157: My name is...

My name is...

It's being a long journey, but finally, Alfonso and company left the tribe of the Amazons and returned to Wasteland Valley… well, most of them.1

"Hephaestus and Aina stayed behind so they could explore the tomb of the sword goddess, apparently, Hephaestus thinks that the core of the flame sword, ignite, is hidden somewhere there" Explained Alfonso to everyone.

"I understand; however, the initial plan was to bring out Hephaestus so he could do something back at home right?" Asked Cerberus.

"I was wondering about that issue too, my lord," Said Cat one.

"That's why, I refused at first, however…" Said Alfonso while looking behind him.

Behind him where the Amazons that were doing the job of bodyguards, however, behind them, there where two young women who were discussing among themselves with a huge paper on his hands, they had all the appearance of a young woman, however, they had something that made people pondered about them, their hair was… somehow… strange, they had 'gold' hair.

That's right, not blond, but gold, putting emphasis on gold.

"Sister, with the materials at hand, we might need two years to finish this" Said one of the women.

"Sis, lord Hephaestus gave us a maximum of five months to finish this, we need to change a lot of things and work a lot, but, I must make it! How about we use some wood here and here instead of…"

The two identical sisters were discussing were known as the golden maidens, they were two automatons created by Hephaestus back in his days as a god, Alfonso and Hephaestus had a big fight about him going back to Wasteland Valley, when Hephaestus remembered his two assistants, Alfonso search for them in the system's shop, surprisingly enough, they were there, however, what made Alfonso suffocate was the fact that both of them cost almost 10000 Drachmas, now, Alfonso had more or less, with the missions that he had completed back in Tulip and this one in the Amazon Tribe, more or less, 1200 Drachmas, he, with tears in his eyes, bought the two sisters, however, Alfonso must admit that their abilities were worth the price. Alfonso didn't know much about infrastructure, that was the job of a civil engineer or an architect , but, he had seemed before maps and architecture of the past, so he had, more or less, a notion on the subject, coincidently enough, one of the sisters was as skillful as an experienced architect while the other one was as good in numbers and measurement as an engineer, Alfonso had problems in telling them apart though, they were exactly the same, the only difference they had was their voices, one of them, the architect, had a lovely yet profound voice, the other one, had a soft and cheerful voice, other than that… let's just say that if people put them in front of the other one, people would think that there is a mirror between them.

"We had the heads and the labor force," Said Alfonso while looking at the Amazons.

Of course, Alfonso knew that twenty-something women wouldn't be enough to finish his city in five months, which is the deadline that the system gave him to declare independence, what's more, the search for the four ministers was another thing that gave Alfonso a headache.

"I already have in mind three of them, however, I need one more for culture… where to find him or her?" Though Alfonso.

"My lord, we are almost there, Miss Demeter and the other ones were really anxious the time you were gone" Said the wolf that was transporting Alfonso, it was the good old white fang.

Before parting, Alfonso knew that he couldn't waste much time (and he was lazy) walking, so he sends Cerberus to call for his companions so they could transport Alfonso and the others.

The Amazons refused though, it seems that they prefer to walk, however…

"I feel like the president after the accident of JFK" Though Alfonso.

The twenty Amazons were surrounding him, looking for danger everywhere, when an animal tried to even get closed, they activated their soul power and the poor animal are so afraid that they play dead.

"Anyway, this is something good… I guess?" Said Cat one, who was also mounting a wolf beside Alfonso.

"Yeah, we are going to be one family from now on, we need to protect each other's backs," Said Alfonso.

"…" Cat one looked at Alfonso and made a strange expression, after that she just looked at him and didn't say anything.

"If you want to say something, just say it" Said Alfonso.

"…How…are…your injuries?" Asked Cat one with a guilty expression.

"…" Alfonso was surprised, he was planning to lie to her, however, he saw her expression and knew that it was pointless to lie, she already saw through him.

"You are sharp" Said Alfonso with a small smile.

"…" Cat one didn't answer.

Alfonso didn't say anything and signaled at his eye, his 'good' eye, the left one.

"I can't see well with this eye" Said Alfonso in a low voice.

The face of Cat one became uglier.

"How bad is it?" Asked Cat one.

"Not that bad, however" Alfonso stretched his arm.

He looked at his hand for some time before sighing,

"My sense of profoundness is severely damaged, I can't detect if my hand is too far away or too close to my face, is a bit troublesome, however, there are some exercises that I can do to get better" Alfonso said.

He turned around and saw that Cat one had a sad expression on her face, he made a bitter smile and said.

"It's not your fault, I was my choice to be reckless, not yours"

"However, if I was more powerful, your highness, you wouldn't have…" Said Cat one.

"When you spend time thinking about the infinite possibilities that the word 'if' give you, you became lost in a spiral of disillusions, there is no pill for regret nor there is a machine to go back in time and amend your mistakes" Said Alfonso.

He looked at the girl with black eyes and looked at her straight into the eyes.

"Learn from the past, live for the present and prepare for the future, that way, you would always be able to look forward to the future"

Cat one was surprised by the words of Alfonso, she nodded and grabbed Alfonso's hand.

"My real name is Io Rossi, from this day on, I pledge to dedicate my whole life to protect you and serve you as my only king" Said Io, then, she kissed Alfonso's hand.

Alfonso was surprised, he didn't understand what made Cat one say this so suddenly, however, when he saw his hand, a small tattoo appeared in his hand when Alfonso saw it, the tattoo had the form of a rose.

Alfonso didn't understand that the words that he says today, had saved the life of Cat one in more than one way nor did he know the big consequences that this tattoo will bring him in the future and the huge identity of Cat one… no, Io Rossi, however, one thing was sure…

Even the emperor of Leitol, Alfonso's father, wouldn't dare to mess with the Rossi family…

However, that is a story for the future.

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