~Majabah~

"I would never dare lie to high lord Nanase-sama. I assure my lord that I have the information you seek, but in exchange for it, I ask that you keep this town's existence and Beastmastery a secret."

Earlier, Minami presented his terms in a bold manner, as expected from someone once from a family of high standing. He insisted that Gaku, Riku, Tamaki, and Mitsuki should look around town and think hard before giving him the final decision.

"I understand where he's coming from." Outside walking around, Mitsuki voiced his opinion.

"What's there to understand? That snake speaks of nothing but treason!" Gaku shook his head, infuriated that someone dared to claim the whole town for himself when the Nanase should hold absolute power over all of Majabah.

"Try to look at this from another perspective, Yaotome," Mitsuki argued. "Some of these people choose to come and live here because they don't know magic. They are taught Beastmastery and are free from discrimination and all that." The doctor had a point there. Riku and Gaku felt the need to listen to Mitsuki as he was the only one who could approach the townspeople. Majabah was not a kind world to those who knew no magic. The people here feared magic and they felt threatened just by having two magic users walk among them.

"Regardless, he is controlling the game." Riku made a thinking pose, looking worried. "Without knowing the spirit's whereabouts, Majabah and Silica will never be truly safe."

"My instinct tells me he knows about you, Rikkun." Tamaki could not shake his gut feeling. "He knows I'm a dragon. You and I have the same aura."

"They say knowledge is power. I'm beginning to understand why." Gaku let out a loud sigh.

Riku knew the decision was on him. There was another thing he knew even better: his feelings. He was sad. Sad because the state of the town he was in was unacceptable. People here were running away from cruel reality, and he did not blame them one bit. He felt sad, as he was a lord who could not even make his townspeople feel safe in their own status.

Riku steeled his resolve. Seeing something like this made it even clearer that he wanted to make Majabah a better place for commoners and non-magic users, especially now that the world was connected to Silica. He appreciated that Mitsuki always advised him to take little steps at a time and be patient as major changes could not happen overnight. For now, the lord had made his decision.

~~

"I cannot accept your proposal, Natsume."

Even the seemingly calm Minami went wide-eyed hearing that answer. Biting his lip, he had thought the lord would return with an agreement for sure, especially when he had heard tales of how this particular Nanase cared more about his people than the rest. Perhaps he was too quick to believe someone high and mighty would be considerate. As if the reptiles in his house could sense his anger, pythons, boa constrictors, and many other snakes came slithering around Minimi's body. They hissed at Tamaki, Mitsuki, and Gaku who were forced into their combat stances.

Riku gulped nervously. Before anyone got hurt, he went on with his explanation right away. "Instead, hear me out, will you not?"

"But of course, my lord." Minami bowed despite having cursed the man standing before him a thousand times. 'Hear me out' my ass. If he wanted to keep his head on his shoulders, he had to accept that order, whatever it might turn out to be.

"You are very cunning but also kind." Riku smiled reservedly. "I understand you are trying to protect these people from suffering. Then again, I believe this is not the most ideal solution. They are safe from cruel words and harsh reality, but they are not free."

Minami went wide-eyed when Riku explained that he wished to change Majabah. "As for the time being, our lips are sealed. We shall tell no one of this town, but I shall expect your presence at the mansion whenever you are summoned. After all, you would be the voice for those who do not know magic."

"I- thank you, Nanase-sama." Riku's compassion touched him even though he didn't completely trust him. Minami was glad he did not have to tell the people to move back to the surface. Magically, some of the snakes returned to wherever they came from.

Riku nodded, earning a sigh of relief from his personal butler and everyone else. "I shall be counting on you and other town representatives to help shape the future of our world."

As promised, Minami revealed valuable information. "Do you all remember the place where the volcano erupted?"

Oh, of course they did. There was no way they could not remember. The butler nodded with a grim expression on his face. "Yes. My lord protected the town."

Small snakes were wrapping themselves around Minami's right arm. The man let them do as they pleased. "My friends here told me they could sense a tremendous amount of... 'dark power' from within the volcano back then."

"Makes sense." Tamaki nodded. "Rikkun said that that volcano was supposed to be dormant but all of a sudden it went crazy that day."

"The usually calm volcano was protected by a guardian beast." Minami continued, resting his chin on his left hand.

