One month passed.

Today is the day before Teacher Aurel's Wedding.

Last week, Belle and Louis already bought the dress that Lowell would wear in the wedding, but..

"I still don't have a present for Teacher.."

Lowell wanted to go to the village and buy a gift for her Teacher herself.

She wants it to be a secret and only Teacher would know what it is.

She tried to ask her Mom to let me travel around the village.

Belle gave her permission, but only if she was together with her Big Brother Qazar.

Nowadays, her Big Brother's magical and combat prowess surged like crazy.

It was the same case with Weiss, but her Big Brother's growth is terrifying..

Yesterday, Lowell used 'Eye of Investigation' on both of them sneakily, and she was surprised to see their progress.

『

Name: Qazar Aquila

Level: 16 -> 18

Title: (Demon King’s Successor – Hidden)

Job: —–

Status: —–

Age: 8 years old

Birthplace: ????

HP: 443/443 -> 492/492

Mana: 52/52 -> 72/72

Stats:

Physical Power: 67 -> 89

Magic Power: 79 -> 102

Speed: 66 -> 102

Constitution: 5

Luck: 89

Aptitude: Low-Rank Practitioner Tier Fleur -> Middle-Rank Practitioner Tier Fleur

Attributes: Darkness(Main), Wind, Fire, Water, Earth

Special Skills: Mind Reading, ???, ???

』

『

Name: Weiss Lear

Level: 14 -> 15

Title: ——–

Job: —–

Status: —–

Age: 8 years old

Birthplace: Blanc City

HP: 450/450 -> 462/462

Mana: 50/50 -> 60/65

Stats:

Physical Power: 68 -> 75

Magic Power: 76 -> 92

Speed: 64 -> 75

Constitution: 5

Luck: 42

Aptitude: Low-Rank Practitioner Tier Fleur -> Middle-Rank Practitioner Tier Fleur

Attributes: Wind, Fire(Main), Water, Earth

Special Skills: ???,???

』

Both of them leveled up, but her Big Brother gained two levels while Weiss only gained one level.

It was understandable since it was only one month ago when she last used 'Eye of Investigation on them.

Lowell tried to use 'Eye of Investigation' on myself.

『

Name: Lowell Zvalle

Level: 15 -> 16

Title: --

Job: --

Status: --

Age: 8 years old

Birthplace: Blanc City

HP: 330/330 (+10) -> 360/360 (+10)

Mana: 125/125 (+15) -> 139/139 (+15)

Stats:

Physical Power: 38 -> 43

Magic Power: 124(+20) -> 147(+20)

Speed: 42 -> 47

Constitution: 5

Luck: 40

Aptitude: High-Rank Practitioner Tier Fleur

Attributes: Spatial(Main), Wind, Fire, Water, Earth

Special Skills: Skill Forger, Eye of Investigation

』

Lowell thought that she's on the brink of entering the 'Professor Tier' of Fleur Classification.

She's starting to have irregular headaches but it wasn't comparable with the ones she experienced during the transfer of Physics and Chemistry knowledge directly towards her brain.

She could say that this headache is more tolerable than that.

When Lowell told her Mom the situation, she starts to panic, saying that she should stay in the house for a while and even not attend the wedding celebration.. but Lowell knew she can't do that..

Before the two could leave the house, she saw Weiss with his butler.

Now that she thought about it, he regularly visits their house after that battle against their Teacher.

Since both of them don't have anything to do, aside from practicing by themselves, they started to fight mock battles lately.

Whenever her Big Brother wins, Weiss starts to say 'I won't lose next time' as if it was his favorite line.

Lowell invited Weiss to join walking around, who immediately agreed.

Lowell noticed that his butler was already nowhere to be seen.

While walking around the village, Lowell saw three children quarreling.

It was two boys and a girl that looks the same age as them.

The two boys are hot-headed while the girl was calm, cool and collected.

"What's your problem?!"

"Yeah?! We just wanted to eat!"

The two boys readily agreed with each other, like they were twins, and tried to defeat the girl in a battle of words.

"Before you eat, gather information about the location of 'Silver Adventurer' first."

