Asteora sat defeated on the couch, heavily sighing as much as she could as to let us all know how annoyed she currently was. It hadn’t been a long time since Oliver came into the office, and he had managed to swiftly move people in and out after meeting with Asteora.

But I could tell how tired this whole thing made my old master, as this was something that only I did in the past with nobles that wanted to have a word with me, or important members of the Faith that wished to be blessed by my radiating Holy Aura.

So far, we met with only a handful of people, but the ones that left a striking impression on me were the military men. I was expecting old men with arrogant attitudes to walk in here and start demanding things out of both Asteora and Bo’guth, but the men that showed up carried themselves in the same way than a veteran warrior would—even if they didn’t have quite the same strong build or battle scars that those would.

They were dressed in elegant green clothes, a neat hairstyle that showed they took care of it within weeks—if not days—and stood as straight as the most disciplined knights one could meet.

The meeting with them was rather swift, but in such a short amount of time, I was able to notice their intentions, which were to determine whether Asteora’s presence was a danger or not.

Seeing how dismissive she was about the whole meeting annoyed them slightly, but I could tell that they didn’t find a reason to bother her anymore, so after exchanging a few pleasantries with her, they took their leave.

Asteora was outwardly pleased about how quick they were with their meeting, but not so much with the man that followed.

That one was called the ‘Minister of Magic’, and weirdly enough, it wasn’t a mage. This person didn’t have a sense for magic at all, so I couldn’t understand how someone without any magic power could possibly be leading a magic institute.

It was clear, however, after a couple of minutes of pleasantries that were nothing more than bootlicking, that I realized how this person came to be in that position. He had simply been picked by whoever was the king of this country.

This man talked and talked to Asteora, giving her as many suggestions and showing her how amazing the people of the country were with each sentence that came out of his mouth.

Bo’guth appeared somewhat ashamed at what was going on, but even then, he just agreed with whatever this man had to say. I couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow in his direction whenever he did that, and since I was standing close to him, he managed to whisper to me the reason for that.

That man was simply his boss, and he didn’t have a choice other than to just agree with whatever the man said, for as long as they were nothing more than nice words, it wouldn’t do any harm.

I couldn’t feel comfortable with such a man in the room, but Bo’guth assured me that he was mostly harmless—if one were to ignore the strange dealings this person did under the table, that were supposedly mostly just that: strange, not against the law.

After the Minister, the military men, and a handful of government officials came and left the office, what followed was a parade of important merchants—Corporate Executives, or something that Oliver referred to as ‘C. E. O.s’… Whatever that meant.

Similar to the Minister, these people were coming in here trying to sway Asteora into a deal with them, giving self-praises about their own developments and ‘human talent’ while trying as hard as they could to get my old master’s attention.

Every single one of them left disappointed, as Asteora didn’t bother to say a single word back to them besides a greeting and a farewell.

“Okay… we’ve only got a couple of greetings left. The last corporation representative, and a quick word with the press and we’re done here,” Oliver said, his focus completely on the book-like phone.

“Finally,” Asteora said, sighing afterward. “Get this torture over with.”

A couple of knocks, and the door opened again. Two people walked inside the room. I didn’t sense anything different about the man that walked in front, from every other person that walked before him, besides his large frame, which was covering the person behind him.

It was a tall man, with a side-swept hairstyle on his glossy black hair that only had a couple of gray streaks on the sides of his head. He was wearing an elegant tight suit that nearly ripped with each movement of his well defined muscles, which no doubt were just like his bronze skin color, similar to that of Reeta. His facial features were rather sharp, giving him a strong handsome appearance that was complimented with the soft smile on his face.

Once he took a couple of steps inside the office, the person standing behind him was finally able to move over to the side, where I took notice of her.

She scanned the office and the people inside with a rather timid look, one I was very familiar with as it turned to surprise when she noticed me.

“Althea?!” she exclaimed with her typical soft voice.

“Hello, Victoria,” I replied back with a soft smile.

“Hm?” The tall man followed up, looking with curiosity between me and Victoria. “Do you know each other?”

“Ah, yes, father. This is Althea, she’s a friend from the institute,” she said, appearing somewhat bashful.

“Oh… you didn’t mention her at all,” the man replied, giving me a look from top to bottom.

“Well… you’re—” she suddenly stopped herself when she noticed the way that Asteora was looking at her, causing Victoria to quickly look away. “Nevermind. I’ll tell you later.”

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Oliver looked surprised between Victoria and me, before putting a bright smile. “Well, it seems like we already knew each other. This is going to be fantastic!”

“Quite so,” the tall man next to Victoria—her supposed father—replied. He turned his attention to Asteora, who for the first time in this whole time was actually paying attention. “As you may already know, I’m Julius, owner and CEO of the Graciani Magic Enterprise”—he turned to Victoria, presenting her with a gesture of his hand—“and this is my beautiful daughter, Victoria.”

“It's a p-pleasure to meet you, Lady Asteora, SSS Rank Mage,” she followed with cheeks completely flushed, and her eyes looking away.

“Hm…” Asteora replied. Her eyes had been on Julius for a split second as they had been focused completely on Victoria since the moment she revealed that we knew each other.

“You seem to be interested in Victoria,” Julius followed up, a wide smile on his face. “I didn’t come here simply to greet you, but to show you the special talents that my daughter holds. She’s truly a beacon for the future mages of the country as she’s already a powerful C rank even when she awakened a short time ago. I think it’s a fantastic opportunity to—”

“Why are you friends with this girl, Althea?” Asteora interrupted Julius, “She doesn’t seem special in any way at all—in fact, from what I remember the first time I saw her, she needed to be saved from herself and her own magic.”

