A huffing sound of two Hexapod Horses was reverberated through the in. A mighty cking sounds were produced by their feet, whenever their horseshoes tapped the ground.


    On their back was a luxurious carriage filled with many hidden Runes carved on the surface.


    Aside from the driver, the carriage carried three young man. The first person was a brown haired young man with an equally handsome and beautiful face. He was sitting silently with closed eyes, while brushing the fur of a mini Saberwolf.


    The second person was a blond haired young man with a delicate stature and a semi-childish appearance. He was talking to the young man beside him.


    The second person was the young man, who the second young man was speaking with. He had a pale blond hair and a fairly muscr stature. In this carriage, he was the only who got a manly face.


    Sequentially, they were Basil, Cray, and Whitney. They were on their way to Raneil Barony, or to be exact, Familia Hotel.


    "Basil, I can''t wait to see your family''s hotel!"


    "Hey, can''t you see he is training? Stop bothering him with unnecessary remark!"


    "Huh? I''m just a good friend trying to socialize. What''s wrong with that?"


    "Pick the right time, idiot!"


    That way, Cray and Whitney''s daily banter started once again. The silence within the carriage had been maintained for 20 minutes after leaving Randalvine Magic Institute. When the 20 minutes had passed, Cray the chatterbox couldn''t hold himself any longer.


    Of course, Whitney, who was trying to shut him up from time to time, only ended up joining Cray in creating sound pollution.


    Suddenly, everyone felt like they were passing through a film of spider silk. Although their body felt no physical resistance, their soul was a different story. They felt their soul was slowly pulled slowly pulled out of their body, only to be thrown back inside.


    Then, a sense of dysphoria assaulted them. It felt like they were residing in someone else''s body, instead of theirs.


    "Blergh! For the love of heaven, I am feeling sick!" Cray clutched on his stomach.


    "Darn! Can never get used to it." Whitney clutched his head.


    They had just passed a Teleportation Gate. It was a normal reaction anyone would feel, whenever one passed through space.


    Whitney raised his head to look at Basil. It turns out, he was alright. Basil didn''t budge even a single inch from his ce. He was amazed.


    "Wow! Were you a carriage driver before?" Cray looked at Basil in amazement. "Why are you thinking of a carriage driver?" Whitney looked weirdly at Cray.


    "It''s simple, silly. Look at our carriage driver! Did you see him bothered? No! He has passed Teleportation Gate so often, he doesn''t feel any of the aftereffect."


    Whitney pped his forehead helplessly. "You reached a wrong conclusion, idiot. Carriage drivers are not the only one who often pass Teleportation Gate."


    "Oh! Are you saying he also masters [Teleportation]?"


    "No. A Mage who often passes Teleportation Gate is the one who often joins an Expedition. Right, Basil?" Whitney looked at Basil expectantly.


    Basil opened one of his eyes, and answered simply. "No."


    Whitney''s face contorted, and Cray had a goodugh out of it. "Hahahaha! I told you he was a carriage driver!"


    Whitney grumbled silently, then closed his eyes. Cray was perfectly ignored throughout the trip. Thanks to that, the trip was silent and peaceful. Needless to say, cray was suffering, due to the silence.


    ...


    [Familia Hotel]


    Familia Hotel had a bakery store, and a cake store in its building. In the cake store''s kitchen, stood a young woman. She had a long brown hair, unblemished white skin, a youthful and attractive face, and a well developed figure.


    Standing at 168 centimeters tall, the young woman had a very feminine posture. The young woman was no other than rissa.


    rissa looked at the cake she had recently made. It was a threeyered cake with strawberry jam filling the middle of the cake.


    "Hmm... Should I cover this with chocte or not?" rissa scratched her head. "Ah! It''s frustrating! Is chocte and strawberry a goodbination? Well, time to find out!"


    rissa pulled her sleeves and started to work on her cake. Just half a year ago, she had barely managed to organize her bakery store.


    However, with everyone''s guidance and her sheer tenacity, not only could she finally manage to organize her bakery store, but she had also opened a cake store. Everyone liked the cake she baked, and the business ran smoothly.


    "rissa! Are you still working on that cake?"


    "Huh? Yeah, I am."


    The person who had just called rissa sighed in exasperation. rissa had been focusing on creating a new cake for three days already. She didn''t know what was the point of it. rissa had already many variations of cake, after all!


    rissa turned around, then took a good look at the girl who had just called her. She was an attractive violet haired 18 year old girl with lean body. She stood at the same height as rissa.


