Isabella Vermilion

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"Report your findings immediately to the Summit," the captain instructed. "I had something to settle here so go on without me," the redhead captain was already making her way out of the teleportation room.

No sooner than her figure disappeared from her subordinate eyes, they whispered amongst them.

"Hey, Phil…" one of them whispered.

"Yeah, yeah. I got it," the blue haired guy said with a boring tone as if he had expected his teammates' pleas.

The blue haired stepped off the teleportation platform and waved his teammates goodbye as they flashed away to report their findings and conclude their mission.

He immediately caught up to his captain who was making her way towards a room.

If memory serves him right, this room was unoccupied. But as they entered the room, they could see the clean condition of the room. The windows were opened letting the fresh breeze to air the room.

"I thought this room was empty?" Philip pointed the question to his captain.

"It is. Until yesterday that is…" she trailed off as she walked away with a gentle smile plastered on her face.

Their next destination? The dining room.

Philip had sometimes spent time here with his redhead captain. Under her invitation of course. He wouldn't dare to make the Reds dwelling as his.

{Maybe not yet.}

As they got closer to the dining room, they heard people chattering coming from it.

'I thought all of the Reds were out in another world? Oh, maybe it's the new guest they were having,' Philip thought from the newly used room.

Then a thought occurred to him.

'Wait! That's not a guest room. It was inside the Reds chambers so…'

"Well, the Crimson Rapier was titled on the same day of your birthday so you had missed the news entirely," Master explained. "She was on her way to your house to celebrate your birthday but she did not get there in time."

They heard Master's voice from inside the room.

"Someone recently received a title? Hmm?" replied a voice.

It's a boy's voice. His voice still hadn't cracked yet so it came off as quite pleasing to the two of them.

The captain had a relieved smile on her face as she gently put her hand on the dining room's door.

"Is the Crimson Rapier…" but just before the boy could finish his answer the redhead captain slammed the door open.

"That's me…" she chirped with a wide smile.

'Well, that is something expected of her,' Philip thought as he smiled wryly at the surprised people inside the dining room. Except for Master of course. It would take the world's ending to surprise the guy

"I'm home, Ae…!" she declared but a red haired boy slammed into her before she could finish.

"Bell!" the boy shouted as he gave her a tight hug.

She had a soft smile when she returned the boy's hug.

"I'm home, Aero…" she whispered. "I'm home…" tears could be seen sliding down her cheeks.

The boy was trembling in her embrace. No doubt he was wailing his eyes out. Muffled cries sometimes escaped his mouth.

"Shush~" she hushed the boy. She caressed the boy's head and said, "I'm here now. Everything's gonna be alright."

Aero may have been seen as independent. The way he navigated and looked after himself in The Mine was evident of it. But in the end, he was still a child.

He had seen the outside world for the first time and what welcomed him was the rejection of said world. Not only that, he lost some of the most important memories, leaving him with an uneasy heart all this time.

He was relieved when Master came to his rescue. Though he despised his Gift for showing him things he did not want to see, it also meant the trust he had towards his Gift. He saw no malicious intent from Master and accepted his help with open arms.

Master's arrival was the beginning of his salvation. Everyone he met after his rescue had been so welcoming of him. Alfie, Brandy, the mysterious Lady Memoria and the then trembling Clem.

But still, those people were strangers to him. He did not know anything about them. Since he had lost all memories of his family living in the 5th world, the only one remained was those who were not involved in that incident.

And this Bell girl was one of them.

Finally, a familiar face. No, not only a familiar face but also a face of his family. He was glad to know that he still had a family member in this world.

He had shoved the thought of all his family members leaving him behind alone to the very back of his mind. But, when he saw Bell, that thought resurfaced back.

He hugged Bell with all his might, afraid that this was only a dream that would be over once he opened his eyes back.

He sobbed quietly, feeling Bell's warm embrace and her gentle hand caressing his hair.

'This is not a dream…' he thought.

Aero nudged his head further into Bell's embrace. From an outsider's point of view, Aero's looked cute and docile doing so.

"You brat…" though Bell's choice of words seemed harsh, she said it with a gentle tone.

She took out a white handkerchief and bent to Aero eye level. She then gently wiped his tears.

"You always do that when you are embarrassed," Bell teased.

"You also have some on you," Aero countered.

The two of them then just chuckled in return.

All of the audience were left with mouths wide agap. Except for Master of course.

'I never thought the Reds could be that gentle with each other…'

'Is that really the Izzy that I know?'

Thought a green haired boy and a bluehead guy respectively.

'Is that really the same person who attacked me out of nowhere?'

'How could this softie of a mentor get the best of me before?'

Thought a certain silver haired guy and a beastmen respectively.

Master gave a fake cough.

"Welcome home, 'Bell'" Master emphasized at the Bell part. "Phil too."

"Yes, yes. And so we have returned, Master," Bell replied monotonously.

"What did I tell you two? Your training will start earlier than you thought."

"Oh, Alfred and Brand, right? Sorry, I was in a rush before so I recruited both of you in a hurry. We haven't had our introductions yet right?" Bell said as she eyed her two retainers.

'Is that why we were ambushed before?'

Alfred Grace and Brand Tailor exchanged a knowing glance.

"From now on, whenever I'm free I will be training both of you." She gave both of them a serious gaze and introduced herself as per tradition, "Isabella Vermilion, level 7 Imperial Fencer, Crimson Rapier."

Both Alfred and Brand then bowed down with one knee and introduced themselves.

"Alfred Grace, level 5 Assassin, Blinking Silver at your service."

"Brand Tailor, level 5 Archranger, Restless Ears at your service."

Bell nodded her head while trying to hold back her laughter.

"Don't mind, don't mind. I could assure you that the system will give you funny titles until you're at least at the king level."

Aero was cupping his mouth, some laugh escaped his mouth. Though their class names were cool, their titles betrayed that coolness.

Alfie and Brandy could bemoaned their horrible title in their hearts. If not for tradition that dictates such an introduction format, they would never be allowed their title.