Chapter 42: Legendary woman
"What do you want to talk to me about, Mr. Thalion? I don’t think we have much in common, other than the fact that we live in the same city."
After following him without being able to refuse, Lucius was led to one of the restaurant’s main rooms. It was completely empty. Only Thalion and Lucius looked at each other.
Originally, Lucius thought he’d have to face Gerard or Sylph, so he’d stayed on his guard the whole way here. However, when he saw that they weren’t anywhere to be found, he became even more wary.
What was going on?
"Haha, you think so? I think we have more in common than people say." Thalion replied. "Don’t worry, I don’t intend to get you into trouble. I actually came to meet with you to reminisce about old times."
"Old times?" Lucius froze in that instant.
How could he have said "the old days" when he was involved with a young man barely 18 years old?
’Did this crazy old man discover me and keep it a secret?’ Lucius swallowed hard at the thought...
"Yes. The old days with your mother. Don’t you know? She was a member of Ouroboros."
Lucius felt as if a bucket of refreshing water had been poured over him. He felt relieved that it wasn’t what he had been thinking.
"Oh, I see. Really?" he asked, visibly less tense.
He had no idea his mother had belonged to Ouroboros, but since she was a nationally respected researcher, it made perfect sense that she would have been.
"You didn’t know? Miss Asturias was our best member in every area. She knew too much, and her way of investigating, though very ambiguous, always bore fruit. I thought your family had told you about it."
Lucius frowned. "I’d heard a little about it... To tell you the truth, I have memories of knowing my mother, but I also have memories as if I’d never known her. It’s likely that my Fractured Core is interfering with the memories in my mind," he replied.
He was being honest; his mind really was like that.
Occasionally, he felt like he remembered certain things about his mother. Days spent together, months on vacation, or even learning from her... But when he tried to delve deeper into his thoughts, they would fade away, and he realized that perhaps he had never actually known his mother.
It wasn’t very important to the Lucius of today, so he didn’t give it much thought.
"R-really? Didn’t anyone tell you how you were born, Young Lord Lucius?" Thalion asked in shock.
"Hm? What do you mean?" Lucius lifted his head to stare at him, confused.
"Oh... Damn it, I didn’t think the Asturians would be so irresponsible as to not tell you."
"Tell me what?"
Thalion shook his head. "You’ll have to find out for yourself, Young Lord Lucius. It must be written in the Asturian history books. The true story of how you were born. If you’d like, I can call Valerius so he can tell you himself; it’s good for the gifted to know about their past."
’What the hell is going on? Are there secrets behind my birth? Why didn’t they ever tell me?’ Lucius was perplexed, trying to remember with all his might.
But no matter how hard he thought, he couldn’t remember a thing.
His mind was a blank, without a shred of information about it.
He didn’t remember being born in any strange way; his childhood was normal. His only problem was the great weakness he’d had since he was a child and his fractured, shattered core.
’Is it because my birth was different?’ he wondered.
However, he didn’t want to ask any more questions.
"Young Lord Lucius, you have inherited your mother’s talent for creating and researching tools. Have you thought about joining a guild?"
’Inherited? No! I taught myself from the time I was a street kid!’ He wanted to protest, but the words remained only in his mind.
"For now, I’m trying to get into the Academy’s Main Core, Mr. Thalion. I’d like to join a guild, but I don’t want it to be just any guild. So I’ll wait until I’m more successful." Lucius replied.
Thalion nodded. "You have good insight. In the coming days, many guilds will approach you, trying to recruit you. They’ll offer you a lot of money, but try to ignore them. If you ever need money, come to Morwen and ask me personally. Ouroboros depended on your mother for so many years that we have to find a way to repay her."
His words didn’t come alone. They came along with a check that could be cashed within the system itself.
"Just as proof that my words are true." Thalion smiled and handed it to him.
Lucius didn’t check its contents. If they were giving him money for things his mother had done in life, he was going to be grateful and had no intention of turning it down. This wasn’t a donation—it was payment for his mother’s services!
They had made him suffer for so many years that this was the least they could do!
Lucius hid his innermost thoughts before replying. "Thank you very much, Mr. Thalion. I’ll do as you said," he replied.
Thalion nodded and took a sip of his hot coffee.
Two minutes passed in complete silence, until he spoke.
"Although you still have a ways to go before you catch up to your mother, the fact that you’ve reached this level at just 18 shows that your talent might, perhaps, match hers..." he whispered. He seemed to be lost in his thoughts.
In fact, those words slipped out of his mouth unintentionally; upon realizing it, he clamped his mouth shut and sank into his thoughts.
Lucius frowned. ’Was my mother really that good at it? Even though I haven’t yet shown everything I’m capable of as a creator and researcher of tools, it’s hard for anyone from these lands to compare to what I’ve demonstrated,’ he thought.
He’d always known his mother was a woman of great prestige, but was it really that high?
"Are you surprised?" Thalion laughed. "Miss Asturias was so good at it that she managed to turn cursed tools into magical tools that could be used more than once. She called it ’Spiritual Reversal’!"
"Pfft!" Lucius spit out the coffee. He had to cough several times and apologize just as many, but he couldn’t help it.
"Huh? Is that even possible?" he asked, in shock...