Victoria bit her lips and looked down. Julius on the other hand appeared to be surprised about that information. “What are you talking about…? You already met my daughter…?”

Asteora didn’t answer his question and instead turned her gaze to me. I looked at Victoria, who was looking down, and thought about her question, but I really didn’t have much of a reason to be friends with her.

“There’s no particular reason for why I’m friends with Victoria,” I replied, and the girl gripped the skirt of the Academy uniform was wearing. “But I think she’s a good girl, and I like being her friend. So, don’t be ashamed, Victoria, you’re a good one.”

Even if there wasn’t a reason, I was no longer the same Hero of the Holy Gods that needed to be close to only the most powerful beings of the empire. She was simply a person I met on the first few days of my time in this world, and as long as she was a good person, there was no need to knock her down.

“Hm… is that so? I don’t think a girl like this is going to be of help to you,” Asteora said, “I think she might even be a hindrance to your future plans.”

I shook my head. “I don’t mind that, and I’m not planning on throwing away, attacking, or saving anyone based solely on what someone else tells me—be it you, the emperor, the pope, the Holy Gods, or even Salrak. Not anymore.”

The room remained quiet for a moment. Julius was looking completely confused about what we were talking about, while Victoria had lifted her head up slightly and carried an uncertain smile, as if she wasn’t fully convinced about what I said. Asteora had her eyes on me for a moment, considering something, but after a moment, she simply chuckled and nodded her head.

“Yes, that’s a good answer. There’s no need to hear the things that I’m saying. I already did more than enough,” she said, turning to look at Julius at last. “So, what else is there to discuss? I’m not planning on taking your daughter under my wing, and I have no need for whatever a corporation wants to sell me.”

“Ah,” Julius reacted, quickly recovering from the confusion he carried by slightly shaking his head. “Well… it’s a shame that you won’t consider my daughter—I had, after all, seen that you were traveling with a couple of young girls and thought that it would be the perfect opportunity to present her to you—but alas, it’s good enough that she’s friends with someone like Althea.”

Asteora dismissively nodded, turning her attention away from him once more as she reached for a grape.

“Still! It was good to finally meet you. Hopefully, we’ll be able to forge great relationships between the country and someone like yourself!” he exclaimed, turning his smile towards Oliver who had quietly been watching with a professional smile. “I appreciate the time that you’ve offered us, Mister Hanssen. We shall take our leave now.”

“See ya later, Althea,” Victoria followed up with a small wave of her hand.

I nodded in acknowledgement. “Yes. I’ll be seeing you in the Academy.”

She smiled for a moment and turned to leave behind Julius, who walked out as proud as he had walked in. With a soft click, the door to the office closed, and we remained quiet for a moment.

Bo’guth whistled. “I didn’t know you were friends with the daughter of the Graciani family. Even in this world, you’re still just as connected as you were before.”

“It’s nothing more than a girl I met at the Academy. There’s no need to make a big fuss about it—besides, Asteora is clearly the one that everyone is interested in.”

“And I wish it wasn’t the case,” she sighed, “I should’ve just kept concealing myself instead of trying to do things the normal way.”

“People were eventually going to start asking questions about your whereabouts after such a long time, even if you didn’t show yourself, so it’s better to clear things up before they turned strange,” Oliver said, his attention back to the large phone. “Only one thing left to do.”

I prepared for another group of strangers to walk into the office, but for some reason, Oliver went over to the door and stepped outside, leaving the place without saying anything, something that he didn’t do for any of the people that showed up.

“Is there something special about the next group?” I asked.

“No, not at all. In fact, depending on what your stance is, they might just be the most despicable group there is, so I would prefer not to directly speak to them,” Asteora replied, and I couldn’t help but turn to look at Bo’guth.

It wasn’t that I thought that he was a despicable being anymore, but the way that she talked about whoever she was talking about, reminded me of the way I felt when thinking and dealing with demons.

Bo’guth felt my gaze and loudly laughed. “There’s nothing to be so worried about. She’s just talking about the media people.”

“Are they powerful?” I asked once more, wondering if they were some special kind of group from the empire or something like that.

“Maybe. They’re simply people who care only about getting any sort of story from anyone that could make people go to their websites and click on them. They’re only interested in making money from any news that they can find, even if they have to portray them in a different kind of light than reality is,” Asteora said, moving over to the food tray, but this time, not picking anything from it as she simply contemplated it.

“Liars?” I asked with a frown.

“No, not always. But they’re not the kind to always trust either. It’s better if Oliver deals with them,” Asteora said, turning around from the food tray to look at me. “But I think that once this is done, you should get yourself paid, and rest. What you should care about is only getting stronger.”

I wanted to know more about this group of people that someone like her refused to deal with, but I decided to put it aside.

It was then that I remembered that someone realized who I was not too long ago as we made our way to the office, shouting ‘Hero of the Holy Gods’.

“What about people knowing who I am? Wouldn’t they easily recognize me just from being close to you?”

“No. We’ll handle that part. That’s what Oliver’s specialty really is. It’s not only organizing things for me, but being able to handle those kinds of information as well. He’s probably right now answering questions regarding who you and Nicole are,” she said. “There won’t be an issue. You worry about what you have to worry for now.”

“Very well…” I replied, still uncertain about this whole thing.

I still wasn’t completely convinced about what she claimed, as I hardly felt like I could trust her, but even then, there really wasn’t anything else that I should think about besides the fact that the Holy Gods are out there and that I should be ready for them.

I finally sat down on one of the couches, and waited for the time when I could finally go back to rest.