"Heyo! I'm back!"
A woman in her mid 20's emerged from the smoke while flicking her right hand like she was saluting
All the residents quickly went forward to approach the crater, Jude walked slowly as he slowly recovered from his injuries and numbness, and Alucard was awoken from his sleep
Alucard slowly stood up and slowly recovered from his fatigue and backlash
Philip looked down at the woman with squinted eyes. He was trying to gauge the woman's strength because he knew that there was supposed to be more power behind that crash landing and the fact that she is travelling in the sky as bright yellow film of energy enveloped her while crackling
The woman noticed the stranger's gaze. Her eyes widened upon seeing Philip. Her happy-go-lucky demeanor quivered and disappeared momentarily. Her wide smiling mouth also disappeared for a quick second
A quick second later, her happy-go-lucky demeanor came back and her wide smiling mouth returned
Of course Philip caught the change in the woman's demeanor and face. He became confused and he can't read her mind
He was even more confused because he couldn't read her body language at all and he wouldn't be know why the woman's demeanor changed momentarily after looking at him
He took several steps back after the woman walked forwards to climb out of the crater
As the woman climbed off the crater, the residents of the mansion all walked past Philip and approached the woman
"Justine nee-san!!" Natusme came running with her hands in the air and shouted. She wrapped her arms around the woman's waist as she embraced her
"It's good to see you back." Natsuki muttered with a smile while crossing her arms. Camille also did the same but without talking
Mathilda also came running close to the woman while clasping her hands and putting it above her chest while having watery eyes
Bea also came and stood a few feet behind Camille. She had a very slight smile on her face as she looked at the woman, very rare for her to show a different expression on her face
Mei'er also came and hugged the woman to her right with the addition of Natsume. Mei'er looked up at the woman in admiration and the woman placed her right hand on Mei'er's head
Jude stood beside Philip and admired the reunion. He smiled and turned his head towards Philip. He could see the confusion and curiosity in Philip's eyes
"Her name is Justine-sama." Jude spoke towards Philip while looking at the scene. "She may be the most powerful among us all and she is the big sister figure in the mansion. She takes care of everyone and cares for everyone. She always helps them in time of their needs."
Jude finished speaking and Philip did not reply. He could only gaze at the woman with confusion and curiosity. He still doesn't know how he can't read her body language nor her hidden emotions
At this moment, Philip was unlocking another one of his imaginary abilities without him knowing, albeit slowly. This ability is the one where he tried using actively, but it was one of his innate abilities that he subconsciously cultivated after observing several people for a hobby, understanding their thoughts and emotions, and placing himself on their shoes. This is also primarily because of the constant use of Fate Control and Future Vision in the past
Alucard slowly and groggily walked towards them. He only stood behind Philip and watched the scene with serene eyes and a smile of relief. He was ecstatic about Philip's power that can decide his fate
"It's glad to be back!" The woman, who is named Justine, said with a bright smile as she looked at everybody else
She looked at each of them and spotted two missing people
"Where is Vanessa and Kyouko?" She asked in curiosity
"Vanessa is still in her room and Kyouko probably locked her room, like always when you're around." Mathilda said after checking their rooms earlier
"Ah, I see. It's odd for Vanessa to not show up and Kyouko is always what she has been." Justine shook her head then looked at Philip
"And who is this gentleman?" Justine asked while maintaing her smile and demeanor
She was plenty interested and wary at Philip and his gaze. She could feel an odd feeling coming from him and she intentionally avoided it with her ability
Philip was awoken from his distraction and heard her ask about himself. He was about to introduce himself when Mathilda interrupted
"Oh, the Old Man made him the new owner of the mansion after bringing him here just yesterday." Mathilda said in a sassy tone. Philip closed his eyes in disbelief at Mathilda's behavior. It was very annoying for him
"Hoh??" Justine became more interested. The fact that the Old Man brought Philip here and immediately made him the owner of the mansion means that he is very special
Philip tried to introduce himself even though Mathilda already kinda did
"My name is Philip, I'm currently the owner of the mansion. My abilities are Pain Denial and Emotion Manipulation." Philip properly introduced himself. He didn't forget to mention his abilities, not that he was boasting about it
"Really?!" Justine's eyes dilated. "Is that Emotion Manipulation ability of yours affect other people?"
