After three hours of practice, Alan called for the ladies to take a break and freshen up. In the afternoon, they would visit the castle because the king called a meeting, wanting to see all the heroes.

Ryuji felt a surge of genuine joy at the prospect of seeing Akari and Ryo again, though he knew that things might have changed. He was determined not to let this alter their relationship.

'Even if they said those things because of the trap's gas. I won't leave them to rot alone in that place... Now that I know Heroes is a commodity to the kingdom.'

He wasn't a superhero, but those two were nice enough to him, and he thought having a tailor and chef might help in the long run.

"Alan, can you tell me how bad the heroes are really doing?"

In the private room of Alan, Ryuji sat on the sofa opposite him, the creak of the wood resounding as he took a glass from the table and motioned for Alan to fill his cup.

'Somehow Alan makes me feel like being at home...'

Alan just shrugged his shoulders before taking out a small bottle of whiskey, the scent of caramel, tobacco and dark chocolate filling Ryuji's nose.

"Mmh, a peaty whiskey that goes well with the sugary one. Sweet and refreshing, but burns in your throat." Alan mused while sipping from his cup before adding a ball of ice and a third of the thick brown liquid to Ryuji's cup. "Careful, or the next time, you might end up in a maid's bed, brother."

Ryuji heard Alan's words too slowly—after necking the sweet yet warm whiskey, he couldn't help but cough several times.

"You fool... give it here."

The complexity of the flavour made him somehow relaxed as Alan poured an additional two fingers of whiskey into each of the glasses.

"When are you going to talk about the heroes?" Ryuji looked at his friend, completely focused on his drink, the scent of whiskey permeating the room.

"Slow down. I need you to be calm for the upcoming trip." Alan's face said everything; since Ryuji left, the conditions for most of the heroes likely became horrible, even more for those like Akari and Ryo.

"About--"

Before Ryuji could speak, Alan interrupted him. "Don't worry, I managed to hire that chubby Ryo and the lovely Akari as a chef and maid trainee for now. They are working as my servants in the castle, allowing me to keep them safe. Though they both miss you quite dearly."

"You can just hire heroes like that?"

Jangle!

With the sound of ice crackling around his glass, Alan just pointed at himself with a smug look. "I am a duke, you know, brother?"

Ryuji paused his drink and grinned before asking once again. "What about the others? There were nearly twenty heroes in total..."

Alan had a deep frown on his face, the glistening ice in his drink crackling before he sighed. "Five have died since you left." He then seemed to consider his words. "Though I checked and they weren't people you interacted with. As for the key party with that moron holy knight... Well, he seems to have a great grudge against you." Alan chuckled, clearly finding the situation entertaining.

"Sigh. I knew it..." Ryuji clenched his jaw.

'What a shame.' He hadn't really spoken with them, but he could not say he did not care for his classmates in a situation like this. The fact the holy knight held a grudge would probably become worse if he knew the truth... 'If he knows Erika isn't a virgin anymore, he'll flip like a little psycho.'

"Okay... but please tell me the conditions of the other heroes. I feel bad enough for leaving them alone and having them live in such an awful place."

"It's not just them, but there are some among the other nobles and commoners who don't find living with heroes something they want; thus, many of the Chosen live a much worse life than you." Alan's words cut deep, but his voice and tone were quite gentle and considerate.

"Honesty, I didn't really meet any of them before coming to this world..." Ryuji opened up, sipping the warm, sweet whiskey. "I wanted to make friends, to distract myself from how different I was... Haha, but now I accept that part of me, well, not completely." Ryuji corrected himself, knowing he was still unique.

"Now? Does this mean you found your motivation?" Alan smiled brightly. "And you do have friends, so what's with all these pity talks."

"Shut up, I can pity myself a little... My motivation, huh... for now, it's those two girls... I want to get to know Yumiko better; she cannot remember the past, and I want to help her remember one day."

Ryuji leaned back while Alan looked in thought before he leaned forward and whispered to Ryuji. "Hey, Ryuji... about Yumiko, but I think I know who she might be thanks to your classmates telling me some things."