"Are we talking about something legendary?" Gaku eyed the dragon Tamaki, who appeared anything but.

"Perhaps," Minami chuckled. "For it has been living for over a century. I do not believe a mere dog could live so long."

"So this dog knows where the spirit is?" asked Mitsuki.

Minami shook his head. "That I cannot say for certain. After the volcano erupted, our friends are saying they've lost contact with the beast."

"Strange, indeed." Riku nodded. "Are you suspecting the spirit has done something to the guardian?" He tried hard to keep a straight face when he actually felt bad for the poor dog.

"Most likely, Nanase-sama," answered Minami.

"And after all that talk, this is all you've got?" Gaku raised his voice out of frustration. "This is all just speculation!"

"Shh, Yaotome!" Mitsuki tugged on Gaku's clothes hard. "A lead is better than nothing."

The pretty man bowed his head deeply to Riku. He apologised for not knowing more, but in return for the lord's generosity, he taught Mitsuki some songs and techniques of Beastmastery only been passed down the Natsume line.

When they were all ready to depart, Riku turned to Gaku, only to find that the butler was scowling. Mitsuki was pretty saddened too. It was expected. That volcano town was where Riku lost his life. Of course, the mention of that incident would frighten them.

~~

~Silica~

"A messenger from Majabah? What did he say?" Tenn, along with Iori, rushed to Yamato's lab soon after they got the call from the scientist.

Yamato showed an unrolled scroll to Tenn. "Apparently the fortune teller or whoever Yaotome met gave them a clue." Chuckling, the scientist shrugged his shoulders. "I don't want to believe it. Nagi, Ryuu, and I have been practically living in this lab, doing extensive research. We've got nothing. The lord guy went to one place and ta-dah! They got the info. How unfair."

"Well, I believe it." Tenn smiled, slightly amused. "None would dare lie to my lovely little brother."

Iori rolled his eyes. "Total brocon..."

Choosing to trust this information for the time being, Yamato, Ryuu, Nagi, Tenn, and Iori sat at the table to discuss the letter's content.

"There's a high chance lord Riku's crew will end up battling the beast for more information..." Nagi read it out loud while thinking hard.

"And the biggest problem is that the beast can spit lava. One drop and we'd burn. Badly." Iori finished the sentence. He'd rather get extreme frostbite or be frozen by Riku's magic than get overcooked by lava.

"Won't the magic barrier hold?" Yamato asked out of curiosity.

Tenn shook his head. "No, strong flames can penetrate it." He wasn't sure if Riku's barrier would work differently, but it was extremely risky to rely on just one person's magic. Way too risky.

"This is quite a problem," Iori thought hard. "Hardly anything doesn't melt in lava." The objects he had in his head were hard and physical, like sturdy rocks and diamonds. In his mind, he saw Riku wearing full diamond armour and a helmet, walking like a penguin, and stumbling down minutes later. Oh no. It was so ugly, he couldn't even laugh.

Tenn closed his eyes, thinking of what he and Iori could do. The two had been training together, spending every minute of their free time finding out how to control Dispel magic. They had learned it would activate whenever they focused on the same thought. While they could not control it completely, they could cast it on a very small scale. They weren't confident they could bring a person back to life, should the worst happen.

The Silicans went quiet. It was a problem that needed solving with advanced technology, but was Silican's technology advanced enough at this point? Yamato bit his lip. He didn't want Nagi to reply to Riku saying 'Sorry, we can't help. You combatants are going to have to keep dodging the beast's attacks.' It sounded terrible, and it was even worse when he thought of the consequences in a political way.

The only person who remained silent the whole time was Ryuu. Judging from his facial expression, Yamato suspected his husband was onto something. With Ryuu's face looking grim, he was almost afraid to ask what. "You're unusually quiet, Ryuu."

Ryuu looked up, catching a hint of concern in Yamato's glance. He gave his husband a sad smile. "I'm okay. It's just... I know someone who might be able to help."

Yamato blinked twice. "Oh? Is that not a good thing?"

"Do you remember how I was forced to drop out of the university?" replied Ryuu.

"Yeah, I do..." Yamato trailed off, wondering why Ryuu would bring this up. Then it suddenly came to him. "Wait, are you talking about that guy?"

Ryuu nodded, wearing a serious expression.

