“Now who do we have here?” Alex and Rose didn’t know what to do. They thought about helping Luxario but after seeing the beating he got they decided otherwise.

‘Legendary my a*s he got beaten up by an old woman, well… I don’t blame him either, this grandma is indeed terrifying.’ Alex thought as Muriel came closer to both Alex and Rose.

She then suddenly raised her hands as she touched both their cheeks and caressed them. Alex and Rose were both confused by this. Muriel had a wide smile on her face.

“Ahem!” Luxario broke the awkward moment for them as Muriel withdrew her hand back.

“You have some nerve showing here after you left without telling me anything, you cheeky brat.” Muriel said as she turned to Luxario.

Luxario, “Um… a…”

“What are you here for?” Muriel asked as she released a small sigh.

A few minutes later, after he finished talking about Alex’s situation Luxario emerged from the small office along with Muriel. She released a small chuckle coming out.

“I like your guts boy; I saw you with my own eyes on the T.V.” Muriel said complementing him.

She then asked Alex to bring his hand forward. He did as she asked after which Muriel held his hand tightly.

“Oh, that’s a strong one though it seems drained. Did something happen?” She asked looking at Luxario.

“It leaked out of the soul holder on its own. That’s the only possible explanation.” Luxario said as he shrugged.

“And you were careless enough to let it go unnoticed!” Muriel scoffed as she narrowed her eyes and stared at him. Luxario trembled as he quickly looked away whistling.

“Um… if you don’t mind me asking are you talking about the dragon that stays inside it?” Alex asked.

Muriel, “Yes.”

“Then do you know how it became attached to me? I mean it might sound ridiculous but one day I suddenly found it in my bag.” Muriel then gave a confused glance towards Luxario.

“You haven’t told the boy yet?” She asked.

A few minutes later.

“I see, so you were in that train too…” Alex said as he finally recalled that there indeed was an individual who met Luxario’s description while he was coming to Uphill town by train. This confirmed Miracle’s earlier statement about how Luxario was taking him somewhere. Luxario had explained that the dragon must have used all of its strength to break through the soul holder’s internal barrier and managed to leak a teeny bit from it. This was impossible to achieve but the dragon had proved otherwise. This also resulted in the severe backlash weakening the dragon considerably.

Miracle even confirmed these facts.

While Alex thought that he was stuck with the dragon because of Luxario but on the other hand if it weren’t of him, setting aside his whole adventure with the stone he might not even have survived the screeling cum soul eater. It was a blessing in disguise.

“Anyways enough chit chat. What’s your main reason for bringing him here?” Muriel asked.

“Well, firstly I wanted to meet you… another was, I had a request for him.” Luxario said glancing at Alex.

Muriel sighed. “A combat wear, is it?”

Luxario nodded.

“Hm? What do you mean?” Alex asked confused.

“Well, you can’t always fight in your normal clothes now, can you? You’ll need something durable. And this old hag right here is the best combat wear craftsmen in the Western Continent.” Luxario explained.

Alex nodded. When he was stuck in Emerald with Blake, his school clothes hadn’t lasted even a week. Compared to that, the clothes which Coco provided, were quite durable. Alex believed they had some type of magic enhancements making them durable and providing extra armor.

“Fine, fine, you don’t need to blow my horn so much. As for the payment…” Muriel took a look at Alex before turning around and continued, “You don’t have to pay me. Consider it a gift from me.”

“Oh… t-thanks a lot, I am quite grateful for such a gift.” Alex said quickly not wanting to come off as insincere.

Muriel nodded in appreciation.

After a while of discussing some topics and Muriel taking Alex’s measurements, the three decided to take their leave. Just as they were about to, Muriel stopped Luxario.

“Wait a minute.”

She pulled on his sleeves.

“How many people are you going to tell, about you coming back?” She inquired.

“Well not many, let’s see… no more than whom I trust.” Luxario said with a smile.

Muriel sighed, “You better pay me a visit again boy, we have much to discuss.”

Luxario affirmed before finally leaving the shop.

…

“Yo!” Alex called out to Merissa as he walked along with Luxario and Rose reaching the world transporter station.

“You are almost an hour late; we should have left you here already.” Merissa said as she glared at Alex.

“But you didn’t, I knew you would wait.” Alex teased with a grin.

“Hold your horses’ kid, Nina had stomach problems so we had to wait back.”

“When did I- mmm…mm” Nina was about to protest against the false accusation on her but Merissa covered her mouth.

“What were you doing?” Clare asked looking at Rose. She had met with Merissa when she parted ways with them.

Clare, “I had clearly told you to return on time.” Rose looked down as she nodded.

“I am sorry for my mistake master.”

“Now, now aren’t you brats quite hard on your students, one uses her to make an excuse while the other just bosses around.” Luxario said as he placed a hand on Rose’s head and glanced at Nina.

Clare and Merissa both looked at Luxario with a little displeased look. Clare was a part of Council’s board whereas Merissa’s status wasn’t known but she was certainly nothing small. They were about to chomp of the head of the person however their facial expressions immediately changed drastically to confusion as soon as they saw who it was.

“Yo!” Luxario said as he waved at them. “This lingo is quite good, though I don’t know what it means, it fits well while saying it.” Luxario said as he grinned at Alex.

“Told you.” Alex shrugged.