"He did that?"

"Yes, he did. He never told me much about it. Was he and she were... something? "

"No, Syrus and Leonore? I don’t think so. At least I don’t think there had to be anything between them. What do you think, Lidy? "

Lidya, upon being questioned, shook her head negatively.

"See... In fact, it makes me wonder if he was ever interested in women. "

I felt that would be the kind of question that would seriously offend him.

"I, in my many years of serving in the ducal castle alongside him, never heard or seen him show interest in anyone, and one might say that women weren’t what was lacking in the castle from the servants, the maid, and the other girls, it wasn’t the choices that he was lacking with the position he held."

"Well, with how diligent he was…"

Maa, smiling reminiscently, added, "Now that I think of it, I am even tempted to say that he was so diligent that he saw women and getting settled as a family's father as a distraction to his work. That being said, I think we all know what he was really motivated for and what he was after. "

"Money."

"Yes, but I would be lying if I were to say he didn’t like his job and position. In fact, he took it way too much to heart. We‘ve all seen it. "

I nodded. I couldn’t agree more.

I remember 12 years ago, Syrius told me that his true motivation for most of what he’d been doing was money. Even though we started getting along and talking, he was still insisting that it was still the case, but with how he departed, I know for sure that he was lying or at the least wrong.

"Did he have a family? Relatives" I asked.

"Syrus? No, I ran my own investigation to see if there was anyone he was close to, but I found no one," Maa said, shaking her head. "It was exactly as he said when he came to serve in the castle; he was alone; his parents had died years before. No brother nor sister."

"I see,"

"I think the only family he had was his work and us. Quite ironic coming from someone pretending to be living to chase after only material things."

"Sure it is."

Maa sighed, and changed subject, "Anyway, to speak about something else, Young Lord, how are you?"

"Me? I’m good. Very good."

She stared at me, clearly unsatisfied with my answer.

"No, what I meant was how you and the Young Lady Nia are doing?"

"Us? We’re good." Remembering her absence after unintentionally glancing around, I remarked, "she’s most likely at the mother's side by now, but we’re Rod."

Leaning forward as though to come across as discreet, "Tell me, Young Lord. You and Princess Nia are together, right? " She asked, with a serious expression on her face.

"Hum,... I wouldn’t know how to describe what we truly are. I glanced at the ring on my finger as I caressed it—"-but yes, we are together."

She nodded understandingly before asking, curiously, "Did you two already..."

"Already?"

"I wouldn’t like to come across as indiscreet,..." she threw me a rather self-explanatory stare.

Finally understanding what she meant, I immediately went, "No, no, nope. We aren’t yet at that level."

"But I heard you two sleep in the same room. Did I hear wrong? " She threw Lidya a glance, to which she replied with a shrug.

"Yeah, that part is right, but it is just an old habit."

"An old habit?"

"There was not much of a room in the Iharana forest, so we might come across as very clingy, but it’s just an old habit that dies hard, there is no deeper meaning."

"Yet you look quite blushing for something that has no deeper meaning than that."

"Maa…"

"Come on, there's nothing to be embarrassed about," she chuckled. "I might be able to provide some concise advice for you, Young Lord. I, myself, have quite a few runs in my life. "

"Aaargh, thanks, but I didn’t want to hear that. Lydia, please say something..."

"What does the young Lord want me to say? My Lady is just trying to help. This is part of education. "

"Even you, Lidya.... "

***

A few hours passed, and I left Maa and Lydia’s side for my quartier.

Well, I’m saying that, but it wasn’t as if I immediately made my way straight to my room. Instead, I wandered throughout the fortress with no particular goal in mind. It was whilst doing so that I "somehow" ended up passing through the same corridor from which I stumbled upon her and Aryan talking the other day.

Needless to say, as I walked past it, I found no one there.

Well, maybe I talked too fast since, just as I walked past that doorless room, I saw coming from the other end of the corridor, Aryan, who seemed equally surprised to stumble upon me here.

"Hi," I started.

"Hi."

These words exchanged, I was already running out of words to speak, so I decided to take my leave here, but just as I did, I was stopped at Aryan’s words.

"It was you the other day, wasn’t it?" He said, looking at the corner from where I, the other day, stood to peek at them.

"How did you know?" I asked, not even bothering to lie.

