Plans for the Future

It was noon when someone entered Victor's room. That person was of course Luka, carrying lunch for his tenants. Unfortunately, his business wasn't going well recently, because of the monster's assault.

People started to get afraid of staying in the inn any further and decided to stay in the Temple of Ilias. The costs are much higher than that of the inn, but at least people will feel safe by staying there rather than here.

The only person that is still here is Victor, and that's because he wasn't deterred in the slightest by the presence of the monster… At least that was Luka's opinion of him.

He didn't know that it was because Victor didn't want to go through that ramp near the stairs again, and there was a private matter between him and the doctor…

Well, now that there was only Victor in the inn, Luka has much more free time to spend by himself for his preparations. There are still 2 more days before the day of baptism will happen, so he needs to do everything he has to do for the moment.

That doesn't mean he has to neglect his only tenant, though.

When Luka opened the door, he found Victor sitting in front of the window, staring outside. There was a somewhat gloomy atmosphere concealed in the silence of the room, unlike the other times when Victor would simply laze around on the bed and stare at the ceiling or resting.

Luka placed the wooden tray on the table, using the sound to warn Victor that he entered the room. Victor grasped the wheels of his wooden wheelchair and spun them in the opposite direction from each other, turning around.

"Oh, it's you. Good day, Luka." Victor said before he approached his table, near Luka.

Luka blinked and focused on Victor's face, noticing something unexpected.

"Did you… cry?"

Luka's words surprised Victor as he touched his cheeks. There was nothing wet in there, but Luka elaborated, explaining to him how he noticed it. "Your eyes are still red."

"Oh, I see…" Victor sighed and rubbed his eyes a bit. He gave Luka a bitter smile and replied. "Don't worry about it, it's nothing."

"Are you sure…?"

Victor nodded and looked at the table, seeing a large sandwich on a dish accompanied by a glass of water. "Thank you for the meal again."

"Really, it's not a problem for me." Luka replied for the umpteenth time and sat on the only chair that was in the room. Victor raised an eyebrow at his action and asked while gesturing at the large sandwich.

"You want some?"

Luka shook his head. "No, I already ate my fill before coming here. I just don't have anything to do for a short while, so I might as well talk with you."

"Hmm?" Victor glanced at Luka as he picked up his sandwich. "Sure, what do you want to talk about?"

"Well, why were you crying?"

Victor sighed and shook his head. "I was just thinking about my own family and home. Seriously, you don't need to worry."

"Oh. Ooooh…" Luka finally realized what kind of landmine he stepped in and awkwardly shifted around. "...I apologize for making you remember that…"

"They are not dead." Victor cleared the misunderstanding that Luka was forming and replied.

"Ah? Then, what happened?" Luka asked with curiosity.

Victor hesitated before he comfortably lied on his wooden chair. "I just… Well, they are unreachable at the moment. Even if I had legs, or I could fly, I will never be able to clear the smallest fraction of distance between me and them…

I rarely left my parents' side, unless it was for school or they had to work, and I would remain stuck at my home to have fun inside when I didn't have school to do. So, now that I am so far away from them with no hope to reach them…"

"I see. Are they in Sentora perhaps?"

Victor shook his head. He didn't bother shaping up a lie because there was no need to make things complicated any further than now. "They are in another place altogether, outside of the three continents… Anyway, let's stop with this talk. So, how did you end up with this inn in your hands?"

"Oh, it all started with my mother." Luka replied with a smile on his face. "You see, Ilias Village wasn't the place that you see now. 10 years ago, the village held an extremist view on xenophobia. Unless they were devoted followers of Ilias, the villagers will look down on any kind of outsider, and will go in any corner of the continent to hunt down monsters that try to get in the village, even if it was just a child.

They were all prideful of their worship towards our Goddess Ilias, and won't accept anyone's presence, except for people who came from San Ilia of course. Because of that, my parents weren't welcomed in the village when they first arrived here, and lived in this building at the outskirts of Ilias Village."

"Hmm, I heard about that fact of the village." Victor commented as he took a sip of his water glass.

"Anyway, even if the village was Xenophobic, people would still let the outsiders get baptized. If the Goddess would baptize that person in particular, then the village will not renegate them.

