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Volume 5 Chapter 1 Part 3

He has suddenly went missing one day, and becoming Heracles’s disciple was one of the speculated reasons for his absence, or at least that was what the rumors that begun circulating after his disappearance have claimed.

「By the way, Koumei’s daughter is one of the core members of the current {No Name}, right? Hoo boy, the time sure goes by in a flash. I wonder if she grew up to be a stunning beauty just like her mother was?」

「I do not know about that. We have not really seen each other for about two years, so I cannot even begin to guess what kind of growth did she go through, but if she stayed just as gluttonous as she was when I last saw her, then there is a very high possibility that she might have turned into something round and plump by now. . .. 」

「Hmm, is that so? I see now. I was wondering why did you not come to meet with me yet so I went to look for you, and when I finally found you, this is what I hear you talking about? Most interesting indeed.」

When he heard the nostalgically-sounding voice of a young girl, Izayoi stopped talking at a moment’s notice due to how surprised he felt. He heard that voice just two days ago, but it was over the phone. In reality, it has been two years and then some since he last heard that voice live and coming straight from the mouth of the person it belonged to. However, aside from nostalgia, the other emotion that the voice contained within itself was most definitely anger, of her usual passive aggressive variety at that. Well, in this particular case that anger was well-placed, because Izayoi did neglected to contact the angry voice’s owner for two whole years, but he really had hoped thar\t she would be kind enough to look past that so that they could have a bit of a more touching reunion, but apparently he was mistaken. So without any other thing to do or say, Izayoi simply raised his hand and greeted the girl who was looking down on him from atop a large rock some distance away from him.

「 . . .  Yo, long time no see, Kasukabe. Or maybe I should be addressing you as {No Name’s} leader from now on? Which do you prefer?」

「If you really think that it has been that long, then maybe you should have at least considered updating me on your situation by sending some status reports? I knew you were a selfish egomaniac who cares about himself first and anything else second, but even so, I never would have expected that you would only send two short letters across the span of two whole years.」

Kasukabe You criticized Izayoi’s negligence in contacting her while putting her hand on her waist. Ignoring her bitter complaints, Izayoi crossed his hands on his chest and took a closer look at one of his most reliable comrades in arms and a fellow problem child for the first time in two years.

The last time Izayoi saw her, she was around fourteen years old. Back then her way of speech, behavior and mannerisms still bore some degree of childishness to them, which made her give of the impression that she was a large feline rather than a proper human being because of how self-centered and unpredictable she could have been at times. But now the atmosphere around her was completely different, most likely because she has grown taller and her body has definitely become more feminine. Right now, Izayoi had the impression that she became much more solid than she was before, someone whom the people around her could trust with her problems whenever they needed a helping hand. However, there was also no doubt in his mind that he must have had to deal with her own fair share of troubles when the role of the Community’s leader has been thrust upon her shoulders out of the blue like that, and she definitely must have been forced to mature well beyond what would normally be expected of her, both physically and mentally, at the age of sixteen. Two years ago, he never would have imagined that he would hear words such as 「Updating on your situation」or 「Send in a status report」coming from the mouth of someone as free spirited as her. That being said. . .

「Hmm. . . yeah, you have definitely grown, both in terms of the aura around you and an outward appearance.」

「.  . .??? What do you mean by that?」

「Exactly what I said, nothing more, nothing less. It is just that you have become much more impressive than I imagined, to the point where I think you can easily rival the greatest beauties from the Outer World, that is all.」

Izayoi Shrugged his shoulders and laughed at his own words directed towards You in a friendly manner. . . . . . . . . . . .  and then there was Orpheus, who was standing right next to Izayoi, staring at You with his mouth agape. Then he started to repeatedly close and open it like a fish that has been thrown out of the water and into the shore before he approached You with a look of pure astonishment on his face.

「I,I. . .  I am shocked! Dumbfounded! Stunned speechless, even! To call this a surprise would be an understatement of the century. . . . no, millennium! I was expecting there to be some similarities, but who would have ever thought?! She is like the mirror image of Nichika!」

「Huh?」

「Nichika?」

「Koumei’s wife! Well I will be damned! Who would have thought that such a small, frail baby from back then would grow up so magnificently?! And I know that I might be repeating myself, but time really does fly even faster than I thought! Hello, little You! Are you doing well?」

When You heard that the name of her mother has been mentioned so casually just now, she was so taken aback that she forgot to retort to the unfamiliar man’s strange behavior. Instead, she eyed Orpheus with eyes full of suspicion and then turned to Izayoi in search of an answer to the most important question at the moment.

「Izayoi. Who is this man?」

「One of the founding members of the original {No Name} just like La Croix. . . .  or so he says. He also seems to know a fair bit about your parents.」

「Ah, so it is something like that? Well met then, My name is Kasukabe You. Should I be thanking you for taking care of my parents?」

「Yes, although I have to say that turning that last bit of your greeting into a question did hurt this old man’s feelings quite a bit, but part of that suspicion is well deserved I guess. First and foremost, I would like to clarify something: while I did know Nichika and Koumei, the one who took care of your father and the one whom you should be thanking is actually Heracles. It was also he who took you out of your mother’s belly when you were born. Shocking, right? Haha, oh, the memories. . . 」

That little piece of trivia caused both Izayoi and You to look at Orpheus with the eyes that were about to shoot out of their sockets from shock. When Orpheus confirmed that You’s father was one of Heracles’s disciples Izayoi suspected that these two might have developed a pretty close relationship with one another, but he would have never expected them to actually be that close. In other words, that would mean that rather than that of companions, Kasukabe You’s parents must have had a relationship with Heracles that was more like a familial one. Having heard such an intimate story from her childhood, or rather, from the very beginning of her life that she could never have possibly remembered, You scratched her slightly reddened cheeks to hide how shaken she was right now.

「Uhm, well. . .  I guess that explains why so much of father’s work was based around the heroes from Greek Mythology.」