I did have the feeling I would meet this guy again, but I really couldn't recall whether he gave me a name. Since my brain was blank, it was either I actively blocked him out when he was talking or that he didn't give me his name at all—the latter was not exactly feasible. There was also another possibility. My brain probably deleted the information it thought it didn't need.

As he moved to slicing through the big plate of whale ribs, I recovered the impression of his name being given and him asking mine in exchange. I tried to put a name to the face, but really found that it eluded me.

Other than the letter K.

Man, I must have not liked meeting this person. My memory was usually very good.

I mean...I didn't have a bad impression, but I was reluctant to get involved.

Feeling a bit awkward, I lowered my gaze back onto my plate. No matter how interested I was on the table-side performance, I couldn't help feeling a bit awkward. I had to stuff my mouth with something to chew on to distract myself a little. Hopefully, this guy wouldn't pursue the matter of me having to play for him. Either way, I left Mistress Marian's harp back in the Temple.

To my relief, no one noticed my strangeness—or paid it heed, at least. Even Maun, who was the likeliest to see and most sensitive to my moods, was very curious about what the guy would do to the ribs.

He didn't disappoint the expectations of the people around him. Erlan and Miles were very vocal about their opinions. Arondite was more quiet and his attention was perfunctory. It was clear he wasn't that impressed.

However, when the fire flared and licked off alcohol poured on the meat enthusiastically, we marveled and clapped our hands. Maun genuinely appreciated the show, giving a beaming smile with bright eyes.

"Thank you for your praises. This is quite a big piece so I hope you enjoy this meal," the boy said, then he turned to our table as though intending to make a small talk.

I half expected him to address me. To my slight surprise, he did not turn to talk to me, but another companion of mine. "Erlan, I didn't expect that these were the friends you spoke of," he said with an amiable smile.

I sipped my drink and watched the show. Why'd I miss that? Considering how Erlan seemed to frequent this place, the two of them knowing one another should have been a one plus one logic.

"Huh? What's up with Sir Kaiser? You don't usually take the initiative to talk to me," Erlan said, dumbfounded. "Ah! But you remembered? I always thought you didn't listen whenever I'm speaking with you. I'm very flattered."

Ah, busted.

I controlled my expression as everyone else looked on with interest. Kaiser seemed to be reddening and his face was souring with embarrassment quite a bit. However, it didn't seem much like he was ashamed. Rather, it was more like he was shy.

I must say this expression suited his warm and outgoing temperament. He must think differently, though.

Trying to suppress his fluster, he cleared his throat and put on his most amiable smile. "I'm not usually a very talkative person."

Not when he wasn't interested, I would assume.

"I still have to do my part with entertaining guests though, and you're quite the frequent one here," he told Erlan. "Would you mind me talking to you through your meal?"

Erlan was more than happy to oblige. "Of course!"

I stared straight ahead, minding my own drink. However, I kept tabs on what was happening through my peripheral vision. I caught him throwing furtive glances my way. Although he tried to hide his interest by looking at each and everyone's faces, his gaze would linger a bit longer whenever he would look in my direction.

"I've been trying to make friends with you for a while now, but you're always so...elusive," Erlan said cheerfully. "You've been doing really well with the restaurant and I wanted to ask you a few questions to see if you can impart some knowledge to me."

"Being a merchant's son, I think you should have more knowledge about running a business than I do," Kaiser replied with a flattering smile.

"You shouldn't underestimate yourself! I mean, this isn't your family's line of work, right? You basically built this place out of nothing! In fact, I never even thought the son of the mercenary guild's leader would be so passionate about business! That's why I was so interested!" Erlan exclaimed.

I had to pause a bit.

Frick.

This boy was the son of the mercenary guild leader that I have to defeat in six years?!

I gazed up at Kaiser with complicated feelings. He felt my gaze and met it with his bright blue eyes.

Sighing, I lowered my drink back onto the table and began to preoccupy myself with the food. At first, I wanted nothing to do with this guy, but I ended up kicking myself in the foot somehow. Of course, I had no particular need of him at the moment. Things I would probably need knowing about the mercenary guild leader should be available through other means.

It wasn't that I didn't want to make friends. However, in my case, relationships might backfire, so...cold as it was, I had to keep only the necessary ones and stay far away from irrelevant people.

Of course, if I wanted a more personal approach, befriending him and knowing about his father through him should also be a good way. However, I didn't really feel comfortable doing this. So while I was tempted, I decided to go against this decision in the end. It might make my life convenient, but this was the part where skills spoke for themselves. No matter what kind of knowledge about the mercenary guild leader I rack up, it would all go to waste if I didn't put more effort into self-cultivation.

Then again, that man should be old and experienced if he already had a son my age. I started having doubts. My mistresses should really want me to back down from getting involved with matters concerning what happened back in Oblivion.

But if they wanted me to defeat Kaiser's father...then that man should be a close acquaintance somehow? I, for one, would not take the time out of my busy schedule to evaluate a stranger's performance. I was assuming it would be the same case for such an important person like the mercenary guild's leader.

Considering the present situation, my mistresses should not want to associate with people whose characters they were unsure of. For something so sensitive as an evaluation of my skills, they would never entrust it to a stranger.

"How about it, Evyionne?" someone asked.

