Adrest felt a little twinge of pain in his heart, but knew Rin needed space to process, so he forced a smile back on and grabbed an empty stool in front of Rose.

“Rin really is amazing, guiding all of you through a dungeon and fighting an A rank Resha by herself. I guess she really is our little hero.”

Adrest could guess Rin left a lot out and was thankful as he really didn’t want Rose scared of them.

“Yeah, Rin was a real lifesaver a few times. If all heroes are like her, the country is in good hands.”

Rose agreed and set a mug filled to the brim in front of Adrest. Adrest downed the entire thing. It turned out to be a honey beer that was in fact delicious.

He was only a bit into his second drink when Alissa and Belle came out in tee-shirts and baggy pants, looking refreshed and exhausted. They took a seat to either side of Adrest and gratefully took the offered mugs from Rose.

Alissa got a berry mead Rose knew she was particularly fond of, while Belle got a fresh squeezed fruit juice which was hard to come by this deep into the winter but Belle earned it.

For the first time in days Adrest felt completely relaxed, muscles that he didn’t even realize were tensed relaxed and it felt like his mind was slowing down. He enjoyed listening to Alissa and Rose catch up and playing cards with Belle to keep her entertained.

After an amazing dinner as usual and several hours of drinks at the bar, Rose looked to the stairs worriedly before looking back to the trio.

“It’s getting late and Rin still hasn’t come back down, she has to be as hungry as you were. Could I bother someone to take her up something?”

She looked to each for volunteers, but the older two didn’t feel comfortable with the task, afraid it would do more harm than good. Belle saw the problem and was happy to raise an arm, “I’ll do it!”

“Thank you so much Belle, I’ll be right back with it.” Rose smiled sweetly before running off to the kitchen to make something for Rin.

Soon Belle was walking up the stairs balancing a large tray of pancakes, eggs, and fried potatoes for Rin, her favorite meal. Belle made it up to the next floor with no incidents and was knocking on the door that belonged to the hero.

“Knock knock.” No answer.

“Knock knock.” No answer.

“knock kn-“

“I don’t want to talk to you Al-! Oh Belle?” Rin flung open the door and started in a rage, but calmed when she realized it was Belle.

“Rose was worried since you haven’t been downstairs for dinner yet, so she made this for you.” Belle explained sweetly.

Rin was thinking about rejecting her as Belle was so close to the dragon and demon, but that cute innocence and the smell of her favorite food teasing her empty stomach overrode that. Rin opened the door and gestured Belle inside.

Belle obliged, set the tray down on a small table and turned to Rin.

“Why don’t you like Big bro and Big sis anymore?” Belle just came out and asked it with a childlike look that she may or may not be abusing.

Rin looked like the breath had been knocked out of her by the blunt question. She thought for a long second before sitting on her bed and gestured for Belle to do the same.

“It’s not that I don’t like them anymore Belle. It’s more I feel like they’re dangerous strangers now. It feels like this whole time they’ve just been playing a game, hell Alissa could’ve torn though that dungeon alone if she wanted. I can’t even count how many stories I’ve heard in school about the lying and deceitful demon tricking and killing seniors, or dragons razing cities because they liked the landscape. But then I think of the last week together and I don’t want to hate them. But I just don’t know what to believe right now.” By the end Rin was nearly in tears.

In the orphanage Rin had plenty of friends in the other children and nuns, but after moving to the capital she found she never fit in. Not educated enough, not skilled enough, just not enough in the eyes of children who grew up training specially for this since birth, given the best medicines and educations available. The people who attended were extraordinarily talented, usually coming from well-known families and famous Adventurers themselves. There were only a small handful of people like her who came from common backgrounds, and they saw her as competition so their encounters were lukewarm at best. Their tuition and expenses were all paid for as they came from no money, and they were given many opportunities to earn more, but there were only so many good jobs to go around, and it was strictly merit based.

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The little traveling family of Alissa, Adrest, and Belle were the first friends around her age she’d made in years, excluding Rose, and she had been looking forward to all the places they’d visit once they were promoted and all the exciting things they’d do. But now it all went up in smoke.

Belle tilted her head so that one ear flipped down, making the teary eyed teen unwittingly chuckle through the tears.

“But it’s not like Ady and Ali were acting any different from usual? They love to drink, eat, and play. Ali is always teasing Ady, and Ady is getting beat up for annoying her. If Ali isn’t teaching or training us, she’s telling me stories or playing whatever I want. They’re the family I always wanted, and I’ve thanked Nina everyday for them being the ones to buy me.”

