A dull longsword and a heartbroken villager

"Boss! Wine!!" Latis said, raising his hand to shout at the boss.

"Give me juice," Bray added.

Yes, Latis's face was completely red, but Bray was perfectly fine.

The reason is simple—Bray didn't drink at all.

For some reason, Latis across from me kept drinking alcohol, and before I knew it, he was drunk.

After getting drunk, he poured out all his grievances to Bray.

When Bray's response pleased Latis, Latis spoke even more enthusiastically.

"I will never forgive Bud Bush! Absolutely not!"

"Can you tolerate a man who killed his parents having his sister call him father?" Latis clenched his fists, unleashing his anger without restraint in his drunken state.

"I can't stand it." Bray wasn't being hypocritical; after putting himself in the other person's shoes, he also felt that he couldn't stand it.

He honestly told Latis his thoughts.

"That's right, we can't tolerate it!"

“But what can I do if I can’t forgive him…” Latis’s voice trailed off as he spoke.

"My sister thinks that guy is family, not me."

"I am just an outsider."

“I knew it very well, I really knew it very well, which is why I didn’t say anything back then.” Latis said, his face buried in the table, in a very disappointed tone.

“If I tell you, I will get nothing, and my sister might even hate me.”

"And then it will shatter what my sister has always believed in."

"That's why I dare not say anything, even though that guy is... he's the real culprit..."

"That's why I said you're a good brother." Bray took the things the shopkeeper handed him and pushed the wine in front of Latis.

Bray already knew about Latis before this, after all, Xiaoyou had repeated the whole thing back then.

Faced with impulse, this guy was able to stop himself and think about his sister's future.

Under normal circumstances, ordinary people might not be able to resist telling everything, eager for those who are kept in the dark to know the truth.

"What do you want to do next? You've already met your sister," Bray asked.

"I don't know. I was thinking about revenge before, but after seeing Tiggia, I have no idea what to do next."

“Tygia, your sister?” This was the first time Bray had heard Latis mention his sister’s name.

This guy is really good; even when he's drunk, he hasn't revealed a lot of information.

However, as expected, after drinking too much, he started saying all sorts of things.

After thinking for a moment, Bray swapped his juice with the other person's wine.

"Glug glug." Latis gulped down what was in front of him without even tasting what it was.

Whether it's juice or wine, this elf can no longer tell.

"This world is just too much," Latis said weakly, without even lifting his head.

“Yeah, I sometimes feel that way too,” Bray said calmly, looking at the dejected Latis.

The world is really cruel; tragedy is practically the norm.

Despair is everywhere; darkness, darkness, and cruelty are practically the main themes.

However, Bray learned something else from a boy at the place where broadswords were forged.

At the same time, this world is very gentle.

---

"Tick-tock, tick-tock." The minute hand of the clock next to Latis ticked rhythmically.

Latis shook his head and got up from the table.

"How did I get drunk?" Latis said, feeling frustrated. He had actually been drinking with strangers and gotten drunk.

He touched his clothes and breathed a sigh of relief after finding nothing missing.

“Boss…” Latis looked at the bald boss who was wiping wine glasses.

"Awake? Looks like my hangover remedy works well." The bald boss murmured, stroking his chin.

"No, I meant to say..."

"That one-eyed guy has already paid for it for you."

"..." Latis didn't actually want to ask that. "Bray, you seem very happy." Naruko looked at the expressionless Bray.

Yes, although Bray didn't show any expression, Naruko was sure that Bray was in a good mood right now.

“No.” Bray, his right eye gleaming with pleasure, answered indifferently.

Look, the expression of a dead fish is written all over his dead fish eyes.

"You really are a tsundere," Naruko remarked.

“…” Bray’s lips twitched.

Bray lowered his eyelids, ignoring Naruko, and walked slowly down the street.

The others behind him showed no intention of keeping up with Bray's pace.

For example, Naruko was squatting in front of a stall at some point, while Yu stood behind her, seemingly trying to learn something.

Perhaps only Levy followed closely behind Bray.

Levy is currently engrossed in the game of stepping on Bray's shadow.

Amidst the noise of the surrounding crowd, Bray was lost in thought and didn't notice that Naruko and Yuuki had fallen behind.

While talking to Latis, Bray heard a name: Bud Bush.

As for this Budbush, he happened to be the person Eric had mentioned to him not long ago.

Eric also told him to keep a close eye on that guy.

He didn't expect to hear the name Bud Bush before he even got to the venue.

The moment the name appeared, Bray couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

The songstress, Latis, and Bud Bush—their relationships are all connected.

It was only then that Bray understood what Eric meant by "what a coincidence".