"--nly had you and Nia to do that, completely obstructing my magic on top of being immune to teleportation magic, so it was either you or her. But it seems I got it right right off the bat. "

Is that so? Well, yes, it was me. "

Following these words, there was a long silence, which prompted me to turn heel and announce my leave, but once again, he stopped me, "Wait, can you tell me how?"

"How what?"

"How do you and Princess Nia do that?"

"It's not something we do intently, but I certainly can explain how it’s done, but that might take time. You seemed in a hurry," I remarked.

"I was about to—I was about to go somewhere, but it’s a little far. You can explain it to me on the way, if you don’t mind. "

"I don’t."

***

With that, I shared a walk with him, taking advantage of that opportunity to explain why his magic didn't, doesn't, and wouldn’t work with those like Nia and I.

To do so, I had him explain some rules of his own magic that he himself was already aware of.

He, being someone wielding the rare teleportation magic, knew that he could teleport almost anyone and anyone past a certain size and could create portals, making his magic even more unique than any other teleportation magic user ever born.

But his teleportation magic limit lay in one constant; he couldn’t teleport people with bigger magic pools than he was. Well, he could, but for it to work he would need the person's permission. That being said, with the mana pool he was born with, it had to be said that pretty much only very high-ranking nobles, archbishops, and Holy Paladins were capable of resisting his teleportation.

In a sense, Nia and I could fall into that category as well, but as he said, we didn’t.

"It wasn’t very concise? But I hope it was clear enough," I concluded.

I, of course, do not pretend to know his magic better than he did; it is just that from how his magic failed to apply to me, I could tell what went wrong and why it failed.

"Your magic doesn’t work on us, not because of what Nia and I do or did; it doesn’t work because of who we are. You understand the difference now? "

"I think I do, but... why does it not work the same for Mother?"

"That... mother isn't like Nia or me; she's more of a ghost who's fed up—"

As I realized that I was about to overstep my bounds like I did with Raziel the other day, I corrected and resumed, "I think that part has more to do with how you were born or, more specifically, how she birthed you," I continued, though I didn't like saying it, "you know how it was done, right?"

He nodded.

I was told and explained by Maa and Nia who "the mother" was and what Aryan was to her. He was the very last of her children, the last child of light, born fifteen years ago.

He, unlike any other child of light before him, who were generally born with aleatory magic, was made into being born with teleportation magic.

The fact that he was born with teleportation magic was not an unintended or unexpected factor; it was planned and plotted by the mother before his very inception.

"She gave me birth to... I was born to protect them, "he mumbled.

"Yes, you were born for that purpose, so it is to no surprise that you are able to so freely teleport her around," I explained.

"I think I understand now. Thanks for explaining."

"It’s nothing. I’m glad I could help. "

Noticing his gaze wandering around, I asked, "Are you looking for someone?"

He hesitated to answer, but eventually did.

"Yes, Shania."

"Is it to meet with her that you came here?" I asked.

"No, it is the inverse actually. I’m avoiding her. "

For some reason, I couldn't bring myself to believe his words, because when I saw him looking around, it seemed more like a seeking, eagerly awaiting gaze than anything else.

It was at that moment that I remembered the content of their discussion the other day.

"Do you know where she is?" I asked.

"What for?" He immediately retorted.

"She might not remember me, but I remember her. I think I have a few things I’d like to talk about with her.

"I see."

"Do you know where she is?" I, once again, asked.

"I don't... but I do have a way to find out."

He held his hand forward, clenching violently his palm, as if shattering something within it, before announcing, "I know where she is."

"That’s quite a convenient ability," I commented.

"Yet I don’t like using it all that much."

"Can you take me where she is now?"

"You want me to teleport you to where she is?"

"She's not in this part of the fortress, is she?"

"Yes, but I can't... I can, but not in front of her, just nearby. "

Without much announcement, he reached out to me, and allowing him to take me away, we teleported to a different aisle of the fortress.

As we both looked around, there was no sign of Shania anywhere nearby.

"This way," Aryan said, leading me to a door which in turn led to what turned out to be a balcony, a balcony from which I overlooked down below Shania. But she was not alone. Around her were dozens of men, all dressed in throughoutly white outfits.

Looking at Aryan at my side, I realized he didn’t seem to be expecting to see these people around, as I heard him mumbling, "What are they doing here?"

I might be new to the fortress, but I knew from their morning white outfits that these men were the members of the brotherhood led by the Eirwein brothers.

