Kayle and Nur stepped out of Chief Fern’s office.

  After walking a few steps down the dimly lit narrow path in front of the chief’s room, Kayle suddenly stopped. The hallway leading to the entrance was ahead after turning right at the corner. The only light came from a few scattered yellow bulbs placed at both ends enough to reveal the way.

  Kayle kept his head down, his face dark with regret.

  “Brother Nur… I’m sorry,” he murmured, his voice trembling. Tears welled up in his eyes, but he clenched his fists, trying to hold them back. “Grandmother didn’t mean anything bad… She was just worried about pulling you into our troubles. Like yesterday.”

  His body shook.

  “Yesterday, you got hurt because you tried to save us. That’s… sniff… that’s why…” He wiped his face with his sleeve, but the tears wouldn’t stop. “Sniff I thought… maybe, finally, I might have someone—”

  “Hey, Kayle.” A warm call came from behind

  Kayle flinched. “…? N-no, I’m not crying!”

  “Turn around.”

  Kayle quickly wiped his face and turned toward Nur, sniffling as he tried to look normal.

  “What is it, Brother?”

  Nur chuckled. “So you’ve gotten comfortable calling me ‘Brother Nur’ now, huh?” His warm smile wasn’t teasing—it was genuine. He seemed truly happy about it.

  Kayle’s face turned red. “No, it’s not like that!” he protested.

  Nur crouched down to his level, meeting his gaze.

  As he did, he noticed something—a small foot peeking from around the corner of the hallway leading to the entrence hall.

  He smiled, already knowing exactly who it was.

  Then, his tone grew serious.

  “If you want to protect your grandmother—or anything you hold dear—you have to be strong enough to keep holding on. You have to prove yourself worthy of protecting it.”

  “But how?” Kayle asked desperately.

  “There’s never a straight answer to that. The problem isn’t finding the right answer—it’s finding the right question first. Search for the right questions, and the answers will come. Don’t forget—your choices shape you.”

  Nur’s expression held something deeper, something he wasn’t saying. He decided it wasn’t the right time.

  “So… I need to become strong?”

  “Yeah. But strength doesn’t just mean power. Take Leynard for example, you just need to be stronger than him if he ever comes back. But don’t stop there. Expect stronger threats—much stronger. Never stop thinking about the possibilities.” Nur smirked. “But don’t overthink it. Life’s too short to waste worrying.”

  Kayle lowered his head. “But someone like me… someone who wasn’t born to a wealthy household. How can I ever dream of gaining that kind of power? Even the hero, Tharos, only got his strength because he was chosen.”

  “Hahaha…” Nur laughed. “Nothing comes our way unless we take the a step that could shake the world and make things you want roll toward you.”

  “…What does that mean?” Kayle sniffled. “Out of everything you said, that made the least sense.”

  Crap!

  Well, I’m glad the other things I said made slightly more sense than that.

  Kayle let out a shaky breath. He didn’t fully understand all of Nur’s words, but… this was the man who had risked his life to save his grandmother said. He kept it in his heart

  “…”

  Nur stood up.

  “You’re amazing, Kayle,” Nur continued. “You live alone with your grandmother, take care of her, hunt for food… You’re energetic and mature.”

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  Kayle stood there, stunned.

  “At least, that’s what I thought…” Nur grinned. “But now—hehehe—look at who’s crying.”

  Kayle’s face turned red as he pouted.

  Kayle clenched his fist and lightly hit Nur’s stomach, careful not to hurt him.

  Poff!

  He was worried that Nur’s wounds from yesterday might still be painful.

  I was just joking,” Nur laughed.

  Nur glanced toward the corner at the end of the hall, where he had sensed a presence earlier, but whoever had been there was now gone.

  “Let’s go,” he said.

  “Yes!” Kayle rushed ahead, and Nur followed after him.

  …

  Inside the office, Fern watched the door where Kayle and Nur had just left. His expression darkened as he kept staring at it, deep in thought.

  His fingers tapped against the wooden desk, slow and deliberate.

  …

  As they reached the entrance hall, Kayle pushed open the door leading outside. A small figure stood there, rubbing the tip of her cute little shoes against the ground.

  Hearing the door open, she turned around.

  “Kayle!”

  “Elly?”

  Elly took one look at Kayle’s face and immediately realized he had been crying. Her expression tensed as she clenched her fists.

  She stomped toward Nur, standing directly in front of him. Then, without hesitation, she lifted the front of her shoe and kicked his leg.

  “You monster! What did you do to Kai?!”

  “Heh? Me?” Nur blinked.

  “Yeah, you!”

