Hello again, everyone.

I usually do this in the afterword, but for this occasion I want to thank Chaosconetic for bringing up a good point. I'll keep that in mind, and I'm gonna touch it a little in this chapter.

Let's go on with the show then. See you in the afterword.


[X][X][X]


Within the depths of an ancient building, far from the reach of common folks, the glistening majestic white form of the Platinum Dragon Lord was resting his massive body in slumber; which was abruptly interrupted when he sensed someone approaching. He was not fazed in the slightest, because he knew who it was.

"Hey, Tsa. didn't expect me to be back so soon, did you?"

The mischievous voice of an older woman echoed throughout the spacious chamber even though she spoke at a normal level. Tsa or Tsar, the short version of the dragon's name, was used only by close friends or comrades to address him. He smiled a little and raised his head to face the woman directly.

"On the contrary, I somewhat expected it"

The woman, Rigrit Bers Caurau, smiled hearing his words. But the gaze of her eyes were sharp, which clearly meant that there was a serious situation ongoing.

"You felt it too, didn't you?"

Tsa raised his head after hearing Rigrit's words, gazing at the ceiling.

"Yes. Numerous disturbances all over the region. The magnitude of powers involved is not something any of us can take lightly"

Rigrit folded her arms as 'Tsa' lowered his head once more.

"Indeed. The incidents are spread out with various levels of severity. Would you like me to list them?"

"Time might be a luxury now, so I hope you can keep it brief"

Rigrit then gave Tsa a briefing on the various incidents which had happened over the continent; such as a mysterious catastrophe which had left a huge crater in one wilderness area of the Re-Estize Kingdom, the demonic battle in the capital of Re-Estize Kingdom, the massacre of adventurers in Baharuth Empire, the slaying of one returned Evil Deity some time later, the spike of destructive power looming over the western ocean with rumors of the Sea Dragon's involvement, and finally the recent disturbances and massive explosion in the Abelion Hills.

"Hmm... I actually also felt a power spike towards the direction of Slane Theocracy just recently, but I don't want to go anywhere near them if I can help it"

"Hah, yeah. But in any case, it is hard to determine if this was all the work of the hundred-year aftershocks."

Rigrit added her opinion in a serious tone. Tsa couldn't help agreeing with her to some extent, and so he replied contemplatively.

"I am fairly certain that one or more 'Player' is involved. However, I also felt something else. Something different, but still as otherworldly as a 'Player' regardless"

"This warrants deeper investigation, doesn't it? Care to give a hand?"

Rigrit asked with a wry smirk. Her behaviour seemed childish, but those who knew her well would understand that despite that, she took the ongoing matter seriously.

"Hmph..."

Tsa lowered his head to the floor as if he went back into slumber. Within a second, the suit of armor which had been standing still at one corner of the room became animated and walked to approach Rigrit. The armor then began speaking, in the same voice as the massive original body.

"Even with me in the picture, we are still shorthanded. Have you contacted anyone else, like... Janus?"

"Tsa, you know that we're not exactly on good terms. After all, it was me who took his daughter from him"

"His daughter, eh...? I actually met her once a couple years ago, and she looked fine"

"Putting that aside, I did contact him. The conversation was unpleasant to say the least, but he agreed to help. For a start, he said that he would take a look at the two adventurer teams that raised to Adamantite Rank abnormally quickly"

"I see. I will take a look at Abelion Hills then. What about you?"

"I will go to Re-Estize Capital. Perhaps I can get Miss Little Crybaby to lend a hand while at it"

The two exchanged a nod, and they walked away from the room not knowing what they would find out later, if they would find out anything in the first place.


[X][X][X]


High above the clouds, an angelic figure was zooming through the skies of New World. This angelic figure was none other than Melrose, the Guardian of ARKS who currently was utilizing her Dark Blast Loser form to fly towards her destination; the Slane Theocracy. Thanks to recent events which had involved a misunderstanding, a number of people, which included the head of that country, now regarded her as what they called "Messenger of The Gods". She didn't want that misunderstanding to continue because she believed that the longer it lasted, the worse the repercussions would be once they learned the truth. Therefore, she intended to clear everything up as soon as she could.

Clinging on her back were two people she had just recently met after a series of interesting events. One was Ryu, a fellow ARKS, although from a different universe, while the other was Lily, Ryu's companion and a human being created with magic.

