ARC 2: Merck and The Oni
“What do we do now?”
It was Onesa, with teary eyes and stuttering voice, she anxiously asked. Her bright red glimmering hair cut up to her shoulder shook every time she spoke.
“We will go towards the next town, Yesnia. It will be over a month until we get there. We should first stock up on provisions.”Taki spoke in a calm and collected voice.
He became the unspoken leader of the group after Yuje left. His quick decision making and calm demeanor made him the most suitable candidate. He knew that it would be pointless to argue with Raul regarding Yuje. It would just break the group which would be an uncalled for thing on such a critical situation.
“But! Will we be able to…survive? I mean…this is the demon continent…right?”Onesa replied to the statement declared by Taki. Her pale skin was even paler due to great anxiety that she was experiencing. She had seen too much death since they were teleported here.
“We entered Grimfort to become great warriors or magicians right? Once we graduate from that school, we will be faced with countless situations such as this one. Probably worse.”Taki immediately replied.
He had already firmed his resolve into finding the other students from Grimfort. He felt that the responsibility befalls on him since he did nothing during the time when the 50 students that were with them when they were teleported died before his eyes.
“For now we have two goals. First is to get back to Grimfort, and second is to find as much of the other students as possible.” Taki clenched his brown fist as if solidifying the concluded goal he came up with.
“Don’t worry Onesa! I will protect you!”
It was Raul. With great determination in his eyes, he smiled towards the still shaking Onesa. His brown hair that complemented his pale skin covered half of his freckled face. His frail and thin body did not give an air of confidence contrary to the behavior he was showing.
“I will protect you too so don’t worry!”
“I will also!”
It was Kath and Mui. The identical twins of Grimfort were already on their third years. Having both a rank of C++, the two of them were the strongest among the party if excluding the ring Yuje had given Taki. With their oversized chest swaying every time they moved, they hugged the feeble Onesa firmly.
“You guys…Thank you. *Hic*…”
After watching the spectacle in front of him, Taki boldly declared their next destination.
“Let’s go! Our next destination is the town of Yesnia.”
After those words, the party left the town of Athelia.
****
In an environment where in just a heartbeat of a mistake everything would come to an end, extreme precaution was a life line. Fear, anxiety, fatigue—all kinds of emotions swirled deep inside the party of five that fought their way along the eerie forest. It had been a week since the group left Athelia but to their dismay, they weren’t able to travel the distance they were expecting.
“This is going at a snail paced speed. As I thought, it’s really hard for mere students like us to thread along this dangerous continent. Even the so called great rankers in our kingdom refuse to go to this abhorrent place.” Raul spoke.
He then reached a hand inside the body of a decapitated monster. Pulling his tattered robe over to his nose in deep disgust, he then began to pull out the blue substance out.
“Here. Really, why does it have to be inside the innards? Gross.” He said after handing down the stone towards the flustered Onesa.
Contrary to his disgustedly distorted facial expression, Raul was rather calm. He surveyed his surroundings vigilantly as if expecting a beast to pounce at them at any moment.
“How many mana stones do we have now? Seven huh? Raul, start making fire with your magic. Onesa will cook while Kath and Mui will stand on guard. I will be erecting a simple barrier to protect us as we camp for the night.”
Taki ordered the group naturally. No one objected for everyone knew that he was the right man for the position. His calm and wise decisions had actually saved their lives more than a few times before. After grabbing hold of two mana stones, he then began to chant his magic.
“Oh God Garuda of the soothing wind, your anger is our calming comfort. Lend us your power and protect us from harm.
Wind Barrier!”
A circular barrier made of wind began to form—enclosing the group of five. Taki grinned mischievously for what he had just erected was a barrier on the level of B rank. This was made possible due to the consumed mana stones that they had acquired after killing some monsters along the way. Without the mana stones, it would have been just C rank at most.
The creation of the barrier consumed two precious stones, but everyone knew that it was the best course of action in such situation. In such a dangerous environment wherein you could die at any moment, it was better to be prepared than be sorry.
“Really, these things are awesome. If only we could grab hold more of these mana stones then leaving out of this continent alive will be more than a dream.” Taki said.
Mana stones were similar to Auromicum ores that were capable of storing vast amount of mana. The only difference was that while Auromicum ores were capable of being recharged indefinitely, mana stones were one-time use only materials. Also, mana stones weren’t made, they could only be found inside the body of monsters—and only a handful of them actually had it. The group was lucky to encounter monsters that contain the stone inside their body.
