“Ooooh!”

  “Kiss!”

  “Kiss!”

  “Kiss!

  “…That’s enough, you rascals!” Alnea said, as he finally let go of the girls to turn around, and glare at his friends. “Have you forgotten where we are?”

  “We know where we are,” Karl said, pointing to the entrance of the Blood just a hand’s distance away from them. “The Blood Hall cannot control what happens outside of its premises, right?”

  “…And it is not like we are fighting,” Norren added. “A little shouting should not do any harm.”

  “…A little?”

  “Come on, Captain,” Ralph said. “Admit it. You enjoyed the kiss.”

  “…Somehow, I think that I would not getting punished by the city, as long as I can kill you bastards.”

  “You are always so shy, Captain.”

  “Shy my ass!”

  “Language, Alnea.”

  “…Just get lost. Go, go back to your clans, before I break your legs.”

  “…Tsk. This is why I said that women are so troublesome,” Zain said. “Were you so engrossed in your kiss, that you forgot that we had to wait for our clans to pick us up?”

  “Indeed,” Aren added. “If there is anyone who should leave, it is you.”

  “…These bastards,” Alnea said, and took a deep breath to calm himself, before glancing at the girls. All still red with embarrassment, glaring at the boys just like him. Though they glared at him too. Both, for leaving them so abruptly, and for kissing them so shamelessly in front of everyone. It did not matter that they did not resist. It was still his fault.

  Fortunately, they were still too ashamed to speak. Or maybe they were just too dizzy with all the blood rushing to their head. Regardless, he was not going to let the only chance he had to change the topic slip away from his hands. So, before the girls could recover completely, he feigned impatience on his face, and said, “Come on, let’s go. Leave these bastards alone.”

  “…Are you sure that you do not want to say anything else to them?” Yuri said, withdrawing her glare for a smile mixed with concern and amusement. “A last farewell, perhaps?”

  “These bastards do not deserve any farewell,” Alnea said, glaring at his friends, earning a laugh in return. And that was when he sensed the loneliness looming behind their smiles. Behind all their actions. And their actions to drive him away. They truly were bastards. Taking a deep breath once again, he turned towards Daes, and added, “Let’s go to your mansion, Daes.”

  “I was waiting for you to say those words,” Daes said, widening her smile into a grin, before glancing at Nubia. “Are you coming with us?”

  “No,” Nubia said, glancing at Alnea and his friends, with a strained smile on her face. “You people can go ahead without me.”

  “Why?” Alnea said, suppressing the loneliness within his Heart, trying to rear its head once again. But it was not just him, who was fighting with the waves in his Heart. His friends were doing the same. As was Nubia. Just with another kind of waves.

  “…I have already done what I came here for. And witnessed much more than I had expected. If I stay with you any longer… I might see my conviction waver. Not to mention that it would also make things inconvenient for you. After all, you also have a few things you wish to share with them.”

  “I do, but I trust you, Wanderer Nubia.”

  “…Let me give you one last lesson, Alnea,” Nubia said, putting on a solemn face. “You should not trust people so easily. Be it in the Lost City. Or anywhere else. Unless they are your Dependents. And even then, you should not trust them with your lives.”

  “…I know,” Alnea said in just as solemn a tone as Nubia’s. “I will take enough precautions.”

  “…Had you said those words when I first met you, then I might not have believed you, but now…” Nubia said, trailing off, as she glanced at his friends, resuming her smile. “You have grown a lot, Alnea.”

  “…So, are you coming with us?”

  “…Even if you do not mind letting me listen in your secrets, what can an old lady like me do by your side?”

  “You are not old, Wanderer Nubia.”

  “…When I embarked on the path of Wanderers, even your mother should not have been born. And you say that I am not old?”

  “…You do not look a day older than thirty. And you should still have over two hundred years of life left. Which will become even more, as you walk on your path. So, calling you old is really an exaggeration, Wanderer Nubia.”

  “You have such a slippery mouth,” Nubia said, as her smile turned slightly more natural. “No wonder you were able to fool such good girls.”

  “…I was not fooling them…”

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  “Perhaps,” Nubia said, widening her smile slightly, before putting it away altogether, as she glanced at Daes and Tia. “I will leave the rest of the explanations to the two of you.”

  “Do not worry,” Tia said with a nod. “In a way, it is also the job of Dependents to inform their Lords about the information they need.”

  “…I am not worried about you.”

  “…Why are you looking at me like that?”

  “…Try not to get into any troubles while you are still in the city, Daes.”

  “…You are talking as if I go around looking for troubles,” Daes said in a grumble, but nodded along soon after. “I will be careful.”

  “…Are you really not coming with us, Wanderer Nubia?”

  “…I may not go with you, but my dreams will always be with you,” Nubia said, forcing out a smile once again. “I will be waiting to hear your name resound throughout the world, Alnea.”

  “…I will not disappoint you.”

  Nubia nodded at Alnea, and said a few words of encouragement to the girls and the rest of his friends, before walking away. And this time, Alnea did not stop her. They had already said their farewell. Clinging on any longer would make things difficult for both of them. In a similar way, he could not keep on clinging to his friends either. They had already decided to go apart on their ways. Lingering around would only make their conviction waver.

  “…I am going too,” Alnea said, glancing at his friends, after Nubia’s back had vanished into the distance. “Take care of yourselves.”

