330. Likes and Dislikes

“I can’t believe this.”

Daniel Song dragged himself out of the Tower of Truth as he hung his head low.

“You call me your companion, and you just forgot about me…”

“Fucking idiot.”

Amanda snickered as she watched from the side. I shot her a glare, shutting her up before running up to the Human man. I apologized profusely as he glanced back at me.

“I’m so sorry, Daniel! But it’s not that I forgot about you, you know?”

“You were literally going to leave me behind in Mavos Academy.”

“Well, that’s…”

I trailed off. I looked over at Willy for help, but he gave none. I sighed.

“I didn’t think you’d want to come with us.”

“And why wouldn’t I?”

He stared at me, crossing his arms. I shrugged.

“I thought you had your own things going on. Like don’t you have your own adventures to go to with Amanda?”

I gestured at the assassin. Both Daniel and Amanda retorted at the same time.

“I would rather die than do anything for her.”

“I would rather die than do anything for him.”

“The point is—”

I clapped my hands together, speaking over them.

“If I’d known you wanted to come, I’d have invited you!”

Daniel shifted his feet slightly.

“...you could’ve at least asked me about it.”

“I know. And I'm sorry for that.”

I held his gaze as I spoke. He pursed his lips, and I grabbed him by the hand.

“You’re my companion. I won’t force you. But if you really want to, I want you to come with us.”

Daniel looked me in the eye. He hesitated for a moment. Then he nodded.

“I do.”

“Great!”

I beamed, drawing back. He let out a sigh. I turned to Amanda and Willy. They’d just been spectators for most of the conversation. But I directed the same question to them.

“What about you guys? Wanna come?”

“Yes.”

“Sure, I guess it’s more fun than hanging around here.”

“Alright!”

I clasped my hands together, glad that that was settled.

“Then let’s go find Saffron!”

—--

We met up with Saffron and the other Vampires just outside of Mavos Academy. Some of them had left— for example, Garlen Crimsonfang was notably absent. Saffron said he returned to the destroyed Norwood Keep ahead of time on his own to check up on his son’s condition. Zin accompanied him and would be meeting with us once we arrived back there.

Anya Veridian and most of the Norwoods remained. Crocus Merryster was here too. I nodded at him before running up to Saffron herself.

“I’m back!”

“Salvos—”

Saffron paused when she caught sight of the three individuals waiting behind me. She raised a brow.

“Are they coming with us?”

“Yep! You’ve never met them, but this is Willy. He’s a [Will O’ Wisp]. A Grand Spirit. He’s nice and kind of strong?”

“Very strong.”

Willy corrected me. I rolled my eyes, continuing to the next person.

“This is Amanda. I don’t actually know her that well. She’s an assassin or something? Pretty strong, though.”

“...hey.”

Amanda spoke in an aloof voice. I moved on to the third person.

“And this is Daniel.”

Saffron blinked as I introduced him. She raised her hand, trying to speak.

“Salvos…”

“Despite his appearance, he’s quite strong too! And he’s my companion, just like you.”

“But Salvos—”

She started again, and I waved a hand dismissively.

“There’s no need to be nervous! He can hold his own against Belzu too! I’ve seen it!”

“Salvos.”

Saffron spoke clearly this time. I cocked my head, pausing.

“Yes, Saffron?”

“I have met Daniel before. Remember? In fact, I met him before I met you.”

“Huh.”

I tapped a finger on my chin in thought. That was right. I only met Saffron because of Daniel. We accompanied her on an escort mission out of Nixa. Jaakko, Zack, and Helen were there too! I wondered how they were doing…

“That’s good!”

I finally said, grinning.

“That means you don’t need to reintroduce yourselves.”

“Indeed.”

Saffron nodded as she looked Daniel over. Her eyes narrowed.

“Although, I am quite surprised he was able to keep up with you… even if there is a bit of a gap between your levels.”

Daniel drew back, lowering his head.

“T-that’s—”

“That’s fine! I’m sure he’ll catch up in no time, right?”

I patted him on the shoulder. Then I turned back to Saffron.

“Anyway, what are we going to be doing now?”

“Return back to Norwood Keep.”

The Vampire woman answered simply.

“Zin and Gannon will have to gather the rest of their family, then we’ll be heading to the Veridian estates. Anya Veridian says they’ll house us. At least, until we know where exactly the Primeval Demon is currently at. We can plan from there.”

“That’s good!”

I was eager to get into another scuffle with Belzu. Only problem was that I still wasn’t sure if I was strong enough to beat him. Maybe I stood a chance with my Grand Skills— but no, I couldn’t use them right now. I still had a few weeks left for my [Divine Essence of the Daeva Cambion], and another five or so days for [My Flame Shall Burn Until Eternity Ends].

With that, we left Mavos Academy soon after, making our trek back to Norwood Keep.