“Yeah if only it’s that easy to obtain even just a single one of those. Hey Onesa when are you going to actually stop crying? It bothers me to keep seeing snot fall down on the food you’re making you know?” Raul jeered.
“*Sniff, a-am s-shorrry.”
Onesa tried to utter a reply at the remark made by the smug-faced Raul. Wiping her nose with her dirty cloak, she continued stirring the porridge-like food inside the pot made from her earth magic.
“T-the f-food is ready! Everyone!”
After that declaration, everyone dug into their portion of the food. Eating was actually now considered a luxury in an environment as dangerous as this one. If not for Taki’s wind barrier, the group would have had to shift schedules just to be able to grab some sleep. The wind barrier went on for around 10 hours or so which was more than enough for the group to grab an eye shut.
“When Yuje was with us, we never had to worry about anything dangerous…the monsters themselves ran away in fear just from a single glance from him.” Onesa said in a sad reminiscing voice.
Everyone went silent after those words. They all knew that what she had just said was true. But reality wasn’t so kind anymore. They were all by themselves now, alone in a place regarded as the most dangerous in the world.
“I still can’t forgive that guy. He…he just sat there and…had let those two die.” Raul said in a solemn and resolute voice. His dark brown hair that covered half of his face added to the fierce look he was giving.
“I haven’t told you guys this before since I don’t want dispute between our group.” Taki looked towards everyone in the group after he said those words. His eyes had an air of deep understanding and maturity within them.
“Had Yuje fought those Horlets, how many more of us that were there that very moment would have been killed?”
“…………………………….”
Complete silence. Everyone stopped eating the food they were holding. It was a question that had a definitely obvious answer.
“Especially that Horlet called Valcres. Even from just a single glance you could immediately tell that he’s worlds apart from us. Yuje is strong. Extraordinarily strong. But you can’t expect him to protect everything and everyone he sees. The five of us is more than enough of a baggage.”
Taki concluded his speech with a loud ~clang sound from the bowl made out of Onesa’s earth magic. After putting down his bowl, he walked towards the blanketed ground and was about to sleep when suddenly multiple silhouettes in the dark were seen.
“W-what? Everyone assume positions! ” Taki immediately stood straight and shouted an impromptu order. Using his quick decision making skill, he immediately fortified his wind barrier with the remaining mana stones. His insticts screamed at him that now was the best time to use all of the mana stones.
The rest of the group prepared their own magic. Raul created a short sword made of fire while Kath and Mui fortified their bodies with strengthening magic. Onesa on the other hand just stood there shaking in great fear.
~BAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGG!!!!
~BAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGG!!!!
Multiple colossal axes were thrown towards their direction which in turn was immediately blocked by the wind barrier. After consuming all seven mana stones to create the barrier, it was now on B+ rank. It was a barrier strong enough that even an Ogre would have a hard time breaking through it.
“A strong barrier is protecting the humans.” One of the figures spoke.
“I’ll deal with them personally.”
A familiar figure walked towards the huddled group that eyed the creature with vigilance. It was a face they have seen before. It was a creature part of a memory so vivid that they everyone were able to memorize every nook and cranny of the creature’s body. It was Valcres, captain of the Horlets.
“My Lord has ordered me to capture the humans responsible for the death of my men. I shall carry out the order without fail.”
After those words, he walked towards the barrier. After reaching it, his hand reached towards it and began to rip the barrier apart with brute force alone.
~SHHHHHHHHHHHHCREEEAAAAAAAAAKKKKK
His body did not seem to feel any pain despite the continuous cuts lashed out to him by the wind barrier. After some more resistance, the barrier broke with a loud ~BAG sound. It was a sound that resembled a bomb that exploded inside a large balloon.
“Impossible…not a single scratch.”Taki said in a bemused and at the same time mortified voice. He knew that the barrier would not be enough to stop such a creature, but he did not expect that it would have been broken so easily.
Valcres continued walking towards the group, ignoring the series of magics that were thrown towards his body.
“It’s futile. My body is as hard asmithril. Such weak puny magic will be all for naught.”
Valcreslooked towards the direction of the brown skinned man. He deemed that the man was the leader of the group. Walking towards Taki, he began to grab hold of him when suddenly an unexpected pressure came over him.
