Changes in his Lifestyle

Inside the Weissman Mansion.

Fran stood in front of a room, as she had a nervous expression on her face. She seems to be hesitant about something, but ultimately shook her head, and made up her mind.

"Knock... Knock..."

She knocked on the door, as a voice came from inside the room: "Come in."

Fran entered. " Father," she spoke. Her voice a bit low. "Can I ask about something?"

Vergil raised a bro at Fran's unusual behavior. She usually wasn't all meek like this, so most likely:  "You want to talk about what happened when I saved him?"

Fran nodded.

"I see," Vergil said with a light sigh. "Why not just ask the boy then? He was discharged yesterday, right? I doubt he'd refuse a request from you. You also visited him two days ago."

Fran averted her gaze:  "Umm... Actually, he already did."

"Did what? Tell you?"

"He refused to say anything." She replied in from tone. It seems to bother her quite a lot. "It was a huge surprise..."

Vergil sighed. "Do you really have to know? I mean, I doubt you'd find anything useful if I tell you."

"Even so, I want to know." She spoke in a firm tone, and added; "I have to."

Vergil sighed again. It was a resigned sigh. " Alright," he conceded. "I'll tell you. Ask what you specifically want to know."

"I want to know everything."

Vergil made a small chuckle: " Oh? You're quite greedy, huh? Well, I guess that's to be expected from my daughter, I guess?"

He paused for a while and then began his recollection.

• • •

Vergil walked the eerily silent hallways of the building, as he did so without much interest in his expression. He was pressing forward at a steady pace, as each of his footsteps clopped on the solid ground beneath.

"Strange..." Vergil muttered with a frown. "Did I somehow enter the wrong building? There's no one here..."

Vergil was a bit confused. Even though there were signs of activity in the building, he had yet to meet a person inside. Vergil clicked his tongue:  "Tch. What an unreasonable request this is. I wonder what Fran was thinking; asking me to save a random mage?"

"Sigh... Well, since I'm here and all, I might as well do this seriously."

Suddenly, he heard paced footsteps, moving towards his way. " Oh?" he grinned and waited. The moment the people appeared from a corner...

"Fire Blast."

BOOM!

Without as much as a warning, Vergil blasted the persons, not knowing if they were really criminals. Mages, despite how frail they sound, were quite resistant when it comes to magic. So if it was really the mage, then they'd only be half-dead at most.

Vergil inspected his 'victims': "Hm? This outfit... a courier? Was this guy an accomplice?"

Well, Vergil didn't have a way to confirm at the moment, as the bodies were burnt beyond recognition. He had overdone it. Again.

"I guess I have more work to dump on my assistant..."

Vergil then continued. The walks after that were unexpectedly quite laden with encounters. In only about half an hour, he had managed to take down 17 other people, all of which were also burnt beyond recognition. Vergil wasn't very good at adjusting his magic for the common folks.

Vergil stopped for a while, and muttered: "Hm? I feel like I'm missing something.. I wonder what?"

Indeed. He had been too immersed in fighting, that he had forgotten his actual goal; saving the mage.

"Well, it'll be fine. The bad guys are gone and all..." he spoke, however, he suddenly heard a nearby scream. A gut-wrenching one. One that clearly transmitted the despair and pain the person was experiencing.

"AAAaaaarrghhh!!!"

Hearing the scream, the real objective finally clicked in his mind, as Vergil raced in the direction of the voice.

When he reached the place, he only saw a golden light that was already fading, and a person's figure within it. Vergil's entire senses screamed of danger, as mana instinctively revolved inside of him.

'What is this tremendous pressure..!' Vergil exclaimed inwardly.

However, the golden light vanished not long after, and the pressure along with it. Vergil inadvertently released a sigh of relief.

"W-What was... that?"

Gritting his teeth, Vergil cane forward, and observed a boy on the ground. He seemed to be in a dangerous situation, as his blood had already pooled on the ground.

But when Vergil suddenly shifted his gaze on the wall behind him, his eyes widened.

"Now this is cruel..." he spoke as his face twisted into that of a frown, and pity. And perhaps fear was mixed in it.

There was a corpse lodged into the wall, as it seemed buried there by force. The remains had all its limbs twisted over, as blood flowed freely from all over its body. There were tiny depressions on the chest parts too. Probably from powerful impact.

Vergil was shocked, but he kept hold of his composure. This wasn't a rare scene for him.

He looked at the boy who was in critical condition.

"It couldn't be, right..?"

•  •  •

"And then I brought the boy to the hospital. End of the story." Vergil wrapped up.

" Huh?" Fran uttered with dumbfound: " That's it? No special power or anything? Just a mysterious golden light and a murder case?"

Vergil just shrugged. " That's it."

Fran sighed. This wasn't what she was expecting to hear. At the very least, she wanted clues on how Laurellius suddenly had an increase in power.

Try as he might, Laurellius would never be able to hide it from Fran. Her senses were special, so she noticed right away.

'His mana increased...' Fran thought with wonder. It was impossible to increase one's mana without breaking through the next rank. That was common sense. However...

'His mana fluctuations too, had calmed my a large margin...'

