It's a beautiful sunny day, but it doesn't match the situation happening on this day.
Adan: "I'm sorry, Jona"
Says Adan while putting his hand on Jona's shoulder, but he doesn't show any emotion, he stands there, saying nothing, looking at the coffin being pulled down, Gu's coffin.
Valz: "If I was faster..."
Valz whispers to himself while making a fist with his hands.
Jona stands there, even after the funeral ends, he still stands there for a little more time.
Lili: "He still there at the graveyard?"
Valz: "Yeah, let him be, he is the one that is more hurt."
Adan: "Shit..."
They are all at Valz's house, waiting for Jona to come back.
Crisa: "Master Valz, is Master Jona okay?"
Valz looks at Crisa, who is almost about to cry, smiles, and says.
Valz: "Sorry, Crisa, Jona is very hurt, he lost someone important to him, so we have to do our best to make him happy, okay?"
Crisa starts to cry but quickly clears her tears and smiles back at Valz.
Crisa: "Okay, I'm gonna do my best."
???: "-na!"
Silence, all is blurred, some words could be heard but they don't reac-
Mai: "JONA!!!"
Jona looked at Mai with a surprised face, she was beside him, holding his hand, he didn't even notice her presence, he didn't notice anyone's presence. He looks around to see where he is.
Mai: "Jona, where are we going?"
Jona notices that they are not at the graveyard anymore, they are in the middle of the town, in the middle of the market district.
Jona: "Sorry, Mai! I... I was just walking not knowing where I was going."
Mai: "Well, we are at the market, do you want to buy anything?"
Those words reached Jona, surprised at first, but, he looked at her and smiled gently.
Jona: "Sure!"
They walk together through the market, searching for something, but not buying anything, but they still walk, until they get to the suburbs.
Jona: "Here is where all begins."
Jona says that while looking at an old house, Guberth house.
Jona: "Is more dilapidated than I thought."
Mai: "Is this the Dwarf's house?"
Jona: "Yes, at least it used to be."
The image of the two meeting for the first time comes to Jona's head.
Jona: "Let's go inside."
Holding her hand tight, both go inside and search throughout the whole house, they don't know what they are searching for, but they still search for almost an hour.
Mai: "Jona, I found this."
Mai shows a picture of the size of a hand of Guberth with his wife and baby daughter, but in the picture, none of them are smiling.
Jona: "Thank you, Mai."
He holds Guberth picture in his hand, looking at it almost crying, he folds it and puts it in his pocket, leaving the house.
???: "You!!"
Outside of Guberth's house, a group of people was waiting for Jona, they were citizens of the suburbs.
Male Citizen: "You are the one that killed the bandits."
All the citizen looks at Jona and Mai, some are trembling, and others are with rage expression.
Old Male Citizen: "You killed Big Brother, now the suburbs are in complete chaos, people are being robbed, killed, and now there is no one to protect us!"
Jona holds Mai's hand with strength, and despair is visible on his face, his action not only killed his friend but caused problems for a lot of people.
Mai: "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? YOU WERE EXPECTING US TO JEST LET HIM KILL US? YOU HUMANS ARE JUST WEAK, LOOK UP AND JUST PROTECT YOURSELVES, STOP SEARCHING FOR SOMETHING OR SOMEONE TO BLAME FOR YOUR INCAPACITY TO DO ANYTHING."
The citizens are silent, with their heads down, feeling shame. Jona looks surprised and happy that Mai is protecting him.
Young Lady Citizen: "He saved my sister, he killed Big Brother, but he saved a lot of people."
Old Lady Citizen: "He also saved my daughter."
Male Citizen: "But now we can't get out of the house without fear."
The citizens of the suburbs are verbally fighting among themselves, some are protecting Jona for saving their family members, and others are mad at him for killing Big Brother.
Erdnaxel: "Stay calm my dear children."
Citizens: "Father!"
All the citizens that were fighting knelt down holding both hands.
Erdnaxel: "We heard about the problems my followers were getting because of the bandits, so from now on, we will come to the suburbs with more frequency, and the visits will be led by me. So please, don't blame the son that saves a lot of my children"
Erdnaxel voice sounds comfortable and calming, all the negative emotions on the citizens are gone, now replaced by the emotion of hope. He is accompanied by paladins and clerics from the church, but even without them, the power of Erdnaxel's voices is enough to calm down the people.
Citizens: "Sorry father, we were scary, please forgive your children."