Some of them noticed our presence, first the eldest ones, then the younger ones. But despite having caught up in a part of their discussion, they proceeded as if we weren’t there.

"I’m leaving," Aryan announced, about to take his leave.

But since I felt that him leaving now would make the situation worse, as it seemed we had made our entrance with the worst possible timing, I blocked his teleportation and suggested to him, "Stay, leaving now would make it feel like you’re running to report to ‘the mother’. Let’s just watch. If our presence bothers them, they will say it. "

Though hesitant, Aryan remained.

Soon, from where we overlooked it, we witnessed a debate unfold. At some point, when they made reference to us, I expected them to directly call me out, but that didn’t happen.

They just ignored our existence, even Shania, who, like them, noticed our presence.

As the debate went on, it got even more heated, to the point where the words "retribution" were thrown around.

Having been entrusted with the task, I wondered how the mother and Maa were planning to call out this to-be expected insurrection since even I, who by then didn’t know anything much about the brotherhood, could tell that there would be no way for them, especially when vicious and bloody vendetta is what they are known for, to remain calm with both their leaders killed.

But now, realistically speaking, I didn’t see a vendetta happening. Whilst not being similar to my Plane of Transience and Perpetuity, this entire fortress was the mother's domain, something she had semi-total control over. If their "retribution" were to happen, blood would be shed, but it would be their blood, not the mother’s. And from their composure I could tell, the older ones, along with quite a few, seemed to have at least understood that, yet things kept escalating.

It was then, as things really started to get out of hand, that she intervened. Intervention, which appears to have, at the very least, calmed things down.

It was after that intervention that Aryan commented to me, "You heard our conversation the other day, didn’t you?"

I didn’t answer, for I knew he already knew the answer to that question.

"When the brothers had just come to join us in this battle, I was too afraid to approach them, yet I was forced to since the brothers and the members of the brotherhood were the ones that needed the most help with my teleportation magic. It was how I came to mostly interact with them; it was also how Shania, who was entrusted with the task of keeping an eye on me by ‘the Mother’ and Madam Mathilda, had come to interact with them. "

"I see," I simply mumbled as I witnessed what that simple meeting led her to.

Seeing this made me realize how self-centered I tend to be. Though it wasn’t all that bad, it tends to feel misplaced some of the time.

I admit feeling regret towards the fact that she had to be involved in all of this, but in the end, it was all her actions and those of the people around her that led her to where she stands now.

Maybe it took me too long to realize this, but it simply wasn’t all about me.

It was at that moment of self-contemplation that I was interrupted by Aryan, who, out of the blue, notified me, "Ronandt, ‘the mother’ requests your presence."

"You can receive orders like that?"

"Yes, all children of light in the fortress can. "I will take you to her," he proposed, already leaving out of view while still throwing hesitant looming peers down at Shania.

As I looked at her, I met her eyes, and once it did. I know it was weird and misplaced, but I felt pride.

Having come to a decision, I proposed, "No, I need for you to take me to her. I can walk."

"But–"

"She can wait. You, you stay. " Reaching onto his shoulder, I added, "I don’t know what relationship you have with her, but I’m sure and certain she’d like to talk with someone after this. Be sure to be there. "

I advised with no intent of further elaboration.

"In which room is she?"

***

I announced upon entering the library-like room. "I heard you called to see me."

"Here you are, you made me wait, Faceless One," I heard upon closing the door behind me.

"The mother" was sitting behind a desk, on a red velvet chair, across the room.

"If I were you, I would learn to give people vacation and rest, after all you made them go through."

Pointing at the seat across the desk she was sitting in, she invited me to take a seat, while saying, "If you were me, you would know that I am a very busy person who cannot afford to waste a single day of labor for my workforce."

We exchanged a brief stare before I sighed and took the seat she offered.

It was only the second time we met, yet for some reason, she seemed to appreciate getting on my nerves. I didn’t want to give in.

"So what did you summon me here for?"

Putting down the book she had in front of her, she in the most casual way announced, "I just want to talk."

"You wanted to talk? You summoned me to talk?"

"Can’t it be just that?"

Talk about someone who earlier just pretended to be a very busy person.

Since I did not find the strength to answer that, she took over the speech.

"I held out hope that talking with you would help improve your opinion of me. So here we are."

"I was under the impression that you were looking for the opposite."

