Niel feels like his chest quite heavy, but somehow he doesn't mind it. It's actually comforting him. When he opens his eyes, he finds the day already passes and changed into the night, with only moonlight illuminating the room through window. He looks at his chest, and finds small dragon with beautiful light blue scales sleeping on his chest. The warm feeling on his chest gives him some strength that he loses. He reaches his left hand to pet it.

"Villy..."

Niel said with low voice. He continues petting Villy's scales. And then he realizes his body is covered in blanket. He remembers he puts the blanket away from him when he woke up this day.

"Thanks."

Niel gives his thanks to Villy. After that Niel hears loud grumbling noises. Villy who is peacefully sleeping on his chest wakes up. When she finds Niel already awake, she immediately rubs her head against his cheek.

"Pyuii!"

"Yeah. Glad to meet you again, Villy. Even though it's only been a day."

Niel smiles at Villy who is sticking herself to Niel's cheek happily. He picks her up, sits on the bed and puts her on his lap.

"Pyuii!"

Villy let out a big smiles on her face as Niel strokes her.

"If you're here, I believe Remilia is okay with this, right?"

"Pyuii!"

She gives him a nod.

"That's good then."

Niel wonders why Remilia is okay with Villy go to him. He definitely heard her said that she needs Villy.

"You're not running away, right?"

"Pyuii! Pyuii! Pyuii!"

Niel a little bit suspicious of Villy. But she denied it by shaking her head vigorously. He looks at her with worries on his face. He was concerned about whether it was okay for her accompany him. But his worries are distracted by loud grumbling noises.

"Sorry. I didn't eat anything today."

"Pyuii!"

Villy flies to the table near the bed. She fires her breath at the candle on the table and lights it, revealing foods on the table.

"Where did you get it?"

"Pyuii. Pyuii!"

Villy trying to explain it to Niel. She makes a gesture of someone knocking the door, after that she opens the door with her little claws from the other side. Next the person who's knocked the door surprised, after she explain what happened they gives her foods and pointing at him. It's a little bit to hard for him to understand, but he still gets it.

"So, someone coming and give me some foods?"

"Pyuii! Pyuii!"

Villy nods her head with big smiles on her face.

" Do you know who brings me this food?"

"Pyuii!"

Villy nods again and pointing to the ground around.

"Someone from downstairs, huh?"

"Pyuii!"

"Thank you, Villy."

Niel pets her head and sits at the chair near the table.

"Do you want some?"

Niel asks Villy if she wants some of the food. She shakes her head and taps her belly, telling him she is already ate.

"Well. I will eat all of the food then."

"Pyuii!"

Niel starts craving the food. Villy just looks at him with her adorable smiles while sitting on the bed.

"It's not as good as Selia's. But it's still good nonetheless."

After Niel done. He feels more alive. He is still hungry, but he still feels better than before.

"Now, what should we do next? There is nothing much to do in the middle of the night. And I don't think I can sleep again after sleeping for a whole day."

After sleeping all day and had some food, Niel feels he has some energy to spare.

"I guess I will go take a walk outside."

"Pyuii!"

"No. You don't have to go with me. It's still midnight, if you still sleepy you can wait and sleep here."

"PYUII! PYUII!"

"Don't scream, Villy. It's still midnight. People in the other room is still sleeping."

"pyuii. pyuii. pyuii."

Villy immediately holds her mouth with her hands when Niel reminds her. But she immediately open her mouth again and speaks with a low voice.

Niel understands what Villy is trying to say to him. He already expects this to happen.

"I know I will probably get lost, but I believe you can just find me later. And it's not like I'm leaving this city."

Niel gets up from the chair and walks to the door. Villy flies towards him and nests herself on Niel's shoulder. Both of them stares at each other for a few seconds.

"*Sigh... Okay. You can go too."

"Pyuii!"

Niel sighs in defeat and Villy shows her excitement. They go outside from the bedroom. After they're downstairs, they see some people still here eating and drinking, and behind the bar, there is a slightly burly man sitting crossing his hands. When he sees them, he keeps staring at Villy.

"Oh. You're the guy with the dragon. I heard you didn't come out from your room for the whole day."

"Sorry about that. I didn't know I was that tired and slept the whole day. Also thank you for brought me the food."

"Don't worry about it. As long as you didn't end up dead in our room, then it's okay. And the one that brought your food is my wife, she is really worried when you didn't come out from your room and decided to bring you some food."

"Ahaha... I-i'm really sorry. Please give my thanks to your wife."

