46 Chapter 46: Gale Wind

"You have the key to those entrances, right? I've been looking for a way to enter."

"...If you want to enter, cease your ideas at once." The masked adventurer said. "You will die."

Inside Knossos, it is like the eight trigrams formation of Zhuge Liang. The intruder is surrounded on all sides with nowhere to go. There could be traps and ambushes from Evilus fanatics in all directions. There could be traps springing out of nowhere.

When Loki Familia first ventured there, they suffered casualties. Their executives nearly died with all of Thanatos' cards thrown at them.

As to why I knew it? I stood beside Thanatos at all times. Since I became a creature, my memories have been vivid as if I lived that span as my own. It is vastly different from my other iterations where I could only remember my battles and my thoughts during them.

"Wait a second. I don't have plans to storm that place alone. It's borderline idiotic."

"..."

"Did you try to enter once?"

"...It doesn't matter."

Her cold attitude shut my questions down.

"Anyways, it is imperative to find allies against them. I mean, who would've known that there are still living Evilus members inside that place? Even Loki Familia might mobilize upon hearing this."

"Convincing them will be hard."

"That's why I am here."

Flashing my confident smile, I proceeded with the talks.

"Before we continue… What should I call you first? I can't keep calling you, 'you'."

(A/N: In Japan, it is rude to call a stranger 'anata (you)'.)

"Gale Wind."

"Alright. Miss Gale—Huh?"

…

…

…

I blanked out.

"Gale… Wind? The adventurer who destroyed many Evilus bases years ago?"

"Is there a problem?"

Holy shit.

My luck must be overflowing today.

Shit, shit, shit.

I found a Daedalus Orb and the person whom Lady Artemis was searching at once..!

Tap.

I disabled my disguise. My red hair turned white, and my red pupils became golden. I removed it from my face.

Miss Gale Wind is visibly shocked by the changes.

"Sirius..?"

"Well, hello there. Miss Gale Wind."

*****

Sirius.

The hottest topic in Orario as of now. Hair as white as snow and pure golden pupils like the stars, he completely shook the dungeon city to its core. He accomplished one impossible feat after another. He is someone who set the new standard for 'prodigies'.

For once, he only took two weeks out of Sword Princess' fifty-two weeks to level up!

Naturally, most people heard of him, and that included the masked adventurer. She even interacted with him at times as a waitress in Benevolent Mistress.

'Sirius…'

Many rumors surrounded him. To the adventurer, the most noticeable one is his relationship with the Artemis Familia.

They underwent level ups one after another upon returning to Orario. They immediately joined the middle ranks of the familias with one level four and several level threes.

Based on what she heard, he is often seen hanging around with their members. Meaning, he is their trusted friend at the very least.

"You know… It's been weeks since we are searching for you. And don't get the idea of running away." He swiftly added, "Please."

"...Why? Even after knowing what I—"

"What? You thought they will repulse you because of your past? Don't you know Rethusa-san or Lantes-san well?"

A rhetoric question.

Gale Wind—no, Ryuu Lion knew the answer.

They wouldn't.

However, it is exactly because they wouldn't that she couldn't dare show herself to them. She broke the oath—the principles—of her familia. She let herself be consumed by anger to the point that Astraea 'exiled' her. She discarded her justice simply to quell her overwhelming wrath.

"You already know the answer."

"..."

"So… will you meet them?"

"It's dangerous around me."

"They would say that 'it doesn't matter'."

"It's not that. They could get involved with our mess."

Gale Wind looked resolute as she said that.

*****

Knowing Lady Artemis' personality, she would definitely uphold 'justice' in place of her friend, Astraea. This is the reason why I said everything about Evilus and all, but not the fact that someone from Rudra Familia survived; more so, that someone caused the deaths of Astraea Familia.

It will end up as their personal vendetta. This could be used by Evilus and pull off the same thing they did on Astraea Familia. The only silver lining is that Evilus doesn't know what Jura Halmer does. Even Olivas Act doesn't know what he does behind the scenes.

"If that's what you're worrying about, they already know about Evilus. It's impossible to hide everything about Evilus. I'm afraid Lady Artemis used her connections, too."

Some time ago, she mentioned an 'Irregular' appearing after Astraea Familia's death. The information came from Loki-sama herself, thus its credibility has enough credibility.

"..!"

Gale Wind's eyes widened in surprise. It took her a while to calm down.

"The rumors are true. That you're very close with the Artemis Familia." She said.

"Indeed."

In this world, I could trust Lady Artemis and Hephaestus-sama the most. Back then, I could only tell this to Kazamitsu-san. Even so, he didn't know the true nature of my cheat—maybe he did but chose not to intervene with myself.

I have only shown my other side to the two goddesses.

"Alright. I will meet them. You also don't need to think about our vengeance. It has long been settled."

