“It’s rude to keep a lady waiting,” Minerva joked while lounging on the sofa. 

Currently it is the morning of our off day, and I had promised Minerva that I would go with her to the library and coffee place. On the other hand, Sekh and Zeph planned to stay at home with each other. 

“But I’m ten minutes early,” I complained. “Besides, it's not like I can wash myself any faster.”

“Just don’t get sweaty then,” Minerva suggested jokingly.

“Why don’t you do it then?” I remarked teasingly. “You might not have noticed, but you and Sekh always come back from practice smelling horrible.”

“Why are you smelling us then?” Minerva retorted. 

“I didn’t have to try,” I said in fake exasperation. “Pretty sure the whole Bureau shares the same sentiment.”

“Then why do some of them look happy?” Minerva asked in horror.

“Let’s just drop this conversation,” I said while Minerva vigorously nodded her head. 

The two of us exited the Bureau together and immediately headed for the bookstore cafe that we visited before. Naturally, Minerva went right to the fiction section of the library. Instead of following right after her, I went to browse a few history and philosophy books before joining her an hour later. 

“Did you finish reading that book I recommended?” Minerva asked me curiously. 

“Yup,” I replied. “I just finished it a few days ago. I think the series is pretty solid overall.”

“Pretty solid?” Minerva questioned. “I think you meant to say that it’s a masterpiece.”

“Well it’s close to getting there,” I argued. “But I didn’t really like how the first girl won. Of all the heroines, I felt like she was the most boring of the bunch. Plus having the girl with short blue hair would make more sense in terms of theme. Instead of sticking with the childhood promise, the author could have had the protagonist choose someone not part of his past to signify the importance of moving on and growing.”

“You have bad tastes,” Minerva responded. “Besides, the main heroine gets much more development and she’s so cute.”

“That’s because she’s the author’s favorite,” I complained. “Obviously development seems significant if the character starts out as annoying and flat.”

“You find her annoying?” Minerva asked curiously. 

“Yeah, she’s too dependent on the male lead,” I explained. “Trust me, clingy girls are the worst. Even when they’re not real.”

“Personal experience huh?” Minerva remarked. “Well I guess you’re entitled to your opinion. I just think you can’t appreciate the best girl.”

Although I can continue our argument on the matter, I decided not to. As of now, our argument would not reach a scientific conclusion of who the best girl is, since we would probably just end up insulting one another. So let’s try another series.

“Speaking of best girls,” I said in an attempt to shift the conversation. “Who’s your favorite from that romcom that I suggested?”

“The little sister,” Minerva replied almost immediately. “All her lines are just hilarious. The scene where she imitated her older brother was pure gold.”

“Wait, do you mean as a love interest?” I asked, a look of horror dawning on my face. 

Realizing her mistake, Minerva’s eyes widened as she flailed her arms around to communicate that she wasn’t some sort of incest fetishist. 

“No, absolutely not,” Minerva fervently denied. “Why would you even think that?”

“We were literally on the topic of best girls,” I pointed out.

“Oh, that’s right,” Minerva said in realization. “In that case, I would pick the first girl.”

“Real creative huh?” I snarked at her. 

“Shut up,” Minerva shot back. “Who would you pick then?”

“The teacher,” I replied as though it was obvious.

For a moment, Minerva paused to consider my answer. Hopefully she doesn’t realize that she has really similar proportions to the fictional character I just mentioned. 

“That’s actually a good pick,” Minerva commented. “I like her as a supporting character. Plus the descriptions of her make her seem really hot.”

Would that be considered narcissism or just a lack of self awareness? 

“Pretty sure the teacher looks just like you,” I informed Minerva. “The only difference is that you take your glasses off when you aren’t reading.”

“Strange, I never noticed that,” Minerva said with a laugh. “Come to think of it, you actually resemble a lot of the male characters in those two books.” 

“Obviously,” I said with a smile. “I happen to be the best fit for a good looking supporting character or antagonist.” 

“You even have the personality,” Minerva said with a laugh. “Don’t tell me you based your personality off of a fictional character.”

“That’s a baseless accusation,” I remarked with my hands up in a mock surrender. “I just naturally developed this way. Call it convergence if you will.”

“Sure, sure,” Minerva said in a joking tone. 

The two of us continued joking around for quite a while before we went to the cafe for coffee. The workers there seemed a bit perturbed that I would drink plain black coffee instead of the option with caramel. Though I got a discount on my order, so it works out. 

After we enjoyed our drinks, we went back to the library for some more reading before going to get lunch. The place that Minerva chose was an idyllic shop that bore a striking similarity to the cafe we just visited. Just like before, Minerva chose the outdoor sitting. 

“You seem to really enjoy outdoor seating,” I commented as we sat down. 

Minerva put her hand on her chin for a moment and a thoughtful look appeared on her face. “I’m not entirely sure why that is, but I used to visit similar establishments a lot with my friends in Tyros. Then again, most of the establishments in Tyros are open-air.”

