The statue of The Hero Altrus had gained more visitors since the rise of the rumored Ghost Hero. Out of them, only a small number had never visited it before—most visited the statue as soon as they got admitted into Oddrick University.

One of the new visitors was Del.

"Del! I've never seen you here before! If you wanna take a closer look, you have to stand. But after that, if you're fine with not being too close, there's a bench over there. That's the best spot around this garden~"

Rain welcomed Del as if she owned the place. She grabbed his hand and dragged him face-to-face with the statue, giving him time to garner at the gallant figure of the Hero.

"No, let's just sit," Del refused Nina's idea. "You are often here."

"Huh? Ah~ Yes, I like it here. It's calm and all that you know? People have been coming lately, so it sucks a bit. But I still like this place!."

They sat in Nina's favorite spot without a problem. Others visiting the statue were there to take a couple of pictures with it, a desire fueled by the Ghost Hero rumors. Because of that, even the apparent "best bench" in the garden had no competition at all.

"You are lying."

"What? No, I'm not. Why would I lie about that? I really like it here!"

"But not because this place is calm." He stared at her face. "It is him."

"W-what's wrong with liking the Hero-"

"You act like he did when he lied. You have a stronger interest in him compared to most. You know him?"

"No. From the sounds of it, YOU know him."

"I was his "elder brother", senior disciple before he became a hero. We met time and again after he became one too, I journeyed with my master then. That is why I know you two are alike-" Del stopped himself from talking. "You're his sister? No way..."

"WHAT? No-... I am. At least I think so."

Del knew that Alt had a sister from the time Altrius trained under their master, the great sage.

---

Del's parent died before he could even remember their face. Fate dictated that he get picked up by the great sage and start training as young as he could. The sage became his father. The two traveled the world. They had no destination, just a journey.

When he was around ten, they visited a small town and stayed for two years. The news of their stay traveled wide. A flock of people gathered in the town to ask for his guidance. Out of hundreds of people, only two truly became Del's junior disciples.

A young boy from that town, Altrius, and a young Eric Cyntral.

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Altrius was growing by leaps and bounds in those two years. He hadn't touched the level of Del or their master by any means, but his strength was the real deal. That strength was what led him to become Cyntral's sponsored Hero once a Demon King declared war against humans.

Continuing their journey, Del and the great sage would run into Altrius and his party from time to time. Six months before Altrius's final fight, the great sage passed away, passing the title to Del.

Del would continue his aimless journey alone until he heard the news of Altrius's death.

---

"I see... That's how you know him. T-that's great! I... I never knew anything about him. Here everyone knows more about my brother."

"He loved his family. He talked about his parents and his baby sister all the time. I think he was trying to-"

Beep Beep Beep

Del got summoned to work. The mysterious monster's case was not even close to being cracked, so there was no time to dawdle.

"I gotta go to work... Tell everyone we're not practicing today. Also, we'll have another talk about this. I'm sure you have lots you wanted to ask about him. I'll tell you everything I know."

"We decided to not have training today, though."

"Oh? Well, go home then, Rain. We'll talk later!" Del rushed out of the campus.

After yesterday's monitor lizard attack, the group had not properly gathered. Ray was hurt, so he didn't even attend lectures along with Vinne who left early to nurse him. Konoe had family matters to attend to, so he was also on leave. Nina got called by Cyntral Corp. It 100% had to do with the lizards.

Only Rain and Kren attended the classes. But training with just the two of them wasn't going to be exciting, so canceling it was agreeable.

---

Being saved by Nina was the last straw needed to break Ray's confidence. He wasn't hurt, Nina saved him before the lizard could do anything to him. He missed classes to prepare for some things.

"A sallet helmet, one red cape, and one set of armor. It is so simple."

A set of Hero Altrius's costumes was the thing he was preparing. He was going to become the Ghost Hero. His reason for doing that was to once and for all proved that he also had what it took to bear the Cyntral's name.

Nobody doubted him. So he was only proving himself to... himself.

Vinne, who was the closest to him quickly realized that Ray was up to no good. Fearing his recklessness ended up in the worst scenario, she raced to talk him out of it. But she was late. By the time she entered Ray's apartment, he was gone as the Ghost Hero to hunt monsters. Whether it was beasts or humans.

---

"You sure, boss? I heard about that new lizard problem you got, maybe you can send me there instead...? Maybe reward me for being a good boy and don't send me to fight those scary gangsters ~?"

"My, my, you seem to be quite happy today, Wade. Well, I am not. So stop the jokes and do the jobs, would you?" Eric was not playing along with Wade's cutesy act. "By the way, I've sent the extermination team to find those lizards. My little birdies also chirped about someone witnessing the Ghost Hero dealing with it. So you can focus on your real job."

"Whoa, alright boss. Umm... Tyler Family? God, what an awful name to have as a boss of organized crime- Where's the place again?"

"No. 14, Seek River Street. Used to be an old eastern restaurant. Finish the job." Eric cut the phone before Wade could say anything back.

From the place he was, it took half an hour to walk to Seek River. Wade learned from his mistake to not walk around the city in his costume. He would get close enough to his target first, checking them, before leaving to wear his costume.

Even if he travelled via alleys and empty streets there was no guarantee that no one saw him.

"The ghost of the Hero Altrius walking around the alleyway must've been nuts to see." Hindsight is 20/20 after he stopped doing it, he found the idea more and more ridiculous. "I kinda wanna see it, but there's no way ri-"

Another Ghost Hero was walking inside the dark alley right in front of Wade.

Ring ring Ring ring Eric wasn't answering his calls.

"Hell no... Seek River Street, here I come."