--

"Oh my! Alexander Vire? Arriving early to an appointment? Damn, is the world ending?"

A clear and crisp exclamation from a female voice echoed in the smithy. Alex, Old Sam, and Ren looked over to see at least six people arriving at the same time, led by a gorgeous woman with a large hunk of metal wrapped in cloth hanging on her back.

"Boss Lady!!" Alex exclaimed in glee. He practically jumped into the lady’s arms with how excited he was.

Ren was surprised with how Alex reacted, even more so when he saw Alex plummeting face first to the ground after receiving a firm smack on the head, given by this ’Boss Lady’ herself.

"He just doesn’t learn, does he?" Someone from behind muttered softly in disappointment.

’She’s strong,’ Ren muttered inwardly. He couldn’t see how the lady did it. He just saw the results.

That speed was also controlled. She did not have any ill intent when she struck. Something tells Ren that this was a common occurrence in their party.

And it wasn’t just her. The rest of the party members were strong too. As for how strong they are exactly, as in the level of martial practice, Ren had no clue. He can’t see through them.

"Good morning to you too, Boss Lady. I miss you so much!" Alex shamelessly got up like nothing happened and was already invading the personal space of the lady.

Then, his eyes went to the people behind her. His tone then shifted when he greeted them: "Oh, you guys are here too. Hi."

"Oi! What’s up with the greeting, huh? What are we to you? Chopped liver?"

"I mean, if the shoe fits..." Alex shrugged.

Ren sighed, hopeless at how Alex was behaving. Although he knew that Alex could be infuriating at times, he didn’t expect him to be so unruly with his party.

His attitude caused another incident. Right then and there, Alex and two other boys began punching each other right in front of the smithy.

Ren would’ve panicked, but when he looked at the rest of the party acting as if nothing was happening, he figured that this must be a common occurrence to them.

This also suggests that maybe Ren was wrong. Maybe Alex wasn’t being rude solely because he dislikes his other party members; maybe they’re just this close to each other that they don’t bother hiding who they truly are anymore.

"Hi, Sam! Long time no see." The boss lady’s attitude was completely different from the one she showed to Alex when talking to the blacksmith.

"Long time no see, Sue." Old Sam was the same. He sounded gentler, as if he were talking to his precious daughter. The difference was a bit staggering, really. "What do you have for me?"

"Well..." The boss lady then unceremoniously removed the large hunk of something from her back.

She removed the cloth wrapping it, revealing a thick, lumpy, and blunt hunk of metal attached to a handle. Looking at it as a whole, it looked like a greatsword, but with how uneven and unrefined its surface was, it just looked like somebody attached a handle to a raw, rectangular-shaped metal with an uneven surface.

"What manner of atrocity is this!?" Old Sam sounded aghast and deeply offended at the sight of the thing.

"I said the same thing when I first got it," the boss lady chuckled. "But we found it like this on Stage 55. It’s abandoned for some reason. We tried surrendering it to the Lost and Found, but nobody has claimed it after a whole month."

"I’m not familiar with what kind of metal was used to make this; the system also couldn’t identify it. The appraisers are also puzzled. You’re my last hope. If even you can’t figure out what this is, then I’m afraid I’ll just have to toss it aside."

"I see." Old Sam nodded.

He then held the handle of the sword and hefted it up. He grunted in surprise as if he weren’t expecting to discover something by doing.

"This crap’s surprisingly heavy," he said. "It’s also fighting me as if it doesn’t want to be handled."

Ren looked over curiously. He really couldn’t glean any useful information just by looking at it; he also couldn’t remember this thing making an appearance in the story, so he had no idea as well.

But even if he did, he’s not in the position to say anything. He’s an outsider here, and he didn’t want to be rude.

He shifted his gaze to Alex, who was now bruised and had a split and bleeding lip. He’s on the floor, panting in exhaustion. But so were the two other boys he fought.