However, my mother is not baptized, and my father died shortly after I was born. Because I was too young to be baptized and my mother was alone, the village would make things difficult for us. They would raise the prices of the products my mom bought, and they never sold anything else that wasn't food and water.

Even if it was just for being friends, or even being recruited for a job, no one would pay heed to my mother. For that reason, my mom opened an inn in revenge." A smile appeared on Luka's face as he explained his past.

"It was difficult at first, but soon I laughed from the funny faces the villagers of Ilias Village made when they saw the future Heroes stopping in our inn rather than their Temple. At the Temple of Ilias, you had to pay 15 Gold for each night, with a total of 20 if you wanted to eat three meals a day. Even so, their food was quite bland compared to my mother's.

Because of that, everyone came to our inn at the cheap price of 8 Gold Coins every day with meals included. However, 10 years ago…"

Once he reached that part, Luka's expression turned a bit gloomy. He sighed and shook his head. "Anyway, after then, I was the one who managed the inn alone. There wasn't much work to do, and I took this as a training to increase my awareness. This is why I am still the only worker of this inn until now."

"I see." Victor nodded before he finished his sandwich and his glass of water. "Well, I can only say 'Good Luck' to you, about your journey as a Hero."

Victor lifted one hand and pointed his wrist to the ground. Magically, around 50 Gold Coins came out of his long sleeve, much to Luka's surprise. "The debt is settled, there are exactly 50 Gold Coins for the six days I will stay here and the meals I will eat."

"Huh?! Where did you get this money?!" Luka asked with a surprised tone. He never saw Victor coming out of his inn unless it was just for a stroll, and he also wasn't carrying a single bag of coins. Could it be…

Luka looked back at Victor with eyes open wide and asked. "Did you steal from someone-Oww!"

Victor flickered Luka's forehead with a blank expression on his face. "How the hell am I supposed to steal when I have a broken leg? I already told you that I am able to gain money by doing nothing, you moron."

"Ugh…" Luka rubbed his forehead in pain and looked down on the Gold. "...Alright then, I'll accept the money…" Luka brought out his own money bag and stuffed the Gold Coins in without even counting them.

After he did that, Luka glanced down on Victor's left leg. After some hesitation, he asked. "Are you really sure you can fix your leg?"

"Yeah. As long as I have the money, I can repair the broken bones and maybe even get stronger. However, it will take a lot of time for that… I heard that there is a treasure cave near Iliasport, where the pirate Selene placed her treasure in. If I go there, I might be able to get just the right amount of money to be able to walk again."

"Huh? How does it work? I don't remember any famous doctor here capable of repairing massive bone fractures… Besides, what do you mean you are going there?"

"Well… The first one is a trade secret. How I can do it will stay with me and me alone. As for going there, that's just how it sounds like. As soon as I get a strong weapon and maybe strengthen my wheelchair, I'm going to wheel all the way to Iliasport." Victor replied with a relaxed tone, but Luka was anything but relaxed now.

"EHH?!" He quickly stood up from his chair and slammed his hands on the table. "You can't do that! You will die if you go out!"

"Don't worry about me, I can do it."

"How can I not worry about you?! You are on a wheelchair without any weapon or protection! Not to talk about the monsters living in the wild, your wheelchair can't possibly go all the way there even if there is no one stopping you!"

Victor sighed and replied. "I-"

Just as Victor tried to assure Luka that he could do it by himself, Luka continued. "Since I am going out the day after tomorrow, how about I bring you the money? There is no need for you to move."

"Luka, I need at least 100'000 Gold Coins, not some shiny pocketable jewel. How the hell are you supposed to bring that amount of money back here without getting yourself buried under that mountain? I am capable of holding that amount of money without any problem, just go along with your travels and don't think about me."

With that, Luka finally calmed down and sat down, deterred from Victor's words. "Then… Then… Well, there is no way I will let you go to get yourself killed like this! If you have to be there to carry the money, then how about I accompany you there?"

"This…" Victor frowned at Luka's idea. How is he supposed to refuse him? It's not like he can call himself 'Seer' and tell him what will happen 2 days later. Besides, Ilias is probably watching them.

Seeing his hesitation, Luka proudly smiled. "I trained for over five years of my life with the sword to be a great Hero, I am certain I can protect you from any monster around here!"

