Earth's Greatest Magus

"Would you like to have a hot bath first, sir?" The brown-haired woman asked, still keeping her mask on as she led the way.

In response, Emery said, "No. Just take me somewhere private."

Nodding her head slightly as a sign she understood, she took Emery to the fourth floor into one of the available rooms. Upon entering, Emery was welcomed by a large room lavishly decorated, but what quickly caught his eye was a bed big enough for half a dozen people.

Emery casually walked over and sat on the bed, as it was the only place to sit in the room. On the other hand, the girl, Trixie, was standing quietly at the side of the bed.

Even though she tried her best to hide it, he could tell she was anxious. His sharp senses picked up the faint sound of her heart beating slightly faster than before.

"Take off your mask," Emery said, looking directly at her. "Let me see your face."

She didn't immediately do as asked when she heard Emery's words. Instead, she took a deep breath and said, "Please let me wash myself up first, sir." In spite of the please in her words, she didn't wait for Emery's response and walked into the shower room.

Unbeknownst to her, Emery didn't really need nor want whatever she had to offer. He just needed to see her face, to know who she was in the hopes it would bring a little of his lost memory back.

However, there was no hurry. He could wait a little longer. After all, the bed below him was quite soft, giving him a sense of comfort as he decided to lie down for a while. Although he knew it wasn't true, he felt as if all his tension melted away.

A few minutes had passed as Emery enjoyed lying on the bed, but the woman had still not come out of the bathroom. Thanks to his senses, Emery was certain she was still inside the room. But on the other hand, he could also tell she had only been standing still not doing anything for a while.

Feeling something was off, he got off from the bed and walked towards the shower. The moment he opened the door, he was surprised to see the masked woman swiftly turned around and with a dagger in her hand charged at him.

She had the strength of a Rank 8 or Rank 7 acolyte at the very least. However, such a strength was still far from sufficient to take him down, even by surprise.

Emery casually stopped her attack by catching her hand that was holding the dagger, before turning her around and restraining her.

To his surprise, that was enough to make her give up as she said, "Just kill me… I don't want to live anymore."

He could see through the mirror in front of them that the eyes behind the mask were closed as she spoke.

"Brutus... Wait for me, I can finally join you."

The moment Emery heard the name, it was as if a huge piece of puzzle was reconstructed in his memory. He then reached over to her mask and took it off her face, to find a face he recognized from his memory.

"Tatyana," that name unconsciously came out of Emery's mouth and it brought a shock to the brown-haired woman if her expression were an indication.

"Who… who are you?! How did you know my name?! Who sent you here!?"

Emery did not immediately answer any of her questions, still overwhelmed by the wave of memories rushing back at him.

She was a senior in the academy, part of a small pack of three led by a young man named Brutus. The woman was one of the first wolf half-bloods he had ever met.

It finally came back to him that the last time he had seen her was when he told her the news of Brutus' death. It had been more than four years since that time. In his memory, she was much younger and shorter. But now, she was a full-grown woman. No wonder it was not easy for him to recognize her.

"Let me go! Or kill me! Decide what you want, but I rather die before you touch me!" She said loudly as she struggled to break free.

Looking at her and recalling her current situation, a lot of questions came into Emery's mind, but he didn't let them all out. First thing first, he let go of her arm that he was holding after disarming her from the knife.

"Calm down, I am not here to touch you nor hurt you whatsoever."

It took a few seconds before Trixie, or rather, Tatyana to calm down, however her confusion was still apparent.

"Who are you?" She asked with a questioning tone.

Not only was Emery known to be dead, he was currently appearing with a different name and face. Realizing the reasons for her confusion, Emery thought about the situation for a second before finally deciding to reveal himself.

Emery gazed into her eyes calmly as he slowly shapeshifted his face back. "Hope you still remember… It's me, Emery."

The girl's eyes widened when she saw Emery's face. "Brother Emery…? No… No it can't be! You… You died… There's no way this can be true. This is a trick!"

Emery quickly grabbed her flailing hands and calmly said, "It's a long story, but it's really me."

It took Emery a lot of time and effort for Tatyana to finally trust that he was really him. The brown-haired girl sniffed his body all over like she the first time they met. From that Emery found out his clone body emitted a smell similar to the original body, but not completely the same.

Emery told her a concise summary of what had happened to him, but what finally made her believe his words was when he told her the message Brutus entrusted him to say to her, which she didn't want to listen to at that time at Zodiac City.

Immediately, Emery felt a strong force around his back as Tatyana rammed into his body and hugged him tightly.

"Brother Emery… It's really you... You are here."

He could feel her body relax as if all sensation had been drained out of her. Then, surprising Emery, Tatyana burst into tears, to which he quickly responded with a tight hug for quite a while. Slightly loosening their embrace, he looked into her eyes and said, "Now tell me why you are here? Where are the others? What happened to White Fang?"