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Year 16 AL, Saving Face


Everything seemed fairly normal when Luka and Alice arrived back at the village of San Ilia. The people were all calmly walking about - aside from the few giving the scantily clothed Alice quite the perturbed look - and the town itself was quiet enough. However, Luka couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. He came to a stop, nervously lifting and dropping his walking-stick onto the stone path.

"Can you feel that, Alice? Luka asked while glancing around. The disguised Lamia let out a small hum before replying, "I do detect something foul, but..." She trailed off, seeming to mull it over for a moment. "...Strange, it's familiar but also not." His traveling partner's comment helped to put Luka on edge, his gaze scanning the cobble-stone streets warily.

'Something familiar to Alice? Could there be some powerful Monster lurking around here, hidden amongst the civilians?' Luka thought. He was so lost in his worries, that he didn't notice that the presence herself was watching them from a nearby alleyway. But it was too late, far too late for either of them to avoid this peculiar being. She stepped out of the shadows - nearly colliding with trash can as she did - and called out from across the way.

"MY HERO!~"

Luka and Alice simultaneously cringed as the voice of Amira bellowed out from the side. However, when they glanced over to her, they were both flabbergasted to find that there was no reverse-Lamia standing before them. Instead, the voice came from the form of a woman clad in a black and white nun's habit and robes. "There you are, my love! I knew you'd return!"

The woman's long blonde locks - which very conveniently covered her eyes entirely - bounced around as she ran over to them, her black nun robes swishing just as much at the same time. She gave a little hop before stopping in front of Luka and smiling down at the purple-haired boy.

"A-Amira? Is that you?" Luka asked, blinking in confusion at this transformation.

The disguised-reverse-Lamia laughed, "Haha, you seem to be gobsmacked, my darling. Is my new appearance that captivating for you?~" As if to accentuate her point, Amira gave a little twirl while laughing. She suddenly stopped and parted her hair with a hand to reveal one of her bright yellow eyes, "Also, call me Maria when I'm in this form, please. I've been using that name to seamlessly integrate myself into the Human populace here. Can't have them finding put my real identity, now."

Alice rolled her eyes at Amira's behavior, "I'll give you one thing, you don't look so repugnant in this form. Though a Monster should hardly take any pride in their Human disguise looking more attractive than their natural form." She declared flatly.

Her slight caused the disguised-reverse-Lamia to fold her arms beneath her chest, "Maybe this is true, but I will do anything it takes to capture my love's attention..." Amira proclaimed, a sneaky smirk coming to her face as she lightly bounced her breasts, "...And I do mean anything, my Angel-faced Hero. Ask, and you shall receive~"

"E-Eh, I'm fine, thank you..." Luka said, though his denial alone wasn't enough, for Alice quickly snuck in a quick insult. "Probably padded it, considering how flat she was before." The Lamia spat.

"OH!" Amira exclaimed in astonishment, raising her hands up to cover her mouth. "Now, even if we are Rivals in Love, that is too deep a cut to make! To accuse me of such a deceit, it's unthinkable!"

Luka ran a hand down his face, his patience for this situation already running low. "Look, Amir-" The young Hero paused, "-I mean, Maria, I'm needing to do some things really quick. So, if you have anything you wish to tell me, I would appreciate it if you were quick about it."

Amira dropped her hands from her face, "Well, there is one thing. It seems as though the Castle of San Ilia is now haunted!" The disguised-reverse-Lamia proclaimed, much to Luka's confusion and Alice's sudden and silent aggravation. Luka stepped up to question Amira, "Haunted? How could that be?"

"It's haunted because they're ghosts in it, of course." Amira - rather unhelpfully - replied, shrugging her shoulders as she continued. "There's three of them from what I've heard, and these terrible spirits have caused quite the stir already."

'Wait, three of them?' Luka thought, his mind instantly connecting the dots to the three ghost girls who had expressed a desire to come to San Ilia specifically to raise trouble. Luka mulled over this until Amira continued, "There are even rumors that the King of San Ilia himself is currently indisposed because of the incident!"

Luka cringed at this, 'Well, he may have been indisposed well before that.' He thought, remembering well how he had fell into a rambling mess not long after his dream notes suspiciously went up into flames the first time he had visited the castle. If King Peter was so severely affected by this though, then the young Hero would have to look into it.