"Mido Torao," Yamato said the name in the lowest voice he could. His brows furrowed just by mentioning the name. He'd never spoken to the guy, and he never once wished to do so.

~~

"Welcome to my grand abode."

Ryuu gulped when he stepped inside an enormous mansion. He became quite tense when he caught that sharp, crimson gaze from a socialite before him. Mido Torao smiled. It was a proud, victorious smile, the one he always wore when he got exactly what he wanted. Or it was just a smile with no meaning whatsoever, Ryuu couldn't tell. He only knew that it reminded him of a bitter memory, making him feel uneasy.

Knowing his husband and Torao had more than a bit of history, Yamato decided to cut right to the chase. "You know what we came for. We have the money right here." Yamato took out his phone, flashing a bank account screen to Torao. It held a massive amount of government funding, approved by the Regulator Nagi.

"Whoa, chill. Surely we can talk a bit." Torao stopped the married couple from leaving by proposing a sound argument. "At least let me boast about my invention for a minute."

Torao gestured for the two to follow him through the maze garden to the lab room in the back. Actually, it was more like a huge garage, but instead of cars, it was full of lab tools and different kinds of machine prototypes. One of them in particular caught Ryuu's eye immediately, and he couldn't help but smile.

"You still have the prototype from your uni days, huh? That brings me back," Ryuu said.

Torao turned around. It took a brief moment for him to give in to the warmth of the memories of the old days. His smile turned soft. "Of course, yeah." He picked up that palm-sized rectangular object.

Torao's research was all about riches, money, and fame. The simplistic-looking machine in his hand, once connected to the gigantic, rusty machine, could pull carbon dioxide out of the air and create a tiny diamond.

"Ryuu, look!" Young Torao bolted out of his university research room and showed what looked like an extremely tiny diamond shard to his best friend, Ryuu.

"Whoa, it's a real thing. You did it! You really did it, Torao!" Ryuu wholeheartedly congratulated his friend. Truly, he was happy for Torao.

"Do you think women will come flocking to me now?" Torao chuckled. "They always say you're much nicer and all that."

"Ahaha, well, I don't have the heart to say no to their requests." Ryuu laughed and responded cluelessly.

That night, Torao and Ryuu partied hard. Since they couldn't drink alcohol yet and karaoke places were rare in Silica, they went to an arcade. All night, they sang and danced so hard they could hardly move the next morning.

Ryuu thought the good times would last forever.

If only.

Torao sighed as he put the small machine back on the table. For a moment, his smile faded. Turning his back to the married couple, he said, "Let's get on with it." With a snap of his fingers, a small square opening appeared on the seamless floor and a robot appeared from underneath. It was holding a white, round device resembling a larger version of an elevator button. The robot disappeared back underground as soon as it placed the object in Torao's hands. The rich researcher returned to Ryuu and Yamato with his usual smile of fondness.

"You're saying that tiny thing can create a diamond barrier?" Yamato shook his head. "No, no. You've got to be kidding."

Knowing "seeing is believing" had a significant meaning in the world of science, Torao bent down and gently placed the device on the floor before giving the button a light push. The button flashed twice while emitting a radar of laser light. Seconds later, a shiny yet transparent barrier forms a large, glittering dome.

"Whoa..." In awe, Ryuu looked around him with his mouth open.

Yamato walked up to the newly-formed wall. Hesitantly, he reached his arm up to touch the surface. "Holy shit! It's a real, hard diamond!" He tried knocking on it and ended up smiling in excitement. The experience was surreal.

The inventor clapped his hands to draw attention. "All right, let me explain how the diamond barrier works." He paused for a bit to look right at Ryuu. "You know how the old prototype works. The process is very similar, except this particular invention can make a much larger diamond dome, but only temporarily." Torao pressed the button again, making the diamond wall shatter. The shards disappeared into thin air before they could fall to pieces. "Ideally, I'd want at least some diamond shards to remain intact since that's the whole point of creating diamonds." Torao shrugged his shoulders. "But this latest prototype should be good enough to keep you guys safe from drops of lava."

Seeing as there was nothing else left to prove, Yamato tapped his phone a few times, and a large sum went to Torao's bank account. The inventor placed the machine inside a shockproof case before handing it to Yamato.

"Thanks. Good luck with your future inventions." Yamato spoke out of courtesy.

