After finishing another big battle, Zich and his companions went to rest in their lodging. Other soldiers stayed behind the castle walls to clean up the area, but no one dared to request Zich’s party to do the same. After a hard day of work, rest felt especially precious. With a good sleep, Zich woke up early the next morning to have breakfast and spent the afternoon drinking tea elegantly in the garden. 

He was alone in the garden. The lodging that had previously been vacant was completely empty now because of the continuous monster invasions. Everyone else had escaped to other cities, and it felt as if Zich’s party had rented out the whole place. 

“You seem to be overflowing with ease,” Lyla said while holding her own tea supplies and taking the seat in front of him. 

“In desperate times, the one who enjoys their brief moments of peace is the true winner.”

“What are you going on about?” Like she always did, Lyla smoothly dismissed Zich’s blabbering. Then, she scanned the garden and raised her teacup to her mouth. Then, she said, “Yesterday’s battle feels like a dream.” Like she said, the garden looked as splendid as ever and didn’t seem to belong to the same city where a battle...