"Unfortunately, no." Philip shook his head and wave his hand in front of his face
"Oh! Well then..." Justine's eyes returned back to normal
"I'm Justine, I'm the owner of the land that the mansion is built on, and my abilities are secret, even to everyone!" Justine playfully said while putting her index finger in front of his nose while closing her right eye in a wink
'What does that mean?' Philip became confused by the titles. What does it really mean for becoming the owner of the mansion? What does it mean for becomimg the owner of the land?
Justine noticed Philip's confusion and walked towards him
"We'll talk about it later, okay?" She winked at Philip and turned around to face everyone. "Come on, let's go inside! I have gifts for everyone!"
"Yay!" Natsume jumped in excitement while the others hid it. Mei'er's eyes sparkled from excitement
At this moment, Justine turned around toward the large front gate that is the entrance to the mansion with furrowed eyebrows and interest
The large front gate opened and an entourage of seven vehicles entered the premises. There is one expensive vehicle of a known brand called a Me-Dan. The vehicle is a 6-seater and colored as matte black. It resembles a small sedan but longer and a little bit taller. The Me-Dan had armored wheels and windows and a special material coated on the chasis that improves the durability of the car and the windows are tinted
The two other vehicles are armored military jeeps with fortified wheels and windows and thick platings around the body of the jeeps. The military jeeps did not have any brand because it was made by the military itself. The engines, transmissions, and suspensions are top-militaty grade that was produced by their own researchers and scientists
One of the militaty jeeps had bars for storing packages and one has a gatling turret mounted above. A full armored soldier was stationed on the turret. He was hiding behind a thick metal of newly developed material shield behind the turret. The windows of the jeeps are tinted
Two military motorcycles are in front of thr Me-Dan. The wheels are also fortified and the whole chasis and body of the motorcycle are decked out with a very durable material. The motorcycles make zero noise even though it runs in a chain transmission. Two soldiers rides each of the motorcycles with a very thin clothing but armored and durable
Behind the entourage, are two military quad bikes that are the same design as the militaty motorcycles at the front. Four soldiers ride each quad bikes with the soldier siting behind the driver has an MP-4 equipped and strapped on their back
The entourage stopped before reaching the fountain and blocked half of thr wide pathway. The soldiers on the motorcycles, quad bikes, and the mountain gatling turret stayed in their place
The Me-Dan doors opened and a man with a white long sleeved vest and black framed eyeglasses came out, followed by another blonde haired woman that is tied into a messy ponytail. She wears a long white lab coat, black skirt, and a white blouse. Her expression on her face has annoyance and grumpiness plastered on it. She nimbles a toothpick on the right side of her mouth and her hands are inside the front pockets of her lab coat
The military jeep in the middle of the entourage, the one with the railings, opened its doors. A man with a large stature came out of the jeep. He had a full attire of a general with an Aiguillette of five gold stars on his shoulders. He wears a peaked cap with a visor on his eyes
A woman with an attire resembling a typical secretary also came out of the jeep with a black suit, thight skirt, and white undershirt. Her royal blue hair is tied in a half ponytail and she holds a folded clipboard on her hand
A man with a similar large stature came out of the second military jeep with the mounted gatling turret. The man wore a full blacksuit with black necktie. The man had black shade, and ear piece on his right ear, and a bald head. Even though the man had a large physique, the man's muscular structure is small that makes him super flexible
At this moment, Jude's injuries has almost healed and he has rested enough for his power to return. He dashed away and disappeared from Philip's left side. He immediately came back with new set of clothes from being torn. He also put away his large curved longsword
On the other hand, Mathilda released her coupling transformations on the other parts of her body. She was wearing the maid outfit this entire time and it remained unchanged. Her skin has returned back to normal
Natsume and the others step backwards while Justine stood in front of them. Philip was standing behind all of them and Alucard stands behind him. Jude and Mathilda walked forward to greet the visitors
"Greetings, Chris-san." Jude greeted first and addressed the General
"What brings you here, General?" Mathilda asked with no honorifics or respect. Nonethless, the General ignored it as well as the soldiers and other people that came out
"The Old Man came to us last night in our emergency and he agreed to lend us someone to assist in investigating something." General Chris cut to the chase and revealed his and the Old Man's conversation last night
