chapter 5 the world of tenkai

AD33 went to the library that the miss pointed him to. As he went around the guild library, even though the language should be unfamiliar to him, because of the knowledge inscribed into him by the ministers, he was able to start learning the written language of this world.

He took a book named "Story of Tenkai," which describes the many gods that live in the city that have limited their divine powers to feel the suffering of people in the mortal world of Tenkai because they are looking for excitement in the mundane of heaven.

Every god keeps an entourage of adventurers and attendants selected from the citizens of the city, called a Familia.

These groups' main pursuit is venturing into the Dungeon, the maze beneath the city, to fight monsters and retrieve the broken mana stone they leave behind. So they called them mana stones, as he remembers the crystals filled with mana. The gods still exist here; all the gods that have negative effects on the ministers should have been hunted down by the ministers; maybe this is a world outside the domain of the ministers; if so, how can the ministers retrieve him for recycling his being?

Some time passes, and due to his mind being too focused on the knowledge of the ministers not finding him, he feels someone patting his shoulder.

He tensed up, and before he could strike the fool who thought they could attack him by the back when he sensed it was the miss that gave him direction to the library, he stopped himself before he could turn around.

"Young man, I want to talk about you apologizing to me about something." Rose sounded unsure of how to approach the topic with the young man.

Rose saw his back facing her, and he sat in the seating area where he was reading with a book titled "Story of Tenkai" in his hand. When she patted his shoulder, she could feel him tensing up at her touch.

She then asked about the reason he apologized to her half an hour ago. AD33 finally turned to her, still seated. "Ma'am," she said, seeing him turn to her and nod.

"So," she gestured for him to elaborate on the apology.

"Sorry, ma'am, the reason why I apologize is that I lied to ma'am about how I was directed to the building, but the true reason was because I followed a group of people here. I thought they were adventurers going to this building with sacks that I guessed to be mana stones and monster drops they got from the dungeon. I needed information about this city because I was ignorant of many things. I thought if I were to follow them, I would be able to meet people of some status who know where to get information, and the reason why I asked, ma'am, was because you were the closest person who looked official enough to be a part of an organization official to the city." AD33 stopped talking with a long-winded answer.

''I see," she shook her. "Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself to you, young man; I'm Rose Fannett, a receptionist of the Guild." She properly introduced herself to him with a small bow.

"I am AD33 of the ministers," he said, introducing himself back to her with a small bow as well. "AD33," Rose said his name, confused by the name she asked.

"AD33 is not a name, young man," she told him.

"Miss Rose, that was the name assigned to me by the ministers," he told her in a matter-of-fact tone.

"By the ministers, as in a type of nobility?" she questioned him.

He considered if the ministers were of nobility, and he nodded to her.

"Yes, Miss Rose, they should be part of the nobility," AD33 told her.

"May I ask if you are in some way affiliated with them?" asked Rose.

"Yes, Miss Rose; I was raised by the ministers as their mage soldier champion of sorts," he told her.

Hearing the truth from his mouth, she couldn't help but feel sorry for his past: ''Why are you here, AD33? Sorry, can I call you something else, young man? It's hard to properly talk to you as if I'm not talking to a person."

"I'm here because I failed my last trial to be given the chance to live in this world and was unknowingly forced to come here without my knowledge, to this city, and I'm trying to find a way back to the ministers," AD33 told her the reason he was in this city and how he got here.

She heard him talking softly about him failing some sort of trial and being forced to get here because of the failure of his trial.

She started picturing him as a child soldier who was groomed from a child to adulthood, and to give him the motivation to grow as a soldier, they would dangle the promises of them giving him the future, allowing him to live back outside their army, and that he killed the noble and his noble-looking robe can be explained because he took the belongings and wore one of the noble's clothing. Not knowing where to go, he must have lost his way during the time he was out in the wilderness and finally came to Orario to hide from these nobles, fearing them, and now here he was waiting for their judgment of his action. She couldn't help but fantasize about his crazy past.

AD33 just stared at her while seeing her deep in thought, with her facial features constantly changing from being sad to different emotions that he didn't know the name of. 

Rose shook herself to stop fantasizing about his past. "Why are you called AD33 then?" she questioned about his name. He nodded at her words.

He told her the origin of his name and what it stood for. "AD stands for an Artificial Demon that the ministers created using the bloodline of a demon and changing their outer appearance to appeal to them and the citizens, and number 33 stands for my current generation of soldiers. For example, my predecessors were called AD32, while I am assigned the name AD33," he told her truthfully.

Poor kid; he must have been labeled as a demon because of these nobles. Rose started sizzling with anger. What kind of monster would label a young child a demon and have them groomed as their soldier? She felt sad and angry for this young man, who lost his childhood and was innocent; he might even have been abused strongly while they were training him to become their soldier. Maybe it was because of these nobles that his face did not emote even once.

He just stared at her, confused by her moments of silence whenever he said something about his past to her. Maybe I should stop talking to her; he questioned himself.

Rose hugged his face to her chest because he never bothered standing up when they started the conservation. AD33's face is being pressed against her chest, not knowing what to do but starting to lean on her more.

