Luke's funeral was held the week after the incident, the whole city took part on the funeral, it's not common for an SS-Rank mercenary to die, the last time the whole city took part in a funeral was when the SSS-Rank mercenary John Orion died while participating in the battlefield against Dynatos 4 years ago.
Even though mercenaries in the past had the stereotypes of being rowdy, unethical, and such. But in truth mercenaries are a respected job just like the knights, the difference being that they are paid more, less strict, and owe no loyalty to anyone. That's why nowadays the younger generation wants to be a mercenary more than a knight.
The funeral for Luke lasted only for a day as they are worried of another invasion, especially after it's been confirmed that Dynatos have started to plant rune portals in Avari. Ray stayed by Luke's grave until the end even when everyone has already left, originally Luna and Elora wanted to stay behind for longer as well, but their physical condition wouldn't allow that, and after Amara's multiple persuasion they finally agree to head back first leaving Ray behind.
~At midnight beside Luke's grave~
"AHHH! there's still someone here, that almost give me a heart attack haha" a girl surprised by the appearance of Ray
"Ah I'm sorry I didn't realize it was already this late, I'll leave right away" Ray respond to said girl
"Ah no it's okay, I'm just surprised, you can stay here, you don't have to leave" the girl reassures Ray
"Ah, I'm Adelia by the way" the girl introduces herself instinctively not knowing why
Adelia is slim beautiful woman with white skin that have a long black hair with blue eyes, she seems to wear a coat so that she wouldn't be cold at this time of night, she also brings a flashlight so that she can see in the dark.
Ray smiles for a bit seeing how she suddenly introduce herself "Is that so, I'm Ray, nice to meet you Adelia"
"By the way why are you here, are you the one who manages this graveyard?" Ray asks Adelia
"Ah, no I'm not, thing is I've always been interested in mercenaries stories, and one of the stories that I've heard is that of Luke Aslan"
"It saddens me that he's passed away this soon, so I have to visit his funeral no matter what, but I could only visit at this hour"
"Umm so, if you don't mind me asking, why are you here yourself Mr. Ray?" Adelia asks curiously
"It's because he was my best friend and he sacrificed himself for me" Ray points to the grave with a hint of sadness in his face
"Oh my! I'm sorry that happened! I give you my condolences" Adelia regrets that she asked
Ray faked a smile that betrayed the sadness in his eyes "Don't be, I'll soon visit him in the afterlife anyway"
"What do you mean? Wait, are you going to kill yourself??" Adelia was bewildered
Ray didn't answer, he only looked at the grave
"Well, I guess I'll leave, it's getting late anyway, it's nice taking to you" Ray stands up as he was about to leave
"WAIT! You said it was nice talking to me, right? Then let's meet again so that you'll at least rethink that life isn't meaningless anymore" Adelia grabs Ray to not let him leave
"What do you mean? and what does that benefits you? I could only think doing something like that is bothersome" Ray looks at Adelia in the eyes with a straight face
"It's because I can't just leave someone who is clearly not right in the head alone!"
"And if you just died like that, his sacrifice will be meaningless!"
"Every one of you keeps saying the same thing it's driving me mad!" Ray leaves Adelia as he doesn't want to deal with her anymore
"I'll meet you here again at the same time tomorrow!" Adelia shouts so that Ray can hear
Ray leaves pretending not to hear
~Tomorrow night~
"Hi there!" Adelia taps Ray from the back
"You really weren't kidding yesterday" Ray sighs
Adelia smiles
"I'll leave" Ray annoyed by Adelia
"Wa-Wait!! Don't leave!" Adelia grabs Ray's wrist
"What is it!"
"Oh c'mon, let's at least talk!"
"Fine, but only for a little while"
"I promise you won't regret it"
"Okay then, what do you want to talk about?" Ray asks Adelia annoyingly
"Hmm let's see, how about we talk about what we do?"
"As you already know, I'm an SS-Rank mercenary previously in the Eden Clan" Ray answered
"Woah, that's awesome! So, you were Rayden Aragorn who fight alongside Luke" Adelia amused
"What didn't you know that? Didn't I say that I was his best friend yesterday?" Ray shocked not believing Adelia
"Well, I don't know about Luke's personal life, so I didn't know that Mr. Ray was his best friend"
"Hhhhh, so your turn, what do you do? Ray asks Adelia back
"Hmm that's a secret" Adelia smiles
"Oh, this is so stupid, I'm leaving"
"Okay let's meet again tomorrow, Ray!" Adelia waves goodbye
Ever since, Adelia have been meeting Ray every day for a week
~At night~
"Hi Ray" Adelia greet Ray once more
"Hhhh you really don't know when to give up don't you?'
"Hehe"
Ray then starts to get up
"Hey, wait! we haven't even begun yet!" Adelia panics
"Talking here is a bit uncomfortable, there's this nearby cafe that opens 24/7 let's talk there" Ray told Adelia without looking back
*Gasp* Adelia shocked, hands on her mouth, wide eyes filled with stars
"You're coming or what?" Ray asks Adelia since he notices that she didn't follow him
"Y-Yes! I'm coming!"
Since then, Ray and Adelia have been talking to each other every day, at first it was only a 5 minute talk, but it later turned into hours of talking, they even met up whenever Adelia is free not just at night. Whenever they met up, they would talk about their daily stuff, advice, play games, and many more.
As months goes by, Ray's sadness started to disappear, and he starts to become happier.