[Miria’s perspective.]

I heard footsteps coming, so I turned to Vyra. She was squinting and humming, as if she had found something interesting.

“What is it?” I asked, looking the same way she was.

“Things from the past.” She replied with a troubled face, which was a rare sight. Soon, I felt a large sum of mana coming from the gates, one that did not belong to Karin.

A woman with dark skin and bright white eyes stood a bit shorter than Vyra. Her wavy, snow-white hair formed a striking contrast to her skin.

The woman had a grimace on her face upon glancing at Vyra.

“Do you know this woman, Vyra?”

“Yes, Regrettably.” She muttered.

“Thought you would be happier to see an old face.”

“I’m happy to see that you are the same loser I once knew.”

“Such harsh words for me. But I’m happy to hear that you are alive and well.” She delivered her statement with a hint of sarcasm.

“Ah. I’m glad they are aware of it; now go back, lapdog.” Vyra sparked a mocking smile on her face, one that triggered a deep sense of anger in the snow-haired woman. She began leaking a massive volume of mana in response, one that jolted every single tree around us.

“Of course not. I’ve come here to ask you how you came back to life. And request you kindly to come back to the Academy since you are alive. I’m afraid you have some unfinished business there.” Her voice is now razor-sharp as her gaze confronts Vyra’s violet eyes.

“You should say right away that you were just looking for trouble.” Vyra raised her hand to the strange woman.

Oh, there she goes; she can’t practice self-control for once.

I grabbed her arm and brought it down. “No reason for needless conflict, at least not now.”

“Listen to your friend. You don’t wanna get hurt, do ya?”

“Shut it, Elise. You are not answering your academy; you follow my command here.” Karin finally stepped in and grabbed her shoulder, forcing her mana to tone down.

“Hmph, fine.” The blue incandescent aura that covered her body slowly faded as her expression turned blank.

“Found a dog exactly like you, Ka-” I covered Vyra’s mouth with my hand, dragging her inside the inn. Before closing the door behind me, I noticed Karin shrugging back at me.

Once there, I let my hand out of her mouth. “What the hell do you think you are doing?! If we find a problem with them now, we will get in big trouble.”

“Yeah, I know, but she’s calling for it.”

“Explain yourself?”

“You have realized by now that each person you summon comes back from the dead.”

“Yes. That much I know. Same with Elin,” I responded, raising my eyebrow. “What about it?”

“Very well, that woman and my previous academy are the reason for my death.” Her words painted the perfect picture of why she was angry, and this time she wasn’t out of simple pettiness.

“I see. And let me guess. You think she came to do it a second time.”

“I have no idea.”

“Do you think your previous academy and the Royal Palace are working together?” I asked, looking out the inn’s windows. Karin was scolding Elise. I don’t think I need to worry about her for now.

“Could it be? But before I passed away, I remembered that the alliance was rather frail. What the hell happened?”

Oh, so she doesn’t know. I expected her to have some conclusion by now, but for now only Elin knows. I don’t know if I can tell her either.

The lad is better off not knowing it, too.

“Your silence is disturbing. Do you know that, Miria?” she hissed, staring at me, displeased.

“Do you remember the reason why the relationship between those two places was so bad?”

“Oh, yeah. Something related to the demon empress’s absence. Now that she’s presumably back, they have gone back to some sort of treat.”

“Didn’t you say you didn’t know?” I have to know how much she knows about it.

“I don’t. We’ve tracked her for months and have no proof that this is true.” She wanders to one of the tables inside the bar and reclines with her legs crossed.

“Right.”

[Kael’s Perspective]

Kael faced a different conflict with Elin.

He didn’t understand very well; one thing he was certain of was the pain he felt.

“You are far more resilient. Than I expected.” Elin’s first words echoed through Kael’s ears, as her fingernails pierced against his left thigh.

“What are you hiding? Why won’t you tell me what’s going on?”

“I’ve told you already, I don’t know anything! I just got here.”

“How can’t you answer basic questions? Do you think I’m a fool?”

Damn, this hurts so much; why did she do this out of nowhere?

Kael struggled to see in the pitch-black darkness. He felt her fingernails leave his body. Then, he saw the silhouette of her hand moving to her mouth. It left him with only one conclusion.

Is she drinking my blood?!

“Perhaps you’re not lying… I’ve made a grave mistake.” After reaching a quick conclusion, she snapped her fingers, and like magic. The room, once dark, was immediately lit by lamps on the walls and candelabras on the ceiling.

Is that it? She grabs me, wounds me, and drinks my blood, then acts like nothing’s wrong? I could’ve sworn I saw her smiling, but now that the room’s lit, her expression is as dull as ever.

“What did you do?” Kael asked, putting his hand on the bleeding wound.

“I’ve made sure. You are not an enemy.” Is there a way she can know this?

“And how do you discover that by hurting me?” After a few seconds, Kael looked down. He noticed he felt little pain from the wound. Upon closer inspection, he saw that besides the marks on his pants, there were hardly any signs of injury.

“Do not worry. You will know. In due course.” The woman turned around and began walking. Kael had more time and felt less pressure. He noticed his surroundings. He realized he was in an underground room that felt like a large mansion hall.

“What the hell is this place?” Elin turned and walked toward the elegant white double doors in the center of the room. She stood there for a few moments before turning back to say:

“House. We live here. You too.”

“I have a question. Why do you three do?” That would help to know.

“We’re mercenaries.”

“And as mercenaries, what type of work do you do?”

“We deal. Usually. Evil. Beings.” Kael seemed fascinated with the answer. They truly might be the closest to a group of adventurers; that’s exciting. So the strange things I saw before. It could be magic all along.

The word “monster” filled his mind with wonder as he stared at Elin. His heart raced, and a strong desire surged through him, prompting words to spill out of his mouth.

“Can you do magic?” His question, for the first time, changed her expression. Her eyebrows rose as her eyes widened a little.

“What is. That?”

Wait, so she doesn’t know what it is? There’s no way, or does she want to hide it from me? Maybe… there’s another name for it? “Do you have a name for supernatural powers?”

“You speak of. Mana Manipulation?” Kael then moved up to her once hearing the name. That’s the name, if I learn it… what sort of things I could do, slaying a dragon might not be out of the books!

“Yes! Can you show it to me?” His excitement was short-lived. Her cold gaze made him feel awkward. Standing so close to her, he couldn’t help but notice her beauty.

Maybe… I shouldn’t be talk to this strange woman… I’m pretty sure she almost killed me.

“Fine.”

The light which faded away from his body. Immediately returned once he received another small rush of adrenaline. “Oh, really?!”

“One condition.”