Chapter 58 – Visiting an Old Friend

Ast and Tina arrived back at her home shortly. The guard let them in and they stopped in front of the main entrance to the mansion. Tina was still a little flustered by her conversation with Miria and the things she learned from the panthergirl, but she didn’t want her possibly last moments with Asterios for an unknown amount of time to be this awkward so she turned back to him.

“Thank you.”

“For?”

“Letting me come with you to the guild. You didn’t have to. It was fun.”

Asterios sighed and plopped his hand onto her head, starting to gently brush through Tina’s hair. He could see in her expression she was starting to get sad due to their parting.

“Remember. Our promise still stands. I’ll be here when you graduate. I’ll try to stop by if I'm around too. Thanks again for your help.”

She smiled faintly and enjoyed his fingers for a moment. “When are you leaving?”

“In a day or two. Things need to get sorted out at the guild and we have to prepare too.”

Tina nodded and stepped back from his hand. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep doing my best as I said. I’m not going to lose that bet, so you better be ready!”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

Asterios smiled and Tina blushed a little again. She was starting to realize that he might have not been aiming to win it from the very beginning. Her short talk with Miria was only supporting that thought.

“I’ll try to come to see you off, but in case I won’t be able to do so due to classes, which I have to prioritize if I want to win, I’ll wish you safe travels now. See you!”

She quickly turned around and disappeared behind the fancy, double doors. Asterios chuckled and started heading off. Miria might have been right and he might not have had much to worry about.

The panther in question jumped out of a portal shortly after he walked through the gate and they returned to Ast’s home together, with him riding on Miria’s back. They quickly reached their destination and he went inside.

Passing by the guest room on the opposite side to the kitchen, he noticed a wooden box of medium size on the table. Asterios decided to check the contents out of curiosity and found rows of gold coins arranged inside. There were at least a hundred from the first glance and the container looked to be deeper than just the first layer.

Kindra came down from upstairs and noticed him. “Oh, you are back already.”

Asterios turned to his mother and pointed at the box he was still holding open. “Is this what I think it is?”

She walked closer and nodded. “Yes. I had a few guests after you left. This was brought by the second one.”

“Who was the first and what did they want then?”

“An officer from the Peacekeepers. He informed me that the investigation is finally nearing its end as they found enough evidence to prove that the whole thing was artificially caused by a third party and that they have already apprehended the culprits. He apologized for the long period of it and left, assuring me everything will be back to normal tomorrow.”

Asterios nodded. “Good. They work fast. Then, the second one?”

“Two hours later, Marquess Richtenstein showed up with a young girl by his side. I think it was his daughter. He began apologizing a lot for the trouble that supposedly originated from their family and offered 300 gold coins as compensation. I accepted it as you instructed. The girl also apologized on behalf of her brother for some reason, promising me that she will make sure nothing bad happens to me again. She kept glancing around the whole time they stayed here and looked a little bit dejected when they were leaving for some reason though.”

“Alright. I did not expect him to come here personally, but I guess it shows he actually cares. Anyway, I visited the guild and submitted the request. Someone will join us in a day or two, so we have some time to prepare.”

Kindra smiled and hugged him. “Always thinking a few steps ahead. I’ll take care of renting a wagon or two. There’s not much I need to pack, but you have lots of stuff, right?”

“That’s not necessary. We can even skip on a horse if you don’t mind riding a big panther, haha.”

She stepped away and looked at him, slightly confused. “What about all your materials and other things? You can’t be thinking she can carry everything?”

He shook his head. “Obviously not. I would never burden Miria this much.”

A crimson gate surfaced by their side and the panthergirl showed up. “I wouldn’t mind though.”

Asterios left his mother’s embrace and brushed through Miria’s hair a little. “You are my familiar, not a pack mule.” He then turned back to Kindra. “We are preparing storage in Miria’s world that will hold all of my belongings for some time already. For letting us access them whenever and wherever. It’s almost finished so we can start moving things.”

“My dad is making it behind our house!” Miria exclaimed proudly. “And Miss Kindra’s property can be left in my room or somewhere else for the trip.”

His mother chuckled and shook her head. “You would make all the moving and transport companies go bankrupt if you opened a business with this. The safety is just immeasurable.”

They laughed together at the prospect and began the preparations. Selene came to help too and everyone was working together on moving things through the portals. They started with Ast’s room while Kindra checked her own things, deciding what she wanted to take as she didn’t have much personal stuff besides her daily things like clothes and some appliances.

Fortunately, Ast’s huge collection didn’t have any living beings that would be impossible to transport into the Beastfolk realm and the adventuring trio managed to empty his room before a very late hour arrived. There was still the cellar and the attic, but they left it for the next day.

He stood in the middle of his now completely devoid of any personal belongings room with his arms on the hips and sighed. Asterios didn’t remember when he last saw it like this if it ever actually even happened. 

