News soon spread that the battle in Nuaria city ended in the adventurers' victory. Well, there was still a likelihood that a second monster wave could happen so most of the adventurers were still at the wall.
Despite the slight possibility of a second wave, the people—who feared for their lives and wanted to flee—celebrated in the streets. Many came flooding back to their homes so the streets were filled with people.
The worst they feared didn't come true as they thought it would. People were heading towards the Adventurer Guild HQ to meet with the heroes who saved the empire from doom.
Norn could hear thousands marching outside.
"Since it's over, can we go home now?" Norn asked her mother as she watched the people dance and hug each other.
"Considering the amount of mages that had to take care of all those monsters, I doubt there are any buildings suitable to live in. We should stay in this inn until we find a better alternative." Claudia answered Norn.
"Ugh! So now we're back to step 1!?" Norn jumped on her bed with an annoyed expression, "How are we supposed to live in an inn when we barely have enough money as it is?"
"…I can find work once everything calms down. There's no need for us to leave just yet. Miss Anna told me that we're able to get money from insurance in case of accidental damage or destruction to our property."
"But how long will that take?"
"I'm not sure. Perhaps a year? They need to find everyone new houses since an entire city fell. We might be first or last. It's up to them."
Norn glanced at her mother, 'She's not showing it but I can see she's devastated.'
Claudia worked for years to ensure they could buy a house in the empire's city. When she couldn't find work in the town or Lockinge city she would hike to the empire with other people.
Being a woman with many skills, she had a lot of clients who sought different services. She could be a flower decorator, tailor or even a regular servant at a noble's event.
The road was dangerous so there were quite a few times when she was almost hurt. Bandits and monsters were troublesome to people travelling long distances on foot. It was especially dangerous for women who don't know how to fight.
"We're basically wasting money every day…" Norn looked up at the ceiling.
Her mother was quiet for a minute, "Remember the first few weeks after your father died in war?"
Norn frowned at the unexpected question.
"We starved every day and survived on eating the scraps our neighbours gave us. What's more, I had to take in a child who went through the same trauma as you and Teresa did—losing a father."
Luke actually lost his mother as well since she was also a soldier in the war.
But their situations were very similar.
"I lost two very close friends as well, not just my husband. Didn't we get through those days as well when things were even worse?"
"Yeah but…" Norn sat up straight and was about to retort. But seeing the lifeless expression in her mother's eyes made her silent.
Both of them suddenly heard the neighing of horses fast approaching down the street. Norn stood up from the bed and stuck her head outside.
The other people inside the inn said that the imperial court would send messengers to inform the people when the threat had been eliminated.
Much to their surprise, it wasn't messengers who came to the inn.
"Huh? Isn't that carriage…"
There was a familiar insignia on the carriage. The mantles draped over the horses had the same insignia as the carriage.
The Berkley House. A golden lion's head was on the insignia.
"What's going on?" Claudia came to stand next to Norn to look out the window.
The carriage stopped in front of the inn and the doors burst open, revealing a youth wearing an academy uniform.
Both Norn and Claudia's eyes widened.
The youth noticed them and his eyes widened as well. His hair was cut shorter than the last time Norn saw him; his face seemed to have also matured during the time he was away.
Luke stood silently for a minute before he bolted towards the inn.
They could hear massive strides of footsteps coming up the stairs so they turned towards the door.
Claudia and Norn didn't know how to react so they could only stand silently.
The door burst open, revealing Luke who was still in his academy uniform.
"Miss Claudia! Norn!"
◇◇◇
Norn and Claudia just finished explaining what happened.
Luke sat silently and listened and only waited until they were done to speak.
"A man called Nova…"
"Yip! He saved us twice now!" Norn exclaimed.
"Twice? What happened the first time?" Luke tilted his head.
"Ah…" Norn glanced at Claudia, after she lost the excitement to speak about Nova.
'Oh, no… How do we tell him?'
Norn was aware that Luke valued protecting the three of them whenever he could. He didn't give a big reaction when they were almost attacked a few days ago since none of them got hurt but the first time was different.
Teresa nearly died in the middle of the forest with her legs broken and no way of seeing where she was going.
Norn decided to let her mother explain since she was too nervous.
Luke became scary whenever he was angry. The fact that his family got hurt would be enough to incite that much anger.
Even Norn was scared, especially that one time when Luke glowed in golden light as he mercilessly killed a dozen bandits alone.
He didn't seem to remember anything so none of them, at least those who saw what happened, told him.
"Something happened in the village, Luke. I wasn't in the village at the time and you were too busy with your studies and training."
"…"
"I'm sure you've heard about demons before, right…?"