Thinking about it further, Guardian wondered if the undead named 'Ainz Ooal Gown' had secretly tested her when he had asked about the reason she had gone so far for Rose's sake even though Rose was merely a clone. Lily was in a sense very similar to Rose, and if Guardian had answered differently, such as regarding Rose as a disposable tool, Ainz would never want her anywhere near Lily. If she really had been tested, Guardian was glad that her own common sense happened to align well with him.

Ryu and Lily accompanied her after agreeing with Ainz's recommendation about not going alone. Guardian herself didn't mind the extra people, so she let them come along. After all, there was strength and safety in numbers.

While in Dark Blast, Guardian still could use her photon interface to a certain extent. Therefore she could see whether she was heading in the correct direction towards the destination and how far the remaining distance she had to travel, although the limited feature made it difficult to change destination midway, which was why she had to ask Xiera to guide her direction back then.

Guardian estimated that she would arrive pretty soon, but she had one concern lingering in her mind: How would the people there react upon her coming clean?

She would be too naive if she expected them to just accept it. The people who misunderstood her were essentially the top echelons of a country, so it would be reasonable to assume that there would be worse reactions, such as thinking that they had been deceived on purpose.

If worse came to worst, her group could escape by flying away, but there was no telling what else the members of the elite squad she had encountered were capable of. The possibility was not zero, perhaps even a certainty, that they had a member capable of disrupting their escape in one way or another.

Guardian wanted to think further about it, but she had arrived at the saved coordinate, and so she stopped to hover still.

"We're here. Gonna revert so prepare your flight spell"

Guardian said that a few seconds before she reverted back to her human form. Ryu and Lily quickly activated their respective flight spell, and so did Guardian herself. She reactivated her photon interface just to make sure.

"Yup, the place where I fought the Apostolo Dragon is right below us"

Currently, the group was floating high above, and what they could see below them were mostly clouds. Even if there weren't clouds, their altitude was too high to make out anything on the ground below. Ryu folded his arms looking down, and then looked at Guardian as he casually spoke.

"So, do we just drop down?"

"Might be too much of a shock to the people down there"

However, before they could think further about it, Lily suddenly became tense and drew her weapons.

"Someone's coming from below!"

Both Ryu and Guardian immediately went into full alert and drew out their own weapons. Soon enough, they noticed at least five people flying up from below towards them. Guardian immediately saw that the one at the very front, was a person she knew, and so relaxed her posture.

"Oh, I know him. They are not enemies"

Hearing Guardian's remark, Ryu and Lily relaxed their stance and put their weapon away. Indeed, the man was the one she called "Captain" from back then, and the ones behind him were members of his elite squad, whom Guardian could remember, although faintly. Upon closing his distance, the Captain seemed to be mildly surprised.

"Guardian Angel? Why have you returned so soon? And..."

The Captain glanced at Ryu and Lily, and he resumed speaking.

"...Why are we blessed with the presence of two more angels?"

Guardian looked at both Ryu and Lily, who seemed to be quite surprised by what the Captain had just said. Now that she thought about it, Lily indeed looked like an angel with her flight spell giving her flowing white wings. Meanwhile, Ryu's attire made him look like some sort of noble priest, so it was natural that they would assume him to be another angel.

"Ah, you see, Captain. I need to talk about that matter. Can I speak with the ones in charge?"

The Captain was briefly silent with his mouth slightly open, but then he immediately spoke.

"I shall get to it right away. Now, if you would follow us..."

"Lead the way"

After exchanging a nod, the Captain flew back down to the ground while the rest of his squad and also Guardian's group followed behind. During the short trip, Guardian spoke to Ryu and Lily.

"He's one of the two persons who helped me in the fight against the Apostolo Dragon"

"I see. The leader of an elite squad, isn't he?"

"Right. As for the other... it might be better if you don't meet her"

"Hmm? Why is that?"

"I'll tell you later. We've arrived"

The group landed in the courtyard where the battle had taken place. Because only a few hours had passed, there was no change to the environment. Everything was still a total mess. The surrounding buildings were heavily damaged and seemed like they could crumble at any time. Although a few makeshift support beams could be spotted at a number of places, holding the structures in place.

"This way, please"

The group followed the Captain into a nearby hallway, while his squad members dispersed to other places in a hurry. After walking for a few minutes, the group arrived at what seemed to be some sort of conference room. It was fairly spacious, and there was a long table in the middle with chairs around it. The number of chairs was enough to host ten people in total.