"Ugh..." Alice groaned, gaining Luka's attention. He looked up to his traveling partner, who didn't look all that excited about this new potential mission of his. "...Let me guess, you're going to go looking for things that don't exist in that castle, then?" Alice asked with an unenthusiastic gleam in her golden eyes.

Luka steeled his pale-blue eyes in preparation for the argument to come, "Alice, if there's trouble here, then I need to investigate it. You know that by now, surely." He stated.

Alice raised a hand and lifted a finger, "First off, there obviously is no trouble since ghosts don't exist, therefore it is impossible for the castle to be haunted." Luka raised an eyebrow at the disguised Lamia as she raised a second finger, "Secondly, it isn't your problem anyways. This place is full of soldiers who surely have nothing better to do anyway, just let them handle it."

What Alice said - the second part, anyways - was true. There were more than enough people in San Ilia to handle the situation, whatever the true nature of it may be. However, if Luka could do something to help, then he would do it. That, and he still felt bad about leaving things the way he had the first time.

"I'm sorry, Alice, but I have to look into this. What if there is gho-" Luka paused as his traveling partner's eyes harshly onto him, causing him to jerk and correct himself, "-Uh, I mean, what if there is Monsters that-are-definitely-not-a-ghosts causing trouble in the castle? There were Monsters in the Four Animists book, after all. There could be others as well!"

Alice dropped her hand in frustration, knowing at this point that she was fighting a losing battle. It was Luka's most reckless yet admirable traits, he was dedicated to his role as a Hero and would not betray his instinctual desire to help those in need. And so, in lieu of furthering the argument, Alice simply made a compromise to speed things along.

"Alright, how about this? While you go up there and go do your wild goose chase," Alice started, leaning over to grab onto Luka's traveling bag. She lightly pulled at the sack, pulling it off the somewhat perturbed boy's shoulder. "I'll go prepare us for heading for Sabasa. How does that sound?"

Luka blanked for a few moments, somewhat surprised that Alice would concede so quickly. He nodded nonetheless, "That sounds good, yeah. You'd probably know better about what to get anyways, I'm sure." Luka readily admitted. His traveling partner smirked, "Of course, somebody needs to find the proper snacks for the journey ahead."

"Is that really the most important thing to figure out?" Luka asked innocently to which Alice quickly fired back, "It's a matter of the highest importance, Luka. This you should know by now."

'I guess that I should, she does love her food.' Luka thought. He couldn't help but smile as he replied, "You've got me, just try not to pack my whole bag with treats, please?" Alice firmly shook her head, "I won't make a promise I can't keep." She said simply, turning around to search for said treats. The young Hero watched his traveling partner walk way, his pale-blue eyes not leaving her form until she disappeared into a nearby store.

'Wait, does she even have money to buy anything?' Luka suddenly thought. He glanced back to Amira while he thought this, seeing the disguised-reverse-Lamia doing something a bit strange: She was writing in a small journal of sorts. He tilted his head a bit in curiosity until Amira seemed to notice his attention falling back onto her.

"A-Ah, sorry, my darling," She said in an uncharacteristically jittery tone, quickly pocketing the small book. "I was just, er, jotting some notes down."

Luka slowly nodded, "...Uh-huh, well I'm going to go check out the castle now. So, see you around, Maria?" He finished, lightly waving his walking-stick at his bizarre informant. Amira perked up, "But of course, my Angel-faced Hero! Here's to our hearts colliding once more someday!" With that, Amira turned around and all but sprinted into the alley she had come from, nearly smacking into the same trash can she had narrowly avoided the first time.

'Such a strange Monster.' Luka thought, turning to face the far-off castle of San Ilia. 'Let's go see what's going on, then. I hope it isn't anything too bad.'


Luka was a bit perturbed to find that, upon reaching the front of the castle, that there were no guards awaiting at the front. Instead, the door - which looked somewhat slapped on, due to Granberia's rather abrupt entrance destroying the original one - stood unprotected when the young Hero had walked up. Even more strange, was the fact that there was nobody on the other side of the door when he pushed through and entered the castle's first hall.

The hall looked only somewhat better than it had after he fought the Heavenly Knight of Fire. Luka cringed, the harsh memories of that battle flashing in his mind as he looked about the rubble still left behind. He fiercely shook his head and pressed forward, not allowing his mind to linger on the ever-looming possibility of engaging Granberia for a third time.

