***

“Ghh.. haah...” 

Cyrus’ sight was still blurry after waking up, they couldn’t make up the place they were in. But they could tell they were on a bed tucked in real good, another thing they noticed was that it seemed to be night time or the curtains were just closed.

‘I should probably get up..’ they thought. They then tried to attempt getting up from the bed. 

As they try to lift their back off the bed, “Ahhh!!” Cyrus yells in pain. Their whole body was in pain, it felt like their whole body was covered in solidified cement. Anyhow they quickly decided to give up getting up. 

“Is anyone there?” They ask in a quiet and weak voice.

The voice was so incredibly quiet, there was no doubt no-one could be able to hear it. Cyrus lets out a loud sigh that inflicts a huge pain in their lungs, and caused them to cough uncontrollably to the point they start coughing blood. 

Suddenly a knock came from the door. 

“Excuse me!” A young woman’s voice came from behind the door, “Excuse me! I’m coming inside.”

The woman who came in seemed to be a maid working for Azrael’s mansion, from her gestures she seemed to be very nervous, “I.. Uh, excuse me but I heard you talk and cough a lot, so I thought I should come and check on you.”

“…”

Quiet, Cyrus didn’t reply but only kept looking at the young maid. The maid nervously decided to get to work and wiped the blood Cyrus had coughed and checked their pulse. 

“You seemed to be doing much better than earlier” The maid said with a smile, “Um.. I’ll go get Master Azrael, please stay awake and do not move or make unnecessary movements.” 

And with that the maid hurries out of the room. Cyrus’ sight was still fuzzy but cleared up for the most part. They looked around the room, it was the guestroom Azrael had let them use earlier. In the corner of the room they notice two sets of clothes. One was the worn out dress they were wearing in the beginning and the other one was the clothes that were given to them by Azrael…

‘Ah..!’ Cyrus carefully straightened their back and lifted the blanket. “Phew..!” They let out a loud sigh of relief and fell back to the bed.

A moment passed and Cyrus could hear multiple people walking in the halls, coming closer to their room. 

“Cyrus!” A young man exclaims as they quickly barge into the room. It was Azrael.

Cyrus didn’t say anything but gave Azrael a lukewarm smile. Upon seeing that face, he couldn’t help but hide his worried face. 

“So, you have been in bed for two days now, I heard you were still coughing blood but are you feeling somewhat better?” Azrael asks with a gentle tone as he sits on a chair that he picked up near Cyrus’ bed.

Cyrus looked surprised, “T-two days..?” they ask in a quiet voice. 

Azrael nods, “You fainted after battle, from magic exhaustion.”

Cyrus stays silent, softly clenching the blanket with their hands.

“From the amount of magic you produced, you shouldn’t have passed out from it. Is.. this perhaps your first time using magic..?” He asks with a serious tone, “No.. That shouldn't be right, no novice should be able to cast such powerful–”

“That!” Cyrus interrupts, “That was actually my first time….I think” Cyrus suddenly speaks up with an awkward smile, while nervously rubbing their neck. 

“..What???” The look on Azrael’s went blank, the poor man was beyond confusion. “No.. Are you sure? There could be no way you could possibly be your first time with powerful spells like that..!”

Ever since Cyrus woke up, they hadn’t been put in such a tight spot. Cyrus definitely could not recall ever using magic up until now, but then thought there was a possibility they were an experienced magic user before they lost their memory. But that was all in the past and beyond their current memory, so they were hesitating to speak up about it. 

“Haha.. I’m not sure, maybe it was all just luck..?” They replied hesitantly while laughing.. Which did not sound very convincing to Azrael. 

He sighs, “..Anyways, I digress. I actually wanted to speak to you about the matter we spoke about at the church a few days ago.”

Cyrus begins to listen attentively.

“I promised to take on the mission, but with your condition and your lack of experience I.. can’t take you with us.. I’m sorry..”

“Aah~” Cyrus vocalizes as they laugh dryly, “To be honest, I’m actually not surprised, like– just look at the state I am in.”

“...” Azrael looked down on his hands that were holding on to each other.

“Hey..! Why do you seem upset like that..?”

“It’s just.. I don’t like breaking promises like that..” Azrael answers with an annoyed look with a hint of seriousness in his voice.

“Hmm… What promise? I just barged in and put you in the spot to take me in. So it’s totally okay for you to take me out whenever you feel like it.”

“I see..”

“Besides I’m already grateful for you to even have given me a chance, given the fact that I am also a complete stranger to you. I’m also very grateful for you for accommodating me here for a while and even providing me with food and clothing. So a thousand thanks for that..!” 

As Cyrus was speaking to Azrael, they gave their brightest smile for him, for they were beyond thankful to him. They didn’t care if he had just let them in out of pity or any other degrading reason, no matter the reason they were still grateful.

“Hmph.. You’re welcome, Cyrus.” He smiled back, although he was smiling Cyrus couldn’t help but feel like Azrael was still feeling a bit discouraged.

“Since I am feeling better I think I’ll be leaving, is it okay for me to leave tomorrow?” Cyrus asks.

Azrael looks at Cyrus and nods. The both of them then talk for a bit and Azrael calls in a nurse to check Cyrus’ health once more. Azrael steps out to get prepared for his other mission and he calls Claus to tend to Cyrus. Since it was already night time, Cyrus was given light foods like vegetable soup and salad to eat. Then, they quickly fell asleep again and so time passed in a flash.

***

It was morning and Cyrus had woken up from the bright sunlight that was coming into the room. Seeing that no-one had come to wake them up, they assumed that they woke up earlier than anyone else. Cyrus swiftly gets out of bed… then remembers that they were injured.

“Ah..! My body doesn’t hurt anymore” They mutter as they start stretching their body, “Then.. let’s get to business..!” 

When Cyrus arrived at Azrael's mansion, they didn’t have any belongings to begin with, so there was nothing to really pack except their worn-out looking dress. The dress was too worn out to be worn again, so Cyrus just tossed it in a small trash can that was inside of the room.

‘If I take these clothes that Azrael prepared for me, it wouldn’t be bad right..?’ They thought about it for a few seconds and ultimately just decided it was okay for them to take the clothes. The staff they had used earlier was missing, probably taken back to the armory. However the dagger was in the middle of the folded clothes, but since it was Azrael’s and it looked very precious, they left it behind.

With everything set and them being ready to go, they head out to the door and hold the knob. “Ah!” they quietly exclaimed, they looked back and started searching for a quill and paper. After rummaging around the room and looking through multiple cabinets, they finally found a small pile of papers and an intact quill and ink. Cyrus finally sighs in relief and starts writing. 

They look through what they wrote and.. the words were very incomprehensible. Cyrus laughs awkwardly.

‘It’s still able to convey what I wanted to say.. right?’ Cyrus folds the paper and leaves it on top of the cabinet that was nearest to the door. Now they were really ready to leave. Cyrus gives the room a last look and smiles. 

“Thank you.”

And so they open the room’s door to head out of the mansion to start a new trip.