Chapter 129 - Valerie and Shirone's training.

Drako's idea was approved directly by the group. Even the quiet Valerie who barely said anything had nodded her head at the name.

Speaking of Valerie.

Drako had decided to give the girl some time and let her adjust to her current situation before offering her a place in the organization. Aside from the ability to revive the dead, which Drako was not going to use because of the consequences, Valerie's Longinus was very useful.

Healing, animacy, soul manipulation, resurrection and youth inducement. Those are all the utilities that Longinus has in its base form, or all the utilities that Drako remembers. But there was a much more important one that couldn't help but appear in Drako's mind.

Valerie could eliminate an individual's weaknesses. For example, she could eliminate a dragon's weakness to Dragon-Slayer weapons.

Although, since Valerie was rescued from the hands of Rizevim, this impressive ability of the Longinus is never used again in novels. Drako did not know what the reason was, or rather, he could not remember what the reason was, but he assumed it was because Valerie had already been forced to abuse her Longinus to the point where even minimal use already pushed her to the limit of what she could endure. Fortunately, Mordred had rescued her before she was forced into a state of insanity due to resurrecting evil dragons from a level just below the Heavenly Dragons.

The rest of the morning passed quietly. Less than half an hour by train was not enough to bring everything that had happened in a few months up to date, so everyone kept talking for a few good hours. More people joined the conversion to add details, as Valina, Natsume and Lavinia were not on the train. The time they spent together was very entertaining, and even Valerie smiled a little from time to time even though she was not participating in the conversation.

Lavinia, Natsume and Valina knew nothing about Valerie, for unlike Mordred and Shirone, Drako and Kuroka had never spoken of her. They asked about Valerie's life, to make her feel more comfortable and enter the conversation since she had hardly spoken at all.

Valerie hesitated to speak. Honestly, she was scared. On the one hand, she wanted to trust this group of people who had rescued her from the hands of her own family. They seemed so happy talking together, which was strange for her considering that it was the first meeting of most of them. In fact, it seemed that only the dragon boy named Drako and the nekomata named Kuroka knew everyone here save Valerie.

Valerie, on the other hand, was afraid of being rejected, or even sent back to Romania where they would continue to experiment on her. What would they say when they learned she was a filthy hybrid? What would they say when they learned she was a traitor who had let a powerful weapon for her clan escape only because she did not want her friend to suffer as she did? What would they say when--

"Valerie, you have nothing to fear. Think of this as a new life, as if the Valerie Tepes who lived in Romania had died and now a new Valerie Tepes had been born in Japan. Of course, I'm not telling you to forget your past. In fact, I advise you not to forget it, because all experiences are beneficial for you, no matter how bad they may have been. You can trust us."

You can trust us...

Drako's words hit Valerie hard, to the point that she thought she was going to cry. Strangely, she had not cried since the day her best friend escaped the clutches of the Tepes clan. Valerie had resigned herself to her fate and lost all hope.

Was it true what Drako had said? Could she start a new life?

At least she could give them a chance, right? After all, she had nothing to lose, and she had a lot to gain.

And so Valerie recounted her past, summing it up and removing parts that were unnecessary or that she was not yet willing to share. From her birth as the daughter of King Tepes and a human concubine, her friendship with a Dhampir of whom she refused to say the name, to let him escape, to wake up her Longinus when she was going to be killed and being locked up to experiment.

Valerie didn't know how they would react to hearing her story, so she closed her eyes.

"It must have been hard."

Valerie opened her eyes in disbelief at Drako's words. But she didn't have time to respond when the rest of the people in the room spoke.

"You bastards, I knew I should have killed them all at that moment. Master, you should have given me permission to use my Noble Phantasm."

"I agree with Mo-sensei."

"If Shirone says so, I guess we'll have to pay a bloody visit to Romania-nya."

"Valerie-san, you can trust us in the future."

"Hmm... I can't call you Va-chan, because Va-chan is Va-chan, so from now on, I'll call you Vale-chan. We both have in common that we have a Longinus, so you can consider me your friend."

"As a descendant of Lucifer and bearer of the Divine Dividing, I cannot look away when I see something like this happening."

Valerie didn't react immediately but looked at them all with her eyes and mouth wide open. She didn't know when it had happened, but water drops kept coming out of her eyes.

Later, Valerie learned that she was not the only person present with mixed blood. Kuroka, Shirone and Valina were also part human and the other part a different race. In the case of the sisters, they where half Nekoshou, while Valina was half devil.

Drako was absent from the conversation and went to prepare the meal. But not many minutes passed when he felt a presence enter the kitchen.

"Valerie?"

With his level of Senjutsu, Drako did not even have to turn around to see who it was. Every living thing had a unique aura that set it apart from others, and Drako had already memorized Valerie's.

"I... am a useless and untalented girl. My vampire powers are nothing special, and I barely know how to use them. All I have left is my Longinus, but I'm afraid to use it. Still... still..."

"You still want to join us and not be left behind."

Drako could feel Valeria nodding her head. He said nothing for a moment, which made Valerie nervous, and continued to prepare the meal.

"Have you ever cooked?"

"I... I used to cook my own food since there was no one to feed me when I was little."

"I see... that means you know how to use a knife. Well, come here and help me cut the vegetables."

Though a bit confused, Valerie nodded and helped Drako with the vegetables. The kitchen was not particularly large, so the two of them were less than a foot apart.

