I was sitting at Vikir’s dinner table eating with him and his sister, we were chatting about the happenings in our lives as usual.

  “You know Yuri, you’ve really changed from the scrawny kid that I first met outside the front gates, you’re almost unrecognizable.” Vikir commented.

  He wasn’t wrong, my hair was now a wolfcut that hanged just above my shoulders, which had become broader and more refined just like the rest of my body, which was now built with muscles that were perfect for using a bow. My hands were also rougher from the calluses and scars from using the bow, I still had my scar on my left leg from the giant rat, but it was now white, no longer a flesh pink. And my left eye was still dead, but I was thriving.

  “Well, with consistency anything is possible.” I replied to Vikir’s comment.

  “Bullshit, you don’t change that much in a few months with consistency, I know it’s cuz of the trade you made with your eye.” Vikir teased.

  “Ahem, well whatever it is, we’re happy you’re doing well, how has it been adventuring with Tace?” Val interjected.

  “Oh it’s been going great, we’ve started blowing through the C rank quest together, honestly without Tace I probably wouldn’t already be C rank and we even explored an F rank dungeon, although only good loot was a shield that we split the profits.”

  “That’s good to hear, Tace is probably the most reliable person you can find in the Adventurers guild.”

  “Yeah they're great, although it sucks when they go on quest with their adventure party, I really feel nerfed without Tace there.”

  “Nerfed?” Vikir and Val asked in unison.

  “Oh, it’s turnip farmer slang.” I hurriedly replied.

  Vikir just rolled his eyes at this response and Val looked confused but didn’t push the matter, the night continued with chatter til it was me and Vikir at the table having a drink while Val was cleaning up.

  “Have you heard about what’s happening tomorrow?” Vikir asked me.

  “What’s happening?”

  “The king is making a decree tomorrow involving the 2nd Demon War, and I have suspicion it might have to do with picking the next hero.”

  “The next hero, what happened to the first one?”

  “He died slaying the demon king during the first demon war and put an end to the first Demon War.”

  “Wait, so why do you think they are picking a new hero now?”

  “I believe the king and his advisors want to put an end to the 2nd Demon War, and since a hero that was praised as the one favored by the gods put an end to the 1st Demon War, their hoping naming a new champion will be what humanity needs to kill the current Demon King and end this War, but that’s all speculation and a little insider info.”

  “Insider info? Who gave you insider info?”

  Vikir leaned over to me and little tipsy from the alcohol and whispered “I know the princess.”

  I looked at him quizzically, “you know the princess?”

  “Yep.” He replied smugly.

  I was enjoying this sight of a more loose and goofy Vikir, but his statement still threw me for a loop, making me want to pry to see if he’s being truthful or is it just drunken rambles.

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  “So how did you happen to become friends with the princess?” I asked.

  “I was chosen to be her sparring partner when she wanted to learn swordsmanship.”

  “Wait, the princess went to the knight academy?”

  “Hell no, her father would never let her, but she put her foot down and made him hire a teacher for her. She also wanted to get practice versus someone her age and I was at the top of my class, so I would secretly duel with the princess, it was a fun and competitive time.” He looked into his glass of alcohol with longing.

  “Did she kick your ass?” I asked jokingly.

  Vikir laughed. “If it was a duel of straight swordsmanship, I would never lose, but if she was allowed to use magic, it was a toss up.”

  “So you know a princess who know how to use swords and magic, that’s pretty cool.”

  “Yeah, she brings light to any room she enters.” He said with a tender smile on his face.

  “Ooh, do you like the princess?” I teased.

  My question made Vikir choke on his drink and have a coughing fit.

  “Why do you think that?” Vikir asked me between coughs.

  “Don’t know, you just seem pretty happy talking about her, she’s also your special informant and childhood friend, so?”

  Vikir sighed. “Can you keep a secret?”

  “I swear on my good eye.”

  “We do love each other, but due to our difference in social status, the king would never allow it.”

  “Wait, but you’re a knight that finished top of your class, that should mean something, right?”

  “Sadly, only true merits are shown on the battlefield, and on the battlefield I lost an eye and gained no recognition.”

  “So, what, you and the princess will just have unrequited love? That sucks.”

  “Well, usually she as a princess would marry someone from a neighboring kingdom, but due to already close ties from the Demon Wars that’s not necessary, and since the king refuses to relinquish the throne and make her queen, she has not been pressured by him or his retainers to marry for an heir yet.”

  “So what you’re saying is you still have a chance if she becomes queen?”

  Vikir sighed again. “In a way yes, but the push back from the king or his retainers wouldn’t make it easy, but I know her and she won’t back down easy, and I won’t give up on her either.”

  “Aww, that’s sweet, but I thought kings usually had a ton of heirs, is she his only child.”

  Vikir nonchalantly replied, “Nope, she’s an only child, I think he’s impotent.”

  Vikir’s response made me spit out my drink and had a coughing and laughing fit at the same time.

  “Holy shit, you need a warn a guy before dropping something like that on him, you must be really drunk huh?”

  “Ah I’m fine, and enough about my love life, what about you?”

  At this question I heard a slight commotion from the kitchen that I decided to ignore.

  “What about my love life?”

  “Well, do you have any woman you fancy?”

  “I don’t think so, I’m not focused on that right now.”

  “Gay?”

  “No, what?”

  “What about Tace?”

  “What about Tace?” I asked in confusion.

  “Well how do you feel about them?”

  “I literally don’t know what they look like, let alone their gender, I'd say we’re good buds, not much romance there.”

  “So there’s no one that’s caught your eye.”

  “Well, I have plans for my future partner, but I don’t think that future partner is here.”

  - – - - - - - - - - - - -

  Snoring

  I looked over for Vikir’s reply and he was slumped over himself snoring.

  “I guess my answer was boring to him.”

  I grabbed Vikir and laid him down on his bed. After laying Vikir down, I headed to the kitchen to speak with Val.

  “Hey, Vikir is in his bed, thanks for the meal, I’m gonna head back to the inn.”

  “Oh, it’s already late and you’re tipsy, you can just sleep on the couch.” Val told me.

  “Really? I don’t mind the night stroll.”

  “No, I insist.”

  “Thanks Val, I appreciate both of you.”

  I laid down on the couch and listened to the rhythm of Val cleaning the kitchen.

  Once she was done, she said goodnight to me, but I had something that I really wanted to know, and the alcohol in my system got me to ask.

  “Hey Val.”

  “Yes Yuri?”

  “Do you know why Vikir has always been so kind to me?”

  “Well, if I had to think of something, you remind him of a friend he once had, the way he would talk about you both is very similar, hard headed, impulsive, weird.”

  “Does he say anything nice about us?” I asked with concern.

  Val giggled at my response and continued.

  “But you both are ambitious and made life so much more interesting to live, the more he got to know you, he realized you’re also a great friend.”

  “Aww, that’s actually really nice to hear, whatever happened to Vikir’s friend if you don’t mind me asking?”

  “Just like you he had big ambitions as an adventurer, but overconfidence is a sad killer.”

  “Oh.” I said, thinking of nothing else to say.”

  “Be careful out there Yuri.”

  “I will, thanks Val.”

  “Goodnight.”

  “Goodnight.”