""Really? I didn’t know that that’s how I came across to you," she said, sounding rather sarcastic. "Please, from now on, please take it for granted that I am here seeking to be in your good favor. After all, I, the Aristocracy, need your help to achieve that which we are after. "

"Do you really need it?"

"Of course. For the same reason you became the faceless One in the eyes of the church, we need your help. "

"Only for that?"

"Of course, if you want to help even more, I will gladly accept it. With the mighty power you wield, I’m sure that things will move at a much faster pace. I'm confident that with your assistance and that of the princess, I'll be finished in what? At most, a year. Isn’t that what you want? That we—"

"She gave you her words to assist you in this war, didn’t she?"

Instead of answering my question, she bore a smile and said, "I represent for that child something she can no longer find in this day and age. And the fact that you don't seem offended by that prospect indicates that you understand it as well as I do."

"You mean..."

"Not yet, she hasn’t yet given her words of support, but let’s be honest with ourselves, she will, just like you will," she said confidently.

"What makes you so sure of that?"

"The simple reason being that our interests align. You want to take down the same giant multiple-headed snake as I do? You’ve taken down two of them for now, but that head you severed can easily be regrown in what? After a few years at most. Archbishops and Holy Paladins can be produced by the church as they see fit. So what I propose is to radically burn the snake. "

"To burn the snake, huh?"

"To be exact, that was my project from the moment I came back to this era. That project has slightly altered over time. All that, indirectly, is because of you. "

"How's that?"

"After witnessing the devastation caused by the calamities you triggered, I realized that there was yet another ounce of mercy within me left for what we call humanity and a smidgeon of the old principle I used to live by. Which is why I could not bring myself to continue with that project. "

"So Maa was right when she said that you seriously planned to do that." I said, slightly horrified at that prospect myself.

"Yes, with how angry she was back then about what the church did to you, she wholeheartedly agreed to help me in my quest. It's fascinating how far and how blinding maternal drives and instincts can take things. "

"How easy could it have been? All my children, from the present and the past, would've joined together to bring me, their mother, justice. No matter how powerful the church is, I would’ve swarmed them all. " She muttered, laying her head against the chair, as she contemplated the ceiling.

"But, though I wouldn’t dare say it was for the sake of humanity but more for our peace of mind, Mathilda and I have made our choice, which is why today we stand with regret, but those are the consequences of choices we made, choices we must and will stand by. I chose to not awaken children from their slumbers, allowing them to continue fueling that grotesque thing they dare call the church’s barrier."

I heard genuine anger in her voice.

After a short while, calming herself down, she explained in a calmer and more collected voice, "I have sacrificed way too much, wasted too many years, to allow things up to this point to go the wrong way. I built this empire you see today, as puny as it may seem in your eyes, from nothing. I used the little I had at my disposal to raise this army.

"Even for what I have become now, this is not nothing. Which is why I, loving them though I do, if one of them were to veer off course, wouldn't hesitate to use whatever means I have at my disposal, no matter how barbaric some of them may be, to correct that error. "

Having spoken these words, she subsequently came to the following conclusion: "I now realize in this second existence, that while humanity is not worth protecting, it does not deserve what I was about to bring forth upon them, not just yet. After all," she said with a smile, "there are still people like your mother amidst it."

"Was that to offend me in some way?"

"Not at all. Did it? "

"Not at all."

"Then you have your answer."

With these words, we both sank into silence, one of which, she, after a while, broke, "Is there something you want to talk about, faceless one?" I brought you here to talk, but I feel like I’m the only one putting effort into it. Am I doing something wrong? "

"Why are you asking me that? Weren’t you just supposed to talk to me in the hope of improving my opinion of you?"

"Then, did it work?"

"I wouldn’t be able to tell, since I will admit clearly, considering what you really are and what you dared to do to my mother, I really don’t know what stance I should effectively be taking,"

"I can understand that."

"But if there is something I would be able to say, it would be my answer. But before we can get to that part, let me ask you one question. Depending on your answer to this question, I will give you my answer. "

"Venture out your question, Faceless One."

"In the event that Nia and I assist you in taking down the snake, what will you do once we have done so on your behalf? Tell me, considering he is the one responsible for how I and my mother ended up the way we were. Tell me, knowing that I consider what he did unforgivable. Tell me, considering the love you held and may still hold for him, tell me what you will do when the time comes. How will you face him?"