“C’mon Sekh, you haven’t even got me dinner and you’re already stripping me?”

It had only been a short period after my match with Gregorius. And as of right now, Sekh and Minerva were checking my body for any injuries that I may have acquired during the duel. Well, I also needed to recover from my fatigue so it was a rather efficient use of time. 

“What are you talking about, dinner is right here,” Sekh joked while pointing at herself. 

Meanwhile, Minerva just stood on the sidelines watching something that she had become all too accustomed to.

Sekh proceeded to gingerly pull my armor off, though she was more than eager to caress my body in the process. Once my upper body was fully revealed, Sekh began to smile as she admired my build.

“Minerva, this is what I would consider perfection,” Sekh told the blushing elf. “Nice and toned, but not overly bulky. Plus Azel has very little body hair so he’s super smooth and nice to touch.”

“Shouldn’t we be focusing on the bruises?” Minerva pointed out while staring quite intently at me.

“I am,” Sekh argued playfully. “I already mapped out all the easily visible ones. So now I just need to do an extensive check. Oh, and maybe I should check Azel’s lower body in case.”

Trying to stop her mischief before it got out of hand, I began to rough up Sekh’s hair and rub her ears as she reached for my pants. Peering up, Sekh saw the questioning look on my face, causing her to smile apologetically. 

“Sorry Azel, I’ll get to work right away,” Sekh replied while rubbing the back of her head. 

From there, Sekh actually got back on task and did a careful inspection of the injuries that I had accumulated. Of course these so called injuries were just minor bruises that didn’t even hurt when touched. However, it was still good to check in case something unexpected came up. 

“I'm really glad that you’re alright,” Sekh told me after she finished her inspection. 

“Physically I’m fine,” I started. “But emotionally, I’m a bit embarrassed that I pretty much had my ass handed to me.”

“You’re exaggerating,” Minerva tried to console me. 

“I don’t know about that,” Sekh retorted. “He won by the skin of his teeth while forcing the fight into something favorable for him. Not that I mind of course.”

“But that’s the logical approach to such a fight,” Minerva argued.

Sekh flash a bright at the silver haired elf in order to show that she wasn't trying to get with her. 

“Of course it is. But that doesn’t change the fact that Azel feels uneasy about it. Azel, you wanted to put on a better performance in front of the two of us right?”

“Yup,” I answered, causing Sekh to gloat over her accuracy. 

“But don’t worry, that doesn’t matter to me,” Sekh said warmly while latching onto me for a hug. “You’ll be my hero no matter what.”

“Thanks,” I replied while patting Sekh’s tail. “I think I feel a little bit better now.”

“Alright Minerva, it’s your turn to say nice things to him,” Sekh teased the girl who had essentially become a bystander in this situation.

“Sekh, stop bullying her,” I chided while flashing Minerva a reassuring grin.

“Sorry,” Sekh told Minerva as she got off of me to bow down in front of Minerva.

“It’s fine,” Minerva assured her. “We’re just friends joking around so I don’t mind.”

“Friends,” Sekh snickered. “That’s one way to put it.”

“My husband’s girlfriend,” I added to Sekh's statement while smirking. 

With the combined effort of Sekh and I, we managed to pull Minerva into the conversation as a proper participant, her laughs joining ours as we continued fooling around, mostly making stupid remarks about the nature of our relationship. 

Soon after, I was notified by a servant that Gregorius was ready to speak with me, having mostly recovered from the exhaustion that I had inflicted upon him. 

“Are you faring well?” I asked him in a polite tone. 

“I’m doing quite fine,” he replied curtly. 

“Then we can get to the business,” I declared with an easy grin. “As dictated by our agreement, you will be entering service in this city. However, the specifics of your service are still negotiable.”

“So it’s still possible for me to pursue my dream as a painter?” he quipped. 

“Certainly,” I answered. “Though the only available canvas is the battlefield and the only available brushes are rather large, metallic, and sharp.”

“I assume the paint will be the blood of criminals and fiends?” he continued. 

“Well we also have some beautiful blue hues, but suit yourself,” I joked. “Now back onto the topic, I already wrote a contract dictating the conditions of your service.”

On cue, a servant handed the knight a small set of documents which I had written during the four days. The content was fairly typical, the knight would choose to either be paid with land or gold and would serve as a military official in the city. However, the knight would not be employed as my personal retainer, instead he would serve as a senior officer in the garrison. 