"I hope Guardian Angel would be so kind to give us a bit of time for the others to arrive"

"It's fine. Don't be so stiff"

Guardian said her words reassuringly. She didn't want to put too much pressure on the Captain.

"My thanks... In the meantime, please take seats as your hearts see fit"

Guardian looked at Ryu and Lily, exchanged a few subtle gestures, and sat down on the nearest chairs. Less than a minute later, the footstep sound of multiple persons hurrying could be heard from outside the door. Soon enough, the door was knocked gently and the Captain opened it.

Behind the door, the first two were a man and one woman, dressed in similar bishop-like attire, while the third person was wearing a fancier version. Guardian remembered that this third person was the one called the "Pontifex Maximus", the leader of this country. Although upon a closer look, she could notice that all of them were trying hard to hide the fact that they were short of breath.

"We apologize for the delay, oh Great Guardian Angels!"

The Pontifex spoke while bowing deeply, and the two other persons followed suit. Guardian stood up from her chair and immediately spoke.

"Please don't apologize. In fact, I should thank you for making time for me in such a short notice"

The Captain also bowed after Guardian spoke, then he began speaking.

"I suppose I will take my leave, then"

"I'd like you to stay here and listen too, if you can"

The Captain was briefly silent, then he bowed once again.

"Certainly"

Soon after, everybody was seated around the conference table. Guardian, Ryu, and Lily on one side, while the others on the opposite end. Everyone from each group looked at each other, trying to get any idea on who should speak first. In the end, the Head of the Theocracy spoke first.

"On behalf of Slane Theocracy I, the Pontifex Maximus, would like to express our most sincere gratitude to the Messengers of Gods for their presence in this very room. Now, what kind of message warranted not one or two, but three Messengers at once coming all the way here?"

Guardian immediately spoke to answer the question. All that was in her mind was to get this over with as soon as possible.

"A misunderstanding"

The four people in front of her didn't react immediately. They just sat there looking confused before Guardian continued.

"Everything about me has been a huge misunderstanding. I am not what you called 'Messenger of the Gods'. None of us are. We are all humans. The angel form you saw back then was merely a power I happened to have"

While speaking all those, Guardian herself was not even sure if this was a good idea. She could have tried beating around the bush while slowly leading the topic to the main point instead of going straight to it like how she had just done. Both methods had their upsides and downsides, but which one would have been better entirely depended on what kind of people they were. She had no idea on that matter, so she had chosen the faster way on the basis that these people were all important figures with congested schedules, so she shouldn't waste their time too much.

All four of the people in front seemed to freeze up hearing the reveal, but the Pontifex immediately spoke, though with a strained voice.

"I... I somewhat expected this, but... "

While the Pontifex was straining his voice, the woman sitting to his right spoke. Her arms were neatly folded on the table, and her facial expression was relatively straight as she glanced at the Pontifex.

"It's difficult to immediately accept, isn't it?"

The man sitting to the Pontifex's left lowered his head slightly with his eyes closed before he began speaking.

"Only those who are overwhelmingly naive will accept it right away"

Both the man and the woman then glanced at the Pontifex, seemingly expecting him to speak. Meanwhile, the Captain froze up with his mouth agape when the Pontifex took a deep breath and spoke.

"In that case, would you properly introduce yourselves and state your purpose of being here?"

"Certainly. I'm Guardian. I actually have a name, but due to some circumstances I'm addressed with my title for the time being."

Guardian replied with a formal tone, with the others following suit.

"I am Ryu Seika"

"I'm Lily Vangraf"

"I see. I am what people call the Pontifex Maximus. I hold the highest authority in this nation. The one to my right is the Cardinal of Fire, Berenice Nagua Santini, and the one to my left is the Cardinal of Earth, Raymond Zarg Lauransan."

The two Cardinals slightly nodded as the Pontifex addressed them.

"My main purpose is to clear up the misunderstanding as quickly as possible, because I believe the repercussions will get worse the longer I let it float around"

"A sound reasoning"

The Pontifex nodded slightly as he said that.

"I also act as the representative of my..."

Guardian's speech was halted, and she glanced at Ryu, who immediately spoke to cover her.

"Country. We came from a faraway country named Oracle, and we specifically are members of Oracle's military organization; ARKS"

The Pontifex and the two Cardinals looked at each other, seemingly shaking their head as their eyes met. The Pontifex then looked straight and began speaking.

"None of us have ever heard about a country with that name before, but..."

