"Alora," says a woman, with earthly-toned skin and a rounded face, gently placing her fingertips on Alora's cheek, "I don't want you doing anything dangerous, okay? You mustn't worry your father and me too much."
"I won't do anything too dangerous, Mother."
"Good," she says, smiling. "Then, I will leave you with your friends."
"Mother!"
"Yes?"
"About Rasui...?"
"Oh, yes. You asked me to look into his activities. Well, I asked around and no one has heard from Rasui in quite a while. His mother has asked me if you've heard from him. She's quite concerned."
"Is he... missing?"
"I don't know. But this is Rasui we're talking about. He never was one to stay in the spotlight. That boy has always hidden himself away from the world."
Alora giggles, "You're right."
Her mother's expression turns grim. "Alora, if you find him, tell him to visit her. She is quite concerned."
"I will."
She places her hand on Alora's cheek again, and says, "That's my girl." As she pulls her hand away, she continues, "Let me get back to your father. He's beside himself with work, so he could not come to see if you're okay. Just hearing you're doing well should motivate him to work harder."
Alora laughs, "I don't doubt that. He cares for me a bit too much."
Her mother sighs, "I agree."
They laugh together and say their farewells. Alora joins Arthur, Rose, Calliope, Chari, and Amira in the infirmary. "How are your injuries, Amira?"
Amira, who is wrapped in more bandages than the others, smiles, "I'm fine. I just have a few broken ribs. The doctor healed the more serious bruises I sustained."
"That's good."
"How did the press conference go?" asks Calliope, concerned.
Alora sighs, "It didn't go well. Relatives of the students and staff were visibly frustrated. Professor Azrael did what he could but no one in the audience would believe his words. I was in the crowd and I heard their murmurings. 'He's just a kid'. 'How can a child understand our grievances'." She clenches her fists, thinking back to Azrael's past. "If they saw that they wouldn't think about questioning Professor Azrael's grief."
"That?" asks Calliope. Alora describes, in detail, the events that transpired in Azrael's past. "That's horrible," says Calliope, crying. "How could they do such horrible things to Professor Azrael?"
"Wait," interjects Amira, "You said he died, correct? Then, how is Professor Azrael alive right now?"
Alora glances at Arthur, who remains silent. "It's because Professor Azrael is actually... a God."
"A... God?" asks Amira, tilting her head in confusion.
"What are you talking about, Alora?" asks Rose.
"Well—"
"Professor Azrael," interjects Arthur, "Or, Lord Azrael is the Primordial God of Death."
"The Primordial God of... Death? What's a Primordial God?" asks Calliope.
"I... don't know," says Arthur. "I only know the names of two, Gaia, the Primordial Goddess of Life and Orion, the Primordial God of Space. Azrael doesn't speak much about his siblings and knowing his circumstance, I was afraid to ask."
"His circumstance?"
Arthur grits his teeth, conflicted. Should I tell them? It's not my place to reveal this information but Azrael never said we should keep this hidden. He looks up, confused. Come to think of it, why has he not said anything about this? It's not like he's trying to keep it hidden.
"Is it not to stay hidden from Azazel's forces?" asks Chari.
"Azazel? Who's that? And what are you talking about, Chari?" asks Rose.
Chari looks at Arthur shyly. He smiles. "Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to explain this now. You would have found out anyway." Arthur tells them about everything that transpired between Azazel, the minor god who overthrew Azrael's rule, how he sealed Azrael's powers using a powerful seal and the involvement of one of his siblings in this coup d'état. "And that leads us to an eventual battle between Azrael and his subordinate."
"I... This all seems like a story from a novel," says Rose.
"What about his sibling? The one who broke the agreement between the six primordial gods. Will Azrael have to fight against his relative?"
"I don't know. Azrael never brought it up before."
"A fight between Gods...?" Amira looks at the ceiling, "I wonder if we will be witnesses of something incredible."
"Do you think we are even worthy of such a grand battle?" asks Rose. "That is something beyond human comprehension."
An awkward silence fills the infirmary. Everyone looks at Arthur, who hasn't said a word since the mention of Azrael fighting his one of his siblings. Rose is not wrong—a battle between Primordial Gods would be a duel we mortals wouldn't be able to comprehend. "But that's only if we can unseal Azrael's powers."
"The Seal of Yahweh," says Amira, "must be a powerful seal to steal a God's powers."
"From what I've heard, it's the only weapon, other than another Primordial God's powers, that can work on the Primordial Gods."
After another moment of silence, Alora stretches her arms, and says, "This was a great information session but I should try to find Rasui."
"Do you know where he is?" asks Arthur.
"I have an idea... But it could be a dead-end."
"Hey, Alora, do you think I could tag along?"
"To find Rasui?" Arthur nods his head. Alora looks at him, curious as to why but does not ask after seeing the serious look flaring in his eyes. "If you want to, sure. But you should know, we're going to the outer city."
"The... outer city...?" he asks, concerned.
Arthur's concerns are valid. The Scholarly City, Chasrol, is the largest city within the Sapphire Kingdom, even larger than the capital city, Dyloctin, where the royal palace is situated. Chasrol is so large that it could be called its own country—one hundred and fifty thousand square kilometres. That is nearly twice the size of Dyloctin, the second-largest city in the Sapphire Kingdom. With all this space, Chasrol operates entirely independent from the rest of the Sapphire Kingdom and is also the city with the most dungeons—numbering over seven hundred, from smaller dungeons like the Dungeon of Creation to large dungeons like the Dungeon of The Demon King.
Chasrol is divided into two sections—the inner city and the outer city. The inner city is the smaller of the two divisions and this is where Magus Academy is situated. The nobility resides in the inner city and merchants gather there to sell their exotic goods. There are very few dungeons within the inner city due to the large number of nobility within the walled dwelling, which makes it much safer than the outer city. As for the segregated section, other than 'outer city' it's also called the dark lands. This is because the outer city has many lawless and monster areas. There are also numerous mid to large-sized dungeons, which are more prone to dungeon breaks.
Seventy-five per cent of Chasrol's population lives in the outer city. They are poorer and are treated as less-than-human because of their impoverished status—which causes many of them to be enslaved, such as Raven, the boy Arthur saved from enslavement.
Though he knows all this information about the outer city, Arthur has never once stepped foot in that region. The outer city? That's where Raven was born? I wonder if his parents are still alive. If so, I'll tell them their son is safe. He smiles and whispers, "Maybe I can even bring them to him."
"Did you say something?" asks Alora.
"Uh... No, it's nothing."
"Okay? Well, it's noon right now. If we leave now, we will blindly search the outer city at night. So, I suggest we depart early morning tomorrow. Does that work for you?"
"Yeah, that's fine." This way I can fill Azrael in on the plan. I wonder if he's doing well after the press conference with all those grieving parents.
—Magus Academy Council Headquarters
"Professor Azrael, from this moment forth, your position as class 1A's homeroom teacher is officially terminated."
"Is that so?" answers Azrael, staring indifferently at the three individuals before him.