"Wuhoo! I, the handsomest Alex, won again against the ugly and villainous brothers! You two will never be a match to me!"

Then, he acted as if he suddenly remembered something. He got up and looked in the Boss Lady’s direction and yelled, "Hey, Boss Lady! Did you see that just now? Look, I won! Aren’t I handsome? When are we getting married?"

The boss lady’s face fell, then she sighed in exhaustion. Alex’s behavior was really testing her on this fine morning.

Ren felt the same. He almost regretted coming along. Alas, it’s too late now.

It was then that Alex finally remembered Ren’s presence. He got up, dusted himself off, and immediately went to his side. He draped an arm over Ren’s shoulders and said:

"Guys, let me introduce you; this cutie is my cousin, Soren Marek Vire, Ren, for short."

In that instant, Ren felt like he was being stared at by six monsters eyeing his flesh and bones. He felt a chill down his spine and somewhat regretted that he was related to Alex.

"The two loser twins down there are Timothy and Thomas, Tim and Tom."

"The fair lady at the back is Alice."

"That guy over there is Oliver."

"The one beside him is Ronald."

"And finally, the apple of my eye, the most beautiful specimen I’ve ever laid my eyes upon, my favorite sweet, the reason why I get up every morning sporting the hardest and firmest boner—"

BAM!!

Ren’s heart shook as he suddenly found Alex’s face buried on the concrete before he even saw what happened. He shifted his body and saw the boss lady now standing in front of him with those menacing and twitching eyes.

"Susan Bones," she said, completing Alex’s rude and shameless introduction of her. "You better watch your mouth when you talk to me, kid. If you’re even half as shameless and perverted as that cousin of yours, then it’s best that we don’t see each other often."

"Uh, yes. Sorry about him. He got dropped on the head when he was a baby, which made him like this...at least I think that’s the reason why. I’m kind of ashamed to be related to him, but I can’t really choose where I’m born to, so...yeah, sorry. I’m rambling. I’m Ren, nice to meet you."

"PUHAHAHAHAHA!" One of the twins, Timothy, if Ren guessed correctly, laughed uproariously. "I like you, kid. But is it true that he was dropped when he was a baby?"

"Yes," Ren nodded, being very serious. "Did he not tell you about it? I recall that he seemed to be fond of telling everybody about it. It was his dad, my uncle, who did. It’s an accident, of course. But he fell to the floor head first with a loud thud. But instead of crying, he laughed joyously like he wanted it to happen again. It’s a popular story in the clan."

"PUHAHAHAHAHA!! HOLY SHIT! FINALLY, WE’VE GOT SOME REAL DIRT ON YOU, YOU BASTARD!!" The twins were now rolling on the floor laughing.

"Well, no wonder why he’s like this."

"Yeah, it finally makes sense."

"True."

"So he wasn’t faking it, huh? This is just who he really is, and it’s because of that.

The whole party talked as if they finally found the solution to an age-old problem.

Ren wasn’t lying at all. What he said was the truth. Mikel really did, accidentally, drop baby Alex to the floor, where he landed head first. But instead of crying out in pain, he laughed and even showed signs of wanting to do it again.

Mikel admitted to this once upon a time in his drunken stupor. Once it was discovered, his wife made him sleep on the sofa for a whole month. Meanwhile, Alex actually loved this story and would tell it to anybody who’s willing, or unwilling, to listen to it.

With how shamelessly talkative he was, Ren was surprised that his own party members hadn’t heard of it before.

The first thing Alex did once he got up from the ground was to glare at Ren.

"How could you, you traitor!" The accusation was thick in his voice. "I was planning on making a spectacle out of that story! And you revealed it just like that! How could you? You stole my moment!"

Alex looked heartbroken while shaking Ren’s shoulders. It’s like he’s geniunely distressed that his big moment was ruined just like that.

To this, Ren could only sigh. Really, it’s hard to understand Alex’s priorities sometimes.