How far will we go for our family? No, the people we care about? I know that I would do almost, almost anything. Almost. From what I've seen, even this little glimpse, I know that Axel would do the same.

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The morning is rough, the pain in my back is unbelievable, I think I'd prefer to sleep on the floor. Hector's still sleeping, today I finally woke up earlier than him. With nothing to do, I just sit and think. What ways could I get Aisha to talk to me? Kidnap her? I guess that would... no no no. I need to do this civilly, I won't force her to talk to me, I've gotta be the shining example.

The time passes quickly as I think of ways I can get her to talk to me. The door opens and a man enters. His gaze falls upon me and his hand falls to his sword.

"Identify yourself! What are you doing here!" he says.

"I'm Rainen Weaver, a friend of Axel." I say.

His face doesn't soften but he asks, "Axel's here?"

"Yeah. We just made it here yesterday."

He lowers his sword, "Sorry about that. I just didn't think that my wife would have guests, especially Axel's friends, sleep on the couches."

"About that," I wave it off. "we suggested sleeping here. It's fine, we don't mind at all. It's better than sleeping at that bug infested inn at least."

"Is that so? Well, are you two staying for breakfast?" he asks. Despite them having some financial problems they're still offering things to strangers, I guess we're guests but still.

"No. We don't have too much time here so I have to get the thing I've come to do done." I say. It's kind of a lie, the headmaster didn't impose any kind of restrictions.

He nods, "Well, if you need a place to stay, we're open."

"Thanks."

"Dad!" Axel rushes down the stairs and they both hug each other.

"Haha." Axel and his dad are around the same height, but his dad's a lot bigger. "You've grown a bit in the months I haven't seen you!"

"I'm not quite taller than you yet." he smiles.

"You'll sure be taller than me in a year or two." he nods. "So, how's school been going? Did you make any lady friends over there yet?" his dad teases.

"Hehe." Axel laughs. "No not yet dad. You'll have to wait a while before I give you some grandchildren." he shrugs his shoulders. "I mean, I'm even twenty yet."

With a disappointed expression he says, "I understand. As a kid, it's important to explore the world without anything tying you down. But don't wait too long, even if I have another, say, sixty years or so. I want to see them while I can still knock down a bandit or two." he says.

"No need to worry about that." I say. "He's bound to get a girlfriend eventually with that attitude of his." well, mostly it'd be the girl that's working for the relationship. Axel's a little too focused on his family to be starting any relationships like that.

His father laughs, "That's good to hear. I was worried that you wouldn't get any gal because you're too busy worrying about us back at home." Axel smiles bitterly and his father puts a hand on his shoulder. "We're doing fine, really. We don't regret the decision to send you to the academy one bit."

"Y-yeah."

But it seems like the one who was sent isn't happy. I wonder how much say he got in this, it's his life after all. A guy as nice as Axel probably wouldn't turn down a request from a stranger to help them but if he's the one who's being offered help he'd say he's fine. Did his family go through a lot of trouble to send him there?

He said they missed some meals, that's gotta be tough on the younger kids. But I'm sure they agreed on it, they just wanted him to be happy. Too bad he'd be happier staying here and helping his family out, they sure are looking far ahead.

--------------

"Sorry." Axel says as he rushes out of his house. "Did I keep you guys waiting long?"

"A little." I say. A flash of pain passes through my right arm. "I was just joking." I say to Hector as I rub my throbbing right arm. He's close but that hit hurt.

"We understand, family is important." Hector says. Axel chuckles a little to himself, no doubt the guy's laughing at what just happened to me.

"Alright, sorry to keep you waiting Rai. Let's go see your sister!" he made a sign as if he were some kind of cavalry commander giving the sign to charge. I wouldn't follow him in the battlefield nor here, he's going the wrong way.

"It's that way Axel." I say pointing to the direction where the lights came from last night.

"Onward men!" he's a little excited this morning.

"Having fun?" I ask preemptively.

"Just a little. I can't wait to see the inside of those houses." he pauses to look at them. "This is a personal visit for you right?"

"Yeah." I say.

"Alright." he nods. "I'll be on my best behavior." he starts walking but stops soon after. "Could we take my siblings inside one day? They're curious to see it, you know, the mysterious glowing mansions. It's always been there, but we just could never go. Always blocked off by the gates, it would be trespassing if we climbed over."

"Got it. I'll talk to my grandparents about that. Now, if you haven't seen your sister in a while and she refused to talk to you, how would you go about it?"

Arriving at the house feels like it only took a few minutes. I spent the whole time talking to Axel about how I could get her to say something to me. "If you kick her shin she's gotta react." he said. Obviously she would, unless she somehow gained some great pain resistance, but I wanted to be civil. Someone has to be the example.

Hector stood a few feet away from us, his stoic face was on the whole time. Every now and then he'd jump into the conversation to advise us away from some ideas. It's nice to know that even if he is working under the headmaster, he doesn't have any plans to mess with our problems, in fact, he's quite helpful.

"Halt." the guard puts his hand up. "Who goes there." it's a new guard, not the same ones from yesterday. Hector steps forward, his chest out and his head high, the guard is nothing in comparison to him. It even looks like he shrinks a little as Hector opens his mouth.

"I am Hector Oswald, a knight from Renard Academy. We," he gestures to me. "were here yesterday. He is Rainen Weaver, the grandson of Lord Yurfray. We have come to meet with his younger sister, Aisha Weaver."

"The brother of Miss Aisha?" he looks hard at me. "I can see some resemblance." of course he does, we're siblings. But here's something my master said to me once, "Tell someone you're related to someone else, and through their own search they'll find something in common. People always find what they're looking for, whether it's there or not."

