"Father, please. They are the last people you'd want to offend," Ofia spoke calmly to the King. The latter glanced at her a bit surprised. He knew his daughter was always composed and rarely did mistakes. She could be considered the brain of the family and the best strategist of the military whenever she got involved.
The King looked back at Night who was staring at him. "…I deeply apologize for disrespecting you and your partner."
Night sneered. "I'll let you go away with that," he still didn't like his attitude but still returned to his wolf form and settled down. "So, what's your reward? Arima isn't materialistic. What do you want to offer him?" He asked. At that point, he just wanted to leave right away.
"What would he want?" The King asked in return, more courteous than before.
"If it was Arima, he would just have asked you to owe him one," Night replied and the King's expression fell. For a King to be in debt was never an ideal situation.
"You can also list me what you could give him, I'll check if there is something interesting or not," Night added after a few seconds.
The King extended his hand toward the man standing beside him, the same person who didn't say a thing since the beginning and just grasped his sword as Night was transforming. When the King extended his arm to him, he handed him a certain folder.
The King skillfully threw it to Night. The latter caught it with magic and flipped the pages with telekinesis. It took him a few minutes to look through everything. After that, he threw back the folder and fell into deep thought.
The royal family patiently waited.
"No. There's nothing that could interest him in there," Night ultimately stated and the King sighed.
"Do you have any suggestion then?"
Night mused for a moment. "I think that the most valuable thing your country possesses is the manufacturing method of the dungeons."
The King fell silent and debated in his mind.
"It shouldn't be a problem," Ofia asserted before he could even decide anything though.
The King scowled at her. "You know as well as I do that there is the way to destroy a dungeon’s defenses in the plans. It's too dangerous."
Ofia smiled and nodded. "Yes, I’m aware. But from what I saw, that man isn't someone who would do that for no reason. He also saved thousands of lives yesterday, even though he wasn't accountable for it. You can give him the blueprints without worry."
The King listened to her and closed his eyes in surrender. "…Fine, I'll grant your request,” he said and Night indifferently nodded.
“But you'll have to wait. We only have the original prints, so we'll make a copy for you in the shortest time possible," the king added and gestured to the man standing next to him. The latter nodded and disappeared.
"Well, just send someone to bring it to the Inn we're staying at," Night uttered and was ready teleport when Ofia hailed him.
"Wait!" She urgently said and Night looked back at her. "From the records of the guild, your name is Night Bahamut, right?" She asked and Night answered with silence. "Sir Night, can I ask what Arimane plans to do in the future?"
Night frowned. "Why would you want to know that?"
At his question, Ofia smiled wryly. "Please, understand that we possibly can’t have a peaceful mind when there’s someone like that wandering our city."
"Fair enough," Night shrugged. "In three days, Arima will head to the Providence Academy to work there as an instructor per the guild’s appeal," he said and tilted his head and tried to remember the details. "I think it was for around… two months?"
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
When the royal family heard that, their eyes widened. Especially the two daughters. "This… was unexpected," Ofia muttered and smiled. "In that case, we’ll be able to meet him sooner than I thought. My sister and I are students there."
"Oh," Night exclaimed. "I'll notify him. Well, on this note, goodbye," he said and teleported without any extra comment.
After Night left, Ofia let out a sigh of relief and turned toward a corner of the throne room. There, the man who should have been gone to make a copy of the plans reappeared
"What do you think, Elion?" The King spoke.
"At first, I assumed that I was going to meet the individual directly. But I now realize that his soul beast was actually more than enough to give a conclusion," Elion replied with a darkened expression. "That beast… that dragon's strength is probably equal to mine. He has transcended the tenth level as well," he affirmed and the King's eyes narrowed.
"There's no doubt. The man who fashioned such a soul beast can only be a monster among humans. I believe he can destroy not only Center City but also this entire continent alone. I do not even dare to imagine what he’s capable of when he resonates with his soul beast.”
The King sighed. "Thank you for your work. You don't need to investigate about him from now on. Focus on what happened yesterday and find out who those assassins were."
"Understood," Elion complied and surely left the throne room this time.
"Ofia, Lena," the King turned toward his daughters. "I'm counting on you to watch that man. Try to keep a friendly connection with him," he instructed and stood up. He gazed at where Night was a moment ago.
"Resurrection, huh? What a horrifying word…"
***
"So, you asked for the dungeon manufacture method?" Lilis questioned Night at the usual Inn. The latter had explained to Lanya and Lilis what happened.
"Yeah, there was nothing that could interest Arima other than that.”
"The dungeons, huh?" Lilis muttered. "When that thing was created, even us gods were surprised, you know?"
Night's eyes widened. "It surprised you? Is that even possible?"
