Chapter 3: Meeting an old friend

Lucas sent a letter that was addressed to Luciana Tyrp. He also put the name he is using currently to the letter since she knows that Lucas Knave is one of the identities Legul Ranan went by. He sent the letter that contained the address of where Luciana would send the invitation. Lucas then realized that hunting the dragon was kind of meaningless."

And wouldn't you know it, three days later he received an invitation to go and meet the head of Saint Diane academy. He went there and he was checked by a guard who didn't believe at first that Lucas had received an invitation. The guard was astonished when he saw the invitation, and so he told Lucas that he was free to go. The guards also asked "Do you need an escort?" To which Lucas replied "No need, but thanks for the offer." Then he left.

While in front of the door, Lucas saw that it is most adequate to knock before entering, so he did. After he knocked, a woman's voice told him "You may enter" and so he did. The first words that came through that little elf's mouth was "You have guts to come and see me, I tell you that much." Luciana was sitting on her chair at the end of the room.

Lucas responded after closing the door "What did I do now? Or perhaps you are still mad that I rejected you back then." Then a magic bullet went by Lucas' head and Luciana said "Care to repeat that?" Lucas simply said "I think I'm good, little Lucy."

Then Luciana said "You really are begging for death, aren't you?" Lucas then said "Okay, I'm sorry Lucy. Luciana says "You are the only living thing that can still call me that."

Lucas said "So they all are…" Luciana says "Well there is a possibility that that old crone Ylif is still around, but I'd rather die than let her call me by my nickname." Lucas responds with "I would comment on the fact that you are calling someone an old crone is ironic, but I think I would be out of line this time."

Lucas then pauses for a moment and smiles. Then he says "But still, hearing you say that does bring back memories." Lucy says "It does, doesn't it?" The two are silent for a moment.

Then Lucas asks "So why are you mad at me?" Lucy says "You didn't tell me when you went to that deep sleep and didn't tell me where you went." Lucas says "I didn't tell anyone where I went so that there won't be any disturbances." Lucy says while she is getting teary eyed "Well we could have used your help while you were snoozing around."

Lucas asks "What happened?" Lucy says "One of your sons plotted against the two oldest sons and managed to kill all the opposition to him getting the throne." Lucas says "Thosos." Lucy says "You guessed right. After your two oldest sons were dead, only Anya knew the pact. Once she tried to explain it to Thosos, he scuffed it off thinking she was speaking nonsense. Not long after that Anya left the demon territory to warn the others of the attack. Thus began the 500 year war. If it weren't for the gods' interference, I'm sure Thosos and his descendants would have become the overlords of the world."

Lucas is puzzled for a moment after he heard the words "500 year war" so he asked Lucy "How long was I out?" Lucy says "Around 1100 years." This news made Lucas lose focus for a moment. He muttered to himself "1100 years? That's absurd. I know I would sleep for a long time, but for that long?"

Lucy then says "I personally think that it has to do with the amount of time you spent living before you went to sleep." Lucas then says "It might be rich coming from me, but holy fuck. I'm over 3000 years old now." Lucy says "And I am around 1600 years old. Yet I'm still only 146 cm tall. Gods I wish that I had your ability to change my height."

Lucas comments "Well your mother was only 143 cm tall so at least that is something. You used to brag about it to her face all the time. But when it comes to your brother and sister…" Lucy says "182 cm tall and 169 cm tall."

Lucas says "Well, at least you are considered the most beautiful one of the elven race that also became the matriarch." Lucy comments "But I still didn't win you over. But nowadays I'm not considered the most beautiful elf. That title is now my niece's." Lucas awkwardly says "Second best then?" Lucy says "Defeated by Lisette." Lucas says "So she did grew up to be like that."

Lucy then says "Enough of this topic. What will you do now?" Lucas says "I have had some time to think about it and I think that I shouldn't press the demon situation any further." Lucy asks "Why?" Lucas answers "If this is the will of the gods, then I can't oppose their will."

Lucy says "But look how much your people have regressed. And what about the balance of the world?" Lucas says "It is unfortunate that the once mighty demon territory is now but a mere fraction of what it used to be. As for the balance… I think that if the gods let the demon territory become that much smaller, then they have to be ready for the consequences. If they expected me to come and clear their mess again, then I'm afraid I'd have to disappoint them."

