Chapter 1 - Part 3

The next morning, I woke up early to go to the capital. Both Rhoz and Alix were still asleep. There was a knock on the door. When I opened it, I saw Anna dressed in a uniform. It had the police-force logo embroidered on it. “Here put this on. This was supposed to be one of our uniforms, but it was too small for any of us.”, she said as she handed me a uniform. “Gotta look our best in front of our superiors.”

Looks like she values the hierarchy, I thought. I looked at the uniform. It looked to be about my size. After I changed into it, I realized that it was a little off.

A little altering can fix this, I thought.

As I walked down, after changing, I saw Anna ready to leave and Rin was sitting on one of the benches. “We can eat on our way.”, said Anna on seeing me. “It's going to take some time for us to get there.”, she said.

“Take care on the journey.”, said Rin. She must have woken up with Anna, I thought.

After saying goodbye to Rin, both Anna and I walked to the town transport agency. There were many horse-drawn carriages waiting outside, with people ready to board them and some were busy prepping the carriage for their journey. We walked inside and I sat on one of the benches and waited as Anna went to the counter to book our ride. A lot of people were looking at Anna with a confused look. Later after she had booked our ride, I asked her why the people were looking at her like that. “I think it’s because of the uniform. I don’t really wear it that much, so the townspeople might have been wondering what happened.”, she said.

She guided us to an empty carriage and after talking to the driver for a bit, she opened the door of the carriage and sat in it. I followed suit and sat beside her. There was space for four people. Even after we had boarded, the driver didn’t get on. Looks like he was waiting for something. When I asked Anna, she said, “Remember, I said we’re having our breakfast on the way. They are making it, and it will be delivered in the carriage. We leave after that.”

“Did you really pay for all this?”, I asked. It was a bit hard to believe that.

“Of course not.”, she said with a smug look on her face, “Since this is an official trip the police-force pays for it.”

Of course. Why didn’t I think of that before?

After a few minutes, our breakfast arrived. It was packed in small boxes that had the travel agency’s logo on it. After handing it to us, the driver sat on his seat and began to drive the carriage. Anna said that we can eat after I’d gotten used to sitting in the carriage. After some time, we ate our breakfast and proceeded to look out the carriage windows at the view outside. We were passing through a part of town that I had never seen before. “Do you have any money with you?”, asked Anna. I tapped my pocket lightly. “Yupp.”

I remembered to take it along, as I was changing. I still hadn’t spent a single coin.

“You can buy yourself some weapons or tools with that.”, she said.

I nodded my head. I did plan to use the money for that after all.

Tired of just watching the scenery, I decided to initiate a conversation.

“So your class is warrior.”, I asked.

“Yes.”, she said. “Most Oni end up as warriors.”

So she was an Oni. An Oni is a club-wielding mythical creature, with a humanoid appearance that is found in Japanese mythology. I had my doubts because of her horn. Usually, Oni have two horns, but she only has one.

“So are all Oni this strong?”, I asked her.

“They are usually quite strong, but they are more renowned for their ability to use a special spell that is passed down among their clans.”, she replied.

“So what spell can you use?”, I asked her.

After a moment of hesitation, she replied, “I’m not really that good with spells, but I guess I made up for that by training my body.”

I mean, she is right. With such insane strength, I wouldn’t mind not being able to use spells. But I didn’t say this to her because I’d rather arrive at the capital in one piece.

“So what kind of a person is our superior?”, I asked.

“It's not one person, but two people. And… How do I say it… They’re annoying.”, she said.

Ok…That was quite an impression there, and here I thought she respected the hierarchy.

“It’ll take a few hours till we get there, so I’m taking a little nap.”, said Anna.

Left by myself, I stared outside, taking in all the sights the scenery before me had to offer and before long, the motion of the carriage lulled me to sleep.

Before long, I found myself waking up and looking outside, I saw that the view had completely changed. There were quite a few carriages outside.

If Axinus had been a town then this looked to be its city equivalent. The buildings had a sleeker, modern look to them. Replacing the hand-drawn shop signs were signs that looked like they were sculpted. There were many white office-like buildings everywhere. Anybody could see that this was a place of class. When I looked into the distance, I saw a huge white church-like building. It looked like it was built in the middle of the city.