All he could do was hope that it wouldn't be anytime continued down the dilapidated main hallway of the castle, spying the somewhat-familiar figure of the Captain - who was missing his cape, Luka noted - talking to what appeared to be one of the scholarly clerics of the castle who was speaking quite frantically to the armored man. The Captain spotted Luka, his light eyes gleaming with a touch of surprise.

"Oh, Hero Luka? I hadn't expected to see you again so soon." He said, facing the purple-haired boy. The priest beside the man pushed his glasses up his nose, something of a smile coming to his face despite his overall concerned posture. "Ah, it is you! This is good, actually. You may be able to help us!" He exclaimed, readjusting his books as he faced Luka.

The young Hero decided to pretend not to know of what was going on, as to not possibly out Amira as his informant. "Help you with what? Is there something wrong?" Luka asked as he paced up to the older men. The Captain of the guard began to scratch at the fuzz growing on his chin, "Eh, yeah. It's not the worst of things, but we're trying to keep it hush-hush either way."

Luka raised an eyebrow at the taller caped-man's words, "If it isn't that bad, then why is it being kept a secret?" He asked. The Captain of the guard sighed while dropping his hand from his face, letting it drop to his side. "It isn't without good reason, I assure you." The man replied vaguely.

The priest leaned in and elaborated, "There are certain concerns that the citizens knowing about a possible second invasion of Monsters here, even if it's a bunch of ghosts..." He paused, seeming to search for the right way to put it. "...Well, it could cause quite a stir in the village, you see." It took a few seconds, but Luka eventually understood what the cleric meant.

Granberia attacking was one thing; the Heavenly Knight of Fire was well-known as a destructive force that even armies of Humans could not stand up against, as her skill and power were far too great to adequately counter. Recovering from her attack was bad enough, so any subsequent invasions on the castle that happened so soon after - no matter how small - could potentially throw the populace into a panic.

"I see..." Luka remarked with a nod. If it really was ghosts like Amira and these men had said, than most likely they were the three he assumed them to be. This also meant that this mess was partially his fault, since he had failed to stop them from headong for San Ilia when he had the chance. "...Well, I'll help take of this, then." His offer quickly caused the two men to perk up.

"You have our most esteemed gratitude, Hero Luka." The Captain said with a bow. The priest made to do the same but ended up fumbling his books and dropping them onto the ground. "Oh dear!" He yelled out, dropping down to retrieve his fallen novels. Luka quickly followed suit, grabbing onto one particular book that had slid his way. He lifted it up, reading a startlingly familiar title:

Monster Girl Encyclopedia Vol. I

"O-O-OH!" The priest exclaimed nervously, all but wrenching the book from the young Hero's hands. "Thank you very much, Luka! Hehe, ehh..." The man cleric trailed off, leaving Luka to silently stare at him. The Captain of the Guard looked between the two with confusion, not having seen the book in question.

"Anyways," The Captain began while glancing down at Luka, "From what my men and I have gathered, we're dealing with a trio of rather mischievous ghosts. They've been seen doing anything from switching the contents of the salt and sugar in the kitchen, to tossing all of our weapons out the barrack window..." He explained.

A rather annoyed look coming to his face as he hissed, "...Sneaky devils threw my cape into the furnace as well." Luka cringed at the venom that practically dripped from the Captain's tone, taking a small step away from him soon after.

"S-So where was the last place these ghosts were sighted?" Luka asked, hoping to steer the conversation away from what book he had just seen. The priest - taking better heed in holding his books close this time - answered first, "The last place they were seen was near King Peter's room, actually. So that would be a good place to start."

Luka gave the two a deep bow, "Alright, I'll head that way then. If I find anything, I'll make sure to let you know!" He said, not wasting another second to head for the King's throne room. The young Hero sped walked down the hall, trying to force away the memory of what particular book the priest had been hiding in order to focus on his current mission.

'Just pretend like you never saw it, Luka...' The purple-haired boy thought as he came before a set of large red doors belonging to King Peter's throne room. '...Saw what? Exactly, I never saw any smut book about Monsters in his hand! No, no I did not.' Luka raised a hand and lightly rapped against the door, its wooden facade letting out a dull knock. After knocking, he stepped back and waited for a response...

"GO AWAY, HARBINGERS OF DEATH! I AM YET NOT READY TO LEAVE THIS WORLD!"

...Any response he had expected, was certainly not that.

