Chapter 862 - 670: Is It About to Begin?

The Twilight Mansion, the grand dining hall.

Having fully indulged in various altered forms of magic that enhanced his imaginary characteristics within the Biou Mountain, Reiger, upon the expiration of "Lost Truth," returned to the clan’s headquarters in high spirits, just in time for breakfast.

"Reiger! Over here!"

Entering the grand dining hall, Reiger was immediately called over by the sharp-eyed Theona, enveloping him in the gazes and greetings of many members as he made his way to her table, sitting down next to Rephia.

"Re, Reiger..."

The elven girl, perhaps recalling the fun anecdotes shared with her roommates last night, lowered her head shyly and bashfully.

"Morning."

Though Reiger also recalled that enchanting scene, he maintained a composed expression to avoid being seen through, only slightly relaxing after confirming that Loki was not in the dining hall.

But soon, Reiger was puzzled.

"Where are the captains?"

Indeed, not only was Loki absent, but Finn, Revilia, and Grace, the leaders of the headquarters camp, were also missing.

At this table were only Reiger, Rephia, Theona, and Theone, while Bert, as usual, sat nearby, eating with Raul and another canine member.

"The captains aren’t coming for breakfast."

It was Theone who answered Reiger’s question.

"Apparently, they were discussing something with Loki in the office late into the night, not sleeping until dawn, and now they’re resting."

While munching on bread, Theone sighed as if missing someone, prompting Reiger to nod lightly.

He knew the matter that kept Finn and others awake must have been related to what he brought back last night.

Unexpectedly, the main god and headquarters camp members had deliberated for so long about it, surprising yet understandable to Reiger.

With Finn’s keen insights, they must have already realized the seriousness of the situation and were taking it seriously.

Therefore, it’s foreseeable that they would toil over this matter.

"And what about Ais?"

After a moment of silence, Reiger finally asked.

"Is Ais also resting?"

Upon hearing this inquiry, Rephia, who had been observing Reiger secretively, and Bert, who was idly eating beside them, both perked up their ears.

Bringing up this topic, Theona seemed to have found her words, putting down the roast meat she was holding and began talking non-stop.

"Ais seemed a bit strange."

With this as her opening line, Theona frowned as she spoke.

"When I got up in the morning, I thought she was training in the courtyard, but she wasn’t there, so I went to her room to call her, but it took a while before she responded, saying she wanted to rest today and didn’t want to leave her room."

"Ais actually skipped her training, skipped going to the underground city, and stayed in her room?"

"And she sounded weak, which is weird, just too weird."

The naive Amazon sister noticed Ais’s strangeness and highlighted an observation that was hard to ignore.

"That is indeed a bit strange." Theone, still appearing relaxed, said, "For Ais to skip her daily training, even when Reiger wasn’t around those days, this never happened, right?"

"Yeah, yeah." Theona nodded repeatedly, "And she even said she needed a rest? That Ais? That sounds so fake!"

The surrounding people immediately nodded one after another, including Bert, who agreed with Theona’s opinion.

"Ah haha..."

This made Rephia chuckle awkwardly, while Reiger felt speechless.

In your minds, just how much does Ais love training?

...Alright, Ais is indeed dedicated and loves training a lot.

But it seems that hearing such comments about a goddess-like beauty might be quite a blow, even if she herself heard them.

"Maybe she’s really tired?" Rephia timidly defended Ais’ feminine side, "In order to learn the breathing technique Reiger taught, hasn’t Miss Ais been working hard lately?"

Implying that Ais is also human; it’s normal to be tired and want to take a break after intense training.

In response, bert nonchalantly tossed a comment.

"If she was really tired, she wouldn’t have gone to the underground city with this jerk yesterday."

His words hit the mark.

"Right, you went to the underground city with Ais yesterday, right?" Theone suspiciously looked at Reiger, asking, "After you guys returned last night, Ais seemed to hide in her room and never came out. After you went to the captain’s office, the captains didn’t sleep either and were discussing all night..."

"Hmm? Doesn’t this sound suspicious?" Theona was briefly stunned before looking at Reiger, "Did something happen?"

Everyone immediately turned their gaze to Reiger.

Reiger silently took a sip of milk, then said one sentence.