Just as Ryuu turned around to leave, Torao called out to him. "Ryuunosuke."

The programmer paused, thinking whether he should just leave with Yamato or stop to listen to what Torao had to say. As if Torao knew what was on Ryuu's mind, he followed up right away. "I still think what you did was wrong. At the uni, I mean."

Ryuu sighed. Not that he disagreed completely, he simply thought what he had done belonged in a grey area.

— The university claimed to welcome all the talented scientists and bright researchers of the future. In truth, most of the students came from prestigious backgrounds. Tsunashi Ryuunosuke had every quality needed to enrol as a student there — intelligence, diligence, and passion. Except, he was only a fisherman's son. A son of a labour worker whose profession would never earn a spotlight in Silica.

Believing his research would benefit his family and the people who worked with marine life, Ryuu knew he had to get into the university. Talented professors would be able to advise him and guide his research to success. His research topic passed the pitching stage and he could pay the fees with his part-time job earnings. The only thing he needed to earn a place was a recommendation letter from someone respectable, such as a famous scientist. Unlike Torao who came from a family that had published several ground-breaking research findings, Ryuu being only a fisherman's son meant he had no connections with people like that whatsoever.

Out of options, Ryuu reached out to his stepfather, a respected academic in Silica. Since the recommendation letter couldn't come from family, Ryuu requested the man to write one for him, keeping their distant relationship a secret. —

"I know full well what I did was wrong," Ryuu replied to Torao. He showed no regret or embarrassment, only a hint of sadness lingered in his voice. "But I still think the benefit my research could bring would prove the unfairness of the selection system. They should judge us mainly by our individual talents and not rely so heavily on a single endorsement letter."

— "I trusted you..." Young Ryuu bit his lip, knowing full well that he didn't really belong there. —

Torao remembered that night well: the night Ryuu was called to the office. He remembered his so-called best friend's forlorn glances all too well. Ryuu wasn't crying. No, he wasn't sad. He was hurt. He was betrayed.

— Five professors surrounded young Ryuunosuke. One of them angrily slammed the tablet on the table in front of Ryuu. It was the night the professors found out Ryuu's letter of recommendation was invalid. In an instant, he was expelled and prohibited from conducting any further research on the topic. In order to protect his stepfather's reputation, they did not disclose the details to anyone else. As for how the five professors found out about their relationship, Ryuu knew the only person he had confided in was Torao, his very best friend. —

"It's too late now, but I do want to apologise." Torao looked into Ryuu's eyes to show he was sincere. "I wanted to be a hero of justice. You lied, and you got what you deserved." He scratched his cheek with his index finger as if he felt his words had come out wrong. "But I could have been your friend. We always hung out together. I knew how hard you worked. I saw how talented you were. You were also everyone's favourite... You had every right to be there."

"Torao..." Of all things, Ryuu did not expect them to have this kind of conversation now or ever.

"I betrayed you, my best friend. A true hero wouldn't do that." Having said all he needed to say, Torao was ready to let Ryuu go. He did not expect forgiveness. It felt like he had to say those words before he died.

"Thanks, Torao-kun."

The diamond researcher froze when Ryuu gave him a nostalgic, warm smile.

Ryuu explained, "I have to say I was in a really dark place when I was expelled. My father, my brothers... I wanted them to be able to depend on me." Ryuu turned to look at his husband, who was standing a distance away from them, eyeing him with worry. "Around a year after that, I met Yamato. He didn't look like the type to care, but he stayed by my side the whole time, showing me other ways to make a living. Everything turned out fine in the end. Yamato is happy. I'm happy."

Placing his hand on his chest, Ryuu continued, "I won't ever forget what you did to me." The programmer then extended his hand. "But I don't want to hold a grudge against you, Torao-kun. I appreciate you saying all this. You're always welcome to the bar where I'm working."

"You haven't changed one bit, Ryuunosuke. Too nice for your own good." Torao took a second before taking Ryuu's hand. He gave it a firm shake to show sincerity.

------------------

Hewlo~ lovely ppl Kenar is back again with an update. Enjoy!

I now have an ainana only Twitter. Friend me at KoalKillia

Torao appeared! I hope I wrote him well enough ahahaha.
We now have just two more chapters to go for this AU! I feel like I've left it hanging for so long this feels unreal.
I hope you enjoyed this update. See you next chap!