Lucy smiles a little as she says "You really haven't changed from that. Always messing around with gods' plans." Lucas says "You know it." But then Lucy says "But you did help them multiple times as far as I can recall." Lucas answers "Call it a favor for a favor." Lucy says "Sure sure. It must have been for that woman."

Then after a moment of silence Lucy asks "So what are you going to do now that you won't go to Ranan to reclaim your title?" Lucas says "Don't know. I've been a demon king for so long that I don't really know what else to do anymore."

Lucy then has an idea and says "Why don't you become a teacher? And if that sounds too much of a hassle, then a temporary teacher that comes and goes." Lucas then asks "What am I going to teach?" Lucy answers "You have over a millenia of experience in war tactics. And if everything else fails, you can be a combat teacher or something. I mean you taught me a few things back in the day so why not teach professionally?" Lucas says "That was a small favor I owed to your mother back then. And even without me, your mother would have been able to teach you fine." Lucy says "Still, I think you have potential to be a professional teacher."

Lucas thinks for a moment. After a while of thinking he says "When would I start?" Lucy says "In about two months. We are about to start our summer break so we will have to wait until then." Lucas asks "Will I teach the new students, old students or both." Lucy says "Handling new students would be a good start since older students have already found their favorite teachers. If you get popular enough then the older ones might get interested. I need to think more about it before I make the decision."

Lucas thinks for a while and then says "I think I will take up on your offer." Lucy says "Excellent. I will start the paperwork. Also take this." Lucy throws a handheld device at Lucas, but since she undershot it, it almost hit the ground.

Lucas says "You tried to act cool didn't you?" Lucy says with a bit of shame on her face "Yeah. People have been looking up to me for so long that I kind of want to show off every now and then. But don't say that to anybody."

Lucas then asks after he looks at the device "What is this?" Lucy explains "It's a communication device that lets you talk and message others who hold similar devices. Its name is klisi. It also can take pictures." Lucas says "Pictures? You mean paintings and the likes? This thing?" Lucy smiles and says "That's right. An instant realistic painting with a simple button press. Come here. I will teach you how to use it."

And so Lucas spends some time learning how to use klisi. Eventually he gets the hang of it, at least to some degree, and leaves to figure out how he should spend the next two months. He figured that he might as well work as an adventurer and try to learn what has happened in the past 1100 years.

Lucas spent many days reading books and talking to people so that he gets the hang of things as fast as he can. He learned during his endeavors that magical devices have become mainstream and were used by most people living in cities and towns. In remote areas like Jyui villages don't have as many magical devices used in them, but there still are some used.

After he grew comfortable enough to think that he has adjusted enough to the current era, Lucas decided to make a trip to the city of Ranan. It was used as the capital of demon territory when Legul was the demon king and since Lucy mentioned it to him, it might still be standing.

The journey took a couple of days as he didn't care if anyone saw him. He used a form of monster known as celeritas to fly across the skies.

When he felt a demonic energy on the ground again, Lucas felt like he was back home already. He continued to fly to the old capital as fast as he could. Once he was in Ranan, he changed into a demonic form that looked almost human, but it had a horn on his left side and a tail.

Lucas looked around a bit and noticed that the old buildings were replaced by more modern buildings of this era. He didn't have to ask anyone, but he could feel that a major battle occurred here long ago. A long and painful battle. He figured that the current buildings were replacements of the old building that were turned into rubble. The buildings were quite new looking, so Lucas figured that building them was a fairly recent achievement.

He stopped by a shop that sold a substance known as coffee. Once he took a sip, his world was shaken by the aftereffects. He thought "The bitterness is just right. I might get addicted to this."

Lucas then asked details from the shop owner about the current ruler of the demon territory. It appears that once Thosos' family was wiped out, Anya's descendant was appointed as the rightful heir of the demon territory. No one knows what happened to Anya herself, but the fact remains that she wasn't seen after the 500 year war. Lucas asked the shop owner how he felt about the war, and his answer surprised Lucas a bit. The owner said "I was with the demon army at the time, but I could tell that gods wouldn't let us go on like that forever. I quit military life just in time before the alliance retaliated and I was able to survive the scourge. I heard that there was a significant amount of demons that became slaves for humans, so I consider myself lucky." Lucas asked "Do you hold it against them?" To which the shop owner said "I think that we had it coming. But I do know certain people that blame their shortcomings on the races that were in the alliance back then." Lucas said "I see" and quietly drank his coffee.

After he was done with the coffee, Lucas tipped the shop owner and left satisfied.