"Ah, Mr. Julius?" said Michael.
"What?" asked Julius.
"Were you thinking about something?" Michael asked.
"Huh? Oh no, I wasn't thinking about anything right now!" Julius replied.
"Well, if that's the case, I'll head home before the sun completely sets. I need to go to bed soon," said Michael, standing up.
"Alright!" replied Julius.
"Thank you for everything, Mr. Julius!" said Michael as he walked off.
"No problem! It was nice chatting with you today," Julius replied.
It was getting dark outside, and when Julius was getting ready to close up after the sun had long gone down behind the horizon, someone knocked on the door. When he opened it, he saw the village elder — that same old man.
"Oh! Hello, I wasn't expecting you!" said Julius to the old man.
"It's alright, Julius. It's my fault for deciding to drop by this late," said the old man, "Can you make me a drink of some sort, anything really — as long as there's something to drink?"
"Yes, I'll get it ready right away!" Julius replied and went to prepare some hot chocolate.
The old man sat at the table, waiting for Julius to return and join him for a conversation. When Julius brought everything and sat at the table, they began talking.
"How are things going here, Julius? Don't you ever get tired of doing the same thing every day?" asked the old man.
"Nah, what do you mean? I enjoy it! I love making people happy with my delicious pastries daily," Julius replied.
"Well, if it's good for you, then that's all that matters. I won't ask any more about that," said the old man.
"Ask whatever you want. I don't mind," said Julius.
"Well then, what do you think about Michael?" asked the old man.
"What do I think about Michael right now?" Julius repeated aloud.
"Yes! What do you think about him?" the old man asked again.
"Honestly, he's a good guy. I've known him for a long time. I heard he recently awakened his magical abilities. And I also heard his next opponent uses magic to create ice that detonates like some sort of explosive. And honestly, right now, I'm asking myself, 'Will he be able to make it through? Can he win against such an opponent?'" Julius said.
But then the old man said loudly, "Have more faith in him! I'm sure he can do it!"
"You're right! Absolutely right! Thank you for those words," Julius responded.
"Besides, he won't be here forever! Sooner or later, he'll leave this village and set off on his way," said the old man.
"Set off on his way, huh?" Julius repeated aloud.
"What? Is there something wrong with that?" asked the old man.
"No, it's all good! It's just that when you said that, I suddenly remembered the day I first met Michael," Julius replied.
"You mean that late night?" asked the old man.
"Yes, that night! Back then, I was doing my usual bakery stuff. After a hard day of work, I went straight to bed after closing the bakery for the night. That night, I suddenly woke up because I heard a loud knock on the door and a child's voice. I still remember how I got out of bed, put on my slippers, walked over to the door, opened it, and saw a little boy, around seven years old, standing in front of the door. And then I asked him, 'Who are you, kid? Where are you from? And where are your parents?' But he didn't answer. Then he slowly lifted his head to look me in the eyes. And when he did, I saw that his eyes were like a demon's — bright red, and his pupils weren't even human. Then he suddenly said, 'Mr.… can… you…?' and right after that, he collapsed. When he finally woke up, his eyes had changed, and he said he could barely remember anything from before that day — what he did, what he saw, and everything else. But he did remember his first name and his last name," said Julius.
After that, he and the old man chatted a while longer, but that wasn't as important.
"Well then, goodbye, Julius! Keep believing in Michael!" said the elder.
"Good night to you, too! I'll believe in him!" said Julius. "By the way, may I ask you one last question?"
"Of course you may," the elder replied.
"What's your name? I've known you for a long time, but I still don't know it," asked Julius.
"Huh? Well! My name is…" the elder began.