4 years after...

"Father, wake up! Or else Aunt Esta won't give you your breakfast." said a child-like voice as she walked towards the side of a bed where a young man lies, sleeping. Despite her trying to wake him up, it seems like he is still roaming in his dreamland. The little girl then decided to start poking the sides of the young man. She knows this will tickle the young man sleeping. This caused the young man's eyelids to twitch.

"Father, stop sleeping. If you don't wake up I'll call Aunt Esta." the little girl said, pouting her lips. She looked around the age of four. Her long green hair reached her waist as she wore a white dress. Her big, emerald eyes looked adorable. The most notable feature she has, however is her light green skin.

" ~groans~ G-good morning princess." the young man finally decided to wake up.

"I know you're awake father, you always like to tease me."

The young man smiled and pinched the little girl’s cheeks, causing it to redden a little bit. The little girl pouted and glared at him. He shook his head and chuckled as he stepped out from his bed and carried the little girl and placed her down.

"Go to your aunt, I'm just going to fix my bed, ok?"

"No sleeping?"

" ~laughs~ No sleeping."

The little girl smiled and exited the room as the young man proceeded to fix his bed. After that, he walked towards the mirror that is attached to a large cabinet on the other side of the room. Standing in front of the mirror is the reflection of the young man around the age of 20s. He has dark brown hair that is shoulder length long. His eyes is pale blue, the color of the ice glaciers, however his gaze is warm. He has thick rounded eyebrows, making him seem warner. His lips were pink and thin. His skin is light brown with a few scars found on his body. A diagonal scar on the left cheek, a few scars on his arms, and a scar on his neck that looks like a cross. His shoulders are broad, with a small waist. He is tall, around 1.93 meters (6'4 ft) with a lean body build. He wore a white tunic made from silk, reaching a few inches above his knees. It was paired with a slightly lose dark brown pants made of silk, slightly hanging in folds.

He pulled a comb from one of the drawers and started combing his hair. He went and get a small piece of cloth and used it to tie his hair. After making sure his appearance is alright, he went and grab his leather sandals made from beast skin and wore it in his feet. Then he proceeded to walk down the stairs.

"Finally decided to wake up?" a young woman who slightly resembles the young man said. The only difference is that the woman has thick arched eyebrows, and red plump lips. She wore a brown dress, while her dark brown hair is tied into a ponytail.

"You don't have to be mad Esta, it's not like I woke up late." the young man said.

"C'mon brother, even Aurae, that little girl, woke up earlier than you. Anyway, you really need to go to the market. We are running low on supplies." Esta said to his brother.

"Sure, I'll go buy supplies now. Take care of Aurae for me." the young man said.

"You don't have to worry."

The young man then proceeded to walk out of the two-story building. It was owned by him and his sister. The second floor is where they lived as the first floor is where the tavern is located. The weather is slightly chill and the sun has just risen while the skies are clear. It’s the perfect time for a walk. As he was walking, he heard someone call out to him.

"Father!" said the little girl.

"What is it Aurae? Do you want me to buy you something?" the young man said while smiling.

"No, I just forgot to give you a good morning kiss hehe~" Aurae said as she tug the end of his clothes. This caused the young man to smile. He picked up the girl and this caused her to giggle.

~kiss~

"Please buy me candied apples father." Aurae said after kissing her father.

"I knew you would ask me to buy something. I will buy you candied apples as long as you behave, promise?" the young man said as he presented his pinky to Aurae.

"Promise." Aurae said as she interlocked her pinky with her father's. The young man gently placed her in the ground and patted her head. As he was walking away, the young girl waved goodbye at him.

The tavern they owned is located at the northeast of the city, while the market is located at the center of the city. It was a ten minute walk from the tavern to the town center. It would have been much faster if he were to ride a horse but the young man preferred walking as a form of exercise.

Greisa is a large city located at the south of the continent of Beirilia, the continent of humans. It is near the boundary between Beirilia and Uerilia, continent of the druids and dryads.[1] The city is also famous for being a mountainous region with large forests. It is believed that the reason for the large forest around the city was the continent of druids and dryads being near. As the race is also known to be protectors of nature.

And because of its mountainous regions, not only is the flora and fauna of the city diverse, there is also a rich amount of minerals and ores. It is said to be the largest supplier of ores and gemstones of the human continent. Thus, making it the second richest city on the continent, second only to the Royal City where the large number of nobles and the royal family of the human continent resides.

