Alnea kept shifting his gaze between Daes and Tia, yet, no matter how he looked, he could not find any hint of dissatisfaction or anger on their faces. Even though he deceived them into an Oath. They still acted as nonchalantly as ever. Maybe, even more so than before. Of course, it could all be a disguise. Maybe they were just acting. Trying to deceive him in return…

  Alnea shook his head, smiling to himself. Why was he thinking the worst of people once again? It had not even been an hour since he parted with his friends, and he had already begun turning back to seeing the worst in the world once again? Had he not decided to be a little more trusting of people? Besides, he had already made them take an Oath. What more did he want? Then again, being a little cautious would not harm him…

  “…Since you have no problems with the Oath… then let’s begin with our introductions,” Alnea said, restraining his smile. “As you know already, I am Alnea… Just Alnea. Though I was born as Ernith Tresting, son of Raun Tresting. And no, that is not the name of some obscure clan, trying to hide its existence. My father was just a civilian. So am I. Otherwise, I would not have been forced by circumstances to change my name.”

  Alnea paused for a moment, reminiscing about the day he laid his Roots, before Slashing the doubts in his Heart.

  “…Before I tell you about those circumstances, let me tell you a little more about myself first. Like where I was born,” Alnea said, trying not to let the dying waves in his Heart infect his voice. “In a small, unremarkable city, lying in a remote corner of the Ann province of Rianra.”

  “The Lotus clan’s territory?”

  “…Well, that explains a few things.” Daes mumbled. “Are you from the Lotus clan?”

  “…Not exactly,” Alnea said. “My father was their retainer, but I never joined their clan.”

  “…Would you mind if I ask why?”

  “What do you mean why? Do you want him to be their retainer?”

  “Do not get me wrong,” Tia said, shaking her head. “I just think that if his father was their retainer, then it would have made more sense for him to join them too.”

  “That’s just—

  “It is alright, Daes,” Alnea said, shaking his head. “She is not wrong. It would have indeed made more sense if I became their Retainer. If only they had not killed my father, that is.”

  Alnea paused, as he felt a soft, warm touch on his hands. Both his hands. One was being grabbed by Yuri, and the other, by Cecilia. And they were both looking at him with worried eyes. Yet, it was Vestia who broke the silence.

  “…You never told me about your father.”

  “…Because there was nothing to talk about him before,” Alnea said, and paused once again, before putting on an apologetic smile. “But you are right. We have been together for nearly a year, and yet, I have barely told you anything about myself…”

  “…That is not what I meant,” Vestia said, shaking her head. “I was just worried about you…”

  “And that is all the more reason why I should have told you more about myself before.”

  “…It is alright. With all the things that had been going on in the past year, we barely had any time to rest, let alone sit down and have a good talk. And it is not too late to tell me now.”

  “…So, you forgive me?”

  “Of course, I forgive you,” Vestia said, flashing her dimples. “But only this time. If you keep things from me in the future… then I will have you tease Cecilia with me for an entire month.”

  “Hey!”

  “…Do you want her to kill me?”

  “Then you will just have to be extra careful.”

  “…I will,” Alnea said, flashing a grin, before turning back towards Tia and Daes, who were looking at him with a hint of confusion on their faces. “You look like you have some questions.”

  Daes and Tia glanced at each other, before turning back towards Alnea.

  “…The Lotus clan killed your father?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Even though he was their retainer?”

  “And? When has Orthodoxies ever cared about the lives of their retainers?”

  “…Not all Orthodoxies are like that,” Daes mumbled, while Tia narrowed her eyes in thought, and shook her head after a few moments.

  “…It still does not make sense,” Tia said. “Maybe some Orthodoxies really do not care about the lives of their retainers, but no Orthodoxies in their right mind would kill them.”

  “Yet, all evidence suggest that they deliberately pushed my father to his death.”

  “…What did they do?”

  “They asked an Initial Stage False Wanderer to test an Advanced Stage Arcana that was still in the experimental phase.”

  The hall fell into silence once again, albeit a shorter one, that ended with Daes’ outburst.

  “…Raeon smite those bastards!” Daes cursed. “I already knew that the Lotus clan was insufferable, and annoying, but I did not know that they had fallen so low.”

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  “…But why would they do such a thing?”

  “…That is what I want to know too,” Alnea said, both to the two women, and himself. “They even gave my father an offer that he could not refuse…”

  “Those despicable bastards! It is because of people like them, that all Orthodoxies have begun losing their reputation and credibility.”

  “Daes,” Tia said in rather heavy tone, prompting Daes to purse her mouth. Unscrupulous as she was, even Daes knew that it was not the right time to talk about the dignity of Orthodoxies. But that was not enough to make her put away the dissatisfaction from her face. Though it was not just Daes who was dissatisfied with the Lotus clan. On the contrary, Tia was even more incensed with the Lotus clan. She was just a little more reserved with her expressions.

  “…I am sorry—

  “It is alright,” Alnea said, shaking his head. “It has been more than a couple of years since he died… His memories do not hurt as much anymore.”

  Alnea paused for a moment, Slashing the errant thoughts in his Heart, before continuing with his words.

  “Besides, I did not tell you about my father to gain your sympathy… Remember the circumstances that I mentioned earlier?”

  “…The one that forced you to change your name?”

  “Is it because of your father?”

  “Not exactly, but it is related to his death,” Alnea said. “It is long story. A long, and complicated story…”

  “…It is alright, Alnea.”

  “You do not have to go there.”

