Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

After Lucius and the party returned to Pelith, they turned their quest in to the guild receptionists. It was then that the party expressed their interest in joining the Grand Raid in a few months.

Jen, Lethen, and Paul were immediately approved, but the party was not given a pass for entry unless Rena and Lucius left the party, or completed nine more Intermediate Rank Quests or higher. They were allowed to complete these quests with their party of course, so that made the prospects a little less daunting.

The payout for the quest was split evenly five ways and so were the proceeds for selling the materials to the village chief. Thanks to that, everyone had a good amount of pocket money.

Rena had a decent amount at first, gifted from her father, but she ended up donating it to the Church of Celestia after they received their first payment from their quest. She was adamant that she live her life as an adventurer exactly as how a normal adventurer would.

Lucius wanted to object because it would mean Rena's life was harder, but the girl was exceptionally stubborn about some things, so he had no choice but to relent. He could not help but smile to himself at her dedication to being an adventurer though, so that was the only time he provided an objection.

As promised, they took the day off and would pick up a quest tomorrow to get a move on for their second Intermediate Quest. Jen had offered to do some lower-level quests to balance things out a little better for the newbies, but they refused. It was him who was the staunchest in refusal this time though.

His argument was a simple one: if I'm a burden on an Intermediate Rank quest, then I'll just be a burden in the dungeon. When he shared that sentiment, Jen had no choice but to agree. It was a valid point, and he was very glad that she agreed with him on it.

"Lucius, let's go!!!" Rena crooned. "You promised me a day out on the town!"

The red-headed girl eagerly tugged on his sleeves, pulling him out the door and into the streets. It was the middle of the day so they were bustling with people. Crowds grew thicker as they reached the main road where most of the stalls were. Rena's eyes sparkled as she looked at the busy shops, restaurants and bakeries.

"Do you want to get a cake? That bakery over there seems to sell them by the slice?" He offered.

His words were met with the happiest look he had ever seen a person make and it was accompanied by vigorous head nodding. Lucius could not help but laugh at his friend as they made their way over to a bakery called 'A Crust Above' with a sign adorned with pictures of bread and cake.

They ordered a slice to share since it was rather pricey to buy a single slice. Though it made sense because the store advertised itself to nobles and merchants. Lucius decided to be the one to pay for it this time as a thank you for Rena always being there for him, and it just felt like the right thing to do now they stood on an equal playing field, financially speaking.

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"Aw! Thanks so much Lucius!" Rena said in between mouthfuls.

The cake was a triple-layered cake with a bottom layer of chocolate, then vanilla, then finally strawberry and the icing was a simple vanilla icing, but the top was decorated beautifully with shaved chocolate pieces and a large strawberry.

It was a little too rich for his taste, but Lucius enjoyed the happiness it seemed to bring Rena. They had chosen to sit at the back of the restaurant with Lucius' left side facing the wall. This way any other customers would not see his mark and they would not be kicked out of the establishment.

Sure, Rena could use her position as the lord's daughter, but he did not want that to happen. She wanted to live as normal a life as possible away from the manor until the Grand Raid was over, so he wanted to ensure that happened no matter what.

"Where to next?" He asked Rena when she finished the last bite of cake.

"Oh! I know a place! Come on!"

She eagerly dragged him along outside of the bakery and down the street. She turned down a small street that was basically an alleyway, but for some reason there was a simple shop sitting, hidden from plain view.

"Let's go inside!"

"Um…this place looks a little…"

"A little what? You annoying little shit."

An annoyed voice called out to them as they entered the building. Apparently he had heard the beginning part of Lucius' sentence, so he decided to shut up before finishing.

"Sorry…" he apologized with a deep bow.

"Hmph. Take a look around, can't promise I'll sell to you though."

Lucius raised one eyebrow. He was always under the impression that a shop owner would want to sell his wares, but this one appeared like he could not care if they bought anything or not. In fact, he almost appeared like he would prefer if they just left…

"Mr. Karl! Hi, it's me, Rena!"

"Yeah, nice to see you, Lady Petra. Who is the brat?" The shopkeeper grumbled.

Lucius was starting to get annoyed at the man's attitude and started to turn around, however when he grabbed Rena's sleeve to bring her with him, but she pulled a reversal on him and yanked him back around so suddenly that he almost lost balance.

Rena put her hand on his chest and held up his pendant, a gift from his late father. It was the shape of an Alpha Deer and was carved from the very horn he had taken from the beast.

"Recognize this, Karl?"

The merchant, apparently named Karl, leaned forward and eyed the pendant suspiciously.

"What are you doing with that, kid?" He growled.

"It was a gift. From my father. He had it made from the horn of an Alpha Deer I fought." Lucius answered simply. He had just about enough of the grouchy man's attitude at this point and was more than ready to leave.

"I see." Karl stated plainly. "So you are Wayne's kiddo, huh? Good friend of mine. Tell you what, I'll let you buy something if you want to."

"Um, thanks?" Lucius had no idea why he phrased it as 'let him' buy something. "But you knew my dad?"

"Yeah, good friend. Shame he was killed by the Lord. Heard it was for betrayal or some other bullshit. In fact, I'm the one he asked to make that pendant there."

Lucius eyed the jewelry on his chest and gripped it tightly with his hand. He kept this necklace on day and night, even sleeping with it. The only way someone would take it from him would be from his cold, dead body.

"Thank you. I keep it with me always." He finally muttered after a long pause.

Karl simply huffed, "Sure. Looks like you've taken good care of it, so it has a good owner at least. Anyway, you wanting to buy something? Oh, Lady Petra, I have a delivery for your father here somewhere…"

Rena jumped in to stop him before he could grab the package. "No! Actually, I'm not affiliated with the estate at the moment. I'm working as an adventurer, separately from my family name, so I will not return to the manor until I accomplish something worthy of becoming heir."

"Oh right, fine then. I guess you just came to introduce the boy to the creator of his treasure then?"

"Yes." Rena answered with a gentle smile.

"Thank you both. I hope I will have enough funds in the future to visit your shop and actually purchase one of your many beautiful wares." Lucius said with an even deeper bow than before.

Karl simply dismissed them with a wave and they left the shop. After all the touring of the city and visiting the bakery, Karl's shop ended up being the last stop before the evening set in. The day was nearly perfect in every way and it was nice to take time away from fighting and protecting.

Unfortunately, the day was still marred by many angry and disgusted stares and comments made towards him and his mark.

It was illegal for him to wear anything to cover it, so unless he was being blocked by an object or person, his mark was free and clear for all to see.

"Hey, want to go get some dinner and stay at an inn? I've never stayed in one before, this is so exciting!"

"Don't get your hopes up, it is likely nothing like what you are used to." He warned.

"Yeah, I know that! Let's go to that Whistling Wolf place! We will rent a room with double beds!"

"Wait, we are sharing a room?"

"Um, yeah? The only difference between that and how we used to sleep is there's no door separating us, besides you or I could have opened the door between our rooms at any time, it is not that different…"

"Um…okay, sure. Let's get something to eat and get a room."

Lucius felt a little bit of a headache coming on. He knew that none of her father's men had been following them or trailing them since they left the manor for Rena's trip, but if this were to ever get back to him, he was sure that Richard would kill him.