~10 minutes after~

After walking for ten minutes, the young man finally arrived at the market. As usual it was bustling with activity. There are a lot of traders and merchants with their carriage pulled by horses or beasts running along the roads made from sand, gravel, and stones.

There are shops at the sides of the roads, selling different stuffs as well as sellers who laid cloths where their products are placed at. Some have carts that are parked at the side, mostly selling food most of the time. These carts are usually pulled by humans while some can be pulled by horses or beasts.[2] At the center of the busy market is a large building, it was the biggest auction house in the city. Southwest of it is the city hall while north of it is the building for the Warrior Association.

The young man decided to go to one of the carts selling candied fruits. I should probably buy candied apples before I forget. He thought as he approached the cart.

"How much for 2 candied apples?" he asked the middle-aged woman selling the candied fruits.

"That would be 6 coppers, 3 coppers per piece." the middle-woman said. He reached out from his pocket and whipped out a rectangular card. It was black in color with a bag of coins as a logo at the back. Channeling some elemental energy into it caused two coins to appear. The smaller is 1 copper coin while the bigger one was a 5 copper coin. A total of 6 coppers, was paid to the middle-aged woman. The woman then packed the candied apple. Coins are divided into different sizes and shape, the smallest coin amounts to 1, the bigger one amounts to 5, the one with jagged edges amounts to 10, and the one with a hole in the middle and the thickest coin amounts to 50.

The black card is called a money card. A very proficient Space Mage Grandmaster invented the cards. Each owner can use their own energy to retrieve the money. The card is connected to the banks and the elemental energy triggers a minor teleportation array inside the card to teleport items, usually small ones such as coins. It was also soul bound that is why it can only be used by the owner. It was a form of security, as well as helping the owner retrieve the right amount of money. If it was not soul-bound, random coins will be retrieved. 1 coin is smaller while the other is bigger.

The young man then decided to get a small pouch from his packet, it was a space bag. The space inside the bag is bigger than how it looks. Unlike the money card, it has a space inside to keep items. It cannot, however, contain anything alive. If the black card was like a minor teleportation array for coins, the space bag is made from the leather of space element magical beast. It is also a soul bound item. Once done, the young man decided to go near the shop that sells food ingredients such as meat and vegetables. However, before he could enter the shop someone called out to him.

“T-tobias? Is that really you?!" A man in around 1.78 m (5’10 ft.) in height, wearing a silver colored armor called out to the young man.

“Flint?! What are you doing here?” Tobias said as he approached Flint.

“I really can’t believe I would bump into you here. It seems like you are going to buy something. I could wait for you so we could talk.” Flint said as he smiled, still not believing he see an old friend here.

Tobias went and bought ingredients from the shop. Once done, he went and found Flint waiting for him at one of the food shops. He’s still the same. He still loves eating. He thought as a grin formed from his lips. He called out to him. Once he was done eating, he went back.

“If you’re not busy, we could go to our tavern and catch up.” Tobias said.

“Sure, it’s not as if my mission needs to be accomplished now. You know me, I usually arrives 1 week earlier than the allotted time to indulge in food. I think I need to try your tavern’s food.”

“Sure, you are not going to be disappointed.”

The pair then proceeded to walk towards the tavern. They did not talk along the journey. After ten minutes, they arrived at the tavern. At the front door of the inn was a young dryad sitting down. She seems to be waiting for someone, occasionally looking at the passersby. She looked around and saw the figure of her father with another man.

“Father, you’re back!” Aurae said as she ran and hugged Tobias.

“S-so it’s true. You really did adopt a young dryad.” Flint said in both shock and disbelief as his gaze was alternating between the young man and the little girl.

“Yeah.” Tobias said as he lowered himself to pick up Aurae. After that, he retrieved his space bag and took out two candied apples and gave it to her.

“Let’s go inside, I know you have a lot of questions.”

…

Sitting in one of the tables inside the tavern, was the pair of Flint and Tobias. Aurae was taken by her Aunt Esta to give the old friends space to talk.

“Feel free to ask questions and I’ll try to answer them.” Tobias said calmly at his friend.