"KING PETER!" Luka yelled, quickly dropping his walking-stick and traveling bag to kick down the door. With great speed, the young Hero tore Angel Halo from his back and charged through the doorway and into the throne room. He lifted his sword high, taking in the scene before him.

King Peter the Fourteenth himself was huddled back behind his throne, his face pale and clammy from fear. Luka noted that the elderly ruler was missing his crown, revealing a thinning layer of white hair on the top of his head. Luka didn't have to look far to find where the symbol of his royalty went, as it sat on the head of one of the three ghosts that hovered in the middle of the room.

These three being the yellow-haired, red-eyed girls he had fought in the catacombs of the mansion earlier that day.

The trio of sisters - the youngest currently wearing the King's missing crown on her head - looked just about as surprised to see Luka as he did to see them, resulting in a rather awkward stare-down to occur. It would not last too long though, as King Peter hurriedly called out to Luka. "Take caution, Hero Luka! These three devils are after my soul!" He proclaimed, pointing a damning finger at the ghost sisters.

"Actually, we just wanted your hat." The youngest ghost said, pointing up to said crown on her head. King Peter shook his head, "A likely story; first you'll take my crown, then surely you'd come for my very soul next!" He fired back, though making sure that he stayed behind his throne.

Luka lowered his sword as he began to realize that the situation before him was not nearly as severe as he has assumed it to be. He glanced over to King Peter, who was still looking quite frightened, despite the rather unfrightening ghosts hovering in the middle of the room.

'This will probably go smoother if I get him out of here first.' Luka thought. He took a few steps in the direction of the three ghosts, positioning himself between them and the King. "You get somewhere safe, King Peter, I'll handle these three."

"Take heed, young Hero," King Peter began, slowly shuffling over to the room's exit as he did. The elderly monarch pointed another accusing finger to the ghosts, "These three are pure evil, vile to the core! May Ilias be with you." With that, King Peter the Fourteenth left the room, leaving behind a tired-looking Luka with the three ghost girls.

Luka placed Angel Halo on his back and then folded his arms over his chest, "Now, why is it that you three had to cause trouble here? It isn't very nice to frighten a man of that age." He remarked, giving the ghosts the sternest look he could muster.

Alas, unbeknownst to Luka himself, it came off as more of a pout than anything else.

"It was just a bit of fun, nothing else." The long-haired girl replied, clasping her hands together as she did. The second-oldest ghost huffed, "Yeah, the old man was overreacting! All we did was steal his cap."

"Among other things." Luka stressed, moving to stand before the three floating ghost girls. "I've heard of the pranks you've been doing here, and they were not nice at all."

The youngest of the three ghosts - who was still wearing King Peter's crown - perked up, "But it was just a bit of fun, sir!" She remarked merrily, clasping the white and blue crest with both hands. "And look, does this crown not look wonderful atop my head?" The young spirit asked.

Luka refused to play along and held out his hand, "Please give that to me, it isn't something to play around with like a toy." He reprimanded. The young ghost girl frowned in response but removed the crown either way, handing it over to him with a bit of disappointment. "Here you go."

"Thank you." Luka said, tucking the crest of King Peter beneath his arm. He looked up to the ghosts once more, "Now, I'm alright with letting you three off with a warning this time, but that's only if you promise not to do this stuff again."

"What? But we haven't hurt anyone!" The older short-haired sister fussed, throwing her hands up in the air to emphasize her displeasure. The other sister with long blonde hair was quick to add, "Exactly, we haven't done any actual harm here."

Luka took careful consideration of the situation at hand. He didn't want to upset the three with more scolding, but the young Hero also couldn't just let them off the hook so easily. He shuffled in place before continuing, "I know that you haven't attacked anyone, but that's beside my point. After all, I didn't free you three so that you could go causing trouble like this."

The young Hero's words caused the three to deflate, listening a bit closer as he continued. "If you three wish to have fun then that's fine, but this isn't the right way to do it and this certainly isn't the right place." Luka said, softening his glare just a bit.

"Well, where else are we supposed to go that'll let us? It wouldn't be any fun if it was just the three of us messing around!" The older short-haired girl complained, throwing her hands up in the air as she did. This caused the purple-haired boy to pause, 'She's right about that. They probably wouldn't want to go back to the mansion.' Just then, the young Hero had an epiphany.

Luka looked up to the three and grinned, "You could go to the Forest of Spirits! There's plenty of Fairies and other Monsters that you could have fun with there, I'm sure!" Luka exclaimed. His suggesstion seemed to do it, as the three ghosts girls looked excited at the prospect.

