The man with red hair took Kure's shoulder and pulled her behind him in a swift but gentle motion. Kure turned around just fast enough to see him catch grey-hair's wrist just before the man's blade could strike his chest.

The air seemed to leave Kure's chest as she realized just how close to catching her grey-hair had been. The blow that the red-haired man caught had been intended for her. If the red-haired man hadn't appeared, she would be dead. If the red-haired man had appeared just a second later, she would be dead.

"Stay out of this!" Grey-hair growled in anger, before looking up at the red-haired man's face. Grey-hair's eyes widened as his face paled. He became a perfect statue of terror.

"I am afraid I cannot." The red-haired man said, his tone almost had a note of pity. Kure couldn't understand why the atmosphere had shifted so suddenly. Why did the grey-haired man look so afraid? And even more so, why did the red-haired man sound so guilty.

"Sword Saint! I swear I didn't-" Grey hair dropped his blade and raised his other hand to show that it was empty, "Please, just, just let me go!"

Kure saw the red-haired man's shoulders droop, whether it was in relief or disappointment, she couldn't be sure as she couldn't see his face.

Grey-hair suddenly dropped to the ground, and the red-haired man's hand was in a striking posture where his head had been. Kure blinked, realising what had just happened. Amazing! How could he move so fast?

The red-haired man turned and smiled gently at Kure.

"Don't worry, I will have this man brought to the dungeons." The man's glance lowered to Kure's hand and his expression shifted into something Kure could only describe as guilt, although she couldn't understand why. "My apologies, if I had been there sooner, I could have prevented you from being hurt. May I?"

The red-haired man gestured for Kure to give him her injured hand. Kure was still very much confused and did so in a daze. The red-haired man's touch was gentle as he wrapped her hand with his. Tiny lights began to sparkle around his hands, and Kure couldn't help but stare in awe. When her rescuer let go of her hand, the cut was gone.

"Thank-thank you!" Kure said, a heat welling in her cheeks. Everything about this man was elegant and skilful. His expressions, words, and actions down to the finest detail could only be fitting of a model knight. He was just… He was just…

He was just so cool! What else could this beating in Kure's chest be anything but admiration for his skills? She wanted to learn magic! She wanted, no, she needed to reach the level of the man before her. The thing he had done to heal her hand was magic, right? What else could it be? That was it! Kure had decided, she was going to learn magic.

Icarus just set his eyes on Apollo.

"My name is Reinhard, what is yours, miss?" Reinhard asked, tilting his head.

"Nakamura Kure." Said, before remembering that she wasn't in Japan anymore, "That's first name Kure, last name Nakamura."

"Miss Nakamura, then." Reinhard greeted, bowing his head slightly.

"U-um," Kure said, cheeks flushing as she tugged on her satchel strap. She was no longer able to contain the question at the tip of her tongue, "What did that man mean when he called you 'Sword Saint'?"

Reinhard's eyes widened at the question as if he had never heard of it before.

"Are you not from Lugnica?" He asked, startling Kure.

Kure knew that it was not wise to tell the full truth. He would think she was a liar or a madwoman. At the same time, she couldn't bring herself to lie to the man who had just saved her life. All she could do was give him something in between.

"No… I'm not." She said, still glancing away. Kure hated lying to people who didn't deserve it, if Reinhard was a danger to her, she wouldn't have had a problem lying to him at all. But for some reason, she just knew he wouldn't do that. She couldn't lie, so at best, she could be vague. "I'm from somewhere really far away. To, to be honest, I didn't really come here willingly, so I don't even know where 'Lugnica' is or how to get back home, or anything really…"

"You were taken here against your will?!" Reinhard interrupted Kure's rambling. His lips were curled into a frown as his eyebrows were knit with concern.

"Yes." It wasn't a lie, even if she couldn't say for sure that she was brought here by anything sentient. Kure came here against her will.

"Then do you have a place to stay?" He asked. Kure shook her head. "You are welcome to stay at my place as a guest."

Kure's eyes widened in surprise at how readily Reinhard made the offer. She was a complete stranger to him, and he was willing to let her into his home wanting nothing in return. He must be incredibly kind. Which is why...

"I am afraid I couldn't possibly accept," Kure said, "you have already saved my life. I wouldn't feel comfortable taking advantage of your kindness any more than I already have."