The 'Silver Adventurer'? Why are they looking for Dad?

Before Lowell could approach them, her Big Brother stopped her and shook his head, as if he wants me not to interrupt them.

"We're searching everywhere! Isn't it fine to take a break?!"

"Gladius and Dwain are already searching! You know, were not fit for searching someone, right?!"

*badump*

Lowell's heart skipped when she heard the name 'Gladius'. She was unsure, but it was most likely fear that she felt when she heard his name.

Is that the name of the person I'm muttering when I fainted because of Axie?

"Still, don't let Gladius do all the work!"

*badump*

Lowell sensed something akin to danger every time she heard that name.

Weiss noticed that her face starts to pale and asked her if she's alright..

"Yes, I'm alright."

When Weiss reverted his gaze, Lowell used 'Eye of Investigation' on the three.

『

Name: Hughes Killain

Level: 25

Title: --

Job: C-rank Adventurer

Status: --

Age: 10 years old

Birthplace: Burnshore City

HP: 552/552 (+32)

Mana: 280/280 (+21)

Stats:

Physical Power: 269 (+36)

Magic Power: 250 (+10)

Speed: 129 (-12)

Constitution: 6

Luck: 21

Aptitude: Low-Rank Professor Tier Fleur

Attributes: Wind, Fire, Water, Earth(Main)

Special Skills: ???,???

』

He looks like the Vanguard of the party since he wore a shield and a sword on his back. He has -12 in speed because of his heavy gear.

『

Name: Sarge Wingard

Level: 26

Title: --

Job: C-Rank Adventurer

Status: --

Age: 10 years old

Birthplace: Burnshore City

HP: 450/450 (+15)

Mana: 329/329 (+20)

Stats:

Physical Power: 72

Magic Power: 326 (+20)

Speed: 100 (+15)

Constitution: 6

Luck: 59

Aptitude: Low-Rank Professor Tier Fleur

Attributes: Light(Main), Wind, Fire, Water, Earth

Special Skills: ???, ???

』

To think that I would find a Light Fleur here..

Lowell thought that he's the Main Damage Dealer Fleur of their party..

She thought that way until..

『

Name: Aimee Raiv

Level: 28

Title: The Hermit

Job: C-Rank Adventurer

Status: --

Age: 8 years old

Birthplace: Qint City

HP: 602/602 (+25)

Mana: 704/704 (+21)

Stats:

Physical Power: 140 (+12)

Magic Power: 510 (+35)

Speed: 154 (+13)

Constitution: 5

Luck: 100

Aptitude: High-Rank Professor Tier Fleur

Attributes: Life(Main), Wind, Fire, Water, Earth

Special Skills: Skill Detection(Mid), ???

』

When Lowell saw the girl's stat, her feeling of danger increased.

She's same as her age, but her level's almost double of Lowell's.

She also has the title of 'Hermit', and even has the Life Attribute.

Her stats are doubled, even some are tripled, of her present stat.

Her Luck is also a hundred, which she first saw on her Dad who is on 'Limit Burst'.

The most dangerous thing about her is...

"Who's there?!"

She has a 'Skill Detection' Skill!

Lowell hurriedly stopped her skill.

Aimee looked towards their way and her hostility is visible.

She looked at Big Brother and Weiss. Big Brother Qazar grabbed the hilt of his sword while Weiss moves in front of me.

Lowell took her wand from her robe's pocket, ready to retaliate if they attack first.

"Ah-?!"

When Lowell heard the girl's voice, she peeked towards her direction.

She froze while looking towards Lowell location, no...

"Ah.. Ah..."

She tried to speak, but she's unable to.. like there's something holding her back.

She wasn't looking at Lowell, but..

"What is it?"

She's looking towards Weiss' face.

I don't know.. but is there a history about them?

"I-It's nothing!"

She starts to stutter.

Her previous cool demeanor vanished.

Lowell could only see was a girl with reddened face and teary eyes.

Her companions starts to question her.

"Oi, Aimee.. What's happening?"

"Did you detect something?- Why are you crying?"

"I-It's none of your business!"

She shouted towards the two boys and turned back, but before going, she asked Weiss.

