"Again, you leave yourself wide open! How many times do I need to repeat myself before you understand?"
Two days ago, I finally got released from my bedroom.
I immediately picked up my training with Astress, who acted as if nothing ever happened.
We continued our sparring sessions, however this time I was wielding a weapon I felt more comfortable with.
Yet, to think that buying a new weapon would put me on equal footing with her was just plain blissful ignorance.
She kept kicking my ass repeatedly without breaking a sweat.
It annoyed me, but I knew that was exactly what she wanted.
So I toughed it out and sparred with her one more time, again and again.
On the third day, we were in the midst of training when Astress lashed out at me once more.
"Are you going to keep lazing around, or can we continue?"
"I'm sorry. Just...give me a minute."
Astress let out a long, exasperated sigh.
Ever since we continued training, I got the impression that something was bugging her.
Still, I didn't want to ask her in case she would get even more mad at me.
On the other hand however, perhaps asking her about it could clear the air between us.
It was worth a try, at least.
"Astress, is there something on your mind?"
She looked quite agitated towards me.
"And what made you think there is?"
"Just a hunch. I'm sorry if I did something to upset you."
For a moment she kept quiet, before she responded to my last comment.
"Rest assured, this has nothing to do with you. I was mainly wondering what Mr. Bellimore was doing here, when he rescued you."
"You mean Reath?"
She nodded.
"You see, Mr. Bellimore used to work here at the castle, like myself. He was a hard and diligent worker, one who many of my peers used to look up to. While he and I did not always agree, I did look at him with the utmost respect. Unfortunately, that is where all the heroics stop."
"How come?"
"That, I cannot tell."
So, Reath used to work for the Diablo family.
I never would have guessed someone like him to have such a past.
His current get-up does not help with that either.
As to why he left, I could only guess.
But judging from the fact that Astress is not allowed to tell me, it must mean it's likely something serious.
I wasn't planning on digging further into this matter, but some part of me did gather an interest in wanting to know more about him.
His entire identity was wrapped in mystery, and I was eager to uncover it.
"Alas, I must confess that I do miss him - only a little. At times, his company did come with its moments of amusement. Yet I digress, let us return to why we came here."
After that, Astress and I kept sparring for another hour before she called it quits.
Once the session was over, I went back to my bedroom to wash all the sweat off my body.
When I opened the door, I found a small envelope lying on my desk.
There was no indication of who sent it or where it came from, so obviously I was rather confused.
I carefully ripped open the envelope and grabbed the letter that was inside.
It read:
"Greetings, Shako. I'm sorry about having to send you this letter, but I didn't know of any other way to reach you. I'm sure Kia told you about me already, so hopefully that makes things a bit less difficult. That aside, I'm sending you this letter to let you know I wish to speak with you in private - preferably as soon as possible. At the outskirts of the northernmost part of town, there's a bar named: The Thieves' Den. Meet me there once you can.
Yours truly, Reath.
PS: Please don't tell anyone about this letter."
A letter from Reath?
And he wishes to speak to me, alone?
Did he eavesdrop on us when Astress and I were talking about him, or was this just a sheer coincidence?
If he hadn't included his name, I would've thought this to be some kind of prank or something.
"What should I do?"
That night, while I was eating dinner alongside Kia,
I was trying to come up with an answer to that question.
Mr. Luzel had prepared us another mouth-watering meal, an Elysian soup, but my appetite was nowhere to be found.
Kia noticed this and decided to point it out to me.
"You should go ahead and eat, otherwise your food will get cold."
"Oh, yeah."
I picked up my spoon and took a sip of my soup.
"Do you have something on your mind? Did something happen between you and Astress?"
"Huh? Oh, no. I was mainly thinking about something else. You don't have to worry about me."
She looked at me doubtingly, but left it at that.
Once I had finished my dinner, I returned to my bedroom and went to bed.
The following morning, I woke up even earlier than usual.
I decided the best way for me to see Reath would be when everyone else was still sleeping.
So, I quickly brushed my teeth, fixed my hair, and put on my clothes, before I tiptoed my way towards the front door.
It was quite a surreal experience, to walk through the palace's hallways at this time of day.
