A sunny morning greeted the inhabitants of the city of Rosenheim who were waking up for the start of their day. Some were staying in bed, some were getting up for breakfast, some were hurrying so as not to be late for work, and a few had already been out for some time.
In one luxurious room in particular, a lovely silver-haired elf slowly opened her eyes. Sitting up in bed, she stretched her back to shake off the last hint of drowsiness she had left and quickly got out of bed.
After that, she did what she normally did when she got up: wash her face, brush her teeth, get dressed, and finally go out for breakfast.
Opening the door to her room, she was greeted by a hallway with several doors in a row; one of these doors, more specifically the one next to hers, also opened to reveal another lovely golden-haired young lady.
"Good morning, Beatrice."
"Oh, good morning, Freydis; it looks like we woke up at the same time this time."
Beatrice said with a bit of surprise; she usually got up much earlier than Freydis, but due to another exhausting day of research with no results, she felt especially tired and, as a result, had found it harder to get up.
Once they had said good morning to each other, they decided to go downstairs together for breakfast. Count Dieter was very considerate of them; not only did he give them free housing and help with research, but he also took it upon himself to provide them with three meals a day.
They all trusted the count, with the exception of Freydis, who knew his true dark nature through her abilities to see people's souls. But she had said nothing until now, as she really had no evidence to indicate that the count was a bad person.
The girls went downstairs and immediately found a table full of food, and at it some of their companions were already seated. They greeted them willingly and sat down to enjoy breakfast together with them.
"We finally didn't get any leads yesterday either."
Kein said regretfully after they had finished their breakfast.
"This is ridiculous already; let's just accept that he got away from us and went back to the academy."
Alexander said with a deeply irritated tone: He really didn't care about this quest, and not advancing recently in his training started to frustrate him quite a bit.
"We can't just do that; we were given a mission, and we can't leave without fulfilling it."
Leticia said firmly. Alexander, hearing her, just looked at her with disdain, expressing his irritation.
"Tch, whatever, I'm done with this nonsense."
Saying that, Alexander got up from the table and started walking to the exit.
"Hey!, you can't just do that!"
Freydis stood up and shouted angrily at him; she really couldn't stand Alexander's haughty and arrogant attitude; he was like those young masters in the novels that she disliked so much.
"If you were going to act like that in the first place, why did you decide to come?"
"Hmp, I don't have to answer you that; mind your own business."
Leaving that dismissive comment, Alexander walked out the door.
Freydis grunted her teeth angrily and dropped back into her chair with a sigh.
"Seriously, you fucking idiot, why did you even come in the first place? He's just complicating things!"
Freydis grumbled as she pulled her hair back. Beatrice next to her also let out a sigh and looked at the door Alexander had walked out of.
"Well, it doesn't affect much; even if we don't have him, we can still keep investigating."
"The problem isn't that it doesn't affect us but his complete lack of empathy!"
"We can't do anything about that; that's just the way his personality is."
"That's the damn problem! No wonder girls won't go near him even though he's so good-looking!"
After shouting her complaints about Alexander for several minutes, Freydis finally calmed down a bit.
"Okay, let's stop talking about that idiot; I'll just get mad again, so what are we going to do today? shall we keep investigating?"
"Well, there's not much we can do, although we haven't found anything so far."
The mood of the group once again declined at that comment.
For the entire week they were in Rosenheim, the group had been tirelessly searching for clues with the help of the Schmetterling family; they investigated nobles, citizens and even the slums, but so far they hadn't been able to find a single clue indicating Arthur's whereabouts.
"Come to think of it, it's very suspicious."
Kein, who was silent, said with a thoughtful look.
"What do you mean?"
Leticia asked next to him.
"I mean, we know Arthur joined the demons; that means he was only able to stay hidden until now thanks to their help, but why would the demons go to such great lengths to keep someone like Arthur hidden?"
Hearing this question, everyone began to think.
Who was Arthur Reclesia?
A lazy, alcoholic, womanizer, and a complete jerk who didn't even have exceptional talent with a sword. The only good thing he arguably had was his family name, but even that was revoked with his expulsion from the Reclesia family. Then.
What did Arthur have that the demons wanted so much to even hide him so painstakingly from the academy's and the city lord's pursuit?
"Now that you mention it, that's odd."
Beatrice, noticing the discordance with the situation, began to think of some reason for the demons to so painstakingly protect Arthur.
Does Arthur have any skills or perhaps some knowledge that might prove useful to the demons?
"As an ex-member of one of the most important families in the empire, that could be a possibility, but if we're talking about Arthur, then it's questionable."
"He also didn't seem to have any sort of occult ability or anything similar."
Leticia added something that only made the group think more.
Finally, after several minutes of silence, Beatriz blurted out a comment.
"Maybe a lineage?".
"A lineage?"
Kein asked in confusion, not quite understanding what Beatrice was saying.
"Yes, this is something not many people know about, only high-ranking nobles, but I think if I share it with you it's no problem."
Long ago, when creatures such as dragons and spirits still roamed freely in the mortal world, these could occasionally come to cross paths with humans or other races.
From these unions were born individuals with abilities far superior to those of their own kind.
