Edea: Hero Summoning Conspiracy

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Inside the basement of the mansion, Kazuya was given…

"Have you finished for the day, Nell-san?" Levin greeted her after she got out of one of the numerous devices that filled the area.

"Ugh… I still can't get used to this feeling…" she tried getting a feel of her own body.

"I know how you feel. While it may sound absurd when we heard about it, the amount of time we spend inside the machine learning with Rucy is indeed a lot more compared to the actual time that passes outside of it." Levin sympathized.

"That strange feeling is caused by the mental fatigue you are experiencing." A small holographic figure appeared between the two of them.

"Nell-san should be one of the toughest amongst us but how come she seems more worn out than us?" Levin curiously asked.

"It's because the time she spends inside there is double compared to most of you." Rucy answered nonchalantly.

"Huh?! Why?" Levin didn't expect such an answer.

"She requested it herself and despite my concerns, the expectations master has of her made me consider the risks involved." Rucy crossed her arms and positioned herself to sit on Nell's shoulder.

"What?! How come I never heard of that!? What kind of expectations does Kazu have of me!?" Nell turned to the fairy-like hologram in surprise.

"That is not for me to tell. What you need to know is that all of you need to engrave what you've learned from inside and quickly integrate it into your actual capabilities. Not only is our time here very limited, but Maynira is also a place that master says may endanger us at any point in time."

Nell nodded. She looked at everyone else who had been spending time inside the strange devices that she called barrel-like beds. If such things were available in the eastern continents, she looked forward to visiting the place where Kazuya was born.

"Say Rucy… how do we compare to the people that used to accompany Kazu?" Nell asked hesitantly and Levin perked up her ears to listen to the little fairy's response.

"I have no records of the individuals that had betrayed the master… However, I do have records of the companions that master trusts and treats as his own family." Rucy gave them a proud look as she was the only one that came with him to cross worlds.

"Is there a difference? The ones that did not come with him should be weaker, right?" Levin inquired with curiosity.

"Though I have not observed those scum that betrayed my master to my full capacity, I have heard about them. Comparing you people, the betrayers, and the people that used to be around the master, I would say that you are either overestimating yourselves or underestimating just what kind of people that are worthy enough to be around my master." Rucy huffed as she did not like their assumption.

"Listen here! If it were up to me, none of you would even be qualified to be label yourselves affiliated to master! Though you may be stronger than the lowest grunts that serve around the master, that is only due to the fact that many of them grow up and are trained in a place that barely has any mana!"

""Huh!?"" the two girls were puzzled. They did not expect people to train in such a way.

No one could blame them, they were not aware that Kazuya was from another world, nor did they know the circumstances of how Earth had almost no mana and could not sustain magical creatures like elves normally...

"Many of the master's friends and servants had wanted to accompany him on this journey but they were all rejected because he knew that this trip would be a dangerous one. It is no use talking about it now, if you survive long enough, all of you will eventually know that you were warned and reminded several times for a reason. All you need to do now is to prove yourselves worthy enough to serve him." Rucy gave them a serious look to show that she was not kidding.

The little holographic assistant was aware of the difference between the two worlds. However, she was confident that if the security firm handled by the three old men were to cross over to Edea, they would be more capable than the bunch of slaves that Kazuya had just purchased.

Unfortunately, the chances of that happening was close to impossible.

"C-can the rest of us also have the same intense training as Nell-san?" Levin nervously asked as she steeled her resolve.

"I don't know about the others but like you have observed with her, the mental strain is not easy to handle even for her." The fairy pointed at Nell whose complexion seemed to has just stabilized.

"I am willing to try. I will also tell the others about it to see what they think." Levin turned around and headed out of the basement.

"Levin…" Nell couldn't help but smile as she felt her friend's determination rubbing off on her.

She wanted to jump right back into the device but knowing that Rucy would be against it, she shrugged and left the basement.

Rucy, turned towards the device that had been beside Nell's and smirked.

