I carried the girl in my arms... ... Taking her to the family manner would be the wrong move at the moment. I had to carefully plan my next steps. I had to take her somewhere else. Luckily, I had a place in mind.
[Warp Gate]!
[In the academy dorm complex; Ophelia Hall; Room 254]:
On the cleanly laid bedsheets of my now nostalgic dorm room, an occurrence I thought impossible even with my new found handsome body was unfolding... ...
[Thought]:"I have a girl in my dorm room!!!!"
I chose to keep to my recurring gimmick of Secrecy, sitting in the dorm room lounge chair as I crossed my fingers Infront of my mask. Summoning an apple from my inventory, I played with the fruit in hand as I reflected on the events of the night and what this girl had to do with it.
Was she safe?
And even if she was, why put herself in constant danger. It all felt strange, as if the universe was trying to communicate with me and yet, I couldn't find the meaning of their message. Her silky hair was radiant, even in the dim glow of the light crystal lighting system in the dorm.
After what felt like an eternity of stirring around and mumbling in her sleep, she opened her eyes.
" Huh!? Haaa!.... Haaaa!...
Where am I?
Did I actually just have a bad dream? Was it all... ..."
As she woke up, she muttered to herself, not noticing my presence in the room. I decided to put on a big of a show, respondong to her muttering in the lounge chair that was conveniently placed near the window to allow subtle cinematic moonlighting.
" No... ...it wasn't a dream. I owe you a great debt for saving me from the brinknof death".
" So it wasn't a dream and that place, was real!"
" Yes, you were in my white void".
[Summons a portal to his void beside him and closes it again]
"In the world of shadows, I needn't know your name even after our paths have crossed twice now. However,pardon me breaking that protocol. What is your name?".
Cheshire's question seemed to trigger memories as she clenched the bed sheets.
"So you remember, I never got to thank you for saving me the first time and even today... ...
If you must know, my name is Sakura, Sakura Kazuma.
The mention of that name put August I'm a daze, his sent astray with thoughts;
[Thought]:"But, how!!! Is she who I think she is? You have to be pulling my leg, universe!!! The hero and his wife died, his daughter was abandoned!! There's no way a five year old survived the harsh landscape and had descendants of the hero!? She couldn't be an other worlder too, she's speaking the language of Grandiose!!! I have to ask! But I can't let her on to any information about my curiosity!!"
In a calm but forcibly composed tone, Cheshire spoke,
"That name, I've only heard of such a name from the descendants of the hero... ... Do tell, are you a descendant of the hero from the five-hundred-year-old legend? If so, where do you hail from?"
"To be honest, I'm not sure where I am or where I'm from... ..."
Her response was vague and felt heavy for her. It was as if I was scratching at her open wound. She seemed lost and frustrated. That would explain why she never left the forest. Perhaps she lived there?!
"I won't force an answer out of you if you wish to be confidential"
[Thought]:"Besides, it's also possible she's the last living legitimate heir of Masayuki's bloodline"
" That's not the case at all, you saved me and I owe you an explanation for saving my life at the cost of your own... Although, you might find my tale a tad strange, I must worn you".
[Thought]:"Stranger than a suicidal person being punished by a goddess to kill a bunch of holy knights in another world, while staying In a dead boy's body? ...girl, try me!!!"
"My mother was a saint select from the backwater domain of Noltsvoldia. As for my father, he was a man from an entirely different world all together..."
[Thought]:"Wait, the backwater domain of Noltsvoldia, isn't that domain from five hundred years ago before it was divided into the domain of Vansneath and Arch-wind? Also, her father is from another world? That confirms it, she's Sakura, the only daughter the hero had with his wife before they died. But, how?! It's been five hundred years!! Am I talking to a ghost or something?!"
"... My father was quite an influecial figure. He was the hero that vanquished the Demon Lord Val Demiose. He was Masayuki Kazuma".
[Thought]:"although I had already deduced it, I had to act shocked to keep up appearances".
In an exaggerated shock, I spoke... "The hero's daughter?! Impossible!! It's been five hundred years since his death!! Perhaps you have elven blood? But Noltsvoldia, that domain was sub divided into the Vansneath and Arch-wind domains years ago. And it wasn't an elf settlement".
"... Yes, I'm not of elven blood. You see, after my father saved humanity, he was forcibly engaged to the daughter of Duke Coldinore. After which both my father and mother were pronounced dead after they went on a dungeon raid. I was entrusted to my stepmother, who abused me in every sense possible with her illegitimate children which she claimed were my father's..."
[Thought]:"So the current knights don't even have the hero's bloodline. So how can they use holy magic and how did Lumina get tricked?! Huuuh! That damn goddess!!"
"...after some years of hard work, I still hadn't awakened any power like my father's. And so, they cast me out of my own home, threatening to silence me should I attempt to tell anyone that I was the hero's daughter. Soon after, I turned fourteen and unlocked the hidden class of Cloak Assassin. With the class, I was able to rise to the top in the underworld as an assassin... ... Although It was gruesome to take the life of another, I still did it. I wanted to kill my step uncle, my stepmother's brother who was sent with my parents to that dungeon.
After ten years of assassin work, I finally decided to kill him...
However, the day I arrived at his manner, I discovered that he was into the occult. Hanging on his walls were the mutilated corpses of women my age. I held back the urge to vomit, searching each floor of the manner for him. I eventually chanced upon him in the basement of his mansion. There were strange creatures perfectly preserved in glass jars and a magic sigil large enough to unleash a grand scale tactical spell. It was a summoning sigil. In a place like the Claudius domain, unleashing a sigil like that would summon a monster capable of destroying half the domain... ... I had to stop him. I charged at him, holding him back as best I could. He was weakened from constantly taking all manner of drugs. He attempted to flee, but I wouldn't let him. Instead of running as I expected, he activated the sigil and from the portal, a being of darkness emerged. It had a single streak of white on it's face. And it's face had no eyes, ears or even a mouth...As it appeared, he screamed in joy as he marvelled at what he called a god.
The being soon grew bored of him, killing him in an instant with a single motion of its hand... ... The being was intense with aura and it spoke in an ominous tone. I believe it's exact words were, "all shall be in accordance to the will of The Darkest One!!"
I decided to stand my ground, believing that dying as a hero was good enough. I charged the creature, using my unique skills to combat it. However,my efforts were futile. The so called God tore of my limbs and slammed me to the ground as it vanished from the basement.
I knew it was over and braced myself to join my parents in the afterlife. My only regret then, was that I never even recovered my parent's bodies from the dungeon. I was sure I had died, but the next moment, I opened my eyes to see a forest and a river. Looking at my face, I realized I had reverted back to when I was fourteen. I didn't recognize where I was and my magic class was not working. As a matter of fact, that evening was when you found me. I had given up on all hope to live, now that my revenge was complete. I gave up on trying to regain my class and surrendered to the monsters.
By saving my life you gave me new found hope and I was able to force a reawakening... ... It was also the reason why I couldn't let you die".
[Thought]:"The Claudius Domain; the domain of steel and might. It's the Baltimore Empire's weapon source and the oldest domain after the capital... ... I guess I have a place to investigate for clues now... But, who is that being and who's The Darkest One?"
As my thoughts carried weight in my mind, Sakura stood up from the bed, walking towards me as she held my gloved hands, giving sincere thanks for all I had done. I was heavily flustered, taking back my hand as I dismissed my actions as something paltry. She refused to except it, telling me not to down play my heroic deeds. She seemed to feel disappointed as I said that.