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Niel awkwardly laugh and lowered his head a little bit.

"Yeah, yeah. I accept your apology and received your thanks. Now if you don't have any business here, you can go."

"Oh! How much is the food?"

The man, owner of the inn, points at a board with menus of food and prices written on it. Neil stares at it for a while, but he doesn't know which one he ate before.

"Umm. Which one is the food your wife brought me?"

"Dunno."

Niel shuts in silence when he heard the short answer.

"Well, I will pay the food later in the morning then."

"What are you talking about, kid?"

"What?"

Niel looks at the owner with confusion about what he is asks him about too.

"I want to pay the food your wife brought me."

The owner lets out a sigh like he's done with this.

"Thought you're gonna order some food or something. If you're worried about your bill, forget about it. Your friend already paid us enough for you to stay here for years. And you don't need to worry about paying for your food. You can eat here for free, anytime you want."

Niel a little bit surprised when he hears his friend already paid for him, for years. He smiles wryly, when he realizes who the payer is.

'Probably Tristan's doing.'

Tristan is not a big spender, but when it comes to Niel or Noelle, he always overdoes it. Selia always scolds him for this, but he never changes. Niel knows that Tristan thinks of him as his little brother, but he's always been spoils him too much.

'Selia will furious if she found out about this.'

Niel smiles a little when he imagines Tristan getting scolded by Selia. But his smile fades when he thinks about how he can't go together with them anymore. Villy, who sees his sad face, she looks at him with concern, then pets him with her little hand trying to comfort him. The owner looks at them in silence with a straight face.

"Pyuii..."

"Ah! Sorry about that. Looks like I'm spacing out a little bit."

Realizing he makes Villy worried, Niel smiles at her and pets her head.

"By the way, do you want to eat something before we go?"

"Pyuii!"

"Alright then."

Even though she said she already ate before, Villy didn't reject Niel's offers. Niel sits on a chair in front of the bar's counter.

"Can you bring us your best foods, sir?"

"Two ember roasts then. What about drink?"

"Belbo's juice and warm milk."

"Alright. Selia! Two ember roasts, one Belbo's juice and warm milk."

"Okay!"

Niel and Villy flinches when they hear familiar name. They look at each other and trying to brush it off, since her voices different.

While waiting for their food. Niel tries to make some conversation with the owner.

"By the way, sir."

"Don't talk to formal, kid. Just call me, Hal."

"Okay. Do you know any places we can go to pass some time in this hour?"

"There's only some taverns or inns that open at this hour. There's also adventurer guild that open twenty four hours."

'Adventurer guild...'

In the past, Niel never had any chances to go there; everyone in his party members, except for Niel, had already been there before. Remilia and Tristan often went there to find out if there was something the guild couldn't handle. Greg had a lot of acquaintances in the guild, most of them were guild masters or other important individuals. Selia always went there first whenever they arrived in the city to sell their loot. Chelisa helped the guild heal any adventurer with grave injuries and also assisted civilians in need. Meanwhile, Niel trained his sword skills with his summoned monster and Villy. His party always encouraged him to wait, or train himself, and not wander around the city.

"And brothels."

"!!"

Niel flinches when he heard the word Brothel, he remembers about it in the past, the memories that's leaving lasting effects on him and Lisa. One day, while strolling around the town with Chelisa, he overheard two men talking about going there at night. He asked Chelisa, but she didn't know either. When he approached Tristan, he simply warned.

"Don't go there. It's not a good place to hang around."

When he asks Selia. With a terrifying smile, held his shoulders and said.

"Never go near that place, Niel. That's place is bad for you."

When he asks Greg, he just dismissed it and said.

"There is nothing to see there. And I didn't see you drinking any water today."

Remilia, however, had a different response.

"Alright. Prepare yourself, we will go. And call Lisa, she will go with us too."

Niel felt a little bit excited at that time. He was wondering what kind of place Brothel is, and run to fetches Chelisa.

Niel remembers the mixed emotions he felt that day—an experience he can and cannot forget.

"I assume you understand what it means. Lisa please take care of him. I will go take a bath. And I'm sorry for making you go through this, Lisa."

"I-it's okay. *Hick"

Niel lying on the bed, he finds his body can't move anymore. He never knew it will turned out like that.

To this day, Niel still don't understand why Remilia needs to beat him repeatedly. She also makes Chelisa traumatized with the word Brothel. By beating him until he almost die, Remilia instructs Chelisa to heal him. Chelisa who cannot handle looking at Niel getting hurt, holding her tears the whole time. She also begs to her several times to stop, but she just said it's an important training for him.