This was the first time he had been hugged and experienced the warmth of another person. He felt tears forming in his eyes but stopped himself first before crying by pushing himself away from her hug.

Rose felt him pushing himself away from her embrace and saw his eyes filled with tears. She ruffled his hair.

"Why not give yourself a proper name to start over here?" Rose advised him.

"What do you mean by that, Miss Rose?" AD33 was confused by her question.

"Don't you want to have the chance to live in the true world those nobles have been saying to you? Why not start that by giving yourself a name that symbolizes a new start with you living in the real world they spoke of?" Rose suggested to him that he take a new name for himself to live a new life outside those nobles' watch.

"How could I miss Rose? Do I even deserve to live for failing my trial in my last given chance to live?" AD33 doubting himself

"Everyone deserves a chance to live, young man," Rose said to her while gently playing with his hair and horns.

"If you think I could have a chance to live my life in this new world, Miss Rose, can you give me my new name?" AD33 stood up in his seating position from before and asked Rose about giving him a new name to try this chance at life once more.

Rose was taken aback by the request, but she accepted it.

"How about Neos or Neo? The word stands for new, like a new beginning, a new life, or a new future. Neos is a word from a language I got from an ancient book I read in the past." Rose gave him a name.

''Neos, a new me, a new beginning," AD33, now named Neos, started tearing up again, and he didn't stop it.

Rose, seeing Neos truly letting his tears fall, hugs him again, showing support. Neos just let her hug him while letting himself silently cry.

As time passed, Neos in her chest gently had her let him go, and Rose saw in his perfect neutral face a little smile.

''Thank you, Miss Rose, for the new name you have given me." With that, he bowed to her deeper than before, and Rose helped Neos up.

"There's no need to bow to me, Neos. Now that you have a new name, we should next start with getting proper lodgings for you, and that should be enough for now." Neos nodded to her word.

Neos showed the mana stones he had acquired from the monsters he had killed. "I read from the book that the guild accepts this mana stone to exchange it for currency," Rose said, seeing the mana stone in his hand.

He must have encountered surface monsters while going to the city. Her misunderstanding of him grew more strongly, thinking he got them from the killing surface monsters when he was trekking to the city, which reinforced her thought of who he was.

Rose gestured for him to follow her to the exchange area, and Neos followed her to what he could say to be a half-elf based on her aura, weaker than that of an elf of pure bloodline should have.

''Neos, this is Eina Tulle, a receptionist of the Guild, the same as me. Eina, this is Neos; I am helping him exchange the mana stone he got from surface monsters outside the city." Eina nodded and helped him with his exchange.

"Neos, you should join a Familia in the future, because it is considered illegal for people who are not in a Familia to exchange mana stones, and the reason why I am helping you this time with the exchange is because you got outside the city." Neos nodded at her words.

"Eina, if I remember correctly, you currently have someone to be their advisor who has just created their Familia," Rose asked her.

"Yes, ma'am Rose, the Hestia Familia is a new family that was just established three weeks ago, with Bell Cranel her only member for now," Eina answered her question.

"Good, can you go to the Hestia Familia tomorrow to guide Neos to them?" Eina looked at Neos for a minute to judge whether he was okay with him.

Neos nodded to her.

Eina then looked at Rose and said, "Yes, ma'am Rose, I can go with him to recommend him to the Hestia Familia." Rose and Neos both thanked Rina.

''Neos, you need lodging in the city for now, not knowing whether the Hestia will accept you into their family. I would suggest going to the Hostess of Fertility to get proper lodging for now. Tomorrow, don't forget to get here at your earliest convenience with a proper breakfast, okay, Neos," Rose told him how to go to the pub.

"I will miss Rose, and I thank you for everything, Miss Rose. I will make sure to repay your help in the future. I will give my help as long as you speak of it, Miss Rose." Neos bowed deeply to both as a thank-you.

With a slight hand, Neos took some mana stones from his inner space to summon them to his hands, Neos took some mana stones from his inner space to summon it to his hands, compressing them while casting an intense and controlled heat in his hand, molding all the mana within all the mana stones, creating one whole crimson mana gem, that he imbued a partial will, that if Miss Rose is in any danger, then it will activate to cast a lesser barrier spell that was in the gem, it would also send a signal to Neos, informing him of her immediate danger, he could have done more to it if he was given more time, but this will do for now, the creation of the stone lasted only a minute before he gave to Rose and informing her of its ability.

Rose and Eina were surprised by the gift that Neos gave her: "Thank you, Neos."

"No, Miss Rose, I should be the one to thank you for everything that you have done for me in the short time we had together; see you tomorrow, Miss Rose and Miss Eina." With that, he left for the Hostess of Fertility.

"Neos, before you leave, make sure to wear your hood if you don't want attention, okay?" Rose saw him turn back and nod to her.

Back at the guild hall, "Ma'am Rose, who was he?" curiously asked her about who or what Neos was.

Rose told Neos about his past based on her misunderstanding. Hearing about his past felt like crying. "No child should have been taken care of that way." She felt teary eyes for him, while Rose just nodded at her words.