A few days later, as Liebe, Hedin, Lumos, and Abel were hanging out in Dorm 7, and it was getting late, Liebe said, "Look at the time."
Abel said, "It isn't that late, now is it?"
Liebe said, "It's 1 AM."
Hedin said, "It might be a bit too late."
Liebe said, "I really should get going, since I still have some work left with Licht."
Lumos said, "Dude, you are always working. Why not take a night off and have fun?"
Liebe said, "You know what? You are right. I'm gonna take a break today and hang out with you guys. Let me just call Licht and tell him I'm going to our room tonight. And let's call in Isurugi, Gaia, Fate, and M here to join us."
Lumos said, "Calling girls? Things sure are getting spicy."
Liebe said, "It's not like that."
As Liebe called, Licht said, "Go for Licht."
Liebe said, "Yo, so it's getting late, so like, I'm staying here."
Licht said, "Like in a sleepover?"
Liebe said, "Kinda."
Licht said, "Ok then, see you tomorrow."
Liebe said, "Sure. And tell Alysa I might be late for breakfast."
Licht said, "Sorry, can't."
Liebe said, "Why?"
Licht said, "Because then she gives me the scary mom look."
Liebe said, "Ok then."
Then M, Isurugi, Fate, and Gaia also came in.
M said, "What do you want now?"
Liebe said, "Let's hang around a bit and have fun since we are having a sleepover and all."
Gaia said, "What is a sleepover?"
Liebe said, "When friends sleep together and mess around instead of sleeping is called a sleepover."
Isurugi said, "Sounds fun."
Gaia said, "But then, doesn't the fact we all sleep in HQ make it a sleepover?"
Liebe said, "It's different. We do that for work, and we are doing this to have fun."
Gaia said, "Fun?"
M said, "I'm leaving. I have better things to do than this. Also, Fate, Isurugi, and Gaia, come to my room before bed. I will brush your hair and tail before bed."
Fate said, "It sounds as if it has value."
Liebe said, "As the leader of Team Liebe, I order you to stay."
M said, "And as a person who has common sense, I'm leaving. I have better things to do than hear you all speaking all night."
Liebe said, "Come on, muscle brain, have some fun."
M said, "I have to train early tomorrow at 4 AM."
Liebe said, "And that's why we call you a muscle brain."
Gaia said, "Please stay, big sis."
Isurugi said, "Please, big sis, you can brush my tail here. Please stay."
Fate stated, "It would save energy to do it here, and it sounds more enjoyable."
M said, "Fine, then, just for tonight."
Liebe said, "Now that's the spirit. Let's start with horror stories."
Isurugi said, "Ok then."
Hedin said, "Let's go."
Abel said, "Sounds fun."
Fate said, "Ghosts don't exist."
Liebe said, "Don't be a killjoy. Isurugi, are you ready?"
Isurugi said, "Yes, sir."
Liebe said, "Don't get scared."
Isurugi said, "Understood, sir."
Liebe said, "Good. I will start first." Liebe said, "Long, long ago, there was a wolf demi-human. One day, he was traveling through a graveyard, and as he was walking..." As Liebe continued the story near the end, Liebe said, "The demi-human Fum had a very nice tail, thick fur, well-groomed, just like Isurugi's."
As Isurugi was shaking, and M was whispering under her breath, "I'm not scared, I'm not scared, I'm not scared..."
Liebe continued, "As Fum was bleeding, he felt it in his tail—something engulfing it." As Isurugi also felt something in his tail. Liebe continued, "Fum was scared, shivering, and each second he could feel gentle strokes on his tail." As Isurugi was also feeling it.
Liebe said, "Finally," as he stopped. "From behind, the maiden said, 'Fum... Fum...'" As Isurugi was hearing the voice, "Isurugi... Isurugi..."
Liebe said, "Until finally, in an instant, it hugged him, and Fum was dead." As from behind, Isurugi was hugged. Isurugi jumped up in fear as he screamed, "It's the Black Maiden! She came to take me! She will kill me!"
M said, "What?! Where is she? Where is the bitch? I will kill her! Where is it? Tell me! Show me! Save me! I'm scared!"
Liebe laughed and said, "Sorry, it was me." Isurugi said, "Sorry, what?"
Liebe said, "I used my darkness to stroke your tail all this time, and finally, it was also me. I was using my mouth to tell the story while using my magic to bring it to life."
Hedin, Lumos, and Abel laughed and said, "It's funny!"
M said, "I will kill you, Liebe."
Liebe said, "Sorry."
M said, "What would you have done if a scared child had a heart attack or died or had a stroke?"
Isurugi said, "And I was really scared, too."
Fate said, "The effects almost brought it to life, Maestro."
Liebe said, "Thank you, thank you."
Gaia said, "More stories! More!"
Liebe said, "Sure."