Only the birds chirping outside could be heard.
I made my way towards the main hall, and from there I snuck towards the front door.
"May I inquire what you are doing at such an early hour?"
To my complete surprise, Astress was standing right behind me.
Hearing her voice so out of the blue, it almost gave me a heart-attack.
"A-Astress. How nice to see you up so early."
"Really? Because to me, it does not seem you are that glad to see me. Why else do you try to sneak your way out of the castle this early in the morning?"
She approached me while staring daggers at me.
"Listen, I can explain this."
"You have three seconds."
In the end, I folded and told her about the letter I got from Reath.
She didn't seem to believe me at first, but the more I talked about it, the more convinced she became.
I also gave her the letter, in the hopes it would dispel any further doubts she might have.
"So, why exactly are you up so early in the morning?"
"My Lady asked me to keep an eye on you. She was worried you might do something reckless again."
I felt a sense of guilt once I heard those words from her.
In my attempt to make Kia not worry about me, I did exactly that.
I clenched my fist in anger.
"I shall accompany you to Mr. Bellimore."
"But he told me to not bring anyone with me."
To that, she simply answered:
"We shall cross that bridge when we get there."
The building Reath mentioned resembled a bar you'd see in those old western movies.
It had tall windows, a slanted roof, and a wooden porch with a few chairs standing on it.
Above the entrance hung a large, wooden board reading: THE THIEVES' DEN.
"Not the most accommodating name I've ever seen."
I joked with a slight quiver in my voice.
"You would do well to avoid these sorts of places."
Astress advised me.
The doors of the bar opened and Reath came walking outside.
"Glad to see you, Shako!"
He walked forward and gave me a firm handshake.
"I'm glad I could see you as well."
His eyes then darted to the person standing behind me.
"Astress! And to what do I owe the pleasure of meeting you here?"
"Mr. Bellimore. May I suggest you refrain from sending our honoured guests such dubious letters without our prior knowledge? Be thankful that I am here to accompany him this time."
Reath raised an eyebrow and commented:
"I see you're as self-serving as ever. I'm almost surprised Ol' Azazel didn't make you his successor, instead of Kia."
"The absolute gall."
The two looked antagonistic at each other.
Before these two were going to fly at each other's throat, I thought it would be wise to clear up the air regarding why Astress was with me.
"My apologies, Reath. I tried to come here alone, but…"
Before I could finish my sentence, Reath lifted his arm and waved his hand.
"No need to worry. I'm already glad you are here. Say, how has your wound been doing?"
It took me a second to realize what he was referring to.
"Oh, apart from the occasional sting I sometimes get, pretty good, I'd say."
"Great! You two, mind taking the rest of our conversation inside?"
Together, Astress and I followed him into the bar.
The interior of the building was, again, similar to that of a saloon.
Many tables and accompanying stools were placed throughout the room, most of which were already occupied by other guests.
At the opposite end of the room was a staircase going up to the first floor, while the bar - with its abundant assortment of drinks - stood to our right. Reath had already made his way there, so we did the same.
"You guys want something to drink?"
"May I have a glass of Ignis, please."
"The same for me."
Once Reath had ordered himself and us our drinks, he led us towards a room upstairs.
Besides being a regular bar, this place also offered rooms you could rent.
Reath was taking us to his, which was located on the second story.
Once there, we continued walking until we arrived at a door with the number plate '5' on it.
Reath took a small key out of his pocket and opened the door for us.
In the middle of the room stood a round glass table faced by two red and velvet couches.
Against the wall to our left stood three closets and a desk, all made from dark brown wood.
In the far right corner sat a small bed, with just next to it a door that led to the bathroom.
There were two windows on the opposite wall from us, looking down on a park behind the building.
It was the same park Kia and I had gone to during my second day here.
Reath moved towards the farthest couch and took a seat.
Again, Astress and I followed his lead and sat down on the couch facing him.
"This room is incredible!" I commented.
"I, too, must admit that this room is far better-looking than I expected." Astress said after me.
Reath let out a happy grunt and answered:
"It's the best room one can get here. Still, I think I prefer the rooms at the palace a tad bit more."
