“EHHHH!!”
All the girls in the room exclaimed in unison at Restia’s sudden announcement. While I was equally appalled, I had a feeling that something like this was happening since my mind is linked to Restia’s due to our contract.
“Restia-sama, what exactly do you mean?” Yuki made the first move and questioned.
“Yea yea, explain yourself clearly.” Shiho and Emiri added.
“Fine, I was already going to explain before you girls interrupted me so rudely.” Restia snapped back before regaining back her composure. She took a deep breath and started to explain.
“As I’m sure all of you are aware, Kazuha is a male and thus is unable to develop Fafnir abilities through conventional means like how you girls obtained your abilities. However, many years ago he made a contract with me in exchange for Fafnir abilities which allowed him to gain Regalia abilities. Members of the original 7 SSS-class Exceeds have the unique gift of sentience for reasons unknown to myself as well.”
As if on cue, Raza materialized out of Yuki’s crystal which shocked everyone in the room as well. Since Yuki mentioned that she rarely attends her own academy, I’m sure that little Fafnirs know of her abilities let alone the fact that she is also a contractee similar to myself.
“My My, what a cute selection of girls we have here! Those are some cute clothes you are wearing, don’t mind if I take a little peak at what’s underneath them.”
Raza declared as he nimbly moved his hands to lift the short uniform skirts of the girls in the room but Yuki probably saw this coming so before he could attack any of the girls, she quickly delivered a chop to his head and made him kneel on the floor.
“Raza-sama, I normally do not care when you do pervy things to me but I won’t hesitate to discipline you if you lay your hands on any of my friends.”
Yuki chided the Exceed with the appearance of an old man which led to the others in the room questioning on the dynamics of their relationship given that she was quite literally reprimanding a SSS-class Exceed.
“Wait, I didn’t think that anyone else other than my Onii-san would be able to form a contract with an Exceed.” Kasumi commented.
“Yes, I had the same thought before I met Kazuha-san but I guess it makes sense given that both Raza-sama and Restia-sama have the same rank amongst the Exceeds.”
Yuki replied while restraining Raza’s limbs presumably to prevent him from trying to harass any of the girls here.
“Wait, there are 7 SSS-class Exceeds right, does that mean that there are 5 other people out there in the world somewhere who have also formed a contract with one of them?” Shiho asked.
“Yes that’s right, among the original 7, we currently only know the names of 3 of them which are Restia-san, Raza-san and Aghanim who is currently under the custody of Royal Academy. What about the rest?” Emiri directed the question to Restia.
“Raza the Greed, Aghanim the Pride, Marcosias the Gluttony, Fluegorian the Wrath, Sindragosa the Envy, Herschel the Sloth and Restia the Lust. They are the 7 SSS-class Exceeds that once ruled over all the other Exceeds before we were put into a dormant state for an unknown cause and by an unknown person for roughly a decade.”
Restia paused and closed her eyes while focusing her breathing. This scene caught everyone in the room off guard including myself as I have never seen her do this before. Then, Raza spoke and explained what Restia was doing.
“The 7 of us share some sort of spiritual link so while we are unable to communicate with each other telepathically or pinpoint each other’s location, we are able to sense if they are still dormant or have awoken which I assume is what Restia is trying to do.”
“This is bad. I sense Fluegorian, Sindragosa and Herschel which means that all 3 of them have awakened as well. You mentioned earlier that Aghanim is under custody at some other academy right. I am unable to sense his spiritual presence which means that he has not awoken as of now and I am unable to sense Marcosias as well.”
“Wait, why is it bad that they have awoken? Since they are sentient like you and Raza, its not like they will start attacking us or something right?” Risa joined in the conversation.
“It would be simple if that was the case. Even though we are all part of the same ranks, we don’t exactly get along with each other. Fluegorian and Sindragosa are both on the more aggressive side and Herschel generally follows the crowd. Since Raza and myself are on the more docile side, we are kinda on opposite sides as opposed to the other 3 that have awoken.”
Restia explained and Raza followed up.
“That’s not all right Restia, there’s something even more suspicious. The thing is that while Restia and myself awoken a few years back, the other 3 were awoken recently and around the same time which is too convenient to be a coincidence. I hate to say it but someone has been searching for us.”
“Oh right, we fought that creepy guy as well back in the forest Kazuha-san. He was crazy powerful and somehow had the ability to control Exceeds as well. I thought you were the only male with Fafnir abilities? Don’t tell me that guy is also a contractee?”
Yuki questioned to which Restia replied.
“That certainly is a possibility. But either way, it is certain that there is no way he was working alone as he managed to set up such a large tower with such elaborate cloaking. I hate to say it but I believe that Raikou is a part of an even bigger organization and they are the ones who have awoken the other SSS-class Exceeds.”
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“That would explain a lot on why he had those powers despite not being a Fafnir, so Restia, what do you suggest to be our next course of action?” I asked.
“Well, I think our first course of action is to awaken Aghanim and bring him to our side in the event the other 3 launch an assault on us. After that, we have to search for Marcosias and prevent him from falling into the hands of the unknown other side.”
“Wait then what was the purpose of kidnapping me?” Shiho who was still lying in the hospital bed asked.
“I apologize but I honestly have no clue. Did Raikou do anything to you while you were captive?” Restia asked.
“I’m sorry, I can’t remember much as I was unconscious most of the time, sorry.”
While I am sure that Shiho does not want to recount that traumatic experience with Raikou, she would have gave any information she had if she actually remembered. That was her character. Which meant that she truly did not recall anything.
“Regardless, before all that, we have to get you your abilities back Kazuha. Without you, there is no way our side stands a chance in a clash with all 3 of them.”
