Looking at a beautiful sunrise peaking from the top of the mountain in front of her, Mary could do nothing but stare in awe.
"Have you never seen the sunrise at Nippon Mountain?"
Ishtar asked her.
"The last time I was here was with Armageddon. We came at sunset and left way before the sun had risen."
Mary said to Ishtar.
She remembered she and Armageddon were paid to assassinate a member of the Redfox who was planning to betray the family.
But, of course, she was not allowed to speak of that night or the nights of planning that preceded it.
"Hey!"
The voice of Alexander came from behind, and when she looked at him, it was as if she was looking at a different person.
Three years earlier, at the start of Alexander's training. Mira beat him with a single whisper, and ever since then, it was as if he was a completely different person.
He had an organized haircut and wore the "normal" company uniform, the business suit he received from Mira for joining the "Demon God's group."
Unlike Shu, Alexander wore his shirt and a black tie. On his wrist, he had an item that looked like a bracelet, but it was one of the items forged by Momotaro. It was a black bracelet that fit the style of his business suit quite nicely. He wore the bracelet to help him control the divinity in the air so it would be easier to create things.
"Wow, you look... different."
Mary said as she looked at him.
He looked very different from the escaped convict he was when they first met.
"Well, I was beaten into wearing this sh..."
Alexander started saying but stopped when Mira put her hand on his shoulder.
"I'm only a lowly mortal who should strive to be his best self and knows his place."
He quickly corrected himself anxiously, and Mira seemed to like his answer.
"You look pretty different yourself."
Alexander said, trying to trip her and see her suffer like him.
Mary wore something different than her old attire, unlike the old ragged clothes she used for a long time, and unlike the other females in "the demon god's group" who wear dresses, she wore a suit. Her suit was given to her by Ishtar. She was gifted a watch that lets her communicate with Danniel so he can advise her. The communication is activated only if both sides want it. And she wears her arming sword to her side.
"Ishtar helped me a lot with choosing which items I want, and I am way stronger now. Maybe I will finally be able to..."
Mary was about to mention Shu, but her face turned red when she thought about him.
Alexander didn't get why she turned red and was very disappointed that she had nothing negative to say about her experience in those three years of training.
Was he the only one to be trained by a sadist?!
********
They waited for an hour and heard someone yelling from the mountain.
The voice said something like, "Wake up, you lazy shits. We are going to be late!"
Mira and Ishtar started laughing loudly. Both Mary and Alexander were confused at their masters' reactions.
After five minutes, smoke appeared.
And out of the smoke jumped a person. He looked a bit like a very hairy human. But as he walked closer toward them, they could see that it was a monkey made of stone, wearing a suit made from golden scales and a red cape.
"Hello! My dear friends, it is I, Shí Hóu!"
The stone monkey said enthusiastically as if they knew him.
Mary was the first to point her weapon at him, and only a few moments after her, Alexander created a sword and pointed it at the monkey as well.
"Who are you?"
Mary asked, and when Shí Hóu looked into her eyes, it was as if he was staring at death itself.
"You know, lord Danniel should educate the members of his group on who is on their side. I mean, it's already the second time this happened!"
Shí Hóu complained out of nowhere.
"It's okay, stand down. He is on our side."
Mira said, visibly disappointed that she won't see them fight.
It didn't surprise Mary too much. His complaint on that damned god was too accurate to the person who annoyed her on a regular base.
After Shí Hóu, Emilia, and Dam arrived, they were happy to finally meet Mary, whom the demon god hyped quite a lot.
"Where's the fox?"
Alexander asked, and Dam finally noticed him.
"Bastard! How dare you show your face again!"
the young man shouted as he pointed his sword at the man who destroyed his city.
"Ishtar! Mira! How are you?"
Chaos asked happily since he finally got to see his friends after all this time.
"Sir, Chaos, where is Shu?"
Mary asked Chaos.
"Oh, him. Well..."
Chaos smirked.
"Evocatio chaos!"
He summoned his sword.
When the sword appeared in his hand, it was as if reality was fractured into three.
Mary saw an adult wearing a black trench coat with no shirt, black boots, black pants, and a Japanese fox mask with no ears. He had fox ears, a tail, and orange fur. His mask was broken on the right side. She could see a scar on his right eye, and his left ear was slightly cut.
The way he looked at her was something that she shall never forget. It was the look of terror. It was as if he saw a ghost of a loved one. And that expression left quite the impression on her, who was now even less sure of how she should feel toward Shu.