Lilis laughed. "Normally, no. But, did you know? The man who single-handedly invented dungeons and the one who designed the soul beast summoning are the same person."
Night and Lanya turned to be extremely shocked at her revelation. "That human wasn't that strong. But perhaps his understanding of magic theory and even science was better than the current Arima. Truthfully, Heaven already has things like soul summons and dungeons, and they are of better quality too. But that freak made those things from scratch as a weak human. That really impressed us," Lilis told while reminiscing.
Night shuddered. "Wait, gods use soul beasts as well?"
"No, they use ‘Soul Manifestations’. Though, to be fair, this is not something we created per se. Anyone who reaches the Heavenly Realm will awaken it. In a sense, Soul Summoning is something for people who can’t reach the apex. Once you use it, you will lose the opportunity to gain a Soul Manifestation."
“To explain to you what it is; fundamentally, gods directly refine their soul and enter in a state resembling resonance without needing a soul beast. But Soul Manifestations are not necessarily a transformation like you and Arima. It can be a weapon or a definite ultimate magic.”
Night was thunderstruck. "That’s actually really better than soul beasts. They don't need to resonate with an external force and their transformation is practically infinite since it’s their own soul and body.”
"Indeed," Lilis pointed at Lanya. "For example, Lanya's draconic form is something that is integrated into her body thanks to Chronepsis. It's kinda the same thing. But don’t worry. You and Arima have a strong bond and since you already mastered resonance to an unbelievable extent, you won’t be disadvantaged."
"Is that so?" Night nodded in understanding. "By the way, Lilis, about the thing you told me about Life Hunters. I thought about it for a while, but why do we need to keep it a secret from Arima? To be frank, he is the last person that needs our consideration," he suddenly changed the subject.
Lilis smiled and took a sip of some wine. "Well, you’re most likely correct about that. I'm sure Arima wouldn't be very shocked about it. But, in this case, it might actually affect him and there will be chances for him to fail the Life Judgement," she explained and also spoke a word that Arima or Lanya never heard before.
The latter was present and, of course, got curious. Lilis smiled at her. "You don't need to know. Well, you can divulge this to Arima if you want. Either way, he already knows we're hiding something from him. But I won't give you any details. You don't seem to be very good at acting."
Lilis giggled and Lanya groaned. She couldn't deny that. She really wasn't that good at keeping secrets. And in front of someone like Arima, she would definitely be like an open book.
***
Then, finally, three days later. At some huge building which looked very sophisticated and immaculate, some young people were walking and babbling in the corridors.
"Did you hear? There's a temporary teacher coming, starting off from today," the most spoken line of the day was definitely this one.
"Yes, I heard about it. Apparently, it's a newly appointed Z rank mercenary."
"Nonsense. There are only three Z ranks. Why would someone like that, who stands at the top, come here to teach at a school?" Some would also deny it like this.
In a courtyard, there was a sizable gathering of people. A bunch of students surrounded a pretty girl that looked very fragile. It was Ofia.
"Yes, it is really a Z rank. I even had the chance to meet him," she told the students around her. All of them were curious about a mercenary teacher so they kept asking questions about him.
"From the guild’s archives, his name is Arimane Blade and the title given to him was Kind Demon. About him personally, I can say that he has a really imposing personality, he's quite handsome and extraordinarily strong. Elion, our royal guard, qualified him as a monster among humans just by encountering his soul beast," from Ofia’s introduction, the whole academy was enthusiastically talking about him.
The girls would think of someone really dependable and strong while the boys would come up with the image of someone really cool to which they could look up to.
***
Meanwhile, Arima was already meeting with the headmaster in a well-decorated room, filled with trophies and art pieces. Night was on his shoulder while Lanya was sitting beside him. Lilis wasn't there, she said that she had something to do and sorrowfully returned to Heaven without being able to attend his tutoring.
"I'm greatly honored to welcome someone like you as an instructor. Actually, I don't know if you're aware but, our academy actually sends this request every year. Most of the times we get the same S or SS rank mercenaries who were eager to teach and only once did an SSS rank come. It was really a surprise when I heard that a Z rank was coming this time," the old headmaster started chatting happily.
"I think it will be very interesting and entertaining. This is also a way to transmit even a small portion of my knowledge to the younger generations," Arima had a really respectful attitude for an unknown reason.
The headmaster laughed. He handed a document and a certain key to him. "Here's the class you were assigned to. The content of your lectures is your choice. We are just asking you to train them physically and mentally.”
Arima smiled. "No problem. I will do my utmost to satisfy your request."
The principal smiled and stood up. He extended his hand toward Arima shook it.
"I hope you spend a good time in our academy."
"Do not worry, it's my pleasure," Arima replied and the two laughed together.
Lanya smiled awkwardly from the side, not knowing why Arima was so respectful and good-natured with that old man.