Waiting at the central park for a bit, he sees a lot of adventures going into the dungeon, and there seem to be a lot more Amazoness around.

‘Seems they must be hoping to meet me… good thing they only know me when I’m wearing my mask.’

As he was waiting, he saw a group of Amazoness conversing with one another.

They looked to be around Ai’s age, but their clothing really was like those of the adults of their race.

Glance

"Shit…"

Cirrus noticed that one of the young Amazoness noticed his staring and walked towards him.

‘Please, for the love of God, walk past me!!!!’

Like all Amazoness, her skin was tanned, and her clothes were rather revealing, with a purple dancing attire and a gold necklace. She had purple eyes and a bob cut with the right side of her face covered by her hair.

"Oi, what are you looking at!?" she said, placing her bare feet on the bench where Cirrus was sitting.

'Fuck.'

"I’m sorry, you just caught my attention, is all." Cirrus puts on a forced smile.

"Heh" She had a smile he'd only seen on adult women, and Cirrus couldn't help but find it creepy. "So you find me attractive, huh?"

He wanted to vomit. He was not interested in this child and he found it even more disturbing that she learned this from someone else.

"… I think I find you interesting, that's all." He put on a fake smile.

"Well, maybe I’ll go out with you if you're stronger than me!"

Her other Amazon friends gathered around them both.

"I rather not. I’m waiting for someone."

He hoped to Astraea they would leave him alone.

"Hmm, well, if you don’t fight me, then I’ll fight them!"

"Is that so?"

The Amazoness turned to see Ai with a spare Katana on her hip. She was wearing a rather ordinary white shirt with shorts on and a straw hat with her fox ears poking out.

'W-who is this girl!? D-does Cirrus like pretty and bold girls like her!?' Ai was screaming in her mind of what was happening.

"Hey Ai," Cirrus said, getting up and walking past them to her. He thanked Susanoo for this escape. "So, shall we get going?"

"Hey, don’t ignore me!" She then looked at Ai. "You! Are you his girlfriend?"

"W-what!" Her face blushed. "N-no I’m just his—"

"Then you don’t mind if I take him from you, do you?" She said, wrapping her arms around his.

'Yup. I'll kick her ass.'

For an instant, Cirrus could feel the sharp killing intent in his head coming from Ai.

‘I feel really uncomfortable.' Cirrus wanted to get out of this situation. 'I am too old and too young for this shit.’

"What is your name?" Ai said with a smile that hid her restrained anger.

"My name is Aisha Belka! A level 1 from the Bastet Familia! And you, Fox?"

'Bastet Familia? Isn't that a Familia within the Entertainment District?' Cirrus knew where Aisha learned from.

"My name is Shirakusa Ai. I am a level 1 from the Susanoo Familia, so let him go." Her smile was now more forced on, but Aisha didn’t care.

"Well, how about you fight me, then? If you win, I’ll let you have him, but if I win, he’s mine!"

The air grew tense as sparks flew between the two. Many people started to stop and look.

"How about we take this a little more private, hmm?" Cirrus said she wants to escape from the public eye, he didn't want to be known as the kid where two girls were literally fighting for.

"Fine, follow us," said Aisha.

Cirrus and Ai followed Aisha and her group to an alleyway where they would fight. It was still close enough to the main streets to be safe enough and away from any prying eyes.

"Is this good enough fox?" Aisha said.

"It's fine, Cirrus, hold my Katana." She takes it out and hands him her blade and straw hat as she steps up. "It won't take long."

"You sure are confident!" Aisha cracked her fists. "Let’s see if you can back those words up!" Aisha charged ahead and jumped into a right punch.

Ai simply stepped forward, grabbed her right arm, and threw her down like in her judo practice.

"Gah!" Aisha blurted out as her back slammed against the ground.

Ai then slammed her foot on the center of Aisha's mass.

"If I were using my Katana, I would have cut you down." She then walked back to Cirrus.

Aisha gets up slowly and lethargically. With both a anger and flush from embarrassment showing on her face she shouted out.

"W-were not done yet!" she said as she came again with her fists curled up before her.

Thud!

"Sorry, but that’s enough." Cirrus, he said with his hand blocking her fist.

"!!"

"You lost. So how about you try again when you grow stronger?" He said with a slight smile.

Aisha could feel the stark difference in their strength from how strong his grip is when he isn’t even putting in an effort.

"…" Her face was slightly blushing. "F-fine! You can let go of my hand now!"

Cirrus let go of her fist, and she turned around and began walking.

"I’ll be sure to beat you next time, Fox!" she shouted as she was leaving, being followed by her friends.

"… So shall we get on with our day?" He said with a smile, handing her a straw hat and Katana back.

Ai gets the hat and covers her face.

"T-thank you."

They began to walk side by side.

"So... what did you think of her?" Ai asked looking forward taking quick glances at Cirrus for his response.

"Who?"

"That girl, Aisha."

"Uh... okay."

"Okay? Y-you... didn't think maybe she was cute or pretty?"

"Why would I think that?"

