"Ryuji, are you okay...?"

I was lying on the bed, covering underneath the blankets, at the basement of the old reeky tavern we had first stayed at on arrival to Lunaris. A week had passed since the day Kaito died, but the images of the children's eyes filled with betrayal and hatred haunted me even in my sleep.

Hearing no response, Shizu walked closer to the bed, her footsteps hesitant and slow. "It wasn't your fault, Ryuji," Shizu said. "You shouldn't feel bad for what happened."

Shizu sat down beside me, a sad frown etched on her face. "It... it was all that guy's fault," she said. "He attacked you even though you were so kind and offered to help him. We had no choice but to kill him. We didn't do anything wrong."

"..."

"I... um... don't feel bad, Ryuji... please... you can't stay in bed forever..."

"..."

"Ryuji... talk to me please..."

Shizu reached over and shifted me gently on the bed, moving my head out of the covers so that I was facing her. I stared blankly at her, and saw a scared, anxious expression on Shizu's face. "I'm sorry...! It was my fault, Ryuji, s-so please blame me! You can even hit me if you want to! I was the one that killed him, so--"

"Stop it," I said, and Shizu froze at my voice. I gave her a weary look. "Everything... was my fault. I should had just left the job alone. I don't know what I was doing, trying to persuade Kaito to stop. All it ended up doing was make things worse."

"Ryuji..."

"I... I was just trying to do the right thing," I muttered, avoiding Shizu's gaze. "Now I don't even know what's right or wrong anymore. What use am I as an adventurer?"

"That's not true! T-that guy was on a suicide mission. If you didn't try to stop him that time, he would had eventually been caught by other adventurers and died all the same."

"Yeah, but we don't know that... Maybe if I just minded my own business, Kaito would still be alive."

"Who cares about him! The important thing is that you're alive, Ryuji. One dead person doesn't matter in the scheme of things!"

"The people there too..." I droned on to myself. "Without Kaito around, they're probably all going to die from starvation because no one else is providing for them... and the children..." Flashes of the children's stares of hatred and betrayal filled my vision, and I swallowed, resisting the urge to throw up again.

"I can't do it, Shizu," I ventilated, rolling back around on the bed to face the stone walls. "I can't face the people in this city."

Things were turning out just like my old life before being isekai'd. How ironic.

"Ryuji..." Shizu nestled up closer to me. "You don't have to worry about what anyone else thinks. Even if the whole world is against you, I will always be here right by your side. I will never leave you. I promise. All you need is me."

"..."

"We don't need anyone else," Shizu said. "Let's just pretend we're the only two people living in this world."

"That honestly sounds a bit frightening, Shizu..."

"I-if you don't like it here, we can always travel some place else," Shizu said. "We don't have to stay at Lunaris. Besides, I heard outside that they're planning to use this city as a military fort anywa--"

"--What?" I flung the blankets off me, staring wide-eyed at Shizu.

"We can travel some place else?"

"No, what you said just before."

"This city is going to be used as a military fort?"

~x~

"Oh, hey."

Emerging from the rundown tavern, we saw Leo leaning against the wall to the side of the door outside, waiting for us. He greeted us with a small nod, keeping his arms crossed.

"Leo?" I said, surprised. "Were you waiting for us? What are you doing out here?"

"We had a deal, remember?" Leo replied coolly. "I said I would join your party if you proved yourself by completing that thief catching job. From what I've heard, you managed to handle yourself against ten guys on your own, even taking down six of em."

He leaned away from the wall, facing me. "Even for a Brass-ranked adventurer, that would be a tough challenge on its own. But on top of that, you pulled it off as a Mage class. Impressive."

"Is Mage class supposed to be bad?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No, there's nothing wrong with Mage class. But they're not really known as solo adventurers. Typically, mages stay at the back in a party and cast spells."

I laughed feebly, "I was lucky. In the end, Shizu had to save me anyway."

"Ah, I heard about what happened. Sounds like things got pretty rough with the leader of the thieves," Leo walked over to me and placed a hand on my shoulder with a solemn expression over his rugged face. "You two did what you had to do. Being in our line of business as adventurers, sometimes we have to make difficult decisions. It's all part of the job, Ryuji."

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"Leo..."

"To be honest, I wasn't sure if you two were ready to be adventurers at first. But there's no more doubts in my mind anymore," Leo said, then glanced down at the bandages wrapped around my right shoulder and elsewhere across my body. "So, you feeling better now?"

After being stabbed by a sword in my right shoulder, I was still recovering and could barely raise the arm. The other injuries on my body were minor and were healing fine on their own. Physically, I felt fine. Mentally was a different story.

"Yeah, I'm ok now," I lied to Leo, then changed the topic. "Shizu told me that this city was going to be used as a military fort, that's why I thought I should come out and see what's happening for myself. Is it true?"

Leo nodded sombrely. "Apparently the Vasily Empire is making moves much earlier than the Mideron Empire anticipated. I'm not privy to military intel, but word on the street is that this city is going to be the target of an invasion by the Vasily Empire in around 1 month's time."

"No way..."

"Well, considering Lunaris' location on the map and being so close to the borders in-between the two empires, it hardly comes as a surprise," Leo said. "I just didn't expect it to happen so soon."

"What's going to happen to all the people living here then?" I asked hesitantly.

Leo sighed, "I'm not sure. But my guess is that they'll probably form a militia out of the people living here to defend the city. Lunaris has a strategic location that's too good for the Mideron Empire to just give up."

Images of the children's tear stricken faces, painted in Kaito's blood flashed in my mind. A horrible pit sat in my stomach.

