Arthur had guessed a lot from the memories he saw, the secret that she revealed when she knew that he was Arthur Silvera, and her response right now. There must be a reason behind the rise of the Theocracy, and Arthur did not think that it was hard training or discipline.
"I will be expecting some assassins then," he smiled as he flicked her forehead. "You lost but still act so arrogant, Rae."
"You bastard!" she held her forehead while scowling at him. "I will have them kill you!"
"I doubt that anyone can kill me," he smiled before pushing his fingers against her forehead. "Have you awakened any foreign memories?"
"…I… how did you…"
Arthur did not answer her and simply sighed. Rae's situation was a bit complicated because her memories did not associate with her current self. Furthermore, since he merged the timeline after the point of deviation, people like Rae would only receive new memories after that point of time.
"Do the memories make sense?" said Arthur with a smile, and she shook her head. "Are there secrets hidden within them?"
"What do you know, Alexie Linan?"
"I know things beyond your understanding and truths that you cannot fathom," he rose and turned toward the door. "My offer stands as long as it takes you. Jerano is not the best place to grow, not for us."
Arthur left the arena afterward. There were reasons that he invited Rae to join him instead of the others. The first one was that the saint had the backing of a giant behind her, and antagonizing the seven families was not difficult for her. The other was that he did not dare underestimate the saint even with his knowledge of creation.
Arthur glanced back and saw that she was standing upward, her scarf supporting her like a separate entity. That scarf was no other than a powerful spirit, at least from the Divine Layer.
There were not many people who could pull that off, and the amount of spiritual energy needed was enough for Rae to be an asset that cannot be underestimated. As soon as she learns how to control that spiritual energy, then she would be no weaker than an Astra-Ranker, if not more.
Arthur walked out of the training field, and the morning sun glared at him, but he did not hate it. On the contrary, the warmth she gave to his skin made him feel alive for the shortest while and appreciate that he could still feel that.
As he was standing outside, Arthur heard noises coming from a different direction. When he looked for the source, he found that it was coming from the coliseum. In their second and third years here, a student can be sponsored by a guild until graduation.
There are ranks for guilds, and depending on the rank, the dungeons they can challenge also differ. But, of course, those who can go and explore the other world are the cream of the crop, among many other conditions.
It was not purely a political matter because a natural transfer would strain the body, and that happened because they would cross the void that separates the two worlds.
A guild sponsoring a student was not unusual, and the students can even go into dungeon raids alongside them, like Yurirl, for example. And once you think of the devil, he appears.
"Are you not going to demonstrate?" asked a voice from behind him. "I came here as a representee of God's Blade for the monthly duels."
"Ah, the duels," smiled Arthur. "I almost forgot about them. I thought we wouldn't see you after your graduation," he said while turning around toward Yurirl, who was looking as dashing as ever with his beauty mark and short-cut hairstyle.
"Alexie," he nodded with a smile. "I have duties toward my college, after all," he walked forward and offered a handshake. "And I guess you are as low-key as ever and still wearing that disguise."
"You still overestimate me," Arthur shook his hand. "I would have to refrain from embarrassing myself. The guilds are looking for promising seedlings, and I fear that I am already a withered tree."
"A withered tree, huh?" muttered Yurirl while looking down on their handshake. "I already told you about my ability in the party, Divine Sense, which made me the scout for God's Blade."
"I never tried to hide it from you," replied Arthur, although he knew that he couldn't hide anything. "I still think that showing off my skills is unwise."
"You are… not wrong," sighed Yurirl as he let go of his hand. "I wish that someone told me this before I fell into this battle for supremacy."
Arthur could tell that he referred to the vicious battle between the guilds and the seven families. Of course, some guilds comprised people from the seven families since you could not control people, but that only made things more vicious.
"I will keep what I saw today a secret between us," grinned Yurirl as he walked past him and lightly bumped his shoulder. "You can have an easy time hanging around and keeping a low-key."
As he walked away, Arthur smelled a foul stench that was not there before. His green eyes turned golden as he looked around for signs of the Nameless one, but there was none other than a faint stench.
"Ah, that reminds me," muttered Arthur as he saw Yurirl leave. "As a scout, you must know how the guilds will react if someone tried to steal their potential seedlings," he asked, prompting Yurirl to halt his steps and turn around.
"Are you talking about yourself?" asked Yurirl with concern, but Arthur did not show any reaction. "I sure hope not," he sighed. "Guilds are nothing short of monsters, and even my God's Blade is ruthless when it comes to naturing talents. Jerano is the best place to find such people, so…"
"I would be eaten alive," laughed Arthur as he turned and walked away. "I am grateful for the warning, Yurirl. I will be here if you ever find yourself in a dark place."
As he said so, Arthur walked away. There was a slight suspicion that Yurirl might have darkness within his heart, but it did not seem like he allowed it to affect him. Arthur could not stop the devil from whispering, but he can stop it when it tries to set foot into this world.
***
Rae stared at the two men parting ways from the recovery room window. A man materialized behind her after he answered her summons. The scene where Yurirl held onto Alexie Linan made her have second thoughts.
"Have you called for me, my saint?" knelt the man on the ground, wearing a white cloak and golden hood that covered his face. "I am here to eliminate any threats."
Rae did not answer him and stared at Alexie Linan walking into the distance. It was the first time she had conflicting thoughts about eliminating threats to the people of Shon, as she was more than happy to shed blood at the first signs of danger.
"I need you to… investigate someone," she said after a slight pause.
"…Holy One, I am afraid that this is not what I was trained for…"
"Then, find someone else," she waved her hand and walked away. "His name is Alexie Linan, and I need everything you can find about him."
After that, Rae left the training chambers with questions filling her mind. The memories he mentioned were a secret that she told no one. Her father made sure that nothing could defile her peace of mind, and knowing that memories appeared that did not belong to her would make him upset.
His wrath was not kind, she knew. Rae learned that the hard way after trying to fit into the life sewed for her. Furthermore, if he knew that she spared someone that threatened their plans, then her head would roll on the ground.
'Father has many children,' she thought. 'I can lose mine even if I was his favorite. However,' she tried justifying her reasons, but she did not know how to do that.
All of her life, she pursued power to please him. Finally, someone offered her power and much more this time, but she had to disobey her father. Alexie Linan knew something about the knowledge within her mind, one that dictated ethereal creatures.
Furthermore, he knew about the trial and the seven families. Rae has learned of the reason the seven families are their enemies, the commoners, from her father. Alexie seemed to be against them, and the Divine Swordsman approached him.
"I…" she closed the door behind her while leaning on it. "I don't know what to do," she fell back. "Who is the person living in my mind?" wondered Rae as she held her head.
As she thought about them, memories rose to the surface of lands different from theirs, cuffs and torture, and then a face that saved her.. It was a person that she wanted to execute before his death, and no other than the great genius of runes, Arthur Silvera.
