Lumina's Thought

The screaming of the beastman prince was continuing nonstop. Kaori already set the magic to automatically take Erick's energy as the power supply so even if she didn't keep pouring her reserve, there's wouldn't be a problem. Besides, it didn't take much energy and Erick's natural regeneration would be more than enough to keep the magic indefinitely.

Age of Gods magic she possessed also wouldn't be able to easily be removed as they were placed as ancient magic level. Perhaps only the best of the best from the elves could do so, but why would such person bothered to come save someone like Erick? Even so Haruto secretly asked Kaori to place some kind of tracking spell, to monitor the prince's condition just in case.

Sabrina and the guards weren't too bothered by the outcome. From now on, they would keep Erick in a secluded place away from public with the reason that the prince was suffering from severe illness. Haruto said he would remove the magic after ten years passed, and even after that he would forcefully deleted Erick's current memories and personalities, returning him to a pure baby state.

This was the front he gave to the beastman's side but in actual, he was going to replace Erick's soul with another soul artificially made using Soul Magic which wouldn't be far below a true soul in quality (around 95% same). Right now it was still hard for Kaori to do that but in ten years it shouldn't be a problem to do so. As for Erick's real soul? He would extinguish it of course.

It's not because he was pitying him but because he didn't want to be burdened for causing chaos on other nation's affairs. He knew Erick was the only prince in the country and there's no way to suddenly tell the public the prince was dead. That's why he chose it this way.

The beast king was the only one reluctant for Erick to receive such treatment but nothing could pardon him from his grave sins. He swore he would educate his son correctly after he 'returned' to a baby. A young adult man with an infant mentality, it was enough to cause anyone looked away from such thing.

The other culprits besides Erick who were also responsible for the case were given similar punishments, except they were going to be killed after ten years passed. The beast king declared them as criminals for the act of treason (lied). They just didn't know Erick would actually face the same situation as them.

Regarding his other demands, Haruto was going to postpone requesting them. The reason being he couldn't think many of what he needed right now. He could ask for money or a lot of treasures but that sounded cheap in his opinion, he should save them for later time when he truly needed something. They didn't say how many could he demand but he didn't think it was right to demand too much as it was not them that was suffering from Erick's deeds. He gladly used them if the victims required something.

As of now, he just asked for some Jet Boots, an extremely expensive magic tool to allow the user to fly in the air. His companions were mostly still unable to fly and that would be a great disadvantage against enemy capable of doing so. Selianna was almost mastered Flight ability with Haruto's guidance but the others still needed more training. He remembered Goku spent a lot of time learning that too. But for some reason the newer generation was easier to learn, he treated that as one of the mysterious thing from the plot.

Sabrina sighed a relief hearing Haruto would postpone his demands. But he made sure to strictly threaten them in the case similar things would happen again, he would immediately publicized everything regarding Erick and he would make sure they would regret it greatly.

And thus, the case of Erick was temporarily ended there. Haruto's group separated from the royal palace's side and went back to their lodgings. Haruna should be returning back to her hometown to mourn her family and friends but she said she wanted to watch Haruto's match till the end as a form of respect for all his help to her.

"Kay~ Say you on your last match then Haru-tan. Good luck okay fufufu."

"Yeah sure, thanks for your help."

Lumina separated from the party after dinner. She often kept her silence regarding the beastman case as she did not intend to interfere much on the matter. The others did not mind this because they never wanted to being dependent on her. They knew they would go for their own ways after the tournament was over.

Even so, Haruto still express his gratitude for lending a hand during the rescue act. It was also thanks to her existence the beastman unable to lay a hand on their party for keeping such dangerous secrets. It was only for now as Haruto never intended to stand behind another person like a coward, he would grow powerful so he could crush the country itself without help.

He never let his pride as a man got the better of him, if he could guarantee the safety of his companions, he would happily compromise.

Haruto wanted to take more training before the finals. He just received a power boost from the rage he had earlier on the day, there's a lot of things needed some try outs.

"Ah sorry Haruto-kun. I wanted to buy some stuffs can you go on your own first? It won't take long."

Kaori said when he asked to accompany him on the training. He shrugged since the girls did often hang around the city time to time. He needed Kaori as a sparring partner and also as a precaution. It's still only a bit past 6 o'clock, there's plenty of time for him.

And so he went back to the inn alongside the other girls, discussing the recent events and other small things.

....

Grape Garden Hotel.

It was a very high class hotel only exclusive for nobles or wealthy merchants. It had a total of six floors made from luxurious materials. The people seen around the place were wearing extraordinary clothing and their talks were mostly regarding businesses or politics.

In one of the numerous deluxe rooms, there's a premium suit chamber that had price ten times than any ordinary rooms. It was located in the top most floor where the residents could enjoy the most beautiful scenery around the island.

