Days passed. And then weeks. Ian left Erza's village with his people after camping there for three days. It was the time he took to think things over. And in the end, his decision was quite unexpected. Arthur was sure that he'd go back with him this time. Afterall, the only issue keeping Ian away from his home was finally resolved. There was no more reason for him to wonder in the wilds like this, like a homeless person. "You should go back."Ian said those words while looking Arthur straight in the eyes. There was no hesitation in his voice. Arthur, in the middle of sipping his tea, was frozen still in shock and disbelief. "Why?""I don't understand.""They're all waiting for you.""You should go back home. You need to go back home.""Back to us."Arthur said those things, pausing after every sentence, with a confused tone. He wasn't even trying to understand Ian's point of view at this point. He just knew he needed to take Ian back, back by his side. "I'm not going. Not right n

'Haah..What a mess..' Arthur thought to himself as he felt a headache brewing at the back of his head. Currently he was in the middle of a meeting held at the King's palace. Most nobles from the capital was present there, as well as the King and Prince Albert. The only remarkable absence was the Duke, Miller Dicarious. It was a meeting held with the purpose of deciding on Arthur's rewards. He was called back to the capital after Arthur and his team manager to take over all of the headquarters of the enemies and given a grand welcome. Next was the awarding ceremony. The King and Prince Albert had already come to a conclusion. They wanted to promote Arthur to a higher position and bestow him the title of a Duke along with appropriate properties/land/mines, servants and knights on the capital. But the problem lied with the nobles from the other fraction. Although the second Prince was on Albert's side, his mother had no intention of accepting that fact. The Queen's faction, out of

Ian had a big grin on his face as he felt the various types of aggressive mana targeted against him. It was unconscious. The situation remined him of his past as Noah where he had to always face a bunch of enemies all by himself. He was always outnumbered and overpowered. Yet he always managed to come out victorious somehow.Ian's smile wasn't invisible to the other's inside the room either. They could all see it clearly. And that smile, in a situation like that, meant nothing but provocation."Hey.. Control your expression."Albert nudged him softly from the sides as he whispered. He was afraid that a fight would break out if this kept going on. It also helped Ian snap out of his daze, reminiscing about his glorious days. "Do you think these guys will listen?"Ian asked Albert, seeing the little bit of hesitation that was still there, somewhere hidden deep inside. A lot has changed, but there was still trace of the meek personality that this guy had in the past. "We can't just get

Ian blacked out. He and the Crown Prince had decided to have a drink after everything was settled. It was Ian's invitation so Albert was more than happy to accept.After Ian was done dealing with the nobles, he came back to the palace. By the time they started drinking, it was already late at night. Ian took out a bunch of snacks from his space ring. These were all food he had collected from all over the continent while on his journey to save and rescue people. Since he didn't accept any money in return for his service, they all showered him with lots of love and local food to show their gratitude.Ian found it cute so he accepted them the first time. After that, he came up with the idea to collect and share these variety of food with the people back home so he kept collecting them from then on. His target was finally being fulfilled. "How much food do you have stored inside your ring anyway?"Albert asked, casually, seeing how Ian was always taking one thing or the other out of h

"Hey..""Can you hear me?""Won't you wake up?"Ian felt someone gently place their palm on his forehead while trying to wake him up. His eyelids were heavy and he felt like he was having a really nice nap so he didn't want to wake up just yet.As he turned around and tried to ignore the voice behind him, he wanted to fall back asleep for another hour or two. The voice behind sounded a little surprised but that was all.'Why wake a sleeping person anyway?''Just leave me alone.. ''I'm sleepy.'Ian thought to himself as he felt himself fall asleep once again. But then, all of a sudden, something, a feeling, popped up on his mind.'It's too quiet.'Both inside his mind, body and on the outside, he couldn't feel anyone. The kids weren't there, neither were Arthur or Albert. He couldn't feel the presence of either the Phoenix or his familiars inside either. Ian jumped up the moment his thoughts came to that conclusion. An eerie feeling crept up his spine as he slowly opened his eyes. To