Episode 8

The day Ilan found Lesker, he was returning from a hunt. He went on the hunt with a group of his closest friends but none of them survived. In the end, the creature they were hunting got away. Ilan was broken from that experience and thought of killing himself. He had no family and most recently, no friends. He had nothing left in the world.

He was just wandering aimlessly on the road when he saw Lesker's prone form. Ilan couldn't leave him there since he seemed to still be breathing. He took Lesker and tried hard to find the nearby village. He found the village and an inn to stay to care for Lesker. Till Lesker woke up, Ilan ran around caring for him and integrating himself.

He kept postponing his suicide. 'Till Lesker is better' he told himself. But, months passed and he realized he got something he lost when he strayed on the road. It was the spirit of companionship. He found someone to care for and someone to care for him. Someone to always stay with him, joke around with and argue with.

Ilan was happy. It's why he would do anything to make sure Lesker is also happy. If it meant giving up a woman he was interested in like Quella, he would gladly do it. All that mattered to him was that his friend and companion, Lesker, is happy.

Of course, he couldn't tell this to Lesker. Lesker would freak out and lecture him on taking better care of himself. Ilan smiled to himself.

"Hey, what are you thinking about?" Lesker called out, seeing him weirdly smiling to himself.

"Nothing"

"You sure?"

It was Lesker's excessive concern that also made him likable to Ilan. Ilan thought he made a pretty good friend.

"I'm sure. What else could I be thinking about?"

"I don't know. A little maiden named Sora maybe?" Lesker said with a smirk.

Well, except for the joke about Sora. He didn't honestly know why Lesker thought he was attracted to Sora. It was way too strange to be a joke.

"You've got to stop making that joke. It's not funny"

"Well to me it's hilarious. Your expressions are entertaining"

"I'm glad I'm just a source of entertainment to you"

"C'mon you know that's not true. You're also a useful pair of muscles and a great provider"

"Wow. That's my value?"

"Of course it's only part of it. You're my dear friend and the greatest hunter to ever exist"

"That is right"

"Pfft, hahaha! I wonder how Miss Quella would react seeing you being all embarrassing like this?"

"What are you saying? She would only recognize my greatness"

"A narcissist to the end, eh?"

"Not narcissism. Just extremely self-confident"

"You truly are great, haha"

"Well, it certainly is nice to see you two lazing around while we wandered around the city all day" Quella said, her tone dripping with sarcasm. The two men sat up, flustered. She entered the room with Yuli in tow, dropping the bags in her hands at a corner. She sat and stretched her sore limbs.

"C'mon Miss Quella, we're so tired, we thought we might drop. It is nice to take a break once in a while" Lesker argued, going back to lazing around.

"I'm just joking, you don't need to get defensive. Rest all you want, we have work tomorrow"

They both groaned and went back to lounging and chatting idly. Quella started unpacking what she had brought from her wandering. After putting the foodstuffs away, she brought out strips of paper that were emitting the tiniest wisps of magix. Curious, Lesker asked her what they were.

"They are exactly what they look like, strips of paper that contain magix. I want to use them to engrave spells"

"What sorts of spells?"

"Protection spells, enhancement spells, basic spells, and my personal spells"

"Personal spells?"

"Wow, you know so little about magix. How the hell are you a book merchant?"

Lesker blushed but had his answer ready.

"I only have little magix, I've lost my memories and Ilan won't teach me anything about magix other than basic spells"

"That is understandable. It is very hard to teach anyone about magix because everyone's path is very different. It also comes down to the type of magi you were blessed with. Since we're already on this trip, I and Mr Ilan would take our time in teaching both you and Yuli about magix"

"What? No! I refuse!" Ilan said immediately.

"Why not?" Lesker whined.

"If I wanted to teach you magix, I would've done so a long time ago. Magix may seem so harmless because it is a part of our world but the cons of learning magix far outweigh the pros. If you start to learn now, you would do so for the rest of your very very long life. In the end, you might discover that magix in itself is very meaningless and should be left alone. The only reason why I still use magix is to protect you Lesker. If you still wish to learn magix, I will not stop you but I would not help you either. Please excuse me" Ilan said and left the room.

Lesker looked at his retreating form sadly but made no move to go after him. He knew the man should be left alone. Quella on the other hand resumed what she was doing. It didn't matter to her what Ilan's decisions were. She asked to follow them so the least she could do is help fulfil their requests since they rarely asked anything of her aside work.

With that, their rest day passed quickly.