“Why did you left? I just can’t understand why. I know that battle crippled you and now you’re just a low tier, intermediate ranked knight, but you could’ve gone and become an instructor at the academy.”

“I don’t think that would be plausible.”

“How? You’re the knight who fought the Demon King and survived. You’re also considered the youngest human to reach the Grandmaster rank. Why are you not qualified to teach?”

“It would’ve been easier if I was an old man but I am not. What use are these achievements when I already lost the capability? And even if I did that, it would be harder for me to find an academy who would take me.” Tobias said bitterly as he shook his head.

“Isn’t the hero who slayed the Demon King enough to see that you are qualified? Or is it that you’re pride is getting in the way? That you don’t want to stay as an instructor? But you’re not a prideful person. I remembered how you saved more than half of you allowance from the university for your sister. You even went as far as looking at leftovers from the canteen. So I can’t understand at all.” He said as he looked his friend in the eye, despite the fact that the person in front of him resemble the one in his memory, the scars reminded him of how long the time has passed.

“I…I have my reasons. Besides, this tavern is the one my parents left us. I used the money to start over and renovating this place.” Tobias replied calmly. He knows that with his achievements alone he could live comfortably in the Royal City. However, it also poses a risk for his daughter and so he decided to go as far away as he can from that place.

“I won’t push you into telling me why. I know you have your reasons.” Flint said as he put his hands behind his head and leaned at his wooden chair.

“It’s been four years since I visited the Royal City, so are there any interesting news.”

“News huh, well remember that noble who used to claim himself as your rival? Was his name Alex? Axel? I forgot.”

“You mean, Arlex? Arlerx Crain? What about him?”

“Well he was making a commotion about how he’s going to defeat you and becoming the youngest saint in history. The most infuriating thing was he said that if he was the one who battled the Demon King there wouldn’t have been any casualties. That idiot really has a punchable face.” Flint said as he straightened his back and cracked his knuckle.

“Heh, he hasn’t even tried going into a real battle. All his experience came from tamed beasts and instructors being lenient with him. You shouldn’t give him any attention. Once he enters the battlefield reality will hit him.” Tobias said as he smiled slightly.

“Oh there’s another news, recently a new saint emerged. Remember that mage who made the money cards? He’s a saint mage now. The other saints actually tried to rope him in but he refused. He even attacked them, and the most amazing thing was the other saints couldn’t do anything. Whenever they tried, the space bends to his will. He left saying “I won’t parcticipate in your silly circus acts.” Then he teleported. Really, he should’ve just helped us if he was already saint. If we had extra saint then we wouldn’t have suffered so much.” He said as he clenched his fist, feeling a little pissed off. Tobias went silent for a few seconds before answering.

“Don’t be angry at his choice. Nobody should be forced to send themselves to their deaths if they don’t want to. If he wants to be a hermit saint he’s allowed to. There’s probably more hermit saints we don’t know. He probably wouldn’t even emerge if there was not something he needs.” His answer caused Flint to start thinking.

“But still, don’t they want to help save others? Isn’t that a bit…selfish?”

“Isn’t it selfish of us to ask them to protect us, even at the cost of their lives?”

Flint was taken aback by his friend’s question. It was a little hard for him to hear those words coming from his friend who he remembers as someone heroic, however there was truth in his words.

“These four years really changed you a lot. You’re right, that hermit saint was actually not going to emerge if not for the news of an item auctioned at that time. Once he got the item, he teleported away. Even though Mage Saint Masu owns the auction house he still could not contain that mage saint. Besides, the auctioned doesn’t even own the item auctioned so they could not prevent him from buying the item.”

“By the way Flint, why are you here in Greisa?”

“There was something I have to investigate from one of the mountains here. I believe it was nest of Thunder Fire Hawks. You know how troublesome those are once they started growing in population, if they started attacking people it would be a bigger problem. So, I have to hunt some to decrease their population. If I can find an egg it would be better.”

“Well if you still don’t have a place to stay, you can stay here. We have an extra room upstairs.”

“That would save me some money. Sure I’ll stay here.”

The pair stopped chatting as the tavern is about to open at that time.

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Ash's Notes:

[1] I decided to use druids and dryads but they are of one race. Druids are males while dryads are females.

[2] I can't find an exact pic but you can use this as a form of reference of how it would look like (sort of), just more mideval-ish.