Giliath still appreciates your power stones even on days chapters aren't posted!
*****
A half hour had passed since we exited the department store, reaching the Central Square again.
I did not expect Cao Lee to come out in the open like that, but in the end I guess that is the type of personality he has. If he deemed it fit that it was best to approach me directly like this, then that is what he would do.
He is one of the scariest individuals in the Trailsverse, known to be manipulative. And on top of that, he has the intellect to back the way he does things. He can change his affiliation with friend or foe depending on how much he can gain from it. Cao is as slippery as a snake as one can be. If I had to compare him to another character in a different animeverse, it would be Orochimaru from Naruto. Conniving, cunning, and can't be trusted.
Or the entirely opposite, I could trust Cao Lee to a certain degree, as long what I do benefits him.
Apparently some shifts of power had taken place here in Crossbell City these last couple days that I was not aware of, but this impact was a result of my engagement with Alfin. Perhaps Heiyue took this period of uncertainty and gained a foothold over their rival here in the underworld?
That rival being the mafia, Revache.
Revache was formed around the time Crossbell State gained its autonomy around seventy years ago, but if I had to take a guess of Heiyue's origins, they have likely been around for far much longer. I know they have deep roots in Calvard. Not only that, Heiyue consisted of nine families, each housed with different styles of martial arts. But at their core, they were a crime syndicate that wreaked havoc across Calvard.
Cao Lee himself was part of the Lu Family, but he was not in direct succession to the current head. He would simply become a branch manager here in Crossbell City.
Down the line, a boy known as Xin Lu would drop by Heiyue's branch office here in Crossbell in five to six years during Azure. This boy was the direct grandson of the current head of the Lu Family, who came here to broaden his views. The SSS would interact with him on occasion during this time.
But that's pretty much all I know on the matter of who Cao and Heiyue were. Xin wasn't necessarily a bad person, but there is one thing I will have to look out for when Xin does come here in the coming years. He ends up getting smitten by Elie.
And I have no plans on letting that happen.
Thinking that, I cracked a smile as the three of us proceeded to head toward the Administrative District. Despite the chill in the air considering it's winter, there were plenty of people out and about. Snow was much rarer here in Crossbell City, but it was known to snow on occasion. I glanced back at the department store, and saw Cao together with someone dressed in similar eastern-style clothing as the two departed toward the east.
East Street did connect to the Harbor Districts, so it made sense they would choose that direction to head back to Heiyue.
As we approached the intersection to head inside the Administrative District, I saw Sherryl glance her eyes my way.
"I'm guessing that's the guy you warned me not to encounter when I'm alone, Master?", Sherryl asked as she watched the fuchsia-haired man leave toward the east side of Central Square, still holding his hands behind his back. Cao was quite young too despite his looks, he would be turning twenty-one this year, if I recall?
"Yeah. It sounds like he took advantage of the engagement announced between Alfin and I to secure his position here in Crossbell City. I don't know if that will be for good or bad though. He can be very manipulative, but as long as we present some form of benefit, it wouldn't be hard to develop a working relationship with Cao. He did offer me an information exchange.", I answered with a nod.
"You're going to go to that, aren't you, Master? I wouldn't lie, being able to learn a new technique on making eastern-style tea did pique my interest. Are you sure we can trust this Cao?", Sherryl replied, obviously worried.
"We can, or we can't. That's just how Heiyue works. I do want to learn how the east is doing, and Heiyue can act as a good information network for that. I have been in touch with Van, but he's only one person.", I answered. "And besides, Heiyue doesn't know your newfound strength. Cao will be in for a shock to see the technique you developed that you used against me, heh.", I chuckled, only to ruffle Sherryl's hair with my hand. That caused her black beret to get pushed slightly to the side.
"You've gotten stronger, Sherryl?", Tio asked with interest.
"I sure did. I can only use it for so long though. I was out for the entire night using it against Master.", Sherryl said.
"Yeah. That wasn't too long ago. How is your body holding up now?", I asked. She slept most of the day and the night after that spar, so I was still worried about Sherryl being out and about like this.
"I've never felt any better! It just drained all of my stamina. Once I start using it more, I'm sure it'll cause my body less strain.", Sherryl happily replied, showing that she was fine.
"You've already acquired such power. I really am wanting to increase my own strength even more now...", Tio uttered, feeling a hint of jealousy seeing how much stronger Sherryl has become. I hadn't looked at Sherryl's stats recently. I'm sure the spar I had against her scaled her stats because it was linked to a Quest.
"Tell you what, Tio. After today, come back with us. Alfin will love to meet you. We'll be spending this week having some relaxation and fun around Heimdallr before I depart with Master Vander starting Monday. I personally will likely be unavailable for a week or two, but before then, I can take you around Heimdallr's vicinity to slay some monsters. At the same time, I can see if Alfin wants a window of opportunity to get stronger too. She is likely in a similar spot to you, Tio. Little to none experience in fighting.", I said with a smile.
"Mmm. I'd like that.", Tio replied with a nod.
"I can also give a pointer or two, considering I'm a practitioner of Taito now. But my body is a lot more durable than yours, Tio. You still look pretty frail, so it might not be best to dive right into fighting monsters with a body like that.", Sherryl said, taking a moment to observe the small girl before her. I was around five and a half feet tall, and Sherryl was about a foot smaller than me. Tio was even smaller by a couple inches than Sherryl. She was pretty small on top of appearing frail. Yet Tio just shook her head in response to Sherryl's worry.