Yeah, sure…

He could have hoped to pay up some Heroes from here to help him carry him to the Cave of Treasures, but then he will have to split up the gains from there. Besides, even without counting that there won't be any more baptized Hero from this year and beyond, there is no guarantee that he can find capable people between the new generation…

"...I'll just go along with my old plans. I am certain that I can buy something that will help me with my problem, or employ some soldiers at my side. As long as I can wait, I can get any amount of money I want anyway."

"*Sigh* I really can't make you change your mind, can I?"

"Nope. Sorry but you aren't exactly trustworthy for staying at my side during this trip… If I knew advanced mechanics, I could simply build a metallic leg…" A sigh escaped from Victor's mouth.

"Well… I'll go to make my own preparations then." Luka replied before he stood up from his chair and walked away, leaving Victor alone in his room.

That talk certainly distracted Victor from the thought of his abandoned past, he had to thank Luka for that.

Victor stretched his back over his wheelchair and let out a long sigh. Then he opened his System and went to the Store, before he looked through small vehicles.

Indeed, he will have to buy a better wheelchair. A wooden one is too fragile for him, and also uncomfortable. He will need a modern one if he wants to go through the entire continent of Ilias to get to the Cave of Treasures.

And a metallic wheelchair costs 3'531 Gold Coins, much to Victor's surprise. He grimaced at the thought of staying in this uncomfortable wheelchair for that long. Still, he will have to go through that, as long as he can get out of Ilias Village before everything goes to shit.

Well, like Luka, he will also have to do his own preparations. After Luka closes his inn, he won't have anywhere else to go… It seems he will have to set up a camp in the outskirts of the village after he leaves the inn, or see if there is any free house he can rent.

Anyway, he will think of that when the time will come. For now, it's time to relax.

Meanwhile, behind the door, Luka sighed. Victor is quite strange in his opinion, and there was something 'alien' out of him that kind of scared him.

Even though he had a bad feeling about Victor, he didn't seem evil or anything like that. Rather, Victor is a lazy and easygoing man that knows a lot about life in his opinion. He didn't even judge him for his dream of achieving coexistence between humans and monsters, something that everyone in Ilias Village would think of being ridiculous if they ever heard of it.

It all started with that strange meeting back at the Temple of Ilias. If he didn't feel a weird sensation coming from Victor's presence, he might have never noticed him after doing his daily prayers at the temple and simply head directly to his home.

"...I'll show you that I can be trusted!" Luka muttered to himself in a determined tone. Five days ago, Victor told him that he can do anything as long as he doesn't give up, so he will now prove his words by helping him gather the sum of 100'000 Gold Coins and carry it to Victor in the end! In one way or another, he will do it.

A hero exists to help the people that have problems to be solved. If he ignores the cries of help of a poor disabled, how can he call himself a 'Hero'?! He has all the time in the world to be strong enough to defeat the Monster Lord, so it would be preferable for him to take as many detours as possible.

"How in my Goddess' name can he do that?" Outside the inn, unnoticed by either Victor or Luka, was Eden. At the moment, she is currently disguised as a human sitting on a bench, using her powerful extrasensorial senses to look in Victor's room while she feigned to rest. Her long hair was tied in a voluptuous ponytail, and her clothes now matched those of the people around her.

She decided to abandon the plan of hiding in the shadows when she noticed that Victor couldn't sense magic at all, and decided to spy on him in a more efficient way.

Eden knew that he doesn't have anything inside his clothes except for a sharp dagger, and yet he made 50 Gold Coins appear from nothing. There was the smallest ripple in space as they appeared inside his sleeves, but no magic or energy fluctuation coming from him during that act.

It seemed like he willed those coins to appear from nowhere.

If she could understand how it works, it will certainly make Ilias compliment her even more! How many centuries passed since she was finally able to match Ilias' expectations, and even surpass them?!

He spoke of this 'System', but she doesn't have any idea of what it is and how it works. It seems clear enough that he can indeed produce money by doing nothing, but the problem is understanding the mechanics behind that.

Besides, fixing his broken leg? The only people capable of doing that are powerful monsters and Promestein. And even between monsters, only the ones with a versatile ability like Slime Girls could do that, as they can enter inside his body and adjust the position of his bones to avoid any incident during the healing.