He stopped for a second after feeling the pressure and was surprised to see that his fortified body had a light cut on it. His green blood flowed down towards the ground.
“This is the same from that time.”
Valcres said as he recalled the memories from a week ago. He clearly remembered the unusual human at the town of Athelia. Just a single glance from those grey eyes made one see that the man had been through countless life and death situations. It was the eyes of a man that does not fear death.
Taki looked towards his hand and was surprised to see that the ring that disintegrated before had now reformed into his finger. Without a doubt, the ring protected him from the Horlets’ Captain just now.
“Judging by your reactions, it seems that the man from before is no longer with you. Such a pity.”
Disregarding the threat of the ring, Valcres walked towards Taki.
****
Yuje retraced his tracks and arrived at the town of Yesnia. Excluding the delicious aroma that greeted him at the entrance, the town of poverty was the same as before. A familiar figure greeted him the moment he had set foot inside the town.
“Oh dear customer! Good to see you again! Need to restock on provisions? Ask away my man! Ask away!”
The fat—or rather chubby man greeted him merrily. His black eyes twinkled from seeing his customer from before. With his freckles popping out due to excitement of possibly earning additional money, he began to rub his palms mischievously.
“So what is it? I sell everything! Even information if needed be.”
The last statement was uttered in a very low voice that reeked of some sort of secrecy. It seemed that the man was really good with analyzing people’s actions. Without a shred of hesitation, the fat merchant offered to sell information to Yuje.
“Where could I find Merck?”
Widening his eyes in great excitement,Deru spoke. His saliva drooled out every now and then.
“Oh! Oh! Oho~. Merck you say? Let’s see. I know, or probably not? Hmmm…”
Clasping his hands as if saying ‘show me the money’ Deru looked expectantly at his precious customer.
“How much?”Yuje said casually. A glint of irritation was heard from his voice. He wanted to find the creature immediately.
“Now were talking business! HAHAHA! For just a meager price of 20 gold coins I would tell you classified information regarding the creature. A bonus ration for 5 days will be included! HAHAHA how’s that dear customer?”
It was obviously a rip off but Yuje had no choice but to comply with the outrageous price. He still had some gold left with him after all. Disregarding the constant squeak of the fat merchant after he handed down the asked price, Yuje, irritated, asked of Merck’s whereabouts.
“You see that mountain over there?” Deru pointed towards a barren mountain that was covered by asphalt-like rocks.
“Just cross over it and you will see a river. Follow the path of the water and it will lead you to a grassy plain full of red weeds. The place’s called the Red Grave. Red Grave is a vast grassy plain so it will probably take around a week by foot until you reach the end. You will see a sea of forest by then, just go through it and you will mostly encounter Horlets. Those beast men reside in a city inside the forest.”
Various hand gestures where played by the freckled merchant as he told Yuje the directions. He was obviously enjoying the conversation, of course a large part of the reason why the fat man was so happy was because of the gold he had just received.
“Even I don’t know the exact whereabouts of Lord Merck, but I’m sure if it’s you, you’ll be able to find him quite easily once you’ve entered their city.”
“I see.”
After putting on the oni mask and the black cloak from before, without waiting for the greedy merchant to start another antic, Yuje headed immediately towards the barren mountain.
“Come back again dear customer!”
Deru shouted merrily towards the back of the disappearing Yuje.
****
Yuje immediately reached the barren mountain after a few hours. The mountain reeked of death and dust. The trees were all dried up and not a single creature was present in the area. Only the sound of the wind buzzing against his black get up and his black leather boots crashing against the solid ground was heard. If a by passer saw him, they would freak out at the appearance that resembled a demon—a grim reaper.
He had chosen to put on the mask and the black cloak since he was about to intrude into an enemy’s city. It would be problematic if the Horlets sawhis face and in return try to lash out revenge on Taki and the others.
This apparel is not so bad after all. Gives enough warmth to the body.
After traversing the barren mountain, he was finally able to see the river that Deru spoke to him about. The river encompassed a massive width of 20 meters. School of fish was frequently seen swimming underneath the transient indigo water, quite ironic since beside it was the barren mountain that reeked of death.
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A few hours after following the flowing river, Yuje was finally able to see the Red Grave—a grassy plain full of red overgrown weeds as far as the eyes can see. It was truly a majestic sight if coupled with the setting sun.
