Y/N POV

We exited the underground tavern, and marched onto the streets with our hoods off. Although some of my partners are infamous, they should not be recognized on sight. I hope, at least.

Chid-chan, where are you? I asked through my pendant to my contractor, who responded almost immediately.

Y/N, I'm in the food district. The girls said they were hungry and so I was dragged around and ended up buying a bit too much for my body and their bodies to consume.

Uh... how much... did you spend exactly?

If I remember correctly, maybe 20 holy coins?

Phew... I thought you spent all 50 of them...

Honestly, Y/N, I'm disappointed in your lack of trust in my abilities. Even if I haven't went to the outside world in 400 years, I still have a sense of finance, you know?

Okay, okay... sorry. In compensation for my actions, I'm giving you 5 more as allowance.

Allowance? Who do you take me for, a kid-

Do you want it or not?

YES, please.

Anyways, I'm heading over with Elsa, Yae, and Sphinx now. Please wait for me there, and when we meet up, we'll go down to Hakchuri.

Hakchuri? Isn't that the place where the Sword Saint lives. You don't mean...

Yes. It's time to pay my little sister a visit.

I walked through the streets of Hakchuri, accompanied by my 7 companions. I ignored any glares from jealous males, since I didn't recruit girls for a harem or whatsoever, but because of their abilities.

Stalking further into the vicinity of the of the city, I came across a weird crowd who was seemingly cheering for something. When I someone budged to the front of the crowd, I saw Felt, who flew through the air after being knocked away by something.

I was going to rush and help her, but Reinhard caught her before I could rush in. My worries only stopped when I saw tomato sauce instead of blood upon closer inspection.

Felt swatted at Reinhard and yelled about him being ruining the mood or something, and hopped off as she checked the situation. Apparently, they were in a game of sorts, and Felt's team lost, one way or another.

I was about to leave and visit them later, but a scream behind me stopped my movement as I saw Palmyra propel herself high up into the air using Il Fura, an original spell that she created. Seeing how she had no control over the spell, I sighed as I elevated myself using aluminum, and caught her as I walked down stairs that formed as I walked.

I set her down on the ground. And looked at her questioningly. "Palmyra, didn't I say not to use magic inside the city for safety reasons?"

"Well, I wanted to show Colette, and I didn't know that Il Fura would be so powerful, since before I've only been able to elevate myself of the floor a little."

"Sigh... well, next time, tell me or Omega before you do something like that, okay?"

"Fine..."

After I placed Palmyra down on the floor, I noticed that apparently our situation caused quite a commotion, and the crowd opened up to a circle as we were featured in the centre of it.

"Let's go, Palmyra." I said as I scurried away with her into the crowd, but not before a voice stopped me from behind.

"Y/N nii-chan?" Felt's voice rang out from behind me, and I stopped as the crowd opened up once more, and I faced her as she let out a smile.

"Y/N nii-chan!" Felt rushed over and hugged me as Reinhard followed, worried.

"Felt-sama, I told you, you can't just go running off into places..." Reinhard stopped as he saw me, and quickly stopped as he let out a long sigh of relief. "Hello, Y/N."

"Rein! Nice to see you here, I guess?"

"You know what, Y/N nii-chan? We're heading back to the Astrea Mansion, so how about you come with us for a tour?" Felt asked, excited.

"Rein, is that okay with you?" I asked the Sword Saint, who shrugged as his approval. Felt gave me a wide smile as she pulled me in the direction of the mansions, but I stopped as I gave Palmyra a look to tell the others to follow us, before getting dragged off by Felt as we walked down the streets.

The crowd was apparently still shocked that the very feisty girl who seemed annoyed even at her own caretaker could have such an intimate friend. I couldn't blame them, since Felt's mood seems to be swinging from one extreme to another every moment.

Felt introduced me to many people in Hakchuri, who all seemed very friendly, and occasionally gave me some gifts of some sort for being able to be a friend or something. Well, weird places have weird traditions, so who am I to argue against that?

When we finally entered the vicinity of the Astrea Mansion, I saw my comrades in the distance and immediately waved to them. Felt was confused until she noticed the girls, and she gave me a weird look.

"Y/N nii-chan, have you seriously been gathering girls for the past few months and not visiting me just for that reason?"

"No, no! I really wasn't! We were busy fighting the White Whale and the Witch Cult, you know? And also some really tough enemies."

"Hmmm... if I find out that you're lying..."

"I really wasn't!"

While continued to gaze at me questioningly, Reinhard, on the other hand looked shocked and defensive. It was only then I realized why he was being hostile as I noticed Elsa and Sphinx.

Oh yeah, I forgot to tell him that-

However, before I could finish my thought, Reinhard rushed out with the Dragon Sword Reid in hand as he somehow unsheathed it, and Elsa immediately smiled and took up a fighting stance before I used Inen and Ryokyo to block Reid and push Reinhard back to defend Elsa and the rest of my comrades.

"Y/N! Have you lost your mind! Elsa Granhiert is a very dangerous criminal, so why is she with you!"

"Rein, your slash would've hurt the girls behind her too, you know? Also, Elsa's on our side now. It's a long story, so I'll explain it all later when we get inside and rest." I tried to calm Reinhard down as he realized his mistake and sheathed his sword, which I was surprised that it allowed itself to be unsheathed in the first place. Is it because of Omega?

