What Doesn't Change

From the moment the duo took Yuushin and Vel to the room Johnny was using, it didn’t take five seconds for them to start sharing all the things Yuushin missed in the last month.

Like how Heidi was working to open her own artisan shop, going after the certifications she needed. Or how Johnny had started learning more about magic.

Since both of them had some business in Orsyr, they were traveling together.

Yet what about the others…?

Yuushin had many things he wanted to ask, himself, but…

He was struggling to find a chance to.

“They said I have a good affinity for primeval magic—whatever that means. Will probably be able to do a lot of cool shit, like you.”

In the small room, Heidi and Johnny were sitting on the two single beds. At the back, Vel drank her tea in silence, without even glancing their way, while Yuushin stood in the middle.

“Yuushin cannot manipulate mana.”

Even in her human form, Vel’s comment sucked the blond man’s excitement in a blink, Johnny’s face turning pale.

Heidi turned to Vel, a faint sadness echoing in her question. “Why not?”

“His nativus plexus… The channels used to conduct mana suffered far too much damage. He could train with the Hallowed Hero himself, still wouldn’t be able to squeeze a single magic spell out of him.”

As the female demon explained, Johnny’s shoulder dropped, his eyebrows frowning as he and Heidi exchanged glances in disbelief.

“Dang bro, is this for real?”

“I’m sorry, Yuushin…”

“H-hey, is all good! Honestly, I never got to use magic, so I don’t really miss it, you know. Actually, I came here to learn more about Soma.”

Heidi’s face glowed up, a new smile blooming on her face.

“Oh, I’m studying Soma too! I heard people saying how it’s very useful in a foundry—thought I could give it a shot. We can train together later!”

Yuushin gave her a gentle smile, his voice tender.

Compensating for what he was about to say next.

“I would love to… Actually, I’ve been meaning to ask you guys a few things.”

They smiled back, some joy hinting in their gazes again.

“Sure, anything!”

“I’m all ears, bro.”

“…what about the others? Are they doing well?”

Yet that same joy died out, little by little, taking away both the smiles and the glow from their eyes.

While Johnny clenched his fists in his lap, Heidi curled her finger around her hair, the woman’s voice hesitant. Apprehensive, almost.

“They are…doing well, I suppose. It’s been a month since we last saw everyone, so we don’t know.”

At first, he said nothing. Then Yuushin took a step closer to her, the metal staff feeling colder in his hand. “Why? Did something happen?”

Heidi opened her mouth, the words refusing to come out as she contemplated what to say. Before she could ever reply, Johnny let out a groan—his voice carrying all the frustration reflected in the man’s gaze.

Johnny passed his hands through his hair, closing his eyes shut. “Aah, I can’t! Just remembering all that shit bums me the hell out, man!”

Heidi tried to reach out to him, her twisting in a sorrowful grimace.

But then Johnny met Yuushin’s gaze. A new spark burning in those brown eyes.

“Jay, the others—we left them. It just wasn’t right, dude, the things they were planning. Didn’t sit well with me at all.”

Yuushin turned to Vel for a moment, her eyes echoing his own thoughts. Then he shifted his focus to Heidi, the woman’s body restless as she bit her lip.

“What did Jay say to you? What plans?”

She took a deep breath, followed by another grunt from Johnny. Her words were heavy, her tone distant.

“One night, Jay called everyone for a meeting. ‘It’s very important’, he said…so even if it was the middle of the night, we all went.” Heidi’s gray eyes pierced his own, something new hiding in her gaze. Something fierce—painful. “You knew it too, didn’t you? About what can happen to Earth. About the Arch Bishop’s excursion.”

So Jay told them, in the end…

For some reason, Yuushin felt relieved.

Heidi must’ve seen his answer in his face, since she let out a dry laugh. One so dry, it stung and burned.

“…Jay was very patient, that night. After he told us how we had to stick to Veritux’s side to learn their secrets, how you were sentenced to death because you refused the Arch Bishop’s request…he listened to us. Our questions. Our concerns. He asked us what we wanted to do.”