“Oh right, Restia you mentioned earlier that Kazuha lost his abilities. Would it be possible to delve more into the specifics as Fafnirs only lose their abilities once they age and there haven’t been any cases otherwise. Could it be due to the fact that his abilities came from you through a contract?” Emiri questioned intently.
“Well, you are halfway right. I guess it is time for all of you to know the full scope of Kazuha’s ability.”
Restia looked towards me for confirmation that she could share this information which I specifically kept vague when I first met them but at our current juncture, there is no point in hiding it any further hence I gave her a nod of affirmation.
“Kazuha’s ability is known as Mimic. It is as you see where he is able to copy and use the abilities of others as if there were his own. This also means that inherently he still has no abilities. In order for him to use an ability of another Regalia, he has to meet a requirement which is intimacy since I am the embodiment of lust amongst the SSS-class Exceeds.”
“What do you mean by intimacy?” Yuki asked innocently which made me blush slightly.
“Basically, its how much of your bodies I see. The more I see, the more powerful the ability I mimic is. Normally, a view of a bra or panties is enough to allow me to use that ability.”
I said in the most calm way possible in order to not sound like a creep but it was to no avail as I could quite literally sense the disgusted glares the girls in the room were giving me. Thankfully Restia managed to sense the tense atmosphere and coughed as inconspicuously as possible to divert their attention away from me and carried on with her explanation.
“I’m sure all of you have seen his wind abilities and must be wondering whose ability that is. It belonged to a girl known as Mizuki who was a childhood friend of Kazuha. However, with all Regalia abilities, there comes an equivalent cost to its use. In this case, Kazuha’s cost is that he has to sacrifice a memory of the person whose power he is using.”
At this realization, the girls changed their disgusted looks into looks of empathy all of a sudden as I guess losing memories is hard to handle for anyone. The mood turned somber all of a sudden and I decided to reassure everyone in order to lift up their spirits.
“Don’t worry everyone, normal use of the abilities only consume tiny and insignificant memories first such as what clothes she was wearing or what she said. However, if I need to draw out more power and use a larger fraction of that ability’s power, I would have to sacrifice what are known as core memories which are important details such as birthday, hobbies and even their name.”
“Wait, so I’m assuming what Restia meant by you losing your abilities is that you ran out of memories of this Mizuki girl to use as a form of payment. Then why not just go find her and make more memories with her?” Shiho interjected.
I wanted to answer her question since it was directed at me but quite literally nothing came to my mind. The name Mizuki did not ring any bells whatsoever but I guess that she was once someone important to me from the way Restia described her.
“That’s impossible because Mizuki is no longer in this world. She passed away just after I made the contract with Kazuha.”
Restia stated which silenced the whole room. While I still had no idea who she was talking about, I had to admit that I felt a little sad hearing about someone else dying.
“Wait, but wouldn’t Kazuha-san still be able to use the abilities of other Regalias even if he is unable to use his wind?” Yuki questioned.
“That is not possible as well. Kazuha is a special case where he requires something like a cornerstone ability which he knows inside and out to act as a foundation. I am not entirely sure how it works as well but none of you are able to replace Mizuki as that cornerstone simply due to the fact that you do not share a strong enough bond with Kazuha.”
Restia continued explaining but her tone suddenly took a higher octave which hinted that she has good news incoming after this bad news.
“However, there may be a way for Kazuha to regain his cornerstone wind ability and by extension his mimic ability as well. Now that we have her on our side, her ability may just be the key to fixing this.”
Restia commented while directing her attention to Yuki and Raza. Raza who was still bound by Yuki appeared to have understood what Restia was hinting at and nodded.
“I see, what you plan to do might be near impossible but I guess it is worth a shot. However, if I sense that Yuki is in danger at any point in time I will not hesitate to pull her out understand.”
Raza demanded which made him appear as some sort of overprotective grandfather.
“Restia-sama, Kazuha-san is a very important person to me so if I am able to help him restore his abilities somehow, I will not hesitate to even put down my life for him.”
Yuki stated innocently while staring at me with eyes full of determination unbeknownst to her that the other girls were giving her what appeared to be looks of jealousy.
“Thank you so much Yuki, I am praying that all will go well and we can restore Kazuha’s abilities before Fluegorian, Sindragosa, Herschel and whoever awoken them find us.”
Upon thinking about the presence of 7 SSS-class Exceeds, I recalled something from the past and decided to share it with everyone in the whole room.
“Wait, I heard something like this before. My old master who taught me how to fight once told me something weird which I did not understand when I first met Restia but now I think I have some sort of idea of what he is referring to.”
I told everyone in the room as I recalled what my master told me back then.
“7 parts of a puzzle that remain asleep, 7 sins that hold the keys, once they reunite he will see. He used to tell me this quote back when I lived with him but I never knew what he was referring to. Maybe it has something to do with the 7 SSS-class Exceeds?”
This time Emiri was the one who interjected into the conversation.
“While we cannot rule out that possibility, there is also the possibility that it could be referring to something else entirely hence we should focus on what is in front of us right now. Our main tasks now is to somehow obtain Aghanim from Royal Academy and awaken him while also finding the location of Marcosias before the other party does. Hence I suggest we split into 2 groups. Risa, Miyu and Mayu will make use of the radars and scanners we have here to search for any clues alongside contacting the other academies on whether they have any leads. Shiho, Myself and Kasumi will travel to Royal Academy to request for permission to see Aghanim.”
“Last but not least, Kazuha and Yuki will follow Restia’s plan and attempt to recover Kazuha’s abilities for the upcoming battles. We shall all set off first thing tomorrow morning, for the rest of today all of you are to rest and recuperate as much strength as you can.”
After everyone received their respective orders, we all left the room to allow Shiho to properly rest and recuperate. Tomorrow was going to be a big day, way bigger than I and everyone else would have expected.
