"All right!!! Time to celebrate!!"

The group had returned to their secret hideout once the mission was over. Evllin had used her modeling magic on the trees and the ground to create an especial inn for everyone to sleep in while finis.h.i.+ng their business around the town. After storing the recently acquired silver metal with the rest they managed to retrieve so far, Evlin decided to call everyone to the living room to start a party.

"As.h.!.+ Did you bought what I asked!!??"

"Right here sis..."

Ashley revealed two bottles of wine that she got while walking around with Ria earlier. She placed it on the table alongside a lot of delicious-looking food. Daren looked at Evlin a little lost.

"Evlin, did you really enjoyed this last mission that much...?"

"I did in fact! We honestly have been on a winning streak for a while now! We managed to secure a lot of metal, we defeated every single enemy that would come our way, and most importantly... Everyone is safe and sound!! You know what that means?"

"That means..."

"It means I might actually be a good leader after all!!!"

Ashley stared at her as if she realized something.

"Ohhh... I see... So this is a party to celebrate your inflated ego..."

"You shut up! I'm not taking any sa.s.sy talk today! It's not just the fact that we've been doing so well lately. Today is the day I finally get to enjoy these babies!!"

Evlin grabbed one of the bottles of wine and started to rub it as if it were her child.

"As of today, I'm officially seventeen!! I'm finally old enough to drink!!"

"Wait! Evlin, today is your birthday?"

Ria jumped out of her chair while asking this question.

"You bet I am!! I've been waiting to take my first drink since forever!!"

Lilith looked at her with judgmental eyes.

"... Is that why you were acting so silly during the mission today?"

"I have the right to act silly in missions when it's my birthday!!"

"... No... That's not how it works... Please don't do that again... We could have been in danger..."

Ria approached Ashley and started to whisper towards her for a moment in the corner of the room.

"Ash, this is perfect! Now the fabric we brought could be used as a birthday gift!!"

"Eh...? Oh right, that... You think she will like it? She kinda looks like she would be happy just by drinking herself to sleep right now..."

"Don't be silly! You're her older sister! You need to show how much you care about her!"

"... I can't believe you just said that with a straight face after today... You just left your own sister alone after not seeing her for years..."

"That was then, this is now! Come on! She will love it! Let's grab the cloth!"

While the two girls were planning their secret present, Auren approached Evlin and offered help to open the bottle.

"Here... Let me..."

"Thanks Auren!"

"Miss... I don't know how things work in your world... But the age to drink around here is actually fifteen..."

"Wait, really??"

"Really..."

It made sense once Evlin thought about it. This was a dangerous world where people could die at any moment. Some might not even live long enough to reach seventeen, so the rules of age restriction were a little looser.

"Ahh... I see... If that's the case, I need to make up for lost time!!"

Daren heard that concerned.

"Please don't... We don't need a drunkard as our leader... Don't make this a regular habit..."

"Daren, you're no fun..."

"... Yeah, I know..."

"That said, Auren..."

"Yes?"

"Does this mean Ria is already old enough to marry you?"

Auren started to splash the entire room when he accidentally opened the bottle with too much force and drenched all those present.

"My wine!!!"

"W- W- Wh- What??? Miss Evlin!! What are you talking about??"

"I mean... It's dead obvious... Right?"

Evlin looked at Lilith, Daren, and Gustav and they all nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I'm honestly shocked she herself hasn't noticed yet..."

"Same here... To me it was clear from day one..."

"I mean... He doesn't really try to hide it... He looks at her like like a vulture looks at its prey..."

"See Auren? Everyone knew already."

"Is- Is that so...?"

"The only reason Ria hasn't noticed is because she is an airhead who only thinks about playing around all day... But since we are already celebrating our victories and my special day, why not go ahead and put your proposal on the table as well?"

"P- Propose...?? M- Me?? Now???"

Daren joined the conversation.

"If not now then when??"

"See? Even Daren who never thinks about anything besides our mission agrees you're just wasting time!"

"Hey... I can hear you..."