Right now the sky was turning dark with the sun could no longer be seen. A lone female figure was standing on a room balcony as she enjoyed the breezing wind of evening and views. Her pretty violet hair was fluttering smoothly behind her head and with her gorgeous face alongside the snow-like skin she had while standing alone there in serenity, her figure looked very dazzling right now.

"Are you not going to say anything at all now?"

She said, still facing the beautiful scenery ahead of her. The face was making casual smile with easy atmosphere on her posture. In this moment, another figure was moving closer to her from the back.

"...It's not like I don't want to say anything. I'm just not sure on what to say, Lumina-san."

It was a teenage girl with long black haired, wearing a white and gold priest-like robe, Kaori. It was unknown since when she was standing in that place and how she sneaked there, only the lady in front of her, Lumina knew.

"Hehe really now? I guess it can't be helped then. So? Can you tell me your reason for coming here Angel-chan? Or could it be you just wanted to play with me~? I don't really mind you know?"

Lumina turned her body on Kaori's direction. The two women was facing each other without much distance between them. Anyone in this place could easily see the two sides were having a completely different atmosphere between each others.

The royal princess was having casual attitude as if she was facing a usual acquaintance, her smile was playful and her eyes were cheerful.

Kaori on the other side was squinting her eyes and put on cautious expression. She didn't have a single bit of casualness and there's tension radiating around her.

"I'm not here to play and I'm sure you already knew why I came here. I wanted to know, just what are you thinking? What did you want from us--no, from Haruto-kun?"

"...."

"I don't see any reason why someone like you is so interested on him and why are you even lending us a hand despite not knowing us that much. Not only that, you even suddenly saying to want to marry Haruto-kun or the like, just what is the meaning of that? I know there's nothing such as 'the prize for winning the shooting game was marrying you', why are you lying?"

"...."

All this time, Kaori was never letting down her guard around Lumina. The others were taking it more easily but she always developed a strong wariness around this specific person ahead of her. Not long after the whole shooting competition was over, she once asked regarding the matter of there being such prize but the answer she got was "A free mansion on the Filtrania's capital", not getting married with her.

Haruto and the others did not notice this with the boy was very flustered at the time to reach the thought, as a result the matter completely slipped their minds. Only Kaori felt suspicious on the whole thing and managed to find out about the truth a few days ago. She wasn't sure whether to tell this on the others or not as she was afraid on recklessly provoking the princess.

Her participant regarding earlier case caused her to make a decision and that was to confront her alone and asked her directly. Before then, she was very suspicious on her but the moment she saw her genuine anger and intention to help them, she decided to try her luck.

Even if she fell here, she would be automatically returned to Haruto's body anyway and had her physical body reconstructed for a period of time.

Lumina wasn't saying anything but her playful smiling face didn't change at all, as if she had predicted this kind of situation. In fact, Kaori herself also kind of expecting this, the scenario of the other side already learning her intentions.

"Hmm, looks like I was found out isn't it? Hehehe~" She said after a brief moment, looking embarrassed like a child getting caught on her prank.

"....You're not going to deny that at all isn't it. Somehow that seems like you." Kaori smiled bitterly.

"I don't see why not? It's the truth anyway." She shrugged.

"Why are you doing this?" Kaori asked.

"What if I tell you that It's because I love Haru-tan?"

"Impossible."

"So fast!? You won't believe me at all!?"

Lumina looked shocked watching Kaori answered in the blink of an eye in serious manner.

"Muu~ You made Lumi-tan hurt you know, stupid Angel-chan!" She pouted.

"Can you tell me the real reason please?"

"Hmph, you really are not fun at all."

Kaori's persistent question caused Lumina to sigh deeply. She turned back against the veranda and observed through the night scenery. Her atmosphere was beginning to change, looking more solemn than before.

"....To be honest, not everything is a lie."

"Eh?" Kaori was taken aback.

"What do you mean?" She added.

Lumina made a helpless smile at this and opened her mouth,

"Before I answer that I want to ask a question first, what do you think about 'life', Kaori?"

Even the way she spoke and called Kaori changed, this greatly shocked her that she could not respond right away.

"...In my opinion, life is a boring thing."

Lumina did not wait for her answer and began talking on her own.

"I used to think life was very fun and fulfilling, exploring the world, making acquaintance, seeing good and bad things, getting stronger, something like that."

"...."

"Right, Haruto said something to that dwarven girl, Haruna, isn't it? That choosing to die is not the right way of thinking. I'm quite moved on his speech at that time. But I can't helped but feel.... he's naive."

"Naive...?" Kaori said.

"Yup, just like the ladies you rescued before, do you think it's worth it for them to keep living?" Lumina nodded and asked.

"T-That's..." Kaori's eyes were swimming.

