Aston and his other former party members most certainly weren’t his friends. And he got along with the demi-humans in the slums, yes, but they were also his patients. His mentor had been, well, a mentor, and Umin and Cress from the Royal Institute weren’t exactly his friends either.

An eerie chuckle echoed from above. “Not a single friend. What a lonely man you are,” said Carmilla, a wraith (and their housemate) clad in jet-black garb and wearing a mischievous grin.

“You say that like you have any,” Zenos pointed out.

“Of course not,” Carmilla retorted. “No one is worthy of Carmilla, the Lich Queen.”

“True. I doubt anyone can match up to a top-tier undead who’s been around for three centuries.”

“I reign upon a solitary throne. I need no friends. None can domesticate me,” she said, puffing out her chest proudly.

“Yeah, yeah...”

“Oh, right!” Lily interjected, as though she’d just remembered something. “I was thinking of baking a cake tonight. Will you be there, Carmilla?”

“Naturally.”

“Okay. I want you to eat it fresh out of the oven, so come down to the table as soon as I call, okay?”

Carmilla chuckled. “Of course. Nothing beats freshly baked. I shall be here as soon as you beckon me over.”

“Sounds to me like you’ve been thoroughly domesticated,” Zenos remarked, unable to help himself. He then propped his elbows on his desk, and his chin on his hands. “Friends, huh...” he mumbled. “I think I used to have some, long ago...”

Memories came to mind of huddling together in a dimly lit room, fending off hunger. The children he’d spent time with at the orphanage in the slums had been his friends, surely. But now he had no idea where any of them were.

Lily peered intently into Zenos’s face as he reminisced. “Hey Zenos, what am I to you?”

“Hmm? Well...” The healer crossed his arms and looked at Lily, who appeared tense. “You’re like...family, I suppose.”

“What?!”

“I mean, you know, I’ve never had any family, so I’m not sure, but...”

Lily approached him, blushing. “S-So, if I’m family, that makes me your wife, right?”

“Huh? Does it?”

“Yeah! It does! I’m your wife!”

Carmilla chuckled again. “Jumping to conclusions as usual, Lily.”

Lily grumbled. “What about Carmilla, then?” she asked Zenos.

“Uh... A guardian spirit?”

“N-N-Nonsense!” the wraith snapped. “How dare you call the Lich Queen a guardian spirit!”

“It’s a joke,” Zenos told her. “You’re family too.”

“Wh— But— I—” Carmilla stammered in confusion, then floated up, disappearing into the second floor.

“What’s her problem?”

“I think she was embarrassed,” Lily said.

As the healer and the elf exchanged glances, the clinic’s door loudly burst open, and three women—the leaders of the demi-humans in the slums—nonchalantly barged in.

“Ooh, what’s happening here? Anything fun?” asked Zophia of the lizardmen.

“I wanna join!” said Lynga of the werewolves.

“Don’t forget about me,” added Loewe of the orcs.

“So, like, why do you guys always come over together?” Zenos asked.

After the temporary closure due to Zenos’s infiltration of the Royal Institute of Healing, the clinic in the ruined city was slowly returning to its usual routine.

Chapter 1: Night Festival in the Slums

“The doc’s mentor, huh...?”

The usual gang was gathered at the clinic this afternoon, and the demi-human leaders, curious about Becker’s letter, were having a lively conversation.

“Must’ve been an impressive guy to be the doc’s mentor,” Zophia mused.

“I didn’t even know he had a mentor,” Lynga chimed in. “I was surprised.”

“He was an elite healer, yeah?” Loewe asked. “‘Impressive’ is right.”

Zenos took a sip of the tea Lily had brewed and nodded slowly. “Well, he was impressive... I think...” He’d been quite surprised to find out that his mentor, who’d looked like a dodgy old man at best, had actually been an elite healer. “He taught me to read, told me everything about the world of healing magic, all sorts of things. If I am who I am now, it’s thanks to him for sure.”

“Are you looking into this mentor of yours, doc?” Zophia asked.

“Well, I’m curious,” the healer admitted.

Lynga and Loewe both made a bit of a face at this. “I wouldn’t recommend it,” Lynga said.

“Me neither,” Loewe agreed. “I want to help you, Zenos, but I’m not too keen on that.”

“Why not?” Zenos asked.

Lynga and Loewe furrowed their brows. “I dunno much about magic,” Lynga replied, “but forbidden spells and curses? That gives me the creeps.”

“Tangible problems I can solve with my fists,” Loewe added. “But curses? I can’t punch curses.”

“Guess not,” Zenos muttered, crossing his arms behind his head.

Zophia propped her chin on her hand. “So, curses, eh... What even are they?”