“Interesting, I can’t say that my homeland is very similar,” I replied. “Though I mainly ate my food in either a castle kitchen or outdoors, so my experiences aren’t really the most accurate.”

“But what do you look for in a restaurant then?” Minerva asked while we were handed jugs of water. 

“Good food and plenty of alcohol,” I replied with a light laugh. 

“I should’ve known,” Minerva chuckled. “But come to think of it, you drink way less than how much you say you do. I know you can hold your liquor really well, so what’s the reason?”

“That’s actually the reason,” I answered while leaning back and stretching. “Since it takes a lot to get me drunk, I end up drinking far more liquor than any person should. If I get drunk even on a weekly basis, I might actually end up rupturing my liver and dying.”

Minerva froze in shock as her eyes widened and her ears shot up. “Oh. That’s actually terrifying. Are you alright?”

“Yeah, don’t worry about it,” I reassured her with a nonchalant smile. “If I space out my drinking, my liver is guaranteed to recover during that time.”

Well I also have to consider that my body repairs itself quite a bit faster than a normal person. But even though I have more freedom in that regard, I have no clue how long the rest intervals need to be. So I just keep them quite lengthy in order to not die of liver failure. 

“So practical alcoholism,” Minerva commented. “This might be the first time that I've heard of something like it.”

“Don’t worry, I intend to spread my wisdom throughout the world,” I said like a priest explaining why donations guarantee a peaceful afterlife. “There will come a day where all alcoholics reach true enlightenment.”

“Are they going to start levitating at that point?” Minerva said jokingly. “I haven’t even seen you fly yet.”

“Yet,” I replied with utmost seriousness. 

For a few seconds, the two of us just stared one another down. Then without warning, we simultaneously burst out in stifled laughter. Shortly after, as the two of us were eating lunch, a pair of familiar faces appeared. 

“Wait a minute,” I said in surprise. “What are you two doing here?”

“Getting lunch,” Sekh answered with a bright smile. “It might be more accurate to say that Zeph dragged me to a restaurant of her liking.”

“Then perhaps we were brought together by fate,” I replied jokingly.

“Why don’t you sit by us then,” Minerva suggested to the two other girls. “It’ll be more fun that way.”

Before Zeph could give her reply, she was dragged into an open seat by the cheery cat girl. It seems that the tables turned rather quickly on Zeph. 

“Zeph, do you like these types of restaurants?” I asked the white haired archer curiously.

“Yeah, I like the open-air seating,” she replied with a thoughtful look.

“So do I,” Minerva added. 

“It’s great right,” Zeph said eagerly. “The fresh breeze and natural lighting creates a sort of primitive but elegant atmosphere. It goes so well with simple dishes but also contrasts greatly with more sophisticated courses.”

“I just think it looks nice,” Minerva said apologetically.

“Me too,” Sekh added with no regards for Zeph’s feelings. 

Since I’m a very good person, I’ll refrain from agreeing with Minerva and Sekh. Although I had no intentions of helping Zeph, who is currently contemplating how her life led up to this moment. 

For the rest of lunch, the four of us continued talking and joking as we ate. It’s nice to be able to eat at a good establishment once in a while, since the food is better than what I can cook. 

Unfortunately for Minerva and I, we couldn’t continue to spend the rest of our off day on leisure. Since she’s planning to train fresh mercenaries at the Bureau, the two of us will have to do extensive planning and preparation for the next week. 

“Where do you think is a good place to have classes?” Minerva asked me as we brooded over a table on the third floor. 

“Let’s just take the public sparring grounds,” I answered. “It’s too much of a hassle to just set up a new place. The only issue is that we would need blunt weapons for sparring, since the public grounds don’t have any.”

“Easy enough,” Minerva replied. “You sure you don’t want a private place. I can gather some workers to clear out a field outside the city real quick.”

“You can?” I asked in surprise.

“Sure,” Minerva responded. “It should take three days at most. The practice weapons won’t take long either.”

“That’s...really great,” I said with wide eyes. “I’ll be really impressed if you can pull this off.”

“If?” Minerva asked sarcastically. “It’s just a matter of how fast.”

“You’re really something,” I praised her. “In that case, did you find anyone else to help teach?”

“Absolutely not,” Minerva said with a thumbs up. “None of the decent mercenaries agreed to join you, since I can’t pay enough. All the other options were of...questionable quality.”

“I see,” I replied slowly. “That should be most of the logistics then. In that case, I’ll start working on lesson plans and stuff like that.”

“Sounds good,” Minerva said in response. “I might join you if I have time.”

“I hope you do,” I told her. “As of now, we don’t have much in the way of a swordsmanship instructor. I’m not entirely fit for the job and all the soldiers I asked would rather do latrine duty than train green sellswords.”

“Then I’ll try to make some time for it,” Minerva informed me. “But don’t get your hopes up. I still have to make sure that the idiots at the Bureau don’t do anything stupid when I’m gone.”

