A New Acquiantance
Within the walls of the Inner Sanctum, in a capacious room filled with luxurious furniture comparable to royal halls, stood two individuals before a silver-haired lady who laid on the settee before them.
"The incident today was caused by a monster flying over the Capital, and it pierced the barrier without even slowing down. I think we should quickly take it down"
Hinata Sakaguchi, said coolly, earning a side-eye from the blonde man beside her.
"Do you even know who he is, Hinata?"
"Does it matter who that is? The capital is in an uproar because of 'him', Louis"
Hearing this, Louis, The Holy Emperor of Lubelius, heaved out a sigh.
"It's best not to go after him"
Hinata, hearing this, narrowed her eyes at Louis. After all, she was the leader of the Holy Knight Order, which protected mankind from such dangerous monsters…it was what she sworn to do to repent for killing her mother.
Hinata, opened her mouth, not wanting to listen to Louis but was cut off by the lady lying on the lounger—
"He's right Hinata"
"Lady Luminous—"
"That lazy chicken you saw was Dino"
Hinata lowered her gaze as she heard Luminous' avowal.
Occasionally listening to Luminous' spontaneous ramblings, she knew who Dino was.
A holder of a seat amongst the current Demon Lords, the Sleeping Ruler, Dino, was not amongst the well-known Demon Lords, except for a few. He had little influence compared to the other known Demon Lords like Guy and Milim, and known to have no subordinates as well.
Dino, huh?! What could be the reason he passed the city?! No matter, he can't be as strong as Lady Luminous, and I have gotten much stronger than back then. From what we gathered, he was heading towards the Jura Forest. Could it be that— "Don't even think about that Hinata"
"Huh?"
Hinata was snapped out of her daze by Luminous' words.
"That sluggish guy may seem weak, but he is also a True Demon Lord—"
Hearing this, Hinata eyes lit up in surprise.
An Awakened Demon Lord? Just like Lady Luminous—
"—not to mention, if he stops holding back, he might cause me some trouble"(A.N: Luminous going the delusional "Nah, I'd win" route)
Louis' frown deepened as he heard those words, opposed to Hinata's shock.
No wonder he could easily break the barrier. It will be bad if he teams up with Rimuru, having Veldora was already bad enough.
"Lady Luminous, Allow me to go to Tempest"
Luminous sighs, eyes closed. Then, her heterochromatic eyes open, gazing at Hinata's face critically.
"You have become strong, Hinata, much stronger than before, there is no doubt about that. However, Rimuru aside, you cannot defeat Dino, let alone Veldora"
Hinata clenches her fist at Luminous' words.
"But wasn't Veldora sealed by a human 300 years ago?"
"Hinata. While he was indeed sealed, remember that you are still far behind the hero who sealed him"
"That is right. Veldora is a force of nature, his very presence devastates his surroundings, triggering ravaging storms. He is a like a nigh-unstoppable raging storm itself, but a storm that has a will of its own. He is powerful beyond reason, so powerful that even the lady's scenic palace, Night Rose fell before him"
Louis adds to his master' words, making Luminous' eye twitch, forcing Hinata to reconsider her decision. Nodding, Hinata opened her mouth again—
"Also, about the message Rimuru sent—"
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Swoosh.
Feeling the wind breeze past my face, I turned around to see Lune, specifically, Lady's Luminous' sanctuary that stood atop the Sacred Mountain.
It had been a few days since the incident with Demon Lord Dino destroying the Barrier of the city, which was now being rebuilt. Due to the lacking safety of the barrier, the 'confrontation' with Rimuru was postponed.
After all, a majority of the city's available forces, as well as numerous adventurers volunteered to keep watch around the city until the barrier was being restored, and from what I had heard from Louis, they were going to improve and enhance it further, much more than it was last time.
The casualties caused by Demon Lord Dino show were startlingly high. Over a hundred were dead, about a thousand severely injured and more than ten thousand civilians which not critical injuries at the very least.
Not to mention, if he teams up with Rimuru, who seems to be angry with me, it would be disastrous.
I am okay if he comes only after me, but I can't have him attacking Lubelius as well, so I must go alone. I cannot get other's involved, this is my duty, my burden to bear.
As far as I could tell from what Lady Luminous told me, attacking Tempest is a fool's errand now. Not only Rimuru, but also Dino and Veldora, a catastrophe class is a true catastrophe just as the name suggested, even Lady Luminous cannot defeat such a being easily.
As most of the Knights and even vampires were busy during the reconstruction of the barrier, which was close to completion, it was easy for me to slip out.
However, despite all this, the Luminaries seemed to be keeping a close watch on me as far I could tell, as they had later encouraged me once again to kill Rimuru. I just nodded then, but I hope I can come to an agreement with him.
They had given me a sword, Dragon Buster, but after come consideration, I decided to use the Legend Grade Moonlight for my duel with Rimuru. Not only because Moonlight was overwhelmingly superior, but also that the Luminaries, no matter how I saw it, were suspicious.
I also suspected that they had tempered with the message Rimuru sent, but it was also true that Rimuru had every right to be furious at me.
Recalling this, I turned around, my back facing the city as I began my journey toward Tempest, with the auburn illumination gleaming dimly from behind, as the evening began setting in, heralded by the setting of the sun.
It was time to leave.
Wearing a hooded cloak, I started walking, noiseless as I could. It could be troublesome if someone discovered me, not to mention that the white robes of the Holy Knight Order were too bright, possibly making me a target of nocturnal monsters that I do not want to deal with now.
