Ega could still recognize that sharp, seemingly uncaring gaze from anywhere.

  “Aren’t you going to hand him over?” It wasn’t a question, but a command.

  “Tch.” Ega begrudgingly threw Helm over to Hela. “Keep your knights in check, will you? He threw a goddamned bottle at us, shattered glass all over our food.”

  Hela’s eyes sharpened at the fact that Helm had caused yet another incident. “My apologies for that, I’m still trying to wrangle him, just like with another knight fifteen years ago.”

  “Bet that bastard’s been doing good.”

  “I hope so… How about this, I’ll help make up for this incident. Visit me at the Knights’ fortress here in Ashier, I’ll prepare something for you there, and…” Hela took a hard look at Ega, trying to gauge him. “It’d be good to hear about how that knight has been doing.”

  With that, she turned away and left the tavern. Though some of the tension in the air began to lift as Hela left, people’s attention was now turned toward Ega. Just who was he? What kind of relationship did he have with a commander of knights?

  Uncomfortable with all the attention, he quickly returned to Ella. Dropping the payment of ten copper, he took her by the hand and left the tavern.

  “A-are you alright?” Ella asked as they stepped out onto the street.

  “What? Do I not look…” Ega touched his cheek, just now noticing that it was wet with his blood. “Ah, don’t worry about it. It’ll heal in no time.”

  Mixing a tiny fragment of the salamander soul into his own, the small cut quickly closed up with that familiar wet skin.

  “How did you…” There was a look of bewilderment on her face as she witnessed the wound on his face heal in an instant.

  “See? Don’t worry so much about me. Come on, let’s go.” Ega looked around, trying to find a flag flying high.

  “Go? Go where?” Ella was too far away to hear the conversation properly, but seeing how that woman and Ega were talking for a decent while, she knew they had some sort of connection.

  “Over there.” He pointed at a flag fluttering in the air with the symbol of a sword and shield woven into it, the symbol belonging to the Order of Knights. “It's about time I caught up with an old friend, and they’ll probably have some food to replace our ruined meal, doesn’t that sound great?”

  Ella wanted to tell him that she didn’t care too much about the food, but couldn’t find the words. Instead, she quietly followed him as he led them toward the fortress to the Order of Knights.

  It took them quite a while to reach the fortress due to their unfamiliarity with the streets and alleys. There were so many dead ends and dark alleys that Ega had considered just running across the roofs to get to the fort. Only problem was that doing so would attract too much unnecessary attention to themselves.

  Sighing, Ega worked himself through the winding streets with a little bit of help from Ella. They eventually arrived before a wide stone wall and gate. It mimicked the gate leading into the city, just scaled down to the size fit for a fortress. As Ega approached the two knights by the gate, he had expected a confrontation.

  However, the knights bowed down to him and began to open the gate.

  “You must be Ega, the commander has been waiting for you.” The more senior looking knight spoke. “I will be guiding you up to her office.”

  “Appreciated,” Ega said, confused at how Hela has delivered information of his arrival so quickly. Did she expect him to arrive here in advance?

  Once the gate rose, the senior knight led the way into the fort. The training grounds sat on the sides just beyond the gate. With most of the guards either being on patrol or break during this time of day, it was quite vacant save for a few areas.

  Wooden swords hung on racks more worn down than the swords themselves, straw dummies still stood well rooted in the ground, and even the ground itself seemed like it had hardly been danced upon. A disappointed look drew itself on Ega’s face, seeing how the years of work had gone to waste.

  Once the knight had led them into the main building, he took them up two floors and led them straight to Hela’s office. Knocking on the door, the senior knight made his presence known.

  “Commander Hela, Ega is here.”

  “Let him in and you may leave.” Her voice pierced through the door.

  Turning toward Ega, the knight bowed before returning back to the front gate. Taking a deep breath, Ega opened the door and stepped into Hela’s office.

  It was quite empty, with a desk and chair near the opposite wall and a bookshelf on the right being the only furniture in the room. There were a few documents on the desk and shelf, but not as many as Ega remembered. It must have been due to the temporary stationing at Ashier that she wasn’t able to bring everything.

  “It’s good to see you again Ega.” She pulled her eyes away from the papers on her desk. “You haven’t even sent me a single letter in the nearly five years that you’ve been gone.”

  “I’ve been quite busy.”

  “I can tell. You’ve even gained a new title aside from ‘Hell Hound,’ though it isn’t much more pleasant.”

  Ega winced at the nickname that stuck to him as a knight. There was also another name that always followed him, and that was Hela, the only person who could control the “Hell Hound.” Because of this, some had even called him “Hela’s Hound.”

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  It was because of this control that he had been put under her command, but the reason that she could “control” him wasn’t the reason that any of the knights thought it was. He simply held enough respect for one commander in the Order to not be an annoyance to them, and that commander was Hela.

  Throughout all the complacency and laziness among the Order of Knights, she was the only one that seemed to care about improvement. Whether that be through their strategies, their swordsmanship, or their soul manipulation, she was the only one that wanted to push everyone to their limits.

  “Why don’t you come take a seat?”

  There were two chairs ready just for Ega and Ella. Walking forward, they sat down face to face with Hela.

  Despite it having only been a few years since he had last seen her, he noticed the new wrinkles on her face. Age was beginning to catch up to her, staining her hair an even more profound gray.

  “It seems you weren’t just busy taking care of criminals either.” Her eyes landed on Ella. “I guess you were busy with a woman as well when I wasn’t looking.”

  “E-excuse… ah, right.”

  “How old is she?”

  “Ella? She’s…” Ega suddenly paused, unsure of how old Ella actually was. “How old are you?”

  “Ten.” Her voice was much quieter than usual, probably because they were in Hela’s preseance.