"That does sound like fun." The youngest sister remarked giggily, looking to her fellow siblings with a gleam in her red eyes.

"It does sound nice, we could pull off a lot more exciting things in a place as full of magic as that one." The long-haired ghost girl concurred.

"Ooo, there's Elves there too, right? I've heard that they're awfully fun to mess with!" The older short-haired girl added, her tone threatening something very wicked.

Luka felt a twinge of regret hit him, but it was too late to try and get them to rethink doing anything dubious as the trio of ghost girls flew through the ceiling and vanished with a flurry of various goodbyes. Very suddenly, the purple-haired boy felt very bad for what was surly about to become quite the headache for a certain Elf serving as the guardian of the Forest of Spirits.

While quietly sending his condolences to Claudia, Luka made for the door, opening it to find the monarch in question standing some ways down the hall. Once King Peter saw Luka in the doorway, he smiled and took his crown from Luka's grip.

"Ah, have you already bested those terrible spirits?" The elderly man asked as he paced inside. Seeing that the room was now vacant, King Peter gave Luka a thankful smile. "My most greatest appreciation to you, young Hero. Without you, who knows how long those specters would have blighted us with their evil?"

Luka returned the King's earnest smile with one that was a bit shakier, "Well, they weren't really all that much trouble to deal with. They just needed a home." He could only hope that said home in question would be able to take the surprise additions.

"Ay, that would make the most sense." The King said as he placed his crown on his head. He continued on as he returned to his throne room, "To be a wayward spirit is an awful thing. To have to carry on in this life when you are supposed to be gone, it must be painful to see what you once had but can never feel ever again?"

The kindly King's uncharacteristically somber observation was enough to cause Luka's own thoughts to darken some as he recalled his time in the Haunted Mansion. The Zombies there had been under a similar curse, having to be trapped in their own decayed bodies and watch on as they were forced against their will to become a part of Chrome's depraved experiments.

Luka couldn't think of a more terrifying fate to suffer.

"Anyways, let us not dwell on the hapless elements of life. You still have much work to do, and so I'm sure you'll need all the help keeping your spirits up as you continue on your journey." King Peter the Fourteenth said as he faced Luka once more. "You will be in my prayers, Hero Luka. And don't forget that, more important than anything else, the Great Goddess Ilias will always be watching over you!"

The mere mention of such a thing sent a cold chill up Luka's spine, for he knew this well enough already and she surely was not happy with what had happened in the Forest of Spirits.

"Y-Yes, King Peter, I-I have great confidence that she is!" Luka exclaimed, desperately fighting to keep the brittle smile on his face from breaking apart completely. However, Luka's nervousness over his next meeting with Ilias was great enough to show through, for even the somewhat doddered King of San Ilia saw this slip in the young Hero's mask.

King Peter's grin fell, "Is there something wrong, Luka? You seem to be troubled." He stepped forward and placed a hand on the shorter boy's shoulder. "If you wish to speak to me about it, then I would be happy to lend an ear. It's the least I could do for someone of your standing."

Luka cringed, "U-Uh, no, everything's fine, really. I-I've just had a rather long day, you see." He quickly explained, gently removing the monarch's hand from his shoulder. "Like you said though, I must be on my way. Can't waste time when I have so much to do!" Luka said in what was supposed to be an energetic reply, but his tone came out terribly forced.

King Peter's eyebrows furrowed but he did not pry, "I see, I won't keep you any longer then, Hero Luka." He said, spurring Luka to move for the door. He spared the elderly man one last glance and a wave, "H-Have a good day, King Peter." With that, Luka left the throne room, only stopping to grab his stuff at the door before hurrying down the corridor.


The pit of shame growing inside Luka only worsened as he left the castle of San Ilia, not even having the heart to take a second glance back at the stone palace behind him. The way he had conducted himself at the end was abysmal, but he didn't wish to trouble anyone else with his own anxious thoughts.

Which is why he really should leave as soon as possible.

Luka glanced up to the sky, seeing that it was beginning to darken. The day was ending and so night will soon be upon him, which meant that Luka's next meeting with Ilias was drawing nearer. This also meant that he was going to have to answer to why he had allowed the Monsters of the Forest of Spirits to "reward" him in the manner that they had.

And Luka had no reasonable answer for that question.