“You’re forgetting about the slave bit,” Johnny mumbled under his breath, his voice burning.

“He never said anything about slaves…” By Heidi’s tone, that was not the first time they were having that disagreement.

And when Johnny stood up suddenly, his face flushed, Yuushin realized what the blond man was feeling was way past anger.

It was rage.

“That’s a load of crap, and y’know it! What, if one of those folks orders us to jump, unless we ask ‘how high’, we're getting the cut? How much bootlicking we’ve to do just to stay in their sweet graces, and get some effing answers?!”

The next time Johnny met Yuushin’s gaze, there was something else burning within him. A new sparkle, a new determination.

And seeing that made Yuushin smile.

“You can bet your ass we left ‘em! Jay may have helped us and all, but ain’t no way I’m gonna let my mom turn on her grave, thinkin’ she raised a wuss who can’t even stand for what’s right!”

As he finished his speech, Johnny’s face was flushed—the man’s breath uneven as his body seemed to relax, his eyes filled with relief.

Heidi cleared her throat, not daring to look anywhere up as she complemented Johnny’s statement.

“Like he said, we didn’t want to play nice with Veritux—especially after what they did to you. So we left.” There was a short pause before she continued, reluctant. Apprehensive. “Did…was Jay really the one who ‘carried out your sentence’?”

Wow, he even shared that?

…

Jay…

Yuushin’s reply came with a whisper. “Yeah, it was him.”

I wish you were someone easier to hate.

Johnny leaned closer, uncertainty filling his voice. “How…are you alive, then? Like, d’you become a zombie or somethin’? Jay made it seem like you were gone for good.”

A weak laugh escape through Yuushin’s lips, despite himself.

“Vel saved me, actually. If it weren’t for her, I would be dead for sure.”

They both glanced at her with widened eyes, silence enveloping the room like a thick veil, allowing only the sound of their breath to be heard.

*clink*

Then Vel put her teacup down, her movements graceful and slow. And when she spoke, those lilac eyes were calm.

Decisive.

“Retsugo Yuushin. We must ask them for help.”

Yuushin blinked.

Then he blinked again, his eyes turning to the duo and back to Vel, more than once.

“W-what? Should you be saying this now? With them in the room?”

Heidi and Johnny exchanged awkward glances, the man speaking with a hesitant tone.

“Should we give you the room to talk it out, or…?”

“There’s no need for such.” Vel’s reply came in a heartbeat, the teacup fading to non-existence with a single movement from her hand. “I was hoping to find more allies, and you two seem to share the same foolishness of this man.”

Yuushin held his breath, clenching his fists. “Still…”

To ask them to expose themselves in this way…

After all, Yuushin was already considered Veritux’s enemy. But Heidi and Johnny…

“D’you need help with revenge? ‘Cuz if it’s that, I'm in.”

While Yuushin struggled to finish his sentence, the blond man blurted out with confidence flooding in his voice.

The other man froze for a second.

“W-wait a minute, that’s not—”

“We do not seek petty vengeance—we fight for honor. To protect what is rightfully ours.”

And before he could process Johnny’s words, Vel surprised him even more with her words—making Yuushin’s heart even more panicked.

What are you even saying to them?!

“You will fight against Veritux…? Really?” Heidi sounded as impressed as she was perplexed, her gaze filled with disbelief.

“Vel, wait, shouldn’t we—”

“Obviously. They must face the consequences of their greed and pride.”

“Holy shit, dude, you’re actually going for poetic justice right now. I’m game.”

“Count me in, too!”

As both Johnny and Heidi agreed, eyes glowing, smiles widening, Yuushin let out a sigh.

Vel’s lips curled in a smile, her voice almost amused.

“Then I must show you my trust.”

When Vel stood up, like a smoke lifting from her body, her transformation became undone.

And for the next ten minutes, Yuushin watched as Johnny freaked out about finding real-life Morrigan Aensland, and Heidi drooled over the demon’s black armor.

So he decided to go down to fetch his lunch, before it got cold.