Yuje began to move again using his inhuman speed. Deru told him that it will take a week by foot till he reached the sea of forest, but by his standard, it would probably take him only about a day or two.
Without resting, he was finally able to reach the sea of forest. It was currently midnight and his black get up combined with his inhuman speed made the Horlets roaming around unable to notice him. After threading deeper inside, he was finally able to reach the city of Horlets.
With a gigantic wall encompassing a height of a hundred meters, the enclosed city was without a doubt an impregnable fortress. A gargantuan gate made of black fortified steel was manned by multiple Horlet soldiers at the front. Various Horlet archers were stationed at the battlements on the top of the wall.
Forced to stop in his tracks, Yuje stopped in front of the colossal gate. His inhuman speed coupled with his demon-like appearance thanks to the mask made the Horlets guarding the front of the gate become alarmed.
“Intruder! Alert everyone!” A Horlet shouted from the battlement above.
~CLANG
~TING
The Horlets immediately pulled out their weapons that were bigger than their bodies. Everyone was vigilant of the strange figure in front of them. Multiple Horlets were roaming inside the sea of forest; it was next to impossible not to be detected by such numbers. The creature in front of them was not ordinary, that was the conclusion the guards came up with.
“Halt! Who are you?! What is you purpose in coming here?!” A Horlet shouted towards the masked oni.
“I have come to meet with your leader. I have come to meet Merck.” Yuje replied.
A buzzing sound was heard after Yuje uttered those statements. Veins began to pop out of the Horlets’ forehead. Such a thing was an insult to them.
“You dare address our great Lord Merck as such?! What made you think that such a puny creature like you would be granted audience?!”
“Silence.”
Following that single word, an immense pressure came upon the Horlets. It was a pressure that made the ground itself disintegrate to dust. In an instant, the Horlets guarding the gate and those above—at the battlement, lost consciousness.
Only a handful of the Horlets were able to retain their consciousness, those that remained had fallen down to their knees.
Looking towards the monster cladded in black apparel in front of them, they were left agape and terrified.
“Where is Merck? Take me to him.”
****
Inside the palace wherein the one who ruled over all the Horlets resided, a big commotion cut off the usual silence of the night. Banging open the majestic glass double door, a soldier entered and immediately bowed down towards the creature that sat at the middle of the pedestal. With its majestic throne overlooking the entire room, the creature eyed the terrified soldier.
“M-my Lord! Enemy attack! Enemy attack!” The terrified Horlet stuttered those ominous words. His loud voice echoed all throughout the throne room.
The royal guards looked at each other with a grim expression. The news the creature had given them was something they have been expecting to happen although it was a bit too soon.
“So the Selkies have finally bared its fangs against us huh? Just right when Valcres and his elite troops are out on a recovery mission. How many enemies are there?” The creature sitting on the throne asked. Its ivory white horns at its back were moving like live serpents.
“M-my Lord! It’s not the Selkies! And…the enemy is just a single…creature…an oni.” The soldier replied—his voice hoarse.
“All this commotion just for a single intruder?”
Lord Merck eyed the soldier calmly. He felt that something was definitely out of place. He knew that the soldier wouldn’t have acted that way if there was nothing very unusual going on. Thus, the ruler of the Horlets awaited the soldier’s answer.
“Annihilated…all of the Horlets guarding the northern gate were annihilated in an instant. But…rather than annihilated, they err…lost consciousness. I-I saw it with my own eyes my Lord! Right now the man is still there, standing still and is waiting for us to grant him audience to you my Lord!” Clasping both of his hands, the soldier spoke as if his entire life depended on it. Sweat and tears covered his face filled with anxiety.
“Annihilated you say?” Lord Merck’s eyes widened at those words. His ivory white horns stood straight signaling his rage. The ground rumbled from the pressure given forth by the enraged lord. After a while, his rage calmed down and was replaced by interest. Rubbing his chin as if in deep thought, Lord Merck spoke.
“Interesting. I’ll go meet him myself.”
****
Yuje just stood there, in front of the colossal gate made of black steel. Only the subtle radiance given by the three moons above was what hindered the darkness of the night from perpetuating. With his figure cladded in black, his face covered by a demonic mask, along with Horlets kneeling down from pressure, it was a truly outwardly terrifying scene.