The young Hero quickly arrived at the entrance of the town of San Ilia, crossing into it with a hurried pace that contrasted heavily with the calm peace of the atmosphere around him. Luka glanced around, looking for his traveling partner so that he could head off for Sabasa as soon as possible. Just as Luka grew worried that finding Alice was going to take some time, he heard her voice call out to him from the side.

"Huh, that was actually pretty quick." The disguised Lamia remarked. Luka turned to see her holding a few plain bags, assumedly being full of items Alice had deemed necessary for the trip ahead. "I was afraid that you'd go messing around and waste more of our time."

In spite of the slight, Luka smiled at Alice as he approached. "Hey, I'd like to think that I've been getting better at solving people's problems." He replied, to which Alice rolled her eyes. "Problems that are not your responsibility, I may add. I've never seen anyone be so quick in burdening themselves with other people's woes. I'm starting to think that you enjoy it."

"I do like solving other people's problems," Luka quickly fired back, "Besides, shouldn't helping others always be my first priority as a Hero? Like I've said before, I couldn't call myself one if I just ignore those who need help."

Alice didn't immediately reply to this, instead taking a moment to look over the bizarre boy she was traveling with. She still didn't think that his habit of stalling their shared journey was a very helpful trait, but she would be a liar if she said that it was easy to just shrug off his points. Technically, Luka was fulfilling his duties as he should but spending any more time than necessary roaming with him wasn't very helpful for Alice's own sake.

"Here," Alice spouted off suddenly, holding out the bags off to Luka. He quickly shouldered off his traveling bag and began haphazardly packing the bags away, finishing up just to find his traveling partner hold out a large piece of beige cloth. Luka tilted his head at the item, "What's that for?" He asked.

"You." Alice bluntly responded, lighting tossing the garment to the young Hero. Luka caught it and let it fall open, seeing it to be a hooded poncho of sorts. His pale-blue eyes gleamed with confusion as he looked to his traveling partner, "Um, do you want me to wear this?" He asked.

Alice raised an eyebrow at him, "Do you plan on going into the desert without protection? With skin as pale as yours, you'll burn within the first hour of being there without coverage." She elaborated. Luka blinked and glanced down at his own bare hands. 'I guess that makes sense, I don't think I'd tan very well.' He thought. Luka looked back up to his traveling partner and nodded, "Thank you, Alice. That's very considerate of you."

The disguised Lamia herself seemed a bit taken for a moment, but the slip was covered just as quickly as it had occurred. "Don't thank me yet, that will only help you so much. The desert is a treacherous place for even those who already live there. You'll need ever advantage you can take." She said, watching as Luka stuffed the garment into his traveling bag and retrieving his map in the same moment.

"Well, even still. I wouldn't have really thought about it otherwise, so I'm glad you did." Luka remarked, beginning to head out of the city as he did. Alice followed soon after, not being able to even muster a bite back at his comment.

And so, the Prophet of Ilias and the Monster Lord left the city of San Ilia to head for the Saifa region to begin their hunt for the Gnome. The journey ahead would be a taxing one, as there were more things lurking on the horizon than just the task of finding the elusive Earth Spirit...


Apologies for the long wait for such a comparatively short and noneventful chapter. Keep in faith though that it is for good reason, for there are certain things needing to be set up here to be used later on. That, and we needed a bit of light-heartedness before nightfall comes again. For Luka will have to answer to a very troubled Goddess once he goes to Heaven once more.

F14M3RZ: Eden and Marcellus' relationship will be quite the interesting one, I will say. Being forced to interact will draw them closer in a way, but don't expect it to come through easy means. Eden's opinion of Marcellus will shift but for now, she won't have any love lost for him.

omegaqilin: Miyabi actually got much farther than I had originally intended, but then I came up with the connection to the Chimera Dryad so some plans changed, and her plotline was given quite the extension. Because of that, Miyabi will be needing to stay behind in order to sort herself out, and all that may imply.

As for Ilias; well, soon enough she's going to start trying to subtly nudge Luka not only just away from Monsters anymore but also more towards herself. I won't say much more, but I figure you can assume what that would mean. Something that happens quite soon may also help that as well...

dagolas: The Wind in this story will be characterized as very whimsical in its behavior, so how much it helps Luka pretty much depends on the situation. It will help him in certain areas but also may be inclined to sway his focus to other things, as was show with its observation with Claudia.