"…" Rye handed it back to Ludric, "Thank you, but I won't accept this."

Ludric's heart fell, "You don't like it? Or is it because I forgot?"

"No, I…" Rye didn't know what to say, so he told Ludric the truth, "I promised to not accept gifts from anyone."

"To who? Why didn't they want you to receive any gift?" Ludric frowned.

"To Solistus," Rye decided to say.

Ludric was stunned, "…Why?"

"It's…between me and god."

Ludric, "…"

What kind of circumstances could make Rye promise to not receive gifts anymore?

"If you have any troubles or concerns you can tell me, Rye."

"It's nothing like that, don't worry. My heart can't get any lighter than it is now."

Ludric clenched his fist, "Am I still not dependable enough? Or do you still can't trust me?"

Rye, "??"

"I'm really fine, Ludric. Do I look like I'm lying?"

"No, but you never thought any of your trouble as troubles," Ludric held back his urge to grab Rye's hands, "I promise I'll become strong enough for you to rely on."

"Ludric, calm down. You'll spill your food," Rye was baffled by Ludric's agitation, "you should rest after you finish your lunch. I think you're still too tired."

What kind of scenario is playing in his head??

"I know you were crying every time you disappeared on us. I always noticed your eyes were red. You decided to practice priesthood because of something, didn't you?"

Rye, "…"

That was because Octavian always teased him to the point of tears and say many overwhelming things that he couldn't help but cry.

Rye fixed his glasses to hide his embarrassment, "You misunderstand. That's not it."

"Then what is it?"

"That…I often cried when I pray. I always disappeared because I don't want to be seen when I pray."

Ludric stared at Rye, "You know you're not good at lying, don't you?"

"…" Rye stood up to leave, "Don't worry. I'm not in trouble or anything, really."

"Rye, wait–"

Ludric forgot about the bowl he put on his lap. The bowl fell when he tried to get up and the food spilled onto the ground.

"See? Didn't I tell you to calm down?" Rye helplessly said.

"Sorry, I forgot about the bowl."

"It's fine," Rye cleaned the mess with a water spell and picked up the bowl, "I'll get you a new one."

Once Rye left the tent, Ludric rested his forehead on his fists and sighed. What should he do to make Rye open up to him more? There seems to be an invisible wall between them that prevented him to make their relationship closer.

Rye returned to the tent to see Ludric's depressed state. He inwardly sighed and sat down next to him.

"Ludric, I know you're trying your best to mend our relationship. But just because you're the older one between us doesn't mean you need to take full responsibility for me," Rye handed Ludric the new bowl of food, "or are you trying to atone yourself because of guilt?"

"No, it's not like that," Ludric hurriedly said, "I really, really want to be close to you."

"Then, you need to relax more around me. No need to do anything excessive. I'm not as emotionally sensitive as you think I am."

"…I'm aware," Ludric muttered.

"Eat and rest," Rye got up.

"Rye…accompany me eat?"

Rye thought for a moment and sat back down, "Alright. Do you want me to add a recovery potion to your food?"

Ludric shook his head, "No, it's better to save it for later," he hesitated for a short while and said, "Ash has a list about the things you like. I also want to know."

"As long as you don't use it to give me another gift."

Ludric readily nodded.

In front of the tent, Nandia has been standing quietly with a bowl of food in her hand. Her face was green from jealousy and her fingers on the bowl turned white.

This was how Ludric act with Rye in private? He was always so cold and stoic towards her. He was strict and serious to the others as well, so she thought it was his natural character.

But what was that pitiful tone in his voice? Anybody who heard him could tell how desperate he wanted to be close to the other person. His reaction towards anything involving Rye was always significantly different.

Are they really only brothers? Are they even blood-related?

Ash who was modifying his guns outside had noticed her for a while and saw her leave indignantly. He raised an eyebrow.

Was it a correct decision to accept her into the team?

Once they resumed their journey, they were thrown into more rounds of consecutive attacks from all kinds of monsters. Rye already told Ludric about Der'ete's assessment of him compared to the demon lord. Ludric understood and asked Rye to continue watching from the sideline.

Ludric needed to be strong enough to fight the demon lord while the other heroes should at least be strong enough to fight an archdemon.

The previous attack made them realize how weak they were compared to the demons. They couldn't even defeat her clones.

Rye couldn't tell if it was his and the elves' luck or not, but Ludric decided to postpone going to the demon territory until they leveled up. If they still weren't strong enough once they reached the elven kingdom, he asked Aerindel and Freanor to let them stay for a month to train.

"Even after 6 years battling the demons, we're still not strong enough…" Ludric gritted his teeth, "what the hell have we been doing all those years?"

Rye handed him a water flask, "The demon lord never sent down his archdemons. It couldn't be helped that we're inexperienced fighting them."

"Thank you," Ludric accepted the flask and drank it, "when you fought the archdemon the other day, what did you do to be able to hurt her in that short amount of time?"

"Power-wise, you're way above me. I couldn't possibly fight her with my own strength," Rye fixed his glasses, "that's why I didn't. I used her own spells against her."

"How?"

"By altering their spells," Rye explained, "I don't have any ultimate destructive spells like you or the others, but for me, altering spells is my highest level of magic."

"Altering…spells? That kind of thing is possible?" Ludric was stunned.

"I'd be glad to teach you, but it took me more than half of my life until I am able to perform it. It's the result of combining all of the knowledge I gained," Rye scanned the others who were still resting and looked back to Ludric, "explaining it is kind of hard. Do you want me to demonstrate it?"

Ludric nodded.

Rye walked away from Ludric and turned to him, "Hit me with a spell."

"Huh?" Ludric doubted his ears.

"It's alright. Attack me with one of your unique spells," Rye signaled him to start.

Ludric hesitated but eventually cast one of the spells only he could cast. A magic circle appeared above them, but a second before it activated another magic circle appeared below it.

20 or so crystals formed in the sky and shot down high-temperature light beams to a spot a step away from Ludric's feet. Ludric took a step back in reflex.

He looked up at Rye in disbelief. He really did alter his spell.

"Well, in this case, I only altered the direction and lowered its power," Rye walked back to Ludric.

"Still…even the High Mages in our kingdom can't do that."

"Because our way of learning is different. The fundamental of our understanding of magic is miles away. I also can't cast powerful and complex spells like the High Mages," Rye looked at Rosetta, "I can't even cast any of the basic beginners spells that Rosetta showed me. My mind refused to accept 2 different comprehensions of magic."

"How can your hair still be so soft and thick with all the studying you did?" Ludric said in wonder.

Rye's eyes twitched, "How can your hair never got burned or ruined from all the battles you went? You should be bald by now with all the demons you faced. Aren't you weirder?"

"I was complimenting you. Why are you angry??"

"I'm sensitive about my hair. Especially after Godford decided to shave all his hair off because they kept falling."

"…" Ludric swallowed and laughed nervously, "your skin also looks good. Maybe because you're an indoor person? If it wasn't for your aura and maturity, you could be mistaken as a student."

"…Why are you complimenting my skin all of a sudden?" Rye tiptoed and studied Ludric's face closely.

"!!" Ludric's eyes widened as his breath halted.

"As I thought, you're weird. You didn't go tan at all and there are no blemishes," Rye dropped his heels down, "our parents have good genes."

Ludric, "…"

What are you saying after giving him a heart attack!?

Nandia who has been watching them, "!!!"

Did they just kiss!?