8. Encounter

What's this?

After defeating the dragon and leaving using the portal that generated, I found myself facing a group of people.

If I am not mistaken, these are the same people who went last time to find the children, although there is one person among them I don't remember.

But, how did they get here? Even if I take into account that the barrier is no longer there to prevent intruders, didn't they arrive too quickly?

"Who are you?"

While I was thinking about that, the girl who seems to be the group's leader asked me, and the rest of the group tensed up as if preparing for a possible battle.

Now that I think about it, my horns and wings are visible. They aren't confusing me for a monster, right?

"..."

"I asked who you are, why did you take those children?"

Seeing that I didn't answer, the girl asked again.

I was thinking about how to approach the situation but it seems if I don't answer a fight might end up breaking out.

With Nash and Isla still with me that doesn't seem like a good idea.

"You can call me Lunaria. And regarding the children, I am in charge of training them"

"...And what about the gate? Did you create it?"

I don't think the girl expected me to answer because she took a while to speak after I replied.

And the gate? Even if she asks me, I have no idea. In fact, it disappeared once I came out of it.

"I don't know, it simply appeared and trapped us inside. When I came out, you were here."

"And how do I know you aren't lying? It's the first time we've seen something like this, you could easily be a monster in human form trying to trick us"

"..."

...This is why I didn't want to meet humans.

For some reason it almost always ends like this.

They hear what they want to hear and believe what they want to believe.

Now, how should I act to prevent things from escalating?

Should I flee or suppress them?

"Let's calm down a bit Ame. I don't think she is lying"

"Nox?"

But before I had to act, the black-haired man approached the girl and began mediating the situation.

"How are you so sure? Don't you see her horns and wings? She could be trying to trick us"

"Maybe, but from the looks of it, this is the same person who helped rescue the children the other time, right?"

"...The clothes match. But that doesn't mean she isn't dangerous"

The girl was still looking at me suspiciously. Well, rather than suspicious, I should say the girl is cautious.

"Anyway this... Miss doesn't seem to have intentions of fighting, so, why don't we calm down a bit and talk? Look, you are scaring the children"

The man continued trying to convince her and, in a whisper, added:

"Whatever you do, don't make her your enemy"

"..."

"Please"

"...Fine"

Finally the girl gave in and ordered her group to put aside their weapons.

"My name is Amelia. Sorry about earlier, lately I haven't been able to rest well so it seems I overreacted to this situation"

"I am Nox, nice to meet you Miss Lunaria, do you mind if I call you that?"

"Call me whatever you prefer, I don't care"

"Then, I will call you by your name"

This man... There is something suspicious about him, but I can't understand what.

When he saw I was going to start moving he tried to calm the situation and seems to be doing everything possible not to make me angry.

"Could you explain to us what happened? We came to investigate the gate, but upon arriving we found you coming out of it, so you are the only witness we have of the situation"

So they came to investigate the gate, are they capable of sensing its generation from a distance?

I have no need to hide information so I will just answer with what I know.

"I don't know much either, I was with the children when I felt a flow of mana so I tried calling them fearing it might be dangerous and, by the time we realized, we were in another place. Only when I defeated all the monsters that were there did a portal appear and upon crossing it I was in front of you"

"You felt the flow of mana before the gate was generated? No, wait. Did you say the exit portal didn't exist until you defeated all the monsters?"

"...But in the gates we knew until now there have always been two types of exits. One that exists from the beginning and another that appears once the objective is completed. If violet really implies that, then the investigation strategy would become obsolete and it is likely that the people who enter..."

Is it that important?

When I told them the portal didn't appear until the end they started discussing among themselves and seem to have forgotten about me.

"...No, even so, the only thing we have as proof is her testimony, she could simply not have noticed it. We still can't be sure"

"Even so, the best thing would be to keep it in mind for next time, better to be cautious"

"..."

It seems they finally finished talking among themselves.

"Sorry for the delay Lunaria, the information you gave us was shocking so we got distracted. Could you answer just one more question?"

"Ask"

"...What are you?"

Now, what should I answer to this person?

---

Nox was sweating while walking.

Was he tired? No, the day's exercise had been quite minimal compared to the times he had to be bedridden for pushing his body to the limit.

The reason was because of the person walking behind them.

A woman with blue hair and a cold face carrying a pair of sleeping children in her arms.

At first glance she seemed just a young woman who had never fought in her life and who would have no reason to be in a place like this.

But Nox felt it, his instincts screamed at him: 'You have no chance against her. Don't make her angry'.