"You are no exception to the comparison even with your talent with magic, little girl." Rucy looked at the small figure that emerged from her own device with a pale face.

"Are the spells and practices made by the people you mentioned? Just how much of a difference is there between us?" Lucy leaned on the machine after getting out.

"Yes and No. Everything you and everyone is learning may be different but they are mostly through the combined efforts of three people that are close to the master." Rucy paused before continuing.

"Compared to them, the difference between you is like heaven and earth. Those two alone, share the same prestige as master even though he might not admit it. That is a clear difference between the people that surround him now and surrounded him not too long ago."

Lucia clenched her fists and headed back inside the device despite Rucy's warnings.

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Unaware of the changes that have been happening at Maynira, Kazuya had just exited the goblin forest.

"HALT!" the villagers on watch duty shouted at the shadow that was approaching their village at a fast pace.

"Hold your arrows! I'm not a monster!" Kazuya slowed down his mount and raised his hands before approaching them.

"Ah! Kazu-san! You came back to visit?" the guards immediately recognized him.

"I borrowed something from the village chief's daughter and I have returned to give it back to her. I also wanted to see if an acquaintance of mine had passed by the village." Kazuya tried to ask for information.

"An acquaintance? I've been on duty here for the whole day so I would need to ask the others if someone arrived from the other side of the village. Miss Gale on the other hand is at the orphanage with the children," they let him enter the village without a fuss.

"In case a young man with chestnut colored hair along with an old merchant really did arrive in the village, please do not let them know I am currently in the village. I don't want to cause them any panic because of me passing through the forest. I just need to know if they are staying here or just passed by." Kazuya reminded the friendly watchman as he nodded and went on his way.

After making small talk with the other watchmen, he headed to the orphanage which now appeared to be bigger and more sturdy compared to the one he was used to. in the front yard, Gain Valentine was demonstrating to the children on how to chop firewood.

"Huh? You came back already?" Gain instructed the children to keep the chopped wood as he approached the newly arrived guest.

"Just stopping by to return something I promised your daughter." Kazuya pulled out two books from his satchel.

"You can give it to her yourself. Come in and see what you helped build!" he pushed KLazuya from behind and forced him into the orphanage.

The children who recognized him immediately surrounded him and with Gain's insinuation, they cheerfully pulled him towards Gale's office.

"What is with all the noise?" Gale came out from the office before the children could come inside.

She immediately noticed Kazuya standing in the middle of the cheerful children and froze. Gale had not expected to see him back so soon. Considering if their guesses were true about his identity, the possibility of them meeting again would have been near impossible.

"I had some business around the area and stopped by to fulfill the promise I made." Kazuya gave her two books that he had written on himself.

Gale hesitated. If she took them, this would end the current connection they had. Though she was not sure of the reason on why she was hesitating, she hesitantly took them and browsed through the book that had been labeled as the first.

"This…" her eyes widened immediately after seeing the handwritten table of contents.

She separated Kazuya from the children immediately and had him enter her office. Ignoring the grinning faces of the children who got left behind, Gale was more concerned about what she had just read and browsed through the pages as Kazuya smiled at her reaction.

"I may have not completed compiling every one of the books that I got from you, but I figured these would be helpful for you in the meantime," Kazuya commented as he had just given her two books full of spells from an era that had been consumed by the church of light.

"Are these spells really from those dusty books we kept in our basement?" Gale couldn't believe it.

Many of the descriptions of the spells present in the book were very similar if not the same as the ones only known to the higher ranked priests the church of light was known for.

"All the content I wrote in those books are compilations of what I've understood from the books I received from you. They are merely written to be more concise as I did not include mundane explanations about theory as many of them were written along with some ramblings." He explained.

"Then they are…" Gale glanced at the books in her hand.

"They are the most useful parts of a dozen or so books. With that being said, I have a proposition I would like to discuss with you." He walked closer to her.

"Would you be interested in visiting the city of Vane?"

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