Belle just said what came to mind as she compared how they’d acted since arriving at town and how they acted at home, and Rin listened, slowly hoping.

“They didn’t lie about that?” Rin asked moving her head towards Belle.

Shaking her head Belle said, “Nope, it happened just on the other side of town, you can ask Rose, we came here right after, Ali even carried me the whole way because my feet were hurt.”

Seeing Belle had her attention she continued, “Big sis Rin, I’ve heard a lot of stories about dragons and demons when I was a kid too. They were about how strong and smart the dragons are and how the best beast-kin would get to meet and even learn from them. I’ve heard about really old demon Kingdoms too, with Lords that sacrificed themselves to kill evil Gods.”

Rin listened intently as Belle added, “And compared to every human I’ve met, Ady is nicer. He makes whatever I want, he teaches me a lot, tells me stories, and he even got really hurt to save me.”

Belle grew less energetic at the last bit, but was happy to answer when Rin asked, “He saved you?”

Belle smile was tinged with some sadness, “I was a few hours away from home and some bad guys tried to kidnap me, a treasure from Big sis Ali kept me safe. Even though he was still D rank like me Ady attacked the group. He ended up covered in a lot of cuts and burns and broke a few bones, he looked like Ali earlier.”

Rin was smiling as she could imagine him doing that with the way they doted on Belle.

“Thanks Belle, I have a lot to think about I hope you don’t mind if I eat alone?”

She shook her head and hopped up, as she was at the doorway Belle looked back to Rin, “Goodnight Big sis Rin.”

“Goodnight Belle.”

Belle made her way back downstairs where Alissa was in some sort of fight with Adrest, jabbing her finger at him to dodge. Rose was wiping down the bar and cleaning for the night and Belle thanked the Goddess Nina once again.

Later that night, after Alissa answered all of Belle’s questions while Adrest helped Rose finish cleaning downstairs and she drifted off to sleep. Adrest walked in and took a seat across Alissa at their small table.

“It’s a damn shame we couldn’t process that Earthen Titan, we could’ve bought a town or two.” Adrest was lamenting their rushed exit of the dungeon when Alissa tapped his shoulder and showed a sly grin.

“I picked this up on my way through.” Alissa raised her hand and a blue and subtly glowing crystal covered in glowing purple script appeared, floating on it. It was almost twice the size of Adrest and took up most of their free space.

“I already sealed it so it isn’t emitting any power, but it’s about 20 times stronger than the Scarlet Rent core we used a few months ago. I’m not sure what yet, but we can find a use for it eventually.”

“It’s amazing you were able to still grab that after the fight you had. Speaking of, what exactly was it that protected Belle and I? It acted alive.” Adrest asked the question he had wanted to ask for a few hours now.

Alissa giggled, “That’s a special mirror my oldest sister gave me before I left. It holds a projection of her that holds a tenth of her strength. She said I had to open it my first time fighting an S rank, it’s an important moment in the family. Even though that ass hadn't taken the last step he could've matched one, his bloodline was a bit special even among other Earthen Titans. He could control metal and his control over water was almost better than earth. If I had to guess, he was either lucky or talented and his bloodline achieved partial atavism and gained more traits of the Black Tortoise. So, I asked her to protect the two of you while she watched.”

Adrest thought of how the misty blue dragon looked at him a few times and his faced went to pale as a corpse then red as a tomato. That means she saw that.

Alissa had to cover her mouth to keep from waking up Belle while leaning back in her seat cackling madly, knowing what he was thinking.

“That’s right! If it makes you feel better, Zoya said you weren’t that bad. And I liked it too Ady…”

Alissa got quiet towards the end, but Adrest could still clearly hear her words, he looked out of his hands. Alissa was blushing but still meeting his gaze through the gaps in his fingers.

Adrest leaned over the table slowly and seeing a shy smile greeting him, he moved with confidence. Their lips locked for the second time.

Alissa wrapped her slim and tanned arms around Adrest’s wide shoulders and pulled him closer, savoring this new experience. She felt her face burning both from embarrassment and excitement, her heart fluttering, and her mind filled with every side of Adrest she’d seen over the past half year. From the weak and pathetic newborn groveling at her feet, to when he’d cook for her, his face when he gently wakes her up every morning, and his cool side when he is fully immersed in a tough fight. She loved it all, every part of Adrest, and she wanted their idyllic days hidden away to continue forever.

They finally separated, and a bridge of saliva still connected them. Seeing it, Adrest blushed and swatted it away, looking back at Alissa who was flushed and smiling giddily.

“Hehe-. Let’s go to sleep Ady, sweet dreams.”

“Goodnight Ali.”