Looks like Anna saw me gazing outside.

“So you woke up.”, she said. “This is the capital city of Baltus. Quite different from Axinus don’t you think?”

“Quite? This is a huge difference. This almost looks like a different world.”, I said.

“Wait till you see the headquarters.”, she said.

Looks like everything in this city is going to be bigger and better than what he have back at Axinus.

The carriage was drawing closer towards the church-like building.

“That's the temple of the patron goddess of the city.”, she said.

“Patron goddess?”, I asked.

“Yes. Most major cities have a patron god or goddess for whom they build a grand shrine, to bring blessings to the land. This city’s patron goddess is Kaena, the goddess of work.”, said Anna.

Speaking of goddesses, didn’t Ethys say she was the goddess of chance? Looks like we have different deities for different aspects of life.

Our carriage started to slow down and came to a stop.

“Looks like we’ve arrived.”, said Anna. She opened the door and we got outside. The carriage driver tipped his hat to us and took the carriage away.

We were standing in front of the travel agency in this city. There were a lot of people walking around, but unlike the shabbily dressed people of Axinus, the people here had crisp city-clothing. As expected of a city, I thought.

As we walked through the crowd, I saw a shop that sold weapons and armor. I felt for the purse in my pockets and continued to walk, trying to keep up with Anna’s pace. We walked straight towards the temple and took a left. It was really big. How did they get the money to build this thing? When I asked Anna that, she said that this state was under the rulership of the Mainarduss family. They were nobles who were almost next in line to royalty. It seems like they built the temple and manage it to this day.

When I think of nobles, I think of the rich spoiled people with too much money than they can handle. When I said this to Anna, she laughed and asked what made me think like that. She explained that the nobles here weren’t anything like the description I had given her.

After walking some distance, I saw a regal, white building with golden banners hanging in front of it. It had a huge entrance and almost looked like a luxury hotel. That's when I noticed that the people coming in and going out had the same uniform as me. “No way…”

“Yupp. That's headquarters.”, said Anna.

How? I mean, our station looks like a dump compared to this place. There were two guards standing in stiff attention by both sides of the entrance. As we walked through the carpeted entranceway, I noticed a chandelier hanging from the reception. This is a hotel, right? Who would think of building such a classy police station? I guess they had too much money to spend on decor.

Some of the officers were looking at Anna and were whispering among themselves, they were also looking at me in confusion. Aaah! I took a look at myself. Everyone around me had well-fitted, neatly ironed uniforms and here I was with my ill-fitting uniform, that I put on hurriedly. They were all looking at me like I was some country peasant visiting the big city. I just wanted to go crawl into some hole and stay there. This was so embarrassing. But when they would look at me like that, Anna would shoot them a glare and they would turn away hurriedly. Compared to the five members that we had, this station had hundreds of officers walking about like they had nothing to do. It looked like they were all rushing around like something had happened. Anna looked serious and was walking with a straight posture. We climbed a flight of stairs and walked to the place that I thought looked like the chief’s office.

“Its all your fault, you fool!”

“Who are you calling a fool, you beastly little man.”, came the muffled shouts from within the room. What is with all these people fighting among themselves when I show up.

Anna stopped in front of the door like she didn’t notice and gave a knock.

“Come in!”, came two voices in unison.

Anna took in a deep breath. “This is going to be a pain.”, she mumbled loud enough for me to hear.

As she opened the door, I saw a dwarf and an elf, with their hands on each other's collars.

“If you’d not lazed off, this wouldn’t have happened!”, shouted the dwarf.

“Yeah? And what were you doing? Drinking and sleeping around!”, the elf yelled back.

Uhh… I had heard about elves and dwarves not being friendly with each other, but this was just too much.

Completely ignoring the both of us, they continued bickering among themselves. Anna cleared her throat to attract their attention but they continued to argue. I saw a vein pop up on her forehead. Uh oh, I thought. They better look here before things get violent. Anna lifted her fist slowly and clenched it and hit the door with a loud bang.

