Twilight Manor, Dining Hall.
After freely unleashing various forms of variant magic enhanced with Imaginary traits in the Beol Mountains, Riezel finally returned to Twilight Manor, thoroughly satisfied, once the duration of Lost Truth expired and its effects faded.
Thankfully, he arrived just as breakfast was beginning.
"Riezel! Over here!"
As soon as Riezel entered the dining hall, the sharp-eyed Tiona called out to him.
In the end, under the gazes and greetings of many familia members, he walked over to Tiona’s table and took a seat beside Lefiya.
"M-Mr. Riezel..."
Lefiya lowered her head shyly, as if she had remembered some amusing incident that had been mentioned during last night’s playful banter with her roommate.
"Morning."
Riezel had also recalled that same suggestive scene, but to avoid being seen through, he kept his expression perfectly calm. Only after confirming that Loki was not in the dining hall did he relax slightly.
Soon, however, a question arose in his mind.
"By the way, where are the Captain and the others?"
Indeed, not only was Loki absent, but Finn, Riveria, and Gareth—the three top executives of the familia—were nowhere to be seen either.
At this table sat only Riezel, Lefiya, Tiona, and Tione.
Bete, on the other hand, sat nearby, eating as usual with Raul and a chienthrope named Cruz.
"They aren’t coming to breakfast."
It was Tione who answered Riezel’s question.
"They were talking with Loki in the office for a long time last night, so they didn’t get to sleep until really late. They’re still resting right now."
While biting into her bread and explaining the reason, Tione let out a sigh, seemingly because the one she admired was not present.
Riezel nodded lightly.
He knew that whatever Finn and the others had stayed up all night discussing was probably related to what he had brought back yesterday. Even so, he had not expected the goddess and the top executives to deliberate over it for so long.
It surprised him, yet at the same time, he could understand it.
Given Finn and the others’ sharp instincts, they had surely realized how serious the matter was and were treating it with full importance, so exhausting themselves over it was only to be expected.
"...What about Ais?" Riezel fell silent for a moment before asking again. "Is Ais still resting too?"
At this question, Lefiya, who had been secretly watching Riezel, and Bete, who was eating lazily nearby, both pricked up their ears.
Tiona, on the other hand, seemed to have found her chance to speak as she set down her grilled meat and began talking at length.
"Ais is acting kinda weird..."
Tiona spoke with a frown, looking pretty uneasy.
"When I woke up this morning, I figured she’d be training in the courtyard like always, but she wasn’t there. So I went to her room to call her, and it took her forever to finally respond."
"And guess what she said? She told me she just wanted to rest today and didn’t wanna leave her room."
"Seriously? Ais actually skipped training, skipped going to the Dungeon, and just stayed in her room lying around?"
"And her voice sounded really weak, too, which is super weird. Like, way too weird."
Tiona clearly had noticed something off about Ais, and her observations were impossible to ignore.
"Hmm, that’s kinda strange..." Tione said leisurely. "Ais giving up her daily training and all that? Even on the days when Riezel wasn’t around, that never happened, right?"
"Yeah, yeah." Tiona nodded repeatedly. "And she even said she needed rest? Ais needs rest? That just sounds fake as hell!"
Everyone around them nodded in agreement, including Bete.
"Ahaha..."
Lefiya let out an awkward laugh, while Riezel was left speechless inside.
In their minds, just how hard-working and training-obsessed was Ais, anyway?
Nonetheless, Ais really was always extremely diligent and loved training, which made it only natural for others to perceive her that way.
Still, hearing a girl whose beauty rivaled that of a goddess being described like that would probably deal a serious blow to her, even if she heard it herself.
"Could she really just be tired?" Lefiya tried to defend Ais’s girl power a little, speaking softly. "I mean, to learn the Breathing Style Mr. Riezel taught her, Miss Ais has been working really hard lately, hasn’t she?"
What she meant was that Ais was human too and could get tired, so wanting to rest after intense training was perfectly normal.
In response, Bete tossed out a cold remark from the side.
"If she were really that tired, she wouldn’t have gone to the Dungeon with this brat yesterday."
Bete’s remark hit the mark perfectly.
"Wait—now that you mention it, you went to the Dungeon with Ais yesterday, right?" Tione looked at Riezel suspiciously. "After you guys got back last night, Ais went straight to her room and didn’t come out again, then you headed to the Captain’s office, and the Captain and the others were up all night talking about stuff..."
"Huh? Yeah, that sounds kinda sketchy, doesn’t it?" Tiona froze for a moment, then turned to look at Riezel. "Riezel, did something happen?"
