The two of them left the alley way without seeing me at all. I followed after them, and soon we were all walking down a road outside of town. It was Fifi and her brother, and I had a feeling that it had only been a few minutes later, rather than years like in the previous jumps. The maid was walking alongside her brother, who had put his mask back on, giving him a strange and mysterious look.
I was following alongside them, but I was a ghost at this point, unable to interact with them at all.
“It’s been five years. What happened to you? Why did you never come?” Fifi asked.
“I wanted to at first, but my mentor said he wouldn’t let me. He said that I wasn’t ready.”
“Mentor… are you an apprentice?”
“My mentor is a he…” He hesitated for a moment and then sighed. “He’s a Dungeon Diver. He’s teaching me to be a Dungeon Diver as well.”
I was pretty sure he meant to say that his mentor was a Hero. He was training to be a Hero as well. I had never heard of people training to be heroes before. You could gain the token from a town that you need some noble act for, but other than that you were either a Hero or you were not. The only way to become a True Hero that I was aware of was to defeat a Demon Lord.
Fifi’s face went white as she heard what he had been doing. Dungeon diving was an extremely dangerous job.
“Who would make one of us a Dungeon Diver? Isn’t that shameless?” She asked irritably.
Her brother chuckled. “My life was already sacrificed, remember? Where were their thoughts of maintaining our bloodline when they hung me?”
There was anger and emotion in his voice. He was still furious at being killed back then. Fifi continued to walk by his side, silently watching him. They walked in silence for some time. After the history they had shared, was it a surprise that it was difficult for them to talk? Fifi finally slowed her step to a stop and turned to him. She gestured to a small mansion in the distance.
“This is the mansion of my new master. It’s best if you don’t approach.”
Her brother made a face. “I will free you from slavery. I’m saving up money to buy you.”
The only part of him that was visible past his mask was his eyes, which flashed in shock. “What do you mean? They never should have enslaved you!”
“I volunteered for this.” Fifi declared. “It was the only way to protect me.”
“That… even so… I have the strength to protect you now!”
“And what about mother?” Fifi demanded. “Our Master was kind enough to buy her as well.
He looked away, a tinge of pain in his eyes. “Has she… forgiven me?”
“She’s… done her best to forget…” Fifi responded, her voice filled with sadness. “You won’t change your mind?”
“Heh… the man you give yourself to is a man who should love you completely.” He responded. “My heart always belonged to another. I wasn’t strong enough to protect her back then. I am strong enough to protect you now.”
“We don’t need protecting!” She yelled back suddenly.
“That…” Her brother looked away guiltily.
“You shouldn’t have come back! You shouldn’t make this any harder on mom… or me!” She spun away and started running toward the mansion.
The bother watched her run away, a helpless look on his face. Then, he turned to me.
“Would you have done things differently?”