Tia stayed true to her promise, and quickly wiped off her tears, returning to her normal self in just a few minutes. In turn, Daes and the girls also took back their Aspects, and resumed their normal sitting positions. It was only natural then, for Alnea to also follow suit, and return to his seat. Yet, the moment he sat down, he could not help squirming in his seat.

  The uncomfortable sensations… Not from the cushion, of course. On the contrary, the cushion was soft like a cloud, making him feel as if he was floating in the air. In comparison to the hard stumps of wood in the Bright Light Forest, and the beds of Blood Sucking Grass in the Night Canyons, it was simply a thousand times more comfortable, if not more. No, the uncomfortable sensations did not come from the cushion, but the gazes being directed at him. And the silence in the hall.

  “…Since we have had our introductions, and—

  “Wait,” Vestia said. “We have not introduced ourselves yet.”

  “…I almost forgot about that,” Alnea said, trying to laugh off his mistake, but how could Cecilia let him go so easily?

  “Of course, you forgot,” Cecilia said with a scoff. “We are at just the False Rank, after all. Now that you have two True Wanderers as your Dependents, why would you remember us?”

  “That’s not true,” Alnea said, hurriedly shaking his head, but Cecilia refused to listen. And instead of helping him, his two Dependents were just laughing from the side. Those traitors. Thankfully, he could always count on—

  “But you did forget us,” Yuri said, in a gaze that was somewhere between glare and indifference. As if what she said had nothing to do with her. She was just stating a fact. Except, she could not hide the aggrieved look in her eyes, or the slight pout on her face. Just a slight one, near the edge of her lips, that nobody else but he could notice. And that too, only because he had seen her pout before… He was doomed.

  “…I did not mean to,” Alnea said, as pushed his mind to its limits, trying to think of excuses. He found none. So, he gave in to his fate. “What can I do to make it up to you?”

  “…We will talk about that later,” Yuri said, as the edges of her lips rose ever so slightly in declaration of victory. “Let us complete our introduction first.”

  “I will go first,” Cecilia said, taking the initiative before Vestia. And while she was at it, she did not forget to send provocative glances at Daes. “As you know already, I am Cecilia Serpia, daughter of Ironia Serpia. I guess, you could also call me an heiress of the Serpia clan. And though my mother has not reached the Grand Rank yet, she is not far from it. She has even personally slaughtered Grand Thralls.

  “Besides, I also have many other relatives who are at the Grand Rank. Like my grandmother, my first grandaunt, my second grandaunt… In short, all the Ancestors of my clan treat me as their granddaughter. And they also know about Alnea—

  “Oh?” Daes said, glancing at Alnea in amusement. “Do they also know that he kissed their granddaughter in front of hundreds of people?”

  Alnea felt his heart go still, just as Cecilia’s face turned stiff.

  “Then again, I do remember seeing a few Black Serpent Guards hiding around you. They should have already reported your news back to your clan…”

  “…You do not have to worry about the affairs of my clan,” Cecilia said with a snort, but she did not sound as confident anymore. “…As I was saying, I met with Alnea in Anneve. And have been with him ever since. I also plan on going with him to the Union…”

  “…If your ‘grandmothers’ let you…”

  “…It is my life! I can go wherever I want!”

  “Except you are also the Serpia clan’s heiress.”

  “…An heiress. My sister is first in line to the Serpent Throne.”

  “And you are second,” Daes added. “Why do you think your clan will let you go to the Union?”

  “…That is not for you to worry about,” Yuri said, coming to Cecilia’s rescue. “Besides, she only said that she will be going to the Union, not that she will be joining the Union.”

  “That’s right!” Cecilia said. “I will just be accompanying Alnea to visit the Union.”

  “Tsk. You girls are quite smart. But how will you—

  “Stop fooling around, Daes,” Tia said, before shifting her gaze to Alnea. “And why are you still treating us as strangers?”

  “When did I treat you as strangers?”

  “We are your Dependents, are we not?”

  “…We still have to register at the Blood Hall.”

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  “That is just a formality. The moment you accepted our past, we already considered ourselves as your Dependents.”

  “…I am sorry…”

  “Do not apologise,” Tia said. “Act like you should. Treat us like your Dependents.”

  “…I…”

  “…Are you confused about how you should treat us?” Tia said with a smile, to which, Alnea responded with a hesitant nod.

  “You are like my retainers, but not exactly my retainers…”

  “…Just think of us as your retainers.”

  “…That’s the problem. The only people I have seen with retainers are the Lotus clan. And they did not set a very good example…”

  “…I am assuming they did not treat their retainers fairly.”

  “Fairly? They did not even treat those people like human beings. Or they would not have all rebelled against the Lotus clan and fallen to the Heterodoxies.”

  “…What exactly did they do?”