"We’ll discuss the details once the leaders have reached a conclusion."

He didn’t want to talk about what happened on the 24th floor in the middle of the great dining hall, in front of everyone.

The matter of carnivorous flower monsters was one thing, but the remnants of the dark faction and human-monster hybrids was another; it was the kind of issue that, if exposed, could shake all of Orario, and Reiger didn’t want to casually mention it.

"I believe the leaders already have some thoughts, and if necessary, they’ll explain to you."

Reiger shifted the burden of explanation onto Finn and the others.

Everyone exchanged glances but, due to their trust in the leaders, they didn’t press further and simply expressed their understanding.

"What about Ais?" Theona seemed a bit concerned about Ais and hurriedly asked, "What about Ais over there?"

"...If you have time later, go and chat with her." Reiger said, "Perhaps she truly needs someone by her side."

Reiger wanted to talk to Ais in person, but as someone who experienced the same thing as her, he worried Ais might try to avoid him to escape questioning.

Moreover, since Ais was hiding in her room, in the female members’ dormitory, it wasn’t very convenient for Reiger to approach.

At this moment, it was more appropriate for Theona and Rephia to accompany Ais.

Compared to Reiger, Theona and Rephia spent more time with Ais, and being of the same gender, even if Ais didn’t want to share her worries, she probably wouldn’t shut them out.

Considering this, Reiger decided to temporarily leave Ais’s matters to Theona and Rephia.

"There’s no problem with that..."

Rephia wouldn’t refuse.

The elven girl was also somewhat worried about Ais, even if Reiger didn’t say anything, she planned to visit regardless.

"Then let’s head to Ais after we finish eating!"

Theona promptly made a decision, eager to act.

"I’ll also go take a look later." Theone continued munching on her bread and said, "With the leader absent, and nothing to do today, visiting Ais sounds good."

"How about you, Reiger?" Rephia blinked and asked Reiger, "Are you planning to visit the underground city today?"

"No, I have other plans." Reiger shook his head and replied, "I’m not going to the underground city today."

"That’s perfect." Theone suddenly remembered something and addressed everyone present, including Reiger, "I almost forgot to tell you, if you’re planning to head out, pay attention to the Freyja Clan."

At her words, the entire dining hall fell silent.

"...Have those bastards done something again?"

Hearing the name of the opposing faction, the aggressive werewolf first bared his fangs, flashing a snarl.

The others also tensed up, looking towards Theone.

"They haven’t done anything." Theone finished her bread, then said, "But the leader told me that the Freyja Clan’s executives seem to be acting strangely lately."

"Strange behavior?" Rephia asked timidly, "Wh-What kind?"

This was how Theone answered.

"It’s said that ’The Fearsome’ left the clan’s headquarters not long ago, wandered through the underground city alone, was repeatedly seen by adventurers confronting monsters, ’playing’ with them."

"And the ’White Demon Staff’ and the ’Black Demon Demon Sword,’ the pair of black and white knights were often seen leaving the clan headquarters recently, appearing in the city, dragging a human covered in wounds to a treatment facility, nobody knows what they’re doing."

"After the leader grew suspicious, he sent someone to investigate, only to encounter ’War Chariot of the Goddess,’ who warned them not to interfere."

Theone recounted a series of strange actions from the opposing faction, expressing extreme displeasure.

"The leader also spoke about it with Loki, but Loki said to ignore it, so the leader instructed me to tell you not to get involved with the Freyja Clan’s affairs or provoke them needlessly, just focus on our own tasks."

Upon hearing this, the group exchanged glances, unsure how to react.

Only Reiger lowered his head slightly, his eyes growing deep.

"A human covered in wounds...?"

Among those present, perhaps only he knew what the Freyja Clan was doing.

"Does this mean that event is about to start?"

Thoughts raced through Reiger’s mind but he remained silent on the surface until he finished breakfast and left the dining hall, the clan members continued discussing what the Freyja Clan might be up to.

Reiger cast these matters aside, returned to his room, took out the second magic tome, and began browsing.

Thus, on that day, Reiger’s third magic awakened.

The updated ability only displayed brief Holy Text.

......

[Eternal Verse]

·Rebirth Magic.

......

A great Magic destined to affect Reiger’s entire life was born.