Chapter 18

"Fuu..."

Rayto inhaled as he sat on a chair, inside an empty cafe. Before him was a small cup filled with tea.

Rayto relaxedly sipped the tea, resting his back against the backrest of the chair he sat on.

[Strength: 18.3]

[Speed: 30]

[Durability: 21.5]

[Stamina: 24.2]

[Origin: 23]

"It's like I'm playing some kind of RPG game with me as the character."

Rayto mumbled, sipping his tea. It felt incredibly satisfying to watch his stats grow.

The stats were integrated with his human body, but when riding the dragon machines, they improved along with the use of the Force Core.

Currently, Rayto's speed stats were on par with—no—they were leagues above that of Olympic level athletes.

'By now, I could have become some super human in my former world.'

'Yet, I don't feel like one.'

After a few more minutes of waiting, the door to the cafe opened, and a silver-haired young man entered.

"Hm..."

The silver-haired male looked around the cafe before his gaze fell on someone familiar sitting in the corner.

Spotting him, the silver-haired boy nodded and approached.

"Rayto-san," he called out, taking a seat in front of him.

Rayto, lost in his thoughts, suddenly blinked as he looked at Lux taking a seat in front of him.

"Oh, you're here already, Lux."

Saying that, Rayto placed his teacup on the saucer and looked at the smiling Lux in front of him.

"Since you're here, let's get straight to the point."

Rayto exhaled, leaning back in his chair as Lux nervously smiled and scratched his cheek.

'He really is a straightforward person,' Lux thought in a somewhat nervous manner as he closed his eyes, as if mustering up courage.

Despite Rayto's bluntness, Lux didn't dislike it.

Then after, he had probably mustered up the courage he needed? He then exhaled. "Alright then."

"Let me introduce myself again."

"As you already know. My name is Lux Arcadia. And..." Lux then pursed his lips after saying that.

The same tone that he had used to introduce himself, now dropped, and became more deeper than the usual friendly tone.

"... The former prince of the old empire."

Lux introduced himself, for the second time.

Rayto himself, narrowed his eyes as Lux introduced himself.

The air around Lux was different from the typical and friendly Lux, Rayto had been with yesterday.

He remembers him only having this type of air around him when he is in battle.

Lux head had hung low as he ended his introduction. It was now at this time Rayto tilt his head to the side, seemingly in thought.

"I see."

'Is it the insecurity about being the prince of a fallen empire?' Rayto thought about it then he instantly denied that thought.

As someone just getting familiar with the world, Rayto's reply was, well, a little lackluster.

His tone didn't convey surprise or anything along those lines.

Naturally, Lux was left speechless when he saw Rayto's reaction. It was like he was completely clueless.

Of course, it wasn't that Rayto was entirely clueless.

He had read some information about the world background from the system.

The system had given him basic knowledge, but anything beyond that was for him to discover on his own.

"Rayto-san, you don't seem surprised or shocked or anything?"

Lux tilted his head as he asked, to which Rayto simply rolled his eyes around.

"Uh... Should I be?" Rayto then pursed his lips before continuing. "I only know that they rebelled against the old empire, and that's about it."

"Rather, should I be surprised you're a former prince?"

From Rayto's standpoint.

He had already died once.

Now, he had been reincarnated into a fantasy world, where he is now stronger than the likes of bodybuilders of his past life despite having a teenage physique.

—Anime logic!

Not just that, he had piloted a mecha that operated on nuclear energy.

So, what's there to be currently surprised about at this point?

"..."

However, for Lux hearing Rayto's words, he was momentarily lost.

Or perhaps, he was thinking too much into it.

Now that he thinks it, most people weren't aware of what really happened that day.

Rayto's response was actually to be expected. "I see..."

Lux's voice trailed off briefly, before he continued. "Ahh—Yesterday, you said you wanted to know why I attend those mock duels, right?"

Rayto nodded.

He had found it odd.

With Lux's level of skill, aside from the military, Lux's abilities were undoubtedly the kingdom's finest.

Coupled with his defensive tactics, Rayto imagined Lux would be far stronger if he were on the offensive.

