Law of Space and Time

Chapter 28: Sisters

While Erwin was contemplating how he was going to search for Lana, the subject of his thoughts was sitting in a high-end pub in the northern part of the city with a bored look on her face. At this moment, she was listening to the conversation taking place between the two people seated at the table next to hers, but she wasn't able to actually focus any attention on the conversation.

"Big Sister? Since when did you come back?!" A black-haired woman was staring at Aglea with a hint of unease in her gray eyes, but that was far outweighed by emotions of surprise and elation from this long-awaited reunion.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Have you come to despise me just like everyone else in our family?" Aglea asked in a bitter voice.

"How could you say that, Big Sister?" the black-haired woman asked as she bit down onto her own lower lip. "You know I'm not like them."

Aglea faltered slightly upon hearing this, following which a gentle smile appeared on her face, but it was concealed by the silver mask that she was wearing. She reached out to stroke the young woman's soft and glossy hair, and she felt as if she had returned to over 20 years ago. Back then, the young woman before her was an adorable little girl who still hadn't grown into the stunning beauty that she was today. At the time, Aglea had only been around 16 to 17 years of age, and one of the things that she loved doing the most was carrying her little sister around in her arms. The familiar scent of her little sister never failed to put her at ease. Back then, the only thing that could convince Aglea to take breaks from her obsessive sword practice was this little sister of hers. The only occasions that she displayed the caring and delicate facet of her character were when she was spending time with her sister.

"Back when I left, you were still just a little girl, but you sure have grown up splendidly since then," Aglea mused.

At the same time, Aglea was thinking to herself that if weren't for this little sister of hers, her soul would've already been scattered, and she wouldn't even have been alive today.

To this day, she still couldn't forget the pure look in the little girl's eyes and what she had said to her. "Big Sister, that soul cauldron can collect one's soul. It can save your life in your time of need."josei

If it weren't for that soul cauldron, Aglea would've already met her demise in that battle 20 years ago.

In contrast with Aglea, her little sister excelled in a very taboo branch of magic, namely necromancy. Even back when she had only been a few years old, she had already begun to display exceptional talent in that branch of magic, and the soul cauldron that she had given to Aglea was a vessel that was capable of collecting one's soul while they were on the brink of death. It was almost unfathomable to imagine that such a young child could've created something like that without a mentor.

The black-haired woman paid no heed to Aglea's praise as she asked with a concerned expression, "Big sister, you have enemies everywhere in Finklan. Why have you come back?"

"I have no enemies here, Emma. All of my enemies died many years ago," Aglea said in a casual voice, then took a subtle glance at Perry, who was waiting in the corridor outside. "The enemies that you're referring to are the enemies of our family, right? I've already disassociated myself from the Henry Family long ago, so how are their enemies my enemies?"

"Even so, it's still way too dangerous for you to be back here now," the woman by the name of Emma said in a quiet voice. "There's word going around that Sword God Buu has already returned to Finklan."

Aglea was completely unfazed to hear this, and she asked in a joking voice, "That old fart still hasn't kicked the bucket yet?"

"Big Sister, don't forget that you were the one who killed his most prized disciple. Are you not worried that he'll seek vengeance against you?" Emma asked while also taking a glance at Perry.

"Then let him come. Back then, perhaps I would've had reservations about facing him, but now, I'd be ecstatic if he came to find me," Aglea said with a disdainful purse of her lips.

Emma didn't say anything further upon hearing Aglea's arrogant declaration. After all, she had witnessed that blue serpent several days ago, so she already knew that her sister had made massive strides in her swordsmanship.

"Besides, even if he wanted revenge, he won't find it here," Aglea continued as a hint of sorrow flashed through her eyes. "I didn't kill him during our battle. In the end, both of us overexerted our bodies to the extreme and met our demise as our life forces had run out."

Emma recalled that back when she had gone to retrieve the soul cauldron, there had been two people laying on the snowy ground. Both of their bodies were completely riddled with dozens of sword wounds, and their blood had completely soaked the ground around them. By the time she arrived on the scene, both were already long dead.

"He felt like he had an unfair advantage as he was using his master's 'Carefree' sword, so he refused to land the killing blow on me," Aglea said in a cold voice. "However, my mind was entirely filled with hatred at the time, and I wasn't going to spare his life."

"So who would've come out on top if it had been a contest of pure swordsmanship?" Emma asked with a curious expression.

"I thought he was a heartless man, but never did I think that he was even more emotionally invested than I was. In light of that, it was his loss," Aglea replied after a brief moment of contemplation.

Emma was asking about swordsmanship, yet Aglea's reply pertained to their relationship.

"Big Sister, I was too young to understand what happened between you and him all those years ago, but I want to ask you this now: who was the one at fault?" Emma asked.

"Of course he was," Aglea replied without any hesitation.

Lana had been listening to the conversation this entire time, and she suddenly interjected, "Ha! You're constantly making fun of me all the time, but you have a man that you love as well? Sounds like you're no better than I am."