Miria insisted on sharing the bed with him for the night and he just had to agree after seeing her pleading look. When he was taking a quick, full bath, most likely the last one in his old home, she surprisingly came to join him even though she was blushing like crazy. 

He assumed Miria was still trying her hardest as she was since morning, perhaps feeling a bit more compelled to do it after meeting with Tina, so he welcomed her with open arms. Her shyness quickly faded when she started to enjoy Ast’s soft caresses over her hair and fur, beginning to purr in contentment while snuggling to him. It was the first time for either of them to relax together in a tub of hot water and it surely was bliss.

After a calm and restful night, they began working on the rest of the stuff. This time, Miria went to help Kindra with her belongings while Selene stayed with Asterios. There was not as much of it as yesterday, so both teams finished their work before 1 pm. They gathered in the kitchen for a small dinner together, prepared by Kindra as thanks for the girls.

“I’ll go and see if our traveling companion has already been chosen after this,” Asterios said during the meal.

“Okay. Don’t forget to say goodbye to the people you know. Especially your cute girlfriends.”

He shook his head. “What kind of mother encourages her son to go after many women.”

“The best one.” She winked at him.

“Right.” He sighed playfully. “I’ve already talked with Tina and Ellie, and I might see them again once more before we leave.”

“You sure that’s everyone? I know you didn’t like to spend much time around others, but...”

He pondered for a moment. He wasn’t close to many people. Until recently, he considered only Ellie as a friend since they met a lot during his trips to the guild for material requests. He didn’t feel like it was necessary to visit the Principal and he already bid farewell to Tina. There was no one else that came to his mind with whom he would not meet today one way or another.

“Ah.” A glance at Selene reminded him of one person. “I guess I do have a reason to go there once more in the end.”

After they finished eating, Asterios headed for the guild first. He waited for Ellie to be free and they talked about the request. She told him that the Guildmaster already picked someone and that person even was at the spot right now. They walked together to a table near one of the walls and stopped by the side of a man in dark green attire.

Before Ellie had a chance to introduce them, Asterios recognized the weapon on the man’s back.

“Mr. Roalt?”

The adventurer raised his gaze from his mug filled with beer and glanced at both of them.

“Kid. Glad to know you didn’t kick the bucket in the dungeon.” He raised the mug and smiled.

“You know each other?” Ellie asked.

“We met once in another branch and he instructed us on the nearby dungeon. Are you the one joining the escort quest to Tyrienheim, Mr. Roalt?”

“Just Roalt. And yeah. Didn’t expect you as the other party though. Not that I have anything against it. Your girlfriend doing fine?” he asked with a smirk.

As Asterios expected, Miria appeared by his side from the crimson gate. She hugged his arm with slightly rosy cheeks and squinted her eyes at the man.

“Better than ever.”

“Oh? Not denying it anymore?”

“I have no reason to do so.”

“Looks like dungeoneering is not the only thing you gained experience in.” He laughed, making Miria blush even more.

Asterios reached with his hand to her ears and stroked them a little to calm her down a bit and to stop the exchange before it spiraled out of control. Noticing Ellie’s curious stare on him, he smiled wryly at the receptionist. “A lot of things happened.”

She then shortly introduced them anyway and left after confirming that there were no issues with either side. They set the departure for the next morning and also discussed some crucial aspects, like the fact that they would be traveling pretty much horse- or beastback, without any luggage or wagons. It was surprising for Roalt, but it was only better in the end.

They spent some time talking about their respective abilities and what strategies and formations they could use together with only three of them. Asterios called for Selene and introduced her fighting style alongside Miria’s. 

The party came out much more balanced than Roalt first expected when hearing it would be just him and an E-rank Summoner, even if the request came from the Guildmaster herself. Although only Miria was a definite frontliner, Selene could act like one too, depending on the situation, so their four-man squad was actually decent.

Finished with the most crucial things, they left the less important talk for the journey and went out of the Guild, heading towards the academy this time. Besides the Principal, there actually was one more person Asterios had friendly relations with - the professor he often talked with after exams and the one who gifted him with the catalyst he used when summoning Selene.

If he remembered correctly, at this hour, she should be in one of the studies, taking a break. After explaining his reason for visiting, the academy’s guards let him enter after he agreed to be supervised. They called for one more sentry and a man went with him.

Asterios knew exactly where to go so he arrived at the research facility pretty quickly. He found his way straight to the door to his former professor’s lab and knocked on the wooden surface.

“I’m in the middle of something. Piss off if you would,” a slightly annoyed woman’s voice answered.

「As welcoming as usual.」He smiled to himself.

“Too bad then. Guess I’ll come in five months to report using Spirit’s Contingence to summon a powerful familiar,” he said and started walking away.

A sound of something falling over, followed by the clattering of a myriad of most likely pencils, reached his ears. Rushed footsteps soon joined them and the door flew open as he glanced back.

“Asterios?! I thought they threw you out?!”

