After exiting the store, Kei goes back home.

  'I almost lost my cool back there... that could have ended up really bad...

  I shouldn't commit such mistakes. I need to train my emotions. What did she use to say? "Fake it till you make it." I think it was something like that...'

  Kei watches the sky and confirms that it is a little past midday.

  'That was faster than expected. I thought it would take maybe until the afternoon to finish everything.

  Well, more time to work on the next step, I guess...

  Oh, right! I gotta teach Leroy a bit of magic. That will be fun, haha. I need to remember what Lucius and Morgan said about it.'

  The face of a man in a blue garb surrounded by books and a woman in witches clothes comes to mind.

  'Fake it till you make it... then I gotta fake being a mage till I make it seem I know how to use magic. Haha.

  I can use this time to remember some of the lessons they gave me...'

  A melancholic smile appears on his face as the mangled corpses of both appear in his mind.

  'I will not let that happen. That I swear.'

  The man determined goes back home.

  _________

  After arriving and helping his mother in the bakery, the kid takes a little break after a while.

  'Looks like that will be the most people of the day. And it appears it is almost afternoon. Still a while until the night, but I should prepare a few things to make the lesson easier.'

  The kid takes a few papers from a desk nearby and starts drawing a few magic circles and simple lessons

  'I never had the material to be a teacher, but I will have to learn on the way. This is kinda exciting, honestly...

  If I think about it... I don't really have to do this. I just have to make my way to the academy and continue from there. But leaving everything just like before when I could change it for the better feels... bad... guilty...

  I guess I am starting to understand what he goes through when using his blessing...'

  A depressing look graces the man's face for a while.

  __________

  After the sun falls, mother and son close the bakery.

  "Mom, tonight a friend will come for a little. We will just be down here at one of the tables." The child says to his mother while cleaning the tables.

  "Oh, you should have told me earlier! I would have made something for both of you!" The mother replies, acting annoyed.

  "Sorry. I forgot, and also, it's not a big deal he will just be here a little while and go back home." The child replies a little ashamed.

  "That isn't the point, sweetie. You gotta show them hospitality. You gotta give an example!" The mother replies passionate.

  "It really is not a big deal, mom... I will just grab a little bread that was left from today's patch." The child tries to mitigate his mistake.

  The mother exhales."Try for this to not happen again, sweetie. It's not usual for you to invite people over, so I will forgive you this time, but let this incident not repeat, okay?"

  "Yes, mother. It will not repeat." The child salutes like a soldier while responding.

  They both stare at each other and then start laughing.

  "Hahaha... well... who will be coming?" The mother asks after laughing.

  "Oh... it will just be Leroy. He needed help with something and asked me." The child responds a little nervous.

  "Leroy heh... I thought you didn't like him very much... did something happen, sweetie?" The mother tries to press for an answer.

  "Well... we just talked. When I went to the shop this morning, we met and talked for a bit. And thanks to that, we clarified a lot of stuff. So he asked me for a little help because he was struggling while learning something." The child says part of the truth.

  "Really? Wow, that's a step in the right direction! Remember that the most powerful weapon a person has is forgiveness. The fact that you forgave him after all that happened showed him who is the better man. So be proud, sweetie." The mother says while hugging her son.

  Stolen story; please report.

  "... Thanks, mom... I will always remember it, don't worry..." The child reciprocates the hug.

  After a while, hugging both of them separate and finish cleaning.

  "So when is he coming?"

  "It should be in a bit. We said to meet at night."

  Suddenly, a know is heard at the entrance door.

  "Speak of the devil, and he shall appear..." The child whispers under his breath.

  "Guess that's him, sweetie. Why don't you open him while I prepare some snacks for both of you?"

  "That would be great. Thanks, mom."

  The mother leaves to the kitchen to prepare a few snacks while the child goes to the entrance.

  After opening the door, he comes face to face with a downcast Leroy.

  "...Guess something happened, huh... come inside and we will talk but please smile a little bit, my mom will bring snacks. After that you can tell me, okay?" Kei said to him in an uninterested way.

  Leroy just nods and follows the request.

  They both sit at one of the desk of the bakery and wait. Meanwhile, Kei observes Leroy trying to guess what happened.

  'He was fine this morning. Yeah, he got scolded by Reiyo, but he appeared to bounce back quickly last time that happened. So it had to be something in between me leaving and him coming here. Let's see...

  After me leaving, he probably also left. His situation with Reiyo was tense, so he didn't stay, then he probably hung around and later went to the library...wait...'

  Kei checks Leroy and notices he didn't bring any books or papers.

  'So it was in the path to the library... if he went around the afternoon, then I can guess what happened...'

  The mother comes from the kitchen with some snacks.

