A stern man sat behind an immaculate marble desk, his pen gliding across paper with practiced precision. He wore a meticulously tailored attire which spoke to his status and his sharp hazel eyes could make even the most hardened men falter.

  As he sorted through the inexhaustible pile of documents stacked before him, his office grew colder at once, an ominous aura filling the room.

  Without lifting his gaze, the man clicked his tongue. “I believe I’ve made it clear, our meetings are to be at agreed-upon times.” He said with a calm voice.

  In front of him, a shadow rose from the ground. It vaguely enveloped the silhouette of a human, but any discernible features were obscured. Its form flickered, making it impossible to tell whether the shadow was human, or something else entirely.

  A raspy voice spoke. “My apologies Marquis Vandervite, but this is urgent.”

  His expression unchanged, the Marquis did not pause his writing. “Speak.”

  “One of your… was attacked.”

  No reaction. After a moment of silence, he frowned.

  “So? Have you come to bother me simply for this?”

  The shadowy figure seemed to shift slightly. “Of course not…The merchandise – the camp itself, has disappeared.” It added. “As if it had never existed.”

  The shadow hesitated before continuing. “We’ve investigated, of course but…Only one lowlife survived.” He paused, choosing his words carefully. “...He seemed to have lost his mind, raving madly of a ‘Flame-eyed demon’.”’

  This caught the Marquis’s attention, and his writing paused. “A demon?” He asked.

  The shadow shook his head dismissively. “A figure of speech, certainly. Demons rarely venture this far inland, and we detected no traces of miasma.”

  Demons were arrogant creatures, and the Marquis knew this. If this truly had been their doing, they would not have bothered erasing the traces of their presence. His subordinates would have found the camp in ruins, reeking of miasma.

  Even if the destruction of his merchandise really was due to the whims of a demon, then there was nothing to be done. Tracking and hiring adequate personnel to subjugate them was not worth the effort. It was better to treat them as natural disasters – unpredictable, but inevitable.

  The head of house Vandervite exhaled sharply. “Then why are you here?” He asked coldly, making it clear that he was losing patience.

  The shadow shifted once more. “I would like your permission to investigate more thoroughly…” It said.

  Marquis Vandervite knew what this meant.

  It came without saying that he wished to know who dared to thwart his plans, especially after the incident with his daughter, Eleanor, but he could not afford to make any waves at the moment.

  Not after the ‘visit’ he’d gotten recently.

  Threatened and humiliated in front of his vassals, unable to even retort.

  His left eye twitched just remembering it, and he cursed under his breath. “Foolish girl…” He spat through gritted teeth.

  If there was any chance this might have been related to , then he had to bide his time. Nothing good would come out of being impatient.

  Still, inaction would be unbefitting a man of his stature.

  “No.” The Marquis said, a faint smirk tugging at his lip. “I have other plans.”

  He thought of a beast woman who held a grudge against a relative of his unwanted visitor. She’d make the perfect pawn to return the affront he’d suffered.

  The Marquis thought.

  At last, he lifted his gaze to the shadow. “Your only task is to keep watch. Ensure they meet.”

  He then tapped his finger against the marble desk, and the shadow was expelled from his office.

  He leaned back into his chair. “...A flame-eyed demon, was it? How amusing.”

  —

  Verity woke up on an unfamiliar couch. “Ah!” He screamed as he straightened up.

  “Tone it down, will you?” A voice echoed from another room.

  As he looked around him, Verity quickly realized that he was in the upper part of Evangelina’s residence.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “How are you feeling?” She asked, still half-immersed in a book.

  Verity remembered what he had gone through, and he inspected his body. All his wounds had disappeared, as if he’d never fought at all, and he felt no after effects whatsoever. He scratched his head as he tried to find something wrong, a hidden injury, but he found nothing.

  “Surprisingly good.” He said at last as he turned to her. “Did you feed me a health potion?” He asked.

  Evangelina scoffed, flipping a page. “You must be joking. Health potions can't work miracles, so I called someone who could.”

  Verity stood up, and followed the sound of her voice. There, he found a warm cup of tea waiting for him across from where his Master sat. He deliberately walked toward his seat, sat down, and took a sip.

  He grimaced at the bitter taste as his lips parted. “A priest?” He guessed.

  “Something like that.”

  Verity took another sip, but the taste was still awful. “I see…How long was I out?”

  Evangelina slammed her book shut, startling Verity. “Ten hours.”

  “Oh tha-”

  “I’ll award you four points for yesterday’s performance.” Evangelina cut sharply.

  Verity blinked. “...Out of four?”

  She scoffed. “What do you think?”

  The answer seemed obvious, but somehow Verity felt it was not so. “Out of ten..?”

  “Out of a hundred.”

  Verity’s head slumped in disappointment. “Isn’t that harsh…? I win in the end, right?”

  Evangelina tilted her head. “You call that winning?”

  Verity had no answer to that. He knew she was right.

