A careful preparation

The next morning Jay was up early once again and carefully peeled himself free from Aletta. He used a piece of parchment from her table to write her a small letter, stating for her to take care and buy whatever tools or lessons she needed.

His writing was anything but good, but he thought it as at least readable. The runic letters used in this world weren't that different from the letters he knew. Leaving another small pouch with gold on the table, he snuck out of the room and left the Slaughtered Lamb.

From there he hurried back to the Garrison to at least give a report of having found the man and that he would come to the slavers mansion that day.

It was still early when Jay arrived at the headquarters, but Shalina had already been waiting. She couldn't hold back a comment about which girl had crossed his way this time.

Somehow Jay had the feeling he was getting infamous to the women of AI:7. At least the three he was regularly talking with kept on giving poking comments or the corresponding gazes whenever he had been with some women. That they knew what he did was long nothing that surprised him anymore.

As Jay relayed his information for what he had come there, it was Shalina who got surprised. She hadn't anticipated that Zardeth would help them out without issue.

When Jay explained he therefore had to help the dark magician with some things concerning the cult, she only rose a brow.

Jay simply had gone on and explained it was beneficial for both and the cult was one of his targets either way, she could only nod.

He seemed to surprise her quite often when they met, something she absolutely wasn't used to.

Their topic then switched to the girl Jay had rescued. Shalina stated she was recovering fast but was still over at the garrisons sick bay. The healer she had called for had gotten note of it late last night and then directly tended to her until this morning.

When Jay inquired about it, Shalina only stated it was someone with extraordinary skills that might really have helped the poor girl. To that, Jay asked if he may visit her what Shalina approved of and even stated she would come with him.

On their way out of the Headquarters they talked about their next steps. Most of it was to be determined after they finished sorting and inspecting all the documents, as well as the journal Jay previously brought that was still getting translated.

Shalina asked Jay to come back in a few days after he had the duel, just at the moment when they walked towards the training fields.

"So you had heard about it?" J.

"Who would I be if I hadn't? ...Really, the whole Fort is talking about it!" S.

That had been just what Jay hadn't wanted! His plan had been to somehow get away with it or at least silently have it happen without many people noticing, if any at all.

When he stated just that, Shalina first laughed and then explained that, while his thoughts had been naive, it still wasn't that bad to show his potentials.

As they walked on, she further explained that while he might get his face more known, it would grant him some safety at the same time. A person some high ranking officers and nobles had taken a liking to couldn't be messed with easy, even for those in the royal court.

A few steps later, a well known face came rushing from the stairs leading up to the training fields. It was Lina that steered directly towards where Jay and Shalina had halted on their way after she first mentioned the duel.

The reason she came back was to give her boss an update on the situation at the mansion.

Though latter initially wanted to accompany Jay to the sickbay, she excused herself and left with Lina back to the Headquarters.

Not minding it, Jay proceeded around the already bustling training fields towards the sickbay. Shortly before he reached the building, he spotted some people he hadn't expected to see this soon, even less in a place like the Fort or in a constellation like he then saw.

Mia and Ellie stood there chatting with Field Marshall Whitmore.

The short haired woman was the one that spotted Jay first and directly waved him over. Without wait Jay jogged towards them and greeted the three ladies.

Ellie looked completely confused, seemingly not understanding why Jay was there and why the Marshall was so friendly with him.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Jay had seen Mia really had to hold back not jumping at him directly, but it wasn't like he was any different at all.

Just as Ellie was about to say something, Mia cut in and stated that she had finished the requested treatment for the day and the two of them had to leave.

Jay had a feeling she did it just to stop Ellie from talking, but the two of them really directly walked towards the stairs.

A few meters away, Mia turned around once more and asked Jay if he wanted to meet up with them once he was done there. He directly agreed and she asked him to come to the Heavenly Cake at the Cathedral Plaza.

Jay remembered having seen a sign with that name somewhere next to the orphanage.

Once he was done waving the two of them off, Jay turned back to Whitmore who had kept standing behind him and watching the scene unfold.

To her comment that they really seemed like a family, Jay had to hold back not to say they gladly weren't. While it was true that Mia felt somehow motherly, certain nightly activities of them told otherwise.

He instead asked the Field Marshall if he could pay a visit to the slave he had rescued and later brought to the sickbay. Like Shalina had stated previously, it was absolutely no problem and Whitmore called a cadet over to guide Jay.

The sickbay was at that time relatively full, what surprised Jay. He then learned it was always like this during and after training sessions as quite a lot accidents happened. Most of the ones there had only bruises or shallow cuts though.

It was obvious why they had moved her to the back of the room with how loud and rough the tone in the building was at that point.

Once they reached the last separation in the room, the cadet asked if Jay would later find out alone and excused himself. As he was gone, Jay slipped through the curtain and pulled them close behind him.

The moment he turned around, he got completely stunned.

What lay there in the bed was nothing like the small girl in a miserable state he left the last day. A stunning beauty was looking him directly into his eyes with her golden ones. No a single blemish seemed to be left from what she had lived through.

Jay couldn't help but analyze her once again, just to make sure he hadn't ended in the wrong separation. She was back to full health and as he looked at it, even the fingers on her hand had regrown.

Just as he looked back at her absurdly sweet and beautiful face, surrounded by the blackest hair Jay had seen to that point, did two small triangular appendages peeking out of it catch his eyes. It was her ears that suddenly slightly twitched only a second before he heard a soft but still rough voice ringing out.

"Is there anything I can help you with or are you only going to keep staring?" V.

It was her voice that Jay heard the first time at this point. Similar to her appearance, it was a soft and girlish one, though it hadn't fully recovered yet.

Coming back to his senses, Jay shook his head once and softly smiled at her before he stepped forward.