When he saw Amelia intended to start a fight he almost had a heart attack and desperately tried to stop her.

He doesn't blame her, if it weren't for his instincts it's likely he would have done the same. The situation was suspicious after all, but he felt he lost years of life because of her.

Nox remembered the last question he asked the woman who called herself Lunaria.

'What are you?'

'...Consider me the guardian of these children'

An obvious intention of not wanting to answer the question, although it doesn't seem what she answered was a lie either, simply not the complete answer.

He couldn't force an answer either for fear of making her angry.

Nox looked again at the young woman following them in silence.

The horns and wings that were present when they first saw her were nowhere to be seen, as if they had never been there.

When they asked her about them, she simply replied:

"It would be annoying if more people saw, so I simply hid them"

'Obviously she is not human, is it really a good idea for her to come with us?'

Then, why was this girl following the group?

After answering the questions, the young woman said she needed a place to take care of the children and that she had no money, just that.

Upon hearing it, Nox didn't know what to answer and went blank, but Amelia managed to intervene at that moment and offered to take care of it saying it was her way of apologizing for how she had behaved previously.

"...Are you sure about this?"

"Weren't you the one who said not to make her angry?"

"Yeah, but this is... No, forget it"

It's not like either of them is short on money, but that clearly wasn't the problem in this situation.

Bringing a being who can probably eliminate everyone in this group without effort to the center of the city where a large number of people live, wouldn't this be equivalent to carrying a time bomb tied to your neck?

'At least she doesn't seem to have intentions of attacking'

As if it were a drop of water in a desert, his instincts at least didn't warn him about this situation, moreover, they were telling him not to let her go, as if she were the key needed to solve a puzzle.

But just because his instincts said one thing didn't mean the pressure he felt was any less.

"Can you answer something?"

"Y-yes?"

Before the indecision in Nox's mind increased, Lunaria, who had remained quiet until now, opened her mouth.

"Can you explain to me what gates are?"

"What do you need me to explain?"

"Everything you know"

'Everything? If she isn't human perhaps it makes sense she doesn't know much but having to explain everything? It's as if this was the first time she heard of one'

While Nox thought about how to approach the subject, Amelia beat him to it and began to speak.

"According to what we know, gates started generating around 30 years ago, at least that is the oldest record we have of one. At first, out of fear of what it was, the government ordered its observation. While they discussed what to do, the gate collapsed and monsters we hadn't seen before started generating in that place. It was as if that place became corrupted and turned into a birthplace for monsters"

Nox continued speaking after Amelia.

"After the monsters appeared and started attacking people, the government sent the army to control the situation managing to calm the problem a little. It was when more gates started generating around the world and several countries fell into chaos that people capable of facing the monsters began to appear"

"So it is a relatively new phenomenon..."

"What did you say?"

"It's nothing, continue"

Nox and Amelia took turns speaking.

"...Later, the gates were classified by difficulty taking their colors into account. Green, yellow, orange, red, etc. We found that, the closer it resembled red, the greater the difficulty of the gate would be"

"That is why we were surprised when we saw you come out of a violet-colored gate. On our scale, it is the first time we see something like this"

"Gates also began to be classified by types; so far, there are records of three types: Labyrinth, Clearing, and Waves. In labyrinth-type gates, you have to reach the center by overcoming puzzles, traps, and monsters. In clearing-type, you have to fulfill a specific objective, but often this is hidden. While in wave-type ones, you simply have to eliminate the monsters that keep appearing"

Lunaria simply nodded and the group continued walking while explaining what they knew.

In the distance the city lights began to be seen illuminating the night sky.

"Is anything missing regarding the information? I think we explained everything"

"I think nothing is missing... Ah"

While answering Nox's question, it seemed something occurred to Amelia.

"Since about five years ago, the number of gates being generated in a certain time frame has started to increase, at first it wasn't noticeable, but upon analyzing the data it became clear that the number of gates has been slowly increasing. We fear that, due to this, something dangerous is about to happen"

"Right, because of that the work we have to do has also been increasing. It is fortunate that, at least, the number of red gates has remained stable. If those had also increased, we would probably be in trouble by now."

"I understand..."

Lunaria responded while observing the children sleeping in her arms.

'Why does she take care of them?'

That was something Nox didn't understand.

According to what he knew, Lunaria wasn't human, although he didn't know exactly what she was either, so she shouldn't have reasons to take care of human children.

But, for now, he decided to leave that question aside.

They had finally arrived at the city of Myrillia.

And Nox prayed he wouldn't have to regret this.