    This girl was rissa''s friend and helper, Poppy. She was the one who had coincidentally met rissa at the market in the past, while buying groceries. When rissa noticed Poppy hade to her store, she had quickly hired her.


    Poppy, who was also struggling financially, had epted the job without any hesitation. She had two little siblings at home, and she needed money to raise them up.


    "Hm. You are looking better and better each day." rissa nodded cheerfully. "Huh? What do you mean by that?" Poppy was puzzled.


    "Compared to a month ago, you are way less cynical."


    "Howe?"


    "You snort less." Right after rissa said it, Poppy snorted.


    rissaughed softly. "Do you see what I mean?" Poppy smiled in embarrassment, and scratched her head. "Y-yeah, I guess."


    "Anyway, what do you need of me, Poppy?"


    "Oh, that? Mr. Danzel told me to get you."


    "Father did? Why?"


    "I don''t know. I only received the order. I didn''t question it."


    rissa pondered for awhile, before shrugging. With Poppy in tow, she went to meet Danzel.


    "Where is father anyway?"


    "He is in the guest room."


    rissa nodded her head. As the distance between her cake store and the guest room was four floors apart, it took them some time to get there. Even so, they didn''t need to exert much energy to climb the stairs.


    Thanks to Basil''s mastery in Rune Carving, all of the stairs that connected each floor were autonomous. Therefore, they merely had to step their foot on it, and the stairs would carry them to next floor.


    Upon arriving in front of the guest room, rissa knocked the sturdy wooden door.


    Knock. Knock.


    "Father, it''s me."


    "You can get in!" Danzel''s muffled voice of Danzel was heard.


    Turning the knob, the door opened with a ''click'', and rissa stepped her foot inside. Hearing no footstep behind her, rissa frowned lightly. She turned her head to Poppy.


    "Are you noting?"


    "No. I believe it''s a family matter."


    Turning her head to the room once again, rissa shouted, "Father, can I bring Poppy too?"


    "Of course," Danzel shouted back.


    rissa turned around her head. "See?" Poppy nodded, and followed behind rissa.


    Poppy looked around the guest room. A luxurious chandelier decorated with crystals was hanging on the ceiling. The room was spacious, and it was decorated with many expensive furnitures. No matter how many times she saw it, she was always astounded.


    rissa looked to the front, then squinted her eyes. She could see four figures sitting in the sofa in the corner of the room. While she could see Danzel in her point of view, the other three figures were only showing the back of their head.


    Upon noticing rissa''s arrival, Danzel quickly stood up.


    ? "rissa, I bet you won''t believe what is happening!"


    "Eh? What is happening, Father?"


    Danzel merely smiled, and motioned her toe closer. Upon standing beside Danzel, rissa could finally see who the three figures were.


    All of them wore a white shirt underneath a red robe, and a ck pants that fit them perfectly. On their shoulder, a symbol consisted of a book on top of a white tiger''s head, and two swords crossing each other behind the tiger''s head was embroidered.


    Below the symbol were three words. Randalvine Magic Institute.


    rissa was knowledgeable enough to know that was the most prestigious Magic Institute in the entire Braxtein Kingdom. However, it wasn''t the reason she widened her eyes.


    From the three people sitting in the sofa, one particr person attracted her attention the most. It was the attractive brown haired young man who was sipping his tea calmly with closed eyes.


    ck.


    He put his teacup down, opened his eyes, then looked at rissa. A faint smile adorned his face.


    "It has been two weeks since Ist saw you, rissa."


    "Brother...?"


    The brown haired young man, Basil, stood from the sofa. He inched closer toward rissa, before opening his hands.


    "Brother!" rissa jumped at Basil, and tightly hugged him.


    Basil hugged her warmly, and patted her back tenderly. He hadn''t talked much to them ever since Irene''s death. They had some things to catch up. Although he could only stay for a day in the hotel, it was an enough time to have a talk.


    Cray was gaping at Basil and rissa. With a trembling finger, he pointed it at them. "H-he could smile!" He was surprised the steady Basil could smile, albeit faintly.


    Whitney looked at Cray weirdly. "What do you think he is? A Golem?" Whitney shook his head faintly.


    "I hope you will enjoy your stay at this humble hotel of mine." Danzel smiled.


    Whitney slightly bowed his head. He was actually enjoying himself in the hotel. He liked the homey, and the calm feeling the hotel was giving.


    "Can I get something to eat?!"


    At Cray''s exmation, Whitney pped his forehead. Of course, there was also Cray who ruined his peace.