The Horlets that were not reached by the exuded pressure stood still at their spot, afraid to go near and be enveloped by such nauseating presence. An unending silence enveloped everyone after their comrades lost consciousness. Trapped in a dilemma, the remaining Horlets tried to buckle up their resolve and stood their ground.
“I’ve got an order from the castle. Let the oni enter.” A Horlet spoke after scrutinizing a piece of ruby-like stone on his hands that was the size of a fist. It seemed to be an item used by the Horlets to convey information.
“What is the Lord thinking?! Letting such a dangerous creature inside the city! Captain Valcres? Where is the Captain? He should personally guard our Lord!” A Horlet cried after hearing the castle’s order. The other Horlets nodded in unison after his words.
“Captain Valcres is currently not here. He was out on a retrieval mission.”
“What?! Then we are going to let that monster meet our Lord without the Captain guarding him?!”
Majority of the remaining Horlets were not happy by the order. It seemed that they were absolutely loyal to their Lord.
“The orders are absolute. Open the gate.”
“You heard him. OPEN THE GATE!!”
~CREAK!
~CLANG!
The massive gate opened with a loud creaking metallic sound. A large smoke dust was created after the gate was fully opened. Immediately after the gate was opened, the pressure given forth by the oni receded.
“Nameless creature. It seems that Lord Merck wished to meet with you. Be honored. Follow me.”
A Horlet which seems to have a little bit of authority ushered Yuje to go inside the gargantuan gate. Behind them were around two dozen Horlets that was frequently throwing disgusted glances towards the masked man.
The city of the Horlets was surprisingly beautiful. With each and every structure made out of silver granite, a sparkling view was made whenever the triad of moons werereflected upon the ground. The road glimmered like a polished diamond that one would think twice before stepping onto the paved road.
The houses themselves were four stories in height and were dome shaped at the top. Occasional quick glances from the frog-shaped creatures inside the buildings were seen. It seemed that the entire city was awoken by the commotion created by the single oni.
“Mama~look! It’s an oni!”
“Shhhhhhh…he might hear you.”
Muffled conversations echoed through the night as Yuje passed the paved road of the city towards the castle. The castle which towered more than a hundred meters was located at the very heart of the city. Enclosed in another wall that was around half of the one from before, the majestic building overlooked the entire city along with the sea of forest.
“Do you like~ our city oh strange one?”
A frog-like creature with ivory white horns on his back greeted him at the entrance. Beside him were Horlets cladded in pure white armor that screamed of the word exquisite. Squinting his moist bulging eyes, the creature walked towards the masked oni. The frog-like creature opened both his arms wide and spoke.
“Truly marvelous! The city of Hortal really is the most beautiful in the western demon continent!”
Pointing his long nails towards the sky above, the whole city was then engulfed in an aurora-like hue. With occasional ‘Kyaaaa<3 Kyaaaaa<3’ sounds from the female frog-like populace, the Horlet with ivory white horns smiled from ear to ear, showing his long canine which was the size of a dagger.
“Our Lord is truly the best!”
“Oh we are so lucky to have such a Lord!”
“Lord Merck! Lord Merck! Lord Merck!”
“Lord Merck! Lord Merck! Lord Merck!”
The whole city rumbled from the cheers given by the entire populace. Lord Merck’s popularity within the city seemed to be at its peak. The cheers continued for quite a while and stopped only after Lord Merck opened out his palms wide open as if saying ‘come’.
With his purple overcoat fluttering from the evening breeze, the Lord shouted in a thundering voice.
“JUST NOW CAPTAIN VALCRES HAD RETURNED! TONIGHT WE FEAST! OUR MENU FOR THE NIGHT?FRESHLY CAPTURED HUMANS!!”
The crowd roared after those words. Everyone was ecstatic from the mention of the word ‘humans’.
In the demon continent which was ruled by the five demon emperors, the western part was the considered the second most dangerous. This was primarily due to the blatant treatment of humans as livestock. Ever since the Demon Emperor
Thanatos ascended the throne 3 decades ago, the west became a feared region for humans and a paradise for the beast men.
The Demon Emperor Thanatos enforced three cardinal rules.
First: Beast men are above humans. Humans shall be treated as livestock in the western demon continent.
Second: No beast men shall make a contract with a God. The act is punishable by excruciating torture followed by death.
