Marie and I waited outside the training grounds for Dorna to arrive.
As we stood there, the same elf from earlier suddenly walked toward us again.
"What do you want, Tobisa?" Marie asked coldly.
"Marie," I said, "don't be rude. At least ask nicely."
Tobisa scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"I just wanted to apologize for earlier," he said. "I got a little too excited."
"Nah, it's okay," I replied.
His eyes suddenly lit up again.
"So… is it true that you can use Nature Breathing?"
"Yeah, I want to know too," Marie added curiously.
I hesitated for a second.
"Well… no."
"Oh." Marie looked slightly disappointed.
"Makes sense," Tobisa said with a shrug. "Rumors usually exaggerate things."
An awkward silence followed before I decided to change the topic.
"So," I asked, "why did you want to join the Wing Corps?"
Tobisa's cheerful expression slowly faded.
"Long story," he muttered.
Marie crossed her arms. "We're listening."
Tobisa looked down at the ground for a moment before speaking.
"When I was ten, a demon attacked my village and killed my family."
Neither of us interrupted him.
"After that, I wandered through the streets for years," he continued quietly. "I had nowhere to go. No food, no home… nothing."
His fists tightened.
"Then one day, an old man and his granddaughter took me in. They treated me like real family."
For the first time since meeting him, I could hear genuine warmth in his voice.
But it quickly disappeared.
"Then last month…"
He stopped talking.
"What happened?" Marie asked softly.
Tobisa's eyes darkened.
"They were killed by the same demon."
Silence filled the air.
"So I came here," he said. "I'm going to get revenge no matter what."
I looked at him for a few seconds before smiling slightly.
"Well," I said, "you can be my friend."
His eyes widened.
"Really?"
"Yeah," I replied. "Welcome to the club."
For the first time since the conversation started, Tobisa smiled again.