He was also curious why Lux never took the offensive, but that was for Lux to answer.

"After the rebellion against the old empire, my sister and I... were branded criminals by the new empire."

"As the sole survivors of the royal blood of the old empire, we were eventually pardoned. However, ..."

Lux paused, touching the black object wrapped around his neck, "we were charged with a massive debt."

"I am to perform odd jobs for the citizens as a way to repay that debt."

"While my sister...."

Rayto listened, initially opening his mouth to speak but then closing it.

But then, after moment of contemplation, Rayto finally spoke, interrupting Lux between his words.

"How stupid..."

"If your ancestors were watching you, I'm sure they'd be rolling in their graves now." Though his words were harsh, Rayto sympathized with Lux.

"Well, I can't blame you. They have your sister as a hostage."

"However, aren't there better ways to repay those debts, aren't they?"

Lux, initially shocked by Rayto's blunt words, watched as Rayto frowned deeply while looking outside the window.

"Ahh, they did it on purpose."

"Going by that, unless you somehow luck out with a princess of this empire, your debt repayment is basically impossible."

"But—" Lux started, but Rayto cut him off again.

"They could have you serve in the military, no? Everybody in the kingdom knows how strong you are."

Rayto pause, then pointing at Lux, he continued. "You're a valuable asset, and I can say this with full confidence."

"Lux, you're stronger than this, aren't you?"

Rayto's gaze fell on the black sword device hanging by the white one on Lux's waist, a glint flashing through Rayto's eyes.

"..."

"Same as you, Rayto-san."

Lux, like Rayto, gazed at the oddly colored sword device next to the wyvern sword device hanging by Rayto's waist.

"You're also a divine drag-rider, Rayto-san?"

Lux asked, though not surprising as he had seen it yesterday, but he said those words just to confirm.

"Well, it just kind of happened. My dad was an irresponsible—ahem."

"Pardon me." Rayto coughed interrupting his words before shrugging nonchalantly.

...-

Lost in thought for a minute, he ordered a tea for Lux, who began sipping on it.

Then, as if struck by an idea, Rayto spoke up.

"Lux, since we're both divine drag-riders, how about we destroy the new empire together?"

Rayto asked with such a mischievous tone that Lux ended up spilling his tea on Rayto.

"Bro—ack! What the hell."

Fortunately for Rayto, with his superfast reflexes, he was able to easily dodge the liquid from spilling on him.

"No, cough cough, how can you just suggest cough something like that?"

Wiping his lips, Lux coughed as he set down his tea cup on the table.

Rayto hadn't been serious about what he had just said, perhaps trying to lighten the mood, but it seemed to have had the opposite effect.

'I'm really bad at this, huh?'

Rayto rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then shook his head. "It was just a joke, don't take it seriously."

With Rayto's change in tone, Lux stared at him exasperatedly.

'You sounded dead serious when you said that though.'

But since Rayto insisted it was a joke, Lux decided to take him at his word.

"By the way, Rayto-san, what are you planning to do next?"

Lux cleared his throat as a maid approached to clean the table and collect the empty tea cups.

"Let's see..."

Even though he acted as if mulling it over, Rayto had no plans in mind.

In other words, Rayto was empty-handed in terms of ideas.

He had simply been following the directives of the system, and he would continue to do so if he wishes too.

Since the quests given by the system weren't compulsory, he could do as he like.

"...Well, first things first, find a suspicious figure wearing a black hood," Rayto said nonchalantly, without much thought.

'Rayto-san being Rayto-san, I guess.'

Lux, somewhat surprised, wryly smiled before gazing out the window.

Afterall, he too didn't take Rayto's words seriously, much like the person himself said those words nonchalantly.

However, ...

As if fate was playing pranks on him...

"Huh?"

His voice held surprise as he glanced outside the window for a moment.

Lux then blinked, slowly pointing outside the window, catching Rayto's attention.

"By suspicious, you mean... that person over there?"

Rayto blinked in disbelief at Lux before following his gaze.

Sure enough, there was a black hooded figure passing by the cafe windows on the other side of the street.

"Seriously?!"

"Shit!"

"After that person!"