Chapter 71: Shadows from Behind

Shivering with fear, Saiba thinks,

"What? What happening? Who are these people? Am I gonna die? After doing all that, I'm gonna die to some nobodies? Guess if I'm gonna die, I'll take a peek first..."

He turns around and is faced with a set of pearly, white fangs. They sparkle and steal all of Saiba's focus.

In complete shock, he jumps backwards. He closes his eyes and puts his arms in front of his face to protect himself. At the same time, he hears laughter.

The voices seem familiar. Carefully taking a peek, he looks at the two other figures. One of them shouts,

"You were supposed to get stronger, weren't you?"

The other mumbles,

"Hero, get a hold of yourself, will you."

Looking side to side in quick succession, Saiba shouts,

"Lily!? Lazaro!?"

They pose all cool-like as Lazaro announces,

"In the flesh!"

Saiba shouts,

"Long time no see! How have you guys been? How'd you know to meet me now?"

Lily replies,

"One question at a time!"

Lazaro mumbles,

"Oh, she's back. I was wondering when her anger issues would come out again..."

Lily stares Lazaro down while asking,

"Hm..? Anger issues, you say?"

As he's getting his soul ripped out of his body by Lily's gaze, he slowly tiptoes behind the third figure.

Saiba looks back and sees a woman not familiar to him. Frantically he asks,

"Who are you!?"

The woman replies,

"That's no way to ask someone who they are!"

A little nervous, Saiba reaches his hand out while introducing himself and saying,

"I apologize! I-I'm Saiba Okumura... Legendary hero of Estrelia... It's a pleasure to meet you..."

The woman firmly grips his hand with her own muscly grasp and replies,

"My name's Laineus Felencia, but you can call me Laine! I'm a [Warrior] of the Estrelia Kingdom!"

Laine is a tall woman with tattered clothing. Her abdomen is exposed, revealing a chiselled six-pack. Her toned arms are also revealed and she wears tan pants that cover her legs. On her back, she has a long spear with a glimmering, silver tip that's securely strapped onto her.

She has rugged, scarlet hair and reflective, feline eyes. Additionally, her fangs are very prominent in her smile. Saiba thinks,

"What is she? An amazonian? A bodybuilder? But she looks like a cat, so maybe... An amazonian bodybuilder cat human!"

Saiba changes the topic by asking,

"So what were you guys up to while I was about babysitting?"

Lazaro peeks out from behind Laine and answers,

"We were actually training..."

Saiba asks another question,

"Training? You two? That seems kinda hard to believe..."

Lazaro adds,

"With... her..."

Saiba leans in towards Lazaro where they can whisper as he mumbles,

"Training with her? How was it? She seems strong..."

Lazaro explains,

"Strong? You could say that..."

He continues,

"It was like hell... Figuratively AND literally!"

Saiba questions,

"Literally..?"

Lazaro replies,

"She uses [Fire Skills], man... They're scary..."

Saiba turns back to Laine while saying,

"Ms... Laine, was it? Th-Thank you for training my friends"

Laine replies,

"As long as I get, I'll train anyone!"

She adds,

"You know, I've heard all about you, Legendary Hero!"

Blushing a little, Saiba mumbles,

"Oh really? Heh... Heh..."

Laine tightens her grip, stares Saiba down menacingly, and mutters,

"You're the one that's saving the Kingdom, huh?"

Shivering in fear, Saiba replies,

"Y-Y-Y-Yes ma'am!"

She lets go and suggests,

"You better do your job right."

Standing upright, completely frozen, he answers,

"Yes!"

Straying away from Laine and towards Lazaro, Saiba whispers,

"I see what you mean now..."

Lazaro nods in agreement. Laine starts walking away while waving and saying,

"Alright then, I'll be off! Go save the Kingdom or something now... Lily, Lazaro! I'm won't be training you anymore, but you two have to promise me you're gonna keep get stronger, alright! If you're staying with this kid, you're gonna have to!"

Lily silently nods and Lazaro calls out,

"Of course!"

She turns to the three and grins with her fangs out. Opening her mouth, she roars and is enveloped in a veil of red flame.

The flame fades as she seems to disappear. Saiba thinks,

"Her too!?"

He looks over at Lazaro who has his mouth wide open in shock. He stutters,

"Wh-Wh-Wh-..? H-How..?"

Teasing Lazaro a bit, Saiba elbows him lightly and mumbles,

"Getting worked up over something like that? I'm already used to this! I'm a legendary hero, after all!"

Lazaro replies,

"Sh-Shut it!"

Lily bonks them both on the head as the two fall to the ground. Saiba picks himself back up, rubbing the spot where he was hit, and mumbles while chuckling,

"Ah... I really needed that..."

Lily looks at him with a slightly disgusted glare. She changes the subject and says,

"Come on guys, we have somewhere we need to be, don't we?"

Lazaro jumps up while exclaiming,

"Yeah!"

Saiba questions,

"Hm... It seems like we're forgetting something..."

Suddenly, they get interrupted by a loud moo from behind. Saiba turns around and shouts,

"Uma!"

He pets him while suggesting,

"The gang's all back! Let's go, guys!"

They venture off onwards to their next destination.