“Yes ma’am!”, the both of them turned to look at us, sitting straight in attention.

Looks like no matter who it is, they can’t oppose her.

“Oh, if it isn’t Anna.”, said the elf as he tried to act natural.

“What brings you here?”, asked the dwarf trying to cover up what had just happened.

Anna sighed, “Didn’t I write about the new officers at our station?”

“Wait, you were serious about that?”, asked the elf, he cleared his throat, “I mean, Good good.”

“You wrote a letter?”, I whispered to her, “When did you get the time to do that?”

“I wrote one when we returned to the station after the robbery incident. You were asleep then.”, she said.

Wait a minute, she sent a letter that early? I seriously don’t understand her thought process.

“So, one rune-priestess and a guardian, huh? Where did you end up finding them?”, asked the dwarf.

“They are both other-worlders.”, said Anna.

“An other-worlder who’s a guardian? Now that wouldn’t happen to be this young man over here, would it?”, asked the elf looking my way.

“Yes sir!”, I replied. “My name is Kei Satou.”

“Kei Satou, I am Thastrin, son of Ugaram and the joint-chief of the state of Cyrenoss’ police-force department.”, said the dwarf with a hand on his chest.

“And I am Taegen.”, said the elf. “Taegen Olcoth, joint-chief of the Cyrenoss police-force.”

Taegen and Thastrin. So, both of them share the role of the chief.

Let me get this straight, from what I could understand, this state is called Cyrenoss and this is its capital city, Baltus. And Axinus is a town that comes under this state. So, that means I still don’t know what the name of this country is. I will have to ask Anna later, I thought.

Anna took out a folded paper from her pocket. She walked over and put it on the desk. “The guys outside look to be in a hurry. Something happened?”, she asked.

“Did something happen, you ask? Of course it did! And it’s all his fault!”, shouted Taegen pointing at the dwarf.

“My fault?! And what were you doing when it happened? Huh??”, the dwarf shouted back.

Anna let out a sigh. “What exactly happened?”, she asked.

“The noble thief. That's what happened.”, said Thastrin.

“He struck the Mainarduss mansion last night. No-one was hurt, but a lot of precious jewels and gold were taken from the mansion’s treasury.”, said Taegen.

The noble thief? This is the second time I’ve heard that name. I recall Anna mentioning it back at the station when we first met.

“Wasn’t the security at the nobles’ mansions doubled to make sure that this didn’t happen?”, asked Anna.

“Yes, we did all that. We were both personally present at the mansion yesterday. I still don’t understand how he was able to pull that off.”, said Thastrin with a grim look on his face.

“Lord Mainarduss was really angry. Especially after the rumor started that, the noble thief had stolen from the treasury to give it to the poor people of the city. But the lord says that his estate would donate money to the poor every month regardless, so stealing from the treasury was absolutely unacceptable.”, said Taegen with his hands clasped together, his face changed into one of absolute seriousness.

“He was able to get through even though the both of you were present. Hmm… This is getting quite troublesome.”, said Anna.

So from what I’ve heard, it looks like the noble thief is some person who steals from the rich and gives to the poor. But after hearing about the lord of this state, it seems like he’s a good person. So why would the thief do that?

“Many noble families have had their treasuries looted and many more are requesting for security. So a lot of officers are involved. It is our duty to protect the citizens after all.”, said Taegen.

“The Chevalier estate is right next to Axinus, isn’t it? They might be calling for your support soon. Make sure to help them to the best of your abilities when they do.”, said Thastrin, stroking his beard.

“Yes sir.”, said Anna, giving a crisp salute to the joint-chiefs. “We will be taking our leave now. It’s his first time in the capital, and he needs a weapon.”

“It would also be beneficial for you to learn a few spells.”, said Taegen.

“Yes sir. I’ll try my best.”, I said.

“Also, even if this is highly unlikely, if you find any information on the noble thief, report it immediately. You may leave.”, said Thastrin.

As we were walking out, I noticed that all the officers had troubled looks on their faces. Looks like the noble thief had left the capital in a state of confusion.