  "Hello Leroy! Heard from this little one over here, you came to request his help, didn't you?" The mother appeared exited at the prospect of her son meeting with a friend.

  "... Yes, Miss. I came to ask for help from your son. Sorry if I am an intrusion..." Leroy keeps up a fake smile.(Too obvious)

  The mother appears to notice the smile but doesn't comment on it.

  "You are no intrusion, honey... you can come anytime you want, ok? You are always welcome here." The mother uses a sweet voice to console him.

  "... thank you very much." Leroy barely holds off a tear.

  "I will leave this here and go to my room, ok? Take all the time you both need." The mother quickly excuses herself and leaves.

  "..."

  "..."

  Both stay silent for a while, waiting for the other to begin.

  "I will ask upfront. You saw your girlfriend, didn't you?" Kei takes the initiative.

  "...yes...how did you know..." Leroy now fully became depressed.

  "The house to that fat bastard is near the library, so you could have encountered her in the way... you saw her enter the house, didn't you?"

  "...fuck dude... I really really didn't want to believe it..." Leroy's voice starts to crack. "When... you told me about it... I really hoped it wasn't true... that you were lying up your ass just like the rest... FUCK DUDE..." Leroy starts to let the tears go. "I always believed she was honest you know... that those rumors where fucking bullshit... I was such a fucking idiot..."

  "...You aren't" Kei says.

  "YEAH I AM YOU FUCK. LOOK AT ME. A FUCKING LOSER WHO STARTED GOING OUT WITH A FUCKING WHORE. AN IDIOT WHO COULDN'T SEE THE OBVIOUS." He started screaming and punching the table they were in.

  "Is that the truth? Ask yourself that." Kei keeps a straight face.

  "The fuck you mean... you said it yourself and everyone on this fucking district..." His anger momentarily stops.

  "Why do you believe it? You didn't believe me when I answered you this morning about me having a Pact until you saw undeniable proof. So why believe this at face value?" Kei kept up a calm attitude

  "...you know something do you?... you are starting to always do..." Leroy started to calm down. His tears stopping.

  "I could say yes but would you believe me? You said you didn't trust me."

  "...I will judge that by myself..."

  "Ok then. She isn't doing this of her own volition. She has to." Kei responds looking directly at Leroy's eyes. "She needs money to help her father, I am sure you heard about him didn't you? Well... someone put her up with this. The fat bastard over there took a liking to her so he pays her well. Enough to keep her father alive through temporary solutions never anything permanent." Kei finishes as if he said nothing of importance.

  "...what... why didn't she tell me... I could have help... my dad could have help..."

  'It's too early to say the complete truth... I need a bit more of time with him.'

  "I don't know that yet but I can investigate. For now all we can do is wait."

  "What why! You said temporary solutions right!? So there's a permanent one! Can you make it?..." Leroy ask hopeful for a solution.

  'You truly love her don't you...' kei thinks to himself how Leroy values his girlfriend so much. 'I can get a lot out of this. If I play my cards right this will be a golden opportunity.'

  "Yes there is but we currently can't make it. The materials needed are rare and valuable. I would need quite the resources to get them. So for now we have to wait until we can get them." (Not a complete lie)

  "...fuck...fuck...FUCK..." Leroy momentarily loses it."WHY IS EVERYTHING LIKE THIS TO ME! WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE IT!"

  'You know...I ask myself that question every day... But there's never an answer...' the depressing thought quickly goes away as Kei watches as Leroy calms himself down again.

  "...I know it's useless to ask but... how do you know..."

  "Sorry... can't say..."

  "...what did I expect? As if you would ever say anything..." Leroy gets annoyed at the constant deflect.

  "...you will have your vengance eventually that I already promised. But we can't now. Kill him we can easily do but the consequences would be disastrous. After all killing even a low ranking Nobel like him will bring trouble." Kei starts explaining

  "What we have to do is destroy his reputation. He is already despised by his family. The only thing we must do is show them proof of the illegal activities he does here and they will officially disown him. After he loses his title he will lose all protection. He is just a 3rd son in one of the corners of the kingdom after all."

  "And how we will do that?"

  "That you leave to me. After all is set and done you can do whatever you want with him. Just tell me first when that happens."

  "...you truly are weird..." Leroy comments to him again

  "I will consider it a compliment this time but for now we can leave this matter for later. You came here to learn not to plan the death of a random noble." Kei changes the subject.

  "I...didn't bring any books with me..." Leroy already calmed down, and wanting to move from the subject, answers truthfully.

  "I noticed but don't worry I made some basic lessons here and that will suffice for tonight but let tomorrow not be the same ok?"

  "Ok man...will do..." Leroy answers trying to distract himself from his situation.

  "Then... let the class begin!" Kei gives an applause.