"Oh!?" The moment he heard this, Ryuji became interested, almost spilling the last of his whiskey.

Alan patted his shoulder before shaking his head and smiling brightly. "Stop drinking for a bit and listen carefully."

"Shoot, but if it's a lie, I'll beat you down..."

"Idiot, I wouldn't lie to my golden hen like that! Well... she is someone related to you, actually." Alan's gaze wandered, and he looked more nervous than usual.

"She's related to me? I don't have any relatives other than my dad after my mother died." Ryuji looked clueless for a moment before Alan slapped his thigh and shook his head.

"Not like that... I mean, she's supposedly Yumiko Sakurai. Does that name ring a bell?" Alan looked serious, different from when the two were joking together.

"Yumiko Sakurai... no, I never heard that name, at least not on Earth... No, wait..."

An image came to his mind, a mature woman, sitting in the staffroom smelling of tobacco, her lovely blue eyes and blonde hair in a high ponytail. Though she was short, her hips and breasts were quite huge... like Yumiko... his fox lover. "Alan, that woman... she is probably my teacher, but she said her memories are gone, and she arrived in the beast kingdom over ten years ago."

"Haa... fuck... Ryuji, can you accept an apology from me... I mean it." Alan, for the first time, got off the sofa and bowed to Ryuji, his glossy hair hanging low. "Because of my niece's mistake... and an error during summoning, it seems that she not only suffered heavy damage to her brain but ended up transferred fifteen years in the past and became another race."

"Alan... It's not like you could stop that or knew until it was too late, right?" Ryuji didn't feel angry or anything bad. Instead, he felt a heavy weight off his chest, that his lover wasn't some strange existence he might never understand.

"It's not that Ryuji, because of our mistake... she must have suffered greatly as a slave for so long... I don't know how to apologise enough to you and her for Liana's mistake..."

"Alan... it's not like we are in a position to blame you or Liana. I will speak about it with Yumiko and see if she can remember anything. All I ask is if she becomes a hero that she isn't classed as a Chosen..."

"What do you mean, her combat prowess..."

Ryuji shook his head, "no, I mean in the future. Me, Yumiko and Erika come as one Chosen. I won't part with them for any price."

Alan sighed in defeat. "I thought you had some sort of feelings for Erika and more for Yumiko, but it's stronger than I thought. Fine, but make sure you don't die... Many already hate you. The entire hero party, for one."

"Don't mind them. I will make sure nobody bothers us." Ryuji took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment before he finished the rest of his glass, a wide grin on his face. "Well, for now, let's continue drinking a little longer and then prepare for the meeting at the castle."

"Sure, but do you want to know if Yumiko's changed... er, is still like your teacher?" Alan couldn't help but smirk while asking such a question.

Ryuji shook his head and sighed. "Alan, I don't care if she was my teacher, mother or sister in the other world. Now, she is my woman, and nothing will change that thought. But yes, it would be nice if she did remember her past and became more at ease."

He rubbed his neck in embarrassment, showing a rare moment of embarrassment, looking at Alan's smirk mocking him. 'Damn, this bastard saw me being embarrassed!'

Alan shook his head. "It's so strange how you can so easily accept them into your life. I fear betrayal and loss..."

"I just choose not to think about it. If I make sure to satisfy her physical and emotional needs, then there isn't much more I need to do other than have money, which I have quite a lot of thanks to your dungeon choice, haha."

Alan, seemingly a bit drunk, gave Ryuji a long, hard look. "Brother, you really are a lucky person, huh?"

"What do you mean?" Ryuji looked confused.

"It's a good thing Erika chose you. Having her as an enemy would be bad for everyone, even the demon king..."

The words of Alan made Ryuji choke on his mouthful of whiskey, almost coughing to death.

"Come on, don't speak nonsense. How could I be a demon king... Idiot." For a moment, Ryuji felt his forehead sweating, worried he might have been figured out.

Though Alan was a friend, there are some things you just can't say to people without unbreakable trust and bonds.