Emery believed the silver-haired Queen could easily end his life if she wanted to, but despite the pressure he was experiencing, he still wasn't able to contain his temper and demanded an explanation.
"Why are you keeping me here? What do you want?"
Such behavior was certainly disrespectful in front of someone of her status. However, to his surprise, the Ouroboros Queen did not appear surprised nor amused by his actions.
In fact, she looked a little weary, not wanting to waste energy on him.
The silver-haired Queen closed her eyes and sighed before speaking with a calm voice.
"You wolves are so hot-tempered. I'm surprised there are still so many of you alive."
Without waiting for an answer from Emery, the Ouroboros Queen continued her words with a startling statement.
"You are free to leave whenever you want," she calmly said. "But you need to know there is a reason why we have been keeping your existence here a secret and if you are half as smart as people say, you should listen before you decide to leave."
A device was activated and she showed Emery a visual that made him subconsciously constrict his eyes slightly. It was a moving image of a huge arena with hundreds of thousands of people cheering at the fight taking place – a recording of his own fights, against a certain young man wielding a sword.
"That's… Sword… Saint…" Returning his gaze to her, Emery quickly asked, "This… where is this?"
With a voice as calm as moonlight, the Ouroboros Queen replied, "That's the Magus Academy."
When he heard those words, Emery could feel fragments of memories resurface from the abyss and build themselves up inside his mind, of the time he had spent in that place.
Meanwhile, the visual was still rolling, showing what happened next: him winning the fight and being one of the victors, the 3rd place in the Magus Tournament.
The visual, coupled with the glimpse of memories it brought up, assured Emery that what he had just seen wasn't a mere fabrication, and from it, he learned his full name.
"Emery Ambrose… Ambrose… That's my name…"
But even so, other than the familiar words, Emery couldn't see anything beyond them. Ignoring his dissatisfaction, the visual continued on to the next scene, this time showing what appeared to be an award ceremony.
The event that was supposed to be fortuitous and grandiose for everyone watching was instantly turned upside down when the tournament champion, a certain familiar monk suddenly started attacking everyone present. Screams and shouts reverberated through the air as chaos ensued.
At first he couldn't really recall any memories of the event or of him being there. At least, that was the case until the sudden arrival of the elven ship, whereupon his memories started to come back bit by bit.
"Izta… Senior Izta…" Emery began to stir once again when he saw the sight of a particular spaceship crashing into the huge elven ship. An act of selfless sacrifice that had saved many lives.
That said, while briefing about the situation between humans and elves, the Queen also explained about the next step of his journey, which was participating in the secret mission to rescue the kidnapped Magus Academy acolytes.
"Unfortunately, we do not have any visuals about this event." She said with a slight sigh. "In fact, the elves were so embarrassed by this they decided to bury everything, which left almost no info on the matter."
Noticing the look on his face, the silver-haired woman smiled slightly before saying, "However, we have someone here who is a witness to everything that happened that day."
Emery followed her pointed finger aimed at Annara, who stood in her signature pose leaning against the wall. Not only was she there at that time, she was also the one who rescued him, what was left of his soul and brought him to Ouroboros.
When she noticed Emery glance her way, Annara gave him a faint smirk. He didn't need the ability to read her mind to know she was expecting some kind of a return favor from him.
While looking at the visual of him, the queen continued.
"What I see here is a hero of the Magus Academy, but at the same time, you are the elves' number one enemy. The reason for their major failure." She said in a solemn tone. "Fortunately, you've already been confirmed dead, hence no one is really looking for you. So once again, if you're smart, you should not publicize your rebirth recklessly."
Emery considered her words before saying, "I'm not afraid… Isn't it a given? Having more enemies with every successful mission, I am sure that… academy will protect me for what I did"
To his surprise, the Ouroboros Queen scoffed at his words. "Hah! Ignorance truly is bliss. Of course you are not afraid, because you really have no idea what is waiting for you out there."
The queen briefly explained that, because of their status as a bloodline faction with a neutral position between the two opposing sides, the Ouroboros knew some things that those in the Magus Universe didn't.
For example, about how strong the elves really were and the fact they had spies all over the Magus Alliance. Secondly, about how corrupt the human side was and how they could not be depended on.
"Even the Magus Academy that you put so much faith in is no more now…"
It turned out the academy had still not opened its door even three years after the attack. There were even rumors it would not be rebuilt, making Emery's batch the last class to ever graduate from it.
Emery digested all the information he had missed during his unconsciousness with mixed feelings. Nevertheless, if what was said about the elves was true, then he indeed needed to be more cautious.
Finally, Queen Ouroboros ended their conversation with options for him to choose from.
"One, you can choose to leave and return to your home. However, as soon as you reveal yourself, that's when we, the Ouroboros, will stop helping you. We will not even acknowledge that you were ever here."
"Or second, you stay here. We will give you a new identity, a new place where you can take your time regaining your memory, your former powers, the ability to cast spells, and so on."
Emery chuckled when he heard the second option. He then said, "Why are you being so generous to me? Tell me, what would that cost me?"
"There is a condition, but it will cost you nothing."
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