Date

From the carriage, Thanatos steps out, inhaling the air. It was nice to be back in his hometown, the city of Raind. The sun was shining brightly in the sky, welcoming him back.

"Feels good to be back." Thanatos stretched his arms and legs. As he was greeted by Adel.

"Welcome back, Master. I have the report of the past couple of weeks and I want to hear about your journey."

"Yeah, let's talk in my office." They went inside the building and talked about the recent events.

Things in the syndicate were mostly the same. Neo and Eric were dealing with the collection of ingredients. There hadn't been any reports of the Red Dragon activity since the Red Executioner incident. The army had been quiet in recent weeks, but they were still searching for Underworld base and its members.

Thanatos told Adel the things they did in the Nation of Los. The new base they had on the border of the country and dealing with some people in the Capital. He also told him about the infiltration inside the Black Order and the persecution of the white eyed man.

"Master, you said that it looked like a man with feminine features and white eyes?"

"Yes, I'm sure of it. I would never forgive that face."

"This is mostly second hand information, but that was probably Dante, the strongest member of the Black Order. I only heard rumors, but they said that he had reached the realm of heroes like the Supreme General of the Kingdom. It was a good idea to not face him alone."

"You don't have to tell me that. The creeps he gave him with his eyes were enough…" the door opened and a crowd of people came inside.

"Oh Boss! Finally back, how was the journey? Did you bring a souvenir?"

"You're back, about time. You let me handle your shady business for far too long."

"Eric, Neo, it's been a while…!" His eyes stopped on the small woman standing in the back. "Lia! You came back already? Did you learn to enchant cloth?" His voice was filled with excitement.

"Yes, I did!" she puffed her chest with pride. "I arrived yesterday. I even prepared something for you, hehe, but you have to wait to see it."

They hugged in a warm embrace. At the same time, Eric hugged the two of them. "Now we're all together." He dragged Adel and Neo into the group hug against their will.

"Wait!" he stopped to look around. "Castess is missing. Did he die or something?"

"Why is my death the first thing that comes to mind?" Castess walked inside the office with a binder full of documents. "I was ordering the men to take out the things I bought. What are you guys doing?"

Eric hugged him and went back to embracing everyone. Thanatos spoke with a smile. "Come on, let's have lunch together. I want to hear what you guys have been doing. How is that new special ability working for you, Eric?"

Everyone was happy to be together again. They eat with delight, laughing and talking about the past few days. The atmosphere was everything Thanatos wanted. He thought about the demi human he offered to join and the kids of the Black Order. A part of him still wanted them at his side.

Can you see this, James? You are the only person missing here. I wonder what you would think. That awkward kid that no one liked, Edgar, has so many friends now... even a girl who likes him. He looked at Lia drinking juice from a cup. Yes, they are dating, but he hasn't taken her anywhere or done anything special for her.

"Lia, let's go on a date!" he yelled, blushing in front of everyone.

"Here it is, two sweet apples! Two pieces of silver please." The vendor gave the sweet apples to Thanatos. He then walked to the park where Lia was waiting.

"Here I bought something to eat."

"You didn't have to. I can buy you more apples if you want…"

"Lia, the point of a date is me doing things for you to demonstrate my feelings. You doing things for me, kind of goes against that."

"But doesn't that mean I can also show you my feelings by giving you things?"

"…Point taken. Forget everything I just said." He ditched the old ways of thinking, and they went inside the park to see a live performance.

Actors and writers do public plays occasionally in the park. They didn't charge, but the quality was still pretty good. They were acting out a play about a king who killed his first son to make sure his legacy could be upheld by the second. It was pretty dramatic and unintentionally funny. In the end, the king is killed by his second son, who left the kingdom looking for adventure.

"That was a weird play." He said as he finished eating the sweet apple.

"Really is based on one classic book of the Republic. You've never heard of it before?"

"Mmm, I guess I must have forgotten. Where should we go next?"

"I think it is my turn to take you to a nice place."

"Lead the way then." They walked for a while until they reached a white house.

Lia knocked on the door, and a man with paint on his clothes came out. "Good afternoon, sir. Are you available for a painting?"

"Lad Lia for you, my services are available in rain or thunder. Please come in." The man welcomed them inside. It was some type of painting studio. Several paintings were hanging on the walls, and the rooms were painted to look like different types of scenery.

"I see you want to have a painting of us together. Haha I didn't expect something like that."