In the same spot as the adult, she saw young Shu, maybe a year younger than when they met, perhaps even more. He didn't have a mask, nor did he have a scar or a trench coat. He looked completely normal. The expression on his face bewildered her. It was genuinely cheerful and innocent, even more so than when they first met. She couldn't understand how that kid became that old beastman.
In the third reality she saw, there was a young man. Three years older than the Shu she knew. He wore a black suit jacket with no shirt, a Japanese fox mask with no ears, black pants, and a sheathed sword attached to his belt. She could see his yellow eyes through the holes in his mask, and from what she could make of his expression, he looked confident and cool, and with that eight-pack showing through the jacket... But she is getting off point! She is happy to see him again, that's all!
"Yo! Been a while, hasn't it?"
Shu took off his mask and looked directly at her.
"Hmm, ye- yes, it has been. Three years to be exact."
Mary stumbled through her words.
Shu, to the sight of how awkward the scene was, decided to try changing the topic with the gift he got for her.
"Oh, by the way. I got you a gift!"
He said and detached the sword from his belt.
He put his arm forward to hand the sword directly to her, and she grabbed it with excitement in her eyes. Shu had no clue why she was that happy, but he just let it slide.
Maybe she was just a big fan of swords.
"Okay, kids! You reunited. How great! From now until further notice Emilia and Mary will notify you of any mission you will receive. As for your first mission. Go back to the new lands and join those who still are not here. Goodbye."
Chaos said.
He took his sword and cut a few clean cuts through the air, and a gate appeared.
Mira, Ishtar, and Chaos went through the door, and with a bit of a blast, it vanished.
********
They all started walking in the direction of the new lands. They were divided into two main groups as they walked.
Those who walked in the front- Alexander, Shí Hóu, and Shu.
And those who woke in the back- Mary, Emilia, and Dam.
"This was a pretty bold move. Though, I'm surprised you even knew about it."
Alexander said, full of respect towards Shu.
"Oh, that entrance? Cool right? Chaos told me that he would use a spell to turn me invisible and then shutter the reality around me and that all I needed to do was act cool, And he was totally right."
Shu said, his voice full of pride, but Alexander looked more confused than before.
"I'm not talking about your entrance. It was cool and all, but what I want to hear about is that proposal you did for Mary."
Alexander said, and when he looked at his friend's confused face, he understood something was wrong. Shu has no clue what he is talking about!
"Shí Hóu, do you know adventurers' laws? I would explain it, but I never paid too much attention to how each law goes."
Alexander said.
"Yes. If I'm not mistaken, you are talking about the laws from the book "Bond Between Adventurers." Shu, you don't need to worry, those are nothing but customs, and you can't be blamed if you didn't know them."
Shí Hóu said.
The adventurer's code is a lengthy list of unwritten rules about etiquette between adventurers that was taken from a book written and mass printed during the tournament two thousand years before the present tournament.
The tournament's participants brought these copies of the book to their home realms. The rules written in that book were spread in all seven realms, so all the adventurers knew at least some of these rules.
"I have no clue what you're talking about. Can you explain what customs you are talking about?"
Shu asked, desperately trying to understand what his friends were talking about.
"Okay, so basically, when you hand a team member a sword in different ways out of battle, it has different meanings:
1) Throwing their sword to the floor: you don't want to see them again for at least the next three to ten years.
2) Throwing your sword at their feet, usually done with secondary blades while you hold on to your main sword: an invitation for a duel.
3) Throwing a sword into their hands: you are giving them a sword that you either want them to give it back later or keep it. This one is way more inconclusive than the other options.
4) Gifting them a sword by hand: you want to stay with them for a long time. When it's an ancestral sword, it usually is a marriage proposal.
So as you can understand, the moment that Mary hears from either Dam or Emilia that you didn't just give her a sword, which would mean you want to stay with her for a long time, but an ancestral sword, she will turn red and try to return it to you, in which case, you will have two options- Either tell her that you truly love her or take the sword back. Oh, and based on what you told me, she grew up as an adventurer, so she will definitely stick to this tradition."
Shí Hóu explained nonchalantly.
When Shí Hóu reached the fourth law, Shu got so red that Alexander laughed to himself that he finally understood why they were called the Red-fox family.
As they walked, they reached a city that worshiped the Budha, a man gifted with god's divinity in the old reality. He was banished from his home realm after the mortals thought he was a god, and the god of his realm didn't like it. The city was built by a mortal who was reincarnated from the old reality and asked for the ability to worship his god in the new reality.
The city of Bhagavato.
They decided to stay there for the night.