Yuki and Tiyara stood before the castle gates. Alongside the guards, a butler was also waiting there. He welcomed them politely.
"Welcome, Sir Hero and Master of the Knowledge Tower. Lord Jalrai is waiting for both of you."
The butler spoke sincerely and respectfully.
Tiyara looked excited.
"Then let's go. This is my first time meeting Duke Jalrai."
Meanwhile, Yuki's expression remained serious.
The butler guided them inside the castle and eventually led them into the throne room.
At the very top of the hall, upon a high throne, sat Jalrai. Several nobles were seated beneath and around him.
The moment Yuki saw Jalrai, he bowed respectfully.
However, Tiyara did not bow.
Jalrai calmly spoke,
"There is no need to bow before me. You are the hero chosen by my brother Kalvasu. A hero does not lower his head before anyone."
Yuki immediately straightened himself.
"Understood, Lord Jalrai."
Jalrai nodded slightly.
"The meeting will be tomorrow. You may rest today."
He gestured toward the butler. The butler bowed and turned toward Yuki and Tiyara.
"Please follow me, Sir Hero and Master of the Knowledge Tower."
The two followed him through the castle halls.
After some time, the butler stopped in front of two luxurious rooms.
"This room is yours, Sir Hero. And the room across from it belongs to the Master of the Knowledge Tower."
Tiyara's room was directly opposite Yuki's.
The butler bowed politely once again.
"Please rest comfortably and wait for the food to be prepared."
After saying that, he quietly left.
For a moment, both Yuki and Tiyara stood there silently.
Then suddenly, Tiyara spoke in complete shock.
"W-What was that?!"
Yuki looked at her in confusion.
"What?"
Tiyara turned toward him with sparkling eyes.
"How can that butler be so nice?! And why are the people here so calm?!"
Yuki gave her a strange look.
Tiyara continued dramatically,
"I'm seriously shocked! The people in my tower barely even talk to me, and when they do, they always have some attitude! But here?! Did you see that?! Omg, I want that butler in my tower!"
Yuki slowly walked toward his room and replied in a lazy, teasing tone,
"Dreaming is a good thing."
The moment he entered his room, Tiyara angrily kicked the door.
Bup!
The sound echoed through the hallway.
"Hmph!"
Still annoyed, Tiyara marched into her own room.
Meanwhile, Yuki entered his room and immediately jumped onto the bed.
"Hmm… ahh… wow, what a comfy bed… And this room is the size of an entire restaurant… wow…"
The room was peaceful, luxurious, and completely silent.
Suddenly—
A system window appeared before him.
Yuki instantly sat up in shock.
"What?! From 12 missions… now it's 15?!"
He stared at the screen curiously.
"Okay… defeating Jelrai makes sense… but what are these other two missions?"
He read the newly completed quests.
Travel with someone
Go shopping
Yuki's expression became awkward.
"Shopping?! Seriously…? What does shopping have to do with my Kema Core?! What kind of mission even is this?!"
He reacted coldly before sighing.
"Well… missions are getting completed anyway. So now I've cleared 15 missions."
He leaned back slightly while thinking.
"Before killing Demon King Subaru… I still need to complete 35 more missions…"
Yuki continued scrolling through the mission list.
"So… which of these can I complete right now?"
He started reading them one by one.
Go on a date?!
Do 100 push-ups
Punch a wall 50 times with your bare hands
Yuki immediately froze.
"Punch a wall fifty times with my bare fists?! Are you kidding me?!"
He kept scrolling through several more missions before finally dropping back onto the bed.
"Haaah… I don't even want to look at these anymore. I'll check tomorrow. Today, I'm resting… uff…"
Yuki closed his eyes and slowly drifted to sleep.
Meanwhile—
Inside a dark forest, Taiju continued moving quietly through the trees.
Suddenly, he noticed human footprints… along with traces of Jelrai's mana.
A grin appeared on his face.
"So I'm heading in the right direction after all."
And with that, Taiju continued walking deeper into the forest.