Anna must have noticed my worried face, “Don’t worry, I’m sure the thief will be caught soon. Now that the entire police-force is searching for him. He must have made a big mistake by robbing the lord of the state.”

I hoped that what she was saying was true. The joint-chiefs may have been a bit annoying but after seeing them serious its hard to believe that they let the thief slip right under their noses. Whoever this person was, they were surely skilled.

After exiting the building, we were back again in the bustle of the city. Anna said that it’s about time I got myself some kind of weapon. I tried to think about what I wanted. During my early days, I did use a baton, but I guess comparing that to a sword or a club is useless.

We entered the weapons store I had seen earlier on our way. There were all kinds of lethal weapons everywhere. Daggers, swords, maces, crossbows, axes, and plenty of others.

“Go on. Pick whichever one you’re most suited to, or feels more comfortable in your hand.”, said Anna.

I tried a few of the swords. I was not interested in using a dagger as my main weapon or an axe. Those kind of weapons were not for me. I might get the crossbow. There were many types of swords. Longswords, shortswords, cutlasses, broadswords, and other types. I picked myself a longsword and tried to swing it a little. It was quite heavy, but if I practiced, I could get used to this. Also when we had Anna and Alix, I’m sure I won’t have to do much fighting. But just in case, I got myself one and a small dagger for emergencies. I also bought the crossbow and a quiver with some arrows. This cost me all the money I had on hand and now I could feel the empty purse in my pocket as we left the weapons shop.

As I was wondering what we were doing next, Anna pointed at my uniform.

“Now we need to get this altered. Also, you need some clothes.”, she said.

“But I don’t have any money with me.”, I said.

“Don’t worry, I’ll pay for it. You can pay me back once you get your first salary.”, she said.

“Ok then. I do need a set of clothes.”, I said. I can’t keep wearing the same set of clothes every day. As we walked into a clothes shop, I saw a mirror. Now that I think about it, there was a lack of glass in this world. When I stepped in front of the mirror, I didn’t recognize myself. My hair was blond, and I looked slightly younger. I touched my face, to make sure that it was me. Looks like the way I looked has changed when I got reincarnated. I did resemble my previous self, but there were several differences. Does that mean all other-worlders look different from how they did in their past lives? Since having blond hair was not uncommon in this world, no-one had really pointed it out to me.

Anna asked, “What happened? Something on your face?”

“No it’s nothing.”, I said. After taking one more look at myself, I selected some clothes and bought them. After changing into one of them, I handed over my uniform to one of the tailors at the shop for altering. Anna said that with the power of skills, it was easy for them to alter it perfectly just by looking at me.

So it looks like skills can be used for everyday activities too. I waited at the store for some time until the uniform gets altered, while Anna went to look at some armor outside.

After getting my uniform back, I put them in the bag that contained my newly bought clothes. Here I was lugging a bag with clothes in one hand, sword sheathed at my waist and crossbow hanging from my back. I looked like some hunter who went shopping after a hunt. I couldn’t help but feel weird.

On seeing that I was done, Anna joined me as we walked around town.

“So what are we doing next?”, I asked her.

“I guess we can wander around for some time because the carriage doesn’t get ready until a little later.”, she said.

We walked by a huge mansion. There were lots of police officers in and around the building. That must be the Mainarduss mansion that was robbed, I thought.

Anna looked thoughtfully at the building. “I wonder what his goal is. The noble thief, that is. It almost feels like he’s robbing for fun. He only takes a few precious items from the treasuries and leaves a lot untouched. And then there are the rumors wherever he goes, like he gives the money to the poor people or something.”

We continued to walk as I tried to contemplate on what his goal might have been for this string of bizarre robberies. He even managed to get into the mansion of the lord of the state with the security doubled. It’s almost like he can walk through walls.

After walking for some time we reached the city market. We tried some snacks at the nearby eateries and continued to wander around looking at the shops that lined both sides of the street. I turned to look at a shop that sold meat and vegetables.

“Do you guys always eat outside?”, I asked Anna.

“Well yes… None of us know how to cook, after all.”, she said.

“Is there a kitchen or something back at the station?”, I asked.

“Yes, a small one. There really isn’t much there. We only use it rarely to put on some tea.”, she said.

