We were sitting near the counter at ROBEL. The bar was empty since it was a bit before opening time. Oga had a weird expression on his face. It was like he saw someone he used to owe a debt and was reminded that he needed to pay.

“Seriously, Oga... You should come when ROBEL’s open. Even bringing a little girl into a bar like this is almost criminal”, Roberu complained.

“Heh. This “little girl” is older than your grandma”, Oga said.

“It’s been some time since I last saw you. How many years have passed already?” Anya asked.

“Around 4000 years... I never saw you after that battle. You went into a deep sleep, after all”, he said.

“Ummm... How do you two know each other?” I butted in the conversation.

“Anya used to be my former comrade’s weapon. We went on a journey together to fight someone”, Oga answered.

“4000 years ago? Wasn’t that during the Dark Times?” Roberu asked.

The Dark Times was a period of time when a king tried to take over the world. They said that he was armed with powerful magic and all of his minions had the strength of several warriors. The reason why it was called Dark Times was because the king’s minions used Dark Magic. They were really powerful and almost conquered the world.

“Yeah. I fought in that war. Not a really good memory to reminisce”, Oga said.

“I’d like to hear all about it”, a voice behind us said.

When I looked back, I saw a gray-haired man with glasses was standing at the doorway. He was wearing a green coat and was quite tall. Why in the world was Arurandeisu here?

“Isn’t it opening time already, Roberu? Or are there delays for tonight?” he asked.

I see… He must be a regular here. What kind of bar was ROBEL anyway? It had a powerful demon, a vice-captain of a knight unit, and even the boss of the Familiaran as its regulars. Was Roberu really that good at making drinks?

“Ah... Let me switch the signs first”, Roberu headed towards the door as Arurandeisu sat on a stool beside me.

“Hello, Mikage. I haven’t seen you since the serial murder case”, he greeted me.

“G-Good evening, Arurandeisu. I hope you’ve been well”, I greeted back.

Roberu returned to the counter, “You’ll have the usual, right?”

“Yes”, Arurandeisu answered and Roberu began mixing some drinks.

“I’ll also have some too, Roberu. I’ll need it if I will tell the story”, Oga said.

“Got it. How about you, Mikage?”

“I’ll have what I had last time”, I answered.

“If you have any juice, I’ll take it”, Anya said.

After serving our drinks, Oga told his tale.

“4000 years ago, there was a king who wanted to rule over the world. He waged war over many countries and countless lives were lost. It was known as the Dark Times”, Oga said.

“Yeah. That’s what the history books said. You even said that you fought in the war, right?” Roberu asked.

“He did not just “fight in the war.” He was one of the heroes who stopped the king and ended the Dark Times”, Anya said.

“Really? You’re that great, Oga?” I asked.

“What Anya said is true. I was part of the group that killed many of the king’s generals and even fought against the king himself. You could say that I was a hero.”

“Now that’s interesting... Why is your name not in the history books?” Arurandeisu asked.

“Because what I did was not really heroic. I was the sole survivor of our group when we raided the king’s castle”, Oga answered.

“That’s right. My master, and all of our other comrades sacrificed their lives to end the battle. Even I went into a deep sleep just to defeat that man”, Anya added.

“You see, the king wasn’t exactly trying to take over the world. That was just an excuse to start a long and bloody war.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“The king wanted to bring a Primordial Being to this world.”

“What’s a Primordial Being?” Roberu asked.

“Primordial Beings are ancient and timeless beings. They are very powerful and control an aspect of reality. For example, Death is a Primordial Being and the Primordial Fire is a Primordial Being who controls the aspect of fire”, Anya answered.

What was the difference between Primordial Beings and gods? I wanted to ask that question but they were still busy with telling their stories. Maybe I could look them up in the Westa Library. I’ve been telling myself that I would go to the library but I always ended up cancelling that plan.

“Primordial Beings all have wills and all of them could destroy this world if they would unleash a bit of their power. That’s why if they want to appear on this world, they have to limit their powers and take on a vessel”, Oga added.

“I see. But why would the king want to summon a Primordial Being?” Arurandeisu asked.

“I don’t know... But he found a way to summon a Primordial Being without placing a limiter on it. That spell required countless lives to be sacrificed so he waged war and killed many people”, Oga answered.

“The Primordial Being he was trying to summon was the Primordial Dark. He and his men were also tapping into the Primordial Dark’s powers and so they got stronger. Even the king was a formidable dark mage. He killed everyone except Oga. My master sacrificed his life energy and I had to use a lot of energy to kill him. I used so much of my own mana that I fell asleep”, Anya said.

“So that’s the truth of the Dark Times... Never thought I’d see a hero in the flesh. This world is more interesting than our world, don’t you think so, Mikage?” Arurandeisu asked me.

Wait... Did he just say “our” world?

“Now that I thought about it, how did you know that I was a Japanese boy?” I asked him. When I first met him, he called me Japanese.

“Simple. I’m from your world too”, he answered.

“Really? The head of the Familiaran was from another world?” Roberu asked.

“So you died too?” I asked.

“No... To be more specific, I was spirited away. I was sent to this world because of a natural phenomenon. Unlike you, I wasn’t summoned. I was taken in by the Familiaran 23 years ago and I rose through the ranks. Now I’m the boss.”

“That’s odd. They let an outsider like you into the boss?” I asked.

I could feel the room becoming colder.

Mikage... Be more careful with what you say, Anya’s voice echoed in my head.

Anya was right. I should’ve watched what I said. Aruran must’ve done some unsavory things to gain control of the Familiaran. I don’t know what he did but I had a rough idea. There was a thing known as a duel for succession. To put it simply, if a member would kill the boss, they would immediately become the next leader.

“Well. I’m not here to talk about that. I’m just here for my friend who died a long time ago”, Arurandeisu said and the tension in the air disappeared.

“Oh... It’s almost that time of the year”, Roberu said.

“What happened?” Oga asked.

“My friend was a victim of a serial murderer around 20 years ago. If I’m right, there should be a documentary about it showing right now.”

Roberu turned on the TV and sure enough, there was an interview with a man.

“Who’s that?” Oga asked.

“That’s Arthur Karalis. The lead investigator for the case. Heard he just retired last year”, Arurandeisu answered.

The interview went on and discussed the victims. There were 3 victims and all of them were males in their mid 20s. They were all stabbed at the heart and each victim has a number carved on their backs. The first victim had the number “1”, the second victim had “2”, and the last victim had “3” on their backs. Each number was made from using a knife to carve out a wound. He also injured a Westa Knight when he was caught fleeing the scene.

The Westa Knight Order had no leads on the guy except that he received a slash wound on his back when he fought against the knight. But they couldn’t possibly strip every man in Westa to see if he has a scar or not.

“My friend was the third victim... If I had the power of the Familiaran twenty years ago, maybe I could have found the killer. But it’s too late now. It’s a cold case”, Arurandeisu said.

“So... The case is almost twenty years old. What do you think about the killer?” the interviewer asked.

“Let’s just say that he must be hiding somewhere like the coward he is. Hey! If you are watching this, why don’t we settle this tomorrow? Come and kill me if you can! I’ll be sure to put you behind bars!” Arthur challenged the killer.

“Brave guy. Must be tough for him if he tried so hard to catch him but let the case go cold for almost twenty years”, Oga commented.

I learned about the serial killer case with roots almost 20 years ago. And I never thought I would be part of it.