A few days had passed since we arrived back in Sura and My party’s time off continued with no sudden interruptions. I had come a long way since I had first arrived in Sura, my agreement with Antoris was nearly completed, I was close to reaching the requirements to become one of the top benefactors of the guild. We had become so effective that despite the constant looks of disgust myself and my party got, we could carry an entire clan through a dungeon raid like it was nothing. We were becoming a force to be reckoned with in Sura.

Still, I never once forgot about my original goal and thinking about that reminded me about the two, I practically raised into who they are now. In a way they were the closest thing to what I felt back in Mythral. They became an extension of myself. In fact, there was something rather nostalgic about the moments I spent with them.

“Oi, Kazu. You listening or what!? Lilith keeps repeating your name and it’s starting to piss me off,” Reiner sneered clearly irritated by Lilith who was easily ignored as her head bounced around in front of my gaze.

I rolled my neck away from Lilith before I responded. "... I heard her… what requires my immediate attention Lilith?” I asked giving her the attention she wanted.

"Lilith wants to go eat! We haven't been able to do that for a while! Lilith wants us to go,” she exclaimed excitedly before she sent a brief glare at Reiner, “… he can come to, he always does,” she added with a huff leaving him to snort in response.

Their arguments had significantly lessened since we first came to Sura, but they got along to a more tolerable extent and most of the time they grumbled instead of trying to be right. A large part of that was my influence on them. They were practically my students when it came to Magical Energy and everything else, they learned a lot from me to become the very extension of myself.

“And where would you like to go? Since this was so important,” I asked as she began to think about it way too hard to the point, she was tapping her lip.

“Umm… Lilith… it’s, It’s! That place that has the really good meat buns. Lilith likes them a lot. The ones with the sour honey glaze," she explained with a wide smile clearly thinking about it. I knew the place she was talking about. It was rather popular, and we’ve eaten there a few times before.

"... Alright, then it’s decided," I said before standing from the couch with her jumping with excitement. Reiner didn't have much to say on the matter as he followed suit.

With that decided we left the room to the streets of Sura. As usual me and Reiner walked side by side while Lilith skipped in front of us humming away.

Lilith remained a mystery and I never found myself actively trying to figure her out. Despite this I knew that there was something more to her, after all she absorbed my Magical Energy as if she couldn’t cultivate it for herself. Not to mention her aura of familiarity and even the way she acted around me. But in all honesty, I chose to let her do what she wanted to do, she became much more valuable after I had began teaching her. The proof was the chaotic power of destruction she now wielded.

It wasn’t long before we arrived at the restaurant we decided to go to. It was rather packed with people and buzzing with many conversations.

The three of us headed to a free table with only a few looks from those around us. It was always expected, I would always get those looks, even some benefactors did to some degree.

Regardless, Reiner and Lilith got comfy in their typical spots. Reiner slumped into the corner of his side while Lilith sat right beside me. The waiter wasn’t long to arrive as she took down our order.

It was an easy enough pick from previous times here, although Lilith ordered the same thing as always. Soon enough we had our plates and Reiner and Lilith dug into their meals.

With our meals our idle chatter continued as we ate.

“Tch, I’m not looking forward to that expedition to the Labyrinth… just watch we'll be going with some stuck up clans. It's always like that on expeditions, heh, and we always have to put up with that annoying garbage,” Reiner growled as he took a bite of his food, but clearly not in the mood to enjoy it.

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“That was quite random, I can tell your not looking forward to it Reiner,” I remarked as I threw some chunks of meat into my mouth.

He only scoffed at my comment in return. "Heh, you don’t even know how it is... these worthless patron clans are nothing compared to the trash of Graced Clans," he sneered.

“Are they? I can’t say I’ve seen or heard much about them and if I’m being honest Reiner, do they overly matter.” I said unconcerned by such a trivial thing. Reiner clicked his tongue but knew I was right.

“Heh, I’ll never get used to that creepy expression you have. Still, I can’t stand that Graced clan trash, ya know if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be known as the hound of black flames…” he sneered with a glare at nothing in particular.

