The elegant woman regarded Dante with calm amusement. Long silver hair rested over the white kimono draped around her figure, embroidered with delicate patterns that shimmered beneath the afternoon sun.
Nine snow-white tails swayed lazily behind her, each moving with a rhythm that somehow felt independent yet perfectly synchronized with the others. Matching fox ears rested atop her head, twitching every so often in the mountain breeze.
Dante couldn't help but stare. Not at her face. At her tails. More specifically, where exactly they connected. His previous life's knowledge insisted they should all originate from somewhere around her lower back, yet no matter how closely he observed, he couldn't make sense of the anatomy.
The woman spoke without even turning around.
"If you continue staring there, I may begin to think you're more interested in my behind and tails than the conversation."
Dante nodded honestly.
"I am."
She glanced over her shoulder.
"You aren't embarrassed to admit that?"
"Not really. I'm curious. They all move independently. They look like separate tails. But they don't. So I'm trying to understand how your biology works."
She studied him for a few seconds before a quiet laugh escaped her lips.
"I've met many curious people. You're the first to study my anatomy instead of admiring my appearance."
"Its obvious your hot. My curiosity isn't. there"
That answer earned another chuckle.
"There is only one root. The tails simply branch from it. You can think of a tree trunk dividing into several great branches."
Dante nodded thoughtfully.
"Interesting."
His gaze lingered for another second before finally returning to meet her eyes. The woman folded her sleeves together.
"You truly are an unusual Mythical Being."
"I've heard that before."
"I doubt they meant it as praise."
"I chose to."
She smiled.
"Convenient."
Dante shrugged. "Life is more enjoyable that way."
Silence settled between them, neither seeming interested in filling it, the wind rolling across the mountain peaks and carrying the faint scent of pine through the valley below. Eventually the woman looked toward the battlefield where Lexa and Elric had fought.
"They're well trained. You taught them yourself?"
Dante followed her gaze.
"I shaped them. The talent was theirs. I simply pointed it in the right direction."
She nodded slowly.
"Few masters are willing to admit that. They prefer claiming all the credit. I've never understood that."
"If a subordinate grows strong enough to surprise me, that's proof I taught them correctly."
The woman smiled.
"A pleasant philosophy."
She continued watching the distant battlefield.
"I enjoyed the match. The swordswoman has excellent fundamentals. But what interested me more was the way she thought."
Dante looked at her.
"You noticed that?"
"I noticed she never chased victory. She chased understanding. She spent most of the battle collecting information. Only after she understood her opponent did she decide to end it."
She turned her head toward Dante.
"That wasn't her habit. It was something she learned."
Dante smiled faintly.
"You're observant."
"I've lived long enough to recognize the difference between talent and teaching."
Another comfortable silence followed. Dante eventually sat near the edge of the cliff, letting his legs hang over the drop. The woman remained standing. After several moments she spoke again.
"You know, you don't seem surprised that I've been watching you."
"I was. I was just more interested in meeting you than questioning why."
"And now?"
Dante looked up at the nine-tailed woman.
"Now I'm wondering why someone like you bothered watching me for almost half an hour."
The fox woman smiled — a gentle, knowing smile that carried neither superiority nor arrogance.
"I was deciding whether introducing myself would be interesting."
"And?"
She tilted her head ever so slightly.
"I still haven't decided."
Dante laughed.
"Fair enough. I'll just have to make the decision easier for you."
She chuckled softly. Dante looked up at her. She met his gaze without the slightest hint of discomfort. After a brief silence, Dante asked,
"If I politely asked whether you're wearing underwear... and if you are, what colour it is... would you answer?"
She rested a finger against her chin, genuinely considering it.
"Hm... that would depend. Would answering benefit me in any way? Would it help me achieve something?"
Dante stared at her for a second before sighing.
"...You're strange."
She smiled.
"Says the man who has spent the last several minutes studying my backside and trying to peek beneath my robe."
Dante shrugged.
"Those are two entirely different things. I'm eighteen. My hormones are legally permitted to make questionable decisions."
A light laugh escaped her lips.
"So you're only eighteen?"
Dante nodded. Then, without missing a beat, "And you? How old are you?"
She smiled knowingly. "To ask a woman her age... you truly are still a young man."
Dante studied her for a moment. "So — twenty-three?"
She paused, one elegant eyebrow lifting. "What gave it away?"