Daren ignored Evlin's remark and stared at Auren.

"We will be going towards the demon kingdom and if we survive we will try to fight a divine deity. We might die at any time from now on. Enjoy your time together while you still can..."

"..."

Evlin let Daren and Auren enjoy their silent staring contest while she tried to open the second bottle.

"This time for sure! I can already taste it!!"

She managed to open it by herself this time and started to fill her cup. She then decided to serve everyone a cup as well and asked then to make a toast.

"Everyone! Let's officially celebrate our ma.s.sive success as a team!!"

They all had a look on their faces as if saying "What kind of team are we by the way?".

"As a team of thieves?"

"As a team of warriors?"

"As a team of G.o.d-slayers?"

"A team of mischiefs?"

Evlin listened to all their suggestions but rejected every single one.

"Wrong!! We are a team... Or rather, a family of survivors!! No matter what life throws at our way, we just take it head-on and move forward!! We don't let anything keep us down!! Not now, not ever!!"

She raised both her cup and her voice!

"To a family that doesn't know the meaning of staying down or giving up!!"

"To family!!" x 4

Everyone started to drink their cups filled with wine. Evlin finally managed to savor the taste of alcohol for the first time, only to start spilling on the wall by being unable to handle the taste.

"Bleerghh!! What is this stuff?? Is this what people drink all the time??"

"First time huh?"

Daren mocked her a bit. Gustav tried to calm her down.

"Miss you don't have to force yourself... The taste is always like this at first..."

"Oh... So I need to drink more to make it taste better? I see..."

"No wait... That's..."

"Thanks Gustav!"

"Eh... Sure..."

Evlin was about to start pouring more wine on her gla.s.s when Ria and Ashley called her out.

"Surprise!!"

Evlin was expecting not to receive presents since she didn't reveal to anyone when her birthday was up until now but was glad to be proven wrong.

"This cloth!! It's so soft and the color is so nice!! Thanks, guys!! I can't wait to put this on Sphinx!!"

Ashley was surprised by seeing her react with the same mindset as Ria.

"How did you know this was for Sphinx...?"

"Huh...? Because there is no way you would ever buy me clothing items knowing what I'm like after living with me for so long..."

"... I'm not sure how I'm supposed to react to that, but I'm glad you're happy."

The three girls were enjoying their moment when Auren suddenly called for one of them.

"Ria! C Can I talk with you for a moment...?"

"Eh... Sure, what's up?"

"There is something that I need to know... Rather... Something I would like to ask..."

Ashley pulled Evlin by the sleeve and whispered to her ear.

"Is he going for it? Now??"

"Yeah! Now shus.h.!.+ I don't wanna ruin the moment!!"

Ria looked around confused while all of her friends were in silence staring at her and Auren. Evlin asked Gustav to connect everyone except Ria and Auren in a telepathic chat room.

[Guys!! He's doing it!!]

[I can't believe it! After all this time!!]

[He looks nervous! He might faint!]

[Just get it over with...]

[Daren you really are no fun...]

[He's been quiet for a while now... Did he freeze?]

"Ria... I think of all the people I've ever met, you have been my closest most important friend..."

[Ah, he's talking again!! Keep going Auren!!]

[He's sweating so much...]

"Whenever I'm feeling down, or depressed, or hurt... Just being by your side and getting to see your bright smile is enough to make any suffering go away..."

[Ria is blus.h.i.+ng!! I think she finally realized what is going on!!]

[Wow... It only took her two-hundred years...]

[Daren, shut up!!] x 4

"That's why... That's why..."

"Yes...?"

"That's why..."

"Yes?"

[Oh... He's going to faint...]

[Wait, should we help him...?]

[No!! It will ruin their moment!!]

"Ria, I..."

"Yes!!!!??"

The sound of the door smas.h.i.+ng against the wall was heard as someone barged into the inn while everyone was focused on the two romantics. A little girl with twin ponytails started to rush inside and pounced on top of Ria knocking her down.

"Big sis!!! Found you!!!"