I looked up calmly, trying to hide the fact that my mind had been flying just now.

So many thoughts had gone through my head. I was so preoccupied that I didn't have one clue about what they were asking me.

"Sorry. I wasn't really paying attention," I said honestly. "What is it?"

"We're thinking of joining the competition. Do you want to give it a try? We could use this as our way of bringing honor to the temple!" Miles said, bouncing on his seat energetically.

I hummed thoughtfully. "Sorry. I'll pass."

Miles deflated. "Oh, but why?" he asked.

Erlan looked disappointed too.

Either singing or dancing or playing an instrument—all were very fluent ways to communicate with the universe. If, by any chance, I got too immersed or lost control somewhere, I would be in deep crap. Not to mention the people around me.

Since I was still unable to proficiently control my ability, I had better stay away from the things that might accidentally activate my element. This was the main reason why I didn't really want to associate with Kaiser. If he and I got close, or if I had to owe him a favor, he would definitely ask me to play Mistress Marian's harp. Knowing myself, I didn't really have much resistance to the requests of the ones I was close to.

Also, I had a bad experience playing that instrument ever since I had started awakening. Until I was certain that I was in control, I didn't want to take risks. Rude bitch or no rude bitch, it was better I snub them rather than kill them, right?

"How about a group performance? We can act out a short skit. Or we can use martial arts," Erlan carefully suggested.

"Martial arts? Is that even allowed?" Miles asked.

"I don't recommend it," Arondite said.

"I recommend following what he says," I told them.

I could only see bad things happening with that. Although we weren't exactly banned using our martial arts outside of the Temple, there were many things that could go wrong. Especially among this group of kids. Irresponsible use was much likely.

"Why not?"

"You know, although I don't think it was directly stated in the Wall of Virtues, we are still obligated to uphold our reputation with dignity. So, while I have no objections with you guys joining this performance competition, I would advise against using martial arts to prevent complications from happening later on. Besides, there are so many other things you can do. There's no need for it to be martial arts specifically."

"But that's only our common ground so far."

"Then we better wait for next time before competing, right? After we got to know each other more?" I continued to argue.

"I object! This is precisely the best way for us to bond together and get to know one another! As fellow disciples of the same year, we don't have enough time to get together at all! This rare opportunity, we must seize!" Erlan said determinedly.

"Well, you're not really wrong."

Really. Kids had so much energy and competitive spirits. This old soul could not keep up. I just want to eat in fricking peace.

"Someone needs to keep the table and eat these huge ass ribs, so I think I'll stay," I said.

"Whatever. Miles, Maun, let's go!"

I looked over to Maun questioningly. "Are you joining them?"

Maun was reluctant, but I caught the yearning in his gaze.

"You obviously want to go. Do you need me to give you permission?" I raised a brow.

He pouted.

"You don't need to ask me. Go on."

Miles, Maun, and Erlan all left the table to discuss what they wanted to do, leaving the kill-joys, me and Arondite, sitting before the table. I picked off a piece from the ribs served on the table. It wasn't much struggle because the meat easily slipped off the bone. However, I couldn't help marveling at it again. The rib could almost be the same as a baseball bat. It was damn big.

Since I was the one who ordered it, I couldn't leave it to waste.

"Why exactly are those guys determined to join the performance?"

"You weren't listening, were you?" Arondite replied.

"Not really," I said.

"There's a prize."

I sliced the piece of meat and calmly slipped it into my mouth. After chewing and swallowing, I calmly wiped off my lips and asked, "What kind of prize is it to make them so determined?"

"It's a weapon," Arondite replied.

I paused. "What kind of weapon?"

"A special relic obtained from an ancient site," he said.

Seeing my silence and questioning look, he continued to explain.

"Some relics are exposed and bathed in the energies of specific Domains, which make them rich with that kind of energy. These relics, I think you've already encountered them before. Some of them are used to operate the testing machines they used to determine which element you have," he told me.

"Oh."

"The mercenary guild goes on rich explorations, often of these sites when they accompany their contractors. They usually keep some relics they find to themselves, so it's not really a wonder why that guy would have something like that."

"Well, what kind of relic was it?"

"A relic of death," he said.

I had to pause once more.

"They have been common in the most recent of days," he told me. "Death relics are very powerful and can cause irreparable harm. Although this one doesn't look too dangerous, it's still very useful when defending oneself."

"Erlan and the others want something like that?"

"Relics are very useful for defense and offense. It's indispensable to someone who practices martial arts. If lucky, you can also use it for enlightenment as well as understanding the world, furthering your combat effectivity."

"They're making something like that available to the public?" I asked again. "Through such a simple competition, no less?"

"Exactly my thoughts. That guy must be after something," Aron told me as he calmly ate through the food on his plate.

Ah. I see now.

"Are you interested?" Arondite asked.

"Hm. A bit," I said. I then gazed at him. "You sound interested yourself?"

"I'm in need of a death relic."

"I want to ask what for, but that's your business so I won't," I said. "So why don't you go with those guys?"

"I find them a little immature."

I laughed. "Well, what kind of performance do you even want to pull?"

Arondite gazed at me seriously.

I had to squint at him. "You can't be wanting to partner up with me, right?"

His silence gave me all the answers I needed.