玉蒲团之云雨山庄

"I see... Say nothing more and drink your tea. Bad things of the past will only bring misfortune if we continue to cling to them. So let\'s just live in the present," Lyan pushed the cup of hot tea to her front. His tone is indifferent, but the little halfling could see his eyes filled with sympathy for her. Noticing that made a smile to be formed on her face.

"Yes. Thank you, master," The little half-halfling uttered with a smile as she took another sip of the tea before her. The hotness and became bearable as it has cooled enough after she told her story to Lyan.

"Don\'t call me master," (Lyan)

"Eh? Then what should I call you... Boss? My lord? My liege?" The girl innocently tilted her head to the side.

"...Master is fine, I guess..." (Lyan)

As Lyan conceded to be called master, thinking that Arturia and the others had already started calling him that as well, he noticed the little girl\'s eyes are focused on his shoulder. Or to be more exact, she\'s looking at the creature resting on top of his shoulder.

"Mr. Ant! Thank you for helping me together with your friends yesterday! It was a very great help!"

It\'s a rather cute sight to see such a cute little girl bowing to a big ant. But as if it understood the girl\'s words of gratitude, the acid ant on top of Lyan\'s shoulder made a nodding gesture with its head as if saying \'You\'re welcome\'.

Looking at that gesture made a big smile to bloom on the girl\'s face.

At the night before, even though Lyan said that he won\'t lend his strength when the spirits asked him, he meant it physically. He won\'t be helping her directly with his own body, but he sent the rest of the acid ants to back up her in case of something bad might happen.

When the little half-halfling killed her former master, her former master made quite a commotion that made the people outside the building curious about what happened. And since her former master also has his friends amongst the denizens of the kingdom\'s underworld, it\'s not strange for them to be worried because of his nasty groan that resounded from inside the building.

The girl has a magnificent speed and agility, and she has the talent to be an assassin and a scout. But at that time, her ability has not yet flourished, and there is a limit to what a child could do especially against lots of people at the same time.

At first, the girl managed to slip through them as she fled from the window, but she was not the only thief at the place. There are also lots of experienced thieves there, and noticing how her former master is dead, the whole community is dispatched to search for her to prevent her from running away.

She got chased, and she struggles her way to break through the people that hindered her path. There is a considerable growth from that experience, but her stamina is not unlimited. At the time where she got surrounded by a small alley, the acid ants appeared.

The strength of the acids spewed by the acid ants is not to be underestimated. They are lethal, and if they hit you in the wrong spot, it could be an instant kill.

Then with the help of the acid ants, the little halfling girl fled from the place and managed to leave the criminal den safely.

"I remember when you surround me with the acid ants inside this room, so I immediately know that you were my savior. That\'s why I come here!" The girl said energetically.

(So you came to trouble your savior even more, huh? By the way, she told me her name in her story before, didn\'t she?) (Lyan)

"Ley-" Lyan was about to call the little half-halfling\'s real name, but he stopped.

It\'s the name given by her mother with the message for her bastard father.

\'Liar\'.

It\'s her proof of contempt and is definitely not a name that brings a good memory for her. She did not introduce herself by her name even once, so it seems that she does not like that name. But that is understandable since that name of hers could make her remember her sad origin whenever she got called.

So after thinking it through, Lyan once again looks at the small dark purple-haired half-human half-halfling that is innocently sipping at the cup of tea carelessly in front of him.

"Tesha," (Lyan)

"Eh?" The little girl uttered in question.

"Tesha. That will be your name from now on. It means the survivor. A suitable name for you who overcome your fate and stubbornly clings to life, don\'t you think?" (Lyan)

At that moment, a single drop of tear fell to the table.

"Eh?" The little girl exclaimed in question as she does not know why tears left her eyes. No, in truth, she already knows, but her immature mind doesn\'t let her to think and process it clearly as powerful emotions are rendering her brain useless.