"Fine, then. Y/N, you better not make me regret this." Reinhard said as he sighed and signalled us to follow him.

Reinhard POV

To think that Y/N L/N has recruited the Bowel Hunter... just what magic did he do to manage to accomplish that?

And, also, that pink-haired girl with them... she looked like Sphinx, a leader during the demi-human war...

But the most mysterious incident is definitely, this.

Reinhard thought as he looked at the Dragon Sword Reid, who was supposed to not allow itself to be unsheathed until it deemed its enemy worthy. Now that I think about it, this happens every time Y/N is around...

But why? I never once considered him as an enemy, and always as a friend. So why is the Dragon Sword allowing itself to be...

Well, I suppose many answers will be revealed when Y/N tells us his story. I suppose we'll just have to wait.

Timeskippu*

Y/N POV

As we sat down in a lounge within the Astrea Mansion, the hostility rose as I felt the people from two sides glare at each other, mainly my comrades looking at Reinhard and the Astrea people in contempt as they did indeed try to kill them, one way or another. Even Palmyra and Colette looked a bit angry despite not fully aware of the situation.

Felt and I sat in the middle as mediators, since we were like the bridge between the two parties. I sighed as I suddenly saw three more people join us, and one of them was Rom.

"Old Man Rom! You're here too?" I said, pretending to be surprised.

"Oh, youngster! Yes, I'm here as well to watch over Felt. By the way, what's happening here?" Rom asked, clearing up the tense atmosphere just a little.

"Well, we were discussing on how I happened to have such a bizarre-" Everyone in the battalion glared at me, and I decided to use a change of words. "-ahem, interesting, group of comrades/ travelling partners. Anyways, I'm just trying to clear up animosities here, so can we all just be friends here?"

"Now, Mr...Y/N," the old man who entered alongside Rom and a woman who I presumed as his wife, spoke to me. "I know you are a good person as Reinhard says, but I hope you can see how hard this is for us. I just finished adjusting with this dude over there, you know." He jabbed a finger at Rom.

"I see. Well, Mr. Grimm Fauzen, who could use his shield to deflect an Al Jiwald, the strongest spell in Sphinx's arsenal, I hope you can also understand that times have changed since then. Sphinx is loyal to me, and obviously I do not want her attacking her old enemies or whatsoever. The past is the past, I'm not saying you should forget, but it will be nice to forgive to a degree. She could also be of help to training many potent mage, being one herself. Don't be too hard on my partner, okay?"

After my speech on defending her, Sphinx wiggled close to me as she clung to me once again, and Omega sighed as she held the Ryuzu staff that was supposed to be shared among the clones. Grimm sighed as his wife Carol comforted him, and I began to tell our story.

I filled in the battle of the White Whale for those that were not there, and my encounter with the Archbishops of Greed and Gluttony. I then talked about the Sanctuary, mainly skimming it and leaving out parts related to Echidna, and described my experience on defeating the Bowel Hunter and how I recruited Sphinx and Yae. After a lot of explaining, everyone finally calmed down and eventually let us go rest.

I was so tired that I'd rather just go sleep, but the girls insisted I take a bath. I grudgingly agreed, and I took off my clothes as I entered the bath with a towel. I sat in the pool, reminiscing about the times when I fought hard battles that would've never been won, if I didn't have my Deceit Witch Factor. Am I relying on it too much? I can't tell. Out of the 10 main abilities, only 7 are unlocked so far. I only have 22 elements unlocked so far, and I really need to step up my game if I were to face the Archbishops in Arc 5, who are insanely overpowered.

At least I am given a one-year period where I can train... the only worrying part about this is that I hope I won't be tracked down by the Archbishop of Lust, who is the leader of the Assassination Organization. Taking Elsa and Meili away might've down great damage to their group, so it is almost impossible to determine if she would send people to kill me.

Well, no use worrying about that now, is there?

Before I could enjoy myself more, Echidna's voice came through.

Y/N! How's the bath?

It's pretty nice, Chid-chan, the water temperature is great. Are you going to the bath as well?

Ya, although Sphinx, Elsa, and myself do not need bathing, we decided to do it as a group anyways. By the way, you entered the one with the eagle on it, right? So I'm going to assume the Lion is the woman's bath, since Reinhard also said-

Wait. The Lion one is the woman's bath? And they're all coming in right now?

Oh no.

I quickly ran into the change room, grabbed my clothes, and decided to modify the walls a bit as I sneaked through the crack before closing it up with all the elements I could muster. I sighed peacefully as the cracks closed and I heard the voice of Sphinx and Meili entering on the other side, making me relieved.

Thank god I did some quick thinking there, or else I would've-

I turned around to see Felt, who was lying in her own personal bath, yawning as she closed her eyes in peace. Seeing that she didn't notice me, I covered myself with aluminum foil as I snuck across the floor, and finally reached the other wall.

Why did my luck just drop by 100%?! I could've gotten caught so bad back there... I have to be more careful the next time I take a bath in this mansion, dammit...

Now finally in the men's bath, I sat down in the water once again as I left my clothes in the male change room, relieved that I just survived that scenario. But my tranquil time was quickly interrupted by three other people: Reinhard, Rom, and Grimm, who all decided to take a bath at this time as well.

Why couldn't I just have a peaceful time to myself?!

Now that I look back on it, I might've had a better time if I just stayed over there...

The Warlock of Deceit let out a long sigh as he sat in the water, hoping for a better day tomorrow.