[Master!] Sanctuary's concerned voice echoed in his head but he chose to handle the current situation first.
"Gouki! It's me!" Caelus quickly said as he raised his hands up in surrender. He didn't know how Gouki was able to bypass Sanctuary's tracking. However, it seemed the guy intercepted them while tricking Sanctuary into thinking he was still far away.
"Who?"
"Sho! I'm Sho Chad! The one with you from the first glitching!"
"I don't remember you."
"What? Ah! Remove the effect of Thousand Faces!" The Thousand Faces that changed his face, aura and everything was disabled. His appearance turned back to that of Sho Chad. "Here. Can you remember me now?"
It wasn't a voice that answered him this time.
He felt a wind on his back and then heard a clang sound. It was followed by Caelus feeling that the sharp thing in his neck was gone. He blinked trying to comprehend what happened before turning to look.
Sword to sword. Asahi and Gouki were facing each other. Obviously, Asahi protected him and Gouki attacked him.
But why did Gouki attack him?
Gouki said he doesn't remember him. Why did he try to attack him the moment he disabled the Thousand Faces?
Wait… maybe he was suspecting that he could copy appearance?
"Don't you remember the Hidden Zone? Only four of us survived!"
"Who are the four?"
"Me, Gouki, Akihiko and Hikari."
"Who's me?"
"Sho Chad."
"Hm, this doesn't prove that it's you. That thing could take over memories."
"What thing?"
"Prove yourself."
"W-what? How?"
"Glitch. Use it. On me"
Caelus was stunned. "W-what? Y-you mean Overview? You said it yourself. It's rude to look at other information. If I look over your information, you would not kill me, right?"
Gouki frowned. "Are you an idiot? Why do you have to limit yourself because of a stranger? Don't you want to survive?"
"H-huh? But you said it yourself!"
"I didn't say that. I just don't like you poking into my information. But now, situations need you to prove yourself."
He stared at Gouki. Realizing the other party was serious and Asahi was also waiting for him as he was still on guard with Gouki, Caelus finally used his Glitch to see through other people's information.
Overview: Character Information Gouki Setsuhi!
「 Character Information |
Name: Gouki Setsuhi |
Age: ?? |
RANK: ??? |
CLASS: ??? |
STATS: |
Strength: ? |
Agility: ? |
Intelligence: ? |
Dexterity: ? |
Accuracy: ? |
Stamina: ? |
Wisdom: ? |
Luck: ? |
Mana: ? |
Critical Rate %: ? |
Critical Damage %: ? |
GLITCHES: |
? : [?] |
? U3 : [?] |
? U4 : [?] |
? U3 : [?] |
? U3 : [?] |
? U3 : [?] 」
"What? You already have Upgrade 4 skill?!" Caelus gasped in shock. "Are you still human?"
Only then Gouki lowered his weapon, Asahi followed suit.
"You're really Sho Chad. Kid, although I told you not to look for people's information, you shouldn't be too naive to follow me. You should learn to use your skills to survive this messy world."
*He is giving me advice?*
Caelus suddenly felt that this was the Gouki he first met, handsome and cool. He felt a refreshing wind engulfing their surroundings with his awesomeness.
"It's not like that… I can't get too much information from people who I have not interacted with enough. And for you, you can sense when I check out your information. I had to be sure you won't kill me. But… What happened? Why did you attack me?"
"Don't you know anything about… nevermind."
"What? Asahi?" Caelus was confused. He saw how Asahi stopped Gouki with his eyes.
"This is something you shouldn't know unless you are stable enough. You need a higher Rank for this information." Asahi was the one who answered. When he said that, Caelus felt there was bright light shining over Asahi.
Gouki looked at the two of them before nodding. It seems he got what Asahi was saying leaving Caelus no choice to question them further.
Caelus wanted to ask but he felt a poking pain in his head. It was enough to erase all his previous thoughts and questions. When he finally came to it, he had forgotten what he was thinking. It was just a second, yet, the brain lag was enough for him to go with the flow.
Gouki showed resolution not to tell him and Asahi was firm not to let Caelus know. The only thing he could do if he wanted to know is to be "stable" and "high Rank" enough to receive the information.
Caelus could only helplessly sigh.
Asahi was right. He needed to straighten himself. Although he has a goal in mind, his mentality wasn't stable enough to handle more problems.
He needed to face himself first.
He needed to decide what sort of action he wanted to pursue in this world.
He knew he transmigrated to this world, but from Sho's memory, he knew that his own world wasn't far from this world. He came from a modern world similar to Earth.
The only thing different with this Earth and his Earth would be the history.