He also spoke about advanced mechanics, which reminds her more of Promestein rather than random monsters. Is he actually as smart as her? No, he said that he doesn't know that subject. However, it is crystal clear that he is one of the few people that can understand a bit of what Promestein is capable of if given the opportunity.

Maybe it could be possible to convince Ilias to bring him to their sides as a spy in Promestein's group, the Seekers of Truth. There is no way someone as arrogant as Promestein is willing to cooperate with her Goddess, and she will prove that in one way or another.

For now, though, she will need to analyze Victor further before she goes to report the next series of information to Ilias. Not just that, she will also have to provide him with Holy Energy like Ilias ordered.

Hopefully, Victor didn't notice her yet. If he was purposely hiding the fact that he knew of her existence, that might cause some serious problems…

…

Victor Luis' (future) Trivia Book: Seraphim

Seraphims are the angels of highest orders after the Goddess herself. Because of the massive power they need to exist, the Goddess Ilias was very limited when it comes to their creation.

There are three currently known Seraphims:

Micaela, the Blade of Heaven, is a serious-minded warrior with an analytical mind. Her intellect is only matched by her immense fighting prowess, capable of seriously hurting the Goddess herself at her prime.

Lucifina, the Daystar, WAS a bloodthirsty murderer with great combat ability. Her skill permits her to stay at Micaela's shoulder, even if she is slightly weaker than the latter. They are also sisters because they are both formed in a special way, with Ilias molding her own energy body to shape them up.

Because of that, Micaela and Lucifina are Seraphim with the greatest fighting strength in the entire army of Heaven. Even the Six Ancestors can't win against them in a team deathmatch fight without preparations.

And then there is Eden, the Garden of Creation. Eden would be considered as a second-generation Seraph because she was created in an alternate way, to avoid the possibility of Ilias losing too much power during her angels' creation. That, combined with the fact that Eden was engineered to procreate several more angels, made her extremely inferior compared to the first two Seraphs.

However, despite that, she is a force to be reckoned. A Seraph can't be treated as a joke, even when they are weakened. Even Eden alone could wipe out the entire life out of a continent with a single attack, much more than what even the current Monster Lord could ever hope to achieve.

Because of their connection with the light energy, they also have an unparalleled ability in manipulating souls. As long as they weren't weakened beforehand, they are more than capable of annihilating any human by simply willing it, ascending them in Heaven instantly. Their sensory abilities are also monstrous, capable of seeing through the souls of their targets and seeing everything about them.

They are the literal incarnation of doomsday weapons made up of Holy Energy. The only good side of this is that they require 100 years after killing them to form up their bodies once again.

There are still some things to take note of, such as 'something' about them being able to be genetically transmitted to their children at their birth.

(Censored by the author of the book)

An example is Luka, son of Lucifina. For some reason, as soon as he fully manifested his seraphic powers, he obtained an innate knowledge of Lucifina's most well-known techniques.

I theorize that there is something below, hidden in one's body behind their flesh and their souls. Could it be the 'will'?

Killing intent is famous through the world, as it is the manifestation of the will to murder the target. If that's the case, then that can leave a much greater variety of possibilities for humanity to stand between monsters and angels as peers, not mere food.

Because the angels are spiritual entities - instead of genes - Seraphim are able to transmit to their descendants their 'will'. That might be the greatest theory I might be able to come up with, but in the end, it is only a theory.

I am not a spiritualist, I am not some kind of ancestral immortal cultivator, I am not a scientist, I am not a fortune teller, and I am not a God. There is no way for me to be able to testify the presence of something as metaphysical as 'Willpower'.

I can only use my experience gained at my hometown to make theories… Maybe it can be used like an Absolute Terror Field from Evangelion.

Speaking of which, that could be another reason why Luka is able to learn angelic techniques without seeing them even a single time.

There is a possibility that what Lucifina passed down on Luka is not her will, but a 'mark of existence'. That is to say that Luka is literally made up of a fraction of Lucifina, which is completely different from Marcellus, who only passed down his fair share of chromosomes.

Micaela and Tamamo, the only living people that lived long enough to understand that, are also ignorant of this fact due to the fact that Luka is the very first hybrid born between an angel and a human, so that doesn't help in this matter.