—--

The castle was in pretty much the same state it had been beforehand. There were no repairs made. It had only been a day since we dealt with the pair of Archdemons to go to Mavos Academy, and I was pretty sure they didn’t intend to fix any of the destruction that had been wreaked. After all, the entirety of the Norwood Family was going to be leaving Shedos.

We were heading west— towards the Helbir Plains. That was where the Veridians had the most influence. They pretty much had some connection to every single city state in the region. And it was populated with thousands of city states.

There were no ‘full’ nations. It wasn’t like the Eastern Kingdom Alliance which was composed of both city states and countries that spanned multiple cities. Although, the Helbir Plains was united by the Helbir League. It was the biggest alliance in the Human lands, just by the number of states alone.

Obviously, because most of them were city states, they were naturally more numerous.

…at least, that was what Saffron explained to me after I kept poking her about it.

“Just… wait here, Salvos.”

Saffron sighed as she sauntered off to help Gannon and Zin. I sat with Daniel, Willy, and Amanda in a crumbling— but still standing— room. The assassin rolled her eyes as she looked out the window.

“This place is a dump. Was it really supposed to be some fancy castle?”

“Yep!”

I nodded, gesturing vaguely towards the garden.

“I got into a big fight with some Demons. They were kind of strong, actually. Level 125 each. But I beat them.”

“Good job. Brag about it more.”

Amanda leant back with a scoff. I grinned.

“I will! They also had this weird combination casting ability! They also had this whole blood magic field set up which made me weaker—”

“But you beat them because you’re an amazing genius fighter, right? Wow, I am so impressed. I am definitely not bored out of my mind right now.”

She snorted, speaking with a flat voice. I stared at her. There was a pause. Daniel shifted back uncomfortably. Willy made a whistling noise for whatever reason.

“Sassy.”

I blinked as the [Will O’ Wisp] spoke over the silence. Then I walked up to Amanda, eyes glittering.

“Really? I can tell you more about it if you really want!”

“What…?”

Amanda turned back and froze. My face was just a few inches away from hers. She backed up, speaking hurriedly.

“I was being sarcas—”

“Alright, so there were two Demons, right? They were Archdemons— very scary. One of them was an [Incubus] and the other was a [Succubus]. As I said earlier, they used blood magic, and that was really troublesome because they could heal each other and—”

I spoke over her, retelling the whole battle with Mentior and Fictus from the moment I teleported into Norwood Keep. She tried to back away from me, but I followed her as I continued the story. Until, finally, after taking way too long to regale what happened in that short fight scee, I finished.

“—then I activated my amazing Grand Skill and defeated them like that!”

I made a swinging motion to close off the story. Amanda had been cornered to the window, and she was looking towards Daniel for help. The Human man just smirked as he stared at her look of desperation.

“I… see…”

She trailed off once I was done. I chuckled, taking a step back.

“Yep! It was really exciting! I was so amazing there— I’m glad that you asked. Nobody ever likes listening to my stories.”

“I told you, I don’t—”

“You’re such a nice person, Amanda.”

I gave her a thumbs-up. She just stared at me.

“What are you.. I am not a nice person. I am an assassin. Someone who’s hired by rich assholes to kill innocent people for existing. That is literally the furthest thing from a nice person possible.”

“Really? Huh. But are you doing that right now?”

I asked inquisitively. Amanda shook her head, gesturing at Daniel.

“Not since I decided to side with that fucking moron over there.”

“See? So you’re not wild! And that means you’re nice!”

I clapped my hands together with a smile. She sputtered.

“I am not—”

“You are!”

I poked her on the stomach, cutting her off. Her face burned red as she swatted at my hand.

“Don’t poke me!”

She stormed past me, and I stepped to the side. The former assassin spun around to meet my gaze once she was a few feet away from me.

“And stop interrupting me! I am a fucking bastard who spent all her life hurting others for her own gain. There is nothing about me that’s nice. Just because I’m on your side now, doesn’t mean I won’t hesitate to backstab all of you if it’d benefit me.”

Amanda panted as she spoke. She then paused, clearly flustered. Lowering her head, she turned and marched for the room’s exit. She stood at the doorway, facing us one last time.

“Also, stop leaning so close to me. We just met, and there’s a thing called fucking personal space.”

With that, she slammed the door shut. I stared at the closed door. There was a trickle of dust that fell from the ceiling just from the force she exerted. Daniel pursed his lips, remaining silent for a moment.

“She seems nice.”

I finally spoke, breaking the silence. He scratched his cheek.

“I don’t think she likes you, Salvos.”

“Oh, I know.”

I spoke simply. I glanced fractionally back at the two men in the room, tilting my head.

“But that was fun.”

Daniel stared at my back. He exchanged a glance with Willy, and they came to an agreement.

“Salvos… you are terrifying.”