“If we buy some meat and vegetables, maybe I could cook something up.”, I suggested.

“You can cook?”, Anna asked in surprise.

In my previous life, I would make myself some food every now and then. I couldn’t make anything too complicated, of course. But if it’s something simple, then I’m sure I can put it together, I said to her.

“Ok then. It doesn’t hurt to eat some home-made food once in a while.”, she said with a nostalgic smile.

After buying the needed ingredients, we walked around the city for some time, and as it was almost time we turned back towards the travel agency.

Once we arrived, we found our ride all prepped and ready to depart. We got on, and the carriage resumed its rhythmic swaying, with the clatter of the horses' hooves accompanying it as we left the capital city of Baltus. As the looming sight of the temple started to get further away from us, I realized how much I’d gotten used to this strange and wonderful world.

There was nothing too interesting on our trip back, except for the villages that we passed on our way. As I looked out, I could see the children playing and farmers working in their fields. A complete change from the city we were just in.

The simple, small houses that these people lived in, reminded me about the countryside in my old world. I felt nostalgic as I remembered my own hometown which was a village just like this.

Speaking of hometowns, I asked Anna if she was from Axinus. To that, she replied, “Actually, I was not born in this country. I’m from the kingdom of the Oni. So technically I’m an immigrant.”

Hmm… So she was not from this country. I wonder what made her settle down here. Especially in a town like Axinus. Maybe I could get her to tell it to me later.

A few hours passed and now the sun cast an orange glow over the land. I recall seeing some of the sights outside on the way. Looks like we were getting closer to Axinus. Within no time we found ourselves at the town borders and I could see all sorts of familiar sights. I could see the town patrol standing by the entrance to the town. Axinus was surrounded by stone walls with entrances at all four directions. It wasn’t fortified or anything but I guess it could prevent unlawful entry into town.

We arrived at the travel agency and we immediately set off for the station. I had only been here for a day, but I was now used to the sights of Axinus and it felt like I had just returned home after a long trip. Anna carried the groceries while I had my clothes and the crossbow on my back. By now I had gotten used to lugging around the heavy sword on my waist. On our way back we met someone we knew.

“Oh, if it isn’t Mr.Kei! Gone shopping for some weapons, I see.”, it was Skye, a worker at the guild who had helped me find my class. She looked across at Anna and then back at me. “You really did end up becoming a cop, huh? Anyways, good luck with your new job. You’ll be needing it.”, she said with a knowing look.

Hmm… something seems odd. Almost like she was hinting at something.

After Skye had left, Anna seemed to be lost in thought and then suddenly gritted her teeth as if realizing something. “This better not be happening.”, she whispered to herself. Ok, I have no idea what’s happening and I wished to not know or I’ll end up caught in another strange situation. Anna quickened her pace as we walked towards the station. We were quite close to the station. I could see it on the other side of the bridge. As we approached closer, I could hear someone laughing from inside the station. Hearing this, Anna just got angrier and she stormed into the building. When I followed her and walked in, I saw something weird. There was someone in the cell. Rhoz was lying with his head on his desk and Rin was worriedly looking at the man inside the cell. I kinda recognized him from somewhere. He was bare-chested and looked like he hit the gym about 5 times a day. Seeing Anna, he burst out into another fit of laughter.

“Hey! Did ya miss me?”, he said. Looks like he was drunk.

“How many times are you going to do this?”, Anna walked over to the cell and grabbed his hands through the bars and twisted them in a lock.

“Ow ow ow! Hey! No violence! Peace! Oww!”, he struggled to break free from her killer grip. That's when I noticed. He was wearing some very high-level armor. The top part had been removed and was resting on the ground next to him. Outside the cell next to the wall, there was a large, shiny sword. It looked like it cost plenty of money. It must be this guy’s, I thought. After looking at him again I realized why I felt like I had seen him before. Around the time I had just got to this world, I had seen a party of adventurers who had slain the Wyvern, and this guy was one of them. I remembered seeing his shiny armor that day.

What was he doing inside lockup, I wondered.