Dante answered matter-of-factly. "If you were several centuries old you'd have called me an interesting child, or an ignorant brat. That's usually how these conversations go in novels."
She blinked. "...I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."
"Neither do I. It's just a feeling."
Her laughter became a little warmer. "So my manner of speaking betrayed me?"
"Something like that."
She nodded thoughtfully before turning the conversation around. "My turn."
She looked toward Vexian in the distance, currently talking with Lexa.
"You have an extraordinarily beautiful woman by your side. So why spend your time staring at my ass? Trying to look beneath my kimono. Asking about my underwear. What exactly are you hoping to accomplish?"
Dante looked at her as though she had asked the most baffling question imaginable.
"Ahh I see what happened...Did you think I was trying to fuck you?"
She blinked. For the first time since they met, she genuinely had no immediate answer. One act of perversion similar to one he just displayed could be dismissed as shameless curiosity. Two suggested boldness. Three — most people would naturally assume desire. Wasn't that obvious?
Dante shook his head with visible disappointment.
"You women really do overthink these things. I look at someone's backside, and suddenly I'm planning our future together."
Silence lingered. Then the elegant fox woman burst into laughter — not polite laughter, not restrained laughter, genuine laughter. She laughed until tears gathered at the corners of her eyes. After nearly a minute she finally composed herself.
"...You really are impossible. I don't think I've met anyone quite like you."
She extended a hand.
"Would you at least tell me your name?"
"Dante."
She repeated it quietly.
"...Dante."
A hint of recognition crossed her face.
"Tell me — are you acquainted with the man people call... The Nameless One. Qwarian."
Dante's expression didn't change. Internally, however, everything clicked into place.
'I knew it. First, I couldn't appraise her. Then she casually called me an 'unusual Mythical Being' without the slightest reverence. She watched Lexa and Elric's battle from over thirty kilometers away, and not only followed it, but analyzed it. She wasn't even surprised when I manipulated space. Now she casually mentions Qwarian by name.' Tsk,'
'She's another one. An annoyingly strong Mythical Being. And judging from the feeling she gives me, not an ordinary stong either.'
His thoughts drifted toward Qwarian.
Now her.
'Why am I meeting boss-level characters this early?'
Outwardly he simply nodded.
"I've actually been wanting to learn more about him. How well do you know him?"
Without answering immediately, she gracefully lowered herself beside him, her nine tails flowing naturally around her, some folding beneath her like cushions while others rested across her lap. Not a single strand collected dust despite brushing against the stone.
"I met him while checking this area nearby. He introduced himself. He annoyed me. So I warned him."
Dante raised an eyebrow.
"Warned?"
She nodded casually.
"We exchanged a few blows. I wouldn't really call it a fight. He left."
She turned toward Dante.
"He gives me a similar feeling. You. Qwarian. And someone called Merlin. The three of you feel... strange."
Dante silently memorized the unfamiliar name. Merlin. His System quietly archived it without requiring his attention.
Luna continued.
"The difference — I can vaguely read the other two. I can sense fragments. But you—" She smiled faintly. "—my skills are actively telling me not to pry. I've never experienced that before."
Dante simply shrugged.
"You could always spar with me."
For the first time, her smile became slightly strained.
"I'd rather not. Not yet. Until the academy announces the final Provisional Candidate Examination, I have no intention of revealing my trump cards to someone capable of forcing them out."
Dante accepted that answer without pressing further. He stood, then calmly stepped forward onto empty air.
Luna's eyes widened ever so slightly.
"So — what's your name?"
She smiled.
"...Luna."
Dante nodded.
"Luna. We've still got four years ahead of us. So let's all try to get along. No unnecessary killing. No pointless drama. Let's aim for sunshine and rainbows."
She laughed.
"You don't think I'll fail before then?"
Dante answered without hesitation.
"You. Qwarian. Aisha. Jurian. I don't think any of you will."
A quiet sense of pride appeared within her crimson eyes.
"Thank you."
Dante smiled.
"Of course — if the examination turns out to be killing me, then we'll have to renegotiate."
Space distorted, his figure fading, leaving Luna alone atop the cliff. She looked toward the distant academy before letting out another soft laugh.
"This place truly is remarkable. Only four days, and I've already met three genuinely interesting people."
Her nine tails swayed gently behind her.
"The Provisional Examinations are going to be troublesome."
A smile slowly spread across her face.
"...And wonderfully entertaining."