The Lakeside Town—Yumin [11:52 AM].

Through the crowds of Yumin, the group walked past it as they made their way over towards a place to eat.

"Mhm~ lunch~ lunch~!" Fei hummed happily.

"Aha, you're really that excited that we're going out to lunch?" Roy questioned.

"...she's excited about everything," Damian sighed helplessly.

"H-Hey! It's been a while since I actually went out anywhere to eat lunch..." she sulked. "So I'm just happy! You got a problem with that?"

"Nope, not at all," he coughed.

"Haha. Anyways, where do you want to eat?" Roy asked. "There's quite a lot of restaurants open in town nowadays... so, the choice is yours."

"Where do I want to eat? Well, let's eat at Yena's!" Fei said excitedly.

"...hmm? Lunch at the tavern?" Roy tilted his head. "Are you sure? You know it's my treat."

"I'm sure! It's been a long while since I ate there, so I'm craving for her food," she said as her stomach growled. "Besides, I also want to talk with her too! We've been so busy that I couldn't greet her much these days..."

"Well then, I guess we'll eat there," he nodded his head as the group swiftly made their way over towards a small building near the southern entrance of the town. Soon after, they entered the building.

...

The moment that they entered the place, the group was greeted by the sight of an almost near-full house. The tavern was as busy as the town's street. Of course, this was because it was currently rush hour.

"...w-wow, it sure is busy, huh?" Fei said in amazement.

"...Fei, we've been here for who knows how many times. You know full well that at this time, the place gets busy as heck," he shrugged as he walked ahead whilst looking for a place for the three to sit.

"Aha... well, it always amazes me with how much people pay a visit to this place... especially people outside of town!" she said.

"Well, this town is a tourist hotspot because of its lake," Roy chuckled.

"Right! Who wouldn't want to admire the beautiful Jade Lake~" she said in satisfaction.

Whilst the two conversed with one another, Damian called out to them as he gestured for the two to come over and sit by the empty seats that he found among the crowd.

Quickly making their way over to Damian, the group sat down. Moments later, a woman who seemed to be within her 20s walked towards the table, with her notebook in hand, she said. "Welcome to Yena's~ How may I take your order?"

"The usuals please!" Fei said. "Oh- And tell Yena I said hi!"

"U-Um... the usuals?" The woman tilted her head confused.

"...cough. Just tell Yena that Fei and Damin are here to order, she'll know the rest."

"Ah... right," The woman said embarrassed. "T-Then, what about drinks? Can I get you anything?"

"Orange juice~!"

"Coffee."

"Tea would suffice."

Fei, Damian and Roy answered respectively.

"Got it," she said as she left the table.

Seeing the woman leave the table, Fei asked in a curious tone. "Hmm... never seen her before! Is she new or something?"

"What do you think?" Damian glared at Fei as he quickly sighed. "Sigh, nevermind. Anyways, since we're at Miss Yena's place, it kind of makes me wonder how Xander's doing?"  he turned Roy as he asked.

"Xander? Ah, from what I can tell, his job in Torus was completed a few days ago. So he's on his way back to Yumin," Roy calmly stated. "If anything, he should be back in the evening if they aren't any delays."

"Ah, really?!" Fei's eyes lit up brightly.

"Yep," he nodded his head. "How long has he been away? Was it a month or so?"

"Well... a month and a half to be exact. That job in Torus was sure annoying to deal with, huh?" Damian said.

"Aha... there was a monster crisis there.... so they needed quite a lot of back up," Roy said.

"...and it took what? A month and a half to down the monsters back to a normal level?" Fei inquired.

"Monster crisis is on a whole different level..." Roy sighed. "Especially the one's that spiralled out of control like the one in Torus."

"So... it takes a month a half due to that? Wow... it sure takes that long..." Fei muttered.

"Well, Torus's job was an incredibly special case. Usually, it'll take a week or so. But I won't go into detail with that," Roy said. "All you need to know is that... these jobs would probably be frequent for you guys as guild rankers. So, I hope you guys are prepared for it when the time comes."

Of course! I'm ready as I'll ever be!" she said.

"Uhuh, sure..." Damian said.

While the group talked with one another, the food quickly came towards their table. The woman from earlier placed down the dishes that they ordered. Toast bread, chicken wings, rice, steam egg and many more.