"It would be no trouble for me." Reinhard tried to reassure her. "As a knight, I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving a maiden without shelter, especially in a foreign land."

Kure desperately wanted to say yes. It would be so easy. Something in her gut wanted to stay near Reinhard for some reason. It was probably gratitude? She must want to pay him back. Plus, it felt safe with him. But she couldn't! She would be asking for too much! He would think she was too needy.

"Perhaps you know where I could get a job?" Kure asked, "I was a scholar in my home country, and I am pretty confident that I teach myself how to read by the end of the day. If I could get a job, then I'll be able to pull… my… own… weight."

As Kure spoke, she had suddenly become self-conscious. She must look ridiculous. What was she thinking? She shouldn't have mentioned not being able to read yet, now she looks arrogant. Even worse, calling herself a scholar, how pretentious. She was a student, which meant she was still learning, 'scholar' made her look like she thought she was intelligent. She knew she wasn't.

While Kure was scolding herself, Reinhard frowned.

"I'm afraid not. I apologize that I can't even do that." Reinhard looked down. He followed his eyebrows, before pulling a small leather pouch out from within his cloak. "At least allow me to give you this."

Kure hesitantly took the pouch and looked inside. Silver coins. Money, perhaps?

"You can use this to pay for food and shelter for a few days while you search for employment."

"I-I can't just-" Kure scrambled to give it back, but Reinhard shook his head and wrapped her hands around the pouch. The touch made Kure's face warm.

"Please allow me to do just this little thing." The look in Reinhard's eyes resembled a puppy's. Kure couldn't deny that she needed the money. She was already hungry, and who knows how long it would take her to find a job. She didn't even know where to look! She had never had a job before either, her parents had refused the idea because it would be a distraction to her studies. So…

"I'll pay you back then!" Kure promised.

Reinhard simply smiled.

Then it was quiet. Kure realised that she didn't really have anything else to stay. The moment lingered. Kure didn't want to say goodbye just yet, but she was probably wasting Reinhard's time.

"Then... I will see you again," Kure said, before bowing in fair well.

"Yes," Reinhard looked slightly uncomfortable saying so. "Goodbye."

Kure hesitantly turned away to turn towards the main marketplace.

"Wait!" Reinhard suddenly shouted. She looked back, "If you need my help, go to Astrea House in Hakuruchuri."

She thanked him once again and went on her way.


It was easier to think after Kure had some food in her belly and proper rest. She had been a little shocked when she found out how much the coins Reinhard had given her were worth. 'A few days' indeed.

Just one of those coins had paid for a night at an inn. Another had bought her breakfast with some copper coins as change.

The next time she saw Reinhard, she wasn't sure if she was going to scold him or apologize to him for accepting that much. It made her wonder why he was willing to just give that much money away. Grey-hair had recognized him, so maybe he was famous or something?

Kure had memorized this world's alphabet that morning, but that didn't mean she was fluent in reading yet. She was now practising by reading street signs when a particular one caught her attention.

'Cassia's Magical Bookshop'

The words were written in purple on a dark green board. The door to the shop was wood painted in the same shade of purple. To the left of the door, there was a window which Kure could see bookshelves through.

Kure did decide she wanted to learn magic before, and maybe she would learn something useful? Kure approached the door and pushed it open, causing a bell to chime.

"Greetings dearie, are you looking for anything in particular?" An old lady said to Kure's right. She was behind a green counter, sitting on a chair. Her hair was thin and grey, and her eyes were green. She was giving a polite smile, but Kure could tell that the lady was bored from the glazed look in her eyes.

Kure opened her mouth to answer but hesitated. She bit her lip as she looked over to the books. Truthfully, she didn't think it would be wise for her to carry these around. Her book bag would only be able to carry one or two at a time, and she didn't have a safe place to keep them.

If the city had a public library, that is where she would have preferred to go there, but she hadn't seen one throughout her entire day of wandering.

"Um…" She said, "How much would one of your books cost?"

The old lady's brow crinkled, "It would depend on the book, dearie."

"How… how much would I have to pay you to just read the books here for the day?" Kure asked.

The old lady's eyes focused. She raised an eyebrow and her polite smile dropped slightly. Suddenly Kure felt panicked, fully aware of how weird that just sounded.