Jona is shocked by Priest Erdnaxel's power, but before he can even process what is happening, Erdnaxel approaches him and starts talking.
Erdnaxel: "Jona could we talk a little?"
Jona: "Sure, Father! Could Mai join us?"
Erdnaxel: "Ohh, so this is the Slime, I heard that she became a cute little miss, of course, she can join us, it's an honor meeting you miss."
Mai: "Yeah, it's an honor too."
They walk together through the suburbs until they get to an area where people are being helped with food and medical treatments and some are praying to Milos.
Erdnaxel: "Mr. Valz told me what was happening here, so I told my paladins and clerics to patrol the suburbs and arrest any criminal they find."
They speak while walking through the people towards a tent. When they go inside the tent, they sit down and Erdnaxel starts talking.
Erdnaxel: "I'm sorry about Guberth, I know you were close to him."
Jona: "Thank you, father."
Erdnaxel smiled at him, but quickly changed the tone.
Erdnaxel: "But that is not why I need to talk to you, I have a question to make, but first."
He prepares a magic, and a gold aura flows through the room.
Erdnaxel: "Confession booth."
A golden room appears around them.
Erdnaxel: "Now, in this room, lies will be noticed, therefore, we can start the questions."
Jona looks nervous, probably knowing what he will ask.
Erdnaxel: "Jona, you made a contract with a demon right."
Jona: "... Yes!"
Erdnaxel: "Which demon you made the contract with and why?"
Jona stays silent for a moment, but he starts talking about Aknurb, how he met him, why, and how Mai is connected to him.
Erdnaxel: "I understand, I'd like to ask you to hand over Mai, please."
Jona quickly stands up and puts his hand in front of Mai, picking up his frying pan.
Jona: "I'm sorry Father Erdnaxel, but I'll not lose anyone else, Mai is important to me."
Erdnaxel: "I understand, but she is someone connected to Aknurb, and we need information about him."
Jona: "*Nervous* I know that, but she is my friend, and I'll do anything to protect her, even if that means going against you, Father."
Jona is nervous not knowing what to do, he looks at Mai but she is silent without expression on her face, just accepting whatever happens to her.
Erdnaxel: "I understand. *Smile* You truly are a good person, Jona. Everything you said was true, you are not protecting her because of the contract you made to Aknurb, but because you truly consider her your friend."
Jona: "Yes."
Erdnaxel: "Now I have a question for you Miss Mai, do you have any intention to attack us or the people of this city?"
Mai: "No, I'll only attack if someone attacks me first."
Erdnaxel smiles at both of them and gets up from his chair, undoing his magic spell.
Erdnaxel: "*Smiles* With that being said, you two are good to go, I'm sorry I tested you, but I needed to make sure you two were trustworthy."
Jona felt relief, putting his frying pan on his back.
Erdnaxel: "But, I can't promise that your lives gonna be easy, some of the strong clerics and paladins, have the power to sense the devil."
Jona: "So you knew from the beginning that I had a contract with a demon?"
Erdnaxel nods his head.
Erdnaxel: "Not only me, but some of my guards also noticed, but don't worry, I already talked to all the church about you, and now that I already tested you, they will be more calm, so don't worry."
Jona: "Thank you, Father Erdnaxel."
They leave the tent together, and outside, a lot of people are waiting for them, looking at Jona and Mai.
Jona: "*Whisper* Is they gonna yell at us again?"
While Jona was whispering to Mai, a woman came close to them, the same lady that Jona gave the sword to at the bandit's base.
Lady: "Thank you so much for saving us that day."
The lady said those words while bowing to Jona.
Jona: "N-No don't worry... To be honest, I didn't do that to save you guys, I was there to save my friend, just coincided that you were there."
Lady: "Even so, you saved us, that is what is important. When I was there, all the bad things came to my head, until I got to a point where the only thing I wanted was to die, but thanks to you, now I have a second chance to have a life again."
Without noticing, Jona starts to cry, he tries to stop it, but the tears don't stop coming.
Lady: "Thank you."
She said it after hugging him, making him cry even more, and so he stays like that for minutes, until he finally stops crying and leaves the surbubs.
Jona: "Thank you, Mai... for staying at my side"
Mai: "Don't worry, I only did that because of the contract."
Even saying that Jona noticed that she had a tiny smile on her face, making him smile too.
Jona: "Let's go back to Valz's house, we have to prepare for the next quest."
Mai: "Yeah"