And after telling stories for a while, Abel said, "Guys, why do all of you want to be knights, anyway?"
Liebe said, "Well, I'm partially a knight since, you know..."
Abel said, "You partially a knight? You are pretty much Black Rose elite."
Liebe said, "I'm still not great, but the reason I wanted to be a knight is that as a kid it was just expected of me, since my mother is one and my grandfather was one. And every day, hearing about how my mother saved the day on the magic broadcast felt so cool. I wanted to be like that because it felt natural and cool to save people. But when I lost my father, it changed. I wanted to become a knight so that I could ensure no one else would have to lose anything they cared about. So here I am, working on it."
Lumos said, "Honestly, I envy you, Liebe. You have a goal, and you ran towards it until here you are, almost there."
Liebe said, "Guys, really are a bit much."
Hedin said, "Same here."
Abel said, "Teach me your strength."
Liebe said, "Enough about me. You guys tell about yourselves."
Lumos said, "Wellllllll, as a kid, my father was a knight and my mother is a commoner maid, and they fell in love, got married. Yet because of social pressure, she received a lot of death threats. And until when I was 3, when my mother took poison and, unfortunately, I saw it, and I tried, but I couldn't save her. That was the day I wanted to become a healer—the best healer in Eldoria. And eventually, my father got remarried, and I have my sister, Aoi. And finally, even my father was no more; he died in action during the rebellion of the two captains, and I became the head of our house. And here I am, a half-breed as a head, so that's how I'm a healer and working on it."
Hedin said, "I'm so sorry."
Abel said, "I'm sorry. I didn't know."
As Lumos looked, Liebe was covered in tears.
Lumos said, "Dude, why are you crying?"
Liebe said, "It's just so, so sad."
Fate said, "Maestro, tears are only useful for cleansing the eyes. Otherwise, they are inefficient."
Liebe said, "But it's so sad."
Lumos said, "Hedin, your turn."
Liebe said, "Gimme a second. Lemme wipe my tears."
Isurugi said, "Here, sir, tissue."
Liebe said, "Thanks, kid."
Hedin said, "Welllll, my father was a commoner who became a knight, and my mother was a noble, and eventually, they fell in love and got married. And until my father got killed, then my mother had no way but to marry a noble and bear him sons who will carry the title. And after the wedding, I was no more to my mother, and thus my brothers were born. And until my brother Jared died fighting you, Liebe, my mother knew I existed, but after that, I was truly hated."
Liebe said, "I'm sorry, Hedin."
Hedin said, "No, Liebe, thank you. Because of you, it became true—the truth about how I was. And I never considered Jared as my brother; he was just one of the many names who would hurt me, and because of the list, it became a little shorter. And so here I am, working in the judicial department so that I can become a judge and ensure people like me receive justice."
Liebe said, "Sure, I guess."
Hedin said, "Abel, your turn."
Abel said, "Well, my father is a commoner and an Avalon elite, and he got married to my mother, a noble, and well, here I am. They are somehow still happily married. Of course, they are a bit lovey-dovey kind at home; it gets a bit awkward. Yet he taught me how to fight for my dreams, and here I am, trying to become a knight so that every half-breed in Eldoria can live the life I did."
Liebe said, "Honestly, I'm envious. I miss those days as a kid: Mom and Dad cooking together while carrying me in the kitchen, making jokes, dinners filled with smiles. After my dad died, my mom and I became distant. I tried, but the magic in life faded. Until eventually, 'Mommy' became 'Ma'am,' and 'Love you, Mommy' to 'Thank you, Captain.' That's what life is for me: every day, watching the captain leave HQ at 5 PM to see her two-year-old son while I have work, so that she can leave at 3 PM the next day."
As Liebe finished, he looked to see everyone was crying.
Hedin said, "Why is it so sad?"
Abel said, "I'm sorry, dude."
Lumos said, "I'm sorry."
Isurugi said, "Sorry, sir. From now on, we will work 100 times harder so that the captain can leave at 1 PM."
Gaia said, "I don't get it."
Fate said, "It is quite tragic, indeed."
M said, "Ok, that was sad, but nothing to do."
Hedin said, "How could you say that after hearing Liebe?"
Abel said, "Same here."
Lumos said, "Cry with us."
M said, "No, thanks. Seems like a lot of work."
As they saw sunlight seeping in, Liebe said, "Look at that, it's morning."
Hedin said, "We have classes in about 3 hours."
Lumos said, "That's plenty. Now, M, tell us your story."
Hedin said, "Tell us."
Abel said, "We want to know."
M said, "No, I have better things to do. I already wasted the whole night listening to all your BS."
Liebe said, "Pretty, pretty please."
M said, "Fine. Someone did something. I felt sad. Someone came in and helped me heal, and here I am, becoming a knight so that I can help them fulfill the dreams of the one who saved me from the darkness."