Reiner's thoughts seemed to be lost in his past, and I wasn’t going to stop him from speaking about it. Although, it was clear he was increasingly becoming more open around me, and I didn’t mind in the slightest.

“Heh… I once burned an entire village to the ground. I didn’t murder anyone out of pleasure like some say… there were things that weren’t even people, they were insane creatures pouring a visible mana out of their bodies.” Reiner sneered at the memory with an unpleasant growl and his eyes were clouded with a deep hate toward something that happened then. “And yet when that village burned in my flames, those creatures turned out to be the villagers, I had no proof, I was immediately arrested and trialed... Those graced clans didn’t give a damn about anything I said. If not for the guy Lilith traveled with and the guild, I would be long dead," he stated in disgust as he angrily chewed the meat in his mouth. “… I saved them from seeing those horrors and I was outcasted as the hound of black flames, it’s pretty damn funny, isn’t it?” he finished his story with a low growl as if the anger of his past still remained.

“Is that so… if it means anything now, I would have believed you, if that didn’t happen, I doubt you and I would be sitting here talking like this. And I wouldn’t get to see all your dormant potential,” I said honestly which caused him to shift uncomfortably in his seat.

Regardless of my words he couldn't help but scoff. "Heh, your probably right,” he said squeezing his hand into a fist well aware of his improvements and control over his Magical Energy.

While we had our small talk Lilith was sidetracked by her favourite meal. It wasn't long before our conversation began to die down and we finished off the rest of our meals.

Which was paid for with a few silver coins and we stepped out of the restaurant with full stomachs.

Of course, we only had one destination on our mind and that was our room at the Inn. It was already late in the evening as the sun started to fade, but the streets of Sura were still full of activity.

We walked side by side through it all without a care in the world. “Lilith is glad we came here. She even got some food for our other friends.” Lilith stated proudly but not entirely making sense on who exactly she was referring to, and by food she meant a fist full of crumbs and a half eaten meat bun.

Although it didn’t matter much, I simply acknowledged her with a small hum.

“Tch, she’s been feeding a set of birds that linger around the window of our room. It’s kind of weird that she talks to them about you too,” Reiner remarked with annoyance as she gave a small scoff.

“Lilith isn’t weird! And they like Kazu, that means he likes them too. And they deserve to eat good food too!" Lilith huffed in her own defence not that I actually concerned myself with it, after all it was just Lilith being herself.

However, my attention shifted beyond our chatter to a notice board we had almost passed if I hadn’t halted in front of it.

“Funny they keep piling up, and their Monarchs still ignore it” Reiner sneered the second he saw what was on the board.

Countless missing person reports were posted on it, all from clans across Aterius.

The missing persons reports were not new in the slightest, they had been around before I had returned to the mainland. It was a reminder of Antoris’s plans to investigate the matter officially once he had the influence and agreements of the other Monarchs.

Although for now, I was left to my own speculations on the subject, “… whatever this is about, it will be dealt with soon. Antoris has it all figured out, I just find it odd even S-rankers are disappearing as well,” I remarked almost as if I expected them to not succumb to whatever was happening.

Regardless there wasn’t much we could do about it as we left the notice board behind us.

Eventually we made it back to our room, Lilith quickly got distracted by her pet which waited for her company at the window before she returned to my side.

The day was practically over, and I had no other plans but to lay in bed till I fell asleep. Of course, my shadows weren’t far behind me, they always seemed to be at my side, not that I minded, it was only natural to happen considering our growing relationship and close living environment.

Our everyday lives became a routine of us sharing the bathroom if one of us occupied it, sleeping at the same times, and whatever else usually consisted of three of us, or not at all.

Regardless, my thoughts settled as Lilith stuffed her face into the pillow beside me and Reiner grumbled in his sleep on the other bed.

Which left me to be the last to fall asleep, perhaps I was just content with how everything was going. It wasn’t long till even I drifted off into the thoughts of my rest.