"Please open this website."
A Libretãnhya investigator says, fiddling with his computer.
"What a mess!"
He looks at Slady, who just looks at him innocently and neutrally.
"You haven't explained to me why you want my computer yet."
Normally, Slady wouldn't let anyone mess with his computer. But it was necessary due to the case involving his murders, which were requested by people and paid for by them.
The investigator scrolls through the website, seeing several requests for the so-called "X" to murder several criminals with large payments of Lynes.
"It's nothing different, just another one!"
The investigator says, frustrated.
"What else?"
Slady asks.
"There's a hitman who basically hacked several computers and managed to insert several IPs on his website so that no one can track him."
"I see..."
Slady puts his hand on his chin, his plan had really worked, very well.
"But is he a bad person?"
"Yes, very much!"
"Why?"
"He has already killed hundreds or even thousands of people, there is a lot of blood on this person's hands!"
"But from what I've seen, they are criminals, isn't that great news?"
Slady asks, crossing his arms.
"No! He is not a judge to judge these men or women. If he has criminals to report, he should report them to us, the police, right?"
The investigator asks, looking Slady straight in the eyes
"Of course..."
He says, but in his mind, it would be something closer to this:
'Sons of bitches. If you did your job right, I wouldn't have to kill these pieces of shit.'
After all the quick checking, the investigator tilts his upper body down in a gesture of apology.
"I apologize for disturbing your day, Mr. Slady. Good luck with your work as a librarian."
"No problem, take care."
Slady says, letting out a deep sigh.
'Idiots...'
He rests his hand on his chin, thinking about a few things.
'At least I left the girls at Faller and Victoria's house, they are good friends to trust my daughters with.'
He stands up, starting to pack a few things.
'Anyway, I have a free day to enjoy. I hope the girls are okay...'
***
In a mansion in Libretãnhya, in a Japanese-themed neighborhood, there was Victoria, who was making lunch, and Faller, who was helping his wife make lunch. Elisa and Shaphira were in the bedroom, looking thoughtful about why Slady had left them there.
"Sister, I know Slady is a very busy person, but is it necessary for him to have left us here?"
Elisa asked, who was next to the girl she saw as her sister, next to her in bed.
"He told me that some people would come to the library, he doesn't want them to see us."
Shaphira said, stroking Elisa's hair.
"I understand him, you're a Renkai Creature and I'm basically a person declared dead. I hope he gets here soon, I don't like being without him around."
"Why?"
"You know... sister, despite everything that happened, I got used to living with you and him."
"I know that, let's just wait for him to get here and we can even ask him to have lunch with Miss Victoria and Mister Faller."
In the kitchen, Victoria was adjusting the temperature of the rice and Faller was still cutting the meat and vegetables quickly.
"You were with him these days, right?"
Faller asked, without jealousy.
"Slady? Yes, he seemed... kind of bad about himself."
"Why?"
Faller puts the meat in the pan, pulling his wife to sit on the counter nearby. She let out a surprised sound, but giggled and continued the conversation, more seriously.
"He seemed to feel inadequate for Elisa and Shaphira."
"That doesn't make sense, from what I know of him so far and from what the girls have told me, he's very good with them."
Faller lowers the heat of the pan, now paying better attention to the conversation with Victoria, who approaches him and speaks more quietly, not wanting the girls to hear.
"I don't know much about him, but Slady doesn't seem to be good at showing affection with words or gestures."
"It must have been someone who didn't learn to love..."
Faller says, not wanting to judge, but still thoughtful. Suddenly, the mansion door is knocked, Victoria just goes to the door, confused.
"I hope it's not a fan of ours..."
When she opened the door, Victoria was faced with the sight of Slady. She approached him with a soft smile and hugged him.
"Did you come to visit us, friend?"
Slady let himself be hugged.
"Yes, if I don't get in the way..."
"Slady, you're already part of our family. Don't be shy."
Slady nodded in thanks, and as he passed, Faller surprised him with a friendly hug from behind.
"Are you going to have lunch with us, buddy?"
He practically lifted Slady in the air with his strength, but he just remained impassive.
'I'm getting too close to them... but that's not bad, strangely enough.'
Slady thought.
***
At lunch, everyone ate politely, especially Elisa and Shaphira. Slady ate quickly, but delicately. As a couple, Victoria and Faller sometimes spoon-feed each other's food. A lovely scene in the eyes of the girls, strange and unusual in Slady's eyes.
"It's great."
Slady says, placing the plate on the table to start washing.
"Honey, let me clean it."
Victoria says in a friendly tone.
"Yes, you're the guests, no need for that."
Faller says, equally friendly.
"No problem..."
Slady sits on the couch, quietly.
"They are friendly with their guests, a very attentive couple."
"How did they get this mansion?"
Shaphira asks suddenly, genuinely curious.
"We work hard, being a Demon Hunter pays good money, especially if it's in a class as big as ours."