Luke nodded with a confused expression that implied "Why ask me that?".
That was a normal reaction to the question.
Everyone knew what a demon was. They were everywhere in this world. Vampires, trolls, ogres, etc.
Many knew the aforementioned as subspecies of the demons that humans fought in the Demon War. Some of the species managed to come to this world and adapt to it.
But no one knew what real demons actually looked like and what they were capable of.
The fact that people didn't make a big fuss over what happened a few months ago meant that there were those who didn't believe in demons. They were fiction. Nothing about them could threaten this world.
That was probably why no one at the academy mentions it.
The imperial newspaper was available everywhere in the empire so many should've heard about what happened. The newspaper would always have the latest news so there was no way the incidents about the demons weren't published.
But it seems like Luke was oblivious to all this. Perhaps it was because the buzz had died down during the period that he was in isolation training.
"Demons known as Imps attacked the village. They enslaved women to be used as breeding machines and killed every man they came across. They also slaughtered our livestock. I wasn't there but Norn and Teresa saw everything that happened."
Luke's eyes slowly narrowed. His hands balled into fists and Norn could hear his rough breathing.
"Your sister was almost killed after she showed resistance. She came back to the village with two broken legs and no eyes."
It felt like the room was splashed with cold water.
Luke's face was lowered and his blonde hair was preventing Norn from seeing his expression.
"H-Hey, Mom…"
"What, Norn, do you want me to lie to Luke?"
"That's…"
Claudia spoke again, "Teresa is fine, Luke. She's out running some errands for us with the others."
Norn glanced at Luke who was slowly lifting his head.
Instead of what she was expecting, there was a smile on his face. Though—as his childhood friend and the one who's known him for so long—she could tell that was a forced smile.
"Ah, so she's alright. That's good. That's good." He nodded with a smile.
"So what brought you here? Didn't they say that the academy would be on lockdown during the monster wave?" Claudia changed the subject.
Though it's on lockdown, students still had to finish their exams regardless of what was happening outside.
"No one knows I'm here. I'll apologize and take any punishments after I get back. To answer your question, miss Anna told me that you guys would arrive any day now. Lauran helped me find you."
"Hm? Isn't Lauran that girl with the red hair and blue eyes?" asked Norn.
She could vaguely remember that Lauran was Arnold's love slave.
"Yes."
"How did she even know we were in the capital?" even Claudia seemed confused.
"Hahaha… That's a little difficult to answer completely since I don't know how it works myself. But I'll try. Lauran is apparently capable of using magic. That was why miss Adrianna made Lauran her assistant. From what Lauran told me, she can only detect familiar presences as far as the nation's walls. She 'familiarized herself with all our life forces', was what she told me."
'Crazy! What kind of person is able to distinctly detect people so accurately!?'
The bigger question was why someone that talented in magic was a slave not too long ago.
"We were coming here to pick you guys up and take you to the villa the Berkleys built for whenever they visit the capital."
"There's a villa!? Then that means we don't have to stay in this crappy inn anymore!" Norn cheered, "Let's go!"
"Hold on!" Claudia grabbed Norn who picked up her bags, "Isn't it dangerous to be leaving like this? People who move around a lot are easy targets for monsters."
"But they said everything was over, though?"
"Norn, you're missing the bigger picture here. Why do you think none of the adventurers came back yet?" Claudia asked but it didn't sound like a question that needed an answer from Norn, "They are expecting a second monster wave so they are remaining at the border wall until everything is over. The rest of the adventurers only came back to rest."
"Miss Claudia is right. Also, there's a high possibility that some monsters managed to slip past the border wall defences. Be that as it may…" Luke stood up and confidently said, "I'll protect all of you now so there's no need to worry."
"Luke…" Claudia stood up and approached him. She wrapped her arms around him as tears fell down her eyes, "Why did you grow this much while we weren't looking? At this rate you'll forget about us."
"…I'll never forget about the people who took me in when I needed help the most," Luke wrapped his arms around her too, "I'll never forget my real family."
"Hm? Did you get taller?" Norn suddenly noticed as she compared their height, "What the!? I was just as tall as you when you first came to the capital! What the hell happened!? Are you really 15 years old just like me!? Did you also put on muscle!? What the hell!"
"Norn, watch your language," her mother glared at her.
Luke laughed awkwardly, "The training I've been receiving played a role in that. Anyway, we should gather everyone's things. How many of you came here?"
"Well, there's the three of us… Gut and three other hunters as well." said Norn as she tried to count everyone, "We're about 7 people. Ah, Nait is also with us so that makes it 8."
"Nait? Why is he here?"
