“And that’s why I decided to become a mage despite my family being one that was filled with warriors.” Shiro explained as the party nodded their heads.
“So what happened after that little beggar? If I remember correctly, after we both got our classes as mages, you disappeared not too long after. Do you know how worried I was? I thought you f*cking died in the dungeon or something.” She asked with a frown.
“Well… In one of the dungeon runs, I, unfortunately, caught the attention of a rather rude fellow who kidnapped me and took me away from the city. For the next few years or so, I was forced to work with this bandit group of sorts. It wasn’t until the current sect master of the hidden sect found me was I able to escape from the group. From then on, he started to train me and I became the branch master. Unfortunately, I was not able to return to our city and when I was finally allowed to leave, I found news of you going missing.” Nan Tian explained while scratching his cheek.
“Damn… Do you know who the bandit group is? Imma go teach them a lesson for kidnapping little beggar.” Shiro frowned.
*cough
“The bandit group is also known by the name of Black Monarchy. And also, can you not call me little beggar anymore? It’s kind of embarrassing to be called little beggar when I’m the branch master.” Nan Tian asked while rubbing the bridge of his nose.
“Heh~ Why not? Do you not like little beggar? Did you forget about the times we spent together with me calling you by that nickname over and over again?” Shiro asked with a grin.
Glancing to the side, Nan Tian didn’t say anything and just smiled.
Meanwhile, Chen Yu couldn’t believe what he was seeing. His branch master, one that most of the sect members feared, actually had a past where he was called little beggar. If the rest of the sect knew of this…
“Chen Yu, any word of this in the sect and you know what happens.” Nan Tian narrowed his eyes while giving Chen Yu a ‘smile’.
“I’ll keep it a secret!” Chen Yu widened his eyes and replied in an instant.
“Oi, don’t pick on my friend’s man.” Shiro frowned and smacked Nan Tian on the shoulder.
“. . . Fine.” Nan Tian nodded his head after a moment as Chen Yu sighed in relief.
‘Great Empress, I owe you my life ah…’ He cried out in his mind. He knew that as long as he stayed around Shiro’s group with Silvia, his life would be safe.
“Ah, by the way, what shall I call you now? Kuromi, Shiro or little snow?” Nan Tian asked.
“Little snow my ass! Do I still look like a loli ah?!” Shiro frowned.
“Just call me Shiro or something.” She shrugged.
“Alright. In that case then Shiro, can you tell me what exactly happened to you or rather, Kuromi?” Nan Tian nodded his head before asking with a serious expression.
“Sure. These girls here already know. Just know that me and Kuromi are technically two sides of the same coin. We’re the same person in one sense. It wasn’t too long ago did we merge and I got her memories. As for how she died, it’s by a guy named Duan Han Yin. I don’t know if you know him but his attitude suddenly changed one day and he became enemies with me.” Shiro explained as Nan Tian furrowed his brows.
“Sorry, I don’t have any recollection of a person named Duan Han Yin. I’ll have some of my people search for some information about him if you can tell me what he looks like.” He replied.
“Give me a second.” Shiro nodded before waving her hand.
Suddenly, mist started to form in the air as Shiro activated her Fae Illusions to make it look like Duan Han Yin.
The figure was that of a handsome man who looked like he was in his mid 20’s. He had a set of refined features that made him look a little feminine in a good way. Long black hair that reached his back and a fire marking that extended from his right hand to his back.
“Hmm… I see. Ok, I’ll give my people a message now.” Nan Tian nodded as he took a picture and sent it to his subordinates.
“Anyways, what are you planning to do in this city then?” Shiro asked with a smile while dismissing the illusion.
“Me? Well I guess I’ll follow my initial plan and maybe stay with your group for a bit?” He asked.
“Hmm… ok but you’re not allowed to help, ok?” Shiro replied.
“That’s fine.” Nan Tian nodded his head since he was just happy that he could spend time with Kuromi again or rather, Shiro.
“Welp, seems like we’ve got a spectator to our adventures now, huh?” Madison raised her eyebrows.