He was excited to meet the new person that the Old Man picked up. He was also curious about that particular person since the Old Man told him that the one person was enough for the investigation rather than all of the people present here
He looked around and saw familiar faces. The maid and the butler, the spicy woman, the feisty woman, the sisters, the mute girl, and the quiet girl. He then saw someone unfamiliar then saw the tall handsome man
His eyes were glued at the new face as he ignore the fact that two faces were missing. Philip also stared at Chris that was looking at him. Chris had ulterior motives when he saw him
"Who is that boy?" Chris lifted his arm and pointed his finger at Philip with assertiveness
'Boy?' A lot of people had the same question in their minds, especially Philip. He was obviously a grown up man in his mid 20's
Turns out that after Philip's body has reformed, his appeared also rewinded and he looked like a person in his 20. The residents of the mansion had that initial thought but was erased after the talk between the Old Man and Philip that looked like grown men talking to each other
Now that a complete stranger with a loud mouth has showed up, Chris thought that Philip is still ripe, like the little girls. He should be new and doesn't know the ways of the world they're currently in, like a chicken that came out of its egg
Justine, who just met Philip, looked back at Philip once more. Now that she had a closer look at Philip, she thinks that he should be younger than her by five years
In addition to that, Justine also picked up at what Chris was doing. There was something behind his motives and she wanted to know more of it. It was the same for Philip
"He's Philip-sama. The Old Man has made him the owner of the mansion last night." Jude answer
"Hoh?" Chris' ears perked up and his right eyebrows was lifted. "Then, he's new here and just came recently?"
"Ye-" Jude was about to answer when Justine interrupted
"What's it to ya?!" Justine walked forwards. Mathilda and Jude stepped to the side
Chris frowned from Justine's interruption. He knew that this woman was troublesome and he wanted to avoid her as much as possible, but it couldn't be helped now
"What do you want to know?!" Chris narrowed his eyes at Justine and moved his head closer to hers to challenge her
"This is my land! Whoever lives here is under my protection and whoever sets foot here with ulterior motives will die!" Justine poked Chris' chest several times with an angry finger. "Now, why do want him specifically?!"
Justine pointed at Philip with assertiveness
Chris narrowed his eyes further and glared at Justine. Justine glared back with a more stern look
"Chris!" Satou, the head researcher, shouted at Chris. Seems like they had other reasons for coming here
It took a few seconds for Chris to glare at Justine. He then sighed deeply and droop his shoulders. He broke his facade and revealed his true nature
"Alright, I give up... Maintaining this stern and strict character is hard! Why can't I just be myself?!" Chris complained towards no one. He didn't care that everyone heard him. They already know his true behavior anyway. He just did this everytime he met someone because of procedures and protocol
Now that the required time for observation and monitoring on Chrisnhas passed. He could breath properly and be himself for a short while
"Let me start over..." Chris said
"The Old Man came to us after we sent a distress signal to him. There was an emergency that is needed to be resolved."
"And what is that?!" Justine asked
"There was a newly forming..." Chris paused after looking at the residents of the mansion. The information that he is about to say was classified information and they currently don't know the situation of the world. They still don't know the existence of the Laws of Mysticism, Mana Hotspots, Mana Fibers, Mana Stones, and practically anything that the Mysticism Age has placed on Earth. Of course except for Alucard, Camille, Jude, Justine, and Philip
Bea might have known already but she keeps it hidden in herself as she doesn't talk too much
The best that the others know is that abilities that defy the Laws of Physics and granted fantastical ideas has been bestowed to select humans like Natsuki, Natsume, and Mathilda
Vanessa knows the existence of magical and mystical plants and herbs according to her memory and knowledge that Philip somehow extracted from her, instead of the other way around
Mei'er on the other hand, she may have made or discovered several kinds of magical and mystical herbs, plants, and flowers
Justine picked up why Chris paused in the middle of the sentence. She turned around towards everyone
"Everyone? Why don't you guys go inside first? I'll follow after we have out conversation, okay?" She gave a bright smile towards everyone
"As you wish, Justine-sama." Jude bowed and everyone else moved, including Alucard as he read the mood
"But--" Mathilda was about to say something when Jude forcefully grabbed her by the collar
"Come on!!"