I guess it stands true, even though I actually am her brother, the guard sends for confirmation before letting us pass. In the end he did a splendid job, he made sure that we were actually the real thing even when he saw the similarities. The guards for the nobles are a few steps above the normal city watchmen.

Falling into line, Axel and Hector walk silently behind me as we're led inside. The man who's leading is an older man in a suit, he's one of the many butlers of the house. The guards slightly inclined their bodies as we went inside. Waiting for us, Frederick smiles.

"Rainen, I'd like you to take a tour of our home before you start trying to talk to Aisha." he says. If he wanted me to take a tour, why didn't he do this before he called in Aisha? Was it a lapse in judgement?

I nod, "Will he be showing us around?" I point to the butler in front of us.

"Yes, Joseph here will do just that. Go ahead, please show them the important points of the interior before showing them the backyard." he says. I didn't notice it but his tone is a bit more formal and polite than yesterday.

"Please follow me." Joseph says as he bows. Once again, as if we were ducklings following our mother, we stay close behind him.

For the first time, we go through the big door between the two staircases. On the other side is another fountain surrounded by stone tiles and grass. Rich people really love their fountains. Also taking a walk around, a butler and a man who looks to be my age cross the grounds from the other side. The little pillars holding up the house hides their faces as they continue on their way.

Eventually we cross paths. The butler pays no heed to us four but the man slows down and stares.

"Wait." he calls out behind us. "Are you three guests of my grandfather?" he asks. So this guy is my cousin, I wonder how many siblings mom had. I just hope they're better than dad's, his brother, the one who took me in, wasn't the kindest of person. Again, I better start with the basics.

"Hello." I give a slight bow. He follows suit. "I'm Rainen Weaver, cousin."

His eyes widen then narrow. Oh, so that's how it is, he doesn't even know me and I'm already disliked. It's plain as day on his face. At first he gave me his fake little smile that I've seen way too many times before, but now he disregarded those teachings that were beaten into him. His face distorts in disgust.

"So you're Aisha's brother." he shakes his head.

"Is there something wrong with that?" I ask. I can tell that talking to him won't lead anywhere good, but I won't back down if he insults Aisha. I wonder why I'm feeling so protective, is it because I haven't seen her in eight years? No, it's probably because she's the only immediate family I have left.

"No, of course not. I have no problem with you, you seem to have some manners about you. Unlike... her." the only person who knew how to push my buttons was my master, other people just seem to do it unconsciously. This guy definitely stepped on a landmine, if he wants to bad mouth someone, he shouldn't do it behind their backs.

In a way, I'm too straight forward. I worked on many skills with the help of my master, this was one that I eventually learned how to subvert. But, sometimes I just can't.

"So you dislike her because she's different." I say.

"Yes she's different. Her mother, my aunt, ran away with some lowly adventurer. And can you believe this? Her daughter had the guts to come back here, where a noble should be living." he waves his hand. "Oh, don't worry about yourself, there's nothing wrong with visiting family. At least you didn't mooch off of grandfather and grandmother's kindness like your sister."

This idiot knows nothing. He probably knows why she's here, but he still talks about her like that. He's right that I didn't come here with them, but that's because I couldn't. His parents must have something against my mom, but just because she chose to do something else with her life, they shouldn't be punishing her children like this.

No no no. Calm, I have to be calm here. "May I get your name?" I ask him.

"Hmm?" he turns back to me. "Ah, you'll find out later." he says. Oh man, this guy needs to be taught some manners.

"I've told you mine, isn't it only natural that you give me your name as well?" I ask politely trying to mask my anger. These are the people I hate the most, those who think they stand above others because they were born into a better family or something. They think they have the right to treat those lower or less fortunate like lesser beings.

"And what if I do not wish to give it?"

"Then I'd have to ask why."

"Then ask away." he says slightly annoyed. I'm the one who's getting annoyed here.

"Why do you not wish to give me your name?" I ask.

"Because the way you greeted me was lacking." once again he waves his hands in front of him. "It was good, for a commoner, but as my cousin, even if you are the child of a cast out noble, you have some of that peasant blood in you. For that you earn the right to speak as a worker of this house but you are not worthy of being told my name with that greeting."

"Hoh? Then may I ask you another question?"

"Go ahead, I have some time before I must meet grandfather." he says.

"You are a knight, correct?"

"Yes." he gestures with his hands at his clothing. "As you can see, I bear the full attire of a true knight of the empire."

"Another question. What do you think I am, I mean, what do you think I do."

He once again studies my clothing. "You're a magician" he says slightly impressed. "I assume you're better than your sister. She couldn't even reach the feet of the other magicians." he says. That gets my blood boiling. Unlike the others, she's probably never even had anyone to teach her magic.

My sister, I'd always be the first to make fun of her but now that someone else is doing it, I can't help but want to shout at them.

"Then, as a knight, your skills with the sword should be superior to people like us," I point at Axel and myself. "right?"

"Yes." he responds. "You are a little slow on the uptake aren't you? I've seen a few of the scars on your sister but were you hurt badly during the accident too? Maybe a head injury perhaps?" he says.

So he did know about the accident. Then, he gets no pass from me.

"No." I say shaking my head. "You're the one who's slow." his face starts distorting with anger.

"What did you say?" he says loudly.

"I'm saying, that you cannot defeat me in a battle between swords." I provoke him.

"Oh? You? You think that a magician can beat me in a sword duel? ME! a knight!" he chuckles. "Hahaha. I suppose I was mistaken, just like your sister you are arrogant and dimwitted." he pulls out his sword. "I challenge you to a duel. I'll show you just how much of a mistake you've made."

I smile, "You took the words right out of my mouth." I take Hector's sword out with his permission. "Shall we get started?"