Ryuu Lion

In a certain district east of Orario.

The moon had already set as the sun began to risen, in the courtyard of the hostess of fertility a flurry of wind can be heard early in the dawn, high-pitched ear-piercing gust of wind sounded over and over threatening to throw off anyone whose weak and dumb enough to got near the site.

Serious uptight and beauty like that of a fairy, she had dyed her hair green, she has the characteristic long elven ears.

She was wearing a light tunic and short pants that swayed in her every movement showcasing her alluring curves that betrayed her femininity; slender silky white fair skin, swinging her long wooden sword early in the day to not get rusty.

Each of her swings is swift, precise, and terrifyingly sharp yet at the same time it was elegant and noble.

Her eyes narrowed as she looked up and the sun started to reveal itself.

"Is it time?"

Murmured Ryuu Leon as she finished her morning practice, her body glistening with a thin sheen of sweat as the early morning cleared.

"It's not enough."

Her true feelings unconsciously escape her lips.

Once she had invited her co-workers who were plenty strong themselves for a spar but after the spar they refused to come a second time.

Trying to recall the reason, why would they refuse to spar with her, apparently she hadn't controlled herself back then and had gotten overboard, after the spar they began calling her 'training junky' and complained that she doesn't know the meaning of holding back.

~~~ Flash back ~~~

"I'm not going to train with you again." Lunoire Faust .

"You always go too far! You stupid elf!" Chloe Rollo

"Brute elf, idiot elf, battle junky…" Anya Fromel.

~~~ End of flashback ~~~

"I guess not."

…

Entering the pub, Ryuu saw May a cat girl just like Anya and Chloe working hard cooking several dishes as Anya and Chloe assisted her.

She was confused, it was early in the morning and the pub had just opened, who would order so much food?

"Ryuu, your late go and get dressed already we have a customer."

Said Chloe while she handed over a tray of ingredients to Anya who then sliced the vegetables with precision.

"A customer? Only one?"

"Yeah, mama Mia seems to have ruse someone again."

"…"

Ryuu was speechless recalling her very own experience of how Syr and Mia had tricked her long ago during her lowest time, she got scammed but instead earned more than the amount she had lost.

Ryuu came out from the kitchen after she was done cleaning herself and getting dressed, and carried two servings of food.

Her eyes immediately focused on the sole customer of the pub and the moment her eyes lay on the person, for some strange reason, the sorrow deep within her that had been dormant all this time is slowly fading as if it were being purified, as if she was back in the days together with her long-lost friends.

Back on the counter where Kei and Mia are still having a conversation while Mia cooks.

All of a sudden Kei's eyes widen shifting his gaze to the elven beauty.

They locked eyes and Ryuu was entranced for a second dropping the servings on the floor.

"You idiot elf!"

Mama Mia's annoyed scream snaps Ryuu back to reality.

"…"

But Ryuu was still recovering.

"I'm sorry madam, Mia. It's my fault."

Kei told Mia in an apologetic tone.

"Your fault?"

Mia was confused.

"How should I put this."

Kei then told Mia about his 'Holy Presence' which passively heals people who haven't gotten over their dark experiences.

"Would you keep it a secret, I cannot really turn it off."

He said to keep it a secret but did not lower his voice when he was explaining it to Mia, and with Ryuu's heightened senses of that of a level 4 she clearly heard about its effects.

Moreover, it was a lie, Kei can freely turn its effects off as he pleased, but he did not because he was planning to help Ryuu Lion from the beginning, it was one of the reasons why he visited the hostess of fertility.

Though Kei did not know the full details about Ryuu's dark past except that her Familia seems to have been wiped out from the face of the earth, except for her.

He only got to watch season 1 of the series after all.

Kei doesn't have any ulterior motives in helping Ryuu.

Or does he?

He honestly wants to help her and that's all.

A pure and untainted desire to help.

And Mia could tell that Kei was being honest about his words.

It's not like a god could tell whether Kei is lying or not.

Kei who shifted his gaze back to Ryuu was shocked as he lost his balance and stumbled to the ground.

Kei hadn't noticed it earlier because he was busy explaining about his art to Mia but spirits of Ryuu's former comrades were literally embracing her, making Ryuu cry out in tears.

"Hey, kid is this you're doing?"

Mia questioned in astonishment.

"To be honest I don't really know how my skill works."

Replied Kei shrugging the back of his head.

Kei doesn't have any idea how his 'Unique Skill: Hope' works even after spending plenty of his 'Unique Skill: Prestigious Insight's' power and time in the past 5 years into it.

What he knew is that 'Hope' is a part of a greater power, like a broken puzzle unless completely fixed understanding it is utterly impossible.

…

"Stop crying you crappy elf." Kaguya.

"Oh, there she is again." Lyra.

"Kaguya, don't be hard on Ryu." Ardee.

"My beauty knows no bounds, even death is not enough to cast away my brilliance." Alise.

"I don't understand what you're saying captain, but it's good that you're as cheerful as always even if you are dead." Lyra.

"You're right, Kaguya. I apologize for being a crappy elf." Ryuu replied as she knelt on the ground and started crying more.

!!?

"Kaguya, you've done it. You made Ryu cry." Alise.

"She's already crying." Kaguya.

"You worsened it." Ardee.

"As expected of the far east princess, her words are just as sharp as ever even in death." Lyra.

…

"Hey, kid, this isn't an illusion, right?

Questioned Mia as she observed the interaction of Ryuu and her friends spirits.

"I don't think so. They seemed to be genuine."

Kei replied after a thorough analysis of the subjects before him.

"So you can summon the spirits of the dead?!"

"Who knows!"

Kei was being honest.

"But why are those four the only ones that can speak."

Mia asked after realizing that the other spirits were just there observing the interaction of the five.

Kei was also curious, so he used his "Unique Skill: Prestigious Insight" to get to know everything and after a minute of analysis Kei got his answer.

"Probably because the others are just lingering projections of their souls, they must have already entered the cycle of reincarnation except for these four."

Kei pointed at Kaguya, Alise, Lyra and Ardee.

"You sure have a lot of knowledge about souls aren't you."

Mia was surprised that Kei was able to answer all of her questions.

"Well I can confidently claim that except for gods of reincarnation and death I might be the most knowledgeable person regarding the topic of souls."

Kei wasn't lying because he has several souls that he could use as guinea pigs, these souls come from the people he had encountered in his travels similar to the trifles that tried to rob him before arriving in the hostess of fertility.