  “Ten? Wait you’re…” He looked at Ella again and her tiny stature. Just how was she so small despite being that old?

  “You don’t even know your own daughter’s age?” Hela raised her eyebrows at his horrible parenting.

  “No I… It’s just…” Unsure of how to escape her scorn, he decided to just tell her the truth. “She’s not my actual daughter. I just let her tag along with me after I freed her from a criminal in Vitir. You think I had time to be with a woman with all the work you gave me?”

  Her eyes were filled with doubt as she looked back and forth between Ega and Ella. “He hasn’t done anything strange to you has he? Just tell me, I’ll be able to beat him up if he’s doing anything—”

  “N-no, no, I like—”

  “Who do you take me for?” He quickly interjected.

  “Well, even if it's not like that, don’t you think it's a bit dangerous to be bringing a child along with you? I know you’ve been going around for Mithril Blood, even I catch wind of a new story about the ‘Blood Hunter.’”

  More than just “catch wind,” it was more like Hela was looking into these stories instead.

  “We…” Ega looked over to Ella who returned a resolute nod, “We both understand that.”

  Seeing that this was something personal, she decided not to pry any further. Instead, she let out a long sigh, staring at Ega for a few seconds before continuing further.

  “You really are just following his… whatever. Will you tell me why you’re out hunting for Mithril Blood at least? It’s not like you’re an alchemist or scholar experimenting with blood, unless I’ve misjudged you for someone with only training in that head of yours.”

  “I… can’t tell you.” He looked off to the side.

  Hela gave him another strange look, but she respected his decision. “Of course, you were always like this. Keeping things to yourself because you never wanted to get anyone else involved.”

  She gave Ega another hard stare as she untangled all the thoughts and emotions from the nearly five years that he had been gone.

  “You know, I’ve missed you quite a bit.” Her expression had become softer, as if, instead of facing Ega as a knight under her command, she faced him as an old colleague. No, that wasn’t quite right, but she wasn’t sure what it was.

  “What are you saying now?”

  “It’s been quite hard without you. All the changes that we tried to make, I couldn’t just change the entire system all by myself. Once you went away, everything just crumbled back to the way it was. Quite sad really.”

  “Of course it is. Who else works themselves until their… What, seventy? Eighty?”

  “Seventy-seven.”

  “Yeah, I don’t think I know another person who had dedicated themselves to the Order for that long. I’m sorry that it's all gone to waste, especially with all the effort you put into me.” Ega couldn’t help but wear a pained expression as he remembered the past.

  “Don’t be sorry. I knew what I was getting into when I first started. In fact, I’m quite happy knowing that you didn’t turn into some bandit when you left. Good to know that all my efforts gave way to at least one good thing.”

  “What do you mean? I got up and left the Order without even a goodbye. You really think I’m all that ‘good?’”

  “I do.” Her answer was straightforward, and although Ega couldn’t see it, there was a hint of pride on her face.

  Ega was unsure of how to take that strange compliment, especially from someone who used to be his commander. Before he could process it however, a knock interrupted his thoughts.

  “Commander Hela, the meals are ready.”

  “I’ll be down in a bit.”

  “Understood.”

  Ega looked at Hela with a confused expression.

  “Didn’t I tell you that I’d have something prepared? It’s to make up for your ruined meal.”

  “I see.” He turned over to Ella. “Come on, let's go enjoy an uninterrupted meal.”

  “Oh, uh…” Ella turned towards Hela and bowed her head a little. “Thank you.”

  She couldn’t help but smile at the child’s cute expression.

  “Don’t thank her,” Ega stood up, “It was one of the knights that ruined our meal anyways. Must not be easy commanding someone out of your squadron.”

  He felt a bit of pity for Hela who was probably sent to Ashier and forced to work with knights she was probably unfamiliar with.

  “Helm?” She also stood up with Ega. “No, he’s under my direct command.”

  Suddenly, all the pity that he was feeling was thrown out the window.

  “Let me take you down to the cafeteria.” She began to lead the way with Ega and Ella just behind her.

  “That bastard is in your squadron? Just what do you see in him?”

  “He has a good heart, it's just… he has a drinking problem.”

  “I could tell. Hell, I could smell it off of him too before knocking him out.”

  The three of them quickly made it to the cafeteria. On one of the tables sat two plates of food.

  “Aren’t you eating?” Ega asked, noticing the lack of a third plate.

  “No, I’ve already eaten lunch. Go enjoy yourselves.” Despite not eating, Hela sat beside them. “What are you doing out here in Ashier anyways? I assume it has something to do with the disappearances.”

  “How’d you know?” He quickly slipped out a few words between stuffing the chicken and potatoes in his mouth.

  “Does it have some sort of connection with the Mithril Blood that you’re looking for?”

  “I don’t know, maybe?”

  “You… don’t know?” Was this how Ega had been hunting for blood all this time? Going by feeling? Hela couldn’t help but crack a small smile, seeing that his methods were still the same. “Do you think you’ll be able to even take the blood of whoever is causing these disappearances? It might be a much bigger threat than you think.”

  “I’ll just do what I’ve always done.” Despite his outward confidence, he was unsure if it really was going to be easy as he made it out to be. Vulf had already been a struggle, so just how much harder was this unknown enemy going to be?

  “You really do have a lot of confidence.” Hela suddenly went into thought for a few seconds before continuing. “How about you put it to the test?”

  Ega couldn’t help but grin at Hela’s words. She really was trying to bring him back to the past again, and how could he say no?

  “Alright then, wooden swords, one bout, first out of the ring or disarmed, isn’t that right?” Ega could still remember the same conditions to their duel.

  How could he forget them? Afterall, he hadn’t won a single one in the thousands of duels that they had done. Maybe today, however, things would be different.