{Odin's POV}
The room was dark except for the faint, pulsing glow in front of me.
Threads of blue mana coiled together, swirling in a steady ball.
While I sat cross-legged on the bed with. my back straight, and palms hovering just above my knees.
Each breath came slow and deliberate.
Every inhale drew the mana closer; every exhale steadied the flow threatening to slip away.
In front of me, three 7.62 rounds lay gleaming on the blanket, their brass casings catching the faint light from the orb still forming before my chest.
It had taken me hours just to make those three.
The fourth shimmered now, the air around it bending slightly from the heat of focused energy.
[Don't lose focus… Not now.]
The sphere pulsed once more before contracting.
Then the light peeled back, folding inward before it solidified into shape: a copper tip, a brass casing, and a primer seal.
And a beat later, the bullet dropped neatly into my lap with a soft thub.
While I exhaled hard, letting my spine ease against the headboard. "This is gonna be a massive pain."
For a moment, I just stared at the four tiny rounds lined up before me.
Four… That was all I'd managed.
Four bullets for hours worth of meditation and focus so tight my skull felt clamped in a vice.
But after multiple failures, it worked…
Twenty minutes of uninterrupted concentration for each round.
Any distraction, or a sound, a stray thought, or even breathing wrong, and the mana unravelled like I would if all this turned out to be a very lucid dream.
And for someone who'd never meditated for more than three seconds in his life… four was a miracle.
I rubbed my eyes, half-laughing, half-groaning.
Still, progress was progress.
I looked outside the window, at the moon hanging in the sky, and let out a sigh.
Outside, the city had finally gone quiet.
I gathered the bullets carefully into my palm, their negligible weight now felt grounding.
[Can't be acting too trigger happy now…]
Laying the bullets beside the rifle, I stretched my legs and stared out the window.
The night air was cool… And for the first time since I'd arrived here, the silence didn't feel hostile.
It just felt… waiting.
-Knock. Knock.
The knock came just as I was halfway through convincing myself that four bullets counted as "massive progress."
-Knock Knock.
Then came another knock. A bit softer this time.
Sighing, I turned and crossed the room, with joints protesting from sitting cross-legged too long.
When I opened the door, whatever I'd expected on the other side wasn't her.
Lyra stood there.
No longer covered in blood and grime.
Red hair that caught the light from the corridor's glow like a living flame.
Blue eyes bright enough to shame the moon.
She wore a white tunic and simple trousers, yet she still looked every bit the warrior that had dropped from the sky to save my sorry ass from the horde.
For a second, I forgot how to breathe.
She tilted her head, watching me with that half-amused, half-curious look she seemed to specialize in. "Hello? You there?"
I realized I'd been standing there like a malfunctioning NPC before finally snapping back to reality as heat climbed up my neck, burning straight through to my face.
While Lyra's lips curved into a sly grin. "Aww… you blushing?"
"Oh, fluff off, Liora!" I shot back on pure reflex…
And froze.
Her grin faltered.
While my brain took one agonizing second to register what I'd just said.
You don't bring the Dawnmother's name into something like that.
Not as a joke. Not ever… Even I understood that.
But then again, I couldn't exactly tell her Liora is my Ex
The silence that followed was brutal.
I swear I could hear her heartbeat from here.
"I-I mean Lyra," I said finally, voice strangled.
"Yeah… of course," she nodded a little too quickly, almost afraid.
"I-I mean, both your names are kinda similar…" I added, scratching the back of my neck.
"Right. Totally." Her nodding sped up just enough to make it worse.
The silence that followed was so awkward I could practically feel it radiating off both of us.
"So…" I said, stepping aside, "… come on in."
She took the invitation like a lifeline, brushing past me and pretending she wasn't just as flustered.
"Anyway," Lyra began, clasping her hands behind her back as she turned toward me, "I came to tell you the Duke made his decision about your reward."
"Oh?" I asked, trying to sound too invested.
Anything to put that previous blunder behind as I said "Let me guess, a shiny medal and a firm handshake?"
"Money," she said, grinning, "and a residence here in Cardella."
I blinked. "…A house?"
"Yep."
"That's… nice, I guess?"
Her grin faded into disbelief. "Nice? Odin, do you have any idea what it costs to buy property in Cardella?"
"Nope."
"It's insane! This city is the Empire's crown jewel! We're second only to the royal capital itself… only because they have the biggest Dungeon in the world…"
She gestured toward the window, like the whole skyline beyond was about to back her up.
"As for us, Odin… we're right on the edge of the Great Forest. We've got dungeons, Monsters, Ferals and Magical Beasts… everything the rest of the Empire dreams about hunting is right next door!"
That part made me pause.
[So… dungeons… basically the full Isekai package?]
That stirred something like real excitement in my chest.
"Huh," I said, smirking, "guess that's actually kind of cool."
Lyra crossed her arms with a triumphant little huff. "Exactly."
"Alright, you win. It's cool."
She nodded, satisfied. "Good, because while the Duke's people are handling the paperwork and all that noble nonsense, I volunteered to host you at my place."
"You what?"
Her grin turned proud and just a little smug. "Yep. So be grateful… You get to crash under my roof, eat my food, and bask in my hospitality… Try not to be too overwhelmed by my generosity."
I deadpanned. "Wow. Thank you, Lady Lyra, for your immense generosity and whatnot."
"Better," she said with mock approval, though the grin didn't leave her face.
[This is turning out to be rather fun…]