Chapter 59 - One Year

That scroll came as a shock to Serien who thought Athena was just a saint.

She couldn't understand what that class was and who or what Asherah was.

Plus, she had the fact that she never understood how Athena used magic like a spellcaster and still knew swordplay like some warrior or knight.

But the fact that Athena didn't have skills or spells and yet used spells and skills as she did, was even more surprising and surreal.

Serien frowned, her head cocked, analyzing the soul scroll with inexplicable information.

"What is a ruler class?" Serien asked without waiting for an answer and jumped, startled in her chair when someone knocked on the door. "E-enter!"

Mifa opened the door with an expression of strangeness upon hearing Serien's cracked voice, but then left it aside. "Athena is calling you."

"Oh thanks." Serien dropped the parchment on the table, got up, and went to the door. "Let's go?"

"Let's go." Mifa said with suspicion on her face upon seeing Serien's wry expression.

"What does her highness want?"

"I think she wants you to heal the knight... He sure needs to..."

***

After hours of repetition between torture and healing, Fritt's mind went blank and he no longer reacted.

However, killing him was too easy and so Athena cast {Absolute Barrier} on him and ordered to thrown the knight from the island's edge to the world below.

Downstairs, the knight would suffer from being consumed by miasma even though he was "broken", if he wasn't eaten alive by a monster.

Was after this that Serien bombarded Athena with questions while the queen combed Mifa's tail hair, which had become her favorite pastime.

"What is a ruler? What is Akashic Records? Why don't you have magic and skill at the same time?" Serien paced, as if she walked, the answers would come faster.

Athena and Mifa looked at each other and laughed at the hysterical princess.

"Calm down, let's go in parts." Athena said still laughing. "Sit down first and listen to me carefully without interrupting me."

Serien took a deep breath and let it out slowly, calming down and sitting up.

Serien wasn't like that just for having so many doubts, but for having witnessed a long and lingering torture and still having helped. This had been the first time the princess had done or seen anything like it.

Her hysteria was plausible.

"Well then..." Athena began. "Ruler, isn't it? Apparently it's a class that allows me to subdue any other class, but I don't want it and I'm going to switch, I don't need Asherah's powers." Athena said with a slight anger in her voice. "Akasic Records..." Athena still had doubts if this was Uran who gave her or if she got it after absorbing the natural mana with the help of the Goddess of the End. "I'm still not sure how I got it, but it's because of it that my spells and skills no longer appear on the scroll. I have them and don't have them at the same time? I'm not sure, but what matters is that I can use the spells and skills."

Serien narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. Athena had the power to subdue other people, but she was going to discard it for not wanting Asherah's power.

Here was her next question.

"Who or what is Asherah? And why would it give you so much power? And how did you absorb the mana from the world? I know that is possible to absorb the mana from the mana crystals, but that would be suicide."

"Ah! I already did it." Athena said and both, Serien and Mifa, frowned in disbelief. "And about absorbing mana from the world... Have you ever heard of the 'Mana Drain' magic?" Athena asked, not caring about the two people's disbeliefs.

Serien shook her head. "No, never heard of it."

"I thought not." Athena got up and went to the table in the corner of the room, and with a feather soaked in ink, she wrote the formula and drew what the magic circle of magic would look like.

The truth was, Athena didn't really want to use the skill [Mana Drain] ever again, nor did she want to teach anyone how to use it.

With that in mind, using the knowledge the Akashic Records provided, Athena formulated a new magic with similar principles, but on a much smaller scale.

"Here." Athena handed the parchment to Serien. "This is the 'Drain of Mana'. Now, about Asherah, I won't tell you yet."

Serien looked into Athena's serious eyes. (They say 'don't insist'...) Serien sighed, followed by Athena.

"Now there are two things I want you to do." Athena said as she climbed into her bed and hugged Mifa. "First I want you to go and invite the knights of the empire into the city and serve them with the best drink and feast to them." Athena rubbed her hands on Mifa's bare thighs.

Serien was beginning to wonder if she was doing it on purpose.

Mifa was wearing a loose white shirt and black shorts, with bare feets and thighs.

"And then?" Serien asked.

"Once everyone is drunk and fed, kill them all and throw them at Basilian's edge to the world below. We don't want any traces. Instruct the knights to not take any possessions from the Imperials. Say it to them: If one of them take something and I know that, their will face the same fate the imperials knight." Athena said and Serien listened carefully.

It wasn't something Serien wanted to do, but as she wanted to remain faithful to Athena and wanted the woman to continue to reign, she would carry out Athena's orders exactly.

"And the second?"

"..." Athena rolled her eyes as if searching her brain and then gave up. "No, no... It was just that."

(Did she forget...?) Serien thought.

(Ah... She forgot what she was going to say.) Mifa thought and laughed.

***

"Anemus, I spoke to Mom again today." Fotiá said while running into Gion's library, where Anemus was.

Since Athena's departure, Lunnia had been taking Fotiá to hunt frequently and as the nymph gained more power, more her mind developed and now she seemed to have the mind of a ten year old child, but the body still had the appearance of seven.

"Stop calling her 'mom'! She's not your mom." Anemus growled.

It had been nearly a year since Athena left without a word. Anemus was ready to forgive her... No, she was ready to accept her, but when she sought her out, Athena was already gone.

Anemus spent weeks in the library, crying, pretending she didn't care, when in fact she was the one who cared the most.

Fotiá gritted her teeth at Anemus' snarl and then gave the other a tongue. "You're only like this because I talk to Mommy every day and you can't."

Fotiá said with more intention to tease Anemus, but she just got what Anemus felt right.

Anemus was always in a bad mood when Fotiá spoke to Athena because she was jealous and envious of Athena with Fotiá.

She also wished she could talk to Athena, but if they talk each other, Anemus was sure they would fight.

Anemus was still hurt even though she wasn't quite sure why. She had been angry when Athena had said that Hades and that body called "Athena" was just a character she had created in another world.

And that Fotia and herself... were just characters that belonged to the woman.

What's more, the woman wasn't really a woman... It was something so complicated and impossible to understand that Anemus needed too much time to digest all the information.

But that nymph had already forgiven and accepted. However she couldn't forgive Athena for running away.

But that too was in the past.

(Athena...) Anemus looked out the window of the tall tower where the library was, thinking of Athena.

"Mommy said she misses you..."

"..."

"Ah! She said she became queen and that she is at war right now."

"Um...good for her." Anemus pretended not to care, her heart sinking with worry.

*No! Anemus turned tsundere.... Eww!*