"It-it's just that I don't really have a safe place to-to keep them and I don't want them to be damaged and I'll only read them once so it's probably better for both of us if you keep them so you can sell them to someone who'll give them a good home and I promise I won't damage any of them." After the long sentence, Kure had to catch her breath. In, out, in out. Her heart was racing. She really didn't want this lady to think she was stingy or something. She was probably going to get scolded anyway.

The old lady did not scold her. Instead, she chuckled.

"Hehehe. What a strange request. My name is Cassia, and you know what, sure, why not." Cassia brought a hand to her chin, as she pondered for a moment. "If you give me four silver, and indeed none of the books are damaged, I'll give you two back at the end of the day."

Kure's eyes widened.

"Are-are you sure?" She asked, not quite believing it.

"If you had given me a different reason, I would have probably just told you to leave but…" Cassia looked down, her eyes softening as she saw something that only she could see, "I can already tell that you seem to care about what happens to these books. Also, it amused me. Besides, it doesn't actually cost me anything to have you look at them."

Kure remembered that books were a lot more expensive before the invention of the printing press. These books had to have been handwritten, so they were probably each worth a lot more. In that case, four coins to read all of them was definitely cheap.

Kure opened the pouch and took out the four coins. She would have five silver coins and some copper coins left after this. If she got two silver coins back at the end of the day, that would leave her with seven total, which she believed would last her three more days.

Hopefully, she would learn something useful.

Kure gave Cassia the coins, "Where would I look for books on the basics?"

Cassia gestured to the shelf towards the back with an amused smile. Kure smiled and nodded.

Looking at the titles she grabbed, 'Understanding the six elements', 'Controlled Mana; A guide to using your gate efficiently', 'Spirit Arts; A Practical Guide', 'The Fundamental Components of Spellcasting' and 'Elemental Applications'. Shuffling the books into a pile, she moved over to the back corner of the room and sat on the floor.

She placed the pile of books on her right, and moved the top in front of it, and opened it, becoming absorbed.

She closed the book in front of her and placed it on the pile of books on her left and reached to grab the next book on the pile of her right, only to find that there wasn't one.

Kure blinked and took off her glasses, rubbing her eyes. She looked at the window in the front of the room. It was dark outside.

Dammit, not again.

Kure groaned and stood up, stretching her muscles.

Cassia jumped up from her chair.

"Dearie! Dearie, can you hear me?" She asked, her voice a mixture of panic and concern.

"Yeah?" Kure said, a little dazed at the old lady's behaviour. Kure had taken Cassia for a woman who was apathetic to everything that didn't amuse her. To see a complete shift in attitude so soon after meeting her was enough to pull the rug from under her feet.

"Thank the dragon, I have been trying to get your attention for hours!" Cassia limped over, using the wall as support in one hand and carrying a glass of water in another, "It was like you were in some kind of trance. Here, have some water."

Kure took the glass and sipped the water before she began to chug it as she suddenly realized how thirsty she was. Was she always this dizzy? Her head felt heavy.

"Sorry about that," Kure said, her exhaustion visible in her voice, "I have this thing where I hyperfocus when I read something I find interesting. I completely lose track of time and the world around me."

"Silly girl…" Cassia hummed in thought, and her attitude shifted back to the apathetic one she had before.

"Well, it's getting late dearie, you should probably go home."

Kure nodded, "Yeah, I suppose I should find an inn."

Cassia's eyebrows raised for just a second.

"You don't have a place to stay?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm new in town," Kure replied.

"I have a spare room upstairs; you can stay with me."

"I couldn't-"

"Don't worry, I'll have you work tomorrow for it." Cassia dismissed Kure's refusal before she could finish it.

"A job?" Kure was surprised, where did this come from?

"Well, since you said you were new in town. What, don't you want it?"

"No!" Kure shouted, before she lowered her voice, "I'm just surprised."

"Good, because these old bones could use some help." Cassia opened the door that was against the back wall, revealing a staircase. Before she started to climb up, she hesitated. "My daughter was supposed to help me but well…"

The words died in Cassia's mouth before she could finish them. Kure was curious, so she made a humming sound to encourage Cassia to continue, but the old lady stayed silent as she went up the stairs.