"You needn't worry about that, Sherryl. The Epstein Foundation recently finished its prototype of what's called the Orbal Staff. It allows its users to attack monsters from a safe position, letting it cast Arts. It can directly link to a Combat Orbment to cast those Arts. That is the only thing I presently lack.", Tio answered.
"An Orbal Staff?", Sherryl wondered, raising her eyes at Tio.
'I guess it's going the same route to the start of Zero then. Part of her visit to join the SSS is to test the Orbal Staff out. Looks like the Epstein Foundation has already finished creating a prototype for it. Maybe this is a little butterfly effect with the creation of the Enigma II this early? The scientists back at the foundation probably used the data results Professor Erika likely provided back to them to speed up the development of certain projects they have underway...', I mused.
"I wasn't expecting to hear such a thing now, but sounds like you've your own plan to tackle this, Tio.", I said, proceeding to ruffle her hair this time.
"Mmm.", Tio replied with a smile.
"What did you mean by 'now', Master?", Sherry asked with a doubtful look.
"Heh, just an expression.", I replied.
Hearing this, Tio's smile faded and she reached out her hand again, allowing me to hold onto it.
"You really like holding hands, don't you, Tio?", I asked with a smile.
"Is this really the right thing to do, Master? Tio knows you're a pervert now.", Sherryl retorted. She squinted her eyes seeing Tio now holding onto my hand again. In response, Tio just simply shook her head.
"Naoto might be a pervert, but he isn't that type of person.", Tio retorted back. Hearing that made me smile again.
"See? I have my own dignity, you know. You can only take that joke so far.", I retorted back.
"And yet you already have a flock of girls by your side already, Master. Speaking of which, where did Angie take those photos and that video of hers?", Sherryl wondered. The image that was displayed was quick, but Sherryl still recalled that Angelica appeared to be at a beach of sorts.
"Oh that. The surprise might be out of the bag already, considering they are there already. I had a villa built in secret, you see. I was going to reveal it to the girls, but I guess Renne already was a step ahead of me, haha.", I answered with a laugh.
"A villa?", Sherryl mused. "Maybe that's why Miss Jayna has been so busy recently?", Sherryl continued to wonder.
"Partly. I had her assume the role of being the caretaker of my finances, apart from her secretary duties. But in reality, I started this little project shortly after the cult extermination ended. I did receive a notice before my departure to Erebonia began, letting me know its construction was complete. I was going to surprise the girls.", I answered.
"Renne would want to one-up you like that, wouldn't she, Master? Well once all of this is over, we can take a little break and head there too.", Sherryl proposed.
"A house that Naoto built? I'd like to see it.", Tio also nodded.
"Haha, we'll see. It was built with a particular notion in mind. It may not be best to take you there, Tio.", I replied with a grin. Tio just revealed her deadpan look my way.
"Pervert.", Tio retorted.
"You say that to Tio, but not me?", Sherryl retorted back. Hearing that statement caused Tio to shift her eyes to Sherryl, then back to me.
"Pervert x2.", Tio retorted again.
"Hey, I told you I have my standards. I won't plan to bring you there either, Sherryl. Renne shouldn't be there for that matter too, but I can only guess she has her own reasons. She's probably using the villa as her base to achieve what she currently wants to do.", I guessed. They were heading down into the Sealed Area. I did have some worry about how well they do, considering half of their party consists of young girls as young as Tio and Sherryl here, but there is Ennea, Emma and now Angie to watch over them. I am much more relieved with Angie being with them now too.
"Oh right, they plan to hunt monsters, right?", Sherryl nodded, realizing what I was trying to say.
"Yup. I don't expect them to stick around the villa for a long time. It's just a mere convenience to them.", I replied with a nod.
"So that is the case then. We'll have to make sure we do our part too.", Tio nodded.
"Right? Well I do have a couple places in mind we can go to right now, but our interest is in the Administrative District right? Tio doesn't like to talk for prolonged periods of time, and I have only been in Crossbell City only once or twice, with certain duties to attend to. I haven't really had free reign like this to explore Crossbell City. You used to live here, right Sherryl? Think you can be a tour guide for today?", I asked with interest.
Sherryl tilted her head at my ask, uncertainty appeared in her eyes.
"I'm not sure. It's been a few years since, you know, the incident. The Crossbell I remember might not be the same as what you currently see. At least the Central Square and Crossbell Airport didn't seem to go through much change...", Sherryl answered with a hint of worry.
"Haha, maybe I can be the guide yer lookin' for then?", A voice of a man laughed, calling out to us.
"Hmm?", I asked, only to see a figure dressed in a weird garment approach us. It looked like he was dressed in a priest's robe. He had very spiky green hair with white highlights in it. It took me a second to register who this man was.
"Is that really you, Kevin?", I called out to the man.
"Aww, yer flatterin' me seeing you remember who little old me is. It's yer favorite wanderin' priest, Kevin Graham! Sure has been a while, hasn't it, Yer Highness?", The man asked, taking a moment to approach us. Sure enough it was Kevin Graham. He seemed to be a few years older since we last met for a brief split second over the Calvardian waters. He seemed to have a different air to him. Is it because he is an adult now?
"It is nice to see you again, Kevin. What brings you here to Crossbell?", I asked, welcoming Kevin. It really has been a few years since we've last seen each other. It looks like Kevin has been well.
"Oh you know. This and that. I don't think this is about me though. You've kept a certain mademoiselle very worried, y'know?", Kevin asked, looking toward another direction of the Central Square.
"You don't mean...", I uttered, tracing my gaze alongside Kevin's toward the direction he was looking at. It didn't take long for a second figure to appear...