A woman in navy blue robes of the Research and Development department showed up in the doorway. She was not a typical woman. First of all, she wasn’t a Human or even an Elf as most teachers there. Her kind was part of the demonic races, which were hosted under the collective name of Demons for convenience.

The exact sub-race of Demons she was part of was called Dahaka, the One-Horned Three-Eyed Tribe. The woman’s skin was dark crimson and she had a single horn sprouting from the right side of her head, vertically straight in her case. Females of her kind had them there while males had theirs on the left.

As for the eyes, similar to Humans or other humanoid races, she was currently staring at him with a pair of them, but there was one more closed, vertical slit in the middle of the woman’s forehead. The Third Eye. It was different from the rest and stayed in slumber most of the time. Her ‘normal’ eyes were in the form of full whites without irises or pupils and of a similar color as her body, but much lighter and glowing faintly.

Her hair was black, but the closer to the bottom, the more it faded into dark red endings. The hairstyle was all but common. On the side of her horn, she had most of the hair there shaved, leaving only some traces and patterns out of shortly trimmed threads. The rest of it, including the top, was combed to the other side where it fell down to around shoulder's length.

Asterios smiled at her and shrugged his shoulders. “Does that mean I can’t come here anymore to visit my former teacher?”

She also smiled, but much wider than him, almost kind of creepy. “Of course not! Come in! I was so fucking bored without you around!” She grabbed his wrist and started pulling him inside, stopping for a moment to look at the guard. “You go and fuck off to somewhere. Dunno what you guys do. Stuff yourself with donuts or something. I can vouch for him with my title.” 

The man sighed and walked away. Asterios shook his head. He knew very well that this was how most interactions of other employees with this professor looked. She was quite an… eccentric one.

She let go of his wrist after slamming the door shut. The woman turned around and placed her hands on her hips, leaning slightly forward, close to his face.

“So? Where is it? What is it?”

He raised both of his hands up and backed away with a wry smile. “Calm down, Professor Grea. It’s nice to see you doing fine too.”

The woman groaned and rolled her eyes, taking a step back too. “As fine as fuck, ugh. There was barely anyone interested in exchanging thoughts with me even before they noped you out, so yeah, it’s fucking amazing after you suddenly disappeared from the records.”

“Well… At least you have some more free time on your hands now.”

“As if I’m not drowning in it already. I wouldn’t be surprised if they moved me to some cellar or even got rid of me too after kicking you out. There are enough sane researchers here. Ugh. These idiots in the Council are just so blinded by the practical training it’s nauseating. The theory and research are now less than 30% of activities in the students’ curriculum.”

“That’s just the times we live in. They only go back to the roots when something unexplainable happens. Like contracting a humanoid-type familiar,” he commented.

Grea snorted. “Yeah, but like that would ever happen.”

Asterios grinned at her and snapped his fingers. A dark crimson gate arose from the ground and Selene stepped into his realm. She bowed slightly towards the red-skinned woman, whose eyes were bulging out so much they threatened with jumping out of sockets.

“It’s an honor to meet my Lord’s teacher. My name is Selene and I’m my Lord’s contracted familiar.”

Grea scanned the fox-eared and tailed woman with her eyes and moved her astonished gaze onto him.

“You are fucking with me…”

“Am I?”

Another gate opened after his answer and Miria walked out of it. “Nice to meet you. I’m Miria, also Master’s contracted familiar.”

The professor stumbled backward and supported her butt on the desk behind her. “How?”

“I have no idea. But, Selene was summoned with your wand. I came here to thank you for that. She is a great help.”

“Uhhhh… You are welcome?” She replied, still slightly dazed, but quickly regaining her previous focus with a few slaps on her cheeks. “So, since the academy is still not upside-down, I guess it happened afterward. You want it to stay a secret?”

“I’m not boasting left and right, but at the same time, I’m not exactly hiding it. It would be hard in the open world. You are the only one here who knows though.”

“Fucking pricks… I would so study the fuck out of this if you weren’t expelled…” Grea slapped her forehead.

“By the way. You know of anything like this?”

She returned her gaze back to him after hearing the question and watched as Ast’s hair gradually turned white and his eyes switched into glowing crimson. She could feel the increased density of spiritual energy around and inside him.

“What the fuck?” She gasped in shock.

As a reaction to the unexpected event, Grea’s Third Eye opened involuntarily. Asterios shuddered a bit under its gaze. He saw it only once before when he first asked his teacher about it. The third eyeball was similar to the rest but had an almost draconic-looking, black, vertical pupil, surrounded by some ominous patterns.

Grea’s vision blurred a bit for a moment and returned quickly, in a different form. She now could see another layer on top of her usual sight. That layer showed all that was spiritual, be it the invisible energy in the air, Ast’s spiritual circuits, or even his mana capacity. 

She was already flabbergasted by seeing the quality of his spiritual lines which were almost useless in the past, but the moment her Third Eye landed on the center of his chest, she covered her gaping mouth with her hand and started sweating profusely, glued to that specific point.

“Impossible…”