The first time Valerie had seen Drako, she could only describe him with the word rude. A tall, handsome, muscular boy, just the opposite of her cute childhood friend. To see Drako diligently cooking, putting all his concentration into preparing food for the rest, was like Valerie had opened the door to a new world.

"Earlier, you spoke about yourself. Indeed, your life hasn't been the best, but I can tell you it could have been a lot worse."

Valerie didn't know, but Drako did. If Mordred hadn't taken Valerie out of that place, she was going to be experimented and corrupted for the next four or five years. She had been saved from hell before she went into it, literally.

Drako didn't give Valerie time to respond and continued talking.

"One girl has been suffering cruel experiments for years, another has been abused by her father since she was conscious, another has been forced to watch her sister being abused, another has seen all her schoolmates turned into monsters, another has been rejected by her parents and raised to be a weapon of destruction since birth."

Valerie stopped cutting the vegetables while listening in shock to Drako's words. If what he said was true, then all the girls in the room had suffered as she had to a greater or lesser extent.

And Valerie hated herself and her feelings right now. Because what she was feeling right now was... relief.

She... she wasn't so special after all, she wasn't the only one who had suffered, she had something in common with everyone in this group. She, Valerie, did have a place here.

"None of the girls are going to leave you behind, and I'm sure they're all going to try to help you in some way. You don't have to worry about not having any skills. Look at Natsume, she's just a teenager if you take away her Sacred Gear."

"That means..."

"You can consider yourself part of the group, Valerie. Mind you, I advise you to think twice before deciding to join the mercenary group. Once you get inside, I'm going to be very strict with you for your own good. The goals of this mercenary group are very high, as there are many expectations placed on us, so a low level will sooner or later lead to your death. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

Valerie nodded, and Drako said nothing more. The two continued to prepare the meal, and Drako instructed Valerie from time to time.

Drako and Valeria had already finished cooking, and Drako picked up the plates of food. Before he left the kitchen, he turned to look at Valerie.

"Ten days."

"Huh?"

"I want your answer in ten days. I want you to think very carefully about your decision during this time."

With that, Drako turned again and headed for the dining room where Mordred was already screaming desperately for food.

.............................................….

Drako found the first problem that very afternoon.

Although the apartment building was large and spacious, perfect for many people to live in, there was still a lot missing.

To begin with, there was nowhere to train.

Of course, the guys could go and use Grigori's facilities, as no one would say anything to them if they did. Still, it left a small taste in Drako's mouth that his organization was using someone else's facilities.

On the other hand, Drako was beginning to miss the building he was living in before. Most of all, he missed the roof where Drako could train Senjutsu without any problems. Now he could only use his room for training, but it was not the same.

Well, he had to settle for the moment.

That evening, Drako was busy with Shirone and Kuroka.

Little Nekoshou had been unable to make any obvious progress during the six months she had been with Mordred. It was not that Shirone did not practice her Senjutsu, it was that she had virtually no time to do so. Mordred's training was very strict and took up most of the morning and afternoon, the rest of the time is spent eating and resting. Shirone was not like Drako, who could practice Senjutsu and rest at the same time. She would die if she did not rest, especially considering the hellish training of Mordred.

Mordred was a tough, strict teacher, there was no doubt about that, but she was also a great teacher. No one had a skill that approached hers with the sword, or anyone Shirone had ever known. Even Arthur Pendragon, who was known as a genius among geniuses and had a skill with the blade that had not been seen for many, many years, had suffered defeat after defeat against Mordred.

But Mordred's skill was not just related to the sword. The most dangerous thing about her was her fighting style, where she did not hesitate to use anything to help her in battle. She combined her skill with the sword with kicks, punches, head butts, etc...

And that was the style that Mordred had been teaching Shirone.

Of course, Mordred had taught Shirone how to use the sword. Shirone had pleasantly surprised Mordred. The Nekoshou was not a genius among geniuses as Arthur Pendragon was, but she learned quite quickly. After a year and a half of training, Mordred could tell that there was no one Shirone's age who could match her in skill.

Although that didn't have much credibility since there are few 12-year-olds who train alongside the "son" of the King of Knights on a daily basis.

Shirone wanted to improve her use of Senjutsu, as she wanted to create her unique style using what Mordred had taught her as a foundation. She wanted to mix Mordred's brutal and wild style with the Senjutsu and Youjutsu of her race.

Hearing this, Drako was sure he had a little monster in front of him. It seemed that women with flat b.r.e.a.s.ts were destined to be brutal in combat.

When Shirone asked him and Kuroka for help, neither refused. And so they spent all afternoon helping Shirone with her training.

In the night, Drako couldn't intimate with Kuroka as Valina and Shirone invaded his room. This is where Drako found the second problem, as the bed in Drako's room was designed for two people, not four. Thus, Drako began to miss his 16-person bed in the underworld.

The surprise came the next morning.

At mid-morning, the doorbell rang, and Natsume opened the door to see who it was.

Kuroka and Mordred were still sleeping, while Shirone and Drako were training Senjutsu. Valerie, on the other hand, had gone with Lavinia to a place unknown to Natsume. So, since she was the only one doing nothing, she went to greet the unexpected visitor.

When Natsume opened the door, he found a mother-daughter couple.

How did she know they were mother and daughter?

Because the girl was the spitting image of her mother, they were practically the same.

"Good morning! My name is Akeno Himejima!"

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