  “Let the past stay in the past.”

  “Besides, I like your name as it is. Alnea. It is much more pleasant to the ears…”

  Daes paused, as her words settled in, dyeing her cheeks in a faint shade of red.

  “…Not that there was anything wrong with your old name.”

  “…This is why you always get in trouble,” Tia said, rolling her eyes at Daes, but Alnea himself did not mind Daes’ words. Especially since the two women seemed to have misunderstood his intentions, saving him a lot of explanations. So, instead of frowning, or showing dissatisfaction, as the Daes and Tia had expected, he just let out a light laugh.

  “…Though it looks like you are fine this time around.”

  “That’s because I like my new name too,” Alnea said, restraining his laugh for a smile. “I will tell you about the story of how I took that name someday. For now, let us get back to what we were talking about. The city I was born in. An unremarkable city, lying in a remote corner of the Ann province of Rianra. Though, I guess it is not as unremarkable anymore.”

  Alnea paused for a moment, before finishing his words.

  “Have you heard of Anneve?”

  “Anneve… Why does that sound familiar…”

  “…Because it was all that people talked about a year ago.”

  “…That’s right! I remember it now. The city that was besieged by over a hundred Heterodox Wanderers…” Daes said, trailing off towards the end, as here eyes widened once again. “You are from Anneve?”

  “…Was. But yes, that is where I was born, and lived, until I passed my first Spirit Test.”

  “Spirit Test… So, you are also one of the survivors of the attack?”

  “Technically, I did not survive the attack. By the time big sis Serena—

  “Serena? You mean the Black Serpent?” Tia said, as Daes kept glancing between Cecilia and Vestia with a weird gaze. “Have you joined the Serpia clan?”

  “…No, I plan to join the Union.”

  “The Union?” Daes said, shifting her attention back to Alnea. “Are you planning to leave the Tes Domain?”

  “…I will answer all your questions later. Just let me finish first, alright?” Alnea said, prompting Daes and Tia to smile awkwardly, and after a quick glance at each other, nod in answer. But they could not hide the restless building up in their eyes. Maybe telling them that he was planning on joining the Union was not a good idea. He had already deceived them once though. Unless absolutely necessary, he did not wish to deceive them again.

  “…Forget it. This is taking too much time, so I will just get right to the point,” Alnea said, quickly coming to a decision in his Heart. “In short, I am currently being hunted by Heterodoxies. Or at least, one of them. There might be others too. Do not ask me how I know, or why they are after me. You will not believe the answer anyway. And it will be hard for me to explain without divulging secrets that might threaten my life.

  “What I can tell you, is that the recent upheaval in the surrounding region by the Heterodoxies is all because of me. Or rather, in their quest to search for me. And from how they risked incurring the wrath of so many Orthodoxies at once, or even infiltrating the Lost City to capture me, you can see how determined they are to catch me. And the fact that they have finally found me.

  “Then again, after encountering one of them in Anneve, I always knew that they would find me sooner or later, so I am not too surprised. Especially since the Lotus clan seems to have been very vocal about my presence in the city. Maybe, they even helped push the formulation of the Final Trial, so that they could capture me within the city’s boundaries without alerting the Grand Wanderers guarding the city.

  “Speaking of Lotus clan, they are also very determined to capture me. Maybe even more so than the Heterodoxies. And in their case, I really do not know what they want from me. To make matters worse, for some reasons that I cannot explain, I must take part in the upcoming Rising Wanderer Trials, and represent Anneve in Ann. So, if you leave the city with me, then not only will you have to face the chase of Heterodoxies, but you will also have to face the Lotus clan with me.”

  Alnea paused, and let his words sink in, continuing only when he noticed the wave of emotions surfacing on the face of the women finally stabilise.

  “Now, after you have learned about the risks and dangers you will have to face if you follow me, do you still want to be my Dependents?”

  Daes and Tia did not answer Alnea immediately. Instead, they first glanced at each other, and shook their heads, before turning back towards Alnea, allowing a smile to surface on their faces.

  “Does that even need to be asked?” Daes said. “Or do you think that we will be afraid of some Heterodoxies and just a mere Lotus clan?”

  “…I am serious, Daes,” Alnea said. “The enemies that we will have to face will be far stronger than you can imagine. Who knows, we might even have to face Mystic Wanderers as soon as we leave the Lost City.”

  “And yet, you show no fear,” Tia said. “Why then, do you think we should be afraid?”

  “…That is because—

  “You have an elder in the core city?”

  “…How do you…”

  “It was easy to guess, if you know where to look for the signs,” Daes said, shrugging her shoulders. “Your unscrupulous behaviour in the outer city, your lack of awe in front of True Wanderers, or even when discussing Wanderers of a higher Rank…”

  “…Am I still so obvious?”

  “You are much better now,” Tia said, as her smiles turned into giggles. “Back when you first came to the city, you were practically screaming of arrogance.”

  “…But I still need to work hard.”

  “Who does not?”

  “…Let’s get back to the point,” Alnea said. “Even if we can leave the city safely, we will still have to face an endless chase by the Heterodoxies and the Lotus clan. Are you really sure that you want to be my Dependent?”

  “…Are you so intent on driving us away?”

  “If you do not want us to be your Dependents, then you can just say so…”

  “Of course, I want you to be my Dependents. I just do not want to see you hurt because of me…”

  “Then there is nothing to worry about,” Daes said, widening her smile into a grin. “After all, you are not the only one who has an elder in the core city…”