Jack seemed a little lost in thought before he asked Mars

"then are you related to that flaming rose general from the empire?"

Lina also lit up

"oh yeah I was also wondering about that"

Mars looked at them confused and asked

"is she also a half dragon?"

"yeah she's super famous... or rather she was..."

"was?"

Mars became even more confused but Lina soon explained

"yeah she they say she died in the rebellion the empire had a last year..."

Mars was slightly disappointed that the flaming rose general was dead, this was after all the first he had ever heard off another half dragon

"oh... well I'm not related"

"I see..."

just as the mood in the room got slightly awkward the was a knock on the door which made Mars quickly undo his transformation before Jack stood up and answered the door where a young human girl around 12-14 years old stood, she was clad in a cute waitress uniform that had a smile on her face but instantly became shy when she saw Mars which she didn't know and hid behind Jack and asked him with a slightly shaking voice

"u-uncle Jack who's that?"

Jack gave a smile and keeled down to match the girls height

"that's Mars, you remember the one I told you about yesterday Camilla?"

the girl, Camilla gave a nod as her eyes lit up and looked at Mars with a childish smile on her face

"WOW then your super strong right Mars?"

Mars gave a slightly stiff smile as he got almost blinded by the Innocent child smile's s.h.i.+ne and answered

"yeah that's right i'm super strong"

"WOW amazing!"

Lina grinned when she saw Mars's stiff smile and asked Camilla

"Camilla can you tell your mom to make us the usual?"

"sure big sister Lina, but where is uncle Jim?"

Lina put on a serious face and said

"Jim is not our friend anymore"

"why?"

"because he did a bad thing"

"okay"

Camilla gave a cute nod before she gave a hug to Jack and walked out off the room and closed the door, as soon as the door closed Lina gave a grin to Mars

"I didn't know you were so bad with kids"

"well... they are just so... pure that it's kind of blinding, but don't get me wrong I like cute things as much as the next person"

"speaking of cute, Mars why don't you introduce us to your friend?"

Lina pointed down at Mars's lap at Victoria that was asleep again

"oh, this is Victoria... Victoria say h.e.l.lo to my new friends Jack and Lina"

Jack and Lina look at Mars with puzzled faces but when Victoria's horns flashed their puzzlement turned into amazement and shock it was only a few seconds later Lina spoke with amazement clearly visible on her face

"she sure is smart... what kind of magic beast is she?"

Mars gave Victoria a few pets on the head before he answered Lina

"she's a shadow death panther"

Lina had a blank look on her face and gave a nod but Jack looked more shocked and asked Mars with a slightly shaking voice

"i-isn't that a cla.s.s 9 magic beast!?"

"yeah, but she's only a cub so don't worry so much about it"

"sure..."

Mars suddenly remembered something and asked Jack

"hey Jack do you mind if I ask you a personal question?"

"no, ask away"

"well... your a beastman right?"

Jack looked confused but still gave a nod before Mars continued

"it's just, I know another beastman that don't look nearly as... well beast like"

Jack suddenly had a understanding look on his face

"that's because the one you know is a lesser beastman while i'm a greater beastman"

Mars still looked slightly confused but still gave a nod before Jack continued

"greater beastmen look more beast like then lesser beastmen, and sometimes they also have more beast like instincts then lesser beastmen but not always"

"I see..."

"there is also rare cases where a beastman is born without any rational will and is completely beast like, but cases like that is one in a million"

just as Jack was done talking there was a knock on the door before it was opened and a mature woman walked in carrying a tray with food and drinks with Camilla in tow, Mars saw she looked like Camilla and guessed she was her mother

"here is your food and drink"

she wore a warm smile on her face as she placed the tray on the table before she asked Lina

"what did Jim do this time?"

Lina gave a sigh and explained how he had shot an arrow at Mars's back because of a 200 cel bet with a angry expressions on her face

"so that's why... don't worry I will tell Zack that he's no longer welcome here"

Mars gave a slight frown and asked the woman

"won't that be dangerous if he causes trouble for your shop?"

the woman gave a rea.s.suring smile

"don't worry, both me and my husband is ex-silver mercenary's we can take care of ourselves... you must be Mars, I'm Ann by the way"

"nice to meet you Ann"

Ann gave a warm smile

"nice to meet you too Mars, be sure to visit us in the future"

"I will"

Mars watched Ann and Camilla walked out and shut the door after them before Jack picked up a gla.s.s with beer and raised it into the air with a toothy grin on his face

"here's to friends.h.i.+p, new and old alike!"

Mars and Lina also picked up a gla.s.s and clanged it against Jack's gla.s.s

"""cheers!"""

the next few hours was filled with laughter and a lot off beer as the 3 of them drank and talked until the sun was about setting and the party ended

"are you sure I don't have to pay?"

Mars asked Jack and Lina on the street outside of the restaurant as they had paid the entire 300 cel bill

"no it's fine Mars, think of it as a welcome feast"

"okay, but let me pay next time Jack"

Jack gave a toothy grin

"sure, until next time Mars"

"yeah see you Mars, oh and you too Victoria"

Mars waved goodbye to Jack and Lina that walked off into the night and began to walk back with Victoria in a happy mood

'friends huh....'

Mars briefly scanned the scattered memory of his last life and failed to find anyone he could call friends and gave a sigh

'well I guess it's fine now...'

Mars and Victoria walked through the near empty streets until suddenly the smile disappeared from Mars's face as he stopped while 6 masked men armed with daggers that gave off a strong smell of poison suddenly surrounded him and Victoria which made Mars give a sigh before he casually gave Victoria a stroke on the head before he spoke

"you take the 3 behind"

"okay..."

the 6 masked men felt like they were being underestimated and attacked with near perfect teamwork as they closed in on Mars and Victoria with their daggers raised, clearly looking for blood

"fools..."

Mars pulled his sword from his belt and parried a thrown dagger before he kicked off the ground and sent a lightning fast slash which decapitated one off the men, meanwhile Victoria had near instant killed 3 men with 6 darkness spears, only one off the men was barely breathing while he screamed in pain, nailed to a nearby wall by 2 spears

"s.h.i.+t! how the f.u.c.k is this a iron level mercenary!?"

the 2 remaining men, horrified by the display of slaughter turned tail and ran for their life

"not so fast"

Mars easily caught up to the first one and cut him in two before he threw the upper part off the dead a.s.sa.s.sin and knocked over the last one and immobilized him by putting him face down on the street with a knee each on his arms

"i'm only going to ask once... who sent you"

the a.s.sa.s.sin showed unwillingness in his eyes and kept silent

"oh well..."

Mars was about to finish off the a.s.sa.s.sin when he remembered his newly unlocked skill [Energy: basic drain touch]

"let's try this then..."

Mars grabbed the neck off the a.s.sa.s.sin and activated the skill and instantly the helpless a.s.sa.s.sin started to struggle, but within 5 seconds he stopped struggling as his face got blue before it turned into a dried up husk stunning Mars slightly as he felt 10 energy units flow into him

"how is this only the basic drain touch... oh well"

Mars got off the dead a.s.sa.s.sin and after a quick pat down he found a familiar emblem with 8 skulls on it

"wait, didn't the priest have one of these too?"

Mars pocketed the emblem and quickly burned the corpses of the dead a.s.sa.s.sins before he continued his walk back to the baron's mansion with Victoria