"But, but... Nooo!!"
Mathilda flailed her arms in the air like a child as Jude dragged her across the ground on her feet
Philip, who did not move, stared at Mathilda with extremely confused eyes to the point he could die
"Huh? How about Philip??" Natsume turned around only to be blocked by a smiling Alucard and expressionless Camille
"Let's go." Camille urged them to move forward
Bea didn't care and Mei'er just let him be. Natsume had worried eyes and Natsuki didn't understand too much what was going on. Alucard kept his smile and serene eyes and Camille was still expressionless but he could very well understand the flow of the wind in the atmosphere. Jude was struggling at pulling Mathilda while Mathilda was purposely making it hard for Jude to pull her as metal spikes are scratching the surface of the ground from the calves of her feet
Justine then turned to Philip
"What are you still doing here?"
"I'm gonna have to stay"
"Huh? Why? I'll become the one in charge here"
"I don't think they'll going to let me go though?" Philip pointed at Chris and Satou
"I'm sorry... What's your name again?" Chris asked
"Philip"
"I'm sorry, but this is classified information that we're going to talk about. Could you please leave for a moment? We'll get back to you later"
Philip closed his eyes and contemplated for moment. He tried to see the future about the classified information that they'll going to talk about
Seeing this kind of future is easy for him, since the range is only 5-10 minutes. He could also use Fate Control to be accurate but he thought it was unnecessary as he already had a slight idea. Supreme Sense of Measurement tells him that he had 78.34% chance of getting it right
If Chris said that it was an emergency that needed the Old Man's help or insight, then it has something to do with the Mysticism Age, a natural disaster, space threat, rouge ability user, or disturbance in the reality but he highly doubted the rest
If the rest of the residents of the mansion were sent back, then it has something to do with something that they haven't known. He then remembered his conversation with Natsuki last night, she wasn't supposed to know about the transition of the Mysticism Age and Laws of Mysticism and yet, for some reason, she knew about it even though he knows that it hasn't been revealed to other ability users outside of the Mystical Academy or the higher ups in the society
In that case, the newcomers that has abilities and powers that were bestowed onto them these past four years shouldn't know about the transition of the Mysticism Age and existence of Laws of Mysticism and Mana Hotspots
He already knew the classified information using his deduction skill with a little help of his Future Vision
"I already know what classified information that you will talk about"
"Really?"
"Perhaps an emergency in a Mana Hotspot?"
Everyone that was present had their eyes become wide, including Justine. The soldiers inside the second military jeep and came out and the soldiers on the motorcycles and quad bike dismounted and initiated a formation. They then aimed their guns towards Philip. Some have semi-automatic rifles, a few automatic rifles, pistols, and the gatling turret was also aimed at him
The man in black went in front Satou and his assistant, Rue. Rue deeply narrowed her eyes and gazed at Philip
Veronica, Chris' secretary, became serious and Chris was covered in faint yellow aura
Justine was nervous of Philip not because he knew the classified information, but because he knew the existence of Mana Hotspots when it shouldn't be revealed to the public, only to a select few
"Where did you learn that information? Depending on your answer, we have to take you down for safety of human kind." Chris said with a very strict and agressive voice. His eyes were glowing yellow the mote he stared at Philip
Justine was about to stop the conflict but she stopped herself because she always wants to know how Philip knew about it
Philip was surprised that the military was very strict to the point guns were pointed at him. He wasn't scared but he could feel heat enveloping around his chest and he could also feel a throbbing sensation on his brain. His grip on the wooden sword tightened
"The Old Man picked me from the Mystical Academy, I learned everything about the Mysticism Age there"
It was true that he learned that kind of information in the Mystical Academy, but there was no way that Philip will tell them that he was the cause of the transition of this era
Chris' yellow aura dissipated but his strict demeanor didn't disappear. The guns and the turret was still aiming at him
On the other hand, Justine understood the situation completely. She has pieced everything together, even the emergency of the military according to Philip's clues
"Alright... You have to come with us now, you're the person we're looking for. Robert, grab him!"