Niel thought the reason Remilia beats him was to tell him that the place is too dangerous for him, and she wanted to show him he wasn't strong enough to go there yet. But he also thoughts that is not the case.

"I think I will go check the adventurer guild first. What do you think, Villy?"

"Pyuii!"

Villy nods her head happily, agreeing with Niel's suggestion.

"Is the food not ready yet, sir?"

"What do you think? Is there any food in front of you? And I told you already, just call me Hal."

"Yes, sir."

"Are you playing with me, kid?"

"No, sir."

The owner, Hal, gets irritated at Niel, a vein visible on his forehead.

"So, you're mocking me, huh?"

"I don't have any intention to mock you, sir. It's just that my sister always told me to respect the elders."

Hal immediately calms down after Niel explains it to him.

"You could've just said so from the start."

"I'm sorry."

"Whatever, just call me whatever you want."

"Yes, sir!"

"*Sigh... You're too stiff, kid."

Hal sighs in defeat. Villy watches their interaction with a smile on her face. Niel rarely talks to others aside from his former party members. It's not that he is shy; he just doesn't have many chances to talk. Even when he attended the academy, not many people had the courage to approach him since he was always with Remilia, who is a hero.

"Is the food not ready yet, sir?"

"Patience, kid. It's not even five minutes yet."

While waiting for their food, Niel and Villy play rock, paper, scissors. When they get bored, Niel teaches Villy some simple calculations. After twenty minutes, a woman comes out from the kitchen, holding a tray with food and drinks. She's dressed in a brown maid outfit with a white apron, her brown hair neatly tied with red bandana.

"Uncle. Where should I bring-"

When she sees Villy, she immediately gets excited, leaving the tray on the counter and running towards her, causing Villy to flinch.

"Pyu-pyuii!"

"Whoaah! So cute! C-can I hold it?"

"Selia. The food."

"Sorry, uncle."

Selia takes the tray back, starts to walk away, but shortly after, she stops. Then she looks at Hal with a bright smile.

"Where should I bring this?"

Hal taps the counter in front of him while closing his eyes. When Selia realizes where she needs to bring the food, she gets excited again and runs towards Villy.

"Are you the one who's gonna eat this, little dragon?"

"Pyuii!"

"So-so cute!!"

Villy raises her hand with a big smile, enchanting Selia with her cuteness.

"Please! Let me hug her—no, let me pet—no no, let me just touch her! I will pay for your food!"

"Well, I'm not the one you should ask."

Selia begs Niel to let her touch Villy, but he tells her to ask Villy directly.

"Selia, leave the food here and go back to the kitchen."

"But uncle! It's a—"

Hal and Selia are about to start an argument but stop when they hear grumbling noises. They look to the source of the sounds and find Niel smiling at them while feeling embarrassed.

"Sorry about that. Looks like I'm still hungry, even though I already ate before."

***

"So your name is Villy. That's really cute name."

Selia takes a seat beside Villy, watching her chomp her food on the table. She also tries to touch her tail a few times.

"Hmm. Not too bad. I think it's a little bit better than the other one I ate before."

"What?"

"?"

Selia's attention immediately shifts to Niel when he comments on her food while eating, and Hal looks at him a little surprised.

"Looks like you're quite hard to please, kid."

"What do you mean 'not too bad'? That is literally the best food in this city!"

Hal looks at Niel with an amusing look on his face, while on the other hand, Selia looks upset.

"The best, huh?"

Niel scans his surroundings; there are only two tables occupied.

"Hey! It's in the middle of the night! It can't be helped."

"Well. It's always easier to make excuses."

"Y-you-"

"Pyuii."

A vein pops out on Selia's forehead, and she's ready to jump at Niel at any moment. Villy shakes her head as if she's used to this kind of scene. Niel never has any problems like this when talking to the elderly; when it comes to someone close to his age, he is always blunt. However, if he's in the wrong, he will admit it.

"I know someone who is better at cooking and never makes excuses when she is doing bad."

"Why don't you just eat her cooking then?!"

"Of course, huh. Not only are you good at making excuses, but you also like to throw your responsibility at others."

Unable to handle Niel anymore, Selia jumps at him. Hal and Villy sigh in exasperation at the same time.

"If you think my food is that bad! Why don't you try making one yourself?!"