"See? You're not sure. I mean, they all experienced such brutal thing, even I would choose to die rather than living painfully." Lumina smiled.

"...What are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying you all didn't know anything about 'living' yet, Kaori."

"...."

"1000 years." Lumina said abruptly.

"...Yes?"

"That's the number of time I've been living. What do you think about it?"

"....Well, you're very experienced?" Kaori answered with uncertainty.

"That's not wrong but I don't mean it like that. What I mean, can you imagine living that long?"

"May...be..?"

"No need to force yourself, there's no way you can imagine that. Wait until you reach Transcendence and you'll eventually experienced it directly."

"Is that so? But what's the relation of this talk with you aiming on Haruto-kun?"

Kaori was very confused right now. She was barraged by bizarre questions and didn't see the reason why Lumina was suddenly talking like this.

"....The thing is, I can't remember at all." Lumina said.

"What?"

"About my mother. She died not long after I turned ten years old because of illness. She was supposed to be my most precious people alongside father, and yet I forget about her, her face, her hobbies, her favorite foods, they were all vague by now. I still remember some of my time with her but many of them was now forgotten."

"...."

"There's a painting of her in the castle, but that still couldn't make me remember the detail of how she looked. It was all because of how long I lived.... I mean it's natural right? Even everyone was having a hard time recalling their childhood once they became an adult."

"...."

Kaori was silent, she knew someone was forgetting a lot of their childhood when they matured. But that's a normal person, what about Lumina who was living for a thousand years? It was incredible she still able to remember the events happened such a long time ago.

"Not even father could remember much regarding her by now, just like me. And you see Kaori, father didn't always have that kind of kingly attitude in the past. I still managed to remember, he was supposed to be a very weak guy, unable to get angry at all and always smiled and laughed like an idiot." Lumina laughed.

"The emperor is...?" Kaori was surprised.

"Yes, surprising right? I don't remember precisely since when but it's around the time mother died. My father that was always supported by her had to stand on his own and changed himself to be a suitable ruler. He became strict, cruel, and dignified. By the way, do you know about me running away from home a long long time ago?"

"Yes..." Kaori nodded.

"I did that because I hate my father, I can't accept the way he changed and started to grow distant with me. So thinking I could make him worry, I decided to run away from home and became an adventurer." Lumina said with face full of nostalgia.

"I plead to uncle to help me escape and after a lot of persuading I already forgotten how many of times and what kind of persuasion it was, I escaped the castle with his help. I started to travel the world, looking around many things while going through countless battles." She added.

"That's kinda amazing isn't it?" Kaori commented.

"Right? I was meeting a lot of people that I no longer recall of, partying with them, exploring dungeons, killing monsters, getting assaulted and retaliated, that kind of things. There's many of unpleasant things but I still remember that it was very fun and thrilling, I feel like I truly lived in this world. But then everything started to change...."

"Change...?"

"The way the people looked at me. I was getting stronger and stronger, and before I knew it I already became a Transcendent, a godly being in this world. Before, people used to greet me cheerfully and played around with me but overtime when those people died due to old age, replaced by new generations, my fame already soared through the sky, feared by anyone." Lumina's face was solemn.

"...."

"No one can look at me in the eyes anymore and children would run away when they learnt who I was. That was going for hundreds of years that I already forgot what it feels like to have someone looking at you like an equal."

"Equal..." Kaori murmured.

"Those years passed and I suddenly gained a title of the strongest human because I kept getting stronger. When I returned back home time to time and then after I had all of my current reputation, I was truly happy to know father was always watching from afar, worrying about me, and helped to keep me safe. He didn't bring me back because he thought I hated him. But I don't care about that anymore, I'm only happy that there's still someone not looking at me like I was a monster, like my father and my uncle." Lumina said with emotional tone.

"...."

"Especially uncle, he already lived very long thanks to the Artifact to prolong life and yet his attitude never changed at all, scolding me, and spanked my butts like a parent preaching their child. I don't want him to change so sometimes I purposely caused troubles all so he would be angry at me." Lumina smiled widely.

"So, not all of them were on purpose isn't it." Kaori sighed. She thought Lumina was more descent of a person but it seems like it's truly her nature.

"Hehe you're right. I was happy only by having father and uncle. But then I realized, both of them are going to leave this world sooner or later too..."

"...!" Kaori gasped.

"Father was a strong fighter, but he's not very talented and although he reached Semi-Transcendent, he was unable to step further into a complete immortal. Uncle's life was prolonged but there's a limit on that too. Eventually, I would be left alone in this world." Lumina said with a tinge of sorrow on her face.

'Alone...' Kaori thought, it was just like Haruna.

"Don't you ever wonder Kaori? About why that despite Transcendents were immortals, most of them were no longer in this world ever since millions of years ago?"

"....Yes." Kaori nodded weakly.