They're going to use the people living here as shields...?

"Relax, Ryuji," Leo said, staring at my face. "Good news is that I heard there are currently 3 Imperial Mages stationed in this city, and another one has been spotted in a nearby town. On top of that, they've been bolstering up the number of knights here by quite a bit. Even the Vasily Empire will probably have to think twice about attacking this city based on that alone."

"T-three Imperial Mages...?!"

I thought Innis was the only one here at Lunaris. Now he's telling me there are two more of these guys running around the city?!

"Yeah, that's right," Leo chuckled. "Personally, I haven't seen any of them walking around the city with my own eyes, but others have."

Leo stopped when he noticed Shizu hiding behind me anxiously. "Your partner doesn't talk much, does she?"

I glanced behind me at Shizu, then laughed weakly, "Ahaha, it's okay, Shizu. You don't have to hide here. Leo's our friend."

"Friend...?" Shizu repeated quietly.

"Yeah," I forced a reassuring smile. "He's our friend and will be part of our party from now on."

"..."

Shizu stared across at Leo with a blank look in her eyes. He shifted uncomfortably underneath her gaze, which surprised me considering how stoic and cool Leo normally was.

"Hey, Ryuji, you don't need to force her to talk if she doesn't want to," Leo said. "Being quiet is sometimes not too bad either."

"True," I said. "Anyway, let's head for the guild. I want to find out more about what's happening to this city."

Leo nodded, and together, the three of us headed for the adventurers' guild.

~x~

In the end, I decided to stay at Lunaris and witness what would happen during the Vasily Empire's planned invasion of the city. Even though people around said there was nothing to worry about and remained optimistic due to the presence of three Imperial Mages at Lunaris, I couldn't shake off the feeling that I needed to help out if things went wrong.

Over the next few weeks, the three of us continued to take on jobs from the guild, one after another, gradually improving our skill along the way. Shizu and I were even promoted one rank up to being Steel-ranked adventurers during this time.

"[ Explosion ]!" I chanted, directing my palm at the looming blue-skinned ogre running at me.

The spell released a blinding light, and an ear-splitting explosion echoed through the forest. When the smoke cleared, the ogre lay motionless on the ground, its body charred and smoking.

This was the first time I had ever successfully cast the [ Explosion ] spell, which was typically expected of Silver-ranked adventurers and considered a powerful D-tier spell. As a Steel-ranked adventurer, three ranks below Silver, I was amazed by my own achievement. After an entire week of practice, I had finally managed to do it.

Clutching a fist of triumphant to myself, I walked over to the ogre to inspect the fallen foe and make sure it was indeed the one specified by the job contract.

"Watch out--!"

I glanced up, just in time to see another ogre charging out from the trees towards me.

Leo ran forward, jumping up to smash the ogre's skull with his mace, intercepting its path and causing the ogre to crash into a tree to the side.

"Leo!" I said, surprised.

The ogre pushed itself up from the ground, then roared, slamming both its arms to the ground and causing a mini-earthquake that made me lose my footing. Crap, I had not been expecting for there to be another ogre in the forest. The contract only said there was one!

Leo was jumping from tree to tree, avoiding the ground as he pushed off each tree with his feet to get to the next, making his way towards the ogre before whacking it over the head again with his mace, sending its blue blood flying.

The ogre swatted at Leo in the air, trying to squash him like a fly, but his movements were quick and controlled, avoiding the ogre's hands. With each strike the ogre missed, Leo would return with a counterstrike, taking advantage of the ogre's lack of defence and guard.

Eventually, the ogre succumbed to the brutal pummelling Leo gave it, crashing lifelessly into the floor with a loud thud. Leo's performance was nothing short of masterful. To be frank, I was baffled as to why he was only ranked Brass. Judging by his skills, I would have assumed he was at least Bronze, if not even Silver.

Leo dropped down in front of me, his mace swung over one shoulder.

"You have to be careful, Ryuji," Leo said, offering a hand out to me. "Your fighting style is very aggressive and close-ranged for a Mage. That leaves you quite open to surprise attacks."

"Thanks," I grabbed Leo's hand and he pulled me up from the ground. Leo was always giving great advice, which was one of the reason I was improving at such a quick rate over the past weeks. I glanced around, "Where's Shizu?"

Leo scratched his head, looking around the forest as well, "Not too sure. That's the other problem..." he sighed. "That girl's always running off on her own or sticking right by your side. Individually, she's very skilled, no doubt about it, but she has no sense of teamwork at all."

"You're right," I said, feeling guilty and understanding Leo's frustration. "Sorry, I'm working with her to improve on that."

"Do you know what she tried to do on our last job?" Leo asked, glancing at me in disbelief. "It was a monster-slaying quest as well, but she tried to use me as bait to lure the monsters out! I almost died, being surrounded by several packs of alpha wolves on my own!"

"I... I will talk to her about it," I tried to reassure Leo. "Definitely."

"I think something is seriously wrong with that girl," Leo continued. "If I didn't know any better, I would think she was trying to kill m--"

"Ryujiiii~~!"

Shizu ran towards us, an ecstatic look on her face, her cheeks slightly flushed. I glanced at the knife she was holding in her hand that was dribbling a trail of dark red blood all over the forest floor.

"What happened...?" I asked Shizu, almost too scared to ask the question.

"I... I..."

Shizu stopped in front of us, catching her breath for a second, then glanced up at me with a broad smile that sent chills down my spine.

"I... I caught an Imperial Mage...!"

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AI generated image : Shizu

[https://i.imgur.com/nmC00PA.png]