"Do you need to go?"

I smile a little and pat the little girl on the head. She is Tiana, the daughter of Ando, the owner of the butcher in Lordlake. She is one of the children that come to me to ask for a magic trick. I usually use a conjuration spell to summon small critters and transfiguration to change a rock into fluffy dogs and cats.

"Sadly, yes."

"Why? You are our hero! What can we do without you?"

I hug her a little when I see tears start to pour out of her eyes.

"I'm not a hero, Tia. I'm just a normal man who wants to help people in need. The real hero is the people of Lordlake. They have been through a lot but they still stand tall and keep doing an honest living. Your parents are the real hero for doing hard labor to make sure you and the others are still alive. You are a hero for standing tall even after experiencing that."

I release her and pat her on the head.

"I'm not a hero. I'm a loser who decided to help you guys after it was already too late."

Tiana looked at me and took my hand.

"You are a hero to me."

I can only smile at her answer before saying.

"Then I will try to become a hero that you are proud of."

"... Where will you be going?"

"I don't know. I want to explore the world and get stronger."

"For Sacred Games?"

"Yes. For the Sacred Games."

The people of Lordlake already know about my participation in the Sacred Games. When they heard about it, Goesch decided to train me himself. That giant of a man is a beast in a fight. Because of his massive body, he did not have much mobility, but he could read my movement like it was a book.

He can predict where my strike will land and already prepare for it. When he blocks or dodges it, he will do his own counterattack, and boy, that counterattack is hit like a truck. If his attack hits its target, I can feel my entire body shake from the impact of his club.

Training with him for the past week in my one-month and five days stay in this place increased my VIT stats by a lot. While I'm not getting hit a lot because of my speed, when do I get hit? It will take a good chunk of my HP. The other thing is that Goesch is a stamina monster. He can keep fighting all day long if not for doctor Silvana telling us to have a break.

"Then, I will give you this."

I look at the item in Tiana's hand. It was a small ring made of wood and a small carving of two birds on the surface of the ring.

"Thank you. I will treasure this."

After I said that, it was like a flood. The people of Lordlake decide to give me something. They give me many items, from normal things like a ring and necklace to something weird like a taxidermy Wolf that they say will protect me from harm.

Sadly, it was not a magical item. It was just a normal taxidermy wolf.

After a few minutes, Talgeyl is the last one to give me something.

"This is a knife given to me by my father. It was a knife that the father gave to his son and now I will give it to you. As you know, I don't have any children anymore. This will be a way for me to make sure my family name continues to live on."

The knife is beautiful. The blade is a deep blue color with a pattern of water on it. The handle is made of wood with a small jewel in the middle of it. The knife was not too big. It was around twenty-five centimeters long.

"Thank you. I will not disappoint you."

"You are not. I know you will never disappoint us. Go. You have a massive fight ahead of you."

I nod my head and walk away from Lordlake. For now, I need to visit Jeane first and tell her about my journey.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

|3rd POV|

"You don't want to say goodbye?"

Talgeyl looks at the woman walking toward him. Silvana shakes her head and says.

"No. I know that he will do just fine. I teach him all I know after all."

"Hah! It was a good one. I know you just did not know how to say goodbye. You are just as stubborn as always, Silvana."

"Hmph. If you already know about it, you don't need to ask."

Silvana decides to admit it. She wants to say goodbye to Jacob, but she can't do that. She did not know how to do it. She can act as a grumpy old woman, but she cannot act as a kind and caring old woman. It was just not her nature to do so.

She is kind, but she cannot express it really well.

"So, what kind of gift would you put inside his bag?"

"And why do you think I would do something like that?"

"You don't need to lie to me, Silvana. I know how to act and I know you put something inside his bag."

"... A potion."

"What kind of potion?"

"Just a low-level potion."

"And you lie again. Come on, spill it out. We have been friends for a long time."

Silvana can only sigh at the insistence of her friend.

"A moderate healing potion."

"I know it. While you are not a Potioneer, your perfectionism will not let you brew something as low as Low-Grade potion."

"Shut up."

"What else?"

".... A book about medicine and combat first aid."

"You really care about him, huh?"

Silvana did not answer his question and only grunted. However, it was enough for Talgeyl to know that she does care for the young man.

"This is the least I can do for him. He brings what we have lost for a long time."

"Yeah."

Both of them look back at the well and smile a little. After a few seconds of silence, Silvana looks at Talgeyl and says,

"Do you still hold that?"

"That?"

"The orbs."

"Ah, the watch orbs. Of course."

Silvana means the orbs given by the Royal family to the important noble house, one of which is the Rovere house of Lordlake. The orb lets anyone watch an important event like Sacred Games.

"I still have it inside my house. Since Lord Rovere died, I have been keeping all the important things inside the secret section of my house."

"Will you use it to watch Jacob?"

Talgeyl looks to the sky and thinks for a few seconds before looking around. Then, after a minute of thinking, he nodded his head.

"Yes. I think Lord Rovere will agree to watch the hope of Lordlake in the fight in Sacred Games."