“This is the problem with you other-worlders. You think you can do anything just because you’re strong.”, said Anna with an exasperated look on her face.

So this guy is an other-worlder too? Including him, there were already three of us here in Axinus. So there has to be loads of them in the capital.

From his appearance and his fancy armor, he looked just like one of those knights in those fairy-tales. Except for — of course — he was in a jail cell without anything on his upper body. He looked at me as if he was evaluating me.

“Never seen you around these parts.”, he said trying to poke his face out of the bars of the cell, while staring at me. “He’s an other-worlder like you. Just joined us yesterday.”, said Alix as he walked down the stairs. So that's where he was, I thought.

“New officer? Another one? The pretty miss over there said that she joined yesterday too. Did you force her into joining or something, chief?”, joked the man as he pointed at Rin, who looked at him with a sad face.

“What did he do this time?”, Anna asked Alix.

“He got into a fight with someone at a bar and ended up destroying half of it.”, said Alix.

“Hear me out chief! It wasn’t my fault. That guy, he said that I wasn’t strong enough. So I had to show him… I had to show him that…”, the man trailed off as he knelt down on the ground, clutching the metal bars of the cell.

Everyone looked at him with a pitiful look, as if feeling sorry for him.

The mood in the room took a turn. I wonder why everyone was looking at him like that. Then Anna broke the silence. “Just because he said that didn’t mean you had to burn the bar down. Isn’t it about time you got over it? You’re causing trouble for everyone, you know.”, she turned to look at Alix, “And how many times do I have to tell those people at the guild to keep him in check. The moment he does something stupid, they send him here. We aren’t his baby-sitters.”

I wanted to ask Anna about the man in the cell, but I knew that now was not the time. I turned to look at Rhoz, who was still lying with his face on his desk.

“What happened to him?”, I asked.

“He had to use his water spells to put out the flames and then help me catch and bind him up.”, said Alix.

Wait, so he literally burnt the bar down? I thought Anna was using some figure of speech, but it looks like this guy can use flame magic.

“And that's not all, I had to listen to his constant blabbering while I was keeping guard.”, said Rhoz as he lifted his head from the desk. So he was awake after all.

“Anyways let me out. It’s fine now. I won’t do anything to anyone.”, said the guy.

“That's not up for you to decide. Causing damage to others' property is a crime. So you’ll have to spend some time in here and repent.”, said Anna as she went upstairs to put away the bag of groceries in her hand.

“Aaah whatever! It’s fine. I’m used to this anyway.”, said the guy as he turned his face away from us. “So what’s your name new hire?”, he asked. “I know miss Rin over there. We had been in the same party once. You’re an other-worlder too right?”

“Yeah. My name is Kei.”, I said.

“Kei… Hmm. Good to meet you.”, he said and then stared at the walls of the cell. Wait, isn’t he going to introduce himself, I thought. “Umm… your name?”, I asked. He turned to look at me with a blank face, then it turned to one of shock. “N-no way… You don’t know who I am?! How is that possible? My name is known far and wide within this country. You know, Flame magic. Black blade. Ring any bells?”, he asked.

“Uh… No?”, Honestly I don’t know anything about this country. It’s only been a day, why do all these guys expect me to know everything.

“Wow. It sure must be fun being ignorant.”, he said as he looked up. I wanted to punch him now. “My name is Raymond, The emperor of flames. Hero of Axinus. Dragonslayer. I've got other titles too, but I can't remember them all.”, he said as he puffed his chest with pride. It’s almost like he forgot that he was behind bars while he was saying all this. Leaving his stuck-up self in the cell, I walk away towards the stairs. “Wait are you ignoring me? Hey! You! Wha-”, his protesting voice trailed off as I walked up the stairs. After putting down the bag with my new clothes and weapons in the room, I saw Anna standing in front of her room looking out the window at the end of the hallway with a spaced-out look. She snapped back to reality when I shut the door. She looked at me with an almost sad face. I got a feeling that she was thinking about Raymond.

“What's got you thinking?”, I asked her.

“Nothing… It’s just that I’m worried about him. If he keeps doing things like this, he could seriously hurt himself and others around him.”, she said.

