Alnea Oathkeeper had never trusted anyone. At least not after the people in his clan abandoned him. The things that he had been through… The betrayals he had suffered… How could he ever trust anyone? Or so he had thought, until he met his salvation. She did not confide any of her secrets in him. Neither did she hide any of his own secrets. Yet, somehow, just by being next to her, he felt as if he could learn to trust once again.

  Fate had never been king to him though. It was as if it just could not see him smile. So, it let him enjoy a new chapter in his life, waiting for him to let his guard down, before it came crashing down on him, taking away everything from him once again. The Acolytes of Origin… They had not come to his salvation by mistake. They had been led to her. That too, not by anyone else, but by himself.

  The revelation had come crashing down on him like a giant mountain, taking his breath away. To think that his own clan would be involved with the Acolytes. That his own brother would leak his information… Maybe they did not like looking at each other. Maybe, they could not stand each other. But no matter what was said and done, they were still brothers. They shared the same blood. They shared the same mother…

  Mother. That was an unfamiliar term to him. Mother. It was said that no one could love a person more than their mother. To those who said those words, Alnea Oathkeeper had only one word. Liars. A mother was not someone who loved you unconditionally. If, and only if, your being could satisfy her primal desires, would she show you any affection. A lesson he had learned by being betrayed over and over again. Why then, had he expected anything else from his brother?

  They were all the same. All looking to satisfy their needs at the cost of others. Even if those others were their own flesh and blood. Such hypocrites… No, he had not right to curse others. He was no better than them. At least they did not bother with hiding their hostility. He… How could he… To think that he was the cause of all his tragedies all along… To think that…

  Never again, Alnea Oathkeeper told himself, as he took a dip into the depths of despair. He would never let himself repeat the same mistake. Even if it meant giving up what little he had. For the sake of correcting his mistakes. For the sake of saving her from the pit he had thrown her in. For the sake of seeing her smile once again… From then on, he decided to never trust anyone. Not even himself.

  Alnea Oathkeeper opened his eyes, and pushed himself into a sitting position, yawning while stretching out his limbs. At the same time, he could not help complaining about the humour of his dreams. Just after he decided that he could trust more people, it showed him such a memory. What exactly was it trying to do? Give him some message? That he should be more careful?

  Alnea shook his head, as he pushed himself of the ground. What could his dreams say to him? They were just dreams… Alright, they were not exactly just dreams. Still, there was no use worrying about them. Those memories… They were of a different Alnea Oathkeeper. They were of a man, who used to have everything, but ended up losing it all. In contrast, Alnea himself did not use to have anything, but ended up winning it all.

  As such, those memories were not very useful to him. Except for the combat experience, of course. And the techniques that his namesake used. Or his life experiences. He would still trust his teammates. That would not change. But it would not hurt to be a little careful. Especially with the Lotus clan’s schemes—

  No, it was a rest day, Alnea told himself. He was not going to worry about the Lotus clan, or any of their nonsense. Neither was he going to care about anything even remotely related to the world of Wanderers. He was going to take a rest. Though, technically, he still had to attend the team meeting. Besides, he could not just stay in his room for the entire day either. He had to do something…

  Forget it, Alnea thought, before he stopped thinking all together. After stretching out his limbs, and freshening up in the bathroom, he picked up his sword, and made his way out of his room, walking downstairs to an empty hall. He did not care though. It was his rest day. He could do anything. Like just simply laying down on the floor of the hall. Or stretching out his hands, trying to reach out to the murals painted on the dome.

  The murals… Alnea blinked, coming to his senses, before observing the murals once again. Not just the one on the ceiling, but also the ones on the walls and the pillars. It was a nice way to pass his time. Studying the epic depicted in pictures. Apparently, the murals in the mansion were about the Time War. A war fought in the Age of Gods. Or maybe it was of a time even before the Age of Gods. Or else, why would the strange people depicted in the murals dare to challenge the authority of the Gods?

  In any case, it seemed that the war was fought for dominance over the Mysteries of Time. So, one side should be the Gods from the Pantheon of Time. He did see a few familiar figures in the murals. But not of Goddess Yul. Did she not participate in the war? Was it because she did not take the war seriously? Did she have so much faith in her followers?

