The wolf beastman entered the building of the top adventurers guild and upon seeing him, Emily ran up to him.
"Brother!" She called and hugged him.
"Emily, it's been so long. How are you?"
"What do you mean so long? You left last week." She said and he nodded.
"I did, didn't I?"
"Arthur?" The guild master called and he, Arthur, took off his hood.
"I'm back, father."
Though Arthur looked normal, he had actually been gone far longer than they expected and his memories of them were far beyond what he could remember.
"Did you hear about the manticore raid downtown?" The adventurers started talking.
"Heard it? I saw it in action." Another adventurer responded.
"Then you must've seen that guy in action. That hero guy."
"You mean the guy who took out the headless horseman with a single strike?"
"You call that single? That was one heck of an aura slash. His skills were gold."
"He was a real badass, killing the demons like they were ants."
"Hah, did you also hear that he was actually the scum?"
"What scum? He's a hero now. Who cares about it?"
Arthur's eyebrows furrowed. This wasn't supposed to happen yet.
Why did a manticore raid happen sooner than it did the last time?
Well, things weren't exactly going the way it used to either. Justin, he was never a hero. If anything, he was the bringer of all disasters. The human who sold his soul and ended up being a disciple of the devil himself.
He became the top disciple of Chaos.
"Brother, what's on your mind?" Emily asked, jolting his thoughts back to reality.
"It's nothing." He adjusted his bag over his back. "The capital seems to be buzzing really loud."
"Tell me about it."
Arthur was a bit relieved. If things didn't go the way it did in the previous life then maybe, just maybe they had the chance to defeat Chaos this time.
'The gods must have a hand in this.' he thought and walked up to the top floor of the guild, where he dropped his bag and looked at himself in the mirror.
He was so much younger.
Seven years. He returned seven years back, before the tragedies began to take place. And it was all thanks to the help of the gods, hoping to be able to stop the impending crisis if ever they were to fail again.
The reason Justin was chosen by the gods, the reason an evil being like him was given a second chance, it all lied in the last battle that was fought.
"It cannot happen again." He muttered.
........
As expected, the commander couldn't find Justin. The king was informed that the hero ran away and he couldn't understand why but he sent out a search warrant in order to know his reasons.
"There must be a threat against his life, hence he doesn't show himself. We must protect the hero." He declared but all that was just for a popularity stunt.
The guards found Justin a few times but he always managed to slip away from them. The girls found it fun and so did he because he was confident that no one would find them.
He visited the adventurers guild once, so he could collect his finished daggers and there, he had a brief encounter with Arthur.
As soon as Arthur saw him, a sudden rage built up in him and he wanted to get rid of him for good but he managed to control himself.
The lives of all those that were lost in battle, no, in the massacre, flashed before his eyes but he kept his cool, reassuring himself that the past would certainly not repeat itself. They were still alive and there was still hope.
'Still, I should get rid of him now that he hasn't grown any stronger or known his other identity.' he thought.
Justin stared at Arthur who refused to step aside and twisted his lips.
"So, you want an autograph or something? Move!" He demanded and Arthur returned to his senses.
He stepped aside and Justin walked past him while Arthur eyed him.
At the entrance of the guild building, there were a number of guards waiting to catch him. Seeing them, the corners of his lips curled up.
"You guys wanna play with me?" He snapped his fingers and before they knew it, he was behind them and started walking away but they had no clue and started searching for him.
"Where'd he go?"
The backyard was finally used for the training session. Since the girls couldn't see Attica, Justin had to teach them while learning from her.
He was also a beginner so the steps he followed from Attica, the girls followed from him and in no time, they were sword masters, capable of using aura.
"I'm so proud to be their teacher." Attica exclaimed as she watched the girls swinging their swords at each other. "Look at them go. They're practically moving at the speed of light. They're so fast with their hands and… Gah, my heart can't take it."
Attica fainted in the air.
Justin watched the girls. They were fast learners and we're sparing at such incredible speed and strength. Since Alicia's strength was far greater than her sisters, she was asked to tone down on the force at which she uses when swinging her sword.
"Hey, let's take a break." He clapped his hand and the girls stopped.
"Brother, how'd we do?" Alexia asked, wining up to him with short breath.
"Impressive." He said and handed her a bottle of water. "Here." He threw another bottle towards Alexia and she caught it.
"Thanks brother."
"Brother, did you ever think of going to the academy?" Alexia suddenly asked, which took him aback.
"The academy?" He looked at her, stunned.
For someone who came from the slums, it'd be an impossible dream to think of going to the academy to study. And for someone like him who was a total scum and cared for nothing but how to fill his belly, it certainly never came to mind.
"No. Studying will only make your brain rot. Forget it." He said and she tilted her head a bit.
"But you read that sword manual and yet your brain hasn't rotted." She pointed out.
"Well, that's just because it's a picture book. My brain won't rot from looking at pictures." He said and she stared at him for a while before laughing. "What?"
"Brother, you're really funny."
"I am, aren't I?" He grinned and they laughed more.
Just a minute later, he suddenly felt footsteps approaching. Someone was approaching their house but how did they find them?
"Hm, we've got company." He said and everyone paused. "Today's training will have to continue in the simulation space."
He said and opened the space. The girls got in with ease while he went to see who it was.