***
When they walked inside the house, Serfred directly brought them to the lounge area. Whilst Arthur went to the kitchen to warm some water.
As soon as he lit the fire, he turned to them who were just standing by the door. "Don't just stand there, sit down and warm yourself. You better sit close to the fire to dry yourself, what can we do when that idiot doesn't have any manners."
They looked at each other as they did not hesitate and went closer and seated on the comfortable chairs.
"Hmm, that nerd, he really needed to show off." He cursed as he noticed the rain was getting stronger.
... The body should have been taken care of then. With this strong rain, they'll soon be washed up as well. Hopefully, there won't be any sign of blood on the ground tomorrow. Maybe, I should go check with Arthur early in the morning.
"My Lord..."
"Old man, don't call me that. Just call me Serfred, but most people in the village call me Fred. Plus, I'm not the master of this house, it's that nerd. Well, the girl is the big boss as well, but the nerd owns this house." Serfred explained that he found his explanation confusing because he kept cursing the man.
The old man chuckled as he could sense how much he must like the man. Despite his harsh words, he can see he admires the man for his talent. "Then Fred, thank you for saving and helping us."
Arthur entered the room with some warm tea that he prepared. Since he was not the type of person to speak, Serfred introduced him.
"This is Arthur, he's one of the people who stayed in the manor."
"Sir Arthur, thank you for helping us." Lance thanked the man who said nothing.
As she grabbed a cup of tea, she too thanked the man. "Thank you, for the tea as well."
Still Arthur said nothing, as it made them wonder if they have offended him.
"Don't worry, he hardly talks. He only speaks to my lady." Serfred explained as he recalled how they address him. "Sir Arthur, not bad. It sounds good don't you think."
Arthur looked at him with the same stone face. He really couldn't care less of what they'll call him. He won't be speaking to them, and the only time he might be speaking with them is because the girl asked him to do something.
"Ah."
As they warmed themselves, they finally felt at ease. All the exhaustion and fear they felt earlier soon washed away. They thought they were about to die, to think, fate was being kind to them and letting live another day.
"Fred, will they be fine?"
"Ah, don't worry, as long as the nerd is with my lady, they should be fine."
"Father, don't forget, the beast was with them."
"That's right, so don't worry old man. If those men after you do come back, I mean, Fuji will seriously kill them for stepping in his territory."
The old man sighs as he has indeed forgotten about the beast with them. He was unconscious during the massacre so he was unaware of what happened. He only witnessed the men were running away and being killed. To his surprise, he saw the bandits leader was dead on the ground. It made him curious at that time how the beast easily killed him.
Time passess.
"Hmm, they should be close." Serfred stated as he noticed the rain had stopped.
Moments later, the main door of the house opened. Serfred and Arthur got up as they welcomed two who just returned.
"Nerd, was it really necessary for you to make it rain. Look, Lady Tina is now soaking wet because of you." Serfred yelled directly at Lirius who just ignored him.
"Go upstairs and get change, I'll prepare another potion for you." Lirius gran the girl's coat as he handed it to Arthur to dry, as the girl headed to her room.
"Are you even listening to me?" Serfred grabbed the man before he could head to his study.
Lirius pushed his hand aside, as he looked at Fuji who was still by the door. "Instead of doing nothing and yapping, why don't you dry Fuji so I can prepare the potion for here."
"Why you..." He couldn't say anything further as the man walked away and Fuji stepped next to him. "Fine, let's go Fuji. I better dry you before my lady gets back."
As they entered the lounge area, it startled and frightened them seeing the beast that killed all the men walking passed them.
"Lance?"
Serfred stopped for a moment as he made Fuji face them, "Don't worry, he won't harm you. As long as you stay calm and don't do anything rash, he won't harm a strain of your hair."
As he dragged Fuji close to the fireplace, Arthur went back with some towels to dry Fuji. As soon as he handed the towel, he left as he needed to prepare some tea for Lirius.
The little girl watched Fuji eagerly, seeing such a beast being tamed by the man and was acting like a puppy, she couldn't help but be fascinated.
Fuji was being troublesome as he was giving Serfred a hard time. He kept tugging on the towel as he wanted to play with him.
"Fuji, please, can you calm down." Serfred sighs as he was having a hard time to control such a beast. He couldn't understand why the beast listens to Lirius and not to him. The fact Lirius once explained it only listened to its master, yet it listens obediently to him.
"Can I?"
It surprised Serfred to see the little girl holding a towel next to him. He was in deep thought that he didn't notice her walked next to him. "Sure."
"Jocey?" Esme was shocked to see the little girl was right next to the beast.
"Esme, calm down. Jocey is fine, can't you see?" Lance stated as he could see the beast was calm and allowed the little girl to dry him.
"You're right." She replied as she noticed the beast was indeed much calmer in letting her little sister dry him.
"Fred, the creature's master?" The old man asked.
"Ah, that's my lady." He answered as he continued drying the rest of the area that hasn't been dried.
'Then she must be from the empire, there are only a few families in the empire who have such a beast. I wonder which noble family she's from? To think, at such a rare young age, and she a girl, to tame such a beast.' The old man kept to himself as he keeps fascinating about the things he was finding out.
Meanwhile, Lirius has finished changing his clothes and prepared the necessary ingredient for the potion he needs to make later. Since he sensed the girl left her room, he decided to make the potion later as they have pressing matters to handle first.
Athena slowly walked down the stairs as she noticed the man by the stairs. "Lirius, how are they?"
"I haven't checked yet, I just left my study." He replied as he got up the stairs and escorted the girl down.
"Hmm, I wonder what happened to them. Who do you think those people are after them?"
"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll find out soon." He answered but noticed that there was something else bothering the girl. "What's wrong?"
"I didn't expect Fuji could be that strong?"
"He is a twilight wolf, killing such weak beings is nothing to him. They battle against other beasts in the wild to survive all the time. Those men weren't nothing compared to what he must go through in the wild."
"I know, but the sight must have been frightening. I mean, I wasn't there to see if with my own eyes since when I got there they were all dead."
"Hmm, it just proves he's no longer a little wolf and you must train him better. The more you train him the more he'll be a good companion to you."
"Yes, Master Lirius." She smiled as she teased the man with her action.
"Stop fooling around, they've been waiting for you."
"You mean us."
"Fine, let's go."
Serfred just finished drying Fuji with the help of the little girl when he noticed the door opening.
"Ah, you're finally here."