The hotel wasn't far from us. After using the teleportation device, the two of us headed over to Ferrier Hotel. 

It wasn't too fancy, just like everything else. The rustic and almost olden way that the buildings were made weren't too pleasing to my eyes.

But it was good enough. Once we had dropped off the luggage and our belongings to the hotel attendant who took our luggage, we had immediately checked out. 

The horses? We had left them back at the hotel. Thankfully, the hotel's employees had allowed us to keep them. 

With the smithing competition starting soon, it was natural for the place to be crowded. The swarms of people had covered the entirety of the platforms, making it hard to move. 

We didn't bother squeezing in it and getting loss though. We instead just phased to a less crowded area using Catalyn's portal.

We didn't really have anything better to do, so we decided to explore the city. 

Ever since I've been here I've been caught in a series of events, such that I've never even have enough time to breathe in and enjoy this world's sceneries. 

Of course, the area was high up, since it was built on the side of a mountain. The climate was colder than on the surface, and it was a bit more difficult to breathe. 

I didn't have any idea on what to do next, other than roam the city, so I asked Catalyn, who was carrying me. 

"Young master has been thinking too much of his battles lately. How about a trip to the cafe to lessen your worries?"

"I guess that works fine too." 

Deep inside I knew Catalyn was right. I had been too focused on activities that involved fighting, that I had completely forgotten the pleasures of life.

I guess it's fine to rest every now and then, but the warmonger in me says otherwise. I hope a cup of coffee will help. 

I say that, but once we had entered the cafe and sat down, it took a few minutes for the server to hand us our order. And to my surprise, Catalyn didn't order any coffee. 

Wait, that's not what I should be surprised about. Rather, it's the fact that she managed to order these things by herself. 

I guess she really has gotten beter in communication. 

As I fumble around on Catalyn's lap, I take a cookie, and put it in my mouth. 

Eh. Pretty dry, and overwhelmingly sweet. It was so sweet that I felt like my teeth would fall out. And that's to say I even had any. 

Well, I do, but you get what I mean. 

I took my time with my caretaker as we chatted the day away, in preparation for the competition that we would be watching later.

"Hey, Thanny, over here!" 

The girl, or Lena, called to me. 

If I were to describe her in one word, it would be... vibrant.

Everything about her screamed that word. Her appearance was vibrant, her personality, vibrant. 

A stark contrast to myself, a husk of negativity, a body of darkness. 

Lena was by chance the older sister of my master. I had swore allegiance to Kenneth on that one faithful day, when I was rescued from that place. 

And yet, I do not mean any offense to Kenneth, but Lena is slowly becoming an even brighter light than he was to me.

If I was a dark alley, then Kenneth would've been a lamp post. 

It would've lit up a portion of the hallway, yes. The problem is what lies in the back, where the light cannot reach. 

Meanwhile, Lena is the sun. Wherever she shines, she brightens up everything, her cheerful aura lightening everyone up.

Lena has taught me a lot of things ever since. She was the first besides my master to have approached me, and she is the only one who has spent any real effort to try to get closer to me. 

As the blonde haired woman drags me over to the crowd, I make sure to grab hold of her hand. 

The number of people here would've separated us immediately if we were to head in. 

To my action, Lena responds by flinching. She doesn't move, nor does she speak. It seems as if she has stopped in place.

I attempt to move towards her, and accidentally squeeze her hand a bit tighter than I opted for. 

But the moment I try to look at her face, she turns away, not allowing me to see her expression.

"What is the matter? Did you not want to see this?" I point to the screen. 

Currently, there was a large screen hung up. Crowds of people, packed together, had gathered to watch what was playing on the screen. 

Lena however, still does not speak. Instead, she grasps my hand tighter. Yes, it certainly would be bad if we were to be separated. 

Putting some force into her arm, Lena drags me closer to the screen. 

I did not pay much attention to it, but upon noticing that this was what we were here for, I placed my undivided attention onto the screen. 

A ticklish pain assaults my left shoulder. I look to my side and notice Lena, who was standing beside me. 

She had apparently elbowed me a bit roughly to get my attention. I can tell she is upset, because she is pouting. 

"What is it?" I ask the blonde haired girl. 

"Nothing... let's just watch the screen." Still pouting, Lena points to the screen. 

"There was once a beautiful maiden. Her name was Ella, and she had been born into a family of five."

"Despite their parents' best efforts, they were unable to sufficiently provide for the family's needs." 

"It was a well known fact that the family was cursed. Cursed to not be able to produce magic users."

"While everyone was able to absorb mana because of their Mana Core, the children born to the family were born with none." 

"This was considered a disgrace to the father, who angrily left after fathering five children, none having magic powers." 

"It was the same for Ella. Just like her siblings, she did not have a Mana Core, and was unable to use magic." 

"But until one day, a beautiful goddess came to her in her dream!"

"The goddess introduced herself as Illia, the Goddess Of Light."

"My child, if you desire, I will grant you the ability to use magic." 

"Please do!" 

"There is a catch. You have to obey this condition." 

"I will obey it, whatever it is!" 

"Is that so? Then, the condition is that you will have to kill each of the Dark God's apostles." 

"I don't know who the Dark God is, but I promise to!" 

"Alas, how naive little Ella was. When she had agreed to the condition, Illia granted her amazing power."

"Once she woke up, Ella was able to use magic! Her Mana Core was modeled to release Light Magic." 

"This meant she was the Light Goddess' apostle." 

"And so Ella trained. Trained in her magic for years, until she was able to defeat an ogre with a single spell." 

"Time soon passed, and news of Ella being a skilled Light Magic user spread across the land. The once known family who was cursed to not have any children who could use magic had produced someone who could."

"Eventually, Ella was invited to a Royal Academy."

"And there, she met Thane. Thane was the lonely, sad student." 

"Until Ella came to his life, and soon she started to get invested with him. Ella would talk to Thane every day, and would hang out with him." 

"But that day came. Tragedy struck. It was revealed to Ella in a dream that Thane was a Dark apostle. She would have to kill him." 

"Her friend, someone she had spent a lot of time with, and someone she cared for." 

"Ella and Thane soon met up on the top of a hill. Both had told each other of their mission." 

"And so they fought. Light clashed with Dark, and eventually, they both fell." 

"Perhaps this was good. Both of them did not want to go through the struggle of seeing their close one die." 

As the movie ended, I unconsciously stared to my left, and saw Lena, who looked like she had tears in her eyes. 

She immediately saw that I had noticed her, and quickly turned away. 

I called to the girl, but received no response. 

I had no experience in these kinds of things.

So I did the one thing I knew was good.

"Hey, Thanny. Why are you always so down?" 

"Why am I always so down? Even I don't know, Lena." 

"Huh. Then how about this!" Lena says as she wraps her arms around my body. 

"Heehee. I would always do this for my little brother whenever he cried, although it wasn't that he was sad." 

"Either way, it helped to cheer him up. So how about it? Am I cheering you up?"

"... Perhaps a little." 

I did the only good thing I knew and wrapped my arms around Lena. 

I did not know why she was crying, but she taught me that hugs made things bettter.