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Present day,

A village near Kagekawa’s home

"I despise my father for dying and granting me the treasury. I despise my mother, who sat idly by and watched as Onyx did whatever he pleased. I despise my older brother, who ultimately caused the death of my beloved younger sister-Myerlin!" Amygdala gritted her teeth in rage.

Chronos wrapped his arms tightly around Amygdala, hugging her in an attempt to soothe the anger that she was feeling. It took only a moment for Amygdala’s irritated face to change into a composed and less scary-looking expression. She placed her hand on Chronos’s scruffy brown hair. "Sorry, am I scaring you Chronos?"

He shook his head side to side.

"My~you really are such a sweet boy Chronos!" Amygdala smiled while closing her eyes.

In the distance, a group of people had crowded the street, blocking it. They were all cheering, with smiles on their faces, as they happily danced and laughed. Chronos faced the crowd and pointed, "Let’s go." He wanted to find out about all the commotion.

They walked with their hands held together and as they drew nearer, a beautifully composed melody began entering their ears. The crowd was surrounding a bard, who seemed to be very well-versed in music. It was quite a large crowd and so they couldn’t see the person playing this serene-sounding music. After a bit, the music stopped and the crowd began cheering.

The bard gave a courteous bow in all directions. At his feet was a feathered, brown hat. "Thank you for listening to my music, donations are greatly appreciated." The bard spoke with a smile and gentle voice. Immediately, the crowd of villagers threw bronze and silver sigils in the hat all while still cheering.

"Thank you! Thank you!" The bard kept repeating while bowing. Soon after, the crowd dispersed and the only people left were Amygdala and Chronos.

"Ah! You two, did you like my music?" The bard asked, while looking at the two stunned individuals. "It’s an original piece called Voyage!" The bard spoke excitedly while packing up his lute. He took out the sigils in his hat and transferred them to an old worn-out-looking pouch. "Haha! I know it’s not a very original title–but just because the Vastos’s guild is called Voyage does not mean I cannot use the same name! There are absolutely no laws that say otherwise, right? Haha..." He wagged his finger and started questioning himself.

The bard didn’t look much older than Chronos, and he wasn’t much taller either. He had a feminine-looking build and at first glance, some may believe he’s a girl. It didn’t help that his voice was also girlish. The bard wore a strange but clean looking clothes that consisted of a green, white and brown colour scheme. He wore a cropped, leather-laced corset, with a white underapparel shirt, which still made his skinny belly visible. Strapped around his waist were two leather pockets. He wore shorts that covered up to his knees. The rest of his legs were covered in white tights and the shoes he wore were simple-looking, laced brown shoes. However, the most strange part of his outfit was the dark green cape tied around his neck.

He took the now-empty feathered hat and placed it on his head and as he was adjusting it, he introduced himself, "My name is Faery, I’m just a humble travelling bard that’s on his way to share his music around the world." He winked while sticking out his tongue. He then bowed, "May I know your names?"

Amygdala and Chronos were still stunned. At first, it was his performance plus the attire he wore. Now his charismatic introduction had left both of them speechless. Simultaneously, Amygdala and Chronos thought, "Quite a character..."

Amygdala quickly shook off her thought and answered, "My name is Amygdala, and this here is Chronos."

The bard smirked, "I see, Amygdala and Chronos then?... Hmm..."

They stared at the bard, who was ruminating in his thoughts.

"...Excuse me-"

"-Beautiful! Yes! Those are beautiful names!" He exclaimed in delight while snapping his fingers. "Well then, my job is done here! I must go where the wind takes me. Haha!" He placed both his hands on his hips as he laughed with his chest brazenly out. He then spun around in a circle with his hand and index finger out, "That way!" He exclaimed once he stopped spinning around, his finger pointed east. He then walked away, exiting the village.

Amygdala scratched her cheek, "Eh-he’s quite a strange person, right Chronos?"

Chronos nodded his head in agreement, "He didn’t even stick around to hear our thoughts on his music...I really liked it!"

"Yeah, so did I!" Amygdala smiled, "Let’s get some shopping done, shall we?"

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Kagekawa’s home

"Arthur, this is just a theory-but that transformation. Maybe it was the soul of that dragon you ate mixed within your own."

