Chapter 121: New Mission.

"What the hell was that..." Strax murmured as he left his father's room. A lot was going through his mind, but now he only wanted to understand one thing...

"Antares... what a strange name." He muttered. For some reason, he couldn't see this name as a human name. It seemed related to... "Dragons?" He had heard this name somewhere, but he couldn't remember where, especially now that he knew some of his memories were corrupted. This became clear with the System giving them as rewards earlier...

"Why is everything so difficult..." His tired murmur showed that his emotional state was compromised. At least he didn't want to deal with more of this crap. "I don't know why that old man called me, but... why did it feel like a farewell?" Strax started walking through the mansion's corridors calmly.

The atmosphere seemed gloomy, and he couldn't see any staff working; it was as if they were on vacation. As he turned the corner, he encountered Diana, leaning against a pillar with her arms crossed as if she had been waiting for him. Seeing him approach, she turned around.

"How was it?" she asked, seeing that he looked very tired. Tired was an understatement. After suffering a spiritual attack of that magnitude... well, he was alive, right? So, he was okay...

"Besides being hit with a spiritual attack and him telling me I have a big target on my head, I'm alive, aren't I?" he said, sounding quite sarcastic, but she noticed he wasn't doing too well with it. "Did he tell you about Scathach?" Diana asked, and Strax nodded, pondering some important things before deciding to ask something... "Did you know her?"

Diana's face darkened as she looked down as if something came to her mind, a distant memory she didn't like... The silence became somewhat uncomfortable, and Strax just commented, "Seems like you don't have good memories, well, I don't have many either," and continued, "You don't have to answer, it's okay."

"It's not that I don't want to... it's just that I don't like remembering that scary woman..." Diana said as if she were... afraid? She really didn't want to remember the woman who was Strax's mother...

"Are you okay?" he asked, seeing her hand give small spasms and tremors. "Y-yes... I just remembered something bad." Diana said, trying to compose herself. "How strange... I thought my mother was kind and cute." Strax said, and Diana almost fell backward at the declaration...

"K-kind? C-cute? Boy... I recommend you do some research on who your mother was twenty years ago..." she stammered and continued firmly, "But this is not the time for that. I have a mission for you." Diana said, and Strax's attention was completely captured. After all, he really needed to complete missions to get out of this hellish Duchy and go after what really mattered...

"Good... now I just need it to be far away," he thought. He still needed to find an elf and a dwarf skilled enough to make homunculi for Ouroboros, Tiamat, and Xyn. "What do I have to do?" he asked, somewhat excited.

"All in good time. Your father just asked me to alert you about this, but I forgot because of my anger... In a few days, a messenger will come to your house to inform you about the mission." Diana said, and Strax's face looked lifeless. "What's wrong?" she asked, trying to understand his reaction.

"Hey, you idiot, you could have said this earlier! Now it makes sense why he was warning me about leaving the Duchy and that I had a big target on my back! It was because I was leaving! You idiot!" Strax said, leaving Diana without a reaction, after all... it was her fault.

"So, first. Let's start with the fact that I am a huge target," Strax said, and the women's eyes widened in surprise.

"W-What do you mean by that?" Beatrice asked, and Strax began to explain calmly, of course, without mentioning Monica's part for now.

"But being a target of the Samira Family is that serious?" Beatrice asked, but Monica beside her already looked at Strax a bit upset... She had already understood what he meant, how could she not?

"Tsk... that crap," Samira muttered. "Blaze is considered one of the biggest producers of Mages and Swordsmen after Vorah, besides... there's my sister... Damn it." She muttered furiously. Samira's words went over Beatrice's question, and Strax took advantage of that to shift the focus.

"Besides, we have a mission soon, and we need to prepare," he breathed deeply. "Many problems ahead."

"What kind of mission?" asked Samira, the elf, her eyes gleaming with a mixture of anxiety and desire... Well, she couldn't stand being stuck in that place anymore, especially when she felt like she was being held captive; she loved exploring new places!

"I don't know all the details yet," admitted Strax. "A messenger will come in a few days to inform us more. But one thing is certain: we need to be ready to leave the Duchy and face whatever comes."

"Additionally," he continued, "we need to locate a skilled elf and dwarf to create homunculi for Ouroboros, Tiamat, and Xyn. This will be an extra task of this mission; if they informed us about our names, it means this mission is outside the walls." He said, turning around. "And now, we have a name to use." Strax said, placing the pocket watch on the table.

"Isn't this the..." Monica murmured, after all... She had seen that woman before, and although she didn't know her... she had seen her many times before... "That crazy woman." Monica said, catching Strax's attention.

"You knew her?" He asked, after all...

"Who is she to you, Darling?" Monica asked... after all, none of them knew Strax's mother, how could they? His mother had been sick since his birth and was always "hidden" from others...

"She's my mother, before the illness." Strax's words hit Monica's ears like a flaming arrow.

"Ah, damn it... of course, you're strong... you're the son of that monster." Monica said as if she were frustrated with something... "How did I not think of that? Of course, that was it." She said as if a memory passed through her mind.