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"Wow, it\'s a dozen times more busy than it was during the afternoon," Emilio remarked.

"I told you. This city never sleeps–it\'s always lively like this throughout the night." Sirius said, "Get this: Desim has the lowest crime rate of all cities in Vasmoria. Can you believe that?"

Emilio shook his head, "No, are you serious? A whole city being drunk kind of spells out disaster–how\'s that the opposite case here?"

Sirius smiled, "Turns out that when everybody is on the same page, there isn\'t a whole lot of animosity. Don\'t get me wrong–there\'s a fight here and there. Thing is, the punishments are pretty strict if you commit a crime."

"Like what?"

As he responded with a question, he found himself passing by a clown dressed in blue-and-red, who was performing a series of flips off of stationary objects while simultaneously juggling flaming swords. Drunkards around the performer cheered and tossed coins into the tip jar, happily cheering on the clown.

"At minimum, you\'ll be exiled from Desim. Worse than that, you can get yourself exiled from Vasmoria entirely if you\'re not originally from here. At worst? They\'ll execute you."

That last part caught him off-guard, seeming more like a dark joke considering the lively, happy-go-lucky state of the "Party City" they were in.

"Execution? Sounds a bit extreme if you ask me," Emilio said.

"Well, that\'s just an extreme case–usually if somebody commits a crime against the wrong person. Still, it keeps everybody in check," Sirius told him.

"You sure know a lot about this city."

"\'Course I do. I\'m a party animal myself," Sirius winked.

Ignoring the remark he found stupid, he followed the man until they arrived in front of an establishment that stuck out like a sore thumb, even in the entertainment-driven city. A host of flashing lights, supplemented by gemstones, brought focus to the business that was made out of scarlet stone and enticing with a velvet carpet stretching out of the entrance.

On the front, the sign for the establishment presented its time: "Star Paradise Inn."

"This is…" Emilio began to say, starting to regret agreeing to this.

"This is it!" Sirius excitedly said.

"You know, on second thought…" Emilio chuckled wryly, trying to turn around.

Sirius was quick to grab his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks, "Oh, no you don\'t, my friend!"

"But–"

"Tonight is a night of gratification and splendor, friend of friends!" Sirius told him, moving his hand as if presenting the over-the-top brothel as something akin to utopia, "You\'ve saved humanity your fair share of times, no? It\'s time to take a night for yourself and take action!"

It was hard to reject the enticing offer being placed before him as Sirius spoke directly to the devil on his shoulder, tapping his chest as he spoke.

"Fine, fine, I get what you\'re saying," Emilio finally caved in to the offer before him.

"Glad to hear it," Sirius said, casually entering the establishment.

A few seconds of hesitation brought pause to Emilio as he looked at the open entrance to "Star Paradise Inn" before finally entering. Just as he stepped past the threshold to the brothel, he found himself immediately greeted by an aroma; the smell of burning incense, filling the premises with a smoky, but sweet fragrance.

"Welcome, gentleman, to \'Star Paradise Inn\'. I am Cynthia, your hostess for tonight. What\'re you looking for today?"

–Greeting them was a hostess with long, wavy hair of a hazel shade, wearing a velvet dress that didn\'t do much to hide her cleavage. By all accounts, she was a beautiful woman, by her golden-tan skin and sparkling, blue eyes.

\'Woah,\' Emilio thought, taken aback.

Sirius answered the hostess, pointing to his friend beside him, "This is his first time at a brothel. He\'s a bit green with the ladies, if you catch my drift."

"Sirius–!" Emilio called out, embarrassed by the completely brutal truth spouted from his friend\'s lips.

Cynthia smiled and nodded, "Is that so? Well, my girls will take good care of him then."

Just then, a small group of women walked into the room, all wearing dresses that didn\'t do much to hide their goods; one was an elf, and another seemed to be a demon–though all were beautiful.

The hostess stepped close to him, looking him up and down as Emilio found his cheeks heating up from the unexpected proximity to the busty woman.