In Sho's Earth, there was no tension between the nearby countries. Although there were two world wars, the war was not as bad as his Earth. And there were also the names of famous people and works, they were different. Yet, there was also a resemblance to Caelus' Earth, like the mythologies that have little proof that they exist.
That aside, Caelus was certain about himself before the Super Phenomena. Caelus was someone who followed the law. But he also felt if he stopped following laws, he would lose himself and see the "him" he fears. He felt in a world without law, the "him" was brutally scary. The monster that he didn't want to let loose.
The monster who threaded in blood.
He didn't want to lose himself. He knew that he wasn't a saint, but he would choose to be good rather than be bad. And if he constantly kills and falls into madness…
*Destruction to everything…*
He stopped thinking because he felt he had already experienced that path.
"I understand."
"Why did you come looking for me?" Gouki decided to be straight to the point.
"We have a Shelter Zone…" Caelus tried his best to explain the situation to Gouki, Asahi interjected from time to time making the explanation easier to understand. The more they explained the more Gouki seemed to be in thought.
"Shelter Zone, huh? You're lucky to even find an empty one. Well… This is good, but there is also a risk. You need to only give authority to people who you trust to manage this shelter. If you give access to corrupt people, then you'll doom humanity." Gouki came to that conclusion after listening to him.
Caelus' facial muscles twisted after hearing Gouki's sweet to cruel words. But he couldn't refute him because he was right.
"Yes. That's why I came looking for you. You're a lawyer, right?"
Asahi and Gouki looked at him incredulously.
"You aren't even sure?" Both of them utter in unison.
"Well, I just thought you might be a lawyer since you know many laws." He smiled sheepishly. He already labeled Gouki as a lawyer in his mind, but facing the guy, he remembered he didn't ask if the guy was really a lawyer.
Gouki sighed. "Yes. I'm a lawyer."
"See! I'm right." Both Gouki and Asahi looked at Caelus condescendingly. He instantly stopped smiling. "I know. I've got lucky."
"Well, we should go. I'll need a place where I can work for the contract."
"Uh… it's laws…"
"I'm more used to contracts. I'm not one of the lawmakers. But I did study law and memorized all the laws. It's a prerequisite to pass the board exam."
"You'll have a place with Sanctuary. Sanctuary, please give Gouki the same authority as Asahi."
[I understand, Master.]
"So this is the AI of the place? This is good. Work would be fast with an AI. Hey, snotty brat, come out now! It's safe already!" After shouting that, Caelus followed the direction where Gouki was looking and after a flutter of grass, Akihiko emerged behind.
"You! You didn't look for your folks?"
"Don't talk about my parents when we're not even close."
"... what?!" Although he was tactless for asking, he didn't expect the kid would drop polite words entirely! His sentence was clearly him looking down on Caelus.
"Talk to me when you deserve respect. I doubt you managed to collect 1000 GP."
"Y-you already collected 1000 GP?" He was dumbfounded. And he thought he was lucky… but then, when he glanced at Gouki, he could only nod in understanding. Even without luck, this guy would walk briskly over any hardship.
Now that he thought of it, Gouki somehow changed physically. He looked to have more muscle than before. Before he looked like a lawyer, who was just staying fit. Now he looked more like a fighter.
His once combed black hair was now messy, yet, it didn't lessen the handsomeness this man had. It only enhanced his charm. In the world of Super Phenomena, Gouki looked like a very handsome and reliable man. Someone you can count on and someone who can lead people naturally.
"Of course." Akihiko said proudly.
"You just leeched off Gouki." Caelus murmured half-teasing the kid.
The boy just sneered at Caelus before completely ignoring him. He felt awkward to be shown clear hostility.
*What did I do to this guy? Why do I feel hate from him? Clearly, it's not jealousy, right?*
He couldn't think of anything that he did at all! They even went together in a life and death situation! He tried his best to save as much as he could, that includes Akihiko.
*Whatever. That doesn't matter. We still need to go to Miya and Hikari. At least, Hikari is near us. But Miya is still far away. Those two would be crucial to stabilizing the shelter.*
"Hikari is near us. Let's go to her."
"Ah… so this is the AI of the shelter? It seems it would be pretty good. It would be better if we got a computer expert who would guide us."
Caelus naturally thought of Duke. But then again, he shook his head, he didn't know if Duke and Miya were together. They could look for Duke once they had more people in the Shelter. As of now, Sanctuary does not have any more Mana to look for people.
"Sanctuary is not your typical AI. How do I explain this? She's like a newborn person. Although she is like a baby, her learning capabilities are that of a teenager. She learns extremely fast and adapts with us."
"Wouldn't she turn against us?" It was Gouki who had a cold glint in his eyes.