Chapter 38

"What happened to Mr. Aaron?"

I asked, folding my arms on the wooden desk, peering into the woman. She didn't answer for quite a while as if she was thinking of a real, definitive answer.

"I-I don't know, that's the first time it's ever happened."

I looked down at the small metal badge on the left hand of her chest, it read: Cattleya Bridge, using this information I would now call her by her actual name and not make things awkward.

"Almost everyone knows that dwelling into Routeway magic will make you dwell further and further into madness, since he's an Order 3...could he be losing control?"

I leaned back in my chair and gazed into her, stretching my arms behind the back of the chair.

"Perhaps, I drank a Routeway potion a while back and I feel fine."

Cattleya's eyes widened suddenly as she pushed back a few books to clear space, she reached into a drawer and pulled out a small cube like object.

"What's that?"

I asked, gazing at the strange object, my curiosity boiling inside me. Cattleya raised her eyebrows.

"This is a Routeway cube, an artifact used to awaken Routeway abilities inside a user."

I was immediately puzzled by this statement.

"Why didn't Aaron use this when I went over to his place yesterday?"

I picked up the object and held it in front of the gas light hanging above the table, attempting to discern any possible runes or symbols.

"Well, he told me that he saw going to test your blood, and it will be a good while until we get some results, this cube is what we call a sealed relic."

My eyes widened slightly.

"A sealed relic?"

Cattleya nodded slowly, pulling out a small parchment sheet from her desk, unrolling the yellow sheet onto the table.

"Yeah, in the chaos era, sealed relics were used multiple times for a wide variety of purposes, one was used to seal an evil deity."

I felt a small wave of fear crash over my body as she mentioned evil deities.

"An evil deity?"

She nodded.

"Yes, the entity Azoth was an Outer Lord of destruction and chaos, and caused havoc and death everywhere he went, luckily he was sealed by angels."

I thought back to the angel Oboro showed me, its red and black armor, large wings, it looked ancient yet so beautiful.

"Does the name Khorvath bring you any familiarity?"

Cattleya paused for a few moments before speaking, her tone seemed more cautious than before. 

"Yes, the Angel of Destruction. Back in his day he was a powerful warrior yet was gentle and kind...he met a mortal girl who he fell in love with, but upon realizing that she had an arranged marriage, he murdered the groom. In his anger and despair, he accidently unleashed his godlike power, bringing an end to the world."

"So, he lost everything for love, he was blinded by it, and couldn't move past it..."

I rapped my hand on the edge of the table, peering into the folded out scroll in front of me.

"What exactly does this scroll show?"

Cattleya pointed to a secretion of the scroll, which was worn and torn up from usage in the past.

"Well, this language written here is something we've never seen before...it's strange how it was written in what appears to be such a precise way."

I looked down at the scroll, narrowing my eyes to look at the worn out words, but they just widened when I read the text. It's damn Spanish!

"It's Spanish."

I muttered to myself, lowering my head to read the manuscript, Cattleya perked up.

"Come again?"

I looked up at her, parting my bangs.

"It's Spanish, I can read it."

After I said that, her face then turned puzzled.

"Spanish?"

I nodded slowly, my expression matched hers, also a little confused.

"You don't know Spanish?"

She nodded.

"What even is Spanish?"

I was immediately dumbfounded, I learnt nothing about its overall origins and history, all I learned was how to speak it in general.

"Where do you learn to speak it?"

She inquired, pushing her glasses onto the bride of her nose.

"Well...uhm..."

Cattelya narrowed her eyes, a little suspicion brewing inside her.

"Uhm...I came from the Indun Empire, and you know the Industrial Revolution they had a while back, I moved here due to the migration they had for political and economic purposes."

Cattelya nodded, but she was still a little confused.

"And how would that contribute to your learning of Spanish?"

I paused, a little sweat trickled down my head.

"Well, the emperor invented his own language I guess, and he made us all learn it."

Her eyes widened slightly.

"Well, why haven't I heard about anyone speaking it then?"

I paused, it seemed like I was pulling information out of my ass at this point.

"I guess no one decided to move here that spoke the language besides me and my friends."

Cattelya then pressed me with a question.

"I'm guessing those Aizawa and Shinso guy are your friends?"

I nodded, wiping the sweat from my brow.

"Yes, they are my friends and they moved from the Indun Empire to Serephis Kingdom."

"Interesting, perhaps I should get to know them better."

I felt my blood run cold, what if one of them slips and tells her about our origins, or anyone knows about our origins.

"Well, good for you..."

As I sat there in silence reminiscing on what was going to happen I remembered the cube that she brought out.

"About that cube...should we use it?"

Cattelya nodded.

"I suppose so, awakening your Routeway abilities and reaching Order 5 would be a good thing for us, the more seekers in this organization, the more assets we have to get this case over with."

She picked up the cube and held it in her hand, cupping it like an injured bird. The cube started to glow a dim red color as tiny tendrils started to permeate around the edges of the cube, wrapping around itself.

"This looks like the ball of light that Aaron used yesterday."

I observed, watching this strange cube do its magic. Cattelya looked up at me and nodded.

"Are you ready?"

I hesitantly nodded, she reached her hand out towards me, a hesitant look on my face as I held her hand and closed my eyes, like I was about to have a shot at the doctors office.

I felt the tentacles wrap around my fingers, and beyond my eyelids I could see the illusory orange lights of my veins glowing, but this time the voices didn't call out to me.

Suddenly a burning sensation started to tear through my hand, and I clenched my jaw in pain, attempting not to cry out or yell.

"That's normal, don't worry."

I felt a small rush of reassurance after she claimed that, and after a short while the burning feeling in my hand subsided and I reopened my eyes, my veins still glowing the orange color.

"Why are my veins glowing like this?"

I asked, finally wanting some answers.

"Well, the characteristics of the Routeway that you supposedly chose are awakening."

She nodded, tracing her arms along my glowing veins, looking at them with peaked interest.

"Yes, it's what makes a Routeways abilities and their holder unique and special."

Her voice gradually lowered, as if she was mesmerized by my glowing veins.

"How do I control it?"

Cattleya looked up at me and her eyes narrowed as if she saw a spirit that was clinging tightly to my back.

"Stay still..."