if they were nothing more than delusions.

“Hey… Vetsmon?”

“Y-Yes? Ah!”

The big man flinched when Tana’s hand curled around his arm, her chin resting on his shoulder as she looked up at him.

He saw her slightly messy blonde hair and her deep green eyes, and in that moment, there was nothing he could think of except how beautiful she looked.

He hadn’t really thought about that before. His mind was so filled with his training and strengthening that he never paid any heed to the women around him. And because he was from the Church, it never seemed like anybody outside of that circle wanted to engage with him anyway. They held certain standards that needed to be met by anyone wishing to pursue them.

But now, in this nightclub, he was captivated by this drunken blonde beauty whose breath reeked of cheap liquor.

“I… want to do what they’re doing.”

“I, uh, I don’t…”

Vetmon’s words couldn’t seem to come out as Tana leaned in.

Her lips approached his. He was so nervous in that moment that he froze like a statue, watching her face get closer in slow motion, every one of his senses working in overdrive and his adrenaline surging.

He prepared himself for his first kiss, thinking that he would be fine if it was her. No, he wanted it to be her.

But then, just as he thought of the future and what it might hold for them, Tana’s eyes widened.

And Vetsmon watched as she jumped away from him, leaning over the booth and vomiting.

“Bleghh…”

“...”

He sat there, his heart in shambles as the blonde beauty spilled the contents of her stomach all over the floor.

And slowly, he turned his head to find Feiden and Mira continuing to make out.

His head fell, slamming into the table dispiritedly.

But deep inside, his heart pounded like it never had before, brand new thoughts surfacing like a fire and unable to be quenched.

……

…

*Ring*

“Hm?”

My eyes fluttered open as I heard the sounds of a call on my Aerial.

I groaned a bit before tapping it.

“Hel-”

“John!”

“Agh! Why?!”

I groaned more as Vetmon’s shout shook my ears.

He continued.

“I-I need to talk to you when you get the chance.”

“Huh? Why? What happened?”

“Nothing urgent. I suppose I just need advice. Can we meet for lunch?”

“...I guess?”

I answered back confusedly, hearing a relieved sigh on the other end.

“Thanks. Bye.”

*Click*

The call ended. For a while I stared at the Aerial, but I was too tired to figure things out so I just fell right back into my pillow.

After some time, last night’s memories came back, making me smile. And thinking about Umara, I turned around to see her.

When I did though, I felt a jolt go through my body.

There she was, sprawled out on my bed, in a nightgown.

We had changed at some point during the night since we didn’t want to roll around in bed in a suit or uncomfortable robes. Turns out Umara had brought clothes for another one of these occasions, the naughty girl.

But now, after rolling around in her sleep, the loose shirt she wore had slipped.

I saw an entire exposed boob, and unlike Vetsmon’s shout, that sight woke me up almost instantly.

The size, the firm shape, the perkiness. I don’t know why, but I felt my head spin a bit.

“...Holy C’s. Fuck.”

I suddenly reached over and pulled the sheets over her before jumping out of bed, my movement waking her.

“Hm? John?”

“Good morning.”

“Mm, come here.”

She beckoned me over, but I just continued walking away.

“I’m at half mast, just give me a minute.”

“What?”

She responded confusedly as I entered the kitchen where I couldn’t see her. Then, I tapped my Aerial and ordered some room service.

After that, I spoke.

“Vetmon called and he wants to see me, so I’ll have to go after breakfast.”

“Oh, alright.”

She chimed back before yawning, simultaneously shifting in the bed. I could hear the sheets move.

And after that, everything went silent for several seconds as if she were frozen. I then heard her jump out of bed.

“I-I’m gonna use the bathroom.”

“Go for it.”

After I spoke, I heard her scamper through and shut the door behind her.

I just waited in the kitchen, channeling my inner zen and waiting for breakfast.

Thankfully it wasn’t long, so once I brought it in, I diverted my focus and went to town on the platter.

Umara also came out in her normal robes, her face a bit rosy. More noticeable was how she didn’t make much eye contact.

After calming down though, I looked straight at her and grinned.

“You look gorgeous this fine morning.”

“Eeuhh, stop it…”

She quickly covered her face with her hands, making me break out in laughter.

She was too easy to tease.