Upon seeing the picture that obviously had Nial's family made the veiled woman feel confused. She looked at Nial for a few seconds before her head turned to the younger self of Nial in the picture.
'He lost his smile.' She immediately realized. However, not long after, the veiled woman looked at the picture of the young woman he was pointing at.
There weren't many similarities between Nial and the woman, but one could tell that they were siblings.
"Do you know her?" Nial repeated, noticing that the veiled woman didn't say a thing yet.
His heart was beating wildly, and he knew that it was highly risky to show a picture of him and his family to a complete stranger.
After all, his family had been kidnapped, and if the Heaven's Gates organization were to find out that he was searching for them, they might do something to him.
Nial couldn't be sure about that, but it was definitely better if he were to act carefully.
However, right now, it was not possible to act too carefully. He had to know whether the veiled woman was his sister, or not.
Even if she wasn't, the veiled woman might know his sister!
A light headache overcame the veiled woman, and she didn't move even a tiny bit while staring at the picture.
"Doesn't she look like…?" She mumbled quietly before she shook her head, continuing the unfinished thought in her mind.
'No that cannot be. Master's sister said that she was raised in Liondra. Nial comes from Katu according to the intel Kirlia collected…'
The veiled woman was feeling conflicted. The identity of the disciple of her Master's sister was even more important to remain a secret than her own identity.
Kristine, her master's sister, was adamant about the fact that nobody found it out.
"Look like who?" Nial asked, taking another step toward the veiled woman. Now, he was standing right in front of her.
The flowery scent of her hair splashed on his face, and her breathing became louder. The veiled woman had never been that close to someone of the opposite gender.
Her mind was in a mess because she could clearly see the veins at Nial's neck, and the rippled muscles below the tight clothes he was wearing.
At the same time, the fact that she was not allowed to reveal the identity of Kristine's disciple made things even more difficult.
'I don't even know if they look the same. I never saw her entire face…' She could only think, frowning deeply.
'And it's actually not possible for them to be siblings. One of them never left Katu before participating in the Teradan military camp, and the other one never left Liondra since she was born in it…'
"I may know someone…who looks similar to her. I guess the girl in your picture is your sister. If that's so, the person I know cannot be the same person beside you in that picture."
The veiled woman had to try hard not to act weird, even if her heart was beating wildly as Nial's flawless face was not even a meter away from him.
She could clearly see his chiseled facial features, his milky white and lifeless eyes that were partially covered by his silver hair cascading down his head.
He was definitely handsome, but Nial didn't know that. Nial never cared about appearance, simply because it was not something he could see either way.
"Not the same?" He mumbled, completely disregarding the short distance between him and the veiled woman.
It didn't really matter to him, and the last thing he could think about was being considerate, or rational.
'Didn't she just say that Sabrina looks like someone? Or did she mistake her?!?'
Even if the veiled woman was not his sister, she should know his sister.
The Heaven's Gates organization was the only clue he had about the whereabouts of his family. The veiled woman's answer troubled him a lot and his expression turned worse with every passing moment.
'What happened to his sister that made him act like that?' The veiled woman thought, her mind slowly calming down after she took a step away from Nial.
"Wait…if you're wearing a veil all the time, is it possible that others from your organization also follow the same dress code? Are all disciples required to wear a veil?" Nial's hopes were already crumbling and the thought of everyone wearing a veil had flashed through his mind as some sort of last lifeline.
He hoped for the best but expected the worst. His heart was beating wildly and he could barely hear anything from around him.
Nial's senses were going haywire, which made it difficult for him to even breathe without feeling odd as the cold air he inhaled irritated his senses a lot.
"Not everyone needs to wear a veil, just the most important disciples, I guess."
That was the final answer of the veiled woman. Nial's expression eased up, and he took a few steps back before taking a few deep breaths.
He felt like hugging the veiled woman because he was so happy, but Nial knew that Kirlia would actually kill him the moment he would dare touch her.
Thus, he could only smile vibrantly at her.
"Thank you very much for your information. I will definitely repay the favor and help you when you're in trouble. If you have any questions you can also come to me, I will answer them as well as I can!"
Saying so, Nial turned around. He was about to rush back to his and Mathias' tent, only to halt in his tracks as he turned his head one last time.
"By the way, what should I call you?"
Nial knew that she wouldn't tell him her real name. That was why he didn't even try to ask her for it.