It was such a coincidence that even Bray found it strange.

"Hey, hey, hey, I hope this performance won't go wrong," Bray began to have a bad feeling.

"Hey, take a look, there's a wanted person." Naruko, who was lingering at a certain stall, suddenly called out to Bray.

Bray glanced sideways at Naruko, thinking, "What does it matter to me if someone else is wanted?"

"and then."

"Take a look first, you'll definitely be stunned," Naruko said irritably.

Bray walked listlessly toward Naruko, glancing at the wanted poster on the wall. The person on it was none other than Latis, the man he had just drunk a few drinks with.

A red-haired elf, male, Bray thought he couldn't be hallucinating.

Bray was silent for a moment; he hadn't expected that Latis had escaped from the detention center.

Although he was caught by the guards when he first met Latis, he never expected that he would be imprisoned later.

It seems that Eric is in charge of this matter; in other words, Latis is someone who ran away from Eric.

So he said, don't wear strange clothes on the street, or you'll get arrested.

"Brave, what do we do now?" Naruko asked Bray. Dead Fish had just been chatting with Latis, and now that Latis was wanted by the police, Bray must be feeling very complicated.

“Nothing to do.” Bray waved his hand casually, then tore the wanted poster off.

Bray doesn't intend to specifically go and bring Latis back, at least not now.

That guy probably came out specifically for his sister.

Guys who do anything for their sister are all good people.

"Wow, you have such poor manners." Naruko was disgusted by Bray's behavior.

“I’m of high character,” Bray retorted defiantly, crumpling the wanted poster in his hand into a ball.

"Fireball." Bray tossed the crumpled paper high into the air, then snapped his fingers.

The fireball rolled its eyes, then leaped into the air and spat fire at the paper ball, instantly burning it to ashes.

Despite its reluctance, it still fulfilled its duty as a summoned beast.

"Fireball!" Levy caught the fireball in mid-air and lifted it high into the air.

Now Levy genuinely thinks Fireball is amazing. Although she can breathe fire herself, she still thinks Fireball is incredibly powerful every time she sees it stylishly spitting out flames.

"Meow~" Occasionally, Fireball would think that being treated as a summoned beast wasn't such a bad thing, at least it would earn it praise from its little master.

Fireball might even have the illusion that its status has been elevated.

Well, it's just an illusion; the status of the fireball hasn't improved at all.

"Hey! Don't play with fire in the street!" A guard who had witnessed the entire process of Bray spewing fireballs came over with his weapon.

“…” Bray wanted to add one more thing: don’t play with fire in the street.

"A fine of 100G," the guard said sternly as he approached Bray.

"..."

---

Just as Bray was being fined by the guards for playing with fire, Father Thun was sitting in front of the church statue, looking at the thick canon.

Children were playing around Father Thun.

However, the children were very mischievous, and some of them hung directly from the statue's arms and swung like swings.

In a typical church, this would go beyond being considered disrespectful.

"If the 'Guiding Elder' knew, he would be very angry." The priest smiled wryly; such mischievous behavior was already quite common in his church.

“It’s alright. The priest said that the ‘Old Man of the Lamp’ doesn’t care about such things,” a boy said loudly.

“That’s right, the ‘Old Man of the Beacon’ is a very good deity and wouldn’t care about such things,” the other children chimed in.

"So, Father, you spoil them too much!" Sister Lizbern couldn't stand it anymore and began to shoo the children off the statue.

No matter how lenient the doctrines may be, at least the most basic respect should be shown to the "enlightened elders."

“You must respect not only this person, but everyone.” Sister Lizbern tapped each of the mischievous children on the head.

“Lisbeth, you’re becoming more and more like a clergyman,” Father Thun said to Sister Lisbeth with a smile.

Now Sister Lizbern's words are starting to make a lot of sense.

For example, Father Thun hadn't thought of that last sentence.

That's true. Whether they are gods or not, respecting others is the most basic thing.

“What are you saying? Isn’t this the most basic principle?” Sister Lizbern blushed and stammered as she was suddenly praised.

"What strange things are the priests saying?" Sister Lizbern said, trying to remain calm.

"Ahem, it's getting late, I have to go back." She coughed lightly, then ran off to change her clothes.

“That’s right, it’s getting late.” Father Thun only then realized that the sun was about to set.

"Wait a moment, I'll go prepare dinner." The priest closed the liturgical text and placed it neatly beneath the statue.

The oil lamp illuminated the cover of the Bible perfectly.

The priest dusted himself off and headed towards the kitchen.

As he walked, Philly playfully twirled around him.

"Thun~"