Rustle.
!!!
Suddenly, a rustle sounded from behind the trees on my side. Putting my hand on my sword, I clenched the hilt, prepared to fight.
"Oh hello there"
A merry voice met my ears, as the silhouette of a man emerged from the nether of the tree.
"Calm down, I'm not hostile, Hinata was it?"
He knows my name huh.
Looking at the man, I could not sense any killing intent from him, but my instincts are screaming that he is strong, insanely strong.
Still on guard, I asked the only question that seemed appropriate.
"Who are you?"
I asked, as his complete visage entered my sight. He was a tall man with long silver hair, wearing a red long coat that complemented his scarlet eyes.
"My name is Twilight. Just a citizen of Lune"
My eyes narrowed, "Then what are you doing out here at this time? It is not safe"
"Haha. You do not need to worry about me, I consider myself fairly capable. I was simply heading to meet an old friend. However, what brings one of the ten Saints here at this time?"
Old friend? At this time? Anyway, I could not see any weapon on him, but he could be a—
"Are you an adventurer?"
After all, there are a number of them currently in the city.
"Haha, nothing of the sort. I have some experience fighting some monsters as a wizard, so I am pretty confident in my abilities"
Is he that confident or just arrogant? A mage doesn't usually wander alone.
"Where are you heading?"
Twilight paused, and then, after a few seconds said, "…The Great Jura Forest"
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"What a strange man"
I muttered, glancing at Twilight, who stood under the scorching sun.
It had been nearly a day since the both of us had set off for the Jura forest.
At first, I was skeptic of him. The Jura Forest was known to be the resting place of the Storm Dragon, and not only that, it was the territory that housed merely monsters and demi-humans without any humans entirely.
I thought he was a monster at first, but later concluded that he was a human, seeing that he had no features signifying that he was a monster or even a Demi-human, except for his crimson eyes. However, I knew every Vampire that were resistant to sunlight, and Twilight was not one of them.
Not to mention, he seemed to have a wife and child, showing me the ring on his left ring finger, and his description of his family was… particularly vivid.
Oh forget it, I'd rather not think about it too much, or I might get paranoid.
"I don't think it's polite to call someone you are traveling with strange?!"
Huh? How is he right before me? I was quite sure there was some distance between us just a moment ago.
"O-Oh Sorry, I did not mean to offend you"
"Heh. It's alright, I was just teasing you"
"Oh"
It was a surprise, I had never received such a reply since Shiz—
Forget it, that smug grin on his face is irritating.
"Anyway", he began, "Why are you going to the Jura Forest as well?"
"…To clear up a misunderstanding"
"I see", he muttered before a grin reappeared on his face, "Interesting"
Ugh.
"We have wasted much time here, we should get going"
"Yes yes, I understand"
Twilight grumbled, before walking again.
Time flew as our journey progressed, getting closer to our shared destination every single day.
In this time, I also found myself conversing with him quite often, sharing some of my views and stories to keep me occupied, though the reason for this was probably because of Twilight's extremely outgoing personality.
During these few days, I had learned a few things about Twilight. He was likely an enlightened, maybe even a saint probably comparable to me, seeing how easily he dispatched a rouge lesser dragon that attacked us.
He was not headed to meet Rimuru, but someone else whose name he refused to share, saying "You will see soon enough". And that person was a 'father figure' to him, as far as I could gather from his words.
However, as much as I would like to deny it, he also pried into some of my information, though not much.
I also asked him for his opinion on my matter with Rimuru. To my surprise, he was quite confident that Rimuru would likely forgive me. When I asked him how he came to that conclusion, he said that he had a friend who knew Rimuru, while muttering something that I could not totally grasp.
"Hmm?"
In the distance, now coming into view was a town.
It seems we are nearing our destination.
Thinking that I slightly hastened my pace, knowing that Twilight would follow without difficulty.
"You seem eager"
"Well, I have not eaten in a while. How about you?"
I replied, or rather, asked.
"I'm hurt?! I thought you liked the meal my wife gave us"
"Uh, it's not like that, the food was really good, I just—"
"Heh, I know. I was just messing with you"
Ugh. Should I just leave him behind?!
Though his wife's cooking is really delicious, I can't deny that. But I'll just keep that to myself for now, I don't want to deal with him annoying me even more.
Hmm?
Entering the town, I found ourselves a suitable restaurant. Twilight being Twilight readily agreed and entered the restaurant with me. Sometimes I wonder if he's just a child pretending to be an adult, he's way too energetic.
I mean, he couldn't even keep his eyes in place and scanned his surroundings like a child. Even as the waiter served us their 'recommended' dish.
"Hmm? A Japanese dish? I never thought I would see this here"
Eh? Wait, hold on.
"Twilight, are you—"
"Haha, no. I was born and have lived in this world, I just happen to have some knowledge from some of my otherworldly friends. Now, that I think about it, you are one as well right?"
"Y-yeah"
What the…I should investigate his past when I return, while he doesn't seem to mean any harm, I should still do so. The current situation with Rimuru takes priority right now, that is hoping that he spares me.
That aside, I haven't seen noodles since the day I came here. I asked the waiter beside us, and got the answer to be Tempest again, or specifically, Rimuru.
Sigh.
I will think about that later, it's been a long time since I have tasted something like this.
I thought, as I decided to indulge myself in a taste I had tasted not quite recently.