“Oh it’ll be fine. If anything, I’ll make sure lil’ Tian behaves ok?” Shiro smiled.
“Lil’ Tian?” Nan Tian raised his eyebrows at the nickname.
“What? You don’t like it? Should I keep with bastard Tian then?” Shiro grinned.
*Cough!
“Lil’ Tian would be fine.” Nan Tian smiled in defeat.
“There we go, so obedient.” Shiro laughed before standing up.
“I’ll be right back, seems like Attie’s awake.” She said as she disappeared from her spot.
“Who’s Attie?” Nan Tian asked the party.
“I’m not handing Shiro over to you!” Lyrica called out as she immediately declared war against Nan Tian.
“Ha?” Confused at the sudden declaration, Nan Tian couldn’t help but tilt his head.
“Pft, since Shiro’s not here, I don’t see why we shouldn’t say it since it’s pretty obvious. You see lil’ Tian, Shiro has a few admirers and one of them is our dear ol Lyrica here.” Madison chuckled while gesturing towards Lyrica.
“Ah I see. Well Ku- Shiro always had lots of admirers even when she was younger. Lots of people wanted to be her husband after all.” Nan Tian nodded his head.
“And I’m guessing that includes you?” Aarim asked as she crossed her arms with interest.
“Maybe.” Nan Tian rubbed his nose since things were more obvious after he realised that Shiro was indeed the one that saved his life through teaching him magic. If it wasn’t for this, he would have never been saved by the current sect master.
“Good luck Lyrica. He has a strong childhood friend card on his side.” Aarim patted Lyrica’s shoulder.
“Urg…”
“I’m back~ What are you lot talking about now?” Shiro called out as she jumped out of the portal with Attie in her arms and Yin following behind her.
“Oh nothing too important. Just some personal interests.” Nan Tian replied.
“I see. Well as long as a feud doesn’t appear between y’all, I’ll be fine.” Shiro nodded before ordering some food for everyone.
“Ah by the way, lil’ Tian, do you still like eating ramen? I remember that it used to be your favourite back when we were children.” Shiro asked.
“A little.” Nan Tian nodded. Back when he was a beggar, eating ramen was like going to heaven for him. However, now that he had access to better food, ramen wasn’t on his menu anymore.
“In that case then, I’ll order you some now.” Shiro smiled and called for some ramen.
Seeing that Chen Yu was about to tell Shiro about the fact that he never ate ramen in the sect, Nan Tian quickly glared at him to stop him from telling the truth.
This did not escape Shiro’s notice as she quickly smacked him on the head lightly with her hand.
“What did I say about bullying Chen Yu.” Shiro frowned as Nan Tian apologised.
‘Hehe, Great Empress now has the branch master on a leash. Maybe I can bully the branch master now.’ Chen Yu thought with himself with a chuckle.
“And you Chen Yu, don’t slander your branch master randomly just because I’m here ok? Or else I’ll get Silvia to make you sleep on the couch or something. I don’t know what you couples do.” Shiro glanced over at Chen Yu.
*cough!
Nodding his head, Chen Yu behaved himself. The dream of bullying the branch master was still so far away.
“Um, Shiro, so who’s Attie?” Nan Tian asked while pointing at Atesh.
“Oh, him? He’s my son.”
*PFT!
“Y-your son?” Nan Tian asked in surprise as he felt his heart puncture from the news. Even taking 1 million points of damage felt better than this.
“Yup. Though he’s not my biological son. In a nutshell, he’s a sentient spirit formed from the fusion of two fires that I had obtained. Since he’s so cute, I kept him as my son.” Shiro smiled as Nan Tian nodded his head.
‘Damn, my heart can’t take too many surprises.’ He thought to himself.
Sighing in relief, he started to eat his ramen while trying not to make eye contact with Lyrica since he felt like he would be killed several times from the intensity of her stare.
Meanwhile, Shiro found it a little weird that the dinner table felt like a war zone but decided to ignore it and fed Attie some food.
