Despite being much older, Shiro’s face didn’t change much. Drawn eyes, a broad chin, and a benevolent look, were the big man’s main features.

“Shiro?” Luke questioned incredulously as he looked at the man in front of him.

“Luke?” The Protector also recognized him.

Shiro, skeptical that what he was seeing was real, hugged the half-wolf with all the strength he had. Luke reciprocated. After all, this was really like a dream. After so many years of searching, after the remaining trio had given up on finding their friends, Shiro was there and looked very well.

Ten years ago, when The Protector managed to convince Luke to go and get help, he was found by the knight in the orange cape and, in an interrogation, told everything he saw the tiara do, including the fact that the tiara fell apart with his friend.

John Landford, Sixth Knight of the Table of the Landford Family, did not believe any of Shiro’s words and turned the boy over for trial.

Shiro believed that this was the end of him because the Patriarchs of the Noble Families of Oukiwa were not used to being lenient with thieves, even less so when you have the support of bigwigs like the owner of the knick-knack shed and the Landfords.

However, Shiro’s case did not even come to light because a very perceptive woman managed to convince even the Patriarch of the Landford Family that sentencing a child to public death could result in a revolt.

Therefore, nine of the ten knights of the Landford Table decided to raise this boy and adopt him. Shiro was happy that he would finally change his life and have opportunities, only he regretted that he could not go back for his companions.

Luke listened to the whole story carefully, without interrupting the big man, who was now over six feet tall, and at the end asked: “But what about the Landford massacre? Were you there?”

“Are you kidding? Of course, not… if I was, I wouldn’t be here.”

The Landford Massacre, that’s what the night three years ago was known, when all the Landfords were killed. Since there were no official witnesses left, no one knows whether it was rival nobles, monsters, or demons that killed them. Since Landford Manor was a little further away from Oukiwa, there were no witnesses.

With trembling hands as he remembered the fateful day that Sarah and Shiro disappeared, Luke said with a trembling voice: “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry… I looked for you guys, I swear I did.”

Sitting on a bench near the labyrinth of the Mansion, Shiro reached out and stroked the hair between the half-wolf’s fallen ears.

“It’s all right… Look at us, we’ve managed to change a lot. We’re working for the Strogueher.”

Luke tried to pull himself together on the spot. “Are you working as a security guard?” he questioned, seeing that the big guy was wearing black armor and an Ebony Sledgehammer on his back, both pretty expensive pieces of equipment.

“Uhum.”

At that moment, Luke considered telling the whole truth, that Matthew, Meredith, and he had not changed. But he thought better of it and didn’t say, after all, as much as they were childhood friends, ten years was still a long time.

“Can you introduce me to the rest of the surroundings of the mansion, then?”

“It will be my pleasure. In this one year that I’ve been working here, I’ve had a lot of free time.”

For then, Shiro took the half-wolf for a full tour of the vicinity. Since Nathalia had already introduced him to the inside of the mansion and some of the staff, his only concern now was the grounds on which the mansion stood.

Since sneak attacks on noblemen’s mansions were not isolated cases, it was also not strange for a new bodyguard to be concerned about this. However, his real intention was to find out more and more about the Strogueher family.

Behind the large field behind the mansion, there was a beautiful forest in which a small stream ran through the trees. Luke concluded that he should warn Nathalia about this because if she ran in this direction, she could be surrounded, and if she died, his contract was over.

After a few minutes of walking, the pair of friends decided to return to the mansion. During the walk, Shiro explained where he had been and what he had been doing in the past years.

It seems that when the Landford Massacre happened, he was doing escort duty for a load of medicine, so he was the only survivor of those who lived in the mansion.

When this happened, he found many different jobs in the Dungeons and even became a Class-C adventurer. Eventually, he accepted a contract to protect the Strogueher Mansion in Vasconcelos in compensation for the deliverance that the Matriarch of this family made when he was children.

Luke also explained how he had become a bodyguard, but whenever Shiro mentioned the names of Matthew and Meredith, the half-wolf sidestepped the subject. Which made Shiro think that both of them had split up, or worse, had died.

“You’ve never been in a Dungeon?” Shiro inquired nonconforming when Luke revealed that he was not even F-Class, because he had never entered a Dungeon or taken a Class test.

“No.”

“Why?”

“Dungeons are too stinky, just passing in front of their gates makes my nose start to burn.”

“HAHA, that’s true, the deeper the Dungeon is, the more intense its stench seems. If you avoided them for so long, are you sure you can handle it now?”

“Yes… We lived in the sewers back then, didn’t we?”

“Yeah, I bet you won’t have much trouble until you get to D-Class either. You were pretty agile when we were kids.”

“And you’re pretty strong… Wait a second, are you implying that I’m weaker than you?”

“Nah, not that much. I mean, you look pretty fit, and you’re looking good, he’s no longer the same as before, I bet if you train hard, you’ll make it to C-Class one day.”

The half-wolf felt provoked by those words because he trained hard after his friends were taken away. Yoelona had taught him everything he knew, both about stealing, planning, and killing.

“How about a friendly match of ‘Luck or Fight’ then?” Luke proposed while remaining inexpressive. “Worth the month’s wages.”

Shiro didn’t know if he was being arrogant or dumb, so he asked:

“What is your salary?”

“One thousand silver coins.”

“A THOUSAND?!” Shiro was startled because his salary was only two hundred silver coins and one hundred bronze coins.

“Oh! Hehe… Is that too much for you?” Luke said with an evil smile. “If you’re confident, we can bet two months.”

Shiro believed his own forcefulness, and even as he looked at the half-wolf’s muscles, he made a bold offer. “Three months’ salary.”

The half-wolf hesitated at that second. After all, Shiro was really strong as a kid, and if Luke lost, his friends would have to do several robberies to get by until the wagon heist.

Still, Luke was also pretty confident in his own talents. So, with a handshake, they closed the bet.

——

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