"Settled?" I asked. "How…"

"The Irregular who killed everyone disappeared. That included the Rudra Familia. The remaining anger I had vanished after taking it out on Evilus."

For a moment, I blanked out. The Irregular did what? It's not Rudra Familia who wiped them out?

"The Irregular… it killed everyone?"

"...Yes. It…"

Gale Wind could no longer continue her story. The full picture started arranging within my mind.

"What happened after that?"

"It disappeared. Nobody saw it again."

Some key points started making sense. Previously, Lady Artemis thought that the appearance of the Irregular is merely a coincidence. Rudra Familia and Astraea Familia died due to a battle. This is the known narrative.

Gale Wind's words reputed that. For some reason, the Irregular appeared and killed two of the familias.

Was its appearance merely a coincidence?

'Jura Halmer wouldn't do those things behind Evilus' backs if it's that simple.'

Assuming the Irregular is strong enough to wipe out both Astraea and Rudra Familia, his actions will make sense. He could be trying to make it appear again.

'If Jura Halmer is a tamer, his actions that Olivas doesn't know could only be that… yes…'

Irregulars are unique monsters born from the dungeon. They have extra characteristics that normal monsters doesn't have. As a tamer, it's a dream-come-true for Jura to have such an Irregular under his command. It is similar to how it worked in our world.

People's obsession over lethal weapons such as nukes are a universal trait.

'Jura Halmer must've caused it to appear back then. However, he didn't know that will happen. If he did, he wouldn't bring his familia to a cross-fire. Then again, an assumption that he was a crazy bastard to kill everyone also works…'

"..ius. …ey…ou… alright?"

"Y-yes."

I snapped out of my deep thoughts.

"Anyways, we should set a meeting place. Take the time to ready yourself."

If Gale Wind wanted to show herself to them, she would have done so from the moment news about Artemis Familia appeared. It is only through persuasion that she had the strength to meet them.

She is similar to Filvis-san. Both of them reproached their selves.

"Would Benevolent Mistress suffice?"

"Hm… It's better if it's in the Artemis familia home."

"Alright."

"...Wait a minute."

Suddenly, I recalled something. Thinking about it, she sounded familiar. Only when she mentioned the place's name did I remember about her.

"Are you… Miss Ryuu from Benevolent Mistress?"

"...You are sharp."

She chose to umask herself. A familiar face greeted me. The waitress with the cold look, someone that has many suitors lined up. Be it her looks or 'personality (for people who have some preferences), men wanted to get acquainted with her.

"I didn't expect this…"

Lantes-san described Gale Wind's looks to me. She was supposed to have long golden hair. Lantes-san drew her face before but it is questionable enough to be even called a 'portrait'.

Moreover, Miss Ryuu did not serve whenever I went there with the others from Artemis Familia. It is always Anya-san, Chloe-san, or Syr-san. I am quite sure they could still recognize her.

"Tomorrow. One hour before noon."

Upon saying those words, she disappeared amongst the sea of trees.

*****

Inside Knossos, a ploy is being discussed.

"What… You lost track of him?!"

"Y-yes, Ma'am."

"Fucking useless bunch..!"

Thanatos calmed the woman down.

"Hey, don't be too hard on them. Sirius is elusive, didn't you say so?"

"Fine."

Knowing how the boy utilized unknown magics and caught up to her movements in the final stages of their fight, Valletta understood how troublesome Sirius is.

"There's still those brats' request. A Creature who doesn't listen to its commands… Have you found her yet?"

One of the kneeling black-robed men responded:

"No. After profiling the black-haired elves all over Orario, there's not a match. Sir Olivas did not find anything."

"Shit! Works keep piling up, yet there are no results so far..!"

Just as her temper was about to run amok, she recalled the memory of that fight. Instantly, it died down.

Seeing this, Thanatos commented:

"It seems that fight helped you in some ways."

"If I didn't become careless, he would've been dead already..!"

Right now, her fate played out in a different way. Her temper was one of her flaws, and it is now being solved. Once it is done, a new Valetta would rise.

Nobu didn't know he helped his enemy develop greatly.

*****

"Hm… It tastes nothing."

Crunch-!

Ein stuffed one magic stone after another to her mouth. Meanwhile, Filvis is watching the entire ordeal with a shocked look.

"Nobu-kun… I'll become stronger as I eat that?"

"That's right. It is one of the characteristics that you have."

After returning home, the first thing Filvis asked me was how to become stronger. She wanted to pull her own weight with her power, or so she says.

I was not surprised much after she asked me to call her without any formalities. In my heart, I knew this would come. To make her comfortable, I acquiesced with her request. I am also planning to teach her magic within her understanding.

As for eating magic stones, it doesn't increase her connection with the Demi-spirits, merely strengthening her. The magic stone it gave serves as an independent 'anchor' that 'revived' Filvis. Aside from the occasional voices, they cannot directly control a creature; something proven in mine and Levis' case.