Everyone immediately turned their gaze toward Riezel.
Riezel quietly took a sip of milk before speaking.
"It would be better to wait until the Captain and the others finish discussing the details."
He had no intention of talking about what had happened on the 24th Floor yesterday in a place like the dining hall, in front of everyone.
Those man-eating flower monsters were one thing, but the remnants of Evilus and the existence of human-monster hybrids were a much bigger issue.
If it were leaked, it could shake all of Orario, so Riezel did not want to speak carelessly.
"I’m sure the Captain and the others already have an idea. If necessary, they’ll explain it to you."
With that, Riezel pushed the responsibility of explaining onto Finn and the others, which caused the group to exchange glances.
However, out of trust in their top executives, they ultimately did not press Riezel further and accepted it.
"Then what about Ais?" Tiona was clearly concerned about Ais and asked hurriedly. "What should we do about her?"
"...If you have time later, go keep her company and talk with her," Riezel replied calmly, gazing at Tiona, then at Lefiya. "Maybe she really needs someone by her side."
He did want to talk to Ais himself, but as someone who had gone through the same incident with her, he worried that she might deliberately avoid him to keep from being questioned.
Besides, since Ais was staying in her room in the women’s dormitory, it would be inconvenient for him to go there anyway.
In this situation, it was more appropriate for Tiona or Lefiya to accompany Ais.
Compared to him, they had spent more time with Ais, and being the same gender, even if she did not want to open up, she probably would not shut them out completely.
For that reason, he decided to temporarily entrust Ais’s situation to Tiona and Lefiya.
"Well, that’s not a problem..." Lefiya nodded gently.
She naturally did not refuse, given that she was also worried about Ais and had planned to check on her even without Riezel saying anything.
"In that case, let’s go see Ais after we’re done eating!" Tiona made the decision decisively, looking impatient already.
"I’ll go take a look too," Tione said while continuing to chew her bread. "Since the Captain’s not around and I can’t stick by his side, I’ve basically got nothing to do today, so checking on Ais sounds fine."
"What about you, Mr. Riezel?" Lefiya blinked and asked him. "Are you planning to go to the Dungeon today?"
"Nope. I have something else I want to do," Riezel replied, shaking his head. "I won’t be going to the Dungeon today."
"Well, that works out." Tione suddenly seemed to remember something and spoke to everyone present, including Riezel. "I almost forgot to tell you. If you’re planning to head out, you gotta be careful around the Freya Familia."
At these words, the entire dining hall fell silent.
"...Did those bastards cause trouble again?"
Hearing the name of their rival familia, the ferocious werewolf, Bete, bared his fangs, snarling with a serious expression.
Aside from him, the others also grew serious and looked toward Tione.
"No, they didn’t actually do anything," Tione said after finishing her bread. "But the Captain said that over the past few days, the Freya Familia’s executives have been acting kinda weird."
"Weird...? W-What kind of weird?" Lefiya asked timidly.
Tione gave a light cough, then answered.
"Apparently, King left the Freya Familia’s home by himself a while ago and went straight into the Dungeon. He’s been roaming around the Middle Floors, and adventurers have seen him multiple times just standing there, face-to-face with monsters, basically ’playing’ with them."
"And Hildrsleif and Dainsleif—the White and Black Knights we mentioned earlier—have been heading out a lot too, showing up all over the city. Someone even saw them dragging a badly injured human to a healing facility. No one has any idea what they’re up to."
"Once the Captain started getting suspicious, he sent people to look into it, but they ran into Vana Freya and got warned not to interfere."
After listing the rival familia’s strange actions, Tione spoke with clear displeasure.
"In the end, the Captain told Loki about it too, but she said to just ignore it, so he told me to pass the word along—don’t meddle in the Freya Familia’s business, and don’t go picking fights with them. We’ve just gotta focus on our own stuff."
Hearing this, everyone exchanged uneasy looks, unsure of how to react.
Only Riezel lowered his head slightly, his eyes growing deep.
’A badly injured human...?’
Among those present, he might have been the only one who understood what the Freya Familia was doing.
’So that means it’s about to begin?’
Countless thoughts flashed through Riezel’s mind, but on the surface, he remained silent.
As for the others, even after they finished breakfast and left the dining hall, they were still discussing what the Freya Familia might be up to.
Riezel ultimately pushed the Freya Familia’s matters aside, returned to his room, took out the second grimoire, and began reading it.
And so, on that day, his third magic awakened.
On his updated status, only a brief line of sacred text appeared.
...
Eternal Poem
- Reincarnation magic.
...
Hence, a great magic that would shape Riezel’s entire life was born.
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