  “…Horrible things,” Alnea said, recalling a few of the things those people had mentioned, before being Enthralled. “Some very horrible things.”

  “…You are not planning on doing something similar with us, right?” Daes said, looking at Alnea with a weird gaze. “Though I would not mind if it was you, but try not to be too rough…”

  “…The only reason anyone will ever be rough with you is to shut your mouth.”

  “Like he shut the mouth of those girls earlier…”

  “…Just ignore her,” Tia said, completely giving up on Daes. “In any case, you really should not take example from the Lotus clan. Not just for us, but even the retainers you will gain in the future.”

  “…You do not have to worry about that,” Alnea said, nodding solemnly. “I will never be like them.”

  “Then I can rest assured,” Tia said, nodding with a smile. “Coming back to what I was saying… Since you do not know how people usually treat their retainers, then just think of us as your subordinates. You can ask for our help when you need it, and even let us run some errands for you. We will not mind. As long as treat us with respect, and do not try to restrict our freedom, we will always be your sharpest knives. And your friends.”

  “I would not mind being a little more than just a friend…”

  “…I understand,” Alnea said, not even bothering to respond to Daes’ remark. “Then I will treat you as my Dependents from now on.”

  “And we will be happy to follow your orders,” Tia said, before shifting her gaze to Cecilia. “My apologies for interrupting you earlier. Please continue with your introductions.”

  “…I am not in the mood anymore,” Cecilia mumbled. “And I have already said everything that I should anyway.”

  “Not quite,” Vestia said. “There is still one thing you missed. As did everyone else.”

  “What?”

  “Your path,” Vestia said, glancing at Daes and Tia. “Even if we will not be fighting side by side for at least a few years, maybe even a decade, as companions, should we not know what path you are walking on? Of course, I am not asking you to divulge all your secrets. But you should at least offer some insights about your path. Like what Mysteries you specialise in. Especially since you already know quite a bit about our paths.”

  “…We do not know as much about your paths, as you think we do, but yes, you are right. We should have indeed told you about our paths.”

  “…I liked the Serpia girl better.”

  “…The Serpia girl has a name, Daes,” Alnea said. “Please, address her by her name in the future.”

  “…Have you already begun showing your domineering side? As expected—

  “Daes.”

  “…I know. I know. I will call the flies by their names from now on.”

  “Daes.”

  “…Cecilia, happy?”

  “…Perhaps,” Alnea said, as the edges of his lips curved upwards ever so slightly. “Anyways, let us get back to what we were talking about. Introducing our paths. As before, I will go first, then you follow. Is that fine?”

  Everyone nodded in unison, so Alnea began introducing his path as a Wanderer.

  “As you should have guessed from my records in the outer city’s Trials, I am proficient in all three paths. But in battles, I tend to rely more on the path of Warriors and Arcanists, using my expertise in Glyphs to prepare Glyph Tokens in advance. Both, offensive, and defensive. The latter, with some inspiration from Blood Glyphs and Martial Styles of the Lost City.”

  “You have already begun experimenting with the city’s Glyphs and Martial Styles?”

  “…Not in depth. Like I said, I only took some inspiration. Except for my last experiment… But that can wait. Let us finish our introductions first.”

  “…I am fine either way,” Daes said, shrugging her shoulders. “Though I am interested in your Glyph Tokens… we will have all the in the world to talk about it later.”

  “…Anyways, you already know my expertise as a Scholar. As an Arcanist, my main focus is creating Arcanas to suppress our enemies, while as a Warrior, I prefer using my sword and other Martial Styles to close in for the finishing blow. Though I am also fairly proficient in defensive and evasive Martial Styles. Similarly, I have also created a few Arcanas to support my teammates, both in, and outside of battles.”

  “…Oh? Can you also let us experience your Arcanas?”

  “…Of course, but I am afraid that my Arcanas will hardly have any effect on you.”

  “It does not matter,” Tia said. “We can afford to wait for a few years.”

  “I am curious though,” Daes said. “Why do you keep emphasising on ‘create’ when you talk about Arcanas?”

  “…Because I only use Arcanas that I create.”

  “…And I thought that I was eccentric,” Daes mumbled, while Tia looked at Alea with a puzzled expression on her face, until she finally recalled something.

  “…Is it because of your father’s death?”

  “…That is part of the reason, but the more important reason is that I want to become the greatest Arcanist in the world.”

  “The Greatest Arcanist… You are quite ambitious.”

  “…Of course,” Daes said with a grin. “After all, he is the man chosen by my Roots.”

  “…And unlike me, you also have the talent to match your ambition,” Tia said. “Though I think that you may have a misunderstanding. Creating Arcanas is indeed a very important part of an Arcanist’s journey, but so is learning how to use Arcanas created by others. That is how Arcanists grow.”

  “Perhaps,” Alnea said. “We can talk about this later. For now, let us continue with our introduction. Daes…”