After a moment Armin opens his eyes, his mind slightly focused on the Ashbringer, he doesn't notice Matt's curious and slightly annoyed look.
Armin has acquired the knowledge of a veteran paladin like Alexandros Mograine, as well as in his mind the experiences lived by Mograine have merged with him.
However, Alexandros Mograine no longer exists, he has merged with Armin, however Armin Arlert is still the same, only with a slight influence of the former paladin.
"The light will prevail over the righteous, and the evil ones will yield to the Ashbringer's phylum..." Armin smiles.
Then, Armin raises his head to look at Matt, in Armin's eyes Matt has become a peerless existence, after all, What kind of man would be able to give him the Ashbringer?
"Maybe Sir Matt wants me to bring peace to this world full of evil..." Armin thinks in his mind, his eyes focused on Matt become a little brighter than usual.
Armin's heart warms up, his mind works furiously to understand what Matt is trying to do by giving him a treasure like the Ashbringer, but Armin simply shakes his head after a few minutes.
"To understand the depths of Sir Matt's thoughts is impossible for me, Sir Matt is an existence above all things," Armin says as he watches Matt wipe the counter with a rag.
A slight smile appears on Armin's face as a warm current runs through his heart, Armin's grip on Ashbringer tightens, "Sir Matt, I'm retiring now, I'll come back to work tomorrow..." Armin says before turning and walking out the door.
Matt on the other hand simply lifts his head with a smile and waves Armin goodbye.
...
"The boy is gone, hahaha, finally, now I can close the store and eat something delicious," Matt smiles before hurrying to close the store, he goes up to the second floor where he currently lives to pick up a few gold coins and go out the back door of the store.
It's nighttime in Re-estize, at this hour the streets are quite lively, with several people walking here and there, many couples giving each other affection in public and several customer service businesses open.
Walking down one of the sidewalks in Re-estize, Matt was walking to his favorite restaurant.
"Do you want to have a good time with me?"
Passing a few streets Matt receives several comments from some night female-workers that are ignored by him.
Some time later...
"Sir Matt, you came..."
A blue haired girl, small in stature, beautiful face and two pigtails greets Matt as he enters the door.
"Hehe, Miss Melty, you look as lovely as ever, by the way, has Nfirea returned?", Matt greets the cheerful little girl with a hand and speaks as he makes his way to a particular table.
Nfirea Bareare is a good friend of Matt's, in fact, Nfirea was one of the people who helped Matt with food during his early years in this world.
After receiving the store as a gift, Matt has been insisting on giving Nfirea a gift, but Nfirea has refused, so Matt simply uses the gold coins earned from Hiyama to invite Nfirea to eat every night at this restaurant.
Melty cocks his head slightly as he watches Matt for a moment before shaking his head.
"Sir Nfirea hasn't been seen around here, anyway, Sir Matt, if I see him I'll make a point of telling him that you're expecting him," Melty smiles showing his white teeth at Matt.
"Oh, I understand... by the way, Melty... Be my son... wait, that wasn't, I mean, be my wife," Matt shakes his head before smile, but, Melty simply ignores Matt's comment as she has always done.
Matt seeing that he can't make Melty blush or even get angry simply decides to look at the menu.
...
Meanwhile in the lower class sector of Re-estize.
Near a small lake with flowing water Eren sits on the grass, the icy cold of the night passing easily through his thin clothes as a beautiful girl watches him not far away.
"Eren... the food is ready, you have to go back," Mikasa says in a low and seemingly emotionless voice, however, Mikasa's clenched fists say otherwise.
Grisha escaped with Eren and Mikasa in his hands a year ago from Paradis due to a titan attack that took the life of Eren's mother.
After a long journey and after passing themselves off as simple peasants they arrived in Re-estize, a magical place, unlike Paradis where most of the people are ordinary people, in Re-estize Eren and Mikasa saw for the first time the concept of an adventurer.