The Pontifex glanced at Ryu and Lily briefly before resuming.

"We are aware about two new adventurer teams in Re-Estize Kingdom raising to Adamantite Rank within an unbelievably short time. From the plates you wear, I believe you are one of them?"

"Yes"

Right after Ryu's answer, Raymond, the Cardinal of Earth, asked a question with a cunning glint in his eyes.

"Is the other team also from Oracle?"

"I rarely talked to the leader, but I'm certain none of them are"

"I see. Let us go back to the main topic. As a representative of a country, what message are you bringing to us?"

The Pontifex looked at Guardian as he spoke. His facial expression was straight, and his eyes were observing Guardian intently. Not wavering, Guardian began to tell her story about ARKS and their purpose.


[X][X][X]


Alice, Rose, and Hikaru entered E-Rantel without any trouble at the gates. The Adamantite Rank plates they wore still functioned well as a free pass to skip queue, and the guards at least knew Alice well enough. However, it was still inevitable that some people would whisper to each other while taking quick glances at Hikaru's horns and red left eye.

"So what do we do now?"

Rose asked while walking, not knowing what to do for the remainder of the day. Without stopping the group's pace, Alice spoke to answer.

"When there is nothing to do, we would usually standby at the guild in case something urgent happens. No such thing ever happened so far, though. So we just sat idly until sunset and return to the inn"

"That sounds boring"

"Ryu also felt that way, so we occasionally took some random jobs that could be finished within a day"

"I see. It's already late afternoon though, and I guess we're all exhausted after what happened today. At least I am, mentally, but what about you two?"

Hikaru was then the first one to answer, followed by Alice.

"Yeah, I kinda feel a little stiff after everything that happened"

"Me too actually"

The group kept walking without saying anything for half a minute, and then Rose broke the brief silence.

"Hey, Liz"

"Yes?"

"How long have you been living here in this town?"

"Around two years"

"Oh, not really long"

"Yeah, I was a wanderer before, journeying to various places. Never went really far though, because the further away from Slane Theocracy and nations neighboring it, the more dangerous it is for a human like me to walk around"

"I see. Anyway, if you've been living here for two years, that means you know places in this town, right?"

"Yeah, I guess"

"Show us around, then"

"Huh?"

The reaction was a little loud because Hikaru also made the same reaction at the same time. Rose quickly spoke again to explain.

"Uhh, I mean, the first time I and Sheep came here, we went straight to the guild. Then to the inn, back to the guild this morning, and we all went out. I want to know more about this town, you know. What about you, Sheep?"

Hikaru just shrugged.

"I'm fine with anything"

Alice was briefly silent as the group kept walking through the streets, until she broke the silence.

"Sure, I can show you around, but... "

Rose and Hikaru looked at Alice with a questioning look on their face, then she resumed.

"...Sheep or Hikaru? It feels strange hearing Ryu and Lily using one while Rose uses the other, now I don't know which one to use"

Rose was then the first to answer.

"Eh, I and the Workers have been calling her Sheep, it will feel weird for me to suddenly change"

"Call me with whichever you like. My brothers call me Hikaru, while my friends usually call me Sheep"

"I'm not really used to calling someone by a nickname, so... Hikaru, if I may?"

"Fine by me"

After the conversation, the group walked around town with Alice acting as some sort of tour guide. They went to a number of places including the Silver Star inn where Ryu and Lily had used to stay before moving to Shining Golden Pavilion, and the front entrance of the city graveyard where Ryu had managed to hold the line against a horde of undead monsters.

Some time later, sunset was approaching and it would get dark in about half an hour or so. The group was on the way back to the inn, but all of them sported rather tense facial expressions.

"You all noticed?"

Alice spoke with a low voice without turning her eyes. Hikaru and Rose replied with low voice as well.

"Yes..."

"We're being followed"

Indeed, the group had been followed by a stranger for about half an hour. The stranger was a middle-aged man wearing ordinary civilian clothes. It was clear to the group that their follower was not experienced in this matter because he was not discreet at all. Pretty much any adventurer would notice being followed by this man.

"Careful, that guy is probably a distraction"

Rose and Hikaru agreed with Alice's warning. The man was too obvious, there was a possibility that he was there to distract the group while someone else, likely multiple people, waited for a chance to strike. There was no telling whether this was true or not, and why anyone dared to mess with three Adamantite Rank adventurers in the case it was true.

"That alley..."

