"Why did you stop? Make haste, vice-captain, we have to rendezvous with the other nobles soon."


    A voice resounded as avish carriage came to a stop at the outskirts of Cadun vige. The upants of the carriage were already desperate, taking a dangerous shortcut to cut their way through the hills.


    "That, mydy, it seems some people are tied up ahead."


    "Tied up?" thedy tilted her head.


    "Sister, you should wait here. I''ll go check it out."


    "I''lle along."


    The two lords and the knight stepped out of the carriage. Not far away tied up with a waning string were a boy with shark-like teeth and a handsome man half asleep.


    The two scions of the Hall Marquis had encountered a pair of gold-ranked adventurers on their way to the Imperial Capital.


    ***


    "D-dawn..."


    "Oh? How surprising, so you remember me?" Dawn took a step closer. Instinctively, I backed away.


    "H-how can I ever forget—"


    "Why? I thought you didn''t remember all your one night stands. So, you fuck someone and then disappear once you''re bored, right?"


    Shit. I couldn''t say no here. It was my fault.


    "Oh!" Titania eximed from the side. "So that''s what happened."


    Suddenly, I felt her kicking my face with her tiny legs. "You''re scum! I am not helping you with this anymore. You better apologize properly."


    "Look, that wasn''t my—"


    "Wasn''t what!?" Dawn took another step closer and grabbed my cors. Her hold loosened for a split second when she noticed the scar running down my neck to my chest. She quickly recovered and continued, albeit a little softer. "Choose your words wisely, scum."


    I was about to speak up when images of thest two years shed into my mind.


    ''Kid, you''re conceited.''


    The master''s words rang in my ears.


    There had been many battles where my life was pitted against enemies I couldn''t hope to defeat. To be scratched just one less time, to take just one more calm breath, I had employed hundreds and hundreds of cheap tricks.


    I could just lie.


    It was going to soften the blow for both of us. There wasn''t anything wrong with being cheap, was there?


    I would get away easily, and it would soothe Dawn''s anger easily as well.


    "I..."


    Before I could speak, another image shed in my head.


    That night, when I had gotten just a small glimpse of her face under the faint moonlight. It wasn''t easy to remember something I had only seen once before, but I did see her.


    Was lying the right thing to do?


    I had been cheap, yes, but wasn''t it all so that I can get rid of my conceitedness and fight head-on?


    Lying would just be spitting in the face of all that effort.


    I stepped ahead and ced my hands on Dawn''s.


    "I won''t deny that I was scared to approach you after the manager took me away."


    Her neck hardened as Dawn frowned.


    "But, I also remembered that fight. One wrong move and we both would have died... If something like that happened again, I might have lost badly. Even if you died, the result wouldn''t have changed."


    "What do you—"


    I took another step ahead and sped her hands tighter. Dawn and I shared a deeply emotional bond, one that we verified with our bodies. Of course, I cared about her after that. What kind of asshole wouldn''t?


    "I wanted to be strong enough to face you. So that I could defeat not just one but hundreds of those monsters!"


    "Wow~" Titania sighed from the side.


    Dawn too loosened her grip as her breathing got heavier. I could feel her hand heating up in my grasp.


    Did it work?


    Was I safe.


    "What''s with that, bastard..." Dawn spoke in a soft voice.


    A smile tugged at my lips.


    She must have been blushing redder than a tomato!


    Suddenly, Dawn pushed me away.


    "So you didn''t talk because you were so focused on growing stronger?"


    "Strength is the most important, after all."


    "Haha... hahaha..." Dawn suddenly stared at the sky and startedughing. "I''ll cash in the favor, god."


    Another chill ran down my spine.


    "Please bestow his divine punishment."


    "Hah—"


    The sky cracked before I could say a word.


    In the blink of an eye, a blue tint covered the world and a raging bolt of lightning fell on the Earth. I tried to move, but it was toote.


    "AAAAH!"


    Lightning spread all over my body before shing away. I scrunched my body and closed my eyes.


    And the lightning was gone.


    "Huh?" I opened one eye and looked up. Dawn was standing there with her arms on her waist. "I-it doesn''t hurt?"


    The lightning strike would have probably killed a normal person, but it was too weak. It felt like a mosquito bite.


    "Haha..." Dawn''s mouth opened up in a peal of manicughter. "Now you''ll know! No matter where you go, you''ll always stub your toes you fucker!"


    "OH, YOU DEMON!"


    I took a step ahead when my shoes struck against an upturned brick on the ground, stubbing my toe right away. From the sides, quite a few people were staring at us as we talked nonchntly even after being hit by lightning.


    Dawn suddenly sighed.


    She came closer again and pulled my chin.


    "I''ll assume you meant you wanted to get stronger to protect me."


    "Not real—"


    "Shut up."


    She was fun to tease as well. I held in augh and wrapped my hand around her shoulder, flexing that we were of the same height now.


    "Good to see you again," I said.


    "You too."


    "Find the people you were looking for?"


    "Let''s talk somewhere else," Dawn said and we started making our way through the streets of the sixth district, ignoring the people around.


    Soon, we found ourselves in front of the closest hotel which was also one of the biggest ones in the sixth district.


    "Wait here, I''ll book us a ce."


    I made my way in and booked us a suite room on the top of the seven-story building. I thought it would be good to chat in a wide space for just us two.


    "Are you here with the madam behind, sir?" the person at the reception asked.


    "Yes, please give me a room where we can befortable."


    "Right away, we''ll take a couple minutes to prepare."


    "No problems."


    "Alright, have a great night sir."


    The floors underground were operating as a casino while the first two floors served as different attractions and restaurants in the hotel that was filled with the rich people of the capital.


    A bellhop informed us that the room was ready and we got on a simple mechanical lift and reached the top floor that only had a dozen suite rooms, the mostvish floor. I didn''t know about this ce beforehand, but it was good enough for us.


    "Come in," I said, opening the door of the suite room. "We have a lot to talk about the empire, things are looking dangerous for now."


    The door opened up, and neither of us stepped inside.


    "A lot to talk about." Dawn muttered. "In a honeymoon suite, huh?"


    Well fuck.