  “Wait, Elly, it’s a misunderstanding!” Kayle quickly tried to calm her down.

  Nur stood there, confused for a moment. But then, deep within him, the mischievous side he usually suppressed smirked. A fun idea popped into his head. He tried to resist it… but failed.

  “Fum fum!” He let out a low chuckle, his grin widening as he covered his face with one hand, leaving gaps between his fingers so his eyes remained visible.

  “Yes! It was me, fum fum! What are you gonna do, little missus?” Fum fum!

  Elly flinched, instinctively stepping backward as she felt an eerie, dark aura coming from Nur.

  “Y-You monster…!” She tensed, preparing herself.

  “Pfft—hahaha!” Kayle suddenly burst into a loud, hearty laugh.

  Both Nur and Elly turned to stare at him.

  “Hahaha!” Kayle wiped away tears from laughing too hard. “Thank you, Elly! But you don’t need to worry. It wasn’t Brother Nur that made me cry.”

  Sniff! Elly stood there confused

  But Brother Nur, you sure are amazing. That was really a new side of you I saw today!”

  Nur turned to the side, saying nothing.

  Elly clenched the fabric of her clothes, then stepped closer to Kayle, looking him straight in the eye.

  “Kayle…” Her voice changed. Her expression was unclear.

  She lowered her gaze. “I’m glad you’re okay… No, that’s not it… I overheard what happened.” Tears dripped onto the ground.

  “Well, how about you stop crying? Look at me—I’m fine and well. And!”

  Kayle grinned, trying to lighten the mood. “Would you like to play with me in the evening when I have time? Or maybe…I could take you with me when I go hunting?”

  Elly’s breath hitched. She stood there, eyes wide, as if she had just heard something unbelievable. “Really!?”

  Kayle nodded without hesitation. “Yes. I promise.”

  He raised his hand, sticking out his pinky finger.

  Elly stared at it for a moment, her lips trembling. Then, slowly, she lifted her own hand and hooked her pinky around his.

  Their fingers locked together.

  “Pinky promise!?”

  “Yes i promise!”

  …

  Nur, who didn’t want to interrupt their little movement, went ahead and waited for Kayle outside the gate.

  “Man, that's embarrassing!”

  “…”

  The pain surged from the back of his neck, crawling up his spine like a thousand burning needles. It reached his brain, twisting and coiling inside, as if something was forcibly stirring his thoughts

  “Ugh…” He gritted his teeth, trying to bear it this time.

  Just then, Kayle came running toward him after saying his goodbyes to Elly.

  “Brother Nur, let’s go!”

  Nur hesitated for a second before forcing a reply.

  “…Yes.”

  Kayle slowed down, his excitement fading as he looked at Nur more closely.

  “Is there something wrong?”

  “No? Why?” Nur asked, though his voice was slightly strained.

  Kayle frowned. “No, it’s just… your face. You’re sweating a lot, and you’re making a really weird expression.”

  Nur blinked, confused.

  Only now did he realize—his face was drenched in sweat, his breathing heavy, and his expression twisted into something dark and unreadable.

  “It’s nothing, I was just touched by both of your performances.”

  Kayle got embarrassed as he rushed ahead, thinking about what had happened earlier.

  They walked back through the stone-carved street.

  While walking, Kayle told Nur that they needed to buy some fresh bread.

  At that moment, Nur thought of the bakery he had seen earlier.

  “I have 50 sills on me!” Kayle said.

  Sills?

  “…You don’t remember it? Well, I’ll explain since you lost your memory—though I’m no expert in it.”

  As they walked past the fountain, Kayle pointed at the coins lying at the bottom of the water.

  “Those bronze-colored coins are Copa. It’s the lowest currency in the whole continent—well, to be more precise, throughout Erandel! It comes in 1 and 5 values.”

  Kayle put his hands in his pocket and took out some silver-colored coins. There were five of them, each with the number 10 engraved on it. A hole was in the center of the coin.

  “This is a sill. What I have here are five 10-value sills. There are also ones with 50 value and 100 value, but the last one is rare since it’s not produced much. Most people use tally instead.”

  Tally? Nur felt a familiar ring to the word.

  “Yes, tally! It’s the paper version of this. It’s much easier to carry, and most people in bigger towns use that instead.”

  Nur then asked an obvious question. “Then why didn’t they just make everything a tally? Wouldn’t that be easier?”

  Kayle let out a grin. “Hehehe, then they wouldn’t be able to toss them into fountains, would they?”

  “Hehehe!” Nur grinned too. Both of them chuckled, knowing exactly what that meant—something only they understood.

  “Well… what exactly do you mean by Erandel though?”

  …