"N-no reason! B-but um do you like girls who are bold?"

"No I do not like Aisha."

Ai made a quick fist pump in celebration.

'Yes! Yes! Yes! Take that you sexy, tanned girl! I win!'

Little did she know, Aisha would play a significant part in Ai's life down the road. Both as a friend and as a kind of older sister figure when it comes down to love.

 

For the whole day, Cirrus and Ai spent the day exploring Orario and enjoying themselves as much as they could in a crime-riddled city. They enjoyed the food of the city and some historical landmarks that remained from ancient times.

One such place was the Hero’s Bridge, a bridge that held 31 statues of the world's past heroes, all lined up.

"Wow! Look, they even have Argonaut, Giorgio, Albert, Gilgamesh, and Fulland they even have Gintaro and Jimmu!"

"So they even have Eastern heroes, huh?"

Some names were familiar to Cirrus, but their legends differentiated them from his world’s mythological counterparts.

"Say which one is your favorite? Mine is Jimmu!"

"Ah well…" Cirrus looks around to find one statue kept in poor condition. "Let's see if this is the one." He walked over and cleaned up the plaque a bit. "Ah, he is here."

"Who is it?" She looked over and read the plaque. "Epimetheus, Hero of the 1st Flame. Who’s that?"

"He was Gekai’s first actual hero before Argonaut over there. He fought off the monsters using the Flame of Heaven."

"Wow… but why isn’t he famous?"

"Well, because his story wasn’t a comedy or uplifting, he just sort of fought and then lost against the Black Beasts. Then he just sort of… left his own story." Cirrus leaves out some parts of the story just to not concern Ai with anything. "That and also his story isn’t very published nowadays."

"So, is he your favorite?"

"He is. After facing… you know, that mountain, I grew to appreciate what he did on his own. Plus, without him, the rest of those heroes—" he looked down the lines to the end where Albert was looking at an empty spot where a new hero could be placed. "I wouldn’t have had the chance to shine."

Ai looked at him as he was and stared at the empty spot. With what he had accomplished, he could very well be the next hero, and the city believes he is.

"Cirrus, did you even dream of being a hero?"

He took a moment to think on it, and his disposition slightly changed, but not so much as to be concerned.

"Yeah… but now I really don't want to."

"Why is that?"

Ai could see a foreign look on Cirrus. It reminded her a bit of Susanoo when they left their homeland.

"… Personal reasons." He looked at her and smiled a bit. "Let's get going. I’ll buy you a potato snack." He then walked on ahead.

"Come on, tell me!" she said, coming after him.

"If you don’t hurry, I won’t pay!"

"Wait for me!"

As Ai caught up to him, he slightly glanced back, seeing the statues of the heroes of old again. He then looked forward.

The heroes of the classical era of his former world were a different breed from those of the modern era he used to live in. They were blood and glory-thirsty warriors who slew a man and beast like a farmer cutting wheat. Jason, Heracles, Odysseus, Theseus, Bellerophon, Perseus, and Achilles. These were the heroes that stuck in his mind. None of them had a happy ending.

Cirrus knows he is more of a classical-era hero than a modern hero, and he remembers hazily. He is known more for his battle prowess than anything else. Maybe at one point, he wished for it, but now... he doesn’t want his legacy to only be that of death.

 

At the end of the day, he walked her back home and then left back home himself.

 

While walking back home through a dark alley, a shadow came out of the darkness.

"Cirrus," said Fels.

"Fels. Is something wrong?"

"No, but we have found that we have some reliable information on Telskyura."

"Really? Did you go to Lord Anansi for the information?"

"Not exactly. This source is far easier on the wallet and is 100% reliable."

"And the source is?"

"Bara of the Loki Familia, she was once a member of the Kali Familia, so she may know information about the country and Familia better than The Library."

'Well, shit.'

 

Back in Telskyura.

"Hm♪ Hm♪ Hm♪ Hm♪" Kali is walking by with a spring in her step as she skips down the hall.

"Lady Kali, you’re in a good mood," said Bache.

"I am! You see that battle, right? Zephyr, and that mountain! Aww~ it’s like the child wanted to steal my heart! That raw destructiveness! That's power!! It truly brought out the goddess of destruction in me! By the way, where is Alecto? Is she making progress? "

"Hmm, well, some of the Amazoness are helping them. They have taken a liking to their captain."

"Of course! They are Amazoness! They are drawn to strong people! Ah, I can’t wait until that White-Clothed Calamity comes here!"

Kali looks out to see some ships in the distance.

 

Down in the ocean depths.

"It took a while, but we found it, Lady Alecto," said Turn.

"Months to find this wet, drippy place; there’s moss everywhere…"

"Then we should hurry and get this done," said Mata. "Lady Alecto, do you know how to unseal the monster?"

"Sadly no, but from what Loviatar has shown, I can forcibly tear it down, but… given this monster's nature, I need to be careful in how I go about it."

"And how long will that take?"

"I don’t know, but I’m sure I’ll learn as it goes along." A faint glow of Arcanum emits off of Alecto.