"What\'s your name, young man?" Cynthia asked with a smile, speaking with a lavender softness to her voice.

He gulped, "Emilio."

"Emilio? That\'s a cute name for a fine young stallion like yourself," Cynthia said.

Even after facing countless horrors and life-or-death battles that hardened one\'s nerves into steel, nothing could\'ve prepared him for this moment.

"So, what is it you\'d like to do?" Cynthia asked, "…or would you like me to take the lead?"

There was no amount of magical reinforcement or no such spell that could protect his virgin mind from the forwardness of the hostess as she smiled up at him. Giving him a moment to consider, the hostess moved into the hall, gesturing for him to follow before disappearing down its length.

Stunned with indecisiveness for a moment, as he looked at the hall, all he could see was somebody else. There was nobody he himself was obligated to be faithful to, yet, for some reason, he felt that following the alluring hostess would be a betrayal.

\'I want to. At least, I thought I did. Going about it this way just feels…wrong. It\'s not what I want,\' he thought.

Looking down at his own hand for a moment, he knew what the answer was–

He left the establishment after some hesitation, exiting through the front entrance. Sitting down on a bench beside the building, he watched the busy streets as crowds of people passed by.

\'I guess maybe I was so desperate for it before because I thought it would "validate" me as a person in some way–as if I had something to prove. That, and the hormones. But now, I\'ve got nothing to prove. I can wait–after all, I\'ve waited over thirty years now–it\'s kind of scary when I think of my life experience that way though,\' he thought.

After waiting a few minutes and finding that his companion had yet to return from his "adventure", he decided to look around the streets of Desim to pass the time. Despite how loud the city streets were, he found himself able to think clearly while walking without any sort of destination in mind.

\'It\'s not like I deserve any kind of self-gratifying happiness. Not yet. Once I know everybody is safe, once my enemies are dealt with, then maybe…maybe I can rest. Until then, I\'ll keep fighting. This is why I chose this second life–I have a strong, capable body–one I can use not just for myself. I don\'t need to be a burden on others,\' he thought.

Though his thoughts led to vengeance, what he felt was more akin to a protectiveness towards those dear to him. What drove his resolve was not revenge, nor the satisfaction from acting it out; in the worn, tired eyes of the young man, what existed in those amethyst irises was a wish not to lose anything else.

It was a hopeful wish, like that of a child, but he entrusted it to himself with every ounce of his being.

\'After dying and experiencing what comes after death, my perspective on the value of life has changed. The After is a depressing place–it\'s where dreams die and people are forgotten; sentenced to an eternity of nothingness. I\'ll keep them from that as long as I can,\' he decided.

While stuck in his own thoughts, he had spaced out, only coming back into focus as he found himself standing in a public garden, looking upon a giant, thick tree that sprouted mystical, sapphire leaves.

Gently gliding down was the pollen of the sublime leaves; like a sweet nectar, the particles of mana met the grass below like raindrops, soaking into the healthy soil.

\'I learned a long time ago that this world is real. I always knew it deep down, even when I didn\'t have any concrete answers. Even with magic itself, woven from seeming impossibilities, reality itself is unavoidable. That\'s what I\'ve learned–there\'s no escaping it. I have to confront it,\' he thought.

Standing beneath the tree of sapphire leaves as the gentle pollen of mana danced down like snowflakes, he manipulated the tangible mana into a new form; changing its shapeless existence into a bunny made of dark-blue energy.

Moving his hand, he cast the ethereal bunny into the air, transforming it into a sparrow that flew upward, disappearing into the sky. Manipulating mana was something as simple as breathing to him, weaving the cascading energy into different shapes with nothing more than subtle movements of his finger.

Allowing the pollen to fall upon his head and shoulders as he sat down in front of the tree in thought, he thoughtlessly morphed the mana into critters of the forest; squirrels and foxes sat on his shoulders as he rested.

\'Even after everything I\'ve learned, it seems like I have no choice but to keep growing. I have to step up to the challenge,\' he thought.