"Rather than a punishment... It's more on they will drill you to become one of their successors. Especially with all of them teaching you like that."

"But, their training is h.e.l.lish..." answers Romain

"At least you could become a better knight, no?" teases Lucia

"Well... You are right..."

"Then, what with the long face, Romain?" asks Volya as he observes Romain

"Well... Why must Sir Mikhail also come to me?"

"Maybe he likes you?" teases Volya

"Oh... Come on"

And now the new resident of their house, Gracia Ravelli, is sitting in the main room. She is sitting near a fireplace with Volya's ferret sleeping on her lap. As she brushes the ferret fur, she says,

"When will Volya, Lucia, and Romain come back..."

Right now, Gracia becomes the resident of Haegia after Albert gives the punishment for her. And at the end of the punishment, Gracia only stays at Volya's home without doing anything besides learning new magic from Volya's book.

But after some time, she becomes bored with the book and feels lonely at home. With Volya going on a mission, Lucia working at the guild, and Romain in the middle of training, no one could accompany her. If she walks around the city, most likely she will be lost in the middle of Ironforge. But if she stays at home, the boredom could kill her.

Gracia then looks around the house and then looks at the fireplace. She closes her eyes for a while until she starts to stand up. It surprised the ferret and it looked at Gracia. Gracia then says,

"I... will walk around... Ironforge. If I only stay at home... How could I know the people around me?"

She then walks upstairs to her room, changes her cloth, put on her green robes given by Lucia, and looks at the mirror. She then mumbles,

"I could do it... I believe... I could do it..."

She then walks to her bag and notices Volya's ferret sitting inside the bag. Gracia smiles at the ferret and says,

"So, are you going with me, Mr Ferret?"

The ferret nods at Gracia and Gracia takes the bag. Gracia let the ferret head out from the bag as she leaves Volya's house.

Gracia starts to walk towards the entrance of Ironforge. It's around thirty minutes walk from Volya's house. At the entrance, she could see the city guard screening the people that were trying to enter the city. She could see the people mostly adventurer from the tags that they wear, but some of them look like a merchant that will sell their goods at Ironforge.

Gracia looks at the city guard and says,

"When I enter this city, I don't remember about it... I think it's because I am with the Queen. What do you think about it, Mr Ferret?"

The ferret looks at the city guard and then at Gracia. The ferret nods at Gracia and Gracia immediately smiles back at the Ferret. Gracia then tells the ferret that she will walk again and it obediently puts its head inside the bag.

Right now, she is in the market district. She could see a lot of shops starting to sell their goods. Gracia still remembers when Lucia takes her to the markets to buy groceries for the three of them. She also remembers the eyes that Lucia showed when she got a bargain back then.

When she pa.s.sed through the vegetable shop, she then mumbles,

"Maybe... I will ask Lucia to teach me how to cook..."

Gracia then stops for a while and mumbles again with a red face,

"It's a shame that I can't cook for them..."

"Ara, is that you Gracia?" asked one woman

Gracia looks at the shop and notices the shop owner is smiling at her. The shop owner is an old lady and she is kind to her, even when Gracia is clueless when she is with Lucia back then. The shop owner looks around and then asks,

"Where is that Ambros Girl? Did you come here alone?"

"Ah... Yes. The truth is I am trying to know this city more as I live here now," answer Gracia

"My... What a good girl."

"Ahaha... Thank you..." answer Gracia fl.u.s.tered

The shop owner then looks at the Gracia and says,

"And I heard that you want to learn how to cook..."

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"Eh? Did you hear that?" said Gracia surprised and fl.u.s.tered

"Ohohoho... Even if I am at this age, my hearing is quite sharp, young lady"

"Ahahahahaha"

The shop owner then waves to Gracia so she could come closer. After she comes a little bit closer, the shop owner said,

"I will tell you a secret..."

"Eh?"

"A lot of young girls from this town always gather at the guild on Wednesday."

"Gather at the guildhall? Why?"

"That Ambros Girl always teaches those young girls how to cook. Maybe you could join them and learn something together with other young girls."

Gracia looks at the shop owner and looks away a bit. She then mumbles and embarra.s.sed face,

"But... I have never cooked before... They will..."