“This seems like a fair deal,” Gregorius remarked after he finished reading. “Though I’ll take gold since I have no use for land anymore.”

“How come?” I asked him. 

“Gave it to my son already,” he answered.

“Can you tell me about your family then?” I requested. 

“My two sons managed to survive the war and are living in the regions ruled by the Zayids,” he told me.

Since he didn’t mention his wife, I decided to not probe into the matter to avoid potentially uncomfortable memories. 

The next day, I helped get Gregorius accustomed to his new role as an officer within the garrison. However, it proved to be quite easy because the soldiers, particularly the locally born, admired the knight greatly.

“So what have you been doing after the war ended?” I asked the knight as we were inspecting the city walls. 

“Knightly matters,” he replied with a wry grin. “Mostly patrolling the eastern lands to kill monsters and bandits while protecting citizens. But I also spent time searching for a squire to teach.”

Speaking of squires, Zeph still didn’t talk to the knight yet about the matter. She kept going about getting more practice, but I was pretty sure that she was just being nervous. 

“You find anyone yet?” I wondered.

“Nope,” he told me. 

“Do you have any specific qualities that you’re looking for?” I continued.

“A firm sense of justice and compassion,” he answered. 

“She might have a chance then,” I thought. 

The two of us continued inspecting the walls while making small talk. Additionally, Gregorius’ presence was incredibly beneficial for the garrison because Gallus was no longer the sole experienced commander apart from me. 

When I arrived home, I immediately went to Zeph to encourage her to talk to Gregorius. So after finding her sweating profusely while training at the public sparring grounds, I told her the details of my conversation with the knight. 

“I think it might be too early though,” Zeph told me nervously. 

“Just talk to him about it then,” I insisted. “You don’t have to ask to be a squire yet. But at least ask him if you’re moving in the right direction. More importantly, your training will be far more efficient if you can ask him about what you need to work on specifically.”

Putting her hand on her chin, Zeph began to sink into thought for a moment before speaking. 

“Alright, I’ll go tomorrow.”

“You want me to introduce you to him?” I asked.

“No need,” Zeph answered. “I want to do this by myself. Plus it would be a bother for you.”

“Fair enough,” I remarked. “And I’m not entirely sure that my assistance will help much.”

The next day, I made sure to remind Zeph about the matter during breakfast so she wouldn't back out. Once we arrived at the citadel, I pointed Zeph in the direction of the knight before heading off for my own business. 

Thirty minutes, then an hour, then another two hours passed. But despite all the time that had passed, I still didn’t receive any news from Zeph. Wondering if she had failed, I decided to go to Gregorius to ask about the matter. 

“So that white haired girl is your friend or something?” the knight asked curiously when I consulted him on the matter. 

“Yeah, she’s my friend,” I replied. “And despite being friends, she still hasn’t told me about the matter.”

“Really?” he remarked. “I don’t think I was mean or rude to her at all.”

“But I assume that you didn’t take her as your squire,” I commented. 

“Of course not,” he replied, not surprising me. “She still needs time to train until she can be a proper squire. But I have high hopes for her as a person so far. And because of that, I intend to train her in order for her to see how far she can get.”

“So you’re pretty much taking her on as a squire,” I remarked. “That's honestly far better than I had expected. I had only hoped that you would point out her flaws so she could move in the right direction, but I’ll take this result any day. And speaking of training, is it possible for you to spar with me in the morning?”

"I'm more than happy to spar with you,” the knight answered. 

After finishing my work at the citadel, I found Zeph once more at the sparring grounds.

“Don’t worry, I already asked Gregorius about what happened.” I told her before she began to retell her story. “How come you didn’t tell me though.”

“I thought you were busy,” Zeph explained. “Plus I was a bit disappointed.”

“Disappointed?” I wondered. “But you got the best result possible.”

“I guess,” Zeph sighed. “But there was a part of me that was hoping that I could be a squire right away.”

“That's beyond optimistic,” I remarked. “But anyways, things are simple for you now. All you have to do is follow Gregorius’ guidance and work hard.”

“Right,” Zeph said confidently. “And thanks for your help, Azel. I really appreciate it.”

“No problem,” I said casually. “We’re friends after all.”

The next morning, I woke up and went to the citadel to spar with Gregorius. And unsurprisingly, Zeph also came along to receive instruction from the knight as well. 

