Same Master

When Aero first entered the library, he was in awe of the library's extensive collection. Though the books looked quite ancient because of their age, it did not diminish their noble aura.

Stacks of papers bound together to preserve the knowledge of the past, passed down to the future generation for their references. That was what a book is.

After the advent of technology, the future generation managed to integrate the normal adventurer system into their daily lives, the importance of books had been reduced to mere accessories and relics of the past.

And this extends to the usage of libraries. Now libraries were seen as store rooms to keep all the antics away.

Aero could not calm down the excitement in his heart. He had dreamed of coming to an actual bona fide library once in his lifetime. This kind of place was so scarce that only certain big cities had them.

Why did he have this dream if he did not have his memories? Ever since he escaped The Mine, the authority of The Mine's system that suppressed Aero's existence was lifted off. Thus, he could remember things like his dreams, hobbies, likes and dislikes.

The only thing left was some suppressions that blocked him from recollecting what happened that day in his home world. These suppressions extended to the memories of his families since they were obviously involved in that incident.

"Where is the section for fairy tales or myth stories?" Aero asked his only guide.

Fortunately, Brandy knew his way in this library since he had taken some nap here whenever he could. He led Aero towards it. On their way, they could see a green haired boy sitting on the floor between the racks of books, intently reading his book. Sometimes he even read aloud the lines unconsciously.

"Brandy, is that the green haired crybaby that Master mentioned before?"

"It is precisely that boy, young master. His name is Clem Moss. Like you, he is the prince of the Greens. An elven prince," Brandy explained.

"I see. I should go say hello then."

"I would not do that if I were you, young master."

"Hahaha," Aero chuckled. "A little greeting wouldn't do anyone any harm, would it?"

Aero walked towards the boy, wholly ignoring Brandy's warning and the rest was history.

After knowing that the Green was very afraid of him, Aero decided to continue in his quest to uncover the identity of the mysterious lady.

Why?

Well, to be honest, Aero did not have any other things to do. His instruction from Master was for him to rest for a few days and regain his former strength. With adequate sleep, rest and plenty of nutritional food, he would be springing back like a foal in no time.

In the meantime, since he had nothing to do, he decided to play a little detective game. While you could say that it was a cover for him to go to the library, Aero really did want to know the identity of Lady Memoria.

While it may or may not lead to the incident that happened back in his homeworld, knowing your allies was as important as knowing your enemies.

There was a problem though. He could not find any book that mentioned Lady Memoria.

"Where is it?" Aero's lip curled downwards.

'Lady Memoria clearly said that the Memoria Tree is famous and stories of it could be found in books.'

Aero had searched in the Fairytale and Lore section for books with keywords titles like 'tree' and 'memoria' but he found nothing. Just as he was about to sigh for the umpteenth time, he caught Clem staring at him from the History section.

'That's it,' Aero smiled as he looked towards Clem.

An eureka moment.

'If it's real why did I assume it to be fairytales and lore. If the tree was a real figure then it must have a real story behind it.'

Stories of the past that we call history.

Aero walked briskly towards the History Section. He could see Clem giving him the 'oh, no!' looks. Well, as long as he did nothing wrong, the prejudice Clem had towards him would naturally change over time. This was something that he could not force.

As he approached the History section, Clem's face became paler and paler.

'Dang it! I'm dead meat…'

He gulped hard as Aero came in front of him for the second time. Aero stood half head taller than him, so Clem had to tilt his head up to make eye contact with Aero.

This meant that he portrayed Aero as someone bigger than him and by that, someone stronger too.

"Hey, do you know anything about something called the Memoria Tree?" Aero tried his luck.

Since Clem looked at him like he had trespassed his private space, Aero concluded that Clem had been in the History section for the most of his time in this library.

"Me-me-memoria?" Clem stuttered.

Aero could even see his body trembling a little bit. Still, Clem tried to cover it so as not to be seen as an easy prey in front of this Red.

"Yes, Memoria. Anything related to Memoria. Things like the Memoria Tree or Lady Memoria," Aero pushed forward since Clem seemed like he knew something.

"Uh…um… for one. This castle… here, that we are…staying in, is called… Memoria Castle," Clem answered nervously.

He dare not lie in front of this lion with a blazing red mane. He felt like he would not get his way out by lying with this guy and indeed he made the right choice.

"Is that so… how about the Memoria Tree?"

"Umm… the Memoria Tree… is said to be planted by the one and only Saint, Lady Memoria, here in this castle. Thus in honor of her achievement, both the castle and the tree were named after her."

Clem was nervous before but once he got into his historian gear, words blurted out of his mouth like spring water.

"I see," Aero nodded his head.

'Seems like I came to the right person!'

"Do you know anything else about this… Saint?"

Clem crossed his hands in front of his chest in a contemplative manner, "Hmm, there are not many accounts of her deeds. According to the records, the planting of the Memoria Tree itself is already her outstanding feat in itself. It is said that the tree protected humanity and it sheltered us from the wrath of the demons. Hence, aside from its name Memoria Tree, it is also known as the Saint's Tree."

Aero only nodded his head in silence, taking in everything Clem had told him. He could see the green haired elves had his whole being focusing on elaborating the history of Lady Memoria to the point that his earlier nervousness seemed like an act.

"Since the tree is also called saint, there were some debates about which comes first. Is it because the one who planted it is the Saint Lady Memoria, the tree was also called so or is it because of the tree exclaimed protective effects the one that bestowed Lady Memoria with the title saint? It remained a mystery till this day."

"Do you know where the tree is then?"

"Records of ancient times stated that the Saint Tree was as tall as the sky and it rooted the earth of every world. Hence its location was unknown. Some speculate that it resided here in this castle since it also shared the same master as the tree."

'Same 'Master,' huh? I think I know where to ask next.'

"Thanks Clem. You saved me a great deal of time," Aero said as he briefly patted the boy's head and made his way to the Fairytales and Lore section back.

He did not know why but he thought that ruffling the shorter boy's hair was the most natural thing he had done so far.

The boy in question was also confused by the mixed emotions he had. Excluding his chaperone, he never thought some strangers would touch him in such an affectionate manner. Not to mention the notorious Red.

If Aero ever did see into his eyes at this moment, he would see a tinge of happiness and relief gleaming in the depth of Clem's eyes. Something very rare for the green haired elf as his usual emotions would be… sadness and longing.

The two of them had lost something. One lost his memories while the other lost the opportunity to make it. They did not know this yet, but the similarities they shared will draw them closer to each other.

Fate had it that the two of them met at their favorite place without prior engagement . While the Red was ignorant of the world, the Green was tainted by the world's skewed perception.

Maybe it was fate that they had met. Because without their own knowing, a bond between them had started to form.

A bond that transcends blood and withstand the testament of time.

A bond called friendship.