"So it's true that you worked for Kia?"
He took a sip of the beer he had ordered while looking at Astress for approval to tell me about his past.
"Do not look at me. He is asking you, not me."
"Fine. I did indeed work for the royal family, but shall we wait a bit with the heavy topics. We haven't even properly introduced ourselves yet."
He stood up from the couch and extended his hand.
"Reath Bellimore's the name, though I'm sure you already knew that by now. And yours?"
I shook his hand and answered:
"My name is Shako Ikitayashi."
He sat down again and took another sip of his beer.
"So, tell me Shako? What is a Wanderer like you doing in a place like this?"
The moment those words left his mouth, I could feel my heart drop.
For a second, it felt like I'd forgotten how to breathe.
How did he know?
Was it my name, my looks, or was it something else?
Did he see me when I arrived here with Kia on my first day?
It wouldn't be unlikely, but pretty coincidental if it was.
I almost jumped up and tried to run away, but that would have ruined the entire point of why I came here.
Before I could say anything, it was Astress who calmly asked:
"How did you know?"
"I have my methods. Rest assured, I'm not trying to pick on Shako or make him feel threatened. Saying that, perhaps I should've phrased my question a bit differently. So, let me try again. How did you get here?"
There was no sign of clear hostility in his words or his appearance.
If he really did dislike me like the rest of Gehenna, he wouldn't have invited me here.
And he definitely wouldn't have saved me when I got robbed.
I suppose that realization did make me feel slightly better.
I told him that I got possessed and committed suicide as a result.
I told him about my encounter with the man named Lucifer, how Kia had found me, and how king Azazel allowed me to stay at his home despite his dislike towards Wanderers.
Besides that, I also told him some of my most memorable moments here before I closed off.
"I see. That must have been quite rough for you. I'm sorry if it brought back any bad memories."
"Don't worry. I've gotten pretty used to them by now."
I answered with a wry smile.
"And can you inform us why you wish to know all of this?"
Reath took another chug of his beer before he answered Astress.
"I suppose my curiosity got the better of me. After all, it's not every day you get to meet a Wanderer in the flesh."
After the somewhat awkward silence that followed, Reath asked:
"So, how do you fare now?"
"I don't know. I want to say that I'm happy, but…"
It was difficult to put my thoughts into words.
Especially because Astress was sitting right next to me.
On the one hand, I was happy that I managed to find a place to live here and have people who support me.
On the other hand, there was this overwhelming feeling telling me that I could not live the rest of my life in this world.
"It's alright. You don't have to explain it to me right now. Anyway, there was something else I wished to speak with you about."
"What did you want to talk about?"
For the first time since I met him, he looked somewhat nervous.
He was circling his thumbs and occasionally lifted his foot, then put it down.
There was an uncertain look on his face, like he didn't know where to start.
"How's... Kia been doing? Has she talked much about me?"
Astress then suddenly responded:
"Ugh, I had a feeling it would come down to this. Do you miss her?"
"Of course I do." he answered, while nodding his head all sad.
"What do you mean?"
I looked anxiously at Astress, who in her turn stared expectantly at Reath.
He nervously rubbed the back of his head.
"Can you promise you won't tell her about this?"
"Who, Kia? Yes, but why?"
The answer came soon after that.
"It's true that I used to work for the Diablo family back in the day, but as you've probably come to suspect, there's more to it than just that. In short, Kia and I...the two of us were in love."
"WAIT, WHAT?!"
I was unable to hide my shock from him.
However, when I looked at Astress she didn't seem surprised at all.
So, likely, what he said was true.
This explained why the two acted so weird upon seeing each other that one time.
And it also explained why Kia was always so cryptic about Reath.
"Now, it's prohibited for any worker of the Diablo family to develop any sort of romantic relationship with coworkers or members of the royal family. If such a scandal were to leave the castle walls, you can imagine the outrage it might cause amongst the people of this realm."
"Not only would the royal family's reputation be tarnished, but it could also have negative effects on our relationships with other nations." Astress added to that.
"Despite knowing all of that, our love for each other did not lessen one bit. I would almost go as far as to say it only strengthened it more. Even so, in the end, the old man found out about us two and had no other choice but to oust me."