"You don't like it?"

"No. is great. Take my good side, chief." The studio had different clothes they could wear, mostly fancy high-class garments.

To go against the norm, Lia picked suits that looked like pirates. Thanatos was surprised that pirates existed in this world because they looked remarkably similar to the ones in the movies in his previous world.

The painter was fast. In only one hour, he had completed the picture. A couple of pirates riding the seas. They couldn't help but laugh when they saw it.

The sun was setting, but Lia wanted to take Thanatos to one last place before the day ended.

"This place…" Thanatos recognized it immediately. The old tree trunk had decomposed into the ground. The marks in the trees made with knives were still present, as were the bones of the wolf. It was the place he met Lia for the first time.

"Why are we here, Lia?" He had no clue what she was planning. He left the picture at the side of a tree.

"Is dumb to come back here, but I wanted to show you how much I have changed since then." She had a determined look in her face. "You saved my life, but the feelings in my heart became much more than simple gratitude."

"I thought of you first as a hero, then a friend, then an incredible person out of my reach. And now you're the man I like." She grabbed something from her dress. "For you, Thanatos."

It was a small box wrapped in colorful paper. He opened it and something came out, flying all around him. "W-What is this?" A multicolored handkerchief flew in the air, passing through his body from side to side. It was like a puppy meeting a new person.

"I told you about my trainer with Sir Yohann, but I didn't tell you that my last test was to make something unique. I used the daggers that Adel lent me to make it. I can fight with you now!"

"This!" The handkerchief finally stopped moving and came to rest in the palm of his hand. He raised his other hand and spoke. "[Detect magic]... Lia, this is insane!"

He could hold back his surprise. The handkerchief was imbued with the magic from the rainbow colored daggers. It could change size and also had an [Animate] spell to give it fake life. It could change between the seven spells in a second. Without any command, it was already changing according to Thanatos's will, from red, blue, green, all the colors.

"Lia, how did you make this?"

"Hehe, I told you I'm going to make more things for you now. No matter what you need, I'll weave it into reality with my own hands." She said this without a glimpse of arrogance. Her mind had already decided it.

The confident pose and attitude made Thanatos fall for her even more than before. He couldn't help but blush and look at the side.

"Hehe, you did the same thing when you saw me crying here. I thought you were sick, but turns out you thought I was pretty, didn't you?" She began to blush as well.

"Y-Yes I did."

"Then we can stay together, right?" Lia walked in front of him and hugged him with her tiny arms. "My brother says it is okay for us to be together." Her voice was weak, and tears appeared in her eyes.

"Lia, you mean?"

"You can start again with me if you want. My brother Donat promised me to help you. We can be together."

"Lia…" She was telling him to leave Underworld and start all over. He was a criminal. Even if he promised to not use his necromancy powers, the crimes of being the boss of a syndicate were still present. Lia's family would never let her be with a criminal. But now she was telling him the truth. Her brother could help him start again as an honest man.

He thought about it. Leaving the syndicate in Adel's hands would be fine. Eric would protest, but soon come to understand after that. Neo would probably leave the syndicate and go back to her village, or maybe she would try to accompany them. They would all accept it if that was their decision, but...

"Lia, I can't. I want to create a place for the people I like. I like you. I like you so much that my heart can't stop beating when you are so close to me. But they still need me…" He hugged her with regret. He couldn't abandon his friends for his love.

"I knew you would say that, so I'm the one that is going to start over." She pulled out a letter. It was a goodbye to her family.

"Lia no. Your family is…"

"They love me, and I love them with all my heart. I also love you. I'll help you build the best place for all our friends. I won't leave your side no matter what!"

Thanatos started to cry. "Then sniff… after that, we'll visit your parents and ask for their blessing, ok?"

"Ok... sniff…"

The handkerchief grew in size, turning into a cape. It wrapped around them to bring them closer. The last rays of the sun disappeared as the moon greeted their first kiss.

"I love you, Lia."

"I love you, Thanatos."

It was the first of many. They sat under the trees and looked at the stars for a long time before returning to the base. They cuddle together under the cape.

"I want to meet them. I want to meet our stars." Lia said while stretching her hand, trying to grab the stars.

"Is that your dream?"

"Yes."

"Then we are going to bring him down here. They are going to be so amazed with us that they are going to join Underworld!"

"Hahaha, you dummy…"

Under the stars, they promised to be together.