'Just what is wrong with him? Did I really help him in any way? My information should have been completely useless for him… it should have demotivated him, not made him overly happy…weird…'
She was not able to comprehend why Nial was happy about the information she provided him. However, it was not as if she disliked the idea of Nial owing her a favor.
The only thing was that she didn't actually think he had any reason to believe that he owed her something.
But the veiled woman didn't say anything, she could sense that her master was already waiting for her. Thus, she turned around, which made her ignore Nial's question at first.
However, she didn't want to leave him just like that. It was odd for her to act like that in front of someone of the other gender. Normally, she would feel like beating them into a pulp the moment their eyes fell on her.
The same was not the case with Nial, mostly because he couldn't look at her in an inappropriate manner.
There may be other reasons the veiled woman wouldn't acknowledge, even if they were to be true, either way.
Nonetheless, she halted in her tracks and muttered a single word before she returned to her master once again.
"Hana"
After hearing the veiled woman's name, Nial also went back to his tent. There, he encountered Mathias, who was already waiting for him.
His friend wanted to hear every single detail of what had happened.
However, Nial's mind was somewhere completely different.
'Hana…I get that it's not her name, but why do I feel like I have heard this name already. No, it was not a name but something else. Didn't it mean something in a different language, one of the old languages that have been in use before the dungeons appeared?
Well, maybe I'm wrong.'
Nial felt that the name 'Hana' was not as simple as he first thought. But without the necessary time to research it, Nial could only accept everything that had just happened.
'I had already guessed that my sister is someone important because nobody would kidnap her otherwise, but it seems like I have to hope that the person Hana spoke about is Sabrina.
Even if Hana says that it is not possible for her to be Sabrina, you never know…'
Nial found Hana to be a good person, and though their first few encounters might have been a little bit weird, he could tell that she was not a bad person.
That was more than enough to feel reassured to know, at least, one good person from the Heaven's Gates organization.
This calmed him a lot and it allowed Nial to avert his attention to an issue that was of much more important than he wanted to acknowledge.
"Niall, heyy, Niall!!! Won't you tell me what happened? I heard there was a meeting with all the important higher authorities. Did the Sacred Knights leader bring you to the meeting as well??" Mathias asked.
He was excited and could hardly hide it. Every single time Nial was included somewhere, things would get interesting.
Mathias might not have liked trouble all that much in the past. However, right now, he could hardly contain himself. If Prometheus Originals accepted Nial and considered him important enough to be included in their meeting, things would certainly get interesting.
After all, he had mostly been disregarded in the Teradan military camp, only to emerge as the best or, at least, one of the best participants.
He had made the most gains while being one of the Originals, who were the most recent to awaken their origin when the Teradan military camp had started.
"Okay, calm down. I will tell you everything. The Prometheus Originals will make an announcement later, either way. But let me tell you about it in detail…."
Saying so, Nial explained what happened in the last few hours. He left nothing while providing his friend with the details about the descending plateau, how it was created, and so on.
He even told Mathias that it was likely for one or multiple existences to have collaborated to allow the plateau to descend.
Of course, this was just a theory of Nial and not something he had shared with the others. Everyone believed that it was just one existence, who had caused all the ruckus, everyone excluding Nial.
His thoughts were different from the others, and he didn't share everything that was on his mind with the others as well.
'One created the Abyssal dungeon that had harbored aerial beasts, the one used his divinity to create the physically-attributed Mutant Minotaur, and the last one exploits everyone to make his plateau descend, which seems to be focused on generating lots of mana, and a vigorous nature full of life.'
That was Nial's final conclusion, and it was also the only reason for him to have a little hope about the descending plateau.
If the race descending with the plateau was in favor of life itself and helped it grow, they might not be hostile to the human race.
This was also the reason why he wanted to stay in Juna, even if others would be inclined to leave.
"I want to stay as well! Facing a foreign race has always been my wish. Maybe there will be Faes, Mermaids, Dragonewts, Dwarves, or some other races!!!" He exclaimed, feeling exhilarated. He couldn't stop thinking about the only things of his past life that had brought him a bit of joy; the stories of foreign races, fairy tales related to other races, and much more.
Nial noticed his friend's reaction but he didn't say anything. He merely smiled before nodding his head.
"Let's stay here and see what awaits us!"
**
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