"You, what's your name?"

"It's common courtesy to tell your own name first before asking the other party, right?"

He's still on guard against her. When she noticed it, she sighed.

"I'm Aimee Sherlock"

Aimee Sherlock? Why didn't she use the Raiv.. Raiv?!

"I'm Weiss Lear."

"Weiss Lear.. what a fine name. Well then, see you later."

She looked back towards her comrades and ordered them to follow her.

"Eh-?! I thought we'll taste a battle again.. Cheh.."

Hughes returned his weapon in it's sheath

"Rather than battle, I'm really hungry.."

"Let's meet with them first before we eat."

After a few minutes, they are nowhere to be seen.

I just remembered.. Raiv.. the Fallen Hero of Swords - Raivan. Is she a descendant of the Royal Family of Ethyne? Why is she roaming around as an Adventurer?

As these questions swirled around Lowell's mind, her Big Brother and Weiss proposed that they should do what they came for and get away from this place.

Lowell agreed since she also felt an ominous feeling the longer she stays here.

***

I am Aimee Raiv, but I abandoned that family name long ago.. since the time my father, the third son of the present king of Ethyne, abandoned me and my mother when I was born.

He said that he needed a male to increase his chance to obtain the throne. My mother, the mistress, can't do anything.. so she fled from the palace, due to her fear that I would get killed by my father's supporters. We fled until we reached the borders of Fraxiania and Ethyne, the village of Burnshore City. Because we got nothing from my bastard of a father, Mom worked while carrying my infant self around.. My Mom was repeatedly persuaded by our neighbors to abandon me.

Because of stress.. and out of depression because we were abandoned by father, she became mentally unstable. One day, she ran around the village with a hidden knife. At that time, she killed a neighbor's child. Because of that, she was killed by the child's parents out of anger. Without any family left, I became an orphan at the age of two years old. That's when I was taken care by an orphanage.

All the time in the orphanage, those nuns always tell me about my mother's crime. I don't know why, but even though they told me that.. I didn't felt any emotion.. or should I say.. that I was empty of emotion to begin with..

I also met Gladius, Sarge, Hughes, and Dwain at the orphanage. Gladius was abandoned as an infant, Sarge and Hughes were war orphans, and Dwain is the a son of an nun who fled after giving birth. At first, I find Sarge and Hughes as a troublesome duo, Dwain as a naive person, and Gladius as a weird person. The first three didn't caught my attention.. but Gladius is different.

He's weird.. but a charismatic person. When we were in the orphanage, he acted as the leader of the children within our age group. He also trained swordsmanship non-stop, even though at first, he can't even carry a short-sword. But that wasn't the thing that made me notice him. It was that time when I was five..

"Oh? What are you reading?"

He approached me, whose existence is like thin air. I looked at him with an uninterested expression.

"Why do you care?"

"Hahaha, of course, I don't care. I'm just trying to start a conversation with you."

He smiled as if it was nothing. My first impression of him was.. he is annoying.

"If you want me to join your fanatical group, I'll say it now. I'm not interested."

I really hate troublesome things like this. I looked back at the book I was reading until...

"I'm not making you join, but instead.. I'll make you happy instead."

"I'll be happy if you leave me alone."

"Oh, is that so?"

He still have a smile on his face. Really annoying.

I placed my book on the table and looked at him. This type of people are the ones who won't give up until you give in.

"I'll give you sixty seconds. If you do anything weird, I'll shout."

"That is all I need."

I don't know that time, he started to use a spell on me. He held my hand.. I was ready to shout until..

"Magic Nullify!"

Nothing happened. I looked at him angrily, but he removed his hands and started to hum happily while walking away.

I tried to inspect my whole body. If it was a enticement skill, I'm already attracted to him, but it wasn't the case. I tried to look for a slave mark, since I heard that there is a skill that make you a slave of the user. When I concluded that nothing really happened, I resumed reading. I thought it was just a failed spell..

That night when he used his skill on me, I started to have a strange dream. It was a black and white world. I was in a poor village. I was happily playing with a boy the same age as me. His face was blank, but I knew, I was happy beside him.