  “The only reason you did not get a zero is because you did manage to use Violence correctly, once.” She added coldly. “The number of mistakes you made is incalculable.”

  Verity remembered his final clash with the mage before the large man had interrupted. He knew that was what his master was referring to. It seemed she approved of nothing else beside that moment. His head slumped even lower. He still had much more to learn.

  Evangelina paused.

  She cleared her throat. “W-Well, it is true that you were outnumbered, that this was your first battle, and that this–”

  Verity stood up, and he reached for his spear that Evangelina had placed near his seat. “No, you’re right. I have more to learn, I’m off to train more.” He said.

  Evangelina’s expression twitched. “T-that’s—perhaps you could have tea first, just for a moment?”

  She’d spent some time preparing Verity’s tea, ensuring it reached the right temperature, and that it was brewed perfectly. It had been some time since she last had tea with someone.

  Verity shook his head. “As you said, there’s no time to waste.” He marched toward the wall. “Could you open the passage, please?”

  Evangelina cursed inwardly.

  She smiled, an awkward, forced smile. “Kid, why don’t you just sit, there's still much to be discussed.”

  Verity raised an eyebrow. “Can’t we discuss while we spar?”

  “Sure, but it’d be less… informative. I need your full focus…!”

  Verity frowned, confused. “Then we can start with Aura circulation?”

  Evangelina murmured something inaudibly.

  “What? I can’t hear you Master.”

  “....Sit.”

  “What?’

  “...Sit down…”

  He cupped a hand to his ear. “Whaaat?”

  Evangelina froze, and her fist slowly rose into the air. “Oh I see now…this kid thinks he can mess with me.”

  Verity gulped.

  Verity raised his hands in surrender. “Okay! Okay! I’ll sit! Let’s have tea!!”

  BOOM

  Verity soothed his aching head with some ice as he sat across from Evangelina. “You could have just been honest…” He said, pouting.

  Evangelina huffed. “You should respect your elders.” She sipped her tea. “Haven’t you been taught manners?”

  “Not the ones of world, clearly.” Verity said as he rubbed his head.

  There was a short pause as the sound of the tea cup being set on the wooden table resonated.

  Evangelina threw him a glance, her gray eyes falling on him.. “Your homeland…Tell me about it.”

  Verity was taken aback by the question, but even though his confusion was apparent, Evangelina made no effort to elaborate further.

  So, Verity thought carefully about what he could say.

  He’d have to say something positive, surely.

  But perhaps not positive, the Earth he knew was a terrible place.

  He thought long and hard, until an idea came to mind.

  A grin formed his lips. “Well, you see, in my world, we have stories of all kinds.” He began. “My preferred genre is this one.” He said, opening up his arms.

  Evangelina raised an eyebrow.

  Verity chuckled. “Where I come from, magic, skills, and non-human species are all considered fantasy while here, it’s all real.”

  Evangelina's lips curled faintly. “Then this must be a dream come true for you?”

  Verity nearly leapt from his seat. “You have no idea!!” He recalled his days on Earth. “You wouldn’t be able to imagine how much I’ve dreamt of coming to a world like this!!”

  Evangelina sipped her tea. “Tell me more about these stories… How does this land compare?”

  Verity stroked his chin. “Well, when it comes to the design I think—”

  Their conversation stretched into the afternoon. Evangelina skillfully probed, and Verity spilled all that he could recall of where he’d come from. His boyish enthusiasm resurfaced fragments of days long past in Evangelina’s mind.

  Things she’d lost.

  She ignored them.

  For now, Verity deserved her undivided attention. It wasn’t that she was genuinely interested in this so-called Earth. Although Verity’s tales did spark interest in her, the real purpose of this was to assess him.

  Something had happened last night that had left Evangelina perplexed.

  Verity was not meant to win that battle. She’d chosen that group exactly so that he’d experience defeat. Verity was not a genius who needed to be knocked down to improve, but defeat still proved to be the most valuable teacher for all.

  However, Verity had won. As though in a trance, his performance had momentarily skyrocketed. His skill remained relatively the same, but his raw physical prowess—and something about his mentality, had changed.

  If this was the effect of some skill, Evangelina needed to ensure there were no lingering side effects, and if there were, she needed to find a solution. She wouldn’t allow her probationary disciple to fall prey to his own skill.

  Yes, that was the reason.

  Certainly not because she hadn’t enjoyed tea with another person in years.

  Surely not because she felt a strange sense of ease around her ill-mannered, talentless disciple.

  And most of all, assuredly not because Verity reminded her of memories she wished she had.

  She told herself, a smile on her lips.

  Time flew by.

  

  Verity entered a bandit outpost located deep inside of a complicated cave system.

  One of the guards quickly spotted him.

  “T-those eyes..!!” The bandit turned to his friends. “I-It’s the Flame-eyed demon!! Grab your weapons!!”

  Verity smirked. “Hehe… should I make that my hunter nickname when I get back?”

  He paused.