"I just wanted to check if you are alright. When I brought you here yesterday, no one could tell if you'd make it through the night…" J.

"That was you?" V.

"Yes, sorry… I wished I had some other options as well. Do you want me to leave?" J.

"Huh? Oh…. W-wait, what are you apologizing for?" V.

"I'm not sure how to begin. Do you remember me asking you something yesterday?" J.

"T-there are some blurry memories. I remember being held by someone ...strong and carried out of the darkness I got used to. I only know I felt s-safe at that moment..." V.

"Nothing else?" J.

Jay tried to suppress the panic in his voice. Should she not have consented to his action the day before, he wasn't sure how he should approach her without giving her another trauma.

Just as the tension was about to grow unbearable, Vellara got back from her thoughts and softly smiled at him.

"You're talking about the slave part, right? While I'm not sure I heard right, it's only logical that someone had to change my settings or I would have died there on the spot… I take it the one was you?" V.

"Beautiful and intelligent... Yes, that is the part I want to apologize for. Again, I can only promise you to not take advantage of you." J.

"I guess as a slave I could be happy with some pretty boy like you being my owner. But if you're so sorry, why not setting me free?" V.

"I bet you know the answer. As far as I know to this point, there is no way to set an eternal slave free.

The only option is to switch ownership, but even that is harshly restricted." J.

"Thought as much... I guess I should introduce myself properly then: My name is Vellara Remoir, a Pantherian from the Sokara Desert Conglomerat. I should be 15 years old by now and hope to get along with you as it might be for the rest of my life… Sorry that sounded worse spoken out aloud…" V.

"Don't be, it's the truth after all. My name is Jay, and I would like you to call me that. If possible, I want to keep you being my slave a secret. With sixteen years of age I'm about your Age and an Adventurer, though my circumstances are a bit complicated...

Filling you in on that is something I'd like to postpone to a later date, all right?" J.

"All right, Jay it is… Then what do you have in mind for me?" V.

"The question is what is it that you want to do?" J.

"All I want, is to get stronger. Me being weak is the reason I ended like this, so to someday pay back the ones responsible, I need to train… if you allowed." V.

Jay looked at her small and slender figure, still wrapped in bandages for the most part, and got an idea.

He offered her to try and get her training at the AI:7. She was perplexed at first as she thought he would keep her close to him, but after him explaining his idea thoroughly she willingly agreed.

Her only condition was that once she got strong enough, he'd have to come back and take her with him on his adventures. His occupation had made Vellara even more interested in her new owner, and Jay was more than content with her request.

Shortly before he left her to further recuperate, Jay excused himself again and ordered the small pantherian to never reveal she was his slave.

To his surprise Jay had already been awaited outside the building as Whitmore and even Nara stood there in front of the door. While the first was overseeing the training like she previously mentioned, the young agent had come there to look after Vellara.

As the Field Marshall once again asked if the duel was still up, Nara directly inquired about it. She only then learned what was going to happen in five days, even through seemingly the whole fort already knew about it.

But then the slightly air-headed agent asked Jay if he wanted some training from her.

Jay shook his head to her offer but in return asked her to use the spare time she would have trained him in to test Vellara for a trainee spot in the AI:7. His argument that a catkin should be physically fit enough for that had been completely unnecessary though, as Nara had gotten order to check on her and if possible fetch her for just that reason.

Even Whitmore had to agree hearing this as it would also make questioning her a lot easier.

Jay said his goodbyes after he learned he no longer had to request taking care of Vellara from Shalina. In swift strides he marched down the stairs and plaza connecting to the gate and left the fort towards the Cathedral Plaza.

Without taking detours he chose the canal route and this way arrived there after a short while.

The Cafe was really the one Jay had spotted before. Back then he didn't have much desire for cakes, but looking at it then, he found it quite intriguing. The best it had at the moment though was a busty blonde half elf sitting at the window and smiling at him.

Jay had spotted Mia from still a bit away and couldn't help but grin himself.

As he entered the not too wide interior, he found Ellie already munching a cookie but dismissing it at his sight.

This time their welcome was a really heartwarming one and they embraced each other for a moment.

A kiss with Mia was still something for later like she whispered him.

Seconds after they sat down at the table, Ellie began to narrate what they had been doing until this moment. Jay had asked about it just before, but her blabbering was so fast and constant, he had understood half of it at most.

"...and then – woosh- ligt all over, then miss Yrel stated we accomplished what we came there for. She complimented me and then without wait she turned around and walked out. We really had to hurry after her. Then we went back the same way we came from and then one of her mages – you know the ones waiting for us- opened a portal. Then -zooom- we got back to the church and then someone came running. They called Mia for help and then we rushed over to the military base. Then Mia made light grow out of her hands and -whoa- the kitty girl had ears again. Then we walked out and that was when we met… Any questions?" E.

Jay wasn't sure what to answer to that and only kept staring wide eyed at Mia. Latter had tears growing in her eyes and seemed about to burst into laughter, but tried hard to hold back.

Calming himself a bit down, Jay turned to Ellie who was sitting next to him.

"So your trip was a success, right? I'm happy to hear you are now prepared for the blessing ceremony tomorrow. But you left out the most important things…" J.

"Oh, and what would that be? I told you about our trip here, meeting Miss Yrel, her…" E.

"At what time is the ceremony? And would you be happy if I came to spectate?" J.

"Yayy, of course I would…" E.

"It's right after noon. While you are welcome to spectate, I fear you won't see that much. But I will be there and survey it as well. So are you going to come?" M.

"As if I would let such an opportunity slip…" J.

Right after his words exited Jay's mouth did the three of them get interrupted by the waitress.

As she asked for their order he noticed to not have given a single glance to the menu. Glad that Mia seemed to have noticed and even prepared for this case, it was her that gave off the order for all three of them.