Hikaru silently pointed at a nearby alley ahead to the right. Alice made a slight nod before speaking.

"Alright, we pretend to walk straight, but once we're right in front..."

The group kept walking straight until they were right in front of the alley, and then they made a sudden sharp turn into the alley and disappeared from the follower's vision. The follower quickly hurried himself to enter the same alley, but right as he turned the group was already waiting for him with sharp glares from their eyes.

"H-hwuuh!"

The man was so startled by the ambush he uttered some weird sound from his mouth. Not paying any heed to that, Alice began interrogating him.

"State your purpose for stalking us"

"I-I'm sorry! Som-Someone just paid me to follow you! I know nothing else!"

"Who is this someone?"

"I don't know! It was a lone man wearing armor! That's all I know, I swear to Gods! I just wanted the money!"

Before Alice could continue her questioning, she suddenly heard a humming sound in the air, which somehow momentarily mesmerized her and possibly everyone else. Without being given time for anyone present to react, a dark figure dropped down from above and swiftly grabbed Hikaru by the arm. Within less than a second, the attacker held Hikaru with the point of his sword at her neck. The attacker was noticeably tall, clad in full dark-blue medium armor, with his head fully covered by the helm. The long-sword he held to Hikaru's neck was strangely very dark, like the night's sky.

"Huh?"

"Wha-"

"W-Whaaaaa!"

Alice and Rose were caught by surprise, and the moment of distraction was used by the previous man to run away as fast as he could. Nobody there stopped him, and so he quickly disappeared from view.

"What do you want from me?"

Hikaru asked the question while still sounding calm. It was a given, since her photon armor should prevent any kind of damage the locals of this planet could give. Being held at the point of a blade didn't faze her, although she still couldn't free herself from the man's grasp. After all, her physical strength was not much different from a normal human's.

"Hmph. So much for Adamantite these days."

The attacker groused in disappointment as he let go of Hikaru, who immediately turned around, now with a perturbed, fully alert look on her eyes.

"A mere cheap distraction left you wide open. If I were a real assassin you'd be dead already"

"Hey! Don't make light of us! A mere blade wouldn't have hurt her anyway!"

Rose spoke her words while sounding highly upset. But Hikaru, still being fully alert, spoke against it.

"No, Rose. It would have..."

"Huh?"

Rose looked at Hikaru, who put her hand on her neck where the dark blade had been held against and then looked at the palm. It was smeared with some blood, and the same applied to her neck. She had been cut.

"It's just a minor cut but... That is no ordinary sword"

Hikaru spoke her remark while glaring at the attacker's dark sword. He quickly sheathed it away, making a somewhat soothing humming noise in the process.

"My sword pierces through nearly any protection. Now, are you still going to be complacent with your defenses?"

The man spoke with his arms folded, then he sighed while shaking his head.

"Seriously, what can I expect from Adamantite these days?"

Rose gritted her teeth as this was happening.

"Urgh! This guy's pissing me off! Liz, say something, will you?"

Rose glanced at Alice, who froze up and stood still with her mouth agape. Her eyes had gone very wide and also shimmering, as if they could leak tears anytime soon. Rose couldn't help noticing that something was strange with Alice.

"Liz...?"

Alice's mouth moved barely, trying to speak something out but unable to do so because she was overwhelmed with emotions.

"F...F-Father...?"

"Huh?"

Both Hikaru and Rose uttered the same reaction out of shock, and they both glanced back and forth between Alice and the man, who just now had showed a surprised reaction as well.

"It can't be..! Alice? Is that really you!?"

Alice quickly walked to the man with her face full of rage and tears leaking from her eyes. Once she was close enough, she lashed out by flailing at the man's chest repeatedly.

"...You stupid! You dummy! Where have you been all this time!?"

The man stood still receiving all the flailing which obviously didn't flinch him in the slightest.

"I-I just.."

"Do you have any idea how long I have looked for you!?"

"No, I don't... But you really shouldn't have"

"I don't give a damn about that crap!"

The man seemed to get even more flustered as this was going on. Rose and Hikaru could only look on in confusion because too much had happened within a very short time-span, and now they had no idea what was actually going on there.

"Look, Alice! I'm sorry about it, but you should just forget me!"

As soon as the man finished speaking, he quickly turned around and jumped away, disappearing behind the roofs of nearby buildings.

"Uhh, should we chase him?"

Rose asked quickly, not being sure about what she should do.