If they wanted to 'forcefully' control someone like how Vendetta turned out, it needs to 'nurture' the creature. That was how I got my memories erased during the eighth iteration, in turn causing me to blindly follow its orders.

Fortunately, all it did was to give Filvis the spirit core—we got out of the dungeon fast enough before it could occur.

"I'm already full…"

Ein stopped munching on magic stones.

"Strange… I'm also feeling full."

"That should be caused by your connection. Right now, both of you are in a strange state similar to spirits."

"I remember this! You said that we are similar to spirits, but we are not spirits. To be honest, we didn't understand it properly…" Ein stated.

"Why did you reveal that?!"

"It's alright to ask me questions, you know?" I commented.

Briefly, Filvis looked away from embarrassment. Ein looked at her with a doubtful look as if asking her why she is like that.

"Ah! That's why! Filvis is embarrassed to ask a simple question. She thought her studies as a ma—"

"Stop it!"

Filvis covered Ein's mouth as usual.

"Well, it is exactly what I have said. Both Filvis and Ein are influenced by the Demi-spirits. However, if Demi-Spirits are hybrids of Spirits and a Monster, then what would the ones below Demi-Spirits be called? Hence the vagueness of your states."

"It sounds like you've met a spirit before, Nobu-kun."

"That's because I did." I replied to Ein.

"Huh?!"

One of Suimei's lovers is a half-spirit. She—Lefille Grakis—could invoke her spirit blood and possess the power of spirits. She will possess overwhelming strength during that state. She will be covered in Telesma which nullifies any lower-ranked magic.

Her swordsmanship becomes deadly that she could easily cut buildings with ease, too.

After her fight against another world's goddess, she nearly came close as Kiyoshiro-san, one of the strongest contemporary swordsman.

"Aren't spirits elusive these days?! Even most elves didn't have the chance to meet one."

"You really are lucky."

Filvis and Ein commented consecutively.

"Ahem. We should start the magic lecture."

""..!""

Both of their eyes sparkled.

"It's our first day, so we are going over the basics." I said. "What do you think of magic?"

"Magic… It's an immense power that gives hope in the midst of a crisis."

"It's the power to make everything possible!"

Filvis' view of magic is similar to the others in Gekai. Meanwhile, Ein had another perspective. I need to gradually 'correct' their viewpoint.

I grabbed a pencil from the desk.

"What would happen if I release it?"

"It will fall."

Filvis looks confused at my question.

Bam-!

The pencil fell to the floor. I picked it up again and released it from my grasp. Unsurprisingly, it started falling.

"Attractio." (Attraction.)

Just as it was about to touch the ground, the pencil floated in midair. It slowly ascended before returning to my hand.

"As you have seen, it fell without magic. However, it didn't do so after magic is used. In a way, Ein's answer is closer to how I would like to view magic. It makes impossible things possible."

Ein wore a smug smile upon hearing that. Filvis did not mind it as she said, "There's more to it."

"Yes. From what you have seen, there are two different results from those two attempts. For the former, it is what I call 'physical laws'. It is the normal result without the involvement of magic."

In short, it is the physics of my world. Apples fall from trees. Friction generates heat. It is the general scientific laws accepted by the masses. While it is 'weaker' in Gekai due to the widespread magic, it still exists.

"On the other hand, the second attempt with the distortion of magic is called 'mystical laws'. From here, the difference between the two could easily be seen."

"That's why it could make everything possible…"

From their looks, both Filvis and Ein understood what I am trying to say. The phenomena they always experience around them used to be ignored. A magician needs to properly acknowledge every 'mystery' to improve.

"Hence, magic is not a simple thing. It distorts the normal outcome to produce a new one. We can think of it as the reason why a losing adventurer could win. As to why I taught this first… I will be teaching how to increase your outputs. Your spells, [Dio Thyrsus] and [Dio Grail], could improve."

Thus, the first day of imparting modern magic theory began.

*****

A journey.

Experiencing one landscapes after another, the man finally arrived to his destination. Much to his dismay, the journey did not fill the gap within him.

His entire life dedicated for one purpose.

Was it a mistake or not?

'—'

His mouth moved but I can't seem to hear anything. His face looked extremely vague, but with a hint of familiarity.

With that, my sight shifted into a room's ceiling.

"Mn…"

I got up from my bed.

"Strange… I forgot my dream."

I recalled a study mentioning that two specific hormones cause you to forget your dreams. It is a normal occurrence.

"Yawn… It's the day."

I took a look at the clock beside the bed. It is currently 7:44 AM in the morning. I did not stay up at night due to today being a special day. After returning from the dungeon, I told Lady Artemis about my meeting with Miss Ryuu. She then announced it to her familia.

If she hadn't, it'd be one big of a mess today. At least they got the chance to ready themselves.

"I need to prepare."