"Hm... Do you not like that name?" Lyan tilted his head as he asked the girl.

"I-I like it!!" The girl- Tesha replied enthusiastically as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"That\'s good. Then Tesha, finish your tea and wipe your body clean. We\'re going out shortly," (Lyan)

"Where will be going, master?" (Tesha)

"We\'re going to the place full of snow. The far north," (Lyan)

****************************************************

Inside the royal castle of the Astellia Kingdom, a man is kneeling in front of the crown prince. He is someone that he\'s not familiar with, but according to Julius and his men, he\'s someone with not just a great battle skills, but also an outstanding commander.

"State your name," The crown prince commanded the man as his observant eyes peered into the man, sending shivers all over his body. But even so, the man remained indifferent on the outside.

"My name is Arnold, your highness crown prince. It\'s a great honor to be able to meet you," The man replied with the courtesy he had learned beforehand.

"He\'s a mercenary of a great caliber, your highness. His battle prowess could be considered as a Mythril-ranked mercenary, and he has a great talent as a commander that would benefit you greatly in leading an army, your highness. And more importantly, he\'s someone recommended by \'him\'," Julius explained from beside Erich.

"I see... A recommendation from him, huh... I guess it means that he\'s showing a positive stance towards my offer," The crown prince uttered in satisfaction as the image of Lyan appeared in his mind. The image of when he summoned the great spirits in the battle with the goblin king still remains deeply engraved inside his head.

"I\'ve heard that you found a great opponent at one of the towns you visited, and was struggling in the fight. And that opponent of yours is a woman. Is that true?" Erich asked the man before him as he read the document in his hands.

"Yes, your highness. That is right. She\'s as sharp and powerful like as lightning. She is a very strong person," said the man as he remembered the fight he has with the woman mentioned by the crown prince.

It still brings him chills whenever he remembered about the eyes of the woman that seems to belong to the eyes of a predator seeking for a prey.

"According to Julius, your strength is worthy to enter the royal knights, and you might be even stronger than half of them. To have such an individual that you highly look upon, now I\'m also interested in that strong woman you mentioned," the prince made a small smile.

The man, Arnold, thought that the crown prince would belittle him for having difficulties while fighting with a woman, but contrary to his expectation, he\'s getting interested in that woman instead.

But as that woman got mentioned, Arnold remembered the scene where a single man stopped the fight between them.

"At that time, I heard that you got stopped by a single man in the middle of your fight. He was wearing a cloak, and had a great amount of mana that could be noticed at a single glance. Was that true?" Asked Erich.

"Yes, you\'re right," Arnold replied in an instant.

"I see... It seems that he evaluates you high enough to the point that he pulled the strings to have you recommended here. Arnold, I\'ve heard the things that I wanted. Ready yourself, I want to see your real skills firsthand," (Erich)

___________________________________________________________________________

Name: Lyan Arkanium Evocatore

Occupation: Mythril-ranked Mercenary

Money: 3,797,710,950 Elnes / 3797 gold 71 big silver 9 big coppers 5 coppers

Weapon: Magic Glaive, 1 (Decent) One-handed Sword, 2 (Good-Quality) One-handed swords, 1 (Decent) bow

Equipment: Black leather cloak, Leather Armor, Breastplate, 2 Health Potions, 2 Poison Vials

Grimoire\'s Companions: 8 High Spirits, 3 Valkyrie, Shadow Goblin Lord (Lv. 5), Papilio Slime (Lv. 45), Galewing Butterfly (Lv. 45), Rock Golem (Lv. 50), Deadlight (Lv. 63), Moonlight Butterfly (Lv. 45), Ice Golem (Lv. 50), Acid Ant Queen (Lv. 9), Magma Bear (Lv. 1), Fey Mammoth (Lv. 1), Arcane Retriever (Lv. 1)

Grimoire\'s Army: 6 Shadow Servants, 800 Skeleton Army