Since that night, Julian spent another two weeks at the village; throughout that time, he had developed a bond with Ava, who always teased him for being too formal and 'stiffer than a stone slab,' as she said it.
Ava was a childish girl, although she doesn't look like it; she's actually twenty-three years old, but being an elf means aging doesn't have the same effect on them.
In the past, Julian always thought the elves despised humans. This was the knowledge taught by the schools of the kingdom; they saw Elves as their enemies whom they had a peace treaty in place. To the eyes of the noblemen, Elves were no different from Demons and all the other Demi-human races, no more than a foul beast incapable of logic.
In reality, this wasn't the case; the overall structure of Elven society was built from the ground up a long time ago, before the first Humans were even born…
To the Elves, Humans were just cheap copies of themselves, trying to recreate the technology and culture they had previously built.
Both do hold grudges against each other, but in the village farthest north of the Feris Region, they accepted one another, viewing humans as equals or even somewhat superior to themselves.
It has been almost three weeks since Julian arrived at the village. Every night, Julian stayed up, breaking his previous set sleeping schedule.
In the fields where tall blades of bright green grass grew, Ava sat next to him, chatting till the sunlit sky returned.
"Hey, uhh— Julian, have you ever thought about becoming an adventurer?" Ava asked.
Becoming an adventurer would mean losing his status as the lord of the region, and a whole lot to be sacrificed.
"Uhhhh, I have never thought of that before." Julian blankly replied to Ava's question.
"You want to go on an adventure with me?" Ava asked again.
Julian turned to Ava, his face flushed red. It wasn't uncommon for elves to become adventurers; it wasn't uncommon for humans and elves to party up in an adventure, either.
Ava was looking down, fiddling with her hands; there was a tinge of redness to her face.
"Yes. I do."
"Heh?" Ava was confused, surprised, and happy at the same time; her tongue twisted into itself, unable to express the multitude of emotions flashing across her mind.
Ava had thought that she would have to do some convincing before Julian would accept her offer.
She knew that Julian was a renowned noble; a noble dropping out of his role and becoming an adventurer was definitely rare to see.
A rare case indeed.
Well, it was a quick turn of events; Julian and Ava left the village soon after the conversation about becoming adventurers.
After returning to the city, Julian met up with his trusted friends, then resigned his role as lord of the region and registered as an adventurer. From the letters he received, it was certain that his leave wasn't expected.
The choice was still majorly appreciated by the nobles of the neighboring lands, who had lost a rival in future power struggles.
The party they formed quickly gained fame, known as the Black Sylph, which featured six members, five of whom we've already talked about: the Swordsmen Julian the Noble Executioner, the Mage Ava the Spirit Priestess, the Assassin Hew of Silent Darts, the Tank Heyrm the Colossal Beast, Fia the Beast's Maiden, and Iris the Dark Swordstress.
Most of them were new to the wandering adventurer life, but they fared remarkably well. Their skill in battle was already far beyond that of ordinary novice parties, and having Heyrm, a veteran adventurer of great renown, certainly helped.
By now, Fia and Heyrm's relationship had been made official and announced to the world. Heyrm was her protector, watching over her with care and empathy for the shattered young woman who had suffered so much.
Even still, his feelings were genuine, not because of sympathy.
And without a doubt, Fia felt the same; she relied on Heyrm, she knew that she wouldn't be fit for any form of relationship, she couldn't ask for it as she was, in her own words, 'used goods,' but Heyrm didn't care about that.
Their journey was a fun adventure of young, blooming love and exploration…
It opened up the eyes of Julian, his stiffness slowly fading away as he spent more and more time with the enthusiastic, childish Ava… The two were opposites, and as philosophers say, opposites attract while like repel.
Love blossomed between the young elf and the man.
One day…
"I'm pregnant," Ava exclaimed, looking Julian dead in the eye as she did so.
Julian knew she was being serious; ninety percent of the time, if Ava was cracking a joke around, she would blurt out laughing mid-sentence.
This wasn't one of her pranks. Julian had already expected it to end up this way sooner or later, but never would he have thought this day would come so soon…