Night after night, I had dreams like that, as if I was looking at a story from a storybook. The boy became a king, while I became his queen. His face was still blank, but I felt he was happy. I was so happy whenever I'm with him, that I shed tears whenever I wake up.

A year passed, I still had dreams of that person's life. I reached the point that both of them became victorious against their enemies. He was awarded as one of the two heroes.. until the other hero stabbed him on the back. That's when the black and white world was painted with color. It was really vivid, that I thought it really happened. I was just ten steps away from him.. but I felt that those step are really far away. I ran towards his side while crying. That's when.. I saw his face. His handsome pale face imbued with blue eyes. He also has a yellow hair, complementing his rash and playful attitude. That's the first time I saw him, but I felt like it was forever. When he died, everything turned black..

"No!!"

I woke up. I noticed that I was crying on my sleep again.. until..

"Oh, you woke up?"

Gladius was there, sitting on the chair, smiling innocently towards me. I was about to scream since he entered my room without my permission, but..

"Did you dream something unpleasant.. Aimee Raiv, the Queen of Swords.. should I call you that way, or Lucia Xavier?"

Lucia Xavier.. that's my name in the dream.. why..

"How did you know.. w-what are you?!"

My feeling of annoyance towards him.. turned into fear. Now, his innocent face instill fear in my heart. Throughout my life, and even in my dream, no one has ever seen through my own self.. except 'him'.

"Who am I doesn't matter. I shall ask you.. Do you want to see 'him' again?"

His innocent smile turned into a devilish one that sends chills to the spine. I don't have time to fear him!

"See him again?!"

That words made me feel something. I know this feeling.. It was hope.

"Yes, yes. Of course. I won't go back to my own words."

He smiled as if he was a devil. I thought that my present situation is like one of those books I read.. A man who sold his soul to the devil. I knew this is a dangerous gamble.. but.

If this mean that I could see him again.. or even walk with him again.. and dream with him again.. I'll gladly sell my soul to the devil.

"What do you want?"

"Your power."

"My power? I don't think-"

"Don't be silly, my dear Queen. I know that you're still weak, but you have the potential to help me."

"Help you?"

"Yes. I need your help to reach my desire, my existence's ultimate goal."

"As long as you promise that I'll meet him again, I'll obey you."

"Then we're good. I'll gladly name myself. I'm Gladius Luxero. The Present King of Swords, and also.. the 'Seat of Devil'.

He bows elegantly like a noble. His present seat really describe his personality. A man true to his desire. The man who saw his 'True Desire'.

"Then, what is your goal?"

"It is-"

***

"Hey, Aimee. What is that?"

"Yeah! I thought we'll see some action when you shouted!"

These bloodthirsty duo. I don't really want to associate with these two.

"I-It's nothing!"

"Oi, Oi, your usual cool expression starts to crumble... Really, what happened back there?!"

"I think we should deal with them instead and leave Aimee here, Sarge."

Hughes starts to propose something inexcusable. I can't let them hurt 'him'.

"One step, and I'll kill you."

"Quit it, Hughes. You don't want to deal with an angry Aimee, right?"

"Cheh! As if I'm-!"

I casted Earth Spikes. All of them were pointing at Hughes' neck.

"Who do you think you are? If only Gladius didn't say that I shouldn't kill you, you're already dead."

After seeing that he backed out, I dispelled the Earth Spikes.

"And don't think of doing anything funny. You know my power, right?"

I obtained the 'Seat of the Hermit' with the help of my previous life's knowledge and experience.

Of course, this boosted most of my stats, making me invincible even against an enemy with the same level.

Hughes, whose level isn't higher than mine, doesn't want to make me his enemy.

The 'Hermit' can only be obtained if the person knew 'True Solitude' which is experienced by my previous life as a lone traveler.

Maybe because I was naive during that time.. that I didn't obtain this power.. Naive because I believed that my King's strength can overcome any obstacle.

When I saw his dying figure, that's the time I woke up.. but everything's already over for me.

"Aimee, stop that. We'll not mention this again."

"Good that you know your place."

I started to walking towards our meeting place.