So she was thinking about him after all. After a moment of silence, she continued. “A few years back he was one of the top adventurers of the country. Defeating powerful monsters one by one with the party that he led. They were well renowned and were like a family. But then, he challenged one of the stronger demon lords in the neighboring country. They stood no chance against him. The demon lord was just too strong. Being the only other-worlder in the party, Ray somehow managed to survive. But all the other party members couldn’t make it back. Ever since then he’s only been a shell of his past self. I heard that after he made it back to the capital, he didn’t speak to anyone for three weeks. It’s been over two years now, but he still doesn’t open up to anyone. He switches parties every now and then and doesn’t integrate well with anyone.”

Hmm… I never saw something like this coming. I tried to think about losing my loved ones, but it was too painful to even imagine that. He must be bearing quite a large burden on his shoulders. My view of him has changed completely. It’s no wonder that he would be ticked off if someone said that he wasn’t strong. He must feel that if he were stronger he could have saved his friends. With that thought in mind, I walked downstairs and Anna followed.

“Hey, where did you walk off to? You didn’t let me finish.”, said Raymond.

I sighed. Rin spoke getting up from the bench, “Ill go put on some tea.”, and walked upstairs. She must know about what happened, I thought, no wonder she looked at him that way too. I walked over and plonked onto the bench. I was thinking about how to prepare the hotpot when there was a small rap on the door. I could see the feet of a woman from under the batwing doors.

“Umm…”, came the inquiring voice of the woman as she pushed the doors open.

As her face came into view, I noticed she had white hair and pointed ears. A female elf. She had a quiver and bow on her back. She scanned the room as if looking for something. Had she come to file a case, I thought.

“Sana, what are you doing here?”, came Raymond’s voice from the cell.

An acquaintance of his? I thought.

“Ray! Umm…”, she turned to look at Anna and in a quick movement bowed her head low, “Please forgive him for the trouble he has caused!”

“Hey cut that out! That's embarrassing!”, he protested, “they’ll let me off in a little bit. Why’d you have to come all the way here?”

“Because we were worried!”, she said as she lifted her head up and looked at Ray with an annoyed face. We?, I thought. I looked outside and saw that there were about three other people standing outside.

“I never asked you to worry about me.”, he said with a grim face.

“You don’t need to ask anyone to do that. If you are a party member isn’t it obvious that we would worry about you?”, she said with a pained expression on her face.

Looks like she’s a member in his current party. The guys outside must also be party members. Coming all this way for his sake. Looks like he’s got some good friends. That is, if he even considers them as such.

“Whatever. There was no need for you to come here.”, he said.

“Shouldn’t you be thanking her for coming all the way here?”, I asked him.

“Hmph!”, he shrugged his shoulders.

The elf girl, Sana, looks back at Anna. “Isn’t there any way to let him off this time?”, she asked.

“No.”, said Anna, “He did cause severe damage to the building. What if someone got hurt? He’ll have to spend some time here and reflect on that.”

“Sigh… I guess it can't be helped.”, she said as her head drooped down.

“What did I tell ya?”, chided Raymond.

“Well, anyways. I just came to tell you that we are going to raid the wyvern’s nest again today.”, she said.

“Wait what!? That's too dangerous for you guys to do alone!”, he protested.

“Oh? What’s that? You worried about us?”, Sana asked with a wry smile.

“Tch… You know what? Go do whatever you want.”, pouted Ray as he turned his face away from hers. Looks like he does worry about his comrades after all. Maybe they can help him get over his past. As I was wondering this, Sana gave all of us a little bow. “I’ll be leaving then.”, she announced.

“About the raid… Were you being serious?”, It was Ray who asked this.

“Don’t worry. It was just a little tease. We’ll all go once you’re out. See you later then.”, saying this, Sana walked out of the building and probably went to discuss with the other party members that Ray was doing ok.

“That girl… I wonder what made her think that I was worried. I was just saying that it would be easier if I was around.”, said Ray as he folded his arms, but I could sense the relief in his voice.

“Well looks like you’ve found yourself some good friends! Good for you!”, said Rhoz, grinning.

“Whatever.”, grumbled Ray.

