"Here you go." Clair handed Rion a cup as he sat on the couch.
"Thank you… and sorry for making you make tea instead," Rion said.
Clair lightly shook her head while blowing on her coffee. "No, it's alright. Coffee isn't for everyone." She then took a sip.
Rion did the same, savoring the taste of his tea. It was delicious.
They sat in silence for a while before Clair finally spoke up. "I was an adventurer too, at one point."
Rion turned to her, his eyes wide. "Really!?"
Clair nodded. "Mhm. I'm retired now, though."
"Is that so…? Could I ask what rank you were when you retired?" Rion asked.
A sly grin spread across Clair's face. "Two."
"WHAT!?" Rion jolted forward, almost spilling his tea. "Oops."
Clair laughed. "Haha, I just went on a lot of quests. My actual strength is probably closer to a higher tier Rank Three."
"Even so that's still amazing! Then why'd you retire? You don't seem that old."
"Thatold huh? I-I'll take it as a compliment… Are you sure you wanna know though? It's kind of a downer."
Rion took another sip of his tea. "I'm assuming you wouldn't have brought up your retirement if you didn't want to talk about it. Plus, I'm curious either way."
Clair froze for a moment, then let out a chuckle. "Haha, you're a cheeky guy, you know that?"
Rion shrugged.
"Well listen closely. I had a childhood friend named Cain," she continued. "He and I were what you could call rivals—always butting heads with each other. We swore that when we got older, we'd become adventurers and continue our rivalry."
"Well, that sounds sweet," Rion noted.
"It doesn't stay sweet I can promise you that."
"Figured…"
"Anyway, we did grow up, and the two of us headed to the capital to register as adventurers. After that, our journey began. At first, it was just the two of us—traveling to all sorts of places, fighting different creatures, helping people. It was the most fun I ever had in my life… but along the way, for reasons I still don't understand, Cain started focusing on different things."
"Like money?"
Clair nodded, "Yup. Money, his rank… He started making shady moves, avoiding quests that didn't pay 'properly' or offer enough recognition. Which, by all means, is fine, but I refused to be a part of it. So, I tried to break off our partnership, but…"
"But?"
Clair let out a heavy sigh. "He begged me not to go. Said he'd change. So I gave him the benefit of the doubt… but he didn't change. Eventually, I had enough and told him I was done. Again, he begged me to stay—even went so far as to confess his feelings to me."
"Woah" Rion exclaimed. "Dude was doing way too much."
"Right!? Obviously, I rejected him, and we went our separate ways. But before I left, he called out to me, asking if we were still rivals. I didn't know what to say, so I just responded… 'Yes, of course.'"
Clair then fell silent.
"Maybe if I hadn't this could have all been avoided," she muttered before shaking her head. "Oh well… Continuing where I left off—time passed, and one day I received a letter. It was from him, requesting that we meet up."
"Of course, I accepted. I was excited even, I hadn't seen him in years. So maybe, just maybe he had changed… and I was right, he did change. Just not for the better…"
(And thus, Rion's adventure continues…)