She had always felt it ever since she was a child. The special fluctuations that a mage sends out, and it wasn't something that can be controlled without a special Mana Control Method. And Laurellius clearly didn't have anything like that, as his mana fluctuations were too natural compared to the disguised ones. And if it really was natural, then...

' His magical talents... increased..?'

That was the only conclusion she could arrive at. But the question "how?" continued to bug her. And hence the endless cycle of confusion.

"Heey... You still there?" Vergil called out, breaking her from daze. "You suddenly got lost in thoughts. Is it really bugging you that much?"

She nodded.

Vergil waved his hand in dismissal: "Well, even if you think about it, I doubt you'll find an answer. So why don't you just let it be?"

Fran sighed, as she then stood. "I see... I guess you're right. I'll let it be for a while."

And so, after saying that, she left without any further words.

Watching the door that she even forgot to close, Vergil shook his head. "Children nowadays..."

•  •  •

It had only been three days since Laurellius last walked the streets of the city with Nell, but the feeling he got with their current walk was completely different.

Unlike the heartwarming feeling he felt from that time, it was a lot more awkward now, and way more silent. And unlike the first time, Laurellius felt like he was taking care of two kids.

"Ah! Look, Rell! It's the barbecue stand! Can we buy some?!" Nell asked as she beamed with a smile.

Avarosa too expressed interest:  "How amusing... to think such culinary exists... Plebeian, fetch me one of those." She said as she pointed at the barbecues.

That's right. Despite her wise outlook and disposition, Avarosa turned out to be much, much more of a curious girl than he thought. And given her personality, which refuses all refusals to her demands, it only took three days for Laurellius to give in.

Or to be precise, he just went along with her whims as it was a hundred times easier than making arguments.

With a dry laugh, Laurellius agreed with a resigned tone:  "Ahahaha... Fine... How much would you like, Lady Avarosa?"

Lady Avarosa. After a long argument—a very, very long argument, Laurellius was able to change her mind about calling her as "Master", into Lady Avarosa. Laurellius tried to eliminate the "Lady" part, but there was no more room for discussions. Avarosa absolutely refused to budge.

Though Laurellius doesn't call her with honorifics when she isn't listening.

"Hmm... considering you are of poor status and finance, one should suffice." She said after a short deliberation. Another one of the reasons why Laurellius just kept on going on with her whims.

She never was unreasonable.

If what she asks for was impossible or just wasn't too feasible, she backs down without question.

Though she knows every time I lie about things feasible or not...

Remembering a few certain memories from the past three days, Laurellius couldn't help but sigh.

Laurellius went towards the familiar vendor from three days ago. The vendor glanced his way, and his eyes widened in pleasant surprise.

He raised his hand and waved: "Oh! If it isn't the nice guy! Welcome to my humble stand! Anything you'd like?"

"Three sticks, please," Laurellius spoke as he raised three fingers.

"Hmm? You will partake too?"

Laurellius looked at her: "Not to be rude, but you can't expect me to just watch as the two of you eat some good stuff right? Also, I'm the one paying."

Avarosa frowned at how he spoke: "Though I do not like how you speak, I shall give you pardon as I cannot exactly refute your words."

Oh? She's giving in? How rare...

It was indeed the rare moment where Avarosa was willing to back down on something. Somehow, Laurellius felt like it suited her quite well. Along with her haughty personality, that is.

However...

"Hmm? So you really had it in you eh? Nice guy?" the vendor suddenly spoke, "I never thought you'd be able to hook up with such a looker."

Laurellius shed cold sweat at the vendor's words. He wasn't sure how Avarosa would react, but he was sure it wouldn't be a good one. She had pride higher than the heavens, after all.

He then turned to her like an ungreased machine, but contrary to his expectations. . .

"Hook up? Looker?.. The language of plebeians is truly interesting."

'What a relief!.. It's a goodness that she's not familiar with commoner slangs...' Laurellius inwardly made a sigh of relief.

However, when Laurellius turned his gaze to the vendor, he was wearing an indescribable expression and opened his mouth.

"You don't know? Hoo—"

"Alright, sir! Can we just take our barbecues, please? We still have somewhere to go." Laurellius cut off as he made an excuse. At the same time, he signaled to the vendor with his eyes.

The vendor seemed to get what he meant, as he nodded with a thumbs up.

"Alrighty, nice lad. Leave it to me. I definitely won't let you down." The vendor spoke as if he was making a man to man promise.

Somehow, Laurellius felt like the vendor was having a wrong idea, but he didn't pay it much mind. After all, he seemed to get what Laurellius meant, right?

He did, right?

Laurellius could only hope so.

The vendor then continued cooking the meat and then gave it to Laurellius once he was done. "Here you go."

"Thanks, sir."

"Haha! No need for thanks. Just call me Deev or Uncle Deev is fine too."

Laurellius made a small smile: " I got it. Thanks, Uncle Deev."

Deev gave a hearty laugh. He seemed to realize that Laurellius was a stubborn one.

Laurellius received the barbecues and then handed one each for Nell and Avarosa. He then paid for it, and then bid farewell.

"Well then, we'll be going, Uncle Deev!"

And so, they continued to their destination.

The Academy.