So it’s likely that I might not even see Minerva during sessions. Well that’s fine, I can still teach basic swordsmanship. Though there’s a good chance that an attendee or two might actually outclass me in terms of pure technique. 

The next five days progressed without issue. I got my lesson plans and basic preparations finished, while Minerva made a training field just appear outside the city. Apparently she organized a number of laborers and low level craftworkers to create the place in a day. Then on the next day, she just came back with a pile of practice weapons in tow. From what she told me, she simply went to the citadel and asked the administration for some spare blunt weapons. Though her way of asking was anything but polite. Actually, one could argue that it was just coercion. In fact, it was the very strategy that I might have used to milk the Doux’s treasury as compensation for my fogling extermination. 

On the day before our day off, I received a message from Adrea about my order. Since the message was delivered by Adrea’s 12 year old son, Al, Sekh and I decided that we would walk him back to his parents.

“Oh, thanks for coming with my son,” Adrea said as we entered the shop. “Iblis, Orthus has your equipment in the back of the shop.”

“Thanks, I’ll be going,” I said while entering through the back door with Al. 

As I went into the forge, I could see young Al giving me a cautionary thumbs up. Naturally, I was pulled into a bear hug right after I entered the forge. The person almost strangling me was a large muscularly built man with coarse black hair and ruggedly handsome features. 

“Good to see you kid,” he said as he attempted to break my spine in a gesture of friendliness.

“Nice to see you too, Orthus,” I replied back. “Don’t tell me you do this greeting with every customer. You might get charged for murder someday.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Orthus chuckled. “I have quite the skill when it comes to analyzing who’s too fragile.”

“Why do you even have that skill?” I retorted. “Actually, I don’t want to know. Let’s just get right to business.”

“Perfect,” Orthus said excitedly. “They’re right over here.”

Sitting on a table was my beautiful order. The largest piece was a glaive resembling my own weapon, though with a spike on the back of the head. Below it was a round convex shield made of hickory wood with a metal boss, the size slightly smaller than my torso. The shield had yet to be painted so I should probably visit a specialist.

The crown jewel of my order sat on its own section of the table. It was a flanged cavalry mace made completely out of steel with a stingray leather grip. 

“You really went all out on the mace,” I remarked as I picked up the weapon to feel its balance. “It feels so good in my hands.”

“My pleasure,” Orthus chuckled. “You won’t believe how much fun I had making this thing.”

He’s right, I probably don’t know the full extent. “Well I might end up bringing some new customers soon. I’ll be instructing some fresh mercenaries by next week. Which means that I’ll probably end up recommending your shop.”

“That’s good,” Orthus replied. “But make sure that you advise them on their purchases first. I don’t want some idiots making stupid orders.”

“Sure, sure,” I said as I pulled out my coin purse. “Now how much is the order?”

Orthus scratched his chin for a little while making a thoughtful look. “15 denarii. Sorry, but I decided to bust out some of the best materials for your mace and shield. The only reason I didn’t do the same for that polearm was because you specified not to.”

“A true craftsman,” I thought as I handed him the payment. 

Soon after, I left the shop with Sekh in tow. Along the way back to our room, Sekh admired my new equipment. However, the reason that we went straight to my room was tied to Sekh’s curiosity. 

“Sekh, it’s not a ritual,” I informed her when we closed the door. “Actually, it’s rather lackluster.”

“I won’t know until I see it,” Sekh replied as her tail swayed around vigorously. 

After putting my new glaive on the ground, I grabbed my divine arm and placed the two polearms next to one another. With one hand on each weapon, I closed my eyes and began to focus. Immediately after, my divine arm began to give a subtle glow before fading back to its normal state.

“That’s it,” I told Sekh when the light disappeared.

“That was cool,” Sekh said excitedly. “Can you change your divine arm into the new shape then?”

With a nod, I gripped my trusty stick and sat down for a solid ten minutes. Right when the ten minutes finished, the metal head morphed and grew a spike on the back. 

“Even better,” Sekh exclaimed with a thumbs up. 

“I don’t know why you find this entertaining,” I sighed. “Then again, I might just be desensitized.”

“You hit the nail on the head,” Sekh replied with a laugh. “By the way, when are you planning to tell the other two about your identity?”

Honestly, I hadn’t even thought about that. While I tried to come up with a coherent answer, I just stood still like an idiot. 

“I get it,” Sekh said as she jabbed my cheek to pull me out of my stupor. “It’s fine if you’re not ready. But make sure to solve this issue eventually. And do it before we get in some sort of stressful situation. That’ll only make things worse.”

“Good point,” I said while rubbing my head apologetically. “Thanks for the advice.”

“No problem,” Sekh replied. “Consider it a sort of late apology.”

“Are you still hung up on that?” I wondered. “It’s so long ago. Just let it be water under the bridge.”

“It’s not as easy as you think,” Sekh huffed. “You don’t just need others to forgive you. You need to learn to forgive yourself.”

“I see,” I said with an easy smile.