"There are two reasons. The first one was because they fell on battle, in other words, killed by someone or out of incurable sickness. And the other reason was..... they killed themselves."

"...."

"A hundred years, five hundred years, a millenium, ten milleniums. They couldn't bear to live so long, alone in this world without their old family and relatives. Even their friends had left the world so the loneliness forced them to commit suicide, the people in this world were all afraid of them to make new acquaintances."

That's not very hard for Kaori to imagine such things, living for so long, your friends and relatives were gone while no one dares to approach you how could they bear to continue living like that? Even if you managed to persevere until a hundred thousands of years what about living until millions, billions, or even trillions of years? Just imagining it made her trembled in fear. The fear of the endless time.

"I was afraid."

Lumina said.

Inside her heart, Kaori also unconsciously nodded her head against such confession from one of the strongest being in this world. She's also very afraid of that, it was natural. No matter how strong you are, it's very difficult to win against loneliness.

"I was afraid of that so I was desperately searching for entertainment everywhere. I don't care if it's a bit harsh on people but I want to find a reason to keep living through the cruel, unending time!

I don't want to choose killing myself in order to escape, I want to believe there's something more, a way to keep living as an immortal. I picked up and raised Lotus in the past because I wanted to nurture her as another immortal so she could accompany me but that still not enough, it wasn't enough to survive through the eternity!" Lumina was speaking with unusual distressed tone.

"...." Kaori was silent once again.

"...And then one day, I finally see a possibility." Lumina narrowed her eyes on Kaori.

"A single boy, and and a group of girls with tremendous potentials. They were travelling together while having their world centered on that lone youth."

"Haruto-kun..." Kaori said.

"That's right, it was your group. When I saw your growth during the shooting competition, I realized you all have potentials on becoming immortals, a Transcendent, just like me." Lumina nodded.

"But, what made us different?" Kaori asked.

"It's because you all loved Haruto. You all get along with each other, and knowing him it's not impossible he would gain more of companions. I finally realized, what was needed so you could keep on surviving and that was, when you're surrounded by the people you cared about and loved you. It was very simple, after all the primary reason for suicide was loneliness and yet this simple fact slipped my mind."

"Umm.." Kaori widened her eyes with complicated eyes. Lumina just casually said they all loved Haruto but that was making her feel giddy and embarrassed.

"I decided, I want to fall in love too, I want to have someone I never wanted to be separated, and also sisters that would always chat and play around with me! It was so I won't be lonely even if father and uncle passed away, so I can keep on living!"

"Lumina-san...."

"Besides, Haruto always looked at me in the eyes. He never afraid of me, nor lowered himself because he didn't want me to be angry. His reaction of seeing me as troublesome, his annoyed expression, his confidence, they were all normal reactions of people towards me that I have long forgotten. That's why if I have to choose someone, I want it to be him."

"...."

"....And that's the reason why I did all of this, are you satisfied now?"

"...In more ways than one." Kaori smiled wryly.

Lumina smiled too and said.

"The other reason I was telling you this is because I want you to be aware of what you'll face if you became a Transcendent. I want you to be able to support each other, support Haruto and never lose your bonds."

"I know. I'll make sure so Haruto-kun, Elly-chan, Rikka-chan, Asami-san, Selianna-san, and Fia-chan together were all living happily without being lonely."

"Un, that's good." Lumina nodded happily.

"....Also, if one day you'll enter our group, we'll gladly be your sisters. So don't worry about that." Kaori said with red face as if embarrassed.

"I see. I'm looking forward to it." Lumina smiled.

"Okay, I guess I'll be going back now, Haruto-kun needs me for his training."

"Ooh? Haru-tan is very motivated isn't he~? Now I became excited to for the finals hihihi." Lumina giggled. She returned back to her usual playful self.

"Yup, he's working hard for the sake of tomorrow. Lotus-san will surely be in trouble now." Kaori also smiled remembering what they did since Haruto learnt the prowess of Lotus.

She turned her back on Lumina and began to spread her silver wings.

"Oh right. Regarding tomorrow, tell Haru-tan to never hold back against little cutey alright~? That girl is kinda stubborn and problematic. She has her own difficulties too but I think Haru-tan can do something I'm not able to do for her."

"I don't really get what you mean but I'll tell him anyway. Also, even if you don't mention it, Haruto-kun never intended to hold back against her you know?" Kaori snorted.

"That's good then. See you tomorrow~~" Lumina waved her hands cheerfully.

Kaori flew off the sky quietly without attracting attention, she took a last glance on Lumina who was still waving her hands.

'Thank you.'

She said inside her heart as she left the place and headed back to where her comrades belonged. Her visit this time had made her learn of a very important thing, something not even Haruto had realized yet. That's why she expressed her gratitude to the lonely princess no matter how bad her relationships with her before.

The day of the finals was approaching.