Victoria says, proud of herself, but not arrogant.
"Slady, can we be Demon Hunters?"
Shaphira asks, looking at Slady. Elisa remained silent, but there was also curiosity in her eyes.
"When you're ready, I'll help you both with that."
Slady says.
"We'll get stronger, Slady. I appreciate the training you give us."
Elisa says with a calm smile.
"Is he already training you?"
Faller asks, curious... but also thoughtful, as if he was remembering something from his past.
"Yes, he takes great care so that we don't get hurt and so that we can be efficient in our evolution."
Elisa says. Victoria listens to the conversation, giving a small approving smile to Slady and the girls.
"You're lucky..."
She also seemed thoughtful. Noticing the tension in her husband's shoulders, she places her hands on his back in a gesture of affection.
"Love..."
Shaphira was curious about the gesture between the young couple, Elisa had a more careful look, as if she knew a little about why that was happening
"Is there something you want to talk about?"
Slady asked.
The two were surprised, then nodded in agreement, wanting to vent to him. Slady gave a brief glance at the girls.
"Can you go to the room?"
"Yes."
"No problem."
The two stand up, thanking them for lunch and heading to the bedroom. Slady gets up and sits at the lunch table, the couple sits next to him with their heads down.
"We had noticed that you are very attentive to the girls, we just remember a little bit of our childhood..."
Faller says.
"We went through some difficult things, very difficult."
"I'm not a very good person to understand people's childhoods..."
Slady says, trying to be a good friend, without knowing very well how to do it.
"But I want to be able to at least be a good listener."
"Thanks."
Victoria says.
Then Faller and Victoria look at each other for a brief moment, as if they were reaching a silent agreement.
"I'll start."
Faller says, Slady adjusts in the chair, crossing his legs.
"My wife and I are childhood friends, or we were..."
"I, Faller, ended up being the only child and someone who was born with the Mana Releaser already awakened."
Slady was surprised, it was very rare for a person to be born with the Mana Releaser already awakened. The only person he had in mind was Raizer himself.
"My wife and childhood friend, Victoria, happened to be born in the same village as mine, near Libretanhya and led by my family, Noughter."
Slady seemed to remember that family, a name very famous for its very strong members.
"My family had a tradition of training their most talented children to be Demon Hunters. But they applied that same rule to our village..."
Faller's voice became heavier, as if he was holding back his negative feelings.
"Victoria and I were forced to undergo torturous and terrible training, which often left my body with several injuries. This woman... besides my mother, was the only person who took care of me with these problems."
Victoria gave a small smile, remembering a little of the past...
***
Faller was leaning on Victoria's chest, who was bandaging his back with several wounds.
"This hurts..."
Faller said almost in tears, Victoria, seeing the pain of her childhood friend, almost cried along with him.
"We'll get through this together, Faller."
She hugs him tightly, Faller surrenders himself to the only person he trusted, letting go of his pride and crying due to the pain all over his body. Without regret.
***
Then Victoria begins to tell.
"But one day, the Second Renkai Awakening occurred, which made me able to awaken my Mana Releaser, but... the Destroyers who had invaded the world that day, ended up annihilating our entire village and only the two of us were left as survivors."
She puts her hand on her chest, feeling the pain. in the heart as she remembered.
***
Faller and Victoria ran together, their parents, friends, family, home, everything gone in that catastrophe.
Suddenly, a Destroyer, the Destroyer of Flames, ended up appearing behind them with a malevolent smile, creating a large tornado of fire.
"Humans will not survive this night!!"
The being uses its wings of fire to fly towards Faller, but Victoria stepped in front, releasing a powerful blast of water that made that human, who had transformed into a Destroyer, be thrown away.
"Never touch my beloved again!!!"
Victoria says naturally, without realizing that she had ended up declaring her feelings. She was furious. Faller looked at Victoria, surprised, but determined to protect her with his life.
"Please, let me protect you..."
He places his hand on Victoria's breasts, who was surprised and ended up realizing that she had ended up saying that Faller is her "beloved"
"Faller, I-"
"Don't say anything else, I won't let you get hurt."
He looked at Victoria, no longer afraid, no longer desperate, but with a protective smile.
"You did everything for me, I will never let anyone hurt you."
The Flame Destroyer lets out a furious roar, launching himself towards Faller, who fired a large amount of lightning at the being.
Victoria would not let him do this alone, she creates a tsunami towards the Flame Destroyer.
The two were determined to protect each other, even if it cost their own lives.
***
"After all that destruction, we started over from scratch and here we are today, fulfilled and together."
Victoria finishes, the couple lets out a sigh, as if they had released a great weight from their shoulders, trusting their story to Slady.
'Faller and Victoria are not just random people who met by chance, they grew up together, took care of each other, went through the worst and became They rose together. They're not just a couple, it's like a concept I saw in a book a long time ago..."
'The definition of true love.'