[AAAArghhhh!!!!!] x 4

[That's why I said to just get this over with...]

Part 2

"Everyone... This is my Little sister, Mia... Mia, these are my friends, you remember Ashley, and that's Evlin, Lilith, Gustav, Daren, and Auren..."

"Nice to meet you all!!"

"Hi... Mia..." x 5

The group greeted Mia with a united voice of dread and depression, everyone but Daren who just looked bored and slightly curious.

"Sister...? How..."

"She doesn't age..."

"Ah... Ok..."

And just like the conversation ended. Ashley was surprised to see Daren just accept the situation so easily. Had he met many immortals in the past?

"Were you guys celebrating something? can I join??"

Ria glared at Mia with eyes full of bloodl.u.s.t.

"We were about to have something else to celebrate... But you just had to mees it up like usual..."

[She was going to say yes!!] x 5

The group thought in unison without realizing they were still connected by Gustav's telepathy.

"But we were also celebrating Evlin's birthday.."

"Oh! Cool!! Which one is Evlin??"

Evlin heard her name being called and started waving her hand.

"That's me... Nice to meet you..."

"Nice to meet you!! Congratulations on your birthday!!"

"Er... Thanks..."

Evlin really wanted to see Auren propose to Ria as her birthday gift so right now she was really angry with Mia and wouldn't stop thinking 'You had to ruin it!!!!' on her mind. But she still managed to show off a smile while hiding her true feelings.

[Would it be bad if I punched this girl...?]

[Yes!!] x 4

"Mia, how did you find me? We are in the middle of the woods..."

"Oh! My boyfriend and I were following the scent of silver metal and it just brought us here! Imagine my surprise to find you here too!!"

"Your boyfriend...? That grey-haired boy...? He can detect silver metal...?"

"You bet!! He can detect silver metal on a wide range of an entire country!"

"!!??" x 7

"What? Why's everyone making that face...?"

Daren stood from his chair with a shocked look on his face.

"W- What's his name...?"

"Marcus. You guys want to meet him? Hold on, I'll call him to meet you all!"

Mia started to rush towards the door and shouted "Darling!! Come here!!" to the outside. The group started to look at each other nervously. Evlin asked Gustav to include Auren and Ria in the telepathy room.

[Guys... Is she serious??]

[She said his name was Marcus and he can detect silver metal... It has to be him!!]

[Daren, Lilith, you two sensing anything??]

[Nothing... I should be feeling a huge source of bleesed energy but I'm not tracking anything...]

[Mee to... But...]

[But...?]

[I'm trying to use my future sight, but i can't see anything... And only divine energy beings can block my sight... It has to be him!!]

"h.e.l.lo..."

The boy was being dragged by Mia as they returned to the living room.

"Sorry about this! He's a little shy when it comes to new people so it was kinda hard to convince him to enter..."

A young boy wearing a blue ragged s.h.i.+rt with silver-colored hair was now standing before them while Mia kept hugging his arm.

"Nice to meet you all... I'm Marcus, Mia's coworker..."

"You..."

Time seemed to have stopped. Evlin was finding trouble to speak. The boy looked exactly like Marceus when she saw him in the white void. The only difference was his hair color. She was so shocked she almost forgot she was in the chat room again and started to scream in her mind.

[I- It's him!!! I'm sure of it!!]

[!!!] x 6

Ashley realized that the entire group was in shock and having difficulty speaking and tried to engage the boy in a conversation.

"Nice to see you again Marcus... I think everyone is a little surprised to hear you can detect silver metal so they were caught a little off guard."

Mia started to talk with pride.

"Of course he can! He is the second living weapon after all!!"

"Er... Yeah..."

Marcus, at last, confirmed while blus.h.i.+ng a little.

"So when you were talking earlier about your job..."

"Yeah... The same job as my father... I'll rid the world of all evil..."

"I see..."

"And to do that, I came here today..."

"Eh...?"

[...!?] x 7

"This is rather sudden but... I'll be taking all of the silver metal back if you don't mind..."