Heaven's Greatest Professor

Even if Ai wasn't blind, she didn't think she could perceive Twilight standing behind her with her eyes. It was only through special spiritual awareness, like hers, that one would be able to discover her if she did not want to be seen.

In her spiritual awareness, Ai found the outline of a disconcerting presence whose very reality seemed to warp around her, making it difficult to maintain an awareness of her for long. She was like a ghost, and she did possess some ghostly abilities, like phasing through matter.

Twilight was tall, taller than her by half a head, with her whole body covered in tight attire and an obnoxious mask on her face. Her eyes emitted a light that Ai inferred as a fearful purple. Her figure was lean and athletic, always ready for swift movement at a moment's notice.

Twilight's way of spirit arts was more unique than most people Ai had seen, and she had encountered at least four people with unique systems that stood above the norm in her travels. However, the assassin's gifts were essentially too good for the job she had been sent for.

"So, how have you been?" Ai asked.

"Well," the assassin answered curtly, reminding her again that Twilight wasn't in the mood for conversation. Their mutual friend described Twilight with a unique term from his language, which their common tongue seemed to lack. He called it "autistic," though Ai wasn't sure if he was joking or serious. Dealing with him was always that difficult.

Ai had found herself in this foreign realm two years ago and only managed to get in contact with Twilight half a year ago. She hadn't found any of her other friends or the people who should have come here with her. Even with her divination power, she was unable to get any conclusive answers about this fiasco. Well, divination was always like that.

Ai had a vague sense of when or where she might find them, though the answers were ambiguous and difficult.

"So, did you get any news about what we are looking for?" she asked ambiguously, unaware if anyone was listening to her. She was in a palace, after all, where countless people with countless objectives and schemes resided. There was no shortage of people who might take an interest in her.

"Yes," Twilight said and took a couple of steps to stand near her. "There has been news of a petite girl with golden hair and a huge white wolf on the island on the other side of the Republic."

"That's half a world away, as far as I'm aware," Ai replied, a frown appearing on her brows.

"More than that," Twilight expressed. "Those isles are untamed. It's difficult to get there; you need to know the right people at the right time."

"Then how did you get news of her?"

"I have my ways," Twilight said, not revealing anything more. It was so like her.

Ai contemplated the information for a few seconds. The journey to those untamed, uncharted islands would be challenging. It probably would take more than just a few months, but it was still one of the conclusive pieces of evidence they had received about one of their companions—two, actually, if you count the spirit beast.

"Before you decide to leave for the uncharted lands to look for her," she said, "I want you to do something for me."

Twilight remained silent for a while, her expression unreadable. Then, remembering Ai was blind, she asked, "What?"

"I want you to make a quick trip to the empire."

"The Empire is leagues away from Iman," Twilight said with a certain hardness in her tone. "It wouldn't be a quick trip, if I have to go through without proper lines."

"Listen to me," Ai sighed. "Finally, I have managed to divine something concrete. It might be what we are looking for."

"I know what I was looking for," Twilight said, her tone resolute. "And they were the companions of my employer. But what if he's still there alone? He needs your help, our help."

A silence descended between them as Twilight took a moment to say, "He is dead."

There was a finality to her tone as if she had already resigned to what she had heard or seen that day.

"Did you forget the divination?" Ai pressed with a pained voice, her heart twisting inside her chest. She spoke after a silent moment:

"Twice he is born, twice he will die.

Once the Untamed Storm, all remembrance lost,

Twice the Brightest Star, for all the fates he bears."

Ai still couldn't interpret these lines completely correctly. That was her being a novice at this oracle business. Still, she couldn't help but bear a tiny hope in her heart. At least not all the divination had come to fruition. No, not yet.

"My employer asked me to look after his companions until I pay what I owe him," Twilight said. Her voice was flat like always, making it so hard to understand what she felt when she said that.

"It is bigger than what your employer asked of you. Have you considered what else might have happened when they ripped apart the subspace?" She calmed herself and thought more diplomatically. "Look, I know what he asked of you is important. But so is finding out the truth of the matter. The archipelagoes are uncharted and nearly impossible to get to, but the Empire is not."

"I'm fairly certain we would get something big there. And I am hardly wrong most of the time," she said ruefully. "What is there to lose? It'll take a couple of months at worst. Perhaps in that time, I might be able to find a way for you to navigate those untamed islands."

Twilight stayed silent for a long time, as if reserving her thoughts. If Ai did not feel her presence in her spiritual awareness, she might have thought Twilight had already left. But that wasn't the case, just like her. Twilight was lost in this foreign realm, where they had no other connection or companions.

"Where do I have to get to?" she asked at last.

Ai sucked in a deep breath. "To the southern lands, closer to the wasteland."

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End of Volume One: Once The Untamed Storm

Next: Volume Two: All Remembrance Lost