"He offered to become our escort." Norn said on the verge of laughing, "It's kind of hilarious how a kid like that thinks he can protect us any better than Gut and the hunters can."
"Still, didn't he stand up to that monster when none of us could?" Claudia said with a smile, "Makes me think he can become a great knight when he grows up. He has courage."
"Great knight, huh…" Luke muttered as he rubbed his chin, "There aren't a lot of boys who are Nait's age so he doesn't have any sparring partners. Maybe it would be best for him to enrol in a knight school? They are very cheap and even offers free accommodation."
"Oh, that would be a good idea. He always goes around telling people that he'll become a knight one day. We should let him stay with us. I'll send a letter to his parents."
"Eeh… Why let a boy stay with us? Mother should know that he'll become a lustful demon when he gets older and try to sneak into our beds!"
Claudia pulled Norn's ear, "Ow! What was that for!?"
"Maybe you should stop reading those romance novels then you'll stop getting these crazy ideas in your head."
"You're reading books!?" Luke exclaimed.
"Is that so surprising!?" Norn retorted back.
"I mean, you never touched a book in your life. You can't even spell that well or do basic math…"
"A-Are you mocking me!? Screw you!" Norn hit Luke with a pillow repeatedly.
"S-Sorry! I-It's true, though!"
"Grr!"
"Stop it, you two." Claudia's cold voice instantly separated the two.
Norn continued glaring at Luke out of the corner of her eye.
"I'll make sure Norn attends a school so that she can get a basic education," Claudia said as she looked at Norn with narrowed eyes that dared her to protest, "You'll need it for when you find work in the capital."
"Haaaaaaah! I don't want to go to school! So boring! Why can't I just become a waiter like Teresa!?" Norn complained after she jumped on her bed.
"Your sister had no choice but to take that job since she also refused to go to a school in the town near our village. Do you want to be a waiter your entire life?"
"…." Now that she thought about it, maybe she shouldn't be like her sister. Norn was like a poster girl and many people suggested she should work in a bar or restaurant because people would love being served by such a cute girl like her.
She only wanted to become a waitress because others suggested it to her. Maybe she didn't need to set her mind to a job like that. This was the empire so there was a lot of choices when it comes to work.
"But all of you don't need to find work, though," said Luke, "I can employ you at the villa. You can also use the villa as a temporary residence while waiting for the agency to build you a new house."
"Luke, that's…" Claudia frowned.
"Hold on. I know what it sounds like but it isn't charity. As it stands now the villa is empty with only a dozen servants maintaining it. Lord Berkley can't stay at the villa because he needs to be close to the Emperor which was why he's staying in the palace with miss Jeanne."
Claudia looked at Norn.
"Naturally you will receive a salary. I'm not sure how much the Berkley Family will give you but the minimum amount a maid or manservant who works for a ducal family earns is about 4 gold per week."
"4 gold!?" Claudia gasped at the ridiculous amount of money, "How can a servant earn that much!?"
Luke smiled wryly, "I wouldn't be surprised if Lord Berkley paid two times that amount. Anyway, will you take the job? I know it will be hard finding work in the capital."
"I-Is this really alright..?" Claudia hesitantly asked. She gulped hard as if she was contemplating whether this was a good idea.
The salary Luke just mentioned was many times the amount Claudia used to make as a domestic worker who did housecleaning and repaired clothes, among other things... It took Claudia months to even make one gold coin.
But she could earn this much just by looking after a villa that didn't have a noble family living there?
"I'm the heir to the Berkley House. I'm certain lord Berkley will grant my request—"
The door suddenly burst open.
"L-Luke!?" Teresa was standing in the doorway while panting heavily. Her eyes widened into saucers when she saw Luke.
"What's the matter, sis?" Norn could tell something was wrong.
"It's Nait! He's gone missing!"
"What!?" Claudia stood up and shouted, "Didn't he go with all of you to the shopping district!?"
"Y-Yeah, but he managed to slip away while I wasn't looking. Gut and the others are searching for him now. I came back here to see if he came back."
"Did he say he was going somewhere?" Luke asked calmly, "I might be able to find him if I know where he was headed."
"N-No, he didn't say anything… W-What are we going to tell his parents…"
"Calm down everyone. All of you stay here," Luke went towards the door, "I'll go look for him. Hopefully he hasn't gone outside the capital."
"Thanks but are you sure? You still need to go back to the academy…"
"Don't worry, miss Claudia. I'll find him and go back by tomorrow morning!" Luke shouted as he ran down the hallway, "Oh, and I'll have a servant from the villa come get you tomorrow!"
Teresa and Claudia looked at each other with worried expressions.