  “You take care of yourself too, Captain.”

  “And try not to kill yourself again.”

  “Next time, the girls will not forgive you so easily.”

  “…You bastards really do not deserve a farewell,” Alnea said, and glanced at Daes. “Let’s go.”

  Daes glanced at Alnea and his friends with an amused smile, but she did not say anything to change his mind. Instead, she just gave a short nod, and began walking down the stairs with Tia, prompting Alnea and the girls to follow behind them. Yet, they had barely taken a few steps, when chants began ringing out behind them.

  “We are Star Seekers.”

  “Chasing after the Stars.”

  “Seeking the ones that belongs to us.”

  “And as long as we keep chasing after our Stars…”

  “…Idiots,” Alnea mumbled, but did not stop his steps. And neither did the girls. They did not even glance back at their friends. Instead, they just raised the edges of their lips, finishing the chant in their Hearts.

  “We will always be Star Seekers!”

  Those bastards…

  “Here,” Daes said, bringing Alnea out of his thoughts, drawing his attention to a three storeys tall mansion, almost twice as large as his mansion in the outer city. “This is my mansion.”

  “…Already?” Alnea said, blinking in confusion, before glancing around himself. “Where did the Blood Hall go?”

  “The Blood Hall did not go anywhere,” Tia said, glancing at Alnea in amusement. “We are the ones who left it behind.”

  “…How long have we been walking?”

  “Not long,” Vestia said. “Just about five minutes or so.”

  “…Five minutes,” Alnea mumbled, before turning towards Daes. “Your mansion is quite close to the Blood Hall.”

  “Of course,” Daes said, puffing up her chest. “And it is not just close to the Blood Hall, but also, one of the best mansions in this area.”

  “…I can see that,” Alnea said, glancing at the other mansions around them. Though most of them were of a similar size to Daes’ mansion, they were very bland, with barely any decorations or modifications. Other than a few decorative murals, he could not find anything that would make them different from each other.

  In contrast, Daes’ mansion not only had decorative murals, depicting the figure of Raeon, one of the most prominent followers of Thaemon, the God of Lightning, riding the Thunderbird, an Origin Beast gifted to him by Thaemon in show of his loyalty, it also had its outer walls painted white, with its borders dyed in a bright blue shade, in reminiscence of the white Thunderbird, wrapped in the blue lightning of its master, making it look more like a piece of art, rather than a mansion. No wonder, she was so proud of it.

  “…Are you not going to invite us in?”

  “…I was just letting them admire my mansion,” Daes said, glaring at Tia, before walking towards the mansion’s doors, and pushing it open after fiddling with the black box, revealing a two storeys high living hall, that was also in the theme of the Thunderbird.

  “Welcome, to my mansion.”

  The carpet under their feet, the cushions in the centre of the hall, the stairs leading to the second floor, even the doors. Everything in the mansion was either in the shade of white, with bright blue borders, or in an entirely blue hue. The only things not in those colours were the Wanderers themselves. And the cat following next to Cecilia.

  “…Did you like it?”

  “It is indeed a beautiful mansion,” Alnea said, tearing his eyes away from walls, depicting even more stories of Raeon, as they walked to the cushions. “But it looks expensive…”

  “You do not have to worry about it,” Daes said, waving her hand to dismiss his concern, as she sat down on a cushion, and motioned everyone to do the same. “Make yourselves comfortable. Do not be shy. Treat it as your own mansion.”

  “…You really do not need to worry,” Tia said, sitting next to Daes. “Things that can be bought with Blood Coins will never be too expensive for her.”

  “…Although what you are saying is true, I do not like the way you are saying it,” Daes mumbled, with dissatisfaction growing on her face. Especially when she noticed Alnea and the girls still standing, despite her assurance. That was until she recalled something, and put on a sly smile on her face.

  “You were quite confident when you kissed the girls in front of everyone, so why are you being shy now?”

  “…I was just a little mesmerised by all the murals,” Alnea said, feigning a cough to hide his embarrassment, as he hurriedly took his seat, and pulled the girls along with himself. And for some reason, even that action was enough to send them all blushing. He was just holding their hands, not kissing them…

  Well, he understood why the girls were acting so shy. The memory was too fresh in their minds. And if not for the farewell at the end, he would have also just kept thinking about their lips…

  “Anyways, let’s get to the point,” Alnea said, tearing his eyes away from the girls. And their lips. “When I first thought of inviting you to leave the city with me, it was more out of repaying the goodwill that I owe you, than to let you two follow me by my side. Back then, I did not know about the city’s rules. That you would be bound to me. But I am not planning on going back on my word. I still want you to leave the city with me. If not for anything else, then just for the chance of getting into the core city.

  “Still, before we do anything, we must first make a few things clear to each other. After all, if we are to be companions, then we must have a basic sense of trust. Not to say that I do not trust you now. But what I know about you… what we know about each other is far from reaching the level where we can trust each other with our backs. Of course, I am not asking you to tell me everything about yourself either. Our trust has not reached that level yet.”

  “And here I was, ready to tell you about my Roots,” Daes said with a feigning an aggrieved look on her face. “You will break my heart if you say things like that, you know…”

  “…We can talk about your Roots later,” Alnea said, with a wry smile on his face. “How about we begin with introducing ourselves?”