Upon arriving at the citadel, we found Gregorius waiting for us in the yard, oiling his mail to pass the time. 

“Sir, we’ve arrived,” Zeph greeted the old knight in a nervous but polite tone. 

Looking up at us with mild amusement, Gregorius smiled for a bit before speaking. 

“There’s no need to be so rigid, young lady. I’m just a humble knight after all.”

“Thank you,” Zeph said while bowing. 

Because Gregorius was busy teaching Zeph, I had to content myself with sparring with some of the soldiers while waiting for the knight.

Once Gregorius had given Zeph a series of exercises to practice, he went over to me in order to begin our practice. 

“So I’ve noticed a few things about you,” Gregorius began before we sparred. “Even though you’re a stellar warrior, you still have room to improve in regards to technique. However, your battle instincts and physical ability are among the best that I’ve ever seen.”

“Good to know,” I replied. 

From there, the two of us began to spar with one another. And because I was not able to force things into a raw match of endurance, the difference in our technique was quite noticeable. 

“How are you so fucking good?” I asked as we were taking a break. 

“I’ve been training my whole life,” he told me. 

“Guess my hero speed training wasn’t enough,” I remarked.

However, if I calculate the amount of time that we’ve dedicated, I have around two and a half decades worth of experience, ten from my own life and an expedited sixteen from my time as a hero. In contrast, Gregorius has around four and a half decades of experience. And if he has a natural talent then it only exacerbates the difference. 

“It’s partly because you’ve diversified more,” he told me. “Even though I also learned how to use every weapon, I focused on the spear my whole life. As for you, you spent most of your time on your bow before changing to the spear only recently.”

“I guess,” I commented.

However, I was grateful for Gregorius’ plethora of experience as we were training. Compared to the soldiers who had roughly equal or less capability compared to me, Gregorius proved to be a far more effective sparring partner and teacher. In addition, he even gave me tips and exercises for me to further develop my skill. And although it would take time for me to fully learn, I knew that my progress would advance at a much greater pace from this point on. 

Both Zeph and I continued training with Gregorius from then on. While I would train mostly in the morning due to my busy schedule, Zeph also spent time during the afternoon with the knight as he conducted exercises with the soldiers. But unfortunately for Zeph, Gregorius did not allow her to use magic while training in order for her to better develop her skill. However, I was at least glad to know that Zeph’s skill with the lance was developing steadily. 

“Azel, you have another visitor for you,” Gallus notified me when I was in my office one morning.

“Another duel?” I jested. 

“Not quite, it’s another person seeking to serve you,” Gallus informed me. “It’s a southern elf from Tyros by the name of Gaius, are you familiar with such a fellow?”

“Oh, he finally arrived,” I complained. “Took him long enough.”

Getting up from my chair, I swiftly marched from my office to meet my long overdue guest. I found said guest in the citadel’s yard with a small procession of servants who were busy taking care of the luggage and horses. 

“Good to see you, Azel,” Gaius remarked when I arrived at the yard.

“I’m glad that you arrived safely,” I told him while patting him on the back. “Let me introduce you to Gallus, the garrison commander. Since you two have similar names, I’m sure you’ll get along.”

Leading the smiling Gaius along, I introduced him to Gallus who was accompanying me at that time. 

“I’ll interview him in my office,” Gallus told me after they finished introducing themselves to each other.

“Thanks,” I replied. “I’ll get back to work, and let me know when you’re finished.”

After receiving a nod of confirmation from Gallus, I returned to my office to continue with my work. Although I could have watched the interview, I decided not to in order to limit any accusations of nepotism and corruption. 

So just like the situation with Zeph, I waited in my office for the results while I worked. But unlike Zeph’s situation, Gaius actually came to inform me of the results.

“So you’re a grunt,” I remarked jokingly.

“Truly unfortunate,” Gaius laughed. “But it’s fine. It means that I can understand the perspective of a regular soldier before I become an officer like Gallus promised.”

“I know,” I said in a more serious tone. “Well I think Gallus made a good decision. I just hope that you didn’t embarrass me by proxy during your interview.”

“And what if I did?” he asked jokingly.

“I'll tell your family about it,” I replied. “And I have a lot of connections now in Tyros so it's not going to be easy to stop me.”

“I’m glad I did well then,” he said while flashing a smile.