"Here you go!" The woman happily said. "I'm afraid that Yena won't be able to come out to talk with you all as she's busy..."

"Ah, that's okay!" Fei nodded her head whilst staring at the food in front of her. "Thank you for the meal!" she quickly ate the dishes in front of her.

"Sigh... so impatient?" Damian glared at Fei.

"I'm hungreh okay?" Fei said with food in her mouth.

"Haha. Let's dig in then," Roy smiled.

The group dined in on the food as the time passed by, though, not even ten minutes had passed when they heard a sudden loud noise coming from the streets.

"...someone, help...!" The voice rang out loudly.

"...?!" Quickly getting the attention of the group as they ate, they quickly turned towards the direction of the noise.

...

Jade Lakeside, The Cottage—Living Room [12:34 PM].

Within the doors of the cottage, Kruz calmly sat within the living room. As he did so, he gently took a sip from his cup of tea.

"Mm~ This tea is just right~!" Enjoying the taste of his brewed tea, he quickly placed the cup down. Soon after, his eyes turned towards the window outside of the cottage. "Hmm, I wonder if Fei and Damian are alright?"

Thinking of the wellbeing of the two siblings, Kruz quickly shrugged off the thought as he took another sip from his tea. "Eh, those two will be fine!" he let out a chuckle. However, moments later, a loud knock rang out throughout the cottage.

Turning towards the direction of the sound, he saw that it was coming from the entrance. "...hmm? I wonder who would that be?" he pondered to himself. Soon after, Kruz got off his chair as he steadily made his way towards the door, swiftly opening it.

The moment he did so, he was greeted by the sight of a red rosy-haired woman by his doorstep. The woman gave off an aura of elegance as she wore a shining white armour that had the emblem of roses on it.

"O-Oh?" Shocked by the sight of the woman, Kruz muttered out. "A-Asria?"

"Ah~ Kruz! It's so good to see you again!" The woman—Asria chuckled. "How long has it been? It's been so long!"

"Y-Yeah... it has been that long huh...?" Kruz answered dumbfoundedly. "What brings you here? Have you finally decided to pay a visit to me for once?"

"Hehe, I'm sorry that I haven't been visiting at all," Asria said. "You see... these past few years, I've had my hands full with duties, and well... today's no exception."

"Oh... I see. So you're here on business, huh?" Kruz sighed.

"Hehe. May I come in?" she asked.

"Ah, yes. Please be my guest~!" Kruz welcomed the woman in. Quickly, the two made their way over towards the living room.

"Wow, it's such a cosy place, huh?" Asria said as she scrutinized the interior of the cottage. "So this is where you've been living life all these years..."

"Haha... yes, yes, this is where I've been staying," Kruz chuckled. "Though, it's a shame that Fei wasn't here to see you. I'm sure she'd be surprised."

"Hmm, Fei? Oh. Well... I met her earlier," she said.

"You did? Ah, did you stop by the guildhall?"

"No, no. She kind of bumped into me."

"Hah... that Fei..." Kruz helplessly shook his head.

"Hehe. It kind of reminds me of you with your habit of bumping into people when you're not paying attention," Asria laughed.

"...cough. How do you still remember that?!" he coughed. "...a-anyhow, what was her reaction? I'm sure she was shocked to see you, right?"

"Hmm... unfortunately, she doesn't seem to remember," she frowned. "But its alright~ It has been years after all."

"Right, right... it has been that long..." he sighed. "Man does time flies by... back then, it was as if Fei was such a cute weensy little child! Now she's all grown up taking the guild exam..." he sniffled. "This father is proud!"

"Haha," she smiled. "Ah right, I heard you adopted someone?"

"...hmm? Why yes, I have," he nodded his head.

"So the rumours are true, huh?" she thought to herself. "Then... what about 'that'...?"

"..." Kruz silently stood up as he quickly made his way towards the kitchen. "Would you like some Yellow Bay Leaf? I presume still your favourite?"

"Ah, there is no need to," Asria quickly interjected as she stopped Kruz from leaving the living room. "As much as I would love to have some tea time with you, sadly, there isn't any time."

"...then, if you're going to relay a message to me, might we get on to it?" Kruz said in a serious tone.