"N-No need. It's... no use"

Alice spoke with a strained voice. She then took a deep breath several times before she finally could breathe somewhat normally without getting overwhelmed by her own emotions.

"Hiding in the shadows is one of his specialties"

Alice turned to Rose and Hikaru, and walked past them with her head down.

"...Let's go back to the inn. I will tell you everything there"

[Minor Cure Wounds]

Alice raised her hand to Hikaru without looking, and the cut on Hikaru's neck was instantly healed. The group returned to the inn in silence. Not a word was spoken as they entered the room and put their luggage at one corner. Soon, they all sat on the two beds in the room with Alice sitting on one facing Rose and Hikaru who sat on the other.

"I know both of you now have questions thanks to what happened back there"

Hikaru quickly responded to Alice's words with a straight tone and expression.

"You don't have to say anything if you don't want to"

"Y-Yeah. I'm fine with it, and Meru said the same thing too"

Rose spoke while leaning forward with a concerned expression on her face. Alice smiled slightly looking at the two.

"It's alright. Well, now where should I start..."

Alice briefly went into thinking before she resumed.

"That man was the foster father I recently mentioned, who raised me until I was about four. He is actually... a vampire"

"What?"

Rose exclaimed with her eyes going wide. Hikaru also seemed to be surprised, but she didn't display it as clearly as Rose.

"I was never bitten or such, so don't worry about that. He just raised me like normal... well, not really I guess. No normal parents would make a two-year old train Martial Arts and magic at once"

Alice stopped for a bit, while Rose and Hikaru didn't say a word. They just waited for Alice to continue.

"We lived deep inside a forest, in a simple small wooden house. He provided all my basic needs by hunting and foraging, and also growing some crops in our backyard. The training sessions I had were, to put it simply, tough. But other than that we lived peacefully and I was decently happy"

Alice once again stopped briefly. She took a breath and resumed her story.

"...Until a group of adventurers invaded our house and took me from him. They believed that I had been kidnapped and raised to be consumed once I got bigger, like cattle. He ran away without fighting back, so the adventurers decided to turn me in into an orphanage. However..."

Alice went silent again. This time, she took a deep breath.

"That was the story I once told Ryu and Lily, but I believe it was not that simple. The raid must have been set up by my foster father himself"

"Oh, what made you think that?"

Rose asked with her face clearly showing that she was curious.

"There was one night I faintly remember. I suddenly woke up in the dead of night because I heard him yelling at someone else. I took a peek through the door, and what I saw was him raging at someone I didn't know. An old woman who remained calm despite his rage. I got scared, so I ran back to my bed and curled up, hoping that what I saw was just a dream. That woman was one of the adventurers who took me away just about a week later"

"From what I've heard from you so far, it just sounded like the old woman discovered his vampirism and was blackmailing him"

Hikaru commented with her head slightly tilted and her arms folded. Alice nodded slightly before speaking again.

"That night, I actually could hear one question the woman asked him. She said... Are you sure you want Alice to spend the rest of her life here, without seeing what the world has to offer?"

Alice briefly stopped before she spoke again.

"Doesn't sound like a blackmail if you think about it, does it?"

"Hmm, yeah. Doesn't sound like one"

"Long story short, after coming of age I decided to go on a journey looking for him. I wanted to hear the truth from his own mouth. Had no luck, though. In the end, after years of wandering everywhere without any good leads, I gave up and settled down here in E-Rantel, working as an adventurer to make ends meet"

Rose leaned forward again with her eyes slightly wide.

"Wait, so the encounter just now..."

"Pure chance, yeah. I bet he must have been as shocked as I was"

Alice gazed at the ceiling as she spoke. Her expression seemed somewhat relieved, but also sad at the same time. Seeing this, Hikaru began speaking with a degree of caution.

"Do you want to... look for him again?"

Alice looked slightly surprised hearing the question. But then she shook her head.

"...No. No need. From his reaction, I could take the hint that I was right. Everything back then was arranged by him for my sake, so I wouldn't have been holed up in that house forever. He loved me in his own way, and knowing that is enough for me"

Hikaru tilted her head hearing Alice's answer.

"Are you sure?"

Alice didn't immediately reply upon hearing Hikaru's question. Instead she lowered her head and waited for a couple seconds before she spoke.

"No, not really. I might be mistaken, but until he tells me the truth to my face I will just live with this assumption and be happy with it"

Alice raised her head with a smile, but Hikaru looked indifferent seeing this, and she shrugged.