Anyways, it was getting pretty late. I better start preparing for dinner. As I got up from the bench, Rin walked down to say that the tea was ready. When I told her about dinner, she said that she would help me make it. With that, the both of us headed upstairs to start our preparations, while Anna and the others gulped down their tea. It took us quite some time to make it in the small kitchen. I had bought some meat, vegetables, and spices. The vegetables and spices were different from the ones in my world but they tasted quite similar. We decided to make some kind of curry-dish. Some of the spices were strong, so I thought that it would work. The lack of tools in the kitchen proved to be a big obstacle, but somehow, we made it. I noted down in my mind to buy some utensils and other cooking instruments at the market later.

After making it, we took the dish downstairs. Rhoz was the first one to speak up.

“Mmm… That smells good! Who knew that you could cook, am I right?”

“It looks and smells good.”, said Anna, “but now it’s time to check if it actually tastes good.”

All of a sudden she was acting like some food critic. I guess they didn’t expect much from my cooking. Time to see if me toiling away in the kitchen with Rin was of any use. We served the dish onto plates and handed it to them. Rhoz started to dig in without even waiting for the rest of us. It was really odd. Since we didn’t have a proper dining table, Anna and the others ate at their respective desks while me and Rin shared the benches. Eating like this in my previous workplace would have been impossible. I noticed that Raymond was looking at us with hungry eyes from within the cell. Feeling sorry for him, I decided to give him a portion. I asked Anna, “Can I give him some?”

“Sure. Also, this is really good.”, she replied.

“Thanks.”, I said.

“I don’t need it. I'm not hungry.”, came Raymond's voice from the cell.

I turned to look at him again. “You sure?”, I asked.

“I mean… I'm not that hungry or anything. But… I guess, maybe a bite wouldn’t hurt.”, he mumbled.

Sigh. This guy is really easy to read, I thought.

After serving him I sat down to eat.

“Man! That was awesome! Maybe we should make this like a monthly event or something.”, said Rhoz, as he finished his plate.

“Indeed. It does taste really good.”, said Alix. He may not speak much, but the speed with which he was clearing his plate said it all.

“Well that was a refreshing change from eating outside every day.”, said Anna.

Well, those were some great reviews, I thought. I took a spoonful and tried it. Hmm… Not bad. Rin looked at me and smiled. “Looks like it came out good in the end.”, she said.

“Yupp.”, I replied.

“Not bad.”, said Raymond. “It's not really that good but… you know…yeah.”

Would it kill this guy to give a compliment? Now that I think about it, wasn’t he drunk when we first saw him? Hmm… Not that it really matters anyway.

We waste the rest of the time talking about what happened at the capital. After a while, Raymond was let off and the station returned to being just the five of us.

“Now that I think about it, you don’t know any spells do you, Kei?”, asked Rhoz. That's right. Can I even use magic? Focus glare doesn’t really count. It doesn’t use any magic as far as I know. All it does is enhance my senses.

“Every person has mana in them. If you learn how to tap into it, anyone can use magic. But using complex spells require a lot of mana and practice. Nothing is easy after all.”, he said.

“Why don’t you do this.”, said Anna, “Rhoz, you can teach him some simple spells.”

“Of course! I am the spell expert after all.”, he said.

“And Rin, you go with them to ensure that they don’t do anything stupid. I doubt Kei would do anything like that but it’s Rhoz I’m worried about.”, said Anna. Alix snickered from his seat.

“Chief! Is that all the trust you have in me? I can be quite responsible if I try, you know.”, Rhoz protested.

And like that, the day came to an end. It was decided that we would take some time off from duty every day to go practice some spells. The next week proceeded in a rather peaceful manner. Nothing much happened. No real cases were filed, other than an occasional disruption of public order by you-know-who.

My spell practice was going quite smoothly and I even tried practicing how to use the sword. But our quiet days soon ended, as we received a notice in the mail. It was a notice from the Chevalier estate, requesting for our aid in improving their security. Looks like what chief Thastrin said has happened. I guess we’ll just have to escort them or something. But little did I know, that we were going to get involved in something much deeper.