Third: Complete freedom to all Lords under the Demon Emperor will be given. They are all free to govern their respective territories as long as they reach the tax quota required by the Western Demon Capital per year.
If not for the law enforced as such, the western part of the continent would have been relatively the safest one because of the low level monsters roaming the area. Still, although low level, they’re still a rank above than those found in Ruan.
“Have you ever tried human meat before? The dark red firm meat coupled with the yellow bulky fat will make you feel bliss after just a single bite! Ohhhhh~ I could no longer wait!!” Lord Merck spoke while drooling on his slimy mouth.
Suddenly stopping still as if realizing that the oni was still in front of him, he then gestured for his guest to come inside the fortified palace gate.
A lined up carcass and bones of what appears to be the husk of monsters embossed into the pillars lined up forming an arc way was what greeted Yuje upon entering the grounds. Following the lead of Lord Merck inside, Yujeentered into a grand hall that was dimly illuminated by countless firefly-like minute creatures that constantly floats above. A circular green-black table at the center of the grand hall was surrounded by an array of chairs covered by silver silk. With multiple servants lined-up in a single row behind him, Lord Merck sat.
Lord Merck ushered the masked oni to seat next to him. Upon sitting, Yuje was then asked by Lord Merck in a jolly and mischievous tone.
“So what business do you have with me?” Lord Merck’s eye twinkled for an instant following that remark.
Yuje, still wearing his black oni mask and cloak on, eyed the frog-like creature in front of him. He did not mind if the creature in front of him were eating his fellow humans, he was just here as per the lamia’s advice.
“A certain creature told me that I would find the answer to my question after meeting with you.” Yuje paused for a moment before he spoke.
“A certain creature you say? Oho~ who is this creature you spoke of masked one?”
Lord Merck began twirling his flexible finger tips. Tilting his head as if in great confusion, he then grinned, slightly showing his sharp canines.
Thinking that there was nothing wrong with answering the creature’s question, Yuje replied.
“A lamia called Shepa.”
The answer of the masked oni was short but was more than enough to make the Horlet’s eyes widen in surprise. He had heard of the name before. They were mythical creatures feared even by the dragons. The creatures heralded as fallen Gods—with Shepa as the creature known to be their sole ruler.
Lamias were creatures known to have inherited foresight, the ability of Gods to peer into the past and into the future of those roaming in the planet. And with their unrivaled spatial magic, they had the ability to go through dimensions in a whim. Such ability was mortifying even for the Gods themselves. Being trapped in a separate dimension was nothing to joke about.
“I see. So Shepa is still alive till now. I thought that all lamias have perished during the Great War 300 years ago when the former Demon Emperors ordered for their execution. Hmmm…interesting.Interesting.”
Lord Merck leaned in closer towards the masked oni. With his frog-like features, he then began to lick his lower lips, forming slimy grease that drooled down his mouth.
~Knock! Knock! Knock!
“My Lord, Captain Valcres is here to give his report.”
Following those words, Valcres entered the grand hall accompanied by a handful of soldiers behind. Dragging the body of five humans with familiar faces, he then knelt down towards Lord Merck.
“My Lord. I have fulfilled your orders.”
“Valcres! Just the man I was waiting to see! Hohoho~ Hmmm…such attractive meal you’ve brought us there my dear captain~”
Lord Merck squeaked gleefully after seeing the battered body of the five students. Although severely injured, the five of them still had their consciousness intact.
Turning around as if boasting of the captain’s capture, Lord Merck smiled widely towards the masked oni. Spreading out both arms in an attempt to make the presentation more glamorous, he then spoke.
“What do you think my dear guest? Don’t they look tasty?!! Come and let’s toast to the feas—”
~SHWING
Those were the last words Lord Merck spoke as his head flew over the majestic table creating a subtle ~thud sound upon impact.
Standing up, the man with the mask of an oni walked towards the still stunned Valcres, his cold eyes streamed with murderous glare. Not bothering to look back at the decapitated lord, the ominous appearance of the Grim Reaper spoke.
“She was right. I really did found the answer to my question.”
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Author's note: I'll upload until vol 4: part 1 today. The chapter length is so-so. Can't estimate the length of the entire 4th volume that's why. Might make it into part 1, 2, 3, 4, or even 5. Depends on the length. Yep. Cheers. :)