Selia seizes Niel's collar, vigorously shaking him.

"I never said your food is bad, lady. And there's a genuine excuse why I'm ordering food instead of making it myself."

After Niel says that with a calm tone, Selia stops shaking him and releases his collar.

"You."

"Yes?"

"You're supposed to tell me your name after that!"

"Just ask then."

Selia gets annoyed again at Niel, but she takes a deep breath and calms herself.

"Whatever. Just remember this, next time you come here, you will find better food."

"Yeah. Do your best."

***

After Niel and Villy finished their meal, they prepared to head to the adventurer guild.

"We will take our leave now, sir. Thank you for the delicious food."

"Be cautious out there, and don't forget your weapon. Even though this city is safe, you never know what might be lurking in the shadows at this hour."

"Don't worry, I have her with me. She's much stronger than you think."

"Pyuii!"

In the midnight, the city lay calm and still. Dimly lit magic lanterns cast a soft glow on the cobblestone streets and surrounding buildings. The bright night sky revealed countless stars surrounding the moon. In this quiet night, only Niel walked the streets with Villy on his shoulder.

"Good thing you know where the guild is."

"Pyuii!"

Niel felt relieved bringing Villy along; he would get lost without her. Reignfable is a vast country, and its capital city, Oracle, is enormous.

After navigating a few turns, Niel and Villy stood in front of the Adventurer Guild.

"It's closer than I thought."

The imposing structure loomed over Niel, its entrance adorned with a sign depicting a shield and sword. Light comes out from the windows, and muffled sounds emanated from within.

Niel entered the bustling guild hall, where various adventurers, warriors, mages, and rangers went about their business. Some glanced at him, while others remained absorbed in their tasks.

'Now that it comes to my mind. What should I do here?'

Being unfamiliar with the place, Niel pondered his next steps. He couldn't simply leave after entering the guild.

'If I'm not wrong, people make requests here and let the adventurers handle them.'

His eyes caught sight of a large board covered in papers on the side of the room. People scanned the notices pinned there, and Niel felt compelled to investigate.

'Maybe I should ask that lady behind the counter first before I check that board.'

As Niel approached the receptionist desk, more eyes turned toward him, many of them fixating on Villy.

"Do you need something, sir?"

'Now that I'm already here. What should I say?'

Uncertain, Niel glanced at Villy, who innocently tilted her head.

'Screw you, Villy. Why do you have to be this cute at this time?!'

"Do you want to register your monster?"

"N-no. She's already registered."

Niel recalled Remilia mentioning Villy's prior registration, but it didn't offer much help in his current predicament. Desperate for a reason to be in the guild, Niel struggled to come up with a purpose for his visit. But suddenly something comes up in his mind.

"I want to register myself."

"Do you have any ID you can show us?"

Niel has a special ID card given to him as a member of the heroes' party. He heard from his friends that with this card, he could enter any place he wanted. However, he rarely brings it with him as he always loses it somewhere. His friends reassure him that it's okay if he loses it, since no one except him can use it, and they can just request another one. Despite their reassurance, he doesn't want to trouble them every single time. Currently, he doesn't have it with him and left it at the inn.

"I'm sorry. I left my ID at my lodging. Should I go take it first?"

"Your ID is not an absolute requirement for registration. However, having it would expedite the process. If you prefer to take your ID beforehand, please feel free to do so."

"I will register now, then."

"Please complete the registration form. It is important to note that any falsification of information may result in consequences or penalties as outlined in our policies."

The receptionist lady gives Niel the registration form. He fills it without any problem but pauses at a certain point.

'Class? What kind of class is this about? Should I write civilian? Wait, is it middle class? No, I already received my nobility peerages. Upper class, then? Better ask first.'

"Excuse me. What should I write here?"

"Oh, class? Please write your role in the party. Like swordman, mage, or healer."

"Oh. Okay."

Niel about to write summoner, but he stops himself. He decides to write swordman instead.

After completing the form, he hands it to the receptionist. As she checks the form, she immediately focuses on the name and realizes he has a second name. In this world, having a second name means you are a noble. This surprises her, but what astonishes her the most is his names.

"M-my Lord. C-can you please wait for a while?"

"Huh? Umm. Sure."

"Please excuse me!"

The receptionist lady bows at Niel and rushes upstairs. The other staff looks at her with a confused face. After she is gone, their attention shifts to him. Not just the staff, but the adventurers around also look at him. Niel just smiles awkwardly at them, and Villy looks around with confusion.