He paused for a moment, and then revealed:
"I still vividly remember the look on Kia's face when I walked out of the castle that day. I reckoned three whole years would've been enough to heal her broken heart, but when I finally managed to see her again after all that time, she still looked at me with the same sadness in her eyes as she did back when I left her."
Out of nowhere, Reath raised his fist and slammed it on top of the table, almost knocking over our drinks.
"I'm sorry." he said immediately afterwards.
Honestly, I did feel sorry for him.
I'm sure that in another world, the two could've lived a wonderful life together.
However, the reality was that they were forced to live lives separated from one another, and no 'ifs' or 'buts' were ever going to change that fact.
I can't imagine how painful that must have been for them.
Weirdly enough, their situation reminded me of my parents.
If situations had been a bit different, maybe we could've stayed being a normal family.
Yet sadly, life ain't that easy.
"Is that all you wanted to tell us?" Astress asked him.
"For now, at least."
"If it may comfort you, not a day has gone by that Lady Kia has stopped thinking about you."
Reath looked surprised at Astress, but then said:
"Thank you, Astress."
Astress and I both stood up and walked towards the door.
I was ready to open it when Reath shouted:
"Oh, one more thing!Has anyone ever told you about The Academy?"
"No. What is it?"
"The Academy is the institute where the most talented Wielders of Fira gather to improve their Wielding skill. Perhaps it would be wise to ask Lady Kia more about this." Astress answered.
"I think that is a great idea." Reath commented on Astress's suggestion.
And with that, the two of us left the bar and headed back to the castle.
When Shako and Astress left the building, Reath dropped his tired body on the couch behind him and leaned backwards.
A loud, heavy, and exasperated sigh left his lips as he dropped his head back as well.
A few hairs landed right in front of his eyes, partially blocking his sight.
He blew some air in an attempt to move them away, but to no avail.
"Why must this be so exhausting?" he wondered out loud.
"Do not forget the importance of this."
"I know, I know, I know! You don't have to remind me, thank you very much."
From one of the dark corners of the room, a shadowy figure appeared.
Skin as white as snow, eyes as red as blood, and hair as black as the abyss.
She wore a tight, black leotard, which accentuated all her curves, and a pair of fishnet stockings strapped to her slender thighs.
While on her right arm the girl wore a long, black glove that just-about reached her elbow, her left arm was naked and looked to be made entirely of charcoal.
On naked feet, she slowly ambled towards Reath and placed her cold hand on his shoulder.
"I know that you are trying your best, Reath."
"*Sigh* It's just... I just can't see how Shako is supposed to help us."
"In due time, the boy will show us his true potential. We just need to wait and be there when it happens. Remember, The-"
"The Mirror never lies, I know."
He looked grumpily at the woman right behind him.
In the few years they'd known each other, Reath still felt – or rather, knew – that there was so much that he didn't know about her.
And unbeknownst to him, the woman knew he did as well.
"In due time? Wasn't it you who said we don't have time left?"
"I said: the quicker we have someone that can help us, the better. That does not mean we can force all our cards on him all at once and call it a day."
Reath sat upright and chugged the last bit of beer he had left down his hatch.
Were it not for him watching his health, he would've walked back to the bar and grabbed another one.
It would also give him some time to get his thoughts together, time he so desperately wanted.
"So, what's the plan?"
The woman walked over towards the other couch and sat down.
"For now, I believe we have enough evidence to claim that the boy will not be a threat to us. What we need to do next is to find a way to build his confidence."
"And you think sending him to The Academy will help with that?"
The woman shrugged.
"To be perfectly honest with you, I do not know. But, it's as good a chance as any. The longer we wait and sit around, the bigger chance we have of playing into 'her' hand."
Although they were fighting a common enemy, the two knew next to nothing about them.
Their enemy's intentions, thoughts, and goals were all still a mystery to them.
What they did know, however, was that they possessed the power to change the entirety of Fira - for the worse.
Were such a fate to befall on this world, it would certainly be catastrophic for most people, if not everyone.
"Fine! I see what I can do." Reath answered, annoyed.