"Is that possible?! So that’s what he meant..." He mumbled to himself.

"Arthur?" Kagekawa asked concerned. He looked at the anxious state he was in, sensing his fragility.

"Ah-well, Sedah back when h-he told me that eating the corpse of the dragon girl would make me stronger." Arthur then submerged his face into the palm of his hands as his elbows rested on the table. "Why did I eat her?! Why did I listen to that demon?! Just so I can get stronger...so I can kill him." He cried out in tears of despair and rage. "Seraphina...she was kind and I ate her." Arthur was at the cusp of throwing up. "Why?! Why would Sedah murder her?!"

Arthur couldn’t stop the memories of him eating her. Her flesh and blood were fully consumed by him, and gradually it was merging with Arthur.

"So that white mask...it was the result of me eating her." He continued speaking with pained emotion.

*knock* *knock*

Without waiting for a reply, Amygdala swung open the door, "I’m back darling!" She exclaimed joyously. Immediately after she noticed something was wrong and she saw Arthur’s troubled expression looking at her. She ran to him and pressed his face against her chest. Kagekawa couldn’t help but shy away out of embarrassment.

"It’s okay Arthur..." she spoke in a calm and nurturing voice as she stroked his hair. For a few seconds, Arthur immersed himself then snapped out of this trance. He grabbed both of Amygdala’s hands and jerked his head back and gasped for air. "Ah! What are you doing, idiot?!" He flusteredly exclaimed as his face became bright red out of embarrassment. A realisation dawned on him, this shameful display of himself was being viewed by both Chronos and Kagekawa, though they pretended not to notice.

"What are you talking about Arthur~don’t you like my brea-"

"-Thank you...I’m better now." Arthur cut her off before she could say any more.

Amygdala smiled putting her hands behind her back and grinned, "You’re welcome!"

≡

Five years ago

Joanna

Under the training of her father, Joanna’s proficiency with her sword and magic had become great enough to easily wipe out B-Class monsters with little to no effort.

"Father I’m back!" She exclaimed while entering her home.

"Ah! Welcome back Joanna, how was your hunt?" Joanna’s mother asked.

"It was good-I managed to hunt some Repalines, there were a few of them though, one of them managed to bash into me. Ah! I’m okay though, I’m not bruised or anything." She then slapped her stomach twice before hunching over. "...maybe a little hurt."

Repalines are a B-class monster that looks to be the cross-breed of a deer, more specifically, an alpine as well as a lizard. This monster had the body of a deer but the skin of a reptile as well as a tail and tongue of a lizard. If their tail is cut off it could simply regrow at a slow pace. Herds of repalines could be found hanging around hulls and cliffa. They had unique patterns all over their reptilian skin. If they were a female, a diamond-like patterns and a male would have stripes as patterns. Males were visibly bigger in size compared to their female counterparts. Reptiles have a vegetarian diet and wouldn’t typically attack humans unless provoked.

"Honestly Joanna! You have to be more careful out there." Joanna’s younger sister, Alice, exclaimed out of consideration. Joanna rubbed the top of Alice’s head. "Sorry sorry...there was a whole herd out there haha!"

"I’m serious!" Alice stared angrily at Joanna.

"Sorry...I’ll be more careful." Joanna looked down with a hint of guilt as she scratched the back of her head.

"Hmph! Good." Alice was stern towards Joanna as she cared for her older sister and didn’t like to see her get so needlessly hurt.

Joanna’s mother thought to herself, "Hehe~I managed to raise my daughters well."

"Come on you two! Sit around the table for dinner."

"Yes, mom!" They both excitedly exclaimed simultaneously as they couldn’t help but drool at the fragrant smell of their mother’s cooking. Joanna had been particularly hungry after slaying repalines.

"Ah! Where’s father?" Joanna asked as she hadn’t seen him all day.

"Hmm...I’m not quite sure." Joanna’s mother looked up while having a ladle pressed to her chin. She wore a cute-looking white apron.

Unbeknownst to them, Joanna’s father, Leo d’Arc, had gone to the royal realm of heaven to meet with the head of the Nightingale family, Onyx Nightingale.