A superior strength capable of destroying mountains with a single hit; mana so abundant as to cast spells for weeks without releasing a single drop of sweat; a life expectancy bordering on immortality; a vision capable of observing the invisible; or a mind capable of understanding the incomprehensible. These were some of the abilities possessed by these individuals, the result of the union between mortals and these ancestral creatures.
Time passed, and these individuals naturally had descendants over the years, but the blood of these mythical creatures was not something that could be eliminated with the passing of a few centuries. So on very rare occasions, people appear with abilities far superior to normal, the result of the inheritance that those beings left behind.
"In a nutshell, that's what lineage is. Just to give an example, the royal family of old had a lot of relationships with spirits, so our family is usually very good with magic. My older brother, especially, has a great gift for controlling ice magic."
When Beatrice finished her explanation, Kein was amazed; after all, this topic about lineages was something he had never heard of before.
"The same goes for the Pendragons; we are descendants of the fairies, so naturally we have a greater affinity towards wind magic."
"Does that mean I may have some sort of lineage as well?"
Kein asked with eyes bright as a child, but unfortunately Beatrice shattered his expectations.
"Lineage is a very, very rare thing; even if you had one, I doubt you could awaken it."
"Why?"
"Because to awaken a lineage, it is not necessary to simply train to the limit or meditate until you reach enlightenment; in fact, to this day no one knows what actually awakens a lineage; it may simply be a matter of luck."
"I see..."
Kein snorted in disappointment, but they quickly returned to the main point.
"So you're saying Arthur might have some lineage?"
"It's just a theory, but it's the only thing that would help us explain why the demons are so protective of him."
"But how could they be sure, Isn't it something very rare?
"There are different ways to find out if someone has a lineage, rituals, manifestation of skills or talents that were previously lacking, a thorough investigation of the family tree and family history, etc. These means usually cost a fortune. Some high-ranking noble families sometimes use them to find out if any member of their family has some kind of lineage, and if so, they seek some way to awaken it. Perhaps the demons detected some lineage in Arthur using some method and are trying to awaken it."
It was a far-fetched theory, full of holes, such as why did the demons specifically investigate Arthur? Or why him and not another member of the Reclesia family?
But despite these doubts and holes, this was the only thing they had, so they decided to hold on to this idea for now.
"Ha~, this is getting complicated."
"Let's not think too much about it for now; it's just a theory based on speculation after all."
Ending the discussion, Kein, Beatrice, Leticia, and Akiyama finally decided to start another day of investigation, hoping to find some clue this time.
Walking through the huge mansion, which could almost be considered a castle, the group finally reached the main gate, ready to leave.
Waving to the guards, they opened the door for them, but unexpectedly there was someone standing on the other side.
It was two people, a handsome brown-haired man who looked no older than 23 and next to him an equally beautiful woman with the same hair color as the man.
"Eh?"
At the sight of them, the group stopped; Kein looked at them both curiously and asked their identity.
"Hello, who are you-?"
"Haaaaaaaaaaaa!?"
But his question was interrupted by a loud exclamation behind him; turning around in surprise, he could see Beatrice and Freydis with shocked expressions, as they pointed at the man and the woman.
"W-w-w-w-what are you doing here!?"
Freydis asked clearly nervous.
Kein, confused, alternated his gaze to the unknown visitors and the girls, who looked puzzled without understanding the situation.
Who are they, some acquaintances, and why are they so surprised?
These questions repeated themselves in Kein's mind until he finally looked intently at the man, waiting for an answer.
The man, unlike the girls, had a refreshing smile that would be capable of catching the eye of any maiden. With a slight bow he greeted them.
"What a surprise to find you here; it is good to see you again."
Once he said that, he looked up and spoke with a cheerful and carefree tone.
"As for why I'm here, I have some business to attend to with Miss Christa."
"Business to attend to?"
"Yes, the lady requested me to have a suit made, and I came here personally to discuss some business."
"Ah, so that was it."
"Yes, if you'll excuse me, I'll come in."
"Yes, go ahead."
Kein stepped aside to allow the man and woman to enter the mansion. The guards didn't stop them, so they shouldn't have lied.
As the man walked past them, he could tell that Freydis and Beatrice were staring at him; he didn't understand why they were acting like that, but he could ask them later.
After walking a bit, the man suddenly stopped and turned in our direction.
"Sorry, I almost forgot, my name is Johan, and this is my wife Mari; I think we are going to meet often from now on, so I thought it was okay to introduce myself."
"Ah, my name is Kein; nice to meet you."
"Akiyama, a pleasure."
Leaving those last words, the man gave a final nod before walking away again.
"He seems like a nice guy; why were you guys so nervous earlier? Something happened?"
Kein asked curiously, looking towards the girls, but was met by a forceful reply from both of them.
"Absolutely nothing happened!"
"Nothing at all!"
Surprised by the forceful response, Kein turned to look at Leticia, but she simply threw up her hands and shook her head. She didn't seem to know what was going on either.
"Okay..."
"Yes! Everything is perfectly fine! Weren't we going out to investigate? Let's go now!"
With that nervous attitude, Freydis started to run. Kein wanted to stop her but finally gave up, letting out a sigh.
Whatever had happened, that man didn't seem like a bad guy to him.