The man in black, called Robert, nodded and swiftly went towards Philip's direction
Justine blocked Robert's way and shouted. "Wait! You're just going to take him like that?!"
"Yes? Because this is a state of emergency, we need to orient him at what's to come!"
"Shouldn't you ask him first if he's willing?!"
"There's no time for that! Robert, I'll allow you to use to ability"
"What?!"
Justine was perplexed by the poor handling of the military when they're asking someone to come with them. She was slightly annoyed
It was the same for Philip. He would intervene and refuse with conviction at Chris' invite but he think that a conflict is about to happen between the military in Justine
It was an opportunity that he wouldn't pass to observe other's abilities
At this moment, Robert disappeared in Justine's vision and reappeared in front of Philip, behind Justine
"Wha-"
Philip exclaimed as he stepped his right foot backwards. Justine quickly turned around with a surprised face. She was lunging a right hook as she turned
Robert was about to grab Philip's collar when suddenly, a yellow fist connected on his right cheek from the behind. A wooden sword has also struck his left waist and a left backhand deflected his grabbing hand. The backhand was gestured as two fingers opened, the index and the middle, while the rest are closed
This all happened in one second
Crackling sounds and sparks scattered around Robert's cheek as he was hit by Justine's right hook fileld with energy. Wind gushed from Robert's left waist as the wooden sword struck him
This made Robert fall on the ground to the right. But before he completely fell, he disappeared and reappeared next to Chris
Both Philip and Justine's eyes did not miss the movement on the ground. A puddle of dark shadow moved across the ground and Robert emerged from that shadow
Philip immediately thought that it was Shadow Movement or some kind of skill for spies or ninjas. It was also Justine's deduction
This could only mean that Robert is a bodyguard, agent, spy, hitman, ninja, or assassin
Robert rubbed his right cheek with his hand
"Are you okay?" Chris asked
"I'm okay..." Robert struggled to answer
"What's wrong? Did that spicy woman hurt you so much?"
"No, her punch was decent... But that boy's attack hurts." Robert said while holding his left waist with his left hand. He could feel that a bruise formed around his waist when it should have been impossible due to his special training
He could only bleed, but that would require a stronger attack, which means Philip's strike was almost enough to make him bleed
"Interesting..."
Chris' eyes glowed yellow once more
"Soldiers! Fire!!"
The soldiers pressed the trigger on their guns without hesitation. The guns glowed blue around the gaps of their guns, it was also same for the gatling turret
The nozzles of their gun exploded and blue colored bullets came out of their guns
These are bullets manufactured by the research facility inside the military base. It was made from the Spirit Stones that they mined before the Mana Hotspot grew towards the surface. They called it as Mana Bullet
Mana bullets have the property of fully penetrating a thick steel sheet and has the power to injure the powerful ability users. Only this military base a few others around the world has developed this kind of technology using the Mana Stones
Blue bullets roared and rained down upon Justine and Philip. Time slowed for the two of them as life flashed before one of them
Justine was very angry, she was having second thoughts to reveal her power right now and protect Philip. She could escape this place in an instant if not just for Philip
On the other hand, Philip was in the process of smiling. He was feeling excited for some reason. He never felt being shot once and this was his first time. If push comes to shove, he would just deny the pain and immediately manipulate his emotions or he could just control Fate and make all the bullets miss or disappear along with the military in front of him
He slowly lifted his left hand in a snapping gesture
Rue saw this and her eyes went wide. She doesn't know what Philip was doing but he knows that it was not normal for someone to snap their fingers when a rain of bullet is approaching them. Rue tried to run but it will be too late. She was then in the process of crouching down to minimize the damage that she will take in her prediction
In the end, Justine has decided to protect Philip and use her ability. She didn't care if the true nature of her ability will be leaked. She was willing to make a sacrifice for the person that the Old Man specially took in
She was in the process of shifting her hands in the air