"Fufufufufu... You don't need to worry, Gracia. Some of the young girls there also just start to cook," said the shop owner as she encourages the Gracia

Gracia looks away with fl.u.s.tered face and the shop owner continues,

"Believe me... You will be fine there."

"A... Alright... I will try to come there..." said Gracia

"Good girl... and Good luck."

The shop owner then pats Gracia on her head and then puts something on Gracia's bag. Gracia notices that and then says,

"Eh... But, I..."

"Don't worry, It's free for a lovely girl like you."

"But..."

The shop owner smiles at Gracia and a.s.sures her that it's fine. Gracia then accepts it, smiles back at the shop owner, and then bows to show her grat.i.tude to her. After a little chat, she leaves the shop and continues to walk around the market.

Some of the shop owners notice her and they talk with her. Even some of them give her some gifts. After a while, she stops at one tavern and takes her lunch there.

When she is waiting for her food, she lets the ferret curl on the table and takes out her gift given by the shop owner. After she checks most of it, she mumbles,

"They are so kind..."

She then looks around the tavern and then continues,

"But, I don't know whether they are only acting kindly because of Volya and Romain... Or..."

Gracia's face shows an uneasy face and the ferret notices it. The ferret immediately moves near Gracia and then jumps on her lap. It then looks at Gracia and she notices it. She then says as she pets its fur,

"You are right... I think some of them still hate me because I am a murderer... But, I think some of them forgive me."

She continues to stroke its fur and notices her meal will come soon. The ferret immediately jumps to the table and waits for its food to come. After it shows up, they eat it together.

After both of them are full, Gracia continues to walk. This time she is walking to the blacksmith district. But because she is too focused on her surroundings, she notices that she is lost.

When she looks around, she is in the middle of the intersection with two alleys. That when she notices someone is approaching her. Two men with l.u.s.tful eyes and they are locking their eyes at Gracia.

Gracia full-on alert with the two of them. At that moment, she remembers what Lucia said before regarding a certain part of the city that is full of a filthy man like them.

She takes a deep breath and observes them a little. She could hear their intention and what their plan was. She could see a black mist from around them.

While they discuss the approach to catch Gracia, Gracia tries to use her magic. But as soon she wants to cast it, she remembers her promise to Volya back then,

"Gracia, promise me to never use your necromancy or any black magic anymore."

"Eh?"

"I know that's the only magic that you know right now. But, it's dangerous magic if you use it again. Especially if..."

"Volya... I know about that. But, I can't use any magic besides that magic... So..."

"Then in exchange if you didn't use that magic, how about I teach you other magic? What do you think?"

"Eh?"

"What do you think?"

"If... If you are alright to teach me... Then I promise… I will not use that magic..."

"Then, it's a promise"

After she remembers that, she lowers her hand and looks around her once more. As one of the men starts to walk closer, she immediately dashes towards one of the alleys.

Noticing Gracia starts to run, the two men start to chase her. She peeks behind her and starts to use her small stature to pa.s.s through some obstacles. At the same time, she starts to call for help.

Little by little, the distance between her and her pursuer becomes smaller and she starts to panic. When she peeks behind her again and notices one of them close to her. And at that time, a knife flies near her face and also near the two men. The two men stop and so Gracia.

When Gracia looks to the front, two knights stand at the alley with one of them already taking out the sword. The two men looked scared, but they didn't want to let their prey go. But when everyone is confused, one of the knights grabs Gracia's hand and they start to run away from the two men.

After they pa.s.sed the alley to the main road, Gracia that already lost her breath looks at the knight and says,

"Thank you very much for saving me..."

"..."

"Without both of your help... I think I will be lost in this city."

"..."

"Did... Did I make... a mistake?"

The knights didn't answer her immediately and that put pressure on Gracia a bit. That's when one of the knights starts to chuckle. Gracia was quite confused with one of the knights and tried to ask them. That's when one of the knights takes off the helmet and shows its face. Gracia surprised to see the knights and hear the knight says,

"Sorry... Sorry... It's just that your face is quite funny."

"Seriously, what happens if Sir Albert heard all of this ruckus? Especially with Gracia around here..."

"Don't worry about it.... And I believe she is here because she is just bored and lonely"

One of the knights then looks at Gracia with her smile and says,

"Then... What about we have a little chat at the Guild?"