"I guess we're different on this matter"

Alice still smiled hearing Hikaru's words.

"Yeah, I kinda figured that you'd prefer to pursue the truth, even if it would hurt. In any case, it's getting late so let's call it a day"

Rose immediately stood up and stretched her arms.

"Yeah, everything has been very taxing on our bodies"

After the quick stretching, Rose walked over to the window to have a quick look outside on a whim. Ryu's group was not back yet, and she hoped that they wouldn't get into trouble.


[X][X][X]


"So, first of all, I deeply apologize for conducting a meeting this late"

The Pontifex Maximus sounded genuinely apologetic as he addressed the Six Cardinals gathering around the conference table. By this time, the sun had already set a couple hours before, and normally most would be already asleep.

"No need to apologize. If you're doing this, it must be important enough"

A very old man, Ginedine Delan Guelfi, also known as the Cardinal of Water, spoke with a straight tone. The rest of the Cardinals gave a slight gesture of approval. The Pontifex then resumed speaking after making a little nod.

"Berenice and Raymond knew everything already because they were there, but the main topic of this emergency meeting involves the three guests we recently received."

"I heard that the angel returned with two more angels, but I suppose there is something more than just that"

The Cardinal of Darkness, Maximilian, adjusted his round glasses as he spoke.

"Yes. She herself claimed that she was not an angel, and all three of them were actually humans"

"Are you saying that we have been deceived?"

Dominic, the Cardinal of Wind, exclaimed in a rather upset tone. The Pontifex quickly shook his head before speaking again.

"No. I think we indeed have been mistaken. We, especially me, were too captivated by her majestic form and immediately regarded her as an angel, a Messenger of The Gods. However..."

The Pontifex was briefly silent, taking small glances at each of the Cardinals before speaking again.

"Would any of you believe her claim that she was not an angel?"

"No way. No human would be able to transform into such a majestic being with divine powers not even I could comprehend"

Everybody else in the room looked upon the one who just spoke. Yvon Jasna Dracrowa, known as the Cardinal of Light, was an avid user of Divine Magic. In a way, that made him the one with most expertise in understanding the works of the Gods. If he was unable to comprehend the powers within the angel, that meant the angel was beyond the word 'Divine'.

"But that raises a question. Why did she have to make that claim?"

Berenice spoke her question out while her body sported a thinking posture. Raymond immediately spoke to answer that question.

"Perhaps she was in some sort of undercover mission, and she wanted to keep her presence not known by too many?"

The others in the room looked at each other and nodded, agreeing with Raymond's remark.

"Plausible. The moment she transformed earlier, a sinister dragon attacked not long after. Taking this into account, I suppose we must play along with her claim from now on. Lest we attract more dangerous beings"

The Six Cardinals once again nodded in approval after hearing the words of the Pontifex.

"Moving on. The angel, wishing to be addressed as Guardian, has bestowed us the knowledge about her origin and various other things. I have taken notes and prepared copies of the information for all of you"

The Pontifex gestured at the papers put right in front of each Cardinal. All of them took their respective copies and began reading. It took no less than three minutes until the silence was broken by Maximilian.

"Oracle... Darkers... Dark Falz... I have never heard of any of these"

"None of us have, Maximilian. I don't think I would be mistaken if I say that these are all from an entirely different realm altogether"

"Ginedine has a point. Being the former 3rd Seat of Black Scripture, I have confidence in my fighting experience and my ability to measure power. Guardian and her two companions...? Even in their human forms their powers are incomprehensible. Or perhaps 'otherworldly' would be a better word"

Right after Raymond finished speaking, Yvon looked at the Pontifex and spoke to ask a question.

"Speaking of which, where are they now?"

"They are resting in the best quarters we could offer. By the time they were finished it was already late, so we suggested that they spend the night here, and they accepted."

"I see. We better not displease them"

"Let's continue on..."

The Pontifex and the Six Cardinals then continued their emergency meeting regarding Guardian and her two companions. They all were amazed that the country had been blessed by the presence of such a divine being, and they were determined to cooperate with her as needed in her future endeavors.


[X][X][X]


Afterword:

So it turns out that Guardian's attempt to clear things up didn't exactly go well because the form of her Dark Blast Loser was just too majestic-looking in the eyes of the people. At least it was still a better outcome than getting branded as phonies, I guess.

See you again two weeks later.