However, Eren's fervent desire for revenge has been present ever since he saw how his mother was devoured, his desire for revenge made him desperately search for a way to become an adventurer and avenge his mother's death.
However, for Eren, a skinny and poor boy, revenge was, naturally, impossible, magic was only taught in prestigious academies whose tuition was exhorbitantly expensive.
On the other hand, following the training of a warrior, although cheaper than that of a wizard or sorcerer, was still impossible for Grisha, his father, to afford.
During these last few months Eren has been wandering around without much success, trying to find some way to follow the training of a warrior and learn the Martial Arts or follow the training of a mage.
However, none of that came to fruition.
It was only a few weeks ago when Eren noticed something special, something particular. Eren knew the faces of most of the adventurers well, and naturally he knew the face of Daisuke Hiyama, a strange looking man who did not stand out among any of the adventurers.
Daisuke Hiyama, mysteriously a few weeks ago had become the first lower-ranked adventurer to be suddenly promoted to a B-ranked adventurer after killing several ogres in the nearby mountains.
Hiyama's promotion after that was, naturally, outrageous, going from rank B to rank A in just a couple of weeks, but, the most important thing for Eren is.. of course, the staff that Hiyama always holds in his hands.
A staff that doesn't seem to have anything special besides a small head embedded in the top caught Eren's attention.
In fact, it was that changed in Hiyama from the moment he became powerful and started to rise rapidly in ranks, It was simple, Hiyama without a staff was a weak adventurer with nothing to write home about, Hiyama with that staff became an S-rank adventurer, Eren believed that that staff had something special.
That was why Eren ran after Hiyama, however, he didn't manage to catch up with him, so Eren watches the rushing water in the river in detail.
It is not that his struggle to find Hiyama had demotivated him to the point that he feels a deep sadness, but rather, it is rather the accumulation of months of not finding an answer that weighs on Eren's heart.
"If only I could..." Eren murmurs, his two glowing eyes watch the water reflecting the moonlight, his mind combing through various scenarios, including one in which he simply throws himself into the water to perish.
"We must return, now," Mikasa speaks, one of her hands resting on Eren's shoulder.
"What was the reason Sir Hiyama suddenly objected to power?, You noticed it too, Right?" Eren asks, ignoring Mikasa's words.
The decisive need for revenge is now clear in Eren's eyes. Illuminated by the moonlight and clenching both fists, Eren watches the small river with determination.
"The staff he owns," Mikasa says, she had had this conversation with Eren before, "The staff that one, Do you plan to steal it?" Mikasa asks.
However, this simple question causes Eren to shake his head as he lets out a snort of derision to himself.
"Stealing Sir Hiyama's staff is... naturally, impossible," Eren observes the lake as he stands up.
Eren's words echo slightly in Mikasa's mind, the intensity and elation in him when he mentions Hiyama are like nails in Mikasa's heart.
If only Eren could talk as intensely about her as he talks about Hiyama and that cane, then Mikasa would be the happiest girl in the world.
There was a slight moment of silence in which they both stood watching the lake, each with different desires growing within their hearts.
...
At the edge of the kingdom a yellow-haired boy walks quietly along the road, ready to set out tonight for a particular purpose.
The boy, of course, is Armin who, wearing the bandage-covered ashbringer strapped to his back like a backpack.
After registering with the adventurer's guild, Armin has been given a mission, to go out and hunt a few Undead that have appeared outside Re-estize about ten miles to the north.
Armin plans to complete the mission at night and return to Matt's tent tomorrow morning.
On the other hand, outside Re-estize, Hiyama flies at high speed in a specific direction
After receiving Matt's refusal to meet with Blue Roses, Hiyama has embarked on a short trip to a remote village he visited a few days ago.
The reason for Hiyama's sudden trip?
To find a small pharmacist who could help in his reunion with Blue Roses.
...
The next day Matt opens his store as usual, and again it seems to be a dull working day with few or no customers coming in.