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  Then again, all of her followers were Gods. It seemed only appropriate for them to be able to take care of all her enemies on their own. Yet, as he glanced at the murals, he could not help himself from having a crazy thought. What if Yul was not the Goddess of Time back then? What if she was just a normal God? A God, who had struggled her way to the top of the world. To the peak where no human could ever hope to reach. What if…

  Alnea laughed at his own silly thoughts. Not the Goddess of Time? It was said that Goddess Yul was born directly from the Origin Sea, with an inherent mastery over the Mysteries of Time. And it was not just her. All the Origin Gods were the same. They were akin to incarnations of their Mysteries, with absolute mastery over their respective Mysteries. How could such strength be achieved through just practice?

  Besides, how old was the story depicted in the murals? Tens of millions years old? Maybe even older. What was the use of thinking about things that had happened such a long time ago? Even if those things were true, it was not as if he could do anything. Most importantly, he was not qualified to speculate about the Goddess of Time.

  “…What are you laughing about?”

  Alnea stopped in his actions, and looked to the side to find Vestia smiling at him, as she sat down on a cushion next to him. Using his Aspects to hide the flush on his face, he pushed himself back into a sitting position, before turning towards Vestia with an embarrassed smile.

  “It’s nothing. I was just thinking about the story in the murals.”

  “You mean the Time War?” Vestia said, glancing at the murals on the walls. “Indeed, if one looked at the war from the perspective of the Gods, the war may seem funny. But if you think about it from the perspective of those unknown people, you will find how brave and courageous those people actually were. To dare to fight the Gods…”

  “…I did not laugh at their courage. On the contrary, I admire them to be able to stand up in the face of absolute death. It takes great courage to fight despite knowing that you are going to lose and die. Such people are worthy of nothing but respect. It is a pity that they lost. Still, their legends continue till this day, does it not? In a sense, we can even say that by facing Death, they have become immortal.”

  “…I had almost forgotten how good you were with your words,” Vestia said, inadvertently flashing her dimples, as she let out a light laugh. “It would be a shame if you did not pursue an official career.”

  “Official career?”

  “It means, becoming a leader. Just with an official tag, recognised by a certain clan or a force.”

  “…I plan on joining the Union in the near future.”

  “The Union? Great. Then we can continue to be teammates in the future.”

  “…You can join the Union too?”

  “Of course. Anyone can join the Union.”

  “Even those from Orthodoxies?”

  “Even those from Orthodoxies,” Vestia said. “The Union itself was formed by the union of Orthodoxies in the first place. It was only later, when civilian Wanderers began to rise, that the union became the Union of Wanderers. But that does not stop the Union from recruiting Wanderers from Orthodoxies.”

  “…Would your clan be fine with you joining the Union?”

  “Rather than coming at me to find faults, I think they might be happier if I joined the Union. Especially since… You just need to know that Union encourages Orthodoxies from all over the world to send their Wanderers to join the ranks. Sometimes by incentives, and sometimes by force.”

  “And the Orthodoxies allow this to happen?”

  “It cannot be helped. The Union has righteousness on its side. And it does need fresh blood from time to time. Not to mention that even when it forces Wanderers to join them, it gives them enough benefits to pacify their indignation. It is just that, such Wanderers will never be offered any important position in the Union. And given my position in the clan, it is very much possible that I might be asked to join the Union. That, or… In any case, it is better for me to join the Union on my initiative, than to be forced by situation. Besides, you have not forgotten about the promise you made me, have you?”

  “Of course not,” Alnea said, shaking his head. “I always keep my promises. It is just that I though you would only be accompanying me, and not joining the Union. And that you would leave after I helped you deal with… you know…”

  “…Are you so eager to get rid of me?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Then are you not happy with me being your teammate?”

  “Only a fool would reject a teammate like you,” Alnea said, grinning from ear to ear, as he stretched his right hand towards Vestia. “Welcome to my team, Vestia Weina.”

  “Then I will be in your care, Captain.”

  “It will be my pleasure.”

  Vestia withdrew her hand with a giggle, flashing her dimples at him once again. She was just about to say something, when they saw other Star Seekers walking out of their rooms one by one. Restraining the grin on her face for a normal smile, she turned back to him, and said, “About the favour you asked of me—

  “Let us decide how to handle the other information you have collected first. We will talk about my favour after the meeting.”