Ch:61 – Aftermath

"Is it over?" I asked, unsure.

"Yes." My father reassured me. "The system gave me a spirit slayer title."

"Ah," I felt happy, but slightly jealous. I received nothing after that.

"Here." My mother fed me a low-quality mana potion. Its hue was far lighter than the previous ones.

"Thank you, Mom." In two gulps, I finished it. The mana within me recovered slowly. It was not instant healing. The reason we used better potions was so that every bit recovered was a higher amount. Considering I used two elements simultaneously, that was the best solution.

The grimoire left my hand and fell on the floor, transforming into a more human figure.

"Thank you," she added coldly.

"You're welcome." The smile on my face widened. It was quite a rare occasion to be thanked by the great Aurora.

"I'm finally free from the sage."

"What was that?"

"A spirit. A tormented soul with a body of mana fused with a curse. The sage, he..." her words stopped for a moment. "He created many unique things."

"Was it a human?" My dad got up feeling less drained, his expression a bit clearer. He showed an unusual interest in this.

"The sage? Yes. Very human, too human. The spirit? Likely from torturing a fairy to death, a more spiritual kind of being. I consider humans a fleshlier kind."

"Fairies created the seasons by the order of the gods."

"I've read a bit about that too," I added, catching their attention.

"The sage is on its way to this world," she sighed, fixating her icy eyes on Luke.

"The summoning ritual," mother whispered loud enough for us to hear.

"We can't become his enemy, Aurora! He will help the saintess." Our dad shouted at her, causing me to open my mouth surprised but no words from me followed.

"I thought you didn't stand on the religious... spectrum?"

"I stand on the humanity side." He extended his arms to the sides. "We're humans..."

Aurora looked away from him, placing her sight on the mirror which showed her reflection, looking at herself from top to bottom. 

"We won't. As much as we have a history with him. This time around, the sage and the hero will be on our side."

I heard my parents exhale deeply at the same time. They knew she was stubborn but not a liar. She was quite straightforward despite being someone who spoke a bit here and there.

Those words must have reassured them.

But not me.

I had seen how fast she had murdered my family without knowing much about me, even less about them. She did it based on watching how my stepbrother had stabbed me. Perhaps one of them was bad, but she didn't wait to find out, nor went out of her way to do some research on the rest.

Thus, for a personal reason, like sealing her, and whatever happened... I believed that death or worse would, without a doubt, come for the sage and the hero.

"Dad. How much experience did you receive?"

"None. I'm a max-level healer. I would need to raise my class higher, but I couldn't find how to."

"After all this fun, work awaits."

I nodded as my parents left my room, leaving me with my sister.

Unfortunately for them, working adults didn't have breaks when they needed them the most.

'How would all of this affect me, if she succeeded in her revenge?' I wondered on the 'her' part, considering 'we're' in this together. Wouldn't the death of a hero be a villainous act? Wouldn't that make me a villain? 'A villainess... and her grimoire. It has a good ring to it.'

Yet all I truly wanted was to survive and be able to protect my family and friends. Not to avenge Aurora's past matters, and as the master in this special relationship, I could easily forsake it.

'Would I get a hero slayer title?' My curiosity about this matter was bittersweet and rather tempting. I was lacking in titles and achievements. 

After my father said he received no experience due to his class being maxed... it brought me some anxiety.

'He must not know how to develop further.'

And how could he? The limited knowledge that humans hid from other humans.

I found myself with my stomach twitching, disgusted by the followers of Aria. How could they monopolize information like this? Humanity would not progress at this pace. The territory had shrunken as time went by. History reflected the wrong choices of the church and nobility. I figured both were accomplices. 

'How can I fix this?' 

Unlike others, I wished those around me, my race, to develop further—to push back the enemies of humanity.

'Was this why she wanted to join the army? To change the soldiers' minds and show everyone that we can do better?'

I felt like I had become just a little bit more like my sister.

Not that I wanted to.

Sure, I looked up to her.

But being myself mattered the most.

I lay on my bed, feeling exhausted.

In the corner of my eye, I stole a glimpse of Aurora, who silently watched her silhouette in the mirror.

"Who are we?" I finally asked, still drowsy from the last fight.

She mumbled as if thinking about it.

"I am Aurora. I'm certain of it."

"Then who's Aura?"

"She and I. We belong to an ancient race. We're both the last of our species."

"What race? Where is she?"

"She's... somewhere. I don't know."

"The last time you saw her?"

"We split from each other. She went ahead to protect the empress and her daughter. I stayed on a different front to lead the army against the sage."

"Was he strong?"

"Well. We both lost."

Our eyes met for a moment. Her voice didn't sound like someone holding regret.

"Are you not upset? I would be." I declared, remembering losing against the goblins who almost took my life. The tuskboars who ate my party members. My hands trembled just thinking about it.

"He turned out to be more creative than I thought." Her fingers took the pencil from my table. "Romeo, the sage. That man should have become a painter."

I remained silent, unsure where she was going with this conversation.

"I know for a fact that Aura is not dead. That by itself is quite scary. You fear her, too, right?"

"I do?" I leaned my head back a bit, raising my sight. "Why would I?"

Aurora averted her gaze from me, looking at the mirror and transforming into a white-haired girl.

"She used to be a good kid," she sighed. "She looked just like this. Then, the world broke her beyond repair." Porcelain skin and long white hair, like in my dream. A cute young lady without a smile, no special characteristics. Blue, serene eyes devoid of life. Then, she went back to grimoire form. It seemed she no longer wanted to talk.

And yet, I wondered about why someone as amazing as Aurora feared her.