The next morning—
"Big bro, you meanie."
"You are a big, big meanie."
Yuki cried her heart out as she hugged Raze tightly, refusing to let him go and just behind her, Yunhwa stood helplessly, watching her little sister.
Their mother had died while giving birth to Yuki, when Yunhwa herself was only ten years old and later, their father had gone missing when Yuki was just five.
After that, Yunhwa had begun working as a mercenary most of the time. She was rarely home to take care of Yuki and had no choice but to leave her with a babysitter.
That was also why Yuki had entered the forest alone and met Raze, the mysterious boy who had lost his memories but from the dead wolf she had seen, she knew he was far from ordinary.
She had helped him, hoping he would regain his memories so that they wouldn't be troubled by whatever noble household he belonged to… yet no one came searching for him.
A whole week passed without any news when suddenly… Yesterday, he said he remembered something and that he wanted to go to Imperial City, the capital of the Starford Empire to enroll in Ascension Academy in hopes of regaining his memory.
Yunhwa couldn't stop him as she understood that he needed to return to his own life. She even helped him find a travelling mercenary group of her friends to get a safe ride to the Imperial City.
But Yuki, who believed she had finally gained a big brother, couldn't accept it. It had been half an hour since he told her about his departure and ever since then, she had refused to let him go and the boy, who usually wore a cold expression, simply kept patting her back gently without even a hint of impatience.
"Please, don't go, big bro." Yuki kept saying again and again.
Just as Yunhwa was about to step in, Raze spoke.
"Don't worry, Yuki. I am not going that far and I will keep visiting once in a while."
His voice was gentle and Yuki finally began to calm down.
"You… promise?"
She extended her pinky finger toward him and he met hers with his own.
"I promise."
Yunhwa watched from the side as Yuki finally let him go and wiped her eyes. She walked over, gently patting her head, before handing a small pouch to Raze.
"This has some money for you to get back home once you reach the Imperial City."
"Take care, Raze."
She muttered softly as he accepted the pouch.
"Thanks for all the help, Yunhwa." He replied quietly.
"Don't worry about it. Just make sure you get back your memories and reunite with your family safely." she said with a small smile.
Raze paused for a moment.
'Family, huh?'
The only family he knew was his cruel mother and he had no desire to ever return to her if he could help it.
"You should go now. It's time to meet up with the mercenary group. They'll be waiting near the city gate. I'll take care of Yuki."
She said, waving at him and Yuki did the same with both her tiny hands. Raze waved back as he turned and moved toward the gate.
—
After a few minutes of walking, he finally arrived and spotted a group of seven guarding a carriage being pulled by two horses that definitely didn't look ordinary.
The carriage itself looked luxurious.
'Are they escorting some noble?'
He approached them while roughly estimating their strength.
'At least a few ranks higher than me…'
With that thought, he greeted the one who seemed to be their leader.
"Hello, Sir. Yunhwa sent me." His face remained expressionless but his voice was polite.
The bulky man grinned widely. "So you are Yunhwa's little brother, huh? You arrived at the perfect time, we were just moving out."
Raze didn't know what she had told them about him, so he simply nodded.
"Good. You can sit in the carriage with the client and protect her." He winked, clearly implying that "protecting" was just an excuse and that they simply didn't have enough horses for him.
Unlike his home world, this place still seemed stuck in a medieval era, without cars or any similar vehicles or maybe there was some other reason but either way, Raze didn't complain and walked toward the carriage.
He knocked on the door and a girl opened it. Her face was cold, sharply contrasting her fiery red hair.
Raze immediately recognized her.
She was the daughter of the baron in charge of Stonegate City. He had seen her on the city board when he was with Yuki yesterday.
She didn't speak and neither did he. He quietly took a seat some distance away from her, resting his sword on his lap.
The young maid beside the girl stole a few glances at Raze but he ignored them. He simply closed his eyes as the carriage slowly began to move.
But one question still bothered him.
'Why would the daughter of a baron travel with mercenaries instead of her own knights?'
He brushed it off almost immediately, assuming it was just some strange custom of this world or perhaps the baron had no spare guards to escort her.
'Come to think of it, I did remember reading about some new dungeon openings nearby… maybe that's the reason.'
Still, that didn't mean he lowered his guard. His grip on the sword tightened ever so slightly as he expanded his senses even further than before.
'It never hurts to be careful, does it?'