Aglea was unbothered by Lana's mockery, and she took a cold glance at Lana as she said, "He has already died by my sword."

"So what? That doesn't change the fact that you still had feelings for him. You claim to be dedicated solely to the sword, but it seems like you were lying all this time," Lana countered, refusing to let Aglea off the hook.

Emma was rather amused to see Aglea being grilled, and she asked, "Who's this? You two seem to share a very interesting dynamic."

There weren't many people in this world who dared to insult Aglea to her face, so Emma was very impressed with Lana's courage.

"She's just a slave of mine. On top of that, she's a lovesick little brat with no memories," Aglea replied in a cold voice.

"You have no right to call me lovesick. We're both just the same," Lana countered.

"I was never so lovesick that I would cry a river just from seeing a poem," Aglea said in a mocking voice, clearly referring to Lana's reaction to seeing Erwin's poem in the Dreambind Pavilion several days ago.

A deep blush immediately appeared on Lana's face upon hearing this.

"Which poem are you talking about?" Emma asked with a smile. "The one in the Dreambind Pavilion?"

Having seen the blue serpent that had risen up out of the Dreambind Pavilion several days ago, Emma knew that Aglea had to have visited the restaurant. What she didn't know was that they had arrived at the restaurant almost immediately after she left.

"Aside from the one written by her little lover, Erwin, there's no other poem that can catch her eye," Aglea jeered.

"Erwin? Erwin Friar?" Emma asked with a surprised expression. "So she's Erwin's..."

Before Emma had a chance to finish, Lana's eyes lit up as she grabbed onto her hands and asked, "Have you seen Erwin? Do you know where he's staying in Finklan right now?"

Lana had come to Finklan with Aike to attend the imperial conference with the sole purpose of finding out more information about Erwin. This was a suggestion that she had received from Duke Soleil. He knew that all of the important figures of the northern continent would converge in one place for the imperial conference, so there was a chance that they would be able to find out some information about Erwin's whereabouts here. More importantly, the freemen were a huge nuisance to the Fano Dukedom, and Duke Soleil was naturally eager to get them to leave his territory.

Ever since learning that Erwin had also come to Finklan, Lana had been constantly thinking about him, to the point that she was losing sleep and missing meals.

Emma shook her head as she replied, "I don't know where he's staying right now, I only met him briefly in the Dreambind Pavilion."

Lana lowered her head in disappointment upon hearing this.

"Why are you looking so down in the dumps? You already know that he's in Finklan, how difficult can it be to find him from here?" Aglea asked.

"If only I could be as cruel as you and kill him in a duel. I wouldn't have to think about him all the time then," Lana countered in an indifferent voice.

Emma found the bickering between the two women to be quite amusing. She had never seen Aglea so lively and animated before. In her memory, Aglea had always been so cold and detached from everything, and it seemed like the only thing she was interested in was her sword. Even Emma herself very rarely felt love or concern from her elder sister. Of course, ever since that man appeared in Aglea's life, Emma discovered that her sister was also capable of laughing and crying like a normal person, but that period of time was far too brief.

"It's getting quite late. You should go home so Prime Minister Henry doesn't get worried." A scathing tone had crept into Aglea's voice as she mentioned Prime Minister Henry.

Emma was naturally aware that there was an irresolvable conflict between her father and her elder sister, so she could only shake her head and heave a resigned sigh.

As it turned out, Aglea was actually getting her sister to leave as she had organized to see someone else later, and she didn't want Emma to be present for that.

After emerging from the room, Emma turned to Aglea before asking in a quiet voice, "Big Sister, you just mentioned that the woman you're with has no memories. Does that have something to do with you?"

"That's right, I took her memories," Aglea admitted in a straightforward manner. "While cultivating in the Terarody Mountain Ranges, I learned the ability to take someone's memories from a magic beast."

"Then that thing over there..." Emma's voice trailed off as she cast her gaze toward the small skeleton that was taking a nap while leaning against the doorframe.

Aglea smiled as she confirmed, "You guessed right. That body belongs to me, but the soul inhabiting it is his."

"What about his memories?"

"I took his memories as well. I want him to live like the braindead idiot that he is," Aglea replied with a dark expression.

Emma faltered slightly upon hearing this and couldn't think of a good response. In the end, she put on a slightly forced smile as she said, "No wonder you became so much more physically imposing than before. I'm assuming this skeleton belonged to him?"

Aglea nodded in response with a smug expression. "I have to admit, he has a perfect frame for a swordsman. It was a waste for him to have such an ideal body, so it's much better that I take it from him. I've always been envious of his superior physical attributes."

I wonder if it was the right decision to teach her the method to store souls, Emma thought to herself.

This Aglea was completely different from the elder sister that she used to know. These were two people who should've already been laid to rest, yet they were still intertwined in this way that completely defied the hand of fate, and it was a little bit disturbing to think about.