“Hey, Gramps!” Reno called out.

Once the young girl had greeted the bear, who had a wheat straw sticking out from between its lips, he was beginning to piece together what was going on.

This bear is…? Hold on–is this a demi-human?! I thought they all looked kinda, more…human?! He realized.

The bipedal, human-clothed bear gave a pat to the girl’s head, “Staying safe out there? It’s been getting rowdy around here lately–”

While speaking, the bear demi-human stopped as he finally noticed the existence of the blonde-and-black haired boy standing there like a statue.

“Who the hell are ya?” The bear asked.

There was an obvious shift in tone as the black-furred demi-human went from a comforting tone straight to a bellowing, unwelcoming voice as soon as he spoke to the young boy.

“I, err…”

“Huh? Spit it out!” The bear man stomped forward.

A hot exhale propelled from the bear’s nostrils, pelting against him in a rather unsavory smell. The build of the demi-human bear in front of him reminded him of the “super bear” he encountered in the forest around Yullim, though there was obviously a big difference in the fact that this one could talk._.

“This is Emilio! He’s an acquaintance of mine, Gramps Urming!” Reno stepped between them.

“An acquaintance?” Urming relaxed, looking down at the young boy.

The bear demi-human scratched his chin as he leaned down, inspecting him and sniffing a few times.

“Hmm…” Urming grumbled.

It was all too uncomfortable for him as he could only chuckle nervously and hope the towering bear didn’t use the claws he had at his disposal.

Suddenly, the expression of the bear shifted into a welcoming smile as he laughed out, patting the young boy’s shoulders, “A friend of Little Reno’s is a friend of this old bear! Come on in!”

It was a jarring shift, but he was just glad to not be dissolving in the bear’s stomach acid as he nodded and smiled, following Reno and Urming inside of the establishment.

To his surprise, it was a clean interior awaiting; the aroma of freshly baked dough immediately greeted his nose as he stepped inside, finding a velvet carpet sitting over the wooden floorboards.

“Welcome to ‘Urming’s Fan-Fantastic Pies’!” Urming said.

Though it wasn’t anything fancy, it was a far cry from the state of the slums just outside of its doorstep. It was well-maintained, kept clean, and the smell of piping hot bakery items was definitely enough to sell him.

“We’ll have the ‘Big Bear Special’!” Reno said excitedly to the bear-man.

Urming nodded, “Oh! Comin’ right up, then! Find yourself a seat and make yourself at home, Little Emilio!”

With that said, the owner of the peculiar restaurant disappeared into the back where the aroma originated from.

For a moment, he was surprised to find no other customers inside, but he did remember Reno saying something about it supposedly being closed.

Guess she has “V.I.P” access, huh? He thought.

He looked around before taking a seat, finding paintings on the wall of unknown sceneries: a pale forest illuminated by moonlight, a valley of crimson mountains, and a cityscape that seemed somewhat familiar.

“–” He looked.

“Whatcha eyein’ over there?” Reno asked by his ear.

“–” He jumped, not hearing her sneak up on him.

Reno laughed, “If you steal anything, Gramps Urming will gobble you up, ya know?”

“Thanks for the warning, but I wasn’t thinking about that!”

Though he was curious about the paintings, what caught his eye more than that were the sets of armor sitting around and the weapons hung on the walls in questionable abundance.

He glanced around at the plethora of equipment in the eastern sector of the restaurant, “Is all of this needed for a place where you serve food?”

“Well, it’s because “Urming’s Fan-Fantastic Pies” isn’t just a restaurant,” Reno told him.

“Huh?” He raised an eyebrow.

“It’s two-stores-in-one! It’s mostly a restaurant, but it also serves as an equipment store. Though a lot of this stuff is from people who tried to rob Gramps Urming–so he robbed them instead!” Reno laughed.

That’s totally scary and not a laughing matter! He thought.

After perusing the establishment for long enough, he finally sat down at one of the tables, sitting across from Reno who looked giddy at the prospect of one of Urming’s pies.

There was nothing to do now but wait.

“…You said Urming was your family, right?” He asked.

Reno nodded, “Well, not by blood, but he’s taken care of me since I was little. He’s always been there for me.”

“I see…” He said, “…He seems strong, so why didn’t you just get him to help you out with this problem? With Oswell, I mean.”

The question seemed to instantly dampen Reno’s expression as the sparkle in her sapphire eyes dulled for a moment.

“…I can’t involve him in this. It’s my problem–my responsibility…” Reno said quietly, clenching her fists.

“Well, he cares about you, right? If he knew, I bet he’d help you in a heartbeat,” he told her.

Reno looked at him, “No. I’m not involving Gramps in this. This is my problem…”

“And mine now,” he said with a cheeky smile.

The girl didn’t look exactly pleased with his response, but even more displeased that it was the truth before she sighed out.

“You don’t have to do it, you know?…I’m in your debt, not the other way around. I stole from you, and I almost killed you, so why–”

He shrugged with a smile, “I want to be an adventurer.”

“What’s that have to do with this…?” She asked.

To him, the answer was fairly simple and a concept he had been holding within himself for some years now–especially since that one encounter that stuck out to him:

The “Red-Haired Adventurer”…He just seemed so “free”; he was smiling and laughing, kind and glowing. In a way, a man like that is the antithesis of who “Ethan Bellrose” was–a boy imprisoned in his own room…no, imprisoned in his own skin, he thought.

He looked towards one of the scenic paintings before responding, “…These types of things are exactly what adventurers find themself meddling in all the time, right? Getting into new, dangerous, but exciting situations…”

“Yeah, but that’s usually for a boatload of coins,” Reno replied, looking at him curiously.

“It doesn’t make a difference to me. I want to see the world for everything it is, for all that it has to offer; beautiful and ugly, but more than that…I don’t want anybody else to experience that,” he said.

“‘That’?” Reno repeated.

“Being taken away, held by grimy, scum-of-the-world men like that with the idea of being sold off,” he answered, “It’s just the worst. As simple as that.”